One Piece Special, Episode of Nami: Tears of a Navigator and the Bonds of Friends
I expected a lot more, especially when it comes to the production values. Actually that was the only segment where I wanted to see improvements, since the original adaptation did such an amazing job with the story. So content wise everything was great, maybe a bit better than the original (can't really remember the pacing and details like that, it's been a long time since I've last seen it), but the things where it could have really improved on it weren't really that much better (or at all, really).
The direction felt stiff and boring really, the animation was worse than the TV version, yes it's much cleaner and in HD, but I don't care, the original had that much more life and fluidity in it. I'm not sure what the state of the One Piece anime is now (stopped watching after the Thriller Bark arc) but if this is considered great animation I truly fear for it. There are two scenes with some nice animation - the end of Zoro's fight and the end of Luffy's final fight, both of those scenes lasting for about 2 or 3 seconds. Plus they were shorter which made them lose a bit of the epic feel. When compared to the quality of animation and choreography of the fights in the movies this looked laughable, but I won't do that since this is a TV special - okay, but it looked worse than most fights in the series, animation and direction wise.
It may sound like I'm a bit too harsh on the special, but it really isn't that bad, it's an amazing arc after all, but I see no point in skipping the original in favor of this, it's in no way superior (except that it's shorter if that's what you want, I don't see why you would, considering the fact that you're watching a 600 episode series), so there's not much reason for this to exist.
Hah, sorry if I'm making this known at every chance I get. I guess when something comes along that can actually anger me to the point of ragequtting, it's an accomplishment. I think only 3 things have that honor.
Lol, when I watch the director interview at Imagine-nation (You can check it at youtube) its remind me to your word about the series, its seems they just as confused as you with the murder thing.
Confused as in the portrayal kind of contradicts the content? If so, that's good then. No wonder they're probably cutting out the first really cruel scene.
One Piece Special, Episode of Nami: Tears of a Navigator and the Bonds of NAKAMA
I expected a lot more, especially when it comes to the production values. Actually that was the only segment where I wanted to see improvements, since the original adaptation did such an amazing job with the story. So content wise everything was great, maybe a bit better than the original (can't really remember the pacing and details like that, it's been a long time since I've last seen it), but the things where it could have really improved on it weren't really that much better (or at all, really).
The direction felt stiff and boring really, the animation was worse than the TV version, yes it's much cleaner and in HD, but I don't care, the original had that much more life and fluidity in it. I'm not sure what the state of the One Piece anime is now (stopped watching after the Thriller Bark arc) but if this is considered great animation I truly fear for it. There are two scenes with some nice animation - the end of Zoro's fight and the end of Luffy's final fight, both of those scenes lasting for about 2 or 3 seconds. Plus they were shorter which made them lose a bit of the epic feel. When compared to the quality of animation and choreography of the fights in the movies this looked laughable, but I won't do that since this is a TV special - okay, but it looked worse than most fights in the series, animation and direction wise.
It may sound like I'm a bit too harsh on the special, but it really isn't that bad, it's an amazing arc after all, but I see no point in skipping the original in favor of this, it's in no way superior (except that it's shorter if that's what you want, I don't see why you would, considering the fact that you're watching a 600 episode series), so there's not much reason for this to exist.
Really? Does the animation of the TV series get a boost when it gets to this arc? Because I've watched all the episodes prior to it and there's maybe a grand total of 5 seconds of good animation tops in them; the character designs are bad and their movements and poses generally quite awkward.
Really? Does the animation of the TV series get a boost when it gets to this arc? Because I've watched all the episodes prior to it and there's maybe a grand total of 5 seconds of good animation tops in them; the character designs are bad and their movements and poses generally quite awkward.
I can't say I remember, but I felt generally much more impressed with the TV version and since this special had like 5 seconds of great animation I think I liked how the original handled it a bit more.
Plus, I enjoy the artstyle the TV series had before much more than the new one (although this one is more similar to the manga, but I liked how the old one gave the show an identity of its own), everything felt more stylized and dynamic.
Confused as in the portrayal kind of contradicts the content? If so, that's good then. No wonder they're probably cutting out the first really cruel scene.
Dunno, but the director can't answer properly and always repeating in regard to this, and he also state at the very least the reason to why those bishie commit murder should be clear, and they want to make that clearer than in the manga.
The teacher grade moment reminded me of the difficulties involved when trying to give points on a question when the person was neither right but also not wrong, awkward to explain to the other person. Otherwise fun episode. Highschool girls are always just so mean to each people
but at least they apologized, poor Haru
.
