Ultimadrago
Member
Yeah, see it through...
Winter 2012 Anime Thread 2.22: You Can (Not) Outpost Cajunator
- Thread starter Haly
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Yeah, see it through...
Crash Station
Member
It's an ongoing seinen with 48+ episodes. It definitely has the potential to be a long-running show.
Of course that will depend entirely on how well it does. They might even cut it short if the ratings are abysmal.
Edit: Ah, I read your post wrong. And I disagree. There's been a decent amount of adversity to long-running shows from some of the top posters. Hell, Jexhius flat out refused to start Gintama for the longest time because of its length.
Figure 17 9
Yes! It took 9 40 minute episodes, but shit is finally getting real! Goodbye slice of life boringness, hello horror tragedy!
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
Revolutionary Aspect Ratio Utena 1
Hot pants as the standard attire for male students? Must be France.
Flowers. Pink. Girls. Implied Yuri. More flowers. Crossdressing. Pink flowers underneath crossdressing girls involved in implied yuri. I'm twelve years old and what is this?
To begin with we are treated to a bizarre fairy tale of a princess who meets a prince, gets a ring and a kiss, then decides she wants to be a prince too. As you do. Apparently she felt that it was such a sweet gesture, she'd like to be a dude and do the same to someone else. I wonder if there is indeed an endless chain of princesses who become princes who give rings to princesses making them want to become princes. Has Utena given any thought to the potential pime taradox her actions could thusly create?
Utena is your average school kid who just so happens to be a female dressing in the male's school uniform. She is accompanied by very 80s electrical guitar riffing that makes it fairly clear she is a dude. It's like the composer decided the best way to get across the message of her Kamina-esque manliness was to just go nuts on his fender like a boss. It works.
Not only does Utena dress like a dude, she plays ball like a dude. Punking an ENTIRE TEAM OF MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS on her OWN. I don't know how many of those guys comitted suicide after that, but I didn't see them for the rest of the episode, so I assume the inevitable. Maybe they were distracted by her looks? That'd be my excuse.
On that note, I feel it worthy to mention that Utena is VERY hnnngh, as if it wasn't obvious enough. This is actually accentuated by the guys' school uniform, which apparently includes hot pants. The art style in this show was strange at first, but already it's growing on me. It's quite stylized but also very in-depth, at several junctures I found myself missing dialogue just from staring at the luscious backgrounds. As for the characters, I didn't find them offensive at all. The art style is actually quite pleasing to my eye and speaking of eyes, I really like their big, blank eyes. Very nostalgic. Utena's blue eyes are simply gorgeous. Utena's simply gorgeous.
Smooth.
Anyway, Utena happens to witness
Oh and speaking of the OP, I have to say it was fantastic. I really liked it. Upbeat and fun, with plenty of eye-candy to enjoy along-with.
You can't blame 16:9 for this one, guys.
Does all of this seem normal to you so far? I thought so too! Hang on tight, you are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Utena Zone!
To summarize, we've got some clearly very deep concepts going on here. Obviously this is more than just standard techno/fantasy-babble vis it appears to be equal parts allegorical and psychological.
The entire episode continues in this vein.
So did I enjoy it?
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: A lot happened in a single episode and it's somewhat hard to get my head round it all. I can tell that there was no small amount of symbolism in almost everything, from the character interactions to the settings. It was all somewhat lost on me, probably because I feel quite tired today. Clearly this is not a show for late Saturday night. Either which way, it has still managed to present me with many reasons to continue watching. I don't hide my guilty pleasures from the shojo genre because in my experience it's absolutely riddled with quality. Utena appears to be no difference. The art style, the music, the dialogue. Everything just screams excellence.
On top of that it managed to do more things right than I imagined. It was actually quite funny in places. The action was short, but sweet and more of the icing on the cake of the episode. Looking forward to episode two, but I'll probably hold off till I can fully appreciate it in all it's strange, yet satisfying, glory.
Hot pants as the standard attire for male students? Must be France.
Flowers. Pink. Girls. Implied Yuri. More flowers. Crossdressing. Pink flowers underneath crossdressing girls involved in implied yuri. I'm twelve years old and what is this?
