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[Narag]

Gatchaman Crowds 2

Good ep. I wonder if the adapative OP has hints past doing stuff for the sake of cool. I guess Berg-Katze's suit will be visible toward the end in it. Hajime was much less overbearing this episode and better controlled the flow of things, I think. Wasn't really expecting Hajime to be a question mark in this either as I just assumed she'd be the standard conscripted girl. Between this and the second fight, my expectations have been way off thus far. Curious where GALAX and that mysterious X goes though.

I was glad it touched on the differing costumes. Figured it'd be something like this but it's nice to have confirmation.

Dartboard was a nice callback to Joe's proficiency with feather shurikens in the older stuff too. Kinda wished I'd gone through the earlier series before this came out to see what other subtle visual cues I might be missing out on.

 

[7Th]

Episode 2 was much better than the first; it really worked despite the cheapness and the direction felt pretty smooth. Hajime rocks.

 

[the_standard]

I don't really get any "bird" feeling from this in anyway, I like all 3 iterations of gatchaman shows and the ova's, this is just too different for me, I could see how other people might like it as a seperate thing though.

 

[Regulus Tera]

I love the trolling to Gatchaman fans. I feel sorry for all of you nonetheless.

 

[Envelope]

Hajime is annoying, second ep is alright even though it suffers from the ol' "protagonist is always right".

 

[dakkumauji]

Episode 2

Hajime is still pretty tiring to watch and follow. The episode was pretty great though and definitely hooked me on knowing more about this world.

 

[wonzo]

Episode 2

the bird hairpins a really nice touch

I enjoyed this a fair bit more than the first which is mostly thanks to the back and forth between Hajime and Sugane. I think Nakamura's doing something really interesting by taking this old property and putting a new spin on things with his social commentary on the double edged sword of social networking and how it's benefits can also lead to some truly terrible things. I also appreciate the way it's fleshing out the world but simply referring to events and things, naturally letting the pieces fall into place instead of the usual dumb exposition dumps.

I far prefer an upbeat and weird MC like Hajime over the usually angsty protagonist we tend to see nowadays. I do like how her

Spoiler

approach to dealing with the MESS, a non-violent way of trying to understand them instead of fighting, tells us a great deal about herself but also hints towards some kinda peacefull co-existence with GALAX if the OP's anything to believe.

Speaking of the OP, the extra touch ups they've added to it just make a great thing even better!

tl;dr hajime owns :>

 

[Akainu]

Still not impressed with Crowds. But it's only 12 episodes right? It can't hurt to power through it. I don't get why they have a hard on for all the bird imagery. Where are they going with that?

Hajime is annoying, second ep is alright even though it suffers from the ol' "protagonist is always right".

I noticed this too. Makes me wonder how wrong these guys have been doing their jobs for.

 

[Kusagari]

Episode 2

Hajime basically is the show. I can see how someone could struggle with the show if they don't find her appealing.

Thankfully, Hajime is amazing. This episode confirmed that she is in no way stupid, and is in fact an expert at reading people, but simply goes along to the beat of her own drum.

Spoiler

Her refusal to conform to the standards of the Gatchaman, and in effect proving their methods are wrong, comes off as pretty cliche at first. But I think it's more than just Hajime being right. She's simply asking questions that should be obvious but the other Gatchman have their heads too far up their ass, and are too committed to the act of actually being a Gatchman - as we see with Sugane, to even think of.

The social network stuff and gradual reveal of the world itself has definitely piqued my interest in the plot as well. This is not where I expected the show to go based off the first episode.

 

[Chariot]

Hajime is annoying, second ep is alright even though it suffers from the ol' "protagonist is always right".

I don't think so. Hajime began to fight the MESS, but stopped in midfight when she realised, that MESS did not really fight back. The other Gatchaman just saw what MESS do: letting people and stuff disappear - what is obviously a bad thing and since MESS did no speak to them, they just assumed that killing it would be the best option. Its just Hajimes strange personality that lead to the understanding of the enemy.

I really like that uproach. I don't know why people here and on other boards getting irritated, when "enemies" don't get killed or at least beaten up. Peace through violence is getting old.

 

[Envelope]

I don't think so. Hajime began to fight the MESS, but stopped in midfight when she realised, that MESS did not really fight back. The other Gatchaman just saw what MESS do: letting people and stuff disappear - what is obviously a bad thing and since MESS did no speak to them, they just assumed that killing it would be the best option. Its just Hajimes strange personality that lead to the understanding of the enemy.

I really like that uproach. I don't know why people here and on other boards getting irritated, when "enemies" don't get killed or at least beaten up. Peace through violence is getting old.

