firehawk12
Subete no aware
Did everyone in the UK all watch the movie today? lol
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Spring Anime 2017 |OT| Don't be a SukaSuka for Gacha
- Thread starter TUSR
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Isn't it season finale week? Guess they're going to have to air the episodes another time.
Also I've seen gifs of the show and it doesn't looks all that well animated, so I'm wondering why this keeps happening.
Also lol at two recap episodes for a T&A show.
hosannainexcelsis
Member
The Case for ID-0
ID-0 is the latest show from director Goro Taniguchi, likely the last show he will put out before he returns to resurrect his most famous work, Code Geass. Its written by Yousuke Kuroda, who worked with Taniguchi for his earliest projects as director, Infinite Ryvius and S-CRY-ed. ID-0 bears some similarities to those earlier works, particularly Infinite Ryvius, yet establishes its own distinct personality. For the first time in his career Taniguchi is working with a CG studio, Sanzigen (Black Rock Shooter TV, BBK/BRNK). I havent always been the biggest fan of Sanzigens CG work, and while I still have reservations about some of the animation in this show, in general Sanzigen acquits itself well. It helps that robots dominate the screentime, but even with the human characters Sanzigens modeling does a pretty good job of translating Range Muratas original designs into CG.
ID-0 has been licensed by Netflix, who have not yet announced when they will put the show up on their service outside Japan. Because of this, the show has flown under the radar of the English-speaking anime community. This is a shame. While ID-0 is not wildly outside the norm for anime, as a mostly serious work of science fiction it manages to succeed in places where similar works fail (e.g., this past seasons Kado). I wish to highlight some things that it does right, and why you should watch it when you are able.
1. ID-0 establishes its world with little reliance on clunky exposition. Speculative fiction, when trying to convey to its audience what the rules and operations of its fictional universe are, easily falls into the trap of having characters dump information they should already be aware of at each other. As you know is one of my least favorite phrases in fiction. I want writers to have enough faith in me that they can present me with an organically operating world without having the characters constantly talking down to me and thus ruining my temporary belief in the reality of their fiction.
ID-0 mostly avoids this problem. At no point are characters telling each other things they already know for the sake of the audience. We enter the world through the perspective of Maya, a university student who ends up on board an illegal mining ship, the Stulti, after an accident while asteroid mining. While Maya is new to the residents of the Stulti and thus provides a kind of outsiders perspective to ease our entry into this fictional world, she is educated and intelligent and thus doesnt need extensive infodumps on how technology or society operates. Theres quite a bit of unique technical terminology Orichalt, Miguel Jump, Mind Trance but the show allows us to discover their meaning organically rather than being told upfront.
There are places where exposition is given, but even here theyre worked into the narrative cleverly. For example, the opening of the second episode involves an explanation of the mechanics of Mind Trance in which a consciousness is transported from a human body into a giant robot which is given under the conceit of a dream by the mysterious Kain Arisugawa, recalling when he first presented the research on Mind Trance to the scientific community. This allows for exposition to be presented in a natural manner, while at the same time raising mysteries about this character that the show will continue to explore. It helps that the narrative thrust of the show is the search for answers, and we learn many of those answers at the same time that the main characters do.
2. ID-0 presents a focused narrative. I have no problem with episodic stories. But if youre going to tell a serialized narrative in a TV series it can be dangerous to lose focus, especially with a limited episode count. Its common to see original TV anime that meanders down side routes only to force a rushed conclusion once it runs out of episodes. ID-0 avoids this pitfall. It has a singular narrative that it pursues from beginning to end one thats not immediately obvious at the beginning but gradually becomes more and more clear. There are no wasted episodes, and very few wasted scenes. Aside from one small subplot which feels extraneous, everything is purposefully constructed to advance the story and its themes, establish and eventually uncover mysteries, or build characters often all three at once. It doesnt string the audience along with questions it doesnt intend to deal with, or make nonsensical plot swerves. While it couldnt be called hard sci-fi, ID-0 feels grounded within the universe it creates, new plot elements building on what came before. This when it reaches the end it feels complete and satisfying it has said exactly what it wanted to say, no more and no less. This is remarkably uncommon when it comes to original anime projects.
