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Winter 2012 Anime Thread 2.22: You Can (Not) Outpost Cajunator

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Kind of random, but Another's ending song has really grown on me.

Anamnesis sounds nice especially off vocal too

Working S2 ep 7

Yet another side character that is much cooler than the cast, the karate club president, Yamada. Really liked how Katanashi was during the episode over Inami.

Penguindrum 7

Yuri is pretty lovely, her singing (Paris, as well as Yuri) was great as well as everything she does to make Ringo made.
Project M is marriage and carrying his baby, do not think I like this aspect of the plot, hopefully the other group the M is something else. Really dont want to see the lady crush Kanba

Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom 1-2

Cool main character, Zwei, but seems to be really slow. I like the focus of his development from amnesia to now becoming epic but the plot could have started off much faster. Plot and possibly the whole thing just feels like a story thats been done before. Dub voices seem pretty standard, ie, voices weve heard countless times before :(
 

B.K.

Member
Tenchi Myuo Ryo-oki OVA 3 Episode 2

I really don't like the
long lost sister and grandmother twist. It really opens up a lot of plot holes.
 

wonzo

Banned
Paprika

paprika.jpg

Hmmm, I don't know what to think about this. Plot wise it was a rather interesting take on lucid dreaming. The sense of surrealism thanks to the mind blowing visuals combined with Susumu Hirasawa's fantastic soundtrack really helped bring the movie to life. Saying that, I feel that something's missing and I can't quite put my finger on it... maybe that's the intention of the film but it just doesn't seem right.

So remember that other site streaming Ozuma, called Viki? The one with crowdsorced subtitles?

They are now also streaming the complete series of Oniisama e..., among a few other shows.
This is a pretty neat idea but I wonder how they're gonna handle QC.
 
Tiger & Bunny 25 (end)


8 / 10: Definitely a must buy when dubbed on blu-ray etc. Fun from start to finish with excellent characters, excellent interaction, and a plot that never kept giving. I should have watched it as it was airing instead of after the fact but nonetheless not having to sit on cliffhangers was extremely beneficial. It gave me everything I like in anime, great music, cool character designs, friendship and bonds, and epic plot. Both arcs of the anime were fun though I greatly enjoyed the second arc, or second major plot in the second half of the season more. It was focused, suspenseful, and pretty epic with seeing the best characters driven emotionally.

Favorite character: Ivan/Origami Cyclone, Honorable Mention: Lunatic /
Yuri

At the end I was just left dying for a second season confirmation, I mean how can they just leave it with
Ouraboros still around with the symbol on the money, meaning they had ties higher than just Hero TV and Maverick, as well as One Minute Tiger, he has to get his powers back someway, please
. Really the only major flaw of the anime was that it was kind of predictable plotwise.

I didnt care too much for the opening songs or the first ending, but the second ending theme was great, something about the sound and visuals made it pretty cool and something I wanted to see each time.
 
Paprika

Hmmm, I don't know what to think about this. Plot wise it was a rather interesting take on lucid dreaming. The sense of surrealism thanks to the mind blowing visuals combined with Susumu Hirasawa's fantastic soundtrack really helped bring the movie to life. Saying that, I feel that something's missing and I can't quite put my finger on it... maybe that's the intention of the film but it just doesn't seem right.

The problem with Paprika is that Kon's obsession with blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality loses the clear purpose it had in Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress, and becomes an end in itself. This causes the film to lack coherency and the ending to be less than successful at trying the themes and characters together.

Great visuals and music though.

This is a pretty neat idea but I wonder how they're gonna handle QC.

You're funny.
 
I can't really compare this to the last series, since I haven't seen it, but I still think you can put it up against Sora no Woto.
I didn't remember the Sora no Woto comparison, but they're fairly different shows I would say... but anyway, yeah, you should watch the first season darnit, it was good.

Thematically, they're about the same thing - the lengths we will go to save humanity - and they also have the same genki optimist who is the audience's "eyes" into this mysterious world.
Hmm, those things are in common, but in both categories the two shows go in quite different directions, and the same is true for genre too -- SnW is much more slice of life/drama with occasional action, while LE Fam is much more action/drama. Also, of course, Sora no Woto is the better show overall, for sure.

