Expand isn't a Japanese word either, so they're not going to be helped much there!
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Captain Earth |OT| Can you feel the soul of mecha anime in your BONES?
- Thread starter duckroll
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Expand isn't a Japanese word either, so they're not going to be helped much there!
So you admit that the visual context is all that's left to explain the word's meaning! Concession accepted.
Episode 2-
Oh and mascot animal is cute
http://a.pomf.se/rlbmas.webm
So yea, this isn't going to be a straightforward plot. There were a lot of words thrown around and I'm still not sure what all of it means.
Livlaster-An alien in the shape of a gun. This is almost certainly the loli from last episode, in that she can shapeshift, as it seems she can communicate with Daichi and control him if necessary. It's seemingly a two way street in that Daichi can magically call upon the gun. It also works as a power source for Orgone Energy. Currently there are only two Livlasters that are seemingly known about, and Daichi's one is a mystery in regards to where it came from.
Orgone Energy-Seemingly what powers the Earth Engine mech. The Livlaster either generates this or it's a byproduct of using the Livlaster. Libido energy seems to be the alternate power source that powers the Kiltgang mechs.
Ego Block-The block at the end of the fight. It can teleport through the use of the Entangle Link(the antenna thing on the moon?). My guess is the Entangle Link is the thing on the moon. They can't just teleport to Earth due to it causing a libido burst. I'm also guessing libido burst means they blow up, hence the burst part.
The Kiltgang stuff is where I'm getting lost at. Mainly because the CEO or whatever is using the Kiltgang for his own ends, the Macbeth Revolution crap. He's seemingly using them to develop the Machine Goodfellows (another name for the mechs?) and also for the Revolution stuff. I'm guessing he wants to hijack the Ark plan. The issue here is that I'm trying to figure out why the Kiltgang is trying to reach Earth and if they have avatars already on Earth then it's a little weird for them to teleport out, only to drive back in manually. So is that base/station on Uranus and the CEO is not from Earth?
So yea, the Kiltgang component is convoluted as fuck right now as I'm not sure if I'm understanding the setup correctly. Anyway I enjoyed the rest of the episode, mainly because Daichi is pretty awesome. Kid clearly gives no fucks. One thing I've liked in regards to Daichi's characterization is the contrast compared to episode 1. In episode 2 after he's back on Earth, he's much happier and seemingly has an interest in other people(unlike his group of friends in the city). He starts to act like when he was a kid.
The other bit of characterization that I liked was the flashback to Daichi's father saying that he would die with a smile on his face. What I liked about this scene is that Daichi seemingly rejects that and would rather not die at all. He either won't or can't do what his father did.
One area where I really do have to applaud the staff in is the coloring. The show has a really vibrant color spectrum and it really brings a lot of oomph to the production. There is also some really good framing, such as the above image, throughout the episode. On a storyboarding level, this has been a really good start. I do wish a bit more attention was paid to the lighting as I feel it's a little bit flat and I would love some more tone work.
Oh and mascot animal is cute
http://a.pomf.se/rlbmas.webm
Complex Shadow
Cudi Lame
this show goes faster than the speed of light
. ep 1 went from normal to mech faster than nick cage accepts a roll. and all i can remb from ep 2 is boomerang.
/s
I'm not really that interested in playing the "guess what each random term or plot foreshadowing means" game, but I think some of the Shakespearean stuff is fairly obvious on the surface.
The "Macbeth" organization planning some sort of "revolution" so MysteriousBadGuy can take over the world is pretty straightforward. I wonder if the "Puck" AI is meant to represent the three witches, or if his dealings with the aliens represent that instead. MysteriousBadGuy himself could either represent MacBeth or Oberon, possibly both, and it's quite clear that the Machine "Goodfellows" they're building are named after Puck himself, which could suggest that there's some trickery involved there.
I dunno if I'm a huge fan of such on-the-nose references though. It was fun when I was like 14 I guess, but it just seems so "oh oh look at me" these days. Sigh.
The "Macbeth" organization planning some sort of "revolution" so MysteriousBadGuy can take over the world is pretty straightforward. I wonder if the "Puck" AI is meant to represent the three witches, or if his dealings with the aliens represent that instead. MysteriousBadGuy himself could either represent MacBeth or Oberon, possibly both, and it's quite clear that the Machine "Goodfellows" they're building are named after Puck himself, which could suggest that there's some trickery involved there.
