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Winter Anime 2017 |OT| John Wick cleaning up KyoAni's mess
- Thread starter TUSR
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NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters - 01-04
I'm not liking it. First episode started with some kinda obnoxious, on the nose "am I a main character sort of guy?" dialogues/monologues and was then followed up with three average monster of the week episodes. So far there's no real character ensemble that can play off each other and Haru by himself certainly can't carry it.
The Digimon / Apps correlation makes for a solid modern setting and allows them to theme the Digimon and fights against them after certain apps. It works decently but can't say that I'm actually interested in that world yet.
Where it falls particularly flat though is all the digi-evolution stuff. Zero excitement from my side when it happens. Lackluster animation and while this sort of, uh, techno-rap, isn't bad per se it's miles away from the evo-tracks we get in, say, the first three seasons.
And then there's the result of a fusion evolution:
Sigh. If you use some (decent) CGI for the evolution process itself, fine by me. But these hideous CGI Digimon, that look even worse in motion, are awful.
dropped
I'm not liking it. First episode started with some kinda obnoxious, on the nose "am I a main character sort of guy?" dialogues/monologues and was then followed up with three average monster of the week episodes. So far there's no real character ensemble that can play off each other and Haru by himself certainly can't carry it.
The Digimon / Apps correlation makes for a solid modern setting and allows them to theme the Digimon and fights against them after certain apps. It works decently but can't say that I'm actually interested in that world yet.
Where it falls particularly flat though is all the digi-evolution stuff. Zero excitement from my side when it happens. Lackluster animation and while this sort of, uh, techno-rap, isn't bad per se it's miles away from the evo-tracks we get in, say, the first three seasons.
And then there's the result of a fusion evolution:
Sigh. If you use some (decent) CGI for the evolution process itself, fine by me. But these hideous CGI Digimon, that look even worse in motion, are awful.
dropped
Dedication Through Light
Member
You could import if you dont want to play the waiting game.
You'll probably see it eventually but it's unlikely to be in, say, the next twelve months is probably the mindset to have about it right now.
Needless to say, if you haven't watched Toradora but want to, skip the fuck out of this post.
Toradora 23 -Rewatch-
Oh, you better believe some shit is going down.
To recap: Ryuuji knows Taiga loves him, but Taiga is inexplicably still trying to set him up with Minorin and he's going with the flow. Minorin says she's going to go for what she can see. Kitamura is Kitamura. Ami is raging silently. Nobody's sure what's going through Taiga's head, except blood and pus because she keeps threatening to show it to Those Two Girls.
Yuri-sensei goes off about Valentine's day for a while because lol. They gotta hand in their future forms.
Ryuuji trots out his line about his mum while Taiga says "I'm rich as fuck ain't never working these hands". Yuri-sensei sighs, and tells them "What you do with your lives now is completely up to you now. No more blaming others."
Taiga doesn't give a shit.
She monologues for a while to Ryuuji. "I've always denied who I am, and wondered why I turned out this way... what could I have done differently?" She tells him there's one thing she wanted to experience - a normal love, which freaks Ryuuji out.
"Why past tense?" asks Ryuuji. Taiga says, experiencing one is impossible. "Everything was wrong from the beginning. I'm not normal", she says, and leaves.
Ryuuji wanders into the staffroom to find Ami arguing with the mullet-wearing principal, who wants her to model school uniforms for next year. She takes her annoyance out on him, and he silently (and hilariously) chucks her shoe out the door.
You could see Ami's irritation at being asked to model as another reflection of her ongoing theme where she doesn't particularly like being viewed as 'adult', given that she's still a confused, angry teen.
"If I could, I'd stay here with everyone forever..." she says wistfully. She tells him she'd originally planned to leave early, but stayed... why? Because she saw Taiga getting hurt. "If I was the only one who understood her, then I had to be the one to save her... or so I thought," she says (If you recall, she calls home in ep 14, right after the Cultural Festival... but not straight after, it takes a conversation with Ryuuji to really get her to decide). She snatches the shoe while Ryuuji is trying to work out what she's talking about and stalks off when Ryuuji gets a call and rushes home.
Yuusako collapsed from working too many jobs, Ryuuji leaves to walk it off, Taiga rushes after him with jacket and wallet and bags and saves him from a car. Ryuuji starts blaming himself and tries to go on when Taiga grabs him.