Sora no Woto just handles it all better, even if some of the individual episodes were rather silly (the phone episode and the drunk episode being the two stand out examples of anime-isms in an anime). The villains have motivations but are still villains, the main characters get to be resolute in their beliefs without being made to look stupid because of them, and of course, they were able to tell basically the same story in 12/14 episodes instead of the 25 that this show will take.

At least it's almost over!
While as I said I agree that SnW certainly is better, the different genres are relevant here -- SnW doesn't have nearly as many villains and doesn't have fighting as as important an element in the show. It is better written, though, and I'm not entirely excusing Fam here -- it should be a better show than it is, and could have been better had they not saddled it with some generically ridiculous enemy motivations and actions, to name just a few things.

Essentially, SnW is a better, more thoughtful anime than most animes are (apart from that unfortunately bad, stereotypical anime phone episode), while Last Exile Fam is much more ... anime being as anime is. The first Last Exile was a somewhat more original show than this one is, I think, plotwise for sure. I do think the main cast in Fam is good (I mean, the main goodguys, not the villains certainly!), though. Sure, they don't match up to SnW, but anime casts usually don't.

I will say, however, the action at least justifies more episodes than SnW has -- action scenes, battles, etc. take time. I think the show would be worse at 13 episodes than it is at 22, 24 or whatever Fam has.

And also, of course, Last Exile has a cool setting, flying vehicles, and airship battles to keep it interesting, too. But I certainly do wish the plot wasn't so generically average.
 

cajunator

Banned
The problem with Paprika is that Kon's obsession with blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality loses the clear purpose it had in Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress, and becomes an end in itself. This causes the film to lack coherency and the ending to be less than successful at trying the themes and characters together.

Great visuals and music though.



You're funny.

Agreed. Paprika was less focused on why fantasy and reality were mixing and instead seemed to revel in the blurring itself.
This was more confusing but also pretty fun to watch.
 

(Kind of big filesize, should it be full size or linked like this? Very cool picture though...)

Bodacious Space Pirates 11 - I want more seasons!

But yeah, the episode was fantastic as usual. This episode has danger, space storms, a chase against the rival fleet, the beginnings of the exploration of an ancient spaceship, and more... classic stuff here, and all done so well! The characters are all likeable, good characters, the threat this time was real but they made their way through the first wave of danger, and more. The Bentenmaru's crew
and the princess face off against her sister leading the opposing fleet
; I'm not clear on some of what they were talking about, really, but I assume it'll get explained later. The space storms they struggle their way through this time looked great, and that mystery ship...
It looked mysterious as a dark shape off in the distance, but once it lit up with that bright golden glow,
it looked so cool.... :)

Next time, exploration of the relic! I'm looking forward to it.


I've never played a Bioware game. So does that mean I dodged a bullet?

Quite the opposite, no. Bioware's classic Baldur's Gate RPGs are among the greatest Western RPGs ever made. As for the rest of their stuff though, that really depends on who you ask, but my favorite post-BG2 Bioware game is Dragon Age 1.

WTF? you never played Neverwinter Nights. What are you doing son? PLAY IT!!!

Someone says they've never played a Bioware game, and you recommend... NWN1, seriously? Why, do you want him to quit on Bioware in his first title? I mean, it's not a completely awful game or something, but it was such a far step down from the greatness of the BG games, in both gameplay (one character only!) and story...
 
Hmm, there's a translation of an interview with Aoki Ei from Comptiq about Fate/Zero. Majority of it is regarding the plans for the second season, so avoid reading it if you want to be completely spoiler-free.

http://www.tsukikan.com/misc/fate-zero-director-aoki-ei-one-on-one-interview.html

From the non-spoiler stuff, one of the things I find highly interesting is the implication that Aoki Ei actually hasn't watched/read Fate/stay night. Well, the original novel itself is plenty good as standalone material, so I don't see any problems with this.
 
Brave 10 - 11

Having Yuri in that position, why do they do that to my favorite character :/ Regardless decent episode with the fighting and such. I guess I should have anticipated that plot thread
Isanami being free

Oh well its been a decent ride, hope the final episode stays the same. I think Ill end up getting it when NISA releases it, hopefully on Blu-Ray and $29.99...
 

