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Toonami |OT7| I Don't Believe It

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Moaradin

Member
Am I weird if I think the Toonami "Pre-Game Show" has a MUCH better show lineup than Toonami proper?

Eh, all of those shows were handpicked by gaffers so it's not surprising a bunch of highly rated stuff got on there.

No idea how Valvrave got recommended though.
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
Did I mention I REALLY like the animation and drawing quality on last night's Bleach? It all looked super solid, well shaded, characters were acting with a lot of anticipation and follow-through... looked more like one of the movies or an OVA, rather than a normal episode.

eh. i feel like you could probably apply this to 95% of action anime, honestly.

But One Piece is suppose to be so superior! And it tries very hard to fashion itself as something that has all these serious killer characters who are so strong, gritty, and hardcore. Why are the UNDERLINGS barely even dying? I understand not killing off the main cast, but even the people who, in most shows would be created for the sake of potentially being killed... don't die in OP.

And watching the CEASAR CLOWN SHU~RO~RO~RO~RO arc right now... it's pacing really is feeling like a chore. I'm actually happy to be a few episode behind what's premiering on Hulu, because I then feel I might be satisfied with my watch of the episodes. I'd prefer Attack On Titan's pacing, because at least it only took a 1 or 2 episode break between SOMETHING happening, and a large amount of the cast was placed on the potential chopping block.
 

BatDan

Bane? Get them on board, I'll call it in.
I should mention that later One Piece episodes are paced horribly because they adapt only 1 chapter at a time. It used to adapt like 2-3, but in order to avoid filler, they pad and stretch so that each episodes only covers 1 chapter. This is really bad on action-heavy chapters.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Did I mention I REALLY like the animation and drawing quality on last night's Bleach? It all looked super solid, well shaded, characters were acting with a lot of anticipation and follow-through... looked more like one of the movies or an OVA, rather than a normal episode.



But One Piece is suppose to be so superior! And it tries very hard to fashion itself as something that has all these serious killer characters who are so strong, gritty, and hardcore. Why are the UNDERLINGS barely even dying? I understand not killing off the main cast, but even the people who, in most shows would be created for the sake of potentially being killed... don't die in OP.

And watching the CEASAR CLOWN SHU~RO~RO~RO~RO arc right now... it's pacing really is feeling like a chore. I'm actually happy to be a few episode behind what's premiering on Hulu, because I then feel I might be satisfied with my watch of the episodes. I'd prefer Attack On Titan's pacing, because at least it only took a 1 or 2 episode break between SOMETHING happening, and a large amount of the cast was placed on the potential chopping block.

SAB knows my pain, one piece has alot of hype moments, but the pacing is all over the place, sometimes I think it tries too hard to be different but I enjoy it overall, I really really do and dont want people to think I dont like it, but I do also think its really overrated, and ive watched alot of anime so I roll my eyes when some people say its like the best anime ever.
 
Okay ToonamiGAF, I've spent the last few days re-watching Big O episodes in an attempt to better understand the plot before the season finale next weekend. What I have written below is my personal interpretation of the story thus far, this is my first time seeing this show so these aren't spoilers or anything like that. Feel free to poke holes in my theories and analysis, I'm just trying to get a better grasp on this like everyone else.

As I understand things, 40 years ago a cataclysmic war known simply as "the great event" occurred which destroyed most life on the planet. Think about all the flashbacks we've seen where megadueces (megaducii?) are marching through a city (presumably Paradigm) of flame and rubble, it's pretty clear to me that these giant robots brought about the end of civilization as we know it.

Paradigm City was reborn in it's current incarnation under the leadership of Gordon Rosewater and the Paradigm Corporation. Basically, Gordon is the "father" of the city and created clones of its former inhabitants infused with the memories of their real life counterparts who perished during the war 40 years ago. Gordon knows he cannot create exact replicas of human beings out of clones; his process of memory implantation needs to be refined. Instead he seeks to create beings who come as close to the originals as possible. Think back to this line from the last episode of Season 1: "These tomatoes are produced synthetically, with only the memories of the sweet flavorful original. If we keep repeating the process, this fruit will eventually become the real thing." From Gordon's perspective, if he can create nearly identical copies of citizens before the great event, then maybe they will be able to solve the mystery behind it.