3. ID-0 never loses sight of its characters. ID-0 follows a traditional pattern of narrative escalation, continually raising the stakes until they reach potentially galactic proportions in the finale. Still, no matter the kind of threat being faced, the story always brings it back to the characters. Character development and self-examination is threaded into all aspects of the space adventures the cast embark on, and every member of the main cast is fleshed out to at least some degree. Even at the very end, the resolution to the final conflict is surprisingly intimate saving the galaxy comes down not to who has the biggest guns but through frank dialogue that is able to reconcile long-standing hatreds. The finale is somehow able to comfortably encompass both grandiose space combat and existential landscapes of the mind. As someone who prefers stories to remain driven by their characters rather than have the characters be abstracted away by escalating power levels, ID-0 has an ending that I can respect.
4. ID-0 raises meaningful philosophical themes without being overwhelmed by them. Early in the show Maya learns that the crew members of the Stulti are all Evertrancers, that is to say people who have abandoned their physical bodies to Mind Trance indefinitely into robots. This naturally leads into questions of mind-body duality and the nature of the self, which each character deals with in their own way. (Presumably the theme of a mind changing bodies obliquely stems from the sponsorship of the show by the World Cosplay Summit, even though theres no way anyone is going to be cosplaying these robots.) These are genuine philosophical issues which ID-0 handles thoughtfully while keeping its primary focus on telling an entertaining story. It doesnt turn characters into mouthpieces for philosophical abstractions, nor does it turn into nonsensical gibberish in an attempt to appear deep. Rather, the idea of how human consciousness is able to live in non-human bodies lends gravity to the events and character arcs without the show feeling like its too ambitious for its own good.
5. ID-0 is elevated by creative art design. The art director for ID-0 is the talented Yuji Kaneko, who got his start working at Ogura Kobo under famed background artist Hiromasa Ogura (who the art director for Aerial Squad in Shirobako was modeled after). Kaneko has since gone on to shine as art director on numerous works, mostly for members of Ultra Super Pictures such as Trigger (Little Witch Academias original short, Kill la Kill) and Sanzigen (BBK/BRNK). ID-0 is mostly set in environments which are difficult to make stand out the corridors of spaceships or the inky blackness of space but Kanekos art team is still able to breathe life into the environments. For example, the walls of the main control room of the Stulti are filled with colorful graffiti, which goes a long way to establishing the ragtag nature of the illegal mining operation being run there.
When the story does call for more fantastical locations, Kanekos team is able to deliver eye-catching designs for both mysterious alien planets and elaborate manmade structures.
The creativity on display helps make this world feel alive, and thus believable. The show wouldnt be as successful if it had bland, generic backgrounds.
I wont claim that ID-0 is an unalloyed masterpiece the direction isnt quite strong enough for that but it is a show that should not go neglected by people interested in science-fiction anime because of Netflix. Creating an original anime is a risky business with many pitfalls, and one that manages to succeed where many fail such as ID-0 deserves to be recognized and commended for the intelligent decisions it makes.
ID-0 is the latest show from director Goro Taniguchi, likely the last show he will put out before he returns to resurrect his most famous work, Code Geass. Its written by Yousuke Kuroda, who worked with Taniguchi for his earliest projects as director, Infinite Ryvius and S-CRY-ed. ID-0 bears some similarities to those earlier works, particularly Infinite Ryvius, yet establishes its own distinct personality. For the first time in his career Taniguchi is working with a CG studio, Sanzigen (Black Rock Shooter TV, BBK/BRNK). I havent always been the biggest fan of Sanzigens CG work, and while I still have reservations about some of the animation in this show, in general Sanzigen acquits itself well. It helps that robots dominate the screentime, but even with the human characters Sanzigens modeling does a pretty good job of translating Range Muratas original designs into CG.