NewFresh

Member
The problem with Paprika is that Kon's obsession with blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality loses the clear purpose it had in Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress, and becomes an end in itself. This causes the film to lack coherency and the ending to be less than successful at trying the themes and characters together.

Great visuals and music though.


I think that Jexhius has mentioned that Paprika doesn't hold up in multiple viewing, and I think that this is probably one of the reasons why. I've seen it twice, but with a fair amount of time in between, and felt that the "blurring" helped further develop the surrealism of the universe. The movie felt like it had a bigger goal that it didn't quite achiever, but that is a different issue.
 

Instro

Member
Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick 16

iO5eeMrLhNluT.jpg
ib1X6p9lSqsBJ4.jpg


This was one of the more visually engaging episode of the show thus far. Cool art and backgrounds, and some neat character animation particularly during the comedy bits. Speaking of comedy, this show does it so well when it goes that route. I catch myself laughing quite a bit a the crew's antics. The show does a pretty great job balancing its various elements which is something I appreciate.
 

iavi

Member
Bakumatsu 17

The grey zone this show works is wonderful. You have the object of blatant evil, but then have the relatively good trying to use it as an augmentation to their agendas; really interesting. Akidzuki and Kakunojo's relationship, on the other hand, hasn't been at all, with her being the usual
powerless sidekick.
They have created an interesting bit of intigue there with the hinting at their origin though. I'm interested in seeing what they do there.

Bakumatsu 18

Gotdayum, what an epic ep. When shit goes down in this show, shit goes down and then some. Hijikata's been brought
under Soutetsu's wing, though I imagine that it won't be for long. Once he finds out that it's by not Enemoto's will, but the power of the Lord's Head that the troops rally, he'll probably defect
on the grounds that it goes against the samurai code or somethinsomethin. Kanna's minions
finally caught what were coming to them,
that sect of embellished cannon fodder.

And that end; Soutetsu's saying, gotdayum.
 

wonzo

Banned
Gintama 127-128


Dawww, a very heartfelt ending to a very funny set of episodes.
that death note pen parody with hijikata was fucking brilliant.
Gintama's range never ceases to impress.

Careful with the Gabe jokes, bad things have happened to people who've done that!
I'd never dare denigrate the savoir of pc gaming GABE NEWELL! *bows in apology*

The problem with Paprika is that Kon's obsession with blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality loses the clear purpose it had in Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress, and becomes an end in itself. This causes the film to lack coherency and the ending to be less than successful at trying the themes and characters together.

Great visuals and music though.
Yeah, that seems about right. I felt it really ended up going nowhere. Still, I'd say it's worth checking out.

You're funny.
a man can dream... :(

at least the announcement reminded me to check out Oniisama e...
 

Branduil

Member
The Daily Lives of High School Boys 1


Well, the production value on this is pretty weak. It doesn't really look good at all.

However, as this is a comedy, the most important question is "is it funny?", and on that count it succeeds. What makes it particularly impressive is that even in just the first episode it demonstrated a variety of successful humor(visual gags, character-based, absurdist, etc.) instead of solely relying on one joke and beating it into the ground. That certainly bodes well for its ability to sustain its humor through a full series of episodes.
 

Jex

Member
Watch it end with
Kanna killing herself from depression, driving all the friends apart after her death.
They meet up again in their 20's to reminisce about the past.

KIMI TO NATSU NO OWARI SHOURAI NO YUME OOKINA KIBOU WASURENAI

JUUNENGO NO HACHIGATSU MATA DEAERU NO O SHINJITEEEEEEE…

Don't kid yourself, who'd bother reminiscing about Kanna?
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I didn't remember the Sora no Woto comparison, but they're fairly different shows I would say... but anyway, yeah, you should watch the first season darnit, it was good.

Hmm, those things are in common, but in both categories the two shows go in quite different directions, and the same is true for genre too -- SnW is much more slice of life/drama with occasional action, while LE Fam is much more action/drama. Also, of course, Sora no Woto is the better show overall, for sure.

While as I said I agree that SnW certainly is better, the different genres are relevant here -- SnW doesn't have nearly as many villains and doesn't have fighting as as important an element in the show. It is better written, though, and I'm not entirely excusing Fam here -- it should be a better show than it is, and could have been better had they not saddled it with some generically ridiculous enemy motivations and actions, to name just a few things.

