Do not jump into FMP via this newest one, it assumes your up to date/know the story of FMP S1 and FMP S2 and will not hold your hand.
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Anime |OT| Spring 2018 - We've dived in too deep!
- Thread starter BGBW
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Do not jump into FMP via this newest one, it assumes your up to date/know the story of FMP S1 and FMP S2 and will not hold your hand.
Pretty much, yeah. It's infuriating how it diminishes the quality of the otherwise fantastic art.
Rokuhodo Yotsuiro Biyori 1
Lacking in flavor, but still inoffensively pleasant. This is the directorial debut of Tomomi Kamiya, who did solo animation for the OP of The Great Passage - Toshimasa Kuroyanagi, the director of that and Shounen Hollywood, even helped out on episode direction here. This continues the tradition of nuanced realistic animation that Kuroyanagi's previous shows had, albeit in a more modest fashion and more willingness to mix in looser cartoony animation as well. The food in particular gets special attention, as you would hope for a show about a sweets shop. The animation for the food's creation and eating makes it look quite tasty. The handsome guy characters don't seem to have enough personality to them for this show to end up truly memorable, but perhaps future episodes will expand on this.
The ED art is extremely attractive:
Lacking in flavor, but still inoffensively pleasant. This is the directorial debut of Tomomi Kamiya, who did solo animation for the OP of The Great Passage - Toshimasa Kuroyanagi, the director of that and Shounen Hollywood, even helped out on episode direction here. This continues the tradition of nuanced realistic animation that Kuroyanagi's previous shows had, albeit in a more modest fashion and more willingness to mix in looser cartoony animation as well. The food in particular gets special attention, as you would hope for a show about a sweets shop. The animation for the food's creation and eating makes it look quite tasty. The handsome guy characters don't seem to have enough personality to them for this show to end up truly memorable, but perhaps future episodes will expand on this.
The ED art is extremely attractive:
Surely in this instance the company selling the BDs will step in and slap him in the face fro trying to sell LDs as BDs.
To put in my two cents on Megalo Box since I've complained about it's aesthetic before, I think there were two big miscalculations.
The first I feel was the decision to keep the show at 16:9 despite the downgrade to and then rescaling from 480p. Condensing the frame to 4:3 would've cut down on the blur effect and the jagged edges to the line work that resulted from the process, and would've more accurately represented the time when this aesthetic the director was going for was big. That said, that was a decision that would've had to be made at the beginning of production, because if they had cut the ratio after building the scenes at 16:9, they would've lost over a third of every image.
Second, the show doesn't have the one thing I think defines cel animation over digital: high contrast images. I remember watching Akira last year for the first time since it had been released on BD, and the thing that stood out the most is how much the colors popped off the screen in comparison to a lot of modern anime. The way light filters through a cel and through the oil painted on to it is something that's incredibly difficult to reproduce digitally, but messing with the contrast to widen the disparity between the bright colors with the darker lines would've been a good step. Instead, the blur filter ends up having the opposite effect, washing out the image and making things look grey. As people have said, it looks like a cel-to-VHS transfer, and it just proceeds to make the assets that have already been tampered with noticeably worse.
The problem with all of this is that the show has really nice production design, and there's some great art here. But in chasing an old aesthetic without maybe properly understanding how to replicate it, the show is sabatoging that art for the sake of a style that doesn't quite convey what I think the director was hoping it would.
The first I feel was the decision to keep the show at 16:9 despite the downgrade to and then rescaling from 480p. Condensing the frame to 4:3 would've cut down on the blur effect and the jagged edges to the line work that resulted from the process, and would've more accurately represented the time when this aesthetic the director was going for was big. That said, that was a decision that would've had to be made at the beginning of production, because if they had cut the ratio after building the scenes at 16:9, they would've lost over a third of every image.
Second, the show doesn't have the one thing I think defines cel animation over digital: high contrast images. I remember watching Akira last year for the first time since it had been released on BD, and the thing that stood out the most is how much the colors popped off the screen in comparison to a lot of modern anime. The way light filters through a cel and through the oil painted on to it is something that's incredibly difficult to reproduce digitally, but messing with the contrast to widen the disparity between the bright colors with the darker lines would've been a good step. Instead, the blur filter ends up having the opposite effect, washing out the image and making things look grey. As people have said, it looks like a cel-to-VHS transfer, and it just proceeds to make the assets that have already been tampered with noticeably worse.
