I tried to watch this show, but ending up dropping it at episode 3. Nothing about it clicked for me.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Summer 2014 Anime |OT2| Or, where Jexhius finally watches more Doremi for Hito.
- Thread starter Narag
- Start date
- Status
I tried to watch this show, but ending up dropping it at episode 3. Nothing about it clicked for me.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
- Missing out on Girls und Panzer means missing out on one of the best sports anime ever made.
- The second season of Working is better than the first.
- The world of Aria, based on the first season, is a cotton candy Hallmark card world. It's so overwhelmingly sentimental and sweet that it disgusts me.
- The second season of Working is better than the first.
- The world of Aria, based on the first season, is a cotton candy Hallmark card world. It's so overwhelmingly sentimental and sweet that it disgusts me.
SliceSabre
Banned
I see the penguinbear site has been updated. I look forward to more info in the coming days, weeks...
Days, man! DAYS! We know it's days as it's 4 today and it was 5 yesterday!
While that still mostly true for the overall atmosphere(and ain't anything world with that)
the world of aria expanding its more mysterious and mythical side at 2nd season.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
You know, I do think it's weird that they didn't use Round Table for Origination. But Akari being a Prima did nothing for ya? lol
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I do wonder if half as many people would give a shit if the show featured an all male cast... say, if it was Free instead of Military K-On.
Aren't you a fan of shows like Usagi Drop?
I know I wouldn't, and I feel that's doing a disservice to K-ON!. But then when it comes to GuP, I'm the opposite. After the first few episodes my interest started dropping once the characters took a backseat to the battles. The cast is spread too thin and aren't very well defined.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I've never seen Hetalia, but sure. lol
I only make the K-On comparison because of Yoshida. There are some common beats, although of course, GuP artificially (and pointlessly in some cases) raises the stakes for no good reason.
I'd say the command tank crew is probably as developed as the K-On girls after S1. All of the other characters are defined by their clubs/gimmicks though.
Jex
Member
Usagi Drop exists in a world where bad things could actually happen.Aren't you a fan of shows like Usagi Drop?
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I'm just saying, when your story is the plot of both an Adam Sandler movie and a Hugh Grant movie, it's hard to say it's anything but sickly sentimental.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I find it a strange criticism of Aria.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
When you've got a girl whose catchphrase is "Don't say sappy things!", you're opening yourself up to that criticism. Aria is just so in-your-face sentimental that the artifice of it becomes too obvious for my taste.
Honestly, if you disliked the tank battle bits at the beginning and all the cute stuff in remainder of the episode than you're better off dropping it. Or just go with 3 episode rule as its there (and last minutes of the second ep) that the first longer battle occurs.
When it comes to girls' sports anime, I prefer the other thing that GuP has been compared to - Saki. Though that's primarily because mahjong is a sport that relies on individuals instead of groups, so the characters shine a little brighter. Even if I know as much about mahjong as I do about tanks, I also prefer the former because at my other anime board where I was at the time, all the tank specs and military talk just turned into white noise for me.
I enjoyed the OVAs and I will watch the movie, I don't actively dislike it. The balance of elements just didn't work for me.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I agree! Or at least I find it a lovely way to just depict the experience of discovery and the simple joie de vivre of everyday life.
Although I can readily see this reaction as well. lolall Aria does for me is make me sleepy... first few eps were soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring, I just gave up on it despite it's high rating as it clearly wasn't for me. To be fair it wasn't like I hated the show.... in fact, it basically resulted in no feelings from me in general. I didn't hate it, I didn't like it, I basically nothinged it
As someone who is probably the most cynical person in this thread, I just can't help but bemused by this weird reversal of positions regarding this show.
SliceSabre
Banned
Oh it was!? Even better!
I've said this before, but what I really like about Aria is the world. I do like the characters, but the world within the show is so mysterious and interesting that it became my favorite part. It's mostly focused on in the second season; that's probably why it's my favorite out of the three.
In a thread with both dimb and femmeworth active that's quite a lofty claim!
Which show are you referring to GuP or aria?
1. Yes
2. YES
3. Whaaaaaaaaaat?!
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I'm the guy who thought it was weird that a girl would cosplay as a German/Nazi/"Nazi" general and that no one seems to blink an eye, so I understand having weird feelings about the show.
