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[Haly]

One Week Friends 1:
What lies beyond the friendzone? The timezone!

 

[Link Man]

I just realized I missed a chance with Brynhildr:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway...

Yuyushiki 9

This was a fun episode. Group A and Group B are starting to intermingle. And man, the yuri vibes were strong with tomboy girl.

Oh, and this was cute:

Love the blushing.

 

[Chariot]

Oh wait. Issuukan friends.
She said, that she remembers family. So all he has to do is marry her or being her long lost sibling all along.

Spoiler

or both

 

[jgminto]

Oh wait. Issuukan friends.
She said, that she remembers family. So all he has to do is marry her or being her long lost sibling all along.

Spoiler

or both

Get adopted by her family.

 

[Gazoinks]

Oh wait. Issuukan friends.
She said, that she remembers family. So all he has to do is marry her or being her long lost sibling all along.

Spoiler

or both

Have to admit, I immediately thought this when she said that.

 

[Nothing1016]

Kanojo Flags Whatever Whatever 01

So dull. A series about a guy who can see flags is a great premise. This was a boring execution.

Lol thats what you say now. Stuff will get interesting if it follows that manga.

 

[Quasar]

Lol thats what you say now. Stuff will get interesting if it follows that manga.

Yeah. Though it seems a bit different so far from what I can remember. Or maybe they are just introducing characters more slowly.

 

[BGBW]

With webm does that mean I shouldn't even bother with puchimas gif of the day?

 

[sonicmj1]

With webm does that mean I shouldn't even bother with puchimas gif of the day?

You could just post a webm of the entire episode instead.

 

[Link Man]

You could just post a webm of the entire episode instead.

Hey now, that could be considered piracy.

 

[Articalys]

Here is the most important number you need to know: Madoka Rebellion sells 148,084 BD/DVDs in its opening week.

 

[PdotMichael]

Beating the K-On! movie in the first week. Sure, Madoka is the biggest thing in the post Eva world.

 

[Thoraxes]

Ryuuko's a girl, silly!

 

[Quasar]

So the aussie simulcast of Knights of Sidonia appears cancelled.

http://www.otakustudy.com/anime/2014/04/madman-entertainment-cancel-simulcast-plans-knights-sidonia/

Pressure from netflix so they can still claim to be first?

 

[Jintor]

Dunno. I got a very excited press email the day of the announcement, then a very terse 'it's not happening' email the day after (this morning).

I doubt Madman is happy about it.

 

[Defuser]

Kanojo ga Flag wo Oretara ep1

I've seen plenty of ridiculous school uniforms but this one takes the cake. Who in the right mind to designing such atrocious skirt? Totally going against the upper uniform, at least when designing a uniform, make sure both upper and lower uniforms compliment each other.

Other than that, a interesting concept for a show, since many years Otakus have been talking about the flag tropes and now there's a show which uses as flags part of the gimmick.

And I almost didn't recognize Kayano Ai's VAing. Too hyper and sweet for her usual roles which is almost irritating. Kinda remind me of Fuyuumi Ai from Oreshura except Fuyuumi Ai is fucking amazing.

 

[BGBW]

Hey now, that could be considered piracy.

I'll redub it with the sound of a kazoo all the way through.

 

[PshycoNinja]

I'll redub it with the sound of a kazoo all the way through.

Real mature BGBW.

 

[dimb]

I'll redub it with the sound of a kazoo all the way through.

magi_ost.mp3

 

[wonzo]

So the aussie simulcast of Knights of Sidonia appears cancelled.

http://www.otakustudy.com/anime/2014...ights-sidonia/

Pressure from netflix so they can still claim to be first?

Best to stop the early ep leaks before they even began.

 

[dimb]

pulling way ahead of the pack in the dumb name category for this season.

 

[Basileus777]

pulling way ahead of the pack in the dumb name category for this season.

MAL has her last name as Bladefield, that'd knock her even further ahead.

 

[dimb]

She pronounces it "Nanami Knighto Braidofieldo", so it's probably Bladefield.

