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[Jotamide]

This thread inspired me to check out the series. So worth it. Cliches aside, I really like sci-fi and this totally scratched that itch. Battles were pretty sweet and character development was ok. I kinda didn't see it coming when

Spoiler

they pulled a Gurren Lagann in the middle of the show

but I thought it fit the tone of the series well. Also, I feel bad for all the anime elitists ITT who aren't willing to give a show a chance because of CGI, framerate, or pesky nuances. It must be very difficult to enjoy things in life for you I guess. Looking forward to season 2!

 

[petethepanda]

Well, it at least made it about four minutes before lingering on shots of naked chicks.

It isn't bad so far but I largely gave up on anime years ago due to anime-isms like this so nowadays I have a pretty low tolerance for them.

 

[gatti-man]

The action was good. I really like mech action the other stuff was pretty terrible tbh but mech action makes it great lol

 

[Parakeetman]

One thing for sure is they actually use CG correctly unlike other studios that have tried.

Im still pissed that whoever was in charge of Arpeggio of Blue Steel fucking ruined not only the story, but the whole general art style the series had with the shit CG it used. One of the best scenes from the manga was ruined by shit writing and direction.

 

[LiK]

whenever anime studios actuall have the budget and time, they can create the more gorgeous visuals ever.

 

[Doctor Decimate]

Also, I feel bad for all the anime elitists ITT who aren't willing to give a show a chance because of CGI, framerate, or pesky nuances. It must be very difficult to enjoy things in life for you I guess. Looking forward to season 2!

i don't really see what's supposed to be "elitist" about not liking a cartoon for its chosen visual style. that's a really common complaint even outside of anime.

 

[AlimNassor]

The artstyle is bland, and the action sucks. Also, this better not turn into a fuckign harem. I can't tell the characters apart they're all the same. Exactly the same.

 

[reynal1287]

Really good sci-fi anime and only 12 epidodes. Bit slow start but gets really good.

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

One thing for sure is they actually use CG correctly unlike other studios that have tried.

Im still pissed that whoever was in charge of Arpeggio of Blue Steel fucking ruined not only the story, but the whole general art style the series had with the shit CG it used. One of the best scenes from the manga was ruined by shit writing and direction.

For Arpeggio's story you can blame manga author,since they told anime staff if the anime follow manga plot it will flop
And not only that,they even involved to anime and giving ideas to bully Kongou,like "Maya is a bot" was from them

 

[-Horizon-]

For Arpeggio's story you can blame manga author,since they told anime staff if the anime follow manga plot it will flop
And not only that,they even involved to anime and giving ideas to bully Kongou,like "Maya is a bot" was from them

I did not actually know this.
But the author was the one who wanted to do that to Kongou?? ;-;

 

[ShirAhava]

I watched half of this cganime .....hot garbage...if this turns out to be good it must REALLY switch it up in the middle cause as much as I hate the art direction the characters are worse.

 

[Chairmanchuck]

Well, it at least made it about four minutes before lingering on shots of naked chicks.

Arent half of them still "undecided" about their gender? The premise is that there are people on the ship that doesnt have a gender yet and can decide on it later.

I watched half of this cganime .....hot garbage...if this turns out to be good it must REALLY switch it up in the middle cause as much as I hate the art direction the characters are worse.

I havent watched the anime yet, but I never thought the characters are badly written in the manga. What do you mean exactly?

 

[X05]

I saw this was on netflix the other day, I'll eventually get to it.

Also, if studios want to do full CG animation they should just license CyberConnect2's Ultimate Ninja Storm engine or something.

 

[justanotheruserofgaf]

Arent half of them still "undecided" about their gender? The premise is that there are people on the ship that doesnt have a gender yet and can decide on it later.



I havent watched the anime yet, but I never thought the characters are badly written in the manga. What do you mean exactly?

That third new gender when they select a male becomes the gender for the job. So if they select a female mate they become fully male. A lot of the population is clones whose aging is accelerated both mental and physically. Also that wasn't a shower scene it was them photosynthesizing something they talk about and detail why in an episode.

The characters aren't badly written it's just that they are quite different from modern humans. You have a immortal council that is strapped in pods that receive anti-aging drugs and that the populace knows this yet it's publicly denied by the gov't of the ship. When people hit a certain age they are given a funeral while still alive and then made into fertilizer. So you have a lot of built in resentment towards the gov't. Hence why there are so many of the anti-military faction.

