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Summer 2012 Anime |OT3| Where All the Waifus Are Made Up and the Points Don't Matter

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Kazzy

Member
Sword Art Online - Episode 12

My protagonists can't be this boring.

Wow, this is so dumb, and I don't even think that I can appreciate this on a base level. Everything about it is just so underdeveloped and ham-fisted. I think the animation betrays the rest of the show, in so much that its conspicuous in its quality.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Hidamari Sketch x365 9.1

iYhJzXazb0OGg.PNG

Yoshinoya being Yoshinoya. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Heh. I liked that there were little differentiating touches made in the OP from the usual.
Finally, a Yoshinoya centered half-episode. Why did it take this long?

She even gets her own off-screen narrator to describe her (questionable) priotrities throughout the day.

ib26dpbpweVDJ7.PNG

Principal being Principal. I wouldn't want it any other way.

It's an enjoyable cat-and-mouse chase around the school, per usual with the duo. You know, something I quite appreciate from this series is that the adults interacting are about as amusing to watch as the girls. Unlike Azumanga Daioh, where only the adults were worth watching for any extended period of time(and too far between at that).

Their addition makes for a synergy I can get behind. I don't have to beg for them to be included in the story and they traditionally don't overstay their welcome. Heck, they received an entire half-episode here and still don't pollute the show. They only make the whole package more charming with their simple interactions.

And it all ends in Yoshinoya pin-ups, of course!
 

survivor

Banned
Looks like there was a character page update over on the Maoyuu Maou Yuusha site, confirming the drama CD cast for the anime!

Demon Queen: Ami Koshimizu
Hero: Jun Fukuyama
Head Maid: Chiwa Saito
Big Sister Maid: Haruka Tomatsu
Little Sister Maid: Nao Tōyama
Female Knight: Miyuki Sawashiro
Young Merchant: Hiroshi Kamiya

Just watched the trailer for the drama CD, I think, and from what I can pick from it, whoever is voicing Demon Queen is pretty good. Not too confident about Hero and Little Sister Maid was just as I expected. Young Merchant was also pretty good.
 

Nafe

Member
Great post, enjoyed the read. I didn't know what to expect going into it, but Hyouka turned out to be one of the best shows I've watched this year for all of these reasons.

Thanks. I personally quite enjoyed the show but can equally understand those who maybe don't and find it somewhat boring. I just think the show has a bit more than meets the eye to it and it's not just a pretty face.

Cool to see more, Nafe! It is funny how I commenced to watch this series only two weeks ago, and now seeing a retrospective of it even if recently gone and memories not completely settled in I would say this already feels... nostalgic, rather than fresh... and you know why? I personally think it is because the character's shifts, changes, makes this series seem more packed; I mean, the evolution looks so pronounced on a person like Oreki on a direct observation but the pace presents this so escalonated but continuous (the first slower episodes seem so far away now!) that it appears more evidently as part of a very condensed depiction of development, making time stretch as perceived more consistent (you know, compared to selective memory that goes over certain events lightly). You are presented to so much differences and nuances of the characters over time and you accustom to such thing in the process it feels like a dilation, and you have made part of that road as well, closer to a real sense of continuity compared to other instances in shows where the expectation is based on the events itself.

Reworking it a little... I don't know if what I wrote is really understandable, not sure how to explain it well using this language...

Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I think it was duckroll who had mentioned in his posts that at the beginning of the show because you don't know the characters it's hard to maybe relate or care about them. The cast did sort of come across as more one-dimensional and following different established anime type tropes in the beginning as well.

As you see the characters more though, they really start to open up and become more layered and just like real people who you can relate and empathize with. It's true that the first episodes seem so long ago. I think it was Firemind who said it was kind of embarrassing to think of them as almost like friends now but I don't think one should have to feel that way at all.

I think many people feel that way after spending time with characters or people they've met where, in the beginning, the person(s) maybe seemed hard to talk to or you felt uncomfortable around them but after a while you then feel quite comfortable around them and look forward to being with them and talking with them. When it gets to the point of it being just natural to be around them, it's then quite interesting to take a look back to see how you had gotten to that point right?

