As I said, it all makes logical sense. Everything (a few plot holes aside) comes from what came before. But it's very much an artificial construct, an unbelievably specific puzzle, much like the lab itself. It only works because it operates under its own set of rules that it defines beforehand as completely distinct from our world. That makes it an interesting game, but limits how meaningful it can feel as a story.
There's a sharp difference between those who write mysteries as clever puzzles and those who write them as vehicles to explore the human psyche. It's rare that you'll get both at the same time. Either you have, as in Agatha Christie's writing, shallow characters who are manipulated as pieces on a chessboard to set up the desired twist, or you have, as in Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night, a mystery which is almost an afterthought to the experiences and emotions of the characters.
Hyouka is a great example of what I'm talking about - it's a great show but a TERRIBLE mystery procedural. The mysteries and the solutions are not solved in satisfying ways but are rather vehicles for character development and exploration of the psyche of the people involved. In addition, no one in the show even really cares about the mysteries, which excuses them to pull some really banal stuff out of their ass to construct the scenes they need.
I'm thinking of shows like Witch Hunter Robin, Un-Go, Gosick, Darker than BLACK, etc. I want shows like that, except with well written mysteries which are clever and satisfying, rather than.... whatever those shows ended up being!
to be fair, i wouldn't call gosick a mystery show (at least not a proper one). Everything is figured out practically instantly and the mystery elements are more used for world building and character development than anything else. (Personally really liked gosick)
Un-go i'll totally agree with you. No idea about darker than black or witch hunter robin (haven't watched those).
I guess dusk maiden of amnesia falls under mystery, but mystery isn't really the show's strong suit.
:/ I haven't watched enough mystery anime to be able to say much though :/
The Perfect Insider is pretty well plotted and constructed and the solution to its mysteries were given enough foundation that many in this thread were able to predict much of it. The bigger problem with the latest episode was that it was anti-climatic and that the these character dialogues lack the intensity that they really need considering how integral they are to the show.
To expand on the above, licensing.biz had an interview with (speak of the devil) Animatsu Entertainment's chief operations officer, Jerome Mazandarani and marketing manager Andrew Hewson on the global growth of Japanese animation.
How has the popularity of animé grow across the globe in recent years? How big a market is the UK for anime content?
Jerome Mazandarani: The market for anime products in the UK is rock solid. We have not seen our DVD and Blu-ray sales dip at all since the recession. It is a flat curve and my estimate is the UK market is worth over £9 million GBP annually, just for finished packaged goods.
The other areas of growth are in subscription OTT service like Crunchyroll and merchandising, transactional video on demand and merchandising. Particularly apparel, collectables, posters and accessories.
On a global level, mobile gaming is massive, especially with China and Korea as well as Japan.
How have you seen consumption of anime content evolve over recent years, how important are digital streaming platforms for anime content today?
JM: [Online anime streaming service] Crunchyroll.com has changed the game entirely. It has become a major disrupter to the traditional model of distribution for animé in foreign markets.
TVs loss has been digitals gain and even in more sophisticated markets like the US and Australia where animé has enjoyed market penetration and traditional television broadcast since the 70s, legal subscription streaming platforms like Crunchyroll have allowed fans access to shows as they air in Japan like never before.
...
Andrew Hewson: One of the strange knock-on effects of home video is that it has increased the demand for high-end, collector editions Blu-ray box sets, which is interesting. We think this is part of the Superfan curve that many in the music business have predicted.
We see a glut of fans at the low end of the curve happy to consume the content for free via AD-VOD or illegal streaming sites. Theres a decent concentration of fans paying a monthly sub in the middle and then at the top of the curve we have 10-15% of fans who want premium edition goods across all formats.
Streaming will ultimately have a negative impact on packaged media sales as more and more new and younger fans migrate to streaming sites for this content. This has put pressure on reputable publishers, distributors and studios to establish their own platforms.
Manga/Animatsu is currently developing its business strategy in regards to the growth of the streaming market and you can expect to hear more about that soon.
Can you tell us a bit of history about Manga Entertainment, Animatsu and the Dragon Ball Z brand and what are your plans for the business in the UK?
JM: Manga Entertainment Ltd is 25 years old next year. Its the longest running anime distributor in the UK and Ireland and at the start of this year was bought out from STARZ, the American cable subscription company by the UK management.
