Thoughts of Summer 2010 Anime Titles

SPARTAN 119 wrote:Highschool of the Dead episode 12 was simply epic, they'd better make a second season. I'm assuming they will, considering the last scene was of the mall that appears in the manga.

Up to which manga volume are they?Did they follow the manga close enough so that I can just pick up where the anime left off or should I just start in the begining?

Totoum wrote:Up to which manga volume are they?Did they follow the manga close enough so that I can just pick up where the anime left off or should I just start in the begining?

It keeps pretty true to the manga. Also, the anime gets to about Vol. 5.

Strike Witches (Episode 12): Called it.

Still think the original was better, but I'll be buying the R1 release of this one (I think it is licensed).

Totoum: it was a pretty close adaptation. A couple of small subplots have been snipped - for instance, the spotter for Rika the airport sniper gets killed off in the manga but it's omitted in the anime - and the overt political asides have been cut, too. I was a little disappointed at that, actually... most zombie films tend to have a bit of a lefty subtext, anti-consumerist and anti-authority (Dawn of the Dead with its mall, 28 Days Later where the Army are the baddies), whereas Highschool is completely the opposite. I mean, of the main cast, you have the wealthy daughter of a nationalist noble, a traditionalist heir-to-the-dojo, a gun nut trained by a Blackwater mercenary who'd bring tears of joy to Charlton Heston's eyes, the daughter of a policeman (and by extension The Man), and a nurse who loves designer labels. Museli-eating sandal-wearers they are not! I thought it put a neat new spin on the usual zombie tropes to keep it fresh, although I can understand why producers might have wanted to tone it down for television.

Anyway, the only real substantive change the anime adaptation made was accelerating the Saeko-Takeshi-Rin love triangle. In the manga, Saeko and Takeshi's excursion to the temple (and I loved the way they handled that episode, incidentally) actually occurs after the mansion arc. In the manga, the Hum-Vee is fried by the EMP and they take the ATV from the mansion's garage instead of a bike shop - the highway scene, when the final anime episode goes to the credits, is where the group splits up: Saeko and Takeshi go off to make some noise and distract a zombie mob blocking the road, and rendezvous with the others later at the mall. It's still essentially the same content, just that the order has been swapped around a little, but I prefer the anime's adjustments as certainly more dramatic. The mansion is designed a lot more interestingly in the anime, too.

Robert Frazer wrote: Saeko-Takeshi-Rin love triangle.

This would make the second accidental Fate/Stay Night Crossover on this thread:

Five_X wrote:You mean Eila, right, Piero?

Although, that's not to say Rin isn't prepared for the zombie apocalypse:

She also has Archer.

Five_X wrote:She also has Archer.

Speaking of which, isn't the guy who did Takashi's voice the same guy who was the voice of Archer. So, who knows, maybe the crossover pairing as per above makes sense...

*goes off the that destined 2D waifu thing*

Nope:

Takashi Komuro is destined to marry Yui (AngelBeats) on October 10, 2013

Also:
Kouta Hirano x Kazari Uiharu (although is that the destiny of the mangaka or the gun otaku?)
Saya Takagi x Mikoto Suou
Rei Miyamoto x Tsukasa Hiiragi
Saeko Busujima x Nanoha Takamachi (wonder how that would turn out?)
Shizuka Marikawa x Miyuki Takara
Rika Minami x Eri Sawachika

Two more of the shows I've been watching have wrapped up...

