majestic

*glances away ruefully* I was going to ask what, and then I imagined Stjepan suddenly developing a fondness for anime and hopping in here, with Bruno in tow. Akio and Anthy at the planetarium.

I only know the theme song. It's not something I watched, however, I don't mind entertainment aimed at teenagers in general. I really love(d) Cardcaptor Sakura, and that was arguably made for late pre- to early teenagers. Just not for either Japanese or American boys. Heh. I really have no idea how Princess Tutu will end. It might really just lose any semblance of sanity by the end and "Out-Utena" everything, but at least it doesn't leave viewers all alone with what's happening. It helps that Ahiru is a duck who constantly wonders about what's going on. Utena of course couldn't do that all the time, she was as much a part of and trapped in the world as everyone else. Have fun with the Utena flashbacks, by the way. The opening narration begins with almost the exact same words. I mean, sure, there's only so many variations of "Once upon a time there was a prince" you could write, even in Japanese, but my first reaction was: "Oh no, is this going to be like Utena?" Eh, don't worry. When will you begin? Critical research failure, actually. I thought it was 74 episodes, turns out that's the number of manga volumes. Erm... yeah, so, maybe when I'm retired, right? Queen Millennia and Galaxy Express 999 are from the same mangaka, and they're set at different time periods in the same setting. Kind of. Plus an arc welding OVA. In other words, yes, very much intentional. Captain Future is something that I'm a little afraid of rewatching, I have a feeling that won't hold up so well, and Captain Tsubasa, well, uhm, if you want to watch any sports anime, then I'd really suggest going with Attack No. 1. You get ridiculous sports arcs in both, but Attack No. 1, while kind of brutal in its own way, at least has some very good character interactions. From what I can remember, I'm at like episode 19 in my rewatch now, and have been there for weeks. We're not. I'm just not committing to 366 episodes of something that's then mostly filler that I have been told is of sub-par quality. That's no judgement on the series, really.

You're not forgetting anyone, everyone else refused. Maybe its for the best. The last thing we need is a Unicorn of War in this thread, or the incredibly ridiculous people from the "Love and Justice" podcast who are annoyed that the original Sailor Moon had so much filler content. I mean, yeah, I don't hate the storyline and occassionally found it engaging when I was watching it the first time around (funny how that was almost always content added in the adaptation, like R's and Sailor Stars' filler arc, and the final pieces of S, which I still like more than the rest), but I don't see how you can be an adult and prefer the story episodes to the good content of the show. The most hilarious people are the ones who say Sailor Moon Crystal is bad but keep defending the manga as the best thing ever made. How deluded can you be? Granted, the manga isn't as bad as Sailor Moon Crystal, but... I'm not sure anything can be. Sailor Moon Crystal is like the 0° Kelvin of animation. The laws of physics prohibit anything from being worse, but it's storytelling problems all come directly from the source material. it just adds horrible animation on top of it, and some baffling adaptational choices. All animes I've never watched. I mean, Queen Millennia for instance was actually seinen anime that just ran in our kids' program because film and TV people are apparently just oblivious to the idea of animation targeted at adults, but I liked it well enough, but as far as actual real shonen stuff goes, I'm... quite a blank, really. There's Robin Hood. I guess I saw the occasional episode of Captain Tsubasa (the 80ies anime, not the 90ies one) and some other football based anime that I always mix up. Captain Future might sound like a shonen anime, but that's an adaptation of a 40ies pulp sci-fi series originally published in a magazine. Then there's of course the timing, I spent a lot of the early 2000s watching sci-fi shows, and very little else, and all the rest of the time was invested into online gaming, and trying to study (well you know how that worked out). I'm not sure I would have liked any of them even if they came out 10 years earlier. I'm not touching any of them (except for Bleach at some point, maybe) with a ten foot pole, I have no desire to watch 2000 episodes of something I might not even enjoy. Inuyasha might look like something that could be interesting, but even that alone is a huge commitment. I liked BoJack Horseman in spite of its animation, and that was really a huge hurdle going in. Invincible on the other hand is just kida in a weird place between looking as if they tried to give a rat's ass during animation but ended up half-assing it. I'm not sure what's worse. I watched some more Princess Tutu, and I really enjoy it. I should have put that into the original post about it, because that has a kind of a negative undertone that it doesn't deserve. It also does one thing much better than Revolutionary Girl Utena: It's honest about what it is. As such, that feeling of watching someone's in-joke or pseudo-intellectual wanking isn't there. It is very open about being a story in a story, and an intermingling of dream and reality. Ahiru is also a riot and is just generally a nice duck girl, unlike Utena, who wants to be a prince, but has entirely selfish reasons for doing so, and deals with cast of psychopaths. Instead of having to be familiar with Buddhism, Princess Tutu asks something that's a much taller order, in part, at least. You need a passing familiarity with ballet and (European) fairy tales to really appreciate* it. Fairy tales isn't an issue for me, but ballet sure is. The cast is just kind of small. There's the prince, Ahiru, his two detractors called Fakir and Rue, and a couple of recurring characters that are sometimes there, like the ballet teacher or Ahiru's friends, but they're not part of the focus. *Appreciation, not enjoyment. The episode I just watched was based on the plot of Giselle, which I really don't know anything about. A quick browse through Wikipedia lead to some "oh, I see" moments, but that was after the fact.

