Well that was a great start. Doesn't feel like the series has lost any steam at all and it looks much more visually pleasing. Totsuka is still perfection.
I'm bound to agree considering the fact that I'm somehow watching a soccer episode. I really don't mind lighthearted, fun episodes here and there but I don't think this show handles them that well or juggles the serious and lighthearted segments all that well to begin with. Doesn't help that the show's stuck in a build-up for literally 10 episodes (~200mins) now.
By the way, there wasn't really a downright terrible character yet, but Norb filled in that void. That's not how you do comedic relief properly.
What is airing today on Tokyo MX (and on the 7th for MBS/BS-11) is a pre-airing special that'll detail the series for newcomers. The show does officially start on the 10th on Tokyo MX.
It feels like ages since the last Oregairu, so reading impressions of the first episode of S2, I had no idea that the characters were redesigned. They still seem to be speeding through material, which suits me just fine, but assuming the novels are still going I'm going to be prepared for yet another non-ending that tries to get you to read the books. lol
Shirobako and Death Parade (and Jojo to a lesser degree) say no Others have also said Garo and Lesbian Bear Storm actually had strong endings too but I didn't get far in either show so I can't confirm.
I can't understand what my husband is saying S1
Really enjoyed this much more then I expected, it was able to put enough comedy and character growth into 3 minutes.
I presume this is based on Koyama's doujins which are 4komas or something like it at least? That's what the short reminded me of. A bunch of whimsical super short gags. Some worked, some didn't. Overall I liked it, but it wasn't super funny or anything. I didn't get some of the gags, and repeating some of them over and over got a bit stale, even with the short run time.
Animator Expo 16 - Tokio of the Moon's Shadow
Suda51 + Kamikaze Douga = Super smooth crazy celshaded 3DCG anime with a totally nonsense premise. I really like how it integrated both key animation and CG work for a bunch of sequences. Technically impressive, but not something particularly memorable in terms of content. The studio sure is proving themselves as a premium CG studio for anime though!
Dat new opening
The hype for Madara vs Gai is too damn high. The ending was really good as well giving us a perspective on Madara's view of things.
Nice filler episode on Sakura and Ino's friendship as well as their motivation.
Memories: Cannon Fodder
This one is set in a steam punk style world in which the whole society revolves around firing cannons at some enemy for the country, with WWII style proganda posters and all.
Of course, the enemy is imaginary as shown by the fact that they all land in the desert.
This short film is about building the world more than anything. It follows a man, one of many who operates one of those gigantic cannons, and his son who dreams of operating one, but they are only vehicles for the exploration of the setting and its somewhat heavy handed message on permanent war economy. The only thing I am confused about is the blue light at the end.
The most notable thing about it is the nearly continuous shots and the very dynamic camera. The few transitions happen with match cuts, or while the camera is tracking continuously from one place to another, making it look like a single continuous exploration. One of my favorite parts was actually the whole sequence where they are firing the cannon. Sort of makes you appreciate those grand scale projects people cooperate to accomplish. I felt awe at the grand scale of it as the movie shows the whole process of loading the cannon and firing it from beginning to end, and the continuous shot makes you feel like you are part of the process and it makes you see the whole picture, adding to the grand scale. The whole thing felt like it was always moving inexorably forward in a steady rhythm, with even at the little moments when nothing is happening the dynamic camera helps you feel like the pacing didn't let up, and gets you to feel excited to see the whole thing.
The character designs are also unique. While the other films in the anthology opted for a more realistic proportion, this one is a lot more cartoonish, not a conventional 90s style character design at all. The skin color being zombie like pale, face somewhat distorted, eyes circular, nose red, all adults having a ton of facial details. The designs though feel befitting of the industrial sort of look they are going for.
Overall it is my least favorite of the Memories anthology, but I appreciated what it was trying to do, and like the other movies, it looked cool.
I love the seeming one cut film style. It felt almost like a propaganda cartoon the way it looks, except obviously much more dour. Like something russia would put out to create solidarity in its people.
They are just illustrations books similar to a mini-diary, where each page is an instance of a memory from Ghost-chan, exactly like in those interstitial eye-catches with a caption in-between each gag during the animated short (some of those are even straight-up lifted from the 'dōjin').
Bodacious Space Pirates Movie
Well this was highly disappointing. They took out much of what made the TV series enjoyable and turned some obnoxious kid into the main character. Why did anyone think this was a good idea?
Watched the Nisekoi OVAs 2 and 3 for now undiscernible reasons and what I got was a prime example of soft-ecchi.
There isn't even a pretense of plot-relevancy anymore. In 3 the premise of the first chapter is literally "everyone just so happens to go to the same public bath at roughly the same time". What follows is some adorably tame lewdness.
I mean after Nisekoi abandoned any notion of proper character development at roughly the half-point of the first season that was bad enough, but there was still a resemblance of plot. This was simply pizza-guy-gets-a-blowjob level of creativity.
Wonder if that's just the OVAs or if this second season isn't gonna differ much overall from that.
Watched the Nisekoi OVAs 2 and 3 for now undiscernible reasons and what I got was a prime example of soft-ecchi.
