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Winter-Spring 2014 Anime |OT3| People incapable of guilt usually do have a good time
- Thread starter Narag
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Hmm, I kind of got hints of that feeling from this episode. Well, hopefully it'll be good! And yeah, as I said, I don't mind the 3D, I just think the animation is weird.
PshycoNinja
Member
Oh I get that and I don't mind the challenge. Otherwise what would be the point of posting?
What I meant is an actual attack against me as a person because of my opinion. But I shrug it off all the same. I know who I am and if someone doesn't like me because of that it's fine. That's their prerogative.
I am a pretty happy go lucky guy so honestly I don't get that offended. I am defensive about my opinion but other than that I am a pretty "ride with the tide" type of person.
But thank you for standing up for me. I appreciate it.
;P
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Sounds like an internet motto for all things
Admiral Woofington
Member
I stopped reading after a bit because I just wasn't in the mood for that really weird depressing-looking seinen. It's not especially grim-dark, it's just a very cold and inhuman atmosphere. Like I mentioned in my first episode review, the characters and setting are so cold and mechanical, which kind of work for a dark sci-fi I guess. If you've ever read/watched Gantz then that's something to compare the over-all atmosphere of Knights of Sidonia to. Only with less whiny protagonist I guess. But the presentation is the exact same. It doesn't attempt to appeal to otakus as a whole, but I read there's more harem shit outside of the stuff I saw, though a 'deconstruction' as the guy from MAL put it.
So yeah. Quote me on this, this will be like Gantz in Space. Not something I'm especially looking forward to and probably won't be in my top shows, but it'll be one of the more interesting shows this season.
AquaWateria
Member
Tokyo Ravens
Holy shit what happened to Kon she suddenly transformed into a mature fox lady, though for some reason I don't hate her transformation probably because she was the best part of this anime.
Holy shit what happened to Kon she suddenly transformed into a mature fox lady, though for some reason I don't hate her transformation probably because she was the best part of this anime.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Rabbit Shop Girls 1
Because fuck typing real names, it's 11:18PM (or not)
Girls making coffee and latte art. And cocoa wants to be in things, because we all need a potential molester as a friend. clearly.
Guess I need my "fun" show of the season I guess.
Because fuck typing real names, it's 11:18PM (or not)
Girls making coffee and latte art. And cocoa wants to be in things, because we all need a potential molester as a friend. clearly.
Guess I need my "fun" show of the season I guess.
Okay, stuff.
Hitsugi no Chaika ep.1
Average opening episode. Didn't really explain too much, but it wasn't completely empty of content. Chaika's speech pattern wasn't a problem for me. Not boring enough to drop but not exciting enough to rush to watch next week. Will keep trying eventually.
Ping Pong ep.1
Not really a fan of the Yuasa style but
. Not sure if the style is gonna work for me for a full season. Interested enough to give it another week though.
GochiUsa ep.1
Cute girls doing barista things, plus a suave bartender voiced by Show Hayami. Sure, why not. Not too keen on the puffball mascot character, but hopefully that won't be an issue.
Nanana ep.1
Pretty good. Lots of fun characters and decent set-up of some of the core plot threads for the series. Looking forward to next week.
No Game No Life ep.1
Well, this show should be a lot of dumb fun. Definitely going to keep watching.
Hitsugi no Chaika ep.1
Average opening episode. Didn't really explain too much, but it wasn't completely empty of content. Chaika's speech pattern wasn't a problem for me. Not boring enough to drop but not exciting enough to rush to watch next week. Will keep trying eventually.
Ping Pong ep.1
Not really a fan of the Yuasa style but
the match in the second half was really good. All of the Wenge scenes were, really
GochiUsa ep.1
Cute girls doing barista things, plus a suave bartender voiced by Show Hayami. Sure, why not. Not too keen on the puffball mascot character, but hopefully that won't be an issue.
Nanana ep.1
Pretty good. Lots of fun characters and decent set-up of some of the core plot threads for the series. Looking forward to next week.
No Game No Life ep.1
Well, this show should be a lot of dumb fun. Definitely going to keep watching.
What is the root of this line of thinking that every protagonist available must be likeable by the audience?
