| @filifjonkan @Antalk @inim Here's the link for the Hyouka thread for Monday. The sub and dub are available to stream on Funimation. I was really impressed with the animation in Tamako Market & Tamako Love Story so looking forward to another show from KyoAni. Have a good weekend. |
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| I really enjoy this little group. If it gets bigger thats good but if it stays the same thats good too. |
 Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| I joined this site and is where I stream many of my anime: https://www2.kickassanime.rs/anime/hyouka-dub-429469 No ads, has sub/dub when many sites will only have the sub version |
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| Hello, Hope you're all well and had a good weekend. It's really cold here, well fairly cold for the UK anyway, 0 degrees C this morning. I've never heard of either kickassanime or 4anime, but it's always useful to have backup sites so thanks (although remember you can't post pirate links in public threads here or you can get banned apparently, this thread is a club/private thread so we should be ok). I use 9anime.to when i can't find a show on Funimation, Crunchyroll, Amazon Prime or Netflix, which is actually quite often. I have to use 9anime for about a 1/3 of all shows I watch, mainly dubs and older shows. Fili, apart from the seasonal shows I'm watching Revolutionary Girl Utena (it's very complicated and there's some uncomfortable subject matters dealing with abuse so it's hard going, i have to be in the right mood to watch it, have been talking to inim about it actually, he had some great reading/video discussion material that he kindly shared on Utena) and Chaika - Coffin Princess (which I'm watching on 9anime as nowhere else has the dub), which is a good fast paced fantasy adventure show. Dororo (a kid had his limbs stolen by sorcery and is on a quest to get them back or something like that) and Cross Ange (dragon mecha with people fighting against monsters is what i remember about this show) are both on my ptw list already. Will be interested to hear what you think when you've finished them. So onto the first episode of Hyouka. I don't know much about this show going in, just that it's a mystery show from KyoAni and there's a bit of a romance sub-plot from what I've heard. So instantly from the opening sequence the MC comes off similar to Hachiman from Oregairu or Eita from Oreshura, who both initially despised the normal high school routine or clubs and teenage romance. First impressions tell me this is going to be a tale of how our protagonist gets drawn out of his shell, a bit like Hachiman in Oregairu, but without the romance (or I should say implied romance as Oregairu only has actual romance in the last couple of episodes, everything before is subtly implied feelings going back and forth for 3 seasons). We've got the usual KyoAni character designs from shows like K-On and Tamako Market. So we've met our main cast and their central location for meeting, the Classic Literature Club. Some lovely animation in this first episode, why was Chitanda sprouting green leaves, or it might be vines? My guess is that his high school life, and meeting Chitanda, is going to change Houtarou, from being someone who only wants to do the minimum in life to skate by. This show doesn't have a romance tag so it's going to be Chitanda and her personality, or inquisitiveness that helps draw him out of his shell, rather than pure romance (like the way Kouko Kaga drew Banri out of himself in Golden Time), although from reviews of this show I've heard that there is a dash of romance in this show. Interesting set up so far, and the animation was beautiful. Looking forward to episode 2 tomorrow. Have a good evening all, Take care |
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| @filifjonkan I've heard that there's some uncomfortable rape and violence in Cross Ange, but is otherwise an interesting show. Thank you for sharing about the Swedish system. In the UK we have primary school from 3/4 - 10, then secondary or high school from 11 - 16 and then you can opt to go onto college from 16-18 (which the Japanese term the high school age). It's strange, at college age here in the UK we had people drinking, smoking and starting to drive (at age 17 and above) but it is very rare to see Japanese high schoolers doing the same thing even though they're the same age as we were, apart from delinquents that is. My college life was full of parties, girls, drinking and going clubbing in London, completely different from the life of the high school student we see in anime, although i know that isn't exact representative of real life in Japan. I was always nerdy enough to get goods grades though and used to study quite hard. Chitanda reminds me of Tamako from Tamako Market a bit, but with longer hair. I didn't realise that you had already seen this show, my apologies. You'll know all the twists and turns before us first timers, lol. Yes the ED for Hyouka is very nice, a starry sky with sleeping girls. Grave of the Fireflies is one of the war movies, quite sad so I've never seen it. I don't often seek out sad films. Enjoy your evening. |
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filifjonkan said: Kami = God, Yama = Mountain.And there actually is a town called "Kamiyama", in the south of Japan. Episode 1 The first impression of Hyouka is a great one. After my recent diet of 80s OVA, modern KyoAni animation feels like a blinding light. It's really good, even by their standards. Their trademark leg shots are used to express body language and social relations. But they also added some Shaft style surrealism, e.g. in the scene where Chitanda turned into a plant and flowered. I'm watching German sub and it's a "wall-of-text" type show, i.e. very dialog driven. Another similarity to typical Shaft shows. I usually like them, and the writing so far is really good. Language is a good mix of naturally flowing and "mundane made awesome" type of humor, which KyoAni can do well (Nichijou). The attention to detail is fantastic, for once the script writers did get enough time and money to refine their part just like the animators. That's not a given in the industry. There's a reason this show regularily lands in "best of KyoAni" top 5s. Watching a dialog driven show in sub is somewhat exhausting, so the limited binge rate of 1 per day is very appropriate. And it means I can't watch half asleep from the bed, as that'd lose too much information. Overall: Dialog driven SoL show with far above average writing and animation and KyoAni vibes all over. If it keeps going like this, it's easily in 7-8 territory. |
inimApr 18, 2021 11:04 AM
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| @inim glad you could make it. It's nice to get different views and opinions. Watching Simoun and Mai-Hime as part of a group watch and discussing each episode allowed me the time to really appreciate each show (i can hear the Simoun OST in my head now as i type just thinking of the show). Do you have to use a specific site to get German subs? Same to you @filifjonkan, do you use a special site to get Swedish subtitles? Reading lots of subs is exhausting and one of the reasons I nearly always opt for the english dub of there is one available. |
