-
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.
Winter Anime 2015 |OT| ZA WARUDO is not square!
- Thread starter Narag
- Start date
- Status
The doujins for Cinderella Girls are going to be amazing.
We still have a few shows with potentially good OPs coming up but it's easily the best so far, with Garo as #2.
We still have a few shows with potentially good OPs coming up but it's easily the best so far, with Garo as #2.
There's already a bunch out there from a couple years ago.
Do they involve nu Producer-san just staring at the girls?
iRAWRasaurus
Banned
Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls 1
Rin Shibuya for best girl
Frankly never watched the first Idolmaster. Maybe I should..
Rin Shibuya for best girl
Frankly never watched the first Idolmaster. Maybe I should..UltraGunner
Banned
Tokyo Ghoul Root A 01
Kaneki is one tragic Mofo. He's tortured for so long that he's turned into the same kind of psycho that Jason turned out to be. He was just some guy in the wrong place at the wrong time and then all this shit happens to him.
One of the biggest things that I noticed is that there was any overt censoring (The entire screen wasn't black I mean). I hope that it stays like this.
The OP is way worse than S1. Like WAY worse. At least the ED is nice.
Also apparently joining the evil side nets you an outfit designed by Rick Owens. Where do I sign up?
Kaneki is one tragic Mofo. He's tortured for so long that he's turned into the same kind of psycho that Jason turned out to be. He was just some guy in the wrong place at the wrong time and then all this shit happens to him.
One of the biggest things that I noticed is that there was any overt censoring (The entire screen wasn't black I mean). I hope that it stays like this.
The OP is way worse than S1. Like WAY worse. At least the ED is nice.
Also apparently joining the evil side nets you an outfit designed by Rick Owens. Where do I sign up?
AquaWateria
Member
If you read the manga you'd be given a further in depth look into how tragic Kaneki's character really is.
Seems to be the consensus though other contenders thus far are Assassination Classroom, Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Shirobako 2nd OP.
Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls 1
Rin Shibuya for best girl
You definitely should.
A Black Falcon
Member
Kancolle 1
Kantai Collection is a series about shipgirls who are reborn WWII Imperial Japanese Navy warships fighting against Abyssal monster alien things which have taken over the worlds' oceans. First I'm going to review the episode, then discuss the series' somewhat disturbing political themes.
There are two elements to this episode, and franchise in general: first the cute antics of Fubuki the destroyer (the main character) and her shipgirl friends at the naval base, and second big battles against the abyssals to reverse attacks and free parts of the ocean. The heroine, Fubuki, is of course inexperienced, clumsy, and cute. I imagine she'll get more functional as the series progresses, as that character stereotype usually does in this kind of show. The base-life parts of the series are fairly standard school-life-anime stuff; there are plenty of cute antics, and the [surely male] Admiral. aka the self-insert protagonist as in Idolmaster's Manager and such, is never seen in person. He's actually even less of a character than the Imas Manager, in the first episode at least, because he's never seen nor heard from; he doesn't even direct the battle, the secretary ship does. He does, of course, cheer up Fubuki, though. Naturally. So yeah, this element of the show is quite generic and average, but amusing at times. The character designs are good, production values high, and world a somewhat odd mixture of the familiar and the unique.
It's not all moe antics, though; there's also lots of fighting in this episode. I wonder if they'll be able to keep up this level of production values... we'll see. Before battle, the girls all launch off in a surprisingly long and overdone launch sequence. It's kind of crazy stuff, but entertaining, the first time at least (I imagine we'll be seeing them a lot). So, in the episode, an armada of 18 shipgirls take on a large Abyssal fleet, and crush it. The Abyssals are depicted like monster sharks and the like; there's some creepy imagery here, particularly when the one Abyssal tries to attack Fubuki. Fortunately, she's saved with the arrival of the aircraft carriers, who then pummel the enemy. The battle ends with
Naturally, the enemies being monsters, no prisoners need be taken...
Overall, it was an okay episode. It's generic and predictable, but entertaining, particularly if you know something about the franchise. Little time is spent actually telling you much about the characters, so people new to the franchise will probably be confused. The mangas are like this too; they seem to expect people watching to go read up about the Imperial Japanese Navy if they want to fully understand the series. I may love history, but you really should explain things in your series too.
