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[Saprol]

Polar Bear Cafe 06

A Rocky montage? :lol
I vaguely recall somebody on GAF with a Grizzly avatar.

 

[Chet Rippo]

The way she gets framed in some upcoming episodes it's really hard not to notice honestly. Even if she's the type to not draw any attention to them, the camera does.

I'll definitely notice it, since I'm pretty keen on spotting this sort of thing.

I really like this first picture. I seriously love Irisu's character design. <3

Honestly it was getting to the point that I was maybe just going to laugh if you ended up not liking her rather than getting upset.

Well I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch.

Also, to relate to the previous K-On discussion, K-On was otaku-famous for sure but it was legit normal people famous. You could go around and ask young people what K-On was and they'd know.

I don't think anyone was claiming it wasn't.

 

[Shergal]

DokiDoki Precure 01: (again)

Hey, you have another reader here!

Perhaps subsequent episodes will reveal that she's not as put-together as she appears to be, but as it stands, whatever grand realizations about hope and friendship that come to her in the face of hardship will feel hollow; a natural extension of her character as opposed to a result of growth and trial by fire.

While I agree with you that the first episode was horrible in terms of having a relatable and human MC, I think there's still the chance that it was just a fault of the first episode and there is still room to build on her character. They would not only need to do that, but reconstruct some things shown by this episode that were, well, too artificial and stupid (I mean, giving a :Touma speech to the crab? give me a break).

With the new villains so adverse to each others' presence and seeming so unwaveringly and dispassionately committed to evil as Mana is to good, I expect boring things. Also, they're hella ugly.

I have only seen HC, so that and the age demographic of the franchises are my only references when judging this Precure, but they don't really need to build on that on the first episode. HC's first episode only featured one of the three villains after all, there was no hint of this "camaraderie" that was developed to a great extent later in the show. I think the "selfish" theme works in detriment of this aspect; actually, I don't think it's a good theme for the villains at all.
And yes, they look horrible, but so does everything else in the show except for the ED.

Cure Sword still awesome, though. Now if only everyone's civilian alter egos weren't so boring...

I want to see her henshin sequence, the Cure Heart one was so bland it almost seems like a joke.

I don't know if I'll keep up with this show, because I don't care that much for the classic tropes of the genre, it's clearly not targeted at me, and the most interesting prospect for me (the sakuga) is very lacking. I'll probably tune in for the inevitable episodes where good action does happen, though.

 

[Mandoric]

I don't really think renting is really that large a threat to companies as you'd think. It's more that normal people are perfectly fine not owning shows and watching them on TVs. Having 10 complete series on the shelf you'll only watch once is an Otaku thing. Renting adds to it of course but it's not really any more harmful than Netflix is in the US.


It's not that simple for reasons stated above. You need to consider this in this way:
Say 1000 people watch a show. 100 are interested in actually owning it, at a certain price. 20 think it's too expensive. 80 buy it anyway. Now let's say we cut the price. Some of the 20 that thought it was too expensive will bite. Maybe some of the people that were not interested at all would be tempted. (though their reasons are more complicated than just price) but you may very well end up shifting more units while reducing your revenue substantially. There is an equilibrium to be reached there with regards to price and a lot of cyclical logic involved of course. Anime could probably afford to be cheaper but it really isn't that simple.

The shows that would shift more units at lower price points are the ones that can demand a premium. The shows that might be whim pickups bomb so hard out the gate that it's best to cut losses.

With the advent of digital most stuff is available on Bandai Channel or Animate.tv for a dabbler's price. The US continues to skate by in about the same market position as bullshit (well, manure) is to T-bones.

 

[kayos90]

It's ASCII for Z so he's kayosZ, clearly a Mazinger Z or Dragonball Z fan.

DON'T BE COY!

Spoiler

I wonder if you noticed I have been editing "Kayo~" into your quotes whenever quoting you

Ohhhhh. That comic. LOLOLOLOLOLOL. I knew what you were talking about. I was just playing around.

 

[SDBurton]

DokiDoki Precure 01: (again)

Once more now that I can understand more than 30% of the dialogue.

