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Winter Anime 2016 |OT| Celebrating the New Year and PSO2's release in the west!

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J

Just T

Member
Dagashi Kashi- 1

That was entertaining, Hotaru is quite eccentric.

Konosuba -1

This was surprisingly good and humorous. Kazuma and Aqua have a good chemistry, wonder how well the remaining characters will fit in.

Snow White with the Red Hair S2- 1

Relaxing episode for the most part; seems like a little bit of trouble may be coming up but it probably won’t last.

Now only a few more first episodes to check out plus the last two episodes of Towa no Quon.
 
M

mdubs

Banned
Haruchika 2

I don't like this show. The characters aside from Chika are all unlikeable, especially Haruta who comes off as a prick for most of the episode
 
S

sonicmj1

Member
Basileus777 said:
That's kind of a strange comparison. Konosuba is a straight parody of otaku reincarnation stories.
Click to expand...

I guess it was that they were both otaku reincarnation stories, they both have a lot of comedy, and there's some kind of mean-spirited humor. But watching it now, I can see it's not a very good fit.

Kono Subarashi Sekai Ni Syufuku Wo! 1

Well, going by my "male protagonist, twice as many female characters" rule I outlined earlier in the thread, this show should suck. And certainly, the premise writeup left me baffled as to why Cornbread seemed so enamored with it. But perhaps that isn't entirely fair.

The episode definitely twists some of the tropes of these kinds of stories on their head (starting with the protagonist's death), but I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable calling it full-on parody. It's still hitting most of the same beats, just in a slightly different way. It certainly isn't shy about the male gaze or generous female character designs, which are more than happy to show off Aqua's butt or the adventurer guild registrar's ample cleavage.

A lot of the humor feels very 4-koma in its repeated use of "conversation, goofball says something dumb, reaction face" jokes. I wasn't crazy about most of that stuff, but I did really like the progression of the montage at the end. It was great seeing them get all caught up in their construction jobs. That montage also felt the most lively, which was a good change from the show's general ugliness. The characters often looked pretty... "off" in most situations. Even the reactions sometimes were kind of limp.

I don't necessarily agree with the ANN impressions of the episode, but there's definitely a lot of spurned-geek misogyny coming from Kazuma in the early going. To borrow a screenshot and echo a point from the show's OT:

R20ZxmW.png

"Bitch" in Japanese pretty much always has the meaning of "slut", of sexual promiscuity. Kazuma certainly has plenty of reason to feel insulted by Aqua, but it's telling that this is the first specific comeback he uses. He doesn't exactly have a lot of evidence for it, which makes it seem like that's just how he sees most girls.

I don't know if I'll actually stick with this. It was nice that they were getting along better by the end, but I just don't think it's really what I want. I'll probably just use the downtime in this season to watch Mushishi instead, like I pledged to do a year ago.
 
H

Hellwarden

Member
Haruchika Episode 2

This episode had a big problem. While the main characters are somewhat enjoyable to watch, they're kind of assholes.

They want someone to join their club, so they can compete. They find someone who is clearly skilled, but she suffered a pretty traumatic event and doesn't want to play anymore.

Now likable protagonists might not ignore the trauma, but they wouldn't butt into the poor girl's life when she clearly doesn't want to be bothered, and practically force her to overcome the trauma. Just so they can have her on the band.
They're not doing it to help her or anything.
They're just helping her to pad out what they want. And no one calls them on it.

Also the puzzle is the most obtuse shit you'll ever see. There's no way a viewer could predict the answer, so it's not enjoyable as a puzzle.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Hellwarden said:
Haruchika Episode 2
Also the puzzle is the most obtuse shit you'll ever see. There's no way a viewer could predict the answer, so it's not enjoyable as a puzzle.
Click to expand...

Apparently I'm a genius then because I figured out that there was a hidden message under it once they talked about the smell and odd paint.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Hellwarden said:
Did you guess the part about painting over the Rubik's Cube? Because that's the actual puzzle.
Click to expand...

That's just the first step. And that wasn't particularly hard to grasp either considering how unsubtle the episode was with its themes.

I wouldn't call it a good mystery, but it was hardly impossible to solve.
 
Mr Nash

Mr Nash

square pies = communism
Phantasy Star Online 2 Ep. 1

Decided to watch this to see just how bad it was. It could shape up to be quite the unintentionally funny show if it plays its cards right.
 