I find it really interesting how mirrored that is for me, because I grew up absolutely hating most Western animation* - even before it turned into what it is today, which is even more loathesome. Most of that came from a time before I even knew where these animated shows on TV came from, but I always tuned in for Bismarck, Captain Future or Queen Millennia, along with the other ones I've mentioned, like Heidi or Dog of Flanders or Anne of Green Gables (later Sailor Moon, obviously). While inversely, the cartoons that were really popular with the other kids at school, like Beetlejuice? Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. Keep that crap. There were some exceptions, like Ghost Busters, but even there only the original first series, not any of the horrenduous follow ups. I also liked Galaxy Rangers, but that one cheated, because it was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, just written by Americans (and that actually shows, when I tried rewatching it as an adult... that's something that did not age well at all). There still is that massive bias even today, and I doubt I'll ever shake it. It takes active badgering to check something out, or recommendations from trustworthy sources, and even then... yeah. Even then I'm sitting here, watching BoJack Horseman and thinking: Hey guys, maybe spend a little less on A-lister voice talent and a wee bit more on your animation and art team, please? Give this some artistry, maybe? Or just do both, like Castlevania. Then you read critical receptions that gush over how great the lighting effects were in BoJack's underwater episode, and I realize: Nah, that's never going to happen. *Exceptions for old animation, like the original Tom & Jerry, and the occassional older Disney movie. Talking purely about aesthetics here, of course. Let's not get into discussions about the often times questionable content and horrible working conditions of the animators. Actually, at the time, that was all of us here, not counting people who come here to post every now and then, like HoonDing, Oner, Malc and Lexx. Made for a fun experience.

Suddenly I don't feel so bad about not having any talent for drawing any more.

It's a bit too early to tell for sure, but currently that's a bit of a no, I'm afraid. I had to laugh a good bit whenver Ahiru accidentially turns herself into a duck, or she gets completely flustered when talking to Mytho and just starts saying whatever comes into her mind. Her Japanese voice actor does a good job of sounding the part too. It is set in a surreal dreamscape that is creepily close to Utena's setting, complete with an academy for ballet and dormitories, and several people vying for the affection and attention of Prince Mytho (who, bereft of his heart, has none to give, obviously). The episodes so far tell a fairy tale for each emotional fragment Ahiru finds, although I suspect that's not going to be all of the 26 episodes - there are two seasons with 13 episodes each, and finding all the heart shards seems like a decent ending point for the first season. The episodes so far have been good. The anthropomorphized (what a word, really) animals are really strange, and Tutu's transformation sequence is a little more detailed than usual for shows of this type (in other words, Ms. Itoh thought it necessary for Ahiru to have nipples... I don't really care, but it sure is weird given the usual barbie doll anatomy standards). Drosselmeyer (the creepy guy) looks really unsettling, but all of that isn't even the biggest issue, I think. It's so far too focused on themes and storytelling and not enough on character interactions - or even characters. That might yet change once the setup part is over, but as it stands right now, alas, no, I don't think this is something that you would really enjoy.

