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[Turin Turambar]

I like sci-fi stories. Very specifically I like a lot 'first contact' stories with aliens appearing pacifically in the modern world, so a series like Kado seems done just for me.
And hey, they have nailed some science-y details like how an entity of higher dimensions would interact with our dimension. That's a plus.

So I'm watching it, and I'm still intrigued with where the story is going to go, what next 'gift' is going to give, if there is twist in all this or what.

That said, I agree that the series is lacking, and in lots of areas. The protagonist is like a second alien, Mr. Perfect negotiator with barely any human qualities. But he isn't the only problem character, all the rest of secondary characters that orbit around him (from his boss to his lackey to the female negotiator to the scientist) are 1-dimensional beings (har har so appropriate given the plot of the series). The politics, the scientists, the reaction of society, the media, it's all touched upon very superficially, or simplistically, or just flat-out wrong.

The series barely has anything going for it except the core part of the story of the alien appearing and contacting humanity. But that part should be surrounded by a more intriguing backdrop, detailed problem and issues, stronger characterizations, etc.

 

[Hellwarden]

I feel KADO is generally pretty grounded in its depictions of foreign nations. I think what happened at the UN in the show would probably happen in real life. I also think it's worth noting that a concrete villain hasn't appeared yet. The closest thing we might have to one seven episodes in is a rich CEO.

 

[dickroach]

This last page of discussion about Kado has been more interesting than the last few episodes of Kado.

lol.

I feel KADO is generally pretty grounded in its depictions of foreign nations. I think what happened at the UN in the show would probably happen in real life. I also think it's worth noting that a concrete villain hasn't appeared yet. The closest thing we might have to one seven episodes in is a rich CEO.

the villain is humanity itself. it's a giant twilight zone episode

 

[Cornbread78]

Beck ep.21-END

Damn, what a crazy ride up to the final episode, but that ending... WTF was up with that ending? I guess everyone warned me that is was incomplete, but damn.... It left as many things unresolved as Nana did dammit! Either way, the Greatfull performance was the highlight of the show and was done in an awesome way.... Outstanding stuff there, but it's a shame they ended it the way they did with the Ryosuke stuff open, as well as the unshipped

Spoiler

Naho x Koyuki

, lol.


Excellent show over all though.

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

Preview for Centaur degeneracy.

Go on, eat it up, you filth bags!

This isn't filthy, this is pure.

 

[Line_HTX]

Eww, horse

 

[Cornbread78]

some of y'all got some weird monster-girl fetishes....

 

[MetroidPrimeRib]

if you watched all of demichan aka fake monster girls for babies and wont watch centaur's worries then dont talk to me

 

[PshycoNinja]

A nice video analysis on A Silent Voice, a movie I enjoy and admire immensely.

 

[JulianImp]

Kado is a "serious" story featuring a cast entirely of adults, and I think some people are so eager to see that kind of story told in anime that they're willing to give the show a lot of goodwill just for going with that kind of premise.

Yeah, I think the whole "contact with an entity and objects way beyond humanity's comprehension" story is interesting and novel enough to warrant watching to see where it goes, but it also works both ways, since...

I like sci-fi stories. Very specifically I like a lot 'first contact' stories with aliens appearing pacifically in the modern world, so a series like Kado seems done just for me.
And hey, they have nailed some science-y details like how an entity of higher dimensions would interact with our dimension. That's a plus.

So I'm watching it, and I'm still intrigued with where the story is going to go, what next 'gift' is going to give, if there is twist in all this or what.

That said, I agree that the series is lacking, and in lots of areas. The protagonist is like a second alien, Mr. Perfect negotiator with barely any human qualities. But he isn't the only problem character, all the rest of secondary characters that orbit around him (from his boss to his lackey to the female negotiator to the scientist) are 1-dimensional beings (har har so appropriate given the plot of the series). The politics, the scientists, the reaction of society, the media, it's all touched upon very superficially, or simplistically, or just flat-out wrong.