I think this is also why I quite enjoy those ":firehawk" type moments, even though I don't have my namesake applied to the term, haha :)

Many people have remarked the characters in Hyouka also seem rather lacking in emotion as well but I don't think so at all! Just look at these contrasting emotions on display from Chitanda during episode 6:


Hyouka truly is an amazing show. Yasuhiro Takemoto is an amazing director!

He really is, I agree. Even though you responded first I wanted to put your post after /XX/'s so I could echo my point of spending time with people. Some maybe found the everyday parts of Hyouka boring but it's how we talked before in that those mundane, everyday activities are the very same reason I enjoy K-On!. I admit, the production values with the detailed environments, great direction and animation certainly help. It was just those everyday events of being with the girls that I felt I slowly got to know them and kind of be in their circle of friends as well though too, as much as a TV show will allow anyway haha.

I see this theme in other animes and I kind of feel this way myself sometimes where you maybe don't want to be with some people or you think what they're doing is silly or pointless but in the end you kind of want to do those things too and you're happy when you do. Many people mention something like going to collage and the most entertaining and memorable parts of that experience is just being with friends.

This is also some of the reason I quite enjoy Sailor Moon.

---

Oh yeah! A quick bit of Hyouka trivia, I thought Masashi Tougaito's, the president of the school newspaper, voice was familiar but I couldn't recall where I had heard it before. It wasn't until after the show finished that I finally recognized it as Ryoutarou Okiayu, who does the voice of Tiger's Eye in Sailor Moon SuperS.
 

survivor

Banned
Tamayura ~hitotose~ 4

So how many more episodes until Norie just kidnaps Kou and locks him down the basement "loving" him everyday?

Maon's story was pretty good even if it wasn't unique or special. Though I think this is the first time that the show's over cheerfulness worked against it and hampered down the story.
 

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Oh yeah! A quick bit of Hyouka trivia, I thought Masashi Tougaito's, the president of the school newspaper, voice was familiar but I couldn't recall where I had heard it before. It wasn't until after the show finished that I finally recognized it as Ryoutarou Okiayu, who does the voice of Tiger's Eye in Sailor Moon SuperS.
Hawk's Eye is Ataru Moroboshi from Urusei Yatsura.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
You would support such naughty filth?!
For Aria, sure. lol

Hmm, I could be down for that.

So dreamy~
"Hnng."

My..my phone... it's downloading on its own!
Indeed. :p

But no Isanami? That's some shit.
I'm sure she's in there. I wasn't really paying attention. lol

PAGING MACODIN

ECONOWOLF SEASON 3

PAGING MACODIN
WAT

Tamayura ~hitotose~ 4

So how many more episodes until Norie just kidnaps Kou and locks him down the basement "loving" him everyday?

Maon's story was pretty good even if it wasn't unique or special. Though I think this is the first time that the show's over cheerfulness worked against it and hampered down the story.
So, I would argue that (maybe you shouldn't read this until later)
Maon becomes the main character of the show
. So there's that.

And yeah, poor kid. :p
 
Oda Nobuna end

Well they handled the ending about as well as they could have. Everything was very by the books, but it wasn't out an out awful. Overall the show was mostly forgettable with the brief bits of decent action coupled with hot chicks with big breasts. I give it 6/10 Chets.
 

Regulus Tera

Romanes Eunt Domus
Reverse Accel World Season 2 12

Best part of the episode. And the entire second season.

Reverse Accel World Season 02 FIN

Why would Nissan give money for this? I didn't see a single instance of marketing for their vehicles, nor was it particularly artful or whatever. I hope that whoever greenlit this trite got a serious reprimand.

First season was better because it had less stupid robot shit and more cute yuri fanservice. The Jersey Club girls were the only ones with a modicum of characterisation, and that's stretching it. Everyone else was awful. Oh God I'm feeling an aneurysm. Two Marus out of Five.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
B-b-but Koshimizu and Fukuyama! ;~;

This is like that time SciFi cancelled Farscape and switched out Ben Browder and Claudia Black onto two crappy seasons of Stargate SG-1 immediately afterward.
lol

They even made Farscape references. :p

Rinne fin

So, I guess that was a pleasant denouement to a show that I can just describe as pleasant. Fake yuri, some robots, a semi-sensical but mostly nonsensical plot? I mean, at least it wasn't offensive like SAO or something.