As he grows older, Gordon transfers power over the Paradigm Corporation to his son, Alex. Unfortunately, Alex, driven by an insatiable appetite to discover the "truth" about the origin of memories, makes the decision to try to recreate the city in his own image. Alex Rosewater has a serious god complex and is trying to use Big Fau to destroy Paradigm which would trigger another great event. He believes that he will then be able to recreate the world in his image and essentially gain control over the memories he so desperately desires. The Union is an organization working to undermine Alex; their motive is simply to regain their lost memories. They live outside of the dome because they are "rotten tomatoes" or in other words, failed experiments of Gordon.

We don't know much about Angel's role in the story thus far but it seems clear to me that she plays a huge part. Gordon mentioned in the last episode (25) that he had hired Roger to negotiate with the director to change the role of the actors. Big O references theater quite a bit, from Roger yelling "SHOWTIME" to the various references referring to the world as a "stage." This leads me to believe that Paradigm City possibly doesn't exist, instead it's merely an artificial construction controlled by someone behind the scenes who keeps it in an infinite 40 year loop. What if Roger's true purpose is to negotiate with this "director" in order to break out of this loop? I know my theory sounds crazy but hear me out.

Think about the definition of the word "Paradigm"

Paradigm: a model or pattern for something that may be copied

The key word here to me is pattern. Rosewater mentions how he has to keep refining the process of memory implantation in order to create better clones, what if the world resets every 40 years so that this can happen? What if Paradigm City is stuck in an infinite loop where civilization is destroyed by the megadueces and then rebuilt only to repeat history? Think about the scars across Angel's back:

angelms.jpg

*sorry, this is the best picture I could find on google*

Don't they look a little bit like wings? What if Angel is meant to represent the fallen angel Lucifer from Christianity? In last nights episode Angel is referred to as a memory by Gordon, the proof is the marks on her back. One has to consider the possibility that she is the "director" of the cataclysmic event and that Roger, as the city's negotiator, is the only one capable of convincing her to free humanity from an endless cycle of sin. There's a lot of subtle religious symbolism in Big O that can go unnoticed.

What does this all mean though? Honestly, I don't know for sure, there are some questions that cannot be answered until next week. Hopefully this provokes some discussion or thought and that someone other than Bass takes the time to read my jumble of thoughts. Can't wait for next week.
 
Eh, all of those shows were handpicked by gaffers so it's not surprising a bunch of highly rated stuff got on there.

No idea how Valvrave got recommended though.

Valvrave was the show that created the pre show block in the first place. My comment that "it's like code geass but even more insane" got a few people to watch the first episode, they wanted a group watch, and here we are
 
But One Piece is suppose to be so superior! And it tries very hard to fashion itself as something that has all these serious killer characters who are so strong, gritty, and hardcore. Why are the UNDERLINGS barely even dying? I understand not killing off the main cast, but even the people who, in most shows would be created for the sake of potentially being killed... don't die in OP.

And watching the CEASAR CLOWN SHU~RO~RO~RO~RO arc right now... it's pacing really is feeling like a chore. I'm actually happy to be a few episode behind what's premiering on Hulu, because I then feel I might be satisfied with my watch of the episodes. I'd prefer Attack On Titan's pacing, because at least it only took a 1 or 2 episode break between SOMETHING happening, and a large amount of the cast was placed on the potential chopping block.

it kinda comes with the territory, especially in this genre. if you stare hard enough at just about anything that puts the protagonists in peril you'll notice these same cracks, so it just becomes a question of how much you're willing to suspend your belief in this context. i'm fine with doing so here, and like i said i don't see the difference between this and just about everything else. the redshirts not actually dying is a bit of an issue, but i don't think it puts the shows where the peripheral characters DO die over One Piece, either, since it's not too huge of a deal.
 
