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Spring Anime 2016 |OT| Get a Season So Complicated

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S

Sir Blaming

Member
Swagamoto 5
oREfP.gif
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"IS HE TRYING TO SUMMON LIGHTNING??!!"
 
D

duckroll

Member
Kiznaiver - Episode 6

Between last week's episode and this week's episode, I'm 100% on board now. Jexhius was right. I don't know how, but he was. This is Mari Okada as she always should have been. Not an ironically entertaining overdramatic memetastic anime writer, but one who truly brings out the meaning of human relations and the understanding what pain is.

My two favorite moments in this episode were this:
7ayH5ws.jpg
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and the final scene where he goes
"I'm disappoint in you."

I think moments which truly capture emotions without having to actually say anything at all. The way the characters react to situations, to each other, and what they're able to say and express change with each episode to show that they are truly growing in understanding. I love it.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Kiznaiver Episode 6:

I do not know what cosmic miracle has crossed upon us but we are existing in a season where Trigger has provided us with arguably the best two shows of the season and indeed of the year. The arc words of deepening bonds are indeed more then just general pablum as we have seen in real time that the connection is getting stronger and more resonate. Simply put, negative emotions and deep psychological wounds are now the order of the day and now the serious shit begins and it ever evolving out cast to being full fledged characters which is not an easy feat to pull off indeed.
 
C

Clov

Member
duckroll said:
Harmony

I am floored. This will probably remain the most unpleasant and discomforting film I watch this year unless something else catches me by surprise in the remaining months. And I'm not saying this in any negative way whatsoever. I think this is an amazing film with some top-tier direction. It's a work of art, both in the written narrative and the visual direction. I expected a strange film, but certainly not to the extent here.

As a general comparison, I would say this falls under the category of films like Paradox Spiral and Ghost in the Shell Innocence, in the sense that there's something interesting about how each shot is constructed, and the visual direction aims to invoke a state of mind in the viewer rather than merely communicating a narrative point. In this case, the state of mind is a constant sense of unease and discomfort that makes everything, seem a little off, and sets the viewer on edge.

The production values were pretty outstanding too, and I think both the visuals and sound did a solid job of conveying the intent of each scene. There are some really awkward looking CG sequences throughout, but viewed in context, it makes sense. While I wouldn't say it excuses some of the ugly modeling, the lack of detailed textures or artistic beauty in make of the CG backdrops are clearly intentional as they match the thematic point of the environments they depict. When the film moves to other locales which call for more natural or imperfect environments, the hand drawn backgrounds are breathtaking and really nicely painted. I think Studio 4C knocked this one out of the park.

I would recommend this film to anyone who has the stomach for some really intense graphic violence, a high tolerance level for philosophical science fiction stories with heavy exposition rather than cool-things-happening, and a willingness to endure a thematic story which much unsettle how you view the value of life and death. Much like later Philip K Dick stories, and many David Fincher films, there's a thick amount of cynicism about societal norms and humanity in general, and this isn't a story that is content with providing a satisfying and uplifting ending.

Now if you excuse me I need to book some therapy sessions.
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I'm glad that you liked it! It really is a fantastic work. I definitely agree with what you said about the visuals causing unease and discomfort. Two scenes in particular stand out in that sense to me;
When Miach sends her message out to the public telling them to kill someone else, how the camera slowly zooms in on the "Sound Only" screen on the monitor, until all we can see are the pixels of the screen and we can't even tell what we're looking at anymore. Very eerie. Another is when Taun rewatches her friend's suicide; if I'm remembering right, we don't see the whole thing again from her friend's eyes. Instead we hear it as the camera focuses on Taun almost the entire time.
I definitely should rewatch this at some point soon. I'll probably do it after Funimation releases their BD of it.
 
J

Just T

Member
Mayoiga: 7

Mitsumune backstory was pretty sad tbh. Their logic to use Mitsumune to soothe his mother's sorrow was foolish, as if enabling her delusions would have truly helped her, all the way up to HS too smh. As for the other portion of the episode, that group is full of absurd dumb asses, I mean they been dumb asses but their fuckery be reaching new heights. Not even mad at the cliffhanger, a week break from them is needed.
 
S

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Mayoiga 7
Lmao. that bgm for mitsumune flashback. The group logic is off the rail and speedstar is yandere for mitsumune. This is way too entertaining!
 
A

Ascheroth

Member
Kiznaiver #6

...I've thought long and hard about this, and I think I've come to the conclusion that I like this as much JoJo. So yeah, sharing AOTS it is.

The way their 'bonds' keep literally growing is just fascinating to watch. The character interactions are top notch.

