One thing Key is really swell at is invoking a sense of dread. I don't know how they do it, but they can really clamp your nerves at will. It makes for a powerful viewing/playing experience.
Also, this town is pretty damn deserted. I wonder if it's based on a real place.
Hmmm, what is this strange noise I hear? Oh, that's right, it's the sound of SHIT GETTING REAL.
Episode started out with a pretty nasty little turn of events - I'll admit I winced when the inevitable happened and those precious beads went everywheeeeeeere - and then it just carried on downhill from there. Righteous indignance at Nozomi's carelessness flared up into an all-out argument between all five Cures where hurtful words were said and everyone did things they'll regret. The result: the following day, the Cures are all avoiding each other, and the tension between them all is palpable.
Meanwhile, with sickeningly perfect timing, the Nightmare folks are on the move. Mantis-man gets given an ultimatum: he's failed too many times now, and so now he has just one final chance. If you can even call it a chance, that is, because the final tactic he's instructed to use is
a black mask that turns himself into a monster, seemingly irreversibly
. Not the most pleasant of final missions.
And to add insult to injury, mantis-man's superiors don't even leave him to get the job done on his own. Desparaia's own personal secretary, Kawarino, tags along to capture each of the Cures as soon as Mantis-Monster has overpowered them. And when I say "capture", I mean
imprison their minds in nightmares about their own fears and doubts, complete with super-creepy doppelgangers to taunt them.
So with all her friends captured, Nozomi has to set off to the Nightmare home turf all on her own, to confront Desparaia herself (well, over the communication screen thingy, anyway). Whereupon it turns out
all the other Cures have been turned into creepy masked Nightmare employees.
I have to admit, the odds don't exactly seem stacked in Nozomi's favour here. How's she going to get out of this one?
Jojo and Space Bros have some visual weaknesses, due to being low budget and one being a long-running show, but they have solid direction most of the time and strong direction for pivotal moments. Can Gifu Dodo claim that?
Jojo and Space Bros have some visual weaknesses, due to being low budget and one being a long-running show, but they have solid direction most of the time and strong direction for pivotal moments. Can Gifu Dodo claim that?
I think the show really begins to show its artifice here. A lot of things that feel like coincidences meant to drive the melodrama really beginning to occur. Kaoru randomly passing by the house as Sentaro's drumming. Sudden, mysterious electrical failure. Overheard but still pertinent plot conversation, although I get that Kaoru didn't really want to listen to Sen and I guess Sen must've just given up at some point. But everything apart from the Jazz (and god damn, that jazz) felt kind of creaky this ep.
Yup, here we go. Here comes the foreign student that can barely speak Japanese and is 10x taller then everyone else. I don't know why but I thought it was adorable when he
picked Kuroko up,
that's not weird right?
Also the redhead guy trying to speak English made me laugh.
"This is Japanese runch time rush!"
One thing Key is really swell at is invoking a sense of dread. I don't know how they do it, but they can really clamp your nerves at will. It makes for a powerful viewing/playing experience.
Also, this town is pretty damn deserted. I wonder if it's based on a real place.
Now that Attack on Titan manga volume 11 has been on sale for more than one weekend, here's an updated look at that comparison, with a bit more equal timeframes:
Volume 9 -- 435,631 regular, 25,712 limited edition after 10 days
Volume 10 -- 417,414 regular, 30,404 limited edition after 6 days (released April 9, 2013, three days after the anime begins)
Volume 11 -- 1,054,915 regular, 275,066 limited edition after 10 days (released August 9, 2013)
And for some lifetime sales totals comparisons, all volumes right around when the anime began airing (standard editions only, as of April 7, 2013)
To be fair, HxH is a bit of an exception. As I said in the Titan thread, I have no idea how much cocaine Madhouse is doing to keep up that level of visual quality over nearly 100 consecutive episodes (though I guess it's a bit less since the beginning was somewhat shaky in that aspect).
To be fair, HxH is a bit of an exception. As I said in the Titan thread, I have no idea how much cocaine Madhouse is doing to keep up that level of visual quality over nearly 100 consecutive episodes (though I guess it's a bit less since the beginning was somewhat shaky in that aspect).
it's also the fact that they have a goal to surpass and plenty of material to keep them in line.
Unlike most shonens , they aren't afraid to burn the material because there is no risk to have to wait for the manga. As a result there is no wasted moves not to mention that for a huge part of material people already pointed out what wasn't working either in the first tv show or the oavs
That's waht smile precure does to your mind. Rest assured that most of us that have watched smile feel that way.
it's also the fact that they have a goal to surpass and plenty of material to keep them in line.
Unlike most shonens , they aren't afraid to burn the material because there is no risk to have to wait for the manga. As a result there is no wasted moves not to mention that for a huge part of material people already pointed out what wasn't working either in the first tv show or the oavs
The opening episode introduced the 3 sides of the conflict: a police force that is tasked with supernatural incidents, Contractors who have special powers, and Dolls who also have special powers.
