The planets must be in some strange alignment or something, she's 18. I guess at age 34 Phoenix was getting a little old to have a high school tagalong.
We've only seen a small amount of assets, and from what we've even seen of that, all of them have been local to the first case only (outside that weird cat picture).
Haha, so I'm watching the live action version of Sailor Moon and I got to the episode that has this famous scene in it. It was interesting to see the episode and the full context of it. Originally the girls look like they are going to play basketball but then there is a cut away and it's over. Originally I was disappointed but we get to see a bit of a match later and that winning jump! Haha, I'm not sure how Usagi supposedly did that and usually the whole wire fighting type thing just looks odd to me but it looks like it was really just played for laughs as a visual gag more than anything else and it succeeded there.
I can also see why people really like Ami in this adaptation, Rika Izumi is pretty cute. In the anime I usually liked seeing Rei and Minako being paired up together but I can see now why people like the Ami and Rei pairing here. Hitokage told me when I first came here to NeoGaf that different pairings work better across the different adaptations and I can see it. With how their stories are presented they have pretty similar issues and characteristics here.
I'll maybe write up more detailed impressions at a later time.
So I just got done watching a great show. It's always amazing to see strong writing in a show regardless of the medium and makes you appreciate the masters in any format. The journey was fantastic and so was the ending.
I suppose I should start discussing the characters as that was a highlight of the show. I'm amazed by the depth that almost all of them had and the fact that none didn't turn out to be some 'twirling mustache bad-guy'. Even though certain characters were antagonists, they never felt evil. They had strong trains of thought and actually acted in a rational manner. They acted like human beings would, which is the highest praise I can give them. People were aware of their positions but weren't just their positions. Then there was also seeing Chagum develop into a man and Balsa into a mother. I was actually surprised how annoying-free Chagum was, I expected him to be a brat but instead he was a nice kid. Balsa also while still being herself, softened up to Chagum and really delivered the emotional moments.
As for the relationships as a whole, I think they were fleshed out and nothing seemed rushed or out of place. This again goes back to having logical and real characters to base these relationships off of. These backgrounds drove the relationships and made the interactions feel real, nothing felt forced.
The pacing was damn near perfect, there was one small section in the early teens(episode count) where I thought the show seemed to be dragging its feet, however the show later made references to those episodes and it helped to flesh out the characters as well. The rest of the show was perfection in this regards as nothing felt rushed or really dragged out. The last episode being a
As for the animation, this really varied for me. The bits where 2D animation was used, was great and I had no qualms with that. The background art in particular was gorgeous. I did have an issue with the overabundance of CG used at times and it really distracted me at certain areas
such as the 'egg-eaters' all being in CG
started to grate on my nerves a bit. The problem I have with CG is that the motions don't look natural and can be very distracting. The fight sequences as a whole were absolutely amazing especially the ones with Jiguro. I loved the choreography and fights had somewhat real consequences(in that people didn't just heal the next day and everything was fine).
The atmosphere was beautifully handled and there seemed to be a great deal of research done in order to be close to historically accurate. I can't verify some of the stuff but it seems they really put in an effort to nail down the time period. I loved not only the glimpse into rural life but also the more structured component of the royalty. They also did a good job highlighting the differences visually between the two worlds(the spiritual and real).
The story itself was relatively strong in that while it's not the most twisting of narratives, it had a few twists to keep it fresh. In this way, the plot never seems to lose itself and has a very strong direction in mind. For once it seemed like a story was built around 20+ episodes instead of being artificially stretched. There was also some great foreshadowing used throughout the series. For example
Chagum throwing rocks at the bird was foreshadowing Balsa doing that later with the egg and also the spiritual flower too.
The soundtrack was very solid and majestic-oriented. A couple of songs later in the show stuck out but for the most part it blended into the show. I stated a review ago that I prefer my soundtracks to be 'bigger' sounding but I think this was handled fairly well.
Kazuki and Soushi's relationship is really the continuing highlight of this form me. During this set, their difficulty or lack of knowledge regarding each other and how much they understand each was an interesting journey that yielded great results once resolved. Hopefully they clarify more regarding the backstory of the left eye of Soushi, but I like that they fight by uninioning of sorts with Kazuki being his left eye of sorts
The flashback seemed to me that maybe Soushi is some portion of the festum? because of the crystals and wanting to unify to become one back then, but then Soushi was experiencing the same crystals at one point in time...
. It really does seem that they both have feelings for each other...
The episodes with the stuff on Moldova base were amazing especially the stuff with the Festum as well as Kazuki and
the Festum that is his mom giving him that new Fafner unit, Mark Sein. The whole fight in the subsequent episodes was good. Then finally back on the island Soushi synchronizing with Kazuki with the Mark Sein and wielding those weapons was also good.
. Really a good set of episodes.
Beach episode was great. I liked the awkwardness/strangeness of Soushi when he had Kazuki in his room.
