, but everything after that is a quiet trainwreck of failure that served only to sour the experience and troll viewers that had been emotionally invested in Chihaya's goals and the Chihaya-Arata-Taichi love triangle so skillfully established in the early episodes. Between the BD sales, the death of Madhouse, and the monumental mishandling of the final ten episodes, Chihayafuru can only be described as one of anime's greatest tragedies. Apollon had better be fucking life-changing now.
The thing with adaptations is - whose fault is it?
If animes are meant to just serve as advertisements for the manga, then the adapters are basically stuck with what they have. Then again, it's not like they could have cherry picked any other parts of the manga to use because - and I don't think it's a spoiler to say this - the rest of the manga really isn't all that different from the rest of the second half of the show.
Given what they had to work with, they frontloaded the show with as much "awesome" as they could. Actual storytelling, character development, and basically one of the better soundtracks of the year all popped in the first half of the show and they used that to carry the second half as they limped toward the finish line.
Heck, looking back - the recap episode was probably there because they needed to produce an extra episode and had nothing really worth adapting. So they just "fuck it", took some omake stuff and turned it into an episode.
You know, I almost wonder if the show was greenlit like four volumes in when people were tricked into thinking that this was a relationship text and not another sports text.
Heck, looking back - the recap episode was probably there because they needed to produce an extra episode and had nothing really worth adapting. So they just "fuck it", took some omake stuff and turned it into an episode.
Nah, the recap episode was obviously a sign of production issues at Madhouse, considering the drop in animation and art quality in the subsequent episodes and having to rush through manga material in a couple episodes towards the end. That said, they were very careful to focus their resources on the best content.
Nah, the recap episode was obviously a sign of production issues at Madhouse, considering the drop in animation and art quality in the subsequent episodes and having to rush through manga material in a couple episodes towards the end. That said, they were very careful to focus their resources on the best content.
I haven't really looked at the volume 7/8/9 material in a while now, but I don't think they really missed anything when adapting it. Maybe the master's tournament was a bit compressed, but even then, it's not like a lot was lost. I dunno, maybe it was them running out of time, but if they had to end up at the exact same place, all that would have meant was that one of the matches would have been drug out even longer.
Anyway, speaking of the OST, at first I didn't like this "bandier" version of the main "action" theme of the show because it sounds so busy, but I think it's starting to grow on me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VAamPCY-v4
I like the OP for this show, though I'm familar with it as I heard the OP several years ago before it occurred to me that I would ever watch the show it was associated with.
I would offer as many kittens as sacrifice as was demanded if they would remake this show with ufotable as the animating studio instead of LOL DEEN.
The moment where Rin interrupted her chase of Shirou to chastise him for not helping her jump down a flight of stairs before it resumed was pretty funny.
she doesnt honestly believe in what she was saying for Kira ot have to just defeat the enemies or something, and her apology just seemed really odd.
No one smiles in this one, or either I guess its odd to smile in times of war for Kira and Athrun. Kira should just defect.
Kind of brutal though
they can actually attack the pilots directly, Yzak got like an explosion to the face when Kira went X-rounder mode shockingly. Even more they actually directly attacked Archangel, that put like civilians in danger.
Graphics are nice, I like the lens flare thing, and the technology even though I have no clue what lgelstellung auto-tracking is.
Watching Archer lecturing Shirou on stuff was kind of funny since I've been previously spoiled on who Rin's Archer actually is.
Rin had a few enjoyably tsundere moments in this episode but I think I would like it more if this show had actually covered more than just the first of 3 routes in the VN. Well, I guess that's why they made the Unlimited Blade Works movie, so I can suffer through DEEN animation for an additional hour and a half after already watching 26 episodes of this show!
SPOILERS FOR NATSUIRO KISEKI which may not be in the spirit of pithy oneliners but should hopefully give some indication of what actually happens...
The girls do magic, but aren't "magical girls". It's mostly slice of life stuff about the four girls who used to be friends until one of them transferred schools and became a bit of a bitch, but they used to get together and make wishes around the stone you've seen in the trailers. At the end of the first episode the pink-haired one wishes they could fly - and they do.
Atmospherically it's like, say, Uta~Kata or Umi Monogatari, but without any of the background malovelence and more of the general summer-slice-of-life stuff.
