Non Non Biyori has some great highs, but it feels like the director has grown more confident in his style and made a more consistent show in Tanaka-kun, without some of the more unpleasant aspects of Non Non Biyori. I've only seen S1 and not Repeat yet, though.
it's going to likely be 2 cour only covering the tournament arc. with minimal fluff you could adapt the tournament arc at the same pace as the last season with. it's a quite long arc.
though it wouldn't be impossible to also cover the arc after since it's not that long of an arc.
either way my money would be on 2 cour as it makes the most sense. As you can just every spring adapt 50-52 chapters of a weekly manga at a good pace and never catch up to the actual manga.
flying witch not only is comfy af, but also highly entertaining and have a fantastic cast of characters. I'm having a hard time thinking of a SoL anime I've enjoyed as much as flying witch
That's certainly true, but NNB often didn't focus on those moments (many more episodes focus on comedy, I found). I can agree that NNB may have had higher highs so far, but personally I'm finding Flying Witch more consistent. For whatever reason, it's captured more of my attention and investment. I do enjoy both series, though! They each have their own strengths.
You're right and I do prefer Flying Witch's more chill baseline to NNB's comedy baseline. But I think the highs of NNB really elevate that series to me.
Netoge is waifu pandering to a fucking incredible degree where all of the cute giant tits girl who all want to get impregnated by you also play vidja Gaemz and one is straight up throwing herself at you to get fucked.
I was told to watch this cuz it was so bad it's sort of good. Let me give context by saying the last crazy mecha show I saw was Valvrave. Before that was Geass. I thought those two were the king of just dumbass mecha shows by Sunrise. Turns out I was just wrong. Real wrong. I don't really know what to call Cross Ange short of just... well.... masterpiece? I guess? I mean it's a masterpiece at embracing the extremity of all things, throwing that out the window, and going even further beyond. If Code Geass was Super Saiyan 1 and Valvrave was Super Saiyan 2, then as words of great Goku once said, "This is to go further BEYONDDDDDDDDD."
Gonna get the obvious stuff out of the way. The show is extremely preverse and erotic for reasons unknown. They never explain why Norma are women outside of the bullshit copout reason thrown at the end. They never explain why Vilkiss is the most OP mecha of all time even though it's not even the progenitor mecha unit. They never even explained how they got a sort of good voice cast for this. Like.. Mamoru Miyano? The fuck?
The show never really had a conflict that felt meaningful but I guess that's partly because it approaches everything with levity. Like... even death scenes are like "lol? well that just happened." It's not like a scene where Nicol dies from Gundam Seed. The romance is also sort of "lol wut?" It's extremely desensitized by the end because of the random 69s that happen all the time. At one point I felt like I was just watching a softcore porno. Except a softcore porno doesn't have awesome mechas in it.
Speaking of which, the mecha. HOLY SHIT. Maybe it's because I haven't watched a good mecha in a while but the Vilkiss and other Mail units were legit awesome. The Vilkiss especially. It's essentially the Freedom Gundam but remove the Gundam aspects and make it into a cool transformable Orbital Fram looking mecha. It's off the hook. I guess it tries to go for the edgy look but I think it works out well. Also the fight scenes were awesome. It's a sort of "look how good it is guys." That being said, Majestic Prince had way better fight scenes.
The character designs were pretty terrible for the most part. You have a generic boring looking protag with another generic boring looking protag hooking up. Whoopdeedoo?
I guess I enjoyed the music? Idk.
I have no idea how I binge watched a terrible show in 3 days. I honestly don't know how. For some reason it didnt' feel like a chore. I was thoroughly entertained? Actually... I don't even know if entertained is the right word. It's one of those things you're wondering how crazy can shit get and you keep watching only to be surprised that "yup, it can get crazier." I shit you not, by the last episode I thought I've seen it all but nope. I was definitely wrong. Heck, even the ending was like "lulz. i guess that sucks."
This show is highly NOT recommended for anyone to watch. Don't watch it. Ever.
Crescent Love ep.5-6
Everything was moving along in a beautiful direction and those two were developing a nice relationship... Then politics/class has to come into play to ruin everything. Both his sister and her advisor stepping in... smh.
And to think Cross Ange is now going to be alongside the likes of Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Getter Robo, and Crossbone Gundam in the next Super Robot Wars...
And to think Cross Ange is now going to be alongside the likes of Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Getter Robo, and Crossbone Gundam in the next Super Robot Wars...
And to think Cross Ange is now going to be alongside the likes of Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Getter Robo, and Crossbone Gundam in the next Super Robot Wars...