Fishing trip was alright though could have been enhanced if it wasnt a Haru and what ever her name is affair, I mean, Sasayan could have got in the water too and stuff
Anyway its enjoyable enough that if it were licensed Id probably actually would buy it. There are only a few minor issues but nothing were mentioning at this point in time beyond the standard statements and I hope Yuuzan adds a nice element to the plot
That was alright, but I think I'm going to try to move ahead with the manga from here on out. Will put the anime on hold until I've completed this Balbadd arc or whatever the main thing is the anime is aiming to show.
So went to the theater to see these two. I think it's my first time actually seeing an anime in a theater. Arrived a couple of minutes late so I couldn't see the clientele of people who showed up for the movie. I really hate the fact that they aired a 4 hour long presentation at fucking 9 in the night. At least with Lawrence of Arabia they started that shit early so you didn't get out at an ungodly hour.
Beginnings:
This movie was like Mami,
chopped and eaten to pieces
. It's actually fairly interesting, the movie takes a more linear approach to the story and fucks itself in the process. The flashback in the intro of the first episode is gone, which is a mistake. It helped to set the tone for the series and was necessary for Homura's introductory scene at the school. Without this bit, large swaths of context are gone leaving awkward interactions that really don't make sense. My guess it was cut for time purposes and also due to the nature of it being a movie, the whole twist aspect doesn't work as well if you do the twist half an hour into the movie. Nonetheless there are dialogue bits that someone fucked up and didn't edit out the movie that reference a dream the movie audience never sees. One distinct problem this film has is the editing and transition scenes, or lack thereof. Many of the tender or more tragic moments don't have time to breathe before the movie jumps to another location.
Two distinct examples I can think of are the scene with Sayaka visiting the violin guy in the hospital and the scene just jumps and the other being after Mami's death, the next scene is very bright and colorful
. You can very much tell this is a recap of the television series because there are certain breaks in the movie that don't feel like they would be there if Madoka was originally made as a movie. I also think that some of the plot points work better with a break in between. Madoka is a very twist oriented narrative and the movie plowing through means that some of the more serious twists really don't have time to settle. I think because of this, a lot of the atmosphere was lost. I applaud Urobuchi on the amount of foreshadowing done early on, such as
Kyubey asking in the first movie whether Madoka wants to be a god
. Rewatching this, it's very impressive the way Shinbo plays with light sources and shadows. It was also fun rewatching Sayaka's
breakdown into madness
. One thing Urobuchi gets flak on is character writing and looking at both these movies really points out how hollow that criticism is when you see the character developments of Sayaka and Homura. I do think certain elements of Sayaka's arc can feel melodramatic but then again we're talking about 14 year old girls who really are out of their depth. So I do think a certain element of drama is needed for 'naturalism'. Not much to add in regards to the visuals other than the new transformation sequences really are nice and pretty. I also loved the shit out of the line they used to end the movie with. That was a fantastic way to close the first half.
One thing though, on rewatching, the dialogue of Homura and Kyubey feels off at times. Kyubey's wording sometimes does seem to imply emotions and Homura's wording is somewhat peculiar for a person who has future knowledge. In neither case is it an outright contradiction but doesn't feel as natural as it should be.
Eternal:
Let me state right off the bat, the pacing was leagues better. It's much slower and the atmosphere is much better. That said, the directing went to the shitter in this half and it really feels like the two halfs were directed by two different people. The CGI, why god why, graveyard sequence smacked me in the face the same way CG Jabba did in Episode IV. The whole bit feels what-the-fuckish. Then we have the seemingly random Connect OP thrown in after the Homura flashbacks. I think it was done to tell the audience that the movie was now going back to the current timeline because that's the only way I can make sense of how amazingly random it is. Even if that's the case, it stands in poor contrast to Looper and even feels insulting compared to how Looper handled the forward flashbacks. Also there are things in the second movie that play off stuff that wasn't shown in the first movie. For example,
the contrast between current Homura and past Homura works better when you establish current Homura is good at sports and is smart, something the first movie completely cuts out. They actually cut out a lot of the background in the first movie such as Mami's background being that her wish was done when she was dying
. While I'm still not crazy about the ending, it's still handled better than most other
Deus ex Machinas
I've seen.
All in all, it wasn't a bad watch although obviously the television series was superior. I don't think the recaps were necessarily lazy but there are definitely some amateur mistakes in there.
Could you be any less subtle, Sug? I mean, seriously...
So, Agil or whatever his name was is some kind of ultra-swag bartender in real life? And
enough people weren't sufficiently terrified by the SAO incident so that full-dive VR gaming is still actually a thing? I wouldn't think that an upgraded NervGear whose biggest selling point is "less likely to kill you!" would even remotely persuade me not to stay the fuck away from the technology forever, personally
.
It was so weird to see Kirito basically do the
bumbling dude who stumbles into a violent situation and reveals that he's actually a 1337 pwnz0r master of killing shit after taking everyone off guard
thing considering how hard the show tries to avoid older fantasy anime cliches (say what you will about the show itself, but it's managed to avoid being a Slayers-alike, I guess) that whole sequence just took me out of it.
