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Fall 2012 Anime |OT| Meet the new world, same as the old world

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duckroll

Member
I think the song started out slow but I got really into it once the better images during it started to show up and she reached the big part of the song.

I hope they provide bigger images of those that were used in it in some form or another.

There will be a postcard set of all the ending illustrations in Akito packed with the limited edition blu-ray release in January.
 

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
tumblr_mb67wbwXhu1qzqnxxo1_500.gif


Shinsekai ahh!
 

Defuser

Member
Anyway it's quite unusual for Kyoani to have another show soon considering they always been doing 1 show per year. I'm not surprised why Chunnibyou production is slightly worse.
 
Anyway it's quite unusual for Kyoani to have another show soon considering they always been doing 1 show per year. I'm not surprised why Chunnibyou production is slightly worse.

well, I don't think Hyouka and Chuu2 is more work than Nichijou and the K-On! movie.
 

SDBurton

World's #1 Cosmonaut Enthusiast
Binbougami ga - 13 [END]


Enjoyable final episode. Ranmaru is so damn awesome, and the
MomijixIchiko fluff
at the end was great.

Here's hoping there will be a second season.
 

Westlo

Member
Anyway it's quite unusual for Kyoani to have another show soon considering they always been doing 1 show per year. I'm not surprised why Chunnibyou production is slightly worse.

Not always, they did Kanon 2006, Lucky Star and Clannad without a break, had 6 months off and than did AS, new Munto and K-ON back to back and than released the Haruhi Movie a few months after K-On finished.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Individually, both also pack 2 eps per disc.. but Kadokawa's pricing is usually more expensive than other anime's disc (that already expensive as hell in the first place)

That's interesting that they're selling the discs for cheaper. Trying to pump those numbers back up it seems.
 

BluWacky

Member
No, seriously, where are they getting all this money from?

I assume they have a partnership with Crunchyroll whereby streaming and home video rights are rolled into the same agreement and Sentai handles the home video distribution side of things.

But it can only be Crunchy that's got any money these days.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
It's not so much that Pony Canyon charges less, it's that Kadokawa consistently charges more than anyone else in the industry.

I get ya. That makes more sense. I've only started following Japanese disc sales recently so I'm not aware of such things. Is this the first KyoAni show published by Pony Canyon, or have there been others?
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
The Key adaptations and the K-ON series were handled by Pony Canyon.

That's interesting, I had always thought KyoAni and Kadokawa were always partners. So does that mean the only super-successful Kadokawa/KyoAni work is the Haruhi series?

EDIT: Nevermind, forgot Lucky Star
 
Sengoku Collection 18


I think this wins the award for "Best Art in a TV Episode" this year. Whoever did this deserves to have their work shown in a gallery exhibition. The talent at Studio Pablo is incredible.

Other than that, I liked how the episode refrained from using any music and was content to let ambient sounds set the mood. It's too bad that it retained the use of the normal OP, eyecatch, and ED songs, which were painfully jarring in this context.
 

Narag

Member
Casshern: Robot Hunter (1993) 3

ZJnaG.jpg

All those sexy robot ladies.

More resistance by the humans and inexplicably Buraiking Boss can't figure out how to track down a submarine. This leads him to make a bizarre decision about rebuilding a bridge that only attracts Casshern's decision. Also Casshern is forced to weigh the notion that
his father's legacy is being carried out by the antagonist and, in turn, a portion of his father's spirit lives on in Buraiking Boss.

Later
Casshern stops the humans from blowing up a train, isn't sure why, then has to blow it up himself
which left this mostly a mess. I feel if I investiaged the original series, I'd find an ep or three that covers this iwithout compressing it to nonsense.
 

/XX/

Member
So, PdotMichael, how did you like that character animation? I think it does a good job, myself.

Good at censoring? Pure wholesome angelic girl confirmed.
ponpo... I hope, for your own good, that isn't Hadena... because it looks like it (and in a bad, nonsensical way, obviously).

Wow, this was a really impressive first episode on all counts. In fact one of the best I've seen in quite some time. Others have already touched on a couple really great things about this episode, the non linear storytelling, the quality of direction, etc, but one thing I found really engrossing about it was the incredibly oppressive atmosphere present throughout the episode. All parts of the production really tie into this feeling of unease and uncertainty with what is happening. (...)
Yep! That is one of the things it is transmitted pretty well even if you don't catch all what is happening due to the language barrier (http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=42637348&postcount=810). Knowing the unstable nature of their powers, possible sudden and immediate activation of them coupled with the fact that they are pre-adolescents, one wonders if with the mood presented they wouldn't end up snapping at any time.

It's from the second movement of Antonin Dvorak's 9th symphony, "From the New World", after which I assume the novel was named.

The same piece of music was used in the anime adaptation of Night on the Galactic Railroad, as well.
I knew I've heard that particular piece from somewhere!