And to think Cross Ange is now going to be alongside the likes of Shin Mazinger Z, Shin Getter Robo, and Crossbone Gundam in the next Super Robot Wars...
You're forgetting Candy Store (even though she's more like a great complement to Renge).
I really liked how NNB used peace and quiet rather than feeling like it just had to fill every second of footage with dialog. There were lots of wide pans or voice-less shots where any other anime would've probably fit a monologue of some kind, and yet NNB didn't do it, furthering its relaxing, rural style.
You're forgetting Candy Store (even though she's more like a great complement to Renge).
I really liked how NNB used peace and quiet rather than feeling like it just had to fill every second of footage with dialog. There were lots of wide pans or voice-less shots where any other anime would've probably fit a monologue of some kind, and yet NNB didn't do it, furthering its relaxing, rural style.
The most memorable moment of the series is the one part where the camera just lingers on Renge when she learns that her new friend moved away. It's like a 30 second/1 minute shot of just her face before she breaks down and starts crying.
It's still one of the more effective moments that I've seen in an anime in recent years.
Fun fact I have watched this in 4 languages since I was little: Gallego, Portuguese, English and Japanese (with subs).
The Gallego dub was basically a 1:1 of the Japanese show, just with the Spanish instead. Names were kept in Japanese and all. The Portuguese and English dubs were similar in a sense that they were completely different from the original works, with humour that is relevant to that country. The Portuguese dub had comedy about well known figures in our country, politics, etc. The American one does the same thing, with American humour.
The most memorable moment of the series is the one part where the camera just lingers on Renge when she learns that her new friend moved away. It's like a 30 second/1 minute shot of just her face before she breaks down and starts crying.
Yup, that's what I was talking about. That and the episode where Candy Store reminisced about the time she took care of toddler Renge for the first time were both awesome.
I agree that the comedy aspects of NNB weren't all that good (except for Gu), but it was still definitely among the best SoL shows I've watched so far.
Fun fact I have watched this in 4 languages since I was little: Gallego, Portuguese, English and Japanese (with subs).
The Gallego dub was basically a 1:1 of the Japanese show, just with the Spanish instead. Names were kept in Japanese and all. The Portuguese and English dubs were similar in a sense that they were completely different from the original works, with humour that is relevant to that country. The Portuguese dub had comedy about well known figures in our country, politics, etc. The American one does the same thing, with American humour.
Hard to find actual clips since most are full episodes or skits. But I can't recommend this enough. It's up on Hulu and I think Funi also has a decent amount of episodes on youtube if someone wants to give it a try.
The most memorable moment of the series is the one part where the camera just lingers on Renge when she learns that her new friend moved away. It's like a 30 second/1 minute shot of just her face before she breaks down and starts crying.
It's still one of the more effective moments that I've seen in an anime in recent years.
Delta's been good. Firehawk's right about the villains though since they're waging war since ???? happened to their home planet so now they're fighting against spacy for ???? reasons and fighting between themselves because of ????.
You know, this would be a good time for Sailor Saturn and Chibi-Moon to fight Mistress 9 inside her mind. You know, to show Saturn off without going through the whole planet busting thing. I think I liked Tomoe better in the first anime where he wasn't just an evil scientist. The Inners once again prove that they'd be more useful sitting on the sidelines twiddling their thumbs.
White Album ep.24
I honestly didn't think thesee people could get any more miserable then they were, and then this episode happened. Holy crap, the sky is falling and it's judgment day.. I swear, if this show doesn't end in one big mass suicide. ...
Oh and shows of the season:
ReZero>Kiznaiver>Netoge>Twin Star Exorcists >Kabaneri>Cerberus>Hundred>Big Order>Lost Village>Endride..
It's been like a year since I wrote an anime review, but I had to for these movies. Hopefully someone at least reads all this.
I watched two anime movies recently that follow up two of my favorite series from a few years ago, Girls und Panzer: Der Film and Bodacious Space Pirates: The Abyss of Hyperspace. The GuP movie is new (late 2015 theatrical release, just released on video) while the Bodacious Space Pirates film is from early 2014, but the English release of it is recent, so they're both current. Both shows, and movies, are action series with some light drama starring groups of girls in school clubs, one a tank-combat club and the other a spaceship club. There is more to Bodacious Space Pirate than that, but the main character Marika, at least, has "schoolgirl" as a major character trait, so yes, these are very anime. Comparing them, both are really good, among or the best animes of 2012-2013, but I liked BSP slightly more than GuP; it's Star Trek crossed with anime, and that's awesome! But I hadn't heard much about the movie so I hadn't gotten around to watching it until a few days ago. The GuP movie, however, has been fairly highly praised, so I've really been looking forward to its release. It was great to finally be able to watch it!