That makes no sense since I never implied I preferred a violent approach but ok

It's annoying when the MC waltzes into something new, says "you're doing it all wrong!", and of course is right.

 

[DeadRockstar]

Hajime is a fair bit more charming in episode 2. More into the infectious side of the infectious/obnoxious scale. Her behaviour didn't seem as uncalibrated in the situations she was in this time. Seeing a slice of her personal life with the collage group probably helped with that.

The visual flair in the action sequences continues to be fun and nice to look at.

I liked the

Spoiler

peaceful treatment of the MESS being seemingly successful. At first they didn't seem like particularly interesting enemies, but since they're turning out to not be traditional enemies

I'm interested in seeing where things are going with that.

 

[Chariot]

That makes no sense since I never implied I preferred a violent approach but ok

I wasn't meant to be connected to your post. The second paragraph was another, generally statement. I am sorry, next time I shall structure my post better.

It's annoying when the MC waltzes into something new, says "you're doing it all wrong!", and of course is right.

While I generally agree with you on this, I still think that the situation is different in Gatchaman Crowds. Usually the established people are doing something obviously wrong or the protagonist is approched by the "others". But there was no way the other Gatchaman could found out, since they're not bothering for extended fights. The just see that the MESS take people and moved as fast as they could. Its Hajimes personality of not taking things seriously, that MESS had the time to do something that showed, that it was "alive" and sentient.

 

[Shergal]

It's true that Hajime came across as perfect in episode 2, but I think the script's fairly clever and well paced, and it didn't bother me because it seems to be deliberate enough that I don't expect Nakamura to not do anything with it.

 

[duckroll]

Hajime is definitely far from "perfect". I think the fact that she is deliberately presented as exhausting and infuriating to most people shows that she has a clear personality defect. She also has serious issues expressing herself to anyone who doesn't already share her thought wavelength. She's not good at explaining things, and she doesn't see that as a problem. I think it's a pretty interesting depiction of creative artist types who might be somewhat autistic but clearly excel very well when do what it is they do best. She sees the world and everything she encounters as a puzzle which can be solved. It might be part of "not taking things seriously" but I don't think she sees it that way. Instead, her approach to the fight was "this is what I can do, how do I make the best use of it".

It is her inability to express her intentions which puts her in conflict with Sugane and Paiman, not her actual actions. It's quite clear that she wasn't messing around during the first fight until she actually noticed a reaction. A normal person definitely wouldn't risk trying to communicate with a weird transforming cube alien which has been kidnapping people on Earth, but to Hajime, there's no harm trying. Remember, when she first "communicated" with it, she already had restrained it completely, so there was even less risk.

I'm not sure what it is which attracts Nakamura to leads who appear to have varying types of autism, and who exhibit serious personality defects which make them somewhat uncomfortable to watch but at the same time uplifting when we see what strengths they have and how that can contribute to making a better world. But it's definitely a running theme in pretty much all his works. It's certainly something different and unique, and feels refreshing in both a good and bad way.

 

[DeadRockstar]

I think a lot more people have autistic tendencies than would like to admit it. I wouldn't be surprised if the writer(Nakamura? I'm new to his work) did. When I listen to the creator of Community, Dan Harmon, talk for any length of time it becomes clear he's somewhere on the spectrum, which you might expect from watching the show. That's not even slightly an insult. I've had several psychologists tell me I exhibit some tendencies, just not on the aspie side of things.

I guess it doesn't as often manifest as a personality that's as outgoing at Hajime's. She's more socially integrated then you might expect and perhaps that's why it seems obnoxious, because she's so out there and unafraid. She's more in your face than a Howard Hughes type and lacks the typical amount of social calibration you'd see from an average social girl her age.

People are used to seeing girls that are perceptive, socially aware and accepting of hierarchy, and Hajime clearly isn't all of those. It's interesting to watch and even charming in my opinion.

I agree with what duckroll said about communication. I think she clearly understands why she's doing things, but others don't and she isn't making it clear. Hence their surprise and confusion. The viewer is probably supposed to be equally surprised and confused. It's communication and other people that inhibit her, rather than her own insecurities or the adherence to societal rules that tie most people down.

Just thinking out loud. I need to watch Tsuritama.

 

[Jex]

[Crowds] - 2

I certainly enjoyed this episode considerably more than the first one and the direction was noticeably better, however there's something I really dislike about the flow of conversations in the show that I can't quite - but it really bugs me. It just feels like every interaction is too erratic and quick but that's really just a side effect of Hajime's character.

