Genius Party by BSS fansubs

What was your favorite short?

Jul 22, 2008 11:54 PM

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May 2008

182

Shorts 1(Genius party) 2(Shanghai Dragon) 4(Doorbell) 6(Happy Machine) and 7(Baby Blue) have been released.The reason for 3 & 5 not being released along side these is as follows:

Genius Party episodes 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. 3 may be out sometime in the near future while 5 might not be. 5, you see, is 20 minutes of pure talking about psychology and philosophy and the TL working on it is preoccupied with Disgaea 3 and Persona 4. So don't hold your breath for that particular episode.

So for now you can discuss what's out, give your impressions, name your favorite, and etc.

alarmedJul 23, 2008 2:06 AM

Jul 23, 2008 12:58 AM

Beatnik

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Jan 2008

4814

Wow, finally out! I dont quite understand the reason for #5 not being released, does 'TL' mean transcriber or something? Shit, if fansubbers can do GitS: Innocence, anything's possible.

Anyway, will watch this and report back.

"I'm starting to think mal is run by Xinil generating electricity on a bicycle." - idklol

Jul 23, 2008 1:31 AM

MasterChief

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Apr 2007

144

Cihan said:
does 'TL' mean transcriber or something?

I think it means translator...

Jul 23, 2008 1:43 AM

Beatnik

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Jan 2008

4814

MasterChief said:

Cihan said:
does 'TL' mean transcriber or something?

I think it means translator...

That would make more sense I suppose. Either way its a mission for both, haha.

"I'm starting to think mal is run by Xinil generating electricity on a bicycle." - idklol

Jul 23, 2008 2:42 AM

alarmed

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May 2008

182

Wow GP does not disappoint.Spoilers ahead for GP and Kaiba.

The movie starts off with a short, aptly named "Genius party" which is unsurprisingly, an opener more than anything.No dialog to be found in this short by Atsuko Fukushima, just an incredible feast of colors & designs for your eyes along with a fitting soundtrack.I enjoyed "Genius party" and thought it did great as what it was, an opener.It represents what this movie & Studio 4°C are all about.

That being renown directors/animators/story tellers & unknowns alike, coming together and celebrating the art of animation.Next up was Shanghai Dragon, very simple yet charming, he did great considering how much stuff he packed into those 20 mins.Best part about the short was definitely the closing scenes with the Gongrong-made Oriental Dragon restoring the heavily damaged land, and then flying off into the stars/future.

Doorbell was kind of confusing and I could see it being interpreted in quite a few ways.You can tell Yuji Fukuyama is not an animator, I did notice his beautiful portrait-like background stills and fine architecture.I think I'll watch it again before really coming up with anything concrete.Anyway what I really want to talk about is "Happy Machine" by Kaiba's Masaaki Yuasa and "Baby Blue" by none other than Shinichiro Watanabe.

Fans of Kemenozume & Kaiba should immediately recognize Yuasa's hand in Happy Machine, an extremely bittersweet tale where he plays a lot with the world, it's nature, the creatures that inhabit it and it's wanderer, the baby.About 1/3 through the short, again, if you've watched Kaiba, you'll realize things are getting very familiar.I'd even go as far to say that this was probably one of Kaiba's starting points OR a kaiba offshoot. It might even be one of the Kaiba universe's many worlds.

Happy Machine was a roller coaster, it had me laughing one frame, and hurting the next.Yuasa's doodle-like designs are very much present here, as well as his punch-you-in-the-gut moments.The whole scene with the Baby and the fire-eater playing along was extremely well done.His death gave me Chroniko's boots flashbacks, it was sudden, and hard-hitting.The rest of the short had me smiling from ear to ear, mostly the walking plant creature running around and drinking the baby's pee! ultimately though, the closing left me with a sense of hopelessness.That whole mechanism has gone/will go on for years and years, and that's just the way it is.Just like in the many planets of Kaibaverse.

Last but not least; Shinichiro Watanabe's short, Baby Blue.You wouldn't be able to tell it's Watanabe at all if it wasn't for the extreme detail in the world.The stains on the school's ceiling tiles, the chipped-marked-on desks, the worn sneakers, the old rusty traffic signs, etc.Baby Blue is very moody, and to go along with it's gloomy atmosphere is none other than Yoko Kanno's wonderful talent.There are 5 tracks in Baby Blue's OST, 4 are originals by Kanno, all guitar tracks, ranging from the upbeat, chase scene kind of jam, "Police on My Back" to the Desolate yet beautifully melodic "Baby, It's Blue" which is the longest, running at 2:22.