One Piece finds itself in an awkward spot that it's so popular that toei doesn't want to do any prolonged filler for fear of killing the ratings. This leads to the 1:1 pacing that drives us crazy. It doesn't help that the first arc and a half after the time skip were pretty slow already in the manga. Thankfully the later half of the arc the anime is on and the current arc in the manga have a lot more content which hides the 1:1 pacing.
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
The Serious discussion of Big O S2 is freakin' me out, lol. Most re-runs on Toonami have a "been there, done that!" feel to them, but it's nice seeing the series actually be treated as if it's fresh and throught-provoking here!

I'm appreciating it a bit more due to that, as most repeat watches of S2 boil down to "I wish they'd air S1 again!" for me, though I enjoy S2 as it's own entity.

I should mention that later One Piece episodes are paced horribly because they adapt only 1 chapter at a time. It used to adapt like 2-3, but in order to avoid filler, they pad and stretch so that each episodes only covers 1 chapter. This is really bad on action-heavy chapters.

Time for OP to shift to 15 min episodes!

SAB knows my pain, one piece has alot of hype moments, but the pacing is all over the place, sometimes I think it tries too hard to be different but I enjoy it overall, I really really do and dont want people to think I dont like it, but I do also think its really overrated, and ive watched alot of anime so I roll my eyes when some people say its like the best anime ever.

I normally hate "over-rated" as a term, but I guess that's truly what I think of OP! It might be an awesome show in the end, but it's not as fantastic as impressions make one think. You expect it to be some wonderful Shonen / Seinin crossbreed that has real danger, serious stakes, hugely likable characters, a well fleshed out cast, and extremely dangerous and dark villains... but then you pull back a moment, and notice it's about as dangerous as any other shonen, the characters are great, but almost never living up to their full potential, and that the villains don't really do nearly as much truly evil acts as you'd like them to.

And Pre timeskip female designs > post time skip! Really, why is every female a walkin' pair of Mammarys with a name, now? It'd be cool if it were, say, JUST Nami, ok, cool, she grew, but bleach-co Robin (T_T) and Tashigi both seem to have filled out to the same specifics... I hate it when shows overuse one female body type, just feels like poor design.

it kinda comes with the territory, especially in this genre. if you stare hard enough at just about anything that puts the protagonists in peril you'll notice these same cracks, so it just becomes a question of how much you're willing to suspend your belief in this context. i'm fine with doing so here, and like i said i don't see the difference between this and just about everything else. the redshirts not actually dying is a bit of an issue, but i don't think it puts the shows where the peripheral characters DO die over One Piece, either, since it's not too huge of a deal.

Well, I guess it just feels like it dilutes almost all sense of payoff for the entire show. It's not even just the Protags,
Why did EVERYONE Enel supposedly killed, even the hundreds of troops from the past, Conis Dad, etc, ALL have to survive? Enel didn't achieve a frickin' thing! All that power, and not even a "It was a trial by the KAMI SAMA, and you passed!" explanation. WEAK.
. I guess starting the Enel arc along with hearing about
the death of Ace
actually made me expect that OP was ready to show it's EDGE, and then I get through everything with Shirahoshi, which was fun, but I'm faced with the realization that this show... really hasn't grown much over all the years it's been out there.

Even when main characters can't die, you use death of ancillary characters in order to keep the danger alive. Ocassionaly, you seriously wound a main character, to let the audience know they're not fully protected by plot armor, either. Or you even kill someone close to them, so they have to face something even worse than death; the lifelong acceptance of a wrongful loss.

OP just feels like... it could do much more with the tools it has presented, and that it could reach so much further with all it's potential.
 

