#i wouldnt even be mad if an adaptation changed this bit
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I FINALLY GOT TO WATCHING S2 OF ALICE IN BORDERLAND LIVE ACTION AND IM???? my god it was so good im lost for words
BUT AT THE SAME TIME IM ALSO MAD AT EVERYONE (read: my dad, who hasnt even seen season 2 for himself bc he heard sm bad reviews) WHO TOLD ME IT WASNT GOOD/DISAPPOINTING AND THAT IT WOULDNT HAVE BEEN WORTH IT TO WATCH IT LIKE BRO WTF 😭😭😭💔
hot take: i genuinely think, in my honest opinion, season 2 was done so well and much better than season 1
Keep in mind that, as a self-proclaimed writer, writing comes first to me in any form of media i watch, regardless if its a live adaptation of a series i alrdy know abt or not; my opinion doesnt necessarily come from how "accurate" it is to its original source, but rather if how well its produced as a screen media production - altho i will admit, if i alrdy knew the origin series before the adaptation, i will definitely have some biad from my prior knowledge of the story.
so story time: talking w a friend, he suggested for me to read the alice in borderland manga, and since i only watched s1 of the netflix live action, i was like sure why not and went to read it. then i reached up to where s1 got up to and decided "hey why dont i rewatch all of s1 and then finally watch s2 so i can go in blind + reflect on the differences between LA and the og manga?"
and so i did, and having now freshly rewatched s1 + read the first part of the manga, here is my review: the execution/production of the live action was impressive and done really well, and they made sensible changes and additions to make it work for the show (ESPECIALLY the games that were originally filler chptrs in the manga and showing off arisu's intelligence!), but at times i felt that it didnt pull off the emotional moments/certain story points as well as the manga did. overall (at that point in time) it's definitely really good for a shonen live action if only the emotional moments had a bit more improvement.
and then i went watching s2 99% blind (1% being the fact i read a little bit until king of ♧'s game) and going into s2, from that small bit i read, i was alrdy preferring the direction/writing difference from the manga.
the end of s1 alrdy made a better establishment of the dealers/game management as well as the announcement of the face card games. from what i also saw in the opla, i think one of the necessary changes live actions have to make is to keep and utulize more major characters throughout the story instead of multiple short screen time supports for reasons such as adaptation length constraint, casting + screen time, etc. which i preferred a lot better bc we got more involvement of the supporting cast and the flow of the story was a lot smoother too! the relationship development between arisu and usagi was done so much better too (the konbini convo, im glad they changed how it went and didnt have arisu kissing usagi right then and there), which made their kiss at the onsen so much nicer! and then the queen of ♡s game! my god i loved all the psychological manipulation and more importantly the fact that it made sense!!! EVEN THE ENDING!!! i was waiting to be disappointed by a half-assed ending that made zero sense but i was pleasantly surprised and satisfied with the explanation/logic they gave behind the whole fiasco!
overall, alice in borderland? one of the best live action adaptations i've watched! (up on that list with business proposal, ruruoni kenshin and one piece ^^) i get the feeling that those unsatisfactory reviews of s2 was mainly bc hey couldnt appreciate the final queen of ♡s game psychology, the writing or the ending, and was expecting more action and dramatic ending, but imo it was very fitting considering that alice in borderland imo is more of a psychological series before everything else (like death note)
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i can't remember if i've said this on here before but i think it'd be SO funny if moriarty was an astronomy professor instead of a maths professor. just for him to be an expert on the one topic holmes is publicly unknowledgeable in
#like even if it was never addressed i think it'd be a good little riff#i wouldnt even be mad if an adaptation changed this bit#it'd be so funny#acd holmes#acd canon#acd sherlock holmes#sherlock holmes#homles#moriarty#acd moriarty#james moriarty#basil blathers
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You can count on me to pull up with a thousand of questions sbdhdh. A3, A22, C5, D3, F3 for Jilly ; A18, A23, B9, C1, H2 for Nirn ; A5,B9, C8, D1, I5, for Thurwen ; A9, A13, C1, E8, and G6 for Valkya? 😏
A3, A22, C5, D3, F3 for Jilly ;
A3.Do they have any emotional or psychological conditions? Are they aware of it? Do they try to treat it?
