I see no problem. Just a difference of opinion.
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Fall of Anime 2012 |OT2| O cursed spite, that ever I was born to UUURRRRYYY!!
- Thread starter kayos90
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I see no problem. Just a difference of opinion.
Not to me it isn't.
When Akane grows up, I'm sure she'll make some lucky man very happy.
/Ikuhara
Yep, they look pretty cool: http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/quest_hiroden/32991991.html
When I ever get it, I'll try to figure out the rules for you!
Ice cold.
It does kind of have a bit of a "Lord of the Rings" syndrome with it's eighteen (well, OK, maybe three) successive endings.
Ultimadrago
Member
Oh man. Those are on my list for sure now!
okay how did I miss this whole exchange, hahah
Yeah I was pretty much just trying to create an uncomfortable mental image with the joke. Although fortunately, I'm pettan.
Our love makes me whatever you want me to be, trejocchi.
Yeah I was pretty much just trying to create an uncomfortable mental image with the joke. Although fortunately, I'm pettan.
Our love makes me whatever you want me to be, trejocchi.
Jex
Member
[A Letter To Momo]
A Letter to Momo is a 2012 animated movie directed by Hiroyuki Okiura and produced by Production I.G. You may know Okiura from his work on 1999's Jin-Roh: Wolf Brigade. Despite some common misconceptions he actually directed that film, not Mamoru Oshii. Okiura hasn't directed a film since then and so this project is kind of a big deal, it's reported that Okiura spent seven years of his life producing this film. I guess the obvious question is: did he make a good movie? I'm happy to report that, unsurprisingly, he did even though in my mind it doesn't quite live up to his previous movie.
This story is fairly simple - a young girl has to cope with moving from the metropolis of Tokyo to a small rural island after an unfortunate death in the family. This is the tale of how she copes with all these changes and events in her life. The added 'twist' here is that Momo's house is apparently haunted by three rather annoying youkai. Cue a tale of growing up, dealing with difficult changes and learning to better understand yourself and others.
If that description sounds a little Totoro-esque let me readjust your perception - this movie really doesn't go for that 'Ghibli feel'. Everything is, for want of a better word, more realistic and less fanciful. A cursory glance at Okiura's character designs reveal that, unlike many other anime titles, this is a cast that's filled with people who actually look Japanese. Leaving aside the humans and turning to the Youkai it's immediately clear that these are no whimsical soot sprites or enigmatic-but-adorable Totoros, they're actually quite unpleasant and obnoxious creatures that you certainly wouldn't want to hang about with. While they certainly develop a bond with Momo over the course of the movie they're not particularly appealing, which may go some way to explaining why the movie wasn't particularly successful.
To go into any specific plot points would pretty much spoil those key scenes, so I'll leave that discussion for the very end. In broad strokes, however, I have no problem with how the movie develops. I think it's paced well, for the most part, and things develop in an interesting and believable way. This progression isn't perfect, however. There's a few points in the movie where I felt like the pacing dragged considerably and I wasn't sure why we devoting so much time to these sequences, in particular the chase up the mountain seemed pointlessly long and didn't really serve any narrative purpose. For a movie that's two hours long it felt like they could have used some of that running time to focus on areas that weren't as strongly developed as they should have been, such as Momo's relationship with the other kids on the island. Momo, her mother, and the youkai get the majority of the screen time and I feel that this leaves some other characters shallower than they needed to be.
This movie looks great, as you might expect from something that's been so long in development. The background art does a great job in grounding the movie in a believable location and the animation is excellent throughout. While there may not be many 'action set pieces' that really show of the animators talent in an obvious way there's tons of really careful animation of very small, mundane movements. This attention to detail really breathes a sense of life into these characters because all their individual movements and expressions are so well captured. It's not in your face, but it's still very good.
The cinematography is extremely polished, as is the editing. As with the animation it wasn't necessarily showy, instead it feels very refined. It's a very meticulous movie in that sense. While I had found issue with certain scenes that I feel went on too long I didn't come across any shots or cuts where I was thinking "why did they do that?". We need Okiura's talents in the world of anime, he really needs to work on projects that actually come out more than once a decade.
I do have one substantial problem with the film, however, and it relates back to those obnoxious youkai who pester Momo. I would have preferred it if (general movie spoiler)
. I guess my only other complaint is just how, er, standard the story is? Nearly every single story beat can be foreseen well in advance right down to the structure of the final act. As with the above complaint, your mileage may vary in how much this bothers you.
Also, 2D mechanical animation, fuck yeah!
