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[firehawk12]

Squid Girl 3 was fun.

Strangely, 3.2 reminded me of Gintama and 3.3 reminded me of Arjuna.

 

[Cwarrior]

Mirrai Nikki ep1

Looks really ugly and the lead is near shinji ikari level whiny little bitch but i like yanderes, so the question is how long can I endure the whining to get some yandere service.

 

[Crash Station]

Mirrai Nikki ep1

Looks really ugly and the lead is near shinji ikari level whiny little bitch but i like yanderes, so the question is how long can I endure the whining to get some yandereservice.

I think you'll be fine. Yuki isn't that bad and even if he was, all yandere fans owe themselves to watch this show. Hell, Yuuno is the friggin pic for yandere on tvtropes. She's the modern poster child for it!

 

[zeroshiki]

You and Me 2

A believable tsundere? I don't believe my eyes. Still confused at all the cat shots.

I haven't seen an episode of this but the cat thing reminded me that there's a live action movie with the same title about a dude and his cat. The cat was even voiced by Maaya.

 

[Hitokage]

Darkness Hat Book show does not seem memorable at all two episodes in. It's no Kannazuki no Miko etc. Bad, but not a special kind of bad.

Although there is a lot of inappropriate touching and subsequent blushing and beatdowns. So there's that I suppose.

I dunno, thought the shaky cam use in ep 1 was a special kind of bad, but if that didn't satisfy then it will later on.

Fate/Zero Ep.2

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Ep.02

Spoiler

Click for alternate image

Finally the brain appears! I love the "modernization" done to the story so that it better fits current culture. -Hey Usagi take a picture with your cellphone so that you can change outfits-
Puppet Luna is still by far the best character in the series, but then again Makoto hasn't been introduced yet.

Also, the use of some live action monsters instead of CG ones is a much appreciated addition.

The greatest part about this episode is how Ami's reaction to Usagi isn't ever "she's fucking crazy, what the hell?" but rather "oh she just wants to be with me to use me."

Also, Motoki.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

C3 2

The first episode and the first half of this one were run-of-the-mill but then, uh... yeah. Stuff happened. I can't call it good, but it's weird enough to keep me watching.

 

[MotionBlue]

Spoiler

and Denpa Onna is a great anime with unique characters, a nice plot and a great OP song. Where are the other Denpa Onna fans?

Present.

 

[Geneijin]

There was also plenty of evidence the other way too, though.

Of course, but it's not like that evidence completely ruled out the former either.

I do think looking for some answers in the novel spoilers makes sense, and that they probably should be applicable unless the anime specifically goes against them later. And my interpretation of what I've read of the novel spoilers makes me think that my interpretation makes sense.

I know this isn't your point, but your comment here makes me want to say it again. If you want to spoil yourself for validation on information that hasn't yet been revealed in the anime, alright. I don't want to however since I don't care about the novels right now nor do I desire the need to spoiler myself on the story.

I don't think that's right. The novel spoilers say that

Spoiler

the sky lands were created because there wasn't enough room on the ground for all the people after they were forced to return to Earth, yes? So the people there being alternate dimensional clones or something like that just doesn't make sense.

And this is why I don't care about the novel spoilers. There's enough information in the anime's 1st episode to suggest this until proven otherwise in the anime. Of course, it's speculation, but nonetheless, it's a perfectly legitimate possibility right now. Invalidating my point because of the novels is stupid and is getting into spoiler territory.

And as absurd as my idea was for there being

Spoiler

alternate dimensional clones are,

yes, it doesn't make sense, but with a clearer understanding of the ending credits we have now, you could easily say since there's no evidence to support the idea, that it's absolutely farfetch right now.

As I think scy said later,

Spoiler

the book of Testament is their manual for the history they're following,

I'm pretty sure. Not that.

You're right. Saying the Harmonic Divine States are at least an alternate dimension of sorts was wrong of me. Wrong choice of words on my behalf actually. I'll just refer to it as a pocket dimension like the synopsis states and use TV Tropes' definition of what a pocket dimension is. But again, I could care less about novels invalidating my point when the anime hasn't (yet).

It could be magical or something, but not definitely. And I don't know if there are any ties between it and the Harmonic Divine States.

By "it" you mean the Testament? The ending credits establishes this connection between the book Testament and the Harmonic Divine States by suggesting the creation of the Harmonic Divine States was because of the book, Testament.

Hmm, maybe it means that the shape of the land was in the shape of the land on the ground or something? Or maybe they were in fact also running through the history too, though I'm not so sure about that. I don't know, there are multiple explanations.

We only know of one entity that was trying to reenact history and that was the Divine States as stated in the ending credits. The Harmonic Divine States also participating in the history reenactment is speculation at this point.

And unless we have a mistranslation, it doesn't mean the shape of the land was in the shape of the land on the ground or something. We know what the Divine States are. That's specific. A copy was created of it. We also know specifically what that copy is. Hence, we can assume what the Harmonic Divine States exactly is.

The main issue here is the difference between the place that all of these people came from, be it floating continents, spaceships, whatever, and the places they are living now, either on the earth or in flying cities or whatever.

You could make an argument the people from the Harmonic Divine States were originally people from the Far East/Divine States, so they were also formerly people who lived in the skies too, which seems most likely.

Spoiler

That is, I'm assuming the novel description is right and humans had left the earth for some time, as it was ruined and uninhabitable. But some disaster happened, and they were forced to return. But there wasn't much safe land, so they set up something in the skies/dimensional portals or something, where some people lived, while others were on the ground. I'm assuming that the latter group, on the ground, are the Divine States (our heroes, now oppressed), and the former the Harmonic Divine States who are now their masters, after the disasters and wars in the new 15th century. I could, of course, be wrong however.