She finished it off with chopin, Etude E Major that is just well..makes the scene.Anyway while Baby Blue's plot isn't anything to be taken-back by, I am a sucker for these kind of stories, and I think Watanabe pulled it off beautifully in his 13mins.This work is very Shinkai-like, and not surprisingly, Watanabe did what took Shinkai years of work and 1 hour 3 minutes running time in 13m and a couple of weeks.While I love all of Makoto Shinkai's works, it's just pretty obvious that Watanabe did it better.

Needless to say Watanabe has been doing this for years and years, he is a lot more experienced than Shinkai.He managed to make the characters interesting and well developed without the need for excess dialog/beating around the bush narrative.Really glad to see Watanabe is still up on his game, cannot wait to see what he's working on next.He did mention he's wanted to do this kind of thing for a while now, I'd love to see a 26 ep - TV Watanabe romance.

So yeah, Baby Blue was definitely Genius Party's star.I'm gonna be listening to it's soundtrack for a while!

Ahh yes I liked Genius Party(or whats released of it anyway) very much, looking forward to Beyond even more now!

alarmedJul 24, 2008 4:14 AM

Jul 23, 2008 10:00 AM

Dunky

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Dec 2007

1041

As splendid as it is so far, I am a bit unimpressed. Watanabe and Yoko Kanno always deliver though. However, I wasn't expecting something like Baby Blue from Watanabe. I am not a big fan of Makoto Shinkai's works, so that was a small negative for my opinion Baby Blue; I was truly shocked at how similar it looked/felt to his works. But, there is still much more to come that may impress me.

Jul 23, 2008 10:33 AM

jtzjghjkjhk

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Jun 2008

I saw 'Genius Party', 'Shanghai Dragon' and 'Doorbell', and was impressed of the music, and really especially the cool animation of the first movie. Second was one was also impressive, especially the last scenes with the dragon. Third one was a bit strange, I think I'll have to watch it again to grasp the meaning behind it though I have a good idea what the subject is.
The tow that are subbed will be watched tomorrow, now I'll wait for the finish of the 3rd KnK movie download.

Jul 23, 2008 1:15 PM

HappyPear

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Apr 2008

2469

So far, very impressive. Reminds me of the Animatrix (considering it's the same studio doing it...), but it's interesting. I'll be patient and wait on the next few episodes.

Jul 23, 2008 2:24 PM

Absolutely_Steve

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May 2008

616

Visually I would go with Happy Machine as my favorite but overall I had to pick Baby Blue. As much as I'm usually skeptical of works that are inspired by Shinkai's style (and I doubt very much that this wasn't) it was nice to see Watanabe trying something different for GP and doing a really good job of it. It's obviously not up to the level of Shinkai's works, but neither is HM up to the level of Kaiba when it comes to Yuasa. Instead both achieve what this set out to do, allow talented directors to experiment while providing animation fans with interesting, high quality short pieces of animation.

I also would just like to add that the whole henshin sequence and subsequent battle in Shanghai Dragon was hilarious.

Jul 24, 2008 3:00 PM

#10

Jacut

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Dec 2007

5299

Wow nice one BSS, all the Genius Party works that were subbed are absolutely outstanding except the first one (called Genius Party incidentally ;)), and some of them are true masterpieces, I can't even choose between Shanghai Dragon, Baby Blue and Happy Machine (though I like Masaaki's work better I think) !

I think I have watched every "sketch movie" released in Japanese animation and this one should be the best I've seen with Manie Manie and Twilight Q (mainly for the Oshii part, the Mochizuki one is not that good), so it's a great performance for Studio 4°C, and I still haven't seen the part I'm most waiting for : Maeda's Gala (really can't wait for it !).

In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same.

Jul 26, 2008 5:02 AM

#11

jtzjghjkjhk

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Jun 2008

Overall favorite by now is the opener of the series. It's typically Studio 4°C ;)
But I liked all of them, I'm especially interested in this episode with philosophic talk, I hope they release it anytime.

Aug 8, 2008 1:07 PM

#12

235wegsdg

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Apr 2008

I was difficult to chose between Genius Party and Happy Machine, but I chose Happy Machine because it's Masaaki Yuasa :P

But the five episode (psychedelic animation with philosophy) was really great too! I saw it subtitled in a festival and I hope someone will sub it.

Nov 7, 2008 1:28 PM

#13

Ornette

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Nov 2007

I recently saw Genius Party 1 (the first 7 episodes) in the theatre at the Tokyo Film Festival in Manhattan. Out of curiosity, why are these included as one entry on MAL instead of separate like a lot of the other 4c anthologies?

Nov 7, 2008 5:27 PM

#14

MrShepherd

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May 2008

Ornette said:
I recently saw Genius Party 1 (the first 7 episodes) in the theatre at the Tokyo Film Festival in Manhattan. Out of curiosity, why are these included as one entry on MAL instead of separate like a lot of the other 4c anthologies?

Might want to voice that opinion here:

http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=31294&show=0

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