I dunno if I'm a huge fan of such on-the-nose references though. It was fun when I was like 14 I guess, but it just seems so "oh oh look at me" these days. Sigh.
distantmantra
Member
Watched the first episode last Saturday in Osaka on MBS, but then found it doesn't air in Tokyo until Sunday nights on Tokyo MX. I'm at the TIAT Sky Lounge in Haneda right now and they've got some Korean period drama dubbed in English on NHK G instead. Ugh.
Sir Blaming
Member
I don't really get the Kiltgang part though. why are they trying to get on earth when it looks like they are on earth?
I am guessing
as it is the only way(?)
I am guessing
interdimensional travel
Black Door
Banned
The girls in this are going to keep doujin artists busy for months.
seems to be your typical post-Eva "we torture the pilots because it maximizes their combat outputs and not because this is just some big ol' science fair project for us, honest" buttholes
MC using his BURNING JUSTICE to deliver a personal "fuck you" is based
Organization overseeing the mechs
MC using his BURNING JUSTICE to deliver a personal "fuck you" is based
Episode 3
I think the best way to enjoy this show is probably not to get attached to the very obviously dangerous "twist hooks" in the narrative. The characters have positive personalities, the animation is good, the story on the surface is fun enough, but goddamn those "look at me!" ominous scenes are so bad. They're right out of a JRPG playbook, pretending to be more important than they are, when they're really not needed to make the show "more" interesting because it's already enjoyable.
This is what I want more of instead of the Salty Dog nonsense:
It's random. It's silly. But it's honest and FUN.
I'll also take more of stuff like this:
Amazing faces.
I'll also not object if the entire show was just this:
Because [friendship] and [positivity] is important for making lead characters who are children non-annoying!
As far as the episode itself goes, I like where it's headed now because after the events of at the end of the episode, and based on the next episode preview, they're certainly starting to shake things up. The promise of a ground battle next week is very welcome indeed, since it means a) we don't have to watch the Expand sequence again, b) space battles all the time would be boring!
I think the best way to enjoy this show is probably not to get attached to the very obviously dangerous "twist hooks" in the narrative. The characters have positive personalities, the animation is good, the story on the surface is fun enough, but goddamn those "look at me!" ominous scenes are so bad. They're right out of a JRPG playbook, pretending to be more important than they are, when they're really not needed to make the show "more" interesting because it's already enjoyable.
This is what I want more of instead of the Salty Dog nonsense:
It's random. It's silly. But it's honest and FUN.
I'll also take more of stuff like this:
Amazing faces.
I'll also not object if the entire show was just this:
Because [friendship] and [positivity] is important for making lead characters who are children non-annoying!
As far as the episode itself goes, I like where it's headed now because after the events of at the end of the episode, and based on the next episode preview, they're certainly starting to shake things up. The promise of a ground battle next week is very welcome indeed, since it means a) we don't have to watch the Expand sequence again, b) space battles all the time would be boring!
I second your thoughts on the entertainment factor here duckroll - maybe it's the stupid faces and the hammy acting but the first part of the episode was genuinely funny, perhaps because of how over the top it was (I even enjoyed the repeated gag about the Chief going up and down in people's estimation).
I know the ominous scenes are silly, but when they're as inventive as the evil Salty Dog coffee cup telephone scene are I can't help but get swept up into the mythology and the nonsense of the whole thing. Plus the twist ending here was right up my street - I love mystical silliness like this.
I am really enjoying this show - I basically sit back for 22 minutes with a grin on my face the whole way through.
I know the ominous scenes are silly, but when they're as inventive as the evil Salty Dog coffee cup telephone scene are I can't help but get swept up into the mythology and the nonsense of the whole thing. Plus the twist ending here was right up my street - I love mystical silliness like this.
I am really enjoying this show - I basically sit back for 22 minutes with a grin on my face the whole way through.
Dedication Through Light
Member
3
Akari's introduction scene was annoying and aggravating but quickly made me change my view second half of the episode. Would definitely like it to be more of an insert song (so good) , Daichi in the Earth engine
, perfect combat setup and perfect way to handle antagonists.