Crocodile

Member
eh. i feel like you could probably apply this to 95% of action anime, honestly.

True but I feel One Piece is ESPECIALLY bad about that. (*cough Alabasta cough*). I think its a legitimate strike against the franchise

Eh, all of those shows were handpicked by gaffers so it's not surprising a bunch of highly rated stuff got on there.

No idea how Valvrave got recommended though.

That's at least partially on me.

Someone (BassF I think): "VVV is like Code Geass on steroids"
Me: Pfffffft no way! SNAP CALL
Me after seeing the 1st two episodes: Errrrrrrrr WUT?

Which in turn prompted other people to watch a bit and they pretty much had the same reaction. This eventually culminated in the group watch idea and the Pre-Show block.

So if I were you I'd be thanking and basking in the glory that is VVV
:p
 
True but I feel One Piece is ESPECIALLY bad about that. (*cough Alabasta cough*). I think its a legitimate strike against the franchise



That's at least partially on me.

Someone (BassF I think): "VVV is like Code Geass on steroids"
Me: Pfffffft no way! SNAP CALL
Me after seeing the 1st two episodes: Errrrrrrrr WUT?

Which in turn prompted other people to watch a bit and they pretty much had the same reaction. This eventually culminated in the group watch idea and the Pre-Show block.

So if I were you I'd be thanking and basking in the glory that is VVV
:p

Yep it was me lol, VVV is one of those gifts that keeps on giving
 

Seda

Member
ranking last night

Cowboy Bebop
One Piece
FMA: Brotherhood
Big O
IGPX
Clone Wars
Soul Eater
Bleach
Inuyasha 2
Inuyasha 1
Naruto
Sword Art Online
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
LoL, Ippo has some real Hype. "I want this only!" I enjoyed all of Ippo's OPs... "No pain trance CON-TIN-UUUUUE!"

I really had fun with the Ippo PS2 game too...
 
Toonami Show Rankings

1. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
2. One Piece
3. Big O
4. IGPX
5. Cowboy Bebop
6. Bleach
7. Clone Wars
8. Soul Eater
9. InuYasha 2
10. InuYasha 1
11. Naruto
12. Sword Art Online

Real Folk Blues 2 more or less has number 1 next week on lock down, I don't think RFB1 is as good, it's still a great episode but it's mostly set up for the second half

Honestly this was kind of difficult because outside of SAO, Naruto, and filler InuYasha I'd say all the shows this week were enjoyable/good.
 
The Serious discussion of Big O S2 is freakin' me out, lol. Most re-runs on Toonami have a "been there, done that!" feel to them, but it's nice seeing the series actually be treated as if it's fresh and throught-provoking here!

I'm appreciating it a bit more due to that, as most repeat watches of S2 boil down to "I wish they'd air S1 again!" for me, though I enjoy S2 as it's own entity.
This is my first time watching season 2 and it's truly mind blowing. Big O is an extremely thought provoking series, I could talk for days about how much depth it has. Unfortunately we don't really talk about it here because:

1. It's the lowest rated show in the 3:30AM death slot
2. Season 1 didn't air first so many people don't bother watching
3. The majority of those who do watch have already seen the whole series
4. The plot is very difficult to understand, it's not straightforward and simple like most other anime.

I prefer season 2 over the first because of the complex overarching plot. I know some individuals here prefer the monster of the week structure season 1 takes but that got stale to me.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
I was actually surprised this morning by how many people watching HADN'T seen the end of Big O. Legit shook in fact.
 
Well, I guess it just feels like it dilutes almost all sense of payoff for the entire show. It's not even just the Protags,
Why did EVERYONE Enel supposedly killed, even the hundreds of troops from the past, Conis Dad, etc, ALL have to survive? Enel didn't achieve a frickin' thing! All that power, and not even a "It was a trial by the KAMI SAMA, and you passed!" explanation. WEAK.
. I guess starting the Enel arc along with hearing about
the death of Ace
actually made me expect that OP was ready to show it's EDGE, and then I get through everything with Shirahoshi, which was fun, but I'm faced with the realization that this show... really hasn't grown much over all the years it's been out there.

