Ah My Goddess TV 09
So, the campus queen event was barely anything. I guess I was getting my events mixed up, but this still turned out to be a fun episode, though that was mostly of Urd's intervention. Urd really has brought in life to the show, so kudos for bringing her in.
Yeah, I feel that conversation extremely revealing and very enjoyable, form a character perspective. They're both discussing an event that happened in the show itself but they're each looking at it through their own subjective lenses which have been established because the characters have been well established. Both sides clearly thought that they were in the right, and that the other side was shameful and vile and we, as the audience, could see where they were both coming from.
It also counters the argument that 'nothing happened in this episode but a bunch of action scenes'.
Yes, this is what really made that episode interesting for me. That you got a real insight into both of their motivations, as well as what they thought of the other one. This is one of the things that really makes Fate/Zero stand out. The dialogue is so well written, and the characters are complex. You could really tell how confident both characters were in their own world views.
The conversation in ep14 works extra well if you've seen the extended scene between Kotomine and Gilgamesh in ep6 imo.
It really lays the foundation for the basis that Tokiomi is a true mage who is obsessed with his evolution in magic to reach outside this world, and hence he does not see reality in the same way people who have attachments to the physical world do.
The conversation here from Tokiomi's own mouth basically confirms that his view is warped and different from how normal people see things, and his long term view of his blood line and the objective of his existence has nothing to do with material goals. In other words, he feels he is a good guy but he's pretty much batshit insane.
It is very interesting, and I'm glad that the show is starting to bring these elements of his character forward.
Tokiomi's views are clearly pretty radical, but it's also understandable why he feels the way that he does. He's so dedicated to magic that he expects everyone who is born into magical families to act and behave in a certain way, and hold his same values. He doesn't just look down on Kariya for turning his back on that world, but actually thinks that he's doing Sakura a favor by giving her a way to advance. He's nuts, but you can understand what his viewpoint is, which is the mark of a good character.
This is what I'm getting at. It's far more interesting to see two people who think they are good guys clash than one goodie and one baddie, even if Ryunosuke is good for a chuckle or too.
Indeed. Although, I would say that even Ryuunosuke is pretty interesting in that he has a rather unique world view. He's probably one of the less developed masters overall, but he still stands out for his unique look at things.
Upotte!! 1 - This episode is based on the first chapter of the manga, but it's expanded. Unfortunately, almost all of the additions serve to make the anime creepier and more disturbing than the manga is. I mean, most of the themes here do exist in the anime, though not all of them, but they make everything more messed up here, and that's not a good thing.
For example, the concept that FNC is feeling funny about the idea of the teacher firing her exists in the manga, but the extended thing with her trying to avoid having her hammer go off largely doesn't. The whole thing in the nurse's office was added, and a bunch of other stuff too. The additions greatly increase the creepy teacher x student romance element in the anime versus the first chapter of the manga.
In addition, the whole thing in the anime about the teacher's face not being shown until near the end of ep. 1, and instead he's always in shadow, doesn't exist in the manga. What was the point of THAT? Just to increase the "this guy's an audience stand-in" factor? I found it a little creepy. I was worried that they'd keep him shadowed throughout the series, or something, for maximum creepyness, but thankfully they didn't. Still... why.
Now, in the manga the teacher does recede a bit in importance and FNC becomes the clear main character most of the time. Hopefully that happens in the anime as well; the preview for episode 2 was promising, as that fight is the next thing in the manga. So all is not lost. But yeah, the first ep. is a bit disappointing, I wish they hadn't added to the creepier elements of the beginning. It just makes it worse, not better.
Oh, there was one funny added bit -- that skit before the credits, with the four girls and the German teacher, was kind of amusing. Hopefully the rest of the series will have more of that and less of the rest of the stuff they added. (Of course a major part of the problem is the course material, for sure, but they DID make it a bit worse.) Also, there was some amusing stuff in the episode too; it wasn't ALL awful. Oh, and as for that part Jexihus bashed, from the festival shooting gallery... maybe it's because of over-exposure to such things, but I'm not as disturbed by that as him. For one thing, the joke at the end --
where he misses and shoots terribly and her expectations are dashed
was kind of amusing. And as I said, the manga doesn't emphasize the romantic element as much as the anime does through the first chapter, so it didn't stick with the creepiest element her reactions during that scene nearly as much as the anime.