If this is type of refutation is going to be commonplace, I'm not going to bother with this discussion anymore.

To answer your question, it is possible humans built sky colonies because the state of the Earth was ruined and uninhabitable before they did. But since that wasn't stated, it's a trivial issue really. What's more important is what they populated in. I absolutely disagree they remade sky colonies because they lost that technology. The most likely explanation would be a dimension of sorts that would house the duplicated Divine States.

 

[Andrew J.]

Gundam AGE 01

In some respects this was pretty formulaic as far as first Gundam episodes go, but it set up some things that could develop into something interesting.

Once A Wakening of the Trailblazer let that "extraterrestrial antagonists" genie out of the bottle Sunrise didn't waste time capitalizing on it.

 

[Lafiel]

It's just like the cameraman was drunk on the day of filming. Do they even have cameras in anime? It just makes it that much more mystifying.

I wonder how it would work if you had a actual "good" anime with that filming style!

 

[Geneijin]

I agree but I was solely going after trying to figure out what the hell the backstory was getting at; I've kept myself relatively safe from anything relevant to the plot itself of the show besides that. The only thing I've really found were variations on translations of the prologue summary, honestly (and reader summaries on the backstory plot).

Really, I probably could have just been patient and maybe learned it down the road but part of me figured that if they were just info dumping over the credits, that they might just go right into the meat of the plot without much to fill us in anymore.

Believe it or not, there is enough information in the anime and synopsis stated, implied and suggested that would have answered most of your questions. The novels only serve as confirmation, and the withheld information might have been used for possible future plot twists.

And while it's true they could go right into the meat of the plot and skip into the action, I don't like the bias discussion resulting from you guys having read the novel spoilers frankly. If you guys needed that confirmation, I'm not against that. But if it's making you do as I mentioned, I could care less about the current discussion because it isn't simply about understanding the plot now. It's going into spoiler territory.

 

[Cwarrior]

Ben-to ep1

meh... dissapointed was hopeing something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGFI4Lcfdbg

Glass girl and store guy are the only entertaining characters.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Kimi to Boku 2

Interesting episode. Starting to get used to the mix of flashbacks to reveal more on the characters although they continually revolve around the preschool. There were some hilarious moments, which, hopefully they keep the comedy up. I think they are a bit too conservative with the soundtrack, so many ambient scenes. Yuki contines to be a fave.

 

[Dresden]

Kimi to Boku 2

Interesting episode. Starting to get used to the mix of flashbacks to reveal more on the characters although they continually revolve around the preschool. There were some hilarious moments, which, hopefully they keep the comedy up. I think they are a bit too conservative with the soundtrack, so many ambient scenes. Yuki contines to be a fave.

Isn't this show about boys? Why are there... oh.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Ben-To 1

Crazy premise, sure, but dull execution. Too bad. I'll leave the half-priced bento to those more desperate than I.

 

[trejo]

Mirai Nikki 1

Seemed kinda rushed compared to the manga but as far as adaptations go they could've done worse, I guess. I liked that little omake thing at the end.

CG Deus looks inexcusably awful and is only barely bearable because dat Wakamoto.

 

[scy]

Believe it or not, there is enough information in the anime and synopsis stated, implied and suggested that would have answered most of your questions. The novels only serve as confirmation, and the withheld information might have been used for possible future plot twists.

Fair enough; I wanted confirmation that what I grasped was correct. But, at the same time, the issue of understanding things came about from the slipshod translations in conjunction with possibly the anime leaving something out (and just how convoluted the plot itself is). Honestly, if not for the discussion at hand, I'd probably have just gone in the next episode without looking up anything; it's where we're throwing around three or four different scenarios for the set-up, not the current plot, that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth in regards to understanding the plot.

That said, there's no more novel spoilers I even know about and we'll see how much it mattered that I went out to find a better translation of the prologue summary.

And while it's true they could go right into the meat of the plot and skip into the action, I don't like the bias discussion resulting from you guys having read the novel spoilers frankly. If you guys needed that confirmation, I'm not against that. But if it's making you do as I mentioned, I could care less about the current discussion because it isn't simply about understanding the plot now. It's going into spoiler territory.

To be perfectly honest, I thought you knew more about the novels with the way you've been speaking about the events to come. You seem to know more about it with certainty than I certainly do.

And, really, all we have now is some level of certainty on the facts that were supposed to be established. We can argue back and forth how much that changes things but, really, I think figuring out the background information allows for a greater understanding of the plot that will be coming up and that it was "worth" it. We have a different stance on it for this, though I'd normally be in agreement with you.

I apologize if the novel spoilers of the Prologue ruined this for you

You're right. Saying the Harmonic Divine States are at least an alternate dimension of sorts was wrong of me. Wrong choice of words on my behalf actually. I'll just refer to it as a pocket dimension like the synopsis states and use TV Tropes' definition of what a pocket dimension is. But again, I could care less about novels invalidating my point when the anime hasn't (yet).

"Pocket dimension" is probably viable; I mean, there's really not much said one way or the other. The only thing that makes me think "floating copy" is the intro scene, but the timing doesn't seem to match up so not sure what that scene indicates yet. The HDS was

Spoiler

"something" that was a copy of the land

. That's about all I think we know absolutely sure right now.