The series barely has anything going for it except the core part of the story of the alien appearing and contacting humanity. But that part should be surrounded by a more intriguing backdrop, detailed problem and issues, stronger characterizations, etc.

... Basically this. We're already halfway through the season and the story is still lacking in momentum. Humanity's still torn between accepting Yaha's gifts and attempting to understand what the deal is with this entity that came to Earth one day to give them unlimited energy sources and a way to live without having to sleep at all, but it doesn't look like there's much of a conflict in place yet, which makes it harder to become excited of what might be in store for us in later episodes.

And talking about glorifying the Japanese, Yaha said he arrived to Japan because they supposedly were the best at sharing and thinking about society as a whole rather than being individualistic, and then there's the contrast with the UN leaders, who want to hoard Yaha's gifts and keep them to themselves, which does fit my definition of nationalism. It might not be flagrant in-your-face nationalism, but it's still mostly about how the Japanese politicians are realy good guys that trust humanity and are willing to take huge risks because of that (and also because the UN was lobbying them pretty hard).

 

[ibyea]

Look at how the soldiers are viewed in the movie though in that there are maybe three scenes leading up

Spoiler

to the bombing and the soldiers are viewed as your generic Trump supporters. There's little fleshing out their viewpoints and stances and after the bombing is over, it's never really brought up again

. That's sort of a weakness in the movie but Arrival doesn't go for complicated depictions of politics either as a lot of the stuff is offscreen or brushed off. The Chinese depiction also isn't exactly favorable in the film. Louise herself embodies a lot of the traditional American exceptionalism traits. She repeatedly breaks rules throughout the film because she's right. Then as a whole, who solves the language and calms down the Chinese? It's an American. I'm sure this rubbed a few foreigners the wrong way.

Works like Independence Day, any Michael Bay film, or GATE take those elements to a totally different level. Hell we're not seeing characters giving long monologues in front of their country's flag for starters.

I agree on your overall point with Arrival because that is my thought on it as well, but I never got the sense that things were as cartoonish as in Kado. And if Arrival is simple, then Kado is outright childish.

And yes, Kado doesn't have the obnoxious flag patriotic speech, but when the alien's reason for arriving on Japan is that the Japanese are special, I think that more than makes up for that.

 

[Jex]

I'd like to hear your thoughts on those topics. I've heard from others on the other two.

To put it as broadly as Kado - nearly every topic is the show examines is represented by maybe one or two fairly shallow characters who stand in as 'representatives' for an entire field. The show paints with such a ridiculously broad brush that I cannot fathom why it even bothers to touch on as many topics as it pretends to have an opinion on.

In terms of the representation of the media, the series decided to focus its energy on focusing on one particular reporter, but still fails to sketch his character in any depth. He is Mr Scoops, a man who chases the Truth by Being There First. Is that his only skill - swiftness? In 2017, is there any particular merit in the reporting carried our My Scoops, who has such piercing revaluations as "It's a really, really, big cube. You won't believe how big it is!". In a world where everyone with a phone (or a drone) has the potential to capture the exact same images as him I'm not sure why we're even following his "story". It seems to be such an outdated, and simplistic, depiction of what gathering and disseminating information to the public actually entails.

In terms of geopolitics, I see that some of you are suggesting that the show presents a 'realpolitik' perspective where nation states act in their best interests, but I can't really agree. Leaving aside the question of whether the appearance of the Wam in Japan is an issue for the UN Security Council alone to deliberate on, I find both the speed and unity of response from the other major nations a little surprising. Moreover, I find their threatened 'sanctions' against Japan unconvincing. Leaving aside the question of economic sanctions (which would surely lead to problems for both sides as the world requires many of the goods that Japan exports), the notion of using military force against Japan is completely ridiculous. It's existence in the series, even as a veiled threat, is patently ridiculous. Under what grounds would the people of the world accept a UN invasion of the nation of Japan, an undertaking which if actually enacted, would cost the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. A completely bonkers proposal.

