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Comments
I quite liked it, but it was in no way good and neither did it have anything in particular to say about anything. The world's set up was great, but as it went on it kind of ruined itself and the ending pretty much destroyed all the interest I had in the world. The characters were sort of nice though.
It's really good, the set up and the themes are great and the ending is surprisingly fitting (I think most seinen/josei series have a great set up and have great themes to go over but then have no idea how to bring the characters and stories that are conveying said themes to a definite close without being half-baked or ending with disaster). It can be quite heavy handed when it comes to commentary on Japan's ota culture in parts but I thought most of it was well done. Aside from that it also comments on the shortcomings of daily life in Japanese society and even goes so far as to make light of the rampant suicide culture.
It's a politics/war driven show, so it's merits are very much in it's plotting and it's three main characters. It's a very interesting series to watch and it's quite fun to think about, since it definitely manages the themes typically associated with a work involving war and politics well.
But are they good for the feels?
Fractale and Last Exile are.
http://honya-ch.com/2012/01/04/lyrics-senki-zesshou-symphogear-op-synchrogazer-mizuki-nana/ Synchrogazer CD cover design, meatspace version (webpage also contains lyrics)
http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=757323 Synchrogazer CD cover design, animated version
Holy shit, people read Honya's website. I went to college with that person; Honya was one of the officers in the anime club and I was an officer in the gaming club. We hung out.
I've read the manga versions of a few of those shows, but the only anime I've seen among them is Paranoia Agent. Starts amazing, then sort of drags and eventually loses control. I wish it was 13 episodes instead of 26. Also, RIP Satoshi Kon. That guy had at least 2 or 3 more amazing films inside him, but cancer took him at age 37.
So a couple of times over on IRC we've talked about our conflicting views concerning whether Rinne no Lagrange as a series needed a second season or not and I've kind of tried to gather all the points I could think of in favour of it being one cour.
I believe that as a narrative Rinne no Lagrange's first cour works as a complete and pretty impressive work. As I've said before, taking the simple description "Three girls meet in a city whose magic is not in obvious but over time binds them together, and as soon as it came fall once again leaves Kamogawa."
I'll break this down into it's various points:
So what's my overall point? Yes, Rinne no Lagrange has what you would usually consider a "plot", but the "plot" is actually the stage for the real narrative, the quiet yet powerful narrative of these three girls.
It is.
It does? It's quite the episodic series (despite the strong plot connections it eventually shares), covering different aspects for 9-10/13 episodes (with the final ones centering on the plot) so I don't think it actually has much time to drag (and intentional slow/contemplative pacing is a thing). I think the ending is also pretty strong.
I reiterate that it was pretty damn incomplete watching the first season. The context of the war and such aren't really clear, and I don't think it quite explained who Yurikano and Asteria were either.
That's like, your opinion, man. The three girls got pretty damn boring without the interplanetary war and stuff in the background. Hell, I'd probably still find them a pretty weak component of the show if it didn't have an overarching plot. And, as I already mentioned on the IRC chat, Madoka was already setting up to be a disappointment to me since the beginning. Specifically how she was really into helping people, which reminded me a lot of Eiji Hino from Kamen Rider OOO, but nothing that happened with her was nearly as interesting as what happened with Eiji. Specifically,
But, I didn't pay that much attention to OOO, so there isn't too much I can say about that. I just mentioned it because it was the first example that came to mind on how a story can take an interesting direction with that kind of character.
Honestly, I think Linebarrels of Iron had a more interesting idea, that being how giving a teenager control of a super robot without anyone to guide him can turn the guy into a total ass. Too bad the show itself wasn't really that good.
Fall in what sense? The different meanings of the English word "fall" translate into different things in Japanese, so the different definitions might not have the same association with each other like they do in English.
Anyway, I don't see the point of bringing this up here of all places, considering what, maybe four people on this board have seen LagRinne, and the community here has a big overlap with the #ijbm IRC channel. Inevitably you'd get me repeating what I already said.
Wow, I totally misremembered that. I mean, I guess I did watch it seven or eight years ago, but I totally botched that. Still a good series (that I still think loses control a bit towards the end) and I still feel bad that Satoshi Kon died too soon.
Well it's always nice to hash out the points in a coherent, permanently-recorded (so much as a webpage is at least) fashion, so we can turn back to them and look at them again.
I've only seen the first cour of Lagrange so I can only comment on that, but I felt it ended...well, not quite conclusively, but it works as an ending.
It definitely didn't answer all the questions the audience had about the setting.
Yes, you're absolutely right.
However, I feel the important bit of the story is that the context of the war and such aren't as important as Madoka's perspective on it. She, just like we in the audience, knows nothing about this war at the beginning of the series. The most she probably knows is that there's some crazy people out there on this island base, which her cousin has something to do with. She's led a normal life and is well-respected in school and has a great social life and everything.