This scene really works the career plan from a side-story/metaphor into something more and, in some ways, works as the inverse of the light-kicking scene I absolutely love from episode two. It's Taiga chasing after Ryuuji trying to understand and share his pain, even if she can't provide solutions right now.
Ryuuji and Taiga go take up Ya-chan's job at the bakery, though Ryuuji lies to her and tells her she was fired instead (to try and spare her from working, obvs). Cut to Ryuuji being basically the worst at customer service.
"You've got to compensate for a face that just isn't suited for customer service" snarks Taiga. Haruta turns up... girlfriend in tow. (It's possible he represents that we never really know everything about another person, or it's just a last-second gag. Who's to say?) Noto also turns up for a comedy gag before Taiga summons Ami for a bit.
We see some anime magic as Ami, merely by saying something pithy, summons a crowd to buy a shittonne of chocolates. Ryuuji runs to get a quick word in. "Everyone will be sad if you leave," he tells her.
"Everyone?" she asks.
Taiga buys the rest of the chocolates and tells Ryuuji she's going to give them to their friend group to apologise for ruining the snow trip by falling off a cliff. Cut to her giving them to their friendgroup to etc etc.
Ami says these are the same boxes as she was selling yesterday, but accepts it anyway. Minorin is genki as usual.
Ryuuji accepts his chocolates with an odd look, and Taiga proceeds to give the best ones to Kitamura because, after all....
LIES DETECTED
Taiga continues on with her babbling, the only point of animation in the room which has otherwise gone very, very still.
"Nobody saw anything!" says Ryuuji. Mistake.
Taiga tries to intervene but Minorin grabs her as Lost my Pieces starts playing.
The music swells as Taiga screams in pain and fear and tries to run.
Kitamura and Ami silently move to block the doors, refusing to let Taiga run from her feelings.
"Are you fine with letting Taiga go?" asks Kitamura of Ryuuji, as Minori grabs Taiga.
Taiga offers her feeble excuses, but she's petrified.
Taiga manages to throw off Minorin and run; Kitamura and Ami agree they've done all they can as Ami leaves position, letting Taiga escape.
Ami challenges Ryuuji to chase Taiga down, "if you're up to the task". Minori is more direct - she's going to chase her down. "What will you do?" she demands as the lead-in to the ED begins.
Zoom into Ryuuji's face, cut to white, credits!
---
A fucking intense climax to the episode as all of Toradora finally comes to a head. As Minori realises that Ryuuji and Taiga are still fucking hiding each other's true feelings from one another the team finally decide to force the two of them to make a god damn decision. It's a really strong way to bring in the entire main cast on the central issue of the show and to reaffirm their friendship, even if in the now it hurts deeply - and Taiga sells the fuck out of the pain.
Minorin told Ami earlier that she was working towards what she could see, but she told Ryuuji as well that she just couldn't see 'ghosts' - love. Yuri-sensei tells the two of them earlier in the episode that they are responsible for their own decisions; they can't palm the blame off to someone else. They've been stuck in a holding pattern of letting the one they want to be with 'be happy' by denying their own happiness, by averting their eyes from their 'ghosts'. Well, it's time to open your eyes, ToraDora. Happy Valentine's Day.
Next time on Toradora: I'm A Taurus.
Toradora 23 -Rewatch-
Oh, you better believe some shit is going down.
To recap: Ryuuji knows Taiga loves him, but Taiga is inexplicably still trying to set him up with Minorin and he's going with the flow. Minorin says she's going to go for what she can see. Kitamura is Kitamura. Ami is raging silently. Nobody's sure what's going through Taiga's head, except blood and pus because she keeps threatening to show it to Those Two Girls.
Yuri-sensei goes off about Valentine's day for a while because lol. They gotta hand in their future forms.
The framing for this shot is nice. Ryuuji faces his future with a sheepish, indeterminate look, while Taiga seeks freedom outside.
Ryuuji trots out his line about his mum while Taiga says "I'm rich as fuck ain't never working these hands". Yuri-sensei sighs, and tells them "What you do with your lives now is completely up to you now. No more blaming others."
Taiga doesn't give a shit.
Me? I'm gonna go where the wind takes me.
She monologues for a while to Ryuuji. "I've always denied who I am, and wondered why I turned out this way... what could I have done differently?" She tells him there's one thing she wanted to experience - a normal love, which freaks Ryuuji out.