Even ignoring the complicated reality of geopolitics, taken on it's most basic terms, the show ends up depicting the world as the UN vs Japan. The UN are cast as greedy hoarders who want to take and control the alien technology, while Japan is an enlightened nation that merely wishes to spread and the aliens gifts throughout mankind. This isn't even subtext - the show literally says that the Japanese people are the most selfless in the world. It's not the normal kind or nationalism of exceptionalism that some of us may be familiar with - instead its a kind of undeniably smug nationalism about how the Japanese are the chosen people.

With regards to science, I feel like ibyea has already explained this pretty thoroughly, but I'd still like to weigh in on this. The pursuit of knowledge through the scientific method is a lengthy, arduous and rigorous process. It is an ongoing venture that is the combined result of millions of people working for thousands of years to better humanities understanding about the universe. In Kado, this gargantuan undertaking is exemplified by the work of one 'quirky' genius who rolls around with some spheres for a while before having a revelation. This Hollywoodification of science would be merely tiresome in any other work but in a serious that clearly fancies itself as having a 'hard' science fiction leaning, such a shallow depiction of science is completely insulting.

 

[firehawk12]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

 

[Valdfellgar]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

Depends what you wanted out of it by this point.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

It's sure not good. ID-0 is the better CG science fiction anime of this season.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

What?

No. Maybe not as good as I was hoping for, but that's because of my high standards for media like this that wants to get into a more scientific side.

It's still is among the better shows of the season.

Edit: man I know my standards weren't as high as some of you but i didn't realize you felt that strongly lol. I appreciate the show for at least attempting to get into hard sci fi.

 

[Jex]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

Kado is a mere parade of ideas, uttered by empty shells, devoid of any humanity.

I would not say it's terrible but I would say that it's incredible simplistic outlook robs it of any interest. This is a show that's purely about sci-fi ideas, but it doesn't even engage with them on an interesting level. Unfortunately, because all the character are so roughly sketched, there's nothing else to hold the series together once you make this revelation.

It's not like wasting it is an unpleasant experience - it's just a nothing experience. There's far better things to do with your anime-watching time.

 

[Line_HTX]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

No, not really. It may be slightly underwhelming, but it's not terrible like some other shows right now.

 

[GoldCrusader]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

I mean people who dislike it seem more vocal today and up until now I still thought it was well received. Guess episode 7 annoyed people?

I still consider it good. Still need to get around watching episode 7.

This whole Kado huge discussion came out of nowhere too lol.

 

[Jarmel]

In terms of geopolitics, I see that some of you are suggesting that the show presents a 'realpolitik' perspective where nation states act in their best interests, but I can't really agree. Leaving aside the question of whether the appearance of the Wam in Japan is an issue for the UN Security Council alone to deliberate on, I find both the speed and unity of response from the other major nations a little surprising. Moreover, I find their threatened 'sanctions' against Japan unconvincing. Leaving aside the question of economic sanctions (which would surely lead to problems for both sides as the world requires many of the goods that Japan exports), the notion of using military force against Japan is completely ridiculous. It's existence in the series, even as a veiled threat, is patently ridiculous. Under what grounds would the people of the world accept a UN invasion of the nation of Japan, an undertaking which if actually enacted, would cost the lives of potentially hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. A completely bonkers proposal.

You could argue that the use of military force was more of a threat than a serious proposal on the part of the UN. Also due to the economic ramifications for every other party on the planet besides Japan, there would have been a quick response. It shifts the balance of power too much into Japan's favor. Having a monopoly over an infinite power source would grant Japan so many advantages on trade and technology that they would make every other country on the planet look a like third-world country starving somewhere in Africa.

The only difference I might suspect in real life is that the United States would do a lot more pushing behind the scenes since they have so many connections already with the Japanese government.

