April showers bring [Spring 2011] anime

The real heart of CAA; discuss specific series, issues, and things related to anime here.

Postby R86 » Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:34 pm

Mr. Hat'n'Clogs (post: 1488291) wrote:Also, C's ending was worse than I expected it to be.
I watched it hoping that I would wind up thinking differently, but unfortunately I think the same. I'd watch it again if I thought there were a decent chance of the ending making more sense to me as a result -- but I don't.

Oh well. At least Tiger and Bunny is still awesome. :)
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Postby blkmage » Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:13 am

A GLIMPSE into the future of Nichijou.
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Postby Mr. Hat'n'Clogs » Sat Jul 02, 2011 11:23 am

I think Shaft isn't doing a new show this next season because they've been outdone.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:46 pm

Maaaaann, C was pretty bad. Definitely a huge disappointment for me. I hope Trapeze and Mononoke are better than this.

EDIT: blkmage said most of the stuff I think about Gosick, so I won't say much here. It was truly inconsistent, yes, but I'm just glad its worst bits weren't actually bad, just slightly silly or boring. And the good was pretty good too.
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Postby blkmage » Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:49 pm

Mononoke was awesome, which is part of the reason why I was so disappointed in C.
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Postby Mr. Hat'n'Clogs » Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:15 pm

Episode fourteen of Nichijou was absolutely friggin' brilliant. I don't believe I've laughed at an anime that much before.
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Postby Midori » Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:32 am

I've finished GOSICK. Agreed that the ending was rushed. They really needed at least one or two more episodes.
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Postby MasterDias » Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:07 pm

Yeah, Gosick VIII: Twilight of the Gods is two volumes long. I can only imagine how much it had to be condensed to fit in several episodes.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:12 pm

So, I really like the direction that Steins;Gate seems to be headed in. I've been quite surprised by drastic tonal shift along with the mid-show twists (and I get the sense that one or two more are lurking). What a pleasant surprise this one is turning into. Definitely the most intense show of the season right now, for me.
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Postby blkmage » Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:47 am

Something I've noticed with visual novels is that the beginnings are usually extremely slow. Writers tend to put a lot of time into the introduction, painting what a normal everyday life it is, and it could be hours before the actual action kicks in. Some anime adaptations try to drastically shorten this stage of the story, but I don't think Steins;Gate does, which is why it might seem like it takes until halfway through the show before it "starts".

Also, it might be worth it for everyone that's following it to brush up on their early-2000s urban legends now that it's definitely playing a bigger role.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Sat Jul 30, 2011 9:13 pm

The last two episodes of Tiger and Bunny (17-18) have shonw me that maybe my parenting skills are not that bad. To the parents of Lunatic and Kriem: thank you for existing as a comparison to make normal parents feel better about themselves.
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Postby blkmage » Sun Jul 31, 2011 3:05 pm

Tangentially related, but remember when I was talking about algorithmic trading and quants? Well, this is what I meant.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Tue Aug 02, 2011 12:50 pm

Episode 17 of Steins;Gate was terrible.[spoiler]Feryis remembered what happened in an alternate world line simply because the writers had painted themselves into a corner and they couldn't think of any other way to undo her D-mail. Garbage. That's just really poor writing. There is no reason Feryis should be able to remember what happened in an alternate world line.

Also, Feryis' thought process is so bogus. She chooses to undo the D-mail, and effectivly condemn her dad to death, because "that's what really happened" and "the last ten years have all been a dream." BULL! What happened in the world line you (the particular you that is thinking) remember is what actually happened to you. It isn't a dream just because you can now magically remember that on another line he died ten years ago.