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| Hello, Another cool, blustery day here in the UK. Can't wait for summer. Our covid restrictions were relaxed yday so there were tons of people out at the pubs nearby and at the shops. Can't wait to get my haircut, it's been months. I'm starting to look like Kyouko's dad in Horimiya, lol. I haven't found a KyoAni show i dislike yet, everything they do they bring passion, good strong writing and superb animation. So onto episode 2. Just curious, did any of you guys join a club at school (Antalk, you played an instrument, were you in an after school club)? I never joined any club, so it's a whole world I never experienced for myself. I used to meet up with friends after school and we'd hang out, play computer games (N64, Mega Drive etc) but being in an official club might've been fun. So we meet Mayaka and our main cast is complete. The Classic Lit club find another mystery and Houtarou is reluctantly drawn in again, this time regarding a book that gets checked out from the library. His reticence to do anything is mildly annoying. I think Chitanda is going to be the biggest mystery in this show. My guess for Chitanda's confession is along the lines of someone in her family or maybe a friend has gone missing, or something's happened and she wants Houtarou to investigate and help her with that sharp mind of his. We'll find out tomorrow. Have a good evening. |
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23feanor said: I used to be very active in the German equivalent of the Japanese school club system. We call them AGs (=Arbeitsgemeinschaften = work communities). I took cooking, biochemistry, chess, choir and math puzzles at some point. Also was in the student council for a year. Especially the cooking AG is the most useful thing I ever did in school, helps me until today :) And no worry, there was enough time left for slacking still, lol.So onto episode 2. Just curious, did any of you guys join a club at school (Antalk, you played an instrument, were you in an after school club)? I never joined any club, 23feanor said: Episode 2 My take on Chitanda/Houtarou is that of a Kaguya-sama situation, I think both are geniuses. Remember she was the best student in the tests in the whole <forgot which large administrative unit they casually mentioned>. The key difference is their emotional intelligence, in which she excels as well wheras Houtarou has almost none. He's a pinoccio she will wake up and turn into a boy. In Kaguya-same the roles are reversed, Kaguya is the pinocchio girl there. So we meet Mayaka and our main cast is complete. [...] I think Chitanda is going to be the biggest mystery in this show. My guess for Chitanda's confession is along the lines of someone in her family or maybe a friend has gone missing, or something's happened and she wants Houtarou to investigate and help her with that sharp mind of his. So she keeps tricking him into doing whatever she wants with ease and a smile. She's smarter than him or at least equal, imho. She also has a plan, as depicted in the scene where she offers him two menu cards. German sub had the entries translated, very funny dishes all related to expressing yourself emotionally and daring to do the useless extra thing. The 2nd couple are like the male/female Dr. Watsons to to the male/female Sherlock leads. I think they'll be very useful as plot convenience, as the male already said "I'm an encyclopedia / database". So he is Mr. exposition dump. She's a tsundere and should provide some comic relief when needed. Overall I'm getting Haruhi vibes from the 4 MCs. Houtaru doubles as protagonist and snarky commentator, very much the 2nd coming of Kyon. And Chitanda of course is as lovable-bossy and genki as Haruhi. What I really admire is the cinematography. The director died in the arson attack, sadly. He directed two masterpieces before: Kobayashi's Dragon Maid and the Suzumia Haruhi movie. I think this could be the 3rd I have the pleasure to watch. His style here clearly does Yamada type body language and leg shots, but to a lesser degree. And he adds hs own handwriting with great professional ease. One example: To create a slightly unsettling feeling, the camera angle towards the floor often is a little tilted, but only a few degrees. It never goes into the full Dutch Angle normally used, but it teases it. Meta-smart camera work, I love it. As for German sub sites. There are 120 million native speakers, we have a very lively fansub scene and streaming pirate scene. Market size makes German one of the handful of languages supported by all mainstream anime distributors (Wakamin=Funimation, Crunchyroll, Netflix,Amazon, ...) on release day. So 100% new seasonal anime gets German subbed, the most mainstream ones German dubbed one season later. That's why I didn't watch Beastars 2 and AoT 4 yet :) I'd estimate there's a German dub and/or sub for 90% of all titles for which there's an English one. Only the most obscure 80s titles are missing sometimes. |
inimApr 18, 2021 11:05 AM
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| @inim I was going to ask whether you guys had a Student Council, like they appear to have in nearly every school based anime but you've both answered (thanks @filifjonkan), Sweden has very few clubs and inim, you were in the Student Council. I never heard of a Student Council in our High school/Secondary school (11-15), but there was a Student Union at the College i went to, although i had to look it up to check. They seem to have the same role as a Student Council, but the fact I don't remember them means they had very little impact or presence (i lived next to the college campus so was very involved with college life and would've remembered if the Student Council was a popular and prestigious club). I'd noticed that Crunchyroll advertises its German dubs for airing anime. Glad to hear you have a thriving anime fanbase inim, enough to ensure that all shows are covered, particularly given your current old OVA binge. I was bored of my useful anime fare today so after reading all your OVA's reviews inim I decided to pick up a 90's short OVA myself. I picked Agent AIKa, a tits'n'ass fest based around an action & adventure story. I really like that analogy, Houtarou like a pinocchio figure, needing to have his emotional self coaxed into the light and giving it life. So you think Chitanda is actively aware, maybe subconsciously, of Houtarou's stunted emotional growth and is creating a mystery that will help draw him out of himself. But there must also be something in it for Chitanda, maybe she finds sharp Sherlock Holmes types interesting in a romantic sense? Re Kaguya-sama: I hadn't thought of Kaguya in that light, she is definitely naive and sheltered thanks to her upbringing, but I always thought that Shirogane was almost equally sheltered in his views of the world, especially females, due to the internal walls he erected to keep him focused on nothing but being number 1. Therefore I didn't really see Shirogane helping nurture Kaguya's emotional self during the series, as much