Kirito being excited at the prospect of killing dudes in-game
was also pretty weird, but......I guess that's what happened when you're half-crazed from
I had thought of that too, so glad I wasnt the only one. I like the locations in ALfheim Online more than Sword Art Online. Feels refreshing for an MMORPG, even though Ive never played one.
bumbling dude who stumbles into a violent situation and reveals that he's actually a 1337 pwnz0r master of killing shit after taking everyone off guard
thing considering how hard the show tries to avoid older fantasy anime cliches (say what you will about the show itself, but it's managed to avoid being a Slayers-alike, I guess) that whole sequence just took me out of it.
Kirito being excited at the prospect of killing dudes in-game
was also pretty weird, but......I guess that's what happened when you're half-crazed from
I wasn't implying that Avatar invented them. I don't play a lot of JRPGs, so I wouldn't know about whatever it is that you're referencing.
I remember when someone finally convinced me to watch Avatar. I bailed the first time I saw a sky waterfall because I knew that if my suspension of disbelief was already shattered by that, I'd be dead by the end of the movie.
If I understand correctly, I cannot watch Seitokai no Ichizon Lv. 2 without a Japanese niconico account or cell phone? I was really hoping Crunchyroll would get this since they have the first season.
If I understand correctly, I cannot watch Seitokai no Ichizon Lv. 2 without a Japanese niconico account or cell phone? I was really hoping Crunchyroll would get this since they have the first season.
They may be waiting for an actual TV stream to license instead of niconico'd vision episodes. They did that with Ebiten which was web broadcast last season and now airs on TV and licensed by Crunchy this season.
I repeat: I wasn't implying that Avatar invented the idea. It was clearly a joke citing one specific instance of the concept being used elsewhere, no need for anyone to dramatically roll their eyes at my perceived ignorance.
I repeat: I wasn't implying that Avatar invented the idea. It was clearly a joke citing one specific instance of the concept being used elsewhere, no need for anyone to dramatically roll their eyes at my perceived ignorance.
I repeat: I wasn't implying that Avatar invented the idea. It was clearly a joke citing one specific instance of the concept being used elsewhere, no need for anyone to dramatically roll their eyes at my perceived ignorance.
I wasn't implying that Avatar invented them. I don't play a lot of JRPGs, so I wouldn't know about whatever it is that you're referencing.
I remember when someone finally convinced me to watch Avatar. I bailed the first time I saw a sky waterfall because I knew that if my suspension of disbelief was already shattered by that, I'd be dead by the end of the movie.
They may be waiting for an actual TV stream to license instead of niconico'd vision episodes. They did that with Ebiten which was web broadcast last season and now airs on TV and licensed by Crunchy this season.
Dammit, guaranteed I'm going to be up at 2 in the morning with bloodshot eyes, because that infernal theme song won't fucking stop playing.
Anyway,
Okay, the animation for this show, I have to say, is very good. I'm sure this has been discussed to death here already, but the facial expressions in particular really are outstanding. Fit both the art style and tone of the show perfectly.
Okay, the story. Akari and friends have their first day of middle school today. And they're late. Akari goes for a bombastic introduction to her classmates, and it totally bombs. Whatever. Can't win 'em all. Anyway, she joins the "amusement club", which is just some fake-ass club her friends started so they can sit around and do nothing. However, they get a new member, Chinatsu, who originally wanted to join Tea Club. Kyoko is ecstatic because she looks exactly like the character from her stupid Sailor Moon-with-a-witch-hat manga.
Anyhoo, they decide Akari doesn't have a personality. Huh. Could have fooled me. Anyway, they mostly spend the meeting making fun of her and telling her that she totally sucks. In a fun way. Anyway, they decide to come up with a fictional anime with her as the protagonist. In it, Yui jumps through her ceiling for no fucking reason, she finds a sword in the umbrella holding dealey, and she has the power to stop time. Stopping time is the absolute worst power a protagonist can have, by the way. It's basically an automatic win button that can be used to solve literally any situation. Anyway, their anime would be shitty. Or awesome. I haven't decided. Then the episode ends with some girl, I think from Student Council, coming to grill Kyoko's ass.
Other points:
-What's with the "Akari's panties" subplot? Why is her sister stealing them (and doing horrible things to them)? Also, why does Akari hang her panties on a fucking mobile?
-Kyoko might be insane. Just might be.
-How the hell did they get away with forming an "amusement club" anyway? Why don't they approve "fun club" or "activity club" while they're at it?
Anyway, this show is... definitely outside the spectrum of stuff I usually watch. May need a few episodes to gauge whether or not I should continue.