Amagami SS (Episode 13): While the other shows I’ve been watching are all wrapping up or close to it, this one is continuing next season, so this episode is more notable for being the beginning of a new arc than being an ending. Anyhow, this wasn’t a bad episode although I don’t think I’ve got a particularly good read on the new girl yet. Probably because she’s kind of quiet so far (but not shy like the girl in the last arc). There was also a bit that seemed a little off with the way she was portrayed. There were some definite funny moments this episode though. I particularly liked the bit where the male lead is being bugged by his little sister while he tries to read something. She tries to get him to do something “For the sake of your cute sister.” He agrees that she’s cute, but later adds “You’re even cuter when you keep your mouth shut though” which doesn’t go over so well.
Asobi ni Ikuyo (Episodes 11 and Finale): This is probably my favorite show of the season, but it’s largely because of the early episodes. Like so many of the other shows I’ve liked, this one seems to have started off strong then lost a lot of its thunder along the way. In particular I felt a lot of the show’s characters were underdeveloped and or underutilized, notably Kio’s uncle, the teacher, the main villain, and especially that one girl with those magic paper things who felt like she never even got a proper introduction.
As far as the final episodes themselves went, there were things I liked and things I didn’t. The elevator and Kio’s transformation were both pretty awesome. On the other hand though if felt like some of the characters showed questionable judgement with regards to choosing when to try to deal with the series’ main love quadrangle. Things also got kind of out there at times, particularly during that space battle. The way that Eris, Aoi and Minami fought in that scene was rather bizarre, although I wonder if it’s a shout out to some old sci fi series I’m not very familiar with.
Overall not really a bad series, but not as good as it could have been I think.
Occult Academy (Episode 12): It may be a bit strange to say this about a show dealing with the occult, but this episode was weird. I think part of the problem is that starting last episode things have changed so abruptly without much advance warning. On the other hand… it’s still lots of fun. I particularly like the reason Bunmei was able to resist and keep reciting the sealing spell.
Strike Witches 2 (Finale): I’m not really surprised that we didn’t get an explanation for all the unexplained crap like Miyafuji’s dad or some of the stuff with the Neuroi, I am surprised that the writers decided to give the ending such a sense of finality without resolving those issues however (although I kind of question whether it’s really over for good. Mio’s situation is problematic, but with Miyafuji they could just use what happened as an excuse to return her to a more reasonable power level). Overall, this wasn’t a bad episode in many ways although there was some drama early on involving Mio that didn’t work overly well. Oh, and it was a little weird that the girls were celebrating the way they did right after what happened to the Yamato, considering that I think that ship still had crew aboard.

Piero wrote:Oh, and it was a little weird that the girls were celebrating the way they did right after what happened to the Yamato, considering that I think that ship still had crew aboard.

The ship was unmanned.


Asobi ni Ikuyo (Finale): I view the series like Nyan Koi! - well-animated and enjoyable, even buyable, but one I'll likely not watch again, at least anytime soon. I do agree they had way too many cast members, resulting in most of them just making cameos.

I just finished watching Asobi ni Ikuyo and I had an epiphany that I had always suspected but never experienced: Harem endings piss. Me. Off.
What a lame cop-out for what I thought was a very tense love situation. I would rather have the girl I was rooting for die in re-entry than accept this. I know its a comedy and all, so you cant really expect to much emotional strain, but I was fist-shaking mad. See? Three hyphenated words in one paragraph. THREE!
*huff*
Oh well. Deep down I knew this was the only way it could end...

I really like the idea of a harem ending in concept, but most of the time when it's actually used it just annoys me, because as you pointed out it's almost always a cop-out. This is one of those cases: I was hoping for a Aoi ending.

Harem endings tend to appeal to me in anime where two girls who have been fighting over a guy end up becoming friends or at least coming to respect one another. Of course, these sorts of shows usually end with one of the girls bowing out of the competition instead.

0utf0xZer0 wrote:I really like the idea of a harem ending in concept, but most of the time when it's actually used it just annoys me, because as you pointed out it's almost always a cop-out. This is one of those cases...

Agreed.

If you are going to have a harem ending, go overboard like Tenchi Muyo.

I suppose this is why I tend more towards romantic dramas than romantic comedies. With a romantic drama, you know the guy (or girl) is going to choose one of the various suitors and move on with their lives. I may not always agree with the choice, but at least a choice is made.

Though I do wish they wouldn't base the choice on the trope every frackin time. Toradora! could have been brilliant (IMO) if Ryūji and Minori had paired up along with Taiga and Yūsaku. But no, they had to follow the trope and pair Ryūji with Taiga and the show ended up being merely okay.

Kiskaloo wrote:Though I do wish they wouldn't base the choice on the trope every frackin time..

It always comes down to status quo.

I wasn't big on the harem ending to Asobi either, but on the other hand I wouldn't really have minded an ambigious one. Then again I was kind of expecting they might do an ambigious ending that left room for a sequel in the future.

One problem with resolving love triangles can be dealing with rabid fans though. Do you really want to give the assholes in any particular character's hatedom the satisfaction of feeling like they achieved victory?