MangaUK is now a wholly independently owned business for the UK and Ireland.
Andrew and I started Animatsu Entertainment when we left Manga in October last year. Following the MBO of Manga, we brought Animatsu back to the new management as we required a domestic distributor and Manga needed a licensing and acquisitions team.
Weve merged our operations and moving forward, we are redefining what Animatsu is, which I hope will be a unique, special projects division encompassing digital platform building, original content development and production and global rights sales.
We have a few projects in development already as well as a global license acquisition I hope to announce before the end of the year.
---
AH: Dragon Ball Z, meanwhile, is a perennial manga and anime brand that has been on screens around the world for over 30 years and is produced by the legendary animation studio, Toei.
The show first debuted on UK screens in early 2000 on Toonami. It was broadcast on the channel until 2002. An abridged version of the original show is now on air at KIX and its called Dragon Ball Z Kai.
We released the latest animated DBZ movie, Resurrection of F on over 80 screens nationwide on September 30th. The film grossed over £96,000 in one night and had the second highest screen average after Ridley Scotts blockbuster The Martian.
We also debuted in the UK Box Office Top Ten during its opening week. We are now positioning the movie for DVD and Blu-ray release across all retail platforms on 25th January.
---
JM: Whats great for Manga from a home video standpoint is the relative older age of the Dragon Ball Z fan-base. Over 60% of the audience on Facebook and the official site is aged 15-25, which means we have a title that is more comparable to recent home video hits like The Flash TV box set and DTV hits like our own, HALO Nightfall.
The UK is a key market for anime because it is virtually untapped and has huge potential. There is a hardcore audience that we can rely on to take us over the line in terms of profitability, but also we have a huge cross over market of male gamers, collectors and hobbyists.
In recent years, Animatsu has been involved in the local campaigns for Halo: Nightfall and Dead Rising: Watchtower via our partnership with Content Media. These projects are direct-to-digital movies that spin off from the games.
What are the key areas of growth for anime content, is it in video games, TV or licensed products?
AH: We have been lucky to handle nearly all of the major anime brands. In recent years, we have distributed Death Note, Bleach, Naruto, Yu Gi Oh, One Piece, DBZ, Ghost In The Shell, Akira and many more. The biggest show in animé right now is Attack On Titan - thats absolutely massive.
As far as I can tell, the key areas of growth for anime IP over the next several years will still be TV shows and movies that are based on a manga (Japanese comic book), light novels, followed by RPG and action game properties.
JM: Crunchyrolls continued success means that we are now more comfortable trying out genres that have not worked for us before such as sport, dating/romantic and idoru Pop Idol animé shows. And with growth of VOD I also expect to see the first original animé series co-produced with the likes of Crunchyroll, Netflix and Amazon.
These will redefine what animé is and will show Japan new ways to crossover into a wider audience. In order for animé to remain viable, we need to see it continue to grow into a meaningful business overseas.
Less than 20 per cent of all license revenues are derived from international licensing. It will be interesting to see how Disney XD and Nintendo do with Yo-Kai Watch next year.
A live-action Ghost In The Shell film has been announced by Avi Arad Productions and Dreamworks with Scarlet Johansson set to star, and an Akira trilogy is in the works at Warner Bros. A Robotech trilogy is also in development at Sony Pictures so the future is looking very bright for animé fans all over the world.
It's certainly the weakest part of the show. It's fundamentally about characters who are highly abnormal.
Shiki's motivations are entirely self-interested. She wants to live without limits. She clinically removes any obstacles to the continued existence of her unfettered ego, her parents included. She prefers the virtual world where everything is as she wishes it, and nothing can contradict her. Saikawa has some sympathy for this point of view. He wonders, a few episodes earlier, if Shiki's full-throated acceptance of it makes her more human, somehow. And she's amused when, after going virtually underwater, his first impulse is to do the one thing he's unable to do there: smoke.
The conflict being set up is between her perspective and Nishonosono's. Nishonosono is someone who was basically saved after her parents' death by having someone who contradicted and limited her. She finds value in living in the real world, and it's fitting that her words are what undoes Shiki's ideal plan.
