Random Sena pic to end the series.
So, last episode and still no one has any friends. Well, this was the attempt to try and make Yozara a tiny bit appealing and I guess it worked. I mean, if I completely forget like the last 11 episodes, sure. I am ok with the whole reveal being like OK, back to being not friends.
But, yeah, I liked the show. I'm ok with more episodes. The characters were fun to watch and it wasn't as fanservice-y as I thought it would be, so good job show.
And, Rika going overload on the new guy's relation to Kodaka was the best part of the episode.
Glad you enjoyed it. I went in with very low expectations, found some characters I liked, (mostly) decent artwork, and even a couple of gags that were funny (Why are there real sharks in this pool??).
It's worth pointing out that Chihayafuru doesn't really have any traditional hooks along the lines of 'his girlfriend is an alien' or 'they have to save the world by piloting robots'. It can only rely on the strength of the characters and the story that is told through their interactions: it's about the writing and the direction. In other words, it's simply a good story that's told well.
In anime the stories are usually something a little bit more extreme to help take advantage of the medium itself, so it's a bit rarer to see a straight 'drama'.
In hindsight, Chihayafuru cheats by putting all the character development in the first volume/first four episodes. It really feels like the author wanted write about karuta but realized that there needs to be the shallow premise of a love triangle in order to get people to care about the card game.
. I'd go so far as to say that Maria+Holic as a whole is SHAFT's worst show, but for all I know it might just be a faithful adaptation of bad source material. I don't think I can ever bring myself to find out.
In hindsight, Chihayafuru cheats by putting all the character development in the first volume/first four episodes. It really feels like the author wanted write about karuta but realized that there needs to be the shallow premise of a love triangle in order to get people to care about the card game.
It's not even really 'in hindsight'. The reason that I cared about the characters during the first-half of the season was because I had grown to like them during the flashback-arc. By the time we've arrived at the where we are now it's nothing but extremely detailed karuta-strategies that's loosely supported by that character-framework.
It's not even really 'in hindsight'. The reason that I cared about the characters during the first-half of the season was because I had grown to like them during the flashback-arc. By the time we've arrived at the where we are now it's nothing but extremely detailed karuta-strategies that's loosely supported by that character-framework.
girlfriend, I really did expect it to be more romance than sports anime. Or at least a much more even balance. The fact that we got Arata's backstory pretty soon after that didn't really detract from that opinion either... it's really after that moment that the anime went full into sports mode.
I was hoping for some more do-ra-ma regarding Taichi's girlfriend, but it was obvious the author never gave a fuck Taichi is such a boss that there was no drama involved at all when he jettisoned her.
I was hoping for some more do-ra-ma regarding Taichi's girlfriend, but it was obvious the author never gave a fuck Taichi is such a boss that there was no drama involved at all when he jettisoned her.
I have just finished my second run throw of this whole series. I enjoyed the show a lot more on a re-watch, for reasons that I can't entirely discern. On my first viewing I found large swathes of the show to be rather boring, yet this round I noticed that most of the time in these episodes was being spent on subtly defining the characters and letting them grow organically over the course of the story-arc.
I did feel like the pacing got a bit wonky towards the end - there seemed to be a real lack of urgency in the last leg of the series. I feel that the show might have benefited from being a couple of episodes shorter in this regard.
[Moribito 24]
Speaking of which, there's one scene in this episode that really proves my point. In this episodes our heroes are trying to catch up with someone who is in turn being pursued by outside forces. (
Balsa and crew are trying to catch Chagum who is being hunted by the Rarunga
)
However, the chase has been going for the best part of the episode and it's kind of lost it's urgency. As our heroes are 'hot' in pursuit Tanda realises he has been sent a message via water, which means he has to stick his head underwater to receive the message. The scene in which this message is delivered takes far too long and should have been trimmed dramatically. I'll show you why:
Everyone stops as Tanda slowly lowers his head underwater.
We see Tanda cross into the other realm.
The creature who has is delivering the message appears.
The creature delivers the message (for thirty seconds!)
We see the creature turn to leave.
Another shot of the creature leaving.
Tanda comes up for air.
Now, this whole gruelling process takes a minute - a minute of our the episodes time when we're supposed to be urgently chasing after something. The message that Tanda received simply said "They have to go North". The director could have simply shown Tanda placing his head underwater for a couple of seconds and then pulled himself up said "I've received a message - we have to go North". So why the elaborately long-winded process?
Kenji Kamiyama, the director, is very methodical with his direction and his writing. This means no character motivations are pulled out of thin air, plot points are telegraphed logically well in advance, he doesn't 'cheat' in action scenes or miss out important story points by skipping over them. For example, the flower with mystical properties that appears earlier on in the show comes back around to be important later on - he set the properties of that flower up long before they got used.