C

Chindogg

Member
sonicmj1 said:
"Bitch" in Japanese pretty much always has the meaning of "slut", of sexual promiscuity. Kazuma certainly has plenty of reason to feel insulted by Aqua, but it's telling that this is the first specific comeback he uses. He doesn't exactly have a lot of evidence for it, which makes it seem like that's just how he sees most girls.
Click to expand...

It seemed more like an incredibly derogatory term considering she insulted him pretty much since they met. After watching Assassination Classroom where one of the teachers is nicknamed 'Sensei Bitch' I never really considered that 'bitch' would strictly be seen as 'slut' but more of a really crude insult (much like how 'cunt' is used casually in Australia and Ireland for idiot but is considered incredibly misogynistic in the UK and US.)

It's too early to tell what his character's like but I found the assumption interesting and worth discussing.
 
H

Hellwarden

Member
Basileus777 said:
That's just the first step. And that wasn't particularly hard to grasp either considering how unsubtle the episode was with its themes.

I wouldn't call it a good mystery, but it was hardly impossible to solve.
Click to expand...

But think about the puzzle itself. Miyo went a full year without solving it. And really she never did. Because solving it would mean destroying part of the puzzle itself. Something that even a year after his death, she couldn't bear to see. In other words, her little brother either didn't know her very well, or just assumed that someone would come along and help her. (That assumption is dumb in of itself.)

Now if Miyo, the person closest to the creator of the puzzle, wouldn't think of that why would I? Why would anyone? How many puzzles typically involve destroying part of it to get the answer?
 
T

TUSR

Banned
Ph
antom
World 2

Reina has healing power through drool.
Main character (name is..?) can now summon.

mai gets ???
 
S

sonicmj1

Member
Chindogg said:
It seemed more like an incredibly derogatory term considering she insulted him pretty much since they met. After watching Assassination Classroom where one of the teachers is nicknamed 'Sensei Bitch' I never really considered that 'bitch' would strictly be seen as 'slut' but more of a really crude insult (much like how 'cunt' is used casually in Australia and Ireland for idiot but is considered incredibly misogynistic in the UK and US.)
Click to expand...

I haven't watched Assassination Classroom, but my quick search suggests that Bitch-Sensei is a hitwoman who uses seduction to bring down her target's guard. So it seems like the shoe fits.

Obviously it's a derogatory term, because he's trying to insult her back after she insulted him by calling him a shut-in NEET. I'm just pointing out that he's trying to be derogatory by calling her a slut. I'm not pulling this definition from thin air; it's pretty accurate in my experience.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Hellwarden said:
But think about the puzzle itself. Miyo went a full year without solving it. And really she never did. Because solving it would mean destroying part of the puzzle itself. Something that even a year after his death, she couldn't bear to see. In other words, her little brother either didn't know her very well, or just assumed that someone would come along and help her. (That assumption is dumb in of itself.)

Now if Miyo, the person closest to the creator of the puzzle, wouldn't think of that why would I? Why would anyone? How many puzzles typically involve destroying part of it to get the answer?
Click to expand...

You're talking about a character in the show, not the audience. Obviously she was written in a way so that the protagonists would unveil the mystery and deliver its message to her.

But what else would you do with a colorless rubik's cube once you find hints that there is a message hidden inside and something funny going on with how it is painted?
 
D

duckroll

Member
"Bitch" in Japanese is absolutely the equivalent of "slut" or "whore" in English. It's an insult, but it's an insult with a meaning attached. Like, you can argue that when someone calls another person a "whore" in English, they don't always mean literally that the person is sells sexual services, but the implication is that selling sexual services is degrading and socially unaccepted and hence it makes for an insult. Regardless of specific intent, words still have meanings.
 
H

Hellwarden

Member
Basileus777 said:
You're talking about a character in the show, not the audience. Obviously she was written in a way so that the protagonists would unveil the mystery and deliver its message to her.

But what else would you do with a colorless rubik's cube once you find hints that there is a message hidden inside and something funny going on with how it is painted?
Click to expand...

I don't think I would jump right to painting it. That's a huge assumption, especially since I could potentially destroy the message inside it.