 

[kiaaa]

She pronounces it "Nanami Knighto Braidofieldo", so it's probably Bladefield.

If they were going for accuracy, a foreigner wouldn't have trouble enunciating their L's. Then again, it's not like they try to portray accurate foreign languages/accents in anime very often.

 

[Theonik]

Kanojo ga Flag wo Oraretara 1

I believe I have discovered the worst show of the season, and I can't see anything but No Game No Life threatening that status. Mahouka wishes it could be this wretched.

A tsun flag if I ever saw one.

Ok, it's been about ten episodes into the show, so while I've been kicking around this post in my head since episode one there's less of a chance it'll blow up in my face now. Well, that and writing takes work and all.

Why you should be watching Happiness Charge Precure

Precure has been kicking around for a full decade now, largely as Toei's indefinitely recyclable vehicle to sell plastic shit to little girls, and for much of its lifetime it showed. Some series, like Heartcatch Precure in particular, took a few steps above simply going through the motions to achieve this end. Now that the show is celebrating its 10th anniversary, it's been taking such steps again, but to elaborate on how exactly takes going over what makes these kinds of shows tick in the first place.

http://i.imgur.com/nBnrle1.jpg
Yes, this sort of thing happens a lot.

Probably the most obvious thing you can say about these shows is that they are monster of the week shows, taking after the model established by Sailor Moon. A bad guy will show up then provide a monster for the magical girls of the show to fight in every episode. While this can be considered a formula, it's actually a rather sparse outline and there are many ways to tackle it. For example, Heartcatch Precure used a highly specific and rigid formula that it adhered to whenever the episode allowed for it. For many of its early episodes, the first act of the script was entirely devoted to setting up the following defined chain of events:

Each of these steps are followed, and exceptions were rare in that show, although as the show went on it allowed for more flexibility in the first act. The downfall of formula writing is redundancy, and when you're doing the same thing every episode and in the exact same way then you might as well be watching one episode and not twenty. Meanwhile, Happiness Charge has the following defined sequence:

As you may notice, this was pretty much the base outline that we started with! There have been episodes where the victim was developed through the plot of the episode, and episodes where the victim was some random person not even seen until maybe after the monster was defeated. There are also episodes where the bad guy has targeted interaction with the Precures, but also those where they bump into each other. The only specific entry is the addition of a fetchquest that gets updated. Leaving things this open offers the flow flexibility, and when a show gives itself opportunities to mix things up then it can turn formula writing into simply theme writing. Furthermore, when a show isn't tied down as strongly by this aspect, other parts can shine and the show benefits as a whole.

http://i.imgur.com/8u9odrO.jpg
Megumi showing awareness of the situation in not bothering to change before going outside.

Breaking such elements down, you have large-scale story or the overarching plot that drives the whole show, small-scale stories that drive each individual episode (and more important as a result), the monster fights, and the characters upon which everything is built. It's important to offer characters that have meaningful avenues for growth or interaction, as they provide small-scale plotlines and aid in making such stories entertaining. For example, Dokidoki Precure offered a main character who already had everything made and didn't really offer much in personality, so it was like playing an RPG on New Game + where you already have the puzzles figured out and you already have the experience and equipment to wipe out everything. Hime Shirayuki offers the polar opposite of this in Happiness Charge. She starts out the show as a failure of a Precure who hasn't won a single time, and is even stated as being responsible for why bad guys are running around in the first place. She also has severe social anxiety which offers natural story material when she pairs up with Megumi Aino, a girl who is highly friendly and outgoing. Megumi isn't perfect, though, as she's not really athletic or academically gifted while also being a bit clumsy and a goofball. Together with Hime's own eccentricities this provides natural material for character antics and the show capitalizes on it.