they both aided each other to grow emotionally through their interactions and self realisations. Chitanda is certainly aware of how to get what she wants out of people with a well placed smile, even if at first they shink away, like Houtarou does when she asks for his help. He needs gentle coaxing before he'll agree to help someone else and put in effort. Sad to hear about the director. I heard about the fire over a year ago. Kobayashi was a masterpiece and I loved that show. We've got the 2nd series airing in the Summer 2021 season & i can't wait. I loved the dragon girl character designs, so cute! I still need to watch the Haruhi movie, I've heard it's stronger than the series in some respects. I agree that Houtarou has similar tendancies to Kyon from Haruhi, although i think I sympathised more with Kyon when i first met him at the beginning of the Haruhi series. The 4 main cast of Haruhi worked so well together, the perfect compliment for each other. I've never much liked Haruhi herself though, I find her brash and annoying rather than endearing and cute. Thanks for the comments ^_^ |
23feanorApr 13, 2021 1:37 PM
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23feanor said: Chitanda is certainly aware of how to get what she wants out of people with a well placed smile, even if at first they shink away, like Houtarou does when she asks for his help. He needs gentle coaxing before he'll agree to help someone else and put in effort. Are you sure about that? Chitanda just about yanked Houtarou's arm out of it's socket pulling him back into the library as he was trying to nonchalantly leave to do something else. inim said: Their trademark leg shots are used to express body language and social relations. But they also added some Shaft style surrealism, e.g. in the scene where Chitanda turned into a plant and flowered. This is one of those things that your brain picks up on automatically but it takes someone to actually say it for you to realize it and say yeah. School in America: K - 12 K (kindergarten) thru 5th grade is elementary or grade school. 6th thru 9th grade is junior high or middle school 10th thru 12th is high school but not so fast there Chester. Most public schools are set up K - 5 in one school, you go to another for 6 - 8 and a third for 9 - 12. Private/Parochial schools are set up K - 8 and then an altogether separate high school not affiliated w/ the K - 8 school. You all probably noticed grades 8 and 9 are different in the breakdown and how they are implemented. Technically 9th grade is still junior high but for a reason I do not know, 9th grade is added to high school. I found this out when I was in high school when our Freshman sports teams occasionally played Junior High sports teams from different areas/states and one of the teachers explained it to me. And you get the breakdown of high school as thus: 9th grade = Freshman year 10th grade = Sophomore year 11th grade = Junior year 12th grade = Senior year I went to a Catholic grade school and junior high under one roof and then a Catholic high school. All six of us (myself and siblings) went to the same catholic grade/junior high school. My two younger brothers and middle sister went to public high school and the oldest and youngest sisters went to two different catholic high schools. I am the oldest btw. I our area, there are two all girls catholic high schools, two all boys catholic high schools and a plethora of coed catholic high schools. All exceed in academics and sports. My alma mater is usually number 1 in the US in wrestling. I was in the fine arts program playing trumpet in my freshman year and french horn soph thur senior years in the marching band in late summer/fall during football season (re: NOT SOCCER OR FUTBALL) and wind ensemble for the entire year. I was in the pit orchestra for two musicals. Marching band and wind ensemble were in the mornings and pit orchestra was on Saturdays and Sundays. I think fili asked what we are actively watching. Hyouka Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season on Netflix Starship Operators dl from a torrent site I belong to www.Working!! on Crunchroll I just completed Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack and The Seven Deadly Sins over the weekend. And my daughter and I are going to see The Demon Slayer at a movie theater next week. MAL is advertising for it and I picked up two tickets for next weeks showing. A heads up, we are in the process of purchasing a new home. We put a bid on a house and it was accepted and during the course of the next 30 days it's going to be hectic and I may be in and out of this watch club ... but i will still watch but I may not comment every night. Cheers! |
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
Antalk said: Naoko Yamada for a reason is on my profile as one of my ten favorite anime directors. She's meanwhile KyoAni personified, without a really official title. Maybe call her "chief art director" or such, effectively she supervises all projects and adds her touch. She literally invented the way legs are used in visual story telling. You can see that developing starting at "K-On!", there are plenty of leg shots in "A Silent Voice", even more so in Hibike! Euphonium. Yet the pinnacle of that style is this scene from "Liz and the Blue Bird", so far her masterpiece. Watch this confession scene and focus on arms, legs, feet and hands. Even without any dialog and music (which support the visual narration well, but are not carrying it) the situation and development is communicated perfectly. I think you'll never be able to unsee this cinematographic / directorial technique afterwards. One note on legs: If you study and train controlling your body language, the experts say the most difficult part are your feet. The angle they are in towards your surrounding group, how distant they are and where the "open angle" points is a sociogram in a nutshell.Chitanda just about yanked Houtarou's arm out of it's socket pulling him back into the library as he was trying to nonchalantly leave to do something else. inim said: This is one of those things that your brain picks up on automatically but it takes someone to actually say it for you to realize it and say yeah.Their trademark leg shots are used to express body language and social relations. Good observations about the socket pulling him back, you two. Chitanda in multiple scenes crosses over into Houtarou's comfort zone physically, she has no problem with body contact and proximity and doesn't even seem to think about it. He is irritated and frightened by that, trying to pull back. Another nice example where body language is used for characterization and probably future character development. Once more: visual story telling at it's best. @feanor23 On Kaguya-sama / Pinocchio: I agree, both MCs in that anime are Pinocchios in their own way. Kaguya probably more so. The role occupied by Chitanda in Hyouuka is taken by Chika in the other anime :) Episode 3 - An exposition dump episode introducing Chitanda's uncle. So far the mystery was episodic and mainly there to introduce characters and the Sherlock Holmes qualities of the group -- Houtarou in particular. Finding the uncle before he'll be pronounced dead now sets a larger framework. Cinematography continues to be excellent, yet another animation style was used for the flashbacks about the uncle. That's not something any studio could do, I can think of mainly two using it routinely: Shaft and KyoAni. There also was another nice body language scene, when Chitanda rubs her cocoa pot trice with the thumb. This is more effective to express her insecurity and tension than 5 mins worth of dialog and exposition, and where good direction shows. |
