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Summer 2012 Anime |OT2| Of Suspended Anime Due To Olympics
- Thread starter dakkumauji
- Start date
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hosannainexcelsis
Member
Emma: A Victorian Romance Season 2 - End
That finale was unexpectedly dramatic and satisfyingly romantic.
In general, this season was much more lively than the first, due to a larger cast of colorful characters, more varied settings, a greater number of plot threads, and more consistent animation. Separating William and Emma was a good choice. At the same time, the titular character got almost overshadowed by everything that was going on around her. Her reserved, self-effacing, self-denying personality fit in better with the sedate, low-key tone of the first season; she's so much of a shrinking violet that it becomes difficult to root for her. Fortunately Hans was a good partner for her (
), helping to bridge the gap between her and the rest of her world, and William was very easy to root for. The struggle with society that he faced was convincingly portrayed, helping by an even stronger sense of the historical setting than the previous season. A very fun, well-made, worthwhile show, extremely unique in anime for a number of reasons.
I recall that Jexhius was complaining during his watch of the first season that doors don't open outward in England. Well, this time all the doors opened inward. Why this happened was made clear by the interview with the mangaka, Kaoru Mori, in the included booklet.
Considering that a door opening outward is the catalyst for Emma and William meeting in the first place, it's safe to say that was one of the inaccuracies she couldn't change.
On another note, sounds like things were rough for Mori when she was starting out in the manga business; I'm glad her hard work has paid off. She's a talented artist and writer.
That finale was unexpectedly dramatic and satisfyingly romantic.
In general, this season was much more lively than the first, due to a larger cast of colorful characters, more varied settings, a greater number of plot threads, and more consistent animation. Separating William and Emma was a good choice. At the same time, the titular character got almost overshadowed by everything that was going on around her. Her reserved, self-effacing, self-denying personality fit in better with the sedate, low-key tone of the first season; she's so much of a shrinking violet that it becomes difficult to root for her. Fortunately Hans was a good partner for her (
I feel sorry for the guy
I recall that Jexhius was complaining during his watch of the first season that doors don't open outward in England. Well, this time all the doors opened inward. Why this happened was made clear by the interview with the mangaka, Kaoru Mori, in the included booklet.
Considering that a door opening outward is the catalyst for Emma and William meeting in the first place, it's safe to say that was one of the inaccuracies she couldn't change.
On another note, sounds like things were rough for Mori when she was starting out in the manga business; I'm glad her hard work has paid off. She's a talented artist and writer.
dakkumauji
Member
The best girl in AW is probably one of those watchers that view the matches since characterization ruins every other girl instead. That and being near Haru.
Chet Rippo
Member
You should have used my loli basketball one
I wonder what's the historical accuracy for A Bride's Story and if her financials now allow her to easily do as much research as she wants.
Tekkon Kinkreet
I'd been meaning to watch this for quite some time. I hadn't before mainly because I simply never had a chance to sit down and watch this and also because I was a bit turned off by the character designs a while back (yes a bit shallow but I like to think my 'tastes' have matured a little since then). The story is fairly simple: two orphaned friends struggling to survive in a city on the brink of corruption but it also attempts to convey quite a few themes such as innocence, friendship, corruption, new replacing the old, and most overtly touched upon: the relationship between light and dark (good and evil, so to speak).
To get it out of the way, this film is an absolute treat for the eyes. Nearly every scene has potential for a desktop background and the animation is stunning. The background art is the best I've seen since Ghost In The Shell. The attention to detail is just mind-boggling so much that I found it difficult at first to keep up with the dialogue since I was so enraptured by the artwork. The city of Treasure Town is so unique and detailed and most importantly it feels very alive. As the film goes through several seasons, you see the denizens going about their respective businesses and you see much of the extended cast deal with the struggles in living in such a place. It's not conveyed as the best place to live but for most of those people, it's their home. The character designs are pretty different than your 'traditional' animu designs but there's something fairly charming about them. They can be on the simplistic side but they also convey a good range of emotions. I can't say I loved or hated the character designs but I think it's just a matter of preference. In any case they don't detract from the film, at least in my opinion.