To begin with we are treated to a bizarre fairy tale of a princess who meets a prince, gets a ring and a kiss, then decides she wants to be a prince too. As you do. Apparently she felt that it was such a sweet gesture, she'd like to be a dude and do the same to someone else. I wonder if there is indeed an endless chain of princesses who become princes who give rings to princesses making them want to become princes. Has Utena given any thought to the potential pime taradox her actions could thusly create?
Utena is your average school kid who just so happens to be a female dressing in the male's school uniform. She is accompanied by very 80s electrical guitar riffing that makes it fairly clear she is a dude. It's like the composer decided the best way to get across the message of her Kamina-esque manliness was to just go nuts on his fender like a boss. It works.
Not only does Utena dress like a dude, she plays ball like a dude. Punking an ENTIRE TEAM OF MALE BASKETBALL PLAYERS on her OWN. I don't know how many of those guys comitted suicide after that, but I didn't see them for the rest of the episode, so I assume the inevitable. Maybe they were distracted by her looks? That'd be my excuse.
On that note, I feel it worthy to mention that Utena is VERY hnnngh, as if it wasn't obvious enough. This is actually accentuated by the guys' school uniform, which apparently includes hot pants. The art style in this show was strange at first, but already it's growing on me. It's quite stylized but also very in-depth, at several junctures I found myself missing dialogue just from staring at the luscious backgrounds. As for the characters, I didn't find them offensive at all. The art style is actually quite pleasing to my eye and speaking of eyes, I really like their big, blank eyes. Very nostalgic. Utena's blue eyes are simply gorgeous. Utena's simply gorgeous.
Smooth.
Anyway, Utena happens to witness
a girl getting pimp smacked, presumably by her boyfriend, for her rebelliousness. Apparently she needed a bit more attitude adjustment, so the hand raises for a second lesson. Just in time though, she's saved by Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho who gets his own flowered introduction from Utena's friend Wakaba. He goes under the name of Touga in this school and is apparently the student council president, though (despite this) for some reason Utena had NEVER HEARD OF HIM. Wakaba also introduces the boyfriend as, coincidentally enough, the student council vice president Kyoichi. Kyoichi rants at Touga about "bros over hos" while we get an introduction of the girl, Anthy. Actually, we've already seen quite a bit of her, as she's the one lying on the bed of pink roses in implied yuri with Utena in the OP.
Oh and speaking of the OP, I have to say it was fantastic. I really liked it. Upbeat and fun, with plenty of eye-candy to enjoy along-with.
You can't blame 16:9 for this one, guys.
Wakaba makes sure to let Utena know that Kyoichi and Anthy aren't dating. He just gave her five across the face because he's a jerk! That clears that up!
Does all of this seem normal to you so far? I thought so too! Hang on tight, you are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Utena Zone!
We get a glimpse of the "student council", in what I can literally describe at this point only as another dimension. They call Anthy "The Bride" and say they "exist by the will of End of World", I'm going to assume bad subbing isn't at fault here.
One of the student council, with blue hair, seems incredibly worked up...about something. He stops a stop-watch at 3 seconds and is aghast.
Anthy defends Kyoichi's indefensible behavior and calls him "the Master" to whom she is "currently" betrothed.
The other student council members worry about the reaction of "the Rose Seal". They then warn Kyoichi about a possible duelist who could be challenging him.
One of the student council, with blue hair, seems incredibly worked up...about something. He stops a stop-watch at 3 seconds and is aghast.
Anthy defends Kyoichi's indefensible behavior and calls him "the Master" to whom she is "currently" betrothed.
The other student council members worry about the reaction of "the Rose Seal". They then warn Kyoichi about a possible duelist who could be challenging him.
To summarize, we've got some clearly very deep concepts going on here. Obviously this is more than just standard techno/fantasy-babble vis it appears to be equal parts allegorical and psychological.
The entire episode continues in this vein.
After challenging Kyoichi (for throwing away a love letter Wakaba sent him and laughing about it) to a duel, Utena's ring MAGICALLY TRANSPORTS HER to a forest dueling arena. Whatever happened to handbags at dawn? She then has to traverse an impossibly long winding staircase while a song (called Absolute Destiny: Apocolypse) plays with quite possibly the most bizarre lyrics I have ever encountered in animu. Maybe I SHOULD watch this dubbed. Cajun?