I'm not so into the composition here, but note how Taiga is still partially hidden.
"Why past tense?" asks Ryuuji. Taiga says, experiencing one is impossible. "Everything was wrong from the beginning. I'm not normal", she says, and leaves.
Ryuuji wanders into the staffroom to find Ami arguing with the mullet-wearing principal, who wants her to model school uniforms for next year. She takes her annoyance out on him, and he silently (and hilariously) chucks her shoe out the door.
Ryuuji being Ryuuji, of course, he can't help but go get it back for her.
You could see Ami's irritation at being asked to model as another reflection of her ongoing theme where she doesn't particularly like being viewed as 'adult', given that she's still a confused, angry teen.
I like Ami's expression here. It's like she got caught being too real.
"If I could, I'd stay here with everyone forever..." she says wistfully. She tells him she'd originally planned to leave early, but stayed... why? Because she saw Taiga getting hurt. "If I was the only one who understood her, then I had to be the one to save her... or so I thought," she says (If you recall, she calls home in ep 14, right after the Cultural Festival... but not straight after, it takes a conversation with Ryuuji to really get her to decide). She snatches the shoe while Ryuuji is trying to work out what she's talking about and stalks off when Ryuuji gets a call and rushes home.
Yuusako collapsed from working too many jobs, Ryuuji leaves to walk it off, Taiga rushes after him with jacket and wallet and bags and saves him from a car. Ryuuji starts blaming himself and tries to go on when Taiga grabs him.
He's trying to walk away, but when Taiga grabs his hand...
It takes him a few tries, but he returns the grip too.
This scene really works the career plan from a side-story/metaphor into something more and, in some ways, works as the inverse of the light-kicking scene I absolutely love from episode two. It's Taiga chasing after Ryuuji trying to understand and share his pain, even if she can't provide solutions right now.
Ryuuji and Taiga go take up Ya-chan's job at the bakery, though Ryuuji lies to her and tells her she was fired instead (to try and spare her from working, obvs). Cut to Ryuuji being basically the worst at customer service.
YOOOOOO WE GOT TWINTAILS THIS IS FINALLY A REAL ANIME
"You've got to compensate for a face that just isn't suited for customer service" snarks Taiga. Haruta turns up... girlfriend in tow. (It's possible he represents that we never really know everything about another person, or it's just a last-second gag. Who's to say?) Noto also turns up for a comedy gag before Taiga summons Ami for a bit.
Their friendship is really quite adorable especially considering that the first time they ever met Taiga slapped the shit out of Ami
We see some anime magic as Ami, merely by saying something pithy, summons a crowd to buy a shittonne of chocolates. Ryuuji runs to get a quick word in. "Everyone will be sad if you leave," he tells her.
"Everyone?" she asks.
God, that expression.
Taiga buys the rest of the chocolates and tells Ryuuji she's going to give them to their friend group to apologise for ruining the snow trip by falling off a cliff. Cut to her giving them to their friendgroup to etc etc.
Ami says these are the same boxes as she was selling yesterday, but accepts it anyway. Minorin is genki as usual.
An awful lot of this episode takes place by afternoon's orange light, Toradora's visual guide for "profound shit is gonna happen"
Ryuuji accepts his chocolates with an odd look, and Taiga proceeds to give the best ones to Kitamura because, after all....
LIES DETECTED
Taiga continues on with her babbling, the only point of animation in the room which has otherwise gone very, very still.
Minorin's eyes trembling here is so subtle but intense. You can see her as she tries to process what Ryuuji must have done.
An innocuous question, but Ryuuji recognises it for what it is immediately - an attack, Minorin's final acceptance that the truth finally has to come out.
No other characters at all move during this sequence while Taiga squashes and stretches in animation, bringing to attention her fake bounciness and attempts to play off the question.
Ami's eyes narrow as she sees the last futile attempt to keep up the facade.
"Nobody saw anything!" says Ryuuji. Mistake.
The intensity of this scene spikes so suddenly here. Minorin's VA really sells it here, a brutal but necessary shift.
Taiga tries to intervene but Minorin grabs her as Lost my Pieces starts playing.
The line art style goes really fluid and the angles shift disconcertingly as Minorin interrogates Taiga.
The music swells as Taiga screams in pain and fear and tries to run.
The timing of this shot to the strings kicking in is exquisite.
Kitamura and Ami silently move to block the doors, refusing to let Taiga run from her feelings.