Shawty got that stockholm syndrome in a way. She is…. Sometimes aware of it, though she wouldn't call it that any more. Maybe at first in the basement she was more aware, but now that she can come and go she thinks its a thing of the past. tries not to dwell on it. Kind of in a “well its literally not that bad its kind of fun its kind of romantic were just quirky <3” way, will get mad if someone insists she has stockholm or that the relationship is fucked. Will get enraged and upset on Vincent's behalf, probably cry and yell at you.
A22. Is your OC intended to be found generally attractive? Unattractive? Average? Is there a reason why?
I intended her to be fairly average, maybe kind of cute. It's generally the way she dresses/acts in public that draws attention, not her looks. I tend to make most of my ocs on the average scale besides a select few.
C5. Do your OC’s morals and rules of common decency go out the window when it comes to those they don’t like, or when it’s inconvenient? Aka, are their morals situational?
Good question…. Jillys morals are pretty simple- always be kind and nice, murder and hurting other people is bad, and you shouldnt lie. She sticks to those pretty strictly herself despite the situations she gets put in, often to her own detriment. But she doesn't always put a stop to those behaviors from the people she surrounds herself with, so she's sort of accomplice to bad acts of violence just by not snitching. So somewhat situational? She tries not to think about it.
D3. How comfortable are they with the idea of death?
Not comfortable! She hadn't seen a lot of it before her early twenties and was always sort of sheltered. dead fish are flushed down the toilet bcs they go to the ocean to live again, right? Thought cows and such all died of old age peacefully before they were made into burgers until she was like… twelve. 💀Won't kill mice and other critters despite her prey drive bcs she would feel too bad. And this is just for animal death, she's much more uncomfortable with human death. Also a thing she tries to ignore.
F3. Could they ever live in a “tiny home”?
God no. She hates small spaces unless she's hiding in them and tiny homes have no room for all the shit she stashes! No room for zoomies, or climbing on the furniture, or wrestling around on the floor. It would be filled with junk within a week.
A18, A23, B9, C1, H2 for Nirn ;
A18. Do they get jealous easily? Do they feel bad if they do?
He's never had much to be jealous of, as he's never really been over involved in romantic relationships. They were usually mutually beneficial and somewhat clinical in nature. Hes also pretty sure of himself and his value as an asset and lover. If he finds someone who peaks his interest and they become an item though, he might get jealous if he catches them flirting with other people. Hell be peeved at first but know flirtation in business has its value, so to make himself feel better might flirt with someone else while they are nearby. Make a game of it, see who wins.
A23. Does your OC place much importance on their appearance? Do they feel confident in it?
Appearances are crucial to him and spends a lot of time and money making sure he looks his best. He needs to appear above the rabble and impenetrable, dressing well and having immaculate posture and an air of both grace and otherworldliness.
B9. What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…
Definitely not one to find fart jokes funny. Very rarely laughs genuinely or full heartedly, he keeps all his expressions of emotion close to his chest. Sharp sardonic wit is appealing to him in the right circumstances, even a jab directed at himself can make him chuckle if it's well formed enough. Irony almost always gets him, even if its dark irony or gallows humor. Bit of a hard nut to crack. Would laugh enough that hed have to cover his mouth with his hand if he were to see Felix fall face first into mud, though. More often than not you can tell he finds something amusing by a gleam in his eyes and a slight squint.
C1. Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it?
Well he used to have a real moral code :/. Now I mean…. The ends justify the means. By any means necessary. He considers his family's needs first, then the good of the world, then any individual in the world. Has ordered executions of entire families, had babies stolen and sent away, sent armies to certain death knowing full well they would all die, commanded individuals be tortured for information, sacrificed many in what he considers to be a game of chess where he is the player and others are the pawns. He finds senseless violence and savagery to be unforgivable, but if violence has a sense and purpose to employ it, then he will do so.
H2. Is your OC a thoughtful partner, in whatever aspect of that you want to cover?
Nirn tends to be a very thoughtful and attentive person in general, just for the wrong reasons lmaoooo. But with a lover? He's going to be utilizing that to show them how much he cares and using his powers for good. Mention you like a certain fabric while shopping one time and then complain your favorite tunic has a wine stain in it several months later, he's going to be taking your measurements for a new one in your preferred material without a moment's notice. Very keen on picking up moods, expressions and tone. Also has a very good memory. He doesn't really think about it but gifts are how he shows his love. Also a great attentive listener.
A5,B9, C8, D1, I5, for Thurwen ;
A5. Are they good at handling change in their life?