Nah, no need to answer. Let this be my food for thought for today.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Indeed!
PshycoNinja
Member
Oh crap. I totally forgot about the Madoka review.
I got lots of time tomorrow so I'll be sure to post a review tomorrow.
I got lots of time tomorrow so I'll be sure to post a review tomorrow.
Admiral Woofington
Member
Audiences want relatable and want somebody to root for. If not relatable at least somebody they like. We've been fed likable and/or relatable characters since our childhood and we like to put our current selves in their shoes. Shinji was relatable in the sense that he was a normal kid. But he was not likable because most people don't think in the sense of 'yeah I was whiny as shit when I was a teenager' but most of us were. We judge the character as our current self and based off other protagonists we enjoy. That strip Narag posted isn't too far off over a Shinji people would've liked. There's a certain point where realistic becomes annoying for audiences.
Audiences eat this shit up. Villains that are just evil for evil's sake are getting fewer by the numbers with each passing day. Now they need to have some sad backstory or some noble over-all basis to their actions. Heck they're making that new Maleficent movie because they wanted to give her depth, which probably means give her a sad backstory. We want to feel for them, that gives us depth. If you have a Hitman character who's a cold killing machine, give him something to protect that changes his views and all of a sudden you know he's not a piece of shit. He's a piece of shit with a heart of gold.
If your main character isn't likable the audience won't tend to care about the rest. That's reality. Critics might care though, hence so many Oscar films with douchey characters.
I think my favorite part of Sidonia so far is when a talking bear in a bonnet with a robot hand showed up for ten seconds and then wasn't mentioned for the rest of the episode.
Its also that people do/want to self identify with the protagonist. I know I do that an awful lot, always have. Not sure why.
AquaWateria
Member
You know I definitely agree on all your aspects especially the heart of gold part. Like for me currently now in Hunter X Hunter it creates this tension with the King in that he genuinely wants to protect Kumogi so it makes it seem like he isn't bad, the same with the other villains Youpi and Neferpitou.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Hajime no Ippo Rising 23
Well shit, this was pretty damn amazing. Think I'll finish this before going to bed.
Well shit, this was pretty damn amazing. Think I'll finish this before going to bed.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Oh please. Shinji is by far the strongest eva pilot and has saved his friends and the world countless times. He has more balls than some guy in a show made to pander to otakus.
Really good point there, though I feel I've read something similar before since I asked the same question a lot as response to "relatable character" criticism on a fiction or specific character fiction. Yeah I think different audience have different approach to fiction. There those who want relatable, and there also those who like to see a character as their own (not tailored to specific audience or study of character). Though I acknowledge this sometimes ago actually, it still irks me when arguments boils down to "relatable character". I hope I can live with that from now on.
We all know he is only the strongest when
he's back in his mothers womb
I really shouldn't have to spoiler this, but apparently there are people who still haven't seen some of these classic anime.
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Happiness Charge Precure 10
I am enjoying this show way too much :,(
If this continues I am forced to watch older PreCure shows. Don't do this to me
Older shows have their own charms and strong/weak points. Although it really depends on what aspect you're aiming for.
Hajime no Ippo Rising 24
America stahp.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
He's the strongest when he is in EVA 01 and its not by some small margin. Asuka recognised that shit and went emo.
I don't see how this changes what I said.
I'm saying it's the EVA.
A Black Falcon
Member
These are the biggest things wrong with Mahouka. The series has multiple MAJOR problems. Warning: some spoilers.
1) The MC is one of the most obscenely overpowered main characters in the history of overpowered main characters. Seriously, I don't think that's even exaggeration at all; he's just that ridiculously amazing at everything except for the things harem protagonists cannot be good at, eg. relationships with girls.
- He is an incredible genius. He's got the best grades in his school, and the school is one of the top ones in the nation. He also is an exceptional martial artist who studies under one of the nation's greatest martial artists. And he's also a genius scientist, better able to understand magic than just about anybody.
