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[cnet128]

Hunter x Hunter 99

A slightly underwhelming episode considering they made us wait precious extra days for it. Gon took care of a couple of no-name ants, which was kinda fun, but at the end of the day they were just a couple of no-name ants. And the rest of the episode was aaaaall politics. Which is okay sometimes, but made this episode drag a little.

Ah well. I know there's epic stuff coming up, so I can hang in there through a slow episode or two. And hey, next week's the big Episode 100! That's something to celebrate!

 

[BluWacky]

Hyouka 1-5

I'm watching the superior KyoAni show which looks and sounds amazing and has characters who are real people instead of fetish collections and who have natural conversations with each other.

Maybe my opinion on Chitanda being a terrifying moeblob would change if I went back to Hyouka now post-KnK...

 

[cajunator]

Shindanmaker ruined my "adorably rapey" option with censorship?

I don't like you any more, Shindanmaker.

Welp...

Maybe my opinion on Chitanda being a terrifying moeblob would change if I went back to Hyouka now post-KnK...

Nah. shes still as terrifying moeblob. Which by the way isnt a bad thing!

 

[Branduil]

Hyouka sadly looks more and more like a happy accident rather than KyoAni actually making a breakthrough.

 

[Pooya]

Maybe my opinion on Chitanda being a terrifying moeblob would change if I went back to Hyouka now post-KnK...

Did you watch all of it? if not, I don't think you'll feel the same by the end. There is proper character and relationship development in Hyouka, it's mostly subtle too.

Hyouka sadly looks more and more like a happy accident rather than KyoAni actually making a breakthrough.

The only accident there was them picking up a worthwhile source, not any crap from first guy that enters the door...

Looks like they want to work only on their own IP now and they're failing miserably at finding sources...

 

[duckroll]

Here's an "interesting" statistic comparison.

Number of key animators credited for the episode:
Kyoukai no Kanata Ep1 - 10
Kill la Kill Ep1 - 13
Kyousogiga Ep1 - 15
Yozakura Ep1 - 16
Log Horizon Ep1 - 18
Gundam Build Fighters Ep1 - 25
Magi S2 Ep1 - 28

Bonus:
Kyoukai no Kanata Ep2 - 7

 

[jman2050]

Hyouka was likely backed by the strength of its source material, if KyoAni's other stuff is any indication.

Spoiler

I still don't like Chitanda

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Maybe my opinion on Chitanda being a terrifying moeblob would change if I went back to Hyouka now post-KnK...

Chitanda isn't really a "moeblob", despite the large eyes. She can get really excited and enthusiastic, but her personality is refined, polite, and respectful, and she generally has her head on straight. Despite often not thinking things through carefully, she is certainly intelligent and can sometimes notice things that pass by Oreki and others in the Classics Club. She is especially emotionally sensitive. There's a huge gap between her and characters such as Rikka and Mirai.

 

[cajunator]

Hyouka sadly looks more and more like a happy accident rather than KyoAni actually making a breakthrough.

It wasnt an accident just a good source. Like most great anime that comes from a solid source. You cant polish a turd.

Chitanda isn't really a "moeblob", despite the large eyes. She can get really excited and enthusiastic, but her personality is refined, polite, and respectful, and she generally has her head on straight. Despite often not thinking things through carefully, she is certainly intelligent and can sometimes notice things that pass by Oreki and others in the Classics Club. She is especially emotionally sensitive. There's a huge gap between her and characters such as Rikka and Mirai.

She is so much better drunk

 

[Branduil]

Rikka and Mirai aren't even so much characters as they are walking bags of checked-off attributes.

 

[Jintor]

 

[wonzo]

It wasnt an accident just a good source. Like most great anime that comes from a solid source. You cant polish a turd.

You actually can but it requires a ton of effort, effort that KyoAni's shown they're increasingly incapable of putting in.

 

[Branduil]

You guys.

 

[jman2050]

At least Rikka made for a good conduit for humor and gags for a while. Until everything went KEYshit of course.