Essentially, SnW is a better, more thoughtful anime than most animes are (apart from that unfortunately bad, stereotypical anime phone episode), while Last Exile Fam is much more ... anime being as anime is. The first Last Exile was a somewhat more original show than this one is, I think, plotwise for sure. I do think the main cast in Fam is good (I mean, the main goodguys, not the villains certainly!), though. Sure, they don't match up to SnW, but anime casts usually don't.

I will say, however, the action at least justifies more episodes than SnW has -- action scenes, battles, etc. take time. I think the show would be worse at 13 episodes than it is at 22, 24 or whatever Fam has.

And also, of course, Last Exile has a cool setting, flying vehicles, and airship battles to keep it interesting, too. But I certainly do wish the plot wasn't so generically average.

They're both post-apocalyptic settings featuring girls trying to find a place for themselves. They both also feature villains with the same motivation - using war in order to help save the world. They just seem much more similar than they are different.

They already gave up two episodes with a recap and another with a flashback. Giving up another 10 episodes shouldn't be too much of a problem, considering a lot of the exposition... the battles have become a lot less impressive as well - especially since the last one was basically fought in a storm.
 

Jex

Member
So remember that other site streaming Ozuma, called Viki? The one with crowdsorced subtitles?

They are now also streaming the complete series of Oniisama e..., among a few other shows.

Oh, neat. Only like 7 episodes have subtitles so far though.

Hey, at least people have a chance to get started!
Manga spoilers:

Naw. The anime ends at volume 8 and has pretty much covered every event faithfully.

Post anime manga spoilers:
Volume 9 begins a new recruitment phase for the karuta club (I posted a pic of the new members a while ago) but after that, it's back to the tournaments. Arata comes back in 13-15 in full force with a subplot, but even that is mostly in the context of actually playing karuta.

There's no real escape from the cards.

Karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta nakama karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta.

Wonderful.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Hey, at least people have a chance to get started!
Karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta nakama karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta karuta.

Wonderful.
There's like 10% character development at least.
Of course it's all tied to karuta!

Sadly, the hook of the original (false) premise makes me invested enough that I want to know what happens with these characters. I'm such a mark.
 

Jex

Member
I think if you replaced it with a sport you like, it'd still be kind of boring. There's only so many ways you can frame the same karuta discussions before it gets old.

* swing fast
* but not to fast or you will fault
* concentrate
* but not too much lest you get tunnel vision

And so on.

You forget swinging FASTER sometimes when you're in the zone. And glaring at your opponent. Card placement.

That's about it.
NAKAMA


They could try and flesh it out by focusing on how each of the major characters [...]

Let me just stop you there. Simply focusing on their actual characters would be an upgrade.
Revolutionary Girl Utena Episode 2

http://i.imgur.com/7cED7.jpg

I still haven't figured out what the significance of the stop watch is :(
Oh, you will, one day.
I hope cajun outposts you for all of eternity.

Don't we all?
 

Jex

Member
Ano Natsu gave me some huge Star Ocean vibes this week.

-Underdeveloped planets
-Galaxy Federation
-Breaking galaxy law
-Not allowing contact with natives
-Planets given grades depending on their technology level

A lot of similarities.
Let me tell you about a little show called Star Trek...
 

Jex

Member
I admire Geneijin for never giving up the fight against Ano Hana supporters.

This is what happens when one of a shows' biggest fans turns hostile because the show has disappointed them.
I'm of the opinion that any amount of :Saber is too much and anything less than all Rider all the time is too little.

This is factually correct.
What one would expect from a guy with an Oberstein avatar!

I'm not biased, I just happen to be right.
 

Branduil

Member
Another 1

Oh, it's Ali Project again. I certainly never get tired of their song.

This show is certainly trying very hard to be creepy. You can tell it's from the same director as Blood-C. He's very aware of how to use composition and lighting to evoke a certain mood. Unfortunately, the show undermines itself a bit with the random cutaways to creepy dolls. It's completely unnecessary and irritating because the direction already establishes the tone they're going for, all the cutaways serve to do is break any sense of immersion.

The thing about a story like this is that it can easily descend into unintentional self-parody if not carefully written, so I guess we'll see how that goes. It's not an Okada story, so there's a chance.

