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Anime
Apr 20, 2018 12:57:26 GMT -8
Post by Zarnium on Apr 20, 2018 12:57:26 GMT -8
Haven't seen Porco Rosso, but I can at least tell you that Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away mostly take place on the ground. Miyazaki's definitely got a thing for aviation, though.
BTW, I recall you started watching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood a long time ago, did you have any plans to ever get back to it?
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Anime
Apr 20, 2018 14:03:53 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Apr 20, 2018 14:03:53 GMT -8
My library's got a long waitlist on Princess Mononoke, so I'll probably just jump ahead to Spirited Away for now. (It's actually the Miyazaki film I'm most looking forward to.)
As for FMA: Brotherhood, Netflix tells me I put it on hiatus after Episode 15. (I think I was turned off by the excessively bloody violence in that episode and the prior one.) But I could see myself picking the show back up again, maybe if my schedule frees up over the summer.
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Anime
May 27, 2018 15:20:45 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on May 27, 2018 15:20:45 GMT -8
Spirited Away is probably Miyazaki's weirdest film yet. And given that his oeuvre includes a film about a pilot who turns into a pig, that's really saying something.
But I gotta say - I really liked it. The surrealism of the world which Chihiro/Sen finds herself stuck in could have made for a befuddling narrative, but the story maintains an emotional coherence even as it introduces the most outlandish characters and designs. I don't know if any individual character in this film is quite as memorable as the Catbus, but the cumulative effect of creatures like No-Face, the Radish Spirit, and Freaky Giant Baby (or whatever his name is, I can't keep track) is something to behold.
What's most surprising about Spirited Away is that there are moments when it's legitimately scary. Probably because we're experiencing this world through the mind of a young girl, but there are times when the combination of strange imagery and odd characterizations (for the spirits) comes off as genuinely unsettling. The gorgeous animation also enhances the experience, adding texture to the film even during the slower spots.
Just a delightful film, head-to-head with Nausicaa as my favorite Miyazaki production so far. (Though I need to go back and watch Mononoke at some point.)
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Anime
May 27, 2018 17:45:25 GMT -8
Post by Quiara on May 27, 2018 17:45:25 GMT -8
Spirited Away is probably Miyazaki's weirdest film yet. And given that his oeuvre includes a film about a pilot who turns into a pig, that's really saying something. But I gotta say - I really liked it. The surrealism of the world which Chihiro/Sen finds herself stuck in could have made for a befuddling narrative, but the story maintains an emotional coherence even as it introduces the most outlandish characters and designs. I don't know if any individual character in this film is quite as memorable as the Catbus, but the cumulative effect of creatures like No-Face, the Radish Spirit, and Freaky Giant Baby (or whatever his name is, I can't keep track) is something to behold. What's most surprising about Spirited Away is that there are moments when it's legitimately scary. Probably because we're experiencing this world through the mind of a young girl, but there are times when the combination of strange imagery and odd characterizations (for the spirits) comes off as genuinely unsettling. The gorgeous animation also enhances the experience, adding texture to the film even during the slower spots. Just a delightful film, head-to-head with Nausicaa as my favorite Miyazaki production so far. (Though I need to go back and watch Mononoke at some point.) I watched the film on VHS (!!!) back in 2003, and the opening scene where her parents turn into pigs scared me so much I couldn't watch the rest of the movie. Then of course I saw it a decade later as an adult and absolutely loved it.
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Anime
May 28, 2018 5:43:58 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on May 28, 2018 5:43:58 GMT -8
I recall seeing clips as a kid and being scared by it (particularly the scene where Dragon Hakku is shown all wounded and bloody), which may explain why I never got around to watching it. But I'm proud to say that I finally conquered my fear.
