You're right, this story about dead people playing twisted bar games in purgatory to determine the fate of their souls had totally unrealistic acting! I thought it would have been more restrained!
Eh. Honestly I didn't come away from this too enthusiastically.
It feels like the competitors accelerate into madness far too suddenly and the progression of events leading up to the ending didn't quite sit well with me. Like yeah, the girl was apparently playing him and that shit kinda sucks but is going to hell a punishment that really fits the crime here? She's a dick not some inherently evil person. I also feel like there was a dissonance between how each party played the game and the ultimate decision when all was said and done. The girl, despite whatever character flaws she might have had during the relationship, didn't seem to go out of her way to harm her husband where as the dude is made out to be justified for hitting the girl's stomach because his jealousy had some basis for truth? And then the final scene where the dude tries to outright murder her after finding out about the affair? If this episode had come out during a moment when they were alive then the dude would justifiably be in fucking jail. Just kind of bizarre.
Hoping future episodes are better, not really expecting that they will.
Reading the ANN first episode impressions and the Saekano Episode 0 one in particular I see Zac giving that a 4 and higher than everyone else. Was expecting a 1.
I'm not a huge fan of this on a couple of levels, in fact I slightly dislike it. The first is that there's just way too much of a time restriction to try and tell a story like this in 20 minutes. Before I started watching the episode, I wanted it to be like a grim-dark version of Mushishi and while it sort of is, it's also not as well done. The thing with Mushishi is that I feel like it allocates its time much more effectively than what is on display here. Part of it is due to the fact that the bartender has to set the game up. We didn't even get to the actual game until almost 7 minutes into the episode. Now before someone says the games are unimportant, they serve as a pressure point for the characters. It forces the characters to reveal their personalities. The thing with Mushishi is that rarely is there a judgement being rendered, and here there is both a formal and informal judgement by the 'gods' and audience. There just isn't enough time and I feel like we're getting snapshots.
Eh, I felt we got enough snapshots of the characters' lives to get a sense of who they were and are. The use of time was pretty efficient to set up the premise and give an example of it in action. I don't feel that more elaborate animation was necessary.
The other thing is the animation is just way over acted in this episode. The husband's meltdown is too much and almost bordering on comical.
This, I think, is a more valid criticism; I recall people having the same thought with regards to the meltdown at the end of Death Billiards. I don't really mind because the whole drama is very heightened, and the animation is quite good, but I can see how the exaggerated character acting would turn some people off.
I'm not gonna lie, part of me wants it to be a different bar game every episode. Maybe even they stop giving a fuck and play like Death Monopoly. Or like Death Guess Who. Death Clue.
Now I can't enjoy this show unless there's an episode where they land on a chance and have this twisted Jumanji torture on the other person.
It's clear by the episode 2 preview that each episode won't just be successive death games, but will also explore the characters and world of the bar and its afterlife environs. This is a good choice to prevent the series from becoming too formulaic.
learns the truth about each other. Aka Mikado's role in the dollars, Anri's connection with Saika and the blond guy's gang involvement.
The latters leaves Tokyo with his girlfriend.
Izaya finally gets punched in the face.
That's all I have.
Death Parade 01
So far my fears about the repetitiveness of the episodic structure seem warranted but the preview implies we will see more of the inner workings of this classy establishment. Will wait till then to decide whether to continue.
It's clear by the episode 2 preview that each episode won't just be successive death games, but will also explore the characters and world of the bar and its afterlife environs. This is a good choice to prevent the series from becoming too formulaic.
The first thing that really stuck out to me was the awful character designs for the human characters and the fairly thick outlines of characters which, when mixed with a sub-par colour design gives the whole show a cheap and garish feel. Not attractive to look at.
I suppose that, at the very least, it's a unique premise. A premise that you can't possibly miss because it's mentioned at least thirty times in the space of twenty minutes. Just in case you didn't notice how crazy it is.
Beyond that, I suppose it was fine. I will not be watching any more.
You're right, this story about dead people playing twisted bar games in purgatory to determine the fate of their souls had totally unrealistic acting! I thought it would have been more restrained!
Just like Death Note was just fine for having swimming lessons at the end of a story where the villain was revered as a god and was using a magical notebook to kill his enemies after he became a high ranking police officer.