Their silent co-ordination on this is heartwarming.
"Are you fine with letting Taiga go?" asks Kitamura of Ryuuji, as Minori grabs Taiga.
Taiga's screams are heartfelt, heartrending; she can't even look at Minori, it's too painful for her. Their movements are frantic, frenzied, desperate.
Taiga can't use her friends to deflect her self-sacrifice any longer. She can't say it's for their sake; they won't let her. Sacrificing on another's behalf without them knowing is little more than blaming them for making yourself suffer.
Taiga offers her feeble excuses, but she's petrified.
Minorin's yell blows away the shadows and lets in the light as the music swells again.
Minorin spells it out.
Taiga manages to throw off Minorin and run; Kitamura and Ami agree they've done all they can as Ami leaves position, letting Taiga escape.
Her run towards camera is sloppy, ungainly, emotional, befitting the intensity of the scene.
Ami challenges Ryuuji to chase Taiga down, "if you're up to the task". Minori is more direct - she's going to chase her down. "What will you do?" she demands as the lead-in to the ED begins.
A perfect place for a cliffhanger!
Zoom into Ryuuji's face, cut to white, credits!
---
A fucking intense climax to the episode as all of Toradora finally comes to a head. As Minori realises that Ryuuji and Taiga are still fucking hiding each other's true feelings from one another the team finally decide to force the two of them to make a god damn decision. It's a really strong way to bring in the entire main cast on the central issue of the show and to reaffirm their friendship, even if in the now it hurts deeply - and Taiga sells the fuck out of the pain.
Minorin told Ami earlier that she was working towards what she could see, but she told Ryuuji as well that she just couldn't see 'ghosts' - love. Yuri-sensei tells the two of them earlier in the episode that they are responsible for their own decisions; they can't palm the blame off to someone else. They've been stuck in a holding pattern of letting the one they want to be with 'be happy' by denying their own happiness, by averting their eyes from their 'ghosts'. Well, it's time to open your eyes, ToraDora. Happy Valentine's Day.
Next time on Toradora: I'm A Taurus.
The strange thing is, it's not that hard to find third party sellers on Amazon.jp selling North American releases. It's something that a lot of the market must not realize.
It also could be that the market willing to buy those releases has little interest in North American releases, preferring the Japanese artboxes and extras. There also could be people who aren't aware that we share Japan's BD region, and don't import out of worry that it won't work on thier player. There's a lot of things it could be, but the less information is out there the happier the anime BD industry in Japan is, I'll bet.
GoldCrusader
Member
Ah no way. Lance n'masques is much worse.
MikeHattsu
Member
Them sweet sweet event tickets ;P
Tales of Zestiria the X - Episode 12
Aaaaaand that's the end of season 1. Was pretty entertaining. Good fun traditional fantasy anime. Good lead. Very nice Ufotable animation. No idea how they'll wrap this up in another 13 episodes though. Feels like the story hasn't even gone anywhere. There isn't even a complete party yet. Wtf?!
Aaaaaand that's the end of season 1. Was pretty entertaining. Good fun traditional fantasy anime. Good lead. Very nice Ufotable animation. No idea how they'll wrap this up in another 13 episodes though. Feels like the story hasn't even gone anywhere. There isn't even a complete party yet. Wtf?!
GoldCrusader
Member
Lets hope they do wrap it up nicely considering there are more Berseria episode coming again. So it's not really 12 and more like 10.
But considering what they cut from the game the first part (what they did with Attak? for exemple, that was an entire dungeaon in the game) I think they can do it.
I thought you're the bastion of positivity, why are you bringing me this terrible news?!
SolidSnakeUS
Member
Is it worse than Dragonauts?
PdotMichael
Banned
After watching all of LoveLive I just realize that Umi never got an own dedicated episode.
What kind of crime is that?
What kind of crime is that?
Cornbread78
Member
Yeah, I have to question this when comparing where they were with the game at this point. If they keep at this pace (which is SOOOO much better than the game) it's hard to see them not rolling out a third season since there are several party members not introduced and many events not even touched upon yet.
GoldCrusader
Member
Better for you to know now then later heh? But with how they edited the story in the first part(like I said in my edited post) I'm pretty sure they can do good.I thought you're the bastion of positivity, why are you bringing me this terrible news?!
