firehawk12
Subete no aware
Oh yeah!
Winter 2012 Anime Thread of Roundcats Up in This
- Thread starter Mandoric
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Oh God. This song.
Manly tears. Manly fucking tears. Dont do this to me.
Rinne no Lagrange of MARU and WAN 2-3
It is a COMPLETE PRIVELEGE watching this. I haven't had this much fun watching a mech show in years, and that includes watching gurren Lagann and Code Geass. This show just hits all the right points, with a fantastic soundtrack, fun characters, memorable mech fights, and beautiful visuals. Also DAT MARU AND WAN. I haven't yet come up with the Cajun Scale of HNNNG but this is right up at the pinnacle of it.
Femmeworth
Banned
I can't believe you just put Gurren Lagann and Code Geass in the same sentence. -_-
I can't believe you haven't figured out that I watch just about everything by now.
Here's a comparison for you.
Code Geass >>>>>> Gurren Lagann.
Now run along.
You're alright, cajunator.
Unknown Soldier
Member
I just can't believe you haven't made up the Cajun HNNNNNNG Scale yet!
Femmeworth
Banned
No, I understand that. However...
Must... maintain... composure.
*adds cajunator to the list*
I always assumed that the number of Ns determined the intensity of the HNNNG. For instance:
Muginami deeeeeesu = HNNNG.
Wan = HNNNNNNNNNNG.
MARU! = HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG.
PdotMichael
Banned
Code Geass is better than Gurren Lagann?
Something is wrong in Louisiana
Something is wrong in Louisiana
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
Crash Station
Member
Rinne no Lagrange 4
What is Kotetsu doing in this?
What is Kotetsu doing in this?
Something interesting I just noticed: every episode title of Ano Natsu de Matteru so far has "Sempai" in it; similarly, "Kamogawa" is in every Rinne no Lagrange title. Apparently the latter is pushing hard for a tourism bump? It's worked for other shows before...
Also, yeah, Rinne no Lagrange 4 was great. Particularly funny watching
.
Also, yeah, Rinne no Lagrange 4 was great. Particularly funny watching
Lan get more and more worried about Muginami usurping her position as Madoka's closest friend, and all her "I can do that too" attempts
Basileus777
Member
Kamogawa is mentioned pretty often, I wonder if the city funded part of the show.
My bro. You understand.
It should have, but no, we have to live with the shame that Angel Beats was voted over it in 2010. It's the feeling of being discarded to an anonymous daycare, thrown into the dump, then tossed into the incinerator to be forgotten.
You should watch it mang.
Becoming Legend like he's always wanted to.
Which is really why having a 2 separate categories for TV and film in the anime of the year voting would be nice.
ED of the season.
You chose wisely.
Unknown Soldier
Member
It works for SHAFT.
While the city of Kamogawa is not part of the production committee of the show, it is a major collaboration partner for the overall franchise project like Nissan is. Instead of getting direct funding just for making an anime, I think what the producers are trying to achieve with both the Nissan and the Kamogawa collaborations is to integrate these themes into the story and design of the show, and in exchange for the contribution and promotional aid that they gain from these partners, they prominently feature showcase the city of Kamogawa and the Nissan mecha designs as the main highlight of the show.
It's a pretty novel way of reaching out to a larger audience, and I think they're doing an excellent job of presenting the city in the show. The art is really detailed, and the aesthetic of the coastal city and the beach is extremely appealing to the eyes.
That is the only thing that makes sense though. The otaku spend money. Lots of it. They buy the popular shows, and they buy the extra shit at ludicrous prices, because its something that they love.