But thematically, Kancolle has major problems. I've written most of a long post about this, but I wonder, should I say it now, or after more of these elements actually appear in the anime? Because a lot of it hasn't yet. Let's see what I can say without focusing mostly on stuff in the mangas, and sticking to this episode...
Kancolle is more like Strike Witches than anything else, but it's a much more nationalistic series than Strike Witches is. Strike Witches and Kancolle both have girls with plane or ship accessories fighting against weird aliens in order to protect the Earth. Both have characters with names that reference WWII figures. But the similarities end there. Strike Witches has a multinational team, reflecting all of the major nations of the day. Kancolle? It's almost exclusively Japan-only, with a few German shipgirls added more recently to the original game apparently. This alone gives the show a much more pro-Japan feel than Strike Witches. A show about a lot of Japanese WWII ships, about how great and cute and awesome they are and stuff? There IS a political message there, a right-wing and pro-military one. That fact cannot be avoided. Kancolle is unlike Strike Witches or Girls und Panzer. It's more right-wing and nationalist, and it honors a time period where Japan did some pretty awful things that this franchise will certainly never mention. That in the original game there are only Japanese and four German shipgirls but no Allied ones is another example of this... Strike Witches didn't go in that direction! And Strike Witches is clearly actually set in the 1930s, while Kancolle has this weird 'they are reborn shipgirls with the memories of those past WWII ships, in a world that looks exactly like the 1940s' setting that makes little sense. I wonder if the anime will ever explain that, that'd be nice. I'm not expecting it, though.
But anyway, the ways Japan today reacts to its WWII history is something I find quite interesting and I have studied, so though I don't like the message it's interesting that this kind of thing exists at all. I doubt it would have been as popular as it is some decades ago.
Kantai Collection is a series about shipgirls who are reborn WWII Imperial Japanese Navy warships fighting against Abyssal monster alien things which have taken over the worlds' oceans. First I'm going to review the episode, then discuss the series' somewhat disturbing political themes.
There are two elements to this episode, and franchise in general: first the cute antics of Fubuki the destroyer (the main character) and her shipgirl friends at the naval base, and second big battles against the abyssals to reverse attacks and free parts of the ocean. The heroine, Fubuki, is of course inexperienced, clumsy, and cute. I imagine she'll get more functional as the series progresses, as that character stereotype usually does in this kind of show. The base-life parts of the series are fairly standard school-life-anime stuff; there are plenty of cute antics, and the [surely male] Admiral. aka the self-insert protagonist as in Idolmaster's Manager and such, is never seen in person. He's actually even less of a character than the Imas Manager, in the first episode at least, because he's never seen nor heard from; he doesn't even direct the battle, the secretary ship does. He does, of course, cheer up Fubuki, though. Naturally. So yeah, this element of the show is quite generic and average, but amusing at times. The character designs are good, production values high, and world a somewhat odd mixture of the familiar and the unique.
It's not all moe antics, though; there's also lots of fighting in this episode. I wonder if they'll be able to keep up this level of production values... we'll see. Before battle, the girls all launch off in a surprisingly long and overdone launch sequence. It's kind of crazy stuff, but entertaining, the first time at least (I imagine we'll be seeing them a lot). So, in the episode, an armada of 18 shipgirls take on a large Abyssal fleet, and crush it. The Abyssals are depicted like monster sharks and the like; there's some creepy imagery here, particularly when the one Abyssal tries to attack Fubuki. Fortunately, she's saved with the arrival of the aircraft carriers, who then pummel the enemy. The battle ends with
sad music playing while a plane drops a bomb, and then the human-shaped Abyssal base leader looks up and watches that bomb that will kill her fall onto its target. It's sad; yes, they are monsters, are taking over the oceans, etc. but this humanizes the enemies, even if it's questionable about what both the Abyssals and Shipgirls actually are.
Overall, it was an okay episode. It's generic and predictable, but entertaining, particularly if you know something about the franchise. Little time is spent actually telling you much about the characters, so people new to the franchise will probably be confused. The mangas are like this too; they seem to expect people watching to go read up about the Imperial Japanese Navy if they want to fully understand the series. I may love history, but you really should explain things in your series too.
But thematically, Kancolle has major problems. I've written most of a long post about this, but I wonder, should I say it now, or after more of these elements actually appear in the anime? Because a lot of it hasn't yet. Let's see what I can say without focusing mostly on stuff in the mangas, and sticking to this episode...