By "it" you mean the Testament? The ending credits establishes this connection between the book Testament and the Harmonic Divine States by suggesting the creation of the Harmonic Divine States was because of the book, Testament.

I don't know if that's right, though; I mean, it seems like an awkward translation of the line more than anything. We'll see, though, when they expand on what the Testament is.

Though, that said, the Anime's website has notes clarifying things and the Testament has a rather large section on it. I haven't looked into translating it, though.

We only know of one entity that was trying to reenact history and that was the Divine States as stated in the ending credits. The Harmonic Divine States also participating in the history reenactment is speculation at this point.

I'm not sure if it's wild speculation, though; I mean, it's mostly down to splitting hairs on how things were translated on how much speculation it is. And, again, it begs to question why

Spoiler

two different time periods are relevant (regardless of their events towards the plot); considering that History Reenactment is a rather big deal to the plot, there should be some rationale for why two wildly separate time periods both occurring.

Still, once things start happening, we'll know for certain on this one.

To answer your question, it is possible humans built sky colonies because the state of the Earth was ruined and uninhabitable before they did. But since that wasn't stated, it's a trivial issue really. What's more important is what they populated in. I absolutely disagree they remade sky colonies because they lost that technology. The most likely explanation would be a dimension of sorts that would house the duplicated Divine States.

They might have lost that technology, depending on what Tenjou is; I mean, something keeps Musashi afloat, right? Unless they come out and say it is some mysterious relic of the "past" that "somehow" works, I'm under the assumption they have some of their old technology still around.

That map you posted

Spoiler

seems to indicate the existence of a floating continent still, for instance, and the info dump at the end depicts scenes of other advance technology

so I don't think we're dealing with an antiquated society. Just whatever Tenjou was is so much of a bigger deal than what they currently have.

Hell, pocket dimensions make me wonder why they care about

Spoiler

space/Heavens/wherever Tenjou was

at all. Pocket dimensions sound awesome!

 

[Instro]

I think you'll be fine. Yuki isn't that bad and even if he was, all yandere fans owe themselves to watch this show. Hell, Yuuno is the friggin pic for yandere on tvtropes. She's the modern poster child for it!

I haven't read the manga, but that image seems like a spoiler

Spoiler

The killer we can't see at the beginning of the episode uses an axe...

 

[Crash Station]

I haven't read the manga, but that image seems like a spoiler

Spoiler

The killer we can't see at the beginning of the episode uses an axe...

That scene really shouldn't be in the intro. It isn't shown in the manga until MUCH later and leads into one of the craziest reveals in the series. Fortunately, many won't be able to determine the meaning without context.

Anyway,

Spoiler

Yuuno

isn't the only axe-user IIRC, so don't worry about the spoiler. She starts to use one pretty quickly anyway.

One Piece 507

The Usopp scene with him shooting the plants was great. This is the kind of stuff that really makes the anime worth watching even if you already read the manga.

 

[RurouniZel]

Phi Brain 02: After watching this episode, I'm convinced someone at Sunrise said "Let's make a show that combines Professor Layton and Bleach! It'll be brilliant!"

I don't know about brilliant, but this is awesomely entertaining! The silliness is amazing in that they're playing it completely straight. I don't care if it's not intentional, it's awesome. ^^

 

[Geneijin]

FFair enough; I wanted confirmation that what I grasped was correct. But, at the same time, the issue of understanding things came about from the slipshod translations in conjunction with possibly the anime leaving something out (and just how convoluted the plot itself is). Honestly, if not for the discussion at hand, I'd probably have just gone in the next episode without looking up anything; it's where we're throwing around three or four different scenarios for the set-up, not the current plot, that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth in regards to understanding the plot.

That said, there's no more novel spoilers I even know about and we'll see how much it mattered that I went out to find a better translation of the prologue summary.

There are a few reasons for that - mistranslations, bad writing, unfaithful adaptation, and poorly told. Some of the different scenarios was because of speculation merely, and I was perfectly fine with that since I was willing to wait for more details to be revealed honestly.

To be perfectly honest, I thought you knew more about the novels with the way you've been speaking about the events to come. You seem to know more about it with certainty than I certainly do.

Is that how it looked? :lol

All the information I've been privy to has been either from the 1st episode or the novel spoilers you two spoke of here. The reason why my speculation was able to go so far and my certainty of its accuracy was because those novel spoilers confirmed my suspicions with my current understanding of the plot in Episode 1. Things can still change of course.

And, really, all we have now is some level of certainty on the facts that were supposed to be established. We can argue back and forth how much that changes things but, really, I think figuring out the background information allows for a greater understanding of the plot that will be coming up and that it was "worth" it. We have a different stance on it for this, though I'd normally be in agreement with you.

That isn't where my disagreement is from. I think it is worthwhile. It's the adaptation = source treatment that irritates me. I'm fine if you guys need a confirmation, but as ABF has done several times with that information when thinking of the anime, if it's going to limit and delude your ideas of what will transpire in the anime, I don't care about the discussion anymore for myself frankly since I don't care about the novels. Only the anime.

I apologize if the novel spoilers of the Prologue ruined this for you

You can do that by coming onto the IRC.

"Pocket dimension" is probably viable; I mean, there's really not much said one way or the other. The only thing that makes me think "floating copy" is the intro scene, but the timing doesn't seem to match up so not sure what that scene indicates yet. The HDS was

Spoiler

"something" that was a copy of the land.

That's about all I think we know absolutely sure right now.