There is NOTHING that makes that line any more or less real than the one she's currently on! One might argue that the world line had to be changed from the original to make it so that her father was alive. Well, who says the line that her father died in is the original line? There's no way to prove that the line she's thinking of or any other world line has not been "tampered with."[/spoiler]And it had been so good up until this week.
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Postby MasterDias » Tue Aug 02, 2011 1:15 pm

I heard someplace that Episode 17 was heavily condensed from the original visual novel. Therefore, I suspect that your complaints about [spoiler]Feyris remembering the other world line[/spoiler] will either:

A. have an explanation that the anime cut out

or

B. be addressed in a later episode.

Hopefully, it's the latter.
Also:
[spoiler]The point was not so much that either world line was not real. But that manipulating the new world line into existence is highly likely to have partially led to the death of a another good friend. No, you can't prove that, but I think it's a pretty safe assumption for them to make and trying to reverse the world line changes is better than doing nothing. I mean if I was in Feyris' shoes I would have probably made the same choice, as painful as it was.[/spoiler]
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"Every story must have an ending." - Auron - Final Fantasy X

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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Tue Aug 02, 2011 7:20 pm

MasterDias (post: 1494782) wrote:B. be addressed in a later episode.
I'm not sure how they can satisfactorily do this. The writers have broken their own rules, and writing a new garbage rule that retroactively validates the rule-breaking in this week's episode won't cut the mustard with me. I'm assuming of course that they haven't already planned all of this out from the beginning, an assumption that is justifiable, given the fact that we're watching a post-1995 anime.
Also:
[spoiler]The point was not so much that either world line was not real. But that manipulating the new world line into existence is highly likely to have partially led to the death of a another good friend. No, you can't prove that, but I think it's a pretty safe assumption for them to make and trying to reverse the world line changes is better than doing nothing. I mean if I was in Feyris' shoes I would have probably made the same choice, as painful as it was.[/spoiler]
Two things: (1.) I think you're misunderstanding my complaints about proof. I don't mind the going theory that undoing the D-mails will undo the cause of [spoiler]Mayuri's death.[/spoiler] That is indeed a safe assumption. The "proof problem" I have is better expressed as a problem of justification. Feryis doesn't seem to have a non-arbitrary reason for thinking the way she does. She claims that what I'll call World Line B is somehow less real than her jogged memory of World Line A (in which [spoiler]her father died).[/spoiler] The implication is that WLA is more real (she says as much) b/c it wasn't altered by D-mail. Here's the problem: no one can prove that WLA wasn't also altered in some way. Perhaps a SERN employee manually altered WLA-1 to become WLA that we are all familiar with. Weren't there a plethora of world lines to begin with, all resulting from various choices people make? D-mail isn't the only way to change world lines. My problem lies in Feryis claiming (and she does claim this) that WLA is real while WLB is like a dream. Her only basis for this claim is the unjustifiable idea that WLA is untainted and thus more real.

(2.) Would you make the same choice? Why? Manual world line alteration isn't really a moral issue, so she has no reason to regret her actions. Her D-mail is 1/10000th of the myriad of diferent things that add up to be the cumulative cause of [spoiler]Mayuri dying.[/spoiler] Why turn your back on ten years of REALITY, life no less real than WLA (in fact, I'd argue it's MORE real than WLA b/c it has actually happened to the her in WLB)? There isn't any compelling reason to choose the life of a friend over the life of a close member of her immediate family, assuming the choice to undo D-mail does have direct bearing on these matters.
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Postby blkmage » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:49 am

Of course they've planned it out since the beginning, it's an adaptation of a visual novel that's already finished. They would've had to plan the anime out carefully to make sure they can get everything in and work out the different routes and they would've had to plan out the visual novel scenario carefully, because, well, this.

That said, I'm pretty sure this abnormality is going to continue to play a part in the story. And remember that we don't even know the rules that govern the conditions under which people can remember things from other world lines. All we knew up until now is that it seems like Okarin is the only one who can do it and we have no idea why.