And I agree with duckroll, those two scenes were my favorites as well, especially Katsuragi
telling Sonozaki "I'm dissapointed in you." The way he calmly said that, with his usual expression and Sonozaki being visibly shaken
was just amazing.

Asterisk #19

Some short but sweet action bits. The 'search' scene was beautiful. Next week the finals start and hopefully this shitty kidnap subplot will be over then.
 
C

Clov

Member
NaDannMaGoGo said:
How can you love the likes of Clannad and Anohana but genuinely take issue with Shinji for supposedly being whiny.

Does not compute.
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Well, you have to think about the differences in what each is trying to do. Clannad and Anohana are melodramas, so they're going to have highly exaggerated characters. NGE isn't trying to go that route with Shinji's character, so he reacts to his situations a little more realistically. While that's something I can appreciate, some people might prefer the opposite approach.
 
N

NaDannMaGoGo

Member
Clov said:
Well, you have to think about the differences in what each is trying to do. Clannad and Anohana are melodramas, so they're going to have highly exaggerated characters. NGE isn't trying to go that route with Shinji's character, so he reacts to his situations a little more realistically. While that's something I can appreciate, some people might prefer the opposite approach.
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In the end Shinji's behavior is well justified and it's just ironic that people who love the trashiest of melodramas with myriads of forced crying scenes somehow take issue here.
 
T

Tuck

Member
Kiznavier - 6
Maki is definitely the most interesting character, glad we finally learned more about her.

Though the show at times feels over written and a tad melodramatic (as to be expected from this particular writer), I continue to enjoy how much nuance many of the scenes have, where the deeper meaning comes not from what is said, but the character's actions, and what is left unsaid.

Trigger is killing it this season.
 
N

nintendoman58

Member
PshycoNinja said:
From the reactions to that post...

...
......
...Shit.
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I don't want to spoil anything, but don't expect Shinji to be like Simon in TTGL where he becomes one of the manliest mecha pilots known to man.

I mean, I love those kinds of characters, but Evangelion goes to great lengths to show how Shinji physically and mentally cannot be one of those kinds of characters.

That's not to say he's a complete whiner and mopes around all the time. He just doesn't have that "brave hero" kind of personality, and as the show goes on, it becomes easier to see why.
 
D

duckroll

Member
phaze said:
I honestly can't tell whether you're being sardonic or honest.
0k4tkrdk2jig.png
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What did I say to suggest I wasn't being honest?

Clov said:
I'm glad that you liked it! It really is a fantastic work. I definitely agree with what you said about the visuals causing unease and discomfort. Two scenes in particular stand out in that sense to me;
When Miach sends her message out to the public telling them to kill someone else, how the camera slowly zooms in on the "Sound Only" screen on the monitor, until all we can see are the pixels of the screen and we can't even tell what we're looking at anymore. Very eerie. Another is when Taun rewatches her friend's suicide; if I'm remembering right, we don't see the whole thing again from her friend's eyes. Instead we hear it as the camera focuses on Taun almost the entire time.
I definitely should rewatch this at some point soon. I'll probably do it after Funimation releases their BD of it.
Click to expand...

The camerawork throughout the film in general is rather off kilter in a very deliberate way. It became very apparent once you can spot patterns in how the subtle and not so subtle camera movements are being applied. The consistency in technique becomes part of the visual language of the narrative itself, which is something I really appreciate in films when executed well. The way the camera behaves becomes a reflection of the intended mood and mentality of the characters either experiencing those scenes or remembering them. Great stuff, even though some scenes were hard to sit through.

The movie definitely should have a huge trigger warning imo. Some of the stuff shown, and some of the ideas being expressed... are pretty strong. It's not surprising that it works so well in the end though, given that one of the themes is the power of suggestion words can have.
 
C

Clov

Member
NaDannMaGoGo said:
In the end Shinji's behavior is well justified and it's just ironic that people who love the trashiest of melodramas with myriads of forced crying scenes somehow take issue here.
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It seems odd to me too, but people watch things for different reasons. Some people may not like the more realistic approach, and would rather distance themselves from that in what they watch. We're all arriving at what we watch with different perspectives and goals.
 
K

KraytarJ

Member
Kiznaiver 06
Alright, shit is getting damn good now. We finally got to dive a little deeper into Maki's background which is more than welcome and I'm glad it's at least so far paying off pretty well. Not only that but seeing the interactions between these characters has somehow gotten better and better as the weeks have gone by and we've gone from a show that relied too much on its excellent cast to a show that seems to be headed in the right direction and the cast has just strengthened. And hot damn was that a great ending to the episode, low key yet impactful and it builds upon the interesting foundation set by the relationship between Kacchon and Sonozaki. All in all I'm a little shocked Kiznaiver has overtaken Luluco so quickly and for me at least it stands in the top 3 (with Academia and Re Zero) comfortably instead of being 4th by a bit.
 