The problem with all of this is that the show has really nice production design, and there's some great art here. But in chasing an old aesthetic without maybe properly understanding how to replicate it, the show is sabatoging that art for the sake of a style that doesn't quite convey what I think the director was hoping it would.
Will it get as many seasons as Voltron has got? Netflix going all in.
I know this is typical of shojo titles, and even more of 'office' series, but the background art of Watoku is reaaally bland. It jumped to me, unlike other series where you don't notice.
In general terms, it has been a disappointment. I like the character art and the concept of adult office romance between otakus could be something good (I had the manga on my 'pending' list to check out!), but the direction was mediocre and forgettable, the characters didn't have charisma nor seemed interesting, the spark between them wasn't here, the humor was meh, and as shown, the background art is not good.
In the end, the backgrounds aren't the only thing bland here, I suppose.
In general terms, it has been a disappointment. I like the character art and the concept of adult office romance between otakus could be something good (I had the manga on my 'pending' list to check out!), but the direction was mediocre and forgettable, the characters didn't have charisma nor seemed interesting, the spark between them wasn't here, the humor was meh, and as shown, the background art is not good.
In the end, the backgrounds aren't the only thing bland here, I suppose.
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Full Metal Panic Invisible Victory #1
I've been waiting for over 10 years for this and suffice to say I'm going be eagerly watching every new episode with glee and excitement every weekend. Because that was fucking good and a brilliant start so far.
Megalo Box #2
Enjoyed this even more than the first episode. Shame about the animation quality but the rest of the production is high-quality.
I've been waiting for over 10 years for this and suffice to say I'm going be eagerly watching every new episode with glee and excitement every weekend. Because that was fucking good and a brilliant start so far.
Megalo Box #2
Enjoyed this even more than the first episode. Shame about the animation quality but the rest of the production is high-quality.
If god exists, Devilman Lady. Or Violent Jack. I'm fine with both, even if I like Devilman Lady much more (and even as a manga I like it more than the original Devilman, considering fun)
Well, it's not shoujo. In fact, there's no demography for it on the web magazine that it's been published.
The art style and the romance theme reminds me of other titles that exists in the shojo/josei spectrum. What I was complaining of, series focused on character but almost devoid of backgrounds, is a very typical feature of them, in special shojos, so I was forming a link with that.
[Hinamatsuri] - 2
Unfortunately this series continues to completely miss the mark when it comes delivering comedy punchlines. There's a distinct rhythm to comedic delivery and this series either feels like it's coming in too fast or too slow. I would like to elaborate further on the exact manner in which the delivery of the jokes fails to illicit the desired response, but this is an area that I'm not well versed in and therefore I'm struggling to crystalline my critique.
It's a shame that the series cannot deliver because I find the show to be generally pleasant to look at, with great character designs and engaging colour work.
Unfortunately this series continues to completely miss the mark when it comes delivering comedy punchlines. There's a distinct rhythm to comedic delivery and this series either feels like it's coming in too fast or too slow. I would like to elaborate further on the exact manner in which the delivery of the jokes fails to illicit the desired response, but this is an area that I'm not well versed in and therefore I'm struggling to crystalline my critique.
It's a shame that the series cannot deliver because I find the show to be generally pleasant to look at, with great character designs and engaging colour work.
I'm being 'influenced' by having read the manga before, but I feel the same, the delivery is off for at least half the jokes. I have the feeling it worked much better in the manga.
Have you watched The IT Crowd? It a kiiiind of similar humor, but in IT Crowd is was better done.
In shitty quality due to shitty bitrate because that's still all Crunchyroll can offer.
I'm currently binging Code Geass and I was able to watch only the first season on Netflix and had to switch to CR for the second. It makes my eyes bleed.
For all the faults the HIDIVE beta apps they have now have, at least their image quality is not as bad.
MHA s3 ep1
Holy recaps Aizara
some seriously awkward-ass writing to shoehorn all the recaps in. I laughed a lot when Aizara was like "Let's discuss the summer camp..." and Vlad was like "Sure, but first, can you please list in order every kid in your class"
Sucks, I haven't watched the anime yet but the manga is seriously one of the funniest manga I've read... at least it was a while ago.
