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Spring Anime 2012 | Welcome Home, Space Cowboy

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Ultimadrago

Member
You know what I want?

A diorama featuring the dream cityscape from MGX with Urabe and Tsubaki figures on top of one of the buildings.

I think it could be really good if done right.

Tell me when its done...along with a creepy musical box that plays circus music.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I dunno, going from the 'Thorn & Rose' arc, the shinsengumi will be involved, heavily, and Takasugi being in pretty much means that they're going to play past-parallels and bring Zura in--as they did in the Benizakura, maybe even Sakamoto. I'd put money on the cast being huge.
If I say I want everyone, I literally mean everyone. Even Madao and the kid who adopted him for that one episode!

I suppose they probably don't even remember the entire cast of characters at this point though.

Same here.

I was also a bit annoyed by
the good old "oh, Mutta is interacting with two new characters! I don't know those two, but somehow I don't expect them to be rejected at this stage! call it a gut feeling!"
... Especially considering the JAXA guy explains the screw was a test, and wouldn't you know: as it happens, three applicants noticed it! Gee, I wonder who those were!

Not a big deal (yet?), of course. I guess it bothered me all the more because I like what I'm seeing so far, and I kinda wish the show were above that kind of stuff...
The whole screw thing was totally choreographed. Why would a writer put it in unless it was going to be some kind of secret test?

If they wanted it to be random, they could have done something like having one of the interviewer's fly be open and then him spending the entire interview agonizing over whether or not to tell him about it.

Casual anime watchers killing anime.
Sawa-chan is the best after all.
 

Jex

Member
Neither madpierrot nor Envelope talked about the amazing editing, but at least you guys picked up on the shaky cam. You both also missed the change in character proportions and terrible anatomy!
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
Neither madpierrot nor Envelope talked about the amazing editing, but at least you guys picked up on the shaky cam. You both also missed the change in character proportions and terrible anatomy!

It's not so much an issue of not noticing it as it is being so desensitized to it that it doesn't even bear mentioning.
 

trejo

Member
I didn't really have any problem with the
loose screw
thing in Space Bros. Perhaps it could've been handled differently but I thought it did a good job of connecting the two new characters to Mutta while also differentiating them from the rest of the scrubs.

I guess I just don't see how just making it some throwaway moment would've made it any better. What would've been the point of it then?
 

jbug617

Banned
Acchi Kocchi 2

Second fighting game reference (Corkscrew Blow), More cat ears and nosebleeds. Still going to watch in the future.
 

Soma

Member
Fate/Zero 15

Goddamn this show is so good.

- Lancer almost redeems himself here for not doing anything for the past two episodes
- Didn't like the whole exchange between Kariya and Tokiomi this episode. Thought it was handled pretty poorly especially after how great their dialogue was from last episode
- Berserker is such a bad-ass. Archer: "You dare turn your back on me?!" Berserker: "Bitch I wasn't talking to you" *explosives*
- EEEKUUSUUUCALIBAHHHHHH was pretty awesome
- RIP Caster ;_;
- Great dialogue between Rider and Archer

Really excited for next week.
 

SDBurton

World's #1 Cosmonaut Enthusiast
Sawa-chan is the best after all.

Pfft! I wanted to nickname her "Fish" because most of the time during the 2nd season she just stood there with her mouth open with saucer-like eyes.

kimi-ni-todoke-2nd-season-5.jpg


Sawako and Kurumi ain't got shit on Yoshida!
 

cajunator

Banned
Yami, Yuri and the Greatest Hat in the world 01

A week ago: yuri

An day ago: yuri

An hour ago: yuri

The present: yuri

The future: ?

So this girl
goes after her adopted sister/love interest who gets lost in books, Neverending Story style.

The overseer is
Lillith
and she has the most fucking amazing hat, which envelope and madpierrot were so kind to screencap.

The first story she finds herself in seems to be
a train heist with a very affectionate and insane criminal.

Funnily enough, I have had the OP of this show and listened to it for years without realizing where it was from. I was being indoctrinated and didn't even know it!
 