Something that I only just noticed this time around is how the Crowds part of the title is larger than the Gatchaman part, and it event sits above the Gatchaman part in a dominant positing of authority. I guess that clearly communicated the message that this show is really doing it's own thing and the 'Crowds' part isn't just some subtitle, it's the key thrust of the work as a whole, which is pretty clear when you watch the show anyway.

 

[Charoncaori]

Just saw the second episode, I think I really like this show. Hope it stays good.

Did anyone else notice that Hajime's stockings went missing in one of the shots? >__>

 

[Dedication Through Light]

2

Rui and the Red haired dude are canon from the op (just actually finally sat through it all), cant wait for that to come to pass. Otherwise, Hajime was kind of baffling this episode, I can never understand what she is talking about (and seems like neither can people in universe). I kind of wish she would lay off Sugane, the anime would be way better if we had more of a focus on him, got Jou involved, more of Alan as well, and a touch of the others. I will say I did like Hajime's explosions of color, really pretty.

Scene in suit moments feel lacking based on other stuff in the genre, arent character usually lacking clothes in them (Accel World, for example)

Spoiler

Galax seems interesting and the ending moments maybe hinting that the antagonists will use it for some reason will keep me hooked more.

 

[Ezalc]

Gatcha 2

I just want to see Joe fight damn it.

 

[Soma]

[Crowds] - 2

I certainly enjoyed this episode considerably more than the first one and the direction was noticeably better, however there's something I really dislike about the flow of conversations in the show that I can't quite - but it really bugs me. It just feels like every interaction is too erratic and quick but that's really just a side effect of Hajime's character.

I thought I was the only one who noticed this. Each conversation just doesn't feel... natural.

It feels very stilted almost as if I could imagine each voice actor at completely different locations/times when recording their lines.

 

[Narag]

I thought I was the only one who noticed this. Each conversation just doesn't feel... natural.

It feels very stilted almost as if I could imagine each voice actor at completely different locations/times when recording their lines.

Maybe it's a lost art due to everyone hanging out on GALAX and losing their ability to communicate face to face. /tinfoilhat

Spoiler

Actually that'd be pretty cool if that was an intended effect and the VAs recorded lines separately to achieve it.

 

[redlemon]

Hajime is annoying, second ep is alright even though it suffers from the ol' "protagonist is always right".

I don't know if I agree with this. She was extremely aggressive right until the enemy stopped appearing hostile. The minute it did she re-evaluated and decided to let it go. I think the whole 'protagonist is always right' thing only applies when its based on the characters intuition rather than the facts the show presents.

 

[Jex]

Maybe it's a lost art due to everyone hanging out on GALAX and losing their ability to communicate face to face. /tinfoilhat

Spoiler

Actually that'd be pretty cool if that was an intended effect and the VAs recorded lines separately to achieve it.

Well, communication is definetenly a theme of the show, so who knows?

Nakamura, that's who.

 

[Shergal]

Hajime is definitely far from "perfect". I think the fact that she is deliberately presented as exhausting and infuriating to most people shows that she has a clear personality defect. She also has serious issues expressing herself to anyone who doesn't already share her thought wavelength.

I can certainly agree with that, and I really enjoyed her character because there's actual meat behind her eccentric dialogue. Her being exhausting didn't come across to me as a flaw highlighted by this episode, but it is there and, as I said, they will obviously go somewhere with it.

Hajime does kinda feel like a savant at times, and that's what piqued my interest because it's pretty rare for anime shows to get this character type right. Most resort to making the actual character just stupid and compensate with expository dialogue on why they're a genius. But here you can see in the interactions how Hajime goes much faster, mentally, than the rest of the characters.

 

[Narag]

Hajime does kinda feel like a savant at times, and that's what piqued my interest because it's pretty rare for anime shows to get this character type right. Most resort to making the actual character just stupid and compensate with expository dialogue on why they're a genius. But here you can see in the interactions how Hajime goes much faster, mentally, than the rest of the characters.

Never really thought of her that way but it makes sense. She grasps stuff so much faster than anyone else.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Episode 2 was much more enjoyable and I'm starting to like Hajime.

 

[survivor]

Maybe it's a lost art due to everyone hanging out on GALAX and losing their ability to communicate face to face. /tinfoilhat

Spoiler

Actually that'd be pretty cool if that was an intended effect and the VAs recorded lines separately to achieve it.

That would be a pretty cool if that's what Nakamura is going for.

Anyway I do like this social networking aspect that the bad guys will be using. It will definitely present a better conflict for the superheroes instead of just straight up fighting random aliens.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

Digging the show so far.

