| I'd better be brief ]Ijiranaide Nagatoro-san 2nd Attack Pretty sketchy story, I think they are planning a third season, some of the good scenes were taken out, filled with fillers. Turned out to be a perfect example of "manga was better". You can watch, but weaker than the first season. Despite the fact that they sacrificed best arcs from manga to make a grand finale. It will be funny if the 3rd season will be cancelled due to poor ratings. (6/10) Tsumiki no Ie Short story for short film award. If I didn't know this is japanese I'd think it's french. (6/10) Shiroi Suna no Aquatope Typical PA Works anime. Amazing picture, plain screenplay, usual characters, a lot of dead ends, but very impressive. the first half is good, the second one even better, and sweet happy ending. This is insulting: you can see how much work is invested in it, everything done with love, everyone tried their best. But finally this is not Shirobako. everything is very plush and unctuous. May be they should find a screenwriter? Or Yamakan is kinda free of works. Don't know. Very disposable pleasure (6/10) Ima Soko ni Iru Boku Very good sci-fi, I'm not even afraid to say actual. Very good and coherent story, moderately sad. Characters are acceptably boring, but the plot is incredibly solid. Even a little ashamed that I did not like it (7/10) Shiki Horror, but not everyone dies at the end, it's frustrating (3/10) specoal (4/10) Fantastic Children Incredible sci-fi(?) drama Not a masterpiece, unfortunately, but very close. Still, in the second half, there are a lot of problem with pace, and the finale was somehow disrupted. But very well. I was confused when they started to explain the background in the start of the second part, I thought that everything would fall apart further, but then it was even better than in the first part. And despite the fact that episodes are unbalanced very often, in one they tell, in the other they fight, but they did it well. There are a number of flaws, well, God bless them (7/10) Shinmai Maou no Testament This piece make me think about how to start to drop anime. Nothing good to remember at all, some set of unfunny gags for a teenager in perturbation. Hentai is even more interesting to watch, at least there is a plot (3/10) the same for the special Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi wo Suru Very good romcom. I really liked the drawing. The plot is funny, not very deep, but original. Cute characters. I'm not well well in online RPGs, I think they made a lot of simplifications there, but the atmosphere was done well (7/10) Sakamichi no Apollon You still need to learn how to drop. As always, a great start, you watch with delight, and then it turns out it's all about something else and slams into the ending. It’s not as sad as Carole and Tuesday, but from an excellent start, through a steep dive, we went to “fine if you watch it with beer”. In my opinion, even if according to the original (and it is based on the manga) the story fails after half, this is not an excuse for the adaptation. It started out great. When they got down from the musical theme into the everyday school rom-com, it became acceptable, then they added some kind of drama and it turned to mess. Before the seventh episode I had only minor complaints, and even then within the limits of the permissible. Very disappointed. I put this anime into the plan to watch twice and both times threw it out of it. I was smart enough. (6/10) Tonikaku Kawaii Seifuku, Tonikaku Kawaii SNS OVA and special. I should think about to watch the next season or not (3/10 both) Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun Great romcom with an interesting story line. Not without flaws, and everything is here: both dead-end branches and overly far-fetched plots. The characters are mostly superficial, and one of the main characters is downright creepy. But how delightful the main character is, thanks to her all the minuses are forgiven. In general, I like Tomatsu Haruka, the way she plays, she is not a star, but sometimes she hits very well. Here the role is somewhat parallel to Hori from Horimia, but in places it is more difficult, because the whole story is told from her name. I can say it's almost perfect. In addition, very interesting questions were sometimes asked, a clever thing turned out. And the director is good. (7/10) Mushoku Tensei, Mushoku Tensei p2 In general this is well-written average isekai, but I need to find out where it got into my watchlist in order to prevent this from happening (6/10) Buddy Daddies odrinary PG-13 comedy, sure, but funny. spy family from a different angle (6/10) Skip to Loafer Very entertaining romcom. The ending was a little blurry, but overall it was a good story. First impression: This is very unexpected drawing for PAWorks. And totally unexpected choice for adaptation. PAWorks draws something technically clean and realistic, and this kind of source is unusual. Nevertheless, they found a place for their standard agenda about "living in the county". But very non-standard implementation for them. And about the story itself: it starts as average romcom with gags, but the plot is very deep and well-written, the characters pretend to be standard anime archetypes but are revealed throughout the story. Amazing (8/10) Oshi no Ko I haven't been so sorry for the end of a series in a long time. And despite the fact that the next season has already been announced. Although what is there to be surprised, because I am the target audience of this work. I liked the series much more than the good first episode. Great characters, great interactions between them, everything as it should be: enough drama, but not more than enough. Enough comedy for drama. One of the best stories about the world of entertainment depicted from the perspective of a participant in this world who does not really believe in it. Cast is perfect, Kana one love. There are small problems: a very heavy narrative, too long inclusions of one character and too many monologues. And let's be honest, not all seiyuu can handle it. I'm afraid of this solely because I'm afraid that the rating will not drop. The trend towards this is obvious and the next season may be postponed. (8/10) ps new editor — sux |
| KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! (2023) - I'll refer to @whiteflame's review of this show on the 25th June 2023 as he had a similar experience to me. I am also a big fan of Konosuba (scored season one a 10/10) so I was equally intrigued by how this spin off would land, and would Megumin be able to carry the show, the answer barely. I found the early portion of the show set in the Crimson Devon village and academy, a bit boring. Once Megumin set out to become an adventurer the story and comedy picked up. Personally i found Megumin the weakest of the main cast, and preferred Yunyun's moments. Best girl was easily Megumin's adorable young sister Komekko. This show looked really good, gorgeous colour and clean detail (including Megumin's trademark explosion magic), which bodes well for Konosuba season three as the same studio is producing it. There were lots of easter eggs for the other main cast members (Aqua, Kazuma, Darkness) in the later parts of the show which were too blatant. Despite my misgivings, fun watch for Konosuba fans, low 7/10 (7.2). @whiteflame55 Treasure Island (1978) - anime adaption of the famous novel from Robert Louis Stevenson. A few differences from the novels, but mainly for the better. Really good version of John Silver, and his relationship with Jim Hawkins formed a key part of the narrative. Absolutely lovely visuals from famed director Osamu Dezaki brought this adventure story to life in colour and some wonderful stills; stormy cliffs, traditional taverns, ships sailing in front of sunset or the moon, tropical ports and mysterious islands. Brilliant instrumental jazz OST. I read Treasure Island as young kid and revisiting this treasured story in a new form was really fun. High 7/10 (7.8). One Piece Film: Gold (2016) - the Straw Hat crew land on a floating casino island and we end up with an Oceans Eleven style heist in a massive Las Vega city on the sea. As with most One Piece films this looked good and included a smooth jazz OST. Just makes a 7/10 (7.0). |
23feanorJul 8, 2023 7:08 AM
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| Dream Hunter Rem (1985) - OVA series about a young girl detective with the power to enter other peoples' dreams who helps solve cases with supernatural elements. The first episode was originally a hentai with a couple of sex scenes (tentacle rape and masturbation) with animation, backgrounds and composition that was a bit crude and clumsily put together. The second episode is a longer remake of the original first episode but with the sex scenes cut out. Animation and backgrounds were a lot better for the three remaining episodes, some of the backgrounds looked like Bob Ross paintings, lovely textures. Some gruesome deaths. 80's electro pop OST with that casio-keyboard sound. Stories were compact but good. Mid 6/10 (6.6). Haruka Nogizaka's Secret: Purezza (2009) - second season of the show about the perfect pure rich girl secret otaku Haruka Nogizaka and her crush Ayase Yuuto. I really enjoyed the first season for its crazy antics and anime meta (the characters followed fictional anime shows that used the same VA for this show). It was otaku pandering, but fun with Haruka's gaggle of maids always causing havoc, Yuuto's sister and teacher being rowdy and Haruka's family instigating mischief. Sadly this second season went all in on the romance angle and the crazy antics of the families and maids were much reduced. The romance felt like it was written by the guys from Genshiken, and Haruka's wooden dialogue like something from a VN dating game. The main obstacle for the couple was a ridiculous idol plot. One redeeming feature is that Yuuto isn't a wet blanket and seemed as nonplussed by Haruka's pure but forward nature as I did. Then there was the childhood friend and loli trying to seduce Yuuto for no apparent reason other than fan service. Visuals were clean and OST was ok, some nice insert songs thanks to the idol arc. Low to mid 6/10 (6.4). Haruka Nogizaka's Secret: Finale (2012) - final four episode OVA concluding the story. There's a love confession from a rival for Yuuot's affections and an arranged marriage as a test of Yuuto and Haruka's bond. Wedding and finally a kiss scene (they've been teasing it for ages, with something always interrupting before they could kiss). Backgrounds and production details slightly better than the series. The romance was far too scripted for me, felt like it was written by an otaku for an okatu audience. Same score as second season 6/10 (6.4). The Furious Yama Season 2 (2020) - Chinese anime with half length episodes about the new ruler of the Eastern underworld, Yama, who is afraid of ghosts. Similar to every other Chinese anime I've seen (not including the full 3DCGI ones) this looked very good, crisp clean detail, good colour contrast and neat character designs including some very expressive faces for Yama. The story was a bit rushed and didn't always make much sense to me, but that's likely due to my lack of familiarity with the finer details of Chinese mythology. The main narrative was a war being waged by the western underworld against the eastern underworld, causing strife between the three realms (heaven, human world, underworld). Strong 6/10 (6.7). Chaika -The Coffin Princess- Avenging Battle (2014) - continuation of the fantasy tale about Chaika, the daughter of the defeated emperor and her quest to collect his remains scattered throughout the continent. This show reminds me of Sorcerer Stabber Orphen in that it's a pure fantasy with little comedy and an interesting world, mythology and magic system. We learnt in season one that Chaika wasn't the only daughter of emperor Gaz, but why he left instructions for his remains to be collected was a mystery, until the developments in this concluding OVA. Chaika herself has a distinctive speech pattern, bit like Yoda from Star Wars, and says 'Oui' instead of yes, making her memorable. Plenty of action, good settings, clean animation, solid character designs and story that held my attention. Not sure why the show has the romance tag as there's no romance, just a hint of feelings between characters. Overall solid watch, 7/10 (7.5). |
23feanorJul 19, 2023 3:40 AM
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| Those Who Hunt Elves (1996) - this show was Slayers-lite, in which three people (musclehead, actress and schoolgirl) get transported to another world, where they end up travelling round the continent (on a tank) stripping elves in order to recover fragments of the spell needed to send them home. The animation and OST were below average, however, the aspect I enjoyed most was the localised English dub. This was the type of dub where the writers for the dub were given free licence to use topical and localised dialogue so there was a ton of topical pop and culture references, eg Pottery Barn, Dennys, Avon calling, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Ally McBeal, Oscar nominations etc. The dub cast sounded like they had a lot of fun. This was turn your brain off dumb fun, high 6/10 (6.8). |
23feanorJul 21, 2023 10:48 PM
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23feanor said: Those Who Hunt Elves (1996) - this show was Slayers-lite, in which three people (musclehead, actress and schoolgirl) get transported to another world, where they end up travelling round the continent stripping elves in order to recover fragments of the spell needed to send them home. The animation and OST were below average, however, the aspect I enjoyed most was the localised English dub. This was the type of dub where the writers for the dub were given free licence to use topical and localised dialogue so there was a ton of topical pop and culture references, eg Pottery Barn, Dennys, Avon calling, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears, Oscar nominations etc. The dub cast sounded like they had a lot of fun. This was turn your brain off dumb fun, high 6/10 (6.8). Don't think I've ever heard the dubbed version, but definitely agree with assessment of null brain fun. Second series wasn't quite as good as the first though, IMO. |
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| So the most recent ones I finished- Chaos Dragon, and Love Stage! My reviews are here: https://myanimelist.net/profile/SuperAdventure/reviews Chaos Dragon was the lesser of the two; but I enjoyed the different characters being the designs of different artists- the two Eyha and Ibuki being my favorite (I've already scribbled a fan art of Ibuki) but the story also felt like it was written by four different people.... who apparently never talked to each other lol The bloody violence felt unnecessary and fetishized rather than genuine conflicts; the whole zombie thing was a yawn, the CGI dragons look terrible, and the potential romance between the two primary (and adorable) characters went nowhere. I think I rated it a 6/10. It's watchable and I could totally see wanting to follow along with it in Simulcast; but, it was simulcast back in 2015 and that was... ever such a long time ago. Love Stage is to put simply: a gay romance story aka 'BL' manga adaptation. A lot of BL anime always feel very fetishized and usually have ugly characters and really contrived and stupid plots, in my experience anyway. But this one was unique that it felt autobiographical. It's about an aspiring mangaka named Izumi who's from a family of thespians (they are all completely over the top) and he had acted in some wedding commercial as a child- but was cast in the role of a flower girl... well his counterpart in that commercial 10 years later (Ryouma) still thinks that was a girl. A reunion of the commercial is done (for plot reasons, but it's hilarious), and mistaken identity quickly turns into romantic desires. Yes, Ryouma screws up and goes way overboard with Izumi in one scene- but spends the rest of the anime trying to make up for it, and Izumi's reaction to this unexpected advances by a guy are truly genuine and often funny, and sometimes frightening. At no point does it feel like it's just trying to mash two guys together for a shrieking audience- it follows through like an actual love story. The side characters are really hilarious esp some of their reactions; and the way his manga aspiration is woven into the story was really moving. I gave this a high score. I'm already rewatching some of the episodes. |
| Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage (2006) Throughout the season, though other people are the targets of various actions, it seems like the chief goal is to put Rock through the ringer. That's not true for the second arc, which is mainly about the fluidity of enemies and allies when it comes to business of headhunting and bodyguarding, a high octane fight fest that is still probably the weakest of the trio. The first arc tests Rock with the realities behind what seem to be inhuman opponents, who are in reality just an incredibly damaged pair of kids. The third arc tests both his own resolve to stay at the edge between the world he was in before joining Lagoon and the world they occupy, as well as watching someone else transition between those worlds and struggling with the reality that someone could make that choice. Both of the latter arcs end tragically, and there are some particularly poignant conversations, several with Balalaika at the center of them as a person who is deep in that savage world. It's more thematically resonant than the first season, which just hinted at these larger themes in its final arc. 8.6/10 Black Lagoon: Roberta's Bloody Trail (2011) I wouldn't say it quite lives up to its second season, but this final arc gets pretty close. Roberta's troubled story really comes full circle, and though that quest for revenge is rather simplistic, it also becomes an effective vehicle for exploring how Rock has changed over the course of the series and seeing some character growth from her young charge. It gives some more backstory to Revy, which honestly was decently obvious before and doesn't add much to the character. What really separates this season from the rest, though, is seeing the larger political dynamics of this world, particularly how America plays into it. We've gotten hints, but this season expanded on it effectively. It also had one of the messiest fight scenes in the anime, so it was a good time to watch. Overall, an effective way to cap off the series, even if it leaves many threads dangling. 8.3/10 Treasure Island (Takarajima) (1979) This was a pretty consistently engrossing series. I actually found it harder and harder to compare with the other adaptations of Treasure Island I've seen as I went through it because this really felt like it was charting its own course, much for the better. I may have known the broad swings of the story, but elements like Jim and Silver's relationship were given some pretty deep nuance here, and there was a lot more to enjoy out of the secondary cast. There's a very strong visual presentation, particularly for its time, as well as the music it uses, all of which add up to a package that I think a lot of modern anime could not match for style. At times, this gave me Ghibli vibes, but with a much reduced fantasy element and more focus on the high flying adventures of pirates, sailors and treasure hunters that still was grounded in the realities of this kind of conflict. Some of the plot twists and turns were a bit unbelievable, but gives those moments so much strong atmosphere and visual style that it's hard to hold that against it. I thought they could have done more to examine characters like Trelawney, Livesey and Smollett, but given the size of the cast, I think they did pretty well with all the motivations and background, albeit some of that came very late (e.g. Gray). There was more substance here than I was expecting, and I'm happy to walk away satisfied. 7.9/10 Record of Ragnarok II Part 2 (2023) So this series has had its problems, there’s no doubt about that. This partial season, though, isn’t one of them. Only showcasing a single fight, this one has a lot of interesting dynamics at play, albeit it’s probably over complicated and absurd on multiple levels. That being said, if you’re not coming here for the absurd, then you probably aren’t still on this boat because it left for the Bermuda Triangle a long time ago. How does this rate? Probably one of the more interesting fights, albeit not the best so far. It’s vibrant, features a couple of plot twists, and works well as a hype machine. I like some aspects more than others - sudden power boosts don’t tend to interest me - but the overall package is good. A little better than part 1, big improvement over season 1, well worth the watch if you're a fan. 7.2/10 Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1999) It's idealism meets the brutal realities of war in this series, and surprisingly, it worked pretty well for me. What started off as a sort of star-crossed lovers story turned into an Earth-based battle between Zeon and the Federation with both sides featuring their share of dudes willing to do whatever it takes to come out on top. There's also a fair share of more honorable people on both sides, but they come in various shades of gray... at least at first. Yeah, there's not a lot of gray by the end - people largely fall on the light or dark sides of the coin, and there's not a lot of room in between. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean there's not a lot of depth to the moral conflict. There's more to the actual combat between these two sides, and given where this resides on the timeline, it's certainly a pivotal time in the war, so the desperation of both sides is palpable and the fight scenes are pretty brutal, showcasing wartime tactics and less than careful strategy in a lot of cases that feels more realistic. There's also no sense that there's a single person who is piloting a powerful mech that can turns the tides of the battles - it all feels very much like a group effort. All this being said, while I liked how most of this series went, I can't say it stuck the landing for me. A little too happy of an ending given the circumstances, and while we get some background on some of these characters, there's missing pieces that would have been worth filling in. Still, the journey was a good one. 7.8/10 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022) This movie actually worked for me. It's not quite Dragon Ball at its best or most bombastic, but it does the job well and looks really good doing it. The CGI is done exceptionally well, minus a couple of minor snafus (no, Gohan's hair does not look good when fully transformed), and looks particularly amazing during some of its most exceptional fight scenes. It also gives opportunities to show off the fight choreography from more angles, which makes these fights some of the more dynamic and interesting to watch in the series. The new android villains are fun to watch, particularly as they're programmed to try and (badly) emulate super heroes. They aren't just puppets, either, with the capacity to think for themselves and, thus, capable of change over the course of the movie. Their ability to fight our heroes also seems believable to some degree, as they're just really good at reading moves, which makes them a threat in a drawn out fight. As for the flaws, well... it's Dragon Ball, so the reason for the fighting in the first place is contrived and an overlarge idiot plot. I don't come here for the reasons, and frankly, this movie did better than most of Dragon Ball in this regard. What I don't like is that, given all the power scaling we've been through in this show, how two random androids are just made that can outclass some of the more powerful fighters in the roster, and not just because they're good at reading moves. More frustrating than that is the revival of Cell for this one. Recycling old villains has never worked for me, and Kaiju Cell really doesn't. It's nice to see a team battle against him, but that's about it. While Piccolo is front and center and great to watch, most of the other characters just don't do much, and even Gohan seems just here to get the win in the end. I like Piccolo's new form, so-so on Gohan's. And yeah, Trunks, Goten, Krillin, and 18 largely just seem to be here for the fun of it. Goku, Vegeta and Brolly are kept out of the action due to plot inconvenience, which is fine because I don't want them always hogging the spotlight. Overall, it's a Dragon Ball movie, and there's going to be some bad with the good. With thankfully not too much of the latter in this one, I was pleasantly surprised, if not blown away as I was with the Broly movie. 7.6/10 |
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| @filifjonkan I recently finished the 2nd season of Haruka Nogizaka's Secret, which felt like it was written by the guys in Genshiken. I particularly admired the worn, distressed look of the uni buildings in the Genshiken. @OrlahEhontas I got almost half way through 2nd season yday and feels like the show doubled down on the premise and silly plots. Junpei has said a couple of times how he hates fantasy stories (breaking the 4th wall) due to the absurd situations they find themselves in. One episode is about a fluffy cute bear that shits toilet paper (which is then hoarded by the nobles and the TP mountain is a local treasure) and then there's a huge reference to Terry Pratchett's Discworld as we see a turtle carrying 4 elephants with a disc on top in one ep where they reference 'the turtle moves', a heretical movement that weaves in and out of various Discworld novels. I was kid free yday and wanted something easy to watch along with some weed and this show was exactly what I was looking for. @SuperAdventure thanks for your reviews, always good to get exposure to new shows. I personally haven't seen any BL anime but reading your review makes me almost want to pick the show up. Might try a BL show one day. @whiteflame55 glad you enjoyed Black Lagoon. I need to finish up the 3rd season. Trinity Seven Movie 2: Heavens Library to Crimson Lord (2019) - I don't remember much about the series apart from the fact I liked the female characters and that Arata was one of the better male harem protagonists with his flirty forward nature, yet managing to avoid being an outright lech. This film sees him fully develop into a demon lord and come up against Lilith's father. Smooth animation and ok OST with J-pop and eerie haunting vocals just take this final franchise instalment to a 7/10 (7.0). |
23feanorJul 22, 2023 4:44 AM
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inimJul 22, 2023 4:23 PM
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| Planetes(2003) - This was a re-watch for me (been doing that a bit lately). Some background here. On Earth a dropped bolt or screw will rust away over the years and not be an issue (unless you run over it with your car and wind up with a flat tire), but in space there isn't any moisture to cause that object to rust away. Add the fact that said object is moving along at around 28,000 km/h (17,000 mph), depending it's actual orbit, and you have a real problem. Currently there estimated to be over more than 128 million pieces of debris smaller than 1 cm (0.4 in), about 900,000 pieces of debris 1–10 cm, and around 34,000 of pieces larger than 10 cm (3.9 in) were estimated to be in orbit around the Earth. These are not tracked as being to small to keep track of. There are also about 25,857 artificial objects in orbit above the Earth, of which 5000+ are operational satellites, which are large enough to be kept track of. Those are the numbers in 2021. This story takes place in the late 2070's and already a sub-orbital shuttle had been severely damaged by just a screw punching through one of it's windows with a large loss of lives. On to the series... The MC is a young girl, Ai Tanabe, who, on a whim, decided to join a corporation that is heavily involved with the industrialization of outer space. Mostly near Earth orbit, but working on other far-ranging projects. Since she joined on that whim, she was pretty much unprepared for a space career and winds up getting assigned to the Debris Section, AKA the "Half" Section. The Debris Section, while it is denigrated by the higher-ups of the corporation, is a fairly important entity in that they are sent out to collect the garbage that has accumulated in space over the years of earlier projects. While there she meets and deals with the various members of her section. Her instructor/partner, Hoshino Hachirouta (aka Hachimaki), is the other MC and has to deal with her inexperience. As the story evolves, the two of them have to deal with numerous issues that task each of their idealism's and desires in life while trying to do a thankless seemingly never-ending job. The first time I watched this I have to admit I was somewhat put off by the style of the character design and due to the fact that I wasn't quite as aware how much of a problem space junk was, I wasn't as impressed with the story and series overall (7.5/10 in 2012). Amazing what 10 years can do. The cast was well voiced and the art was better than I remembered. BGM was good and the script was pretty good and the technical side of things was well done. It showed that the writer had either some background in the space industry or had taken the time to research or do serious consultation about the subject. The first OP/ED are pretty good and the second ED is great. Was much more enjoyable the second time around. Raised it up to an 8.5/10. Dual Parallel Lun-Lun Monogatari(Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure) (1999) - Another re-watch. This time partly because of starting to watch the Tenchi Muyou! GXP: Paradise Shidou Hen series and to be honest there is something missing between that series and it's predecessor Tenchi Muyou! GXP where I am completely confused, but looking at the relation graph and some of the comments about the three series, I was lead to believe that that maybe by re-watching this one that confusion would be cleared up. NOT! But that's aside from this series. Someone in the various reviews of this series said that this is Tenchi Muyo with mecha and that is correct to a point. I prefer to think of it as Neon Genesis Evangelion without all the personal angst of the MC with a bit of humor tossed in. While this has the tag genre of humor, there isn't much and it's not the primary focus. At the start, the MC, Yotsuga Kazuki, is able to see mechas fighting with the typical destruction accompanying such battles. Only problem is he's the only one who can see them. He meets the other MC, Sanada Mitsuki, a pretty and very popular girl in his school which causes the typical problems when she starts to show interest in him and the stories he has written about those "imaginary" mecha battles. Turns out those "imaginary battles are actually taking place, just in a parallel universe. Fortunately (maybe) Mitsuki's father has invented a device to transport a person from this world to that parallel world. Upon arrival to the other world, Kazuki finds himself in the middle of a real mecha battle and in the process of trying to save one of the pilots, winds up piloting her mecha instead. Only think wrong with that is that males are not supposed to be able to get the mechas to function other that to make them. Chaos ensues and the war is bizarre at best. The characters are well voiced, but the script leaves something to be desired as it is somewhat confused. BGM is negligible and the OP/ED are not really outstanding, just fair. This was a fair watch and I would recommend it for anyone looking for more TM! that isn't TM! Overall a 6/10. Might have gone higher if there had been a better connection with the Tenchi Muyo! franchise than just one character. |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989) - a self contained story taking place on a neutral colony around the end of the one year war featured in the first Gundam series. The main lead is a young ten year old lad called Alfred who idolizes the cool mechs and their pilots. He soon gets embroiled in a conflict within the colony causing great loss of life and damage. The Gundam theme of how devasting war can be for innocents and the far reaching effects it has are evident here. Animation looked really good, especially the mech fights. Although we didn't get much time with the characters in the six episode runtime they were written well enough to pull off an impactful story, with particular praise for the child lead Alfred. OST was a bit duff. Best story I've seen in the Gundam franchise to date. Solid 7/10 (7.6). |