There isn't even a pretense of plot-relevancy anymore. In 3 the premise of the first chapter is literally "everyone just so happens to go to the same public bath at roughly the same time". What follows is some adorably tame lewdness.
I mean after Nisekoi abandoned any notion of proper character development at roughly the half-point of the first season that was bad enough, but there was still a resemblance of plot. This was simply pizza-guy-gets-a-blowjob level of creativity.
Wonder if that's just the OVAs or if this second season isn't gonna differ much overall from that.
Watched the Nisekoi OVAs 2 and 3 for now undiscernible reasons and what I got was a prime example of soft-ecchi.
There isn't even a pretense of plot-relevancy anymore. In 3 the premise of the first chapter is literally "everyone just so happens to go to the same public bath at roughly the same time". What follows is some adorably tame lewdness.
I mean after Nisekoi abandoned any notion of proper character development at roughly the half-point of the first season that was bad enough, but there was still a resemblance of plot. This was simply pizza-guy-gets-a-blowjob level of creativity.
Wonder if that's just the OVAs or if this second season isn't gonna differ much overall from that.
Watched the Nisekoi OVAs 2 and 3 for now undiscernible reasons and what I got was a prime example of soft-ecchi.
There isn't even a pretense of plot-relevancy anymore. In 3 the premise of the first chapter is literally "everyone just so happens to go to the same public bath at roughly the same time". What follows is some adorably tame lewdness.
I mean after Nisekoi abandoned any notion of proper character development at roughly the half-point of the first season that was bad enough, but there was still a resemblance of plot. This was simply pizza-guy-gets-a-blowjob level of creativity.
Wonder if that's just the OVAs or if this second season isn't gonna differ much overall from that.
The tonal whiplash involved in going from the latest episode of Fafner Exodus to Cross Ange's finale is something else.
Somehow the quality has increased even further in this episode. It's really striking to me how much better Fafner Exodus looks in comparison to the first TV series. That said I am immensely happy that there's still half a season's worth of episodes left.
This show is an example of building up for the climax, because yo goddamn with insight the whole of first half + earlier eps of second half is all built for the last sprint of this show, and goddamn if its not worth it in the end, last 7 eps is very high of quality.. and protagonist development and thematic narrative paid off really well,and in this last eps they showing up something that they seed from first eps, its nice as hell.. production value also ramped up in this stretch, fucking satisfying.
So happy that Oregairu is back. Loved the heck out of season 1, and season 2 is off to a great start. I also dig the redesigns, the VAs seem to remain unchanged, and things are picking up where we left the previous season. Excited to see what omit brings to the table this season!
They are just illustrations books similar to a mini-diary, where each page is an instance of a memory from Ghost-chan, exactly like in those interstitial eye-catches with a caption in-between each gag during the animated short (some of those are even straight-up lifted from the 'dōjin').
This show is an example of building up for the climax, because yo goddamn with insight the whole of first half + earlier eps of second half is all built for the last sprint of this show, and goddamn if its not worth it in the end, last 7 eps is very high of quality.. and protagonist development and thematic narrative paid off really well,and in this last eps they showing up something that they seed from first eps, its nice as hell.. production value also ramped up in this stretch, fucking satisfying.
*sigh* I knew the soccer episode was going to get brought up. It's another reference to old super robot mecha where the team undergoes a silly team building exercise. It's also chokefull of super robot references.
Honestly it works as a comedy filler/breather episode before the final arc.
Still think about half of the show is mediocre as individual piece, but that final stretch man... and each key character have memorable climax that fit their theme and felt earned, its great.
*sigh* I knew the soccer episode was going to get brought up. It's another reference to old super robot mecha where the team undergoes a silly team building exercise. It's also chokefull of super robot references.
Honestly it works as a comedy filler/breather episode before the final arc.
Yeh it's a bit of a pity that most of those mecha series reference's fly over my head, though, even if they didn't, neat references and homages don't enjoy a high priority on what I value in a show. They're mostly a nice to have when everything else is going swimmingly. Stoner's entire character being a play on Che Guevara for instance is kinda neat and made me smirk but if I'd see anything of worth in the character to begin with, that would be nice(r).
A very fine ending to an amazing show. The medicine vendor ended up being even a greater mystery than he was at the beginning given that he
clearly doesn't age
. The climax was a bit weaker than in other arcs as you could pretty much piece the entire story from the start of the last episode but it was still pretty great.
Might write bit more later but this was just a real treat. Will have to sit on it but as of now this gets a place in my TOP10 with ease. Weird as hell mix of Mushishi and Gankutsuo with a heavy dose of Shaft in how its framed, cut and edited. I'm very glad I still have one arc of it left to see.
Still think about half of the show is mediocre as individual piece, but that final stretch man... and each key character have memorable climax that fit their theme and felt earned, its great.
Eh I wouldn't say mediocre. First half wasn't exactly the most original piece of work but it was still well put together.enjoyed the whole thing but the second half was fantastic.
Others have also said Garo and Lesbian Bear Storm actually had strong endings too but I didn't get far in either show so I can't confirm.