"Guys, we need to fit this awesome song I just wrote in here somewhere! I know, let's have Utena climb a long winding staircase VERY SLOWLY so we can fit it in! Great now pass me another joint."
Kyoichi arrives to the duel without any yugioh cards or ancient egyptian artifacts. He explains how a giant castle is floating upside down in mid-air, sadly he neglects to mention WHY. Anthy, who Kyoichi calls "the Bride", appears to some jaunty piano accompanyment grooving up and down the scale. She plays a larger role in this scene that meets the eye. Placing a flower on Utena's chest, Utena can't help but catch a nostalgic scent, familiar to the prince who gave her the ring making her want to be a prince. Ding ding! Time Paradox!
The rose is the rule. If it falls off either compeditor's chest, they lose the duel. Kyoichi gets miffed at Anthy wishing Utena "good luck" so he does what he does best, wife beating! After another slap, it's revealed that Anthy has to go along with any and all of Kyoichi's whims because he's the champion duelist. Utena, angered, promises Anthy she WILL win, to Anthy's blushing surprise. A sweet moment that perhaps heralds the relationship the two will share after Utena inevitably cleans house with this pretty boy.
Anthy then invokes "the power of Dios that sleeps within me" before Kyoichi pulls a sword from out of her chest. He asks the powers that be for the strength to bring the "revolution". Clearly this guy's heading for a one way trip to the Bastille.
So it's magical steel vs a wooden boken in what really isn't as skewed a fight as it ought to be. The duel itself is fantastically animated, flashing in and out, giving all the angles and all the facial expressions from all the parties. We also get, of course, another bonkers song. Even more weird than the previous, one-upmanship at it's finest.
Kyoichi cuts the boken in two, only for the two combatants to charge each other inbetween falling rose petals. It's a fairly stereotypical charge which doesn't actually show anything, so you're left guessing who took the brunt of it. My money would have been on the chick with the wooden sword handle. But then what do I know? I, like Kyoichi, forgot the ONLY rule. The rose. Yes indeed, Utena cut Kyoichi's rose and won the rights to slap Anthy around whenever she wants.
I saw the conclusion coming, but yeah, bravo.
"Guys, we need to fit this awesome song I just wrote in here somewhere! I know, let's have Utena climb a long winding staircase VERY SLOWLY so we can fit it in! Great now pass me another joint."
Kyoichi arrives to the duel without any yugioh cards or ancient egyptian artifacts. He explains how a giant castle is floating upside down in mid-air, sadly he neglects to mention WHY. Anthy, who Kyoichi calls "the Bride", appears to some jaunty piano accompanyment grooving up and down the scale. She plays a larger role in this scene that meets the eye. Placing a flower on Utena's chest, Utena can't help but catch a nostalgic scent, familiar to the prince who gave her the ring making her want to be a prince. Ding ding! Time Paradox!
The rose is the rule. If it falls off either compeditor's chest, they lose the duel. Kyoichi gets miffed at Anthy wishing Utena "good luck" so he does what he does best, wife beating! After another slap, it's revealed that Anthy has to go along with any and all of Kyoichi's whims because he's the champion duelist. Utena, angered, promises Anthy she WILL win, to Anthy's blushing surprise. A sweet moment that perhaps heralds the relationship the two will share after Utena inevitably cleans house with this pretty boy.
Anthy then invokes "the power of Dios that sleeps within me" before Kyoichi pulls a sword from out of her chest. He asks the powers that be for the strength to bring the "revolution". Clearly this guy's heading for a one way trip to the Bastille.
So it's magical steel vs a wooden boken in what really isn't as skewed a fight as it ought to be. The duel itself is fantastically animated, flashing in and out, giving all the angles and all the facial expressions from all the parties. We also get, of course, another bonkers song. Even more weird than the previous, one-upmanship at it's finest.
Kyoichi cuts the boken in two, only for the two combatants to charge each other inbetween falling rose petals. It's a fairly stereotypical charge which doesn't actually show anything, so you're left guessing who took the brunt of it. My money would have been on the chick with the wooden sword handle. But then what do I know? I, like Kyoichi, forgot the ONLY rule. The rose. Yes indeed, Utena cut Kyoichi's rose and won the rights to slap Anthy around whenever she wants.
I saw the conclusion coming, but yeah, bravo.
So did I enjoy it?
