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Jan 9, 2017 9:28 AM
#1

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Nov 2011
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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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Damn, this was more brutal than I had expected. Well, maybe BD will even be uncensored.

I thought the episode was bloody and had enough impact for a historical show with its time setting. Heizou Hasegawa could be a complex character so I look forward to the show to explore more about him. That being said, I think this show has potential.
Jan 9, 2017 12:05 PM
#2
The Shrike

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Nov 2009
11582
I take it no one will license this, right?

Sigh. I really wanted to see this, but let's face it, the audience for this kind of series in the West is slowly fading away.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Jan 9, 2017 3:51 PM
#3

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Mar 2008
483
Finally something good that isn't a sequel. Looking forward to more.
Jan 9, 2017 4:04 PM
#4

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Feb 2015
1076
I didn't like this episode. I'll give it one more episode to gauge just what this series is trying to do. This episode went from bloody torture to family comedy. Considering the synopsis names Heizo, I was surprised to have the thief be central in the first episode. The art and animation are lacking. What's worse is that I think they're aware of the poor animation and they move the camera to compensate.
Jan 9, 2017 4:12 PM
#5

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Jul 2010
8334
Eh, not exactly the best episode and it didn't really hook me in but I will give more episodes to see how I feel then. Poor animation too at lots of places, especially with their mouths that didn't match the voice sometimes and the walking animations looked awkward. There was a single amazing scene though and that was when they killed off all the thiefs.
Jan 9, 2017 5:01 PM
#6
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Jan 2016
976
Oh, wow. This anime really showed that the studio is indeed a new & amateur one. Limited animation, but when there's some, it's bad. Simply took my breath away. And from the music & the OP, they wanted to make this some kind of stylish anime, but failed miserably. Because the direction was not stylish at all.


devinder said:
What's worse is that I think they're aware of the poor animation and they move the camera to compensate.

I agree. It showed that the director tried really hard to ease off the animation work & that sacrificed any directing merit. It's just so badly directed.


Farabeuf said:
I take it no one will license this, right?


With this kind of quality, I doubt any company would take any chance with it.
Jan 9, 2017 5:28 PM
#7

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Jun 2014
523
Wow that was brutal! I enjoyed this first episode and can't wait to see where it goes.
So glad that I'm not a huge manga reader, because the manga readers WHINE WAY TOO MUCH and have to RUIN every adapted anime for the ANIME ONLY WATCHERS!
Jan 9, 2017 5:36 PM
#8

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Sep 2013
1711
It can be good. I am not as pessimistic as some people in this thread.

About animation, I don't really care if it was off sometimes. 91 Days was my favourite anime from last season and the budget there ended pretty fast. It doesn't matter if in the end story and characters are good.
Jan 9, 2017 5:45 PM
#9

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Apr 2014
214
Hot damn, a lot of you people are pessimistic. For a new studio, while the animation quality wasn't the best, I thought it was fine! I really enjoyed this first episode! People need to lighten up. It was a good showing. I'm looking forward to more! It has a lot of potential.
Jan 9, 2017 5:50 PM
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Jan 2016
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Wintovisky said:
About animation, I don't really care if it was off sometimes. 91 Days was my favourite anime from last season and the budget there ended pretty fast. It doesn't matter if in the end story and characters are good.

The difference is 91 Days' 1st episode does not have animation & direction this bad. Imagine what this anime will be later down the line when the premiere episode is like this.
Jan 9, 2017 5:56 PM
The Komori

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Mar 2013
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I disagree with you guys saying that the directing and animation was bad....Honestly, for the type of series that this is, it works quite nicely tbh and regardless, Art/Animation issues does not make a series bad whatsoever

All that aside, this series truly has potential in being a dark horse of this season and I loved the overall tone of it as well as this time period...The story wasn't anything amazing but it was quite intriguing and I wouldn't mind seeing more

The characters were likable too and I REALLY hope that this won't be the last that we see of the honorable thief guy...Good start
Jan 9, 2017 6:15 PM

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Dec 2014
7045
That was a good starting episode.