inimApr 14, 2021 3:46 AM
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| Greetings, @inim You're right about the leg shot, I'd never really appreciated it or noticed it directly until you mentioned it. That scene from Liz and the Blue Bird is stunning, you're right, you could read the situation without the dialogue and tell what was transpiring. Animation has many strengths, it can create any world someone can imagine, but conveying emotions through body language, especially subtle body language and facial expressions, is notoriously difficult. It can be done, as we can see in this scene, but it needs a lot of detailed animation to make it work. Most shows don't have the budget or time to produce such detailed work so they rely on dialogue. But when done right, like in many of KyoAni works, it can be magical. Interesting fact about feet, and how you place them when with people, and what they say about you. I remember watching a tv show called Lie to Me with Tim Roth about a body language expert, it was fascinating to see how much non verbal information we unintentionally give away without realising it. @filifjonkan, there's no OVA on the Funimation site, although i can see there's a beach OVA episode available elsewhere. We can watch it after the series if everyone wants to? I'm also watching the English dub so VA are different. I do know Satami Satou though, but not from Fairy Tail. @Antalk I've got a soft spot for Working!!, although i notice that you're watching the spin off version www.working. I'm only up to s2 of the original series. I love the restaurant setting for this show, we're so used to school and living rooms, it was nice to get a show set in a fun bustling restaurant. I'm also a big fan of Seven Deadly Sins and am watching the latest S4 atm. The show got a lot of stick for some shoddy animation in S3 but the story has gotten really epic. Every episode of S4 has been god tier fights. it's been the show I've been most engaged in the last few months. Good luck on the move to your new house, hope it goes as smoothly as possible (i used to work buying and selling commercial property for investment/pension companies so I know first hand how involved a building purchase can become). So episode 3, it's a lovely coffee shop they're talking in. So Chitanda has a missing Uncle, last seen in India, wasn't Houtarou's sister in India as well, i wonder if she's already searching for him if they were both in the Classic Lit club together. Chitanda looked different dressed at the coffee shop. An interesting episode. I thought the guy in the club room had a girl with him, hidden, but it was smoking. I used to smoke at school, but never out of a classroom window (we always found a corner of a building and paid a younger kid some sweets to act as lookout), that's just plain stupid. The title that comes up at the end, niece of time, makes more sense now. There's some beautiful music in this show, a really nice flute piece playing during the ending discussion between Houtarou and Chitanda. Have a good evening. Take care |
23feanorApr 14, 2021 10:34 AM
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23feanor said: Spot on. Reading this, I had two thoughts. First, the standard anime "emoticons" above the faces (sweat drop, anger-cross, ...) are pretty much the cost saving versions of facial expressions. Second, arms and legs are also easier to animate than faces, especially in close-up like Yamada uses them in "leg shots". So this is also cost saving, but more refined than the symbols. Basically the 2nd best solution for emotions after detailed faces (which anime can't deliver, yet) at a fraction of the price. Still requires the skill to draw small movements, but in the end this language can be standardized, refined, and re-used. Which I see happening since K-On!. It's no longer only KyoAni using the technique, which highlights how influential Yamada is.Animation has many strengths, it can create any world someone can imagine, but conveying emotions through body language, especially subtle body language and facial expressions, is notoriously difficult. It can be done, as we can see in this scene, but it needs a lot of detailed animation to make it work. Most shows don't have the budget or time to produce such detailed work so they rely on dialogue. |
inimApr 14, 2021 7:30 AM
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| During this episode I pay particular attention to the legs of all the participants. In the cafe scene, Chitanda is pleading w/ Houtarou to help her w/ finding answers about her uncle. The over head shot shows her legs together and her fists are in her lap with wads of material from her skirt clenched in her fists; she is rigid. Then you get an under the table shot. Now I do enjoy h-manga and hentai and I appreciate that we did not get a panty shot w/ this scene, it would have taken away from the seriousness of the mood, well on Chitanda's side. In fact there is no hint of anything that one could construe as ecchi. This scene re-enforces the over head shot b/c you can clearly see she is uncomfortable: Her legs are forced together and you can see that she does have wads of material in her fists. All of that is in stark contrast to Houtarou. The overhead shot shows him slouched, legs relaxed and his hands in his pockets, to me this says he is bored. In this episode we see that neither girl has any qualms about putting their hands on Houtarou to get him to do what they want. In the scene w/ the upper classman, Houtarou starts to walk away and Ibara grabs his arm w/ both hands and damn near rips his arm out of its socket. Not only is she physically correcting his course, this serves to mentally force Houtarou to abruptly get in the game w/ Ibara and Chitanda. From that point forward, Houtarou if he wants this to end, he must engage and all must play by his rules. That arm yank forced him to focus whether he wanted to or not and the upperclassman paid the price but he did do what Houtarou wanted him to do and that was to turn over the anthologies. The moral of the story: Don't piss off the guy that is bored and uninterested b/c he is going to get very interested very fast. There was one musical background piece of music that perked my ears. It was a cello piece, one that is on Windham Hill's "Winter Solstice" album. They are not the originators of that piece and I doubt it is them that recorded it for this episode. What I find enthralling about anime are the lengths producers will go to take an anime and make it better. Music, colors, intricate details about specific equipment, legs. Cheers! |