Suddenly, crazy stuff starts happening. She is (and we are too) unexpectedly whisked into this interplanetary war that's produced a crazy proxy conflict involving political intrigue and double-crossing and even more crazy people showing up at her doorstep. What's even worse for someone trying to make sense of it all -- the antagonists and protagonists are not at all clear. In fact, it all seems like what might be a bunch of petty squabbling between large political factions that just have tons of firepower instead of toyboxes.
But in the midst of this, Madoka meets two new friends. They are also strange people, but there's something relatable about them. And to be fair, they don't have that much more attachment to this war than Madoka does herself.
And Madoka journeys through this craziness. One way a character could approach a huge and complicated conflict they're suddenly thrust into is to remain neutral. Another way is to take a side and fight for it. Madoka chooses a third option where she basically tries to lift herself above the conflict. And in doing so, she brings her two new friends with her for the ride. Or something. It doesn't quite work; they're still kinda in the thick of it. And it's still a gigantic and confusing mess. And at the end, no one is sure what happened, except that certain key characters are still alive and have somehow made it through this mess. And Madoka has two new best friends.
And then, just as suddenly as it began, it's all over. Along with the changing of the seasons, the massive political proxy war presence dissipates almost as fast as it arrived. Madoka's two new friends also leave. And then it's all quiet again. It's like there was a huge something, and which disappears almost as fast as it appeared. And when the dust settles, one contemplates what just happened. And realizes that all one has are the memories of it. Very fond memories.
So at this point we could end the story. Doing so leaves an aura of mystery surrounding the events that unfolded. This is, after all, how happenings pass into legend. And considering Madoka's (and our) perspective, it is still much of a mystery.
Could we try to find out more? Of course. In fact, it would only make sense for Madoka to start asking her cousin (as well as that "Asteria" jerk) some hard questions after the dust has settled. But that's a separate story, a separate journey -- not a continuation of the first.
Would be interesting, though. I wonder if that's how the second cour happens.
I'm pretty sure she doesn't actually do that. Which is understandable, considering she had other things to worry about. And she still learns more about the war thing anyway because events.
By early episode twelve it's pretty easy to guess that Yurikano was the previous Vox pilot who disrappeared into it's consiousness (which is wrong since she's actually just able to leave a bit of her consciousness in the Rinne during the botched experiment, but it works). Asteria is a great point to make, but it's good to note everything involving her true identity actually happens after the narrative is complete, as a hook to the next cour.
Pick one: Fractale, Symphogear, Taishou Baseball Girls, Baldr Force, Moyashimon, Nodame Cantabile, Angelic Layer.
My totally non-biased suggestion is Symphogear.
Come on, glenn. You knew that answer was coming.
And that I'd say the same thing.
I NEVER REVEALED THE QUESTION MWA HA HA
Noooooooooooo
So what was the question?
Since Symphogear G has started airing...
Maria is pretty cool so far. Her transformation sequence has this weird deep voice chanting something. I don't get it, but it's cool. Episode 1 didn't show off the powers of the new Gear users, though.
Oddly enough, I think I'm more excited for Watamote than Symphogear G. Watamote's first ep was... appropriately depressing, I guess. The OP is just... O_O and the ED is inappropriately upbeat, which makes the lyrics even more depressing.
Symphogear G 01: Really exciting. As for the Fine movement, I'm guessing Dr. Ver is the new Fine. I feel like the villains might not need Solomon's Cane but it'll make their job easier. I love how they planned to reveal themselves after they'd managed to get close enough to one of the gear holders and assumed that Hibiki and Chris would be held off by the attack at the joint JSDF-American base, of course they weren't, but it was a pretty solid plan.
I like how they only had the Gungnir wielders transform to show the contrast and similarities between their transformation chant.
As for the exciting bits, I love how Hibiki and Chris' relationship was brought to the forefront through both battle and the conversations they were able to have. While Aoi Yuuki maintains her awesome Hibiki voice from the first season Ayahi Takagaki's Chris voice has been allowed to develop along with Chris' character and it's really nice and fitting. I liked seeing everyone from Division 2 get some screentime and of course Yumi and the rest of the Lydian girls were really cute.
Then we have the lovely stage and Maria's wonderful hostile takeover. While I admit that the entire live my eyes were on Tsubasa because she was really awesome Maria definitely stole the focus when she revealed her true plans. I like how Tsubasa asked "Who are you?", because aside from it being appropriate it was really really cool!
And then we have the music, Hibiki's new song is appropriately awesome, Tsubasa and Maria's stage is a worthy rival to the first season's big opening and the battle of the vocal gymnastics compared to Gyakku no Flugel's wonderful harmony really leaves me in a tight spot when it comes to which song I like better. They did a great job of finding someone who gels well with Nana Mizuki's voice once again. The ED (Which I think is Maria's battle song) is also great.