And last, he's also one of the strongest mages in the world, probably. His magical powers are ridiculously strong (
), and he knows how to use them. He also can
For people who have just watched episode 1 of the anime, you have no idea.. The "price" for this is that he has almost no emotions, but that mostly just serves to provide an excuse for why the relationship element, of course, goes nowhere. Apart from that,
Oh yeah, and the MC and his sister's family
This guy is no underdog.
2) Despite #1, the series tries to convince you that this guy is some kind of underdog, that he's not that great, questions himself, etc. It's just LUDICROUS the idiocy it descends to to try to keep its "the MC is an underdog" theme running, even though the truth is the exact opposite of that. This is one of the most overpowered MCs ever, and yet the series tries again and again and again to paint him as some underdog. It's not just ludicrous, it's insane, broken, and utterly implausible.
In order to keep this 'necessity' -- "the MC must be an underdog because that's how main characters in this kind of story work" -- going, the MC comes across as a self-hating guy who might be depressed or something, at least to me. Maybe the explanation is just that it's because of his lack of emotions, but the results are the same. See below for an example of how this is applied. It doesn't work, at all, once you realize what he really can do, but the series kept it up anyway. The MC tries his best to keep this going, too -- he covers up his powers, intentionally does worse on magic tests than he can do
, etc. He doesn't want people to know his true abilities. Sure, he can't do well at traditional magic, but what he can do he's the best anywhere at, and he will destroy ANYONE in a fight, in moments. But despite that, either implausibly no one ever figures it out (and everyone else is thus an idiot), or they decide to keep denigrating him for no reason. It's absurd either way.
So yeah, the tests that their society uses to determine magical power are flawed, and don't really cover the thing the MC is incredible at. So, even though he's the greatest, no one knows except for his sister, and no one believes her when she constantly says that he's the greater mage; he IS, of course, since he's the MC and this is a harem action series and in this genre the MC guy is always stronger than the girls because of sexism and power fantasies (note: I HATE this element of the genre), but the tests conveniently are flawed, or breakable by a MC dedicated to hiding his powers, in just the right ways for the stupid story to work.
In the end, he's probably the greatest combat mage ever, but is dedicated to keeping that fact secret; virtually no one knows is true potential. So, he's an exceptional genius on almost all fronts, but the series tries to keep up the "but he's an underdog and persecuted!" thing despite that, ridiculously. This connects to the next major he defends a system which persecutes him, and seems to think that it's fine to be treated badly as he is. If he opposes the system, I sure can't tell at all because he's its staunch defender. On that note, the next point.
3) The series defends discrimination, and the MC is 100% on board with it, even though he is a major subject of that discrimination
This is sort of connected to #2, but it is also its own issue. The society depicted in Mahouka is DEEPLY discriminatory, and the 'good guys' in the series frequently support this discrimination. The resulting message is awful.
So, in their school, one of the group of top schools in the nation for training mages, everyone is divided up into two groups based on magical ability. Once again, their tests are incomplete, but no one other than the MC is smart enough to realize that, of course, and he's too self-hating (intentionally or not) and intent on hiding his powers to tell anyone. The lower group, which includes the MC naturally, is treated worse than the upper one, based on nothing other than their natural ability. He seems to be perfectly okay with the system as it is, as far as the two-tier system goes. Some others are not, but he never complains about it.
One of the most obvious examples of this bad treatment is that only upper-tier students, those with better magical ability, are worthy of having actual teachers in their classrooms. Lower-tier students, with less magical ability, are often called "weeds" by their superiors, and are unworthy of such things. They have to deal with only having a video monitor showing a teacher in a real (upper-tier) classroom, and will never see an actual teacher. If they need help, which they are more likely to since they're lower-skill, too bad; you won't get any from your nonexistent teacher. So based on magical skill, students are massively discriminated against in all of their classes -- and the "good" characters are okay with this and rationalize it away. The one who doesn't... well, I mentioned that already. DISGUSTING.
Another example of this is that course-one students can be on the student council, of course; lower-level ones aren't worthy of such an honor.
A third thing is that clubs about magic get much more money than clubs about other things; the excuse is that money is distributed based on success, but of course with money comes success, so that's circular logic there, not a good argument.
