welp now i can't unsee it
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Winter Anime 2016 |OT| Celebrating the New Year and PSO2's release in the west!
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welp now i can't unsee it
veloxStrix
Banned
Guys, I don't know if anyone has noticed this before but Clannad is really sad.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Clannad is levels of manipulation out of this world.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu - 01
The first real anime I watched in 3 months or so and what an interesting way to get things started.
So of course Kobayashi is in it and this has got to be the first serious role she's had in ages, so that's fine and dandy:
She's certainly not corralling a bunch of Monster Girls for a dude's harem anyway.
But the story it's trying to set up here is also interesting because it's so familiar, but told with an unlikely subject matter. The idea of two men having two different paths to reach the same goal, in art or in sport isn't really that new an idea - most people just watched a film that is essentially about two different paths to obtain mastery of "The Force". Perhaps this is my ignorant foreigner bias showing, but the idea that Rakugo would have similar divergent paths makes perfect sense as well. And just like in the American stand-up comedy scene, there are comedians who hate other comedians because they choose to use a low brow style of humour (and certainly there are those who think intellectual comedians are just a bunch of snobs with sticks up their asses).
Having all that serve as a backdrop for this story about Rakugo in the 70s works quite well. Certainly there's more to the conflict between Yakumo and Sukeroku, but the central conflict of between two styles of Rakugo leaves room for the story to go into the presumably tragic past that defines both Yakumo and Konatsu later on.
What I found interesting is how they chose to depict the two different styles of Rakugo. Yakumo is clearly much more refined, and his words are meant to be carefully chosen to be evocative. And visually we see that with the cuts to the actual objects and sequences that he speaks of in his story - we're to be taken to the woods where we follow the life of an unlucky man. There are no distractions like music or excessive cutaways to the audience reacting to his performance because we're meant to focus on his words alone.
Then you have Yotaru's performance earlier in the episode, which is depicted in a manner that is meant to be high energy and up beat. Moving past the actual performance, the second half of his routine is punctuated by a jazz soundtrack, while the editing is frenetically cutting between various shots of his performance. Sometimes it's to show audience reactions to his enthusiastic style of performing, sometimes it's to visually show that he is taking on the role of two (and three) characters at once, other times it's just to show you the physical effort he is making in order to put on the performance. Whereas with Yakumo you're meant to focus on his words, with Yotaru you're meant to focus on "the show" he puts on.
It works nicely because even if you don't really know how the routines are necessarily different (although Yotaru's has the more obvious punchline), you do realize it from how both performances are put together.
Of course, I'm a sucker for clever story-based editing, so when Yotaru's old boss wonders out loud why Yotaru chose Rakugo, and Yotaru ends his routine with this punchline:
I got a small kick out of that.
I'm excited to keep watching the show, although given how this episode was twice the length of a standard episode, I'm assuming that they won't show any more full Rakugo routines for the remainder of the series - or at least, not until the finale where the two divergent paths presumably come together.
Oh, I brought this up years ago when Joshiraku aired, but if you are curious about Rakugo and want to see more of it, Katsura Sunshine is nice introduction since he does routines in both English and Japanese.
He's taken down a some of his videos unfortunately, but this one has his best bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbt0jAYDVOw
But he also performs in Japanese as well, and this is a longer routine with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou8GJrYGj2M
Oh yeah, for Yuu Kobayashi fans, Mandoric linked this to me on IRC. She plays some LoL character and does her classic Kobayashi style when performing her lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsEfUJA6NTo
---
(Although I suppose acts like One Direction are pretty similar in their artificiality lol)
The first real anime I watched in 3 months or so and what an interesting way to get things started.
So of course Kobayashi is in it and this has got to be the first serious role she's had in ages, so that's fine and dandy:
She's certainly not corralling a bunch of Monster Girls for a dude's harem anyway.