I don't want to jump to too many conclusions, but that was definitely the most non-starter first episode in modern Precure. Of course, there are only so many things that you can do with first episodes when they're all franchise reboots bound by a yoke of tradition and requiring that specific events happen and pieces of information be conveyed in order to reconstruct the foundation from which the standard Precure formula operates, but this opener failed in the most fundamental ways that it could have--it failed to introduce an endearing protagonist worthy of emotional investment, it failed to introduce an antagonist that can serve as an entertaining foil to the protagonist, and it failed to make the first transformation seem like something momentous for the protagonist and audience.

Aida Mana is a dull Mary Sue. The episode repeatedly and conspicuously depicts how perfect she is, genkily darting from student to student to effortlessly solve their problems as their student council president (barf). She goes out of her way to help lost children find their mothers, return pieces of dropped jewellery, and is the first in a crowd to rush to the aid of someone ill. All Precure protagonists have sunny dispositions and are generally do-gooders, but they're often also flawed, clumsy, or insecure to balance the fact that they're the embodiment of the virtues promulgated by the show. Mana, however, is perfect. Her face is frozen in a perma-smile that robotically spouts optimism and good will, she's universally respected by her peers, she's the role model of the multimillionaire oujosama Alice, and she doesn't even express the least bit of shock or bewilderment at the otherworldly events unfolding around her when the monster of the week runs amok and she comes into contact with the mascots for the first time. The lack of humanity that I felt from Mana might be partially attributable to the episode's boring direction--there was no humor, no reaction faces, no energy--but the fundamentals of her character are still damning.

Precure protagonists generally apply the high-minded ideals that their struggles force them to champion toward overcoming whatever hardships or personal deficits they face at the beginning of season, but what growth can we hope to see from Mana when she begins from a position of strength and perfection? Perhaps subsequent episodes will reveal that she's not as put-together as she appears to be, but as it stands, whatever grand realizations about hope and friendship that come to her in the face of hardship will feel hollow; a natural extension of her character as opposed to a result of growth and trial by fire. Smile was so great in part because the villains were constantly using the imperfections in the characters' lives to try and demoralize them--I don't see how something like that happens in DokiDoki.

The villains, the other major component of a first episode, don't particularly bode well either. With their theme for this season being "selfishness", Ira and Mammo are depicted as working only for themselves and are bothered when they interfere in each other's missions. Villain camaraderie is one of the things that make the good Precure series good, and anyone who has seen a few of the series can attest to how much life the Desert Messengers, Bad End Trio, and Labyrinth Trio added to their respective shows with depictions of how the bad guys interacted when "off the clock". Conversely, the "bad" Precures had villains that were either entirely perfunctory and devoid of character or in bitter competition with each other (Suite, Yes 5). With the new villains so adverse to each others' presence and seeming so unwaveringly and dispassionately committed to evil as Mana is to good, I expect boring things. Also, they're hella ugly.

The Jikochu monsters themselves, while not bad, become disappointing the second you realize that they're just incredibly watered-down Desertrians from Heartcatch. The prospect of having monsters that are born from the darkness of the human heart again was exciting, but when the first monster was summoned and apparently some guy wishing he could cut in a really fucking long line was apparently EEEEEVIL enough to facilitate this, I facepalmed because you would pretty much have to be a saint to take issue with something so innocuous. This was made even worse because the guy actually realized that he was thinking bad thoughts and reneged on his temptation, but the villain enters his head by force, makes him re-think the thought, and explodes the darkness in his heart anyway. This is so much less refined than Heartcatch's approach where the villains generally just sat back and let people dig their own graves with their negative thoughts rather than forcing negativity onto them. I really hope that the show doesn't moralize to such a ridiculous degree because "selfishness" is a concept that theoretically has enough applications to create a season's worth of moral quandaries that can be explored in the surprisingly mature way that Heartcatch did. I'm really hoping that we're not stuck with some babby-tier Goofus and Gallant shit.

Only Regulus is going to read this awful wall of text so I guess I'll just stop here :lol I think I made my pessimism pretty clear long ago, so I don't want to get to the point where I'm repeating myself ad nauseum. Obviously I don't think that DokiDoki is doomed yet, but when the first episode is pretty much a perfect accumulation of the traits that have dragged down various entries in the franchise, it's reason for concern.