Now, I think in this particular case his own methodical tendencies worked against him and the pacing of this segment. He really wanted the show the how of the way Tanda received his message. It's almost like he didn't want the audience asking: "How the hell did Tanga get a message simply by sticking his head underwater?" so he showed this whole long-winded process. However, we'd already seen this whole underwater message process episodes ago. We know how it works - he should have been able to trust that his audience wouldn't have been confused by this particular plot element.
[Moribito 26]
This is one of the more satisfying endings for a show that I can think of. All the important elements from the main plot has been fully resolved. It feels like the central characters went somewhere and achieved something and this extra time for an 'epilogue' lets them reflect on where they've went and what they might want to do next. Great stuff.
girlfriend, I really did expect it to be more romance than sports anime. Or at least a much more even balance. The fact that we got Arata's backstory pretty soon after that didn't really detract from that opinion either... it's really after that moment that the anime went full into sports mode.
Naw, the good thing about American sports texts is that they can spend time away from the game and not lose confidence in the material. I haven't seen Moneyball, but I presume there's more Brad Pitt than footage of baseball games anyway.
Just look at Knight in the Area... where the dudes are either playing soccer or training to play soccer. When the only conflict for the main character is "I don't think I'm confident enough to be the star", it gets fairly dry after a while.
its passed that by a few episodes
I stopped reading before shippuuden so i wasnt expecting that scene
and honestly its pretty brutal even for the anime version of naruto
Even with the introduction of two new characters this felt like rather boring episode. Karen looks better with short hair imo.
Could anyone who's familiar with the books chime in on whether two episodes will be enough to cover the rest of the Tsukihi Phoenix arc or if we'll have to wait for Web-streams for the rest?
Even with the introduction of two new characters this felt like rather boring episode. Karen looks better with short hair imo.
Could anyone who's familiar with the books chime in on whether two episodes will be enough to cover the rest of the Tsukihi Phoenix arc or if we'll have to wait for Web-streams for the rest?
oh man, you better not be hating on the best girl mugi!!
guy inside floating bubble of water summons a pack of sharks to eat himself to prevent his own interogation and the bubble goes blood red then explodes
basically it was one of those rare badass scenes from Naruto
Nisemonogatari 9
Could anyone who's familiar with the books chime in on whether two episodes will be enough to cover the rest of the Tsukihi Phoenix arc or if we'll have to wait for Web-streams for the rest?
After two episodes, we're already 140 pages in, out of 310. So it might not be entirely impossible for them to get to the end in two episodes... but I'm not betting on it, personally. They'd have to at least keep that pace, and considering stuff actually happens (beyond silly banter and dentai, I mean), it might be a bit difficult.
After two episodes, we're 140 pages in, out of 310. So it might not be entirely impossible for them to get to the end in two episodes... but I'm not betting on it, personally.
After two episodes, we're 140 pages in, out of 310. So it might not be entirely impossible for them to get to the end in two episodes... but I'm not betting on it, personally.
guy inside floating bubble of water summons a pack of sharks to eat himself to prevent his own interogation and the bubble goes blood red then explodes
basically it was one of those rare badass scenes from Naruto
yes, and it was totally in character, though they never explained
why the fuck hes a shark man with gills
im up to date because I honestly haven't got anything else to watch
the anime itself is still mostly terrible because of its insane amounts of padding and plot cop-outs and
people having extended monologues while having their chest impaled by a giant claw spike
yes, and it was totally in character, though they never explained
why the fuck hes a shark man with gills
im up to date because I honestly haven't got anything else to watch
the anime itself is still mostly terrible because of its insane amounts of padding and plot cop-outs and
people having extended monologues while having their chest impaled by a giant claw spike
The fights generally have some nice animation
but other than that, the terrible art and still shots with people talking dont bother me half as much as the aforementioned
especially the best part of the previous arc being
Hinata vs Pain
only for her to be completely forgotten again, and then people still wanting to save Sasuke... WHY
so bad
my GOD
Not saying necessarily that Nise is worse than Bake, exactly, but I do prefer the series when the focus is on people other than the sisters, toothbrush scene be damned.
Or maybe I just don't like Eri Kitamura and Yuka Iguchi. I dunno.
Not saying necessarily that Nise is worse than Bake, exactly, but I do prefer the series when the focus is on people other than the sisters, toothbrush scene be damned.
The fights generally have some nice animation
but other than that, the terrible art and still shots with people talking dont bother me half as much as the aforementioned
especially the best part of the previous arc being
Hinata vs Pain
only for her to be completely forgotten again, and then people still wanting to save Sasuke... WHY
so bad
my GOD