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| Just finished yesterday: https://myanimelist.net/anime/31537/Manaria_Friends?q=Mysteria%20friends&cat=anime Mysteria Friends, which people insist on calling Manaria Friends; a spinoff by Cygames of a larger game franchise that I have to admit I don't care about. But it appears like this was made either with an unlimited budget- or an unlimited timeframe... it was released years after it was announced. And the result of all those delays and all that waiting is: EXQUISITE. This is one of the most beautifully crafted anime I have laid eyes upon, it reminds me of Tales of Zestiria with its lovingly drawn characters and its beautiful backgrounds that sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight and the moonlight... even scenes in the dark glow with a warmth that radiates out of the screen. I cannot believe how good this looks, and the two main characters- Grea, a dragon-girl and Anne (that's Princess Anne to you) are gorgeous. The first episode opens with both the girls getting dressed, which is of course carefully animated, and Grea wears a very short skirt despite having a huge tail that sticks out behind and lifts it up. Well her tail might be fetishized a bit too much; and Anne looks literally like a model in the episode where they go to a beach. The story is pure fluff- it follows the close relationship between the two girls, and each episode is only 15 minutes. So the episodes are like vignettes- and it isn't deep, it isn't meant to be. And that is where I strongly differ from all others who are criticizing it. This anime was clearly made to dazzle the viewer and nothing else, it is not trying to tell a story- but to paint a picture. And the picture it portrays is a visual masterpiece. The architecture seems to follow the typical fantasy, magic school type of stone walls and decorated windows- but the effort put in is on another level. The use of light and shadow, the soaring, unrealistic proportions- the vastness, the ruins where the piano sits among flowers and sunshine, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside... is incredible. The music is also amazing- a piano song is the main number, but the solo vocal by a side character named Hanna- dressed in a minstrel's outfit- brought tears to my eyes. It was movingly beautiful. It wasn't just the music, which was amazing, or the determined singing that mispronounces the language; but her facial expressions... that somehow embody all the love and joy of the entire show in one scene. I don't know how to rate this. How else can I rate it... as a storybook it surely fails. As anime, it's fantastic. |
| Those Who Hunt Elves II (1997) - continuation of the fantasy slapstick about a group who need to recover a spell by stripping elves. This second season seemed like they turned the silly up a notch, as the muscle-head character Junpei repeatedly stated how much he hated fantasy stories (alluding to the fact he's in a story and breaking the fourth wall in the process) because of how nonsensical the situations they found themselves in were. We had an animal that shits toilet paper and a cool Discworld reference ("the turtle moves"), which I thought was neat as a big Terry Pratchett fan. Everything else (art style, animation, OST) was same as season one apart from maybe a tad more fanservice. Good turn your brain off dumb fun, wouldn't recommend unless you're going to watch this stoned, or you're a big Slayers fan, as I would charitably call this Slayers-lite, just without the cool names, fun banter and memorable moments. High 6/10 (6.8). |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989) A simple story of a Zeon special forces unit trying to take out a Gundam and, in the process, crossing paths with a young boy playing soldier becomes a desperate struggle for survival in the waning days of the war. And that desperation is what really seeps through as the series continues, with most of its lead characters resigned to a fight against a superior force and, therefore, to either a fate of surrender or death. There's also a small but affecting Romeo and Juliet subplot that doesn't have the weight of the similar plot from 08th MS Team, but manages to do a lot with comparatively little. Really, the core of this series is found in its two leads: Bernie and Alfred, both of whom learn the cost of their ideals and are forced to reckon with painful realities. The ending is famous for being dark and... yep, it most definitely is. Especially for being a 6 episode ONA, this series does an incredible amount of work with its characters and setting. It's not perfect by any means, and its final fight in particular is highly contrived, including (these are minor spoilers - nothing too bad, but avoid clicking on this if you want to go in completely blind): Honestly, this kind of soured the ending for me. Despite it still being affecting, it felt too contrived to enjoy it fully. Nonetheless, I think the journey is strong enough to make this series one of the better entries in Gundam canon. 8/10 Ōoku: The Inner Chambers (2023) This isn't a series I was expecting to pick up this season. It popped up on my Netflix and, while it looked like a decent historical drama, it flew under my radar until I heard about it in a couple of reviews. The premise of the show is a bit of alternate history where most of the men in Edo era Japan are wiped out by a strange disease called Redface Pox that only affects them leaving women untouched. This results in a big shift in the dynamics of sex in Japan at this time, making women the dominant sex in society for quite a while. The series starts out with a triple length episode covering events that happened many years after the pox took its toll, and then spends the rest of its run examining the transition period as the pox was ravaging society, emphasizing events taking place in the Ōoku, the inner chambers of the shogun of Japan at this time, which shift from being populated chiefly by female concubines serving a male shogun to the opposite. There's a lot to appreciate here, though if I had to pick one thing that was executed excellently, I'd say it's the central romance of the series. The reslationship between Iemitsu and Arikoto is the central driving dynamic of the series and it's done shockingly well. It's not easy to pull that off since Arikoto was effectively forced into this role, and honestly, if he were female... yeah, it wouldn't work. It's one of those situations where it's hard to see the flip on this being something worth watching without being incredibly problematic. Still, the way their relationship changes over the course of the series is really impressive. The historical elements are more of a mixed bag. We flip between seeing what's going on outside of the Ōoku and inside, and the latter is far better established, doing a lot of work in showing the political dynamics and the eventual shift to embracing matriarchal societies. |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991) - set three years after the end of the One Year War in the UC timeline, this story sees a hardline remnant of the Zeon forces conduct an audacious plan to get revenge on the Federation forces. Sadly the writing was very heavy handed and the character writing predictable and generic. The main lead, Kou Uraki, was a mix between the talents for piloting a mobile suit of Amuro Ray from the original MSG, and the apathetic personality of Shinji from NGE, a moderately annoying MC. The overall story idea itself wasn't a bad one, just poorly delivered with wooden dialogue. The one aspect that did stand out was the mechanical and tactical improvements in the mech fights, you could tell real care and attention had gone into the details for the mech suits and for there operation and combat abilities both on the ground and in space. Animation for the fights and attention to detail for the backgrounds was very good. OST was pretty solid with that 80/90's electro pop sound with a couple of nice insert songs and OP/ED. The story and character writing merits a high 6/10, but the production quality and genuinely impressive mech action gives my score a bump to a low 7/10 (7.3). Azur Lane: Queen's Orders (2023) - light and fluffy SoL OVA with best girl Belfast making a few appearances. Just fluff, nothing to comment on really, low 6/10 (6.3) Lupin the Third Part 4 (2015) - my only exposure to the Lupin franchise to date has been a couple of older films so it was good to watch this modern take on the series with the usual cast located in Italy. Usual capers, bit of a supernatural element, conspiracy plots and a couple of sentimental stories were laid out episodically. My main impression was the stunning visuals, a modern version of a retro look that worked so well, lovely backgrounds, clean line animation and the use of a few special techniques in moving animation action scenes. The OST was a mix of smooth, lounge and ragtime jazz, with some classical strings and insert songs. The combination was very effective. Low 8/10 (8.3). Urusei Yatsura (2022) (2022) - remake of the classic romcom from renowned author Rumiko Takahashi. I loved Ranma 1/2 (from the same author), and watching this series made me appreciate what a wizard Takahashi is at coming up with amusing silly antics. The sci-fi aspect gave a whole new dimension to explore so there were even more weird people, places and situations that the cast find themselves in. In terms of the characters, everyone is good, but the MC male lead, Ataru Moroboshi, he's just plain annoying. He's always chasing skirt, yet when he finds himself tied to Lum through the cntral macguffin of the series, he's suddenly not interested. Luckily Lum and the secondary cast play as big a role in the stories as Ataru. The rebooted hyper colours and bold designs for this remake looked awesome and the OST was solid, especially the OP/ED's. Each episode comprises two shorter stories. Maybe Ataru gets better as the series progresses, hoping so. Solid 7/10 (7.4). Nana (2006) - @whiteflame55 reviewed this recently and covered most of my main thoughts on this show so I'll keep this brief. This was one of the first shows I've seen with characters my age, Hachi (Nana Komatsu) and Nana (Nana Osaki) would have been the academic year above me in the UK. What made it worse for me was that Hachi shared many similar attributes to girls I dated when I was at college (16-18); eg flaky nature, getting pulled into peoples' orbits easily and falling in love on a dime. Even the fashion tastes were similar, down to the flip/slide phones with photo stickers on them. So watching the events of the show from Hachi's perspective was a bit like being put through an emotional wringer most of the time. This is precisely why I tend to avoid shows with love polygons with young adults as they are a bit too relatable, however, this was a great show. Hachi and Nana are the core of the show and despite being polar opposites I can't decide which one I like best. They both have something that, as a guy, makes you want to make them yours. Hachi is a hot mess, but the type of mistake that many guys, myself included, would readily make as she's bright, fun and brings warmth and vitality to those around her. Nana O is a fragile and tragic figure, who you want to save, and whose romantic roots go very deep with a maidenly approach to love despite her brash personality. These girls both got inside my head. I would use the term shoujosei for this show, mostly josei content and character writing in a shoujo package. I like the use of slapstick and comedic faces at the right times, preventing the show from feeling too heavy. There were ups and downs and the second half of the show gets dramatic. I preferred the first half of the show, which had a melodramatic SoL feel and reminded me of 90's tv series like My So Called Life. I haven't taken such an emotional bruising since watching Utena and honestly wanted to hurry and finish this show during the second half. The dialogue, cast (main and secondary), OST, settings, story arc, pacing, production values and character designs (except the bodies which had that shoujo elongated look) were all brilliant. There were some sage words of advice sprinkled here and there, mostly from the narration of Hachi and Nana, whose future selves narrate the opening and ending with reflective thoughts. The dub cast for this show was very good, especially Nana. I tried the sub for an episode as I was curious about the sound of the Japanese VA for Nana, and I preferred the English version which got the husky tone spot on. When I read this was about punk rock I thought the OST may not be to my tastes but my worry was unfounded. The insert songs from Blast and Trapnest (the singer for Reira, Olivia was spectacular) were very good, the OST had expansive range; soft rock with some guitar chords that hooked you in, some strings and music box sounds for the emotional parts. Also a lot of the Western music referred to in the show (sometimes just seeing the cd's) was stuff I was familiar with, Clapton, Beastie Boys, and with the exception of Sex Pistols universally like. I'd highly recommend this show to anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but be warned going in, it will get rough. High 9/10 (9.7). Oh yeah and Yasu definitely best boy, love that guy. |
23feanorAug 3, 2023 6:25 AM
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| Non Non Biyori... it's newer than I thought, and I've had it on my must-watch list forever. I finished the first season recently, finished writing review today: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=495324 My review may be worth reading if you love this anime and want to see why (or how) anyone could possibly not love it. That's what happens here. It started out looking promising, but had to force myself to get through it all. I think most of all I didn't find any life lessons in it, which iyakishei anime often have. Some kind of parable, or a way someone's struggles can relate to the audience as meaningful. I couldn't relate to any of the characters in Non Non Biyori at all, not even to sympathize with them because they are so bafflingly stupid. Tell me I'm wrong but at least read through what I found was wrong with it- and if there's some hidden message I didn't see, I'm willing to listen. |
| Aria the Origination (2008) - ever since I watched season two in the summer of 2021 I have been in love with this franchise and use images from the show for my screensaver and backgrounds. This franchise is the pinnacle of SoL iyashikei for me and is the closest an anime has come to granting the watcher a spiritual experience that I would best describe as euphoric tranquillity. This show evoked just as strong emotions for me as Nana, but completely different. Season one we were introduced to the cast and places, season two was a magical blend of stories, music and art and now the third and final full season we get to see our three apprentices, Akari, Aika and Alice graduate as fully fledged prima undines. Watching them grow and finally achieve their goals was very cathartic. Just about everything in this anime is beautiful, the content (slow lazy stories full of positivity), art, music, settings, pacing. I think I may even prefer the simplistic funny facial designs to the normal character designs in this show, they're just so damn silly. Knowing nothing about my interest in this anime, my partner suggested the name Aria for our baby girl and I immediately agreed, so I watched this with baby Aria and she loved president Aria (a cat) and his pudgy tummy. Would never have expected that when I finished the second season back in the middle of covid. Mid 9/10 (9.4). @SuperAdventure I would call NNB a cgdct show in an iyashikei setting. Reading your review I had a totally different take, I adore Renge and her flat toneless voice, even going so far as to put her VA in my favourites I like it that much. Personally i go into iyashikei and SoL in general looking for something relaxing to watch and if I get some meaningful take away then that's a bonus. Aria and Yokohama Shopping Log typify what I look for in a relaxing iyashikei anime experience. NNB is more about the silly banter and comedy, with some stunning photorealistic animated backgrounds. I think the fact the only male character never speaks makes it more funny, iirc it was a little jab at cgdct shows never having male characters, and also so they didn't have to hire another VA. In terms of Renge, in S3 another younger girl moves into the village and we do see some growth in Renge's behaviour, who was always the baby of the school and group, as she finally gets called 'onee-san'. Honestly, Renge and some of her interactions with Dagashi-ya (Kaede the sweet shop girl) have stayed with me, one in particular with handcuffs and another when Renge is a baby and Kaede looks after her. I think the core group don't have the best cgdct banter (that would be Hidamari Sketch or Yuru Yuri for me), but I still enjoyed watching their antics. |