I think Saki is different inasmuch as it's a show based very much on flashbacks, which allows it to "cheat" and do character development in an episodic manner but serialized through the action of a sport. I'm not an expert of sports anime by anime means, but it's really the only show that I've seen that does characterization in this manner and it works so well because of it. GuP is a bit more standard in that it tries to propel the characters forward through the matches - so a lot of the problems that happen are of the moment and are resolved fairly quickly by winning matches. Miho is really the only one with a true backstory in the series.
The amazing part is that it's basically just as mashup of Venice and random Japanese culture, but that's enough to propel it to something almost ethereal.
I could probably out cynic the both of them combined!
hosannainexcelsis
Member
You'll have to start posting about how everything you're watching sucks but you keep watching it anyway to do that.
Girls Und Panzer, decided to just drop it and move onto YuruYuri.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I preemptively hate things before they're even made. Star Trek 3 and Star Wars 7 are going to be pieces of shit. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
You do understand we've been waiting for FFXV for nearly 8 years now and TLG has probably been in dev for that longs as well.
Kizuwhatever shouldn't even belong on that list.
Aren't you a fan of shows like Usagi Drop?
Usagi Drop starts with a girl's father dying and the family debating whether or not to put her in an orphanage since she's undesirable to them.
FMP S4 does though!
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Again, this was the premise of an Adam Sandler movie. It's designed to be sentimental. There's nothing wrong with that, but it is what it is.
Much like say, the plainly manipulative opening chapter of The Last of Us.
Sabagebu - 02
While it's nice to see a female lead like Momoka who is a vindictive person, I just find myself enjoying this and skipped through most of the episode. One of those comedy shows that just doesn't work with me I guess.
Lupin Season 2 - 62
Outside of a mere handful of episodes I really struggle for anything to say about this show. Some of the regular capers are entertaining enough I guess but beyond that it's just a way to pass time in an adequate fashion. The longer it goes on, the more Fujiko's character continues to grate on me.
While it's nice to see a female lead like Momoka who is a vindictive person, I just find myself enjoying this and skipped through most of the episode. One of those comedy shows that just doesn't work with me I guess.
Lupin Season 2 - 62
Outside of a mere handful of episodes I really struggle for anything to say about this show. Some of the regular capers are entertaining enough I guess but beyond that it's just a way to pass time in an adequate fashion. The longer it goes on, the more Fujiko's character continues to grate on me.
what adam sandler movie, because that is not the premise of big daddy... the premise of big daddy is screw my best friend I am going to kidnap his kid he doesn't know he has by pretending to be him and use the kid as a tool to get back with my ex... which is nothing like usagi drop's premise.
Moral Panic
Member
Of course Usagi Drop is sentimental. But it does it without pretending like the world owes you a favour or that if you wish for things really hard or are a good person then your wife comes back from the dead.
If you want to raise a child you have to make sacrifices, you can't get that career advancement you wanted, you can't stay out late drinking, you can't date as easily, these are all factors that the show deals with unceremoniously.
If you want to raise a child you have to make sacrifices, you can't get that career advancement you wanted, you can't stay out late drinking, you can't date as easily, these are all factors that the show deals with unceremoniously.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
There's a difference between sentimental and SENTIMENTAL.
All I'm looking for is acknowledge that the world isn't all peaches and roses and smooth sailing; that there's roadbumps and derailments in life.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
So I needed to look it up because god knows I haven't seen this movie in over ten years, but:
But that's the sentimental part I remember.
Well, also the court scene with this:
--
I just don't see how Aria is the all-caps one, which I assume you are using as a pejorative, while Usagi Drop is a "positive" form of sentimentality.
Well, my point would be that because this is a work of fiction - and even if you leave off the second half - unless the author is trying to make a comment and play with audience expectations, you know exactly what will happen to these characters. It's not a show about tension because it's inevitable that the dude will learn to be a father and the girl will learn to accept him. Because, hell, that's what people watch these stories for.
Even that show that came after it, PapaKiki, works in the exact same manner. It just throws in sprinkles of anime vomit all over it to make it more palatable for an otaku audience.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
Well, saying that the new Star Wars will suck isn't being cynical. It's just stating a fact.