MLLfZl.jpg

So, a final image of sis-con yuri.

16BHYl.jpg

And the yuri-triangle and we're outta here.

In retrospect, considering "S2" in particular, I wonder how much of the show had to be set in Kamogawa? I think that almost ruined the ending of S1, because if they wanted to set up a #gamechanger, the second season should have taken place in this bigger galactic universe. Ultimately, it was fairly cheap to say that everything is focused on this one small town in Japan because the town is subsidizing the anime.

Alternatively, this probably would have been more satisfying as a 13 episode series.

Either way, I hope this doesn't mean the end of shounen heroines. I know that all the girl-action shows that aired two seasons ago pretty much ended up nowhere (let's all forget about Black Rock Shooter), but the idea of having an action show with a female lead isn't a bad idea in itself. I still find it funny that Moretsu Pirates ended up being my favourite show of that batch though... even with shitty Omigawa.

(speaking of which, Omigawa's HanaIro character is one of the waifus in the app. :p)

---

Oh yeah, so ANNCast was crappy this week and was just another one of them talking to each other (lawl, Sherlock is bad because it's British like Doctor Who. What?), but they brought up yet again another stupidly awkward point rather obtusely - they pirate anime to write their reviews. Zac apparently hates pirating except when it gets in the way of his job I suppose, and I just wonder if there's some kind of hypocrisy there. At the very least, you'd think the reviewers should source their review copies so that whoever is subbing the show they're watching gets some credit, but whatever.

It just brings up a larger point about television blogging that is rather stupid. American bloggers (even the big ones like Sepinwall) will sometimes watch British shows like Sherlock and then talk around how they acquired the show. Most of the time they just get screeners, and they're totally open about that shit (I think they have all of Treme S3 now... fuckers) but when it comes to the pirated stuff, it's like someone farted and everyone is trying to hide their embarrassment.

I suppose we're just as guilty of it here in this thread. Except, other than Evilore I suppose, we aren't making money off of our posts here so I have no ethical problems with what I do.

I just think it's weird to take an anti-piracy stance when your living essentially depends on piracy anyway.
 

Nafe

Member
Looks like there was a character page update over on the Maoyuu Maou Yuusha site, confirming the drama CD cast for the anime!

Demon Queen: Ami Koshimizu
Hero: Jun Fukuyama

Head Maid: Chiwa Saito
Big Sister Maid: Haruka Tomatsu
Little Sister Maid: Nao Tōyama
Female Knight: Miyuki Sawashiro
Young Merchant: Hiroshi Kamiya

As others have already pointed out, those first two names are just too perfect! I'm looking forward to hearing the other Seiyuu as well though.

Hawk's Eye is Ataru Moroboshi from Urusei Yatsura.

This show is still on my list of shows I need to take a look at, I'll hopefully keep that in mind when I get around to watching it.
This talk of the Amazon Trio makes me kind of wonder what Fish Eye would be like in the live action adaptation if it went that far...hmm...

00j8G.jpg
 

Articalys

Member
Tari Tari 13 (end)

Well, that was a rather by-the-book yet still pleasant finale. Nice songs as well.
I'll be looking forward to the next original P.A. Works coming-of-age show.

Also, Sawa x Taichi confirmed, sort of
 
Guys, remember the Spice and Wolf director did Yosuga no Sora. I'm thinking S&W may have been a fluke.

Because it was boring unlike his other stuff about incest!
 

Envelope

sealed with a kiss
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/18780843/anime/mmychara_1.png[IMG]
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/18780843/anime/mmychara_2.png[IMG]
[IMG]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/18780843/anime/mmychara_3.png[IMG]

same S&W director, same S&W composer, some of the same va's. get mad hype[/QUOTE]

I like everything about this so far except the character designs, which I don't really dislike, they're just far inferior to the (best) manga's designs.
 

wonzo

Banned

Kagami

Member
Added Akari (of course), umm... talked to her, gave her a present, and did the
creepy touching her
thing. Is that it? lol What else do you need to do? How do you set up the clock? lol
The main part is just collecting/unlocking cards and voices, which is done through a mix of those action buttons and spending coins.
Beyond that, there's a conversation mode (I think by default the app will always start up in that mode but you can turn that off optionally) that provides some additional context for the voices.