 

[Parakeetman]

For Arpeggio's story you can blame manga author,since they told anime staff if the anime follow manga plot it will flop
And not only that,they even involved to anime and giving ideas to bully Kongou,like "Maya is a bot" was from them

Thats pretty obvious considering the story is still going on without a clear end yet. But goddamn not only was the story garbage, but also the way characters were rewritten.

 

[Mdk7]

I tried to watch it cause it was on Netflix and there's so little these days left for me to watch to justify my subscription, but it was pretty bad.

The most gorgeous anime I've ever seen was "Garden of Words." I don't know what the production values are, but man I can't stop watching it for the art

O_O
this is stunning.

 

[Prototype]

Recently watched the whole thing on Netflix and loved it.

Can't wait for season 2.

 

[Shig]

I was really put off by the first episode, but impressions here seem to dictate I'll give it at least another episode.

Still, Tsutomu Nihei's big draw is his kinetic, sketchy artstyle and dynamic draftsmanship. I can't help but feel that there's a special level of hell reserved for someone who gets the license to adapt his work and then tosses hand-drawn art completely out the window in favor of a bunch of vacant CG dolls. Missing the point something serious.

 

[Kite]

i don't really see what's supposed to be "elitist" about not liking a cartoon for its chosen visual style. that's a really common complaint even outside of anime.

Personally I'd use the term "stupid" or "silly" instead of "elitist." It is pretty silly to dismiss anime because some of the best of all time are ugly as sin. The undisputed best show of last season was Ping Pong the Animation which had a very odd and experimental (ugly and crude) visual style. Many dropped or dismissed it cus of how it looked which is their loss.

 

[Shig]

Ugly and crude is fine when it's true to the source's identity. Ping Pong expertly emulated Matsumoto's artwork, and Matsumoto's artwork is what makes people take notice of him. People don't like that style, fine, but it's artistically honest to take a raw-looking source and make a raw-looking show.

Knights is the whole other side of that. Its ugly comes from hollow CG dolls, which are a horribly-chosen delivery vehicle to emulate the scribbly, energetic style of Nihei's work. Its ugliness isn't because it's emulating an ugly source, it's because its betraying a good one.

 

[TC McQueen]

One thing for sure is they actually use CG correctly unlike other studios that have tried.

Im still pissed that whoever was in charge of Arpeggio of Blue Steel fucking ruined not only the story, but the whole general art style the series had with the shit CG it used. One of the best scenes from the manga was ruined by shit writing and direction.

You do know that the show probably started production really early in the manga's run and had no choice but to diverge, right?

Spoiler

Also, I'd argue that it's better than the manga for the sole fact that it actually lets Blue Steel reach America, instead of pulling a Lost and jerking everyone around with tons of subplots.

 

[EVIL]

I Was really interested in this but couldn't make it more than ten minutes due to the horrible frame rate of the cg characters. Does that get better later on?

I wanted to post this. unbearable to watch.

 

[justanotheruserofgaf]

I wanted to post this. unbearable to watch.

Not sure what you people are talking about. They move like every other anime character.

 

[lonely]

While I really enjoy the manga and liked the anime. I felt that the show feels more expensive than it actually is because of some really good direction and the use of the CG that Polygon Pictures picked up working on western franchises. I thought the CG worked well during the fights and allowed for a more dynamic camera than most other anime but out of that the quality was patchy. And on the topic of production values I think we all know that this year Fate/Stay Night will easily be the most expensive and beautiful show. Type Moon has tonnes of cash to throw at it and Ufotable are a studio that makes really pretty anime with a great combination of CG tricks and hand drawn work.

 

[m_shortpants]

I tried to watch it cause it was on Netflix and there's so little these days left for me to watch to justify my subscription, but it was pretty bad.

The most gorgeous anime I've ever seen was "Garden of Words." I don't know what the production values are, but man I can't stop watching it for the art

Well, I need to watch this ASAP.

 

[MDSVeritas]

The animation could have used work, but I really enjoyed Knights of Sidonia too. The lighting made some shots look completely 2D and it was well pulled off on the whole. The mech animation is the best looking stuff in the show, and it really is awesome looking at times.

The story may seem somewhat cliche, but the Sci-fi setting was actually pretty original and unique in a lot of ways, and I like that it didn't stray away from getting pretty dark. I enjoyed it more than most other anime I've seen in a while.

Well, I need to watch this ASAP.

Garden of Words is phenomenal. Watch it immediately. It ties sublime animation with a very personal and understated story that works well. It's also only 45 minutes.