Cure Sword still awesome, though. Now if only everyone's civilian alter egos weren't so boring...

Fucking fantastic post. Among the many things you've listed, I'm glad you pointed out the lack of teamwork and unity from the villains as that was one of the many things that saddened me with this pilot.

 

[Jim E. Rossler]

Is that 'who is kayos90' thing a joke?
He's practically GIVING out his info

Spoiler

July 23

 

[cajunator]

I read affordable as adorable. FAIL.

Maybe thats what I meant!

Mondaiji Somebody Give me a Nickname for This Show 1



This first episode was REALLY fun to watch. Izayoi is Gary Stu but likable, Asuka and You are cute, and I want to have my way with Kurousagi because man is she a beauty. This will be my kemonomimi fix until Dog Days S3 airs I guess.

Yes, she is. KuroUsagi is AMAZING.

 

[kayos90]

Is that 'who is kayos90' thing a joke?
He's practically GIVING out his info

Spoiler

July 23

? Trying to figure out where you're getting this info.

 

[R_thanatos]

QUEEN BLADE REBELLION TV - 03
in this episode , the main character find herself in the middle of a tribe of amazoness with one with a very perverted dual personality that want to play ...

Animation is still very good ... i'm still very surprised when they get this kind of animation for such a silly thing.

Oh course , nobody is gonna open this temple when you need 7 hands to open the door !!

I guess you don't need "destroying clothes" gimmick when you have a dancer fighting almost naked in this episode.

 

[PorcellainThrill]

Am I that predictable?

I read it too, it all was very sadpierrot.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I don't really think renting is really that large a threat to companies as you'd think. It's more that normal people are perfectly fine not owning shows and watching them on TVs. Having 10 complete series on the shelf you'll only watch once is an Otaku thing. Renting adds to it of course but it's not really any more harmful than Netflix is in the US.


It's not that simple for reasons stated above. You need to consider this in this way:
Say 1000 people watch a show. 100 are interested in actually owning it, at a certain price. 20 think it's too expensive. 80 buy it anyway. Now let's say we cut the price. Some of the 20 that thought it was too expensive will bite. Maybe some of the people that were not interested at all would be tempted. (though their reasons are more complicated than just price) but you may very well end up shifting more units while reducing your revenue substantially. There is an equilibrium to be reached there with regards to price and a lot of cyclical logic involved of course. Anime could probably afford to be cheaper but it really isn't that simple.

Hasnt renting been extremely detrimental to the market in the us? Why else did companies introduce those 30, 60, exclusivity windows to renting to netflix, redbox, blockbuster, etx?

 

[Theonik]

The shows that would shift more units at lower price points are the ones that can demand a premium. The shows that might be whim pickups bomb so hard out the gate that it's best to cut losses.

Pretty much.

With the advent of digital most stuff is available on Bandai Channel or Animate.tv for a dabbler's price. The US continues to skate by in about the same market position as bullshit (well, manure) is to T-bones.

Yeah I mean you can get Jojo for something like 200JPY per episode digitally for a 3 day rent iirc.

Ohhhhh. That comic. LOLOLOLOLOLOL. I knew what you were talking about. I was just playing around.

Confirmation that :kayos is just a plot for gaining attention. Engagement with duckroll cancelled.

Hasnt renting been extremely detrimental to the market in the us? Why else did companies introduce those 30, 60, exclusivity windows to renting to netflix, redbox, blockbuster, etx?

Because they can. But my point wasn't that it doesn't affect them at all, it's that renting isn't a Japan only factor.

 

[zeroshiki]

I don't know about rental numbers but otaku buy anime for reasons other than watching them. In that sense, pricepoint is meaningless.

 

[ZachDeKoromaru]

Mondaiji OH YEEEEEEEEEEEEES 2

JUDGEMENT DESU NO

I fucking love this show. I just want more of it even though I know only a couple more episodes are out.

 

[dimb]

? Trying to figure out where you're getting this info.

The internet. What a difficult tool to use.

 

[Erigu]

Hubris.

What about the other members though?

 

[madp]

Hey, you have another reader here!

Success!