Even when main characters can't die, you use death of ancillary characters in order to keep the danger alive. Ocassionaly, you seriously wound a main character, to let the audience know they're not fully protected by plot armor, either. Or you even kill someone close to them, so they have to face something even worse than death; the lifelong acceptance of a wrongful loss.

OP just feels like... it could do much more with the tools it has presented, and that it could reach so much further with all it's potential.

i disagree. i mean, at the end of the day Enel is still a giant asshole you want to see get beat within an inch of his life, and even if he hasn't explicitly murdered anyone he's caused a lot of suffering. however, Skypiea's resolution does annoy me a lot. honestly, all Oda had to do was say "they're knocked out, and they WILL die when the island crashes into the sea" to fix it. more or less pretending they're dead was pretty shitty to do, especially right after Pell.
it is certainly a problem, but i don't feel it dilutes the tension any more than the usual stuff you seem from this genre, nor does it dramatically hinder the storytelling.

killing off ancillary characters or grievously wounding a main character is really just a thinly veiled attempt to preserve the illusion, though. if you're gonna glance behind the curtain and say "well look, the main characters are never going to die", i don't see why that gets excluded.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Enel is also insane remember so when he says he killed so and so you're just going to go along with it.

The worse ones for me are in Alabasta and especially Arlong making it out of Arlong Park alive.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
The Serious discussion of Big O S2 is freakin' me out, lol. Most re-runs on Toonami have a "been there, done that!" feel to them, but it's nice seeing the series actually be treated as if it's fresh and throught-provoking here!

I'm appreciating it a bit more due to that, as most repeat watches of S2 boil down to "I wish they'd air S1 again!" for me, though I enjoy S2 as it's own entity.



Time for OP to shift to 15 min episodes!



I normally hate "over-rated" as a term, but I guess that's truly what I think of OP! It might be an awesome show in the end, but it's not as fantastic as impressions make one think. You expect it to be some wonderful Shonen / Seinin crossbreed that has real danger, serious stakes, hugely likable characters, a well fleshed out cast, and extremely dangerous and dark villains... but then you pull back a moment, and notice it's about as dangerous as any other shonen, the characters are great, but almost never living up to their full potential, and that the villains don't really do nearly as much truly evil acts as you'd like them to.

And Pre timeskip female designs > post time skip! Really, why is every female a walkin' pair of Mammarys with a name, now? It'd be cool if it were, say, JUST Nami, ok, cool, she grew, but bleach-co Robin (T_T) and Tashigi both seem to have filled out to the same specifics... I hate it when shows overuse one female body type, just feels like poor design.



Well, I guess it just feels like it dilutes almost all sense of payoff for the entire show. It's not even just the Protags,
Why did EVERYONE Enel supposedly killed, even the hundreds of troops from the past, Conis Dad, etc, ALL have to survive? Enel didn't achieve a frickin' thing! All that power, and not even a "It was a trial by the KAMI SAMA, and you passed!" explanation. WEAK.
. I guess starting the Enel arc along with hearing about
the death of Ace
actually made me expect that OP was ready to show it's EDGE, and then I get through everything with Shirahoshi, which was fun, but I'm faced with the realization that this show... really hasn't grown much over all the years it's been out there.

Even when main characters can't die, you use death of ancillary characters in order to keep the danger alive. Ocassionaly, you seriously wound a main character, to let the audience know they're not fully protected by plot armor, either. Or you even kill someone close to them, so they have to face something even worse than death; the lifelong acceptance of a wrongful loss.

OP just feels like... it could do much more with the tools it has presented, and that it could reach so much further with all it's potential.