These two movies have some distinct similarities, though they differ greatly overall, but more on that later. The BSP movie is 96 minutes, while the GuP movie is two hours long, so the GuP movie is longer. Structurally they have some similarities, though: Both movies start with an action sequence, in tanks for GuP and in space for BSP. After that comes a long middle section of each film on land, without any of the action that best defines these shows, but does move the plot forward and shows the characters interacting. And last, there is a long action sequence taking up the last third or so of each film, a big conflict between the protagonists and antagonists that gets back to the tank or space action of the beginning part. Story-wise, the GuP movie is a better sequel to its series, as it follows up the ending with a plausible setup for further drama, though some plot points from the show are unmentioned. The BSP movie, however, is a new, unrelated one-off story that has nothing to do with anything previously in the franchise. This film drops even more major elements of its show than GuP does, too. While their plots are completely different, both movies, unfortunately, also have very weak, seemingly unfinished endings that fail to properly resolve the major conflicts of either their shows or the movies. Sure, the good guys win, to give a very minor spoiler, but then that's it, movie over. Both needed a denouement section at the end, finishing up the plot better than they do. I know anime often struggles to come up with a good ending to things, for some reason, but it is an issue in both of these, GuP particularly, and hurts both films.
Beyond that though, I'll need to cover each movie separately as they are very different. Expect many spoilers. But first, I'll say my basic takeaways for both movies. Girls und Panzer: Der Film is really good! It's getting a lot of praise, and it's very easy to see why. I may dislike the seriously lacking, unfinished ending, and a few other plot elements don't entirely make sense, but the plot's mostly solid. The rest of the movie is much better, too! The characters are just as I remember them, the tank action is far better than anything from the show even if the CG is still very obvious, and it actually uses its two hour length well. This is a very good movie any series fan definitely must watch. Bodacious Space Pirates: The Abyss of Hyperspace, however, is a big disappointment. While this isn't a terrible film, it has a lot of problems and drops far too many of the things that made the series great to begin with. Now, GuP is an anime-original work, but BSP is a spinoff of a Japanese Light Novel series. The original anime is mostly adapted from the books, though there are anime-original elements and arcs, but this film is entirely original and was made by the TV anime director. He seems to have decided to make something for a more general audience, and not just for series fans, and it doesn't work. The Abyss of Hyperspace was okay, and I did watch it all the way through, but the more I think about it, the more disappointed I get.
Bodacious Space Pirates: The Abyss of Hyperspace
The basic plot: This is a sci-fi world, set in a future with humans on many planets. There are no major wars anymore, so a few remaining pirate ships with letters of marque that were more relevant in the past now run shows. There are adventures to be had, though, as our heroine finds throughout the series
A boy is on the run from villains trying to capture him. He is rescued by Marika, part-time high school girl captain of a legal pirate ship that mostly just puts on shows for tourists. The boy turns out to be a hyperspace diver researchers' son who has hidden info for reaching a never-before-explored pit, or "abyss", at the bottom of sea-like hyperspace. So, in order to control hyperspace for themselves for their own profits, a corporate conglomerate is after him. Marika and her friends in her schools' [Space] Yacht Club, along with her pirate co-workers and friends such as the two princesses of the planet Sea of the Morningstar, work together on land to figure out how to help the boy, which leads to a quest to find the "abyss of hyperspace" before the villains can. He goes around moping and acting out like the annoying brooding kid he is, while the other characters are mostly actually interesting, as in the show (minus some elements). They fight a virus the corporation was using to gather info about where they were hiding the boy and some stuff happens, before finally in the climactic arc both sides set off in space again. Here they fight off some warships the corporation was ... borrowing ... from a nearby planet before successfully getting him to a submarine his father made that can get to the abyss... a "submarine" that is, for no reason, a giant robot. So he gets to the bottom, this sets off a random and unexplained chain reaction that makes the galaxy's hyperspace network much bigger, the end.
It's an okay movie, seriously disappointing compared to its fantastic TV anime predecessor.