With regards to science, I feel like ibyea has already explained this pretty thoroughly, but I'd still like to weigh in on this. The pursuit of knowledge through the scientific method is a lengthy, arduous and rigorous process. It is an ongoing venture that is the combined result of millions of people working for thousands of years to better humanities understanding about the universe. In Kado, this gargantuan undertaking is exemplified by the work of one 'quirky' genius who rolls around with some spheres for a while before having a revelation. This Hollywoodification of science would be merely tiresome in any other work but in a serious that clearly fancies itself as having a 'hard' science fiction leaning, such a shallow depiction of science is completely insulting.

Come on, this is true for even most 'hard' scifi stuff. Expanse is somewhat hard scifi and one of the main engine systems in that was developed by some random guy doing an experiment. Nobody gives a shit about watching someone go through the scientific method and publish peer reviewed papers over a decade before any serious work gets done. Arrival has Louise pretty much figuring out the language mostly on her own. Baltar in BSG solved half the science problems by himself. The quirky genius is a trope for a reason. Science in real life is boring, that's the truth of it.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Kado would be easier to recommend if the writer at least attempted to show me why either the lead man or the lead girl were considered among the best negotiators in this Japan. At least if they had the show focus on this it wouldnt have shown how little it cared for the scientific side. I think we discussed this in early episodes, but their attempt to show me that the lead is an amazing negotiator is by having him talk and act like a robot.

 

[caliph95]

DTL is playing the long con with Handshakers. I can't fathom how he likes the show. A love for pretty boys only goes so far.

Boy love sustains him is all he needs to live

 

[dimb]

The reason you see more backlash against Kado now is that people gave it a chance, it became clear it wouldn't deliver, they dropped the recap episode, and then they continued to expand the cast and plotlines after leaving behind interesting ideas.

 

[trejo]

Preview for Centaur degeneracy.

Go on, eat it up, you filth bags!

I did not spot a single spider in this preview. WTF is this garbage.

 

[Valdfellgar]

Kado would be easier to recommend if the writer at least attempted to show me why either the lead man or the lead girl were considered among the best negotiators in this Japan. At least if they had the show focus on this it wouldnt have shown how little it cared for the scientific side. I think we discussed this in early episodes, but their attempt to show me that the lead is an amazing negotiator is by having him talk and act like a robot.

Well, I think that was episode 0's point. At least for Shindo. You're right that the lead girl is kinda shafted.

 

[caliph95]

What hapenned to Kado i thought it was Arrival anime

 

[Jarmel]

The reason you see more backlash against Kado now is that people gave it a chance, it became clear it wouldn't deliver, they dropped the recap episode, and then they continued to expand the cast and plotlines after leaving behind interesting ideas.

Well some of the previous plotlines are presumably going to tie into the female negotiators feelings to do whatever and Yaha I imagine also has some larger goal that prior events are feeding into. Episode 7 is still bringing up the Wam even if it's in the peripheral of the show.

 

[Valdfellgar]

What hapenned to Kado i thought it was Arrival anime

I was too pretentious or wasn't pretentious enough, no one knows anymore!

But seriously some of the above posts explain what is troubling some viewers.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

You could argue that the use of military force was more of a threat than a serious proposal on the part of the UN. Also due to the economic ramifications for every other party on the planet besides Japan, there would have been a quick response. It shifts the balance of power too much into Japan's favor. Having a monopoly over an infinite power source would grant Japan so many advantages on trade and technology that they would make every other country on the planet look a like third-world country starving somewhere in Africa.

The only difference I might suspect in real life is that the United States would do a lot more pushing behind the scenes since they have so many connections already with the Japanese government.


Come on, this is true for even most 'hard' scifi stuff. Expanse is somewhat hard scifi and one of the main engine systems in that was developed by some random guy doing an experiment. Nobody gives a shit about watching someone go through the scientific method and publish peer reviewed papers over a decade before any serious work gets done. Arrival has Louise pretty much figuring out the language mostly on her own. Baltar in BSG solved half the science problems by himself. The quirky genius is a trope for a reason. Science in real life is boring, that's the truth of it.

