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Summer 2012 Anime |OT| Goddesses, canines, and killer MMOs!
- Thread starter Crash Station
- Start date
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Chet Rippo
Member
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Sword Art Online 1
I love that Reki Kawahara uses so much English in his shows. The resulting engrish is delicious.
Revealing the players' real identities was a nice touch, but I'm not sure how realistic
is.
Will keep watching.
I love that Reki Kawahara uses so much English in his shows. The resulting engrish is delicious.
Revealing the players' real identities was a nice touch, but I'm not sure how realistic
2000 players dying in the first month without clearing the first floor
Will keep watching.
People just need to open their mind to the possibilities!
Crash Station
Member
What about something written by a woman? Does that not disqualify it from being sexist? Is Borat an anti-Semitic film despite Sacha Baron Cohen being Jewish?
hosannainexcelsis
Member
One Outs 18
The storyboarding in this episode was really good, so it came as no surprise to see that it was handled by the highly skilled Akitoshi Yokoyama. The compositions were more creative and distinctive than is usual for this show, and there was a good understanding of the distortions of proper camera perspective and how to utilize it for storytelling purposes.
The tilted camera here makes the lower body of the manager recede away. Combining that with his enclosed pose, arms hugged tightly to his side, and his downward gaze gives you a real sense of his self-consciousness and lack of confidence.
Here the visuals clearly portray the relationship between Tokuchi and the manager. The composition places Tokuchi squarely in front; wherever our eyes first glance they are directed by the slant and by the pose and direction of the manager towards him. Placing him off-center, and making him look straight ahead enhances his overwhelming and overshadowing of the manager, whose pose with arms and waist stretched slightly backwards makes him recede into the background.
I really like this kind of shot, where the camera swings around one focal point which everything else in the scene falls away from. I recently noticed it in the Yozakura Quartet OVA as well.
Unfortunately there was this one shot where the perspective came off as wonky. The manager is too small and incorrectly angled compared to the background. (And poorly drawn to boot.)
The storyboarding in this episode was really good, so it came as no surprise to see that it was handled by the highly skilled Akitoshi Yokoyama. The compositions were more creative and distinctive than is usual for this show, and there was a good understanding of the distortions of proper camera perspective and how to utilize it for storytelling purposes.
The tilted camera here makes the lower body of the manager recede away. Combining that with his enclosed pose, arms hugged tightly to his side, and his downward gaze gives you a real sense of his self-consciousness and lack of confidence.
Here the visuals clearly portray the relationship between Tokuchi and the manager. The composition places Tokuchi squarely in front; wherever our eyes first glance they are directed by the slant and by the pose and direction of the manager towards him. Placing him off-center, and making him look straight ahead enhances his overwhelming and overshadowing of the manager, whose pose with arms and waist stretched slightly backwards makes him recede into the background.
I really like this kind of shot, where the camera swings around one focal point which everything else in the scene falls away from. I recently noticed it in the Yozakura Quartet OVA as well.
Unfortunately there was this one shot where the perspective came off as wonky. The manager is too small and incorrectly angled compared to the background. (And poorly drawn to boot.)
That scene threw me for a loop. Yuri overload.
Kokoro Connect 01:
It's really not a good sign when the first word spoken in an anime is "oniiiiiiiiiichan!". Even with the body swap premise, this episode was a hard watch thanks to virtually everything else about it being the same slop that usually fills the otaku hog trough. A high school setting focusing on a circle of nondescript friends who all belong to a purposeless club where they sit around and talk at each other? ffs anime you're doing this on purpose now. Add to this the fact that it was a slow and visually bland experience with K-On blobface character designs, and Kokoro Connect has little if anything going for it after the first episode.
Still, in the interest of it being inoffensively generic and not outright bad, I'll give it another episode or two in hopes that the premise goes somewhere. The complete lack of differentiation in the character personalities is the most immediate threat to watchability because it was virtually impossible to keep straight who was who post-body swap, so if there's no real characterization in the next episode, I might be out.
O///////O
It's really not a good sign when the first word spoken in an anime is "oniiiiiiiiiichan!". Even with the body swap premise, this episode was a hard watch thanks to virtually everything else about it being the same slop that usually fills the otaku hog trough. A high school setting focusing on a circle of nondescript friends who all belong to a purposeless club where they sit around and talk at each other? ffs anime you're doing this on purpose now. Add to this the fact that it was a slow and visually bland experience with K-On blobface character designs, and Kokoro Connect has little if anything going for it after the first episode.
Still, in the interest of it being inoffensively generic and not outright bad, I'll give it another episode or two in hopes that the premise goes somewhere. The complete lack of differentiation in the character personalities is the most immediate threat to watchability because it was virtually impossible to keep straight who was who post-body swap, so if there's no real characterization in the next episode, I might be out.
dakkumauji
Member
Accel World 13
I am struggling to really care about what's going on in this show.
