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Spring 2011 Anime Thread of ZAWA ZAWA, Money, emo Cyclops, and fun^10xint^40=Ir2

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jman2050

Member
Jexhius said:
Dave, of Colony Drop fame, writers about Madoka, on Colony Drop! This is perhaps the most level-headed article that I've seen written following the shows finale, which isn't really surprising considering that CD are rumoured to actually read their articles for spelling mistakes before they post them! Obviously, some spoilers within, I guess - http://www.colonydrop.com/index.php/2011/04/30/2011-dark-magical-girl-cartoons-that-actually-came-out-really-good-puella-magi-madoka-magica?blog=1

I'll be honest, I read that and would have sworn that I had written all of that myself if I weren't completely aware that I didn't.
If that last sentence made any sense to you at all then you've been in this topic too long.

a comment from that writer said:
the level of otaku magical girl creepiness is something I never got around to in the review, but there really isn't any. They're pretty tasteful. I think the really successful shows realize that they can leave the sleaze for the fans to make themselves.

It's funny because it's true.
 

Steroyd

Member
Joe Molotov said:
Like when High School of the Dead shifted from a zombie show into a documentary about advanced breast physics.

30 seconds into the 1st episode for that genre shift must be some sort of record.
 

Jex

Member
I approve of him taking a jab against stuff like the whole entropy speech, but that's all it is, a jab, mentioned in passing at the close of his 'review'. That's how painfully reasonable the whole thing is.
 

jman2050

Member
Never Forget

Jexhius said:
I approve of him taking a jab against stuff like the whole entropy speech, but that's all it is, a jab, mentioned in passing at the close of his 'review'. That's how painfully reasonable the whole thing is.

They point to the entropy speech, I point to the dancing Evas episode.

That episode owned, but still
 

Jex

Member
The Making of Fireball Charming

I'm really enjoying this show. They manage to get it just right, most of the time.
 

Articalys

Member
Jexhius said:
Ah, so it's just a normal cafe getting Madoka-themed for a period of time. Though it was something more permanent for some reason.
Jexhius said:
Dave, of Colony Drop fame, writers about Madoka, on Colony Drop! This is perhaps the most level-headed article that I've seen written following the shows finale, which isn't really surprising considering that CD are rumoured to actually read their articles for spelling mistakes before they post them! Obviously, some spoilers within, I guess - http://www.colonydrop.com/index.php/2011/04/30/2011-dark-magical-girl-cartoons-that-actually-came-out-really-good-puella-magi-madoka-magica?blog=1
"As the series progresses, however, these characters actually go somewhere: a place other than tea and cake, slow Jun Maeda deaths or hackish, School Days-style shock value trash."

I mean, I'll admit I liked some parts of Angel Beats, but damn that was a beautiful sentence to read.
 

jman2050

Member
Articalys said:
"As the series progresses, however, these characters actually go somewhere: a place other than tea and cake, slow Jun Maeda deaths or hackish, School Days-style shock value trash."

I mean, I'll admit I liked some parts of Angel Beats, but damn that was a beautiful sentence to read.

This is the best part of the review

If you’ll allow me a brief meta-aside: anime endings tend to suck. If you’ve been watching anime for any length of time, you know how this can get. You put six or 13 hours (or, god forbid, a hundred if you watch Shonen Jump stuff) into watching some cartoon and it stubbornly refuses to offer any kind of payoff on any of its great ideas. There’s some bullshit deus ex machina or a “to be continued in a videogame/manga/manga videogame/action figure series”. Or maybe you’re watching a two-season Sunrise show, in which the whole thing was sabotaged behind the scenes at the first ratings dip in order to sell more model kits, gashapon toys, or Pizza Hut.

That last sentence is amazing.
 
cosmicblizzard said:
Vampire Princess Miyu TV 1

Well that was a lot better than the OVA. Miyu doesn't fuck around. Figured that dude would survive a bit longer since he seemed to be important, but I guess this is a series where anyone can die.

Yeah, it's a pretty great way to mess with the watcher and make them think that the show's going to be one way, and then say "nope, it's not, it's something completely different, and better." It'd only work with people not too familiar with the franchise, of course (either the OVA series or the manga), but still, I thought it was a pretty interesting way to start things off. :)

Also, this from a few pages ago.

A Black Falcon said:
trejo said:
Vampire Princess Miyu TV 1

OK, so just in the first episode, at least four people died. One of them directly killed by the show's heroine. The teacher I'm a bit unsure of. Did she kill her too or is she just like, catatonic or something at the end? In any case, it's a little messed up. The show doesn't shy away from a bit of blood and gore here and there but at least it's nothing too in your face or anything. There's also a cute mascot character with what has got to be the worst case of conjunctivitis I have ever seen.

Animation-wise it's not the best but it's serviceable and it's definitely got my interest.
Yeah, it's an interesting episode, isn't it? That ending really makes the episode, I think. Up to that point you might be thinking that it's going to be a conventional show, but then THAT happens and wow, you know that it's going to be something different.