A Letter to Momo is a 2012 animated movie directed by Hiroyuki Okiura and produced by Production I.G. You may know Okiura from his work on 1999's Jin-Roh: Wolf Brigade. Despite some common misconceptions he actually directed that film, not Mamoru Oshii. Okiura hasn't directed a film since then and so this project is kind of a big deal, it's reported that Okiura spent seven years of his life producing this film. I guess the obvious question is: did he make a good movie? I'm happy to report that, unsurprisingly, he did even though in my mind it doesn't quite live up to his previous movie.
This story is fairly simple - a young girl has to cope with moving from the metropolis of Tokyo to a small rural island after an unfortunate death in the family. This is the tale of how she copes with all these changes and events in her life. The added 'twist' here is that Momo's house is apparently haunted by three rather annoying youkai. Cue a tale of growing up, dealing with difficult changes and learning to better understand yourself and others.
If that description sounds a little Totoro-esque let me readjust your perception - this movie really doesn't go for that 'Ghibli feel'. Everything is, for want of a better word, more realistic and less fanciful. A cursory glance at Okiura's character designs reveal that, unlike many other anime titles, this is a cast that's filled with people who actually look Japanese. Leaving aside the humans and turning to the Youkai it's immediately clear that these are no whimsical soot sprites or enigmatic-but-adorable Totoros, they're actually quite unpleasant and obnoxious creatures that you certainly wouldn't want to hang about with. While they certainly develop a bond with Momo over the course of the movie they're not particularly appealing, which may go some way to explaining why the movie wasn't particularly successful.
To go into any specific plot points would pretty much spoil those key scenes, so I'll leave that discussion for the very end. In broad strokes, however, I have no problem with how the movie develops. I think it's paced well, for the most part, and things develop in an interesting and believable way. This progression isn't perfect, however. There's a few points in the movie where I felt like the pacing dragged considerably and I wasn't sure why we devoting so much time to these sequences, in particular the chase up the mountain seemed pointlessly long and didn't really serve any narrative purpose. For a movie that's two hours long it felt like they could have used some of that running time to focus on areas that weren't as strongly developed as they should have been, such as Momo's relationship with the other kids on the island. Momo, her mother, and the youkai get the majority of the screen time and I feel that this leaves some other characters shallower than they needed to be.
This movie looks great, as you might expect from something that's been so long in development. The background art does a great job in grounding the movie in a believable location and the animation is excellent throughout. While there may not be many 'action set pieces' that really show of the animators talent in an obvious way there's tons of really careful animation of very small, mundane movements. This attention to detail really breathes a sense of life into these characters because all their individual movements and expressions are so well captured. It's not in your face, but it's still very good.
The cinematography is extremely polished, as is the editing. As with the animation it wasn't necessarily showy, instead it feels very refined. It's a very meticulous movie in that sense. While I had found issue with certain scenes that I feel went on too long I didn't come across any shots or cuts where I was thinking "why did they do that?". We need Okiura's talents in the world of anime, he really needs to work on projects that actually come out more than once a decade.
I do have one substantial problem with the film, however, and it relates back to those obnoxious youkai who pester Momo. I would have preferred it if (general movie spoiler)
the film had remained ambiguous as to whether or not they really existed. As things stand other characters in the movie could see them, or feel their presence, which confirms that they weren't judge beings created from Momo's imagination. At least, I think that it does. I just think it would have been narratively more interesting to wonder whether or not we could trust what was happening on screen. I know that's not the story that he was trying to tell but that's just how I feel about it. I know it's a purely subjective matter, but I prefer it when it's more like Totoro and you can argue one way or the other.
Also, 2D mechanical animation, fuck yeah!
We're going to have to agree to disagree then. The idea of scale and escalation is a driving force in Die and is much closer to TTGL in that regards than anything in FLCL.
The characters and artstyle are far more reminiscent of FLCL, and there's the similarity in how both FLCL and DieBuster aren't very good.
This feels like I'm being baited but why do you think FLCL isn't good?
Crash Station
Member
Yeah, it really was a great choice for a remake. Even with my 1 or 2 complaints, it's the treatment the first really good arc deserves.
It would be nice if we could get that for some later arcs, particularly the best one in the series that Toei REALLY fucked up.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Should revisit Marineford, liked how it was done, though it would be interesting how a near 2hr version would turn out.
I understand that. I think Aim for the Top 2! Diebuster is more "standard", more lineal in that way you mention, until the climax and before the resolution. That journey from liberation to domination, that progression we see on Tengen Toppa Gurren-Laggan feels to me more expansive, but with different stages were Mr. Imaishi & Co. seemed to want to tackle every concept from the previous generations of robot animation series, from the 70s to the 90s. It felt like various plot skeletons as tribute existed, and various series in one but with only one conductive line!