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Anime
Jun 3, 2018 11:34:15 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Jun 3, 2018 11:34:15 GMT -8
The sequel that.... many people probably wanted but was never truly necessary as such, FLCL: Progressive, began airing last night. The original remains somewhat controversial, insofar as anime fans love it and people who don't watch a lot of anime can't make heads or tails of it and find it too obnoxious to even deal with. I've been thinking for a while about doing a retrospective on the original series (I'm on the side of it being brilliant, but I think I have an idea of what's going on, a rarity), yet I haven't had the time, so I just want to brush up against a few observational points on its successor.
One quick note would be "similar, but different, in potentially productive ways." Some of the same elements are in place, small town, disenchanted youth, giant factory on the edge of town shaped like an iron which people have more less made peace with constantly emitting steam clouds and sirens and flashes of light, ~junior high protagonist being raised by a single parent in a food service setup that they also live in, "A Stranger Comes to Town" followed closely by "oh, we have a new shop assistant." There are also significant departures, having the main character be a girl raised by her mother and not a young boy raised by his father, which shifts the Haruko dynamic away from Oedipal. So too are the philosophical allegiances tweaked just enough to make it noticeable: Whereas Naota was a cynic obsessed with the idea of appearing cool or mature (eternal theme), Hidomi is a nihilist who does everything she can to shut out the outside world, all the while wondering what she should be / become. It's useful in that just like Naota had the tension of wanting to be an adult and regarding all the adults in his life as unworthy of imitation, Hidomi wants to be something but also opts out of participating in anything and instead spends her time on social media despite, near as we can tell, avoiding talking to anyone. The use of technology, I'd expect to be fairly productive for the show as both are structured as bildungsromans (I anticipate) and what it means to be growing up has changed quite a lot since the late 90s when the original was set (ignoring the space travel and giant robots bit). A motif I'll be curious to evaluate further on down the line is how it approaches the idea of counterculture, as FLCL in its original form built it up a bit only to deflate it later, whereas Progressive seems more critical of it at the outset, with the teacher reveal as Haruko (Kari Wahlgren's a great voice actress, but if you've heard her in FLCL and Witch Hunter Robin, you can draw a line through the two) leading most of the class to turn into raving lunatics with the exception of Hidomi and Ide, who are likely immune.
Things that I'm more trepidatious about or trying to figure out at the moment.... The premiere started out with a possible prognosticating, in medias res, future dream sequence which... I've seen the type of heavy foreshadowing done so often that it's a trope unto itself and not one that I necessarily trust given that a lot of them use it to heighten drama artificially by getting the audience to wonder "BUT HOW DO WE GET THERE?!" Maybe it's just because TWD uses it so sloppily but it got me a bit of "oh no" at the outset. The episode also felt... less packed? There were popular culture references and concerns certainly, as they pertain to the youths, but one of the odd little charms of the original is that it would adopt stylistic characteristics of other forms of media, the manga sequence sure, but there were also South Park tributes (maybe The Real World?) and other such nonsense later on, and I didn't notice the show consciously imitating anything else for its style and quirks. One final remark is that Hidomi, being a quiet protagonist, didn't really get a whole lot of development unto herself and while you had enough to feel like you had some insight into her, a lot of the dialogue ended up pushed to Ide and his group as sex-obsessed teenage boys, which could work except it's not a theme of major interest to me and we'll have to wait on whether or not anything "new" comes of it.
Overall, it's the start of something, sure, no idea where it ends up though. It's also going to be a very different experience, having had years to unpack the original series and now trying to sort through a sequel almost two decades later. Alas, in the immediate term, I'm going to be out of the country for a spell and out of range of TVs, so I may not be able to keep up as it's airing. Edit: Nope, I bought the season pass on Amazon, suckahs
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PBTD
Newbie
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Anime
Jun 14, 2018 18:28:44 GMT -8
Post by PBTD on Jun 14, 2018 18:28:44 GMT -8
I remember you mentioning, Jay, on the previous site Assassination Classroom and I got around to watching it a little while ago. I don't quite remember what you thought of it, or if you even gave a general idea, but much like with Steins;Gate I enjoyed it and thought it did some things well and subverted a couple of Shonen tropes (not related to Steins;Gate since it isn't Shonen) but it didn't quite resonate on the level I had hoped.
