So this is actually a prequel to the show, focused on the main characters' relationships with their respective mothers.
(Rea's foster mother, and Chihiro's late mother, that is.)
And it was actually much better than most of the TV episodes. There was some uncensored fanservice, but fortunately that wasn't the focus of the OVA - just a box that they had to check.
The way Chihiro finds the book with the zombie resurrection techniques was interesting, and left me wondering if this whole situation has ties with his mother's death. And the scene in which he "met" Rea was good.
Not a particularly amazing episode... But still a good one. My suspension of disbelief only goes so far, though - I mean, a zombie films lover would never watch one in windowed mode.
Privateers did at least 1 of these though. They were just licensed by the government to do it to foreign ships. They were pretty much licensed pirates.
Would that be a first for Bandai Visual? Any antecedents? I've always seen them as pretty respectful of the original material for this kind of releases.
Yeah, it would be. They've always been top notch and respectful to the original source material, not even using DNR on film based anime or the like, which is why until there's picture proof or other supporting sources, I'm going to take the stance that the website is lying to us!
Now this was a pleasant surprise. I am not familiar with Kou Matsuo at all so what I knew about this series amounted to 'there will be flowers' and 'that girl looks like she has Eureka's bad haircut'. That's not the kind of thing that really peeks my interest.
However, coming in with no expectations and no longer of the material enhanced my expereince because it allowed me to experience something fresh. The way this episode handled conversation and dialogue and pacing is the polar-opposite of something like Moyashimon Retruns. Everything feels really focused and the story clearly knows where it's going so it doesn't feel like any time is being wasted. It doesn't feel rushed either, it has a natural pace to it so we're allowed to slowly build up our knowledge of these characters in an organic fashion so that the events that unfold (yes, stuff actually happens in the very first episode!) has some weight with us viewers.
The fact that I already feel invested in the story after a single episode is perhaps the highest praise that I can give it. The only thing that put me off early on were some of the designs but they grew me on over the course of the episode so they can't have been that bad. I liked the facial expressions in this episode too.
I didn't like the filter effect used on some of the backgrounds and objects but I guess there's no escaping that anymore.
Privateers did at least 1 of these though. They were just licensed by the government to do it to foreign ships. They were pretty much licensed pirates.
But if licensed by the government, I would no longer class them as pirates, simply by association. I pretty much place the emphasis on the illegal aspect with pirates. But maybe I'm just drowning in semantics.
Perhaps it's because I never got far into Bodacious Space Pirates but them being Privateers never made sense to me either. It's not that I don't get the concept however in the first 5 episodes they seemed like anything but Privateers, or what I'd consider Privateers. They seemed to have ridiculously high credentials for mere pirates authorized to raid enemy vessels, they hold government jobs. There is no perceivable war going on that would make the concept of privateers a sound one. Later,
one of the legendary pirate ships is the schools
.
To me the whole thing felt forced, like they wanted pirates, of course, and they needed to be in space, awesome, they wanted them to be mostly girls, really awesome, and then they realized that to appeal to the audience they want they needed to be young girls, in school, and then because of that wanted to step away from the negative repercussions that having them be honest to God pirates would have brought with it so then they had to go in and come up with a contrived explanation for them being legal pirates so that they could all be wholesome, and young, girls fighting the good fight while going to school and shit.
Perhaps my read on this is wrong, perhaps it makes perfect sense later in the series, maybe there is a war going on, in secret or at the least that the average high school girl would be oblivious to(in a hypothetical future that's a super connected world where news probably travels faster than it does here presently, I doubt it but whatever), that would make all of it make sense or perhaps my read is correct but it's handled well enough that it's plausible(lol, but from the first 5 episodes I highly doubt this) but that's how it felt to me. Forced and stupid.
I got the impression that they were pirates in the truest since, at least initially. The war for independence pretty much called for such action, but in their current state it just seems more of an outmoded term.
I'm probably over-thinking the whole thing though, and they just really wanted to use the term "pirates" alongside dressing the protagonist in the classic captain's attire.
Anyways, I've been doing some drthinking on my original AKB0048 Kirara hypothesis and now I'm not so entirely sure about my original conclusion. But before I divulge further, I must try to understand the overall purpose of the Kirara and to a lesser extent the being known as "Sensei-sensei" before I can start to touch on the true nature of the Kirara in finer detail.