I would say so, yeah. Shes been used to things constantly changing since she was little and has had little to no control on outside influences. Shes also not one to over think about the past and lament, shes more of a one foot in front of the other, the only time is the present kind of gal. Of course large changes like becoming a warden were a bit more severe, but shes mostly able to think in the present as long as she has immediate problems to deal with.
B9.What kind of humor does your OC like the most? Slapstick, ironic, funny sounds, scare pranks, xD sO rAnDoM…
Slapstick is always gonna make her laugh as long as nobody gets seriously hurt, even if its her own ass tripping into a tree. Not a fan of scare pranks, 0/10 recommend trying to scare Thurwen. You will end up with a broken nose at best and an angry elf. Likes puns, but she's the one to groan at them and try and hide the grin spreading across her face. Gallows humor but only if its her in the gallows, otherwise doesn't find it funny at all. If a little kid calls someone a fartcicle she will be tears in the eyes giggling, which is hard when your warden commander and everyone looks toward you to be serious and mature gyshsdhdfsghsd.
C8. Is your OC more practical or ideal morally? I.e., do they hold people to high expectations of behavior even if it’s not realistic for the situation, or do they have a more realistic approach and adapt their morality to be more practical?
She definitely holds herself to moral ideals and is very hard on herself, but has realistic moral expectations for others. She can understand self serving and people only wanting to survive and she will only give people a little bit of shit for it, no one's perfect. But then she expects herself to be perfect and berates herself constantly for not living up to the hero of ferelden warden commander ideals.
D1. How religious is your OC? What do they practice, if anything? If they don’t associate with any religion, what do they think of religion in general?
Atheist ever since her mom died when she was a kid, but now Shes in a weird mixed state ever since the urn of sacred ashes where shes like. fuck the maker, but Andraste is cool I guess. So respects/believes in the power of Andraste while thinking the maker is a piece of shit and the chantry sucks ass. Even she doesnt know what she really believes, but she did see the ghosts of Andrastes disciples and Shartan, used her ashes as healing salve, killed an old god, etc. So shes been in a weird place recently, crisis of faith/non faith pretty continual.
I5. Are they a good cook?
I mean…. She can cook basics. Shes been feeding herself and the alienage kids since she was old enough to walk so she knows how to get protein and make things edible. Does it taste good? Probably not. She didnt see her first spice till she was 17 years old, but she can skin a rabbit in seven seconds.
LA9, A13, C1, E8, and G6 for Valkya? 😏
A9. Does your OC make a lot of excuses? For themselves? Others?
She tries to excuse bad behavior of herself or others a lot, yeah fgdgdsfhdhs. Mostly she doesnt have to make excuses for herself because she can wholeheartedly be like “yeah i fucked up but whatever im sexy and large and awesome and everyone loves me 🙄whatever baby” and when other people fuck up shes pretty sympathetic even though they are not as large nor as sexy. Shes very used to forgiving and excusing herself its totally alien to her when she really fucks up and is suddenly like wait… valkya…. Did bad?? What is this feeling. Shame?? Guilt?? IMPOSSIBLE.
A13. Does your OC have any phobias? If so, where did they come from?
She hates those giant bugs in morrowind and valenwood a whole fucking lot but I wouldnt exactly place it as a phobia. Those huge mosquitoes and haorvers got no respect but she really hates the morrowind bugs ever since they knocked her over and jumped her while she was pants down peeing drunk as hell in the sand :/ never forgave. Never forgot.
C1. Does your OC have a moral code? If not, how do they base their actions? If so, where does it come from, and how seriously do they take it?
She was raised in a healthy household that tought the basics, prety much “harming others needlessly, stealing, torture, rape, dessecrating the dead, being selfish and not doing right by others, etc etc all basic bad things” are her morals. Her morality is basically treat others how you want to be treated. And if they treat you badly, then have fun beating the shit out of them to show everyone else not to fuck with you. Its a pretty nordic morality in that way. Her morality is also since she was ‘blessed’ with being so large and strong, that she has to also look out for the little guy who cant protect themselves. So If someone treats them how valkya wouldn't want to be treated, then beat the shit out of the person harming them to show them the little guys got backup. Her parents raised her to be a hero and thats p much how she sees herself, which has its benefits and its fuckin problems.
E8. What’s one of your OC’s biggest regrets?