N

Narag

Member
Anyhow 7th (rip) posted some stuff about Kiznaiver on his tumblr a while back that might have clued us in on the direction it was taking:
Some stuff from the Kiznaiver interview on Pash; most of it was already known via ANN or the official site but there were some new bits:
  • Otsuka and Okada have been planning Kiznaiver for around 3 years.
  • Kizunaiver comes from kizuna (bond), kizu (wound) and naive (because they’re all young).
  • They want to do a modern-style anime with Trigger signature.
  • According to Okada, the main themes are “communication”, “the ability to understand other people and being understood by other people” and “the possibility of sharing your pain”. She says that even if it sounds very serious the presentation can get pretty wild.
  • Otsuka introduced Kobayashi (Hiroshi) to Okada; he is a young and talented director with a fresh vision that fit the sort of atmosphere they wanted the show to have.
  • Originally, Okada’s script was more of a traditional battle anime. The meat were the fighting scenes with the gimmick of the characters’ fighting potential being enhanced by sharing their wounds and that being their double-edged sword: you can fight more because you share your wounds, but if you’re injured too much everyone dies together. However, the script evolved because director Kobayashi told Okada that more focus should be on the characterization.
  • They’re placing the main emphasis on carefully representing the characters’ emotional and psychological ups and downs.
  • The final work is a mix between ensemble cast character drama and sci-fi thriller.
  • The animators are doing a lot of work on the everyday life stuff and the smaller movements and mannerisms of the characters so that they feel alive and authentic.
  • They don’t explicitly say it, but from Okada’s comments it feels like a 2 cour show.
  • Otsuka says that usually the animation/production staff at Trigger tended to be mostly guys but with Kiznaiver it has changed into 50/50 male/female.
Many thanks to artbooksnat for sending me the interview.
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http://sushiobunny.tumblr.com/post/131451070490/some-stuff-from-the-kiznaiver-interview-on-pash

Some stuff from the interview with Kiznaiver director Hiroshi Kobayashi on this month’s Pash issue:
  • There is more to the Kiznaiver System than just sharing their wounds but they won’t reveal it until a later date.
  • This has been “on the works” since Kill la Kill but mostly as a “something that was going to happen”; Kobayashi knew he was working on it but the fact that he was going to debut as a series director didn’t truly hit him until he saw the countdown on Trigger’s site
  • Kobayashi thinks that it’s a unique work that is Trigger without being Trigger-like.
  • That the main theme and focus is the struggle of human communication and human interaction and Kobayashi wants to uncover what truly binds people together.
  • As the previous interview said, the show originally had straightforward battle action as the main dish. However, the director decided that the camera should focus on the characters rather than the action.
  • Kobayashi said that this change happened because the show has eight main characters and too much focus on the action would have led to little time to properly develop all of them. Hei wants an ensemble cast drama that properly showcases the "inner workings of the soul” of every protagonist.
  • The show still has action scenes but the focus has changed from typical “battle action” to a “thriller” kind of story, the excitement will come from the characters desperate struggle for survival and their psychological state.
  • Kobayashi is very thankful to both Shirow Miwa and Mai Yoneyama; Miwa because he drew really cool-looking concept art and Yoneyama for expanding on the characters and bringing them to life with a really wide range of expressions. Katsuhira’s white hair was Yoneyama’s idea and the director though it was a perfect fit for his character as someone distant and “lacking his own color”.
  • As closing statement, Kobayashi said that he truly wants to understand and explore the characters and invites the audience to enjoy meeting them alongside him and the staff.
Again, many thanks to artbooksnat for the interview.
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http://sushiobunny.tumblr.com/post/133545846295/some-stuff-from-the-interview-with-kiznaiver
 
P

pbayne

Member
Kiznaiver 6

Meh, felt like it was spinning wheels for me. Just rushed through Maki's story, poorly built up and it was resolved way too quickly, though there will obviously be some sort of follow-up next week. I dunno the more the show goes on, the more skeptical i become that there will be a satisfying endgame.

Jesus when MC(i can' remember his name hes that forgettable) and Sonozaki met i checked out for the episode. Lol that was some bullshit how he found her, did he sense her using the Force? There is such a wide margin between the characters i find interesting(Tenga, Maki, Yuta) and everyone else.
 