Holy recaps Aizara
some seriously awkward-ass writing to shoehorn all the recaps in. I laughed a lot when Aizara was like "Let's discuss the summer camp..." and Vlad was like "Sure, but first, can you please list in order every kid in your class"
Sucks, I haven't watched the anime yet but the manga is seriously one of the funniest manga I've read... at least it was a while ago.
Eh, at least they tried. Better than a straight up clip show at least.
Saekano S2 (END + Final Thoughts)
How is this possible? A harem where the girls actually have...agency? Where they follow their ambitions and make decisions thats best for them and not the MC who has little to no redeeming qualities? Where the girls have solid arcs and development and grow out of their tropes over time? I feel like I'm dreaming.
I can't believe the same guy that wrote White Album 2 wrote this. I've watched plenty of mediocre to bad shows in my lifetime but WA2 is probably the only one I outright hate. After I found out Saekano was by the same guy, I was expecting the show to descend into garbage melodrama and characters making utterly stupid decisions but thankfully none of that happened. I'm actually very fond of this season and the ending.
Well, most of it at least. The train scene almost undid all of Utaha's development. I guess they wanted to end the season on a funny note but I think it would have been better if they kept the bittersweet tone of the first half of the episode all the way through instead of going full anime.
Saekano is strongest when it's discussing creation from a creator's perspective and all the decisions that true professionals have to make. Utaha and Eriri did nothing wrong and I was honestly clapping when they decided to pursue the bigger project instead of Tomoya's. It was also nice to see Tomoya finally growing somewhat in the end but overall he's still a dense idiot and it's really hard rooting for him. I also loved watching Utaha and Eriri grow from typical harem trope rivals to professionals who learned to really respect one another, and their ensuing womance. I've said enough about Kato but goddamn she was perfect as usual. I liked her decision to not comfort Tomoya at the end either. She does just enough to inspire him but allows him the space to let all the emotions he had bottled in spill out.
Loved this season. I'm really excited for the movie, which I'm assuming is adapting the final volumes of the LN. Also, I really dig the way this show draws hands.
How is this possible? A harem where the girls actually have...agency? Where they follow their ambitions and make decisions thats best for them and not the MC who has little to no redeeming qualities? Where the girls have solid arcs and development and grow out of their tropes over time? I feel like I'm dreaming.
I can't believe the same guy that wrote White Album 2 wrote this. I've watched plenty of mediocre to bad shows in my lifetime but WA2 is probably the only one I outright hate. After I found out Saekano was by the same guy, I was expecting the show to descend into garbage melodrama and characters making utterly stupid decisions but thankfully none of that happened. I'm actually very fond of this season and the ending.
Well, most of it at least. The train scene almost undid all of Utaha's development. I guess they wanted to end the season on a funny note but I think it would have been better if they kept the bittersweet tone of the first half of the episode all the way through instead of going full anime.
Saekano is strongest when it's discussing creation from a creator's perspective and all the decisions that true professionals have to make. Utaha and Eriri did nothing wrong and I was honestly clapping when they decided to pursue the bigger project instead of Tomoya's. It was also nice to see Tomoya finally growing somewhat in the end but overall he's still a dense idiot and it's really hard rooting for him. I also loved watching Utaha and Eriri grow from typical harem trope rivals to professionals who learned to really respect one another, and their ensuing womance. I've said enough about Kato but goddamn she was perfect as usual. I liked her decision to not comfort Tomoya at the end either. She does just enough to inspire him but allows him the space to let all the emotions he had bottled in spill out.
Loved this season. I'm really excited for the movie, which I'm assuming is adapting the final volumes of the LN. Also, I really dig the way this show draws hands.
FMP 01
I feel like the first season on FMP had the right balance of seriousness and comedy (minus the crappy fanservice). I can't say I'm a fan of the immediate jump into super seriousness, which is way too reminiscent of TSR which I did not enjoy. In any case, it feels weird seeing these old character designs in a "modern" quality/style and it'll be interesting to see how much they end up relying on CGIShit, especially when it comes to the mech battles.