I hate to use underrated and overrated aswell, I should hit myself for using such terms, but your post about Enel.....its like you read my mind, that arc really made me upset with the outcome it did, all this high tension and drama didnt have any good pay off, the final fight while novel and cool, ultimately didnt have the pay off a final fight should, and even then with how much electricity and energy was going off, Luffy should have atleast been in the danger of melting into goo from the heat of it.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
Disagree completely on the ending of the arc. That's the only solid bit in the whole thing. Not knowing what rubber is, luffy not knowing what would happen, that reaction, and then the rest of the fight...good times!
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
We don't know much about Angel's role in the story thus far but it seems clear to me that she plays a huge part. Gordon mentioned in the last episode (25) that he had hired Roger to negotiate with the director to change the role of the actors. Big O references theater quite a bit, from Roger yelling "SHOWTIME" to the various references referring to the world as a "stage." This leads me to believe that Paradigm City possibly doesn't exist, instead it's merely an artificial construction controlled by someone behind the scenes who keeps it in an infinite 40 year loop. What if Roger's true purpose is to negotiate with this "director" in order to break out of this loop? I know my theory sounds crazy but hear me out.

I think you've over analyzed a lot of what's going on. This is very close however. You're still missing a few key plot points though, namely the book written by Gordon Rosewater. Keep all this in mind when watching this week's episode and it'll all make sense.

EDIT: Shit, double post.
 

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Yea, I rather liked the fight with Enel and it taught Luffy a valuable lesson, having an advantage against his big move was not enough because Enel has like 20 other ways to end him and thus Luffy had to get really creative.
 
I think you've over analyzed a lot of what's going on. This is very close however. You're still missing a few key plot points though, namely the book written by Gordon Rosewater. Keep all this in mind when watching this week's episode and it'll all make sense.

EDIT: Shit, double post.
Glad to know I'm on the right path. Is the book Metropolis?
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
goood, gooooooood

You are not prepared, those are always Ippo's best fights. The batch of fights coming up are really great and end with one of the most epic beatdowns in the series up to this point.

I really wish we had made Ippo part of the watch block, I'd love to see all your reactions to these fights in real time. It would be so good. It should replace Valvrave, we'd actually have non-"this is the dumbest shit" fun.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
You are not prepared, those are always Ippo's best fights. The batch of fights coming up are really great and end with one of the most epic beatdowns in the series up to this point.

I really wish we had made Ippo part of the watch block, I'd love to see all your reactions to these fights in real time. It would be so good. It should replace Valvrave, we'd actually have non-"this is the dumbest shit" fun.

episode 41 might be one of my favorite episodes so far
starting with HILARIOUS interviewing with this really cute chick, dear lord I was in stiches, to yamada's pro test fight which was good feels and inspirational(by the way is yamada a filler character? I keep trying to find him on the ippo wiki to no avail) and then with his mom collapsing which was built up practically since episode 1, I knew this would happen but it was done really well, I could imagine in manga form this was probably at the very least 2 years or so after the first chapter, so alot of buildup.
Ippo does feels very well.
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
episode 41 might be one of my favorite episodes so far
starting with HILARIOUS interviewing with this really cute chick, dear lord I was in stiches, to yamada's pro test fight which was good feels and inspirational(by the way is yamada a filler character? I keep trying to find him on the ippo wiki to no avail) and then with his mom collapsing which was built up practically since episode 1, I knew this would happen but it was done really well, I could imagine in manga form this was probably at the very least 2 years or so after the first chapter, so alot of buildup.
Ippo does feels very well.

Ippo has no filler episodes, everything is cannon. Everything.

There's over 1000 manga chapters to draw from and it isn't a constant series, so there's no danger of catching up.

If you think those feels were something you just wait dude.

I will say it again, we should add this to the pre-watch block.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Ippo has no filler episodes, everything is cannon. Everything.

There's over 1000 manga chapters to draw from and it isn't a constant series, so there's no danger of catching up.

If you think those feels were something you just wait dude.

