Anime Thigh Thread II

[Shinzai]

To quote the points that I disagree with:

edit: My judgment is probably also severely clouded, but yes, someone who hasn't read Blame can definitely enjoy the movie. As someone that loves the source material, I can't really enjoy it.

I genuinely think the visuals are a step beyond anything in Knights of Sidonia season 2, which I used as the basis for my comparison: (Large pictures below, spoiler free, all taken from my Netflix stream.)

Spoiler: 

I genuinely believe this is about as close as you'll get to a solid, accurate representation of the art and style of the manga in an anime. Without a budget of a few hundred million and many more years of work time, at least.

They give a huge sense of scope in many scenes, especially in the first 10 minutes, where we can see the area the characters are travelling through stretches on for hundreds of miles in every direction. When Killy fires his gun, the sheer distance it covers is accurate to the manga, with the destruction it causes being equally outlandish.

My main issues are solely with the fact that it's not a depiction of the manga from Killy's viewpoint or the typical style of storytelling present in the manga. I'll say it again, I really think it's a solid sci-fi movie for those that liked Knights of Sidonia.

[Shinzai]

As far as the actual shots go it wasn't that bad, but the CGI animation as well as the effects looked hideous, hence why I wouldn't call it better than Sidonia. I even checked another version of the movie and the effects still looked really artifacted. I might ask my sister for her Netflix account and check again with an actual stream but I can't imagine that actually looking better.

I'll just say I disagree with that and each to their own.

I simply think that the movie didn't manage to completely capture the vastness of the megastructure and over how many years and centuries the events of Blame actually take place. Of course, as a purely visual representation those shots you posted show us how immense the megastructure is but it didn't directly translate into the actual narrative, don't you think?

What I mean are situations like the 800 day elevator ride or the storage room the size of Jupiter from the manga. Sure, Cibo mentioned that she waited an amount of hours equivalent to 19.000 years but we're not told that Killy is actually just as old or even older than that in the movie, which he actually is.

I know it's too much to ask to have incredibly long and slow Serial Experiments Lain/Tenshi no Tamago style shots that focus simply on weaving a dense atmosphere in a movie that isn't even two hours long and tries to tell a complete story, but that's why I said: why even bother?

I can recommend the movie to anyone who simply enjoys sci-fi and apparently a lot of people that love the manga also don't have the same unrealistic standards for the movie that I have, but I'm disappointed, man.

Yeah, this is pretty much why I said it should be called BLAME!: Electro Fishers. For the Electro Fishers, this small portion of the megastructure is their world. Hell, that part may be the size of a world and they try to project the sheer scope in the opening moments of the film, with how long their expedition takes and some of the visual shots I linked above.

I suppose they could have had some kind of wild establishing shot of the The City from outside, maybe zooming in from out of our solar system into it, just to give a vague idea of its grand scope, but it would have no impact on the plot. As I was trying to explain in my elongated review, that's what Killy experiences, not the Electro Fishers.

This is just a tiny side-story in the universe that BLAME! exists in. Which is why I talk of Killy being a Mad Max type character - he isn't the main character and more or less just becomes involved in the events of a group of survivors by pure chance.

And yes, I would absolutely 100% watch the shit out of a full length BLAME! adaptation, preferably in a long form series, using the same style and approach as Serial Experiments Lain. That would probably be the best possible way of adapting it.

[Millhi]

It's just compression artifacts caused by the lower bitrate on the 720p I assume you downloaded from HorribleS. I've downloaded the 1080p earlier and that looks way better, a BD version would even look better. Tried to mimic the screenshots but didn't get the exact frame for all of them but you can notice the difference.
Here's one with mine downscaled to 720p: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/210512
2 images with mine still 1080p: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/210513 you can totally see the difference in the first screenshot on the black.

Idm dling the 720p to compare with that if that would be fairer.