The setting, the characters and the story have potential to be good. Already like the chief and the thief guy.
Kinda sad that the thief's mentor turned out like that, I'm glad that he still chose to uphold the moral code of thieves.

The action was pretty decent, The sword fights towards the end of this episode were pretty cool. The only thing that stuck out to me was the glaring crowd CG which is a little weird when it contrasts with the art style. Apart from that, I didn't really have any issue with the art or animation.

Overall, I liked what I saw and will definitely be looking forward to more.
Jan 9, 2017 6:24 PM

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Mar 2014
66
Yeah, the directing and animation makes this feel pretty generic.
Which is a shame because i think its quite interesting. I love the honour among thieves idea, or having a righteous heart in a lawless age. It gives it kind of like a bebop-y type theme and macho-ness to it. But I shouldn't make that comparison cause the music, while jazzy, is also generic AF.

Would have liked a bigger studio to do something like this.
Jan 9, 2017 6:25 PM

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Dec 2015
601
Kinda reminded me of Aoi Bungaku because of the character designs (although they also bear a minor resemblance to Takehiko Inoue's Vagabond )
Also I really liked the OST!
Jan 9, 2017 6:27 PM
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Jan 2016
976
Tokoya said:
I disagree with you guys saying that the directing and animation was bad....Honestly, for the type of series that this is, it works quite nicely tbh and regardless, Art/Animation issues does not make a series bad whatsoevert

What do you mean by this type of series? Is there a specific series that works well with stiff animation & direction that avoid too many things/animations happen in a scene?


Awesomecake said:
Which is a shame because i think its quite interesting. I love the honour among thieves idea, or having a righteous heart in a lawless age. It gives it kind of like a bebop-y type theme and macho-ness to it. But I shouldn't make that comparison cause the music, while jazzy, is also generic AF.

Would have liked a bigger studio to do something like this.

I think this anime intended to be a stylish one, considering the music & the OP(which was pretty stylish & cool), but they just failed. Sad, really. Could have been a cool series.
Jan 9, 2017 6:45 PM

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Jun 2014
7420
This was all right I guess. I have a soft spot for historical anime of any kind (whether it's this time period or a setting like medieval Europe, etc) so I'll see this one through. There wasn't really anything to write home about in this episode, but I did like the part where they raided Tanbei no Chigashira and his followers. Hopefully this will improve as it goes on.
People on MAL refuse to actually enjoy watching anime.

Your taste in anime isn't a personality trait.

MAL is literally just anime Twitter as its own website lol.


Jan 9, 2017 8:35 PM

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Jun 2012
6493
I liked it a lot, felt like they jammed a lot of story into one episode.
Jan 9, 2017 8:39 PM
Ceasefire NOW

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Aug 2009
3739
The animation wasn't great, but it wasn't bad enough to drop it. At least not for me.

And personally, I enjoyed the OP and ED, as well as the OP animation.

This anime also reminds me of Saraiya Goyou.
Jan 9, 2017 8:51 PM

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Jun 2015
2762
Very good first episode. The OST sounds so good. I love it. The animation is good too. The characters are likable. Honor among thieves is cool. That torture scene was brutal. The raid against the thieves was awesome. Looking forward to see more.
Jan 9, 2017 9:06 PM
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Apr 2016
35
I like it.

Anyhow, here's the wikipedia on the Arson Theft Control department.

As arson was a major cause of fires in Edo, the shogunate spent considerable effort in cracking down on arsonists. A new government position, hitsuke tōzoku aratame (火付盗賊改?, literally "arsonist/thief corrector"), was introduced. Chōnin were given rewards for capturing arsonists. Arson was made a felony and punished with burning at the stake as a warning to the public.

Hitsuke tōzoku aratame was a position introduced by the shogunate to target the felonies of arson, theft, and gambling. Although initially there were three separate posts for the three crimes, they were known to be held concurrently by military official Nakayama Naomori (中山 直守?) in 1683 (Tenna 3). Later they were eliminated for a short time, but were re-introduced in 1703 (Genroku 16) and unified into a single position in 1718 (Kyōhō 3).