Another improvement upon past Precure shows are the mascot characters which includes Ribbon, who has a full personality and looks after Hime like Luna did with Usagi. This has been a particular sore point for Precure over the years, with them being used for transparent merchandise peddling and annoying verbal tics. The only verbal tic Ribbon has is speaking in a stereotypically feminine manner, while the other seen mascot speaks in a stereotypically masculine manner.

http://i.imgur.com/KengrgD.jpg
Precure activities aren't simply word of mouth.

http://i.imgur.com/jhkCEpl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/2pgC5Do.jpg
Phantom Empire with global ambitions

On the large-scale, Happiness Charge attempts something new by making the conflict global. In fact, the protagonists of the show aren't even the only team of Precure and their exploits are publicly known. The bad guys are also all personalities in their own right, and frequently exchange lines with the Precures to humorous effect. On the small-scale, Happiness Charge finally makes fetchquest items useful and turns them into disguise tools that also offer the innate abilities of the disguise worn. In effect, it's much like the kind of transformation used in classic magical girl shows like Minky Momo. Also of note is the introduction of Seiji, a young man who helps Megumi and Hime both as a friend and for their roles as Precure. This in particular brings up an issue of romantic interest between Seiji and Megumi which apparently touches on issues relevant to the overall plot. Otherwise, you have well executed character interaction and development. Perhaps most strikingly, each episode thus far has been entertaining as the result of this.

http://i.imgur.com/YIZfHhW.jpg
This is an invitation to improvise!

http://i.imgur.com/1CjYwiS.jpg
Why use magic when baddies work just as well?

As I touched on previously, fights in this show are loosely defined in set up, but are also fairly freeform in execution as well. While it has yet to reach the level of Heartcatch Precure's episodes involving Dark Precure, it stays well above the norm by keeping things energetic and fresh. The stock footage is also well done, and is among the better stock in any magical girl show. While it's in the best interest of the studio to draw things out so that less needs to be done elsewhere, overlong stock footage makes an episode drag and sucks away the energy from an episode. Happiness Charge strikes a good balance here in being able to consume time without letting it feel overlong. The step-by-step progression of the transformation sequences, linked below, is also purposeful and provides impact, and past failings in camera use are not present. Of course, there's also the music, where strings, brass accents, and vocals are employed much like in Sailor Moon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC-9yuBy688
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRJaxxFsE04

Overall, Happiness Charge Precure has shown itself willing from episode one to remain unburdened by all of the things that would hold this kind of show back. Directed by the same person who previously directed Heartcatch Precure, considered the best by many, it's evident that lessons were learned from Heartcatch and are being employed here. Every instance where something would be otherwise be staid ritual is considered open for modification as an episode may demand it and small humorous touches are everywhere. More than anything else, though, is the sign of ambition. Happiness Charge isn't content with doing things the way they've been done, and tries to offer a kind of Precure to be celebrated rather than dismissed as a safe marketing ploy. The only achilles heel so far is Toei Animation's ability to properly animate it, and art consistency has not been solid.

In short, this is on the way to being the best Precure show yet, and I've been hyped from the start because I noticed how it was setting itself up to succeed.

http://i.imgur.com/KgKlGU4.jpg
Actual postcard memory

Great post. I did say most of the things I wanted to say on IRC so I won't press too much!

 

[duckroll]

So the aussie simulcast of Knights of Sidonia appears cancelled.

http://www.otakustudy.com/anime/2014/04/madman-entertainment-cancel-simulcast-plans-knights-sidonia/

Pressure from netflix so they can still claim to be first?

Ouch. Sucks for them.

 

[Narag]

Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher

This was a little more amusing than it probably should have been given it was mostly gratuitous Punisher fan service. It had all the bizarre charm of an old Marvel Team-Up comic with some good action and a story dumb enough for anime. Good stuff for an old school Marvel fan what with the various cameos too. One weird thing was the English track seemed to have a bit more dialogue too for whatever reason, either English viewers are dumb or extended silent stretches were a no-no. Also the number of reasons they found to give the Punisher & Black Widow reason to fistfight was pretty funny.

On the anime side of things, and even though he had nothing to do with this, it felt like Kawajiri-lite. Action heavy, male lead forced into the conflict, rather violent, etc. Biggest difference here is the female lead never ended up helpless!