When you're on a card and press the far left Voice button (rather than the second one, which is random) it'll open a window with individual buttons for each voice on the card, and required love level values for any voices that aren't unlocked yet.

On Akari's card list screen, you can see two cards out of the 17 that have red rectangles with numbers on them; those are the only two that are unlocked by raising love level instead of spending coins.

Looks like Akari supports the basics (Caress, Voice, Talk, Alarm, Present) plus Photo and Super-Caress (on one of the higher cards) but not Kiss.

How creepy Caress is is sort of up to you. :D
Unlike with Kiss, there's no location detection, so it doesn't matter where you rub the screen, could be some random point that's not even on the character.
The lines they say in response to it mostly go along with the idea of ruffling their hair/patting their head, but of course it lets you touch the image anywhere, so the the lines they speak may wind up sounding various degrees of interesting depending on where you choose to put your fingers... Nobody will know but you.

Other than the Voice buttons, the only actions that return voiced responses are Super-Caress and Super-Kiss. The responses to all other actions are unvoiced text.

Using any of the actions (including photos) will raise her love level, but there's a limit of how much you can do at a time. If you do too much, it will cause a blue rectangle of text to appear that says she's getting upset/annoyed and you should wait until later. If a wife's annoyance level is above zero, it will decrease the amount her love level increases from actions, until you "burn off" her annoyance with repeated positive actions. She also gets annoyed/upset if you ignore her for too long. Giving presents seems to be disconnected from annoyance.

From left to right on the actions bar at the bottom of any card:

OATAc.jpg


Voice - 3 times, resets after 2 hours (shared reset for both buttons)

Random Voice - same as the above, shared reset

Caress (Rub) - 7 times, resets after 1 hour ("times" means 7 love-level increase pop-ups, even if you did it all at once without lifting your finger)
Once the 7th number pops up (and then no more numbers pop up) you'll want to stop rubbing the screen, because if you keep rubbing it will silently increase her annoyance level without actually showing the blue text warning window until after you finally release your finger, so you can potentially max her annoyance that way.

Talk - 3 times, resets after 1 hour
The text you enter here doesn't matter, although you can link a Twitter account and show the world what you're saying to your wife if you want.

vwpeA.jpg


Alarm ("Have Her Wake You Up") - 1 time, resets after 24 hours
This sets an alarm clock using one of the voices from unlocked voices for that card (defaults to random)

Present - select from your inventory of presents
The basic usage of this is just a way to raise love level quickly, but there are some special items and special usage of ordinary items that come up also.
Many characters have a card that's unlocked by given them a certain number of a certain item, and the Super-Caress and Super-Kiss buttons on cards that have those have to be unlocked by giving specific presents also.
Giving presents never annoys your wife so there's no wait times involved.

Kiss - 1 time, resets after 3 hours
Akari doesn't have this, but many characters do. Does what it sounds like; let's you kiss her. Unlike Caress, this only works on your wives' mouths. Trying to kiss anywhere else will result in a "miss" message (but as far as I know missing doesn't cause annoyance).
Incidentally, capacitive touch screens work with lips as well as fingers.

Photo - 5 times, resets in 2 hours
This only raises her love level if you save the photo.
Each card has its own photo overlay. Some characters support publishing your photos to your in-game profile for other players to see. (Akari isn't one of them.)

Kdjrt.jpg
d60M1.jpg


Super-Caress and Super-Kiss
Some characters have these. (Akari has Super-Caress).
They're only on one card per character.
Unlike all the other actions (besides the Voice buttons) these two return a voiced response from your wife.
Super-Caress - 20 times, resets after 1 hour
Super-Kiss - 3 times, resets after 3 hours

That's the basics.

There's other stuff like the daily log in bonus (main source of free coins), the "install sponsored apps for coins" thing (doesn't work on rooted phones), daily free silver gacha machine spin, item wish lists (for unlocking cards), giving items to other players for extra silver gacha spins, group events where everybody has to reach a certain total action goal (e.g. 900,000 kisses) to unlock cards for everybody.

Lately they introduced unlock codes for special cards that are tied to other things, like that final one on Akari with the yellow rectangle, which requires a code from the October issue of Comic Blade.
 