Contrary to the machi-bugyō, who were civil officials, hitsuke tōzoku aratame were military officials. Therefore, their interrogation strategies tended to be violent. While they had the power to arrest suspected arsonists, there was no penalty for mistaken arrests. For this reason, they often tortured the arrested suspects to force confessions, leading to a great number of false charges. This left a notorious image on the chōnin, who nicknamed them "kojiki shibai" (乞食芝居?, lowly theaters) while comparing the machi-bugyō and kanjō-bugyō (勘定奉行?, financial commissioner) to "ōshibai" (大芝居?, grand theaters).
Jan 9, 2017 9:38 PM
The Komori

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7435
TheServant said:
Tokoya said:
I disagree with you guys saying that the directing and animation was bad....Honestly, for the type of series that this is, it works quite nicely tbh and regardless, Art/Animation issues does not make a series bad whatsoevert

What do you mean by this type of series? Is there a specific series that works well with stiff animation & direction that avoid too many things/animations happen in a scene?


Awesomecake said:
Which is a shame because i think its quite interesting. I love the honour among thieves idea, or having a righteous heart in a lawless age. It gives it kind of like a bebop-y type theme and macho-ness to it. But I shouldn't make that comparison cause the music, while jazzy, is also generic AF.

Would have liked a bigger studio to do something like this.

I think this anime intended to be a stylish one, considering the music & the OP(which was pretty stylish & cool), but they just failed. Sad, really. Could have been a cool series.
Except the animation wasn't really that stiff....What I mean is that this is the type of series where flashy animation wouldn't be necessary in order to portray what's going on....This series (Or I should say this episode) isn't about just action scenes but more about story and characterization and themes
Jan 9, 2017 10:19 PM
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Jul 2014
17
How the hell does this have a 6.7/10 on MAL... This is without a doubt the greatest first episode I have seen since Rakugo.
Jan 9, 2017 10:37 PM
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7280
Sexy voice Hosoyan and he's not even listed on MAL's page yet.

One thing that bothered me was that sometimes when they talked their mouths kept moving more than needed. I don't think i've ever noticed anything like that in any other anime.

Not as great as I was expecting and I don't want to watch it weekly, but i'll keep my eyes out on the type of reception this gets as it goes.
Jan 9, 2017 10:45 PM

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Dec 2016
101
I enjoyed watching the anime the ost is fantastic(Jazzy), characters are interesting, the sword battle was good. I hope this show keeps it up for this season.
Jan 9, 2017 11:40 PM
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May 2015
345
This was terrible. Animation was just atrocious other than the fight at the end
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Jan 9, 2017 11:47 PM
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297
Wow....this is a serious and interesting anime.

Much different from what I am used to.

Already looking forward to the next episdoe
"The greatness of one's sorrow when parting is the evidence of the deepness of one's love, so if one fears sadness, one wouldn't be able to love anything."
Jan 10, 2017 12:14 AM
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Wintovisky said:
It can be good. I am not as pessimistic as some people in this thread.

About animation, I don't really care if it was off sometimes. 91 Days was my favourite anime from last season and the budget there ended pretty fast. It doesn't matter if in the end story and characters are good.


I'm glad to hear someone else say this. It was my favorite show of Summer 16. I still periodically check out the dubbed episodes as they get released - for tha mob voice, capiche?
"The only thing I still write is a list of people I'll never forgive" - Hikigaya 8man
Jan 10, 2017 2:31 AM
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Jan 2016
976
Tokoya said:
Except the animation wasn't really that stiff....What I mean is that this is the type of series where flashy animation wouldn't be necessary in order to portray what's going on....This series (Or I should say this episode) isn't about just action scenes but more about story and characterization and themes

If we compare the animation in this anime with other recent anime, it's definitely below average(or should I say, stiff). But it seems you have your own standard of what stiff animation is, so suit yourself.
But I was not asking a flashy animation out of this series, but more of average animation, which even by that standard still failed to achieve.
I agree, it's not all about action scene. But even the dialogue-heavy scenes were not that good. Recent anime like Rakugo & The Great Passage could make dialogue-heavy scenes beautifully directed & well-animated, why not this? So the point is, this anime is neither well-directed nor well-animated, but that does not mean it's an atrocious anime.