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| Greetings, I'm not much one for reading manga or LN's much fili, you'll see from my manga list that I occasionally read a few chapters of Witch Hat Atelier (magic series about 4 girls learning magic, they use art and draw different runes to work magic, it's a really cool magic system), which has some stunning artwork, very detailed. Then i read a few doujins now and then, usually Fairy Tail ones for Lucy and Erza, think the series is called Witch Bitch, it's nsfw though. So episode 4. Houtarou had a very feminine bag on the cycle over to Chitand's house, just slung over one shoulder. Watching Houtarou pull together his theory from all the threads of information is interesting to observe. There's going to be more to the story, we'll gradually learn more and more details about what happened to the uncle. It's a fairly intriguing premise, uncovering an incident from the school so many years ago that led to someone's life, in this case Chitanda's uncle, being turned upside down when he got expelled for standing up for the students, although it's going to be more than just the cultural festival in the end i expect. Have a good evening. |
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| Hello all. It is cold. 40's and rain. And I am golfing tomorrow (today as you read this). The govt agency I work for has a golf league and I joined. I wanted to join last year but did not have vacation time to do so. I was saving all my time for later in the year. This year, I have been working credit time and banking that time so I can golf on Fridays. No, I am not good but I do like to play. Our neighbors have a daughter that is really good at golf. Really good. Six years ago or so, she was a junior in high school and on the Varsity Golf Team. Her, her parents and myself made up a foursome for a Scramble at a golf tournament. We were on let's say the fourth tee and the group in front of us was a bit slow and in range. I pulled out a $20 bill and said, "Hey Nik, 20 bucks says you can't hit one those players." Her mom was not thrilled. I started teaching her how to bet on each hole. Dad was laughing, mom ... not so much. But I digress ... An interesting episode, nothing fancy other than the chateau Chitanda lives in. But it is the foundation for upcoming episodes and needed to be told. I like your description 23 that this is a intriguing premise and building episodes around that premise. fili, your cousin is right. The nun's that ran the joint were ruthless. Sister Joan taught 3rd grade at my grade school. We were all taller than her. We all feared her, as did our parents, secretly. Hell, I think the devil feared her. But we did learn a lot from her. I do like to read manga but have not been able to find a site where I can read LN's. I would like to purchase more manga but the physical quality of the books that are sold here in the States is lacking. Surprisingly, a licensed h-manga company here in the States sells h-manga books of excellent quality (i am talking about the physical qualities of the book). They are the same size as their Japanese counterparts, quality of the paper and cover are outstanding. Heavy books too. Many times you get picture cards w/ your manga, just like in Japan. That is what I am expecting when I purchase manga but they are mass produced w/ out care. If I don't talk to you all the rest of the weekend, I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend! Cheers! |
AntalkApr 15, 2021 7:33 PM
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| Hello, A lovely sunny clear day here, but still a bit on the cold side. Episode 5. I enjoy riding a bike now and then, riding through the Japanese countryside looks amazing, fields stretching as far as you can see to the mountains in the distance. So they find some more pieces of info about Jun Sekitani and the story unfolds. I was surprised, I expected the details to get drip fed to us but it all came tumbling out when they spoke to the librarian. So Hyouka means Ice Cream, or 'i scream' which was what Jun Sekitani meant with his word play. He'd been singled out for punishment when the whole school was involved, and nobody else stood up for him and or helped him. You could see why that would fester and could make him bitter, maybe Jun Sekitani wanted to get away from the town for good. The OST is so relaxing, watching this show puts me at ease with such beautiful animation and a calming OST. Enjoy your Friday, Take care |
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| Episode 4 & 5 conclude the "uncle mystery" arc. Once again two new alternative animation styles are used, and the word plays are animated with Shaftesque letter animation. Visually, this is the most diverse and advanced KyoAni show I've seen so far. Content wise, I was reminded of the question (ep 4) and answer (ep 5) arc structure of a Higurashi arc. The Chitanda mansion and the ride trough the lush countryside are also similar. And finally, the music playing during the theorizing "meeting" was a quite unsettling, atonal piece I'd expect in a horror movie. This contrasts the otherwise slice-of-lifey visuals and story nicely, creating cognitive dissonance and tension. Episode 5 develops Houtarou's character with inner dialog about "rose tinted high school life" and his gray world. He starts to question his "energy conservative" passiveness and withdrawl from life. The Chitanda bug has bitten :) With the first mystery solved and the protagonist having had his awakening moment, the arc ends. I'm curious what Chitanda's next move on Pinocchio will be, and what mystery it will be dealing with. On the negative side, I found the "I won't explain further I have no time. Bye." phone call with Houtarou's sis a bit weak as for the writing. Withholding information in such a forced and clumsy way doesn't meet the standards of the rest of the writing, which is pretty good. |
inimApr 16, 2021 2:05 PM
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filifjonkan said: Religions are just philosophies and psychology once you remove the superstitious overhead. The personified 7 sins are just a good summary of a universal psychological concept: negative emotions. Knowing that concept and borrow a globally successful metaphor for it isn't limited to Christians. For example, Nirvana from Buddhism, cyclic world from Hinduism, and shamanistic concepts are commonly understood and used world wide as well. Example: While there are only 1.5% Christians in Japan which subscribe to that religion's strict requirement of monotheism, 60-70% of all weddings use the Christian rites. They also celebrate Christmas. 