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Anime
Jun 19, 2018 10:59:49 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Jun 19, 2018 10:59:49 GMT -8
I liked Assassination Classroom quite a bit, and thought that it managed and subverted the tropes well, although I will fully admit that I think that it resonated with me more being a instructor of a student body population that is mostly misfits. I watched it during my first semester of teaching, which probably amplified the effect.
In retrospect, the follow-through after the first season fell flatter for me than I would have liked. It handled weird well, but was not suited for character complexity or depth, and it's hard to pull off both.
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Anime
Jun 19, 2018 20:23:52 GMT -8
Post by Zarnium on Jun 19, 2018 20:23:52 GMT -8
So, I've watched...
Violet Evergarden: This one's been getting a great reception, but I found it just a bit too twee for my liking. It's so overly cutesy and deliberate in its message that it doesn't have much punch, and Violet herself is a pretty basic "I don't understand human emotions!" archetype without much originality. Maybe I've just seen too much Star Trek, but I've seen this type of character and story play out much better on other shows. On the other hand, the animation and art is downright gorgeous.
Kado: The Right Answer: This is a pretty good first contact story, with engaging characters and some neat visual effects. Unfortunately, it's ultimately too short. It doesn't cover the breadth of topics that it should, and the ending is an unsatisfying deus ex machina that feels very unearned and contrived. With more run-time, it could've been a lot better. I read somewhere that it was supposed to be 24 episodes originally, but was shortened to 13 due to budget cuts. Oh, well.
Also of note, while the backgrounds are drawn in 2D traditional animation, the characters and some props are usually rendered in full CGI 3D. This actually looks pretty good, and is easily the best fusion of CGI and traditional animation that I've seen in a Japanese show. (Let's just forget about Blassreiter, shall we?)
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PBTD
Newbie
Posts: 44
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Anime
Jun 19, 2018 22:13:44 GMT -8
Post by PBTD on Jun 19, 2018 22:13:44 GMT -8
I liked Assassination Classroom quite a bit, and thought that it managed and subverted the tropes well, although I will fully admit that I think that it resonated with me more being a instructor of a student body population that is mostly misfits. I watched it during my first semester of teaching, which probably amplified the effect. In retrospect, the follow-through after the first season fell flatter for me than I would have liked. It handled weird well, but was not suited for character complexity or depth, and it's hard to pull off both. Ah, then I can see that if it handles the teacher and student relationship fairly well why it would resonate. Hope since then you've had a fulfilling career. And yes, that's almost exactly where I felt the series began to go down hill objectively. The second season was more interesting in a superficial and exciting sort of way (such as the action and high stakes), but the subversions started to part and give way to typical Shonen fare - such as the action and high stakes. I have to admit I enjoy thrilling and tense moments quite a lot regardless of if it fits the narrative, but my brain tends to keep the lights on even when I want them off. So forgive me if my critique rubs you the wrong way, but that's not my intention. In-particular, it annoyed the hell out of me how every major antagonist save Shiro was given an empathetic backstory through conveniently placed flashbacks just before they were subdued. If the antagonist isn't empathetic from the beginning, then shoehorning a backstory into the eleventh hour of his or her arc is beyond manipulative. It is very typical of writers of Shonen series to humanize antagonists in the backend. And what the heck was with the plot twist involving Kaede? I suppose to ease into Korosensei's backstory? Still, unnecessary and mostly pointless within a narrative that, up till that point, didn't rely on surprise factor. The audience/reader is already aware that Korosensei has a mysterious past and thus hidden agenda. This is also quite common within the genre, sudden narrative shifts, and this one in-particular also negates a once presumably already established character. At that point, her backstory is no more affective then any of the villains'. And on a personal note, I hated with a passion that they turned the ever so devilishly charismatic, badass and, if this were real life, psychopathic principal into a much less believably broken former teacher whose beliefs were nearly aligned with Korosensei's. The whole "one bad day" theme being the only difference between a hero and villain is so tired within the genre and has been for quite a while. He didn't deserve such a cheap flip on his character (even if you didn't find him as awesomely awesome as me). Ultimately I enjoyed Assassination Classroom but couldn't get passed the devolution of the second season despite it being more fun. Fun at the cost of consistency and narrative integrity just isn't worth it. This isn't to say I hate Shonen, on the contrary, my anime viewing consists of almost nothing but. However there are things that constantly annoy me about it when it is often capable of more or, at least, not some of the same regurgitated tropes - all while still being entertaining.