As I said, it all makes logical sense. Everything (a few plot holes aside) comes from what came before. But it's very much an artificial construct, an unbelievably specific puzzle, much like the lab itself. It only works because it operates under its own set of rules that it defines beforehand as completely distinct from our world. That makes it an interesting game, but limits how meaningful it can feel as a story.
I don't think you're a gimmick character, but you tend to have these extreme impulsive reactions to shows that you never really explain, so it's hard for me to ever get any sense of how I'd feel about a show from your impressions.
Right so the reason why I have reacted so harshly to these past two episodes is because I don't think the series really understood just how much of a fucking monster Dr. Shiki Magata was in the end. Setting aside the creepy insect love thing she engaged in, she basically condemned an innocent person to a life of isolation and insanity because the good doctor had never heard impulse control and was huge hypocrite. Talking about living without limits while keeping her daughter locked up for fifteen years to complete some insane philosophy that she doesn't even follow through with considering the big twist is the victim was actually her daughter and she isn't a VR being, she escaped on a boat after killing two more people. Oh and any discussion about this being a good mystery get thrown out the window once they introduced the daughter element in the first place. That was not an event that could really be hidden and here is where they fucked up on the details. They went to the effort of having her request odd things like toys and stuffed animals but stumbles when it is realized that for example babies need thing like baby food and diapers and then never really addressed that.
The ending makes sense in context to the rest of the novel volumes iirc, but since we are probably never getting a second season, that ending pretty much sucked.
The ending makes sense in context to the rest of the novel volumes iirc, but since we are probably never getting a second season, that ending pretty much sucked.
It's certainly the weakest part of the show. It's fundamentally about characters who are highly abnormal.
Shiki's motivations are entirely self-interested. She wants to live without limits. She clinically removes any obstacles to the continued existence of her unfettered ego, her parents included. She prefers the virtual world where everything is as she wishes it, and nothing can contradict her. Saikawa has some sympathy for this point of view. He wonders, a few episodes earlier, if Shiki's full-throated acceptance of it makes her more human, somehow. And she's amused when, after going virtually underwater, his first impulse is to do the one thing he's unable to do there: smoke.
The conflict being set up is between her perspective and Nishonosono's. Nishonosono is someone who was basically saved after her parents' death by having someone who contradicted and limited her. She finds value in living in the real world, and it's fitting that her words are what undoes Shiki's ideal plan.
As I said, it all makes logical sense. Everything (a few plot holes aside) comes from what came before. But it's very much an artificial construct, an unbelievably specific puzzle, much like the lab itself. It only works because it operates under its own set of rules that it defines beforehand as completely distinct from our world. That makes it an interesting game, but limits how meaningful it can feel as a story.
To expand on the above, licensing.biz had an interview with (speak of the devil) Animatsu Entertainment's chief operations officer, Jerome Mazandarani and marketing manager Andrew Hewson on the global growth of Japanese animation.
I wouldn't doubt it because it just kind of stopped after an event and that was it. The final episode wasn't story related at all and acted as an OVA. Kinda annoying. ..
Euphonium ep.4-6
Ok, Sensei is the best character here as he doesn't waiver from what the band kids choose to do by aiming for nationals. And yes, the gaze that trumpet girl gave Kimiko at the end of episode 4, then Kimiko gave her right before their performance in 5, that's yuri hinting, not baiting, and not yuri, just a glare... kinda longingly, lol.
I wouldn't doubt it because it just kind of stopped after an event and that was it. The final episode wasn't sure or related at all and acted as an OVA. Kinda annoying. ..
Euphonium ep.4-6
Ok, Sensei is the best character here as he doesn't waiver from what the band kids choose to do by aiming for nationals. And yes, the gaze that trumpet girl gave Kimiko at the end of episode 4, then Kimiko gave her right before their performance in 5, that's yuri hinting, not baiting, and not yuri, just a glare... kinda longingly, lol.
I have yet to read anyone's impressions since I didn't want to be spoiled but DAMN. I was right on the money last week about the
daughter being the one that was killed! The "sister" being Magata was a thought that I had going for a while, but now it was confirmed.
I liked the episode. 2 episodes ago they did something similar to this week, with the weird visuals and such, except this time it was all done in that VR machine. Pretty solid. I could see people nitpicking about this, and I bet I am going to find a lot of complaints on here. I liked it. Don't know where they can take the story from here though, there is supposedly another episode left.