Gundam Age 49 (end)

The conclusion was much better than I expected, definitely perhaps one of my favorite of the Gundam's Ive seen. I enjoyed each of the developments as well as the final boss.
Never would have thought it would be Zera Gin's combined with SID. I guess people who called that SID would come back before the show as done were right on the money.
. They really know how to appeal to me with all the flash and stuff, and even the way they had it all played out worked well, just the camera position during the most intense part of the fighting and even the location. Really well done. The resolution was actually satisfying even if the hints were laid out pretty heavily over the past six+ episodes.
I did crey when Lord Ezelcanto sama gave his final wish to Kio, forking over his ideal for Kio's one of making a world in which people can just be human. I was so glad when both sides made pleas for everyone to work together towards the various goals, as well as disconnecting La Gramis from Second Moon and all three Gundams working in unison, teamwork is always win!
. Excellent.
-----------

Overall Id have to say Gundam Age was just a really wonderful ride for the past 50+ weeks Ive been following it. The art style and character design initially interested me in trying it out and I liked mechas and was looking for a way to get into Gundam, so I thought to start here, and it worked. During the time I did follow this, and then picked up 00, Seed HD, and even Wing. The characters for gAGE were just really good and right in my interests for stories I like to follow. Each generation saw them receive considerable amounts of development, and them working towards their goals and motivations, with their own keystone moments. Flit was awesome as a lead and second favorite of the three.
I liked how he turned out over time, shaped by the things that affected him in his age. Desil was a good rival of sorts for him.
Then Asemu was an excellent second one who was my favorite. I think for the three he was given the best Gundam. The Age 2 Gundam Normal just looks amazing and I always like the ones with wings and are slimmer. Age 1 had some pretty bulky modifications, such as the Titan form of it.
Even if he wasnt an X-rounder, I liked how a normal human could still have relevance even against his rival of sorts, Zehearto. And for Zehearto too he had good development over time. I believe he liked having the company of Asemu and friends during his teenage years and was grateful for it, even if he couldnt ever express it to Asemu well. The memories he had later in life were touching and just the photos we occasionally saw and their robot stuff. The gens big two moments were amazing especially Zehearto and Asemu having to work together at the Battle at Northrum, and such, and working to from causing too much harm to earth, that entry to earth was awesome. I love teamwork. The Battle at Big Ring was good too, and liked the Magicians 8
. And lastly third gen was good too. Kio may not be as good as Asemu and Flit, probably just due to age and being less experienced or not having time to be experienced, but his desire for peace was a nice change of pace for the mains, and I loved that he wanted to see things from the Vegans point of view.
Being captured and meeting upclose with Lord Ezelcanto sama and Deen and his sister was a good set of episodes, and it gave us the glorious Gundam Legilus. And then further from this moment I liked that he received the best modified suit, the Age FX Normal with Burst Mode and C-funnels, that was epic and like he shot lasers from his eyes and all those glowing thrusters. The Vegan suit, FaunFausia is also another suit I liked from this. I guess I love bits, and even if it is kind of girly, it was still a cool suit! Favorite moments were with the stuff around Exa DB SID and Asemu and Zehearto with that issue, really good fight it was, as well as Rostroulan, OliverNotes, the MoonBase, and the fall of Big Ring. Final battle was amazing just for the sake of Digmazenon and my last Asemu/Zehearto moment and battle. I felt bad for Zehearto he was always ahead and finally let Asemu pass him and then to pass away :(
.

I think Im probably in the minority (well at least at mal, that 6.94 rating, ouchie) but Gundam Age was worth giving a shot and was vastly rewarding week after week. I liked the ever deepening plot and the intense action, as well as the visuals and music (nary a bad song on the OST). 10/10.

On my Gundams, definitely close to being tied with Wing for my favorite.
 

wonzo

Banned
Look again, but allow your mind to get dirtier this time.
Don't get me wrong, I fully noticed the unsuspecting Little Sister Maid carrying the truly insidious RICKS BREAD but my mind merely tried to repress such awful imagery and the repressed memories it brings forth.

also technically it might even be CRIMSON SCHOLAR'S CORN BREAD!
 
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