 

[Phat Michael]

The animation could have used work, but I really enjoyed Knights of Sidonia too. The lighting made some shots look completely 2D and it was well pulled off on the whole. The mech animation is the best looking stuff in the show, and it really is awesome looking at times.

The story may seem somewhat cliche, but the Sci-fi setting was actually pretty original and unique in a lot of ways, and I like that it didn't stray away from getting pretty dark. I enjoyed it more than most other anime I've seen in a while.



Garden of Words is phenomenal. Watch it immediately. It ties sublime animation with a very personal and understated story that works well. It's also only 45 minutes.

Agreed it's such a beautiful story. I've only cried in 3 movies in my life. Transformers (1987) when Optimus prime died. (I was six). Turner and hooch, when the dog died. And now garden of words.

Truly beautiful film. 5cm per second is great as well but the first story outshines the other two.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Haven't watched it yet, but definitely planning to. I've been a fan of Tsutomu Nihei's work since BLAME! (which honestly should get a proper adaptation in the future) and a big fan of the way he presents scale with his architecture designs.

From what I've also heard KOS has a narrative that's easier to follow than stuff like BLAME!, probably more in line with his Biomega work I'd take it? I can't complain either way, but I'm sure most people prefer it more like the latter.

I saw this was on netflix the other day, I'll eventually get to it.

Is that so? Well I guess I'll watch an episode tonight.

I can only imagine Knights of Sidonia is the result of editors pestering Tsutomu Nihei to write a more "normal" manga instead of focusing 100% on the mind-fucking sci-fi he's so famous for. I guess it worked, since I think it's his first work that got adapted into a TV series.

Actually, I think what actually makes KoS interesting and entertaining is exactly Nihei's brand of sci-fi, which isn't as crazy as his past works but retains most the bleak charm, transhumanist and posthumanist concepts his famous for. The character development is meh-ish for most part.

That's actually why I've been hesitant on it tbh; I like freaky scifi and his BLAME! manga is still his best work to me, for many reasons, one of which being for how gritty it all is. It's as close to Japanese cyberpunk (Tetsuo, 964, Death Powder et. al) I've read in a manga and that kind of allows it to explore a lot of themes both narrative and visual, that open up thanks to the freedom that comes with going that way.

But all the same even if KOS is a bit tamer than his usual stuff it's probably bound to appeal to me more than a lot of other artist's work.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I actually marathoned it this weekend. I think the character animation looked pretty rough and I had a hard time telling a lot of the characters apart (they could have explained the pink haired girls earlier too) but I thought a lot of the action scenes looked really great (especially that last battle).

I'd recommend it though. I don't watch a lot of anime anymore so it takes a very interesting show to get me to marathon it. I thought the premise was pretty damn cliche, but there were a lot of world building ideas in there that I thought were interesting. Hopefully the second season will expand on those a lot more sense the majority of them were just kind of tossed out there without extrapolation

Spoiler

(the clones, the ONE third gender person, the talking bear)

and others were kind of blazed over too fast for me to really follow well or appreciate

Spoiler

(The whole 100 year flashback was kind of blazed through and probably could have used a whole episode or two to itself)

. That said, I was almost always frantically heading to the next episode at the end of each one. I'll definitely be watching season 2.

 

[M3d10n]

I actually marathoned it this weekend. I think the character animation looked pretty rough and I had a hard time telling a lot of the characters apart (they could have explained the pink haired girls earlier too) but I thought a lot of the action scenes looked really great (especially that last battle).

I'd recommend it though. I don't watch a lot of anime anymore so it takes a very interesting show to get me to marathon it. I thought the premise was pretty damn cliche, but there were a lot of world building ideas in there that I thought were interesting. Hopefully the second season will expand on those a lot more sense the majority of them were just kind of tossed out there without extrapolation

Spoiler

(the clones, the ONE third gender person, the talking bear)

and others were kind of blazed over too fast for me to really follow well or appreciate

Spoiler

(The whole 100 year flashback was kind of blazed through and probably could have used a whole episode or two to itself)

. That said, I was almost always frantically heading to the next episode at the end of each one. I'll definitely be watching season 2.