While I agree with you that the first episode was horrible in terms of having a relatable and human MC, I think there's still the chance that it was just a fault of the first episode and there is still room to build on her character. They would not only need to do that, but reconstruct some things shown by this episode that were, well, too artificial and stupid (I mean, giving a :Touma speech to the crab? give me a break).

Yeah, I forgot to mention Mana's speech to the Jikochu. I mean, come on, scolding the monster for its behavior? That would have had the chance to be funny but in the context of what we already knew about Mana's perfect goody-two-shows personality, it just kind of dug that hole a little deeper for her.

I haven't given up on Mana either, but that was a whole hell of a lot of Mary Sue in one episode and you're right that they'd have to completely ignore the character establishment that occurred in this episode to make any sort of further depth to her character believable. I'm really hoping that she's a different person privately than she is publicly, or she's going to be dull at best and insufferable at worst.

I have only seen HC, so that and the age demographic of the franchises are my only references when judging this Precure, but they don't really need to build on that on the first episode. HC's first episode only featured one of the three villains after all, there was no hint of this "camaraderie" that was developed to a great extent later in the show. I think the "selfish" theme works in detriment of this aspect; actually, I don't think it's a good theme for the villains at all.
And yes, they look horrible, but so does everything else in the show except for the ED.

I wouldn't have brought up the villain camaraderie thing at all had there not already been interaction between two villains in this episode. The fact that they appear to pretty much hate each other from the start bodes ill for the kind of fun villain interaction that fans eat up.

The "selfishness" theme is just fine, however past series haven't had a need for the villains to necessarily incorporate the nature of their malevolent objective into their own personalities. In Fresh, for instance, the villains' objective was to erase free will from the world, but in their spare time they all just hung out in their hideout exercising and reading and other mundane stuff like they were roommates. A disconnect between what the villains are trying to achieve and who they are as people is a series staple.

I want to see her henshin sequence, the Cure Heart one was so bland it almost seems like a joke.

I'm torn on Cure Heart's henshin. It's kind of a mess and it has the perennial Precure problem of excessive closeups, but I'm a sucker for really thick line art and the transformation is good for that, at least.

I don't know if I'll keep up with this show, because I don't care that much for the classic tropes of the genre, it's clearly not targeted at me, and the most interesting prospects for me (the sakuga) is very lacking. I'll probably tune in for the inevitable episodes where good action does happen, though.

Yeah, this is a Precure for the hardcore fans that watch regardless of quality and doesn't have much to offer for anyone else at this point. You can be assured that I'll keep the thread updated in the event of sakuga episodes or directorial tours de force, so no point in putting yourself through this.

 

[Mature]

Is that 'who is kayos90' thing a joke?
He's practically GIVING out his info

Spoiler

July 23

His one weakness. Research.

 

[dimb]

What about the other members though?

From the very beginning they placed all the responsibility on Oreki to solve the problem.

 

[Tomat]

His one weakness. Research.

TYPICAL GAME JOURNALIST

 

[madp]

I think I also know either kayos' first or last name thanks to IRC. Out of politeness, I won't mention it here.

 

[wonzo]

TYPICAL GAME JOURNALIST

bubububut the gamefaqs award

 

[cajunator]

Mondaiji OH YEEEEEEEEEEEEES 2



I fucking love this show. I just want more of it even though I know only a couple more episodes are out.

Isn't it lovely?
SO lovely.

 

[zeroshiki]

What is this about the Animation Academy Awards being held in LA?

The otaku are snickering about how Hayao Miyazaki lost out on a screenwriting award but the AKB48 producer won for best OST (He wrote the song Sugar Rush for Wreck it Ralph).

 

[SDBurton]

bubububut the gamefaqs award

I was about to say something related to this but looks like I don't need to!

 

[Narag]

TYPICAL GAME JOURNALIST

Why research when you can get paid and have company PR give you all the facts you need?

 

[Mitsuho]

There a a vocaloid song for everything, eh.

 

[R_thanatos]

QUEEN BLADE REBELLION TV - 04
Since episode 1 i'm actually watching this with headphones ....those who have seen this season might know why .. QB was always borderline but this season they went out of their way to provide the best perverted sound effects they could.
You can't reach this result by luck ..