I actually do not mind P.A. Works digital backgrounds so far. They've clearly improved from their early garish works, and it helps that the lighting is actually very good. I mean, just compare this shot to the infamous Angel Beats abomination:


I'd still prefer a nice painted 2D background, but at least they're getting better at this.
 

frostbyte

Member
Did I say it was that bad of a show? It was just a bad show. Plainly.

The entire show suffered thoroughly with Okada's writing. Not just the ending. Are we really forgetting about the dropped plot points (school), the extra angst melodrama, and the stupid love triangle?

Yes, it's got flaws. I never stated that it didn't. I disliked the excessive angst and melodrama. Almost every episode someone's crying because of some reason and the show just tries too hard to make us cry. It's practically forcing people to be empathetic because Yadomi's tearing up on the screen. I consider this the worst flaw of Ano Hana.
I also felt most of the characters were one dimensional, especially Menma. Arguably, the only character that actually had decent character development was Yukiatsu.

But in the end, I think the visuals and the music manage to hold together the lackluster plot and end up with a cohesive whole. Even with the flaws, I still enjoyed watching it. For me, if I managed to enjoy the anime in the end despite its shortcomings and it doesn't make me want to drop it midway, I'd still consider it a success to some degree. I can accept that you don't quite like it though.

Regarding Okada's writing, I wouldn't call this disastrous. I consider Fractale to be much worse a product than Ano Hana.


Is this going to be an upscale or remaster?
 

iavi

Member
There's like 10% character development at least.
Of course it's all tied to karuta!

Sadly, the hook of the original (false) premise makes me invested enough that I want to know what happens with these characters. I'm such a mark.

Yeah, Chihayafuru as a character-piece had a lot of potential, but I don't even think the mangaka knew how to follow through with its flourishing. I honestly think that was case vs her having a sudden change of heart in regards to how she wanted the manga structured/focused. I got off the train a few eps back.

-----

Bakumatsu 19

Really heart-warming ep. One that futher re-enforces
Soutetsu's status as an 'ends justify the means' grey-zoned anti-hero rather than a black antagonist,
I'm led to believe. If it comes out that he is actually just chess-mastering EVERYONE, I will flip, then praise this show's characterization work with him. I can see it coming~ Akidzuki needs to hurry up and get back into the game.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
Yeah, Chihayafuru as a character-piece had a lot of potential, but I don't even think the mangaka knew how to follow through with its flourishing. I honestly think that was case vs her having a sudden change of heart in regards to how she wanted the manga structured/focused. I got off the train a few eps back.
Maybe she got burned with her last shoujo and so she decided to play it super safe now. Or the manga became popular enough that she needed to drag it out, as it looks like a lot of manga artists are want to do.

Regarding Okada's writing, I wouldn't call this disastrous. I consider Fractale to be much worse a product than Ano Hana.
Like HanaIro, it's mostly the middle episodes that are complete crap. Maybe people shouldn't let her plan arcs and just keep her doing pilot/premier episodes or something.
 
Another 1

Oh, it's Ali Project again. I certainly never get tired of their song.

This show is certainly trying very hard to be creepy. You can tell it's from the same director as Blood-C. He's very aware of how to use composition and lighting to evoke a certain mood. Unfortunately, the show undermines itself a bit with the random cutaways to creepy dolls. It's completely unnecessary and irritating because the direction already establishes the tone they're going for, all the cutaways serve to do is break any sense of immersion.

The thing about a story like this is that it can easily descend into unintentional self-parody if not carefully written, so I guess we'll see how that goes. It's not an Okada story, so there's a chance.

I actually do not mind P.A. Works digital backgrounds so far. They've clearly improved from their early garish works, and it helps that the lighting is actually very good. I mean, just compare this shot to the infamous Angel Beats abomination:



I'd still prefer a nice painted 2D background, but at least they're getting better at this.

They just randomly drop the doll interstitials later on with no explanation as to what it was about, if anything.
They weren't actually about anything. LOL.

It's funny that you mention that the director of Another also did Blood-C, because
at the end Another turns into a gratuitous bloodbath for no discernible reason too.

I want to say more about Another but I'm waiting for the final episode to air before I write a lot about it. I'll say now that I don't think
Final Destination
is meant as parody either but somehow it's just not possible to take it seriously. So don't bother, just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.
 

iavi

Member
Maybe she got burned with her last shoujo and so she decided to play it super safe now. Or the manga became popular enough that she needed to drag it out, as it looks like a lot of manga artists are want to do.