I liked these character designs. They seemed better proportioned and the more cartoony exaggerated faces were relegated to Luffy with others just being more on model albeit expressive.
This was a 1998 OVA that predates the TV series. The story feels more or less a compressed arc as it's Luffy meets pirate, pirates makes Luffy mad, Luffy beats his ass. It was decent enough with some nicely animated action. It's actually kinda weird coming off 31 or whatever tv eps and seeing this due to how fluid everything looked. It also indulged a guilty pleasure of mine what with only one called attack!
This was a 1998 OVA that predates the TV series. The story feels more or less a compressed arc as it's Luffy meets pirate, pirates makes Luffy mad, Luffy beats his ass. It was decent enough with some nicely animated action. It's actually kinda weird coming off 31 or whatever tv eps and seeing this due to how fluid everything looked. It also indulged a guilty pleasure of mine what with only one called attack!
Let's be honest: no one anywhere gave two fucks about these dipshits. But at least they gave us this. It's like they know me from the inside out.
Predictions for the last three episodes:
redhead alien guy will die, Giuvi Giuvi will die too, then Madoka will sacrifice herself for the sake of Earth only to be saved by the power of friendship or some dumb fuckery like that.
Are you being sarcastic, yes they were popular but I've never hear the prequels were well-liked. I'm looking at the reviews from RT at the time the films were released and the reception critically was definitely mixed.
I remember the last episode I watched was the one with
Saber chasing Rider around in her ugly CG bike
and it felt somewhat disjointed with a number of character's action and motivations not making much sense. Are you telling me it gets even worse than that?
Basically there was one particular fight scene that was edited so poorly everyone just assumed that, hey, they're simply going to put that material into the show for the real release so it's okay that this particular scene was poorly done. Now that they've said they aren't doing that:
a) Some important character motivation that was going to be explained was not explained and
LOL.. Mizushima already lost all of his credibility eh.. I still like his directing for fast-paced action though.. If the movie is action packed maybe its worth it just for that.
K-On came out at a time in my life when work wasn't the most important thing in my life... it was the only thing in my life. Needless to say, I missed its release so when my life finally established some normalcy, without really watching or reading any opinions on K-On, I saw the general saturation of it on the anime zeitgeist by people who clearly didn't appreciate quality anime like I did and ultimately wrote of the entire series with a hipster-like cynical feeling of detest. I assure you, this behavior is very strange for me as someone who watches nearly everything.
Perhaps possessed by the fact that I nearly succumbed to the same small and close-minded sense of taste and nearly missed the chance to witness one of the best animes I've seen in years, Sword Art Online, and driven by a hunger for something similar to it, I went to Anime-Planet to see what the old zeitgeist was cooking up. On looking up SAO, the first page of recommendations was of known quantities. The last recommendation on the second page was like WHAT THE HELL! I was actually angry; livid even. Why would someone compare SAO to such a god-awful show (one of many strange irrational and uninformed conclusions I made during this tantrum). I went to aniDB and compared the genre descriptors and sure enough, K-On had practically nothing in common with SAO. Almost in tears, I wondered to myself why someone would want to troll me so bad; clearly it was personal. Perhaps I was feeling defeated by a troll or I was subconsciously intrigued by some of the genre descriptors I read a few days prior but I said I would view the first two episodes just to confirm just how right my instincts were.
I was wrong.
This isn't a write-up... just a cautionary tale so I won't go into details but I love this series. I loved the characters. Ritsu is exactly what I look for in a comic relief character. She's cut from the same frame as Tomo from Azumanga and Miu from Ichigo Marshmallow; stupid, reckless, selfish but ultimately lovable. And then there was Yui. Oh man, she is a combination of everything I love about characters in a slice-of-life comedy. She's the perfect set of breaks on a show that could technically move too fast. You could take shows that need to have soliloquies for each cast member during the series to explain why a main character is loved by everyone even though she seems to not possess many redeeming qualities or you could just show it. K-On shows this about Yui and by the end of the series, it's clear why and just how much everyone loves her and you as the viewer is pulled in to the mix reacting to every tiny of her little mannerisms and tells. She's that nuanced. I could gush about her for hours.
I really don't know what the general opinion is about K-On on here but I encourage anyone who is on the fence or was turned off by some impression they had before giving it a change to go and watch it. It's good and I don't believe you will be disappointed.
K-On came out at a time in my life when work wasn't the most important thing in my life... it was the only thing in my life. Needless to say, I missed its release so when my life finally established some normalcy, without really watching or reading any opinions on K-On, I saw the general saturation of it on the anime zeitgeist by people who clearly didn't appreciate quality anime like I did and ultimately wrote of the entire series with a hipster-like cynical feeling of detest. I assure you, this behavior is very strange for me as someone who watches nearly everything.