Now for a review. This movie shows a later adventure of Marika, captain of a legal pirate ship and also schoolgirl in high school. It is set some time after the original TV series of a few years ago; she's a senior now so she has some more experience as pirate captain, and is established in the space-pirating-for-show business that is one of the things that makes this universe so fun. As mentioned above, the series was a great mashup of anime and sci-fi television shows like Star Trek. Both the show and movie have drama and action, but it never feels TOO threatening; instead of a focus on flashy action scenes or violence, things like electronic warfare are important, both in the show and the film. I really like that. The production values are fairly good, much like the show, and I have no complaints about the look; this movie looks great. The CG elements are easy to notice, but still, it's a good-looking movie. I like the bits of future tech as well, such as transparent monitor displays and the like.
However, this movie seems to have been written for a casual audience, with the hopes of drawing in people unfamiliar with the series. And this is where the movie starts to go so very wrong. You see, Marika is only sort of the main character in this movie; instead, the main focus is on a random movie-original boy, a young kid whose father was a diver who explored the depths of hyperspace. Apparently in this universe hyperspace is like the ocean, and it has depths that normal ships cannot get to, though the movie never actually explains this; this is one of several things the film should have explained, but doesn't. Now, this is a series about Marika, her female friends in the Yacht Club, and the mixed-gender crew of her pirate ship. There are some secondary male characters, in her pirate crew, but no major ones, except for in this film. Different is not necessarily bad, but I do dislike this random nobody male character getting more attention than Marika gets, it's not right! He has a LOT of screen time, too, surely more than any other character in this movie. Bad idea!
And worse, he's a very generic character with a very generic, predictable character arc. See, the guys' father, that diver, died in an accident some time back while exploring the hyperspace depths, so through much of the movie he's acting out against him in a fit of generic emo anger.
His character arc as described above is VERY generic, from early anger towards his now-dead father to eventual acceptance of his legacy.
It's all plain, forgettable stuff. They also insert random unnecessary stuff into this film too; for instance, the "submarine" he uses to explore at the end, for some random reason, is a Gundam-like mecha. WHY? No! That's just stupid, and has no reason for existing here. The space suits also look completely different from the ones in the TV series, and are much more Gundam-ish now for no good reason. Make it an actual submarine, that'd actually make sense. This is not Gundam, and shouldn't be.
And of COURSE his father had this perfectly made, impenetrable mecha made, that can get to the bottom of hyperspace, but had never used it... why? How his father finished this but didn't get to the depths of hyperspace himself before whatever dying in whatever accident kills him, it's not specified, is not explained. Also not explained until it happens is why getting to the "Abyss of Hyperspace" is important. Why in the world does just reaching that X-shaped pit set off that massive hyperspace-network-creating wave of energy? Who knows, the movie doesn't really tell us.
The whole thing feels really half-baked. And again, this guy is both kind of annoying most of the time, and isn't the kind of character that this series should be about. I'm sure there is a way to have a significant male character in a Bodacious Space Pirates thing that works, but this isn't it. This huge focus on such a boring, not-good character is a huge negative, and he's in most scenes in the film.
Beyond that, the movie also dumbs down some elements of the show. The electronic warfare was a huge element of the show, but while it is here, and the e-conflict over a virus is maybe one of the more interesting parts of the show, there is less detail here than before. If this was more dumbing down for a prospective mass audience, that was an unfortunate move. Also gone is almost any romantic elements at all,
besides perhaps only the couple of scenes between the younger princess and the new main guy. They're about the same age, and these scenes are some of his best in the film and do work. I do like that it's her he has the closer relationship with and not Marika, though, that is a positive.
But otherwise... nothing. Lynn and Jenny, who have a canon lesbian relationship, are both characters in this film with decent amounts of air time, but their relationship is never mentioned or hinted at in any way, for some stupid reason. Disappointing. Marika's got noone as usual, and her "you can read it if you want as her liking Marika" friend Chiaki does appear in the film, but not for all that long and not with much of her usual tsun behavior towards Marika. That's also unfortunate.
As for the villains, they are a corporate conglomerate trying to disrupt hyperspace in order to help their business at the expense of everyone else. That's a somewhat interesting idea, and it works here.
They are somewhat weak opposition at the end, though; the climactic space battle isn't even as interesting as the one from the end of the first arc in the TV series, much less something befitting a film, and their troops on the station and that chase protagonist guy as he tries to get to that "Abyss of Hyperspace" are easily defeated. There are a few twists, such as that the main female villain used to work with the main guy's explorer father, but there isn't a good enough explanation for why she turned bad. Could have had a bit more about her in the film.
Still, I like the movies' positive tone, as I prefer an optimistic tone to a dark and depressing one, but still, the final segment is maybe a bit anti-climactic. And then as I said, the movie ends abruptly and without enough conclusion.