But the story it's trying to set up here is also interesting because it's so familiar, but told with an unlikely subject matter. The idea of two men having two different paths to reach the same goal, in art or in sport isn't really that new an idea - most people just watched a film that is essentially about two different paths to obtain mastery of "The Force". Perhaps this is my ignorant foreigner bias showing, but the idea that Rakugo would have similar divergent paths makes perfect sense as well. And just like in the American stand-up comedy scene, there are comedians who hate other comedians because they choose to use a low brow style of humour (and certainly there are those who think intellectual comedians are just a bunch of snobs with sticks up their asses).
Having all that serve as a backdrop for this story about Rakugo in the 70s works quite well. Certainly there's more to the conflict between Yakumo and Sukeroku, but the central conflict of between two styles of Rakugo leaves room for the story to go into the presumably tragic past that defines both Yakumo and Konatsu later on.
What I found interesting is how they chose to depict the two different styles of Rakugo. Yakumo is clearly much more refined, and his words are meant to be carefully chosen to be evocative. And visually we see that with the cuts to the actual objects and sequences that he speaks of in his story - we're to be taken to the woods where we follow the life of an unlucky man. There are no distractions like music or excessive cutaways to the audience reacting to his performance because we're meant to focus on his words alone.
Then you have Yotaru's performance earlier in the episode, which is depicted in a manner that is meant to be high energy and up beat. Moving past the actual performance, the second half of his routine is punctuated by a jazz soundtrack, while the editing is frenetically cutting between various shots of his performance. Sometimes it's to show audience reactions to his enthusiastic style of performing, sometimes it's to visually show that he is taking on the role of two (and three) characters at once, other times it's just to show you the physical effort he is making in order to put on the performance. Whereas with Yakumo you're meant to focus on his words, with Yotaru you're meant to focus on "the show" he puts on.
It works nicely because even if you don't really know how the routines are necessarily different (although Yotaru's has the more obvious punchline), you do realize it from how both performances are put together.
Of course, I'm a sucker for clever story-based editing, so when Yotaru's old boss wonders out loud why Yotaru chose Rakugo, and Yotaru ends his routine with this punchline:
I got a small kick out of that.
I'm excited to keep watching the show, although given how this episode was twice the length of a standard episode, I'm assuming that they won't show any more full Rakugo routines for the remainder of the series - or at least, not until the finale where the two divergent paths presumably come together.
Oh, I brought this up years ago when Joshiraku aired, but if you are curious about Rakugo and want to see more of it, Katsura Sunshine is nice introduction since he does routines in both English and Japanese.
He's taken down a some of his videos unfortunately, but this one has his best bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbt0jAYDVOw
But he also performs in Japanese as well, and this is a longer routine with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou8GJrYGj2M
Oh yeah, for Yuu Kobayashi fans, Mandoric linked this to me on IRC. She plays some LoL character and does her classic Kobayashi style when performing her lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsEfUJA6NTo
---
I suppose so, since they presumably don't care about the songs that they're performing. But that just seems to be a uniquely Asian model of music.
(Although I suppose acts like One Direction are pretty similar in their artificiality lol)
Do you want to go to the Mysterious World?
Dedication Through Light
Member
HAIKYU!! 2nd Season Episode 14 Still Growing
Middle blockers conversation of Karasuno was my favorite part of the episode. Hinata always look to Tsukki for their blocking needs and both willing to take up the charge whenever the other feels the pressure. And the comedy was great.
Saw so many of my favorites upcoming, Yuuji Terushima, Koganegawa (in the ED), Goshiki Tsutomu & Semi & Tendoh with Shiratorizawa, and then Mad Dog-chan with Oikawa and Iwaizumi (Seijoh). Its going to be lots of good weeks upcoming. Can not wait for the games.
Middle blockers conversation of Karasuno was my favorite part of the episode. Hinata always look to Tsukki for their blocking needs and both willing to take up the charge whenever the other feels the pressure. And the comedy was great.
Saw so many of my favorites upcoming, Yuuji Terushima, Koganegawa (in the ED), Goshiki Tsutomu & Semi & Tendoh with Shiratorizawa, and then Mad Dog-chan with Oikawa and Iwaizumi (Seijoh). Its going to be lots of good weeks upcoming. Can not wait for the games.