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
My Little Precure: Smile is Magic 10
Cure Sunny fucking sucks.
My Little Precure: Smile is Magic 11
The Wurufurun show, all the time, any time.
Cure Sunny fucking sucks.
My Little Precure: Smile is Magic 11
Blood Type: Blue
being preguca is suffering
It's Mary Poppins!
Theonik
Member
Her cooking stat is still OP as fuck though. That goes a long way.
It was Gunbuster that was released as a Blu-ray box set in Japan fairly recently, correct? or was that Diebuster?
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I think it might have been some more subtler signs. I think it was in episode 11 where they shrunk that Nao clinged to Reika a bit. Episode 25 at the beach had Nao and Akane facing off and eventually became Akane x Nao but to start with Reika was with Nao. Stuff like that maybe?
I personally kind of like them together just because they're my two favorites haha. (Yayoi is pretty great as well though) Some of the extra material might be helping with the shipping as well such as the opening to the 3DS game:
Yeah, that kind of thing might bother some more than others so I guess it's a YMMV type of situation perhaps.
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See, now you're trying irritate me.
Can someone seriously provide screenshots from the episodes where this flag went off? I for the life of me cannot remember a single scene where these two had a moment that would warrant a ship.
I think it might have been some more subtler signs. I think it was in episode 11 where they shrunk that Nao clinged to Reika a bit. Episode 25 at the beach had Nao and Akane facing off and eventually became Akane x Nao but to start with Reika was with Nao. Stuff like that maybe?
I personally kind of like them together just because they're my two favorites haha. (Yayoi is pretty great as well though) Some of the extra material might be helping with the shipping as well such as the opening to the 3DS game:
Not my image so I apologize for the lower quality.
Yeah, that kind of thing might bother some more than others so I guess it's a YMMV type of situation perhaps.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
Problem is that most of those arcs can't really be easily condensed down to around that length, at least not without being completely fucked up. 2 hour versions of Water Seven or Marineford or Skypiea wouldn't exactly be fixing much.
SolarPowered
Member
Gifs are a little too much unless the show has at least been on in it's complete form for the full season(think Kids on the Slope or one of the Summer animes) or it is a random short from a funny scene. The kissing gifs from Shin Sekai Yori were pretty blatant. I knew they were supposed to be more like Bonobos but damn. Stills should try their best to avoid spoilers through subs or big scenes(ie: kissing, death, etc.). Random stills like many of the early stuff from Shin Sekai Yori or the random Joshiraku torture pic from above are cool though. There is no way to make any sense of that imo. Funny stills are great too.
Chet Rippo
Member
Crash Station
Member
Marineford could work in 2 hours. It's only 4 chapters longer than the Arlong arc, and that was also around the time Oda was doing 17 pages vs 19. That kind of thing would add up in an adaptation. Totally doable.
It's Envelope; just laugh and move on.
Haha, Reika's not bad at all, and if Akane didn't exist I'd be on that boat too.
Regarding that episode she clinged onto Reika once, in contrast to the couple scenes involving her and Akane.
Episode 25 was really the nail in the coffin to make their pairing legit.
Not to mention the more recent episode of Nao getting flustered and spazzing out when she was doing a confession scenario with Akane.
Yep, although the theatrical version of it was also released on Blu-ray previously as a standalone, and for The GATTAI!! Movie (along with parts of Aim for the Top 2! Diebuster as well):
GAINAX OFFICIAL SHOP | トップをねらえ！ Blu-ray Box 【通常版】
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index...CD%A4%E9%A4%A8%A1%A1Blu-ray&8%A1%E04=2%A1%DE0
This above is the most recent and (of course) complete series 'Blu-ray Box', as opposed to this:
GAINAX OFFICIAL SHOP | 「トップをねらえ！劇場版」 Blu-ray Disc
http://www2.gainax.co.jp/shop/index...CD%A4%E9%A4%A8%A1%A1Blu-ray&8%A1%E04=2%A1%DE0
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
Yeah, but Oda's chapters in the later part of the series are jam packed with a lot more content than his earlier chapters. Compare the amount of text in an East Blue chapter to something more recent. That adds up a lot more than 2 pages, because those 17 pages have a lot more events happening than the 19 pages of Arlong Park do. It might only be a few chapters longer than Arlong Park, but so much more happens in those chapters plot wise. I have a hard time seeing them managing to cut that down to 2 hours without completely mangling it.
Chet Rippo
Member
That's how it basically was around here. Except that last part, I wouldn't actually know anything about that.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
But Cure Sunny is awful. Cure Beauty would make the perfect husbando for Cure March.