Fucking up Dem and Dariens relationship for sure dude :/ valkya always gonna be sulking over that one. She doesnt regret becoming a vestige, even though it would have made her so much happier not to be because it ended up saving so many people and the world. She regrets not spending more time with Naryu, regrets always having other life saving business she had to run off to, regrets not cherishing the time they had together. Regrets not telling Lyris how she feels, either. Regrets not being able to save as many people as she should have, regrets she wasnt stronger in coldharbor and didnt break out herself. But she tries not to think about it <3
G6. Do they have any favorite childhood memories?
When she was seven she once spent two months training to hold her breath underwater, because her cousin always held it longer and won the gold bet. She trained for hours almost drowning in the river until she could comfortably hold it for up to three minutes. During the next holiday when they all got together again the competitions were on and they both went under- her cousin won, holding their breath for four more minutes before they decided to come up. This was the first lesson she learned that shocked her world view- you always need to know your opponents capabilities. (after she lost 26 gold in the bets, her mother later had to inform her that her cousin was an argonian.)
#thank u beloved this was good to go thru while in class when i should have been paying attention gfhsdhds#valkya#jilly#nirn#thurwen#the ladies and the gilf#presented without evidence; valkya be stupit kinda :/#HOW DO U DO URS SO FAST... SUPER POWERS
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this was written several weeks ago in response to asks i was receiving i am posting it now it is very long the longest i have ever made and it is not very well edited but here it is in this final essay i talk about how shitty rae is about black people in her writing as well as just me talking about how her writing sucks in general lets begin
hello everyone
as you may know i have received a lot of anons in the last week or so about issues of racism in the beetlejuice community both just generally speaking and also within specific spaces
i was very frustrated to not be getting the answers i wanted because i typically do not talk about what i do not see but in an effort to be better about discourse i went looking through discourse from before my time in the fandom and i also received some receipts and information from my followers and from some friends
keep in mind that the voices and thoughts of bipoc are not only incredibly important at all times but in this circumstance it is important that if a bipoc has something to add you listen and learn and be better
i admit that when this happened i wasnt aware of the extent of what occurred and im angry at myself for not doing more at that time and i want to work harder to make sure something like this doesnt go unnoticed again
im a hesitant to talk about months old discourse because i have been criticized for bringing up quote old new unquote but this is very important and i am willing to face whatever comes from to me
lets talk about this
content from our local racist idiot that may be months old but its important
putting my thoughts under a cut to spare the dash but before i begin obviously this is awful
lets fucking unpack this folks
right out the gate op states that she supports artistic freedom but then within a couple words she goes against that statement
being entirely canon compliant isnt artistic freedom and even so if this person has so much respect for canon they wouldnt be out here erasing lydias obvious disgust for beetlejuice in the movie or ignoring lydias age for the sake of shipping that shit isnt canon either
also we love the quick jab at the musical there hilarious we love it dont we because god forbid a licensed and successful branch on a media have any standing in this conversation but whatever
now lets scroll down and talk about the term racebending
the term racebending was coined around 2009 in response to the avatar the last airbender movie a film in which the east asian races of the characters were erased by casting white actors in the three leading roles of aang sokka and katara
whenever the term racebending is used in a negative light it is almost always a case of whitewashing like casting scarlett johansen in ghost in the shell or the casting of white actors of the prince of persia sands of time instead of iranian ones
this kind of racebending erases minorities from beeing seen in media and is wrong
all that being said however racebending has also been noted to have very positive after effects like the 1997 adaptation of cinderella or casting samuel jackson as nick fury in the marvel movies nick fury was originally a white guy can you even imagine
i read this piece from an academic that said quote writers can change the race and cultural specificity of central characters or pull a secondary character of color from the margins transforming them into the central protagonist unquote
racebending like the kind that rae is so heated about is the kind of creative freedom that leads to more representation of bipoc in media which will never be a bad thing ever no matter how pissy you get about it
designing a version of a character as a poc isnt serving to make them necessarily better it serves to give new perspective and perhaps the opportunity to connect even more deeply with a character it doesnt marginalize or erase white people it can uplift poc and if you think uplifting poc is wrong because it tears down white people or whatever youre a fucking moron and you need to get out of your podunk white folk town and see the real world
the numbers of times a bipoc particularly a bipoc that is also lgbt+ has been represented in media are dwarfed by what i as a white dude have seen myself represented in media is and that isnt okay that isnt equality and its something that should change not only in mainstream media but in fandom spaces as well
lets move down a bit further to the part about bullying straight people which is hilarious and lets also talk about the term fetishistic as well lets start with that
this person literally writes explicit pornography of a minor and an adult are we really going to let someone like that dictate what is and what isnt fetishistic
similarly to doing a positive racebend situation people may project lgbt+ headcanons on a character because its part of who they are and it helps them feel closer to the character and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that
depicting lgbt+ subject matter on existing characters isnt an inherently fetishistic action generally things only really become fetishistic when the media is being crafted and hyped by people who are outside of lgbt+ community for example how young teens used to flip a tit about yaoi or how chasers fetishize trans people