I didn't fully understand what was going on with the Gate. I'm assuming they built the wall around the gate? Or are building one (I could see construction in the background)? But what did the woman mean when she said the stars were fake?
Li is waaaaay too smooth to be just an exchange student. And he somehow didn't get hit by that train. Hmmm.
Some of the tracks of that soundtrack felt like Miami Vice. I hope this trend remains. Cop music fits the somewhat-but-not-really noir mood of the series.
A lot of the following is probably some big spoilers regarding the show so I'll be marking the majority of this post I think.
OVA 4: I mentioned that after the first three episodes that I thought Gunbuster was just okay to me. My favorite parts were probably the now older character designs and just all the detail in the drawings without there being any CG effects I think. This episode was the turning point though where I liked it and really started to get to like the show as a whole more as well. I guess I liked the more serious kind of character drama story over the wacky antics stuff in the first half.
In this episode we get to see the Gunbuster in action for the first time as well. I didn't realize it was as big as it was. It has to be one of the biggest mecha type robots in anime still. I also found out this is where JCG gets their avatar from. Haha, I had to chuckle when the Gunbuster not only had the famous "Gainax pose" when first appearing but even after it blasted off to engage the space aliens, it still had its arms crossed before attacking. That's one cool robot,haha. I think it's the Freedom that people mention as being maybe a bit overpowered in Gundam SEED with how Kira can just laser spam but I think the Gunbuster gives it a run for its money with its arsenal and how it was beaming everything,haha.
---
OVA 5: I really liked this episode despite its more melancholic nature perhaps. Just the way it makes you think of so many things.
Seeing that graduation ceremony with just Noriko and Kazumi was pretty powerful stuff that I think will stick with me for awhile. At first I was sad thinking that you probably don't get to see Noriko's friend. They then meet each other and you get to see more of the effects of how the world changed. I was just wondering what it would be like to place myself in each persons shoes. To be Noriko where it didn't seem like much time had passed and you're still just a young teenager and then to see your friend all grown up and with a daughter. Then you have Noriko's friend where you meet an old friend you haven't seen in years but it's like nothing about them has changed at all. I could understand Noriko's breaking down a bit. It's not like she was in a coma or anything so on the one hand it's like she hasn't missed anything but on the other it's like she missed so much.
I'm assuming the being notified of the alien fleet on August 6th at about 4:15am is a reference to the Hiroshima bombing. Again we have this look at the effects of the relative time differences between people and the huge effects that can have. At least there was a happy ending there.This was partly why I liked the Makoto Shinkai film Voices of a Distant Star so much. I've wondered what it would be like to use that principle and apply it to other known fictional universes, such as Star Wars, and to think about what would happen. I can't remember if it's mentioned how far away the Imperials were when heading to attack places like Yavin in the first film or Hoth in the second but even using the hyperdrive to warp, even if it took them just a few days, years would have went by on the planets.
"That's it. The rebels are there."
"Yeah, like 50 years ago by the time we get there."
---
OVA 6:
The infamous black and white episode of Gunbuster, haha. You know the atmosphere is heavy when everything goes all black and white. Coach... Quite the contrast to the first episode where things seemed all silly and more of a joke sans the bullying Noriko was getting. Also quite the contrast to the first episode where it seemed more or less modern times but with some futuristic stuff like the mecha suits. Now we have multi kilometer long ships and a Gunbuster three that's actually a compressed Jupiter! I saw some of the Japanese signs in regards to when they were at Hawaii and I think I'll have to pay more attention to some of those background details when next watching the show again.
Even though I think I understand the reasons for having the last episode in black and white, and not to bring up any old arguments or anything just in case, but I still can't help but want to see what it would have looked like if it were in colour. I want to have both,haha. That ending though. At first it seemed like something would go wrong, and it did, so there was Noriko and her heroes sacrifice. Kazumi seems to subvert that though by combining so they have two engines. The scene with Jung in her Sizzler seemed like more death flags though like something would go wrong again. After when Noriko and Kazumi seem like they got hit by the explosion and Noriko's "Yappari" and something along the lines of not being able to make it, I thought that was it.
Seeing that they did survive though AND made it back to Earth AND the people still remembered them was nice(no more space ships or even satellites though?). I was thinking that the language had changed and they're probably just trying to emulate it like we would for some ancient Egyptian person and then there was the "i" flipped backwards that seemed to be a nod to that, so I thought that was a nice touch. It has to be the most bittersweet ending ever though. That I think is pretty much the perfect word to describe it. They're alive, home and remembered with a big welcoming but it's been 12,000 years so everyone they know is long passed away and who knows how much the world would change in that amount of time...I think what really gets to me was Jung's reactions in the events just prior. I'd like to think the "okaerinasai" was from her and maybe even the flipped letter thing was how Russians will sometimes do that too. I'll just go with that,haha.