Hey, did you know about this?

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-10-19/yuki-suetsugu-copies-art-from-other-manga

Just found it while looking her up. She's playing it safe alright, though probably not for the reasons either of us were thinking of. It looks as if Chihayafuru's her first series post-exile.
 
Moeskirt Pirates 11
Welp, whatever little hesitation about buying this I might have had last week is fully evaporated. Putting in orders now, Captain!

Each episode is better than the last.
I'm still not entirely sure how to describe why exactly, besides the obvious Star Trekishness, but I guess the direction and characters are just that appealing.
I think I may even like the male characters as they are, rather than my usual opinion of shows being improved by replacing all men with little girls.
I was somewhat skeptical about the adult pirate too, at first, but yes, they're good characters, and I've come to like them as well. It has a good cast, and the male characters are actually done well and fit here, which as you say, is something of an accomplishment.

And I seem to be able to deal with CG spaceships when there's no 2D in the frame for contrast, unlike the CG cars and trains that bug me a lot in other shows.
Yeah, the CG looks fine.

Now if only they get real singers or character VAs to do the OP/ED for the second half, it'll be perfect.
The OP is great, they don't need to change it at all!

Moretsu Pirates 11

The space parts have been the best parts to the anime so far. Visuals as well as the intense sound kept me on the edge of my seat for the large duration that it took place. Kane is a great sternsman, and pretty epic with the
backing in to dock to the Serendipity
, and San Daime too, cool character. Marika is still a great main who has had phenomenal development, possibly one of the top female protagonists.
You have a good point here about the audio -- ep. 11 definitely made great use of sound, I agree. The creaking of the ship as they struggled their way through the "waves" really helped amp up the tension and danger. I knew that they'd make it through of course, but still, it was definitely quite tense... very well done.

Yeah, I just saw Sailing 11 and
there was some mad Star Trek space navigation mojo going on (ie the best Trek Episodes had veiled nautical tropes)! Poor Serenity Princesses, why can't finding old relics be good for everyone in the kingdom. I doubt the younger one would actually want to sabotage a family relic like that
.
I didn't really understand the point on what the other sister wanted to do... it made more sense to you I guess?

Mouretsu Pirates 09:

I'm really hoping that the
golden ghost ship
doesn't turn into a MacGuffin. Even if the pacing is still on the slow side, this is a show that probably works better as story arcs. At least the
battle with the Serenity forces is over
. The action scenes lose their edge when the technobabble drowns out the tactics, and we were kind of heading in that direction. I'm still not liking the presence of
the loli oujosama
, but she doesn't appear to be the cliched bossy overbearing type so it's more tolerable.

Chiaki's curtsy
was the absolute best thing in the episode.

Mouretsu Pirates 10:

WHOAAAAAAA
PIRATE CAPTAIN CHIAKI
IS THE GREATEST. Why couldn't it be like this every episode?

Well, one thing's certain now, and that would be that
something is rotten in the state of Serenity
, not the least of which appears to be
that Serenity nobility have some kind of dark genetic secret
. Based on the PV,
we'll finally get some answers as to the nature of this intra-kingdom conflict
.
On the point about the princess, in a quality, well-written show like this, even seemingly stereotypical characters aren't, and have depth. :)

As for Chiaki,
Pirate Chiaki was pretty cool, but the princess' little sister wasn't fooled, unfortunately...


As for the below reply, apart from the part about Texhnolyze, I don't know if there's even one sentence of this post which I could agree with at all, which is why I took so long to decide if I wanted to actually reply or not...

The content in episodes 2-5 only existed as flashbacks in the source material, and was not stretched out this long at all. In fact, I would say adapting the flashbacks was ineffective, and probably shoul've been kept in the way it was originally done. There's a lot better ways to do world-building in a visual medium.
That part was expanded? Well then, they did a great job in expanding on it, and it definitely adds something to the series. Making that part longer was a good idea indeed. :)

(FYI I quit at episode 8 to see if the new arc would do anything for me) I wouldn't really call what the show builds tension. If anything, there's more a lack of tension in the actions they take. They had a good start with
Princess Gruier
but they completely ruined it by playing her presence off as
an intruder
as something with no real harm, and someone who was effortlessly trapped.
That's not true at all, until they figured out who she was there was some definite tension there.