As for the overall story, I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty solid. The relationship between the two lead characters was pretty touching and the juxtaposition of their personalities (the hardened, street-wise Black and the endearingly innocent White) was interesting to watch. While the film kinda emphasizes the whole parallels of light/dark, good/evil, innocence/corruption from the start, I didn't feel like it shoved it in my face so much that it annoyed me. At least not until the end where the. The rest of the main cast of characters were all pretty solid but I honestly thought that most of the scenes not showcasing Black and White weren't as great. I will say that one of the most powerful scenes in the whole movie wasMinotaur manifests. It wasn't badly done per say I just wish it introduced that whole thing a bit earlier (aside from random hints in the dialogue) instead of leaving it until the very end. The whole scene was a bit weird compared to the rest of the film but despite that, Black ends up being a very interesting character in his struggle to not only protect White but to not completely fall into corruptionOverall, I enjoyed the story though the end was a bit weak in comparison to the first half.Suzuki's death. Though he wasn't a prominent character in the film, that scene with his conversation with both Kimura and then later Black was a pretty emotional scene, imo.
While the story probably isn't the films strongest point, I'd absolutely recommend the film simply for the background art porn and the excellent animation. It's an energetic film that can be pretty heartwarming at times. The character designs may put a few people off but the main duo are endearing and very entertaining to watch as the film progresses.
Tekkonkinkreet is amazing on an artistic level. Its visually exciting. That's the main reason I love Mindgame as well, but that's not popular here.
Well, she has the best figurine for sure.
UGUU~
Hayate no Gotoku! - 39
There seemed to be a lot more animation in this episode than normal.
I should research the credits/Gainax-staff for this one, because it was strikingly more well-drawn and well-animated in their styles (so probably a director and animation director/team). All the throwbacks in this episode were really something else. It was a great pleasure to watch this episode, not only noticing all the crazy amount of detail in each scene, but it was a nice end to this sort of arc that wrapped things up nicely.
Really great all around.
There seemed to be a lot more animation in this episode than normal.
I should research the credits/Gainax-staff for this one, because it was strikingly more well-drawn and well-animated in their styles (so probably a director and animation director/team). All the throwbacks in this episode were really something else. It was a great pleasure to watch this episode, not only noticing all the crazy amount of detail in each scene, but it was a nice end to this sort of arc that wrapped things up nicely.
Really great all around.
Basileus777
Member
If we are picking Accel World waifus, Ash Roller is the clear winner.
That was the best of the one suggested, I actually kind of like it but I held off because I thought you wanted to use it.
Spoilers bro....
Nah man feel free to use it. Unleash your inner loli
Whoa now, let's not go that far. I thought it was cute.
Basileus777
Member
Huh? Does this actually happen? Haha.
Obviously the best girl is Takumu.
dakkumauji
Member
There's a reason why anime fans only like anime faces in 2D> Nightmare fuel.
no it owns!
Dedication Through Light
Member
My choice
amishpriest99
Member
Fate/Zero 10
Illya may be ultra-cute, but Rin holds her own
. Pretty entertaining for what basically was a filler episode.
Fate/Zero 11
Yep, Iskander rocks.
Illya may be ultra-cute, but Rin holds her own
. Pretty entertaining for what basically was a filler episode.Fate/Zero 11
Yep, Iskander rocks.
Figures his ultimate noble phantasm would be something as epic as a gigantic army of Heroic Spirits.
Fate/Zero 10
Illya may be ultra-cute, but Rin holds her own
Fate/Zero 11
Yep, Iskander rocks.Figures his ultimate noble phantasm would be something as epic as a gigantic army of Heroic Spirits.
Yes Fate Zero was an incredible experience. Cute characters, badass servants, ruthless asshole masters, Kingly swagger, and gorgeous art. It had EVERYTHING.
Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion
When compared with the absolute batshit insane sensory overload murder orgy of the first installment, this was a fucking putrid nothing of a sequel. Mardock Scramble: The First Compression was still an awful, awful film, but it at least had the decency to have actual things going on as the source of its awfulness as opposed to the agonizing crawl of passive awfulness that made The Second Combustion into the insulting borefest that it is. The first half of First Compression was a relentless onslaught of exposition, ffs, and it still had ten times the content that this did. Everyone creatively involved with this franchise should be ashamed.
Basically, the entire second installment is two long scenes. The first, which involves the immediate aftermath of the first film's cliffhanger ending, has
. Between the horrible ultra-saturated rainbow filter covering everything, the dolphins, and the fanciful "shit floating in the sky for no reason" motif, the place looked like it was ripped from a freaking Lisa Frank poster:
Amidst the twenty or so minutes that the film spends meandering through this hellishly hideous setting Rune-Balot receives a little characterization by way of interaction with a couple of other people in the facility, but that ends up amounting to nothing and the scene largely becomes an excuse to show her naked ass and tits as much as possible culminating in the movie's sole gorefest scene courtesy of this guy:
Mardock Scramble truly is a lost 90s OVA because they got WAKAMOTO of all people to play this dude. Hearing the dulcet tones of his voice is pretty much the only not-terrible thing about the entire experience, and the aged seiyuu proves that he's still at the top of his game by channeling a really delightful and unrestrained insanity into his role. On two or three occasions, he makes the most incredible noise, somewhat akin to a duck strangling on sawdust, which absolutely must be heard to be believed. Sadly, his role is over quickly, and the rest of the movie becomes mired in one of the most miserably boring thirty minutes of anime I've experienced in quite some time.