Have to say, the bath scene in Nise 4 doesn't bug me one single bit. I don't see much wrong with it, but I don't get anything out of it visually either. (such as the pandering/fanservice) The thing I take from the entire scene is the great verbal sparring 
And Shinobu herself is just so good, like her reactions after Tsukihi walks in on them. She just has mischievous look to respond to it all XD
I've come to the conclusion the best waifus in anime are Holo and Shinobu
And Shinobu herself is just so good, like her reactions after Tsukihi walks in on them. She just has mischievous look to respond to it all XDI've come to the conclusion the best waifus in anime are Holo and Shinobu
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
I still don't get what Nissan could possibly be getting out of the project. Their cars are certainly not the focus of the show, and it's not like otaku's disposable income is traditionally directed towards vehicles.
PdotMichael
Banned
Episode 3 & 4 are even better, so if you like the show you will love the next episodes.
I dunno. Those fucking Miku commercials got a lot of Otaku to buy a toyota and then there was that Pleiades show that probably moved a few Subarus.
chickdigger802
Banned
Symphogear 04
Is it just me... or is this show slowly getting somewhat interesting?
Shit got crazy dark.
Love the silly training montage. Bruce Lee is the key to becoming the singing fighting idol.
Is it just me... or is this show slowly getting somewhat interesting?
Shit got crazy dark.
Love the silly training montage. Bruce Lee is the key to becoming the singing fighting idol.
I definitely agree that Umasou should be have an expanded audience, I just like to take the chance whenever it rises to point that little bit out. Although I digress, I'd love to see Umasou released WW and buy it myself.
Unknown Soldier
Member
There aren't even any Nissan cars in MARU! though...
Yeah, there are probably Nissan ads during the commercial break when the show airs in Japan.
Product placement probably works better for small impulse buys like Pizza Hut and Dr. Pepper than 2000000 yen vehicles.
I drank a ton of Dr. Pepper when Steins;Gate was airing, at least.
Hadn't watched the episode yet, and as a result I intentionally skipped over all previous discussion posts before making mine. I don't go back to reread them either until a while later.
But the point about the name being in in every episode title is still valid.
PdotMichael
Banned
The Otaku with the Nadesico bag in episode 3 wore a Nissan shirt.
how subtle...
A Black Falcon
Member
Patlabor 2: The Movie -- I ended up writing a lot about this thing, for some reason... I think this review could still be improved a good bit, but hopefully it's decent enough to post.
Essentially, Bodacious Space Pirates, dull? Now THIS is something to watch if you want dull. Seriously, those people complaining about Space Pirates really should go back and watch Oshii films like this or The Sky Crawlers again, to remember what truly boring anime is... and yeah, stylistically I see a lot of similarities between the two. It's impressive how boring he managed to make an action thriller, that must have really taken skill... The movie isn't all bad, certainly, but by a while in, I could clearly tell that this was from the guy who would go on to make The Sky Crawlers. Ghost in the Shell this is not.
The movie isn't really about giant robots. They're only incidental in the film, really. Instead it's about politics and modern (circa the '90s particularly) Japan. It's a political thriller about some people trying to uncover and stop a conspiracy that reaches high levels of the military before it's too late. Now, that alone sounds like it could be good -- I love politics. Politics is one of my primary interests in fact, and certainly would place above anime (even though I don't post about politics too much on GAF, for whatever reason). And I'm no great fan of giant robot anime. So that change is good, right? Well... not so much, here. The whole film is just so incredibly slow paced and tedious, and almost nothing of note happens most of the time, either politically or action-wise. The film doesn't explain a lot until late in the film, either, so I spent most of the film only being able to guess at what, exactly, the two main characters were really doing. Some of it was obvious, but other parts were confusing and didn't make a lot of sense. Now I know, being complex is Oshii's thing, and I don't really mind that when it's done well, as in the GitS franchise... but yeah, it was confusing. The movie takes its time to explain what's going on. Even the very first scene didn't entirely make sense at the time, it's not fully explained until much later in some ways.
As for the characters, oddly enough, this film is not about the main characters of the first movie or TV series. Instead, it's about their commanders, the man and woman in charge of their police mecha unit, and their investigation into the terrorist threat to the city. It would have been nice to see more of the main characters of the rest of the franchise, these two just aren't quite as interesting. That's part of the issue with the film, I think -- it focuses on these less intense and not quite as interesting characters and their story, instead of the others. That's far from the only issue though, it certainly still could have been more interesting still starring them.