ID-0 has been licensed by Netflix, who have not yet announced when they will put the show up on their service outside Japan. Because of this, the show has flown under the radar of the English-speaking anime community. This is a shame. While ID-0 is not wildly outside the norm for anime, as a mostly serious work of science fiction it manages to succeed in places where similar works fail (e.g., this past seasons Kado). I wish to highlight some things that it does right, and why you should watch it when you are able.
1. ID-0 establishes its world with little reliance on clunky exposition. Speculative fiction, when trying to convey to its audience what the rules and operations of its fictional universe are, easily falls into the trap of having characters dump information they should already be aware of at each other. As you know is one of my least favorite phrases in fiction. I want writers to have enough faith in me that they can present me with an organically operating world without having the characters constantly talking down to me and thus ruining my temporary belief in the reality of their fiction.
ID-0 mostly avoids this problem. At no point are characters telling each other things they already know for the sake of the audience. We enter the world through the perspective of Maya, a university student who ends up on board an illegal mining ship, the Stulti, after an accident while asteroid mining. While Maya is new to the residents of the Stulti and thus provides a kind of outsiders perspective to ease our entry into this fictional world, she is educated and intelligent and thus doesnt need extensive infodumps on how technology or society operates. Theres quite a bit of unique technical terminology Orichalt, Miguel Jump, Mind Trance but the show allows us to discover their meaning organically rather than being told upfront.
There are places where exposition is given, but even here theyre worked into the narrative cleverly. For example, the opening of the second episode involves an explanation of the mechanics of Mind Trance in which a consciousness is transported from a human body into a giant robot which is given under the conceit of a dream by the mysterious Kain Arisugawa, recalling when he first presented the research on Mind Trance to the scientific community. This allows for exposition to be presented in a natural manner, while at the same time raising mysteries about this character that the show will continue to explore. It helps that the narrative thrust of the show is the search for answers, and we learn many of those answers at the same time that the main characters do.
2. ID-0 presents a focused narrative. I have no problem with episodic stories. But if youre going to tell a serialized narrative in a TV series it can be dangerous to lose focus, especially with a limited episode count. Its common to see original TV anime that meanders down side routes only to force a rushed conclusion once it runs out of episodes. ID-0 avoids this pitfall. It has a singular narrative that it pursues from beginning to end one thats not immediately obvious at the beginning but gradually becomes more and more clear. There are no wasted episodes, and very few wasted scenes. Aside from one small subplot which feels extraneous, everything is purposefully constructed to advance the story and its themes, establish and eventually uncover mysteries, or build characters often all three at once. It doesnt string the audience along with questions it doesnt intend to deal with, or make nonsensical plot swerves. While it couldnt be called hard sci-fi, ID-0 feels grounded within the universe it creates, new plot elements building on what came before. This when it reaches the end it feels complete and satisfying it has said exactly what it wanted to say, no more and no less. This is remarkably uncommon when it comes to original anime projects.
3. ID-0 never loses sight of its characters. ID-0 follows a traditional pattern of narrative escalation, continually raising the stakes until they reach potentially galactic proportions in the finale. Still, no matter the kind of threat being faced, the story always brings it back to the characters. Character development and self-examination is threaded into all aspects of the space adventures the cast embark on, and every member of the main cast is fleshed out to at least some degree. Even at the very end, the resolution to the final conflict is surprisingly intimate saving the galaxy comes down not to who has the biggest guns but through frank dialogue that is able to reconcile long-standing hatreds. The finale is somehow able to comfortably encompass both grandiose space combat and existential landscapes of the mind. As someone who prefers stories to remain driven by their characters rather than have the characters be abstracted away by escalating power levels, ID-0 has an ending that I can respect.
