If there's one thing I didn't see though, which might put this idea down, is that Green went to the Pokemon Tower because he got his Raticate killed. Then again, it's not like we see any other Pokemon from him. Not even Wartortle. Too much being scared and embracing Red in his arms.
So has anyone tried out Tanto Cuore on iOS yet? It's a Playdek title, who are pretty well known for making excellent boardgame and cardgame adaptations for the more hardcore strategy gamer.
As for presentation, it’s everything you’d expect from Playdek. The game is fast, fluid and looks great. In a nice touch, the maids all say something in Japanese when hired. I have no idea what’s being said, but it gives the game a lightheartedness that it needs. Apart from 3 levels of AI, ranging from mentally challenged to competent, the game has all the multiplayer features common to other Playdek games as well.
In the end, your enjoyment of Tanto Cuore will come down to your feelings about the theme. Other than a few cards, the images are tame. Even the eyebrow-raising cards aren’t in the same postal code as pornography. The hiring and keeping of subservient women, however, can’t really be glossed over. If you can look past the theme, however, you’ll find a card game with some interesting decision points and strategy, and a game that can hold its own against juggernauts like Ascension and Dominion.
Tanto and Pandemic both solid so far. Tanto reminds me a lot of Penny Aracde actually though with more complexity. Art is definitely chibi but who really pays that much attention anyway. Pandemic is pricey I guess but solid for a solo experience.
Shergal: I'd rather not disparage the rest of the show by going on about the festival as I'm expected to. It was great, but not significantly moreso than the show already was.
That seems right to me. Got my "だけ emphasis all wrong. Guess I'll edit it.
I typed it all out, but I spent so much time worrying about how to translate 貫き通す and stuff that I forgot to check the sentences I took for granted.
It's been so long since inferno copP&S TTGL, I had forgotten how enjoyable imaishi's brazen, bombastic, stupidly entertaining style could be when it's done right, and it was done right here.
Might as well get the TTGL comparison out of the way now, TTGL is really a one of a kind show that I don't think will ever really find a show that can match it beat for beat, so it's not a bad thing per se to not be as good as TTGL. And, considering TTGL's opening episode is one of my favorite episodes in the series, I really didn't have any expectations for KLK to match or parallel that at all. Which is a good thing, since KLK is far more reminiscent of properties such as Cutie Honey than it is the Super Robo/mecha genres.
As for the episode itself, it didn't really take any of the "serious" moments seriously, and I don't really feel like it intends for me to take them seriously either, it's just a no-brakes Imaishi ride from start to finish, and I enjoyed it very much as that. The lack of any musical presence was really the most disappointing thing about this, there were a couple moments where it felt like something fittingly musical was about to happen but then it would just fade away into the distance never to be seen again.
Right, hoping to keep up with here a little more than seasons past. Caught Kill la Kill today, and figured I'd share my thoughts!
Kill la Kill Episode 1
I would describe this introduction much as I would Ryuuko: confident, loud, aggressive, and rough around the edges. Kill la Kill announces its' presence to the sound of its' own fanfare. It's flashy, it's bold, and it's really happy to be here.
So, I'll go ahead and say straight up that I liked this quite a bit. Maybe not love it as I was hoping to, maybe a little too frenetic for its' own good, but there is, I think, something captivating about that unrestrained energy and liveliness of Kill la Kill. Imaishi is, I feel, very good at leaving a very striking (for good or for ill) impression very, very quickly, and it's not any less true for me here than it has been with works such as Panty & Stocking and Dead Leaves. While not quite as unfiltered through those lenses as those two works might have been, it's no less loud about its' intentions.
I really adore the art direction of the show. It's charming, imaginative and relentlessly stylish. The onslaught of red letters and names threatens to be overwhelming, but married to strongly evocative designs and profiles, it makes putting names to faces much simpler. Quality of animation itself is largely quite spectacular, bar a few somewhat jarring segues into CG animation. I don't know if it's quite so obvious or I've simply become much more sensitive to it, but it almost never failed to pull me out of the episode where it did happen (backgrounds aside). For all the raw, hyper-kinetic sensibilities and flow of Kill la Kill, I couldn't help but feel some of that momentum wound up being blunted.