Was Battlestar Galactica considered hard sci fi by anybody? Only recent example I remember seeing, since I haven't watched arrival (need to), was interstellar prior to all of the power of love stuff. You don't need to show the step by step of everything you do, but at least you go over scientific concepts and ideas with more clarity as parts of your plot. In this case in interstellar they went over gravitational effect on time, using a planetary body as a sling for gravity to conserve fuel, etc...

It's been a while though, maybe it wasn't as hard sci fi as I remember

 

[LotusHD]

What hapenned to Kado i thought it was Arrival anime

I knew I was right to stick to just sequels this season.

 

[Jarmel]

Was Battlestar Galactica considered hard sci fi by anybody? Only recent example I remember seeing, since I haven't watched arrival (need to), was interstellar prior to all of the power of love stuff. You don't need to show the step by step of everything you do, but at least you go over scientific concepts and ideas with more clarity as parts of your plot. In this case in interstellar they went over gravitational effect on time, using a planetary body as a sling for gravity to conserve fuel, etc...

It's been a while though, maybe it wasn't as hard sci fi as I remember

BSG is generally considered hard scifi. It has some bullshit with the god stuff but there's a lot of emphasis placed on physics.

Edit: I guess you can use this metric. lol

 

[GoldCrusader]

The Most Tweeted Spring 2017 TV Anime Top 10
(April 16 - May 23, 2017)

Web Newtype has released the report on the most tweeted TV anime titles during this spring 2017 season, conducted by KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories. The result was based on the tweeted numbers of the anime's official titles, its abbreviation and tags in Japan, gathered between April 16 and May 23. See the Twitter trend in the ongoing season below.

1. "Attack on Titan Season 2" - 582,350 times

2. "Eromanga Sensei" - 337,813

3. "My Hero Academia Season 2" - 230,902

4. "Idol Time PriPara" - 177,419

5. "Frame Arms Girl" - 143,079

6. "Star-Mu 2nd Season" - 129,620

7. "Saekano -How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend- ♭" - 119,101

8. "Hinako Note" - 103,301

9. "Natsume Yujin-cho 6" - 100,954

10. "Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor" - 99,433

Some of these are unexpected.

 

[MikeHattsu]

Only unexpected one is Frame Arms Girls

 

[Jarmel]

Only unexpected one is Frame Arms Girls

Frame Arms Girls is probably going to end up selling really well.

 

[NaDannMaGoGo]

The Most Tweeted Spring 2017 TV Anime Top 10
(April 16 - May 23, 2017)



1. "Attack on Titan Season 2" - 582,350 times

2. "Eromanga Sensei" - 337,813

*snip*

I guess we can take solace in the fact that Eromanga Sensei isn't number one at least. One has to wonder what could be in a season without AoT or some other extremely popular show like Yuri on Ice etc. *shudder*

 

[Valdfellgar]

Frame Arms Girls is probably going to end up selling really well.

I bet the figures saw/are seeing a significant boost too.

 

[Calcaneus]

So Kado turned out to be terrible?

I just finished the latest episode, I'm still enjoying it but people are bringing up good criticisms.

 

[MikeHattsu]

Frame Arms Girls is probably going to end up selling really well.

Kinda weird, all the figures were heavily discounted the last time I visited Japan.

 

[Hellwarden]

I wonder if social media activity plays into whether or not a show gets another season or not.

 

[Line_HTX]

Are those merch and figures for Frame Arms Girl very popular?

 

[Valdfellgar]

I wonder if social media activity plays into whether or not a show gets another season or not.

I kinda doubt it. It's likely more a possible indicator of sales success if there's more talk about it.

 

[Jarmel]

Kinda weird, all the figures were heavily discounted the last time I visited Japan.

Other than Granblue and Cinderella Girls Theater, it's probably going to end up selling the most from this season. Probably due to the add-ons or whathaveyou.

 

[GoldCrusader]

Wait so frame-girl is actually something really popular? The more you know lol. Like the merch is really popular?
-------------------

Also looking at the BD sell on ANN Saga of Tanya the evil really did better then I thought.

 

[Jarmel]

Wait so frame-girl is actually something really popular? The more you know lol. Like the merch is really popular?