4. ID-0 raises meaningful philosophical themes without being overwhelmed by them. Early in the show Maya learns that the crew members of the Stulti are all Evertrancers, that is to say people who have abandoned their physical bodies to Mind Trance indefinitely into robots. This naturally leads into questions of mind-body duality and the nature of the self, which each character deals with in their own way. (Presumably the theme of a mind changing bodies obliquely stems from the sponsorship of the show by the World Cosplay Summit, even though theres no way anyone is going to be cosplaying these robots.) These are genuine philosophical issues which ID-0 handles thoughtfully while keeping its primary focus on telling an entertaining story. It doesnt turn characters into mouthpieces for philosophical abstractions, nor does it turn into nonsensical gibberish in an attempt to appear deep. Rather, the idea of how human consciousness is able to live in non-human bodies lends gravity to the events and character arcs without the show feeling like its too ambitious for its own good.
5. ID-0 is elevated by creative art design. The art director for ID-0 is the talented Yuji Kaneko, who got his start working at Ogura Kobo under famed background artist Hiromasa Ogura (who the art director for Aerial Squad in Shirobako was modeled after). Kaneko has since gone on to shine as art director on numerous works, mostly for members of Ultra Super Pictures such as Trigger (Little Witch Academias original short, Kill la Kill) and Sanzigen (BBK/BRNK). ID-0 is mostly set in environments which are difficult to make stand out the corridors of spaceships or the inky blackness of space but Kanekos art team is still able to breathe life into the environments. For example, the walls of the main control room of the Stulti are filled with colorful graffiti, which goes a long way to establishing the ragtag nature of the illegal mining operation being run there.
When the story does call for more fantastical locations, Kanekos team is able to deliver eye-catching designs for both mysterious alien planets and elaborate manmade structures.
The creativity on display helps make this world feel alive, and thus believable. The show wouldnt be as successful if it had bland, generic backgrounds.
I wont claim that ID-0 is an unalloyed masterpiece the direction isnt quite strong enough for that but it is a show that should not go neglected by people interested in science-fiction anime because of Netflix. Creating an original anime is a risky business with many pitfalls, and one that manages to succeed where many fail such as ID-0 deserves to be recognized and commended for the intelligent decisions it makes.
Harima Kenji is the bro of all bros
hosannainexcelsis
Member
Sadly we do not yet know. There's a placeholder page for ID-0 up on US Netflix, but no sign of a date.
Boo meh. Those are very nice images and your write up makes me very interested in watching the show!
Not surprisingly, I am largely in agreement with what you've described above. I think it's nice that you took the time to watch ID-0, gave it a chance and ended up enjoying the results so much. Now, since several people can imagine that I also liked the series and there isn't a pressing need for me to provide detailed praise, I can afford to be a little critical here.
In retrospect, it's clear this was intended to be Ido's story and Maya, while important in her own right, didn't get the same amount of focus. I feel the show would have benefitted from having an extra episode or two near the end of the story, in order to make sure certain events flowed more smoothly (specifically, the sequence within the so-called "special space" could have been extended) and maybe better address the one subplot you've referenced as well as give a couple of tertiary characters more of a role (I am mostly thinking of the old man and his last minute companion here), but generally speaking the conclusion was both satisfyingly structured and properly delivered. The 3D work was good by current TV anime standards, though I still noticed a few of Sanzigen's weaker points from time to time. While I am at it, the finale's postcards weren't quite at Osamu Dezaki levels or anything yet they're still a nice touch.
Btw, I did notice a couple of parallels to Eureka 7 and even Gundam 00 that might not sit well with everyone, for various reasons, since ID-0 is definitely more of a work that's creative in execution rather than necessarily original in terms of its constituent parts. Either way, I believe it was a very interesting experiment that brought out a lot of positives and managed to be inherently successful regardless of its apparent commercial doom.
It's something that surprised because I didn't even know what I was getting myself into when I picked it up. A great series that really doesn't play Satou's mental issues for jokes and takes care in how they portray his earlier deprived without much encouragement.
MetroidPrimeRib
Banned
awful scheduling
The late Kazunari Tanaka pronounces it as "I-D zero" in the eyecatch.