As for Miyu and her powers, yeah, one of Miyu's powers is to put people into a dream that they will not wake from for the rest of their life -- an eternal dream, essentially. Miyu considers use of this power good -- when people are sad, sometimes she bites them (this is how she puts them into the dream) so that they can be in a happy dream instead of sad reality. She thinks this is a kindness.

I do, however, find that concept disturbing -- is doing that to people really such a good thing? Probably not... but part of the point of the series is to be disturbing and tragic, so it works.

Also, yes, every episode is sad. Each episode tells a new story (they're all stand alone), and each is a tragedy. The deathtolls vary, but few episodes don't have people dying, often innocents. Miyu seems to frequently allow innocents to be killed, in order to draw out a Shinma -- she'll wait for the Shinma to show itself when it does whatever it does to a victim she was tracking, and only THEN will she come out and stop it. ometimes she stops the Shinma first, but not always.

It is a little odd, because she also claims to be sad that she's immortal, wishes for her burden to end so she can become a human or something like that (I'm not sure exactly what she wants, but she is sad that she's immortal and has to hunt Shinmas.), but on the other hand she doesn't care too much if people die while she's hunting down a Shinma, unless they're people she care about (those other schoolgirls).

Now, she isn't SUPPOSED to care about humans -- as an immortal, at least until she gets all of the Shinmas, she is supposed to care about catching them but not about the lives of humans who got in their way, the cute critter criticizes her for instance in the cases where she does protect those friends from school, if I remember right -- but still, it is a little odd. She kind of seems to want to have things both ways.

It does mostly fit the plot, there are good reasons to not get too close to humans when you are what she is, but still.

However, Miyu herself usually doesn't kill humans (
episode 1 aside
). She puts them into those happy never-ending dreams sometimes, but she doesn't usually kill them outright.


I don't usually like horror, but somehow I really like Vampire Princess Miyu anyway... it's easily one of my favorites in that genre, no question.

Erigu said:
It's a bit more complicated than that...
The Japanese title is pronounced "Vampire Miyu", but written "kyûketsuki Miyu" in kanji (there are "va n pa i a" kana next to the "kyûketsuki" kanji to specify the unusual reading).
Then, the Japanese word for "vampire" normally is "kyûketsuki" / "吸血鬼" (lit. "blood-sucking ogre"), but here, the final "ki" ("鬼" = "ogre") has been replaced with another "ki": "姫", that is to say "princess". So you get a neologism / pun that would actually mean "blood-sucking princess", literally. They most probably decided to add a "princess" in the English title so that detail wouldn't be lost in translation.
Oh, okay. Thanks for the explanation, that's interesting.

Nonoriri said:
Eyepatch Asuka? Ugh, make it go away, bring back two eyes Asuka... :(
 

Uchip

Banned
not sure why everyone here hates on the new eva movies
at least they tried something new rather than fan pandering /respect
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
My interest in the EVA movies is suddenly rising.

Among other things.
 

Nonoriri

If your name is Nonoriri you have to go buy Nanami's tampons.
Halycon said:
My interest in the EVA movies is suddenly rising.

Among other things.

"Evangelion 2.0 is arousingly good anime, I was erect with excitement"- Anime News Network

7Th said:
Well played.

I play to win. :3
 

Articalys

Member
I feel like everything about Rebuild is fanservice in a "that scene was just like the same scene in the original series but slightly different, did you notice what changed nudge nudge wink wink" way, at least for 1.0, plus all the normal sexy fanservice stuff.
 

Uchip

Banned
Articalys said:
I feel like everything about Rebuild is fanservice in a "that scene was just like the same scene in the original series but slightly different, did you notice what changed nudge nudge wink wink" way, at least for 1.0, plus all the normal sexy fanservice stuff.

Im talking about 2.22 in particular
It seemed to make all the otaku take one hand off their asuka pillows to type "thats not how it is! omg this sucks"
 

hellclerk

Everything is tsundere to me
Hanasaku Iroha 5
My face at the end of that.
GuGP7.gif


I can take misunderstandings, but that was just silly, plus it kills a whole lot of good drama that could have been had. I mean at the LEAST have Tohru ship for a bit with Drill Hair. Can't there be SOME conflict?
 

Izayoi

Banned
Ore-tachi 2, 3, & 4. Welp, easily the worst anime that I've seen so far this season. Zero redeeming qualities. If it were trying to be a fanservice, why censor 90% of it? Why not focus more on fanservice instead of boring shit nobody cares about? There are far better fanservice animes and there are far better boring shit nobody cares about animes. This is the worst of both worlds.
 

Cwarrior

Member
doomed1 said:
Hanasaku Iroha 5
My face at the end of that.
http://i.imgur.com/GuGP7.gif[/IMG

I can take misunderstandings, but that was just silly, plus it kills a whole lot of good drama that could have been had. [B]I mean at the LEAST have Tohru ship for a bit with Drill Hair. Can't there be SOME conflict?[/B][/QUOTE]

That’s another thing I hate about that episode, it killed what could have least been interesting, that episode did not move the plot forward rather it made the ending of last episode a waste.

the show would have been better off if that episode never happened
 

Branduil

Member
Jexhius said:
Nichijou 5

I still only found about 10% of this episode to be entertaining, by which I mean funny, but never mind. The scenes that worked for me, such as the drawing scene, worked pretty damn well.