2/3 of Japanese already subscribe to two religions simultaneously, Buddhism and Shintoism. Adding concepts from a 3rd one is easy peasy, they literally already believe in one million Gods and several prophets. What's one more among friends?It starts off with a debate around the seven deadly sins. I actually didn´t think that the school in Japan taught anything about Christian practice, but apperantly they do! Episode 6: Speaking of negative emotions, this episode is about emotional regulation. They pick an easy example, anger. This is one of he most basic emotions and they in the usual witty dialog driven narration explore how Chitanda reached the point of acting on it. She's very good at emotions and her genius level EQ is described with an Angel metaphor in the show. In the example, she "decided" to not supress her anger fueled by injustice. This is a parallel to the uncle story, and an attribute usually correlated with leadership. In terms of story writing, we now have a Checkov's Gun: Chitanda stood up against injustice once, she'll probably do it again later in the story with higher stakes and more drama. Visually, the "gray world" visual metaphor is picked up and extended. It's used in the OP, which is from the POV of emotionally stunted Houtarou. The scenes start black and white, and then are colorized progressively starting at the other characters in the picture. In ep 6, the contrast is even more emphasized using a split screen which doubls as end card. On one side a B/w Houtarou, on the other a pastel colored Chitanda. Musically, the discussion scene used cognitive dissonance with the underlying music agani, this time a mildly atonal progressive rock piece. After they "solved" the case, they returned to very harmonic classical music. The OST is good, and it's used for tension and creating a mildly unsettling, dramatic feeling often. Speaking of the OP: Anybody else gets fairly strong Lolicon vibes from the ED? Unlike the actual show it's heavily sexualized and I wonder why. Is that just otaku bait, and what is that "rocket" "stars" "Polaris" stuff? |
inimApr 17, 2021 2:37 AM
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| I didn't mean to question or even attack your personal believes about supernatural entities or an afterlife. I've deep respect for anybody's opinion on that. The point I try to make is another, subjectivity of the perception of art. As a matter of fact based on the prevalence of religion in Japan, it's safe to say that 98.5% of all people involved in creating an anime are not Christians. But art is in the eye of the beholder, and many Western viewers are Christians and/or were exposed to it's philosophy. When discussing art, I often meet people who say "oh, that's a Christian motif/theme/metaphor they use here". But that's only true because for those individuals certain themes and ethical basics such as death, sin, strong emotions, justice etc. are connected to a religion at an early age. However, for 3 in 4 living people, they are not connected to Christianity. They still are fundamental parts of the human condition, of course and important, universal themes. That said I'm completely open to religious interpretations of story elements in art. They are neither better nor worse than my atheist view, or that of members of any other believe systems. At times, religions have very nice and time proven metaphors which are useful in discussions. What is important to me, though, is to agree that no particular religion or philosophy has a monopoly on the aspects of the human condition and it's ethical questions. |
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| Weekend Greetings, Episode 6. I'm surprised the Uncle mystery arc was wrapped up as quickly as it was. So what will the Classic Lit club investigate next? Anger and injustice. School is so far behind in my memory i can't remember any individual instances of injustice, but I never knew true anger until working in a stressful office and having to acquiesce to senior colleagues or wealthy clients. Even if I was in the right, i had to bow my head (metaphorically speaking) and apologise, even when I was on the end of rude or aggressive behaviour. I quickly learnt that very wealthy clients can't do or say anything wrong, it's all a matter of how much they're willing to pay to get the treatment they desire, urghh, so glad I'm out of that world. We hear part of an argument between Satoshi and Mayaka, something about him standing her up, and her waiting in the rain and getting soaked. We heard that she fancies him, so were they going on a date, and why did he stand her up when she was all dressed up with no explanation? If he did, that's a dick move. All those mini angel Chi's all over Houtarou pleading for him to tell her about her outburst was funny. She is definitely getting under his skin. The way Chi leans over the table towards Houtarou is telling, getting right in his eye line so he can't ignore her. Anything less and he'd just brush her off like he does with everyone else. Chi has learnt, or intuits, how to get around Houtarou's defences and pique his curiosity or appeal to him on a personal level, as he is clearly interested by her. You're spot on regarding the ED @inim, it is in a very different style to the rest of the show, maybe it had a separate director for the OP/ED. Shooting stars into the sky whilst sleeping, scantily clothed girls sleep underneath with the title 'a niece of time' appearing at the beginning of the ED each time (just noticed we got a new title today, maybe that's indicating a new arc). Maybe we'll garner more info with each passing episode, although i think it might just be the only place to provide fans with a bit of eye candy. The clothing and movements of the girls are quite suggestive, silky maid undergarments. I like the song. Japan and it's connection to religion and Shintoism is fascinating. The Shinto beliefs are so different than those I grew up knowing here in the West, ie that natural things and places hold spirits, was completely new to me a decade ago. Take care. |
23feanorApr 17, 2021 4:28 AM
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filifjonkan said: No worry, you were very polite, and I hope I didn't offend you either. I'm really interested in religious interpretations of anything, because obviously I have a limited ability to come up with that myself. There are as many correct perceptions of art as there are beholders and all are equal.I hope I didn’ t offend you @inim I Also have deep respect for all sorts of religion and other views on life. |
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| Episode 7: Self-contained case following the meanwhile established formula. It starts with a typical SoL story element, an onsen trip. KyoAni resisted the temptation to use this opportunity for fan service. Next a mystery is introduced, the case of a suicide by hanging related ghost allegedly haunting the hotel. After some research and interviews with staffers, Houtarou presents a natural explanation. In parallel, the romance and characters are developed further. An already motion sick Hotarou collapses in the onsen fantasizing of Chitanda, who later visits him for sick care. The arc ends in a scene were Houtarou watches the two hotel staffer sisters lovingly caring for each other, debunking his belief that siblings are something negative. One element which caught my attention was a formulaic use of the OST. They used the same background music sequence as in the mansion scene of the uncle arc ("question arc theme", a slightly atonal horror movie music) while discussing the evidence. Then they went to that harmonic classical piece ("answer arc theme") after both Hotarou and Chitanda agreed on his conclusion. |