Oh, and that scene also serves to show that she's not human. I mean, that reaction obviously isn't one a person would have. I wouldn't entirely defend it -- it is unfortunate and obviously designed for the creepy otaku that they have her react like that to a teacher -- but it's not like this is really a romance series either... if it DOES take that direction I'll be harsher on it for sure, but if it's just left at occasional (and rarer after this episode hopefully, as the guy isn't as important a character a lot of the time as he was here) stupid stuff for the fans who want that stuff, it's not something that would get me to stop watching.
And hey, look on the bright side -- at least it's not really harem, as far as I know anyway; only one of the girls has shown any interest in him. Sure, "it's not as creepy as the worse stuff!" isn't exactly a great defense, but it's better than nothing... but overall, this would be abetter series if the guy hadn't existed at all. Then it'd just be fanservice creepyness, without this additional layer of "she wants her teacher to be the one who fires her".
So yeah, basically, I didn't think this episode was that good, and it is worse than the also somewhat creepy manga version of the same thing, but it's not quite as messed up as what some people here are saying. It IS a very, very stupid show, though, certainly. But everyone knows that already, so I don't know that it even needed to be said.
Actually, pretty much every part of the show is in the manga. The only part that really isn't is them taking a video of themselves, which is just a framing device to fit in a bunch of other little elements that were just random 4koma style side moments. Even that opening scene is actually in the 4koma spin-off. The only difference is that it's a random scene and not the framing device for "A new teacher is coming". So yes, it's all as it happens in the manga (even the swimsuit on L85), the difference is that now that it's animated, they can add fill in all those little animated things to make them more... sexualized? Really, it looks like all they did was take as many diasporate elements that explain the girls and the world as they could and just ran with it. It should even out now that they don't have those side moments everywhere. Episode 2 should be good, real good... I just hope they have the animation budget for it...
I liked this but I wonder how much of that is from the promise of it turning awesome shortly thereafter. If I was following this week to week, it might have been an underwhelming start. While mostly an info dump episode although at least it wasn't just talking heads and I can appreciate establishing characters and motivations early on. Also the shit Kariya went through was foul.
It is very interesting, and I'm glad that the show is starting to bring these elements of his character forward.
Tokiomi's views are clearly pretty radical, but it's also understandable why he feels the way that he does. He's so dedicated to magic that he expects everyone who is born into magical families to act and behave in a certain way, and hold his same values. He doesn't just look down on Kariya for turning his back on that world, but actually thinks that he's doing Sakura a favor by giving her a way to advance. He's nuts, but you can understand what his viewpoint is, which is the mark of a good character.
The thing is I don't think he fully understands what he did to Sakura and I would have liked that clarified if he knew the horror she has to go through with the worms.
I got a kick out of this piece where Miyazaki writes about his experience hiring people.
Several years ago I was involved in an animation company's hiring process. The job category was animator. The process consisted of identifying, recruiting and training individuals. The company wanted to develop talent by hiring ten or so hires from several hundred applicants. We were prepared to not hire anyone if we found that no one fit out criteria...we ran smack into a wall as soon as we began scrutinizing their portfolios.
We could not criticize imitation on the part of the applicants. In the realm of popular culture art, many young people start off copying the style of others and then gradually develop their own styles. (That said, there are many who seem to be strong but never go beyond imitation.) Not one of the applicants had any obvious creative ability or brilliant talent. We became desperate, as if we were digging for gold flecks in the sand, to discover at least one person who might not yet be good artist but has the potential to improve...while trying to be cautious and objective, in the end we simply had to rely on our own narrow range of experience.
Since then, I have changed jobs and made several films. On each project I have met young people whom I rejected during the selection process. Several of them are even core members of my current production staff.
I wonder what the meaning of that selection process was after all.
It's a shounen doing nakama stuff. While being fabulous.