I agree that the episode was less good, but I've chalked that up to a consequence of adapting parts of side routes.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:40 am

blkmage (post: 1495001) wrote:Of course they've planned it out since the beginning, it's an adaptation of a visual novel that's already finished.
Right, it's an adaptation. We are talking about anime studios here, who, for various reasons, often change elements of stories when adapting them. Assuming the studio might be changing or just leaving out stuff from the VN isn't really a crazy assumption. And if this is the case, again based on a 15 year track record, it's also not crazy to believe that the studio probably doesn't have "their" part(s) of the story blocked out.

But all of this is beside the point that the events of episode 17 were truly, truly lame and undeniably ad hoc.
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Postby blkmage » Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:04 am

I generally assume the opposite. It's the year 2011 and studios know better than to make hardcore fanbases angry with "enhancements" to the story, especially for something as huge as Steins;Gate, which rides on its story. Yes, yes, I've complained about Fate/stay night and Umineko and the like, but they're hardly the norm (and I would add that they don't actually have any studio-original material). Visual novel adaptations are usually much more straightforward (main route + shoehorning some side routes in), but you don't hear about them as much because they're not great or anything.

Based on your "15 years" thing, I'm guessing you're basing your assumptions on manga adaptations (since visual novel adaptations are a 2000s thing). Visual novel adaptations are pretty different because the target audience is pretty much the people who played the game already. These people tend to be hardcore obsessive otaku (because you really need that kind of personality if you're going to play through these things without a walkthrough) who'll immediately pick out inconsistencies with the story. And, again, Steins;Gate is huge in Japan (it's consistently pretty close to #1 on visual novel rankings), so I'm guessing 95% of the Japanese target audience is already extremely familiar with it.

Also, you probably won't like the next episode (I didn't), but after that we should be back on main route stuff.
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Postby MasterDias » Wed Aug 03, 2011 2:45 pm

Now, wait a second. Where is this 15-years/1995 coming from? I need more context for this; otherwise, it's pretty arbitrary and I'm not really sure it's a valid argument.

I'm not sure how they can satisfactorily do this. The writers have broken their own rules, and writing a new garbage rule that retroactively validates the rule-breaking in this week's episode won't cut the mustard with me.


The problem I have with this is that you are making a judgement based on missing/vague information, or in other words, are assuming that the information we were previously given is accurate/complete. At least wait until the actual "cause" is revealed, not just the "effect."

Why turn your back on ten years of REALITY, life no less real than WLA (in fact, I'd argue it's MORE real than WLA b/c it has actually happened to the her in WLB)? There isn't any compelling reason to choose the life of a friend over the life of a close member of her immediate family, assuming the choice to undo D-mail does have direct bearing on these matters.

Not necessarily. They weren't just random acquaintances; they appeared to be pretty close friends. At any rate, I don't agree that it's as black and white as you're making it out to be.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Wed Aug 03, 2011 7:27 pm

MasterDias (post: 1495081) wrote:Now, wait a second. Where is this 15-years/1995 coming from? I need more context for this]1995 refers to the year that Neon Genesis Evangelion debuted on television. It's pretty well known that Hideaki Anno had the first few episodes of Eva scripted (mostly along the lines of the manga), but that was really all the long-term planning he did for Eva. The bulk of the storyline/content of the show was created week-to-week, by the seat of Anno's trousers. We all know that Eva was a wild, smashing success, and success breeds imitators. Other studios began to try to be the next Evangelion, not only in terms of plot but in production methods as well. If Anno doesn't need to plan, then neither do we. Falling into this habit came very easy for the creators, as studios kept taking on projects with some source material already written out but that were ultimately unfinished (we can put story planning off and concentrate on animation...oh snap!). Due to lack of $$$ in anime, creators also have to take on lots of work before they have a chance to block out the narrative. Since the industry isn't necessarily flush with money, I'd assume the lack-of-planning trend continues, even if the fad of wanting to be the next Eva died down a few years ago.
The problem I have with this is that you are making a judgement based on missing/vague information, or in other words, are assuming that the information we were previously given is accurate/complete. At least wait until the actual "cause" is revealed, not just the "effect."
While logically speaking, you are quite correct, assume the worst and you'll never be disappointed =). I have been burned too many times when this sort of thing occurs, so I'd rather be proven wrong and delightfully surprised than assume they will get it right and, in all likelihood, be let down.
Not necessarily. They weren't just random acquaintances; they appeared to be pretty close friends. At any rate, I don't agree that it's as black and white as you're making it out to be.
Sure, Ferys and Mayushi were good friends. But, this is her father we're talking about here. She used a D-mail to bring him back. I don't actually think the choice is easy at all. I stated that she doesn't have a compelling moral reason to choose friend over family, and that makes it all the more difficult. If anything, it seemed like you were claiming the choice Ferys makes in the show was a slam dunk, easy win, obvious choice. I wanted to make a case for the other side, as it's actually the way I was leaning, especially given the circumstances that the ten years she spent with her dad are CONCRETE REALITY, no less real (probably they seem more real b/c she is currently in that world line) while WLA is a memory.
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Postby blkmage » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:03 pm