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| Sunday greetings, The sun is out and the temperature is slowly climbing. Hope you're all well and enjoying your weekend. Onto episode 7 and a trip to the hot springs, the obligatory inclusion for every anime show. I wondered about Houtarou's sister and her impact upon him when Chitanda asked him about her. I wonder if his bored attitude and reluctance to over exert himself and get involved with people, may be in part due to sibling envy. Houtarou's sister is a brilliant shining person, his description, so I wonder did she always outshine him within the family and this led to him becoming reclusive and quiet. That can happen when one sibling is especially gifted or exuberant and the other sibling/s feel inferior by comparison, which can lead to stunted personality or emotional growth over time. Hot springs look wonderful, although being naked in front of strangers would take some getting used to. Plus I've heard you're not allowed in if you have a tatoo as that indicates you're a yakuza in Japan, surely this shouldn't apply to foreigners? I'd like to have a floating tray with a cold beer in a hot spring. Wearing those robes looks so comfy as well. After eating and drinking being in a comfy robe sounds lovely, just sitting on your balcony enjoying a cool beer or refreshing rose wine after the hot spring. I've noticed that when Chi gets excited and looks straight at Houtarou, her purple eyes start sparkling with tiny stars. Another mystery solved, this time regarding sisters and a yukata. We're slowly beginning to see a change coming into Houtarou's way of thinking, he won't instantly reject proposals from the guys out of hand anymore. He's realising that doing things can be fun, and always being alone and not doing things with other people can be boring. He comes across as someone who's enjoyed his own company, but that doesn't mean that being with other people can't be fun as well. I've also noticed the two music question and answer pieces @inim after you mentioned it previously. Enjoy the last of your weekend. Take care |
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| @filifjonkan I have a tatoo, it's not huge but covers my upper left arm, so I hope that if i do ever go to Japan, I'll be able to go into an onsen. I also know Abroad in Japan with Chris Broad, i really like his video's. He reminds me very much of a lot of my mates, he's not much younger than me and has a very sardonic nature. I also like Sharmeleon and Tokyo Creative, as well as Nobita. |
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| Hello, A warm and sunny day here with temps up to 15 C (60 for those that use fahrenheit, i'm trying to get used to it myself). The first really warm sunny day that portends of summer to come. My brother and his wife are expecting their second child any day now (due date was today), so should have a new nephew or niece. I'm going to be the cool uncle that introduces them to anime when their old enough (My Hero Academia maybe, Pokemon, will have to think on it?). So onto episode 8. Not sure what the messaging at the start was about, most of it when by too fast. Was that when Irisu was asking for Chitanda to help her, although there was a senpai and a kouhai (junior and senior), whereas Chi and Irisu was both in the 2nd year, so the same age. And I'm sure at one point in the discussion one of them said "I'm sure you've worked out who I am", indicating that the speakers didn't know each others identity from the start? So the Classic Lit club are brought in to help solve a mystery film being created by another class. I feel for Houtarou a bit at this point, it seems any time a mystery appears the other members of the Classic Lit club band together to rope him into helping, not that he has anything better to do, but the pressure would maybe grate on me slightly if I were in his shoes. We see Chi's sparkly purple eyes light up with tiny stars when she's excited again, that seems to be the pull for Houtarou as much as the mystery, he doesn't want to disappoint Chitanda. Thinking on it, surely someone could've got word to the writer, Hongo, and asked her to outline the rest of the story, even if it's just the identity of the murderer so someone else can write the remainder of the story for the film with a rough plot outline. The fact they don't have this makes me think that something dire has happened to Hongo and she's so poorly they can't, or don't feel justified, in disturbing her to ask for the info on the film, partly because it was writing the film script that drove her to be so ill. The OP and ED have both really grown on me, especially the ED. We got a new title at the end "why didn't they ask EBA", not sure what that means yet. I've been enjoying this new Spring 2021 season, Combatants Will be Dispatched is especially funny, Higehiro looks like it'll be a rom-com with a difference and Vivy looks stunning with lots going on. If anyone is keeping up with the new seasonal shows, what's your favourite from the new picks? Have a good evening. Take care |
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| Episode 8 The exposition for what looks like another longer arc. This guess is based on Chi's "The Fool" tarot card nickname, which appears in a episode title a few eps down the road. So those nicks are foreshadowing, and maybe Chi's role will be crucial one in this case. I love movies about making movies, so this is gonna be my arc. I chuckled about the intentionally wooden acting of the guy in the muscle shirt who later became the victim. God punishes small sins promptly it seems. I'm too lazy to speculate who was the murderer, but there were plenty of fast cuts towards the end of that amateur movie in a movie. I think the grass will matter, it didn't look trampled so the murderer can't have used the window. Or at least they want us to think that. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow's episode 9 not only because I like the arc's premise, also because Yamada herself directed it (eps #9 & #14). Gimme leg shots or gimme death! As for the mysteriously changing title in the ED: simply the name of the light novel volume this story is from. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyouka#Novels As for the sparkle in Chi's eyes: I've noticed it but am too lazy to seek a scene. May it be it's the visual representation of the moment she kicks off the "answer arc"? It then would go together with her catch phrase: "I'm curious!" ("I have to know!" in the English dub, German sub uses the literal translation). |
inimApr 19, 2021 9:19 AM
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filifjonkan said: Yes, all novel titles are word plays on the titles of classic detective novels. Click them on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyouka#Novels to see which is which.I was also wondering about that last text; Why didn’t they ask Eba?” could be a parody of Agatha Christies ”Why didn’t they ask Evans”? |