You do realize that floating copy could be Harmonic Divine States as you postulated right? Because we aren't told how the Harmonic Divine States function nor looks like, it's still reasonable to speculate that the floating copy as you call it is the Harmonic Divine States before it collapses. Also, we don't know what the narrator meant by humanity reaching the heavens either. What's also important in that opening scene is the date stated: 1457, Testament Era. The Harmonic Divine States fell during the Testament Era because the Divine States failed some time during the Middle Ages as stated by the narrator. 1457 is when the civil war started too. There's enough information to speculate this anime may be unfaithful to the novels if the date changes are indeed so, so the timeline in the novels would inaccurate.

I'm not sure if it's speculation, though; I mean, it's mostly down to splitting hairs on how things were translated.

True, but I'm going to ignore that one specific translation you've referred to a few times as my complaints have already stated since how can I trust them if I can't understand their earlier translations? That's disregarding how almost incomprehensible the closing moments and ending credits were.

Spoiler

And, again, it begs to question why

Spoiler

two different time periods are relevant (regardless of their events towards the plot); considering that History Reenactment is a rather big deal to the plot, there should be some rationale for why two wildly separate time periods both occurring.

Spoiler

Because it marks a beginning and an end. You're forgetting about the apocalypse mentioned. Also, you're not thinking about the Testament enough. Speculation:

Spoiler

It could very well be that the fall of the Harmonic Divine States was foretold in the Testament, and humanity is following their history to an end - the apocalypse - unless someone saves humanity.

Plot twist indeed. Because think about it. Only one small group of people, the Testament Union, dictates how the reenactment goes. It also means only a few people have access to reading that book. It's a classic setup if they plan to do it this way. :lol

They might have lost that technology, depending on what Tenjou is; I mean, something keeps Musashi afloat, right? Unless they come out and say it is some mysterious relic of the "past" that "somehow" works, I'm under the assumption they have some of their old technology still around.

I think there's no doubt there are still remnants of that technology, but the technology/power to reestablish another Tenjou was lost because of its destruction or some other bullshit answer they'll give.

That map you posted seems to indicate

Spoiler

the existence of a floating continent still, for instance, and the info dump at the end depicts scenes of other advance technology

so I don't think we're dealing with an antiquated society. Just whatever Tenjou was is so much of a bigger deal than what they currently have.

There's no key to reading that map, and besid,es what we already know of the Divine States suggests it's not a floating continent at all. It's literally Japan.

Hell, pocket dimensions make me wonder why they care about

Spoiler

space/Heavens/wherever Tenjou was at all.

Pocket dimensions sound awesome!

Now you know one of the other reasons the plot is :lol worthy.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Sorry for posting on an old anime but I just finally got the second season on disc, funimation takes forever to drop prices...

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

1-26
That was just great, the episodes following the canon material really excited me and pumped me up.

27-52

Spoiler

How in the world did this season even get approved? Only like 4 or so episodes were even canon, of which they were the best episodes, the race and then Kurogane's past.

This left me more disappointed than Soul Eater due to so many points that werent addressed and disappointed me since I had read the manga already

Spoiler

Fai's history was never addressed, the Syaoran with Fei Wang Reed was never involved, Fai and Kurogane's part in the next arc, and Sakura's greatest moment too, they didnt even address Kuragane finding the answer to his moms murderer

. Im honestly surprised that, at this point in time, a season 3 hasnt been green lit.

Now back to DBZ, on episode 11 or something, Goku still running on Snake Way for six episodes now

 

[scy]

There are a few reasons for that - mistranslations, bad writing, unfaithful adaptation, and poorly told. Some of the different scenarios was because of speculation merely, and I was perfectly fine with that since I was willing to wait for more details to be revealed honestly.

I suppose what it ultimately comes down to, I don't like to blame the adaptation as forgetting something and just rolling with it unless I have good reason to believe so; since the translations seemed spotty at best, I didn't feel like it was just that things were left out.

Unclear translations, bad writing in general, and things like that I was hoping to squash for myself, not necessarily "So, what did the Anime forget?"

But I will admit that I like my adaptations to be a bit strict to following their source material unless they have good reason for the deviation (clarify things, better idea, that shit was stupid, etc.). It doesn't necessarily have to be 1:1, but it shouldn't do things differently "just because!" so I don't think about "okay, doing something new with the material" when differences arise.

Though, that really only applies when I know the source material for maximum disappointment; I don't know this so as long as it's interesting, or lol-inducing, it should all be fine~

Is that how it looked? :lol

A little, lol.

You can do that by coming onto the IRC.

Maybe; I'm shuffling back between this topic and Dark Souls though~

You do realize that floating copy could be Harmonic Divine States as you postulated right? Because we aren't told how the Harmonic Divine States function nor looks like, it's still reasonable to speculate that the floating copy as you call it is the Harmonic Divine States before it collapses. Also, we don't know what the narrator meant by humanity reaching the heavens either. What's also important in that opening scene is the date stated: 1457, Testament Era. The Harmonic Divine States fell during the Testament Era because the Divine States failed some time during the Middle Ages as stated by the narrator. 1457 is when the civil war started too. There's enough information to speculate this anime may be unfaithful to the novels if the date changes are indeed so, so the timeline in the novels would inaccurate.

Well, I'm not dismissing the idea yet, just saying your pocket dimension idea and my floating continent one are equally valid as of right now as literally all we know is basically that it exists/ed.

And the time stamp on the opening is possible an error, a deviation, or just something else; it's clearly there for a reason though so we'll see what it leads to.