I figured out the identical girls had to be clones or something like that right away, but I guess it's not obvious if you haven't been exposed to Nihei's other works. He doesn't shy away from dropping stuff like clones, artificial reproduction, widespread genetic manipulation, immortality-through-science, brain/consciousness transplant/uploading (the most likely the explanation for the bear), artificial/digital lifeforms and similar stuff in his stories as everyday occurrences with little or no explanation/exposition. I find piecing everything together part of the appeal in his works. It's like playing Super Metroid or Dark Souls.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Spoiler

the talking bear

Oh snap!

Spoiler

There was a talking Russian bear in Biomega too. I wonder if this makes the two series kind of related?

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I figured out the identical girls had to be clones or something like that right away, but I guess it's not obvious if you haven't been exposed to Nihei's other works. He doesn't shy away from dropping stuff like clones, artificial reproduction, widespread genetic manipulation, immortality-through-science, brain/consciousness transplant/uploading (the most likely the explanation for the bear), artificial/digital lifeforms and similar stuff in his stories as everyday occurrences with little or no explanation/exposition. I find piecing everything together part of the appeal in his works. It's like playing Super Metroid or Dark Souls.

I mean, that's kind of what I assumed at first but wasn't sure. Actually, I thought they were triplets or quadruplets because I think they originally just show 3 or 4. Then later they show a crap ton more (I think there's 9 total

Spoiler

well....was

) and I'm like "Ok, they gotta be clones". Then they wait until basically the end before they casually drop the clone detail which I thought was funny. Especially since Nagate never questioned it once. Considering he grew up completely isolated from society, I was confused why he wasn't questioning more in general actually (like the talking bear lol).

I don't NOT like it, but I'm hoping they expand on some of this stuff more since all that stuff is the really interesting differentiator to the show imo, and I think there's a better way to incorporate it. Part of the problem was, like I said earlier, I had a hard time telling characters apart early in the season and the multiple girls and mention of genetic engineering had me assuming that everyone had multiple clones walking around.

 

[leonemesis]

I had no idea people were this upset by the anime´s visuals, I had no issues watching it. It seemed weird at first, I guess, but after one or two episodes I got used to it and enjoyed watching, quite a lot actually. Looking forward to next season.

 

[Messofanego]

Attack on Titan in Space? So nothing interesting happens for 10 episodes and then after 5 minutes of excitement and reveals nothing interesting happens for another 10 episodes?

It doesn't suffer from Attack on Titan's horrendous pacing.

So, like every shounen anime?

I don't know how people manage to marathon through hundreds of episodes of these kind of shows. I'm glad I saw DBZ or Inuyasha or Naruto or Bleach when I was young and had the time or mental fortitude to withstand all that filler. Now, no thanks if the anime needs this many filler episodes before catching up with the manga.

 

[Basileus777]

So, like every shounen anime?

I don't know how people manage to marathon through hundreds of episodes of these kind of shows. I'm glad I saw DBZ or Inuyasha or Naruto or Bleach when I was young and had the time or mental fortitude to withstand all that filler. Now, no thanks if the anime needs this many filler episodes before catching up with the manga.

It's a 12 episode series without filler or slow pacing, it's nothing like those shows.

 

[Messofanego]

It's a 12 episode series without filler or slow pacing, it's nothing like those shows.

Oh yeah, not talking about this show, just Attack on Titan and others.

 

[SpoonyBard]

I watched all 12 episodes, and it was pretty good. I missed some plot points, as I was multi tasking every now and then, but I think most of the stuff made sense and was interesting. But this wasn't as good as classics like Evangelion or Escaflowne... I think mainly the characters weren't interesting enough.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

Oh yeah, not talking about this show, just Attack on Titan and others.

Even regarding AOT I think it's sort of overblown. It's decently paced with the manga, which doesn't even have that many chapters (tho the chapters are like twice the length of normal chapters).

I'd much rather watch a filler episode of AOT over any of those other anime you listed, or over good episodes of a lot of other anime these days.

Speaking of manga that deserve full anime adaptations, Battle Angel Alita is still waiting patiently.

 

[Opto]

I'd take stiff hand-drawn anime over this CGI puppet fest any day. Really, if you have CG why is everything look like 5 frames per second?

 

[Isotope]

Oddly enough, this thread (and Ami's post) made me want to watch Garden Of Words again. It's so beautiful.

 

[Envelope]

Watched episode 6 the other day,

Spoiler

nooooooo I liked her, why she have to die? ((

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I'd take stiff hand-drawn anime over this CGI puppet fest any day. Really, if you have CG why is everything look like 5 frames per second?

Two reasons:

1] I think they're trying to emulate the 24fps of cel animation. Unfortunately it comes across as not-fluid since it's not cel animation.