It was part of their contract with Kakifly to allow them the use of P2 colour Mio in their show.
names2hard4you
Member
Or they could just totally go "We showed you half of the game. Now go play for 20hrs to reach this point and see where the story goes!"
Obviously hope that isn't the case. I've just finished episode 6 last night and I agree, although the added scenes and pace are 100x better, I remember these scenes being at the start of the game. I mean I quit after around 10 hours and I still haven't caught up with where I left off.
GoldCrusader
Member
I back this up! Zestiria just has the best cast of characters. Loved all of the skits. My boys Sorey and Mikleo are just the best.
Same studio, same cast, the OP even had Earphones singing it in and the three Akiba's Trip female members dressed up in the idol outfit that they used in Sore ga Seiyuu.
They couldn't be more obvious if they want to.
Cornbread78
Member
I keep trying to keep track of the events in my head as I watch the anime and I think I've lost it a little bit, lol. I really hope they do a full adaptation and go with 36 episodes in the end and keep filling in the story gaps that we experienced in the game. I mean, what was Alisha doing during those other events?
I also hope they go into some of the ruin exploration that we saw in ep.1...
Also, we need to see more Normins love; like we did in EP.00
The cast is fun, but I wish there were more skits. Felt less than previous games.
His name will always be Slay to me!
?
All the party members have been shown at this point. Unless you're referring to the Berseria crew or something.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ne...s-anime-strike-paid-streaming-service/.110924
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Cornbread78
Member
uummmmm... well yes and no....
GoldCrusader
Member
I remember people did call like that when the trailers for aired based on how they said his name in Japanese.
So Ducky big question here, what is your favourite armatization so far?
The only acceptable answer is water btw.
names2hard4you
Member
Like I said last week:
OTHER METHODS
OTHER METHODS
GoldCrusader
Member
Maybe he means that
the wind Seraph contract hasnt been made so far? And that we know Zaveid is the true last member.
DeadRockstar
Member
hosannainexcelsis
Member
So, Amazon wants me to pay extra on top of my Prime subscription just to see the couple anime titles they have locked up? No thanks.
names2hard4you
Member
And here I thought only Canada got the short end of the stick in the anime spectrum.
But yeah Amazon must be kidding themselves if they think people wouldn't simply resourt to piracy rather than paying an extra fee on top of their subscription to just watch the potential one or two shows that may be interesting on there every year.
But yeah Amazon must be kidding themselves if they think people wouldn't simply resourt to piracy rather than paying an extra fee on top of their subscription to just watch the potential one or two shows that may be interesting on there every year.
Same here. Cast was great.
Lance n' masques was just bland and boring (from the 1 episode I've seen).
Hand Shakers actively tries to make you gouge out your eyeballs.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
This makes Daisuki look like a good deal.
Joe Molotov
Member
Wow, a thousand episodes, you guys!!!
nah
For a time there was mystery and confusion as to what their grand plan was. This ending is more hilarious than anyone could have anticipated!
nintendoman58
Member
...
So let me get this straight. In order to watch shows that Amazon has, say, stuff by noitaminA, you not only have to subscribe to Amazon Prime, but also subscribe to another service within the subscription to get access to the anime they have.
Yeah, but only in the US. It's still included in Prime everywhere else.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
"Now"?
Cornbread78
Member
Scum's Wish ep.1
Umm, I haven't been this uncomfortable watching something like in quite some time. I'm not even sure how I should feel about it at this point. It's not that it was over-ecchi, or it was gross, but it was very real... very, very, real to an uncomfortable point. Their true love interests are blah and you know it's never going to happen, but damn, just how far down the rabbit hole do these two go? I can see him becoming quite abusive, not necessarily sexually, but emotionally and mentally towards her more than anything. I still kinda feel uncomfortable after watching that, but I'll take a look next week still... I need a cigarette now...
yup. I don't want to spoil anything though...
Umm, I haven't been this uncomfortable watching something like in quite some time. I'm not even sure how I should feel about it at this point. It's not that it was over-ecchi, or it was gross, but it was very real... very, very, real to an uncomfortable point. Their true love interests are blah and you know it's never going to happen, but damn, just how far down the rabbit hole do these two go? I can see him becoming quite abusive, not necessarily sexually, but emotionally and mentally towards her more than anything. I still kinda feel uncomfortable after watching that, but I'll take a look next week still... I need a cigarette now...
yup. I don't want to spoil anything though...
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