The main guy gets lots of medals for opening up hyperspace more but then runs off, Marika goes back to captaining and her senior year, and what happens to the conglomerate, or any other characters in the film, are not mentioned in any way. Sure, their plan failed, but is there any repercussions beyond that? Who knows.
Um... yeah. This movie is a decent sequence of scenes, but once you think about it the plot doesn't all make sense, and I didn't even cover all of its problems! There are more things beyond these that the movie skips over or fails to properly explain.
So, overall, Bodacious Space Pirates: The Abyss of Hyperspace is a failure. This is not a terrible movie, it is probably average, but as a part of this franchise I can't see it as anything other than bad. Why is this annoying, not-too-likeable guy the real main character, and not Marika? I thought about this, and while maybe if it was some new female character I'd like that more than this guy (maybe or maybe not, I'm not sure), I'd still dislike that Marika doesn't get the top billing she should have. This is her series and it should be her movie. The random mecha bits are also not good. And the story the movie tells is only okay, too. It's alright, and has plenty of entertaining parts, but overall the bad is more than the good. Is it worth watching, overall? Eh... maybe. But if you pass, even if you're a big Bodacious Space Pirates fan, that's entirely understandable. I don't know if it was entirely worth watching myself.
Girls und Panzer: Der Film
The Plot: This movie follows up the TV series from a few years ago. This series is set in a somewhat ridiculous world where Japanese high schools are all based on insanely massive aircraft carriers, and World War II-style tank combat, with replica WWII tanks, is a popular classic sport for ladies called sensha-do. These tank battles rarely result in injury, though, as the shells cannot penetrate the carbon-fiber shells built in to the tanks. Many schools use a theme based on one participant nation in WWII, though Ooarai has a somewhat generic Japanese-anime school and random collection of tanks from various countries.
Set soon after the ending of the series, the movie starts with a tank battle between the British and Russian-themed schools one one side, and our heroines of Ooarai and this random new no-good school on the other. After some drama, Ooarai loses at the end. After that, the girls of Ooarai High learn that their school and its absurdly giant aircraft carrier is going to be decommissioned anyway, even though they were promised that if they won the championship the school would be saved! So, everyone's quite sad. They all leave the carrier, are broken up by club, and go to various places they will be living, on land, for a while until they can transfer to new schools. After a while the school president manages to get a match with a college team set up, and if they win, Ooarai gets reinstated as a school for real. As this is anime though, the college team has a maybe 12-year-old-girl as their leader, because anime is really dumb sometimes. But anyway, there's a long, very cool battle, and in the end Ooarai wins and saves the day for their school! The end.
Despite a few flaws, such as the perhaps too-long middle segment and the lacking ending I mentioned before, this is mostly a very good film, and I quite enjoyed it. It's good stuff!
And now for the full review. I like that the plot continues, and though the excuse for why they need another save-the-ship battle is perhaps contrived, it works as presented here in the film. Miho is again the main character, as she was in the TV series. All major characters from both the original show and its single-episode OVA followup return. In this series most characters are fairly simple stereotypes, so they don't exactly have depth, but in a series like this, which is more about action and interaction than a deep story, that works. And while most characters stick straight to their stereotypes, in their various entertaining ways, one group, the three from Ooarai's Student Morals Committee, have something of a breakdown through much of the middle section of this film. Without the school to enforce morals at they collapse into uselessness, which was interesting. Meanwhile, the Student Council stay strong in the face of dissolution and really do save the school.
Miho is the main character, though, and as in the show her relationship with her family plays a role in the film. Miho may have the most depth of any of the fairly shallow characters in this series, but her plot only advances slightly versus the TV series; the movie doesn't move her family-issues plot forwards as far as I would have liked. Still, what does happen is great and was very nice to see. So, at the end of the TV series, Miho won the championship against her old school that is headed up by her big sister. That school, Black Forest Academy, is German-themed and is fairly strict.
After winning the championship, though, Miho and her sister seem to have reconciled, as their issues from the TV series are not mentioned here, and they are shown as having a fairly close, sibling-like relationship. At one point in the film, Miho has to go back home to get a transfer form signed. Her mother disowned her in the original series, though, and while she may have partially gone back on that they still do not have a speaking relationship, so Miho sneaks home and never attempts to meet with her. Her sister is friendly, though, and forges a signature for the form. They also fight together in the final climactic part of the battle, so yeah, the conflict between them seems to be over, as both accept the others' form of sensha-do. These led to some great moments for anyone who had watched the show, this reconciliation was a long time in the making!
However, while relations with her sister have changed, the plot with her mother is partially dropped. Miho and her mother never speak in this movie, and they have not yet reconciled.