I don't care about their real world problems.
I thought the whole new member! would be cool, but that was really boring to watch through.
I thought the new small time villain would be decent, but that was boring to watch through.
Just give me the action already.
I am struggling to really care about what's going on in this show.
I don't care about their real world problems.
I thought the whole new member! would be cool, but that was really boring to watch through.
I thought the new small time villain would be decent, but that was boring to watch through.
Just give me the action already.
Fate/Stay Night TV Reproduction II
Well, this wasn't quite as good as the first half but it was decent in its own right. There was simply too much infomration to fit into an hour so obvious sacrifices were made. Assassin was robbed of that particular class he carried in the TV series and Caster's stuff was reduced to near nothing with no explanation of her relationship with her Master and
kidnapping by her takes place in a really jarring cut that's basically "We can use her."->"We're using her." It was mostly an exercise to introduce
and if he wasn't introduced there, I'd imagine it'd been trimmed further. There's another jarring transition as Saber's info dump about
gives way immediately after to the date scene which was thankfully trimmed down. I think this was another necessary evil due to it being setup for
There's plenty of good though as the CG dragon isn't around, Archer is as manly as ever, action scenes from the TV series typically had the worst parts removed, and the entire episode was framed around Saber's story.
Kitchen Saber remains MIA throughout and the Shirou/Saber romance angle feels far better to its conclusion due to being presented as unwilling partners growing close in pursuit of a mutual goal rather than the boy being entranced from the woman the minute he laid eyes on her.
I don't know if it's more of an indictment of the source material or Studio Deen but this is by far the most satisfying and palatable of the three F/SN anime I've watched. It gives me hope something good can come from the franchise yet strengthens the notion that a vast departure is needed to make a great product.
Beserker vs Archer was edited down to more or less Berserker overwhelming Archer and him relying on his Noble Phantasm rather than how the TV series drew out the encounter.
Saber doing Saber things.
And I just really liked this.
Well, this wasn't quite as good as the first half but it was decent in its own right. There was simply too much infomration to fit into an hour so obvious sacrifices were made. Assassin was robbed of that particular class he carried in the TV series and Caster's stuff was reduced to near nothing with no explanation of her relationship with her Master and
Sakura's
Gilgamesh
Kiritsugu, the grail, and his betrayal
Shirou & Saber vs Gilgamesh.
There's plenty of good though as the CG dragon isn't around, Archer is as manly as ever, action scenes from the TV series typically had the worst parts removed, and the entire episode was framed around Saber's story.
It begins with her drawing the sword from the stone and ends with her death, eschewing the awful TV ending material that was mostly a reset ending for Shirou
Gilgamesh struck me as less petty this time around too. He seemed almost childish in the TV series yet in this he's more focused on his goals. His final words to Saber are still great and removing his ruminating over Saber's Noble Phantasms gave his final scene more weight as it's no longer about how he was beaten but entirely about the farewell.
I don't know if it's more of an indictment of the source material or Studio Deen but this is by far the most satisfying and palatable of the three F/SN anime I've watched. It gives me hope something good can come from the franchise yet strengthens the notion that a vast departure is needed to make a great product.
Beserker vs Archer was edited down to more or less Berserker overwhelming Archer and him relying on his Noble Phantasm rather than how the TV series drew out the encounter.
Saber doing Saber things.
And I just really liked this.
Only a monster could.
I think the first time
they gave plushy Luna a different expression by cutting her eyes in half
KO Traveling Hobo
Member
Hogger, man.
Hogger.
Za beasto.
Femmeworth
Banned
No, it does not disqualify it. I haven't seen Borat, so I don't really feel comfortable commenting on that. Though, I don't feel comfortable talking about anti-Semitism in general.
Exactly, look at self-hating gay men. Minorities and those in weaker positions can often act against their own interests.
Sword Art Online 01:
Yeah, that was pretty good. Likeable protagonist + good animation + really marvelous background art means that this is probably going to be an easy watch provided the plot doesn't become actively stupid. The whole
thing feels a little too contrived considering how "normal" and "human" all of the other characters behave, but that's a small complaint. Kirito doesn't feel all that pigeonholed and I like his determination, and I certainly hope that the female he's paired with in the promotional art doesn't end up being a stock tsundere/genki/whatever. In spite of the nerdy subject matter, the episode wasn't beating me over the head with animu and I hope that this continues. Nothing plays out like the horrible prose from the light novels!
Also, this show understands gamers:
All dudes, all female avatars, lol. Kirito will do well to avoid the nerds in his quest for survival.