I have yet to read anyone's impressions since I didn't want to be spoiled but DAMN. I was right on the money last week about the
daughter being the one that was killed! The "sister" being Magata was a thought that I had going for a while, but now it was confirmed.
I liked the episode. 2 episodes ago they did something similar to this week, with the weird visuals and such, except this time it was all done in that VR machine. Pretty solid. I could see people nitpicking about this, and I bet I am going to find a lot of complaints on here. I liked it. Don't know where they can take the story from here though, there is supposedly another episode left.
Hmmm, that would certainly serve her right for committing these crazy murders. The thing about
Magata
is just how much in control she is of people. Everyone in the lab did what she asked and never looked inside, reason why she was able to
raise a child in there.
To that point, she herself managed to convince that child that her way of seeing the world was the right one, and raised her to become the "F" we heard about.
Nishinosono broke her spell on her, and that got the daughter killed.
Then there's the uncle, which was always under her thumb,
including in death.
Lastly there is Sensei, which ALMOST fell for it if it weren't for two things. His way of living which always contradicts what he says
(that moment about Nishinosono being emotional if you remember, had her calling him a hypocrite and this wasn't the first time he has gotten called out for something like this)
and then when, after being given
"freedom" and "isolation" in this VR world, the 2 things that for the whole season he keeps talking about, ultimately get squashed by his addiction to cigarettes. He then gets woken up by, guess who, Nishinosono. Again she breaks Magata's spell
.
Just felt like putting my thoughts on the show out here. Am I putting too much thought into it? Maybe. Regardless, I still stand by the fact that I REALLY enjoyed it for being so different from everything that I watched this season. When I think of trash I see Asterisk, not this.
Hmmm, that would certainly serve her right for committing these crazy murders. The thing about
Magata
is just how much in control she is of people. Everyone in the lab did what she asked and never looked inside, reason why she was able to
raise a child in there.
To that point, she herself managed to convince that child that her way of seeing the world was the right one, and raised her to become the "F" we heard about.
Nishinosono broke her spell on her, and that got the daughter killed.
Then there's the uncle, which was always under her thumb,
including in death.
Lastly there is Sensei, which ALMOST fell for it if it weren't for two things. His way of living which always contradicts what he says
(that moment about Nishinosono being emotional if you remember, had her calling him a hypocrite and this wasn't the first time he has gotten called out for something like this)
and then when, after being given
"freedom" and "isolation" in this VR world, the 2 things that for the whole season he keeps talking about, ultimately get squashed by his addiction to cigarettes. He then gets woken up by, guess who, Nishinosono. Again she breaks Magata's spell
.
Just felt like putting my thoughts on the show out here. Am I seeing too much into it? Maybe.
Finally finished all of Animator Expo. Even setting aside my appreciation for the anthology concept, the couple of masterpieces justified the existence of all the duds. Since there are a lot of shorts, and everyone likes rankings, here's a ranked list of the shorts from best to worst to sum up my feelings on the project.
GREAT
The Diary of Ochibi
20min from Nishi-Ogikubo Station
Kanon
Bureau of Proto Society
GOOD
Endless Night
The Ultraman
Cassette Girl
The Dragon Dentist
Obake-chan
Carnage
Bubu and Bubulina
Hammerhead
Yamadeloid
OK
I Can Friday by Day
Tomorrow from There
Ragnarok
Power Plant No. 33
Three Fallen Witnesses
until You come to me
Comedy Skit 1989
Girdman
Neon Genesis IMPACTS
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen
Rapid Rouge
BAD
Iconic Field
Tokio of the Moon's Shadow
Evangelion Another Impact
Robot on the Road
On a Gloomy Night
GIRL
Me!Me!Me!
Sex and Violence with Machspeed
Hill Climb Girl
I don't always go the extra mile for shows so I am glad aha. Although I enjoy anime a lot, to a point that I am pretty active on this thread, I consider myself to be a pretty casual viewer in a sense that there are pretty much only two outcomes out of me watching a show: I like it because of X thing or I don't because of Y thing. That's it. A lot of members here like to go a little deeper, be it by looking at the cast for the show, or who the director is, or how the show looks, or what works it references, etc, etc. This show actually had me thinking a little more than usual, simply because I had to. Not that I'm saying that this is a good thing (in a show you should show more than what you leave up to the viewer to interpret, at least that's what I think) but this one for some reason just clicked with me, and I guess in a way it did with many others as well. I won't be recommending this show to anyone, since I feel like it was an experience that was given to me, and myself only. I liked everything about it, but I can see how everything I liked could be everything everyone else will hate.