I loved mononoke so (per this thread's title) I looked up Tsuritama on Youtube and...it looks stupid? Like, silly anime high school kid bs? But, admittedly, if I saw a screenshot of Crowds I'd probably think the same thing.

 

[survivor]

Digging the show so far.

I loved mononoke so (per this thread's title) I looked up Tsuritama on Youtube and...it looks stupid? Like, silly anime high school kid bs? But, admittedly, if I saw a screenshot of Crowds I'd probably think the same thing.

They don't actually spend time in their school. It's mostly about fishing and aliens.

 

[Narag]

Reailzing I'm sort of enthralled with this ep, particularly the stuff with JJ that just has this wonderfully ethereal quality to it. Hajime just walking up to him is such a shock to the others yet its hinted at with the GALAX collage group and how she sort of ignores hierarchy given the mayor and fire chief defer to her.

 

[duckroll]

I think it's also worth noting that Hajime is probably the only one who actually followed through with the advice JJ gave in episode 1: "The chaos and the threat might not be the same thing, use your own judgement." Additionally, when she was with JJ in episode 2, she seems to be the only one who noticed there was something about the paper birds which he was creating. The fact that she noticed it seemed to surprise him too. I wonder what it was? Maybe I'm reaching, but do the paper birds represent JJ's memories of the original Gatchaman team.... decades ago, when he was a human known as.... Ken?

 

[Narag]

hah, I'd be down with that. I did like how he was surprised by her perceptiveness as you said. It's as if she's moving faster than even he anticipated.

This has me thinking too. It gives me the feeling that heroes are no longer looked upon favorably in the world and GALAX puts power into the hand of the common man. When the girl suffered the head injury, GALAX had apparently not only notified the nearby nurse but brought her up to date such that the ambulance call seemed needless. The title itself seemed like it could have a "vs" right in the middle of it too as I figure Gatchaman will end up in opposition of the general public of which most are GALAX members. Logo design seems to support this as the Crowds part resembles the black Gatchamanesque logo in the OP when Rui & Berg Katse are featured.

I really need to rewatch the first episode because I can't remember if the details of the disaster were brought up or it's something not yet revealed. Also curious if the secrecy used by Gatchaman ties into that (like say the heroes failed or some such) and the Amnesia Effect stuff is more a necessity to operate rather than some side effect of the Notes.

Then again, I'm super tired and probably reaching myself.

 

[Link1110]

I'm in. I've been curious about Gatchaman ever since I saw the Sentai take on it (Jetman, still one of the best.)

 

[Akainu]

Maybe I'm reaching, but do the paper birds represent JJ's memories of the original Gatchaman team.... decades ago, when he was a human known as.... Ken?

Alright ducky it's been a few hours has the alcohol passed? I hope you don't have too bad of a hangover.

 

[wonzo]

I think it's also worth noting that Hajime is probably the only one who actually followed through with the advice JJ gave in episode 1: "The chaos and the threat might not be the same thing, use your own judgement." Additionally, when she was with JJ in episode 2, she seems to be the only one who noticed there was something about the paper birds which he was creating. The fact that she noticed it seemed to surprise him too. I wonder what it was? Maybe I'm reaching, but do the paper birds represent JJ's memories of the original Gatchaman team.... decades ago, when he was a human known as.... Ken?

This would be pretty awesome considering it's the same voice actor!

 

[duckroll]

This would be pretty awesome considering it's the same voice actor!

Yeah that's my primary basis for the theory. The paper birds don't seem to represent the current Tachikawa team at all, since they have 6 members now instead of 5.

 

[wonzo]

Yeah that's my primary basis for the theory. The paper birds don't seem to represent the current Tachikawa team at all, since they have 6 members now instead of 5.

I figured there were only 5 paper birds because one of them (O.D.) can't transform.

 

[Narag]

I figured there were only 5 paper birds because one of them (O.D.) can't transform.

There's six flying around in the end though. You see the bird from the first ep before JJ breathes life into the rest. Maybe it's the rest of the team catching up to the first! (Hajime)

 

[ipitydatfu]

whats the name of the music they used durign the transformation

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

Something is off about this series, its just not doing it for me...

 

[Dedication Through Light]

3
Why isnt next week here already?! This episode progressively got better and better with an incident in a location that I always enjoy in anime and even good comedy at times too, and then finally

Spoiler

Jou doing something (but why the scene change when it was about to get good!)

.

I like the system Rui has setup as well as it doing everything and what not with Galax feels sort of unique for anime.

Spoiler

Wonder what this crowds power and game is.

Gatchaman song during the incident was a good song, need it now.