Well in this episode the headphones were even more needed than ever because mirri is clearly the most high pitched voice i've heard in a while..
She was totally "Pyrrah"-mode ( those who have played soul calibur know how she is ).
Heck she has a sword and a shield too !

Nothing's going on ..she is just apologising like crazy for beating you.

GOMENASAI - SUMIMASEN - GOMENASAI - SUMIMASEN - GOMENASAI - SUMIMASEN

Seriously , shut up and fight ..

This is seriously the worst design for a weapon in years.
What's the point of a invincible defense , if you can't travel 2 metters without climaxing like crazy ?

 

[dakkumauji]

There a a vocaloid song for everything, eh.

But, shipping the Vocaloid boys? ehhhh....

 

[wonzo]

Inferno Cop Fact File 6

The mystery to what killed off the dinosaurs has finally been answered.

 

[PsionBolt]

DokiDoki Precure 01: (again)
Aida Mana is a dull Mary Sue.

Only Regulus is going to read this awful wall of text so I guess I'll just stop here :lol

Yeah, I forgot to mention Mana's speech to the Jikochu. I mean, come on, scolding the monster for its behavior? That would have had the chance to be funny but in the context of what we already knew about Mana's perfect goody-two-shows personality, it just kind of dug that hole a little deeper for her.

I haven't given up on Mana either, but that was a whole hell of a lot of Mary Sue in one episode and you're right that they'd have to completely ignore the character establishment that occurred in this episode to make any sort of further depth to her character believable. I'm really hoping that she's a different person privately than she is publicly, or she's going to be dull at best and insufferable at worst.

As the apparently last remaining Dokidoki hype train passenger, I'm obligated to read all related posts!

As much as I love her, Mana is certainly Mary Sue-ing it up in this episode. In fact, I think you left out her most ridiculous feats! Anyone can find a lost purse - most people can't

Spoiler

run up a hundred flights of stairs in under a minute, jump at least four meters straight up to get through that hole in the roof, or take a blow that knocks them flying ten meters into a metal railing and just dust themselves off. She's a goddamn cyborg.

In other words, her costume design isn't the only way in which she resembles Decade - the seemingly-perfect unbeatable MC is a staple of Kamen Rider. Other than Decade, older riders like Kabuto, Kuuga, and No. 2 come to mind as well. In every case, though, these characters don't end up boring or without flaws or conflicts - it just takes a fair few episodes.

Basically, between her Rider No. 1 henshin pose, her Decade costume, and so on, I just can't help but think of her as a Kamen Rider protagonist rather than a Precure one. (The whole episode and series has a pretty Kamen Rider feel, what with Cure Blade and all.) So that gives me a bit more faith in her development than I would have in a regular Precure character.
Admittedly, that is just empty faith as of yet - we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Theonik]

Dirty Pair 08

What's old is new once more, it's the pivot of fashion so in the future the 80s will make a huge comeback

This is a classy 80s anime. Pretty awesome episode with nice gags, nice gunfights! Also

Spoiler

That friend story was kinda sad. Even after being turned into a bio-computer he remembered his promise.

Well I guess SDBurton can pack his things now. Or not.

 

[fertygo]

Who damn care about Mary Sue in Precure?

All of them is, Zeus.

 

[Regulus Tera]

So instead of ToonamiGAF we get TokuGAF crossover now?

 

[kayos90]

bubububut the gamefaqs award

Thanks.... You know I just put those up there whenever I feel like writing something and I don't get an assignment for it. Right?

 

[Mitsuho]

Anohana 7-11 (End)

Now I'm crying too... even though it ended predictably. Everyone got some resolution.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Anohana 7-11 (End)

Now I'm crying too... even though it ended predictably. Everyone got some resolution.

If you liked Mari Okada's writing that much you should watch Black Rock Shooter next.

 

[zeroshiki]

or Fractale

or Lupin

or (serious answer) Hanasaku Iroha.

 

[firehawk12]

or Fractale

or Lupin

or (serious answer) Hanasaku Iroha.

Yes, the Tokyo Arc is great.

kininarimasu

Amazing.
Why don't the other girls just kill themselves like Kanna?

