When you look at the series as a whole, it seems kind of clear that the mangaka gave up on the triangle in order to make a show about karuta. Nothing wrong with that, but that whole romance thing is pretty much dead.
Certainly it's why Taichi is written to be in the friendzone anyway. The status-quo is just easier to maintain.. and when you take into account that the last 20 episodes of the anime probably represents two or three years of storytelling, I can see why it'd be easy to not want to throw off the dynamic of the text.
Guilty Crown I can forsee some god tier facepalm cringing moments on the home stretch, BRS... I'd have to overcome the concept that all this silly stuff is about making friends for BRS to be the harder show to watch.
- Because he wasn't a conniving little asshole as a kid, who grew up to be a sexually frustrated, jealous, spiteful teenager; who grew up with every advantage in the world (Taichi: wah, my mom's strict!, wah; Arata: I'm a child laborer, I live in a rundown one room apartment, I have no clothes, I'm by myself most of the time because all the kids at school hate me, and yet, I don't complain, I'm not an asshole, and I'm still a boss).
The funny thing is, Taichi is basically the perfect shoujo hero and is almost exactly like the guy from Maid-sama. The difference is that he has a credible opponent - even if it is one with absolutely zero personality and very little character - because that's enough to make him seem vastly inferior as a character.
I'm trying to form some sentences to describe how much I loved these last couple episodes and the new things they explored but I can't. It's just that good.
I find it odd they never mentioned Abandoned Factory before. I mean it never occurred to me there might be other headquarters for Haibane people, but I thought that would be something they will mention to Rakka early on. Maybe I just missed it.
R-15 OVA (ep 13) - I didn't realize until recently that R-15 was going to have an OVA episode, but it does, and it's good, fun fanservice for anyone who liked the show (was there anyone here who liked it other than me, though? Oh well... I did, at least, for its genre it was fun most of the time.).
The episode is set on a tropical island, as the main cast -- that is, the MC, his harem, and the other guy -- have been stranded on the island after a mysterious incident involving a plane crash, or alien abduction that left them on this island, or something. They don't know exactly what happened, but do remember seeing a UFO before blacking out on the plane. They were on the plane returning from the overseas trip seen at the end of ep. 12, so it's a direct followup to the end of the series. The writing in this episode is good, as good as anything in the series, and the episode's quite entertaining and silly. This is not the serious episode of ep. 12, and it's not episode 12's equal, certainly, but for what it is it's reasonably good. I wanted more of an ending, but oh well... I know this is an adaptation.
Once they wake up, fanservice ensues (the girls, of course, landed touching him, etc). Then, more fanservice as several girls strip to their underwear after the MC explains about how alien abductions work (science experiments on the people, etc, the lead girl (Innocent Fanservice Girl type, for those who forgot) wants him to checkher for alterations, and then the other girl who has stated an interest in him strips down too because the other girl has.
On that note, it is kind of nice how the show really does focus on those two, beginning to end, as far as relationships go; there are a bunch more girls, and they all have an interest in the MC of course, but none of those relationships go anywhere at all, they stay at "the girls have feelings for him but it goes nowhere". Instead, the focus is on those two. That stays entirely true this episode.
Anyway, after that they start exploring the island, which is covered in jungle. They're looking for more people, because there are only the MC and three girls at the start, the two lead girls and the photographer girl he works with. They find them, but soon run into a monster, a giant venus flytrap style monster that attacks with its tentacle-like limbs. Yeah, tentacle scene ensues. After watching for a while (and after the girls were all stripped by the plant) the MC finally decides to take action, but things don't go exactly to plan... instead, much more amusing things happen than I expected. :lol
See, the plant capture him and Ritsu (the other guy) too, and starts stripping them as well. Someone comments about the plant "swinging both ways". Heh.
Mad scientist girl saves the day by blowing up the plant. The plant then drops
a treasure chest, which conveniently is full of four costumes for the four girls who lost their clothes.
How convenient...