23feanorAug 4, 2023 8:43 AM
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| I figured my take on the show would be opposite of most, otherwise it wouldn't be popular. I really did go into it with an open mind. I wanted to like it, and the countryside setting is a personal favorite and the show deserves more credit than I gave it for its scenery. BUT- you can get EVEN BETTER scenery in Encouragement of Climb; which I also believe is a better CGDCT show. And a better anime in all categories by far. I wouldn't consider NNB to be cgdct because... the characters aren't stereotypical cute girls like in EoC, they are either frumpy looking, or in Renge's case- act like such an ape that I can't find anything cute about them. She just grates on my nerves every time. The characters don't really interact with their surroundings the way they do in EoC; which would bring the magic of nature into the story... And as far as the brother being mute- I sure hope parody wasn't the reason. It's like, don't make a character into an 'in joke' or a parody- that's stupid, write a good story instead and it will speak for itself. If that really was their reason for making him that way, it's even worse than plain old laziness. |
SuperAdventure said: I don't think NNB and shows like Yama no Susume (2013) and Yuru Camp△ (2015) are in the same tradition of CGDCT type Iyashikei. These two are about an activity, about mastering something. There are traces of drama and ganbatte along with the cute girls, so they don't only do cute things. And while I appreciate those two franchises, I still consider them to be kind of tourism and trekking gear advertisements. Which is symbiotic - advertising money from real tourist locations and products can buy better animation quality.I figured my take on the show would be opposite of most, otherwise it wouldn't be popular. I really did go into it with an open mind. I wanted to like it, and the countryside setting is a personal favorite and the show deserves more credit than I gave it for its scenery. BUT- you can get EVEN BETTER scenery in Encouragement of Climb; which I also believe is a better CGDCT show. And a better anime in all categories by far. NNB isn't taking place in a real location, and there is no activity / hobby the girls share. There is no drama, and nothing to advertise. It's literally a show about nothing - nothing but the antics and interactions of a group of characters, which happen to be cute girls. I personally would look at NNB in this way. The Ur-Trope is Tonari no Totoro (1988), Myazaki's first directorial work for Ghibli. It has lush nature, a child's perspective, supernatural elements, and a tiny bit of drama. NNB from this source takes the lush and immersive integration of nature as a "character". NNB is for adults, so it drops the childish parts. In Totoro, the peak of drama is that a little boy gets lost on his way when he visits his mother in hospital. In NNB, peak drama is when one of the girls forgets her bag on the bus. Like @23feanor I also see Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1998) as an influence. It's the first show to totally drop a story, address adults, and focus on "just being". The difference to NNB is that YKK is a one person play, whereas NNB is about a group and their banter and interactions. That element was first added by Ichigo Mashimaro (2005). It's about a group of girls biding their time, being lazy, and teasing each other. It has some elements of lolicon, a pretty annoying MC and comedy timing which make it fringe in the Iyashikei genre. Yet it still has the tag and is (in my view) very similar to NNB when it comes to the character interaction. NNB in the end is a character driven show. Compare: the 2nd season of K-On!! (2010). Albeit there is school, music and a bit of ganbatte in it. The worst drama to happen in K-On is when Mio falls on the stage and exposes shimapan, with runner up Mugi stealing Mio's strawberry from a piece of cake. The character development and chemistry of this show is very hard to surpass, and to me is peak of it's kind. Long story short: NNB reduces everything it possibly can to the max. Only cute and kind characters in a world void of problems remain. It's country side and eternal summer. The main attraction is the careful observation of the characters, and their slow, baby steps but still noticeable character development. One almost needs to go into the "mindful meditation" mode to see the subtle changes. In that sense I'd really recommend you to add the 2nd and 3rd seasons. The development and is moving at glacial speed, S1 is not much more than the exposition, so to say :) |
inimAug 4, 2023 3:05 PM
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| @inim We will have to agree to disagree here. The whole point of CGDCT is the various different activities (the 'T') are done by cute girls; absolutely it advertises different hobbies, some of them typical but not-typical for girls (like riding scooters or motorcycle sidecars) some of them outdoors- like EoC and Yuru Camp; some of them cross over with sports like Harukana Receive. But Non Non Biyori sits strictly in the iyashikei camp, and is massively overrated even as that. There was no character growth or life lessons to speak of in the entire first season; and the characters were singlemindedly stupid to an extreme that made them baffling, not entertaining. Like Haruka's obsession with the younger sister, that's a trope I see in a lot of anime (like in Maid Dragon, Saikawa's obsession with Kanna- but in MD the characters are much more likable and it's outlandish and consistent enough to be funny) They didn't even interact with their surroundings very well, as much as being baffled by it. They never just sat and gazed at a sunset, talked quietly, or splashed in the rain, or sat and listened to cicadas, and the one time they explored the woods was ruined by how stupid and annoying Renge is, while the teacher's mind-blowing stupidity just made my face look more confused than Renge was at her entire existence. It feels like people are imprinting more meaning upon this show than it has; rather I think the truth is that it was just lazy writing and half-baked ideas thrown together without any real plot in the hopes its settings would win over an audience. And it succeeded for sure- but not on account of any effort. |
SuperAdventure said: There's of course no "official" definition of CGDCT, I'm using anidb's here.@inim We will have to agree to disagree here. The whole point of CGDCT is the various different activities (the 'T') are done by cute girls; absolutely it advertises different hobbies, some of them typical but not-typical for girls (like riding scooters or motorcycle sidecars) some of them outdoors- like EoC and Yuru Camp; some of them cross over with sports like Harukana Receive. CGDCT applies where the main focus is on moe/cute girls and their interactions with each other. [...] CGDCT does not apply if girls doing cute things is incidental to a larger motive/theme/meta. So to me the pure CGDCT show is a "show about nothing", the tags comedy, ecchi, drama, sports, music etc. already substract from that. Only Slice of Life, Iyashikei and School are allowed in this narrow sense. Pure CGDCT is a show about character observation. Demanding "character development" implies change and by this the drama tag. By that definition, Non Non Byori is about as pure a CGDCT show as they get. Or in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.".Of course it's possible to take stereotypical cute girls and make them do anything, including tourism, sports, music, yuri baiting, male gaze soft porn, zany comedy and whatnot. But that's not "things" in the sense of the T, it's "activity". things is social interatction (drama and romance free) only to me. When done skillfully, adding a theme works. But like said before I'm not a fan of marketing products by having cute anime girls do or use them. This is why I'm not Yuru Camp's biggest fan, despite the extremely high production values. In NNB, there is another invisible actor, just like in Totoro: lush nature. This makes the Iyashikei effect stronger without substracting from the purity of the CGDCT nature of the (non)-story. |
inimAug 5, 2023 5:52 AM
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| Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015) - set during the One Year War of the UC timeline, this four episode ONA sees the two factions fighting each other in a ruined sector where heavy electrical storms impede their actions. As usual there's an ace on each side and they add to that each ace's particular fondness for a type of music that clash even as the fighters are in action. The Zeon forces employ hidden snipers and the Federation forces are trying to take them out with overwhelming numbers, which reminds me a little of the legendary battle of the snipers between the German and Russian forces in the ruins of Stalingrad during WW2, although no idea whether this was intentional. Each side is fighting to avenge their fallen comrades and this show perfectly encapsulates the futility of war in all its messy, bloody, brutal glory. Some really nice melding of music, especially the wild jazz, but also the soft rock/country music, with the animated fight scenes, which make up most of the show. Stylised character designs. Low 7/10 (7.3). Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 2nd Season (2017) - set months after the events of the first season and after the end of the One Year War, the cast remains mostly the same, couple of new additions, but they are now fighting on earth so we get a range of fight sequences on land and in the sea. The story didn't have any impetus, and seemed mainly a backdrop to give the mech a reason to fight. We have the Federation trying to mop up Zeon resistance, plus a cult based in a Federation backed country mobilising for independence. You still have the two aces from the first season, but they never cross paths here. Then finally you get a twist and revelation and the last episode ends. Seems like this second season was a set up for a future entry in the franchise, or else maybe gives context to an earlier Gundam entry. Either way, it was an anti climatic end. Also the OST didn't gel as well with the fights or content as it did in the first season. Land mech battles were ok to watch. Mid 6/10 (6.5). |
23feanorAug 6, 2023 7:57 AM
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inim said: Sorry for coming out of the blue but the second season of K-On has a drama about kicking Azusa out from the group of four. This fact doesn't add anything to your explanation, I simply want to be precise.Compare: the 2nd season of K-On!! (2010). Albeit there is school, music and a bit of ganbatte in it. The worst drama to happen in K-On is when Mio falls on the stage and exposes shimapan, with runner up Mugi stealing Mio's strawberry from a piece of cake. The character development and chemistry of this show is very hard to surpass, and to me is peak of it's kind. |
inim said: Methinks you are using the term in opposite of how it is typically used. The definition is way too broad, and I see it applied on anime as they are released usually for stuff like Yuru Camp or Bakuon! where it's an activity not especially associated with girls- being done by extremely cute moe anime girls. The CGDCT anime club lists a lot of idol shows. I consider Spy Classroom to be Cute Girl, but actually it is not categorized as that by anyone even though the character designs and their interactions do. If in NNB they picked up a particular hobby such as writing or hiking or farming- then it could be a CGDCT show about farming. iyakishei shows are typically without a strong plot. Helpful Fox Senko-san is a good example- there isn't much linear plot and very little character growth; but it's relaxing and is meant to be relaxing.So to me the pure CGDCT show is a "show about nothing", the tags comedy, ecchi, drama, sports, music etc. already substract from that. Only Slice of Life, Iyashikei and School are allowed in this narrow sense. Pure CGDCT is a show about character observation. Demanding "character development" implies change and by this the drama tag. By that definition, Non Non Byori is about as pure a CGDCT show as they get. Or in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.". |
SuperAdventure said: There isn't an "official" definition of CGDCT, nor will there ever be one. What I've attempted is to remove everything from the definition but the bare necessities, which in my view is a group of moe girls interacting. This is what anidb's definition does, it gives Nichijou - My Ordinary Life (2011) as example of a show failing their criteria, because it has too much comedy in it.inim said: Methinks you are using the term in opposite of how it is typically used. The definition is way too broad, and I see it applied on anime as they are released usually for stuff like Yuru Camp or Bakuon! where it's an activity not especially associated with girls- being done by extremely cute moe anime girls. The CGDCT anime club lists a lot of idol shows. I consider Spy Classroom to be Cute Girl, but actually it is not categorized as that by anyone even though the character designs and their interactions do. If in NNB they picked up a particular hobby such as writing or hiking or farming- then it could be a CGDCT show about farming. iyakishei shows are typically without a strong plot. Helpful Fox Senko-san is a good example- there isn't much linear plot and very little character growth; but it's relaxing and is meant to be relaxing.So to me the pure CGDCT show is a "show about nothing", the tags comedy, ecchi, drama, sports, music etc. already substract from that. Only Slice of Life, Iyashikei and School are allowed in this narrow sense. Pure CGDCT is a show about character observation. Demanding "character development" implies change and by this the drama tag. By that definition, Non Non Byori is about as pure a CGDCT show as they get. Or in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.". I've had a look at MAL Club Cute Girls Doing Cute Things and their use of the tag is a lot more generous. They not only include comedy but even idol shows, easily 3-4 times more shows than anidb does. So my take on it is that their definition defines an upper limit of the set of CGDCT shows, whereas anidb's defines a lower bound. @jdvz Agreed, K-On has almost too much drama in it to quality as a "pure CGDCT" show. It still is usually considered the genre's epitome. |
inimAug 6, 2023 2:13 PM