MagnitudeReviews said:
How the hell does this have a 6.7/10 on MAL... This is without a doubt the greatest first episode I have seen since Rakugo.

Nice one.
Jan 10, 2017 2:37 AM
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Jan 2017
5
MagnitudeReviews said:
How the hell does this have a 6.7/10 on MAL... This is without a doubt the greatest first episode I have seen since Rakugo.


I agree, but it seems that people hated the show because animation was bad
Jan 10, 2017 2:39 AM
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Jul 2014
33
I am wondering if I've been watching the same show as some of you people cuz the animation was pretty good in my opinion. Especially the atmosphere of that time period they managed to create was well done.
I am surprised by the low score, but maybe I am just a sucker for (semi)realistic storytelling instead of the sort of stories anime usually has. 5/5 so far from me.
Jan 10, 2017 3:18 AM

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19254
stand said:
Sexy voice Hosoyan and he's not even listed on MAL's page yet.


Totally Right :D

Totally Love it wanna watch more and rewatch samurai champloo right now too
Jan 10, 2017 4:59 AM

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Aug 2013
244
Very cool first episode. The animation wasn't the best but I'll look past that since I really like the setting, characters, and action so far. I'm wondering if Kumehachi will make a return or if the series only focuses on Hasegawa and if it's episodic stories or an overarching plot.
Jan 10, 2017 5:08 AM

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I got a bit interested of this, just browsing random anime.
Quality for animation can be debated, but I liked how rough this animation was, sometimes lower quality can actually lift certain vital elements rather than make them bland.

Of course, I don't think this is a top-class anime, it's quite obvious that the budget is what it is.
While there are a few shows taking place in the same period, many of them tend to be a bit too niche-styled.

As far as first episode goes, it plunged in to the time period as we want to perceive it beautifully, introduced characters well, gave backstory to a plot and executed that plot to create what will become the main story of the series. A good first episode, but it also left an impression that it might slow the pace down a bit further in. Music might not have fit the theme perfectly at times either.
1st EP impression: 8/10 with wide-open plot and sound dragging it down.
What I think will happen - story slowing down, but hopefully redeeming itself with a deeper plot and strong ending. I would think it will reach around 6.5-7 in my anime list by the finish.

I have not read any of the manga.
Jan 10, 2017 5:13 AM

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May 2014
1731
Oh my god, the music *_*

Like where this one is going, it might be the dark horse of the season.
A lot of the characters looks similar and I'm not a fan of that iffy CGI of background characters, but there were some really nice scenes and the action was great.

We'll just see how it goes I guess!
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Jan 10, 2017 6:39 AM

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This was decent, it actually disappointed me a bit, but who cares. This was just the first episode and I'm gonna keep watching because I still see potential in the MC
Futari wa Milky Holmes was a mistake
Yoshii did nothing wrong

Jan 10, 2017 8:16 AM

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473
I think it's an okay first episode. But we are getting so few good shows about Samurai that are more on the realistic side that I just have to follow this one, at least for some time!
Jan 10, 2017 8:19 AM

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Dec 2014
12524
well classical japanses setting ...let's see how it goes for now
Jan 10, 2017 8:20 AM

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Aug 2016
1018
Really enjoyed this episode, really like shows like this! looking forward for next episodes :D
Nanika ga Okashii
Jan 10, 2017 9:07 AM

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4958
Tenth said:
Eh, not exactly the best episode and it didn't really hook me in but I will give more episodes to see how I feel then. Poor animation too at lots of places, especially with their mouths that didn't match the voice sometimes and the walking animations looked awkward. There was a single amazing scene though and that was when they killed off all the thiefs.

The scene where one of the victims was crying also looked wonky as shit, her crying animation specifically. And crowd is done by some really bad CGI. I guess sasuga Madhouse?