but drawing a character with top surgery scars or headcanoning them as trans is harmless and its just another way to interpret a character literally anone could be trans unless if their character bio says theyre cis and most of them dont go that deep so it really is open to interpretation and on the whole most creators encourage this sort of exploration because it is a good thing to get healthy representation out in the world
as for it being used to bully straights thats just funny i dont have anything else on that like if youre straight and you feel threatened and bullied because of someone headcanoning someone as anything that isnt cishet youre a fucking idiot and a weak baby idiot at that like the real world must fucking suck for you because lgbt+ people are everywhere and statistically a big chunk of your favorite characters arent cishet sorry be mad about it
lets roll down a bit further about the big meat of the issue which was when several artists were drawing interpretations of lydia as a black girl which i loved but clearly this person didnt love it because they have a very narrow and very racist and problematic view of what it means to be a black person
and before i move forward i must reiderate that i am a white person and you should listen to the thoughts of poc people like @fright-of-their-lives or @gender-chaotic it is not my place to explain what the black experience is like and it certainly isnt this persons either
implying that the story of a black person isnt worth telling unless if the character faces struggles like racism and prejudice is downright moronic
why use the word kissable to describe a black persons lips now thats what i call fetishistic and its to another extreme if youre talking about a black version of lydia on top of that
the author of this post says herself that shes white so clearly shes the person whos an authority on the black experience and what it means to be a black person right am i reading that right or am i having a fucking conniption
how about allowing black characters to exist without having to struggle why cant a black version of lydia just be a goth teenager with a ghost problem who likes photography and is also black like she doesnt have to move to a hick town and get abused by racist folks she doesnt have to go through any more shit than she already goes through and if you honestly think thats the only way to tell a black persons story you need to get your brain cleaned
you know nothing about the complexities about being a black person and i dont either but you know wh odo black people who are doing black versions of canon characters they fucking know
lets squiggle down just a bit further
so the writer has issues with giving characters traits like a broad nose or larger lips if theyre a woman but if theyre a man suddenly its totally okay to go all ryan murphy ahs coven papa legba appropriation when approaching character design like are you fucking stupid do you hear yourself is that really how you see black men like what the fuck is wrong with you
none of the shit youre spewing takes bravery it takes ignorance and supreme levels of stupidity
do you really think you with your fic where a black lgbt+ woman is tortured and abused where you use the n word with a hard r to refer to her like that shits not okay its fucking depraved and yeah we know you love being shitty but like christ on a bike thats so much
can we also talk about this
what the fuck is this fetishistic bull roar garbage calling this black character beyonce dressing her up in quote fuck me heels unquote are you are you seriously gonna write this and say its a shining example of how to write a black character youre basically saying ope here she is shes a sex icon haha im so progressive and i clealry understand the black experience hahahaha fuck you oh my god
on top of that theres a point where this character is only referred to as curly hair or the fact that the n word is used in the fic with the hard r like thats hands down not okay for you to use especially not in a manner like this jesus christ
oop heres a little more a sampling for you of the hell i am enduring in reading this drivel
oh boy lets put a leash on the angry black woman character lets put her in a leash and have the man imply hes a master like are you kidding me are you for real and what the fuck is with calling her shit like j lo and beyonce do you actually think thats clever at all are you just thinking of any poc that comes into your head for this
also lydia fucking tells this girl that she shouldnt have lost her temper like she got fucking leashed im so tired why is this writing so problematic and also so bad
hold up before i lose my head lets look at some of her own comments on the matter of this character and what happens to her
hi hello youre just casually tossing the word lynch out there in the wide open world as if thats not a problem that is still real like are you fucking unhinged there have been multiple cases of this exact thing happening in our firepit of a country in the last five months alone like how can you still have shit like this up for people to read how can you be proud of work like this in this climate
and also what the fuck is that last bit
what the actual fuck
i dont speak for black people as a white person but you do!? im sorry i had to get my punctuation out for that because wow thats fucking asinine just because one black person read your fic and didnt find the torture and abuse of your one black character abhorrant doesnt mean that the vast majority of people not only in the fandom but in the human population with decency are going to think its okay because its not
i started this post hoping to be level headed and professional but jesus fucking christ this woman is something else white nationalism is alive and well folks and its name is rae
if you defend this woman you defend some truly abhorrant raecism
editors notes
in order to get some perspective on these issues more fully some of the writing by the author was examined and on the whole it was pretty unreadable but i want to just call back to the very beginning of this essay where the person in question talked about holding canon in high regard but then in their writing they just go around giving people magic and shit and ignoring the end of the movie entirely like are you canon compliant or nah
the writing doesnt even read like beetlejuice fanfic it reads as self indulgent fiction you could easily change the names and its just a bad fanfic from 2007
also can we talk about writing the lesbian character as an angry man hater like its 2020 dude and als olets touch on that girl on girl pandering while beetlejuice is just there like here we go fetishizing again wee
i cant find a way to work this into this already massive post but
im going to throw up
okay so thats a lot we have covered a lot today and im sure my ask box will regret it but this definitely should have been more picked apart when it happened
please feel free to add more to this i would love more perspectives than just my own.