 

[Narag]

Gatchaman Crowds 3

• I really like how Rui goes about in the world to see how GALAX affects it. It's a nice followup to last ep's scene of this where he's visibly angry that someone would call for an ambulance before consulting GALAX.
• Spoiler

  X's willingness to perform an illicit act to attain information speaks of an autonomy past Rui
• Questioning whtether or not they were worthy successors to previous Gatchaman was nice.
• Rui treating the world like a game translating to GALAX's presentation is interesting. Particularly as he balances consequencse of what GALAX provides. Employment personnel possibly going unemployed due to GALAX as an example.
• Sugane's luddite nature is a nice character quirk. I think everyone on the train but him was messing around on their phone.
• Gatchaman's apparent failure to do anything worthwhile played nicely against GALAX's ability to empower common people in the event of a more practical crisis.
• Galactor cat masks are the best thing ever.

3

Spoiler

Jou doing something (but why the scene change when it was about to get good!)

..

So you watch next week, duh!

 

[Shergal]

Episode 3
Stuff definitely happened, the dialogue is still competent and I'm seeing a lot of interesting set-up.

But man, this episode was impossible to enjoy. Bland layouts, inconsistent editing, absolutely ugly character art and Musashi Gundoh-tier animation.

Spoiler

The scene with Joe was particularly egregious because the transition from that guy charging with the knife to him being knocked over is jarring, and the animation for the whole thing is laughable (those fucking cops, holy crap). I also don't feel they handled the whole 'milk' thing well, I don't know if it was supposed to be building some sort of tension or keep being quirky and observant.

Apparently the episode was outsourced or something? With 4 different people doing the storyboard and 6 sakkans again, it seems like this show will be a production mess through and through. Nakamura why ;_;

Rui is an interesting character, I can't wait for him to meet and interact with Hajime. Or at least, I hope that happens extensively as it could be the most enjoyable part of the series.
They seem to be setting up two factions, what with these new virtual-things being called 'Crowds' and all. I can see some potential allegories, but I'd rather wait to see the show develop a bit more.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Four storyboarders and it's only episode 3? Dang. Maybe Nakamura should have stayed at Toei!

 

[Falstaff]

Episode 3
Stuff definitely happened, the dialogue is still competent and I'm seeing a lot of interesting set-up.

But man, this episode was impossible to enjoy. Bland layouts, inconsistent editing, absolutely ugly character art and Musashi Gundoh-tier animation.

Spoiler

The scene with Joe was particularly egregious because the transition from that guy charging with the knife to him being knocked over is jarring, and the animation for the whole thing is laughable (those fucking cops, holy crap). I also don't feel they handled the whole 'milk' thing well, I don't know if it was supposed to be building some sort of tension or keep being quirky and observant.

Apparently the episode was outsourced or something? With 4 different people doing the storyboard and 6 sakkans again, it seems like this show will be a production mess through and through. Nakamura why ;_;

Rui is an interesting character, I can't wait for him to meet and interact with Hajime. Or at least, I hope that happens extensively as it could be the most enjoyable part of the series.
They seem to be setting up two factions, what with these new virtual-things being called 'Crowds' and all. I can see some potential allegories, but I'd rather wait to see the show develop a bit more.

nakamura didnt let his focus meter recharge after tsuritama. see: [c]

 

[DeadRockstar]

Episode 3 was too heavy handed for me. It's like they aren't confident that their themes will be evident without laying it out for all to see. Last weeks episode had the slightly on the nose line "we don't even need an ambulance!" and this week it felt like an episode of mostly that.

The most interesting part was Rui's developing understanding of those not acting on information from GALAX, and how he views them. Disappointing episode overall.

 

[duckroll]

Episode 3

Yeah this episode was ugly as fuck. The art gets really "amazing" pretty quickly in the episode when you start noticing that all the random people in the streets and in the school look like something bad happened to their faces. I liked that the story is definitely moving forward fast though, and by next week we should be seeing consequences of the events and hopefully more interesting action. The stuff in the school with Hajime was totally filler material, and while some of the comedy worked, it was mostly just silly. Rui is a pretty disturbing character in general, hopefully Hajime will be able to open his heart and save update the world! <3

The new BGMs were awesome though. Great stuff!

 

[dakkumauji]

Episode 3

A silly yet enjoyable episode. Probably helped that Hajime wasn't the main focus and didn't tired me out watching her. All the plot going on while handled a little heavy was interesting enough for me to want to keep watching.

Also dat glorious Mamoru Miyano voice.

 

[Akainu]

This show is kind of sad average people are being more useful than the heroes are. XD Step your game up.