[Schirmy]

NGE 16: I found this to be a very powerful episode. Not because Shinji kills the Angel in dramatic, vicious fashion, but because the internal monologue just resonated with me. It's a rather depressing introspection that invoked something inside of me. We can be concerned - sometimes fixated on the image we portray and how our behavior is perceived by others. I used to fall victim to this thought process a lot, I guess.

[Shinzai]

I'm not trying to say that you are wrong, I'm genuinely curious as to why there seems to be such a large discrepancy in our perception.
I skipped through the movie again and capped random shots, most being from scenes where a lot of effects are present on screen:

Spoiler: 

You can't tell me that those aren't terribly artifacted. If you say that what you watched really wasn't like this then I will have to do what I said and check back with an actual Netflix stream.

And it's not like that doesn't make sense, I get your point of view. I don't know, really. I knew that this wasn't going to be what I wanted it to be and that what I wanted was not realistic but it's still disappointing. I think Blame deserves better than this.

Just on the stream quality, for comparison here's 3 shots almost exactly the same as 3 of the ones you linked and one of Killy mid-action:

Spoiler: 

On a side note, intense reds mixed with deep blacks will not play nicely with low bitrates at all. Even the Netflix stream is no where near the quality that a BD version would be.

[Sesto]

Twelve Kingdoms - This ended up being pretty amazing. Like I said before, Youko is definitely one of my favourite anime protagonists. She's a very real character I feel, and the way she develops feels very natural. Female MCs aren't entirely common so it's kind of impressive Youko was done so well.

Other than Youko, I also think the worldbuilding was top notch. Honestly anime usually does this type of fantasy poorly; both isekai and just plain medieval sword/sorcery fantasy aren't commonly done well, imo. This is one of the rare fantasy anime where I've actually cared about the world itself. The dynamic added by things like Kaikyaku/Hanjyuu/Kirin or even minor things like Hou-Ou (the birds that just announced a king's ascension and death) and Sennin (humans granted immortality) was great, and makes the world definitely stand out compared to the usual cookie cutter fantasy you see in anime so often. I feel like I could read endless stories in this world, there is so much potential with the various kingdoms and different creatures.

The show had some issues, namely the recaps. Hell, the last episode was mostly a recap. But that's rather minor.

However, I do feel the series could benefit from some variety. All the kingdoms appear to be eastern-derived, but the world would be a bit more interesting if it had some western kingdoms thrown in the mix. My assumption is that non-eastern mythology/history probably wasn't the author's forte, so I can sort of understand why she might have stuck with the eastern theme.

A fun fact I learned is that the author also wrote Shiki. And even married the guy who wrote Another. Kind of funny.

Also, Shoukei was definitely best girl.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

BLAME! - 7/10 (Good)

Rating this as a 7/10, just like AKIRA. The visuals were great, using a higher rate of interpolation really sold the superhuman nature of the cyborgs and robots. The story was also compelling. Unfortunately, just like AKIRA, I didn't really get to connect with any of the characters, and the story really felt that it could have used at least another twenty minutes to explore more of the world, feeling just as rushed as AKIRA (the result of compacting a manga into a hour and a half long movie). The soundtrack didn't have any standout scores, but the ambient tracks did set the mood. There was some stilted exposition during the early parts of the film, and there's one scene where the premise of the film is explained again. I would have liked to have seen a full blown colossus battle of Killy vs the builder.

If you have Netflix and a lot of food to eat, I'd recommend this movie.

- - - Updated - - -

Alot of problems, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, enough to give it a 7/10 in my book.

- - - Updated - - -

To me, a show can be technically good but it will not resonate with me at all, like Cowboy Bebop, AKIRA, and a few Ghibli films. A show can also be technically bad but I'll love it anyways, such as Aldnoah.Zero, Sword Art Online, and even Pokemon. To me, quality ≠ enjoyment, and I'd rather rate a show based off of how much I enjoyed it compared to it's technical quality (though it is still a major factor to consider). A show that can pull off both, like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Fate/Zero is automatically going to be on my favorite's list.