Both this and the song that was playing at the end of the intro sequence were really good.
Maybe you have heard of it in other ways; the music (similar orchestration) can be found as well on the spiritual song Goin' Home (mentioned in this series by the characters as such when they hear the curfew notice tune), that spawned from Mr. Dvořák's second movement of its said '9th symphony' thanks to William Arms Fisher.

As for the second movement in itself, from what I remember it has been featured in other Japanese animation works like The Night of Taneyamagahara (http://www.ghibli.jp/taneyamagahara/40trailer/) or in one episode of Princess Tutu (like many, many other famous pieces throughout that series). However, seems like it hasn't been as widely used as the energetic fourth movement, be it in One Piece or its spectacular parody on BŌBOBO, both from Toei Animation... and many others.

Special mention to Gaiking: Legend Of Daikū Maryū (funnily enough by Toei Animation as well), that not only presented the second and fourth movements profusely as a recurrent theme for Proist, but also had her robot named Chō Maryū Dborak.

Every episode starts with a similar sequence.
Cool! I always found that a fine way of unfolding past events, constantly reminding on each episode the reasons why the world ended as how we see it in their present, constant motif. I liked that in CASSHERN Sins, for example.
 

Jex

Member
It's from the second movement of Antonin Dvorak's 9th symphony, "From the New World", after which I assume the novel was named.

The same piece of music was used in the anime adaptation of Night on the Galactic Railroad, as well.

In From the New World the music is clearly supposed to be foreboding. However, as a British person (and I don't know if my fellow citizens can back me up on this) all I can think about when I hear that tune is Ridley Scott's heart-warming advert:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dfAk3hxrSM
 

Jex

Member
[From The New World ]- 1

There's a lot to unpack here and I don't really know how far I should delve into the rabbit hole at this venture, but then again speculation is fun. Actually, considering how little the show gives you to work with, I suppose speculation is necessary.

This episode opens with a brief sequence depicting 'the world as we know it' before jumping into the distant future, where mankind has reverted into some kind of agricultural society. There's a twist, however, in that
mankind, or at least this region of it, appears to have developed psychic powers. Everyone, apparently, has to go a variety of particular schools and undergo certain rituals to be fully trained in these powers. Very little is explained about their origin in this episode, but in the sequence we see during the opening it appears that certain individuals spontaneously gained physic powers, with gruesome results.

This episode has little interest in directly filling in the backstory of what's happened in the past 1000 years, neither are we told anything about the world that the main characters inhabit. This is for a very good reason - the protagonist, Saki, and all her friends are children. We see the world through their eyes, sometimes literally, as in this shot where the adult towers above the child:

FromTheNewWorld1.jpg


This allows the show to build up the mystery of the setting in an organic, rather than contrived manner. We get the sense that there's a lot that these children have not been told by their parents, elders, and teachers. They are used to following instructions, obeying and not directly questioning authority. We see this in a couple of sequences. Firstly, during sequence of the 'future' Saki experiences some kind of religious ceremony whose real purpose is unclear, the elders at the Temple simply instruct Saki how to act and she does so willingly. Presumably her parents of briefed her on what this entails but the whole event has a suspicious air to it. Later on in the episode one of Saki's classmates reads from a textbook that contains a tail of a child who broke the rules, specifically he broke the rule to never, ever cross the boundary line that surrounds the village because if you do some scary monster will come eat you up. Saki's classmate recites the story upon her teachers instruction and then the class move on to something else - but no one questions the veracity of the story, or how it clearly seems like something made up to ensure compliance with what appears to be a fairly arbitrary rule.

Once again, this demonstrates how important the notion of childhood is to the story being told. Childhood is a time of obeying adults instructions and following their guidance, of obeying rules that perhaps you're too young to understand the full implications of. The world of this show is filled to the brim with such rules: don't stay out too late, don't cross the boundary line, don't look in the courtyard etc etc. Compliance with these rules seems very important, presumably become it limits the children's interaction with the 'outside world'. A world that the adults are trying to keep hidden and about which we, in the audience, know nothing at all.

What we can detect, and what Saki has certainly has noticed, is that there's something wrong with the Academy, with her parents, with the life that they lead. There's a number of things which feel off - these instances of foreshadowing and discomfort are delivered by some really precise cinematography and editing. One technique that I'm quite fond of is the extremely quick edit they use something slightly weird is happening: such as when Saki and boy spot 'white slug', or when Saki looks skywards during the ceremony, or when Reiko's teacher pauses in his tracks. You know that you've seen something, but because they've cut away to the next scene you really can't be certain what you just saw - this makes you feel uncomfortable. It's like seeing something out of the corner of your eye that's gone before you can focus on it.

A number of other scenes feel distinctly...off, which was clearly done intentionally. When Saki has her 'dream of awakening' or whatever, Saki's mother rushes into her room far too quickly and grasps onto her child far too tightly. Of course, Saki's parents are happy she's awoken, but why is her mother so relieved? Later on in the episode
we discover that Saki had a brother or sister who was 'taken away' because she never developed any abilities. Saki's mother even uses the world 'relieved' at dinner during conversation about this topic.
.