E

Eumi

Member
Kiznaiver 06

And the show continues to get better. I was super worried Maki's whole deal was going to be super melodramatic and unrealistic, but am so far it's actually a very promising start to resolving her hang ups. I'm pretty sure that
either she or her friend was gay, and this led to what I'm assuming was her friends suicide
. That's explain why Maki keeps getting thrown into sexual situations at least. Plus our MC, while still boring, is actually growing as a person. I'm assuming a big part of this shows later conflict will revolve around Sonozaki being torn between inflicting further pain on the group for the experiment but not wanting to actually see them hurt.

This episode also helped me decide: the dark weird humour the show tries every now and again isn't worth it. This episode had none and was the best one so far, and it was never that funny to begin with.
 
P

phaze

Member
duckroll said:
What did I say to suggest I wasn't being honest?
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Well, you were being exceedingly dismissive on the show earlier on. Even a week ago it felt more like you were damning it with faint praise. The gushing praise of Okada and phrases like "one who truly brings out the meaning of human relations and the understanding what pain is." didn't help either but I stand corrected now.
Narag said:
They don’t explicitly say it, but from Okada’s comments it feels like a 2 cour show.
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That was my long held assumption but did we actually get an explicit confirmation it's just one cour then ?
TUSR said:
Seeing that people are enjoying TWO TRIGGER shows in one season is like a dream come true.
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Now one can no longer joke about Trigger saving anime cause some sane people might actually take you seriously. :(

Kino's Journey 06-07
kini1e3uwq.jpg
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This broke the mold in various ways, a two parter story, a more restrained presentation of the underlying issues facing the country, quite a bit of action and finally Kino taking a very proactive stance to the problems at hand. Her resolution to the problem at hand and the rule she imposed was actually pretty disturbing.

It also had Ootsuka Houchuu playing a talking dog and bickering with a talking motorbike. 10/10
 
N

nintendoman58

Member
phaze said:
Kino's Journey 06-07

This broke the mold in various ways, a two parter story, a more restrained presentation of the underlying issues facing the country, quite a bit of action and finally Kino taking a very proactive stance to the problems at hand. His resolution to the problem at hand and the rule he imposed was actually pretty disturbing.
Click to expand...

His?
 
A

Aki-at

Member
Kiznaiver - 5

l2xpCoi.jpg
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That look of disgust everyone has on their faces, poor Chidori! It's still a show that hasn't necessarily got me on board the whole 100% (Sonozaki or the main protagonist's apathetic style really just brings my enthusiasm right down) but when it's good it's good.
 
S

Sterok

Member
Kiznaiver 6

It's nice to see everyone growing closer to each other. Sharing emotional pain is much more interesting than the physical part.

Haifuri 6

Did they really give their most dangerous ship to a bunch of students and load it with months worth of supplies and ammo? Who planned this? Those rats really are getting everywhere. Maybe they do teleport after all.
 
A

Ascheroth

Member
duckroll said:
シャルル is how Charles is written in Japanese because it follows the French pronunciation of the name, not the English pronunciation.
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That explains it then. I thought it would be シャルス, and they just took some liberties in the translation -- learned something new today.
 
S

studyguy

Member
I feel like I'm rewatching Divine Gate as I watch Big Order. Nothing really makes sense when you step back and consider the implications of some Orders and how they could be used in relation of how the characters actually use it... I think I'm gonna drop it after Episode 5. Dude just fucked his sister and most of the episode was light beams that will probably be gone in blu-rays.

Why doesn't he just compel that silver haired guy to make his sister's disease a lie? Hell he can impose his will on the world, why doesn't he just nullify her disease himself... It took like 5 episodes for him to realize he could turn a rock into a rail gun. Why didn't he just force the nuke to turn around, he can defy physics. Also they conveniently have this girl who can stop nukes and nothing else? Like do they have another person who can air condition a room to a specific temp? This is all so asinine.
 
P

pbayne

Member
Fruits Basket 14-15

The ensemble cast are still so entertaining compared to the love triangle, which isn't bad either. Akito and Ayame are great additions being the soft-spoken but terrifying guy and the dandy respectively.
The show can turn on the emotion when it wants to. Momiji's story about his mother dove-tailed nicely with Tohru's. Their hug in the end was a very sweet moment.
 
A

Aki-at

Member
Kiznaiver - 6

Maki's friend seems highly unstable
so I guess the backstory is she commited suicide.
Episode was paced pretty quickly, before I knew it it had come to an end. I'm guessing Sonozaki
lack of emotions are from the injection she pumped herself on?
 
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