I believe the Kirara and Sensei-sensei to be a memetic creature that gestates in little girls until they become of age as idols. I think it manipulates the host's body to ensure that the (most likely implanted) dreams and aspirations of becoming an idol are made reality. Whether or not they are of a spiritual and/or biological/viral nature I cannot at this point in time determine. However, because it is Kawamori at the helm, I believe it to be the former with a very slight chance of there being some kind of viral component to it and I think the visual and aural stimulation that the concerts provide play a fundamental role in the spread of this fascinating creature.
Now, as for Sensei-sensei. Thanks to some deliberation with fellow schollar Hitokage, I believe Sensei-sensei is a being made up of the collective conscious of Kirara and/or perhaps something even greater. I believe the position of Center Nova plays a fundamental role in the existence and sustenance of Sensei-sensei and I wouldn't rule out the rest of the idols playing a minor role as-well.
Now, I personally am not of my prior view that the idols turn into Kirara when they graduate. Rather, I think the Kirara are the spiritual embodiment of their time as the role they reprised. I am highly skeptical that this has any permanent physical health implications outside of the diamond shape of the hair and eye highlights. But, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of partial-to-severe memory loss and/or changes in the psychological disposition of the idol (infact, any changes in the behavioural actions of said graduate may just be a return to their original self pre-gestating Kirara thanks to the loss of said manipulating force).
However, I still think my original conclusion holds true to most of those that reprise the role of the Center Nova. I would say it happens to all of them but the revelations in this episode somewhat made me less sure of that. This would explain why most of them seem to disappear on stage when they graduate. Whether or not they turn into Kirara or something even greater has yet to be explained but this is really the only logical conclusion I can come to at this point in time. I think the glowing of the Kirara might be a means of communication in judging the potential of the gestating Kirara to evolve into this hypothetical greater being thus ensuring whom will play the part of Center Nova.
Maybe I'm just putting way too much thought in something Kawamori shat out of his incredibly insane, deranged and possible drug fuelled existence but at this point I just can't look back. I've gone in too deep with this to stop now. I, as a self-certified AKB0048 schollar must seek THE TRUTH until the very bitter end.
I got the impression that they were pirates in the truest since, at least initially. The war for independence pretty much called for such action, but in their current state it just seems more of a outmoded term.
I'm probably over-thinking the whole thing though, and they just really wanted to use the term "pirates" alongside dressing the protagonist in the classic captain's attire.
The initially thing makes sense, I don't doubt that part, it's the present that's weird. With how integrated the pirates are with the actual government they're less of privateers and more of, how to put this, it's as if the government were some Libertarian utopia. Does that make sense? That's how the whole thing felt to me.
But if licensed by the government, I would no longer class them as pirates, simply by association. I pretty much place the emphasis on the illegal aspect with pirates. But maybe I'm just drowning in semantics.
Well, if you think of this from another perspective, even if say the British government gave them a letter of marquee, the people on the Spanish vessels they raided certainly didn't think so. That's why a lot of those privateers went on to become full-time pirates afterwards.
Now of course the people making the show probably didn't really think it through that much and just wanted the characters to seem somewhat justified in their actions or righteous rather than the villains commonly perceived as pirates. You might be over-thinking things there.
Yuri Yuri 1:
I did not know this was a seconds series, how silly of me. Not that it really matters, or appears to anyway. I didn't really find any one aspect all that funny, well except maybe the fact that Akari is geared as the protagonist, only to turn into anything but after the dream sequence. In hindsight, I take that as being some sort of reference?
The big joke of the first half requires knowledge of the "protagonist" to really deliver everything. In many ways the start of the second season is a call back to the opening episode of the original Yuri Yuri.
I dont generally post here but I read a lot stuff in this thread and would like to take this opportunity to chime in. Since Im kinda bored and have some free time, heres my opinion on the new shows this season.
Chitose get you - Im really enjoying these 3min short animes, hopefully its just as good as Recorder to Randsell.
Muv Luv Alternative - Mecha and aliens, Im a sucker for this kind of shows.
Tari Tari - Im quite fond of the slice of life genre and hope to see more drama next episode and hopefully they execute it well.