I have no clue what's the deal. They sold out of two editions already and the third one is in the top 100.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N68OWFS/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MYRQ6SO/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MXQ8YBJ/

 

[GoldCrusader]

I have no clue what's the deal. They sold out of two editions already and the third one is in the top 100.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N68OWFS/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MYRQ6SO/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MXQ8YBJ/

Wow at those statues . They kind of make me cringe.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

You could argue that the use of military force was more of a threat than a serious proposal on the part of the UN. Also due to the economic ramifications for every other party on the planet besides Japan, there would have been a quick response. It shifts the balance of power too much into Japan's favor. Having a monopoly over an infinite power source would grant Japan so many advantages on trade and technology that they would make every other country on the planet look a like third-world country starving somewhere in Africa.

The only difference I might suspect in real life is that the United States would do a lot more pushing behind the scenes since they have so many connections already with the Japanese government.

The UN did actually launch a carrier strike force and put it in position to attack Japan, which indicates some level of seriousness on their military threats. I think what really bothers me about the portrayal of the UN's treatment of Japan is that Japan is portrayed as a diplomatically isolated nation whom the entire rest of the world is eager to turn against. The UN treated Japan like a North Korea-style rogue nation operating entirely on its own, instead of a significant country in the developed world with a network of alliances. Plus it gave no consideration to the thought that the mysterious alien who appeared out of nowhere might have powers of its own to be reckoned with, instead acting as if these Wam just showed up out of nowhere with no other considerations necessary. It just doesn't ring true.

Well, I think that was episode 0's point. At least for Shindo. You're right that the lead girl is kinda shafted.

I agree that episode 0's point was to characterize Shindo, but I don't think it did a good job of it. He's a bland guy who works really hard and has powers of discernment beyond mortal men or something. Not compelling.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

BSG is generally considered hard scifi. It has some bullshit with the god stuff but there's a lot of emphasis placed on physics.

Edit: I guess you can use this metric. lol

It's been a while but all I can remember about that show is that the large conflict was warfare and drama on who was a Cylon. Don't recall any scientific backing to the show.

 

[MikeHattsu]

I have no clue what's the deal. They sold out of two editions already and the third one is in the top 100.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N68OWFS/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MYRQ6SO/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01MXQ8YBJ/

That last one is volume 4 of the BD? Guess we know who the most popular girl is then if vol 2 and 3 with those other girls hasn't sold as much

 

[Cornbread78]

OH! Samurai ep.3

These girls are so thirsty to jump on Yamato's D so bad... In typical harem fashion, he's not interested...

 

[Jarmel]

The UN did actually launch a carrier strike force and put it in position to attack Japan, which indicates some level of seriousness on their military threats. I think what really bothers me about the portrayal of the UN's treatment of Japan is that Japan is portrayed as a diplomatically isolated nation whom the entire rest of the world is eager to turn against. The UN treated Japan like a North Korea-style rogue nation operating entirely on its own, instead of a significant country in the developed world with a network of alliances. Plus it gave no consideration to the thought that the mysterious alien who appeared out of nowhere might have powers of its own to be reckoned with, instead acting as if these Wam just showed up out of nowhere with no other considerations necessary. It just doesn't ring true.

Setting up an unit to attack and actually carrying it out are too separate things. We only have to look at the US and NK for that to be the case. As for the UN's treatment of Japan, I think that just speaks to the seriousness and danger of Wham to upset the power structure. The power differential is just way too lopsided for there to be a serious negotiation. A monopoly would have given Japan control of the world economy and possibly military advantages down the road. China in particular would go apeshit.

As for disregarding Yaha and his reaction, I agree with that point. If the invincible alien says it's only for Japan then that's that. They definitely didn't consider a military reaction from Yaha.

It's been a while but all I can remember about that show is that the large conflict was warfare and drama on who was a Cylon. Don't recall any scientific backing to the show.

There's a lot of emphasis on how they treat space combat and just physics as a whole. Things like the Adama Maneuver are oriented around real life physics.