FromTheNewWorld2.jpg


Similarly, some quite important things are glossed over. What happened to the children at Saki's school who didn't graduate? None of Saki's friends want to know - either they know something or they don't want to face up to what really might be going behind closed doors. Only Saki seems interested in questioning what's going on around her. Just in case this wasn't enough,
the fate of one of Reiko, one of Saki's classmates speaks volumes. She seems to barely have any control over her power at all - she isn't 'fit for purpose'. The last we see of her is this brief shot below. There's some thing very off about the way the teacher freezes in his tracks as soon as Saki leaves the building.

FromTheNewWorld5.jpg


This earlier shot seems very telling as well:

FromTheNewWorld4.jpg


Do you notice how
the teacher appears to be behind the boundary rope? Given what we've seen earlier, the only thing that lies behind the boundary line are monsters who kill people. The shot itself is designed to look creepy, because so much of the frame is devoted to the background and not the teacher smiling innocently near the bottom of the image. The fact that they show this image just after Reiko fails her dust painting and just before she's apparently 'disappeared' can't be a coincidence.

This isn't the only thing that makes Academy that they're studying in questionable. Well, I suppose you wouldn't need many other reasons to suspect something is up but the show gives you a few. Firstly, the focus on team work and team building seems a little excessive, more like they're being trained to be a squad. Why couldn't they practice these skills on their own? It feels like they're being trained up for some ulterior purpose that may well be military in nature.

Lastly, there's a sequence where Saki is remembering a trip they all took to the farm. This allows to get a glimpse at some of the crazy creatures that inhabit this world but it also allows Saki to draw a direct comparison between the farm and the Academy. In case you didn't get it through the words, they spell it out visually:

FromTheNewWorld3.jpg


If we are to take this literally it would suggest that these children are being fattened up and raised for some purpose.

Now, I know that I've barely touched on this visuals or the music which is a shame because the production is really excellent in these areas. Not only is the score affective but there's some good sound cues as well, such as the noise that plays when Reika fails to paint her picture. Without spending too much time on it, I'll just point out a sequence that I like. At the start it seems like a perfectly normal conversation between Saki and her parents, and it's shot fairly normally. As the conversation becomes more uncomfortable the family break apart into different frames of the image:

FromTheNewWorld6.jpg

FromTheNewWorld7.jpg

FromTheNewWorld8.jpg


This is an extremely promising opening episode: if the rest of the series is up to this calibre then we're going to have a really great show on our hands.

Also, the character designs actually look perfectly fine in the show - which is what I attempted to argue for earlier! Doubters. The animation isn't too sloppy either:

newworld.gif
 

BluWacky

Member
So just to make things explicit for the next couple of days:

Tonight sees the premiere of Hi-iro no Kakera season 2 (on Crunchyroll in the next half an hour).

Tomorrow sees the premieres of:

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Kami-sama Hajimemashite
Chiisana Ojisan
Lychee deLIGHT Club

None of which have been announced for streaming (and it's unlikely anyone will care about Chiisana Ojisan).

Tuesday only brings two shows - Gyrozetter and Wooser no Sono Higurashi. Again, neither are announced for streaming, and Wooser will interest almost no-one.

Jexhius said:
In From the New World the music is clearly supposed to be foreboding. However, as a British person (and I don't know if my fellow citizens can back me up on this) all I can think about when I hear that tune is Ridley Scott's heart-warming advert:

You beat me to posting this. I forget that the New World Symphony isn't quite as engrained on the public consciousness everywhere else in the world as it is here - Hovis used this music for absolutely years for their adverts (I think they still do?).
 
So just to make things explicit for the next couple of days:

Tonight sees the premiere of Hi-iro no Kakera season 2 (on Crunchyroll in the next half an hour).

Tomorrow sees the premieres of:

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
Kami-sama Hajimemashite
Chiisana Ojisan
Lychee deLIGHT Club

None of which have been announced for streaming (and it's unlikely anyone will care about Chiisana Ojisan).

Tuesday only brings two shows - Gyrozetter and Wooser no Sono Higurashi. Again, neither are announced for streaming, and Wooser will interest almost no-one.
.

Tonari and Kamisama seems like something that ought to be picked up, and I hope for Gyrozetter...
 
None of which have been announced for streaming (and it's unlikely anyone will care about Chiisana Ojisan).

I care. A series about an old guy who bathes in a tea cup? Why not?

Tuesday only brings two shows - Gyrozetter and Wooser no Sono Higurashi. Again, neither are announced for streaming, and Wooser will interest almost no-one.

I'm kind of curious about Wooser, just to see what Sanzigen does with it.
 

Grzi

Member
From the New World - 1

A really solid first episode, I'm intrigued by the premise, the setting and the atmosphere are unique and very interesting and the audiovisual presentation is top-notch. Can't wait to see more.
 
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