Perhaps possessed by the fact that I nearly succumbed to the same small and close-minded sense of taste and nearly missed the chance to witness one of the best animes I've seen in years, Sword Art Online, and driven by a hunger for something similar to it, I went to Anime-Planet to see what the old zeitgeist was cooking up. On looking up SAO, the first page of recommendations was of known quantities. The last recommendation on the second page was like WHAT THE HELL! I was actually angry; livid even. Why would someone compare SAO to such a god-awful show (one of many strange irrational and uninformed conclusions I made during this tantrum). I went to aniDB and compared the genre descriptors and sure enough, K-On had practically nothing in common with SAO. Almost in tears, I wondered to myself why someone would want to troll me so bad; clearly it was personal. Perhaps I was feeling defeated by a troll or I was subconsciously intrigued by some of the genre descriptors I read a few days prior but I said I would view the first two episodes just to confirm just how right my instincts were.
I was wrong.
This isn't a write-up... just a cautionary tale so I won't go into details but I love this series. I loved the characters. Ritsu is exactly what I look for in a comic relief character. She's cut from the same frame as Tomo from Azumanga and Miu from Ichigo Marshmallow; stupid, reckless, selfish but ultimately lovable. And then there was Yui. Oh man, she is a combination of everything I love about characters in a slice-of-life comedy. She's the perfect set of breaks on a show that could technically move too fast. You could take shows that need to have soliloquies for each cast member during the series to explain why a main character is loved by everyone even though she seems to not possess many redeeming qualities or you could just show it. K-On shows this about Yui and by the end of the series, it's clear why and just how much everyone loves her and you as the viewer is pulled in to the mix reacting to every tiny of her little mannerisms and tells. She's that nuanced. I could gush about her for hours.
I really don't know what the general opinion is about K-On on here but I encourage anyone who is on the fence or was turned off by some impression they had before giving it a change to go and watch it. It's good and I don't believe you will be disappointed.
LOL.. Mizushima already lost all of his credibility eh.. I still like his directing for fast-paced action though.. If the movie is action packed maybe its worth it just for that.
I think Mizushima's days as a commercial shounen director are long over. These days he seems much more interested in being some sort of alternative hipster director (without the actual talent).
Look at the Gundam 00 movie, Un-Go, and the promotional style for Expelled from Paradise. They're all kinda similar in the sense that they try to subvert the expectations of what people like in a given genre, while offering very little worthwhile alternative content in replacement.
He's definitely trying to be a more "artistic" director now, but in doing so he just shows his weakness in being unable to handle content which isn't exciting action.
I think Mizushima's days as a commercial shounen director are long over. These days he seems much more interested in being some sort of alternative hipster director (without the actual talent).
Look at the Gundam 00 movie, Un-Go, and the promotional style for Expelled from Paradise. They're all kinda similar in the sense that they try to subvert the expectations of what people like in a given genre, while offering very little worthwhile alternative content in replacement.
He's definitely trying to be a more "artistic" director now, but in doing so he just shows his weakness in being unable to handle content which isn't exciting action.
UltimaDrago, I didn't see your impressions of Gundam 08th MS Team. Post if you're okay! I miss you!
Gunslinger Girl 11
Well, this wasn't subtle at all. But I guess it's necessary.
STUFF
Seeing Fermi and Elenora made me curious about that bomb-making duo from Episode 6. With how those characters were presented earlier, I feel like they have to come back at some point.
NO THEY NEVER COME BACK AT ALL
WHAT A SAD THING THAT THE ANIME IS OVER AFTER THE FIRST (AND ONLY)SEASON THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY WATCHING
I'M SO THANKFUL THAT THERE'S NOT A SHITTY SEASON 2 TO RUIN EVERYTHING FROM SEASON 1
IF THERE WERE I WOULD ABSTAIN FROM WATCHING IT OUT OF PRINCIPLE
UNTIL THEN I SHALL CONTINUE PRAYING FOR A SECOND SEASON OF GUNSLINGER GIRL
Take it that you didn't enjoy it. That's perfectly fine too. Slice-of-life animes never seemed to be popular but they're the last haven of people interesting in watch an all-female cast anime without rampant sexualization. I like it slow as well. It a show that hits on the notes I enjoy.
I think Mizushima's days as a commercial shounen director are long over. These days he seems much more interested in being some sort of alternative hipster director (without the actual talent).
Look at the Gundam 00 movie, Un-Go, and the promotional style for Expelled from Paradise. They're all kinda similar in the sense that they try to subvert the expectations of what people like in a given genre, while offering very little worthwhile alternative content in replacement.
He's definitely trying to be a more "artistic" director now, but in doing so he just shows his weakness in being unable to handle content which isn't exciting action.
Take it that you didn't enjoy it. That's perfectly fine too. Slice-of-life animes never seemed to be popular but they're the last haven of people interesting in watch an all-female cast anime without rampant sexualization. I like it slow as well. It a show that hits on the notes I enjoy.