I will say it again, we should add this to the pre-watch block.

yeah episode 42 got me right in the feels ;_;
 

LOLDSFAN

Member
So yeah been playing some Pokemon, when suddenly I came across an SAO moment.

Image.

What's next? She's going to ask me to not look at her Pokemon?
Good thing I got a Pikachu. ¬‿¬
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
I prefer season 2 over the first because of the complex overarching plot. I know some individuals here prefer the monster of the week structure season 1 takes but that got stale to me.

Glad you're enjoying it :O) It's not even the MOTW structure that I like better (I love over-arching stories), it's just that S2 feels like it's... another anime trying to pretend to be the dark, noir Big O. Similar to how Tenchi Muyo made me feel Harem anime were all going to be character-development centered series, and then end up turning into excuses to show the same shallow characters over and over in increasingly sexual situations, with increasingly younger protagonist.

The ingredients are there, but the execution just makes it feel like a thematically-divorced work.

I do think I'm a bit harder on S2 than I need be at times, but it doesn't make me hate it, I just prefer the mood S1 puts me in a lot more.

killing off ancillary characters or grievously wounding a main character is really just a thinly veiled attempt to preserve the illusion, though. if you're gonna glance behind the curtain and say "well look, the main characters are never going to die", i don't see why that gets excluded.

There was a long timegap between me seeing One Piece on TV, and rush-marathoning Enel to catch up for Toonami. In my head, all I could remember was the parts I'd seen of CP9 over the years, and the echos of things that happened before the timeskip. I was so pumped to return to a Shonen that didn't treat things with Kid Gloves, and had real grit...

Enel reminded me this was still much more kiddy than a few "Ass!" and "Hell!"s could cover, lol.

It's not even the fact the characters can or cannot die that bugs me, as much as it is that the drama just feels weak without those threats. Illusion or not, my mind can play with how hard it is for a main character to accept a death, or how shocking it must of been to them, or their friends, when it happened (Ironically, I just watched Madoka recently... so... err... YEAH! *chomp!*). The illusion disappates when actions have an overall effect. It's not just a Star Wars "SHOCK! WE KILLED A DUDE!" Value, it's meat that the story gets to chew on forever going forward, when done right. One Piece knows this (How many characters have dead people in their backstories? Heh), but it just squanders it soooo much now...

I hate to use underrated and overrated aswell, I should hit myself for using such terms, but your post about Enel.....its like you read my mind, that arc really made me upset with the outcome it did, all this high tension and drama didnt have any good pay off, the final fight while novel and cool, ultimately didnt have the pay off a final fight should, and even then with how much electricity and energy was going off, Luffy should have atleast been in the danger of melting into goo from the heat of it.

In that watch Marathon, I was cheering for Enels character, as a bad guy. He was REALLY putting fear into EVERYONE, and had one of the best "God-Like power" plays I've seen in an anime. It was like Omnipresent Freiza decided that EVERYONE was Krillin, and he was doing around finger-blasting EVERYONE... years previously, and in the here and now.

And then... ugh. LoL. It's like a bad dream sequence.
EVERYONE PRE-EMTIVELY ATE SENSU BEANS! NOONE IS DEAD! WE'RE ALL OK! Enel is just... an annoying A-Hole who plays with yur mindz! His bloodlust is actually kinda crap, and he can't even kill old men with lightning! FREAKIN' LIGHTNING! He's actually been playing a practicle joke on- you know what, lets just say YOU'VE ALL BEEN TROLLED! TROLOLOLOLO!
BLARGH. WHHHHyyyyyyy.

As you can see, this probably urks me more than the entirety of SAO that we've seen up to this point! ;)
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Glad you're enjoying it :O) It's not even the MOTW structure that I like better (I love over-arching stories), it's just that S2 feels like it's... another anime trying to pretend to be the dark, noir Big O. Similar to how Tenchi Muyo made me feel Harem anime were all going to be character-development centered series, and then end up turning into excuses to show the same shallow characters over and over in increasingly sexual situations, with increasingly younger protagonist.