It's all completely ridiculously horrible, but apparently there are eventually some elements of pushback against this within the series --
Even so, the "good" characters do a lot of rationalizing about how the situation is okay. There even are scenes with some course-two students rationalizing away how it's okay for them to not have teachers, since they aren't good enough at magic to deserve it anyway! Unbelievable. I've seen it claimed that the LN is better at criticising the discrimination than the mangas and anime are, but I don't know if this is true, but I can't imagine it being much better. How it is in the LNs and anime is quite clear, and it's as I've described: really, really bad.
Despite those qualifiers, this is an incredibly discriminatory society, and the way the series portrays its defenders and its critics in the early parts of the series is horrible and backwards. Even if things change later, the fact remains that the series, and the MC, did not properly speak out earlier. The closest it gets to that early on is the student president's speech in a debate, where she both said how she disagreed with some of the discrimination while also saying that change should be slow, has some issues, but she is portrayed as being entirely right on the matter. Don't rock the boat too much, you see, we don't want the course one students to be dragged down to course two's level. Evening everything out that way would do no good, right? Yes, the discrimination element in this series is deeply unpleasant, and its attempts to argue against that are conservative, limited, and flawed.
4) The incest element, of course, is also a problem. The MC's sister -- and yes, she is his real sister -- is in love with him. Since he has the usual harem-protagonist trait of not understanding feelings, this goes nowhere fast, but her feelings are clear. Of course, to repeat the obvious, this isn't anything remotely like any kind of actual sibling relationship, and it's completely stupid to see yet AGAIN. What is this, the season of brocon sisters? There are what, three or four this season... argh. This is, of course, a major element of the series, since Miyuki makes her love clear again and again and again, but I don't think there's much to say about it other than that I hate it, it's horrible and isn't based on anything that exists in reality.
1) The MC is one of the most obscenely overpowered main characters in the history of overpowered main characters. Seriously, I don't think that's even exaggeration at all; he's just that ridiculously amazing at everything except for the things harem protagonists cannot be good at, eg. relationships with girls.
- He is an incredible genius. He's got the best grades in his school, and the school is one of the top ones in the nation. He also is an exceptional martial artist who studies under one of the nation's greatest martial artists. And he's also a genius scientist, better able to understand magic than just about anybody.
At some point he advances magic technology by a decade all on his own.
basically he can kill (decompose) people at will if he wants to
regenerate his body almost as fast as people can damage it.
his powers are borderline godlike.
Oh yeah, and the MC and his sister's family
is one of the richest and most powerful in Japan. This is why he's able to have that great lab.
2) Despite #1, the series tries to convince you that this guy is some kind of underdog, that he's not that great, questions himself, etc. It's just LUDICROUS the idiocy it descends to to try to keep its "the MC is an underdog" theme running, even though the truth is the exact opposite of that. This is one of the most overpowered MCs ever, and yet the series tries again and again and again to paint him as some underdog. It's not just ludicrous, it's insane, broken, and utterly implausible.
In order to keep this 'necessity' -- "the MC must be an underdog because that's how main characters in this kind of story work" -- going, the MC comes across as a self-hating guy who might be depressed or something, at least to me. Maybe the explanation is just that it's because of his lack of emotions, but the results are the same. See below for an example of how this is applied. It doesn't work, at all, once you realize what he really can do, but the series kept it up anyway. The MC tries his best to keep this going, too -- he covers up his powers, intentionally does worse on magic tests than he can do
(his slow casting speed thing is a fake he does to make his scores worse than they should be)
So yeah, the tests that their society uses to determine magical power are flawed, and don't really cover the thing the MC is incredible at. So, even though he's the greatest, no one knows except for his sister, and no one believes her when she constantly says that he's the greater mage; he IS, of course, since he's the MC and this is a harem action series and in this genre the MC guy is always stronger than the girls because of sexism and power fantasies (note: I HATE this element of the genre), but the tests conveniently are flawed, or breakable by a MC dedicated to hiding his powers, in just the right ways for the stupid story to work.