Marvel comic fans might dig as well as someone looking for a light action fix but I'm not going to pretend this is all that good.

Preview of the sequel: Punisher & Puppy

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Beating the K-On! movie in the first week. Sure, Madoka is the biggest thing in the post Eva world.

Funny, many people call it the Eva of magical girl shows.

 

[Shard]

Funny, many people call it the Eva of magical girl shows.

These people are not wrong.

 

[Chariot]

These people are not wrong.

These people are LTTP. Madoka is not the first and certainly not the only dark magical show with twists. Princess Tutu and My-Hime for example.

 

[BGBW]

Or Magical Witch Punie-chan.

 

[Hitokage]

These people are LTTP. Madoka is not the first and certainly not the only dark magical show with twists. Princess Tutu and My-Hime for example.

PGSM has heavy Space Runaway Ideon influence just like Eva.

Or Magical Witch Punie-chan.

Which is similar to the royalty sub-plot in Magical Play.

 

[cajunator]

Or Magical Witch Punie-chan.

This ova is HILARIOUS. Highly recommended.

 

[Acosta]

The entire Human race is a worthless sack of shit in Attack on Titan, but ESPECIALLY Eren Jaeger. Holy fuck what is even the point of this piece of shit? To cry and bitch until Mikasa bails him out? AGAIN? Fuck off, Eren. You're nearly as bad as the pacing of the hellspawned show that shat you out..

Is Eren that bad? I didn't find it this way, he looked quite human to me. After all he has good reasons to feel traumatized

Spoiler

being a Titan without understanding what the hell is going on must be harsh, aside of the whole business of seeing his mother eaten alive

In the other side, your take on Kirito is flawless for me. "No track mind" it´s a perfect definition.

 

[Narag]

Is Eren that bad? I didn't find it this way, he looked quite human to me. After all he has good reasons to feel traumatized

Spoiler

being a Titan without understanding what the hell is going on must be harsh, aside of the whole business of seeing his mother eaten alive

In the other side, your take on Kirito is flawless for me. "No track mind" it´s a perfect definition.

The best thing that could have happend for AoT was

Spoiler

for Eren to stay dead and let Mikasa take over.

We'll discover the basement in the year of our El Cantare 2048.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Majin Bone Episode 2

Antonio is hilarious, we need more Brazilians in anime. Ive heard his voice before I just cant recognize where Fun episode especially since they keep the upper body suit scenes and what not for Shougo always seemed more intersting, entertaining, and pleasing then when they have them where suits underneath which doesnt usually make sense in the context of shows universes. Fantastic kick.

But poor Tyrone being affected already at ep2.

 

[Shard]

These people are LTTP. Madoka is not the first and certainly not the only dark magical show with twists. Princess Tutu and My-Hime for example.

Do we really want Mai Hime as the representation of anything ever? Well, I guess it is like Eva in that both shows shat the bed with their endings.

 

[Hitokage]

Do we really want Mai Hime as the representation of anything ever? Well, I guess it is like Eva in that both shows shat the bed with their endings.

Mai-Hime was more like Utena but not good.

 

[BGBW]

We'll discover the basement in the year of our El Cantare 2048.

L is real 2401.

 

[Shard]

Mai-Hime was more like Utena but not good.

Anyway, this is all beside the point, Madoka Magica is wears the crown truer then other works because this title has broken through to a wider audience on both side of the Pacific and we are beginning to see the true legacy of MM as the clones are coming, from last year's Day Break Illusion to this season's Selector Infected WIXOSS, we are seeing titles draw influence from the Book of Madoka.

 

[jgminto]

Yowamushi Pedal 26

I enjoyed all of the character interaction this episode, especially Toudou's bragging to Onoda and Makishima. He seems like he'll be a fun rival. I'm not looking forward to the next ep or two though. I feel like it's going to be pretty tedious

Spoiler

watching Onoda make his way back up to his team. The crash and how Onoda even got involved wasn't explained very well either.

Hopefully this will only take a single episode because I want to actually see the climbers battle it out.