Arcana Famiglia - Twin tail heroine voiced by Mamiko Noto, yes please!
Jinrui wa Shimashita - Was expecting a cute fairy show but that whole "Hide Truth, Manipulate Information, Use Intimation" stuff along with the mixed carrot juice bread mascot was crazy.
Yuru Yuri S2 - Loved the first season and I was already laughing from start to end. Akari start was a surprise and can't wait for more Kyouko antics.
Utakoi - I really have no idea what to say to this show but I enjoyed the humor at least.
Binbougami ga - Kana Hanazawa hysterical laugh, nuff said
Natsuyuki Rendezvous - Unrequited love eh? and a ghosts is involved too, lets see where this drama will go.
Kono Naka ni Hitori Imouto ga Iru - I just don't understand why Im watching all these harem shows. Whats worse is that Im enjoying them and I have no idea why.
Campione - reminds me of Dragon Crisis, don't know what to else to say though.
Koi to Senkyo to Chocolate - Was hoping for some sort of action from the start then suddenly went into this group of students who want to save their sweets eating club? oh well...
Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai - Issei's relative! This is going to be another Highschool DxD show lol
Hagure Yuusha no Estetica - reminds me of Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou
Would also like to ask people here about Moyashimon Returns, haven't watched the first one and always avoid them. Will this be fine to watch or Season 1 first?
Sensei-sensei is el Cantare's reincarnation. AKB48 (the real one, not the fictional one) is a Happy Science propaganda group. We will eventually get to the TRUTH episode where they'll find all the ex centre stagers are now angels in Heaven with Thomas Edison.
I did not know this was a seconds series, how silly of me. Not that it really matters, or appears to anyway. I didn't really find any one aspect all that funny, well except maybe the fact that Akari is geared as the protagonist, only to turn into anything but after the dream sequence. In hindsight, I take that as being some sort of reference?
Seems that is is very important to watch series one. Most of the humour, especially in the first half, relies on you knowing the characters. There's no recaps here my friend. You have some catching up to do.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous 1 - This really managed to capture that FEEL, that grabbed me initially in Kou Matsuo previous series Kure-nai. The character interactions and their chemistry feels natural and joyous to watch, and the way their conversations are directed has a really great flow to it. Good stuff, already loving the premise and dynamic already, and excited to see how it all plays out from here.
i'm merely a prisoner to the pursuit of THE TRUTH and a greater understanding of one of the most brilliant and creative geniuses of our time shoji kawamori
Sensei-sensei is el Cantare's reincarnation. AKB48 (the real one, not the fictional one) is a Happy Science propaganda group. We will eventually get to the TRUTH episode where they'll find all the ex centre stagers are now angels in Heaven with Thomas Edison.
The main character annoys me, and everything about the show screams generic, despite the fact that I thought the premise was interesting. Besides, the first episode was the exact opposite of "classy".
I'm use to magical girl shows doing everything in their power to glorify petty materialism so they can shamelessly sell plastic shit to girls and this episode did just that but only to show its truly insidiously terrible nature a short time later in an incredibly charming, expressive and fabulously awesome way!
I'm not even doing the history vs. Sengoku Collection thing in protest of this episode. They've reeeeeeeally bent the definition of "character from the Sengoku era" a couple of times already, but with this episode they've broken it outright. Our characters of the week are a trio of shinsengumi from the Bakumatsu years, a full 270 YEARS after the Sengoku era ended. Yes, I mad about the lack of historical accuracy in my execrable moeshit mobage-peddling show.
I just remembered the one anime newmake that nobody talked about in yesterday's discussion: the boring, uninteresting Ruroni Kenshin retelling OVA that came out early in the year.
The main character annoys me, and everything about the show screams generic, despite the fact that I thought the premise was interesting. Besides, the first episode was the exact opposite of "classy".
I just remembered the one anime newmake that nobody talked about in yesterday's discussion: the boring, uninteresting Ruroni Kenshin retelling OVA that came out early in the year.
I just remembered the one anime newmake that nobody talked about in yesterday's discussion: the boring, uninteresting Ruroni Kenshin retelling OVA that came out early in the year.
I just remembered the one anime newmake that nobody talked about in yesterday's discussion: the boring, uninteresting Ruroni Kenshin retelling OVA that came out early in the year.