It's not much more than a quibble, I fully admit, but where there are highs, the lows begin to stand out all the more.
On that note, while I didn't really find myself particularly amused by the glib remarks and loud, blustery humour, I really dug most of the visual gags they threw in. Little moments like Ryuuko placing Mako down stiff as a board or the horde of deep-fried guards bursting out of the tub of oil actually got me pretty good.
Narrative is a bit of a mess. While I was engaged in what was happening, what was actually happening felt almost irrelevant. The premise is very video-gamey, which I suppose is the point, but I feel like it ultimately winds up robbing the show of any real sense of urgency or danger. All that said, I really do like Ryuuko. Not only as an expression of the show itself, but as a personality. She's headstrong and stubborn, but not stupid enough to know when a battle's been lost. She doesn't have anything to prove or justify to anyone, and despite her battle uniform and all the hub-bub around it, she never really feels like a sensual, sexual character or necessarily to be seen or addressed as such.
While we're on the topic of Ryuuko's digs, I was unimpressed. Not repulsed, mind (though would understand if that were the case), but somewhat disappointed. I don't... hate it, I don't think. But I don't like it. And while I'm not necessarily put off by it - if nothing else, it has about as little to hide as the show itself does - I think Ryuuko's original outfit was far, far better, in both visual appeal and conveying more about her identity. While I don't feel the outfit compromises Ryuuko herself (who I strongly appreciate as a character), I feel like it does wind up undermining the gravity of her feats and presence, I feel.
All in all, I liked it. Not sure I'd say anime is saved now, but this is very, very far from the knife. Regardless, very excited to see where this ride takes me.
Shergal: I'd rather not disparage the rest of the show by going on about the festival as I'm expected to. It was great, but not significantly moreso than the show already was.
So has anyone tried out Tanto Cuore on iOS yet? It's a Playdek title, who are pretty well known for making excellent boardgame and cardgame adaptations for the more hardcore strategy gamer.
IS 2 Ep. 1 - IS is back, finally! It's been far too long. And overall, it was ... okay. This episode wasn't anything special, unfortunately. It wasn't hilariously awful, like the "best" episodes of season one (such as ep. 9, which this episode somewhat resembles, but doesn't come close to matching), but it wasn't anything actually good either, certainly. The new OP is similar; it's okay... but kind of bland. Anyone who watched the first season should certainly watch this, since it's nice to see the characters again, but based on this episode, I might have to lower (or raise? Depends on how you look at it. ) my expectations. Ah well.
Also, the art might be even worse than the first season... it's kind of bad sometimes. Not too big of an issue, but yeah... is the budget lower? The CG's about the same level of "quality", too. But I think I'll need to go back and watch S1 again to see if it looks the same or not, art and CG. It's been a while since I watched most of it.
On the other hand though, yes, the long 'Char and Laura go out shopping and have crepes together and stuff' part was definitely the highlight of the episode. Faux yuri baiting in my Infinite Stratos? Why not! This part of the episode took up a significant amount of time, and all three parts of it were fun and fit the characters well.
Also, after the end of ep. 12 of S1, you'd think that our idiot MC would have the slightest clue that they like him... what, did he forget the events of the last couple of seconds of the first season? Even just regarding Houki? Ah well. Seeing him so hilariously oblivious was amusing, and the ending result was funny, even if it was very predictable. He'll never learn...
The part following that wasn't so good, though. I understand that they didn't want to do a whole episode for that theme park/summer festival bit, but that way WAY too rushed. Either actually do the episode, or cut it out almost entirely, I think. Stopping with the obvious end-result joke I referenced above and then ending the episode there might have been a better idea. But of course, season 1 of IS never exactly had the best writing, pacing, or anything else, so I would expect such problems. Still, it was a pretty weak ending. Ah well. I hope that future episodes are "better", but this could have been a lot worse, at least. It's just sadly somewhat generic, and feels like an IS thing made not quite as hilariously terribly as the first one was, which was a lot of the fun. It could change, though! I'm sure I'll watch it through anyway, even if it's bland, unless it gets actively unwatchably terrible, or completely uninteresting and not worth my time; this wasn't either of those, not yet at least. So yeah, it was okay, but not great.