Now, the cast is understandably confused about why they're there, and where everyone else is. Once the school paper president (remember, she's really mysterious and has secrets) shows up the MC is quite suspicious, but she claims to know nothing about this, or about the
WWII-era crashed plane they find on the island -- the excuse for that is apparently that this is in the Bermuda Triangle, though this island looks more Pacific than Carribbean... eh, I guess it could work either way though.
That might, a monster attacks and kidnaps the main girl. The MC, naturally, goes to rescue her, with the others following. He comes up with a method for defeating the beast perfectly suited for his strengths --
he voices out a series of H-scenes, which he wrote on the spot, and which, by the end, defeat the monster with the power of the words. Some of them are yuri, which was kind of interesting because i don't remember much of any yuri in the main seires, but he imagines several yuri scenes here, as well as male/female ones. The scenes are animated in part on screen, with various cast members as the players, but the sex parts aren't shown, only the before segments, and I don't think they are actually acting anything out; that's just for the audience.
So yeah, he rescues her, but they also discover that the other students, who they though tere there, weren't -- it was just a cardboard cutout. :lol
After this, the episode cuts to a final scene.
As suspected, the entire situation is a setup, orchestrated by the paper club president girl in order to give the MC some ideas for his next book, which is about people stranded on an island. Cheerleader girl and mad scientist girl, who showed up together midway through he episode, were in on it too, helping to make the scenario a success. Hah... good way to explain it. The mysterious club president girl may be an alien or something after all, as suspected... or at least, the show wants us to keep thinking that, without absolute confirmation.
That's fine though, it's funny this way. The episode ends there. Overall, htis didn't continue the plot mu, and didn't resolve things -- despite the fact that he's a good porn novel author he's still a generic weak protagonist unable to confess to a girl and have real progress in a relationship, and the idol girl clearly states that yes, she does still like him and won't give up on him either
she follows that up with a claim that she was lying, after he responds with surprise, but it's obvious she wasn't.
Ep. 12 of course focused closely on the main pairing, and it's clear they like eachother the most, though, so given that this is an adaptation only partway through the material it's based on, it's an okay ending I guess. Given the mediocre at best sales of the series though, which means a followup seems unlikely, it is kind of annoying... I like more solid endings than this. Oh well.
- Because he wasn't a conniving little asshole as a kid, who grew up to be a sexually frustrated, jealous, spiteful teenager; who grew up with every advantage in the world (Taichi: wah, my mom's strict!, wah; Arata: I'm a child laborer, I live in a rundown one room apartment, I have no clothes, I'm by myself most of the time because all the kids at school hate me, and yet, I don't complain, I'm not an asshole, and I'm still a boss).
- Because even after being treated like garbage by his entire class and having no friends, living fairly poorly, and working part-time to help his family, he somehow still had the character to not lash out and oust what a little bastard Taichi was to him to Chihaya
- Because Karata is HIS game
- Because he inspired Chihaya to stop living in her sister's shadow and find something to celebrate for herself; She is what she is now because of him.
- Because Chihaya clearly likes him in a non-friendly way
- Because even after all this time he STILL has the consideration to ask Taichi whether he's involved with Chihaya before doing anything that might suggest he's interested in her
- Because he's considerate and thoughtful
- Because he doesn't see Chihaya as a pet/toy/prize
He's an infinitely more endearing and respectable character than Taichi has been or ever will be. The decision to push him into the background severely frustrates me, but the fact that his presence continues to have the presence that it does shows how strong his characterization is, and how important the creators believe he is to the series. The way his appearances are treated on-screen clearly shows how important a character he is. The entire dynamic of the episode changes when he appears.
Man, that felt like a filler episode. An excuse to introduce other people and get a mascot. Well, at the least things look mildly interesting next episode... And by mildly interesting I mean filled with T&A.
Wait, I'm not actually getting INTO this show am I? DAMNIT, BUT IT'S SO BAD!
So classy. Marika all dolled up was a bit of an AHA moment too. Finally some vaguely morally ambiguous stuff coming next episode and they she can finally see what it's like to be a REAL pirate, not just a luxury liner entertainer.
Morally ambiguous? I'm not so sure, but I do expect things to get more legitimately violent, at least. I don't really know which direction the plot is going to go in.
