silhouette definitely make the outlook a bit more optimistic. Even if the tone is lighter normally, if there's a shift in scenes like that, I can deal.
As for Wagnaria 2 . . . I'm still kinda conflicted about that. I got caught up to episode ten and I think it's still a pretty boring show, but there's something oddly appealing about how vapidly cute it is. It just radiates moe.
From a directing standpoint it is pretty bad. Characters have no depth, they just mouth their lines and follow the script, there's no clear motivation for anything. It cuts between way too many settings without really ever establishing location, and there are just too many references to other mythologies thrown into the mix. You get some latin here, some Aztecs here, Sumerian, and he even mentioned Gnosticism.
There's some secret organization named ARCH ANGEL and are we also led to believe that Rider, Genghis Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin tried to attain the knowledge of the ancients?
I knew Hitler was a hollow earth nut but I didn't think he was that crazy.
(Really, who name drops "Gnostic" besides Bakker and Endo?)
Also, was it just me or does the male protagonist kinda look like he was ripped straight out of a Ghibli movie?
sequence in the anime. They did it very, very well. They also compressed it for time, much to it's benefit, that whole sequence managed to drag on for like half a chapter in the manga. By keeping it short, they were able to keep the tension up nicely. The limits of this show's budget are frequently visible during long sequences of characters running, but other than that, the show looks quite fantastic most of the time as well.
Yuno's Psycho Eyes are very well-done in the anime. I would be remiss if I failed to mention them because her eyes are always drawn normally in the manga after the first couple of chapters, probably because drawing the Psycho Eyes required more effort than the author was willing to put in every single time Yuno decides it's time for killing, which is really often. Although in the manga, Yuno's eyes always being drawn the same way does mean the reader has to infer when she's being semi-normal and when she's being psycho, and this becomes rather important later on. We'll see how the anime handles that soon enough.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Be- Holy Shit Look At Dem Clouds!
It's Shinkai taking a stab at generic fantasy and... it's not very good. My nakama Halycon calling it awful is just him being harsh, as per usual, but it does leave one with a sense of unfulfillment. The whole thing is quite been-there-done-that and pretty much every character's motivations are so flimsy you won't likely care for any of them.[...]
I would also add a haircut, a shave, and lessons in how to speak to normal human beings. In Japan, where there are nerds who literally don't leave their homes for years, I would imagine the lessons would come in most handy.
I would also add a haircut, a shave, and lessons in how to speak to normal human beings. In Japan, where there are nerds who literally don't leave their homes for years, I would imagine the lessons would come in most handy.
Bwahahahahahahaha. Some of the best meta-humor I've ever seen. The part where the anime collapsed in on itself was priceless. Totally worth this little marathon.
Animugaf, aside from working, I've quit moe anime and only watch real anime like Trigun, outlaw star, and cowboy bebop now. Do you guys know of any more like them? I'm pulling blanks, sadly. A cool protagonist is a plus, and romance is always good.
Now you see, you screwed up. The Place Promised in our Early Days and 5 Centimeters per Second were both objectively better in terms of narrative and narrative telling than Voices of a Distant Star. I may entirely despise 5cm/s, but my personal opinion of the piece doesn't change that it's easily one of the most methodically told stories animated, even more methodical than Oshii. Even my negative gut reaction to it is essentially the thesis of the film. There is no way to feel 100% good about that ending, and that's the point. I won't say anything to Children Who Chase Voices from Deep Below, but that's only because I haven't seen it. Short of it is that Shinkai's 2nd and 3rd films are much better than his first in terms of narrative.
Now you see, you screwed up. The Place Promised in our Early Days and 5 Centimeters per Second were both objectively better in terms of narrative and narrative telling than Voices of a Distant Star. I may entirely despise 5cm/s, but my personal opinion of the piece doesn't change that it's easily one of the most methodically told stories animated, even more methodical than Oshii. Even my negative gut reaction to it is essentially the thesis of the film. There is no way to feel 100% good about that ending, and that's the point. I won't say anything to Children Who Chase Voices from Deep Below, but that's only because I haven't seen it. Short of it is that Shinkai's 2nd and 3rd films are much better than his first in terms of narrative.
I would place 5CM/S as his best and most structured film. My only concern is that the day he figures out the proper ratio of clouds to narrative, anime will have to stop since it will have reached maximum potential.
There's some secret organization named ARCH ANGEL and are we also led to believe that Rider, Genghis Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin tried to attain the knowledge of the ancients?
Now you see, you screwed up. The Place Promised in our Early Days and 5 Centimeters per Second were both objectively better in terms of narrative and narrative telling than Voices of a Distant Star.