The production values are still through the roof, which may be the reason I'm still paying attention to this show. I'd like to single out the music as being one of the shows better features, but nearly every part of the show is made at a high standard.

Dororon 4

I really appreciate that this show knows what it is and so it plays directly to these strengths at all times. In a weird way this makes it 'pure'.

Even if there's nothing from this season that will be making it's way in to my top anime list (so far) I really don't think that's a problem considering the depth and breadth of shows on offer. Marathon these works in quick succession certainly helps me appreciate how different they are from one another.

I'd prefer a season like this, with seven or eight enjoyable shows that are different from each other, to a season with one good show and twenty terrible ones.
Since when do you have a top anime list?
 

Extollere

Sucks at poetry
Planetes - 23

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo

Holy shit, a lot of shit went down in this ep... the boiling point of the show so far. OMG, where to begin... basically shit went down, bitches got shot, two-timers got double back stabbed, and bureaucracies got boned. Hachimaki redeemed from earlier break down.

omg...omg.... holy shit man! I'm freakin out a little.
 

trejo

Member
Maria Holic Alive 4

God really is pretty much the only reason I keep watching this although Kanako as Homura was funny.
 

hellclerk

Everything is tsundere to me
Cwarrior said:
That’s another thing I hate about that episode, it killed what could have least been interesting, that episode did not move the plot forward rather it made the ending of last episode a waste.

the show would have been better off if that episode never happened
Well I suppose we can only hope that Tohru gains the hots for Ohana at this point...
 

zeroshiki

Member
Cwarrior said:
That’s another thing I hate about that episode, it killed what could have least been interesting, that episode did not move the plot forward rather it made the ending of last episode a waste.
the show would have been better off if that episode never happened

Why was it not interesting? There are billions of shoujo out there. Look one up. Doing the trope for the sake of doing it without seeing if it makes sense in the context of the story would be the height of idiocy.

doomed1 said:
Well I suppose we can only hope that Tohru gains the hots for Ohana at this point...

I am certain this will come up.
 

hellclerk

Everything is tsundere to me
zeroshiki said:
Why was it not interesting? There are billions of shoujo out there. Look one up. Doing the trope for the sake of doing it without seeing if it makes sense in the context of the story would be the height of idiocy.

I am certain this will come up.
Well, that's sort of the issue really. It's not so much that this is an isolated thing as it sets a bad precedent. If Minako gets to keep her world-view that Tohru is an upright dude, she won't progress as a character, and if he ends up with the hots for Ohana, Minako will just blame her and continue in her little fantasy world. It would be interesting to see Minako's perception of Tohru get slowly demolished over the series but gain a confidence in herself that she didn't have before, but now it's just going to be love triangles and misunderstandings, and that's if this Tohru wooing Ohana thing comes up.

Also, if Tohru's a lolicon, Ren (the head chef) better be flamingly gay. :p
 

zeroshiki

Member
doomed1 said:
Well, that's sort of the issue really. It's not so much that this is an isolated thing as it sets a bad precedent. If Minako gets to keep her world-view that Tohru is an upright dude, she won't progress as a character, and if he ends up with the hots for Ohana, Minako will just blame her and continue in her little fantasy world. It would be interesting to see Minako's perception of Tohru get slowly demolished over the series but gain a confidence in herself that she didn't have before, but now it's just going to be love triangles and misunderstandings, and that's if this Tohru wooing Ohana thing comes up.

Also, if Tohru's a lolicon, Ren (the head chef) better be flamingly gay. :p

I don't see that. We were introduced to the Minko-Tohru thing in episode 4 and you want Minko to move on from Tohru in episode 5?! I'm not saying anything of this sort will ever happen but that's asking a bit too much too fast in a 26 episode show.

Who's not to say Minko can develop on her own without Tohru? And its not as if her entire character is based around pining for the guy (cf every childhood friend in anime ever or hell, Kou-chan).

People have really skewed expectations for this show, lol.
 

trejo

Member
So you've made up the entire storyline in your head and if the show doesn't follow it to a tee then it's a disappointment? That sounds like a great idea!
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
She has no potential for development outside of Tohru. At least so far she's shown none. She doesn't even succumb to Ohana's talk-no-jutsu.
 

zeroshiki

Member
Halycon said:
She has no potential for development outside of Tohru. At least so far she's shown none. She doesn't even succumb to Ohana's talk-no-jutsu.

Ah but she did with the whole hobiron bit. It showed that she at least was moved enough by Ohana to stop using die. Its slow progress but its progress nonetheless. You guys act like you've never seen an anime tsundere before.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
I don't expect tsunderes to stop being tsunderes :D

Otherwise where's the appeal? How will they sell those Blu-ray box sets?
 

zeroshiki

Member
Halycon said:
I don't expect tsunderes to stop being tsunderes :D

Otherwise where's the appeal? How will they sell those Blu-ray box sets?

When Minko goes dere, the ratings will go through the roof! The roof, I tell ya!
 
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