There's a difference between expressing sentiment and being overly sentimental, though. Usagi Drop is closer to the former than the latter. Yes, it can be very sweet at times, but it earns those moments with some genuinely unpleasant moments (even if they aren't as many) as well as honest look at the problems the characters face in their situation.
You can be sentimental without being saccharine.
It wouldn't be the same show at all though. Part of the appeal is how ridiculous the show is with the concept and playing with expectations. Women aren't expected to drive tanks and participate in aggressive sports. And if they do, it's not generally seen as a girly thing, or something even desirable in society. The show takes those expectations and creates a what if scenario where it is what it is, and I think that's part of what makes it so original.
If we were to have an all male cast in a military-ish world driving tanks... it would be just another war fetish thing with a different coat of paint. To capture the same level of uniqueness with an all male cast it would have to be something very different, so it wouldn't be much of a comparison in the end.
Aikatsu! 74
That picture album seemed like it was just those three with their circle. Kinda giving the shaft to all the other girls at the school.
Also having this emotional graduation episode only for them to be like "It'll be fine, we're going to be in the high school division a hundred feet away anyway" seems...dumb.
That picture album seemed like it was just those three with their circle. Kinda giving the shaft to all the other girls at the school.
Also having this emotional graduation episode only for them to be like "It'll be fine, we're going to be in the high school division a hundred feet away anyway" seems...dumb.
I would be fine with a male cast actually. War game stuff with actual tactics would be fine with me.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I guess I'm broken inasmuch as I find that stuff much more "offensively" saccharine for whatever reason.
I know that Hosanna and madp are turned off by SatoJun, so I have no idea what it is. I don't feel manipulated when I watch one of his shows, whereas all I can see are the writer's heavy-handed pen-strokes when I watch something like Usagi Drop.
I don't actively dislike it like Hosanna, but it just feels extremely writerly. Come to think of it, it's probably why I like the middle section of Iron Man 3 so much.
---
I know that Hosanna and madp are turned off by SatoJun, so I have no idea what it is. I don't feel manipulated when I watch one of his shows, whereas all I can see are the writer's heavy-handed pen-strokes when I watch something like Usagi Drop.
I don't actively dislike it like Hosanna, but it just feels extremely writerly. Come to think of it, it's probably why I like the middle section of Iron Man 3 so much.
---
I dunno, I mean, we have Strike Witches and Kancolle to go along with GuP. There is some undeniable element of otaku moeism going on there that makes these things work.
I'd say you have very idiosyncratic tastes.
I'm not really sure why we're comparing Aria to Usagi Drop. They're two very different shows that are trying to do very different things; Usagi Drop is obviously more grounded in reality than an anime featuring gondolas on Mars. Usagi Drop (to me at least) is more about drama, whereas Aria is more about the small day to day interactions. That's not to say Aria has no drama (it certainly does, especially in its third season), but it's done differently than what you'd find in Usagi Drop.
They're both really good anime, though I don't know if they make a good comparison. That being said, if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick Usagi Drop; that's just because I love anime like it, though.
They're both really good anime, though I don't know if they make a good comparison. That being said, if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick Usagi Drop; that's just because I love anime like it, though.
A show about men having tea parties and fashion contests. Where being a club that does such is considered the height of masculinity.
And all of the schools are on top of floating platforms.
But the girls aren't tanks... ._.
I might have enjoyed it more if they were. Though my problems with Upotte ultimately ended up being similar to those in GuP. If KanColle's anime wants to impress me, Strike Witches is the ideal it should aim for.
Cardcaptor Sakura 10
I was expecting a simple field day episode, and I got a lot of backstory to go along with it. There's a theme starting to show up here of generations repeating themselves. Not only do we have a second student-teacher romance already, Tomoyo and her mother are very similar in their characterization. Flower's a fun card. I have to remember that this isn't a battle type magical girl show, so even an effect card like Flower has its uses. I also love how Kero was able to mission control this one while offering advice over the phone, able to concentrate on his fighting game the entire time. That cell phone is a lifesaver.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I just take exception to Aria being called Hallmark card sentimental when there are many well liked shows here that are very similar in tone and function.
Perhaps. Aria has the bonus for being the only science fiction work I can think of without resorting to some form of violence as its main plot point. Even Star Trek couldn't avoid doing it.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Well, in Strike Witches, they aren't planes!
- Status