I just noticed that Kouga and Souma's character designs are basically gender-bendered Tsubomi and Itsuki from Heartcatch Precure, weiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird
The thing is I don't think he fully understands what he did to Sakura and I would have liked that clarified if he knew the horror she has to go through with the worms.
Tokiomi probably has really no idea of what went on in that regard. I think his view of mages is so idealized that he probably doesn't have an idea of what Zouken actually did.
At the same time, I don't really know how much that would bother him. He might think that it was necessary for her advancement or something along those lines.
Souma is really cool and had great interactions with Kouga. Fire looks cool for sure and he is probably tied for my favorite with Kouga. Cool fight in it. I really like the character designs so far.
Harsh in what sense? He doesn't seem to be saying something negative about people here, but rather the limited ability to judge on the spot the potential of an individual's artistic talent based on a recruitment "test" process.
Tokiomi probably has really no idea of what went on in that regard. I think his view of mages is so idealized that he probably doesn't have an idea of what Zouken actually did.
At the same time, I don't really know how much that would bother him. He might think that it was necessary for her advancement or something along those lines.
I don't know. He didn't seem like that bad of a father to Rin. I mean what he did seemed like he thought it was in the best interest of Sakura too. I can't imagine any person thinking their daughter being raped every night is in their best interest.
Harsh in what sense? He doesn't seem to be saying something negative about people here, but rather the limited ability to judge on the spot the potential of an individual's artistic talent based on a recruitment "test" process.
The process itself sounds harsh. As in, there are clearly talented artists who enter into the recruitment process, but the process itself seems unable to successfully highlight them. Of course, all these people are also all competing for a low paying job with terrible working conditions as well.
The process itself sounds harsh. As in, there are clearly talented artists who enter into the recruitment process, but the process itself seems unable to successfully highlight them.
I would say that considering the end result, the process was simply ineffective and poorly thought out rather than harsh. Miyazaki sucks as a father, and he sucks as a HR manager. What else is new?
I got the impression that he didn't know about how bad Sakura had it, that his vision of magi is so idealistic that he couldn't couldn't see someone treating their heir like a disposable tool. I think he has no idea what Zouken really is. He thinks Sakura is going to learn the Matou magic and earn power and glory, when Zouken has no interest in any of that. Tokiomi is projecting his own ideals and values onto someone who is nothing like him and Kariya knows the reality of how Zouken uses his family.
He doesn't know what Sakura is going through. From what I've learned of the Type-Moon universe, a Magus's style of magic is unique to their own families and is a closely guarded secret and not to be known to outsiders.
As mentioned, the Family Crest is only passed down to one child. With the Matou's willing to take her in, it was indeed a boon for him. Unfortunatley, he does not know what their style of magic contains and what the practitioner must suffer through.
I've also learned that Magi in the Type-Moon universe are utter dicks concerned only with the advancement of magic and everything else is beneath them. Characters like Rin and even Shirou are the exception rather than the rule.
It's a shounen doing nakama stuff. While being fabulous.
I just noticed that Kouga and Souma's character designs are basically gender-bendered Tsubomi and Itsuki from Heartcatch Precure, weiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird
He doesn't know what Sakura is going through. From what I've learned of the Type-Moon universe, a Magus's style of magic is unique to their own families and is a closely guarded secret and not to be known to outsiders.
As mentioned, the Family Crest is only passed down to one child. With the Matou's willing to take her in, it was indeed a boon for him. Unfortunatley, he does not know what their style of magic contains and what the practitioner must suffer through.
I've also learned that Magi in the Type-Moon universe are utter dicks concerned only with the advancement of magic and everything else is beneath them. Characters like Rin and even Shirou are the exception rather than the rule.
Well Shirou due to his parenting avoided all of that. He was purposefully raised to be the exception. Hell he wasn't supposed to be a magi at all anyway. Rin is certainly more atypical.
I don't know. He didn't seem like that bad of a father to Rin. I mean what he did seemed like he thought it was in the best interest of Sakura too. I can't imagine any person thinking their daughter being raped every night is in their best interest.
Well, I don't think he's a horrible father or anything, but I could easily see him viewing what Sakura is going through as being for her own good. He's so concerned with the advancement of magic, and with people getting to inherit secrets that I could absolutely see that being his reaction if he knew the trials Sakura was going through. That's not to say that he might not be disturbed by it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't.