Everything else in the anime for the plot is weak and fairly generic doing nothing interesting or spectacular so for a mecha in the context of the current climate its rather weak. Friendship moments make it pleasing to me but sadly, I want a somewhat serious world at large ideologies type even to go with it. Salty dog is bland.
Akari's introduction scene was annoying and aggravating but quickly made me change my view second half of the episode. Would definitely like it to be more of an insert song (so good) , Daichi in the Earth engine
Kiltgang Teppei tag teaming with him and Akari commanding defenses
Everything else in the anime for the plot is weak and fairly generic doing nothing interesting or spectacular so for a mecha in the context of the current climate its rather weak. Friendship moments make it pleasing to me but sadly, I want a somewhat serious world at large ideologies type even to go with it. Salty dog is bland.
PSYCHOHYZACK
Member
Captain Earth 3
This episode flowed a little better than the first two which I felt was a bit schizophrenic in its comedic beets with the children vs the uber serious Salty Dog stuff. I'm still cautious about this show overall as it seems to be purposefully obfuscating the actual plot. I still really have no firm grasp about what's going on and the show seems to have little interest in helping me. This would be OK if the mecha battles weren't so underwhelming, and what I did know about the plot was actually interesting. It just throws so much at me with little explanation that I just zone out and stop caring. It's not as bad as Mahouka in its need to unnecessarily complicate the world, but it's still pretty bad.
This episode flowed a little better than the first two which I felt was a bit schizophrenic in its comedic beets with the children vs the uber serious Salty Dog stuff. I'm still cautious about this show overall as it seems to be purposefully obfuscating the actual plot. I still really have no firm grasp about what's going on and the show seems to have little interest in helping me. This would be OK if the mecha battles weren't so underwhelming, and what I did know about the plot was actually interesting. It just throws so much at me with little explanation that I just zone out and stop caring. It's not as bad as Mahouka in its need to unnecessarily complicate the world, but it's still pretty bad.
victreeb3l
Member
Yeah, more hijinks with Misty and Uncle-san instead of BadGuyGlasses-San would be nice
Less EXPANDOOO technobabble scenes too, but honestly I've grown to love them just so I can make fun of em.
Less EXPANDOOO technobabble scenes too, but honestly I've grown to love them just so I can make fun of em.
Captain Earth - 4
So far character-wise, my main issue is with Hana. She doesn't get enough screen time out of the four and the screen time she does get, she doesn't do anything with it. She's easily the most bland of the lead four right now. Akari is picking up a lot of the slack though.
One interesting thing of note, the way the blue-haired guy described being in a Kill-T-Gang, he made it sound like an addiction.
The character art was off for almost all of the episode but there were still some good shots. This episode spends a lot of time explaining the setup essentially. It pretty much clarifies the Kill-T-Gang in regards to where they are, what their goals are, and some other background info. I should also mention while they do release some of the information in infodump bits, it is placed logically in that one of the parties doesn't know the information so it doesn't feel forced in that regards.
The show is very theatrical, in the old school sense. I didn't think much about this till the past week when somebody mentioned that the name of the organization, Globe, is the name of Sheakespare's theatre. I suppose you can take it as a literal interpretation of "All the world's a stage". The last episode pretty much had a soliloquy by Akari and this episode had two monologues, of sorts, as denoted by the spotlight. I am curious though whether they're going to do more with the Shakespeare stuff (as the show is absolutely littered with references) in regards to theme.
So far character-wise, my main issue is with Hana. She doesn't get enough screen time out of the four and the screen time she does get, she doesn't do anything with it. She's easily the most bland of the lead four right now. Akari is picking up a lot of the slack though.
One interesting thing of note, the way the blue-haired guy described being in a Kill-T-Gang, he made it sound like an addiction.
Oh and Pitz is awesome.
victreeb3l
Member
Captain Earth 4
Team Rocket is blasting off again!
That belly button forte totally made Daichii expando in certain places I bet
Pitz is pretty awesome. Wish he got more Hana this week. Looking forward to the next ep
Team Rocket is blasting off again!
That belly button forte totally made Daichii expando in certain places I bet
Pitz is pretty awesome. Wish he got more Hana this week. Looking forward to the next ep
in outer space.