I also wonder if Van Halen is still popular 12,000 years in the future,haha.
---
Thanks to those for reading and I apologize for all the black bars but I don't want to accidentally spoil anything for anyone.
Town confirmed to not have any sane woman in the vicinity. Maybe the shopkeeper, but I am almost positive she is hiding a fetish of her own.
Anyway, the plot basically boils down to finding the Sadist favorite bra. Consequently, we are treated some flat chest jokes, Sadist eyes, and plentiful moments of dere.
Two "new" members also join the cast, a Pessimist who is dangerously close to crossing that line and a Maid with a beautiful singing voice, but has a psychokiller side to her as well.
So I was browsing Amazon to see if there was anything worthwhile coming out soon to complement my crunchyroll viewing. Came across Michiko to Hatchin (which I've actually wanted to see for a while) and Sankarea. What's the consensus on those two? Blu-Ray prices make me leery, so are either (or both) actually worth it?
So I was browsing Amazon to see if there was anything worthwhile coming out soon to complement my crunchyroll viewing. Came across Michiko to Hatchin (which I've actually wanted to see for a while) and Sankarea. What's the consensus on those two? Blu-Ray prices make me leery, so are either (or both) actually worth it?
MTH Ive heard good things about. Sankarea is kinda cute in a slightly disturbing way but production value dropped off a cliff. If that bothers you then dont bother with it. Especially since the art generally isnt great enough quality to appreciate on bluray.
MTH Ive heard good things about. Sankarea is kinda cute in a slightly disturbing way but production value dropped off a cliff. If that bothers you then dont bother with it. Especially since the art generally isnt great enough quality to appreciate on bluray.
I read the first volume of Sankarea manga, it wasn't bad, but I think a good portion of that comes from the fact that "zombie girlfriend" is something of a novelty.
I'm probably in for Michiko, though. Thanks for the input.
So I was browsing Amazon to see if there was anything worthwhile coming out soon to complement my crunchyroll viewing. Came across Michiko to Hatchin (which I've actually wanted to see for a while) and Sankarea. What's the consensus on those two? Blu-Ray prices make me leery, so are either (or both) actually worth it?
I totally forgot about the wubwub though, and I was genuinely surprised at the ending. Although, of course they
have an out with the medley race
. The "tragedy porn" aspect of the show is still its worse part though, inasmuch as it's almost become a point of parody now.
Also, these characters really are just anime girls in male form. Which is different from the pseudo "third gender" characters like Hideyoshi and Saika in terms of being girly boys made to appeal to anime fans... they really do act like anime girls from YuruYuri or Yuyushiki or Auira or K-On! or whatever. It's funny to watch. lol
This episode doesn't deserve anyscreenshots because this episode was BORING , and unintresting ... you could see the final outcome from the start.
it was so cliché , so badly done..
Now steel saints you are boring BUT you got your episode , now you can die for all i care , please don't come back.
Heck no please don't die , because when you do , you're making me lose my precious time it's like the character activated all the death flags on purpose..
Why the heck did they bury him ? how ? in what timeframe ? why didn't they bury all the other steel saints that were there ? it doesn't make any sense..is the girl mourning a widow now ? WTF
Lionnet was WASTED on such an episode.
Note : 2/40
(2points because it had lionet in it )
Sankarea's issue is not one of budget, or of art or animation, but of direction. The strong direction of the first three episodes that focused on character drama gave way to bland direction focused on mindless ecchi. Well, when you've got a first-time series director, especially one who hasn't had the best environment for training, it's not surprising that there'll be some problems. Fortunately Shinichi Omata learned from the experience and is doing a much better job on the present Rozen Maiden.
That sure was a shitton of crying. Probably the most in one episode I've ever seen. For good reason I guess, but damn.
And of course, at the end.
Candy comes back to their world by wishing on a whole bunch of stars. How does that work? I don't know. Part of me is happy, cause they're all reunited and all, but part of me is like...really?
Danganronpa: The Animation Episode 7 Not Normal Arc: Return of the New Century Galaxy Legend! O Armored Hero, Stand Upon the Earth!
The best moments are when its get all intense and the camera is shaking, music plays faster and louder, and the characters seem more intense. Naegi's skills ftw. I thought its been one of the least interesting cases and even punishment scenes yet.
wow all the books gone, but what must be happening out of the school if the person said never leave this place)[
That sure was a shitton of crying. Probably the most in one episode I've ever seen. For good reason I guess, but damn.
And of course, at the end.
Candy comes back to their world by wishing on a whole bunch of stars. How does that work? I don't know. Part of me is happy, cause they're all reunited and all, but part of me is like...really?