His perspective is just so far removed from a normal father's.
Meanwhile, here's what Miyazaki really thinks about Japan:
As a filmmaker, I have continued to think that he main challenge we face in Japan today is to survive without being crushed to death our repressive society.
Well, I don't think he's a horrible father or anything, but I could easily see him viewing what Sakura is going through as being for her own good. He's so concerned with the advancement of magic, and with people getting to inherit secrets that I could absolutely see that being his reaction if he knew the trials Sakura was going through. That's not to say that he might not be disturbed by it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't.
His perspective is just so far removed from a normal father's.
Expecting your two daughters to fight to the death is fucked up but I can somewhat understand the sentiment of keeping it in the family. Also the Holy Grail War isn't an automatic death sentence as a Master can retire to the Church and 'supposedly' be kept safe. So both sisters could come out okay. It's just another way of Tokiomi playing the odds. Unfortunately plans of his seem to backfire quite often. It's on a whole different level though to understand your young daughter will be tortured every night.
Well I was woefully unprepared to understand some of the concepts of this. I heard about Archer and whatnot through various stuff regarding F/SN over the years but it never occured to me it was more class designation than name. It's amazing how much more personality the Servants have brought to the show and I wonder if some of the characters introduced in the first ep were intentionally flat, or at least portrayed as such, so that the Servants could round them out.
Yes, this is what really made that episode interesting for me. That you got a real insight into both of their motivations, as well as what they thought of the other one. This is one of the things that really makes Fate/Zero stand out. The dialogue is so well written, and the characters are complex. You could really tell how confident both characters were in their own world views.
It is very interesting, and I'm glad that the show is starting to bring these elements of his character forward.
Tokiomi's views are clearly pretty radical, but it's also understandable why he feels the way that he does. He's so dedicated to magic that he expects everyone who is born into magical families to act and behave in a certain way, and hold his same values. He doesn't just look down on Kariya for turning his back on that world, but actually thinks that he's doing Sakura a favor by giving her a way to advance. He's nuts, but you can understand what his viewpoint is, which is the mark of a good character.
You know watching Spacebros I have a hard time believing that Mutta wouldn't be able to find a job. He designed an award winning car and he's relegated to working as a small time mechanic? What.
I can't help but wonder if this prequel was inspired by
Chihayafuru
because the set ups are so similar.
You have three main characters who know each other in elementary school but then get split up through various means, only for two of them to come back together for high school and form a club by themselves. And basically, Nadoka becomes Arata, a motivating figure for the two real main characters of the show.
The only thing its missing is the fab soundtrack really.
So crazy. Interestingly enough, to me anyway, this seems to happen in parallel to the actual Saki series, so presumably the climax of both series would be having the characters of both series meet at some point. I can already see the manga crossover possibilities!
You know watching Spacebros I have a hard time believing that Mutta wouldn't be able to find a job. He designed an award winning car and he's relegated to working as a small time mechanic? What.
Nishio is generally known for two things - his work with Production IG and his work on the Naruto franchise. With IG he has been a character designer and animation director for Jin-Roh, the Stand Alone Complex series, and Sky Crawlers. That's a stark contrast with his character design work on Naruto, which is much less realistic. But maybe the dark truth is that all he ever wanted was to draw idol girls instead.
The director and creator of the Evangelion franchise probably needs no introduction, but his animation background might. His speciality is in effects animation, and in particular he was responsible for overseeing the climatic launch sequence in Wings of Honneamise. Maybe this scene is a homage to that.
You know watching Spacebros I have a hard time believing that Mutta wouldn't be able to find a job. He designed an award winning car and he's relegated to working as a small time mechanic? What.
It doesn't help that teen japan doesn't give a shit about touge racing no more. And instead of cars, they rather spend that money on miku figurines and what not.
Even then though, this is a guy who became world renowned for his work. You're telling me that something like headbutting your boss would downgrade you all the way to grease monkey?
EDIT: Crap I forgot about that part Firehawk. Even then I bet he could find work internationally fairly easily.