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inim said: SuperAdventure said: There isn't an "official" definition of CGDCT, nor will there ever be one. What I've attempted is to remove everything from the definition but the bare necessities, which in my view is a group of moe girls interacting. This is what anidb's definition does, it gives Nichijou - My Ordinary Life (2011) as example of a show failing their criteria, because it has too much comedy in it.Methinks you are using the term in opposite of how it is typically used. The definition is way too broad, and I see it applied on anime as they are released usually for stuff like Yuru Camp or Bakuon! where it's an activity not especially associated with girls- being done by extremely cute moe anime girls. The CGDCT anime club lists a lot of idol shows. I consider Spy Classroom to be Cute Girl, but actually it is not categorized as that by anyone even though the character designs and their interactions do. If in NNB they picked up a particular hobby such as writing or hiking or farming- then it could be a CGDCT show about farming. iyakishei shows are typically without a strong plot. Helpful Fox Senko-san is a good example- there isn't much linear plot and very little character growth; but it's relaxing and is meant to be relaxing. I've had a look at MAL Club Cute Girls Doing Cute Things and their use of the tag is a lot more generous. They not only include comedy but even idol shows, easily 3-4 times more shows than anidb does. So my take on it is that their definition defines an upper limit of the set of CGDCT shows, whereas anidb's defines a lower bound. @jdvz Agreed, K-On has almost too much drama in it to quality as a "pure CGDCT" show. It still is usually considered the genre's epitome. For my two cents, I remember seeing a flowchart on cgdct shows and basically the 'thing' can be anything, including being nothing, ie Yuru Yuri, Hidamari Sketch, Lucky Star. I agree with @inim here NNB is a pretty pure cgdct as it's a core group of cute girls, who attend school and interact with nature, although as @inim already mentioned nature itself is almost an additional character. But that's it. Just a group of girls and their extended families and neighbours going about their lives. I class K-On as cgdct - music (same with most idol shows such as Dropout Idol Fruit Tart, Lovelive, Healer Girl and shows like Bocchi the Rock) Azur Lane/Strike Witches as cgdct - action Koihime Musou - cgdct in ancient China with action & yuri Nichijou is cgdct - comedy (also Azumanga Daioh, Dropkick on my Devil) Place Further Than the Universe - cgdct adventure/drama Slime 300/The Demon Girl Next Door/Gabriel DropOut - cgdct magical & comedy Sports Climbing Girls - cgdct sports New Game/Comic Girls - cgdct workplace. Akebi's Sailor Uniform - cgdct school Urara Meirocho/Endro - cgdct fantasy Princess Principal - cgdct historical detective Takunomi - cgdct food Our Diary of Days at the Breakwater/Slow Loop - cgdct go fishing Magical Pokan - magical ecchi/male gaze And then you have stuff like LoveLab (romance), GochiUsa (SoL), Hittorobocchi, Minami-ke, WaTaten (yuri), which are harder to accurately define but all classed as cgdct, both by the mal tag and myself. There's as many types of cgdct sub sections as there are things to do. For as long as there's a core group of cute girls doing something/anything/nothing then it's almost always a cgdct show in my book. There are shows, such as the Aria franchise, which are hard to categorise. I'd agree it's a group of girls/women working as gondoliers, but I'd primarily call it a SoL iyashikei show with cgdct elements as a secondary facet. The cgdct tag was a recent addition to mal and it's hard to pin down some shows as either cgdct or not. |
23feanorAug 7, 2023 1:08 AM
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23feanor said: The cgdct tag was a recent addition to mal and it's hard to pin down some shows as either cgdct or not. It is a fairly new appellation/application of a genre. AniDb lists Azumanga Daiou as the oldest anime to have it apply to. Myself, I would include things as far back as the Project A-Ko franchise, but reading the definition that AniDb has for inclusion in the genre, that would really be stretching it. |
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| Mysteria Friends (2019) - based on a game and related to the anime worlds of Rage of Bahamut: Genesis and Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul, we get a story about two princesses studying in a magical academy for humans, demons and dragons. Anne is a normal human but a prodigy when it comes to magic, Grea is a half dragon and physically strong. This show should really have the romance tag or at least the romantic subtext tag, as this show is all about these two and their deepening bond. The yuri is moderate to begin with but becomes increasingly blatant, such as Anne falling on Grea in a row boat, 30 seconds of staring into each others eyes, then Anne straight asks Grea if they should have a sleepover. Anne is quite aggressive going after Grea, but Grea is quite passive. The series finishes with Anne suggesting she moves into Grea's room for their remaining years at the academy, to which Grea agrees. The show uses suggestive wording very cleverly in their interactions, never quite spelling it out as a formal confession, but it's quite clear what's happening. Most episodes are slow paced and relaxed but you've got a nice balance, most of just Anne and Grea but one action episode and another with classmates and teachers. I wouldn't qualify this show as iyashikei though, a slow paced SoL romance is the best description for me. From the same studio as PriConne, this show looked very clean with some especially lovely backgrounds, such as a grand piano amidst a colonnade of stone with petals fluttering all about where Grea and Anne play piano together. High fantasy OST was ok. The show pays attention to fan service also, including a beach episode, and special details like the girls putting stockings on and the twang sound when snapping their swimsuits into place. Visuals were very good and some light yuri romance, high 6/10 (6.9). @OrlahEhontas I've often heard people refer to A-Ko as one of the first magical girl series, but I can see why you'd say it could be a cgdct show. Some of the interactions between A-ko, B-ko and C-ko are reminiscent of the banter and interactions we find in modern cgdct show. Maybe cgdct adjacent would be a more fitting description. |
23feanorAug 8, 2023 8:39 AM
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| Hanma Baki: Son of Ogre 2nd Season, Part 1 (2023) I'll preface this by saying that, yes, there is a part 2 dropping later this month, but I figured it's worth evaluating them independently. Baki has always been a bit of a mixed bag for me. I think it peaked in terms of interesting dynamics and having multiple incredible fights back during the Great Raitai Tournament Saga two seasons ago, and even then, this is mostly just a fight fest. Absurd body proportions, detail on crazy move sets, and any excuse to fight are the name of the game, and I honestly don’t think this series even does that best (I prefer the Kengan series). I will say that they really put the dynamics of a fight under a magnifying glass this season, which is awesome... but they're all against a single opponent, one whose entire history of fighting starts and ends with "he lived with, fought and ate dinosaurs." When you have a set of characters who use a wide variety of interesting tactics and have demonstrated them over previous seasons, having everyone test themselves against a physical monster who is just absurdly powerful and fast just feels like a let down. Doesn’t help that the whole premise of “caveman awakes in our time” is basically just Encino Man, but instead of goofy antics, dude just wants to fight (admittedly with some interesting nuances) and eat. Really doesn’t help that some earlier scenes in this show other things he wants that just… aren’t good. The general response of the military and scientific community are all baffling. It's good to see the development of a couple of characters through this and to see some real maimings that result from fighting this particular opponent, but it still feels empty of actual risk to their lives, despite the series repeated attempts to make us think that more could happen. But that’s a problem with Baki as a whole. This season is, at least so far, a weak point for the series as a whole. 6.9/10. Lupin III Part 4 (2015) Overall, I just enjoyed this series a great deal. Not every episode was a banger, but it had more hits than misses. Would have liked to get more episodes focused on Goemon, but at least we got one with a solid look into his background. Nix could have used more development as well. Still, there's a lot to love about the additions to this series. Rebecca is a real spitfire and it's a shame to hear that her role in the story largely stops at this point, especially given the dynamic between her and Fujiko made things interesting. Having MI6 as a central player in the events of the series made for some pretty intense moments, and their distinction from Zenigata introduced additional complexity that livened up the series. The supernatural elements were occasionally convoluted, but in the series proper, they functioned as more intrigue and I think that's where they worked their greatest magic. And Da Vinci's role in this story was a lot of fun to watch. Dude always kept everyone guessing. But this series wouldn't be Lupin if it didn't thrive on its central cast, and this most definitely did. Zenigata is consistently a pleasure to watch and got several great moments to shine, Lupin makes for an exciting protagonist to watch, and his relationships, particularly with Jigen and Fujiko, are particularly investing. It's not the deepest series, but it's not trying to be, and there's still a lot to dig into as the series goes on. I think this did exceptionally well balancing humor and drama, particularly in a couple of very strong episodes. And it looked gorgeous throughout, with some great animation and fight scenes that were absolutely marvelous. 8.5/10. As for the special pair of episodes, it got a little more convoluted and ended anticlimactically, though still had strong character moments and visuals that elevated it. 7.7/10. One Piece Movie 14: Stampede (2019) This was definitely a good time. Got to show off much of the roster of characters, even if many of them didn't get much characterization and the entire idea that they come to this island all together feels a bit farfetched (and if they do, the absence of the Yonkou and several notable Shichibukai feels more than a little strange). Still, it's One Piece and not everything needs to make sense to have a good time. That being said, maybe it's just me being tired of this particular kind of villain, but "very strong" and "has an independent streak" just isn't enough characterization for me to be interested. That might not be particularly fair, since the last One Piece movie I saw was Z, and Zephyr was the peak of One Piece movie villains. Still, Bullet is about as interesting as Shiki, which is to say that he has a history in the world that has some meaning, but that's about it. He's just an obstacle in the way of becoming Pirate King. Still, this movie has a lot going for it. We get some really interesting team-ups, including a big fight involving all the Worst Generation and a rather disparate group of characters from every corner of the world that would never team up under other circumstances. It's nice to see how that latter team-up plays out, and though the former is fun, it feels largely just like a lesser version of their desperate fight against Kizaru in the main series. In all cases, though, the animation is dynamic and colorful. There's a lot to love about these fight scenes and how they amp them up - you can really see what led into the glory that is the Wano Arc. Probably its best moments, though, come from Usopp and Luffy themselves, though I won't spoil those. Overall, it's better than the average One Piece movie, but not as special as I was hoping to see. 7.6/10. One Piece Film: Red (2022) I was really hoping for better with this one. It’s not so much a case of all style and no substance so much as it is all style and confounding substance. First, though, the style. Movie looks great. Some solid CGI, excellent use of color, everything involving Uta’s sound world is a treat to take in, and the music’s pretty great… if you ignore the fact that she sounds the same whether she’s an adult or child, but that’s a minor gripe that could be explained by the Sing Sing Fruit. Onto the gripes, and I’ll start with the smaller ones. Spoilers from here. Overall, this movie evoked comparisons to Weathering With You and Bubble, and that’s not good because they're both movies known for their visuals far more than their narratives and characters. Uta is more interesting than many One Piece movie “villains,” but any complexity she could have had is frustrated by her choices. It’s a fine enough movie, but given how much they had to work with here, it’s just disappointing on so many levels. It’s still One Piece, so I'm willing to overlook some of the motivations for new characters here given the strong character roster and some hype fight scenes, but this is the weakest movie narrative I’ve seen from them so far. 7.1/10. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: December Sky (2015) - Before anyone asks, yes, I watched the movies instead of the series because it was just more readily available. Same basic story. For what this was, this felt pretty effective. The animation quality is strong, the characters get only flashes of backstory but it works well enough to give them some depth, the use of music is decently strong (albeit the choices should probably get more exploration) and we get some really hardcore moments representing the horrors of this war. The desperation of the Zeon and what they're willing to do is particularly strong, since we know this is near the end of the war and in a period where they know they're losing. Their willingness to mangle or even kill themselves and their compatriots to get any kind of leg up over their opponents is played well, and watching both sides fight over the ruins of Side 4, where this war began, really does hit harder if you know the history of this series. It's a nice touch. That being said, it is still light on character motivations, most of the non-central two characters are easily disposable and lack any meaningful backstory, making those horrifying moments of war feel somewhat empty. Why one of our leads (Io Fleming) is such an effective pilot of the Gundam and his backstory with his girlfriend (Claudia Peer) are half-baked - her story particularly feels like it was jammed in there with only limited explanation. It's an effective movie insofar as what it is trying to do lands, it just doesn't have the kind of emotional attachment or strength of character writing that makes a Gundam series really connect with an audience. Still, it's a worthwhile watch, even if it doesn't reach the heights of other series in this timeline. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower (2017) I can't say I liked this one. It carries over the visuals of the first movie, has some excellent fight scenes and some cool new tech, there are some interesting dynamics to the missions, we get some new characters that warrant some attention, more characterization for those that die so it doesn't feel like just fodder, and... that's about it. I think the first movie worked well because it felt like a personal fight between two fighters in a distinctly impersonal battlefield. This movie introduces more complications, including a cult that feels half-baked and only gets some explication in the end (including a minor cliffhanger) and a revelation about a specific character that functions as motivation for one of our leads but never gets explained, both of which might have barely been enough for me to see this further... if there was any further to go. Yep, we stop here, so everything ends in anti-climax. It's hard to recommend a series that ends this way, even if I feel the ride was worthwhile, so despite my score remaining at mid-level, I can't recommend this one. If you see the visuals and think the ride is worthwhile, there are other Gundam entries of similar quality that won't disappoint narratively. 6.6/10, brought down largely by its ending. |
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I've been badge hunting, in particular 1940s, 1950s and Idols (Male) shows I'd never had touched otherwise. The 19xx movies were picked from "best of the decade" queries against anidb, and turned out to be quite good indeed.