I'm pretty selective about my slice-of-life, so with your clarification of the episode I'm going to give the show a wait-and-see approach. I certainly didn't need the show to specifically be a
mahou shoujo
in order to be interesting, but I was hoping that there would be at least some kind of "hook" to the series that the trailers were intentionally avoiding referencing. Depending on where the show goes with it, I still may watch.
The thing with adaptations is - whose fault is it?
If animes are meant to just serve as advertisements for the manga, then the adapters are basically stuck with what they have. Then again, it's not like they could have cherry picked any other parts of the manga to use because - and I don't think it's a spoiler to say this - the rest of the manga really isn't all that different from the rest of the second half of the show.
Given what they had to work with, they frontloaded the show with as much "awesome" as they could. Actual storytelling, character development, and basically one of the better soundtracks of the year all popped in the first half of the show and they used that to carry the second half as they limped toward the finish line.
Heck, looking back - the recap episode was probably there because they needed to produce an extra episode and had nothing really worth adapting. So they just "fuck it", took some omake stuff and turned it into an episode.
You know, I almost wonder if the show was greenlit like four volumes in when people were tricked into thinking that this was a relationship text and not another sports text.
I don't know whether this falls under me being "not cynical enough" or "too naive", but I don't necessarily believe that the primary purpose of an adapted anime is to serve as advertisement for the manga. I doubt that the divide between people who only watch anime and people who only read manga is as pronounced in Japan as it is internationally and so I understand why some level of cross-promotion is probably necessary, but endings to anime adapted from ongoing manga can and have been perfectly fulfilling and it seems a reasonably-simple thing to accomplish with some skillful writing, directing, and a measure of selectiveness in what material from the original work is actually adapted. Blatant BUY THE MANGA! endings like Chihayafuru's really have no reason to exist outside of staff incompetence or a singleminded intent to use an anime as a promotional tool.
The show's transition from a shoujo with sports elements to a sport anime with shoujo elements might be the culprit here as you suggest. If the source material died creatively part of the way through, they don't have a lot of choice in what to adapt, though the endless karuta tournament of the second half didn't necessarily have to lead into a non-ending. Maybe BUY THE MANGA endings are less-offensive to the Japanese because they can, well, actually go to the store and buy the manga. We don't have that luxury, and so these endings are all the more offensive to international viewers.
Now we know that Chihaya is at least as good as Shinobu...........
when Shinobu was 12
.
I really hope that this endless string of karuta tournaments is leading up to something worthwhile. With only four episodes left, I'm getting nervous that the show can wrap itself up in a satisfactory manner.
Chihayafuru 22:
MOAR KARUTA.
Chihaya
gets her ass kicked by a former Queen who wasn't even trying half the match
. I'm guessing that a
victorious Queen rematch finale
is out.
I am seriously concerned for the show's finale now. Three episodes isn't enough time to resolve ANYTHING at this point, and the past five episodes of karuta could have easily been summed up in some kind of training montage. Chihaya may be becoming "stronger", but there's been no real plot progression at all.
Chihayafuru 23:
Okay, so that was a more character-centric episode than we've been seeing. Chihaya
has to deal with the agony of defeat, Arata begins to feel the emptiness of the Nagumo society, everyone goes to boring parties that reaffirm their friendship with each other, and Taichi desperately tries to keep himself from getting friendzoned
. This was the balance of karuta and personal development that the show has been lacking, but it's probably too late to save the show from an unsatisfying finale.
Hoping for
Ooe x Komano end
if I can't get anything else that I want.
Chihayafuru 24:
So the climax of the show is
Chihaya watching OTHER people play in the Queen match
? ololol, what a disaster. Talk about unfulfilling. I could understand the
Shinobu backstory
if there were 25 more episodes, but at this point it feels like the show has absolutely nothing left it can do with the actual main characters that can be resolved in one more episode. Sad, and the sudden focus on
the karuta meijin
is a totally unnecessary troll that twists the knife of disappointment that the story is just going to end when there are such greater heights for the characters to reach.
Much has already been said about
the change in Shinobu's appearance
, but I still think that
she's pretty cute.
You have to admire her dedication to
Snowmaru merchandise
.
One episode left, and I have no idea what I even want out of the ending at this point, since it's pretty obvious what's not going to happen.
Chihayafuru 25 (
NON
END):
We'll defeat you someday, Naraku..err...I mean, Shinobu!