Lucky you then, in case you find yourself watching the anime, just don't watch the movie. Or... Also you should perhaps put that into spoiler tags, because KP hasn't seen the film yet. Granted, the "reveal" is already in the trailer, so it's a bit of a non-starter, but hey, fair is fair.

And now for something completely different. As we talked about liking silly girly stuff yesterday, I went back to browse through the Wikipedia pages of the very thing that ended up reviving this thread: Sailor Moon. Since trying out more of Mr. Ikuhara's work is currently a little off the table (or potentially permanently, unless it comes recommended) I have noticed that Ikuko Itoh, one of the animation directors, chief and key animators and character designers involved with Sailor Moon has a anime creation credit to her name, in other words, an idea she came up with and designed. So, I figured, what could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing... and everything. How can that be? Well, that's what this post is for. My current working theory is that either working on Sailor Moon made people lose touch with reality, or everyone had to be out of step with reality to become a part of the Sailor Moon team. Either way works, and there is plenty of evidence in the form of Revolutionary Girl Utena, which I recently finished - that also featured heavy involvement of part of the Sailor Moon creative team. Including writers and of course the director, Kunihiko Ikuhara. Well, without further ado, I tried Princess Tutu, which quite clearly proves that Ms. Itoh also has a few loose marbles rattling around. Or she secretly came up with that idea when out binge drinking with Ikuhara. Who knows. First, with a name like that, if you expect this to be about girls and ballet, then you're in luck. It kind of is, just not in the way you would think. The protagonist of the anime is Ahiru, which is the Japanese word for duck. Time to reveal what character designs she came up with. This is Ahiru. Remember, before looking, her name literally means duck. Wait, what in the what now? Yes, so this is Ahiru. Ahiru is a duck minding her own business, at least until she meets Prince Mytho and immediately falls in love with his sad expression, and wants to help him. A not at all creepy character shows up and asks her if she actually has the resolve to follow through with her wish to help him. This quite clearly is a face you can trust, right? Mr. Not-at-all-creepy gives Ahiru the duck the magical power to turn herself into Ahiru the ballet student, with the added issue that whenever she does something ducky, she will transform back into a duck. She can only transform back into human form in water (at least so far), and she doesn't wear any clothes when she does (that makes sense, ducks don't wear clothing, do they?). Which she at first doesn't even notice until another not at all creepy character shows up to help her on her quest. Hello, I am Edel and I talk in riddles. This is how Ahiru looks when she's a ballet student: Actually that doesn't look so bad, does it? What is this about, then? Glad you asked. Essentially, Mr. Not-At-All-Creepy wrote stories. His final one was about a dashing prince fighting a demonic raven. However, he died without finishing it, and eventually bored of their neverending fight, the raven and the prince left the story. The prince tried to seal the raven, but in the process his heart shattered into several pieces, pieces that fell into a city and joined with the hearts of the people there, merging dreams with reality. This is told in a storyboard intro that... kind of reminds me of Revolutionary Girl Utena. In fact, that's so similar in style that, even though it has a different story that it tells, I wonder if Ikuhara gets royalties every time this airs somewhere. So who is Princess Tutu then? Princess Tutu is Ahiru the ballet student after she uses her magic gem to transform into ballet dance goddess Princess Tutu. She does this when her gem indicates that a piece of Mytho's heart is near. She then dances with whoever has the shard to free them of it, and gives it back to Mytho. So yes, we're talking anime ballet dance battles. When Mytho falls out of the window in the first epsiode, Princess Tutu saves him by dancing up a large bed of flowers. Yes, really. Anything else? Yes, for some reason, some of the characters are anthropomorphized animals. This is Neko-sensei, Ahiru's ballet instructor. And she is called Anteaterina, and really wants to dance with Mytho. Alas, Ant-Eaters and ballet, well, that's not the most fruitful combination, is it? Should I watch this? How the hell would I know, I've watched three out of the 26 episodes now. It certainly is weird. Ahiru and her friends are also kind of endearing, so that makes everyone infinitely more likable than the characters of Revolutionary Girl Utena, which weren't meant to be that likeable. The rest is about as weird, but at least this is really honest about it being a fairy tale that somehow seeped into reality.