Jex

Member
[Birdy The Mighty Decode - 22]

Well damn, son. Nataru is
totally going off the power scale at this point. Super strength, super speed, teleportation and now the ability to travel through time. That's some god damn hax, even if these powers are killing him.
 

Jex

Member
Should I be joining the Yami Boushi bandwagon? Even cajunator is watching it, although I bet for slightly different reasons.

No-one should be watching Yami. I thought the suffering could be contained to myself, Hitokage and Genijin but I see it has gotten out of control.
 

prwxv3

Member
Its kind of late but since no one has done it I will make a mysterious girlfriend X OT. anyone have any good names for it. I just want too see reactions of curious non-animu gaf posters.
 

Narag

Member
Its kind of late but since no one has done it I will make a mysterious girlfriend X OT. anyone have any good names for it. I just want too see reactions of curious non-animu gaf posters.

I think pizzaroll was going to barring a dip in quality in the second ep.
 

iavi

Member
If I say I want everyone, I literally mean everyone. Even Madao and the kid who adopted him for that one episode!

I suppose they probably don't even remember the entire cast of characters at this point though.

Now those are some expectations, haha. Sorachi himself's probably forgotten a million characters at this point, lol.
 

Erigu

Member
I didn't really have any problem with the
loose screw
thing in Space Bros. Perhaps it could've been handled differently but I thought it did a good job of connecting the two new characters to Mutta while also differentiating them from the rest of the scrubs.

I guess I just don't see how just making it some throwaway moment would've made it any better. What would've been the point of it then?
It would be funny? Humanize the character? I mean, that would be good enough for me!
I guess I would also have been okay with
the JAXA guy noticing the screw afterwards and going "oh, so that's what he'd been doing during the interview... hmmm... interesting!" (and even that's a bit cliché)

But the screw actually being a test kinda turns that guy into one of those greater-than-life mentor characters you'd find in Glas no Kamen or Mister Ajikko: the guy is well above his fellow colleagues (who are mere humans), some kind of prodigy who can tell whether or not you have What It Takes by using some kind of quirky and obscure method he (casually!) thought up. I'm sure TVTropes has a name for that.
It's not like I'd expect something 100% realistic (especially after the UFO), but I guess I thought that was a bit much / out of place for that kind of setting...

And then, there's the fact the two people Mutta comes in contact with as soon as he sets foot in the canteen turn out to be the only two other applicants who passed Mr. Miyagi's secret test (could have been five people, could have been two, could have been somebody else... but no. "So you know what's up, viewers, hopefully!").
So we go from "whoa, that JAXA guy is some kind of astronaut wizard!" to "whoa, destiny!" in just a matter of a few seconds, and... Yeah. A bit much (as far as I'm concerned, anyway).
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
Yami to Boushi to Tabinini Hon 2
j7tuy.jpg

hnnnnnn.... THAT HAT

Everyone on this train is an asshole.
po2Uq.jpg




Jexhius keeps talking about the editing, and yeah, those fights..... I don't even want to describe them. They were completely boring. And then there was MUSIC out of nowhere for the second one, to try to make it exciting or something.


Nobody on this train knows what a woman looks like, apparently.

YKPNf.jpg

Here's a hint - They have boobs

Except one man, who
gets thrown off at the end.
DEEN doesn't know what character development is. :(



Yami and the Purple haired girl and Lilith are all assholes, THROW THE BOMB INTO THE CANYON, NOT ONTO THE TRACK.

0s6LD.jpg

THAT HAT

And there was lots of molestation, and random fanservice. And a Narrator who speaks two lines. And an ED with a mouse cursor in it. AND THAT HAT. and birds frozen in sake being used to open boxes. And poor editing that jumps around without care or concern, like Baccano only bad. Why does the hat have an eyeball? I don't think anyone knows.
 

cajunator

Banned
Yami to whatever the fuck this is about and gigantic Tits 02

Astounding. Simply astounding.

The choreography. the settings. the happenstance. Frozen birds. clever disguises. Also, THE HAT.