Welp, pretty much all of my fears were realized. Lots of new plot threads to entice manga sales, complete non-resolution of all storylines, all wrapped up in an "everyone continues to pursue their goals" ending that tries to bury the utter shamefulness of the whole thing under sunny optimism. Guess what? IT DIDN'T WORK.
I understand everyone's dissatisfaction with the show now. The endless stream of karuta matches that comprised the second half of the series brought character and relationship development to an absolute standstill in favor of an endless deluge of technical karuta mumbo-jumbo, and by the time that the series snapped out of its obsessive karuta streak, it was too late to do anything with the characters or their aspirations so we're treated to a limp, depressing insult of an ending that has everyone crowded around a television fawning over the greatness that they'll never achieve.
I absolutely adored the series up to
Omi Jingu
, but everything after that is a quiet trainwreck of failure that served only to sour the experience and troll viewers that had been emotionally invested in Chihaya's goals and the Chihaya-Arata-Taichi love triangle so skillfully established in the early episodes. Between the BD sales, the death of Madhouse, and the monumental mishandling of the final ten episodes, Chihayafuru can only be described as one of anime's greatest tragedies. Apollon had better be fucking life-changing now.
that neither Chihaya nor Arata became the best. A fairytale ending would be a neat resolution but a more realistic outcome like this is more unexpected and also more of what i expected given my knowledge of how japanese tend to prefer open endings
Watching Archer lecturing Shirou on stuff was kind of funny since I've been previously spoiled on who Rin's Archer actually is.
Rin had a few enjoyably tsundere moments in this episode but I think I would like it more if this show had actually covered more than just the first of 3 routes in the VN. Well, I guess that's why they made the Unlimited Blade Works movie, so I can suffer through DEEN animation for an additional hour and a half after already watching 26 episodes of this show!
I haven't seen the FSN anime, but the UBW movie is terrible. It's a mess of barely stitched together actions scenes that probably makes little sense if you haven't read the VN.
that neither Chihaya nor Arata became the best. A fairytale ending would be a neat resolution but a more realistic outcome like this is more unexpected and also more of what i expected given my knowledge of how japanese tend to prefer open endings
at the end to find the ending satisfying, but the show could have done far better than leaving her muddled in uncertainty and doubt after hitting a wall in her progress
that she doesn't overcome by the end
. Seeing her pitifully huddled around a television with her teammates watching the
Queen match
and totally unnecessary
Master match
was incredibly anticlimactic and a little defeatist. It was like watching a group of poor children look at an expensive toy in a shop's window knowing they'll never be able to afford it.
I haven't seen the FSN anime, but the UBW movie is terrible. It's a mess of barely stitched together actions scenes that probably makes little sense if you haven't read the VN.
They were trying to cover the entire 2nd route, and they only had 105 minutes, and it's DEEN. I'm not going to do that math, it's too depressing.
Fate/Stay Night 7:
I-I'm not helping you because I l-like you or anything! I'm j-just trying to get rid of the f-force field so I can kill you at my leisure later! Baka!
Obviously something happened between the events of F/Z and F/SN which caused Matou Shinji to become the Matou Master instead of Sakura, even though Sakura is older and should be the rightful (adopted) heir to the Matou magical tradition.
I don't know whether this falls under me being "not cynical enough" or "too naive", but I don't necessarily believe that the primary purpose of an adapted anime is to serve as advertisement for the manga. I doubt that the divide between people who only watch anime and people who only read manga is as pronounced in Japan as it is internationally and so I understand why some level of cross-promotion is probably necessary, but endings to anime adapted from ongoing manga can and have been perfectly fulfilling and it seems a reasonably-simple thing to accomplish with some skillful writing, directing, and a measure of selectiveness in what material from the original work is actually adapted. Blatant BUY THE MANGA! endings like Chihayafuru's really have no reason to exist outside of staff incompetence or a singleminded intent to use an anime as a promotional tool.
The show's transition from a shoujo with sports elements to a sport anime with shoujo elements might be the culprit here as you suggest. If the source material died creatively part of the way through, they don't have a lot of choice in what to adapt, though the endless karuta tournament of the second half didn't necessarily have to lead into a non-ending. Maybe BUY THE MANGA endings are less-offensive to the Japanese because they can, well, actually go to the store and buy the manga. We don't have that luxury, and so these endings are all the more offensive to international viewers.