That's me being super unfair to it. I think. The others seem to disagree, at least.

Well, since the cat's out of the bag anyway, more movie spoilers, but be careful just in case you might still want to watch - if you do just don't click and, uhm, yeah... consider it me ranting : Well that's actually not bad. I wondered if this would be 26 standalone episodes, but that kind of indicates that there'll be a bit more than that. CCS:

Vampire Princess Miyu, otherwise known as Guess That Voice Actor! It's incredible how versatile Megumi Ogata is. I almost didn't recognize her. Well, scratch that, I definitely did not recognize Reiha as Megumi Ogata at first. That creepy doll of hers gave it away though, and eventually you can hear her in Reiha too. Impressive, really. I wonder if we'll get a complete Sailor Moon reunion tour, so now that's Mimet as Miyu's creepy pet demon-bunny, Sailor Mizuki as one off character in the first episode and now Sailor Uranus (otherwise also known as Shinji or Yukito ). I'm guessing Reiha will be back, right? That didn't seem like a one time occurance there.

You'd think the premonitions going on for a while would get stale, but they don't, and there's always just enough new to keep your interest piqued. Plus they're really creepy. Granted, they'd be creepier if Dream had not shown Sakura her future self telling her that everything will be definitely all right, but I guess a few concessions here and there to the actual target audience is fine. Not that you'd expect something terrible to happen from the anime anyway, at least as an adult, but as a kid? Yeah, possibly. By the way, since you mentioned this getting strangely Utena here with Sakura's princely appearance, try going back to episode 14 now that you've seen Utena. Does that remind you of something?

I might be at fault for the Madoka fiasco (sort of), but harping on and on and on about CCS sure was something worthwhile, in the end. I'll comment on the other things soon(ish). I'm guessing you figured out who Yue is then? edit: Look how I posted this before you added a guess to th edit. Yeah, uhm, not going to say anything, of course. Final last hint that was mentioned ages ago but never came up again: Also... Sakura sure is a little dense at times, and has trouble figuring things out (when it comes to herself, at least). It's a common theme for her and will also be commented on*. So, yeah, no wonder she didn't figure out what Kero meant. Well, as long as the Earth doesn't explode, things should be fine, right? Right? *Mild spoiler:

The only thing I think I know him from is scoring Satoshi Kon's Magnetic Rose, and though I liked the film (and I plan to re-watch it at some point), I've listened to the soundtrack a dozen-plus times, so I can't disagree with your analysis, . She also composed the music for Cardcaptor Sakura's third opening credits, incidentially the one I liked the least. Here's the actual song, linking the intro would be bad. It's dark and full of spoilers.

Me too, and I'm only two episodes in, but that's okay. It's not like the anime is unfair in what it is. I also absolutely love the atmosphere, and I enjoyed Miyu having some interactions with someone else who isn't some form of demon or creepy magical girl pet variant. I know I've been harping on about this for a while now, but I've also tuned in every week for The Outer Limits for like seven years, and that ended in tragedy too, more often than not. And even when it did, at best you'd get a bittersweet ending. Scotty, in La Forge's engine room. Kes in Borg space. Kes, sparks flying in anger. Translation: Besides, and as much as I am at fault for starting this in the first place, it's incredibly exhausting to come up with these. I'd rather not write an essay in the Obsidian dialect of Tamarian.

