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kaigouHonestly, when it gets to the point that I'm watching the newest Legend of Korra episodes because they're better than my other anime-options (and it's still 24 hours before the next Moretsu, anyway, so I'm dyin' heah), that's just... so many kinds of wrong. But still, voice-acting aside, it's a far more dynamic (camera-action-wise) cartoon than just about anything else I can ever name that came from a Western production company. And the background shots of the AU-Shanghai are just incredible. Sure, it's not Last Exile (but really, there is only ONE Gonzo), but it's head-and-shoulders with some anime I've seen, and several body-lengths above any cartoon I've ever seen, including the first Avatar series. (Then again, Nick isn't doing the awful compression-crap they did on the first Avatar, gawd, my eyes.)
I wanted to like Kuroko's Basketball, but by the third episode, it was showing its shonen roots, and not showing anything to break from that mold. Having a female coach doesn't save the day if you never actually see her, y'know, coach. Or produce a strategy, or tell the players what to do. Nice idea, but she's certainly no coach like Oofuri's Momo-kan. See, now that's a coach.
Sakamichi no Apollon, why oh why must you be only eight episodes? Talking about animation, I honestly do not think I have ever seen anyone animate music-playing to this degree. It's delightful. Even if the strong Kyushuu accent seems to be tripping CP up constantly.
And for those of you who'd wanted to know about potential yuri in Moretsu Pirates, well, my yuri goggles are a little cracked, so I'm not seeing it. But I can tell you that I was pleased and impressed with ep17 (the most recent). Here's the deal: it's an adaptation of a series of light novels, and somewhere in the pre-production, the director said in an interview that in order to adapt the story faithfully, something had to be cut... and the decision was made to cut the romantic storylines. Pretty gutsy, given that this might alienate some part of the shojo-tuned audience for whom romance is a make-or-break.
But! But! In the wiki, it mentions that Lynn, the now-president of the school's 'yacht' club (where 'yacht' = 'spaceship'), is a lesbian, and in love with Jenny, the previous president of the same club. I had expected that if all romance was being dropped, that this, too, would be set aside. I was okay with that, since it's not like the usual, where the non-traditional romances get set aside and only the heteronormative ones make it through adaptation decay. Except this time? The only romance that's so far made it into the adaptation is the lesbian relationship.
Let me clarify: it's not yuri. It's not primed for the male gaze. It's actually given the same respect and affection (and other characters' reactions) that I'd expect if one of the two were a guy. It's simply a relationship, and now it's canon for this adaptation, too. My love for Moretsu, it just grows exponentially with each episode.
Aaaaand then we have this season's Guilty Crown -- well, one of many, but the only one I took even a few minutes to bother watching, Hiiro no Kakera. Don't ask me why; I was bored. Reeeeeeally bored. (Then again, I marathoned the first 18 episodes of Guilty Crown in a fit of absolute crazy-contract-recovery madness. And then I sobered up and said NO MORE.) CP mentioned he was thinking of downloading it, since it ostensibly revolves around a priestess (a particular area of study of his, pop-culture-wise), and I had to break it to him. This show makes Guilty Crown look good. That takes quite a bit.
That's my new benchmark, incidentally. Is it as bad as Guilty Crown? If yes, it means that budget, voice-acting, backgrounds, and in-betweening is all decent to fairly high-quality... but that someone forgot to, y'know, actually hire someone to write a damn story.
Oh my gawd, the pain. I lost nine hours of my life watching that debacle AND I WILL NEVER GET THOSE HOURS BACK.
I wanted to like Kuroko's Basketball, but by the third episode, it was showing its shonen roots, and not showing anything to break from that mold. Having a female coach doesn't save the day if you never actually see her, y'know, coach. Or produce a strategy, or tell the players what to do. Nice idea, but she's certainly no coach like Oofuri's Momo-kan. See, now that's a coach.
Sakamichi no Apollon, why oh why must you be only eight episodes? Talking about animation, I honestly do not think I have ever seen anyone animate music-playing to this degree. It's delightful. Even if the strong Kyushuu accent seems to be tripping CP up constantly.
And for those of you who'd wanted to know about potential yuri in Moretsu Pirates, well, my yuri goggles are a little cracked, so I'm not seeing it. But I can tell you that I was pleased and impressed with ep17 (the most recent). Here's the deal: it's an adaptation of a series of light novels, and somewhere in the pre-production, the director said in an interview that in order to adapt the story faithfully, something had to be cut... and the decision was made to cut the romantic storylines. Pretty gutsy, given that this might alienate some part of the shojo-tuned audience for whom romance is a make-or-break.
But! But! In the wiki, it mentions that Lynn, the now-president of the school's 'yacht' club (where 'yacht' = 'spaceship'), is a lesbian, and in love with Jenny, the previous president of the same club. I had expected that if all romance was being dropped, that this, too, would be set aside. I was okay with that, since it's not like the usual, where the non-traditional romances get set aside and only the heteronormative ones make it through adaptation decay. Except this time? The only romance that's so far made it into the adaptation is the lesbian relationship.
Let me clarify: it's not yuri. It's not primed for the male gaze. It's actually given the same respect and affection (and other characters' reactions) that I'd expect if one of the two were a guy. It's simply a relationship, and now it's canon for this adaptation, too. My love for Moretsu, it just grows exponentially with each episode.
Aaaaand then we have this season's Guilty Crown -- well, one of many, but the only one I took even a few minutes to bother watching, Hiiro no Kakera. Don't ask me why; I was bored. Reeeeeeally bored. (Then again, I marathoned the first 18 episodes of Guilty Crown in a fit of absolute crazy-contract-recovery madness. And then I sobered up and said NO MORE.) CP mentioned he was thinking of downloading it, since it ostensibly revolves around a priestess (a particular area of study of his, pop-culture-wise), and I had to break it to him. This show makes Guilty Crown look good. That takes quite a bit.
That's my new benchmark, incidentally. Is it as bad as Guilty Crown? If yes, it means that budget, voice-acting, backgrounds, and in-betweening is all decent to fairly high-quality... but that someone forgot to, y'know, actually hire someone to write a damn story.
Oh my gawd, the pain. I lost nine hours of my life watching that debacle AND I WILL NEVER GET THOSE HOURS BACK.
no subject
Date: 4 May 2012 06:12 am (UTC)But you have done the rest of us a most selfless service, my dear, practically a martyrdom, to keep us from sharing the same dismal fate!