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Spring 2011 Anime Thread of ZAWA ZAWA, Money, emo Cyclops, and fun^10xint^40=Ir2
- Thread starter InfiniteNine
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X TV continued
Watched up to episode 12 now, the mid-series climax. I really, really like how the series was planned and executed. The varying character perspectives and expanding the various character-centric scenes and flashbacks to give the large cast much more room to breath really sells the entire scope of the story. Instead of the story revolving around Kamui, the series makes it clear that the story revolves around the fate of the world, and everyone has a stake in it. Kamui just happens to be the core of the prophecy, but the story is about so much more than just him. Great stuff.
The stand out episode in the current batch I've seen has to be episode 9. Focusing on Subaru, the episode is written and directed in a really different way from the rest of the episodes. With Subaru on an onmyouji job, the direction takes on a very interesting style both in visuals and pacing. Kinda feels like a low budget but highly atmospheric horror/mystery show instead of the usual stuff. The episode was directed and storyboarded by Hiroshi Hamasaki, who eventually goes on to direct Texhnolyze, and is co-directing this season's Steins;Gate adaptation.
Also of note, Masahiro Ando storyboarded the episode with Nekoi's flashback. Clearly this was an early indication that his true calling was to tell stories of a teenage girl who has no problems with sharing herself with a much older man who she has just met! J/k...?
Watched up to episode 12 now, the mid-series climax. I really, really like how the series was planned and executed. The varying character perspectives and expanding the various character-centric scenes and flashbacks to give the large cast much more room to breath really sells the entire scope of the story. Instead of the story revolving around Kamui, the series makes it clear that the story revolves around the fate of the world, and everyone has a stake in it. Kamui just happens to be the core of the prophecy, but the story is about so much more than just him. Great stuff.
The stand out episode in the current batch I've seen has to be episode 9. Focusing on Subaru, the episode is written and directed in a really different way from the rest of the episodes. With Subaru on an onmyouji job, the direction takes on a very interesting style both in visuals and pacing. Kinda feels like a low budget but highly atmospheric horror/mystery show instead of the usual stuff. The episode was directed and storyboarded by Hiroshi Hamasaki, who eventually goes on to direct Texhnolyze, and is co-directing this season's Steins;Gate adaptation.
Also of note, Masahiro Ando storyboarded the episode with Nekoi's flashback. Clearly this was an early indication that his true calling was to tell stories of a teenage girl who has no problems with sharing herself with a much older man who she has just met! J/k...?
Rahxephon91
Banned
I can never watch past the halfway point with X tv in all the times I have tried to re-watch it. It's when the plot kicks into high gear and while that's a positive thing, I liked the 1st half's more character focused episodes.
As for the movie. Well the animations is fantastic and the overall look is pretty amazing. Plus there's lots of deaths, with one in particularity that is hilariously funny. Yeah I kind of enjoy the movie.
As for the movie. Well the animations is fantastic and the overall look is pretty amazing. Plus there's lots of deaths, with one in particularity that is hilariously funny. Yeah I kind of enjoy the movie.
Crash Station
Member
zeroshiki said:I don't even remember anything except the guy had wings. Oh wait was that Escaflowne?
It's one of the few "action" Shoujo series I've seen. I liked it, but don't remember much about it. Seems like the manga is still going.
trejo said:
That's the one.
DNAngel t'was alright a show, I guess. The main things I'm remembering about my thoughts regarding the show at the time are that the CG was less obnoxious than it was in most shows of the era, and that I liked the first ED.
Actually, the main thing I remember is people bringing it up in jest in regards to the ADV staffer who proclaimed that it was the show which finally supplanted Dirty Pair as his favourite thing ever. Personally, I can't really imagine ever watching it through again.
Infinite Justice
Member
trejo said:
It was ok and it was cool he saw the error of his ways and picked the right twin.
But it doesn't help the author hasn't bothered to continue it to this day though.
Jex
Member
Ideon 3
All right, I'm out for now. I can't handle too much classic Tomino. Firstly I get a headache trying to think about why characters are doing things and how poor the writing is, then I get a headache trying to suppress my inclinations to work out what's going on and finally I just retreat into the darkness as a gibbering wreck of a human being.
From a 'Tomino across time' perspective it's interesting how he'll later return to the idea of "digging up a crazy ancient robot" and "excavating an old spaceship" but do it far, far better in ∀ Gundam.
All right, I'm out for now. I can't handle too much classic Tomino. Firstly I get a headache trying to think about why characters are doing things and how poor the writing is, then I get a headache trying to suppress my inclinations to work out what's going on and finally I just retreat into the darkness as a gibbering wreck of a human being.
From a 'Tomino across time' perspective it's interesting how he'll later return to the idea of "digging up a crazy ancient robot" and "excavating an old spaceship" but do it far, far better in ∀ Gundam.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Well with the tweets from shonenjump and viz during their livestream today, I know need to check out Blue Exorcist ep 1 when I get home, apparently it is so good with amazing animation, cant wait.