I am almost entirely sure that story planning doesn't work like that for adaptions of finished works and if anything, studios are waaaaaaay more likely to postpone animation production nowadays (lol shaft). The likes of Aniplex work completely differently, are way better funded than Anno was in 1995, and I'm pretty sure are much less willing to put up with those kinds of shenanigans from their studios now.

And to be honest, I'm pretty skeptical that anyone is still trying to do that. I can see someone trying to pull that in the few years after that, but fifteen years later? I don't think so. The industry has gone through so many shifts that it'd be absurd to assume anyone still does that.

Also, Steins;Gate is one anime production that I'd be sure doesn't have a money problem.
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Postby TheSubtleDoctor » Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:51 pm

blkmage (post: 1495132) wrote:I can see someone trying to pull that in the few years after that, but fifteen years later? I don't think so. The industry has gone through so many shifts that it'd be absurd to assume anyone still does that.
That is a fair point, but I realize that I wasn't clear in expressing a point I meant to get across. It is my understanding that Eva started the ball rolling, but many other factors, including financial issues and the projects selected by anime studios, have acted as the "gravity" to keep the ball rolling long after the cause for the initial push has ceased to be a relevant factor.

Also, it's not like one has to present the higher-ups with a complete script from top to bottom. All kinds of half-cocked ideas get green-lit. I'm pretty convinced this sort of thing is why so so many anime have had endings whose quality of writing was dramatically poorer than their beginnings.
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Postby MasterDias » Thu Aug 04, 2011 10:15 pm

Sure, Ferys and Mayushi were good friends. But, this is her father we're talking about here. She used a D-mail to bring him back. I don't actually think the choice is easy at all. I stated that she doesn't have a compelling moral reason to choose friend over family, and that makes it all the more difficult. If anything, it seemed like you were claiming the choice Ferys makes in the show was a slam dunk, easy win, obvious choice. I wanted to make a case for the other side, as it's actually the way I was leaning, especially given the circumstances that the ten years she spent with her dad are CONCRETE REALITY, no less real (probably they seem more real b/c she is currently in that world line) while WLA is a memory.

Oh, no, I wasn't trying to say it was an easy or obvious choice. I think it would be a very tough decision, even though I do lean towards reversing the D-mail.

Also, it's not like one has to present the higher-ups with a complete script from top to bottom. All kinds of half-cocked ideas get green-lit. I'm pretty convinced this sort of thing is why so so many anime have had endings whose quality of writing was dramatically poorer than their beginnings.

You have a specific series in mind when you say this? Not that I necessarily disagree or anything. But if it is anime adaptations of manga you are talking about, I think that's more the realities of anime production than anything else.
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"Every story must have an ending." - Auron - Final Fantasy X

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Postby blkmage » Tue Sep 13, 2011 4:47 pm

Congratulations to White Fox for being the first to adapt a Nitro+ game into an anime that doesn't suck.
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