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: A lot happened in a single episode and it's somewhat hard to get my head round it all. I can tell that there was no small amount of symbolism in almost everything, from the character interactions to the settings. It was all somewhat lost on me, probably because I feel quite tired today. Clearly this is not a show for late Saturday night. Either which way, it has still managed to present me with many reasons to continue watching. I don't hide my guilty pleasures from the shojo genre because in my experience it's absolutely riddled with quality. Utena appears to be no difference. The art style, the music, the dialogue. Everything just screams excellence.
On top of that it managed to do more things right than I imagined. It was actually quite funny in places. The action was short, but sweet and more of the icing on the cake of the episode. Looking forward to episode two, but I'll probably hold off till I can fully appreciate it in all it's strange, yet satisfying, glory.
Femmeworth
Banned
Hix is a monster that must be stopped.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
There are plenty of people watching Smile Precure.
When will you learn?!
Moeskirt Pirates 11
Welp, whatever little hesitation about buying this I might have had last week is fully evaporated. Putting in orders now, Captain!
Each episode is better than the last.
I'm still not entirely sure how to describe why exactly, besides the obvious Star Trekishness, but I guess the direction and characters are just that appealing.
I think I may even like the male characters as they are, rather than my usual opinion of shows being improved by replacing all men with little girls.
And I seem to be able to deal with CG spaceships when there's no 2D in the frame for contrast, unlike the CG cars and trains that bug me a lot in other shows.
Now if only they get real singers or character VAs to do the OP/ED for the second half, it'll be perfect.
Welp, whatever little hesitation about buying this I might have had last week is fully evaporated. Putting in orders now, Captain!
Each episode is better than the last.
I'm still not entirely sure how to describe why exactly, besides the obvious Star Trekishness, but I guess the direction and characters are just that appealing.
I think I may even like the male characters as they are, rather than my usual opinion of shows being improved by replacing all men with little girls.
And I seem to be able to deal with CG spaceships when there's no 2D in the frame for contrast, unlike the CG cars and trains that bug me a lot in other shows.
Now if only they get real singers or character VAs to do the OP/ED for the second half, it'll be perfect.
Episode 11 Highlight said:
No he isn't. I'd rather people not watch it at all instead of piss all over it.
Crash Station
Member
Precure never goes past 50 episodes I thought. I'm talking series in the hundreds.
Femmeworth
Banned
If you can really call that "watching."
Ultimadrago
Member
I believe Hix is enjoying his villain status to the fullest!
Dedication Through Light
Member
What the OP/ED is perfect for the anime, I just imagine the female crew just singing the songs it sounds really fitting in an odd way, especially the OP.
No he isn't.
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
Fission mailed?
Really though, you have to admit that it adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the art style. Makes it livelier, fuller.
Do I get a tag yet?
You guys love it really.
Blame the black bars! I'm just a victim!
Crash Station
Member
Hix, keep doing what you're doing. It's amusing.
Yeah, hmm. You're not the first person to suggest it should be thought of as a bunch of pirates trying to sing rather than a normal theme song. I may have to admit defeat on this. Maybe I can imagine it's those various nameless crewwomen that appeared in ep 11...
hosannainexcelsis
Member
One morning, as Hix was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a giant black bar.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
LOL
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
Dresden, I trust that you, similar to Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, would do the necessary and 16:9 me to oblivion, should that ever happen.
lol awesome.
LOL Ok you win.
Femmeworth
Banned
But what about horizontal black bars?
That'll cost extra.
Femmeworth
Banned
He is probably watching it with the English audio and subtitles!
Oh god...
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
Was in two minds to do this, but as I recall Cajun already cornered that market.
The Japanese track though is excellent, so I'll probably stick with that.
Truly though it is dismaying that this situation has been forced upon me by anime that have not those things we take so easily for granted today, such as native 16:9.
Here's a few throw-away screenshots I took but never used in the review, seeing as you guys seem to like them alot;
My thoughts exactly.
This could take a while...
EDIT: And with that I'm off to bed, night folks.
Giant Robo : The Day Earth Stood Still (the whole thing)
That was incredible. I don't understand how this isn't a bigger thing. I know that it is considered quite highly, but from what I can gather it doesn't look like enough people know about it. Or am I crazy?