Yeah, that was pretty good. Likeable protagonist + good animation + really marvelous background art means that this is probably going to be an easy watch provided the plot doesn't become actively stupid. The whole
creator of the MMO is actually an evil megalomaniac turning the game into a life-or-death struggle for his own sadistic enjoyment
Also, this show understands gamers:
All dudes, all female avatars, lol. Kirito will do well to avoid the nerds in his quest for survival.
Robobandit
Member
Sword Art Online seems like it will keep me interested..
Being trapped in a game against your will is an interesting concept.. adding permadeath to the list of "features" is a stroke of evil genius.
Being trapped in a game against your will is an interesting concept.. adding permadeath to the list of "features" is a stroke of evil genius.
Sword Art Online - 01
Real brilliant idea to allow the use of helmet-shaped microwaves for the purposes of playing a videogame, dudes. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
There are some things you just have to buy into setting-wise, and asides from that, this was really enjoyable. Just a really competent adaptation of apile of turd generic MMO fantasy with nice animation and art. The writing still bears the scars of being a LN, but otherwise, the show did a nice job setting up the characters and the world.
One thing I always liked in both Accel World and this is that the UI looks like something that would be usable in real life if VR simulations like this one became commonplace.
Real brilliant idea to allow the use of helmet-shaped microwaves for the purposes of playing a videogame, dudes. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
There are some things you just have to buy into setting-wise, and asides from that, this was really enjoyable. Just a really competent adaptation of a
One thing I always liked in both Accel World and this is that the UI looks like something that would be usable in real life if VR simulations like this one became commonplace.
*faints*
MMO Kotetsu is the best.
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
I like it! Ghost dude is pretty annoying, though. Just move on already and let the MC get his waifu.
Ghost dude is awesome and the MC is a creeper. Dude should just get with the scarf wearing hipster girl.
Man we get two Kotetsus this season; one in looks and one in voice. We're so lucky.
dakkumauji
Member
Natsuyuki Rendezvous
I like it! Ghost dude is pretty annoying, though. Just move on already and let the MC get his waifu.
Ghost dude is the best. There are plenty of other waifus out there!
Just a few days to more HAREM NIGHT.
Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai - 01
Decided to give this one a shot. Totally came into this expecting to deal with a useless, dumb as rocks pervy male lead that seems to be the staple when it comes these kind of shows (Sora no Otoshimono being the prime example). But to have the lead be so upfront about it, and to have his childhood friend be ok with it make this show shockingly appealing.
The female lead seems alright. She has that high class air that I'm fond of and I'm hoping they expose more of that in the following episodes (
)
I'll be adding this show on my list.
Decided to give this one a shot. Totally came into this expecting to deal with a useless, dumb as rocks pervy male lead that seems to be the staple when it comes these kind of shows (Sora no Otoshimono being the prime example). But to have the lead be so upfront about it, and to have his childhood friend be ok with it make this show shockingly appealing.
The female lead seems alright. She has that high class air that I'm fond of and I'm hoping they expose more of that in the following episodes (
The scene where she continuously stomped on him while talking shit was great.
I'll be adding this show on my list.
I AM READY!
Sword Art Online
Very strong first episode.
Didn't have particularly high expectations for this but I really liked this. Great scenery and background art, very fitting and stately music from Kajiura, pretty solid character design, and the character interactions and the drama felt just right to me. The premise isn't that original but it's interesting enough to want me to see how this story ends and what happens in the world they've created. I already like Kirito since he seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders despite the whole situation and Klein seems like an entertaining and likable bro already.
The whole "mirror" scene had me cracking up too.
Hoping the show keeps up this level of quality.
And now I've got four new shows to keep up with this season.
- SOA
- NTR Ghost
- Jinrui
- Binbougami
Maybe this season isn't so bad after all.
Very strong first episode.
Didn't have particularly high expectations for this but I really liked this. Great scenery and background art, very fitting and stately music from Kajiura, pretty solid character design, and the character interactions and the drama felt just right to me. The premise isn't that original but it's interesting enough to want me to see how this story ends and what happens in the world they've created. I already like Kirito since he seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders despite the whole situation and Klein seems like an entertaining and likable bro already.
The whole "mirror" scene had me cracking up too.
Hoping the show keeps up this level of quality.
And now I've got four new shows to keep up with this season.
- SOA
- NTR Ghost
- Jinrui
- Binbougami
Maybe this season isn't so bad after all.
Sword Art Online 1
I have to say, the villain here is quite ridiculous, I'd say too ridiculous, and Kirito already shows a few signs of being an annoying MC, but otherwise it was quite good, some very nice animation, some gorgeous background art, the characters are decent enough. The girl didn't get any screen time though apart from a brief shot of the soon-to-be main characters. And Kirito needs to upgrade to that black sword and coat as fast as possible, not this lame level 1 gear!
The mirror scene was hilarious.