Also, from what we've seen, stuff like this seems to be a lot of what these pirates really do. Of course it's not all they do, but when not pulled into more dangerous events, it certainly seems to me like something they frequently do. That makes sense too, given the pay and the reward (the cheering crowds, etc., I'm sure she's having fun.).
Not as good as the first four episodes but still enjoyable. I would say the show seemed to calm down a bit but there were several scenes that were borderline hentai. I guess they decided to forgo the numerous panty/boob shots for the more risqué stuff.
One of the better harem action shows from the last few years, this show's main downside is that the plot gets quite confusing. They try to compress far too much into one 12/13-episode season... it really could have used several seasons, to adequately explain it all. Unfortunately it didn't get it, so it ended up like this. Still, that might be better than a one season show that just shows you the beginning of a plot you'll never see the rest of animated, like so many other things...
I think I'm done here. Spineless underage worm meets hot (well, I'll take your word for it Renton) weird chick, plus some annoying war orphans or some shit and a lot of uninteresting, uninspired side characters. Completely unlikeable cast, terrible writing, bad direction - nice presentation though (Bones being Bones). But that alone is not enough to carry a show this long.
Yeah, it's a pretty average show. I did watch it on and off throughout the series when it was on TV some years back, but it never stood out as anything overly interesting or great, just as something just decent enough to watch once in a while, I guess. It does get maybe a bit more interesting later on, but it's nothing too special.
that grant wishes. Welp. And yes, Saya, it's guimauve, congrats. Also, how the hell does she keep fighting with chopped shoulder blades?! Must every small cut gush like a river?! How did the samurai's HUGE swords make tic-tac marks?!
It is now that I ask these questions because, dammit with these stupid habits, Blood C just ain't gonna stop!
Blood C 8
Umm, Tokizane, it's one thing to see her bleed from a paper cut and ANOTHER to see one in a pool of blood while saying, "Oh thank heavens you're safe, I need little explanation!" and of corpse, the love proposal.
Welp, lil' munchkin asked that
health regen
question for me...and didn't answer it.
Yeah, when giant monsters slowly walk towards my building, I just stand and watch too!
I know I've said it plenty of times before, but seriously, I really do find the bizarre lack of reaction of the people about to be attacked one of this series' bigger plot problems. They only ever react after it's too late, after spending completely ridiculous amounts of time standing around.
Obviously quite popular. I kind of can see why, though I dropped it back in S1 because I thought the plot and writing were pretty bad and just couldn't force myself to watch it anymore.
Wait a goddamn second, wasn't that Shu's mother with that ghost unit? Why would she
be helping this new government and mustache dude, especially as that would mean killing her son (which would have been killed lready if not for that void doll system).
It really makes no sense to me, unless she wasn't Shu's mother?
Also, lol at that
Apollon and Tsuritama will be the last push of good noitaminA before it turns into a timeslot dedicated to an endless amount of even shittier Guilty Crown and BRS knock-off's.
Okay, this episode started decently enough. The first scene in the dream world was actually very well done. Then the show actually started.
The problem with this show, well, one problem, among a myriad of them, is that no one on board knows the meaning of the word restraint. Everything must be over-the-top and beaten-to-death. The eye motif was a decent idea, but it loses impact after the 20th time it's used in an episode.
I think the metaphors in this are too deep for me.
I thought Arjuna taught me all I needed to know about the evils of modern society, but I was wrong. Behold true sin:
I'm glad we got another scene of Yomi's mom being the best mom ever:
The most enjoyable part of the show was Yomi losing her mind. It reminds me of when I lost my mind watching it:
I think Anime-GAF should have a pseudo-LN writing competition. To see whether the average shmuck can be as competent as some of the writers that the industry itself hires.
Blood-C - 05
Not much to say, really. I wonder when this show starts to fall down a cliff because i'm starting to get tired of the kill bad guy acquire fuzzy memory routine. Music continues to impress, though, and the ending had me surprised that the
Poor Hare. Though, wouldn't it have been smarter to first heal herself and then Shu? Shu losing it made for some interesting raging asskicking, but also for some embarrassing moments after the fight.