Eh. Honestly I didn't come away from this too enthusiastically.
It feels like the competitors accelerate into madness far too suddenly and the progression of events leading up to the ending didn't quite sit well with me. Like yeah, the girl was apparently playing him and that shit kinda sucks but is going to hell a punishment that really fits the crime here? She's a dick not some inherently evil person. I also feel like there was a dissonance between how each party played the game and the ultimate decision when all was said and done. The girl, despite whatever character flaws she might have had during the relationship, didn't seem to go out of her way to harm her husband where as the dude is made out to be justified for hitting the girl's stomach because his jealousy had some basis for truth? And then the final scene where the dude tries to outright murder her after finding out about the affair? If this episode had come out during a moment when they were alive then the dude would justifiably be in fucking jail. Just kind of bizarre.
Hoping future episodes are better, not really expecting that they will.
Well the girl was acting it up in that she did have an affair but she seemingly loved him as well, you can tell she has some regret about the affair in that she's hiding her face in the pillow and also wipes away her tears before she goes on her 'rant'. In addition, it looks like there was actually someone named Matchy or whatever at the wedding, as there is a shot of the name card in the ED. I can't blame the husband as I imagine most individuals would have a similar reaction to their wife saying that they played them for fools, all of this after finding out that they're dead. Now as to whether the kid was his or not, who the hell knows? They were both heavily flawed individuals.
So Okabe used his cell phone to convert his microwave to a time machine that can send text messages back in time. I think that might be the most brilliantly unorthodox way to introduce a time machine to a story.
Although it may seem that way to Western viewers, in Buddhist thought reincarnation is a form of purgatory, an endless cycle of rebirth into the suffering of the material world. Only by achieving nirvana can people break the system of rebirths and be liberated from desire and the suffering of existence. Considering that Death Parade is coming from a Japanese perspective, I think it far more likely that it is inspired by these Buddhist ideas; i.e., reincarnation is "hell" and the void is "heaven".
I get what you're saying but the show really does seem to imply the opposite in that reincarnation is heaven. I mean when
the husband first arrives, the dark oni mask is over his head, which has to do with him being responsible for the car crash over his jealousy. So he is to be viewed as in the wrong and going to hell. The masks' locations switch in the end so I take it we're to interpret the wife now going to 'hell'.
Though I did accurately guess the premise before it was said out loud, I was still well entertained. The show is very well animated and the twist of what happened to the couple at the end somewhat amused me. I look forward to more of the awesome bartender.
A shame about every other character though! The voice acting is all wrong too!
Mainly DIO
I doubt that the TV series will have a final battle as well animated as the OVA's in any case. While I don't like how the OVA's look, there are some things about them that are great, especially in the minor details.
I was just thinking about the anime I've gotta watch through. JoJo, Tsuritama, Pengruidum, Utena, etc. All very solid anime in their own right, it's just that getting through all of them seems daunting, haha. I wonder if I should watch them all at the same time.
My LL love is still going strong! I still plan on posting impressions for S2, and I plan on tackling the diary stories as well.
Also I agree with everything you said, but I still can't help but have this mumbling feeling that the producer is going ruin the series. Why couldn't have they had a female producer instead who would have served as the sawako of the series?!
New OP ain't bad, but I miss the old GAROOOOOO!
I really liked this episode. The start of Leons 'healing' out in good old country was great. Such a nice family aiding him.
Judging by the ED, it does seem that at least the girl is going to be a part of Leons journey. So hey, maybe he isn't going to the dark side like I was hoping for. Or maybe it's setting up to cast him even further down into doubt.
This being Garo I doubt the country family is going to have a happy ending, especially considering this mysterious Lord the mother keeps working for. Soundtrack was very relaxing and fitting to the environment. I'm glad there doesn't seem to be a step down in creepy Horror design either.
New OP ain't bad, but I miss the old GAROOOOOO!
I really liked this episode. The start of Leons 'healing' out in good old country was great. Such a nice family aiding him.
Judging by the ED, it does seem that at least the girl is going to be a part of Leons journey. So hey, maybe he isn't going to the dark side like I was hoping for. Or maybe it's setting up to cast him even further down into doubt.