Because it marks a beginning and an end. You're forgetting about the apocalypse mentioned. Also, you're not thinking about the Testament enough. Speculation:

Spoiler

It could very well be that the fall of the Harmonic Divine States was foretold in the Testament, and humanity is following their history to an end - the apocalypse - unless someone saves humanity.

Plot twist indeed. Because think about it. Only one small group of people, the Testament Union, dictates how the reenactment goes. It also means only a few people have access to reading that book. It's a classic setup if they plan to do it this way. :lol

I'm still half expecting

Spoiler

The Testament Union to just be making shit up; that's so tired and overused, though, that I'm not sure which would surprise me more: Them actually using it or them not.

I'm keeping the

Spoiler

apocalypse timer in mind; I'm just still stuck a bit on the existence of both periods simultaneously for any reason besides them wanting to use events from both to fuel the conflict. Like, if the Harmonic Divine States and the Divine States were both reenacting History and we're left with two different periods being reenacted ... though this works under so many extra assumptions that I'm not sure how viable it is. It could just be, as you say, the end of one period and leading into the next, rather than both occurring RIGHT NOW at the same time.

When things start to happen, this will quickly clarify itself so I'm not too worried about figuring out all the details right this very minute.

I think there's no doubt there are still remnants of that technology, but the technology/power to reestablish another Tenjou was lost because of its destruction or some other bullshit answer they'll give.

They lost the keys to Tenjou, clearly.

There's no key to reading that map, and besid,es what we already know of the Divine States suggests it's not a floating continent at all. It's literally Japan.

I think you misunderstand a little. I'm referring to

Spoiler

England, in the top-left, says "Floating Land" as their territory

.

Now you know one of the other reasons the plot is :lol worthy.

Honestly, I watched the first episode just to see why Toori has such a shit-eating grin on. Now the ridiculousness of this plot has me engrossed. Possibly for all the wrong reasons.

 

[RurouniZel]

Gundam AGE 01: I really enjoyed this. Sure the premise of the boy building the Gundam and whatever is a bit implausible, but then again SEED had Coordinators who weren't that much older and were smarter than everyone else, so I'm used it that.

Really, the only thing I don't like about Gundam AGE at this point is Flit's stupid green hair. Everything else totally works for me, and the other Layton-esque designs actually give it a kind of old-school flavor. Not Gundam Unicorn old-school, but old-school nonetheless.

 

[Instro]

Ika Musume 3
Ika and Alex make a good pair, that was really cute.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Ben-to 1 - I liked this, mostly. The characters are stereotypes, and for the most part the show seemed like it would be mediocre (I mean, how stupid is that concept...), but the show somehow worked. I think part of it was how completely absurd the concept is, it's just ridiculous... :lol

This is a harem show, but beyond that, the main draw is the absurd concept. So, apparently, there is this store which sells half price bento. There are a bunch of hungry (and presumably poor) people who fight bitterly over this half-price bento. Our hero, and three girls (so far), are among the crowds fighting over the bentos. In ep. 1 the MC gets beaten repeatedly in his attempts to get a bento, so he doesn't start out skilled. He can't resist trying anyway, though, he wants the food and can't resist the attempts despite knowing what will probably happen. Of the girls, one seems to like him for no apparent reason, another is called the "Ice Queen" and apparently rules that store or something, and the third is his class representative and has hit the MC several times when she saw him with the first girl, though we don't really know why yet.

Overall, this show is so absurd that it actually works, so far at least. The idea of people fighting bitterly over half-price cheap food is pretty silly, but that's part of what makes the show amusing, really. I wasn't expecting much from this, but it beats expectations for sure.


Majikoi Oh! Samurai Girls 1 - This has nothing to do with the other Samurai Girls, unfortunately. This show starts with action, as this entire episode is all action as the characters fight in a (no actual injuries) battle between two classes and their supporters. Anyway, thi is a harem show based on an H-game. As is common with such things, the H elements are gone (no pantyshots either, here). The game was a strategy H-game, so the MC is a strategist type who tells people their orders, and the girls are strong fighters. He has some minor fighting skills, but nothing impressive compared to them, or his ability to plan strategy. Oh, there are five main girls. One is a childhood friend who the MC had had a sister-like relationship with when they were younger, but now likes. He's confessed to her twice, but she rejected him both times.

Most of the episode, however, is taken up with the fighting between the two classes. Some bits here and there are good, but for the most part it was very generic. Dog Days this is not, let's just put it that way... this is a pretty underwhelming show, and I barely found it decent enough to keep watching. Not too good.

At AWA, ABe said that the Despera anime isn't completely dead yet, but it would take many years to finish at best. He's also involved in another unknown anime project.

Well, that's better than him say that it'll never happen, I guess.

Twin Angel Finale

You were right ABF, that was pretty amazing. I was kind of upset that

Spoiler

Tuxedo mask came back; I knew that he would, but was hoping that the show would keep with the tone of the last episode. And why the hell did we not get to watch the fight between deer head and bear head!

By far one of the most out of nowhere scenes I have seen in a while was the

Spoiler

moe~rocket! How the hell did they even think that simply chanting "We can do it" would allow them to suddenly fly into space???

The show overall was a fun hodgepodge of anime cliches rolled up into one ridiculous show. Add on to that an obscenely catchy ED song, and you have Twin Angel.

Yeah, that scene you mention in the spoiler was pretty great. It came out of absolutely nowhere, makes no sense at all, and was so ridiculous that it was both quite funny (best thing in the episode for sure) and stayed that way through the whole scene, all the way until they

Spoiler

fall back to Earth again through the atmosphere

. I mean, who could possibly have guessed that just through the sheer power of belief they could actually

Spoiler

take off like a rocket into space to save the day

? Holding hands and believing sure gives you a lot of power, in anime land...