With the fact the goverment wants Shu dead, I still can't get around as to why Shu's mom would be helping them.
I think Anime-GAF should have a pseudo-LN writing competition. To see whether the average shmuck can be as competent as some of the writers that the industry itself hires.
tbqh i could just copy paste shit from the most awful fanfics i could find and edit them all together and it'd still be better than your average okada screenplay but i won't because it's easier
I'm not surprised at the fate of Shu, but I still, really, can't wrap my head around his mom. I seriously can't. Where did go the "we must protect him" person so many episodes back? Why that same person would be OK to have this happen in name of some dead man's plan? This shit really makes no sense.
tbqh i could just copy paste shit from the most awful fanfics i could find and edit them all together and it'd still be better than your average okada screenplay but i won't because it's easier
Shitty characters all around in this show (especially Shu's mom, she's a piece of shit)!
On a semi-serious analysis, Shu's been mentally traumatized with the
death of Hare and all the shit he's done afterwards (not like he wasn't traumatized before but hey, at least he had forgotten about it all and still had all his limbs!)
and that does come as part of his mother's actions. Now here he is, a broken man,
missing one arm, alone (since even Inori is taken away from him at the end of the episode, lol)
and they show me his mom, under the shower, saying
"Sorry Shu, but with this now you are free to live", which doesn't even takes into consideration the fact he could have been killed many times during this operation she helped with.
It's simply ridiculous and not even that funny or entertaining.
Shitty characters all around in this show (especially Shu's mom, she's a piece of shit)!
On a semi-serious analysis, Shu's been mentally traumatized with the
death of Hare and all the shit he's done afterwards (not like he wasn't traumatized before but hey, at least he had forgotten about it all and still had all his limbs!)
and that does come as part of his mother's actions. Now here he is, a broken man,
missing one arm, alone (since even Inori is taken away from him at the end of the episode, lol)
and they show me his mom, under the shower, saying
"Sorry Shu, but with this now you are free to live", which doesn't even takes into consideration the fact he could have been killed many times during this operation she helped with.
It's simply ridiculous and not even that funny or entertaining.
i hate to admit it but i currently got $20 running on whether or not guilty crowns ends up with a shitty reset ending. it fucking better or i'm gonna be mad as hell.
i hate to admit it but i currently got $20 running on whether or not guilty crowns ends up with a shitty reset ending. it fucking better or i'm gonna be mad as hell.
i'm sure the writers of guilty crown would manage to pull something out of their arse, just like literally everything else that's happened in the show.
Japan is royally fucked to the point of no return, people who have appeared more than once, been named, and even had lines to speak are getting killed all over the place, wonzo didn't make a bad punt to be honest.
I'm guessing Shu's void is going to be something so stupidly broken.
I haven't seen the title for the next episode, what is it?
Though given his expression at the end of the episode, he better do that. Also, I hope he'll deliver a good bitch-slap to his mom with that.
I haven't seen the title for the next episode, what is it?
Though given his expression at the end of the episode, he better do that. Also, I hope he'll deliver a good bitch-slap to his mom with that.
Anyone knows some recent information on the announced Takeshi Honda's art-book planned by Studio Khara (or χαρα? I remember it was postponed (http://khara.co.jp/news/2011/06/000153.html) but since then I haven't seen any information. Was there something about this on the latest Newtype magazines?
I didn't think it was so far from reality, for a person with such a clearly preconceived image of our place in this world, that is.
Instead of accepting a situation where that image could end up permanently ruined for her, out of confidence in her faith on humanity and rejecting her own way until that moment, I find plausible a Riquinni blaming herself for that, in humility (easier than blaming a bigger scheme of things).
This is a matter of side-stepping the situations as they come, trying to (fabricate) accommodate them to own beliefs, to avoid a conflict of convictions, rather than accepting the root of the problem.
The mysterious club president girl may be an alien or something after all, as suspected... or at least, the show wants us to keep thinking that, without absolute confirmation.
? I remember it was postponed (