I need to say something about the animation as well. This film is from 1993, and it does look quite '90s in both good and bad ways, but some stuff is just weird. For instance, why in the world does the camera focus on the main character's head from a bizarre angle through a significant amount of the trial scene? Stuff like that was pretty weird, and sure it's original, I guess, but it's not exactly visually attractive.
Returning to the plot, it didn't get better later on in the film either. Once the movie reached its climax, and it came time to talk about the enemy, and their motivations, it was just another disappointment --
So yeah, even apart from the substantial amounts of tedium, the plot isn't the greatest. And once you factor in all of the downtime, the tedium, the extremely slow plot, the somewhat generic villain, the lack of action, the incomplete ending (what happens to them after the end? Do their expectations about the repercussions for their actions get realized or not? Who knows, it ends quite abruptly.), etc... yeah, this movie is dull. It took me several days to get through this thing, I couldn't sit through the whole thing at once.
On the note of the lack of action, there are maybe ten minutes worth of action in this ~110 minute movie, and yes, that is another issue; the first Patlabor movie had a lot of slow parts early on too, but had more action later. While I had some problems with that movie as well, I do think I liked it at least somewhat more than this one overall. If someone wants a textbook example of how to make a more often than not uninteresting thriller about a terrorist blowing things up and causing havoc in a major city, this is that example.
Now, the movie wasn't ALL bad. As I said I found some elements of the plot interesting, and the last part, including the coming together of the characters (
), reveals. and that one action scene near the end, was decent, though not as good as the one from the first film.
So perhaps I should return to my initial comparison. Patlabor 2 is like The Sky Crawlers in that way -- the action is mediocre, the plot very slow, the message iffy, but it is all well produced and well animated, the story is cohesive and, once you've watched it, mostly makes sense, and there is both drama and at least some resolution at the end each in their own way. I might have liked The Sky Crawlers a bit more than this overall, though... it does have flashier visuals (of course, it's newer so you'd expect that), and the plot's maybe slightly more interesting as well. I don't know, as tedious as these movies are, there are some things I like about them. I don't regret watching either one. But... seriously, Oshii, I know you're trying to be different, and you succeed, but is this REALLY the best way?
Essentially, Bodacious Space Pirates, dull? Now THIS is something to watch if you want dull. Seriously, those people complaining about Space Pirates really should go back and watch Oshii films like this or The Sky Crawlers again, to remember what truly boring anime is... and yeah, stylistically I see a lot of similarities between the two. It's impressive how boring he managed to make an action thriller, that must have really taken skill... The movie isn't all bad, certainly, but by a while in, I could clearly tell that this was from the guy who would go on to make The Sky Crawlers. Ghost in the Shell this is not.
The movie isn't really about giant robots. They're only incidental in the film, really. Instead it's about politics and modern (circa the '90s particularly) Japan. It's a political thriller about some people trying to uncover and stop a conspiracy that reaches high levels of the military before it's too late. Now, that alone sounds like it could be good -- I love politics. Politics is one of my primary interests in fact, and certainly would place above anime (even though I don't post about politics too much on GAF, for whatever reason). And I'm no great fan of giant robot anime. So that change is good, right? Well... not so much, here. The whole film is just so incredibly slow paced and tedious, and almost nothing of note happens most of the time, either politically or action-wise. The film doesn't explain a lot until late in the film, either, so I spent most of the film only being able to guess at what, exactly, the two main characters were really doing. Some of it was obvious, but other parts were confusing and didn't make a lot of sense. Now I know, being complex is Oshii's thing, and I don't really mind that when it's done well, as in the GitS franchise... but yeah, it was confusing. The movie takes its time to explain what's going on. Even the very first scene didn't entirely make sense at the time, it's not fully explained until much later in some ways.