I have to say, the villain here is quite ridiculous, I'd say too ridiculous, and Kirito already shows a few signs of being an annoying MC, but otherwise it was quite good, some very nice animation, some gorgeous background art, the characters are decent enough. The girl didn't get any screen time though apart from a brief shot of the soon-to-be main characters. And Kirito needs to upgrade to that black sword and coat as fast as possible, not this lame level 1 gear!
The mirror scene was hilarious.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
So what, they just finished the quarter finals in Saki? It's going to take years for them to do the semi-finals then. lolThat's why it was going to end here, originally, probably, to have it end with Teru... but it would be annoying to not have the remaining four matches get any time, so I think it's great that it'll continue. Will it be dramatic? We'll see, but given that they have only three episodes for four rounds, it certainly can't match this epic four episode match.
... On the note of long matches, if you want to know what's happening in the main Saki manga, the very, very long quarterfinal match just ended... yes, really. To understand why this is such a big deal, the first round of Kiyosumi B-side quarterfinal started in chapter 69, and the match just ended in chapter 99. Yes, it took up almost a third of the entire series, in terms of number of chapters. For a long time I thought it would never end, but it just did. If you want to spoil yourself, find my post about it in the manga thread. Otherwise, don't read it. But yes, the ending was a bit surprising.
... I wonder how many episodes it'd take for a TV series to cover that whole match... sure, some of those chapters are short (we're talking about 8-16 page chapters here, usually, not 35-65 page Achiga chapters), but still, that's a lot to cover. It'd be at least 6-8 episodes, I'd think. ... Gah, I'm making myself want to see this animated now... but I know it'll be so far off. Frustrating.
Yep, if they spent all that time on baseball or football or something, I'd be eternally bored. Unless, of course, it was some wacky sport that no one cares about like curling or high-jump or something.
(That said, if that rhythmic gymnastics show or one of the volleyball shows were subbed, I'd probably watch them)
Eternal backlog.
Chet Rippo
Member
Femmeworth
Banned
*scratches Kokoro Connect off the list*
Not going to lie, I used a female avatar in PSN Home, until it became apparent that the general populace doesn't seem to get that most female avatars belong to male players (either eye candy or the blatant preference that gamers give to "females"). So bitter about running into white knights whenever a female showed up in a game of Culdcept Saga.
I was only kidding about that being a bad thing though, hahah. If I can play as a female in a game or use a female avatar in a virtual environment, I do. I've never had anyone mistake me for a girl, but that's probably because I almost never do any online gaming anyway. Even before the mirror scene in SAO, my first thought upon seeing female characters was "these are obviously all dudes!". I'm glad that the show took a moment to poke fun at this.
Sword Art Online 1
Why do I get the feeling that despite being directly told that most of the people playing this game are guys that Kirito is just going to be hanging out with a bunch of chicks the entire way through? I hope I'm wrong (sort of).
Other than that, I like so far. Gotta see if the story will hold up at all but it was solid.
Why do I get the feeling that despite being directly told that most of the people playing this game are guys that Kirito is just going to be hanging out with a bunch of chicks the entire way through? I hope I'm wrong (sort of).
Other than that, I like so far. Gotta see if the story will hold up at all but it was solid.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Kokoro Connect
Anime.
I guess this is out of date because he shaved his head or something?
Anyway, that was a thing. It seems like a comedy, except for the fact the show begins and ends with moments of slice of life pathos, so I could see this going all dramatic later on as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the characters learn important lessons while in each other's lives.
Anime.
I guess this is out of date because he shaved his head or something?
Anyway, that was a thing. It seems like a comedy, except for the fact the show begins and ends with moments of slice of life pathos, so I could see this going all dramatic later on as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the characters learn important lessons while in each other's lives.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Kokoro Connect
I guess this is out of date because he shaved his head or something?
Whats the context of this? A show I had no interest in is a show I am now suddenly interested in.
Yeah, I'm preparing myself for the inevitable early I guess.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
One of the guys is a Smark and loves wrestling.
---
Sword Art Online has got to be the most disgusting, sad, and pathetic of the anime's that I've seen this season... and that's including the horrible magical girlfriend shows and harem shows.
It's like someone took the FF11 episodes of Welcome to the NHK, removed any of the irony and dark comedy, and decided to make a show based on how awesome it would be to be good at games.
I mean, at least with other shows, the power fantasy is somewhat tangible. You're a guy who gets to have non-sex with a girl with magical powers. But this is just sad... now you're just some guy who gets to be good at games?
I swear, in 10 years, someone will make a version of Genshiken where watching anime and reading manga is actually celebrated. That'll be the singularity point of otaku culture.
I could see the villain toggling it from PVE to PVP to fuck with folk down the line.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Hell yeah I'm in.
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