KharmaPolice
Member
So, was the first ep of Koyomimonogatari released yet? Did anyone here download the app?
NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Hearing about Clannad's success was certainly the hardest I've ever cried.
Dedication Through Light
Member
I need this MikaYuu poster.
It seems so. It's about 13 minutes long.
MikeHattsu
Member
John Blade
Member
Around 3/4 done the movie right now. Man...bring back quite a bit of memory. I am kinda surprise the one I got have only Eng Dub for Blu Ray. Is they another Blu-ray of Ninja Scroll which have both dub? Weird just to get only one.
Might as well write up impressions for the two big non-traditional shows of the season
Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi, aka Erased, aka Life Is Strange: The Anime 1
Pretty intriguing start. There were a few flourishes that I thought were unnecessarily cliche (particularly the murderer passing by with his dumb fedora covering everything but his red eyes), but it moves at a nice clip. They do a good job of establishing the ground rules for the protagonist's powers, and setting our expectations for what's to come. We know exactly what has to happen to make things right. The question is, how?
I'm particularly drawn to the lead's internal monologue here. As others mentioned earlier, it's always really refreshing when someone from outside the standard seiyuu machine does a character's voice, and that's just as true here.
There's a great plot hook here, so I hope its potential is fulfilled. As positive as I may be, this episode was pretty weak handling the rising tension after the second Revival incident. It'd be a shame if everything gets dragged down by mediocre direction.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju 1
I really want to like this show, just because it's being so different. Dedicating ten unbroken minutes to an amateur performance of a relatively unpopular, "outdated" Japanese cultural art? Who does that? And while I don't think the episode quite earns its double-length, I'm still definitely drawn in. I like the character designs a lot. I think they're the expressive kinds of designs you can read a lot from just by looking at them, and they're flexible enough to fit the many roles that have to be played in the storytelling scenes.
The setting and characters in this episode are pretty different from what was shown in the PVs, but they're clearly related. I think this episode nailed the things it needed to nail: showing off the appeal and variety of rakugo, and setting up the past rivalry between Yakumo and Sukeroku. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they'll build on this.
Boku Dake Ga Inai Machi, aka Erased, aka Life Is Strange: The Anime 1
Pretty intriguing start. There were a few flourishes that I thought were unnecessarily cliche (particularly the murderer passing by with his dumb fedora covering everything but his red eyes), but it moves at a nice clip. They do a good job of establishing the ground rules for the protagonist's powers, and setting our expectations for what's to come. We know exactly what has to happen to make things right. The question is, how?
I'm particularly drawn to the lead's internal monologue here. As others mentioned earlier, it's always really refreshing when someone from outside the standard seiyuu machine does a character's voice, and that's just as true here.
There's a great plot hook here, so I hope its potential is fulfilled. As positive as I may be, this episode was pretty weak handling the rising tension after the second Revival incident. It'd be a shame if everything gets dragged down by mediocre direction.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju 1
I really want to like this show, just because it's being so different. Dedicating ten unbroken minutes to an amateur performance of a relatively unpopular, "outdated" Japanese cultural art? Who does that? And while I don't think the episode quite earns its double-length, I'm still definitely drawn in. I like the character designs a lot. I think they're the expressive kinds of designs you can read a lot from just by looking at them, and they're flexible enough to fit the many roles that have to be played in the storytelling scenes.
The setting and characters in this episode are pretty different from what was shown in the PVs, but they're clearly related. I think this episode nailed the things it needed to nail: showing off the appeal and variety of rakugo, and setting up the past rivalry between Yakumo and Sukeroku. I'm really looking forward to seeing how they'll build on this.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
Haikyuu S2 14
Karasuno REALLY needs some hype men, they don't have their own badass chant.
Karasuno REALLY needs some hype men, they don't have their own badass chant.
SliceSabre
Banned
Luck & Logic 01
Seen this concept enough in anime and I always always like it and I'm feeling I'm going to like this one too.
Bubuki Buranki - 01
CGI style doesn't actually bother me because the designs of the show are appealing enough to me. MC is a bit of a whiny bitch though.