RedHoodedOwl
Member
Onigumo was just a nice guy who wanted Kikyo to noticed him.
Jex
Member
Only out for one day!
Theonik
Member
It was the general premiere. (shown in festivals before)
I think the only people left watching it in this thread are doing so because of some bizarre suicide pact so assuming not.
I thought you said "I want to be my sister" anime and I thought getting that could be cool
mrpallyguy
Member
Its something that doesn't appeal to everyone. A lot of people on Gaf seem to have a overwhelmingly negative outlook on it. The MC is pretty much a non factor in the show and the other creators and creations carry the show.
You mean Magane carries the show
But yeah, as far as I'm considered it's been on an upwards trend again since the overly talky episodes of ...3-5?
But then again, I thought episode 1 was a very strong opening, so I'm not sure how someone would think about the rest if they didn't even like 1.
Theonik
Member
ICA was pretty empty too compared to Your Name and Silent Voice.Wouldn't that have been nice.
My cinema was pretty empty for the film.
I like it, but Sota's arc so far isn't the high point of the series - I find it more interesting to see the near parent-child relationships between creators and the created characters, and how these characters tend to reflect the nature of their mediums and genres, and how they develop when not bound by that anymore.
From the look of things, the remaining episodes might take a Shirobako-esque turn with a heavy dose of meta to go along with, which is fine in my book.
On an unrelated note, playing through Super Robot Wars is introducing me to the insane brand of crazy in Might Gaine, especially the insane shenanigans of one Catherine Vuitton, which is making me curious about the show itself - any opinions on that show?
If you didn't like episode one you probably wouldn't like the rest of it. As for the MC, he's a little less front and centre for a bit, but he's more front and centre now. I've really liked it, more than most shows of this sort.
Can't stand Magane though.
Thanks for the write up, hopefully Netflix puts it up soon, I want to watch it now
Large Professor
Member
Hanasaku Iroha 11
This was a disappointing episode, even though the ending was kinda cute. The
being the author of the 5/10 review looks like poor writing to me.
This was a disappointing episode, even though the ending was kinda cute. The
mother
MikeHattsu
Member
Join us for the Hyper Japan meetup if you're in London ;P
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=237149400&postcount=10602
Valdfellgar
Banned
Certain sequences are actually incredibly impressive. And there's a certain level of quality achieved whenever something 'sexy' is happening. So it's not all ugly, but you wouldn't think with the rest looking meh that it would be so strenuous to animate. So I agree with MPR, it's likely scheduling.
smh
Gigguk knows whats up
Basically was a third wheel/got friendzoned and became bitter
Theonik
Member
*GoT SHAMES Aki
Can't do this weekend but I'd be down for Hyper Japan, thought it was way later this year!
Oie why is non-Brit GAF shaming me, am I being shunned by the world here?!? :,(
Cornbread78
Member
Ah ._.
Brutal, lol.
The first episode seemed like it was and I hate to say this: "trying really hard" to leave a lasting impression.
I am somewhat interested in that dynamic, kinda just rolling the dice on whether or not to continue.
I guess I'll check out the first eps of some of the other shows this season and come back around to RC if they fall short.
ThatChairMan
Member
Interesting read. I had put it on hold after the inconsistent sub releases for the early episodes, but sounds like I can pick it up now, or wait for Netflix. It'll be interesting to see a more focused Taniguchi coming off of his more episodic Active Raid, especially since the group dynamics seemed similar from the few episodes I watched.
SliceSabre
Banned
Hina Logi: From Luck & Logic is the only summer anime airing right now besides spring carryovers.
Outside of Genocidal Organ and Your Name (saw it last year, doubt I'll watch it again but who knows!) I'm interested in everything here to some degree (Not sure about Napping Princess), a good year for anime on the big screen. Shafts Shunji Iwai adaptation Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? is showing this year too, tentative date is Friday 17 November 2017:
Cornbread78
Member
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