The same thing can be said for the space fight. There was never any real danger ever. It had been established that the pirate ships from both girls were waiting and watching, and that the hacking was ineffective. There wasn't a buildup, and there wasn't a release. Any of those moments were rather flat. I think as an LN it's great, but it definitely does not translate well to anime at all.
Which part are you talking about? The cruise with the girls, before she moved to the Bentenmaru? They were certainly in danger. You're either misremembering, intentionally ignoring stuff because you don't like the show, or something else, but while they weren't in real danger most of the time, in the final episode of that arc, they absolutely were in real danger, and the rest of the girls reacted appropriately once they relealized it -- up to that point they'd thought it wasn't anything that could actually be harmful, but once the other ship started shooting all of them except for Marika and Chiaki got scared... if one of those shots had hit them, as it certainly could, they'd have been in a lot of trouble.

Marika, of course, calmly figured out what to do and won the fight, but there was definite danger. The buildup from the initial cyber-attack to the final battle were done very well, as the tension slowly built...

If you're talking about something on the Bentenmaru, what you're saying there would make even less sense, of course.

Now Texhnolyze is a great example of a balance of world-building, tension, release, and great pacing. A lot of the world is explained as the show goes on through the character interactions and actions, and rarely did the show ever stop to read you a manual on what's going on. You see what each faction stands for through their actions, you understand the technology through the rehab and its use, and you get a grasp for the world because the characters traverse through it and let the imagery explain everything while their own interactions take a front-seat, managing to present and progress simultaneously.
This is all true, but while its style is different, Space Pirates also does a good job of making a slow pace work brilliantly. But yeah, with Texhnolyze at least you're right.

It doesn't make for captivating anime though. Where as in the novels you can have as much time as you want, and let a lot of the world building happen through the reader's interpretations, an anime has the advantage of... well, being an anime. If there's one thing I could say about the show is that it fails to make any use of the advantages it has now being in a primarily visual medium. There's lots about worlds you can explain through imagery, but the show falls flat when it comes to using that effectively to convey any kind of plot at all.
There have been plenty of moments in the show which make good use of the visual medium, though -- Marika's first spacewalk and the scene that follows (one of my favorite parts of the eps 2-5 arc), for instance, or more recently, the tense, creaky journey through the space storms and rival fleet threats in ep. 11. The show has great visuals when it wants to, or when they have the budget for it or something. It is often slower and character-focused, but it's almost all done very well, so that's not a problem at all.

I don't know how good the novels are though, I haven't read them. Oh, and as for my complaints about the show, as I've said before I don't like the blatantly anime element of her of course working at a maid cafe (classy-style one, sure, but still a maid cafe), and that Marika's a somewhat generic protagonist. Also, while I and everyone else have often compared it to Star Trek, it is slower than Star Trek, and much more serial as opposed to episodic. I think the style works great almost all of the time, but it is a difference.

I think something i've been watching recently that does this effectively is Martian Successor Nadesico. They have the mechs, gravity-beam canon, computer AI, the Nadesico itself, and the daily tech used by the crew. All of it is effortlessly explained across the entirety of the show (i'm on episode 22 now); gives a solid amount of technobabble explaining the mechanics and theory of the weapons, ships, mechs and planetary habitation; establishes world/galactic relations and cultural phenomena in the present day society; and even presents a large cast of characters, their motives, their feelings, and the relationships between all of them on the ship. All of this is so effortlessly done and moves at an incredible pace for the amount of content in there, and show doesn't suffer in any way for it while delivering an experience with everything you love about Moretsu Pirates while significantly advancing tons and tons of these elements in the show.

Nadesico makes the cast compelling, the technology compelling, the galactic relations compelling, and overall just integrate everything so well through visual and spoken presentation.
I watched about half of Nadesico years ago, and thought it was alright to good, but not incredibly great, and obviously not quite interesting enough to stick with and finish... maybe I'll go back sometime, I'm not sure. The two series are very different, though -- that's a harem action sci-fi show, while this is something quite different from that, classier and with a better plot and without Nadesico's definite tonal dissonance (or harem elements and generic action/mecha focus). I'm not much of a mecha fan, but love scifi shows like Star Trek, so I think it's fantastic that Bodacious Space Pirates is a much more Star Trek-ish sci-fi show, instead of yet another probably boring mecha series (not talking about Nadesico in specific there, just generally).