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Winter Anime 2019 Part 4: That’s all, folks.
Over already? This is a pretty thin season with not a lot of shows, so it’s not that surprising that there’s not many good ones either. Still, a weak showing. Oh well, let’s get it over with. There were a few decent ones in the last batch.
Circlet Princess
What: Dimwitted schoolgirl is good at some vaguely defined virtual fighting sport, changes school based on it, finds out relevant club has been abolished. Forecast says: 5 member plot incoming.
❌ I think it’s already clear this show isn’t very ambitious, and not very well written either. A game adaptation at its laziest.
❌❌ Man, this girl is STUPID. What the hell.
❌ The rest of the cast are less stupid (which isn’t hard), but that just means they’re so forgettable they might as well not exist.
❌❌ It looks cheap, and by that I mean really really cheap. The character design is ISO standard anime and it’s mostly on model, but that’s as good as it gets. The animation just sucks. That’s a death sentence for an action/sports show with terrible characters.
Bermuda Triangle - Colorful Pastrale
What: Japanese Spongebob, as in cute mermaids. Doing things optional.
❌ To make this quick, this is almost exactly Pastel Memories, only every problem is just a little less extreme. It has fewer characters, it’s looking slightly better, there’s a tiny bit more going on, the setting is mildly more interesting. That still means it is:
❌❌ 1. A boring mess in which a handful of samey girls do nothing of much interest in a location that should be unique, but isn’t.
❌❌ 2. Conspicuously cheap. It even has the same sightline problems.
❌❌ 3. Featuring a character model sheet that is “off” even under the best circumstances. This time due to the very offputting decision to give everyone blobby triangular irises.
❌❌ Unlike Pastel Memories (which was an ad for a mobile game) this is an anime original, so it really has no excuse being this lame.
♎ I find it amusing that Pastel Palettes are providing the OP for an anime, and it’s not the one currently airing that they’re actually characters in.
Endro~!
What: Kiraralike comedy thing in a generic JRPG setting.
♎ Namori character designs, so it’s like Spyce in that it just seems like the Yuru Yuri cast cosplaying a genre. But hey, Namori character designs do look good.
❌ I’m not as done with generic JRPG settings as with generic isekai settings, but it’s still a real problem since the former is now a subset of the latter. Mildly making fun of it does not improve things much either.
✅ The tone is cutesy and pleasant. I find this much preferable to something like Mahoujin Guru Guru, which is pretty much the same thing but with abrasive, high-intensity slapstick instead.
✅ It’s backing that up with generally high-quality, agreeable pastel looks.
❌ Not being annoying is a start, but beyond that this seems very middle of the road and predictable. I don’t get much out of the genre “parody” and simply being cute is still not an unique selling point in anime.
Grimms Notes The Animation
What: Did someone say JRPG? This is a mobile one, vaguely based on fairy tales as the title implies.
✅ This universe runs on the idea that every NPC’s fate is controlled by a preset story they’re aware of. You could make a good story about that if you took it seriously. It even does that somewhat, but only to the degree that you’d expect from a throwaway sidequest in a moderately well-written JRPG.
❌ And the reason for that is that it has to make room for being a JRPG, of course. Read: It’s irritatingly mechanics- and combat-focused. Stuff like the characters changing form when in fights just seems overly complicated and adds nothing.
