I like the animation/style of this. Hopefully it's half decent.
I like the animation/style of this. Hopefully it's half decent.
That "Shelter" video is actually pretty similar to a story I wrote a long time ago. I'm kinda sad now that I never tried to make it actually good because that video short was really something.
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Komi's new manga looks interesting.
Current season. Current anime. Hahahaha.
Occultic Nine Episode 1 & 2 - 7/10: Well. This show sure is erratic and almost disastrously fast paced. The first episode feels like a pure cram-fest, I have no idea about the source material, but this felt like a ton of different chapters worth of story elements all got mangled into one hyperactive episode. The characters are neat, at least, with the pair of tits that had a character attached being bizarrely out of place in the whole scheme of things. The characters are colourful and there does seem to be an interesting plot, but everything's so over zealous, that it's hard to tell whether to take anything remotely serious or not.
The first two episodes felt like an entire season of Bakemonogatari compressed down to 50 minutes, with all filler kept in. Or cut out. I'm not entirely sure yet. It toys with a vaguely serious seeming subject matter, but immediately eschews it as soon as it's established it, with goofy moments, pure absurdity and giant oppai. I really don't know what to make of this show at all so far, but it is entertaining and has some pretty fantastic flourishes of animation.
Yuri On Ice Episodes 1 & 2 - 9/10: This is basically a homo-erotic Shigatsu, without the depression. It's fantastically orchestrated, beautifully drawn for the most part, knowingly comical even in its more serious moments and almost exploding with potential. Characters are established at high-speed, but then also given space to breathe. We've just stepped into a fully developed and thought out world, where the usual tropes and expectations are promptly cut-down. The girl who should be romanced by the MC is already taken, he's already reached high and somehow managed to slip up at the last moment. The hero is in a brief descent and things are already on the rebound.
It kind of feels like you step into the show at the start of a second season, but it doesn't alienate you or make you feel lost. The skating scenes are pretty much brilliant, with actual thought and effort put into the choreography, someone's clearly spent a large amount of time studying and understanding the art of ice skating. The only down points so far, are that sometimes the 2D backgrounds just don't work with the (assumably) rotascoped dance routines. The characters don't always look like they're connected to the rest of the scenes. This is a minor niggle, but a niggle none the less. Despite this, the dances are hugely emotive in the same manor as established ice-skaters tend to portray, expressing emotions and feeling, passion and pain in each dance. A hugely enjoyable show, so far.
Keijo Episode 1 & 2 - Tits/Ass: This show is genuinely, knowingly and lovingly ridiculous in both presentation and content. Enjoyment factor is completely dependant on your willingness to embrace the trash that is plot and home town. It's this season's dumb and loving it anime.
Hibike Season 2 Episode 1 & 2 -10/10: Get the fuck outta here with your 10/10, scumbag KyoAni.
3-Gatsu No Lion Episode 1 & 2 - 6/10: Ah. This show. I forgot I'd read a huge chunk of the manga, or at least a fifty chapters of it long ago. This is a genuinely hard one to rate or recommend. It's going to be the anime equivalent of bipolar disorder. The sullen, dark and almost depressing moments will basically consistently punctuate the moments of bat-shit crazy 'fun'. Expect lots and lots of that. However... Shogi is going to be some complex shit to get people involved in, even if you know the basics, like me. It's going to be tougher to feel involved in than a chess anime would be. Disregarding that though, the tone of the manga for a lot of the opening volumes is just... wacky. It's like *serious subtext* followed by *cats talking* followed by *why am I even alive* followed by *oh this cute girl that helped me puke that one time is cute*. And stuff.
Art/animation is great, with the manga in mind. Otherwise, it's kind of 'meh' and just weird. I can say that a lot of scenes are almost directly animated version of the manga panels. I'm not amazed SHAFT got involved, because their unique handling of artistic visual styles and backgrounds in particular is going to pay off heavily in reproductions of certain frames here. There's one amazing frame transition I always remember from the manga, where the sun drips down on to the MC's hand from the panel above, to form a sweat drop on the panel below. It's got some trippy and unique art, that I'm sure SHAFT will recreate perfectly. Still, not sure if I'd recommend this outside of people curious about the manga, or an adaptation of it.