I'm not even talking about the ending, because the actual end of the show is probably the best they could have done given the material.
What I'm saying is whether or not a writer can come in and basically took the manga and make a real TV show as opposed to something that is faithful to the manga. Compress the tournament arcs, push the character development forward in directions not even anticipated by the mangaka - basically do what the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime did when they ran out of manga material to adapt the first time around.
Something about manga adaptations have to be safe and I assume it's because you don't want the anime to trample over the manga if at all possible. I just wonder who you blame at that point for a tepid adaptation? If anime producers are necessarily beholden to the source text, then it's the mangaka that's basically at fault here. But then again, in a manga context, maybe having volumes and volumes of karuta playing is perfectly fine because people reading manga are used to endless pages of battles and fighting anyway.
that neither Chihaya nor Arata became the best. A fairytale ending would be a neat resolution but a more realistic outcome like this is more unexpected and also more of what i expected given my knowledge of how japanese tend to prefer open endings
at the end to find the ending satisfying, but the show could have done far better than leaving her muddled in uncertainty and doubt after hitting a wall in her progress
that she doesn't overcome by the end
. Seeing her pitifully huddled around a television with her teammates watching the
Queen match
and totally unnecessary
Master match
was incredibly anticlimactic and a little defeatist. It was like watching a group of poor children look at an expensive toy in a shop's window knowing they'll never be able to afford it.
Obviously something happened between the events of F/Z and F/SN which caused Matou Shinji to become the Matou Master instead of Sakura, even though Sakura is older and should be the rightful (adopted) heir to the Matou magical tradition.
They were trying to cover the entire 2nd route, and they only had 105 minutes, and it's DEEN. I'm not going to do that math, it's too depressing.
Fate/Stay Night 7:
I-I'm not helping you because I l-like you or anything! I'm j-just trying to get rid of the f-force field so I can kill you at my leisure later! Baka!
Obviously something happened between the events of F/Z and F/SN which caused Matou Shinji to become the Matou Master instead of Sakura, even though Sakura is older and should be the rightful (adopted) heir to the Matou magical tradition.
If that's the kind of stuff you're worried about when watching then it's probably best to stop now and just read the VN since the anime covers like 30% of the whole story at most.
at the end to find the ending satisfying, but the show could have done far better than leaving her muddled in uncertainty and doubt after hitting a wall in her progress
that she doesn't overcome by the end
. Seeing her pitifully huddled around a television with her teammates watching the
Queen match
and totally unnecessary
Master match
was incredibly anticlimactic and a little defeatist. It was like watching a group of poor children look at an expensive toy in a shop's window knowing they'll never be able to afford it.
I can see how that seems like a copout but this show was competently made so its highly doubtful that they couldnt have figured out a resolution. I think the choice was very delibarate. However this is also why i watch anime for the experience and not the ending, because few anime have a satisfying conclusion.
If that's the kind of stuff you're worried about when watching then it's probably best to stop now and just read the VN since the anime covers like 30% of the whole story at most.
Look, it's not as if I'm suddenly fascinated by the bizarre OCD level of detail which has gone into the Nasuverse! I didn't become a fan or anything just by watching a few animes from the setting! Why would I want to read a stupid VN? Idiot!
....
Pretend you didn't just read that.
Fate/Stay Night 8:
Um, so now it's a harem show? Did I miss something important on the way from F/Z to F/SN? When's Sakura going to move in too?
At least there will be fighting next episode. Not that the fighting has been well-animated this series, I'm pretty sure there was more fight animation in the first 15 seconds of Saber's duel with Lancer in F/Z than there has been this whole series so far.
Why would you watch a dub of a show which had Yoko Hikasa, Kana Hanazawa, Asami Shimoda, Yukana, and Marina Inoue as the Japanese VAs? I can't think of how much more all-star that cast could get except if Rie was in there somewhere too!
At the stage event for Puella Magi Madoka Magica held earlier today at Anime Contents Expo 2012, the first details of the previously announced three films for the series were revealed. The first two films, recompilations of the events of the TV series, will premiere this fall.
The first of the two films will be titled Gekijouban Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Zenpen) -Hajimari no Monogatari- (Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie (Part 1) -The Story of the Beginning-) while the second will be titled Gekijouban Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Kouhen) -Eien no Monogatari- (Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie (Part 2) -The Story of Eternity-).
No details were given about the third film which will contain the new story.
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