Seen this concept enough in anime and I always always like it and I'm feeling I'm going to like this one too.
Bubuki Buranki - 01
CGI style doesn't actually bother me because the designs of the show are appealing enough to me. MC is a bit of a whiny bitch though.
Dedication Through Light
Member
Why CR also simulcasting it 2 days after jpn for north african and middle easterners?
You photoshopped this, didn't ya?
Both the Sentai (region A) and Victor (region free) releases of Ninja Scroll have English and Japanese language options. Don't think Victor's release includes subtitles, though.
I would never make Nozomi Boston.
veloxStrix
Banned
Let's pour one out for all the dango we had to leave behind. ;-;
Son, you'd best check yourself. Some things are just one step too far.
Son, you'd best check yourself. Some things are just one step too far.
The colors kind of match, and lol at the Majikoi character for the Leafs.
John Blade
Member
Hmm....I check my Blu-ray copy and it did say it have both Eng and Jap audio with the eng sub with it. I wonder why I don't have it in this raw when I make a copy of it on MakeMKV...might try again to re extract it. Also, they is another version from Sentai. I am guessing that is a release of the same one I got.
Gate S2 01
Wasn't expecting the season to start off with violent rape. That's one way to make Pina's brother come off as an unlikable douchebag. Taking the senators to hide in the red light district doesn't seem that smart, but what do I know. Hope nothing bad happens during the earthquake.
Wasn't expecting the season to start off with violent rape. That's one way to make Pina's brother come off as an unlikable douchebag. Taking the senators to hide in the red light district doesn't seem that smart, but what do I know. Hope nothing bad happens during the earthquake.
Ah, Melonpan never ceased to amaze me. I still can't believe how he did it. Like, working and all and still being like this.
It never really seemed much different to manufactured pop acts I grew up with and saw right from the 80s till now. I guess one difference is western examples tend to break out at a certain age (Kylie Minogue, Britney and others being examples) and go off into their own thing. I get the impression that doesn't happen so much in Japan.
ShinRPGamer
Member
So making Nui Vancouver is to indicate where my hatred goes then? Good to know.
im such a sad canucks fan
Hellwarden
Member
So, I was betting that Divine Gate would be the worst show of the season.
But then I saw Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut.
"The story of the light novel series revolves around Lux, a former prince of an empire named Arcadia that was overthrown via a rebellion five years earlier. Lux accidentally trespasses in a female dormitory's bathing area, sees the kingdom's new princess Lisesharte naked, and incurs her wrath. Lisesharte then challenges Lux to a Drag-Ride duel. Drag-Rides are ancient armored mechanical weapons that have been excavated from ruins all around the world. Lux used to be called the strongest Drag-Knight, but now he's known as the "undefeated weakest" Drag-Knight because he will absolutely not attack in battle. After his duel with Lisesharte, Lux ends up attending the female-only academy that trains royals to be Drag-Knights."
We got a contender boys and girls.
But then I saw Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut.
"The story of the light novel series revolves around Lux, a former prince of an empire named Arcadia that was overthrown via a rebellion five years earlier. Lux accidentally trespasses in a female dormitory's bathing area, sees the kingdom's new princess Lisesharte naked, and incurs her wrath. Lisesharte then challenges Lux to a Drag-Ride duel. Drag-Rides are ancient armored mechanical weapons that have been excavated from ruins all around the world. Lux used to be called the strongest Drag-Knight, but now he's known as the "undefeated weakest" Drag-Knight because he will absolutely not attack in battle. After his duel with Lisesharte, Lux ends up attending the female-only academy that trains royals to be Drag-Knights."
We got a contender boys and girls.
Well I wasn't. Its somewhat important to that whole arc. Though I wonder how they will fit it all into the anime alongside the existing dragon story.
So, I was betting that Divine Gate would be the worst show of the season.
But then I saw Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut.
