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Fall Anime 2014 lOTl Unlimited Tomino Works

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J

Jarmel

Banned
dan2026 said:
I don't know. The guy in the animation didn't seem to be having a good time.
In the fantasy world or reality.
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It's really an indictment of that sort of culture. The guy is an otaku either before or after he breaks up with his girlfriend. He becomes a recluse and isolates himself from everybody, delving into waifus and videogames. He begins to regret breaking up with her and tries to free himself from his waifus
and he fails
. It's a story about loss, hypersexualized by someone who worked on the new Yozakura Quartet(surprise surprise).

I normally would post a bunch of visuals to do a sort of visual essay but for obvious reasons, I can't.
 
A

astrogamer

Member
Twintails 7
Looks like they are doing everything they can to make Erina the hidden pervert character and give her power to boot

Me! Me! Me!
Well, that was certainly interesting to watch the first thing in the morning.
 
S

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Dragon Dentist
This is some good stuff, though it's very confusing on first time viewing. Funfacts: This is written by the author of the craziest Jojo Bizarre Adventure novelization ever written, Otaro Maijo
 
P

phaze

Member
Ergo Proxy 18

<Vicinity of Romdeau, circa episode 4-5> "All the answers lie in Mosk."

<Mosk, episode 18> " We must go to Romdeau to discover the truth."

flamesawxubda.gif
 
M

Mecha

Member
Jarmel said:
It's really an indictment of that sort of culture. The guy is an otaku either before or after he breaks up with his girlfriend. He becomes a recluse and isolates himself from everybody, delving into waifus and videogames. He begins to regret breaking up with her and tries to free himself from his waifus
and he fails
. It's a story about loss, hypersexualized by someone who worked on the new Yozakura Quartet(surprise surprise).

I normally would post a bunch of visuals to do a sort of visual essay but for obvious reasons, I can't.
Click to expand...

Just fill the screen with black bars when necessary.
 
K

Kyuur

Member
ME!ME!ME!

I think this would have worked better if what appeared to be his real (ex?)girlfriend didn't look so much like an average anime girl in the first place.

PS: Someone make a topic for this in OT. It's the kind of thing that should get more exposure. I don't feel I know enough about this animator expo to make one.
 
S

sonicmj1

Member
My read on ME!ME!ME! is that it's more critical of otaku culture than celebratory. His memories of the broken relationship with the normal girl intermingle with the borderline-grotesque figures of the idols and figures in his computer and on his shelves. He's saturated with images of wanton lust and sex, but in the otaku context, these images are at a safe distance, without desires or force. Real women, on the other hand, have their own feelings. They can hurt and be hurt.

He might want those sex fantasies to be real, but he doesn't want the risk or danger that come with it. Even when they want the same thing, the fantasy's desires overrun him and crush him. Even with her sex on a leash, he can't control it. He wants something impossible that no one real can provide, that no amount of video game combat can achieve, so he lies alone in his bed, defeated by his own imagination.

This was conceived and directed by the guy who storyboarded the OP for Yokazura Quartet, so maybe the use of Eva figurines was coincidental and this was just for fun. But I like to think it has more teeth than that.
 
E

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
sonicmj1 said:
My read on ME!ME!ME! is that it's more critical of otaku culture than celebratory. His memories of the broken relationship with the normal girl intermingle with the borderline-grotesque figures of the idols and figures in his computer and on his shelves. He's saturated with images of wanton lust and sex, but in the otaku context, these images are at a safe distance, without desires or force. Real women, on the other hand, have their own feelings. They can hurt and be hurt.

He might want those sex fantasies to be real, but he doesn't want the risk or danger that come with it. Even when they want the same thing, the fantasy's desires overrun him and crush him. Even with her sex on a leash, he can't control it. He wants something impossible that no one real can provide, that no amount of video game combat can achieve, so he lies alone in his bed, defeated by his own imagination.

This was conceived and directed by the guy who storyboarded the OP for Yokazura Quartet, so maybe the use of Eva figurines was coincidental and this was just for fun. But I like to think it has more teeth than that.
Click to expand...

I was getting a pretty strong vibe of self loathing indulgence from it, I really don't think it's going for a completely celebratory depiction
 
T

Turin Turambar

Member
duckroll said:
Death Parade update: http://www.ntv.co.jp/deathparade/

Cast:
Decim - Tomoaki Maeno
Woman - Asami Seto
Nona - Rumi Okubo
Ginty - Yoshimasa Hosoya


Staff:
Concept: Yuzuru Tachikawa/Madhouse
Director/Series Composition: Yuzuru Tachikawa
Character Design/Chief Animation Director: Shinichi Kurita
Art director: Satoru Hirayanagi
Composite Director: Yuuki Kawashita
Color Design: Yoshinori Horikawa
CG Director: Shigenori Hirozumi
Editing: Naoki Kawanishi
Music: Yuki Hayashi
Sound Director: Satoshi Motoyama
Production: Madhouse


Some new story details too. Tomoaki Maeno and Asami Seto reprise their roles as the barkeep and the female assistant from the Anime Mirai Death Billiards short, but they're joined by more employees in this afterlife judgement system. Decim's bar is on floor 15 of the "building", while Ginty has one on floor 20. Supervising all the various floors from the top is Nona on floor 90, who appears to be the big boss of the operation. So it seems we might be seeing more than just different people being judged at Decim's bar in the series.
Click to expand...