In the end, he's probably the greatest combat mage ever, but is dedicated to keeping that fact secret; virtually no one knows is true potential. So, he's an exceptional genius on almost all fronts, but the series tries to keep up the "but he's an underdog and persecuted!" thing despite that, ridiculously. This connects to the next major he defends a system which persecutes him, and seems to think that it's fine to be treated badly as he is. If he opposes the system, I sure can't tell at all because he's its staunch defender. On that note, the next point.
3) The series defends discrimination, and the MC is 100% on board with it, even though he is a major subject of that discrimination
and in fact the whole reason he's there is to try to break the focus on raising strong mages for purposes of war; he wants magic to be used by more things than just the military.
So, in their school, one of the group of top schools in the nation for training mages, everyone is divided up into two groups based on magical ability. Once again, their tests are incomplete, but no one other than the MC is smart enough to realize that, of course, and he's too self-hating (intentionally or not) and intent on hiding his powers to tell anyone. The lower group, which includes the MC naturally, is treated worse than the upper one, based on nothing other than their natural ability. He seems to be perfectly okay with the system as it is, as far as the two-tier system goes. Some others are not, but he never complains about it.
One of the most obvious examples of this bad treatment is that only upper-tier students, those with better magical ability, are worthy of having actual teachers in their classrooms. Lower-tier students, with less magical ability, are often called "weeds" by their superiors, and are unworthy of such things. They have to deal with only having a video monitor showing a teacher in a real (upper-tier) classroom, and will never see an actual teacher. If they need help, which they are more likely to since they're lower-skill, too bad; you won't get any from your nonexistent teacher. So based on magical skill, students are massively discriminated against in all of their classes -- and the "good" characters are okay with this and rationalize it away. The one who doesn't... well, I mentioned that already. DISGUSTING.
Another example of this is that course-one students can be on the student council, of course; lower-level ones aren't worthy of such an honor.
This becomes an issue when Miyuki, his sister, says that the MC should be on the student council. They say he cannot because of the rules. The student council president claims to "oppose [at least some of] the discrimination", but she won't bend that rule, yet at least, so instead she puts him on the disciplinary committee, which doesn't have that restriction.
It's all completely ridiculously horrible, but apparently there are eventually some elements of pushback against this within the series --
First, eventually the class president apparently does break that rule that bans course-two students from being on the student council. Maybe eventually the school may change more policies as well, as some hints of how amazing the MC is start to leak out due to his actions; as he is "course two" this would challenge the system. The MC winning his quest to de-militarize magic schools might inadvertently help with the discrimination too, of course; he doesn't care about it, but if the focus wasn't just on creating the strongest battle mages maybe the ludicrous discrimination wouldn't be as bad. Who knows for sure, and of course that would not happen before the end of the series, most likely.
Despite those qualifiers, this is an incredibly discriminatory society, and the way the series portrays its defenders and its critics in the early parts of the series is horrible and backwards. Even if things change later, the fact remains that the series, and the MC, did not properly speak out earlier. The closest it gets to that early on is the student president's speech in a debate, where she both said how she disagreed with some of the discrimination while also saying that change should be slow, has some issues, but she is portrayed as being entirely right on the matter. Don't rock the boat too much, you see, we don't want the course one students to be dragged down to course two's level. Evening everything out that way would do no good, right? Yes, the discrimination element in this series is deeply unpleasant, and its attempts to argue against that are conservative, limited, and flawed.
4) The incest element, of course, is also a problem. The MC's sister -- and yes, she is his real sister -- is in love with him. Since he has the usual harem-protagonist trait of not understanding feelings, this goes nowhere fast, but her feelings are clear. Of course, to repeat the obvious, this isn't anything remotely like any kind of actual sibling relationship, and it's completely stupid to see yet AGAIN. What is this, the season of brocon sisters? There are what, three or four this season... argh. This is, of course, a major element of the series, since Miyuki makes her love clear again and again and again, but I don't think there's much to say about it other than that I hate it, it's horrible and isn't based on anything that exists in reality.
I really don't know about the differences, only that Heartcatch ist special.
When it comes to magical girl shows, I mostly watched unusual like Madoka, Nanoha, Ge'nei and My-Hime (if that counts). I can barely remember Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura from my childhood.