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Anime
Jun 22, 2018 10:29:48 GMT -8
Post by Jeremy on Jun 22, 2018 10:29:48 GMT -8
Howl's Moving Castle was... weird. Really, disorientingly weird. The plot is confusing and convoluted, and the whole film feels about a half-hour too long.
As you may infer, this was not my favorite Miyazaki film. It boasts some great animation (particularly of the titular castle), and the English cast - notably Jean Simmons and Billy Crystal - are great to listen to. But the story never grabbed me the way Nausicaa or Spirited Away did. It felt too much like Miyazaki trying to outdo his previous feats in terms of strangeness, but not imbuing the script with enough heart to compensate for all those weird story turns.
It's not a bad film by any stretch - in fact, by the standards of animated films I've seen, it may still rank in the upper bracket. But I've come to expect more from Miyazaki's films, and Howl unfortunately didn't measure up.
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Anime
Jun 22, 2018 13:01:31 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Jun 22, 2018 13:01:31 GMT -8
Howl is partially an adaptation issue, it's based off of something else by a different author, and while Miyazaki can be quite protective of the realization of his own IPs, he's known to take liberties with other's stories. He did version of Earthsea. but Le Guin apparently wasn't too into it.
I should have more to say in response to the Assassination Classroom response (other than I agree), but I'm traveling a bit and can't find too much time to settle, so I'll just point out that there were SOME adaptation issues and things that got condensed as a result of fitting a long-running manga to a set-order anime season.
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PBTD
Newbie
Posts: 44
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Anime
Jun 29, 2018 12:03:13 GMT -8
Post by PBTD on Jun 29, 2018 12:03:13 GMT -8
Just letting you know, Jay, I'm still looking forward to your thoughts whenever you find the time. It could help me view it from a different perspective and I am always open to that.
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Anime
Jul 2, 2018 11:07:15 GMT -8
Post by Jay on Jul 2, 2018 11:07:15 GMT -8
Man, I feel like I'm being asked to bring my A-game here... Well, I'm back where I can sit down and type so that's a start, but I'm still pretty jetlagged (nine time zones, three flights, 48 hours) so I feel like this is less coherent than I want it to be.
I felt like the show could perhaps be split into two different primary genres it was playing with, the "slice of life," which is what a lot of school anime are, and the shonen, as stated earlier. "Slice of life" seems to trend more to comedy and the surreal and it's not common to see it as a genre played straight anymore, since some of the more successful iterations have been more wacky, starting with Azumanga Daioh and continuing on with its derivative and more strange descendants like Pani Poni Dash and Lucky Star. From shonen, it plainly borrows the villains and later battle sequences, while mercifully leaving us without such tropes as the "determined and mysteriously powerful but dim protagonist," "aloof child prodigy who dabbles in villainy," and "generic bright colored love interest who lacks combat abilities." I think probably as far as its lineage goes, it's easiest to sync Assassination Classroom up with something like Full Metal Panic!, just with the saturation adjusted in a few different directions. Both attempt to split the difference between the two base genres with various levels of success, Assassination Classroom probably playing it more for comedy and absurdity.