Mirai as a clumsy moemoe comic relief character is a complete nonstarter.

 

[DeadRockstar]

I truly appreciate you replying. The movie is still weighing heavily on me, and like is usual for his films, I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for weeks to come. As I said, what his movies are about typically impact me a lot deeper than most films. But I will say, as depressing as I find the subject matter of his movie's, I think they are refreshing, as they really touch on human themes that are very real. They are aspects to life that isn't wonderful. So I like that these films do touch on these moments, and they feel very REAL to me (well more so 5cm and The Garden of Words, although his other works still have those emotions that feel very real to me).

Maybe it's just where I am at in my life right now, but his films always cut pretty deep for me. But my god, I just really loved the Garden of Word's setting. I think that while the story is fairly simple, I loved the dynamic between the two characters, and how their relationship had an impact on each other (even in the slower moments in the beginning, where they weren't saying much to one another). I liked how subtle and quiet this film was.

So perhaps that is why the ending part kind of took me back a bit. I actually thought she was going to confess that she loved him too. I was glad that it didn't go that route, and instead was more about her getting her feelings out. Because she always kept things pent up, and didn't like to say what she was really feeling. So I should give the ending more credit, in that while it was kind of cliche (the moment itself) -- I thought the actual themes tied to it was handled well.

Hey, no problem! It's a good film to talk about. I agree that there's a realism and honesty that separates Shinkai's work and makes it hit harder than most. The themes of time/impermanence, love and distance are consistent, but he picks different situations to express them and Garden of Words is my favourite. Structurally and visually it's hard to imagine a scenario that would be better at conveying his intent. He's also good at showing as much, if not more, than he tells. Like you say, it's a fairly quiet film, but each character's personality comes across clearly. Yukino seems playful and approachable initially, just by dangling her shoe on the end of her foot. Takao seems diligent and ambitious by nature of what he's doing, and what he's sacrificing to do it.

Despite the melancholy, for a while there it's pretty great to watch two effortlessly sympathetic people fill a role for one another until the "mono no aware" kicks in. I also appreciate that the storybook ending wasn't used. The confrontation scene could probably have been less excited, but Shinkai seems to sit on that line between melodrama and soap acting. He's gonna step over every now and then Yukino getting her feelings out feels like the verbalising of her progression. I like that Takao filled a role that wasn't just "boyfriend" and earned her love but not necessarily her person.

I think it's great that the film weighs on you(even if it's depressing). It did for me too. I tend to like art/media that's exploratory in addition to or instead of being conclusive in it's ideas for that very reason. It becomes worth more than just your time at that point.

Nice avatar btw. Shows how pretty the film is even in such a small space. And now I want to watch it again!

 

[Pooya]

Zetsuen no Tempest was a very good polished turd, at least for like 8-10 episodes it felt great even.

 

[Branduil]

You actually can but it requires a ton of effort, effort that KyoAni's shown they're increasingly incapable of putting in.

KyoAni pretty much established themselves as the studio it is today by making the prettiest polished turds in the anime industry, uguu.

 

[santeesioux]

So what happened to Pupa? I noticed no streaming sites picked it up, nor do i think it has aired yet.

 

[Acosta]

Tokyo Raven for best OP of the season (so far). Anyone with me?

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Here's an "interesting" statistic comparison.

Number of key animators credited for the episode:
Kyoukai no Kanata Ep1 - 10
Kill la Kill Ep1 - 13
Kyousogiga Ep1 - 15
Yozakura Ep1 - 16
Log Horizon Ep1 - 18
Gundam Build Fighters Ep1 - 25
Magi S2 Ep1 - 28

Bonus:
Kyoukai no Kanata Ep2 - 7

So KyoAni has the best production schedule and Magi has the worst. No surprises here!

You actually can but it requires a ton of effort, effort that KyoAni's shown they're increasingly incapable of putting in.