Finally finished all of Animator Expo. Even setting aside my appreciation for the anthology concept, the couple of masterpieces justified the existence of all the duds. Since there are a lot of shorts, and everyone likes rankings, here's a ranked list of the shorts from best to worst to sum up my feelings on the project.
It was not reposted when the official site reuploaded the rest of season 1 after it was taken down the first time. I don't really care about it anyway; nothing I've seen of the original Gundam has made me interested in closer examination of its animation.
The perfect insider 10
Woah, so there you have it. The truth. I did not expect
Miki to be Shiki, that actually explain a lot of things
. The reasoning behind the word "F" was interesting. As far as mystery goes, there's enough clues and time to allow watcher to make their own hypotheses,and since some of us manage to guess correctly, that's a plus.
It was not reposted when the official site reuploaded the rest of season 1 after it was taken down the first time. I don't really care about it anyway; nothing I've seen of the original Gundam has made me interested in closer examination of its animation.
Final Approach ep.4-6
I'm glad these are only 12 mins each because the MC is a douche and the heroine is annoying. There are some funny moments, but too much forced drama is included.
Finally finished all of Animator Expo. Even setting aside my appreciation for the anthology concept, the couple of masterpieces justified the existence of all the duds. Since there are a lot of shorts, and everyone likes rankings, here's a ranked list of the shorts from best to worst to sum up my feelings on the project.
Is there any chance this anthology can be packaged together in a Blu-Ray or two and released with subs in the West? This is something I would like to own for my archives and rewatch at my leisure but that's not possible with some shorts hosted online, some taken offline, etc.
I know Yasuhiko and Itano are animation legends and all, but the original Gundam just looks so... unappealing. I'm going to be buying Yasuhiko's Gundam the Origin manga at least.
Is there any chance this anthology can be packaged together in a Blu-Ray or two and released with subs in the West? This is something I would like to own for my archives and rewatch at my leisure but that's not possible with some shorts hosted online, some taken offline, etc.
I know Yasuhiko and Itano are animation legends and all, but the original Gundam just looks so... unappealing. I'm going to be buying Yasuhiko's Gundam the Origin manga at least.
Finally finished all of Animator Expo. Even setting aside my appreciation for the anthology concept, the couple of masterpieces justified the existence of all the duds. Since there are a lot of shorts, and everyone likes rankings, here's a ranked list of the shorts from best to worst to sum up my feelings on the project.
Dunno if I ever posted some kind of rankings after they all aired. I didn't really mind approaching many of the "duds" because many of them at least had some amount of creativity behind the production that made investigating them seem worthwhile. Some stuff like Ultraman or Yameloid just seemed like they required a certain culture context I wasn't aware of, so it felt really impossible to take away much of anything from them.
VERY POSITIVE
20min from Nishi-Ogikubo Station
Girl
Kanon
Bubu and Bubulina
PRETTY POSITIVE
Cassette Girl
Sex and Violence with Machspeed
Me!Me!Me!
The Dragon Dentist
Hammerhead
Robot on the Road
Comedy Skit 1989
SORT OF MIDDLING
The Diary of Ochibi
Carnage
Bureau of Proto Society
Obake-chan
I Can Friday by Day
Tomorrow from There
Tokio of the Moon's Shadow
Three Fallen Witnesses
until You come to me
Hill Climb Girl
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen
NOT FOR ME
Endless Night
The Ultraman
Yamadeloid
Ragnarok
Ibuseki Yoruni
Power Plant No. 33
Iconic Field
Neon Genesis IMPACTS
Gridman
Evangelion Another Impact
Rapid Rouge
Not sure if I remember enough about the Animator Expo individually but here is my list. Gonna be honest and say I struggled to remember what a lot of these were. I can agree that overall I am positive on the whole projectt as even the things I found middling had merit to them idea wise, animation wise etc. -
Great
ME!ME!ME!