Apart from that, though, the episode was mostly somewhat disappointing, yes. It's kind of too bad that

Spoiler

the guy did come back with only wrapping tape to show for it. I did find his complete lack of an explanation for how he survived (even when asked) kind of amusing though

. Also I thought the final battle against the villain was completely pathetic. Twin Angel barely fought him at all, it was just totally lame. And before that they had to be rescued by Tuxedo Mask too, which was stupid. If not for the part in the previous paragraph, it'd definitely been a disappointing episode. As it was, it was just weak compared to ep. 11, which was perhaps the best episode in the series.

As for the end of the episode, the ending was fairly predictable. I did like how

Spoiler

Kurumi actually admitted that she thinks well of the MC, though. That was nice, cracking her tsundereishness for a moment.

That wasn't exactly surprising, but was nice to have at the end I guess. Finally, though, I hope that they do make a third season, as they suggest they will at the end. More of this would be good, and that ending needs continuation. Maybe next time they can have a decent fight with this villain, if he survived his apparent demise?

 

[Geneijin]

I suppose what it ultimately comes down to, I don't like to blame the adaptation as forgetting something and just rolling with it unless I have good reason to believe so; since the translations seemed spotty at best, I didn't feel like it was just that things were left out.

Unclear translations, bad writing in general, and things like that I was hoping to squash for myself, not necessarily "So, what did the Anime forget?"

None of the reasons I've stated is saying the adaptation forgot something. I think you've misunderstood me. In general, I don't think you'll see a production forget to ever add something they've intended. Unable to, sure.

But I will admit that I like my adaptations to be a bit strict to following their source material unless they have good reason for the deviation (clarify things, better idea, that shit was stupid, etc.). It doesn't necessarily have to be 1:1, but it shouldn't do things differently "just because!" so I don't think about "okay, doing something new with the material" when differences arise.

Though, that really only applies when I know the source material for maximum disappointment; I don't know this so as long as it's interesting, or lol-inducing, it should all be fine~

Yeah, this is another discussion entirely, which I don't want to bother with, so I'll excuse myself out of this :lol

Well, I'm not dismissing the idea yet, just saying your pocket dimension idea and my floating continent one are equally valid as of right now as literally all we know is basically that it exists/ed.

My point was that the dimensional door could be speculated as having been destroyed in the opening scene, and the pocket dimension broke, causing the collapse of the pocket dimension/Harmonic Divine States. It isn't so much a floating continent anymore but a land falling.

And the time stamp on the opening is possible an error, a deviation, or just something else; it's clearly there for a reason though so we'll see what it leads to.

Wait a minute. I know the writing was bad, but are you telling me they were so incompetent that they could have possibly put the wrong date as an error? I don't believe that, and I refuse to entertain such an idea. There's enough to suggest the anime isn't going to follow the novel's timeline because of that. An error could happen, but really, on the first episode?

I'm still half expecting

Spoiler

The Testament Union to just be making shit up; that's so tired and overused, though, that I'm not sure which would surprise me more: Them actually using it or them not.

As they say, sometimes, the obvious things are forgotten.

Spoiler

They haven't given the Testament Union any real identity yet, so I'm assuming this might happen if they're involved.

I'm keeping the

Spoiler

apocalypse timer in mind; I'm just still stuck a bit on the existence of both periods simultaneously for any reason besides them wanting to use events from both to fuel the conflict. Like, if the Harmonic Divine States and the Divine States were both reenacting History and we're left with two different periods being reenacted ... though this works under so many extra assumptions that I'm not sure how viable it is. It could just be, as you say, the end of one period and leading into the next, rather than both occurring RIGHT NOW at the same time.

Have you thought about reading it like this:

Spoiler

they are reliving the Warring States period and the Thirty Years War because the Warring States period is about to end and the Thirty Years War is about to begin with Tori's declaration of world domination?

Also, yes. The least assumptions we can make, the more valid it should be.

When things start to happen, this will quickly clarify itself so I'm not too worried about figuring out all the details right this very minute.

Or they throw us into the meat of the plot, and all we see are explosions and action (not that I mind).

I think you misunderstand a little. I'm referring to

Spoiler

England, in the top-left, says "Floating Land" as their territory.

Yeah, I did misunderstand. I missed that actually. But that map is from the novels, so I'll refrain from thinking much on it.

Honestly, I watched the first episode just to see why Toori has such a shit-eating grin on. Now the ridiculousness of this plot has me engrossed. Possibly for all the wrong reasons.

I didn't expect this plot either.

 

[trejo]

Squid Girl 2: Squid Harder episode the third

Seeing as Sanae is the best character in the show it comes as no surprise that Alex is also awesome. Goro can be kind of a dick sometimes but Squid Girl ain't even mad.

 

[Jex]

It's just like the cameraman was drunk on the day of filming. Do they even have cameras in anime? It just makes it that much more mystifying.

They invented one for that show, because they are pioneers.

 

[Takao]

Friends don't let friends dub anime at Blue Water.

 

[scy]

None of the reasons I've stated is saying the adaptation forgot something. I think you've misunderstood me. In general, I don't think you'll see a production forget to ever add something they've intended. Unable to, sure.

True, probably not "forgetting" so much as choosing otherwise (or forced otherwise, depending on circumstances).

Yeah, this is another discussion entirely, which I don't want to bother with, so I'll excuse myself out of this :lol

Yeah, I half thought to edit it out lest it open something better left sealed, lol.