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inimAug 9, 2023 3:20 PM
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| Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1996) - set in the UC timeline during the final year of the One Year War, this story sees a new commander and our MC, Shirou Amada, take over the 8th MS unit as they seek to uncover a Zeon WMD. Set in the jungle I found the first six episodes a bit slow but the story did eventually pick up and culminated in a decent two episode finale. Heavy on the anti war sentiment showcasing the futility and brutality of war. Lots of morally grey characters, with senior commanders ranging from bad to indifferent to terrible. Took me a while to warm up to the characters in the 8th MS team, but by the end I enjoyed their joint combat missions, all pulling together to secure victory as a team. There was also a guerrilla element to the story, which I thought was a nice inclusion and worked well. Finally there was a Romeo and Juliet romance, which just didn't work for me. I've been watching Gundam UC timeline entries for the last four weekends and one thing I've noticed, gundam writers can't do romance. They can do peripheral romance, and depictions of the impact of war on couples, like Michel in this series and his sweetheart who he feels is drifting from him and burdened by worry for his safety. Or how war can push people together desperately seeking companionship in the madness and horrors of war like in Thunderbolt. Or the mecha pilots in War in the Pocket, who clearly have something between them but don't know the other is a pilot for the enemy. But when they try to incorporate romance for one of the main characters it just doesn't work. The romance in Stardust was terrible, but that was mainly due to the apathetic Kou Uraki, who felt like a fourteen year old in an adults body. I even wondered whether it was the dub cast so switched to subs for a couple of episodes of 8th MS and that didn't help. The romantic writing is just so lacking, although at least the dialogue in 8th MS wasn't as wooden and poorly delivered as in Stardust. The OST was too dramatic and didn't quite land for me, but wasn't terrible by any means. The detail and animation were ok, not as good as Stardust or Thunderbolt season one. The character design for the MC looked like an early Ghibli movie protagonist, whilst others looked like they'd stepped straight out of Slayers. I'm still waiting for a gundam series to really deliver on the promise of the worldbuilding and land a truly great story, although I'll concede that watching LotGH concurrently doesn't help, as no sci-fi or space drama can stand in comparison to the majestic writing of LotGH. Think I'll try Origins OVA next. 8th MS was a good watch, although more nitpicks than strengths for me. Mid 7/10 (7.4). Chaika the Coffin Princess OVA (2015) - two stories where Chaika and co are chased by the Gillette squad, first in a comedy laden tale where both groups end up in a theatre whilst a play is in progress. Second one leads them into some ruins with some light fanservice. Good 6/10 (6.7). Aria the Origination Picture Drama (2008) - I'm not usually a fan of picture dramas but this was an exception. Same visuals and OST as the parent series, plus the dub cast clearly had a lot of fun recording this. Low 7/10 (7.1). Mitsudomoe (2010) - gag comedy centred around three triplet sisters, Futaba (strong and obsessed with boobs), Mitsuba (want to be called sama and always trying to dominate others, but can be sweet) and Hitoha (quiet one, bit creepy, mysterious and self confessed loner) and their daily life at primary school. If you can get past the sexualisation of eleven y/o children then this can be quite funny. Lots of perverted jokes but always steering clear of anything too explicit. Some neat direction and shot composition for some of the sketches with some equally cool and ingenious use of sound design for simple shots, ie Futaba rising from a basket of panties in a department store to the sound of a jet engine. Each episode consists of two or more sketches, some hits and misses but usually a chuckle or two per episode. Clean animation, character design and OST. Very high 6/10 (6.9). JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable (2016) - the bizarre story of the Joestar family descendants continues. Compared to previous series, which tended towards a globe trotting element, this instalment all takes place in one town, Morioh, and reminded me a little bit of shows like the Simpsons and South Park, where strange people and places are constantly springing forth within the towns of Springfield and South Park as the show progresses. Our lead this time is Jousuke and his friends, who uncover all sorts of Stand users in Morioh. Shows with supernatural elements like Stands, live and die by how inventive the superpowers bestowed by the author turn out to be. The villains and Stands they employ are endlessly amusing and always create plenty to keep our main cast busy. Show comprises mini arcs lasting anywhere from one to a handful of episodes, with the final arc taking nearly nine episodes to wrap up. JoJo has a distinct look, that initially put me off, but now I love it. Fairly strange colour palette with an off beige sky and purple or green buildings, but it works. Character and Stand designs are pretty cool. JoJo is famous for having some of the best drip in all of anime and we had some very well dressed gentleman here. I don't know if this was due to the localisation of the dub, or whether this language is used in the sub or manga, but the dialogue for the swearing made me laugh, "shit bricks" and "lets bounce", being two I can recall. It's a little thing but really makes the show stand out for me. Easy to score solid 8/10 (8.5). I always know I'm going to enjoy a new entry in the JoJo franchise before starting it and this was no exception. I found myself hitting 'next episode' constantly and thoroughly enjoyed this watch. The king of quirky cool, although maybe queen would be more apt. The Case Study of Vanitas Part 2 (2022) - this was another series, like JoJo, that hits a winning formula. In Case Study of Vanitas we have a mix of visuals (19th century France), vampires and masterful OST that combine exquisitely to deliver a very good show. The story continues on from Part 1, which sees our leads Vanitas and Noe pursue curse bearing vampires in order to help them whilst navigating the dual threats of the vampires and the church. Two main arcs, one which sees Vanitas and Noe come up against a troubled young girl trapped in time and haunted by the Mania apparition, which happens to induce illusions that looked like a manic masked carnival. The second arc uncovers Vanitas's backstory and his relationship to the vampire of the blue moon. There was also a mini romantic plot sandwiched between that was revealing and funny. There's some nice use of chibi figures for the comedy moments. Also a fair dose of action. There's a slight homoerotic undercurrent with our two bishi male leads, but it's more in the eye of the beholder, so if someone wanted to see more to Vanitas and Noe's relationship they could, but from the events of this season it's clear at least Vantias has a reciprocated love interest. Studio Bones made the most of the visuals including some nice shot compositions and background detail of the Parisian skylines, French baroque castles and gentle countryside. Some ostentatious and flamboyant styles for the characters period clothing designs. OST was very, very good and the blend of music and visuals were truly wonderful. You had strings, glockenspiel, music box, heavenly choral singing, accordion and electric guitar. Another easy show to score, solid 8/10 (8.5). The story ends at a convenient point but clearly with the main villain only just being uncovered, so hoping we get a third season one day. Prison School (2015) - raunchy erotic fetish fest about five guys who are enrolled in a hitherto all girls school. They get caught peeping on their first night and sentenced to detention in the self contained prison within the school by the masochist, man-hating Underground Student Council. The show managed to balance comedy, male camaraderie with some unbelievably sexy, niche fetish content. Some of the upskirt and body shots put most hentai to shame, especially for Meiko Shiraki. There's a lot of cringe moments but this show knows what it's doing and pulls it off with unapologetically raunchy aplomb. Low 7/10 (7.1). Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! (2011) - shorter second season with a more haphazard arrangement for the stories. Included one episode that was a neat parody of the super sentai format in the form of in-show series Gachi Rangers. Not as strong as the first season but still mostly lands some chuckles every episode. Mid 6/10 (6.6). TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You - High School Days (2023) - continues on from the end of season two with a story arc where Nasa begins teaching coding at an all girls high school, despite only being a couple of years older than the girls attending his classes. No drama, just some intrigued high school girls who can't believe how sweet their newly married young teacher is, and how cute his wife is. Plus Tsukasa gets a bit jealous. Normal wholesome married stuff from Nasa and Tsukasa, it's like a sugar candy arrow being shot straight into your heart sometimes, these two are adorable. Should really have been included as part of the second season. Finally, it seemed like this was the conclusion of the adaption as we get giving the franchise an ending point. Solid 7/10 (7.6). Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015) - this was the gundam story I've been waiting for. Taking us back to the events leading up to the one year war in UC 0079, we meet all the central and secondary cast from the original MSG 0079. The characters are well fleshed out and their motivations and backstories given form. My favourites were Hamon Crowley and Ramba Ral, but we also got some insight into Dozel, Degwin and Garma Zabi as well as the rivalries between the members of the Zabi family. Lots of impactful moments that really stood out, my top one was this song by Hamon Crowley, a song reflecting on the passing of history and advent of war as seen by herself and Ramba Ral in a really poignant moment, "the stream of time never stops, never sets me free" chefs kiss, just brilliant. The only person who is still a bit of an enigma is at the centre of the story, Char, . Pacing was good, animation and battles looked nice (not quite as polished as Macross Frontier, Iron Blooded Orphans or Stardust), OST was solid. Wish I'd seen this before starting the original 1979 MSG 0079 as it gives so much context to the characters. I'd strongly suggest anyone who hasn't embarked on gundam yet to begin with this entry. Strong 8/10 (8.7). Hidamari Sketch: Sae & Hiro Graduation (2013) - Sae and Hiro finally graduate from highschool and get accepted into the college of their choice, which means they'll be leaving Hidamari apartments and the friends they've made there. Sweet send off for the final franchise entry. One of my favourite cgdct shows. Low 8/10 (8.0). Original Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy (1990) - the final entry in the original Dirty Pair franchise (ie before the remake Dirty Pair Flash), which sees Kei and Yuri asked to investigate the disappearance of a scientist and his family in connection with a downed plane. Bit more serious than the usual Dirty Pair stories. Looked good and usual electro pop OST. Low 7/10 (7.2). You're Under Arrest The Movie (1999) - this addition of the franchise sees the members of Bokutoh precinct get embroiled in a terrorist plot to steal a top secret police programme that could spell economic disaster worldwide. An action filled film that includes an assault on the Bokutoh precinct itself, the trademark car chases as well as a river chase. This film looked better than any other entry in the franchise I've seen except the original OVA, with clean details and character designs (Miyuki looking more like Belledandy than previous seasons) and some well composed action sequences. I said in my review of season one that I preferred the silly and light hearted stories, but this more serious entry was my favourite from the franchise yet. Solid 7/10 (7.6). |
23feanorAug 31, 2023 6:41 AM
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I've watched over a dozen Hololive Production AMVs and PVs to understand the vTuber "thing". That, and earn the badge of the same name on mal-badges. It's not really for me, so I just add three typical entries and leave out a dozen of AMVs rated between 1/10 and 3/10.