Lillith is cute as FUCK.

One more episode before work.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Sawako and Kurumi ain't got shit on Yoshida!

You put Sawako and Kurumi together and they're better than every other character combined!

Now those are some expectations, haha. Sorachi himself's probably forgotten a million characters at this point, lol.
Hey man, when you do an arc where all the people who they helped are supposed to come back, I expect EVERYONE to come back!

For example, if Jirocho doesn't come back for the end of the series, I'll be really disappointed.

It would be funny? Humanize the character? I mean, that would be good enough for me!
I guess I would also have been okay with
the JAXA guy noticing the screw afterwards and going "oh, so that's what he'd been doing during the interview... hmmm... interesting!" (and even that's a bit cliché)

But the screw actually being a test kinda turns that guy into one of those greater-than-life mentor characters you'd find in Glas no Kamen or Mister Ajikko: the guy is well above his fellow colleagues (who are mere humans), some kind of prodigy who can tell whether or not you have What It Takes by using some kind of quirky and obscure method he (casually!) thought up. I'm sure TVTropes has a name for that.
It's not like I'd expect something 100% realistic (especially after the UFO), but I guess I thought that was a bit much / out of place for that kind of setting...

And then, there's the fact the two people Mutta comes in contact with as soon as he sets foot in the canteen turn out to be the only two other applicants who passed Mr. Miyagi's secret test (could have been five people, could have been two, could have been somebody else... but no. "So you know what's up, viewers, hopefully!").
So we go from "whoa, that JAXA guy is some kind of astronaut wizard!" to "whoa, destiny!" in just a matter of a few seconds, and... Yeah. A bit much (as far as I'm concerned, anyway).
It's become a trope for me to say this, but that's a trope. Dude stands out because of some weird test invented by the instructors. The one that comes to mind is the training sequence in the Captain America film from last year.

It's easy short hand for the writer to show why this character is more important than the extras that we've seen so far. Besides, is there any question that Muttan isn't going to become an astronaut?
----
Polar Bear Cafe:

cRFY7l.png


God damn fucking Panda. What a bro.
 

frostbyte

Member
Yami to Boushi to Tabinini Hon 2

...Yami and the Purple haired girl and Lilith are all assholes, THROW THE BOMB INTO THE CANYON, NOT ONTO THE TRACK...

Yami to whatever the fuck this is about and gigantic Tits 02

Astounding. Simply astounding.

The choreography. the settings. the happenstance. Frozen birds. clever disguises. Also, THE HAT.

Lillith is cute as FUCK.

One more episode before work.

The dichotomy is already showing.
 

madp

The Light of El Cantare
Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito 02:


Yami takes us to a special world. A world of backstabbing, intrigue, and sabotage. A world of magic, mystery, and fantasy. But, most importantly, it takes us to a world where women can still convincingly crossdress as men even when their gigantic tits are bursting out of their tight clothing.

It's also a world where violence mostly takes the form of kicking guns out of your enemies' hands and throwing people out of doors and windows. It's a world where people have grip strength several thousand times that of normal humans. It's a world where there's always time for a hot shower, even when you're trapped in a traincar full of people who want to kill you.

It's a world where you blow up train trestles even when you have the opportunity to throw a bomb down a cliff, just because it looks cool. It's all of these things, and much, much more.

I4zxM.jpg


This is a face that I know well from Danbooru and Pixiv.
 
Kuroko's Basketball 02
eCixs.gif

Well, I like the comedy. The show didn't really drag on anywhere. I might keep watching for the BL, the characters and comedy even know I still hate the sport.
 
But the screw actually being a test kinda turns that guy into one of those greater-than-life mentor characters you'd find in Glas no Kamen or Mister Ajikko: the guy is well above his fellow colleagues (who are mere humans), some kind of prodigy who can tell whether or not you have What It Takes by using some kind of quirky and obscure method he (casually!) thought up. I'm sure TVTropes has a name for that.