The ingredients are there, but the execution just makes it feel like a thematically-divorced work.

I do think I'm a bit harder on S2 than I need be at times, but it doesn't make me hate it, I just prefer the mood S1 puts me in a lot more.



There was a long timegap between me seeing One Piece on TV, and rush-marathoning Enel to catch up for Toonami. In my head, all I could remember was the parts I'd seen of CP9 over the years, and the echos of things that happened before the timeskip. I was so pumped to return to a Shonen that didn't treat things with Kid Gloves, and had real grit...

Enel reminded me this was still much more kiddy than a few "Ass!" and "Hell!"s could cover, lol.

It's not even the fact the characters can or cannot die that bugs me, as much as it is that the drama just feels weak without those threats. Illusion or not, my mind can play with how hard it is for a main character to accept a death, or how shocking it must of been to them, or their friends, when it happened (Ironically, I just watched Madoka recently... so... err... YEAH! *chomp!*). The illusion disappates when actions have an overall effect. It's not just a Star Wars "SHOCK! WE KILLED A DUDE!" Value, it's meat that the story gets to chew on forever going forward, when done right. One Piece knows this (How many characters have dead people in their backstories? Heh), but it just squanders it soooo much now...



In that watch Marathon, I was cheering for Enels character, as a bad guy. He was REALLY putting fear into EVERYONE, and had one of the best "God-Like power" plays I've seen in an anime. It was like Omnipresent Freiza decided that EVERYONE was Krillin, and he was doing around finger-blasting EVERYONE... years previously, and in the here and now.

And then... ugh. LoL. It's like a bad dream sequence.
EVERYONE PRE-EMTIVELY ATE SENSU BEANS! NOONE IS DEAD! WE'RE ALL OK! Enel is just... an annoying A-Hole who plays with yur mindz! His bloodlust is actually kinda crap, and he can't even kill old men with lightning! FREAKIN' LIGHTNING! He's actually been playing a practicle joke on- you know what, lets just say YOU'VE ALL BEEN TROLLED! TROLOLOLOLO!
BLARGH. WHHHHyyyyyyy.

As you can see, this probably urks me more than the entirety of SAO that we've seen up to this point! ;)
It's like you entered STRAIGHT into my mind and said EXACTLY what I wanted to say! XD
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
It's like you entered STRAIGHT into my mind and said EXACTLY what I wanted to say! XD

Wohoo! *brofist.jpg* I think I was stuck in a "Really..? REALLY!!" state with all that for a couple of days, and apparenrtly, that hasn't at all healed yet, lol.

...I now wonder what a One Piece 1-shot OVA directly by Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino would be like, lol.
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
One Piece is too happy for him so it would morph him back into the beast he was before he learned to fly/happy Turn A Tomino.
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
Wohoo! *brofist.jpg* I think I was stuck in a "Really..? REALLY!!" state with all that for a couple of days, and apparenrtly, that hasn't at all healed yet, lol.

...I now wonder what a One Piece 1-shot OVA directly by Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino would be like, lol.

haha *brofist*



also hahahaha I found where the infamous gif is from!!!
LX7Butt.gif
 

SAB CA

Sketchbook Picasso
One Piece Runaway Ideon, here we go! (^ And thanks to Ippo and Co. for softening the horror of this particular gif, lol.)

SpaceRunawayIdeon-Headshot_zpsa08b18eb.gif
 
So, is anyone missing the daily Toonami format from years past, or everyone happy with it being just a once a week sorta thing?
I miss Reboot =(
 

foxuzamaki

Doesn't read OPs, especially not his own
So, is anyone missing the daily Toonami format from years past, or everyone happy with it being just a once a week sorta thing?
I miss Reboot =(

One of the things I was always angry about was when toonami moved from a daily slot to just saturday nights.
 
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