Kiskaloo wrote:
I suppose this is why I tend more towards romantic dramas than romantic comedies. With a romantic drama, you know the guy (or girl) is going to choose one of the various suitors and move on with their lives. I may not always agree with the choice, but at least a choice is made.

Ironically, both of the shows where I like the idea of a harem ending are dramas. I tend to ship a "harem end" when two or more competing girls have become friends over the course of a series, simply because they can't sustain animosity towards one another - think Iriya and Akiho in Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu or Mashiro and Ameri in Tayutama. The difference in those shows is that the reconciliation feels like part of the natural flow of events - in Asobi, the reconciliation just happens so randomly that you can tell the writers only did it to enable a harem end.

(That said, while I *ship* Iriya-Asaba-Akiho and Mashiro-Yuuri-Ameri, I don't think the shows would necessarily be better if they had those endings, as the single girl endings Iriya and Tayutama went with have some great dramatic scenes.)

Also, I agree that changing Kio into a catboy was an awesome end of anime twist.

Kiskaloo wrote:
Though I do wish they wouldn't base the choice on the trope every frackin time. Toradora! could have been brilliant (IMO) if Ryūji and Minori had paired up along with Taiga and Yūsaku. But no, they had to follow the trope and pair Ryūji with Taiga and the show ended up being merely okay.

I've always gotten the impression that Toradora was intended as a deconstruction of the romantic dynamics of shows like Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima. Basically, it takes the "high strung loli-tsundere" archetype and asks "what sort of background and emotional issues would make a person act like that in real life"? Although I do have to admit a "just friends" ending would have been an interesting twist (would probably have pissed off a lot of people too, a lot of people actually like Ryuuji-Taiga).

Also, there's a compelling case to be made that Minori is a closet lesbian (and that Ami realizes this).

Can't say Toradora was much of a deconstruction of anything. To me, it was just an attempt at originality that backfired. Taiga is a nigh-Sueish character. Related, it seems more likely that Minori is a bisexual than a lesbian.

On Asobi: I'm really damn sure that that was a parody, actually. It struck just the right tropes to fit as one. Moments like the Tenchi Solution and the battle scenes were likely both making fun of the genre as well as making fun of the fans for taking it too seriously.

So rather than playing to the standards, they were doing something new by playing it straight, with a parody. I can't see how it's otherwise.

Also, excellent sequel hook. These writers are closet geniuses.

Five_X wrote: To me, it was just an attempt at originality that backfired.

I'm a bit confused because I can't see where toradora tried to be original.

Totoum wrote:

Five_X wrote: To me, it was just an attempt at originality that backfired.

I'm a bit confused because I can't see where toradora tried to be original.

Me, too. it could have been original if they paired them up like the way I thought they should, but instead they followed the trope.

Since i've been marathoning shiki this weekend and i'm at episode 18 i'd just like to give a shoutout here,might not have the pretty girls and cool action that HoTD has but shiki has kept me on the edge of my seat way more,my favorite part of the anime is that it has fun bluring the line between good and evil.

Piero wrote:Shiki (Episode 3... kind of): I intended to watch Episode three of Shiki, but ended up missing it due to technical problems. And while I could probably see it now, I just find I'm not really compelled to. So I think at this point I'm pretty much dropping it.

Not saying you wouldn't end up droping it anyway but I just want to make sure,if you dropped this because you thought the spoiler you read would ruin everything,i invite you to reconsider your position,after 4 or 5 episodes the "mystery" is solved so knowing about it isn't like you know the big plotwist at the end,it's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things

0utf0xZer0 wrote:As a little side note, unlike a lot of people I've been keeping up with Seitokai Yakuindomo and I'm actually finding I'm enjoying it a lot more as it goes. Maybe it's just the initial shock factor of some of the gags has worn off?

I downloaded the Blu-ray rips and have been watching them off and on and yes, as I approach the halfway point of episodes, I do find it amusing, which I admit is a bit surprising since the show's entire premise and purpose is to fit in as many sexual inuendos and gags as it can.

What is even more surprising is that for s how who's entire premise and purpose is to fit in as many sexual inuendos and gags as it can, they kept the broadcast censoring on the Blu-rays.