I feel like the first season on FMP had the right balance of seriousness and comedy (minus the crappy fanservice). I can't say I'm a fan of the immediate jump into super seriousness, which is way too reminiscent of TSR which I did not enjoy. In any case, it feels weird seeing these old character designs in a "modern" quality/style and it'll be interesting to see how much they end up relying on CGIShit, especially when it comes to the mech battles.
There's an awkward one that's shoehorned in but it's certainly not that one. It makes sense for the teacher from one class to ask for a summary of all the Quirks from another class considering they're going to a joint training camp where students from one class don't necessarily work with their own teacher.
Awkward one is Deku and Ida getting out of the pool looking at Todoroki and remembering the time they almost died.
It doesn't matter if Vlad would need that info because the only reason a scene like that would exist is because it's a recap episode.
it's an entire episodes of 'this is a theoretically reasonable lead-in to show a bunch of clips'
like, it's not really a shoehorn that Bakugou would say 'don't fucking pussy out on me like you did at the sports festival' to Todoroki if they were in a swimming competition, but when you start clip showing over the top of it then you kinda better understand the intent of why he's actually saying that, which is to say, solely for the purpose of the recap episode
like, it's not really a shoehorn that Bakugou would say 'don't fucking pussy out on me like you did at the sports festival' to Todoroki if they were in a swimming competition, but when you start clip showing over the top of it then you kinda better understand the intent of why he's actually saying that, which is to say, solely for the purpose of the recap episode
The Full Metal Panic novels are supposed to be super-serious from here on out, so you probably won't end up happy. The mecha action should be mainly CG with some 2D closeups - the staff of this is to a large extent the team who made Yamato 2199, and Sunrise D.I.D. is returning from that show to handle CG here (albeit without its since-fired director).
I mean yeah, no shit. No one said "this scene would be here recap or not". That wasn't the point. I'm just saying it's not awkward ass shoehorn because it's internally coherant unlike another scene in the episode.
The very concept of a recap episode is an awkward ass shoehorn. There's really no point in comparing one awkward ass shoehorn to another.
Butt Butlers #1
So, like, Silver Link went from Prima/Illya to doing a show about a sexy Butler
Who totally doesn't want to bone his sister:
Anyway, the show is awful. There are like a bazillion of otome like characters introduced in the first 10 minutes and it's mostly about the main character walking around and getting random flashbacks about his previous life.
What confuses me is, how is this thing an anime original and not an otome adaptation??
So, like, Silver Link went from Prima/Illya to doing a show about a sexy Butler
Who totally doesn't want to bone his sister:
And also has magical powers and shit
Anyway, the show is awful. There are like a bazillion of otome like characters introduced in the first 10 minutes and it's mostly about the main character walking around and getting random flashbacks about his previous life.
What confuses me is, how is this thing an anime original and not an otome adaptation??
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Okay but that's irrelevant to the idea of how the specific individual recaps are integrated within that one episode, which is what was being discussed. There is a point to comparing them when the initial post was about how all the different recaps are being integrated and I felt they were integrated to different effect. If you don't care about it don't engage but don't try to make it sound like there's no point in discussing something just cause you couldn't figure out what discussion was happening.
Violet evergarden - ep 1 to 6
I'm half way through the series and been enjoying the heartwarming moments of the characters that surround Violet as she learns about emotions and the current state of her world. It great how each episode has something that builds the world up just by character's actions and occupations that usually left as vague hints as if it not important. I think there is a valid complaint about the pacing of the show being slow but I think it helps with how Violet state of mind and that it takes time to really hit you. There also a nice attention to detail like how in the first episode Violet is unable to feel the doll she was given so she has to put it in her mouth and that just breaks my heart seeing that. Looking forward to see it to the end.
I'm half way through the series and been enjoying the heartwarming moments of the characters that surround Violet as she learns about emotions and the current state of her world. It great how each episode has something that builds the world up just by character's actions and occupations that usually left as vague hints as if it not important. I think there is a valid complaint about the pacing of the show being slow but I think it helps with how Violet state of mind and that it takes time to really hit you. There also a nice attention to detail like how in the first episode Violet is unable to feel the doll she was given so she has to put it in her mouth and that just breaks my heart seeing that. Looking forward to see it to the end.