According to Genjuurou's Angels Solomon's Cane is complete and activated, Finé's descendants both male and female can still be activated, the Nehushtan malfunctioned and we might actually end up seeing the girls fulfilling Finé's wish of contacting the head Custodian, but not for the reasons she wanted to.
I love One Piece so much right now. Luffy taming animals never gets old.
OK, I officially think that Oda (One Piece) and Mashima (Groove Adventure Rave, Fairy Tail) are throwing potshots at one another. Mashima has been accused of mimicking Oda for several years (particularly Natsu > Luffy and Gildartz > Shanks), and the recent developments in One Piece and Fairy Tail seem too nuts to be coincidence.
Basically, One Piece introduced a big tournament arc (something that Fairy Tale wrapped up recently) on an island where fairies frequently steal from humans (but "they've been doing it so long that the humans have taken it for granted"). Also, Luffy is using the alias Lucy (one of the main characters of Fairy Tail).
Fairy Tale, in its most recent chapter, introduced three new characters from a "treasure hunting guild." They include a boxy-looking guy with a pompadour who frequently says "DUN" (sup Franky) and an swordsman with an angry face (Zoro-esque, much less apt than the Franky guy).
Look, it might be coincidence, but I hope it isn't. Because the idea of two mangaka having beef across series (with different publishers) is hilarious.
When I hear the Attack
of the Titanson Titan* OP, I think of Necrofantasia.Which is a better track. In fact, Necrofantasia is pretty awesome, and catchy to boot.
...yeah, I don't like that OP much. It's annoyingly repetitive, in my opinion.
* fuck the "on". The title also sucks.
@GMH: Watch Paranoia Agent if you have not already. Please. It is brilliant in concept and execution, and I think that you will really enjoy the experience. While not so much about the feels as some other shows, parts of it are quite moving, others deeply disturbing, others extremely funny. Beyond being a fine anime series, it is simply a fine piece of magical realist fiction.
Yeah, Attack on Titan is a pretty awkward title. I have to remind myself that it's not about an invasion of a certain moon of Saturn pretty much every time.
Bleach is going into it's final arc, apparently
Because nobody cared enough to keep it alive anymore.
Because it was, and then the Fullbring thing happened.
Since I've finished New Getter Robo, I started on the original Getter Robo manga. Finished the prologue and chapters 1-3 now. Seems that New Getter Robo's gory nature is at least accurate to how the original manga presented things. The scene with Ryoma catching a sword, using the sword to stab a guy in the face, then throwing it to slice another guy's arm off happened pretty much in the exact same way. A scene where Hayato mutilating a dude's face happens similarly to the one in New Getter Robo, but not quite the same. Also, the Reptilian things strike me as a more interesting type of enemy than the Onis. But maybe that's just because woo, dinosaurs.
I don't like how Ryoma is drawn here, though. He looks kinda generic compared to his New Getter Robo design. I sorta had to remind myself that I'm not reading about an older, muscled up Koji Kabuto. I mean, just compare their faces here:
http://upic.me/i/g6/koji-mazinger-70s.jpg
http://upic.me/i/c5/ryoma-70s.jpg
And Hayato looks kinda ugly, but maybe that's intentional.
@Naas: And then I remembered I'd go over your thing now:
@GMH: Do not read this until you're done with Lagrange Season 2!
That's cause it wasn't really a final battle as they weren't fighting the villain, who was Moid. Plus the evil Vox is basically just a normal mecha with a Vox Core installed (What are Vox Cores anyways? Apparently noone cares). It was a really underwhelming final battle, agreed.
I'd go so far as to say Moid is a pretty terrible villain, especially since he didn't show up as the villain until later and it's a seriously big cop out ("The Villain was this guy! It could've even been Madoka's friend from school, but we weren't that desparate!").
Expanding on that, the entire final arc is one of the most cop-out-ey things I've ever experienced. They try to build up something with Maycun and then Moid but nothing ever happens. Also, what is the Rinne's voice anyways?
She's the ruler of De Metrio now and... she stopped Madoka from going full Rinne? But then again Lan is the ruler of Le Garite and she has absolutely no qualities or qualifications to be. I guess it's also a bad idea to leave Yurikano in charge of De Metrio since she's a selfish teenage girl who is ready for absolutely nothing aside from exploding. She disappeared in her worst moments and yeah, I guess you're pretty right by saying she does nothing since there's nothing to make us believe that she'll be a good leader.
She can't graduate from the Jersey-bu until she makes sure she never has to fight again, therefore she turns the Jersey-bu into an independent diplomatic force, pretty admirable I'd say.
Plus there's honestly no way she's capable of doing anything else, she's an academic failure and too ADHD (or is that bland?) to actually manage doing one thing for the rest of her life. Then again, this should be incentive for them to replace her as Aura pilot or make other Vox cores invalidating the need for Aura, Hupo and Orca.