Flip Flappers Episode 1 & 2 - 9/10: This show is fantastic, in a completely demented and holding nothing back kind of way. It's a pure, unadulterated flight of fantasy and whimsy. I'd say it feels like a cross between Ghibli and Gainax/Trigger. Which also makes sense, considering the director helped make some of the most visually mind-blowing and interesting episodes of Space Dandy, amongst many other things. He's created and helped animate a lot of shows and episodes of shows, that have often been some of the absolute most creative out there and here, he completely takes the train of his collective designs off the track.
The visuals, for the most part are very stripped down, almost childish looking in places, with nary a straight line visible in any goddamn scene. The entire show feels like a kid's fever trip, in the best possible way. Characters are introduced in mundane scenes giving way to explosions of fun, with barely a single shot sitting still, unless it's designed to establish a sense of normality. I'd say the show most reminds me of FLCL or Dead Leaves and even its OP expresses that to its fullest extent, just blaringly loud, powerful and colourful. The real world is muted, almost washed out at times and the fantasy land of Pure Illusion is a nuclear blast of creative design and colours. The adventures explored in the first couple of episodes feel like insane bastardisations of fairy tales, as told through a bag of sugar and speed. Even the real world has its own twists and turns in almost every scene, with rustic landscapes twisting against aged castles, the only traditionally rigid structure present in the show appears to be the school building. When in motion, the show is a kinetic marvel of surreal pop-art and lucid dreams.
Despite the seemingly silly nature of the show and inherent nonsensical stylisation, there seems to be an odd undercurrent of darkness and metaphorical social-psychological commentary. In the first episode, it's strange just how violent seeming one of scenes gets, given how cartoonish everything surrounding it is. In the second episode where Cocona bites the giant pole, after tucking her hair back, only to have a strand of drool part between her mouth and the metal pipe is so oddly out of place, I found it almost disturbing, like I was seeing something I shouldn't be in the middle of these goofy antics. There seem to be consequences and real danger in the adventures, but it's being swept to the side for the time being. And then there's the whole, simple fact, that Cocona's name is seemingly a play on words for 'cocoon', clearly pointing to her developing into something brighter and more beautiful/powerful/whatever as the series goes on. I'm genuinely curious to see where this show goes.
Addendum: This was all written while I'm drinking a lot of Rekorderlig cider. Shit's delicious.
@Shinzai - Thanks for the reviews, always interesting. did you do Izetta?
I really need to get to Hibike S1, I keep watching garbage instead.
I'm not really a fan of one shots. GE was a one shot and ended up being a 100+ chapter series in the end though and one of my favourite ones.
I just hope there are no more tsunderes..
I still haven't finished SSY (I'm half way through though!) - I get side tracked as well, and try to watch mindless shit. Hibike should fit well for what I normally watch, just need to do it. SSY requires me to sit down and actually focus.
I've been reading too much Korean Manhwa. The art is pretty sweet and I like that it's in colour but the story can really use some work. It's nowhere near the level of some top Japanese mangas.
gi/a/rlish number 2 - They're leaving out a lot of Chitose's inner Hachiman dialogues but still fairly entertaining. The novel, manga, and anime are all fairly different from each other, pretty enjoyable overall, though. Koto-chan is pretty great but Chitose is still besto.
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GN ED actually sounds pretty damn close to Nisemonogatari ED in that pre-chorus bit.
It was funded by Crunchyroll in part.
After reading so many more manga and LNs that's something I'm kind of scared happening a lot more now. So much dialog that would be cut out changing how the characters act. The manga I just caught up on (Kuzu no Honkai) (which you have to read, it's super close to Aku no Hana/Punpun/Boku wa Mari), is 80% inner dialogue, and not having that changes the material entirely.
I'm really enjoying Izetta so far, but one aspect really gnaws on me. Vilifying a nation/army in such a way, polarizing the sides like that, makes for a much less believable story when in what's supposed to be a realistic setting. Bad guys are ugly, stupid, and only winning through overwhelming numbers, good guys are beautiful and smart, good soldiers are brave and heroic, evil soldiers are cowardly and cruel, yada yada. Ugh.
This kind of thing works(sometimes) in Tolkienesque epic fantasy, not in an alternate history WWII...
Last edited by mmocab3a46fee3; 2016-10-19 at 02:02 AM.
2sweet4me
Though it used to be a guilty pleasure until I found better ciders.
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Most published manga start as a one-shot to gauge audience reaction. They then become fully serialised if the results are good.
Read Bakuman & Rin for an insight into that whole process, Bakuman especially is pretty much a Shounen Jump mangaka simulator.