Unrelated to magical girl show: I can enjoy funny, cute, awesome, it only have to be fun and consistent. I hate annoying and irritating characters who make the same mistakes over and over or just be plain stupid (Yaso from Zvezda or Index from... Index), I also hate it when shows pull something out their arse (I really have an issue with Sammunenco) and I absolutely hate if characters are only there to do play a role. Especialy protagonists who have no ambitions besides caring for others. Like Index. Touma has no hobbies, nothing he enjoys, no ambitions, besides doing what he is told (mostly schoolwork, sometimes saving the world) and helping people in distress.
So what PreCure show would you recommend?
Jex
Member
While this is true in lots of more mainstream entertainment the realm of literature, due to it's age and universal reach, contains far more "unlikeable" protagonists than you'd find in, say, anime.
You mean Humbert Humbert, right?
KirbYuuYuu
Member
Well in HC's case, it's more like it succeeds the most as a general package, but even then, what grabs you and what doesn't varies between person to person. What makes HC good to people may not be the same as others, as it is entirely possible to like a different season because it sits with you pretty well.
HC has its share of problems, much like any PC season.
Hajime no Ippo Rising 25
After putting the remaining three episodes off for some time, for some reason I just had to finish it. And god damn, what a high note to leave off of.
JAPAN, FUCK YEAH
yes, my mistake. lol. i've unwittingly denegrated *google searches* an obscure american politician
Jex
Member
I don't don't really have a hose in this race, as it were, but Evangelion was made to pander to otakus as well. Just of a different kind.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I feel like you've given this more thought that anyone involved with the franchise. lol
The art style is very similar. One girl looks exactly like ayaya.
A Black Falcon
Member
Considering how over-detailed the LNs supposedly are, I doubt it... the author must have thought it out at least enough to write out all that junk!
There are actually lots of problems with the review for me. Maybe it's worth breaking down just to discuss what I think doesn't work.
Let's set aside the fact that Ping Pong is irrefutably beautiful to dismantle this stupid paragraph. To begin with, why is it necessary to immediately state that he does not like the show? Even after airing his distaste he immediately distracts himself with the visual design of the show. Is that the reason the writer has such a great disliking for Ping Pong? Further souring the paragraph is the fact that he outlines the remarkable visual aspects in detail but fails to really iterate what it is that makes Ping Pong ugly to him.
I kind of hate to bring this to light, but the language of the piece is really off-putting. The following paragraph spews the events of the episode out in no particular order.
None of the important facts are highlighted in spite of the fact that the paragraph devolves into run on sentences. Most of the review is overstuffed with language, and this is kind of a running theme across ANN reviews. "Kong is full of discontent" sounds like someone is playing Mad Libs with The New Yorker. Discontented. wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
I feel my soul being chewed apart by these anime nerd fucks who see something that takes place in the real world as pedestrian. That is what I find most offensive across all of ANN's reviews for Ping Pong. Where are the robots? Where is the amnesia? Where are the love triangles? Where are the idols? Oh, the ping pong paddles don't turn into weapons? Can they at least play sports inside of a virtual world? All of their reviews dig into the fact that Ping pong is "not exactly an original story",
I agree. Theres no place for that. It goes into personally attacking ones character.
Pretty much what I do.
I think its pretty obvious. Kill Me Baby is officially more significant than your favourite anime.
I think they should. It's like their USP. I mean I would never have heard of this story if it wasn't for all the raucous about racist imagery. Lose that and it'll just be another show.
Any new news you'd like to share?
Although I do agree with your point wholeheartedly, I think there is sometimes a case to be made that there are anime that are not particularly well served by being "anime". Ping Pong is irrefutably not one of these shows as Yuasa et al have done a fantastic job of playing to the strengths of animation in making it, but some of the more pedestrian high school shows gain very little from being animated except the occasional SD face. I think that's why so many popular shoujo/josei stories, which tend to be more "grounded" in something approaching reality, get live action adaptations instead of being (poorly) animated; people don't see anything worth animating in such stories.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I will say, the thing with reviews - especially of the two paragraph nature - is that you really can't say anything of depth whatsoever. It's a problem with all TV, movie, and game reviews. Only book reviews are allowed to be indulgent, but that's because they probably assume that if you are a reader anyway, you're not going to run away if you see a review that lasts longer than a page.