[pickley]

Can it be next week yet?
I need to see the next episode of My Hero Academia already...

[Pejo]

Seriously. Hype Academia has been delivering this season, in a huge way. I loved that they spent even a small amount of time on each fight, and love the characters, including the side ones. Even the new ones for the tournament.

I haven't heard of Twelve Kingdoms, will have to check it out.

[Sj]

SukaSuka 6 - Well, that was quite the info dump, but it wasn't so bad that I got bored. There are definitely emotional moments, but nothing has really blown me away just yet. I do like quite a few of the characters and I actually like MC. Willem reminds me a bit of Kiritsugu from F:Z in several ways, but he's not nearly as edgy. Still a pretty solid show, I like it.

Sagrada Reset 6 - I can't remember what happens week-to-week, nor do I feel like I want to. It's not a bad show... just... I don't know. It's interesting in premise but I have a hard time making myself watch it. Dropped with the hopes of watching it again at my own pace later.

Also in the process of writing a review for Koe no Katachi movie.

[BloodyAngel12]

[Kyuuseishu]

ReLife 180 - Yes Hishiro, you are interested in Kaizaki in that way. Now they both just need to come out with it already, preferably before the end.

Can it be next week yet?
I need to see the next episode of My Hero Academia already...

Even though I know what's going to happen, I am more excited for how they animate it! They always do such a good job with the fight sections.

[BloodyAngel12]

I wouldn't say that it looks way better but there is a noticeable difference. I guess HS really just uploaded a bad rip then.

Was wondering how far along you were today, good to know. Which angel was this?

Black and White Sphere

[Sesto]

This is my wife.

FE Echoes is good and you should play it.

[Jester Joe]

This is my wife.

FE Echoes is good and you should play it.

But it only got a 7.5 from the site I visit, and they said it wasn't as good as Fates

I thought Fates was subpar as hell, and was a HUGE disappointment, so yeah I can't wait to pick up something that's closer to the originals

[Sesto]

But it only got a 7.5 from the site I visit, and they said it wasn't as good as Fates

I thought Fates was subpar as hell, and was a HUGE disappointment, so yeah I can't wait to pick up something that's closer to the originals

Yeah, Fates was absolute shit.

Echoes is better in nearly every way, the only real issue being the maps which are kind of bland. The dub is also incredibly well done; I'm a massive weeb so I'm kind of impressed with how good it was.

Hopefully they carry over a bunch of the things Echoes did well for the eventual FE Switch game, like the artist since the art looks so damn good. I do hope they bring back the self-insert avatar characters though.

[bals]

grape-kun gotta meet his waifu's va

[Neichus]

Twelve Kingdoms...

And another recommendation goes on the pile for that series. Jeeze.

Seriously. Hype Academia has been delivering this season, in a huge way. I loved that they spent even a small amount of time on each fight, and love the characters, including the side ones. Even the new ones for the tournament.

I've also had some fun looking forward to it every week. Not quite as hyped, but I think when it comes to this genre this is as good as it gets.

SukaSuka 6 - Well, that was quite the info dump, but it wasn't so bad that I got bored. There are definitely emotional moments, but nothing has really blown me away just yet. I do like quite a few of the characters and I actually like MC. Willem reminds me a bit of Kiritsugu from F:Z in several ways, but he's not nearly as edgy. Still a pretty solid show, I like it.

I agree that I like Willem the most. He has an appropriate level of world-weariness to him that when mingled with his more innate idealism leads to a character that cares, but isn't heroic. Not sure if I agree with the Kiritsugu comparison, though; he is the pure idealist who is justifying his violence with the promise of a future utopia.

And I want to watch the Koe no Katachi movie. My friend went ahead and watched it, even though we were kind of waiting for it come out legally together. Oh well. Eventually!

[BloodyAngel12]

Possible non non biyori s3 in the works.

[bals]

Possible non non biyori s3 in the works.