So I've been wondering why characters in the show keep repeating the line, "The wind feels good here", (I thought it was random shit) but after seeing this image,
it struck me that this ties into the ye olde England theme that the show is running with. The mech itself has a pirate motif going on (similar to Tauburn being a musketeer) and so the line has to do with sailing.
Complex Shadow
Cudi Lame
ep 4
dear diary,
i have no clue what i just saw, or why i keep watching anime.
dear diary,
i have no clue what i just saw, or why i keep watching anime.
Watched episode 1 and was annoyed at the erratic pacing, seemed like two episodes mashed together.
Then the robot stuff happened and I was on board. Dat earth engine. Villain design is awful though. That alone devalues the show.
Star driver episode 1 was better tho.
Then the robot stuff happened and I was on board. Dat earth engine. Villain design is awful though. That alone devalues the show.
Star driver episode 1 was better tho.
arts&crafts
Member
When i clicked on the thread I thought Captain Planet was back for some reason
Episode 4
Yeah if they keep at this pace, I think the show should move faster than Star Driver, which is probably what something like this needs, since it started off feeling much less "original" compared to that. The main characters are pretty great though, and I like how they're starting to really differentiate the episodes now. The terminology babble is probably never going to go away unfortunately, since Enokido thinks he's really smart writing scripts like this. I wish he would make more pun jokes in the dialogue instead of trying to make stuff ~mysterious~ instead, because that's zzzzz. "Neoteny" confirms that the livblaster is actually the little girl Daichi saw though, probably the "spirit" of the island they're on. Whatever. Lol. Next week, space!
Yeah if they keep at this pace, I think the show should move faster than Star Driver, which is probably what something like this needs, since it started off feeling much less "original" compared to that. The main characters are pretty great though, and I like how they're starting to really differentiate the episodes now. The terminology babble is probably never going to go away unfortunately, since Enokido thinks he's really smart writing scripts like this. I wish he would make more pun jokes in the dialogue instead of trying to make stuff ~mysterious~ instead, because that's zzzzz. "Neoteny" confirms that the livblaster is actually the little girl Daichi saw though, probably the "spirit" of the island they're on. Whatever. Lol. Next week, space!
Delta Assault
Member
So like... how these feet work? Can the robot actually walk around on land? Those don't look very functional.
The feet seem to be a Shigeto Koyama thing. Nirvash spec3 had them and Heroman too iirc.
Btw, is Machine Goodfellow the name of the mech types in this show? I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the absurdity.
You ever study French? The term for "snowman" is bonhomme de neige ("snow goodfellow"), so it makes me think of that.
It's another Shakespeare reference here. Puck is also known as Robin Goodfellow - the spellings and pronunciation of "Robin"（ロビン）and "Machine"（マシン）are closer in Japanese than in English. At least, I presume that's what the reference is.
Lufiaddict
Member
Here's a Machine Goodfellow:
As for the mechs, the guys from Globe call them 'Kiltgang' (or 'KILL-T-GANG', as can be seen on their screens). They also attribute a Type number to them, in their order of appearance. When Amara and Moco say they are the 'Planetary Gears', they may refer to their mechs.
Type-1: Amarok
Pilot: Amara
(seen in episode 3, but appeared for the first time several years ago)
Type-2: Malkin
Pilot: Moco
(first seen in episode 1)
Type-3: Albion
Pilot: Teppei (Amara called him Alaya)
(first seen in episode 3)
(Yeah, I'm taking notes to try following the story!)
Windows Media Player? Did you download the episode?
Dedication Through Light
Member
5 - Starry Sky's Picture Book
Better than the previous episode but of course crunchyrolls awful video quality affected some enjoyment. Baffled visual oddities are able to make it through crunchyroll QC.
In any event, a Teppei focused story to help him realize family was something needed and thankfully not pushed to the final four or so episode of the anime like a few other series would have done.
Better than the previous episode but of course crunchyrolls awful video quality affected some enjoyment. Baffled visual oddities are able to make it through crunchyroll QC.
In any event, a Teppei focused story to help him realize family was something needed and thankfully not pushed to the final four or so episode of the anime like a few other series would have done.