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| Hello, Hope you're all well. Another lovely sunny day here in the South of the UK with a balmy 17 degrees C (62 fahrenheit). I have a new baby niece who was born this morning at 4am. Woke up to a text from my brother, which was lovely. They went to sleep as normal and she was born within a few hours early morning (they had a home birth so everything was set up ready). My baby nephew, who turned 2 yesterday, woke to find a new baby sister. So they were born 2 years and one day apart. Onto episode 9 and the student film. Any time anything happens or the group gets information, all of them want to know what Oreki thinks. They all have their own ideas, but it's as if they don't have confidence and belief in what they think until they've heard what Oreki's view on the situation happens to be. Oreki has to cajole Chi into saying the first theory doesn't sit right with her, when it's clear to all of them that the first guys theory was nonsense. Some interesting use of camera angles and some good leg shots in this episode. Was paying particular attention after @inim told us about this episode being directed by Yamada. Seeing Chi tipsy was funny, we got to see her sparkly eyes again. This is just a guess, but i wonder if some of the group were unhappy with Hongo writing the script, not sure how that helps discover the killers identity but think it may be pertinent. Why did Irisu ask Oreki for a cup of tea? We'll find out tomorrow. I just saw the latest episode of Vivy Flourite Eye's Song, if anybody isn't watching it I would advise you to pick it up or add it to your ptw list. It's the Wonder Egg Priority of last season, although we're waiting on the final episode to drop in June for that show. Have a nice day, Take care |
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| Episode 9 An episode with lots and lots of dialog, so the interesting part is how Yamada spices it up to void boredom in what essentially is yet another episode full of exposition dump. Writing wise, it's of course Chi filling herself up with Whiskey candy. But the main material to work with are the 3 movie crew members. It's a light novel, so their mannerism, looks, speech patterns etc. are up for grabs. And the anime delivers, all three are pretty memorable for their really short screen time. Especially the arrogant asshole coming 2nd for me. As for Yamada's handwriting, less leg shots than expected. She worked with fairly fast cuts this time, and dutch angles. Also unusual perspectives, jumps into close ups, and "incomplete" framing e.g. you do not see the head and so on. Overall, a lot of small things and the good characters succeed in making this not boring. Mission accomplished. After checking three "standard" explaintions and Hotarou's rejections of each, let's see what his take will be. |
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| ok ... i am back weekend was hectic but for an hour or so on Saturday afternoon. I spent time w/ my father smoking cigars. I always enjoy a good cigar but that was one of the best b/c I was able to enjoy burning some great Nicaraguan leaf while 'shooting-the-shit' w/ my father. Friday afternoon was spent on the links; I joined the golf league where I work. For my first time on the course in over two years, I did very well. My putting has gone to crap but that's ok b/c as they say a bad day at golf is better than a good day at the office. weather wise, it is going to snow tonite. we are expecting 6 inches of snow. Two weeks ago it was 80F. I have some catching up to do over the next couple of nights. I chose to watch alot of Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans 2nd Season instead of Houka; not b/c I don't like Hyouka, just that Gundam got into a groove that I could not get out of. |
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| Episode 5, yes I know I am behind, the background music at the very beginning is "Prelude To Cello Suite #1 In G Major". I do not know the artist/group that is playing this version. I highly recommend listening to the version off of Windham Hill's "A Winter Solstice II" album. If you need some music to take you to another level, this album is it. |
| Active Military, Prior Service and Veteran's Anime Club do not forget the sound of my voice until the day we reunite |
| Greetings, Hope you're all well. @Antalk hope the house move is going well, nice to hear your enjoyed a cigar with your dad. I've never gotten into golf, I've been to the range with friends and knocked some balls out, but never on an actual course. I imagine the first few trips onto a golf course must be tough. So episode 10 and we continue with the student mystery film. What will Oreki's summation of events be i wonder? I feel sorry for the kids having to wear school uniform during summer vacation when around town, that must suck. A realising moment for Oreki talking to Irisu (interesting head and neck angled shots in the tea room), she was telling him what he needed to hear to get him motivated and on her side. That just happened to take the form of actual realisation and growth for Oreki, who is full of lethargy and doubt, but is that a symptom of his lack of confidence? We can see Oreki's growth and transformation straight away when talking to Satoshi and giving him praise, telling him he can be more than "just average". He reflected on how much that praise from Irisu meant to him and tried to emulate that in his comment to Satoshi. Oreki comes up with his notion of who the murderer is, but is he right, there's a twist at the end and Chi didn't seem satisfied with the ending of the film. Oreki is starting to change. We'll have to wait and see how far and deep the transformation goes. Take care |
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| Episode 10 Houtarou is confronted by both Satoshi Fukube and Fuyumi "Empress" Irisu about being special. The latter uses a mildly mocking parable about his reflex on being lauded: "I was just lucky.". Houtarou doesn't reply much to either, but the thought has been planted and certainly will have consequences later. Inability to deal with praise is symptom to several psychological issues, including being emotional stunted. Thus this is another step in his character development from Pinocchio towards real boy. Plot wise, he comes up with his own solution of the movie fictional murder case, by refining one of the theories by staff members from last episode. A Matrix-esque montage with many monitors visualizes his thought process. The murderer is a 7th person, identified as the camera man. The movie ending is filmed based on his script, and a test viewing satisfies the audience. The 2nd girl in the classic club, Mayaka Ibara, had several bright moments in this episode, she's portrayed being smarter and more mature than before. In the last scene, she points out a flaw in Hotarou's ending: the rope the original script author paid so much attention on wasn't used. Houtarou is mildly shocked his solution isn't 100% correct, and next episode we'll see what that does to him and what the real solution is. My highlight of the episode is Mayaka Ibara's film critique on the camera works of the student movie. Wrong angles, wrong POV camera positions, boring framing. I always love it when a director speaks trough his characters. The anime not only has far above average cinematography, it is very aware of it as we now know. |
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