"The story of the light novel series revolves around Lux, a former prince of an empire named Arcadia that was overthrown via a rebellion five years earlier. Lux accidentally trespasses in a female dormitory's bathing area, sees the kingdom's new princess Lisesharte naked, and incurs her wrath. Lisesharte then challenges Lux to a Drag-Ride duel. Drag-Rides are ancient armored mechanical weapons that have been excavated from ruins all around the world. Lux used to be called the strongest Drag-Knight, but now he's known as the "undefeated weakest" Drag-Knight because he will absolutely not attack in battle. After his duel with Lisesharte, Lux ends up attending the female-only academy that trains royals to be Drag-Knights."
We got a contender boys and girls.
This sounds so fucking random.
veloxStrix
Banned
It's strange that there are already so many shows that could be AotY already.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
So I don't really know anything about the lives of actual musicians, but I just want to believe like Oasis and Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins and the other 90s groups I followed were genuine acts in some way. Same with all the older classic rock groups, but maybe that's incredibly naive.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
The over-use of Drag made me wish that there was an anime version of Ru Paul's Drag Race.So, I was betting that Divine Gate would be the worst show of the season.
But then I saw Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut.
"The story of the light novel series revolves around Lux, a former prince of an empire named Arcadia that was overthrown via a rebellion five years earlier. Lux accidentally trespasses in a female dormitory's bathing area, sees the kingdom's new princess Lisesharte naked, and incurs her wrath. Lisesharte then challenges Lux to a Drag-Ride duel. Drag-Rides are ancient armored mechanical weapons that have been excavated from ruins all around the world. Lux used to be called the strongest Drag-Knight, but now he's known as the "undefeated weakest" Drag-Knight because he will absolutely not attack in battle. After his duel with Lisesharte, Lux ends up attending the female-only academy that trains royals to be Drag-Knights."
We got a contender boys and girls.
Ah yes. I remember reading that description. Despair followed and I promptly tried to fuggeddaboudit.
Well, if we have 12 episodes like in S1 and this one covered chapters 30 and 31, they have 11 episodes to do the material up to chapter 46 which would likely be the cutoff for this season, for obvious reasons. The next episode could easily cover the stuff up to chap 34.
Sounds familiar. does the princess have red hair by any chance?
KharmaPolice
Member
They couldn't squeeze more LN tropes into that if they tried.
Me too...I imagined rock being more real with folks coming up through pubs/clubs whereas pop being more manufactured (be it boy bands or teenage girls).
Admiral Woofington
Member
The more I read it the more it Dragged on
Cornbread78
Member
How far are you into it?
There were things about Clannad I wanted to like, but honestly, I mostly found the show really manipulative. The late parts of After Story are somewhat of an exception to that.
I watched the show just recently over the course of the last few months, if you're curious about my impressions.
veloxStrix
Banned
I've seen them both before. I'm rewatching the original for whatever reason.
Off topic, but this is the most fantastic instant ramen I've ever made.
Those groups were mostly genuine, but Japanese idol groups are more likely to follow the model of 90s acts like Backstreet Boys, where a group of talented individuals are scouted, assembled by a producer, and fed songs produced by teams of song writers in order to generate money.
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Episode 1:
I have finally had time to watch this since it is 50 minutes long and yea this has been the best debut I have seen this season. Not that is a high bar currently but this is a legitimately interesting show about an art-form I knew nothing about previously. I shall keep watching for the time being.
I have finally had time to watch this since it is 50 minutes long and yea this has been the best debut I have seen this season. Not that is a high bar currently but this is a legitimately interesting show about an art-form I knew nothing about previously. I shall keep watching for the time being.
Turin Turambar
Member
HAIKYU!! S2 14
Nice new opening.
And the episode was pretty hype with all the good teams in there.
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 1
Original idea, interesting execution, layered in characterization, well acted. Brave in places, I liked how they didn't made super brief the MC's rakugo in fear viewers would be bored, but it was substantial and gave a good idea of the art.
A pleasure.
Nice new opening.
And the episode was pretty hype with all the good teams in there.
Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu 1
Original idea, interesting execution, layered in characterization, well acted. Brave in places, I liked how they didn't made super brief the MC's rakugo in fear viewers would be bored, but it was substantial and gave a good idea of the art.
A pleasure.
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