There is an interesting development, though -- Ooarai's student president convinces Miho's mother to support their request for a match against that college team to save Ooarai, and with the excuse that 'Black Forest Academy can't let the school that beat us close' she signs on, and watches the match in the stands... but nothing happens beyond that at the end. This seems like a missed opportunity for at least the beginning of a reconciliation. I hope that we see more of this franchise in the future where that can happen, and it should, as this gap makes the ending feel unfinished.
As for the villain, however, I do dislike that it is, of course, a young girl. Why, anime? Why can't you have just had a college-age leader for the other team, I'd have liked that a lot more! Sure, this character is decent and has some okay if basic characterization, but animes' reluctance to have female characters out of their teams as major characters is a real problem. This isn't quite as bad as the "60 year old who looks 12" scourge of some animes, as this girl really is her age and is just really smart and skipped a lot of grades, but still. I do like things like the part where she and Miho meet before the match and somewhat connect in their shared love for this weird TV show, though, that was amusing. As for her college, their team uses mostly American tanks, but better ones than the ones of Saunders, the American-themed high school. The college also has a few tanks from other nations, including a British tank for their commander and a German rail gun.
Beyond the story, it's the action of the first and last thirds of this movie that really makes it the fun movie that it is. The starting battle is fairly traditional, and has the two pairs of schools each trying to take out the others' flag tank to win the match.
It's a good fight, and the slightly surprising ending was nice as it shows that Ooarai are not perfect, and they still can't beat St. Gloriana Academy.
In this fight we really see the bigger budget this film had versus the show, too. The CG is all VERY obvious, unfortunately, but it's better and much flashier than the TV series. All kinds of buildings get wrecked in this movie, and you can really see the movie makers going all-out at times in entertaining ways. This is particularly notable in the very long battle between the two sides that makes up the whole third act of this film. In this battle, the Ooarai girls, with several tanks from each of their main rival schools, including St. Gloriana, Anzio (from the OVA; it's great to see them here!), Pravda, and Black Forest. The ally school from the first battle also joins in; though they're still mostly useless their eagerness and aggressive style is endearing. There is also a tank from some Finnish-themed school. The girls crewing that last tank have a fair amount of air-time in the movie, but I don't remember their names ever being mentioned and I don't remember them from the show, which was kind of odd. They have this one girl who's constantly playing music on a koto, too, something which got quite old after a while. Ah well. But the action and set-pieces are really fun, and the movie is just loaded with great, interesting scenes! Sure, it's a bit formulaic at times and the ending is predictable, but that doesn't matter much, not when it's all this much fun.
Some examples include a part where the freshman' girls tank saves almost everyone by shooting at a Farris wheel, which sets it off down a hill, rolling around crashing into stuff. This allows the cornered other tanks to escape. Good stuff. I also like the little Anzio mini-tank on the roller coaster, going around scouting. Their madcap escape effort after being caught was entertaining as well. The way that that rail-gun was defeated was interesting as well, and the part in the hedge-maze also; tanks driving around a hedge-maze is silly and exciting! And then there's that final battle between Miho and her sister on one side, and the main rival girls' tank on the other. It's a good match, well fought on both sides and with some decent destruction as well. And more.
So, in conclusion, Girls und Panzer: Der Film is a pretty good movie. Sure, I have some minor complaints about it, but they're just that, minor. This is a very fun movie that's even better to watch than it is to read about, so whether or not you've seen the TV series (though anyone who likes anime probably should), it's worth a watch. It is better as a followup to the series than it is a stand-alone movie, for sure, as it continues the story and does not fully introduce the characters, instead relying on most of the audience knowing that stuff, but it'd probably work mostly fine on its own, though people would miss some things due to the backstory not being explained. I'm fine with that, though, and prefer this style to the Bodacious Space Pirates movie's choice to make a stand-alone film that doesn't connect to anything else in the franchise. Watch this movie, it's good stuff!
The GuP movie has a better denouement section than the actual series though lmao
I was watching it AGAIN for whatever reason and it occured to me they kinda get a triple whammy with the CG. As mentioned previously in the thread, obviously they get to do a bunch of sick-ass sweeping camera angles that's pretty difficult to do in traditional animation. But they're also heavily advantaged because instead of humans doing human-like shit they just need to draw tanks doing tanky-shit! If they look boxy and mechanical GOOD! If the movements look stiff and awkward ALL THE BETTER! Also it's probably way easier to just toss those models around and do ridiculous shit.
Does it work as good with CG mechs or spaceships?