Episode 5
For an episode without mechs, it was pretty good. There were some really nice scenes on the space station. Doesn't hurt that they got Ishida to play yet-another-mysterious-guy-with-purple hair. Star Driver much? Lol. The opening scene with the incorrect use of the belly button power was AMAZING. Enokido's humor is great when he gets it right. I love the kids in Captain Earth. They're nice people with happy personalities. The adults on the other hand, seem to exist only to bog the story down with nonsense. Maybe... that's the message of the story? Naaaaah.
---
Earth Engine = The Globe series of mechs, including the main white one, and the expansion modules for the gattai.
Kill-T-Gang = The aliens from Uranus whose true nature are immortal digital beings who can materialize into mechs in space.
Machine Goodfellow = The Macbeth Enterprises series of mechs which look like E7AO rejects or grunt mechs from SRW. They're meant to be piloted by the human avatars of the Kill-T-Gang, but they can also be used by the pilot to summon their real "body" from Uranus.
For an episode without mechs, it was pretty good. There were some really nice scenes on the space station. Doesn't hurt that they got Ishida to play yet-another-mysterious-guy-with-purple hair. Star Driver much? Lol. The opening scene with the incorrect use of the belly button power was AMAZING. Enokido's humor is great when he gets it right. I love the kids in Captain Earth. They're nice people with happy personalities. The adults on the other hand, seem to exist only to bog the story down with nonsense. Maybe... that's the message of the story? Naaaaah.
---
Earth Engine = The Globe series of mechs, including the main white one, and the expansion modules for the gattai.
Kill-T-Gang = The aliens from Uranus whose true nature are immortal digital beings who can materialize into mechs in space.
Machine Goodfellow = The Macbeth Enterprises series of mechs which look like E7AO rejects or grunt mechs from SRW. They're meant to be piloted by the human avatars of the Kill-T-Gang, but they can also be used by the pilot to summon their real "body" from Uranus.
phazedplasma
Member
So this is probably the first anime I've watched since Eureka 7.
So far so good. Main character is capable and some good supports.
Although, I find the mech design a little lacking and Hana extremely boring.
So far so good. Main character is capable and some good supports.
Although, I find the mech design a little lacking and Hana extremely boring.
Bellybutton Forte!
Lufiaddict
Member
Episode 5 summary:
Digital beings from Uranus, eh? Does this information come from promotional material such as the picture posted earlier or did I somehow miss that in the show?
Digital beings from Uranus, eh? Does this information come from promotional material such as the picture posted earlier or did I somehow miss that in the show?
The show does a pretty poor job of explaining anything without exposition so far. So yeah, the are more straightforward details in promotional materials and magazine articles. To be honest, I kinda wonder if they expect that fans would already know these things because they've been following the show. That would be pretty dumb.
Anyway, from what I gather, when the avatars use the Machine Goodfellow cockpit to "launch" their ego block, they're actually summoning their real self (which is some sort of virtual data form) from those server looking monoliths on the Uranus base, and it launches out of the server into a gate, which teleports it within range of Earth before it materializes as a mech. Macbeth Enterprises and the CEO are on Earth though, along with the avatars.
Lufiaddict
Member
Considering they shoved as much technobabble as they could in the first episode (Planetary Gears, Avatar, Entangle Gate, etc), it's safe to assume they're purposefully obfuscating the plot (to make it seem deeper than it is, and also to keep us nerds occupied).
Thanks for the clarifications. I wonder what's the deal with the moon though, since their base is on Uranus. Oh well, I guess we can't expect to know everything after five episodes.
And now for something completely different:
Captain Earth-6
Well they weren't lying I guess. This episode served as one big infodump for both the audience and characters serving to fill in all the narrative gaps so far. I liked this episode much more than 5 as it lays out some of the groundwork for the plot and also starting to put some needed work not only into Hana but the characters as a whole. It's pretty clear now what's going on even if there are a few quibbles. It also served to re-establish my faith in the narrative in that Enokido does have a grasp on the overall plot even if it seemed a little crazy early on. So the Kilt-T-Gang guys are going with the divide and conquer approach in that they're causing Globe to have infighting leaving them to 'hungry hungry hippo' the planet. Puck living up to its namesake I guess.
Also remember, always watch the boomerang.
I loved this style for the flashback. I really want an extended animated sequence in this style(similar to the Space Dandy episode but in higher mecha quality)
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