Finally, Pika-tan better appear soon. Also, it's too bad that they seem to be going with the first seasons' cutting out America's character, she might have been a good addition!
People were talking about season 2 and all so I watched this kinda realizing that it was terrible and that the main character is a dumbfuck of epic proportions, but shit I wasn't ready for how much he truly sucks. Right now his sister is my favorite because she's the most effective at beating the shit out of him. I think that whoever ends up my favorite will be the winner in the "beating the shit out of this loser" category.
Yeah, he's right near the top of the list of comically oblivious leads! It's one of the reasons why the first season was so bad it was good.
Is there a reason why only women can pilot these things except for him, or is it just a dumb excuse to give him a harem? I mean, I realize it's just a dumb excuse to give him a harem anyway, but is there some explanation for it?
Well, of course it's a dumb excuse to get him a harem! The series eventually makes a vague attempt at explaining it, sort of, though.
S1 Ep.12 spoilers!)
Tabane Shinonono invented the ISes, so that Chifuyu's brother is the only male pilot and can control ISes and attends the academy is either something she intentionally set up and orchestrated, or it's a suspiciously convenient coincidence, pretty much.
I'd think that if you were a big fan of This American Life or somebody who has once found joy in doing research, then you'd appreciate the full run. I'm both.
Although, the second chance rule this year means that anyone who got run over by one of the eventual top eight will get to try and crawl up a loser's bracket for one more shot.
I'd think that if you were a big fan of This American Life or somebody who has once found joy in doing research, then you'd appreciate the full run. I'm both.
Oh god, its back, the horror, the predecessor to SAO. At least the french waifu is back and she bought a garden together with german girl to SDburton's pleasure. Ichika is still a dumbass clueless idiot and rude for casually walking into girls room. oh god, save me from this terror, it's so terrible but I can't stop watching it.
infinite stratos 2 01
the only thing i remember about infinite stratos is an overwhelming sense of regret. this did a good job of immediately refreshing that sensation.
I was sad when I realized there were more characters on the show other than Laura and Char. And that ending... I thought it was preview for the next episode.
Please let those two get a spinoff.
Will keep watching because I love country wars and Laura. (and Char too)
Man, this is so cool. Even though Gen 2 was my first I still got such a huge nostalgia fix. The dialogue, the music, it's so good. Why can't it be a full show!?
I don't think KLK will ever touch TTGL production value aside for 2-3 special episode, they clearly choose quite different approach for visual.. a lot more emphasis in quick cut and such. Personally I don't mind, its interesting to see how Trigger deal with more limitation than just doing sakuga galore.. We'll see I guess.
Umm, excuse me, Cubone's skull is said to be the skull of his dead mother, but he is shown with the skull on while his mother is alive! Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
The writing might be your standard fare LN schlock (esp. the excerpts posted, geez) but I don't think I could drop something as well animated as this combined with some fantastic music. If only KyoAni could nail the later with something well written instead.
IS 2 Ep. 1 - IS is back, finally! It's been far too long. And overall, it was ... okay. This episode wasn't anything special, unfortunately. It wasn't hilariously awful, like the "best" episodes of season one (such as ep. 9, which this episode somewhat resembles, but doesn't come close to matching), but it wasn't anything actually good either, certainly. The new OP is similar; it's okay... but kind of bland. Anyone who watched the first season should certainly watch this, since it's nice to see the characters again, but based on this episode, I might have to lower (or raise? Depends on how you look at it. ) my expectations. Ah well.
Also, the art might be even worse than the first season... it's kind of bad sometimes. Not too big of an issue, but yeah... is the budget lower? The CG's about the same level of "quality", too. But I think I'll need to go back and watch S1 again to see if it looks the same or not, art and CG. It's been a while since I watched most of it.
On the other hand though, yes, the long 'Char and Laura go out shopping and have crepes together and stuff' part was definitely the highlight of the episode. Faux yuri baiting in my Infinite Stratos? Why not! This part of the episode took up a significant amount of time, and all three parts of it were fun and fit the characters well.
Also, after the end of ep. 12 of S1, you'd think that our idiot MC would have the slightest clue that they like him... what, did he forget the events of the last couple of seconds of the first season? Even just regarding Houki? Ah well. Seeing him so hilariously oblivious was amusing, and the ending result was funny, even if it was very predictable. He'll never learn...