I, myself, only watched it because of it looked like the logical thing to do after watching Imagawa other works and playing Super Robot Wars Alpha last month, which got me intrigued. No need to say that as a mecha "fan" (eh...) I am wondering how I managed to not know about this until now.
The self-contained plot itself was fairly standard with plot devices you could see coming from a mile away, but the way it was directed and about every other aspect was simply wonderful : art style, music, characters, the intriguing extended plot and world setting, and so on.
It's too bad they'll never extend on prequels or sequels, the last episodes got really intriguing with the Big Fire mysteries. And by that I mean the organisation and character alike, leaving one to wonder what they were actually up to. Especially considering who Big Fire is actually based on.
That was incredible. I don't understand how this isn't a bigger thing. I know that it is considered quite highly, but from what I can gather it doesn't look like enough people know about it. Or am I crazy?
I, myself, only watched it because of it looked like the logical thing to do after watching Imagawa other works and playing Super Robot Wars Alpha last month, which got me intrigued. No need to say that as a mecha "fan" (eh...) I am wondering how I managed to not know about this until now.
The self-contained plot itself was fairly standard with plot devices you could see coming from a mile away, but the way it was directed and about every other aspect was simply wonderful : art style, music, characters, the intriguing extended plot and world setting, and so on.
It's too bad they'll never extend on prequels or sequels, the last episodes got really intriguing with the Big Fire mysteries. And by that I mean the organisation and character alike, leaving one to wonder what they were actually up to. Especially considering who Big Fire is actually based on.
The Shenmue fan I am won't ponder too much about that incomplete story, I don't need a second cross to bear.
I might be mistaken as it's been a while but I think the incomplete story was intentional. We were just supposed to get a section of the whole that harkened back to the days of serials and was more or less an homage to Mitsuteru Yokoyama's career given the characters were lifted from his various works.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Black Rock Shitter 07:
If you are the victim of a Black Rock Shitter, please see your doctor immediately as this could be a sign of internal bleeding most commonly found in the intestinal tract.
In all seriousness, there's a few parts in the BRS world that if they truly were CG anime is fucking doomed. Some of that shit was indistinguishable, and frankly the CG is the only thing in this show worth a damn. At least they made it worth several.
If you are the victim of a Black Rock Shitter, please see your doctor immediately as this could be a sign of internal bleeding most commonly found in the intestinal tract.
In all seriousness, there's a few parts in the BRS world that if they truly were CG anime is fucking doomed. Some of that shit was indistinguishable, and frankly the CG is the only thing in this show worth a damn. At least they made it worth several.
From Wikipedia:
I doubt any of it was ever seriously intended for production, though, so you may very well be right, as frustrating as it is.
Sailor Moon 13
Sailor Moon is such a progressive series, even by today's standards
Jadeite
I must say that I prefer the episodes that spend a bit more time building the relations between all the characters, but some solid story advancement is always nice. Jadeite
Tuxedo Mask is far too overpowered,
with a single Rose? Impossible! Speaking of totally not tuxedo mask, Usagi needs to stop kicking her shoes at him, he didn't deserve to be put on the spot like that.
Usagi and Co. have such a cute teacher. Sadly, even she didn't fall for Usagi's desperate attempt at convincing them all that she really did like studying.
Usagi's and Rei's bickering continues to be funny, Rei never misses a chance to make fun of poor Usagi's hair.
The
was the funniest moment of the episode, but I won't ruin it for those of you who haven't seen Sailor Moon yet.
Sailor Moon is such a progressive series, even by today's standards
Jadeite
is given a last chance to redeem himself, but after a rousing speech about the equality of the sexes, he is forced to retreat to the Queen, where he gets iced. At least there's a new villain now!
At least there's a new villain now!
I must say that I prefer the episodes that spend a bit more time building the relations between all the characters, but some solid story advancement is always nice. Jadeite
is such a tragic character, he gathered lots of energy and tried his hardest, but he still got iced anyway. I hope the new villain will live up to his predecessor's fabulousness.
stopping a jet
I wonder what the otaku reaction to Usagi would be if Sailor Moon was created today.
Usagi and Co. have such a cute teacher. Sadly, even she didn't fall for Usagi's desperate attempt at convincing them all that she really did like studying.
Usagi's and Rei's bickering continues to be funny, Rei never misses a chance to make fun of poor Usagi's hair.
The
Constellation gag
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