❌ Said combat looks competent, but not good enough to make up for detracting from what could have been an interesting setting. Merc Storia did this aspect far better (by usually not doing it at all).
❌ So it ends up being better than expected, but then that only amounts to a disappointment.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai / Kaguya-sama: Love Is War
What: Kaguya and Miyuki are in the student council of a prestigious school and HATE HATE HATE each other. Specifically, they hate the part where the other one won’t just finally admit their love.
✅ The joke here is that it’s operating on full intensity at all times, over the most simple matters. It’s pretty much Kaiji, only about dating - complete with hammy narrator. This is another one of those shows where I can’t say with certainty that it’s solid, but I had a blast during the first episode.
✅ Regarding Quintuplets, I made it clear that I love me some sparks in my romantic comedies. It doesn’t get much more explosive than this.
✅ The characters are comparable to Quints too: Smart scheming upstart vs. rich scheming ojou, with a simpleminded girl in the middle that ends up winning more often than not simply by not overdoing it.
✅ The visuals are just as over the top as the proceedings depicted. Occasionally a filter massacre, but mostly cool.
♎ The long-term viability of this show depend entirely on whether they can consistently come up with scenarios that work, which isn’t a given. Also, this is so intense it might become tiresome - I already felt some fatigue towards the end of the first episode. We’ll see, I guess.
Kakegurui ××
What: Some weirdos think they can crash the party at Hyakkaou with an intent to scare the daylights out of Yumeko and Midari, of all people. Let’s just say they were not as prepared as they thought.
✅ As you might have guessed by me watching the sequel, I liked Kakegurui. It has its problems, but if you’re down for some crazypants madness, this show delivers.
✅ This is one of the better episodes of it too, because it gets right into it and the game they play is dead simple. Kakegurui was never about smart moves or strong characters, so not having anything detract from our girls deriving the entirely wrong sort of pleasure from danger is a plus.
♎ Sadly, the OP is a step down (though still great) and the ED is simply an inferior, overcomplicated version of the magnificent original one. They seem to know this too, because they play the OP cut of Deal with the Devil in its entirety for a montage. The rest of the production is on par with the original though, so it’s fiiiine. Oh well.
❌ It got Netflix’d again and the subs situation is dire. Since this is one I actually like, I might have to wait for the official release.
Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai / The Magnificent Kotobuki
What: Piston-engined fighter plane pornography.
✅ This delivers where Girly Air Force failed: Close to zero exposition, the majority of the episode is just planes dogfighting with barely any talking either. And that part is executed really well. I think the plane startup sequence alone is as long as the total of Girly’s airtime.
✅ Guess what, it’s Tsutomu Mizushima, previously known for unbridled panzer (und girls) pornography, and boy can you tell. However, this cuts out a lot of GuP’s bullshit: A plane doesn’t have the cast of K-ON in it, it’s not over-the-top zany, and whatever this universe is, it can’t be as insipid as GuP’s. The classy milwank exists you guys, we found it.
✅✅ The music really helps here, sky pirates vs zeppelins just wouldn’t work without some classic swashbuckling orchestra background. Fat sound mixing on the dakka too. It’s great.
♎ Can’t really say much about the narrative because we kinda skipped that in this episode aside from the obvious, but Mizushima’s Shirobako collaborator Michiko Yokote is writing it, and that’s a good sign.
❌ Now we’re getting to the elephant in the room though: There’s no way the planes wouldn’t be CG in 2019, but the characters are CG too, and their animation is mediocre. Also, they did the KADO thing where they 2D-animated the side characters that aren’t important enough to model. This has the funny side effect that you can tell who’s going to die real soon by them looking better. It’s far from great, but probably a worthy tradeoff if the mechanical side is this extensive and also delivers.
✅ This is definitely not for everyone, since you have to have more than a casual appreciation for those magnificent girls in their flying machines. I do, though.
revisions
What: A chunk of Shibuya gets teleported to the dystopian future, local doomsday prepper gets handed a large robot because he’s special.
❌ A Goro Taniguchi joint being a poorly conceived scifi mess? Say it ain’t so! I especially dig the tryhard English jargon (mecha: “String Puppet”, monsters faction: “Revisions”, particular monster, I think?: “Civilian”, tacticool operetah: “Balancer”).
❌ Works very hard to characterize the main character, to the detriment of everyone else. A for effort, but you made an unlikeable asshole though.
❌ This is another full CG show, with the quality of the animation being curiously variable. Sometimes it’s well above average and sometimes it’s painful. There doesn’t seem to be much method to it.