This being Garo I doubt the country family is going to have a happy ending, especially considering this mysterious Lord the mother keeps working for. Soundtrack was very relaxing and fitting to the environment. I'm glad there doesn't seem to be a step down in creepy Horror design either.
The shows pretty blatant about how things will go down, and the old OP basically spoiled all of it. Alphonse is fucked, completely being a king and Makai knight is exactly what Mendoza believed in from the beginning and a major reason why he got banished (Makai leading humans rather than clearing up their mess), since knights are not supposed meddle in human affairs whereas being a king your entire job is human affairs. He'll probably be forced to use his Makai powers more directly for his kingdom and things will go to shit from there.
The fact he kept Octavia around was basically the show hitting you over the face with it.
The shows pretty blatant about how things will go down, and the old OP basically spoiled all of it. Alphonse is fucked, completely being a king and Makai knight is exactly what Mendoza believed in from the beginning and a major reason why he got banished (Makai leading humans rather than clearing up their mess), since knights are not supposed meddle in human affairs whereas being a king your entire job is human affairs. He'll probably be forced to use his Makai powers more directly for his kingdom and things will go to shit from there.
The fact he kept Octavia around was basically the show hitting you over the face with it.
Alphonse is completely screwed. When your life is perfect halfway through a show, you're gonna fuck up bad. Wouldn't be surprised if the 2nd cour ends with Leon getting his armor back, which he will.
I doubt that the TV series will have a final battle as well animated as the OVA's in any case. While I don't like how the OVA's look, there are some things about them that are great, especially in the minor details.
Hell I'd watch this series just for this Producer alone, I greatly enjoyed him over the original series' one. Anyway onto the meat of this. This episode 1 was a much more entertaining start than the original series's first episode was and a bit more mellow in tone, but in a good way while still keeping the comedy at a reasonable level.
Producer's conversation with Rin in trying to convince her to join his group was nice to hear and the prospect of him first trying to get girls to join the group rather than them already being well established in it was nice too.
Uzuki's smile is truly priceless. I look forward to more of this series than I did the start of original.
I really have to talk about this Opening because it's quite different than any Openings you see from any anime. It's really symbolic and the way they made it artistic was quite beautiful. The flowers, music, and the bizarre visuals all convey Kaneki's mental state of mind. His sadness, loneliness, and madness are all portrayed in this Opening. I've read all the current chapters of Tokyo Ghoul and I have to say Kaneki is one of the most tragic characters you'll see. So this Opening in my opinion fit's his character exactly. Also there's even more interesting things about this Opening. In the beginning you see hands with nail polish reaching for Kaneki's face, that end up putting his mask on. And whose hands are those, obviously Rize. Which symbolizes Kaneki embracing his Ghoul side. Then towards the middle we see hands without nail polish removing Kaneki's mask, that person is Touka. Which symbolizes Kaneki embracing his Human side. There's also this last interesting detail. We see Kaneki's left eye bleed which symbolizes his Ghoul side because of his Kakugan. Spoilers for anybody who hasn't read the manga.
Kaneki ends up getting his left eye stabbed out which represent his Ghoul side.
I feel this little detail may foreshadow something later on in the anime, but I could be wrong.
I understand why some people may dislike the Opening, but calling it trash is an overstatement. Especially if you don't take a close look at what the symbolism and even the lyrics are trying to covey. Anyways I may have written a lot just for an Opening, but I just find it unique and different compared to other Openings. Which is why I like it a lot.
Yeah, well um.... the music was nice? I dunno compared to Mawaru Penguindrum I was thrown into craziness pretty damn early and looking at others' reactions seems alot of people had the same experience; lack of initial grounding.
If Mike and the gang are watching a good anime next time, Giant Robo would be a good choice. A terrific, underwatched OVA series. Would be fun to have some more discussion about it.
(Was everyone else as disappointed with the final episode as I was? From a story standpoint)
If Mike and the gang are watching a good anime next time, Giant Robo would be a good choice. A terrific, underwatched OVA series. Would be fun to have some more discussion about it.
(Was everyone else as disappointed with the final episode as I was? From a story standpoint)