It's worth noting that the JAXA interviewer who loosened the screw did not think of the trick himself; rather he knew of it because it had been played on him during his job interview by Mouri. The interviewer himself doesn't seem overly wise at this point - he quickly backs down when challenged on the usefulness of the screw test by the other interviewers - rather it is Mouri who is portrayed as a larger-than-life hero figure, as is consistent with his initial appearance through the eyes of the young Mutta. If you have a problem with Mouri being presented as that kind of inspirational force, that's fine. Personally, I don't have an issue with it.

It's not like I'd expect something 100% realistic (especially after the UFO), but I guess I thought that was a bit much / out of place for that kind of setting...

The most unrealistic thing about Space Brothers so far is that NASA is still around in 2025!

And then, there's the fact the two people Mutta comes in contact with as soon as he sets foot in the canteen turn out to be the only two other applicants who passed Mr. Miyagi's secret test (could have been five people, could have been two, could have been somebody else... but no. "So you know what's up, viewers, hopefully!").
So we go from "whoa, that JAXA guy is some kind of astronaut wizard!" to "whoa, destiny!" in just a matter of few seconds, and... Yeah. A bit much (as far as I'm concerned, anyway).

I admit that I'm a fan of stories which draw connections between seemingly unrelated people who come into contact with each other through "coincidence", as happens in Tokyo Godfathers, partly because I believe that sort of thing does happen in real life. So perhaps it's a difference in philosophy here: whether our lives are guided by pure randomness or by "fate". I just don't understand why this technique, as a way of highlighting what is important, should be off-limits to authors.
 

Jex

Member
[Sankarea - 2]

At the very least, this episode proves that the first episode was no fluke - the art, animation and direction here were very nearly as good as in the opening episode. Not only is this a great sign for the show itself, but it is a good sign for Studio DEEN itself. Perhaps they can start to crawl out of the whole they've been in for the last few years?

Direction

Of course, I just said this episode was nearly on par with the first episode, which is another way of showing that it wasn't quite as good. While the art and animation didn't noticeably decline in quality the direction wasn't quite as sharp. The camera work was less creative and impactful, the editing wasn't quite as tight. That's okay though, because if the show could just maintain it's quality at about this level it would still be pretty good.

There weren't many "stand out" shots or sequences that I feel like bringing up, but perhaps I missed something during my viewing. Still, I thought this image was used effectively:

Sankarea21.jpg


In this shot, we see Rea completely alone in an environment that is usually filled with other people. To annunciate this loneliness the camera does not capture her objectively, but subjectively, with a fish-eye lens that warps the world around Rea away from her, as if even the scenery can't get too close to her.

For those wondering, there was certainly still a whiff of SHAFT to the whole thing, but in a rather less pronounced manner than last week's outing. Charmingly, we even got a head-tilt. That's two for two!

Sankarea22.jpg


Hell, this show even has imagery that you might call 'beautiful', such as this out-of-nowhere glimpse of the moon:

Sankarea26.jpg


Perspective

As opposed to last weeks outing, where we viewed the world wholly through the eyes Furuya, this time around we get to see from Rea's perspective so that we can learn more about her character and past. This, apparently, allows the writer to tell us all about her, without actually having to write a scene where Rea confesses her troubles to someone else (to give her credit, this episode does cover such a scenario). Either way, Rea chat's to the audience and we learn why she was acting as she did last episode. That's all fine and dandy, I suppose, but I felt that a couple of the elements in her story weren't handled very well (this isn't inherently the fault of the people working on this, I suppose it was in the source material).

Childhood Backstory

Firstly, the way in which the audience is shown what's happened to Rea feels a little exploitative, they didn't need to depict that material to us in that manner for us to understand what was going on. It wasn't nearly as bad as, say, Elfin Lied, but it was still a bit tacky. This isn't a particularly major problem, but I still felt like it should be brought up because any work that handles these kinds of themes should be careful in how it depicts such things.

Sankarea23.jpg


Secondly, Rea's father seems a little bit too much for me to take him seriously. He is apparently omnipotent and omniscient - he can do whatever he wants to other characters and apparently witness everything that goes on. That seems extremely convenient - I don't really buy him as a character quite yet. I guess he's a necessary force to give the plot it's impetus.