As for the characters, oddly enough, this film is not about the main characters of the first movie or TV series. Instead, it's about their commanders, the man and woman in charge of their police mecha unit, and their investigation into the terrorist threat to the city. It would have been nice to see more of the main characters of the rest of the franchise, these two just aren't quite as interesting. That's part of the issue with the film, I think -- it focuses on these less intense and not quite as interesting characters and their story, instead of the others. That's far from the only issue though, it certainly still could have been more interesting still starring them.
I need to say something about the animation as well. This film is from 1993, and it does look quite '90s in both good and bad ways, but some stuff is just weird. For instance, why in the world does the camera focus on the main character's head from a bizarre angle through a significant amount of the trial scene? Stuff like that was pretty weird, and sure it's original, I guess, but it's not exactly visually attractive.
Returning to the plot, it didn't get better later on in the film either. Once the movie reached its climax, and it came time to talk about the enemy, and their motivations, it was just another disappointment --
The villain isn't really given any particular motivation for his actions; instead, his barrage of terrorism is explained as not really having a point. I know the idea is that he was too traumatized by his war experience (of watching soldiers under his command die) to be able to deal with homeland Japan, particularly with how the movie accurately points out the wars in other places going on in order to support modern life, but seriously, as explained in the film, his motivations feel far too close to being standard movie villain evil and not enough realistic motivations. And of course his large organization was never discovered, and indeed the police leaders were prosecuting the good guys while he was about to strike... naturally. I know things like that are maybe plausible, but seriously, that's such a standard action-thriller kind of thing that it was only partially credible at best. Of course the stupid leaders are putting the only people actually trying to stop the villains on trial right while the evil plan unfolds, how else could it go?
However, that base message that the peace is held up by wars elsewhere, and the trauma of war, certainly is a good one... but the movie wants to make SURE you get it, because it's made pretty obvious. Also, that military intelligence guy actually being an ex member of the villains' group was pretty obvious. I called it well before the reveal. I hope that wasn't supposed to be too surprising...
However, that base message that the peace is held up by wars elsewhere, and the trauma of war, certainly is a good one... but the movie wants to make SURE you get it, because it's made pretty obvious. Also, that military intelligence guy actually being an ex member of the villains' group was pretty obvious. I called it well before the reveal. I hope that wasn't supposed to be too surprising...
On the note of the lack of action, there are maybe ten minutes worth of action in this ~110 minute movie, and yes, that is another issue; the first Patlabor movie had a lot of slow parts early on too, but had more action later. While I had some problems with that movie as well, I do think I liked it at least somewhat more than this one overall. If someone wants a textbook example of how to make a more often than not uninteresting thriller about a terrorist blowing things up and causing havoc in a major city, this is that example.
Now, the movie wasn't ALL bad. As I said I found some elements of the plot interesting, and the last part, including the coming together of the characters (
though of course given that most of them barely appeared in this film, it only has much meaning for people who have watched other stuff -- and while I have watched the first movie, I haven't watched the TV series
So perhaps I should return to my initial comparison. Patlabor 2 is like The Sky Crawlers in that way -- the action is mediocre, the plot very slow, the message iffy, but it is all well produced and well animated, the story is cohesive and, once you've watched it, mostly makes sense, and there is both drama and at least some resolution at the end each in their own way. I might have liked The Sky Crawlers a bit more than this overall, though... it does have flashier visuals (of course, it's newer so you'd expect that), and the plot's maybe slightly more interesting as well. I don't know, as tedious as these movies are, there are some things I like about them. I don't regret watching either one. But... seriously, Oshii, I know you're trying to be different, and you succeed, but is this REALLY the best way?