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inimAug 27, 2023 4:04 PM
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| Blessing of the Campanella (2010) - this was a bit of a weird genre mix but exactly the sort of fluffy show with cgdct energy and nice visuals that I like. Our story is set around an adventure clan called Oasis based in the seaside city of Ert' Aria. The cast is mainly a bunch of cute girls (strong knight with no sense of direction, princess type, milf, a sister boke and straight man comedy duo, loli, intelligent one etc) as well as the male Leicester, who all the girls have feelings for, whether overtly expressed like the comedy duo sisters with their lewd jokes, genuinely held romantic love with the main love interest and princess or secretly held like the earnest female knight. There's no actual romantic development, just a bunch of girls who all fawn over Leicester. Out story begins with a magic storm, which happens to bring an automaton girl to life, who believes Leicester is her papa, so she's adopted into the Oasis clan. Then the clan go on a bunch of quests and if you've ever seen an anime with robot/android/automaton girls (ie Chobits, Plastic Memories) you'll know where the story is headed. This felt like a mix of shows including Dog Days, Aria franchise with the nice setting and an adventure cgdct show like Slime 300 or Endro. It worked for me, although a good reminder for me of why I don't rely on mal reviews, as they almost all universally disliked the show. The Japanese VA for the automaton girl, Minette, was grating, and there was a fair dose of cheesy dialogue (you know the stuff "don't be selfish and tell us your true feelings", "I'll have to fight to prove my wish to protect my friends is greater than your wish", "I want to be by everyone's side together forever"). Some very nice backgrounds for the seaside town of Ert'Aria and surrounding countryside. OST was nice mix of J-pop and instrumentals. Finally there was a bunch of naked fan service, which I felt the show really didn't need. The comedy duo sisters really were quite funny and stole the show for me. Low 7/10 (7.1). |
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| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991) It has its moments, but it doesn't exactly set a great standard for Gundam as a franchise. The character writing felt pretty clunky, particularly with Nina who just changes dramatically on a dime at several points in the series and doesn't seem to have any real clue what she wants. Gato is kind of interesting, but comes off as a Char-esque character with none of his swagger and a single-minded devotion to the ideals of Zeon. Kou hardly seems to grow at all through the series and it just kind of ends unceremoniously with nothing of substance from him. Garahau might be the only character who feels distinct and interesting, but she can't hold up the show herself, despite my kind of wanting a spin-off about her before the events of this series. There are a lot of good ideas in the larger plot regarding an effort on the part of the remnants of Zeon to make a real and figurative impact in the waning days of their empire, but it all still seems a little basic. Really doesn't help that most of the big guys sitting behind the scenes, particularly on the side of the Federation, just come off as maniacal for no real reason beyond they just love power. The fight scenes are a stand-out in this series, so that's something to enjoy, and at least a few of the side characters seem pretty well-written, albeit they are few and far between. As one of the more consequential stories taking place directly after the original series, it's one that should stand out more, but it kind of fades into the background. Mitsudomoe (2010) This was a pretty fun season of anime, albeit one that was pretty repetitive in terms of what types of humor it was going towards. A bit hit and miss for me with the jokes. Found myself recalling my watch of Aharen-san where there were some genuinely good draws for the series, but it just hasn't worked consistently as well as other shows in the genre for me. And yeah, the sexual humor just grew tired over time. Occasionally, this show throws in some pretty strong writing and surprisingly incredible shots, so that helps it a bit. 6.8/10. Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu! (2011) This season was quite a bit more variable than the first. It's the same cute characters and setting, but just seems to scattered that it's hard to appreciate on the same level. 6.2/10. Mitsudomoe: Oppai Ippai Mama Genki (2011) It's a fun episode in places, particularly when it places the emphasis on Mitsuba, but it leans into some of the breast-based humor that's long since gotten stale for this show. It works well enough in places, but doesn't exceed either of the series. Hanma Baki: Son of Ogre 2nd Season, Part 2 (2023) I would say that it’s a substantial improvement. Despite the fact this portion involved fewer fights, focusing instead on the relationship between Baki and Yujirou, it does such a deep dive into the dynamics between them that I was actually pretty invested in the characters. Each of the moves themselves are drawn out to the nth degree, which makes sense when you’re talking about the kind of fight that has been built up to for the whole series. That being said, this still is just one fight with a lot of people standing around making clear how important it is. For all that these two characters come into it with the mentality that it’s a father-son match built on years of turmoil, tragedy and torture, it becomes an absolute event. It becomes kind of absurd how the whole thing is carved into the wall of some ancient temple to boot and how people are traveling countless miles to literally pray to Yujirou. I get that absurdity is kind of this series’ strength, but even so, this was a little much for me. I think this fight is at its best when it is about their relationship and showcasing it through the moves that Baki, in particular, learned to utilize over all this time, but for every moment that demonstrates the strength of the story, there’s just so much absurdity that it’s hard to take it as seriously as it deserves. It raises the strength of the season for me. It sits at a 7/10 for me, which sets the overall season around a 6.8/10 given that the first half was weaker, but this really did a great deal to anchor and provide meaning to that first part. |
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| Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars (1990) - this alternative version of the movie series sees A-Ko and B-Ko as bounty hunters in space. They end up tracking C-Ko who has been kidnapped as the vessel to reincarnate an ancient dragon god. Same goofy action and slapstick comedy but with a different setting. Honky tonk electro OST. Nicely animated. I do enjoy a goofy popcorn OVA. High 6/10 (6.8). If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation). WataTen! An Angel Flew Down to Me: Precious Friends (2022) - final movie entry for the franchise which sees Hana, Hinata, Mya-nee and co visit Hana's grandma in the countryside. This is pure cgdct show, where they do nothing special apart from be cute. Only special feature to this cgdct franchise is the yuri undercurrent, particularly the older sister, Mya-nee's huge crush on the much younger Hana, which to be fair is only depicted as adoration and not sexual, still a bit weird though. This franchise reminds me a lot of Yuri Yuri in terms of it's portrayal of innocent girls love and attraction to each other, even with an age gap. Nice visual aesthetic and catchy OST. Low 7/10 (7.1). |
23feanorSep 2, 2023 9:38 AM
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Reply to 23feanor
Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars (1990) - this alternative version of the movie series sees A-Ko and B-Ko as bounty hunters in space. They end up tracking C-Ko who has been kidnapped as the vessel to reincarnate an ancient dragon god. Same goofy action and slapstick comedy but with a different setting. Honky tonk electro OST. Nicely animated. I do enjoy a goofy popcorn OVA. High 6/10 (6.8).
If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation).
WataTen! An Angel Flew Down to Me: Precious Friends (2022) - final movie entry for the franchise which sees Hana, Hinata, Mya-nee and co visit Hana's grandma in the countryside. This is pure cgdct show, where they do nothing special apart from be cute. Only special feature to this cgdct franchise is the yuri undercurrent, particularly the older sister, Mya-nee's huge crush on the much younger Hana, which to be fair is only depicted as adoration and not sexual, still a bit weird though. This franchise reminds me a lot of Yuri Yuri in terms of it's portrayal of innocent girls love and attraction to each other, even with an age gap. Nice visual aesthetic and catchy OST. Low 7/10 (7.1).
If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation).
WataTen! An Angel Flew Down to Me: Precious Friends (2022) - final movie entry for the franchise which sees Hana, Hinata, Mya-nee and co visit Hana's grandma in the countryside. This is pure cgdct show, where they do nothing special apart from be cute. Only special feature to this cgdct franchise is the yuri undercurrent, particularly the older sister, Mya-nee's huge crush on the much younger Hana, which to be fair is only depicted as adoration and not sexual, still a bit weird though. This franchise reminds me a lot of Yuri Yuri in terms of it's portrayal of innocent girls love and attraction to each other, even with an age gap. Nice visual aesthetic and catchy OST. Low 7/10 (7.1).
23feanor said: If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation). Have to agree with this. When I first read the synopsis on AniDb, it had the feel of Maison Ikkoku to the description, but it fell way short of that in actuality. The only advantage the TV version has over the OAV is that the episodes are only 7 minutes long and that wasn't much of one. The TV version might have suffered because of the shortness of the episode lengths and might have improved the character development if they had been longer, and the score I gave it. Or if I had spread the time between viewing a bit further apart than the same day, but it's doubtful. Quoting messages has changed a bit with the new "format" after the maintenance. Now you select the text you want to quote and by right-clicking the selected text it gives you the option to "Copy" or "Quote Reply". Took me forever to get to that point. grrr.... Easy to do once you finger it out, but ...... ☺ |
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Reply to OrlahEhontas
23feanor said:
If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation).
If I See You in My Dreams (1998) - The story starts with your average salaryman Masuo, being told by a fortune teller that he'll never get a girlfriend or get married. Straight after he bumps into Nagisa and falls for her. What follows is two episodes of bland romance filled your typical anime misunderstandings and road blocks in the form of love rivals. The final episode did redeem the show somewhat with a sweet ending. This show is wish fulfilment for your average lonely Japanese salaryman. Looked ok. Sits on the border between a 5 and 6/10, but giving it a high 5/10 (5.9) as the first two episodes were so bland and the best character development was the male love rival who has some of the most memorable moments simply by being a good guy (he tries to give Masuo a chance to explain himself to Nagisa [during a car chase with Masuo on a bike] after a misunderstanding as he can see Nagisa is upset and has feelings for Masuo, rather than just take advantage of the situation).
Have to agree with this. When I first read the synopsis on AniDb, it had the feel of Maison Ikkoku to the description, but it fell way short of that in actuality. The only advantage the TV version has over the OAV is that the episodes are only 7 minutes long and that wasn't much of one. The TV version might have suffered because of the shortness of the episode lengths and might have improved the character development if they had been longer, and the score I gave it. Or if I had spread the time between viewing a bit further apart than the same day, but it's doubtful.
Quoting messages has changed a bit with the new "format" after the maintenance. Now you select the text you want to quote and by right-clicking the selected text it gives you the option to "Copy" or "Quote Reply". Took me forever to get to that point. grrr.... Easy to do once you finger it out, but ...... ☺
OrlahEhontas said: Have to agree with this. When I first read the synopsis on AniDb, it had the feel of Maison Ikkoku to the description, but it fell way short of that in actuality. Completely agree, this is the synopsis on mal (lifted from AniDB): "Yume de Aetara is a story about one guy Fuguno Masuo (a complete loser when it comes to relationship with women) and two girls: Shiozaki Nagisa and Hamaoka Miho. Since the story is pretty simple (and hilariously funny), further explanation will spoil everything (take the hint: watch it yourself!)" I makes it sound much better than it should and I thought I might be in for another Minna Agechau, but sadly not. |
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| Armitage III: Dual-Matrix (2002) - this film is set a few years after the prequel OVA and now Armitage and Ross have a child, Yoko, and are living peacefully on Mars when they suddenly get drawn into the political quagmire surrounding the question of basic rights for robots, currently being discussed in the senate back on Earth. The story was pretty basic, and given we have a robot who can give birth, I was expecting more. This movie was created after the move in production to mainly computer based animation and you could tell; the character designs were off, especially for Armitage and Ross, the backgrounds weren't as sumptuous as the prequel OVA (which had some of the best sci-fi backgrounds I've ever seen) and the animation looked clunky at times. Overall disappointing sequel, low 6/10 (6.0). I did notice that Juliette Lewis from Natural Born Killers and Dusk Till Dawn was voicing Armitage, and tbh, she wasn't that good. Her only anime VA credit according to mal. Not only that I saw that Elizabeth Berkley, formerly of Saved by the Bell and later Showgirls, voiced Armitage in the summary film! I grew up on Saved by the Bell and had the biggest crush on her. New Cutey Honey (1994) - In the Cutey Honey franchise I've only seen the three episode OVA from 2004, which was set in modern day Japan, so this setting took me a bit by surprise. We find Cutey Honey in a Gotham style city (called Cosplay City, to give the show a good excuse for the thugs and citizens to wear outrageous outfits) complete with gangs of thugs out of Batman film, battling for justice and love as usual. Each episode Honey and her adoptive family battle against some new foe with no actual story with goofy action aplenty. One thing was strange, at the beginning of the OVA series the setting looked more like a medieval fantasy world version of a Gotham city with melted and round topped buildings that resembled the towns on Tataouine from Star Wars a bit. But by the end of the series it was very much a recreation of New York with bridges and high rise skyscrapers. Lots of fan service, both from Honey and the female villains (love some fan service from a sexy villainess), dirty language, dirty jokes and heaps of good old fashioned swearing "fuck this ....", "piss off you ....". Honey was voiced in the dub by Jessica Calvello, most memorable to me for roles including Excel from Excel Saga and Aika from the Aria franchise. Any time she is a main character in a show, such as this, she always delivers and has a versatile range of characters, from quirky such as Aika and outright hilarious like Excel. I always enjoy listening to her performances. Character designs were good, animation was good but not special, didn't notice the OST. Tbh I'm not quite sure what the over arching story for Cutey Honey is about, just that she's an android with a human heart and can transform into any costume at will (usually a handful every episode) and each one requiring a naked transformation seen by any bystander. Easy to watch goofy OVA with some good dirty jokes, dirty language and swearing, but no actual story, high 6/10 (6.8). |
23feanorSep 10, 2023 9:02 AM
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| I am just checking in here because I like posting here rather than the regular forum.. I'm currently watching One Room Hero, Spy Kyoushitsu 2nd, and finished the first (cour) of Ensemble Stars which is possibly the first idol anime I ever committed to. I'll probably finish all three at about the same time. Three at a time is probably the most I can watch at once. All three of them are good. |
| Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) - The only thing I knew about LotGH before going in was that it was the posterboy for elitist watchers and highly regarded, and tbh, this had put me off for a while. I am so glad I picked it up myself to see what lay under the veneer of "greatest anime show ever". My verdict, this was a masterpiece, plain and simple, from episode one to episode one hundred and ten. And not just an anime masterpiece, but a masterpiece of fiction, a grand space opera that covers politics, military, action, romance, intrigue, betrayal, friendship, tragedy, philosophy, sacrifice and even a couple of moments of comedy. The sheer breadth and scope of this show is quite astounding, matched only by a couple of fantasy novel series in my experience (Game of Thrones books, and Legend of the Seeker books, up until book eleven). It is quite high brow, Prussia in space as @inim aptly described it, with Prussian/German sounding names and heavy use of classical music for the OST. Everything in this show was brilliant; character dynamics, pacing, dialogue, voice acting (no use of Japanese suffixes), animation (background detail, character design and expressive character facial reactions and movement, the movement of ships into and out of Isherlohn fortress was simply amazing), tactics, narrative structure, OST (the range of use of different types of classical music is exceptional). One thing I will note is that this show takes a while to watch, you have to pay attention to every moment of every episode, so I found myself only watching one or two episodes at a time. I'm not going to expound further, as if I did, firstly I would end up writing an essay, and secondly the points would likely be spoilers and only relevant to people who have watched the show. For my personal record, and anyone that watched the show, some points of note include . The antagonists and 'villains' were every shade of moral gray and so well written, i.e. . One of the main themes of the show is a contrast of various forms of political government, mainly the differences between an autocracy and democracy. As a politics student I find it fascinating that a subject discussed by groups of people since man first formed society thousands of years ago is still unanswered. An autocracy can be wielded like a fine instrument with the right leader who has the best interests of the people in mind and a just nobility, but what of future leaders and the possible abuse of power in years to come (in Game of Thrones there was a saying that the gods flipped a coin every time a new Targaryen was born, whether the new ruler-to-be would be wise and brave or mad and I think that sums up the situation well)? Then you have democracy, a system by the people and for the people, but what if the people themselves make bad decisions and appoint poor representatives that appeal to the lowest common denominator and use base tactics to appeal to popular demand, sacrificing the needs and rights of the minorities and the weak? There were some good ED's (mainly the ones sung by men like this one) and some terrible ones, with a couple of awful 'Engrish' songs, sung by women. Not sure why but older shows like Gundam, Macross and LotGH all have great songs sung by men, in a slower tone and cadence that really work well, don't get anything similar in later decades and certainly not in modern times (that I can think of anyway). If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, strong 10/10 (10.7). |
23feanorJan 13, 12:40 AM
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| @23feanor Not that I particularly needed a good reason to watch it, given all the hype around LotGH, but it's great to see your review. I'll have to move it up my ptw order. |
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Reply to 23feanor
Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) - The only thing I knew about LotGH before going in was that it was the posterboy for elitist watchers and highly regarded, and tbh, this had put me off for a while. I am so glad I picked it up myself to see what lay under the veneer of "greatest anime show ever". My verdict, this was a masterpiece, plain and simple, from episode one to episode one hundred and ten. And not just an anime masterpiece, but a masterpiece of fiction, a grand space opera that covers politics, military, action, romance, intrigue, betrayal, friendship, tragedy, philosophy, sacrifice and even a couple of moments of comedy. The sheer breadth and scope of this show is quite astounding, matched only by a couple of fantasy novel series in my experience (Game of Thrones books, and Legend of the Seeker books, up until book eleven). It is quite high brow, Prussia in space as @inim aptly described it, with Prussian/German sounding names and heavy use of classical music for the OST.