I honestly don't find anything wrong with Hinamatsuri's punchline timing, but I haven't read the manga. Are you guys sure the problem isn't that you know the jokes before hand? The way comedic scenes are presented in manga is a lot different because you fill some gaps in between with your imagination. Maybe you had thought of them differently and that's ruining it for you?
For example the scene in the second episode with the "fight" between Anzu and Hina. At both times when Nitta whispers in Hina's ears promising her food her faster than sound reaction to that by saying exactly the things that he wants her to say without even letting him finish his sentences are excellent. Her straight face and tone of her voice also elevate the joke.
Then you have scene at the bar with Hitomi as a bartender. We at first get the framing of the joke with her arriving there and in her confusion posing as an employee. We get the first part of the park scene, which gets interrupted in the middle to have Nitta arrive at the bar with him (and us) instantly getting surprised by seeing her actually doing the job. We again cut to the park scene until its end and then come back to the bar with Utako (and the audience) instantly getting surprised by Hitomi not only doing (for Utako) but pretty much nailing the job (for us). Her instant appearance behind the bar each time alongside with her uneasy expression is great.
Of course there is the possibility that the manga indeed does it in a far better way but we'd have to compare them frame to frame. Not that anything is stopping us...
For example the scene in the second episode with the "fight" between Anzu and Hina. At both times when Nitta whispers in Hina's ears promising her food her faster than sound reaction to that by saying exactly the things that he wants her to say without even letting him finish his sentences are excellent. Her straight face and tone of her voice also elevate the joke.
Then you have scene at the bar with Hitomi as a bartender. We at first get the framing of the joke with her arriving there and in her confusion posing as an employee. We get the first part of the park scene, which gets interrupted in the middle to have Nitta arrive at the bar with him (and us) instantly getting surprised by seeing her actually doing the job. We again cut to the park scene until its end and then come back to the bar with Utako (and the audience) instantly getting surprised by Hitomi not only doing (for Utako) but pretty much nailing the job (for us). Her instant appearance behind the bar each time alongside with her uneasy expression is great.
Of course there is the possibility that the manga indeed does it in a far better way but we'd have to compare them frame to frame. Not that anything is stopping us...
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Toji no Miko 14
Yet more world building. This show sure loves its slow pace. Ah well. Decent development for Mai at least.
Lostorage Conflated WIXOSS 2
Kiyoi sucks at this whole forming the WIXOSS Justice League thing. Well most of her backstory was animated at least. Don't remember how much we already knew, but animated Remember is neat to see. Seems that Tama really did make it over, which is what really matters.
Mahou Shoujo Site 2
Magical Hunter is dumb and incredibly incompetent. Nothing compared to my dear Magical Girl Hunter. If Aya wasn't so Aya she would've lost in seconds. Other than that, just a bunch of setup for more dark stuff.
Yet more world building. This show sure loves its slow pace. Ah well. Decent development for Mai at least.
Lostorage Conflated WIXOSS 2
Kiyoi sucks at this whole forming the WIXOSS Justice League thing. Well most of her backstory was animated at least. Don't remember how much we already knew, but animated Remember is neat to see. Seems that Tama really did make it over, which is what really matters.
Mahou Shoujo Site 2
Magical Hunter is dumb and incredibly incompetent. Nothing compared to my dear Magical Girl Hunter. If Aya wasn't so Aya she would've lost in seconds. Other than that, just a bunch of setup for more dark stuff.
I would be happy with this as well. Heck I could see them making it over Violence Jack as it could be considered a sequel. Violence Jack is kind of an alternative universe which is very cool as it twists so many things around that it was very fun reading some of the chapters that were released in English. Hopefully they do both either way.
I would also recommend the old Devil Lady anime which is its own thing. It does not have Demons but something else and isn't an adaptation of the comic but rather an original take with tons of liberty taken. The atomesphere and the music was great. Same with the characters. Especially Jun and her friend, and Ran.
Actually I don't think DID is working on it. Seems like it's an internal team, one of which is a former Studio Orange animator.
I laughed out loud in the 2 times I watched the recap, it is like they have a secret telepathy quirk
Oh? The CG director Shosuke Uechi has been associated with DID in the past (he was CG technical chief on Yamato 2199); did he switch studios?
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