To break the premise for the next scene down, something something the guy who wants Rune-Balot dead something something casino something, so Dr. Easter something something infiltrate a casino with Rune-Balot because something. Cue thirty minutes of utterly horrible, incomprehensible telepathic omniscient faux-card counting from Oeufcocque interspersed with 2deep4u conversation on fortune entirely utilizing roulette metaphors, all because something something win all the chips something sensitive data stored in chips something. Hearing a golden mouse prattle on at length about reading your opponent's breath and telling what cards opponents are holding by how they hold their chips and how we're going to let that guy win so that guy loses so that guy loses so that guy wins so that we win so that guy wins so that we win is some supremely unengaging shit.
And after they accomplish their goal?
At least there was this, I guess:
Dr. Evil-approved
Seriously, people, at least answer me this: how could a traditional gambling casino exist in a futuristic environment where cheating is as easy as having a telepathic link with someone? The whole business model would collapse. Hell everything about that scene was dumb. I can't get over it.
GEE I WONDER WHY
When compared with the absolute batshit insane sensory overload murder orgy of the first installment, this was a fucking putrid nothing of a sequel. Mardock Scramble: The First Compression was still an awful, awful film, but it at least had the decency to have actual things going on as the source of its awfulness as opposed to the agonizing crawl of passive awfulness that made The Second Combustion into the insulting borefest that it is. The first half of First Compression was a relentless onslaught of exposition, ffs, and it still had ten times the content that this did. Everyone creatively involved with this franchise should be ashamed.
Basically, the entire second installment is two long scenes. The first, which involves the immediate aftermath of the first film's cliffhanger ending, has
Rune-Balot and Oeufcocque transported to some kind of secret laboratory run by mad scientists for their convalescence
Amidst the twenty or so minutes that the film spends meandering through this hellishly hideous setting Rune-Balot receives a little characterization by way of interaction with a couple of other people in the facility, but that ends up amounting to nothing and the scene largely becomes an excuse to show her naked ass and tits as much as possible culminating in the movie's sole gorefest scene courtesy of this guy:
Mardock Scramble truly is a lost 90s OVA because they got WAKAMOTO of all people to play this dude. Hearing the dulcet tones of his voice is pretty much the only not-terrible thing about the entire experience, and the aged seiyuu proves that he's still at the top of his game by channeling a really delightful and unrestrained insanity into his role. On two or three occasions, he makes the most incredible noise, somewhat akin to a duck strangling on sawdust, which absolutely must be heard to be believed. Sadly, his role is over quickly, and the rest of the movie becomes mired in one of the most miserably boring thirty minutes of anime I've experienced in quite some time.
To break the premise for the next scene down, something something the guy who wants Rune-Balot dead something something casino something, so Dr. Easter something something infiltrate a casino with Rune-Balot because something. Cue thirty minutes of utterly horrible, incomprehensible telepathic omniscient faux-card counting from Oeufcocque interspersed with 2deep4u conversation on fortune entirely utilizing roulette metaphors, all because something something win all the chips something sensitive data stored in chips something. Hearing a golden mouse prattle on at length about reading your opponent's breath and telling what cards opponents are holding by how they hold their chips and how we're going to let that guy win so that guy loses so that guy loses so that guy wins so that we win so that guy wins so that we win is some supremely unengaging shit.
And after they accomplish their goal?
BOOM, CLIFFHANGER END. No more fights, no more garish gratuitous guts or rape or body horror, just the fucking casino. I hated the manner in which the extreme violence and sexuality was handled in the first film, but come on. That's what defines Mardock Scramble for me at this point. Not scheming, not introspection, not pointless plot tangents that consume the majority of an hour. I feel supremely cheated.
At least there was this, I guess:
Dr. Evil-approved
Seriously, people, at least answer me this: how could a traditional gambling casino exist in a futuristic environment where cheating is as easy as having a telepathic link with someone? The whole business model would collapse. Hell everything about that scene was dumb. I can't get over it.
Im not gonna lie. I'm a fan of color color EVERYWHERE so this looks extremely interesting to me. however, I have heard that the story and events in this show can be frustrating and infuriating. Im pretty conflicted.
Chet Rippo
Member
To late man.