Everything in this show was brilliant; character dynamics, pacing, dialogue, voice acting (no use of Japanese suffixes), animation (background detail, character design and expressive character facial reactions and movement, the movement of ships into and out of Isherlohn fortress was simply amazing), tactics, narrative structure, OST (the range of use of different types of classical music is exceptional). One thing I will note is that this show takes a while to watch, you have to pay attention to every moment of every episode, so I found myself only watching one or two episodes at a time. I'm not going to expound further, as if I did, firstly I would end up writing an essay, and secondly the points would likely be spoilers and only relevant to people who have watched the show. For my personal record, and anyone that watched the show, some points of note include
One of the main themes of the show is a contrast of various forms of political government, mainly the differences between an autocracy and democracy. As a politics student I find it fascinating that a subject discussed by groups of people since man first formed society thousands of years ago is still unanswered. An autocracy can be wielded like a fine instrument with the right leader who has the best interests of the people in mind and a just nobility, but what of future leaders and the possible abuse of power in years to come (in Game of Thrones there was a saying that the gods flipped a coin every time a new Targaryen was born, whether the new ruler-to-be would be wise and brave or mad and I think that sums up the situation well)? Then you have democracy, a system by the people and for the people, but what if the people themselves make bad decisions and appoint poor representatives that appeal to the lowest common denominator and use base tactics to appeal to popular demand, sacrificing the needs and rights of the minorities and the weak?
There were some good ED's (mainly the ones sung by men like this one) and some terrible ones, with a couple of awful 'Engrish' songs, sung by women. Not sure why but older shows like Gundam, Macross and LotGH all have great songs sung by men, in a slower tone and cadence that really work well, don't get anything similar in later decades and certainly not in modern times (that I can think of anyway).
If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, strong 10/10 (10.7).
Everything in this show was brilliant; character dynamics, pacing, dialogue, voice acting (no use of Japanese suffixes), animation (background detail, character design and expressive character facial reactions and movement, the movement of ships into and out of Isherlohn fortress was simply amazing), tactics, narrative structure, OST (the range of use of different types of classical music is exceptional). One thing I will note is that this show takes a while to watch, you have to pay attention to every moment of every episode, so I found myself only watching one or two episodes at a time. I'm not going to expound further, as if I did, firstly I would end up writing an essay, and secondly the points would likely be spoilers and only relevant to people who have watched the show. For my personal record, and anyone that watched the show, some points of note include
. The antagonists and 'villains' were every shade of moral gray and so well written, i.e.
.
One of the main themes of the show is a contrast of various forms of political government, mainly the differences between an autocracy and democracy. As a politics student I find it fascinating that a subject discussed by groups of people since man first formed society thousands of years ago is still unanswered. An autocracy can be wielded like a fine instrument with the right leader who has the best interests of the people in mind and a just nobility, but what of future leaders and the possible abuse of power in years to come (in Game of Thrones there was a saying that the gods flipped a coin every time a new Targaryen was born, whether the new ruler-to-be would be wise and brave or mad and I think that sums up the situation well)? Then you have democracy, a system by the people and for the people, but what if the people themselves make bad decisions and appoint poor representatives that appeal to the lowest common denominator and use base tactics to appeal to popular demand, sacrificing the needs and rights of the minorities and the weak?
There were some good ED's (mainly the ones sung by men like this one) and some terrible ones, with a couple of awful 'Engrish' songs, sung by women. Not sure why but older shows like Gundam, Macross and LotGH all have great songs sung by men, in a slower tone and cadence that really work well, don't get anything similar in later decades and certainly not in modern times (that I can think of anyway).
If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, strong 10/10 (10.7).
23feanor said: If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, as high as it goes, 10/10 (10.9). Have to admit I too was a tad put off by the so-called elitist recommendations, but probably more so by the length. 110 episodes is a serious chunk of time, especially when you tend to marathon a series (of which I'm guilty of all to often). I found it interesting that it was and still is categorized as an OAV (OVA to the younger crowd. (That abbreviation always seems a bit biological to me.)). but when you consider the time and effort put into the animation and scripting done for this "series", it makes sense. Typically an OAV has a higher level of performance than an actual series does since they aren't as concerned with the weekly time-slot constraints and are able to put out a better product. I've viewed some of the newer productions of this series and while the animation is of a higher quality than the original that's more a result of the improvements in animation technology than it is the care and feeding of the production itself. The scripting of the newer product closely follows the original thus it really hasn't improved over the original. Which is not a bad thing! |
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OrlahEhontas said: Have to admit I too was a tad put off by the so-called elitist recommendations, but probably more so by the length. 110 episodes is a serious chunk of time, especially when you tend to marathon a series (of which I'm guilty of all to often). I found it interesting that it was and still is categorized as an OAV (OVA to the younger crowd. (That abbreviation always seems a bit biological to me.)). but when you consider the time and effort put into the animation and scripting done for this "series", it makes sense. Typically an OAV has a higher level of performance than an actual series does since they aren't as concerned with the weekly time-slot constraints and are able to put out a better product. I've viewed some of the newer productions of this series and while the animation is of a higher quality than the original that's more a result of the improvements in animation technology than it is the care and feeding of the production itself. The scripting of the newer product closely follows the original thus it really hasn't improved over the original. Which is not a bad thing! I've noticed that on the covers older OVA/OAV's were called Original Animation/Animated Video's (OAV) and newer ones called Original Video Animation (OVA), which I understand basically means an original animation straight to video (now Blu-ray). No idea why or when the change occurred. On the topic of longer shows, I noticed a couple of years back that there were a bunch of longer titles (>100 eps) that I had on my list and wasn't getting around to because of the length and time commitment. I decided to start picking them up and just watching a couple of eps on weekdays at the end of the day, so as to chip away at them, even if they took a few months to complete. In that way I've now gotten through Cardcaptor Sakura (only 70 eps), Yu Yu Hakusho, InuYasha, Ranma and now LotGH. Plus a bunch of One Piece arcs. Still got Maison Ikkokou, Hajime no Ippo and Ashita Joe on my radar to pick up in the coming months, and one day the original Dragon Ball. Of course there are times when I succumb to binge watching these shows at certain points, all apart from LotGH, which required such concentration I could rarely watch more than 2 eps at a time. Once I complete the aforementioned shows that's it, I'll have watched all the longer shows that I wanted to, small chunks at a time. I imagine that a masterpiece like LotGH couldn't have been made without the OVA production formula. The mal page says it had a subscription service for nearly a decade, which is impressive, the novels must have had a big spending existing fanbase to generate enough investment to keep such sustained production quality. One of the best Japanese VA casts, especially as they dropped the traditional Japanese suffixes, which would have annoyed the hell out of me by the end and reduces immersion in a sci-fi or fantasy world for me. |
23feanorSep 15, 2023 5:24 AM
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Reply to OrlahEhontas
23feanor said:
If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, as high as it goes, 10/10 (10.9).
If, like me, you were put off by the intimidating reputation of LotGH, then my suggestion would be to give the show at least twelve episodes, as this is one of the most rewarding stories I've ever had the pleasure to experience. My only issue with the show is the fact I'm almost certain I'll never experience another anime as breathtakingly magnificent again (maybe in a completely different form like Aria S2 was a masterpiece of iyashikei/art and SoL, but in terms of a grand story, no, and the only real contender, Gundam doesn't even come close, closest I can think of that I've seen is Space Battleship Yamato 2199 OVA, which was great, but not in the same league as LotGH). In terms of a score, as high as it goes, 10/10 (10.9).
Have to admit I too was a tad put off by the so-called elitist recommendations, but probably more so by the length. 110 episodes is a serious chunk of time, especially when you tend to marathon a series (of which I'm guilty of all to often). I found it interesting that it was and still is categorized as an OAV (OVA to the younger crowd. (That abbreviation always seems a bit biological to me.)). but when you consider the time and effort put into the animation and scripting done for this "series", it makes sense. Typically an OAV has a higher level of performance than an actual series does since they aren't as concerned with the weekly time-slot constraints and are able to put out a better product. I've viewed some of the newer productions of this series and while the animation is of a higher quality than the original that's more a result of the improvements in animation technology than it is the care and feeding of the production itself. The scripting of the newer product closely follows the original thus it really hasn't improved over the original. Which is not a bad thing!
| OrlahEhontas said: Watcher of 100% of the franchise, including all of Gaiden and Neue These. There is no "original" attribute for the 1988 OVA. Neue These ignores some minor changes from the novel made in the OVA version, and thus is atad shorter. Neither of the two adaptions is an "original", both are fairly true versions of the same source. Where the recent one takes even fewer detours from the source than the 1988 version did.I've viewed some of the newer productions of this series and while the animation is of a higher quality than the original that's more a result of the improvements in animation technology than it is the care and feeding of the production itself. The scripting of the newer product closely follows the original thus it really hasn't improved over the original. That said: the OVA has it's own weird charm, the "history lesson" episodes are part of what it adds to the novel and I really loved those. I'd agree it's good because it's so ideosyncratic, while Neue These is good but mabe a little too smooth and clean. |
inimSep 15, 2023 7:06 AM
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