Cousins

Apparently Furuyua is just like your average teenage male - he really dislikes it when attractive women keep visiting his bedroom for the purposes of throwing themselves all over him -

Sankarea25.jpg

Sankarea24.jpg

(That's a classic Araragi face fault if if ever sever one, and I have)

Okay, so
he was trying to hide the dead cat in a box, but you know what I mean. Why isn't he interested in that? Because she's breathing?

Still, as much as I am still enjoying the show it has the potential to become dire at any point, because the premise is, well, what it is.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I admit that I'm a fan of stories which draw connections between seemingly unrelated people who come into contact with each other through "coincidence", as happens in Tokyo Godfathers, partly because I believe that sort of thing does happen in real life. I don't understand why this technique, as a way of highlighting what is important, should be off-limits to authors.
You should watch Touch. Not the Adachi one, the Keifer Sutherland one!
 
[Sankarea - 2]

At the very least, this episode proves that the first episode was no fluke - the art, animation and direction here were very nearly as good as in the opening episode. Not only is this a great sign for the show itself, but it is a good sign for Studio DEEN itself. Perhaps they can start to crawl out of the whole they've been in for the last few years?

I don't see how it's a good sign for DEEN unless they manage to keep this director around. Remember they've still got two other shows this season which are exactly what you'd expect from the studio.
 

trejo

Member
Should I be joining the Yami Boushi bandwagon? Even cajunator is watching it, although I bet for slightly different reasons.

Don't you want to join your nakama in their quest to test the limits of human comprehensibility?

It's become a trope for me to say this, but that's a trope. Dude stands out because of some weird test invented by the instructors. The one that comes to mind is the training sequence in the Captain America film from last year.

It's easy short hand for the writer to show why this character is more important than the extras that we've seen so far. Besides, is there any question that Muttan isn't going to become an astronaut?

This, basically. I'm also willing to bet it's not the last time they make use of it.
 

Erigu

Member
[Uchû Kyôdai]
It's worth noting that the JAXA interviewer who loosened the screw did not think of the trick himself; rather he knew of it because it had been played on him during his job interview by Mouri.
Right, my bad.

I admit that I'm a fan of stories which draw connections between seemingly unrelated people who come into contact with each other through "coincidence", as happens in Tokyo Godfathers, partly because I believe that sort of thing does happen in real life. I don't understand why this technique, as a way of highlighting what is important, should be off-limits to authors.
Oh, I don't think it should be off-limits, but it feels a bit more cumbersome to me in a story that appears to be at least in part educational ("how does one become an astronaut?") than in a Christmas tale...
 

Jex

Member
I don't see how it's a good sign for DEEN unless they manage to keep this director around. Remember they've still got two other shows this season which are exactly what you'd expect from the studio.

Tell me about the last time they've produced something that looks this good! Clearly this is an improvement in a number of areas, they only sign of improvement they've shown in awhile. Whether or not they chose to pursue it is entirely up to them. (I don't see them pursuing it, but hope springs eternal)
 
I don't see how it's a good sign for DEEN unless they manage to keep this director around. Remember they've still got two other shows this season which are exactly what you'd expect from the studio.

Yeah, Sankarea has more the feeling of an outsourced Shaft project with Mamoru Hatakeyama (director & storyboard) and Rie Matsubara (editing).
 

cajunator

Banned
Deen has always been capable of doing this. I'm pretty sure they just chose to make mediocre looking stuff because it was cheap. but they always seemed to choose stories that I was interested in, so I ended up liking a lot of Deen shows.

Speaking of DAT DEEN ART....
 

Jex

Member
It's easy short hand for the writer to show why this character is more important than the extras that we've seen so far. Besides, is there any question that Muttan isn't going to become an astronaut?

It would be kind of amazing if he didn't though, wouldn't it? I know writers aren't allowed to that though because it would probably count as wasting the audiences time, or something.
 
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