Disagree. Voices was the perfect length for what Shinkai was trying to do, whereas Promised Place was seriously missing much needed closure by the end and 5cm/s would've been better as an OVA project along the lines of Eve no Jikan.
If Shinkai remade Voices with a full team behind him, it would easily be his best work.
(My personal ranking of his movies actually goes 5cm/s -> Promised Place -> Voices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Hoshi wo ou Kodomo)
See, the problem isn't that this OVA is bad. The problem is that it's bad in ways that aren't entertaining. Bad dubs and goofy plotlines lead to entertainment. Bad direction, editing, and tons of exposition, on the other hand... It really is amazing how bad the pacing and editing is in this. It's almost Garzey's Wing bad, and considerably more boring. It seems as if the director is entirely unaware of the concept of transitional scenes. It also doesn't help that every single pan in the series is way too fast. It actually hurts to watch after a while.
There are other problems too, like the animation being full of cheap tricks and not very pleasant to look at most of the time. And the soundtrack is everything bad about the 80s. And there's the continuous stream of exposition, all of the scenes of people sitting around and talking about things that are happening in other places instead of, you know, actually showing them. This story is ostensibly about a ninja girl seeking vengeance for her village that was destroyed by monsters, so why is all this weird historical exposition shoved in here? It has no relevance to her story at all, it's just there to set up the stupid ending plot twist
about all of Japan's civil wars being a Xanatos Roulette by space aliens who want to open a portal to hell.
There are a few humorously stupid scenes, such as this:
Now, that might not seem so bad, but the thing is, they had literally only known each other for about two hours. They had one conversation together.
However, a few scenes like this aren't nearly enough. It's just not a fun show to watch at all. Really the only good thing about the entire OVA is the monster designs, which are legitimately good.
* Yamada is awesome
* Inami is so moe it hurts. I blame Enron for this.
* The funniest parts of this show are any time Sato is trolling Poplar
* Poplar still needs more screentime.
* This is the worst run restaurant I've ever seen and it amazes me that they manage to stay in business at all.
* Takanashi's ability to be a complete bastard at the most opportune moments is either infuriating or hilarious depending on the scene in question. Sometimes both at once.
* No, seriously, Takanashi is such a bastard at times he makes me feel sorry for Inami, which I thought was completely impossible a few episodes in. And yet it's funny, so I can't even complain about it. Damn you comedy!
......
Working>&(^(#*^!! 1-2
I'd say Takanashi needs a few punches to the face, but well, yeah... also maybe it's just me but it seems like this show actually kinda sorta got a budget this time.
One thing I always found amusing about the Working!! anime is how they managed to recast Jun Fukuyama, Hiroshi Kamiya, and Daisuke Ono as a trio of characters remarkably similar in looks (and somewhat in personality) to the ones they played in Durarara.
And I said MPD might be in my top 3 of all time and I feel no shame in that. Still 3 episodes left and anything could happen, though. I've been burned once by a great show turning to shit, although that didn't happen right at the end (Tiger & Bunny).
Ben-To - 09
After (over)analyzing the opening credits, I don't really see this anime returning to it's former glory. The major plot point
seemed to be resolved earlier with the whole East vs West thing
. There's no indication of any further major arcs. The anime seems to have shifted focus off the protagonist (well, shifted the correct focus) and the core concept and that is a formula for disaster. The only reason this anime worked in the first place is because it was so bizarre yet entertaining. You could say that OP's are not always an indication of all story-lines within an anime but I don't know if Ben-To is an anime which follows that.
That being said, it seem the show is going down the road to
the twins entering the fray in actual bento battles. The sooner this happens the better. The trick is whether or not the whole thing feels like filler
Only 3 episodes left so I'm not exactly holding my breath.
I can say with confidence this is the best show this year and one of my favorite show in years after a couple of rewatches and the new cut of episodes 10 & 11. The new scenes about Shiina and Yuki's past were excellent as were the little insights into Takatsuki dealing with her own motivations and desires. Everything about this show was just a joy to watch and one of the few shows in years to bring tears to my eyes. A shame we'll never get to see more animated.
And I said MPD might be in my top 3 of all time and I feel no shame in that. Still 3 episodes left and anything could happen, though. I've been burned once by a great show turning to shit, although that didn't happen right at the end (Tiger & Bunny).
I think Heidi is one of the few people that could get so excited about snow, she's happy to wake up in the morning in a bed covered by it (leaving aside the fact that she sleeps in a room with an open window and only uses a blanket to cover herself.... I feel cold just thinking about it!).
Is it a coincidence that the same director made the best show at the start of 2011 and the best show at the end of 2011? I don't think so. It's not coincidence. It's FATE(/ZERO).