[Berserk]
(then again, as has been said earlier, the story told by the TV show simply isn't complete... it's not just a matter of "hey, unhappy endings happen, too!": there clearly is some unfinished business)
It's just that everything that's good in the anime was already right there in the manga (again, aside from Hirasawa... but even then, there was, what? 45 minutes of music for 25 episodes? so the final massacre gets the same BGM as a bunch of "normal" battles before? okay...). The adaptation did a great job advertising the original series, but was pretty damn pointless otherwise...
Nah... But it sure had a lot of them: it's like they could never decide which one to use for Griffith, for example!Jexhius said:
I don't have much of a problem regarding the overall flow. The missing characters are an issue if you want to come back with a second series, but not a big deal otherwise.
(then again, as has been said earlier, the story told by the TV show simply isn't complete... it's not just a matter of "hey, unhappy endings happen, too!": there clearly is some unfinished business)
It's just that everything that's good in the anime was already right there in the manga (again, aside from Hirasawa... but even then, there was, what? 45 minutes of music for 25 episodes? so the final massacre gets the same BGM as a bunch of "normal" battles before? okay...). The adaptation did a great job advertising the original series, but was pretty damn pointless otherwise...
Finished watching the first season of Spice and Wolf and really liked it. Someone said Holo troll Lawrence all the time, and it's so true, Holo trolls Lawrence like a boss.
It also had a cool ending, and not every day you get the male protagonist riding his woman not once, but twice in an episode!
It also had a cool ending, and not every day you get the male protagonist riding his woman not once, but twice in an episode!
Infinite Justice
Member
Halycon said:
It was alright but changes had to be made since the story wasn't (and is still not) done.
Lain said:
Hurr Hurr.
Second season now plz
Jex
Member
So I guess in that regard it would be remarkably similar to the manga! Except that Griffith looks like an effeminate men rather than a woman.Erigu said:
Stories can and do finish without every single part of their universe wrapped into a neat bow, as it were. This can work for the series as well, although admittedly episode one leaves quite a lot open. Although I do tend to not show episode one to people because it's kind of weak compared to the rest of the show and it ruins later surprises.Erigu said:
You could make that argument for nearly all anime based off on manga and to an extent that's a purpose they serve, but to claim that's all they do is part of a dangerously reductive group of arguments about the whole "manga to anime" business.Erigu said:
The Berserk anime has great voice work and music, which may or may not be important to someone but it's certainly important for me.
As I've mentioned, I vastly prefer the anime design for Griffith.
It's animation quality is sketchy, surprisingly so for a series based off such a popular series. However, for those brief moments you get an animated scene it can actually be superior to it's manga version. For example, the Guts vs. Samson fight in the woods is better in the manga because I don't think Miura does a great job of laying out all the fights in the manga. I personally think it's one of his weakness, even though sometimes he does it well.
The biggest improvement definitely comes in pacing. Removing a lot of the fantasy stuff was clearly a time saving measure but excising a number of those scenes (and even whole arcs) frees up the story to move from major plot point to major plot point at a remarkably brisk pace. This means the actual character works hits home harder because it's not being interrupted by fight scenes and people getting raped/nearly raped.
In other words, refining what makes a story good and giving the audience that is far from 'pointless'.
Crash Station
Member
Mai-Hime 25
Natsuki and Shizuru's death was pretty awesome. Figured a murder-suicide would happen eventually after learning the rules.
Now onto the apparently shit ending.
Natsuki and Shizuru's death was pretty awesome. Figured a murder-suicide would happen eventually after learning the rules.
Now onto the apparently shit ending.
Crash Station
Member
Mai-Hime 26
"Girls and socks have gotten much tougher." Wat?
I honestly didn't think the ending was too bad. I mean, I like happy endings too even if things end up going to hell prior to it. Maybe I wouldn't like it as much if I wasn't aware of it though. Madoka turning out like this might make me mad. Not really sure.
"Girls and socks have gotten much tougher." Wat?
I honestly didn't think the ending was too bad. I mean, I like happy endings too even if things end up going to hell prior to it. Maybe I wouldn't like it as much if I wasn't aware of it though. Madoka turning out like this might make me mad. Not really sure.
Dresden said:
THE HYPE IS SO STRONG I CAN FEEL IT EXPLODING FROM MY PANTS!
Edit: That's the BD LE at 8190yen, but there's a standard version for a LOW price of 5000yen! OMG!
http://forest.kinokuniya.co.jp/ItemIntro/668334
The LE comes with a Koike illustrated slipcase, and contains an extra disc with a making of feature, an original music video, and previously unreleased demo footage.
[Berserk]
(I mean, most of the time, you sound like a sensible guy... but every now and then, you talk about manga adaptations, Berserk or Urasawa, and I just don't know what to think anymore!)