I don't know how they did it but the new OP and ED are even worse as well. I didn't like the second as much as the first but it still got me excited and it grew on me throughout the season. This doesn't even get me excited, it's just bad. They should have had the music tracks in the opposite order. Keep the most exciting track for the InterHigh, not this mess.

 

[FelixOrion]

Air 10

So...this is a prologue re-do of sorts?

Pretty emotional but seriously, what the fuck is going on.

Angel Beats! 10

Ah yeah. Now, this episode I really dug. Best episode yet by a light year. Hinata confirmed for best bro, sorry TK.

Kiniro Mosaic 9

The best part of this episode was easy the hide and seek bit.

 

[cajunator]

Accel World episode 3-11
What episode I last commented on? 3? 4? anyways, some good shit, latest episode number 11 has been hype, lots of action, animation top notch.

Accel World is really easy to marathon. It flows very well and has some decent cliffhangers. Youll watch several episodes without realizing it.

I just realized I missed a chance with Brynhildr:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyway...

Yuyushiki 9

This was a fun episode. Group A and Group B are starting to intermingle. And man, the yuri vibes were strong with tomboy girl.

Oh, and this was cute:

Love the blushing.

Cant wait for the discs. Soon.

Funny, many people call it the Eva of magical girl shows.

At first that seemed like hyperbole but it really has become that from a popularity standpoint.

 

[Jarmel]

So LWA2 seems a bit behind, the wallpapers were supposed to go out in May and are now scheduled for summer, due to a Kickstarter update.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

We all know which one is going to be better.

Considering the books that the Mahouka anime will be on then, Mahouka will blow sao 2 out of the water.

 

[AquaWateria]

Considering the books that the Mahouka anime will be on then, Mahouka will blow sao 2 out of the water.

Its just in its introductory arc, once it passes that it will get much better, thats if MadHouse know what their doing. The thing is unlike SAO which is a Harem Mahouka isnt and the MC knows what hes doing.

 

[Linkark07]

Finally watched Madoka: The Rebellion movie yesterday.

What a great ride. Beginning was kind of slow but after that it became quite good.

Spoiler

Loved the Homura vs Mami fight scene. It was superb. Also liked the battle between witch Homura vs witch Sayaka and Charlotte(Bebe). It was so great watching Magical Girls and witches working together.

The end though... Mixed feelings. Still don't like Homura. Stripping (or sealing temporally) Madoka's powers so she can become a normal girl, she didn't ask that. I expect Urobutcher to make a final fight between Goddess Madoka vs Devil Homura if a second season or another movie airs.
Homura gained some points at the end though. Good riddance Kyuubey.

Yuki Kajiura's didn't disappoint again. All of her tracks are superb.

 

[Gbraga]

Its just in its introductory arc, once it passes that it will get much better, thats if MadHouse know what their doing. The thing is unlike SAO which is a Harem Mahouka isnt and the MC knows what hes doing.

It isn't? What a shame.

Well, at least there's no competition for best girl Miyuki.

 

[Shard]

Majin Bone Episode 2:

It really does take some worthless shit like Hero Bank and those two other shows that premiered on Monday to truly put into perspective how much right this show is doing. Shit, I am going to say it right now, this is already a better show then the hyped Captain Earth. Okay, Majin here isn't nearly as good looking

Spoiler

but is allowing our hero to grow into the fantastic situation and allow his to struggle with his powers; Shogo can't move the armor in normal space and has problems breathing even in the digital world

Anyway, Majin also has a tone that is shockingly restrained and reserved for Shonen in general and I like it, I like it a lot.

Spoiler

I liked that most of this episode was Shogo trying to deal with the oddity that is Antonio in genuinely amusing fashions.

Indeed I have yet to find a chracter I hate, which is rare, still only two episodes in so that may change, but all and all Majin Bone is showcasing some excellent potential right now.

 

[Shard]

FUNimation Announces "Soul Eater Not!" and "Riddle Story of Devil" Simulcasts
http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-ne...ater-not-and-riddle-story-of-devil-simulcasts