It doesn't just require effort per se, it requires the willingness and ability to make major changes to the source material to salvage the usable ideas in it and ditch the rest. Irie with Code:Breaker is a good example. It's not accurate to say that KyoAni is incapable of putting in effort, as they are obviously putting in a ton of effort on the production of Kyoukai no Kanata; the problem is that the script is sticking to the poorly-written light novel instead of going in its own direction. I do find it difficult to believe that no one at KyoAni said, "Guys, this novel is terrible, we have to change it" - considering that they didn't give the award to this novel when it was entered in their contest, they must have been aware it had problems. Oh well.

 

[Jarmel]

At least Rikka made for a good conduit for humor and gags for a while. Until everything went KEYshit of course.

Mirai as a clumsy moemoe comic relief character is a complete nonstarter.

It's especially frustrating as she doesn't give that impression in the novels. She's mostly shy but she's pretty capable and serious a good portion of the time.

 

[DeadRockstar]

It doesn't just require effort per se, it requires the willingness and ability to make major changes to the source material to salvage the usable ideas in it and ditch the rest. Irie with Code:Breaker is a good example.

Is this why (sweeping generalisation incoming) the internet hates Code:Breaker? I recently watched it and thought it was good, but it has low ratings and a bunch of comments about being a bad adaptation in several places. I'm not familiar with the source, so I couldn't tell if the comments were from unreasonably scorned fans of it or if they actually thought the show was bad on its own merits.

 

[fertygo]

They do make change in Kyokana, for example.. Mirai is world class moeblob now.

 

[cajunator]

Rikka and Mirai aren't even so much characters as they are walking bags of checked-off attributes.

whats wrong with that?

KyoAni pretty much established themselves as the studio it is today by making the prettiest polished turds in the anime industry, uguu.

Well...that is true.

 

[Jarmel]

It doesn't just require effort per se, it requires the willingness and ability to make major changes to the source material to salvage the usable ideas in it and ditch the rest. Irie with Code:Breaker is a good example. It's not accurate to say that KyoAni is incapable of putting in effort, as they are obviously putting in a ton of effort on the production of Kyoukai no Kanata; the problem is that the script is sticking to the poorly-written light novel instead of going in its own direction. I do find it difficult to believe that no one at KyoAni said, "Guys, this novel is terrible, we have to change it" - considering that they didn't give the award to this novel when it was entered in their contest, they must have been aware it had problems. Oh well.

They probably handed it off to Hanada and gave him explicit instructions to fix it. Problem is that he's not a good writer himself. You can only fix something if you're better at it than the original. Steins; Gate was seemingly a fluke that happened due to how strong the source was.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Tokyo Raven for best OP of the season (so far). Anyone with me?

Masashi Ishihama did a decent job with the Tokyo Ravens OP (though it doesn't compare to some of his prior OPs), but the best so far has to be Kyousogiga. I'm waiting to see how Galilei Donna and Samurai Flamenco's turn out though, since Umetsu and Omori can both direct really great OPs.

They do make change in Kyokana, for example.. Mirai is world class moeblob now.

I stand corrected! (Not like I would bother reading the LN myself.) At any rate, KyoAni's writing priorities have been rather shallow with their self-owned IPs so far.

 

[Dresden]

Tokyo Raven for best OP of the season (so far). Anyone with me?

I thought it was awful. There's like two quick cuts which are any good, and the rest is just a jumble of vague visual associations and bad art.

Ippo Rising and Kyousogiga's openings stick out for me.

 

[duckroll]

Tokyo Ravens OP is awful. Bad song, bad direction, terrible composite, horrific character designs. Ishihama going down the toilet after New World bombed.

 

[LayLa]

Coppelion 2

People complaining about KnK's script/dialog should avoid this episode like the plague, describing it as clunky would be kind. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to those thick black outlines, one scene they're there, the next they're gone. It's a shame because I love the concept behind this series, but the execution has been woeful.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

So what happened to Pupa? I noticed no streaming sites picked it up, nor do i think it has aired yet.

The TV broadcast of Pupa has been delayed. The NicoNico streaming is still supposed to start sometime this fall.