"Dead" version of Working! or Servant x Service, I can see it.

:p :p
 
D

duckroll

Member
sonicmj1 said:
This was conceived and directed by the guy who storyboarded the OP for Yokazura Quartet, so maybe the use of Eva figurines was coincidental and this was just for fun. But I like to think it has more teeth than that.
Click to expand...

He worked with Khara on Rebuild too, and this is another Khara project. I see it as just additional fanservice.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
I wonder what Imaishi and Anno think of each other. Anno is super critical of otaku culture while Imaishi glorifies it. I have to imagine there were some interesting discussions at Gainax while both were there.
 
D

duckroll

Member
Jarmel said:
I wonder what Imaishi and Anno think of each other. Anno is super critical of otaku culture while Imaishi glorifies it. I have to imagine there were some interesting discussions at Gainax while both were there.
Click to expand...

They both left Gainax so they could better exploit the otaku market at their own studios. So they probably have a lot in common, although one is far richer than the other. :p
 
M

MikeHattsu

Member
Little Busters! 26

11xKqgI.jpg
Click to expand...

They finally get to play a game of baseball then.


Well... That's the first season done, but I think I'll hold off on giving this a score until I've watched the second one.
It's already better than Angel Beats! though, unless they really really screw up S2. :p
 
M

Midonin

Member
selector spread WIXOSS 08

The truth comes to light. Like I said, the tone is really reminding me of M3 at this point, only I'm more invested in it, likely because of the premise. The amount of hope in this show keeps dimming, and the revelations were interesting.
So all of Wixoss has been corrupted by the mind of an ill girl (Mayu) who can't go outside. Iona/Black was just following her master's orders, while Tama/White eventually discovered the joy of having friends. Ruko screwed up the game without meaning to. Evil!Tama, brief as it was, was made more terrifying by her being fully aware of what she did. As for the end of episode, Akira's breakdown did end badly. For Ulith. That's the thing about trying to double-cross people. If you treat them badly and they catch onto it, they can double-cross you back.

I find it amusing that comparing this and Garo, Wixoss is the more depressing of the two.
 
D

duckroll

Member
Jarmel said:
Speaking of money, how is Khara funding all of this? Ad revenue or are they just absorbing the costs with Eva money?
Click to expand...

It's a creative partnership between Dwango and Khara iirc. That's why everything is hosted on Niconico, and they have behind-the-scenes streams with the creators a few days after each short.
 
M

Midonin

Member
Garo -Seal of Flames- 08

In which Herman both reveals his backstory and spends most of the episode providing manservice to the audience. Doesn't even need to go ZORRO to defeat the Horror of the Week. Feels like it's setting up for bigger things. If I know my Garo lore as well as I think I do (not very well),
I wonder if the Black Knight being talked about in-show might be ZERO, a staple of the Garo toku series.
 
C

Clov

Member
jbug617 said:
I think it has been a year since Funimation announced Evangelion 3.33 and it still hasn't come out yet. The Dub must of been very bad.

Made a thread but there are new Ghibli bluray listings on Amazon

Pom Poko- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PYAE2IM/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Porco Rosso- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PYAE2GE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Tales from Earthsea- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PYAE2M8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

https://twitter.com/WTK/status/535852390122262528
Click to expand...

Not just the dub, but the translation in general; Khara is providing their own set of subtitles for the North American BD.

Really excited to pick up Porco Rosso! I'll also probably get Pom Poko, since I loved that movie too.
 
M

Moral Panic

Member
Someone said Oshma Michiru so I had to watch it just to hear another one of her amazing soundtracks.

Aura - Koga Maryuin's Last War

The setting is almost entirely the same as 2012's "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions". A boy who used to indulge himself in such fantasies decides that High School is a great place to restart himself and become normal until he meets up with a strange girl right in the grasp of these delusions and he can't leave her alone.