Also I wasn't aware Bodacious Pirates got a movie. Pity it sounds like it sucks.
Delta's been good. Firehawk's right about the villains though since they're waging war since ???? happened to their home planet so now they're fighting against spacy for ???? reasons and fighting between themselves because of ????.
You mean that montage of still images during the credits? Yeah, I guess that, while not enough, was better than the near-nonexistent ending of the TV show... ah, anime and their usual absence of decent endings... but still, the movie should be criticized for the lacking ending. If the series continues then maybe it can be explained away with a sequel, but if it doesn't... this is not an ending.
I was watching it AGAIN for whatever reason and it occured to me they kinda get a triple whammy with the CG. As mentioned previously in the thread, obviously they get to do a bunch of sick-ass sweeping camera angles that's pretty difficult to do in traditional animation. But they're also heavily advantaged because instead of humans doing human-like shit they just need to draw tanks doing tanky-shit! If they look boxy and mechanical GOOD! If the movements look stiff and awkward ALL THE BETTER! Also it's probably way easier to just toss those models around and do ridiculous shit.
The characters and CG tanks don't always mesh well, though. With money you can solve that problem, but anime films never seem to have enough budget to make the CG less obvious. I do like the action set-pieces, though, yeah, and doing a CG tank probably is a lot easier than a person, true, for the reasons you say... good point. But when you have people and CG tanks together, which is common, with how they stick their heads out of the top and such? CG characters and drawn ones do not look the same in something like this. This is hardly some huge issue, but you do notice it.
Also I wasn't aware Bodacious Pirates got a movie. Pity it sounds like it sucks.
Yeah, it has one. There are even some people out there who like it, so it's not a total failure I guess. I'm not one of them, unfortunately... and with how great the TV series is, that is really unfortunate. Why did the director think that that guy was a good idea... I tried to explain it in my review, but it's a bad excuse.
You mean that montage of still images during the credits? Yeah, I guess that, while not enough, was better than the near-nonexistent ending of the TV show... ah, anime and their usual absence of decent endings... but still, the movie should be criticized for the lacking ending. If the series continues then maybe it can be explained away with a sequel, but if it doesn't... this is not an ending.
They're not stills though... more like only slight movement and no (audible) dialogue. I suppose it should be criticised a bit, but given that the plot was stupid, I thought basically just ending with a easy "We won!" was fine.
The characters and CG tanks don't always mesh well, though. With money you can solve that problem, but anime films never seem to have enough budget to make the CG less obvious. I do like the action set-pieces, though, yeah, and doing a CG tank probably is a lot easier than a person, true, for the reasons you say... good point. But when you have people and CG tanks together, which is common, with how they stick their heads out of the top and such? CG characters and drawn ones do not look the same in something like this. This is hardly some huge issue, but you do notice it.
Yeah the girls/cg mesh is noticable, but I think relative to the benefits of doing it this way it's fine. I love a good hand-drawn mecha/tank/whatever but imagining GuP done that way is also making me imagine, like, 3 dead studios worth of animators who all immolated themselves from overwork hand-drawing every scene in that movie.
wouldn't mind a short in 2d quality though, that'd be fun.
The CG/2D integration in the Girls und Panzer TV series got better as it went along, and in the movie it was practically perfect. There were a lot of highly impressive shots.
The CG/2D integration in the Girls und Panzer TV series got better as it went along, and in the movie it was practically perfect. There were a lot of highly impressive shots.
There is still significant framerate issues for the CG BG for some of the sweeping shots but compared to that 1st/3rd episode they're practically nonexistant.
That first-person segment in that first episode is physically painful though. The BG is dropping frames like woah.
I've been meaning to ask but I recall hosanna in a different discussion saying that CG studios, such as the berserk Cg one, opted to do the stuttery frames per second because it looked more like an Anime to the audience.
Was there a study done as to determine what fans preferred? Because I find it hard to believe that the "Anime effect" of these shows/films was more preferred than smoother animation.
It was pretty obvious Grandma had something to do with magic, though I'm disappointed it's more of a loose connection than what Tsubomi's grandma had. I still like that crystal ball. Interesting that the Headmaster doesn't use magic these days. Also, he's a dick for not opening that gift he got 60 some years ago. Batty continues to be the best villain, putting some thought into things. Topaz gets the Cures a giant Pac-Man. This is why Topaz is the best. Too bad Gametz actually won something this time.