A little late on this but I have a bit more to write than I normally do so:
Eureka 7 AO - 23&24 (Fin)
Man, one of the worst narratives in recent memory. If they had maybe taken out 3 or 4 of the subplots out of this series, it may have stood a chance. If they had just focused on some of the revelations at the end of this series and built around it, it may have been great. If the story was focused more or less solely on
it may have been a great series.
This, however, is a moot point to discuss for one simple reason:
BONES
Or at least, BONES sequels. Maybe they just have trouble writing 2-part stories? Darker than Black had a decent first season and a trash second season. Even Xam'd felt like it was almost 2 series mashed into 1 with "season 1" being good and "season 2" being a mess.
Then again, Un-GO was a self contained series and it was shit. Maybe Eureka 7 was the diamond in the rough for this studio. Are there any other BONES series that were good that I'm forgetting?
I can't think of the last series I watched with such little return on investment. That's probably because I invested too much into this being great seeing as how the original Eureka 7 is one of my favorite series (whereas DTB wasn't so the sequel had me laughing more than shaking my head).
I doubt I'll watch another BONES production. None of their other properties seem great and the one redeeming production they had will never be duplicated, even when they try.
Eureka 7 AO - 23&24 (Fin)
Man, one of the worst narratives in recent memory. If they had maybe taken out 3 or 4 of the subplots out of this series, it may have stood a chance. If they had just focused on some of the revelations at the end of this series and built around it, it may have been great. If the story was focused more or less solely on
Renton and Eureka battling the scub and being separated through time and trying to find each other again or something
This, however, is a moot point to discuss for one simple reason:
BONES
Or at least, BONES sequels. Maybe they just have trouble writing 2-part stories? Darker than Black had a decent first season and a trash second season. Even Xam'd felt like it was almost 2 series mashed into 1 with "season 1" being good and "season 2" being a mess.
Then again, Un-GO was a self contained series and it was shit. Maybe Eureka 7 was the diamond in the rough for this studio. Are there any other BONES series that were good that I'm forgetting?
I can't think of the last series I watched with such little return on investment. That's probably because I invested too much into this being great seeing as how the original Eureka 7 is one of my favorite series (whereas DTB wasn't so the sequel had me laughing more than shaking my head).
I doubt I'll watch another BONES production. None of their other properties seem great and the one redeeming production they had will never be duplicated, even when they try.
Really?
Fullmetal Alchemist (both series)
Wolf's Rain
Rahxephon
Skull Man
Scrapped Princess
Kurau
All great shows (some more, some less).
Even Soul Eater was great until the last few episodes, and I'd say Star Driver was pretty good too.
And then you have Sword of the Stranger, one of the greatest anime movies ever.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
I don't know about that. I think there's plenty of material from which to make a good Ouran High School Host Club sequel.
Dedication Through Light
Member
No. 6
Heroman
Star Driver
Blast of Tempest
Un-go
FMA BroHood
Soul Eater (canon portions)
Ouran High School Host Club
All really good enough worth buying.
Why the hell is E7 not on this list?
Dedication Through Light
Member
Not as good as Eureka Seven AO, and Ive yet to see the bd on sale here to buy it :/
Jex
Member
Didn't you hear, E7:AO went back in time and made E7 suck.
E7AO retconned itself out of existence. It doesn't exist. It never happend. Nada.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
Next thing you are gonna tell me is that Macross Frontier is best Macross.
Sword of the Stranger being a movie I'd leave out. That being said, I forgot about FMA and RahXephon. Haven't seen the other series except for Scrapped Princess, which I didn't like (boring characters).
In addition, FMA is technically a Bones adaptation right? RahXephon is my more egregious error in omission, seeing as how that is one of my favorite shows ever.
I was listing shows he didn't already mention.
E7 is one of my favorite shows ever.
I didn't know adaptations don't count
But yeah, Rahxephon is amazing, you should try watching Wolf's Rain, you might like it, it's a wonderful show.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
I thought you didn't like Blasty.
dakkumauji
Member
Kami-sama Hajimemashita 08
A beach episode means we get to see whatever that is.
Not a bad episode. Slightly amused by new bishie of the week and I guess this is where hopefully Namami starts doing something.
A beach episode means we get to see whatever that is.
Not a bad episode. Slightly amused by new bishie of the week and I guess this is where hopefully Namami starts doing something.
This almost certainly won't last.
Yeah. I realized that. Hence the edit.
There's plenty of time for them to fuck it up, one can never be too cautious.
It is really good so far though.
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