My point was that the dimensional door could be speculated as having been destroyed in the opening scene, and the pocket dimension broke, causing the collapse of the pocket dimension/Harmonic Divine States. It isn't so much a floating continent anymore but a land falling.

It could be that, or it could be a collapse from the skies; I really hope it gets discussed if only so we know for sure, even if it ends up being an ultimately minor detail.

Wait a minute. I know the writing was bad, but are you telling me they were so incompetent that they could have possibly put the wrong date as an error? I don't believe that, and I refuse to entertain such an idea. There's enough to suggest the anime isn't going to follow the novel's timeline because of that. An error could happen, but really, on the first episode?

It's happened before, though I added the possibility of an error only as a catch-all of getting every possible explanation. I don't think that's what happened as that would just be too stupid entirely. It's either a purposeful change or as originally intended.

Have you thought about reading it like this:

Spoiler

they are reliving the Warring States period and the Thirty Years War because the Warring States period is about to end and the Thirty Years War is about to begin with Tori's declaration of world domination?

It very well could be that, especially if the rate that they go through the

Spoiler

history reenactment isn't 1:1 (since, again, they sat through _11,000_ years of reenactments?!). They could easily jump from the end of the Warring States period right into Thirty Years War period, with Toori's rebellion being the kick off for the Thirty Years War reenactment. The only thing keeping me from going full on with that is I'd think the history reenactment being something done by the Union in a controlled way, though they may be pulling the strings anyway </conspiracy>

.

That's also why I say we'll know very soon once things kick off. If we start seeing

Spoiler

battles/events from both periods, we'll know that they're both occurring; if we see the end of the Warring States period leading right into the Thirty Years War, we'll know it's as you say.

Also, yes. The least assumptions we can make, the more valid it should be.

Oh Occam's Razor, how you taunt me so.

Or they throw us into the meat of the plot, and all we see are explosions and action (not that I mind).

Even if nothing gets resolved story wise, I just like the various characters and abilities; just kind of a particular fancy of mine. Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Law of Ueki etc. kind of things with the sheer range of different powers. The first episode seemed competent enough for action so I'd be fine with just explosions and action (and crazy hair).

Yeah, I did misunderstand. I missed that actually. But that map is from the novels, so I'll refrain from thinking much on it.

Yeah, it seems like something we'll come to know later in the anime. I didn't even take note of the map until it got reposted recently.

I didn't expect this plot either.

I don't think anyone did~

 

[Jex]

Woah, I never thought he'd go back to that style. Excited!

Next thing we'll know, Oshii will actually fulfil his earlier promise to go back to the style of Gosenzosama Banbanzai!.

What is the difference between old Oshii and golden Oshii? Aren't those the same thing?

There was a brief period at the start of his career, like in 1981, where he hadn't become weird awesome Oshii, then Beautiful Dreamer happened...

I guess "early Oshii" would make more sense.

 

[Geneijin]

Yeah, they want to recreate it, but not have the disaster that happened the first time happen again. They don't seem to be having much success, given that they can't even get through all of the past history without having further disasters and wars.

I think that's a misstatement =P

They've only done this historical reenactment once and failed once. They've had 1 war and 1 disaster since now.

I agree, all of the translations have their problems.

I only meant that one translation specifically. Two, if you count the revision done to it.

Spoiler

Space seems to be my guess for where Tenjou was. Spaceships? Offworld colonies? Space colonies? Something else, but clearly not on the Earth, perhaps? Something like that, anyway. But other than that, yes, I agree with this explanation.

(I'm not sure if this quote should be spoilered or not. Perhaps, but I'll leave it out for now.)

I'm just going to say the sky since I usually see

Spoiler

Tenjou/Heaven being synonymously used with sky in Japanese.

Spoiler

I was thinking that the conquest of the Divine States happened in 1457 and now it is 1648, but yes, dates are an issue. For instance, the Wikipedia article for the show mentions the Divine States-Harmonic Divine States war as starting in 1419, not 1457... I don't know why there is a discrepancy, or what the answer is.

One explanation could be that the anime isn't going to follow the novel's timeline.

Those two don't sound THAT different really...

Oh, but it does. Semantics, my friend!

Spoiler

One implies history cannot be recorded anymore in the Testament while the other implies history has stopped because it doesn't update anymore.

 

[darkside31337]

C3 2:

Pretty much why I give almost every show I watch more than one episode.

If you planned on dropping the show after one episode I'd really really strongly suggest checking out the second episode before doing so.

Spoiler

I was going into this show expecting something along the lines of a Ro-Kyu-Bu. Haha boy was I wrong.

The entire first episode was a total chore to watch but it's entire purpose is to basically help set up episode 2.

The fight scenes were great stuff and the way they went about the entire fight was even better.

Really really looking forward to more of this show.

 

[zeroshiki]

There's apparently a controversy regarding an Android app (AppTV) that lets you watch streamed anime for free. It apparently does "targeted marketing" in the sense that it sends to home base everything you do :lol It reports what apps you have and even usage time.

The company had to pull it down when users found out and their excuse basically was: "welp, sorry we forgot to ask you to agree to that in the privacy policy"

I wonder what crap otaku have in their phones :lol

 

[chickdigger802]

C3 2:

Pretty much why I give almost every show I watch more than one episode.

If you planned on dropping the show after one episode I'd really really strongly suggest checking out the second episode before doing so.

Spoiler

I was going into this show expecting something along the lines of a Ro-Kyu-Bu. Haha boy was I wrong.