Yeah, same here. This is definitely one of the strengths of anime adapted from dialogue-heavy light novels. Especially in this case when said writer is NisiOisiN.Have to say, the bath scene in Nise 4 doesn't bug me one single bit. I don't see much wrong with it, but I don't get anything out of it visually either. (such as the pandering/fanservice) The thing I take from the entire scene is the great verbal sparring
I've come to the conclusion the best waifus in anime are Holo and Shinobu
NeonZ
Member
Blame Imagawa. The Nagai version of Mazinger Z's doesn't end with that cliff hanger...
A certain someone pops up and rescues Kouji.
Great Mazinger's official debut (although it does get a cameo in Shin Mazinger, as the shadow that appears near the destroyed lab for a moment)
Crash Station
Member
Yeah, after that post, I realized this was a re-imagining and the story was probably continued even if this one ended abruptly.
A re-imagined sequel would be nice.
A Black Falcon
Member
Bodacious Space Pirates stuff.
Oh, and Voyager is my favorite Trek series. DS9 is second, but Voyager's my favorite.
Of course, those bits of future tech just serve to highlight what I complained about after the first episode -- that otherwise this culture is ridiculously similar to modern-day Japan -- but eps 2-4 haven't emphasized that quite as much as the first one, I think, and particularly now that they're in space it feels more different... but I have said I think the first episode was the weakest.
The character building is somewhat slow, but they keep it interesting (for me at least), and it's building up well.
As for the gender thing, yeah, you might be right about that, but I do agree that the gender flip alone is a pretty good start. Her character started out seeming definitely on the generic side, but now that she's in space her true abilities are coming out and being developed, and she's definitely growing as a person I think. It's some decent character development I think. She's much more interesting now than she was in the first episode.
On a related note, on actual 16th/17th century pirate ships, the captains were actually often not only not hereditary (pirate crews didn't last long enough for that kind of thing anyway, most of the time), but they were ELECTED, by the crews. No sign of that here, that's for sure.
... The only problem I can think of about it really is that then they'd have to explain why his mother stayed with him for as long as she did despite that, unless he changed later or something.
They didn't mess it up, and in fact the show is consistent -- I would imagine that there are local gravity fields of some kind in the chairs and maybe some offices (like the captains' cabin where the teacher is), while the corridors, passages, etc. are all always zero-g. Notice how once one of the characters settles into a seat they get 'pulled' down a bit? Clearly that's the gravity, or magnets, or something, pulling them downwards while they're sitting there. That makes sense, to me.
Star Trek is great, and I've never had a problem with "technobabble" as long as it's explained within the show...
They don't need to correct that which isn't broken! The show is working perfectly as is. The show wouldn't be the interesting show that it is if they just glossed over all of that stuff like every other anime does... I don't know if that change would make it better or worse (could go either way, I'd think), but given how good it is as is,and how much less common this approach is in anime, I really like that they took this approach. There are lots of other shows for the action-heavy style you want.
As I say above, I love Star Trek, it's such a fantastic franchise... I've watched lots and lots of Star Trek, so if they did make an anime more like that, I at least would not complain.I was actually going to make a Star Trek comparison but I was afraid of offending any fansI'm a Star Trek fan myself, but the last two episodes of Mouretsu were strikingly similar to the scenes that occur during any given warp core breach, transporter malfunction, or other tense event that relies entirely on tapping buttons on a computer panel for its resolution. Mouretsu simply has the problem of making entire episodes out of these scenes, whereas they tend only to be the climax of the week's plotline in Trek.
Oh, and Voyager is my favorite Trek series. DS9 is second, but Voyager's my favorite.
While hating on Braga (and Brannon too I assume?) for Enterprise is reasonable -- that one's my least favorite of the Trek TV serieses (and Archer is the worst captain, too) -- as I said above Voyager is great, so they don't deserve quite as much hate as they get...
I don't know, it might be possible to make that good, maybe... but anyway, none of these shows are ONLY about turning knobs. There's more to it than that.
I think that Space Pirates is about both characters and technology so far, really; more of the time is spent with the characters than the tech, but it makes a point of showing some of the future tech on a regular basis, and that is an important element of the show as well.