✅ Tries to establish stakes by being mondo edgy and graphically murderizing some poor bystanders. It’s adorable.
❌ If you’re really jonesing for some mecha, you can watch all of this on Netflix right now. It’s not like you have any alte- wait, Egao no Daika has mecha too. Well there you go then. That’s a better show.
#anime#impressions#winter2019#Bermuda Triangle#endro#grimms notes#kaguya-sama#circlet princess#kakegurui#koya no kotobuku hikoutai#revisions#The Magnificent Kotobuki
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Due to a hand injury Natsuki Takaya was able to have direct involvement with the anime adaptation of Furuba, but but she and director Akitaroh Daichi did not get along. Takaya got a reputation for being a control freak – for example, she demanded big-name seiyuu be cast, something Daichi normally avoids.
I really dislike how Daichi makes changes in the adaptations and leaves out things. I also dislike how the takes away the original works depth by simplifying things. He (for example) pretty much butchered Kamisama Kiss’s story by removing a lot of things and plot lines etc in order to tell the story quicker and in a simpler fashion.
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I’m not sure about the source of the whole Akitaroh vs Takaya story, but I guess they did have a conflict. Takaya said the anime happened in the worst period of her life (it wasn’t clear if she would even be able to draw after her injury), so she couldn’t even enjoy it properly, let alone participating in the production (so I don’t see how she could be involved with the anime). I do know some things for sure: she holds dear the VAs work, the music and Ritsuko Okazaki, as she always talks about the opening song and Ritsuko when asked about the first anime. I don’t remember her telling anything more than that tbh.
The way Akitaroh directed it may be explained though: he had about 44 chapters (the latest chapter that came out before that Takaya’s long hiatus was the one where Ritsu appears, if i’m not mistaken), no idea what for many plotlines were in the story, no ending, no guarantee the author will ever come back, so he had to do something and he tried to make a logical closure. So i guess he did what he could or what he thought he could. We can understand he had to face some difficulties. And I think that everything that was turned after the manga without major changes was really good: what this director can do for sure is creating the right atmosphere. And also it has Hatori’s episode that got me dead and that was even better presented than his story in the manga, imo.For this I’ll be forever grateful to the director and the whole team. They did a good job.
But in my opinion, Akitaroh’s biggest mistake was to make a romantic-family-comedy out of Furuba: it’s clear since the begining that it isn’t the core of the story. I know, I know, many people loved it because of the humour, and I wouldnt claim it ‘gross’, but it’s not what Furuba feels to me. Akitaroh’s humor =/= Takaya’s humour, and i felt it even when i was watching it with no knowledge the manga exists: it just felt not so fitting for the story. I didn’t appreciate ‘the funny fillers‘ and even thought I should stop watching it, but Hatori’s episode and the later drama saved everything. Sounds ridiculous, probably, but drama can save a show for me - if it’s Takaya’s drama.
Also, I don’t really understand how it was decided what scenes to cut, what to replace with ‘funny fillers’ and what to keep. Why to cut off many scenes that are not really explained but fitting for the plot and relationships, like Kyo and Tohru’s moment in the episode about them visiting Kyoko’s grave, for example? It fits well even without getting into details and explaining the reasons of his words and reactions then. Also, why to change characters’ motives? Yes, we can make Kazuma a shady guy who acts upon Akito’s orders and does that thing to Kyo because he’s ordered and not because he cares about his SON - just to show how EVERYONE IS CONNECTED. And how about personalities? I’m not talking about Shigure, the post is getting longer than i expected already, but the main trio? What happens in the ending of the 25th/beginning of the last episode feels really OOC to me and it doesn’t give any feeling of closure. So, in short, congrats, with these changes you killed your chance to turn the second season.
Everything I wrote sounds like blabbing of a Furuba freak who will protect Takaya’s original manga to death, but I never hid what a creature I was, haha. But tbh I was pretty chill about Akitaroh’s adaptation UNTIL the last year when i saw his comment on the anime: he said that he ‘fixed the flaws of the original manga‘ and it got me really mad. I lost the link for that video so I may be injust and biased or i just misinterpreted it but it’s not the best way you treat the source material, ya know.
About Kamisama: I was not really into this story when I was watching it, and I never read the manga, so I liked the anime (first season). The atmosphere felt a bit like Furuba to me, and it’s the component I really appreciate in the first series. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it had the same problems as Furuba 2001.
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