Is this why (sweeping generalisation incoming) the internet hates Code:Breaker? I recently watched it and thought it was good, but it has low ratings and a bunch of comments about being a bad adaptation in several places. I'm not familiar with the source, so I couldn't tell if the comments were from unreasonably scorned fans of it or if they actually thought the show was bad on its own merits.

Yes, manga fans hate the anime because it isn't the manga. As usual. I've seen quite a few comments complaining about how the new Yokazura starts with anime-original material, even though the manga author himself is writing that new material.

They probably handed it off to Hanada and told him to fix it. Problem is that he's not a good writer himself. You can only fix something if you're better at it than the original. Steins; Gate was seemingly a fluke that happened due to how strong the source was.

There's an interview with Ishidate where he said, paraphrasing, "I would have made more changes to the novel if I felt they were necessary, but what I wanted to do and what the novel is were in accord, so I didn't concern myself with changing much." So it can't all be blamed on Hanada.

 

[fertygo]

Kuroko's Second Season are my favorite so far for OP.

 

[Jarmel]

The only two OPs I've thought that have been decent are Kyousogiga and KnK. Mostly because thy have a visual theme and aren't a jumble of quick cuts. They're the only two that seem to actually have some direction.

 

[CorvoSol]

AGEtory Gundam 36

This show is the comedy of forever. Let's brutally murder a kid's mom in the most pointless and horrible way, even if she is Nina Purpleton, and then let us, the murderers, be morally outraged that he had to see it! I mean, it isn't like our shitacular battle strategy lead to EXACTLY this situation, now, is it? It isn't like we haven't been casting blame upon the other side for EVERYTHING, why don't we be morally outraged that the little boy WE TRY TO KILL ON A DAILY FUCKING BASIS had to watch as we murdered his mother!?

And yes, Shakti, it is SO your fucking fault. Nina Purpleton would not EVER have been onboard that giant skateboard if it hadn't been for your FUCKING RIDICULOUS decision to go and try and persuade Chumpicle Asser to not be a huge douchebag for once in his life. YOU KILLED JUNKO YOU FUCKING WHORE. YOU KILLED OLIVER YOU SHITTY BITCH. AND NOW well, okay I didn't like Nina Purpleton at all but YOU FUCKING KILLED NINA PURPLETON TOO, YOU SHIT STAIN OF HUMANITY.

Can someone explain to me how Shakti is not in fact the source of all strife, suffering, and agony in Universal Century? Because I'm almost certain at this point that I can mathematically diagram how this fucking idiot and that SHRIEKING BANSHEE OF SHIT FUSED TO HER SPINE are responsible for everything since the day Zeon Deikun died. I really, really am.

Also "My name is Katejina and I will try and murder and rape your corpse Uso and then cry to my boyfriend that your mom died."


FUCK WHY DOES NO ONE MAKE SENSE IN THIS SHOW. NONE OF YOU FUCKTARDS ARE VICTOR VON DOOM. NONE OF YOU HAVE THE CLASS IT WOULD TAKE TO MAKE ME THINK YOU'RE SYMPATHETIC WHEN YOU CRY OVER ACTS OF EVIL.

GO FUCKING CRY A TEAR FOR THE FUCKING STATE OF TEXAS SIZED STRIP OF LAND YOU JUST FLATTENED. YOU ASSHATS HAVE MURDERED SO MANY MOTHERS AND CHILDREN TODAY THAT YOUR REMORSE OVER ONE IS POSITIVELY MIND BOGGLING.

Victory Gundam's villains are unreasonable.

 

[duckroll]

So far the OPs by known directors this season have been pretty disappointing:

- Ando's OP for Nagi is mediocre at best

- Kyoda's OP for Magi is really boring and generic

- Ishihama's OP for Ravens is eye cancer

 

[cnet128]

BlazBlue: Alter Memory 1

Well, this seems like a serviceable adaptation so far. The less-than-impressive animation and not-exactly-inspired usage of the BGM is a little disappointing, but it's moving through the material at a pleasantly brisk pace, and the charm of the characters is coming across.