I thought their absence in that story was the actual flaw. The movie really should have expanded their roles even more. It's stupid how they only appear in stories that are directly related to them in some way.

After the story about Kagura's father, they don't seem to appear as just a police force in any of the big serious stories. In that specific case, there was a battle between two groups of "terrorists" over Edo's skies and a bunch of killings connected to them, and they didn't lift a finger... I was really hoping the movie would throw them in the final battle at least, and was disappointed that it just followed the tv show at that point.

If there's one problem with Gintama arcs is that the sense of scale is sometimes a bit off. The Four Devas arc suffers from the same problem... but there's really only so much you can do without spending 30 minutes reintroducing characters from the past just because they should be there.

DokiDoki Precure 01: (again)

Once more now that I can understand more than 30% of the dialogue.

I don't want to jump to too many conclusions, but that was definitely the most non-starter first episode in modern Precure. Of course, there are only so many things that you can do with first episodes when they're all franchise reboots bound by a yoke of tradition and requiring that specific events happen and pieces of information be conveyed in order to reconstruct the foundation from which the standard Precure formula operates, but this opener failed in the most fundamental ways that it could have--it failed to introduce an endearing protagonist worthy of emotional investment, it failed to introduce an antagonist that can serve as an entertaining foil to the protagonist, and it failed to make the first transformation seem like something momentous for the protagonist and audience.

Or, Doki Doki is shit. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. lol

 

[ZachDeKoromaru]

If you liked Mari Okada's writing that much you should watch Black Rock Shooter next.

I think enough people just recently have suffered enough.

 

[R_thanatos]

QUEENS BLADE REBELLION TV - 05

Even if they have a near perfect animation they are still lacking detail on some stand still scenes .. too bad.

I'm actually quite surprised they actually decided to move things forward .. so far this season has a nice pace to it.

So well i learned that some restaurants are shady and that you can find M-people in the most unexpected places.

I'm quite intrested in what plans the strategist has ( for real ) in store ..
Yes i'm intrested in QB plot ... got a problem with that ?

Typical question

After 5 episodes i'm liking this season of QB...but i'll need to stop for tonight..

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Alright, I think I'm going to finish Azumanga Daioh and Candy Boy tonight. Feeling the need to move on to some new things. Probably Arakawa Under the Bridge and Our Home's Fox Deity, though I'll probably check out an episode of the latter before committing to it just to be sure.

I don't want Candy Boy to end, though. ;_; Or Azumanga, for that matter.

 

[Theonik]

If you liked Mari Okada's writing that much you should watch Black Rock Shooter next.

Posts like this is why we have this reputation. And just as we got out of the School Days stigma too.

 

[Lee Chaolan]

Alright, I think I'm going to finish Azumanga Daioh and Candy Boy tonight. Feeling the need to move on to some new things. Probably Arakawa Under the Bridge and Our Home's Fox Deity, though I'll probably check out an episode of the latter before committing to it just to be sure.

I don't want Candy Boy to end, though. ;_; Or Azumanga, for that matter.

I ;__;'ed a bit at the end of Azumanga. Enjoy it!

Now that the super bowl is over, I can get my Idolm@ster on!

 

[Brazil]

Posts like this is why we have this reputation. And just as we got out of the School Days stigma too.

But we don't actually recommend BRS TV. We went out of our way to warn the last batch of sufferers and they still watched it.

 

[Lee Chaolan]

Arigatou.



Yukimura Kusunoki of Haganai.

Thanks I'll have to check it out.

I like characters named Yukimura. Sanada from Samurai Warriors is a favorite of mine ;D

 

[R_thanatos]

But we don't actually recommend BRS TV. We went out of our way to warn the last batch of sufferers and they still watched it.

i liked BRS TV . i won't recommand it to anyone but i still liked it

 

[ZachDeKoromaru]

But we don't actually recommend BRS TV. We went out of our way to warn the last batch of sufferers and they still watched it.

I only watched because it had Miyuki Sawashiro in it. What a mistake that turned out to be.

 

[madp]

Posts like this is why we have this reputation. And just as we got out of the School Days stigma too.

Nah, it's not a troll recommendation if someone likes Okada.