However whilst the setting is the same the mood is quite different. Chuunibyou (2012) revels in the fantasies, assigning the viewer an in depth view of the world of fantastical powers that the characters minds inhabit. The main character also takes up this mantle, though reluctantly he becomes fully embroiled in the fantasy world without it taking any toll on him. He gets a cute girl, some new friends and his school life is fuller and brighter with the characters within it. Aura takes a very different stance, at least in the first 4/5's of the movie's 80 minute run. The girl is initially accepted as a night-time dalliance, he acknowledges the insanity of her delusions but is fine with her. He knows how to deal with her and get round her awful dialogue because he's been there and can relate to her thought process, this forces a sense of kinship between them. But here's where the break from Chuunibyou (2012) comes in with the best scene in the entire movie.

Ichirou (our MC) comes home late and has to come face to face with his mother. We learn of his experiences without being told, the positioning of his mother worried about how things are going at his new school and the elation in her voice and face when he says he bought a watch with his friends. The elder sister sitting inside, framed perfectly to show her listening without being part of an interrogation. She's worried and wants to hear what he has to say. It's clear from the use of these factors that our MC was seriously bullied before and that it had a huge effect on his family. That's "show don't tell" and it was amazing to watch. Furthermore it grounds us and prepares us as to what is to come as per the storyline.

Bullying. This is one thing that I can't remember Chuunibyou (2012) picking up on at all. Chunnibyou and its delusions are not seen as proper behaviours in society and that thinking obviously trickles down to school kids as well. It's a bit silly that such blatant uniform code breaks would be accepted by the school in any place, but the focus on both the high level violence and the low level bullying behaviours such as removing a person's belongings. Furthermore the victim blaming mentality of "You're the one acting weird so it's no wonder you are treated like that" is rife and very hard to avoid even for someone who is aware of it like the MC is.

It's this focus that really separates the two Chuunibyou focused high school love shows. It's more than just "OMG cringe you're acting weird but isn't that so fun?" But rather "OMG cringe, you're acting weird I shouldn't associate with you". Its an analysis on the overwhelming notion of normalcy and self-identification within the school power dynamic. How can you defend and help these people without succumbing to the effects of the fantasy and falling yourself? There's the in-group dynamic of associating with them in that you are already being ostracised like them for treating them well so how can you then put that distance between you so they realise that you aren't like that? These questions are hard to tackle for a person and the internal fight they cause in the MC makes the show engaging and at times very funny without being indulging like Chuunibyou (2012). Well most of it is, at least. The last 10 mins or so are crap that focuses too much on engaging the fantasy rather than dismissing it, but that doesn't really matter.

Oshima Michiru is awesome so I wont even talk about the music, except for thee fact that was much less of it than I expected. A lot of silence is used, to good effect yes, but it still feels like I didn't get to hear much of her brilliance.

8/10
 
R

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Midonin said:
selector spread WIXOSS 08

The truth comes to light. Like I said, the tone is really reminding me of M3 at this point, only I'm more invested in it, likely because of the premise. The amount of hope in this show keeps dimming, and the revelations were interesting.
So all of Wixoss has been corrupted by the mind of an ill girl (Mayu) who can't go outside. Iona/Black was just following her master's orders, while Tama/White eventually discovered the joy of having friends. Ruko screwed up the game without meaning to. Evil!Tama, brief as it was, was made more terrifying by her being fully aware of what she did. As for the end of episode, Akira's breakdown did end badly. For Ulith. That's the thing about trying to double-cross people. If you treat them badly and they catch onto it, they can double-cross you back.

I find it amusing that comparing this and Garo, Wixoss is the more depressing of the two.
Click to expand...
Great episode.
 
C

CheapJuice

Member
Garo - 08

As much as I like Herman and his Stiffmeistering, I prefer it in smaller doses. So seeing him do it throughout the episode didn't do much for me.
I would've liked if they had used the time of him running around naked, to instead having more backstory (no not that backstory, pervert).
 
C

cajunator

Banned
R_thanatos said:
Given what i know ( of the novels ( that are different from the anime but same universe )) , the chance of this show ending "well" are realllly slim.


In my top 3 with production IG and kyoto animation.

The holy trinity..everyone else is behind.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think you're right. This wont end that well.

Syrinx said:
Mmm. Instant ramen. Livin' like a key animator.
Click to expand...

Step your game up a little and get some instant udon at least!

Train of Midnight said:
What has Madhouse been working on lately?
Click to expand...

Watch Parasyte. Its amazing.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
Is it weird that the night after watching ME!ME!ME! I have a horror dream about japanese singing robots coming to life and chasing me around my neighborhood as they sing creepy japanese songs?
 
E

El Sloth

Banned
Me!Me!Me!

TeddyLoid's tracks are great. My first introduction to him was the transformation scenes in the Panty & Stocking. And I have no idea what Daoko was rapping about, but at least it seemed to flow well! Will buy the songs when they're avialable.

I really enjoyed the way the director chose to lampoon otaku culture with the absurd sexual representation of the women in the short. Boob bullets! Well, even if that wasn't his intention, at the very least it's funny seeing the more prudish reactions online.
 
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