Part of a good mystery/puzzle is figuring it out with the characters. This is why I can't consider it a good puzzle. I don't feel like the average person would follow the same path Haruta did.

It feels like the whole scene was written for drama instead of logic. It's all based on this murky emotional footing.

On a side note, I especially wouldn't do it without asking Miyo first, since I could be totally fucking wrong.
 
M

Maximilian Kolbe

Member
Jarmel said:
The orcs are coming.
Click to expand...

Well if the adaption speed is fast enough you will get what you want.
In LN volume 3 Orcs army attacked the city and then human army strike back to Orcs castle, it's a siege battle volume.

Russ T said:
Okay this makes me instantly more interested.

Hearing this makes me really hope the dumb light novel conversations in the first episode are setup that way as a stark contrast to what happens later. I really do believe there's... soemthing. Beneath all that bullshit, there's an interesting premise. If that's the road they're taking, I'm all for it. It's just a shame the first episode had to be so offputting.

Of course, what I really suspect will happen is it'll be GRIMDARK, not just dark, and it'll continue to have shitty pandering camera angles and costume designs.

But I'll keep watching anyway.
Click to expand...

Won't say it's grimdark level(still pretty dark), but yeah it's not fantasy Non Non Biyori.
Btw before shit got real, i remember there should be one more fan service part according to LN, but that's the last time boys in the team have something can enjoy.
Though the anime already changed changed some scene or moved some scene earlier to make the plot faster than LN(the LN really have so many talks, if the anime just 1:1 follow, we won't even see any actions in first episode), so not sure will it be episode 2(normally should be in episode 2 according to current adaption speed).
 
D

dimb

Bjergsen is the greatest midlane in the world
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo 01
UGEaeM4.jpg
Click to expand...
Worth watching for the everyday life montage. Just like...out of nowhere you get this sequence that's really visually dense and well constructed. Most of the other stuff was pretty boring really. A little too aimless. A little too lacking with world building. The characters were defined well but I dunno how much that means, because it doesn't feel like there's much to explore about them.

bonus
KirbYuuYuu said:
Reminds me of how much I loathe male characters for recent years of anime.
Click to expand...
Is this going to be a new thing here?
 
K

KirbYuuYuu

Member
dimb said:
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo 01

Worth watching for the everyday life montage. Just like...out of nowhere you get this sequence that's really visually dense and well constructed. Most of the other stuff was pretty boring really. A little too aimless. A little too lacking with world building. The characters were defined well but I dunno how much that means, because it doesn't feel like there's much to explore about them.

bonus

Is this going to be a new thing here?
Click to expand...

No.
 
C

Crash Station

Member
Konosuba 1

So it's like Yu Yu Hakusho if it was written by the dude that does No Game No Life.

Good humor, energy and a delicious catharsis factor that usually takes several episodes to show up if it ever does. This has a surprising amount of potential for an LN adaptation with a standard setting. Don't know if it can keep it up though.
 
C

Crash Station

Member
AquaWateria said:
So from what I hear of people who have read the source material of Grimgar is that it gets real dark.

So I believe the comfy tone from episode 1 isn't really what the series is about.
Click to expand...

Haven't been reading the thread as much since I'm on vacation, but ep 1 really didn't seem that comfy to me even if there wasn't anything particularly dark about the content. There's this sort of mysterious tone that implies something really sinister is going on.

The lack of music in some scenes, the way some scenes are framed in general; there's just something that feels off, even if it doesn't invoke the same level of skepticism as Madoka's first few episodes.
 
Theonik

Theonik

Member
John Blade said:
Having fun watching Dominion Tank Police of the 1st episode. My type of anime to watch.
Click to expand...
First couple of episodes are quite fun. Then it does really surreal. I still had fun with it though.
Also this manga/anime is the inspiration for the Metal Slug tank which I found really neat at the time.
 
Q

Quasar

Member
Konosuba 1 - aside from the trick and the montage I cant say I liked this. Just makes me want a S2 of 'pickup girls in a dungeon' more. Aqua reminded me a little of Elsie from 'world god only knows' with the pink cloudy scarf thing.
 
L

lazybones18

Banned
One Piece 405 broke me ;_;

Even seeing Robin, someone who I find incredibly boring and no fun at all, get taken out by Kuma was sad to watch. And that fucking montage came...and so did the tears
 
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