What I do wonder is where exactly they're planning to take the narrative. In this episode, they seemed to be covering the main events of Calamity Trigger while adding in extra bits of Hazama gloating in the background, but I have my doubts that they're going to just stick with Calamity Trigger material for the whole series. Hell, they could probably finish off Calamity Trigger's main plot within one more episode if they wanted to (though I figure they'll go for at least one more loop, if only for the sake of having some scenes in Orient Town and introducing Litchi, Arakune, Bang and Tager...oh, and Carl, we still need to meet him).

There's also the interesting fact that a number of characters appear in the ending sequence who aren't present in Calamity Trigger at all (Platinum, Relius, the freaking Imperator...) which further seems to indicate that they're going to either carry on past CT into CS material, or take things off in some kind of new direction. If we get to see animated Platinum, this will make me very pleased. Luna da bes. Also means more chance of Makoto content (though if I'm honest, I'd prefer they cover some of the academy flashbacks from CT than jump straight to present-day Makoto).

Either way, as a big BlazBlue fan, I'm going to be sticking with this one all the way regardless of how it turns out. It's enjoyable just seeing the characters animated outside of a fighting game context (limited though that animation may be). At the very least, it's sure to be better than Danganronpa =p

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Watamote 1

*7 minutes in*

Nope.

THANK YOU. This anime seems to be all the rage with some people and I can't stand it

 

[Acosta]

Madoka Magika - Series Review

Instead of an Episode 12 reaction I'm just going to comment on the series as a whole. Actually expected to be 13 episodes for some reason but oh well.

When first suggested the series I was wary of it due to it being a Mahou Shoujo/Magical Girl genre and was doubting it it actually lived to his reputation of being dark themed and tragic. So after finishing Attack on Titan I needed to watch another dark-themed anime and finally decided to check Madoka Magika out.

Since it's a 12-episode series each episode that aired had a role in telling the story and filler was nonexistent. So I greatly enjoyed how the plot progress, both music and the abstract art present in witch battles were both enough to peak my curiosity until Episode 3 came to which I was finally hooked in.

The ending

Spoiler

was sort of a disappointment for me though I still enjoyed it. I wanted it to be more tragic somehow, though it was still pretty damn tragic with everyone but Homura dying essentially. Also enjoyed Kyubei as a villain despite the pseudo-science-alien-stuff that was revealed.

Aside from that the only disappointment I could pick out was the lack of depth with the Was-something-nacht (still can't remember the name) not having any depth despite being some apocalyptic force. It served its role but I just thought it would've been something more when the rest of the show kept my on edge the entire way.

Another thing, specifically Madoka. I really enjoyed how they put off her becoming a Magical Girl into the very end. Reading some other reviews/reactions online people found this to be bad and Madoka being annoying. To me, however, Madoka was perfect/believable in every episode despite her repeated crying. Voice acting (subbed) was solid to which perhaps led me to like her character.

Nice write up!

Spoiler

I haven't followed (too much) the after thought of the series but I remember a theory about Walpurgis being actually Homura in witch form, which made a lot of sense and makes her fascinating. The thing is, given that Homura has time travelling abilities, the witch could have them too, and the same way that Homura repeats her most important event trying to change fate, her witch also repeats the moment in order of granting her existence.

I don't know if it has been confirmed or debunked, I remember reading about it here in the thread and I thought it made a lot of sense. I find that not giving any further explanaiton suits pretty well.

I disagree about you about the ending, I found it really tragic. They give everything for just a bit of hope in a condemned world. All the decisions and sacrifices for that, I found it terribly sad.

And totally agree about Madoka. Homura is awesome and I'm agree with you being the star of the show, but Madoka was really great.

 

[Acosta]

I thought it was awful. There's like two quick cuts which are any good, and the rest is just a jumble of vague visual associations and bad art.

Ippo Rising and Kyousogiga's openings stick out for me.