20min Walk from Nishi-Ogikubo Station
Kanon
Hammerhead
Bureau of Proto Society
GIRL
Casette Girl
Good
Gundam Key Animation
Sex and Violence with Machspeed
Diary of Ochibi
I can Friday by Day
Endless Night
The Ultraman
Robot on the Road
OK/Forgettable
Dragon Dentist
Hill Climb Girl
Carnage
Until You Come to Me
Tomorrow from There
Yamadeloid
Obake-chan
Tokio of the Moon's Shadow
Three Fallen Witnesses
On a Gloomy Night
Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen
Rapid Rouge
Comedy Skit 1989
Bubu and Bubulina
Ragnarok
Bad
Power Plant No. 33
Evangelion Another Impact
Iconic Field
My favorites of the whole project were ME ME ME, Hammerhead and 20min walk. The shorts that attempted to tell a story or that seemed like a pitch for a show were among the weaker ones. Completely self contained ones like 20min Walk or Cassette Girl, ones that made use of the short timeframe like ME ME ME and GIRL or animation showpieces like Hammerhead were the biggest successes.
Oh yeah, even though I liked ME!ME!ME! it's unfortunate that its success was completely standalone and didn't even remotely rub off on the entire project itself, not even GIRL.
I don't know why Me!Me!Me! gets so much attention and affection. Well, I guess I do, but it's unfortunate. That, GIRL, Sex and Violence, and Robot on the Road play into all the worst stereotypes about anime being for people who want to sexually molest women (and have women molest them, in the case of Yoshizaki's works).
I don't know why Me!Me!Me! gets so much attention and affection. Well, I guess I do, but it's unfortunate. That, GIRL, Sex and Violence, and Robot on the Road play into all the worst stereotypes about anime being for people who want to sexually molest women (and have women molest them, in the case of Yoshizaki's works).
pretty sure Me!Me!Me! was supposed to be about a bunch of forms of media addiction and shutting yourself away from life. Specifically why its dangerous and how its a vicious, hard to cut cycle (ie: how it repeats and starts where it began).
Pretty sure that's why it resonated with a lot of people.
What I get from mememe is a dude who's so entrenched in the otaku culture and the idealization of women that he's really actually terrified of women and sex and everything it might entail.
I don't know why Me!Me!Me! gets so much attention and affection. Well, I guess I do, but it's unfortunate. That, GIRL, Sex and Violence, and Robot on the Road play into all the worst stereotypes about anime being for people who want to sexually molest women (and have women molest them, in the case of Yoshizaki's works).
pretty sure Me!Me!Me! was supposed to be about a bunch of forms of media addiction and shutting yourself away from life. Specifically why its dangerous and how its a vicious, hard to cut cycle (ie: how it repeats and starts where it began).
Pretty sure that's why it resonated with a lot of people.
What I get from mememe is a dude who's so entrenched in the otaku culture and the idealization of women that he's really actually terrified of women and sex and everything it might entail.
I just liked ME!ME!ME! because the music and visuals were dope as fuck and tits
I don't actually buy any anime products like figures and whatnot, and i'm not a shutin, so the message it had didn't really affect me, but damn it looked and sounded good
oh yeah, i agree. thats what got it noticed.
I just think that a good chunk of people got at least some of the symbolism (at least more than GIRL, that was super cryptic) which is why people still talk about it on and off.
I see people recommending UN-Go. Is it actually being non-ironically recommended? I was entertained and loved the ED, but every mystery was solved by the lead using his lackey to force the confession out of people. There was little actual detective work except for very basics.
Monster is an interesting case. I'll admit I didn't think of it because it doesn't quite fit what I'm thinking of here. Monster is a long form thriller. There is investigative work as part of the story but it isn't the focus, because it's more of a story about a guy on the run and the people he meets along the way.
I remember watching the Top Secret anime ages ago, and thought it was pretty awful...
Tantei Gakuen Q fits with the sort of "for kids" thing I described though. Similar to Conan, Kindaichi, Milky Holmes, etc.
What I'm wondering is whether there is an actually well made and more importantly well written detective/mystery anime for older audiences. I guess GitS Stand Alone Complex is actually the closest to what I'm thinking of, but maybe non-scifi? Idk. I would even settle for a good version of Witch Hunter Robin if it existed!
The only mystery in Attack on Titan is the mystery of how people are still looking forward to another season.