Kancolle is more like Strike Witches than anything else, but it's a much more nationalistic series than Strike Witches is. Strike Witches and Kancolle both have girls with plane or ship accessories fighting against weird aliens in order to protect the Earth. Both have characters with names that reference WWII figures. But the similarities end there. Strike Witches has a multinational team, reflecting all of the major nations of the day. Kancolle? It's almost exclusively Japan-only, with a few German shipgirls added more recently to the original game apparently. This alone gives the show a much more pro-Japan feel than Strike Witches. A show about a lot of Japanese WWII ships, about how great and cute and awesome they are and stuff? There IS a political message there, a right-wing and pro-military one. That fact cannot be avoided. Kancolle is unlike Strike Witches or Girls und Panzer. It's more right-wing and nationalist, and it honors a time period where Japan did some pretty awful things that this franchise will certainly never mention. That in the original game there are only Japanese and four German shipgirls but no Allied ones is another example of this... Strike Witches didn't go in that direction! And Strike Witches is clearly actually set in the 1930s, while Kancolle has this weird 'they are reborn shipgirls with the memories of those past WWII ships, in a world that looks exactly like the 1940s' setting that makes little sense. I wonder if the anime will ever explain that, that'd be nice. I'm not expecting it, though.
But anyway, the ways Japan today reacts to its WWII history is something I find quite interesting and I have studied, so though I don't like the message it's interesting that this kind of thing exists at all. I doubt it would have been as popular as it is some decades ago.
The anime may not be like that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets more blatant as it goes along. You see, one of the official Kancolle mangas, "Kancolle - Someday in the Calm Seas", actually does have heavyhanded propaganda in it -- each chapter ends with an image (of the real ship, not a shipgirl) and information about a modern-day Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force ship named after one of the ships in the series, with text describing what it ("she") does and praising it with text praising them and such. It couldn't be any less blatant -- 'Look at how awesome the modern Japanese navy is, support it!' is the obvious message. Remember that Japan is a nation which for a long time argued over whether it should have any military at all, and the political viewpoint here becomes clear. That pro-military, right-wing-nationalist element to this franchise is absolutely real.
AquaWateria
Member
I just saw Death Parade's Opening. My intial impression is WTF, like that's one huge fuckin contrast in tone to the series itself. I mean I like the Opening, but Sweet Jesus is it like watching something very gritty and dark to only have some hello kitty happiness shit pop out of nowhere.
I am after madp clued me in the Muromi-san director is behind it.
No nuProducer, but I think there's a few of Rin and Ranko.
There should be some of nuProducer though. I look forward to the ones with him as the protagonist.
AquaWateria
Member
Doesn't Funimation have the rights to the series?
can they beat the cucumber though?
Yeah, they're streaming the new show.
Well it has the staff card going for it. But who knows, I'm hoping it'll b good.
I don't think such a thing is even possible.
SliceSabre
Banned
ZachDeKoromaru
Banned
The mofu gods finally reward us in several hours.
Interest rising. Never cared for Yatterman franchise, the episodes I saw of older show were crap, but this new direction might make me give a shit.
Maximilian Kolbe
Member
The one thing Cinderella Girls done right is they did not throw bunch of characters in episode 1, which is what Kancolle did, i mean i'm Kancolle fans of course i don't mind that, but it's not friendly for non-fans.
But i guess that's also because Cinderella Girls have 2 cour and Kancolle only have 1 cour.
But i guess that's also because Cinderella Girls have 2 cour and Kancolle only have 1 cour.
astrogamer
Member
School Days 10-11
My god, Makoto stuck his dick in pretty much every girl now. Along with becoming a bigger asshole and no commitment whatsoever. And Kotonoha being crazy along with Sekai starting to be crazy. I can't believe how much they're doing this trainwreck but it keeps on getting better with each episode
My god, Makoto stuck his dick in pretty much every girl now. Along with becoming a bigger asshole and no commitment whatsoever. And Kotonoha being crazy along with Sekai starting to be crazy. I can't believe how much they're doing this trainwreck but it keeps on getting better with each episode
I think it's less series length and more to do with ineptitude.
SliceSabre
Banned
Think of it this way though. Cinderella girls has a good first episode, but the original series had a terrible debut episode.
You learn from your mistakes, this is Kancolle's first outing.