I think that the series as a whole starts to struggle once it gets out of the class trip / vacation arc, which was one of the better arcs in the series overall though not among my favorite episodes (it's probably just because I'm a fan, but I love the second baseball episode to death). From there, it felt as if they were overly obligated to be more serious about what they were doing, whereas previously even the villains were ridiculous (let us not forget the guy who ate his soup with a gun). I expected it to continue on in that direction because it was compelling and fresh and there's no shortage of anime that do serious stuff about the lives of assassins (Golgo 13, come on down...), so to lampshade it a bit was entertaining. Moreover, there was an edge to the humor in continuing down the comedy track because it (in moments) exposed the absurdities of the education system in that not all of the students were "bad" as such they just had institutional problems with it, which made me feel as if the show was scrutinizing the whole system of schooling over there and how much pressure is put on it by effectively asking the most troubled students to save the world. Juxtaposing those ideas seemed to start out as pretty successful. On that note, I really really wanted them to stick with the earlier direction with the principal, in no small part because he was being voiced by Sho Hayami who is notorious for voicing villains and sociopaths such as Sosuke Aizen in Bleach and I found it, again, to be intriguing commentary to have a high-level administrator whose only concern is the evaluative metrics and his own projects succeeding and sidelining the whole saving the world bit. As someone who has been on the wrong side of administration in a variety of ways, taking that whole thing down a peg is amusing. I was not keen on his eventual redemption since, as was pointed out, a lot of the sympathy in the antagonists felt perfunctory and it was more entertaining to think of him as philosophically committed to the ends justifying the means. One other issue as presented in the eventual redemption, and this could be more of an anime adaptation issue, but the flashbacks to when he became KOROSENSAI were originally played for laughs in the pilot episode, what with lines like "what splendid tentacles, I'm sure you'll be a wonderful teacher" or whatever it was. To commit to the past arc as eventually serious didn't seem to be in keeping with the tone of the rest of the show, and between Shiro and... whatever the former protege who ripped his face off... there were two antagonists that never felt fully committed to or reasoned out as having a clear motivation other than capital V Vengeance.
As for the other bits, like Kaede and whatnot, one thing I do want to do is go through the manga and see what variations there are because I know that the written material could have spanned much longer than what we got in the adaptation. In particular, you might have sensed around episode two or so that each individual student was going to get their own episode to confront the issues that held them back and in practice, the anime viewers didn't get that (a few students were skipped, Rio for one) but the manga readers did to a greater extent. I don't expect it to solve everything, but oftentimes there are cues left there by the original author that the anime producers don't highlight out of ignorance or different priorities.
So, overall, good show, but I'd probably go into the second season with warnings about how bungled the execution is about to become, and how that unfortunately detracts from some of the successes of S1.
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PBTD
Newbie
Posts: 44
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Anime
Jul 2, 2018 14:54:31 GMT -8
Post by PBTD on Jul 2, 2018 14:54:31 GMT -8
I appreciate the breakdown even though you were feeling a bit under the weather. Wish you would of waited till you felt better. I don't want you to feel obligated and certainly not overextend yourself if you're uncomfortable.
You pretty much echoed my interpretation almost exactly, only much better communicated than I ever could. It is definitely a shame that some of the character-centric material was cut despite them teasing more. There were some genuine great moments in season 1, and I agree that the vacation arc is the series at its height (it was also the part I enjoyed most, being that bit of tension I find myself craving but of the kind that felt natural to the narrative unlike later on, though the baseball episodes were fun).
It's funny you mention Gakuho Asuno's Japanese VA being the main reason he stood out to you, because I watched the dubbed version and while the other voices were passable at least, Asano's VA stood out above the rest. His monotone, deep, subtly stern and confident delivery made the character almost mesmerizing when on screen. What is it about perceived psychopaths that brings out the best in actors? Food for thought.
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