They don't explain the buildup of her particular ability and attitude other than that her mother and father were pirates. There's no explanation for why she suddenly knows what she does, and is more subservient than her subordinates other than that there's a space pirate textbook that she's required to study. They have yet to really establish why she's even needed on the ship other than that they needed a blood related person to inhabit the captain title. The ship can run perfectly fine without her, and honestly it's yet been proven why she's more capable than the far-more capable people around her.
On the note of my issues with the show, I do find the fact that the ship requires a child of teh captain to be captain to be one of its problems, yes. Classic Carribean pirate captains were very definitely not things to be inherited; indeed, it was usually an elected office. And yet here while otherwise they take the style from that era, randomly it's made inherited. I do find that kind of stupid.

As for her ability, though, she clearly is a very good tactical thinker, which is why it's not just nepotism -- she has the ability to be captain. She clearly inherited her parents' skill at captaining, and it's shown from the first episode that she's a good spaceflight tactician as well. She is clearly better at it than any of her crew members. Less experienced, but with more upward potential. She doesn't just suddenly learn anything, either -- she knows the basics of space flight from the beginning, thanks to her Yacht Club, and learns the rest through study. I mean, she's not doing badly in school now for no reason, obviously she's putting her focus into learning how to be a captain now. There was that training episode with Chiaki, too.

Her relationship with her mother was never really done in-depth other than her mom is awesome, she obeys her mom, and her mom used to be a pirate. Her grades failing are something they play off lightly too. While it shows that she's paying more attention to pirate studies, it's played off as no real consequence, especially with pirate faculty in the school. Sure, she wants to do both, so she does, without any crazy amount of conviction, and the grades become of no real consequence.
They don't play the grades thing off too lightly, it's been mentioned at length, and times where she tries to study but gets interrupted have happened multiple times too. I'm sure it won't just go away as an issue. It's far too early to say that it has no consequence. I'm sure it will in time.

I can agree that it was interesting to see, but honestly the concept is such a simple one that it really didn't need to be such a heavy focus for three episodes. They literally repeated themselves over and over with each episode. I wouldn't have minded so much if it played a more integral part to space-faring strategies, but electronic warfare and the importance of it has completely been thrown away. Coorie handles it on the ship, and plays it off like it's nothing. There's no more real presence of it, and her abilities of it make any kind of electronic warfare seem like of no real importance.
I just can't agree here. Yes, electronic warfare gets the most prominent role in the 2-5 part, but it still matters some at least, even if she now has someone good at it... and knowing how important it is helps appreciate her skill at it too, I would say.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Another 11

I really needed a breather after this one.

This show never seems to slip and fall, and as a result, never hangs on things for too long. This show won't screw you and really pushes the plot forward instead of down the stairs.

In terms of the content of this episode, I was blown away by what happened, and the ending may mop things up nicely. I have a feeling the ending may cleave the fanbase, which may lead to a lot of backstabbing between all of us, but the anime is gonna be different from the manga, so no need to fight.
 
Another 11

I really needed a breather after this one.

This show never seems to slip and fall, and as a result, never hangs on things for too long. This show won't screw you and really pushes the plot forward instead of down the stairs.

In terms of the content of this episode, I was blown away by what happened, and the ending may mop things up nicely. I have a feeling the ending may cleave the fanbase, which may lead to a lot of backstabbing between all of us, but the anime is gonna be different from the manga, so no need to fight.
It took me far too long
to realize what was going on in this post. Well played.

edit:
Mother of god. I thought it stopped after the second paragraph. What have you done.
 
Another 11

I really needed a breather after this one.

This show never seems to slip and fall, and as a result, never hangs on things for too long. This show won't screw you and really pushes the plot forward instead of down the stairs.

In terms of the content of this episode, I was blown away by what happened, and the ending may mop things up nicely. I have a feeling the ending may cleave the fanbase, which may lead to a lot of backstabbing between all of us, but the anime is gonna be different from the manga, so no need to fight.

I'm actually not sure if this post constitutes massive spoilers or not.
 
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