Well, tons and tons of color is fine as long as it's skillfully-applied and looks natural. The thing about Mardock Scramble is that the color looks incredibly unnatural--they basically animate the movie and then smear a rainbow filter over everything without much regard for how it affects the composition of the scenes. Personally, it's not remotely pleasing to the eye.
I could handle it in Paradise or whatever it was called as I thought it was part of the setting but the casino? Fuck no. Everything looked off due to it.
There's no justifying it. No way. This is pure stupidity.
You guys weren't kidding about Accel World 17 hahah.
First time posting here, please treat me nice
You joined
I saw that lovely Sawa avatar and just had to get you over here.
And no worries, you're among friends.
cosmicblizzard
Banned
Fairy Tail 142
They're really screwing with the canon here. If Doranbalt has been an alcoholic mess for the last 7 years and even goes so far as to call him by his fake alias, Mest, then wouldn't that conflict with later potential stuff in case it was revealed he was actually doing shit during the timeskip?
Also, why are like 8+ villains in this filler arc broken as hell?
They're really screwing with the canon here. If Doranbalt has been an alcoholic mess for the last 7 years and even goes so far as to call him by his fake alias, Mest, then wouldn't that conflict with later potential stuff in case it was revealed he was actually doing shit during the timeskip?
Also, why are like 8+ villains in this filler arc broken as hell?
It certainly comes across that it's some kind of law of nature that it has to rain during a funeral. It's been over for a little while now but I'll have to catch up more with the thread later.
Hypocrites can be annoying can't they? I have to deal with a big one everyday and it's getting to the point of being REALLY annoying.
The artwork in your avatar caught my interest before. I just wanted to quickly inquire where it's from?
As a fan of Sailor Moon I just wanted to ask what didn't you like about it?
Haha, I kind of feel the same about when I brought up about gender references. I made sure to word my posts in such a way though such that my gender still remains anonymous.
I didn't either. As a Sailor Moon fan I had to inquire.
I've liked all the ones I've seen so far but I've also only seen a few.
I loved the Shaft Palutena shorts. I could be wrong but wasn't it announced that Shaft would be doing more shorts or even a full series?
I think it was Steroyd who mentioned he/she found it hard to watch long films. I'm the same way but I enjoyed the Haruhi movie enough that time seemed to honestly fly by. Three hours felt more like one and a half or maybe two hours.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and watch some anime.
Hypocrites can be annoying can't they? I have to deal with a big one everyday and it's getting to the point of being REALLY annoying.
This thread is going fast! I last visited it around page 97 or something.
The artwork in your avatar caught my interest before. I just wanted to quickly inquire where it's from?
As a fan of Sailor Moon I just wanted to ask what didn't you like about it?
Haha, I kind of feel the same about when I brought up about gender references. I made sure to word my posts in such a way though such that my gender still remains anonymous.
What the actual fuck? I know
I didn't either. As a Sailor Moon fan I had to inquire.
I've liked all the ones I've seen so far but I've also only seen a few.
I loved the Shaft Palutena shorts. I could be wrong but wasn't it announced that Shaft would be doing more shorts or even a full series?
I think it was Steroyd who mentioned he/she found it hard to watch long films. I'm the same way but I enjoyed the Haruhi movie enough that time seemed to honestly fly by. Three hours felt more like one and a half or maybe two hours.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and watch some anime.
You guys weren't kidding about Accel World 17 hahah.
First time posting here, please treat me nice
Welcome. Now post your MAL so that we may proceed with the judging.
You joined
I saw that lovely Sawa avatar and just had to get you over here.
And no worries, you're among friends.
yep I've been aware of animeGAF for a while but I never took the first step until now.
Sawa forever <3
Don't have one. I'm kinda lazy and I think it'll take waaaay too long for me to keep it up-to-date.
ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
Yes, hypocrites are shitty. I guess that means everybody is shitty because we are all hypocrites but thats a technicality. I grew a thick skin over time about many things, so not much gets to me, but I hate dealing with people who say one thing and do another.
As for your gender, animeGAF has all kinds, and I do means all kinds. We dont discriminate.
Shaft does need to make a short series. I haven't heard an announcement though. Where did you hear of this?
hosannainexcelsis
Member
I remember hearing that reported, but I think it was just a misinterpretation of Nintendo rerunning the shorts on their video service.
Yes indeed. Sawa is the best.
As for MAL, don't worry about that. Its a massive pain in the ass to update and I have pretty much still not gotten mine up to date yet. I might never.
But anyway, welcome to the greatest place on Gaf.
Chet Rippo
Member
They better.
Never seen it.
That reminds me, I'm still waiting on duckroll to post his MAL.
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