It looks like they picked an interesting source material, but the whole show truly seems mostly average directed animation, or MADAO short.

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Jan 10, 2017 10:14 AM

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Sep 2013
726
Surprise of the season.

Wish there were more animes like that,mature,realistic and with well written characters,only thing i disliked was all that 3d but an anime like that probably got a low budget,still they put a really well animated fight in this episode i was pretty hyped,anyway can't wait to see the next episodes.
Deep dark fantasies
Jan 10, 2017 10:28 AM

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Mar 2015
924
The color palette feels so out of place.

I hope this doesn't completely suck.
Jan 10, 2017 10:33 AM

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May 2015
4786
This show is on point, I didn’t expect NOIR (crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings) to be blended with a samurai show and I like it. Can't wait to see where this is going… I am very excited for this one!
Jan 10, 2017 11:34 AM

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Jul 2015
940
TheServant said:
Oh, wow. This anime really showed that the studio is indeed a new & amateur one. Limited animation, but when there's some, it's bad. Simply took my breath away. And from the music & the OP, they wanted to make this some kind of stylish anime, but failed miserably. Because the direction was not stylish at all.


devinder said:
What's worse is that I think they're aware of the poor animation and they move the camera to compensate.

I agree. It showed that the director tried really hard to ease off the animation work & that sacrificed any directing merit. It's just so badly directed.


Farabeuf said:
I take it no one will license this, right?


With this kind of quality, I doubt any company would take any chance with it.


Legit, I got bored 3 minutes in. Least stimulating directing Ive seen in a while.
Jan 10, 2017 11:38 AM

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Jul 2011
4411
I actually really liked this one. A breath of fresh air compared to all the moe stuff coming out this season. I didn't even notice the apparently "bad animation", though the CG was a bit cheap.

Regarding the story and characters, I quite enjoyed it. I didn't expect the boss to turn out to be the same guy - and how in the end the thief stayed true to his values despite meaning it would betray the very person who instilled in him his beliefs. That must've hit him hard.
MirorinJan 10, 2017 11:42 AM
Jan 10, 2017 11:57 AM

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Jun 2013
731
This had quite the brutality. Loved the colors here. Too cool. The animation was so-so throughout, until that fight scene which looked pretty cool. The backgrounds are nice too. This looks interesting. The atmosphere they have here is cool. Like how the two characters had similar backgrounds i.e they didn't know about their parents, but they ended up as two completely different people. One became a criminal and one took up stopping crimes. I'm gonna stick around to see where this goes.
Jan 10, 2017 12:06 PM

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5111
That was a pretty nice first episode IMO, yes, it had some really awful cgi when walking around the streets, but the story looks promising, and the action scene near the end was pretty cool, looking forward for more.
Jan 10, 2017 12:27 PM
The Shrike

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Nov 2009
11582
After my little outburst yesterday complaining that this might not get released at all in the West, I'm really glad that it was picked up by Amazon.

Not that bad of first episode. Yeah the art and animation are not mind boggling but what do you expect. The budget for this must be minuscule. This is not a light novel adaptation or a hyped property. The direction could be better too, but that can be said about 9 out of 10 series this season.

I hope there is an ongoing storyline and it's not episodic with a villain of the week.
"Perhaps there is a universal, absolute truth. Perhaps it justifies every question. But that's beyond the reach of these small hands." Mamoru Oshii

There is a cult of ignorance (...) nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov

Jan 10, 2017 12:29 PM

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Feb 2008
4416
Seems like its a show on a lower budget, but I really liked this first episode.
Jan 10, 2017 1:01 PM

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Jul 2008
1703
It is an Anime made by a new studio that is animating something that would never be expected to make a decent amount of money. Of course the animation quality will not be high, what the heck do you people expect?
NayraelJan 10, 2017 1:07 PM
Jan 10, 2017 1:35 PM
News Team
YEEHAW

Online
Nov 2014
9745
finally watched it.
Sure, the animation isnt the best but it didnt ruined it for me,i enjoyed it a lot !
Definitly looking forward to more !
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