The part following that wasn't so good, though. I understand that they didn't want to do a whole episode for that theme park/summer festival bit, but that way WAY too rushed. Either actually do the episode, or cut it out almost entirely, I think. Stopping with the obvious end-result joke I referenced above and then ending the episode there might have been a better idea. But of course, season 1 of IS never exactly had the best writing, pacing, or anything else, so I would expect such problems. Still, it was a pretty weak ending. Ah well. I hope that future episodes are "better", but this could have been a lot worse, at least. It's just sadly somewhat generic, and feels like an IS thing made not quite as hilariously terribly as the first one was, which was a lot of the fun. It could change, though! I'm sure I'll watch it through anyway, even if it's bland, unless it gets actively unwatchably terrible, or completely uninteresting and not worth my time; this wasn't either of those, not yet at least. So yeah, it was okay, but not great.
Finally, Pika-tan better appear soon. Also, it's too bad that they seem to be going with the first seasons' cutting out America's character, she might have been a good addition!
Yeah, he's right near the top of the list of comically oblivious leads! It's one of the reasons why the first season was so bad it was good.
Well, of course it's a dumb excuse to get him a harem! The series eventually makes a vague attempt at explaining it, sort of, though.
S1 Ep.12 spoilers!)
Tabane Shinonono invented the ISes, so that Chifuyu's brother is the only male pilot and can control ISes and attends the academy is either something she intentionally set up and orchestrated, or it's a suspiciously convenient coincidence, pretty much.
The first encounter between Naota and Haruka is her nearly killing him with a motorcycle and it's all played up for laughs. No one is saying it's exactly like FLCL, but there are shades.
It's played for laughs, but the Mamimi is deeply concerned about it, he doesn't die, and he goes to the hospital to get it checked out. Later similar incidents aren't taken seriously because they know he'll be fine.
In Kill la Kill, a student is dead, and nobody cares because it's normal. That's pretty different from cartoon violence that can't actually cause harm.
I've heard people say that KyoAni puts too much production values into undeserving material before, but this is the first time I've actually felt that myself.
People were talking about season 2 and all so I watched this kinda realizing that it was terrible and that the main character is a dumbfuck of epic proportions, but shit I wasn't ready for how much he truly sucks. Right now his sister is my favorite because she's the most effective at beating the shit out of him. I think that whoever ends up my favorite will be the winner in the "beating the shit out of this loser" category.
Is there a reason why only women can pilot these things except for him, or is it just a dumb excuse to give him a harem? I mean, I realize it's just a dumb excuse to give him a harem anyway, but is there some explanation for it?
Speaking of Garzey's Wing it's been sitting at 68 copies left in limited stock at Right Stuf for what seems like an eternity. Somebody needs to make that number go down.
Oooh I gots them Gurren Lagann type crazyness chills.
Golden Time & Nagi no Asakura - 01
I can see it, I can see the relationship paradigms, I can see the tears, I can see me not being arsed with these shows after a while, and one of them has the Okada seal of approval to, yikes!
Coppelion - 01
Whole episode was mostly world building, will see more on how this post apocolyptic world is played out.
Hah.
This arc is clearly superior to what came before it though. Its such a night and day difference. Like the show woke up and decided the audience needed to as well.
Saimoe round 2 is over, and the number of contenders has been whittled down to 32 for now:
Although, the second chance rule this year means that anyone who got run over by one of the eventual top eight will get to try and crawl up a loser's bracket for one more shot.
Oh god, its back, the horror, the predecessor to SAO. At least the french waifu is back and she bought a garden together with german girl to SDburton's pleasure. Ichika is still a dumbass clueless idiot and rude for casually walking into girls room. oh god, save me from this terror, it's so terrible but I can't stop watching it.
The writing might be your standard fare LN schlock (esp. the excerpts posted, geez) but I don't think I could drop something as well animated as this combined with some fantastic music. If only KyoAni could nail the later with something well written instead.
I've been running through the episode over and over again to get screenshots for a write-up, and I just love how much there is in the way of tiny details. Fucking hell.
) my expectations. Ah well.