Anyway: yeah, Miura's style changed a lot over the years (it's still changing, in fact). But we're talking about a 25-episode TV show, here: the character design should be pretty much set in stone to begin with.
It's not just that the Berserk anime felt cheap (after all, I'm pretty sure it kinda was): it wasn't doing much of anything that was visually interesting. I think there's one point where I thought to myself "wow, it's like they finally remembered they could do more than simply (and often somewhat awkwardly) copying manga panels!" (I believe it was during the assassination episode you mentioned earlier, actually). It's like all the ingeniousness they could muster was spent on ways to portray severed limbs without actually showing them (that was pretty funny for the first guy Guts tried his sword on, in episode 1).
As for the voice work... I thought it was merely "okay", overall. Not a big fan of Miyamura's Casca, for example, and the bit characters were annoying.
They changed the pace by removing... what? The useless (as far as the TV show is concerned) introductions of Puck, the Skeleton Knight and Sirat? The Bakiraka and Wyald stuff toward the very end? Charlotte and the king lost some scenes, too...
And there's that episode 1 dude saying "things sure have gotten weird, since this Griffith guy became king!", which... Man, it's not just that it makes no freaking sense: did we really need a new line that sounds like it escaped straight from an RPG parody? Wasn't the very beginning of the series bad enough?
Oh, c'mon, man... I almost mentioned that just in case, but thought "nah, Jexhius wouldn't go there!"Jexhius said:
(I mean, most of the time, you sound like a sensible guy... but every now and then, you talk about manga adaptations, Berserk or Urasawa, and I just don't know what to think anymore!)
Anyway: yeah, Miura's style changed a lot over the years (it's still changing, in fact). But we're talking about a 25-episode TV show, here: the character design should be pretty much set in stone to begin with.
Well, yeah. And Guts being shown to be alive at the very end. Leaving to do... what? How? And what happened to Casca?
Some actually realize they're animated and try to take advantage of the new medium...
It's not just that the Berserk anime felt cheap (after all, I'm pretty sure it kinda was): it wasn't doing much of anything that was visually interesting. I think there's one point where I thought to myself "wow, it's like they finally remembered they could do more than simply (and often somewhat awkwardly) copying manga panels!" (I believe it was during the assassination episode you mentioned earlier, actually). It's like all the ingeniousness they could muster was spent on ways to portray severed limbs without actually showing them (that was pretty funny for the first guy Guts tried his sword on, in episode 1).
It had great music, but (like I said above) not nearly enough of it, in my opinion...
As for the voice work... I thought it was merely "okay", overall. Not a big fan of Miyamura's Casca, for example, and the bit characters were annoying.
It was kinda obscure, back then, actually, so it's not that surprising.
I... I don't know how to reply to that. If anything, I think it's a damn shame how the anime turned out to be less dynamic than the manga, so... er...
They actually added (at least?) one filler battle, if I remember well. I guess it helped to establish Adon as a villain early on... but then again, who gives a damn about Adon?
They changed the pace by removing... what? The useless (as far as the TV show is concerned) introductions of Puck, the Skeleton Knight and Sirat? The Bakiraka and Wyald stuff toward the very end? Charlotte and the king lost some scenes, too...
"Meh." The Guts/Casca love scene lost quite a bit in the transition, and I'm not exactly convinced about the supposed improvements to the pace you alluded to above...
And there's that episode 1 dude saying "things sure have gotten weird, since this Griffith guy became king!", which... Man, it's not just that it makes no freaking sense: did we really need a new line that sounds like it escaped straight from an RPG parody? Wasn't the very beginning of the series bad enough?
Master Milk
Member
Are you gonna watch the spin-off?cosmicblizzard said:
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I feel like you Redline people are setting yourselves up for disappointment.
Crash Station
Member
Master Milk said:
Eh, I don't think so. Got other stuff to watch.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Now we just need game journalist box quotes then.Dresden said:
"Quite possibly the most important anime of our generation."
"Animation that makes everything else look like high school art projects."
"So good that my eyes bled as I watched it".
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
You'll love the game man. Just beat it!Jexhius said:
I concur! Where are my bitch tears?
Well, it looks like we're finally getting that English-language site for Nico Nico Douga.
http://blog.niconico.com/information/2011/04/niconico-is-starting-the-beta-version.html
http://www.niconico.com/
Amusingly enough the first video that came up for me was Leeroy Jenkins. It's so weird to see the scrolling comments in letters I can understand.
http://blog.niconico.com/information/2011/04/niconico-is-starting-the-beta-version.html
http://www.niconico.com/
Amusingly enough the first video that came up for me was Leeroy Jenkins. It's so weird to see the scrolling comments in letters I can understand.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Ryan O'Donnell.gifDresden said:
Are they indexing the Japanese stuff as well?Articalys said:
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