Tokyo Ravens OP is awful. Bad song, bad direction, terrible composite, horrific character designs. Ishihama going down the toilet after New World bombed.

Oh god, my terrible taste finally exposed

 

[Quasar]

NouKome 1 - WTF. I liked the craziness of the idea, but the multichoices given were just stupid and not in context with the situations. Also tiny hats.

 

[Syrinx]

Beyond the Boundary 2

This episode didn't make me roll my eyes as much as the first episode did, and the action at the beginning was pretty good. So there's that. But I still don't like any of the characters in the show really. With Mirai, it feels like they're trying to have it both ways by having both a powerful character fighting these youma and a helpless moeblob at the same time and are really not succeeding at it. Akihito's mother just seemed unnecessary. And Mitsuki...she might be my least favorite. Her demeanor and the things she says really don't match up at all, and not in a funny way. She almost reminds me of Hitagi Senjyogahara from Monogatari, in that she says these sarcastic insults to the dude while maintaining this calm demeanor, but she doesn't even come close to pulling it off. She doesn't seem to have any reactions to anything whatsoever, so these comments just come off as weird and forced.

I liked this a bit more than the last one, and I'm a tad curious to see where they go from the ending, so I'll probably give this show another shot to see if it can find some sort of groove.

 

[Jarmel]

T
There's an interview with Ishidate where he said, paraphrasing, "I would have made more changes to the novel if I felt they were necessary, but what I wanted to do and what the novel is were in accord, so I didn't concern myself with changing much." So it can't all be blamed on Hanada.

I'll wait till the interviews come out after the sales numbers. People in public positions for promotion purposes say all types of shit. Now if he says that after it bombs then I'll give more credence to it.

 

[Dresden]

Oh god, my terrible taste finally exposed

Don't worry, I think sasami-san@g is good.

 

[Theonik]

Since I was bored or something, I made my own version of that anime description generator thing. Give it a go if you like.

http://en.shindanmaker.com/401293

Obligatory test using my own name:
(By the way, screw the character limitations on this thing. Screw them to hell >.>)

By Trigger, an anime about Theonik's horrifying friends, with lots of CG mermaids.

By Trigger, an anime about theonik's agricultural daily life, with lots of moe mermaids.

Pretty accurate again. What's with its obsession with mermaids though...

I care more about this one:

Senpai will only notice Theonik.

Senpai will kind of slightly notice theonik.

See? You should always have a capital letter in your username or you won't be noticed.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Kyoukai no Kanata Episode 2
His mom is hot

good episode.

 

[RurouniZel]

I care more about this one:

Senpai is only into 2d, sorry RurouniZel.

Naturally.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Ippo Rising and Kyousogiga's openings stick out for me.

Oh yeah, the Rising OP is great, especially the last half. I love the camera work, and the final cut of Ippo with the red eyes and smoke trail is super cool.

Tokyo Ravens OP is awful. Bad song, bad direction, terrible composite, horrific character designs. Ishihama going down the toilet after New World bombed.

It's true that Ishihama's post-FtNW OPs have been a big step down from the pre-FtNW OPs. Hope he didn't lose his touch as soon as he directed his own show!

Kuroko's Second Season are my favorite so far for OP.

It's standard shounen stuff, but Nakazawa should be commended for doing it solo and putting in some fabulous basketball animation.

 

[Jarmel]

It's true that Ishihama's post-FtNW OPs have been a big step down from the pre-FtNW OPs. Hope he didn't lose his touch as soon as he directed his own show!

He lost his heart after the SSY sales numbers came out.

 

[Markun]

I just stopped by here to share something my friend showed me.

 

[BGBW]

Senpai is only into 2d, sorry BGBW.

To be fair, who can blame him?

 

[Save 'N Quit]

Kuroko's Second Season are my favorite so far for OP.

Fully agree with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3KePJM2Oc8

Out of all the shows I've watched so far, Kuroko has undoubtedly the best opening of the season.

The only other contender left is Samurai Flamenco solely because of SPYAIR.