Of course, those bits of future tech just serve to highlight what I complained about after the first episode -- that otherwise this culture is ridiculously similar to modern-day Japan -- but eps 2-4 haven't emphasized that quite as much as the first one, I think, and particularly now that they're in space it feels more different... but I have said I think the first episode was the weakest.
The character building is somewhat slow, but they keep it interesting (for me at least), and it's building up well.
JJ's Star Trek? I hope it doesn't go that direction, that movie was so, so disappointing... I mean, as a generic Star Wars style space action movie it was fine, but as Star Trek it was one of the worst movies in the franchise. There just wasn't much Star Trek about it, it was all actioney and completely missed the substantial slower and more character and plot-centric side of Star Trek. That's just not Star Trek... it's too bad that it's the most successful Star Trek movie, I'd rather the more Treklike ones were. Obviously the mass audience likes action more than philosophy and thought. Ah well... But anyway, that's another subject, and I don't know that I see how this is so much like Abrams's Trek anyway.
As for the gender thing, yeah, you might be right about that, but I do agree that the gender flip alone is a pretty good start. Her character started out seeming definitely on the generic side, but now that she's in space her true abilities are coming out and being developed, and she's definitely growing as a person I think. It's some decent character development I think. She's much more interesting now than she was in the first episode.
I've covered some of the rest of this before, but I definitely agree on that last point, and particularly given the actual nature of this show -- it's not just a fanservicey stupidity-fest -- that tile would have been inappropriate for the series anyway. This one's much better, even if some take issue with the use of "Bodacious" so far even with that it's better than "Miniskirt" certainly.
Probably so, but they're trying to be a lot classier about it in Space Pirates than either of those other shows.
I agree, and yeah, this is a very shonen theme, of inherited excellence, yes, and it is somewhat silly. Just being someone's child doesn't mean you inherit their abilities. And they can't say that it's because she was brought up as a pirate; she didn't even know who her father was. It does seem to be the usual too-good inherited ability. The only other excuse I can think of is that her mother somehow subtly pushed her in that direction, but we have no idea if that is true.
On a related note, on actual 16th/17th century pirate ships, the captains were actually often not only not hereditary (pirate crews didn't last long enough for that kind of thing anyway, most of the time), but they were ELECTED, by the crews. No sign of that here, that's for sure.
Yeah, agreed.
What, so you mean that they drew in people with the first episode, and then sprang the true nature of the show on them with ep. 2? That could likely be the explanation for why the first episode is how it is, but then how do you get them to keep watching once the show changes? As this thread shows, that's an iffy proposition. Maybe they should have been more open about it from the beginning? It's not too bad this way though, overall, but the first ep is different from the ones after it.
I agree, it certainly is ... convenient ... that they're all fine with what she actually is, and that they're all outcasts too. Sillily convenient, really; I'd think that at least someone would take issue with it. Oh well. We'll see if there are any arguments within the group later.
Sure, but as this show shows, that isn't because this approach can't be great. That's because they'd rather focus more on the shooting-at-stuff action. And I just don't agree that that is an inherently better approach, I just don't.
If not presented too darkly, sure, that could work... I doubt they'd go that route, but it could work, perhaps.
... The only problem I can think of about it really is that then they'd have to explain why his mother stayed with him for as long as she did despite that, unless he changed later or something.
I don't know what my favorite Trek episode is, there are so many good ones, but while I definitely liked seasons 6 and 7 of DS9 (it's my second favorite Trek series overall), that wouldn't be my favorite episode. I like the borderline naive optimism of classic Trek... that kind of optimism is so rare in sci-fi! There are good reasons for that, certainly, but it is true that it's uncommon, and I did like it.
It's not boring.
Nice to see that there are some other people who agree that this is a great show!
PdotMichael
Banned
I guess that's pretty much the point. You need a little geek heart for Pirates.
Did you enjoy Fractale?
PdotMichael
Banned
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