~wan
Crash Station
Member
Diamond is Unbreakable is pretty damn legit, but no telling if that'll get animated.
Admiral Woofington
Member
I was searching anime titles for new shows to see what looked decent and jesus this description alone, in both format and content, has made me hate this show. Thank you MAL
It introduced a million characters, and the mocumentary format gave it an unwarranted feeling of self-importance while also making it feel unnecessarily skeevy.
striferser
Huge Nickleback Fan
BASED!
Oyasumi punpun 7 part anime movie, when?
It's already amazing!
Definitely IM@S weakest episode. It's just introduction without anything special happen.
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
Sabagebu 1
I can tell this is going to be a fun ride. The premise of the show is pretty unique, at least in terms of how it makes use of firearms in a school setting. Somehow I doubt a show like this would ever be produced in North America. I think the blowback would be pretty immense.
That said I was surprised at how much detail the put into the guns. That's something that they did not cut corners on. The humour was right up my alley and Momoka as a protagonist is fun to watch and has some bite to her.
I'm looking forward to watching the rest of this series.
I can tell this is going to be a fun ride. The premise of the show is pretty unique, at least in terms of how it makes use of firearms in a school setting. Somehow I doubt a show like this would ever be produced in North America. I think the blowback would be pretty immense.
That said I was surprised at how much detail the put into the guns. That's something that they did not cut corners on. The humour was right up my alley and Momoka as a protagonist is fun to watch and has some bite to her.
I'm looking forward to watching the rest of this series.
One of member is chuuni so lol
Noriko Takao's touch paying off? I can well believe it.
That said I have like less than zero interest in it right now. Just can't give a shit about the property, the subject matter, etc with such a backlog piling up. Maybe if it had more robots.
One of very few series this season I'm even looking forward to.
Crash Station
Member
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders 25
I both like and am weirded out by Iggy's design. It's not like Araki's is totally normal, but I got used to that while this is just... I don't even know.
The OP is shit.
I both like and am weirded out by Iggy's design. It's not like Araki's is totally normal, but I got used to that while this is just... I don't even know.
The OP is shit.
NamikazeBurst
Member
All the continuing series have horrible OPs this season
Garo is terrible, absolutely terrible, compared to the previous OP.
JoJo is actually about equal with the previous OP, but the previous OP was trash compared to part 2.
Your Lie in April... how did they get something so terrible to replace something so amazing?
Tokyo Ghoul's new OP is worse, but I already forgot about it xD
I don't really even remember any of the new shows' OPs, except for AssClass and Death Parade, which are both good.
Garo is terrible, absolutely terrible, compared to the previous OP.
JoJo is actually about equal with the previous OP, but the previous OP was trash compared to part 2.
Your Lie in April... how did they get something so terrible to replace something so amazing?
Tokyo Ghoul's new OP is worse, but I already forgot about it xD
I don't really even remember any of the new shows' OPs, except for AssClass and Death Parade, which are both good.
SliceSabre
Banned
Yuri Bears is still top OP for me this season.
~wan
~wan
phoenix296
Member
All the continuing series have horrible OPs
Fixed.
Seriously though, why is this a trend with 2nd OPs?
It's not really a trend, as with almost all creative works, quality will vary over time. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
UltraGunner
Banned
I love how its not subtle in the slightest. It delivers everything its title promises and more.
~gao
ABF has brought to light one thing I was concerned about regarding Kancolle and indeed it exists on an uneasy plane. Its an odd creature no doubt and kind of reminds me of Saikano where Japan was at war with everyone for indeterminate reasons.
Oh man...Sabagebu is so much fun. So damned much fun.
Oh man...Sabagebu is so much fun. So damned much fun.
AquaWateria
Member
It makes me sad to see people think the Opening of Tokyo Ghoul Root A is trash. People just don't take the time to see how deep and meaningful the OP is. There is no justice in this world. 😞
Anyways my top 2 OPs this season are Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Death Parade (Got that groovy style going for it).
Anyways my top 2 OPs this season are Tokyo Ghoul Root A and Death Parade (Got that groovy style going for it).
It isnt always but people get really attached to the first. Its the first impression of many new series and if the show is great it becomes a fond remembrance of it. The second often has a shift in tone or structure that might be jarring or off putting.
Probably that. Or sometimes its an artistic shift when an important event has occurred that fundamentally changed the show. Sometimes it separates arcs, like Monogatari.
- Status