2] It's cheaper. This is the main reason. Every frame you render takes time and the less frames you render, the faster it's done, and the cheaper it is.

 

[Jex]

There's honestly a number of shows this season and last season that look significantly better than this. Space Dandy, on it's own, is in a completely different league.

There's nothing particularly wrong with the aesthetic of the series (well I'm not a fan of them but they aren't that bad) but I don't really have any way to connect with such poorly animated characters. At least, not without extremely strong direction, which this series lacks. Your character animation, combined with the voice acting, is essentially "the acting" of the series and if your actors can't act because they're so poorly animated it's hard to connect with the characters or their plight.

 

[Crash Station]

There's honestly a number of shows every season that look significantly better than this.

Yep.

 

[Atenhaus]

Character animation aside, the storyline and fight sequences are phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal.

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

There's honestly a number of shows this season and last season that look significantly better than this. Space Dandy, on it's own, is in a completely different league.

There's nothing particularly wrong with the aesthetic of the series (well I'm not a fan of them but they aren't that bad) but I don't really have any way to connect with such poorly animated characters. At least, not without extremely strong direction, which this series lacks. Your character animation, combined with the voice acting, is essentially "the acting" of the series and if your actors can't act because they're so poorly animated it's hard to connect with the characters or their plight.

Sidonia is the show get's everything right in Japan and they love it,that's what a Japanese show needs
And "this show's action sucks" is most funny comments in this thread
http://a.pomf.se/pfspxc.webm
They even make only human fighting scene 60fps
http://gfycat.com/PhonyImpartialAngora
And get the highest spring show ratings in Japan,and numbers of this show better than Sidonia in spring or even first half of 2014?0

 

[Jex]

Sidonia is the show get's everything right in Japan and they love it,that's what a Japanese show needs
And "this show's action sucks" is most funny comments in this thread
http://a.pomf.se/pfspxc.webm
They even make only human fighting scene 60fps
http://gfycat.com/PhonyImpartialAngora
And get the highest spring show ratings in Japan,and numbers of this show better than Sidonia in spring or even first half of 2014?0

Are you trying to show that show doesn't look awful because plenty of people watch it and it's popular? You do understand that argument makes literally no sense at all?

 

[Maximilian Kolbe]

Are you trying to show that show doesn't look awful because plenty of people watch it and it's popular? You do understand that argument makes literally no sense at all?

First it's not "doesn't look awful",it's great
And,it's clearly not a show a lot of people watched(still decent amount though,but way more people watched love live,mekaku etc),but most people praise it after watched the show

I don't even know where you bring "plenty of people watch it and it's popular" from,when none of my old replies is about how many people watched this show,reply something make sense before saying other people not making sense,thanks.
The picture is review of the show,1-5,1 means best,5 means worst

 

[Jex]

First it's not "doesn't look awful",it's great
And,it's clearly not a show a lot of people watched(still decent amount though,but way more people watched love live,mekaku etc),but most people praise it after watched the show

I don't even know where you bring "plenty of people watch it and it's popular" from,when none of my old replies is about how many people watched this show,reply something make sense before saying other people not making sense,thanks.
The picture is review of the show,1-5,1 means best,5 means worst

It appears I misunderstood your earlier post, in that I didn't know what this line:

"And get the highest spring show ratings in Japan,and numbers of this show better than Sidonia in spring or even first half of 2014?0"

meant. Thanks for clarifying.

Either way, bringing up evidence that demonstrates that other people enjoyed the work is irrelevant. When you bring that up after I complain about the shows visuals all it means is that some people liked the show, it's not something that you can use to form any kind of argument. It doesn't address my point about the character animation at all.

A works aesthetic qualities obviously lie in the eye of the beholder, therefore when I say it looks awful and you say it looks great those are just reflections of our perception of the work. There's no "facts" to discuss because it's just subjective.

However, my main reason for posting here is because the one thing that I can and will argue against is the notion stated in the OP that KOS has extremely high production values. I feel it's very easy to demonstrate how that is not the case.

 

[NastyBook]

Just finished watching it on Netflix, and I definitely enjoyed it more than Kill la Kill (which I haven't finished yet due to it being a bit meh). Decided to start reading the manga on Batoto, and smacked my forehead when it said Tsutomu Nihei was the creator. The damn bear was a dead giveaway and I didn't notice it at all. This read should be pretty damn good/weird/superfuckingweird then.