The entire first episode was a total chore to watch but it's entire purpose is to basically help set up episode 2.

The fight scenes were great stuff and the way they went about the entire fight was even better.

Really really looking forward to more of this show.

fight was decent, still doesn't fix any of the other problems.... like the characters?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There's apparently a controversy regarding an Android app (AppTV) that lets you watch streamed anime for free. It apparently does "targeted marketing" in the sense that it sends to home base everything you do :lol It reports what apps you have and even usage time.

The company had to pull it down when users found out and their excuse basically was: "welp, sorry we forgot to ask you to agree to that in the privacy policy"

I wonder what crap otaku have in their phones :lol

Android Market is un-moderated. That means, unlike the Apple App Store, Windows Phone 7 Marketplace, Blackberry App World, HP App Store, etc. etc. you need to actually pay attention to what you are downloading. Anyone can submit anything to Android Market and until it's reported as malicious to Google and investigated, anyone can download a malicious app and use it.

Be careful out there, people!

 

[iavi]

Horizon 2

My assumptions from the last ep were wrong. This show is ranges from great to flat out horrible, with the scenes that include Smugdouche being the only great ones. There is no middle ground. Same goes for the OST. One minute you'll have Prince in a candle lit room on a casio and in the next you'll have Nobuo Uematsu on that same casio but with an orchestral sound bank. I am liking that particular mess.

 

[Crash Station]

One Piece 508

Frrrraavourr

 

[Lafiel]

Horizon 2 - Smugface is a genuinely awesome character, shame about the rest of the show..

 

[Geneijin]

True, probably not "forgetting" so much as choosing otherwise (or forced otherwise, depending on circumstances).

It was a choice either way!

It could be that, or it could be a collapse from the skies; I really hope it gets discussed if only so we know for sure, even if it ends up being an ultimately minor detail.

An answer we need.

It's happened before, though I added the possibility of an error only as a catch-all of getting every possible explanation. I don't think that's what happened as that would just be too stupid entirely. It's either a purposeful change or as originally intended.

Ah, yeah. That's where my confusion was.

It very well could be that, especially if the rate that

Spoiler

they go through the history reenactment isn't 1:1 (since, again, they sat through _11,000_ years of reenactments?!). They could easily jump from the end of the Warring States period right into Thirty Years War period, with Toori's rebellion being the kick off for the Thirty Years War reenactment. The only thing keeping me from going full on with that is I'd think the history reenactment being something done by the Union in a controlled way, though they may be pulling the strings anyway </conspiracy>.

Spoiler

Which is why I think it's 1:1 since the pace of the anime suggests that although you could make a claim because the plot is going in a certain direction - the apocalypse, it doesn't matter and they're showing you the events leading to that climax.

And yes, Testamount Union = conspiracy perhaps? I have an inkling they'll most likely go that way. Manipulating even the people who think are manipulating/reenacting history.

That's also why I say we'll know very soon once things kick off. If we start seeing

Spoiler

battles/events from both periods, we'll know that they're both occurring; if we see the end of the Warring States period leading right into the Thirty Years War, we'll know it's as you say.

I still bet on the latter being true~

Even if nothing gets resolved story wise, I just like the various characters and abilities; just kind of a particular fancy of mine. Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, Law of Ueki etc. kind of things with the sheer range of different powers. The first episode seemed competent enough for action so I'd be fine with just explosions and action (and crazy hair).

The ridiculousness is a selling point for me too.

 

[zeroshiki]

Have we talked about the travesty that will be the Rurouni Kenshin Live Action movie yet? Because we should. They announced most of the important cast and, well, its gonna be an idol vehicle for sure. (Kaoru is pretty cute)

The director is the guy who did the well received Ryomaden Taiga drama for NHK so it might not be totally terrible. The adult characters are also veteran character actors.

 

[duckroll]

I don't see the problem. Kenshin looks like a girl, so what's wrong with casting a guy who looks like a girl to play him?!

 

[zeroshiki]

I don't see the problem. Kenshin looks like a girl, so what's wrong with casting a guy who looks like a girl to play him?!

I just hope they have a good enough budget to actually do decent fight scenes. I hope its not just people waving swords at each other ala Azumi.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It seems like most of the live-action anime movies are cheap cash-ins.

 

[zeroshiki]

It seems like most of the live-action anime movies are cheap cash-ins.

With the state of the Japanese entertainment industry, unless its some slice of life drama (like Bunny Drop) its almost guaranteed to be bad.

 

[DiGiKerot]

I've only skimmed the comments but I see more people being wary about Hiroyuki Yoshino's work - they may well be right, but I suppose we can only wait and see.

Don't tell me that people are still bitter about the My-HiME ending...

 

[firehawk12]

With the state of the Japanese entertainment industry, unless its some slice of life drama (like Bunny Drop) its almost guaranteed to be bad.

Whatever happened to Space Battleship Yamoto anyway?

 

[zeroshiki]

Don't tell me that people are still bitter about the My-HiME ending...

They should be. Those types of endings are total bullshit.

Mai-Hime spoilers

Spoiler

Oh shit I've killed off too many characters, let's just press this huge red reset button over here

Whatever happened to Space Battleship Yamoto anyway?

I have a copy. Its... really bad :lol

And its supposed to be this big budget action movie with famous actors up the wazoo.

 

[firehawk12]

I have a copy. Its... really bad :lol

And its supposed to be this big budget action movie with famous actors up the wazoo.

Marimite is god tier, clearly.

Usagi Drop just came out right? DVD release next year?