So, there has to be a point about the plot and how it looks. Then throw in some specific trivia about the show and you're ready to publish and move on to the next review.
My understanding that most of it is fanwank about how magic works in the universe though. lol
The only way to live!
It's been almost 200-300 years since books popular as a medium for storytelling (and entertainment). If we go back in time to Victoria Era and read a review on literary magazine, maybe it'll be something similar. And even though book is told, many of its review can't escape the same trap like the bolded part above. It just, critical book reviews are easier to find.
Most book reviews are longer than the ANN previews should be.
I've picked a review from the Guardian (woolly liberal UK newspaper, of course I read it...) from their most recent science fiction round up that I thought might be worth a comparison:
Eric Brown said:
Most of this is plot summary or at least telling the reader what the story is, but it doesn't simply recap the entire book and it succinctly states why it's worth reading.
I picked the science fiction roundup because that's broadly comparable to what ANN is attempting to do. It's different from the way we post here in that virtually all of us are so steeped in this stuff that we know roughly what the plot of something like Ping Pong is before we even watch it and we're not setting out to tell each other what it's about, just what we think of it (except when writing recommendations posts).
The ANN writers presumably have a word count to try and reach (do they get paid? I shouldn't think so, but you never know) and so pad things out with plot synopsis, I suppose.
I would guess that popular shoujo/josei stories are more commonly translated into live action because it's possible for them to have a wider reach in that format, rather than the content itself being a mismatch for animation. I don't really know enough about those kinds of shows to really say though. I find the laziest abstraction of reality to be the most distant, and I think there is plenty animation can do as a medium for stories that are grounded closer to what people know.
They weren't even able to do that at the most remedial level.
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka 1
This'll certainly fill in the Kinmoza/Hidamari/Croisee hole that has been sorely lacking as of late. Not only is it the first aesthetically pleasing White Fox show, but it also has an incredibly shocking twist you won't see coming!
This'll certainly fill in the Kinmoza/Hidamari/Croisee hole that has been sorely lacking as of late. Not only is it the first aesthetically pleasing White Fox show, but it also has an incredibly shocking twist you won't see coming!
firehawk12
Subete no aware
So I've handled an 18th century book that essentially collected reviews of other children's books, and yes, the reviews were short - but that was almost a function of technological limitation than anything else.
I know it's not fair to compare a review of a single episode to a review of a book, but you can also imagine the difficulty of reviewing a full length novel in 700 words. This particular review gives you a summary of points, but also offers the reviewer's opinion and thoughts on the work beyond the simple platitudes of liking or disliking a book.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/b...n-by-jean-hanff-korelitz.html?ref=review&_r=0
Here is the shortest paragraph from that review:
Here I know that the critic believes that one of the strengths of the novel is the use of dramatic irony, because it creates a tension based on what the reader knows and the understanding that the protagonist will catch up at some point. In a few sentences you understand the novel's dramatic structure and one of its main methods of characterization.
The thing is, most web writing wants people to stick to around 250-300 words because that's apparently how much people are willing to read nowadays. But I'm not sure who that serves - especially in ANN's case where you have three reviewers essentially relaying the same amount of plot information and commenting on the look.
Of the three reviews, Chapman's is the one that approaches critical thought, although, she, tends, to use, quite a few, commas (and parenthetical points), in her sentences.
But rather than just spew the plot over again, she could elaborate on this:
In essence, she says it's style and not substance. But previously she says that the manga is well loved. So is she criticizing the text? Or the adaptation of the text? If so, is this a comment on Yuasa's ability to adapt a work? Or a criticism on his desire to focus on his particular art style? Functionally it is slower than the other two sports shows because Haikyuu has a montage that covers a year of training and Baby Steps starts off in media res and then flashes back. Is she saying that there's a narrative advantage in using such shorthands? If so, what makes them superior to Ping Pong and why?
Maybe I'm looking at this the way I would grade a close reading, but if a first year student can punch out something interesting about a poem that they hardly care about, I would expect a professional to afford me the same courtesy.
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