Maho Girls Precure 18
Hold on, duels usually imply the villain is getting defeated. But Sparda bit it just two episodes ago. Catch up on the happenings of the Magic World. Ruby fights are the worst. Bland and very little creativity or interesting teamwork. I kind of liked that Gametz had no interest in attacking weak Haa. And yep, there he goes. Is Batty going to bite it next week?
It's been like a year since I wrote an anime review, but I had to for these movies. Hopefully someone at least reads all this.
So, in conclusion, Girls und Panzer: Der Film is a pretty good movie. Sure, I have some minor complaints about it, but they're just that, minor. This is a very fun movie that's even better to watch than it is to read about, so whether or not you've seen the TV series (though anyone who likes anime probably should), it's worth a watch. It is better as a followup to the series than it is a stand-alone movie, for sure, as it continues the story and does not fully introduce the characters, instead relying on most of the audience knowing that stuff, but it'd probably work mostly fine on its own, though people would miss some things due to the backstory not being explained. I'm fine with that, though, and prefer this style to the Bodacious Space Pirates movie's choice to make a stand-alone film that doesn't connect to anything else in the franchise. Watch this movie, it's good stuff!
Hey, a wild ABF appears!
There's so little story that it hardly matters anyway.
There's just this part:
After winning the championship, though, Miho and her sister seem to have reconciled, as their issues from the TV series are not mentioned here, and they are shown as having a fairly close, sibling-like relationship. At one point in the film, Miho has to go back home to get a transfer form signed. Her mother disowned her in the original series, though, and while she may have partially gone back on that they still do not have a speaking relationship, so Miho sneaks home and never attempts to meet with her. Her sister is friendly, though, and forges a signature for the form
My impression is that this is the reconciliation scene, with her mother actually stamping the form. I don't get why they never actually have a scene together though.
The CG/2D integration in the Girls und Panzer TV series got better as it went along, and in the movie it was practically perfect. There were a lot of highly impressive shots.
I've been meaning to ask but I recall hosanna in a different discussion saying that CG studios, such as the berserk Cg one, opted to do the stuttery frames per second because it looked more like an Anime to the audience.
Was there a study done as to determine what fans preferred? Because I find it hard to believe that the "Anime effect" of these shows/films was more preferred than smoother animation.
Yeah, I asked duckroll about this after I watched the movie. The ending battles just looks like it's stuttering because of the CG backgrounds. I think the conclusion is that this is a problem specifically with Japanese directors being stubborn about their work processes and could be fixed, but they are never going to fix it.
Flying Witch has a good cast overall but I don't feel the core three (Makoto, Kei, and Chinatsu) are strong enough to carry the show overall. The side characters are the one s who carry it.
Plus even though I like Flying Witch's world is one I enjoy, the problem (like I stated when I watched episode 9) is that the show spends too much time in Kei's house and backyard einstead of exploring this world. I loved the cafe episode because it was the deepest the show had gone into exploring its own world and showing the mystical and supernatural side of it. I wish it would've done that more.
More or less I agree. And the side characters are the reason I continued watching it. But I've already lost my interest on the series now.
Also, it's a bit weird that people seem to like the show a lot, and yet the main (only?) reason they praise the show is because it's "comfy af". Is this another word for dull or boring? I get that it's a SoL about countrylife, but this seems stuck on the premise, with zero development for its characters and literary nothing happening. The idea of the show is actually cool, but I don't think they've explored the world of magic enough, even for what they want to show, it feels like the characters do science experiments on their backyard. It doesn't even look good enough to satisfy me with something like its animation or its art.
My impression is that this is the reconciliation scene, with her mother actually stamping the form. I don't get why they never actually have a scene together though.
Oh, that's interesting. My interpretation was like ABF, Maho stole the seal and forged her signature. The flashback focusing on Maho and Miho, not their mother, was another reason why I thought it was playing up the sibling relationship and not anything to do with Gendo Ikari Parent of the Year Runner-Up 2012
Also, it's a bit weird that people seem to like the show a lot, and yet the main (only?) reason they praise the show is because it's "comfy af". Is this another word for dull or boring? I get that it's a SoL about countrylife, but this seems stuck on the premise, with zero development for its characters and literary nothing happening. The idea of the show is actually cool, but I don't think they've explored the world of magic enough, even for what they want to show, it feels like the characters do science experiments on their backyard. It doesn't even look good enough to satisfy me with something like its animation or its art.
It's just another side of that same coin. You know the pleasure you get from merely existing in a space, of being somewhere, of experiencing the passage of time while the day just rolls languidly by? It's like that. You could say that's nothing happening, or you could be enjoying that experience in and of itself. There's room in this world for shows which just are.