Look at Shady lurking in the thread again.

Shouldn't you be joining me in watching all things Sailor Moon then? Join me, and face the true tragedy of Crystal. It can't be any worse than the Sailor Moon manga, and unlike that you're not very likely to find creepy more than implied incest stuff or sexual assault in there that is perpetrated by characters you like on characters you like. I mean, yeah, apparently it makes Minako deal with a lot of, uhm, not so great stuff at times, but I'm sure it's not going to be on the level of BRACK RADY. At least... I kinda hope. Second episode of Vampire Princess Miyu. Yes, this indeed does have the same feeling and tone as many of The Outer Limits episodes (and an ending to match). Just with a regular core cast of characters. Miyu makes some friends, which will most likely end in some sort of tragedy. There is no way this doesn't end in tragedy, right?

Did you munch on your coffee chewing gums again?

That just kidding was only there because you called out an AMA and then said "nah, I can't answer anything anyway". Thanks for the information, so I'll probably not go check out the manga any time soon. Ah, well...

That's just for anime on Netflix, because the German subs are better - overall, just not always - than the English ones, and Netflix neatly pairs sub settings with language settings. It takes until episode three for noticable changes to happen to Violet. While I really liked the second episode (and the first one), there are a lot of watchers who didn't, and almost dropped the anime - or actually did - because of them. How does the manga compare to the OVA and the TV show, is Miyu noticably different, and would you recommend the source material over the adaptation? How does the artwork compare, and most importantly... The only way you could suck at it was if you were going in the wrong direction. If that's a fan-translation or an official one that did not change the reading direction it's a bit weird to deal with at first.

The German subs on Netflix very clearly state "made of silver" (well, Silber, as it were). The German dub, funnily enough, uses "Adamant" which in German is just an archaic word for diamond or any other really hard but otherwise unspecified substance, unrelated to X-Men's Adamantium. I get why the dub is like that when you're trying to lip sync, but for animation, uhm... yeah, it's not like Violet actually forms her words accurately. Dubbing teams ain't what they used to be, man. Damn shame, damn shame. The actual voice cast is pretty good though. Would be interesting to see what the Blu Ray subtitles have there. They are different from what I've seen in videos about the show. German subs on Netflix generally do a good job of transporting what is meant, as long as they're actually made from the original Japanese. Because sometimes you get subtitles that were hastily slapped together from an English source, and then you end up with the literal meaning of "die Fackel tragen" (carrying the torch) in your subtitles, and you only really know understand what's going on when you realize this is a literal translation of an English idiom. Which for me isn't an issue, in such cases I just switch to the English subs, but eh, that's not entirely the point of having native language subtitles in the first place.

While Violet really does say "adaman" in the Japanese original, she uses it to describe the metal her arms are made of, not to specify the metal they are made of. That is actually "gin", which just means silver. She said her arms are made of hardened silver (literally adamant silver, or adamantine silver - both of which are somewhat clumsy). Silver isn't a terribly sturdy material in itself, but it is mostly safe for medical use, unlike other metals. I mean, fully functioning prostheses in a late 1910s setting aisde*, the fantasyland aspect isn't really meant to be there. If anything, that piece of information conveys that her arms are most likely unfit for actual miltary use, neatly explaining why the setting doesn't have cyborg soldiers and why she was discharged. The joys of translation. Talk about taking the original meaning and turning it upside down. *They are mostly used as metaphor anyway, even though it might not look like that after just the first episode.

Hm, now that's something I haven't seen in a long time. Might read the book perhaps. I wash my hands of it, I shan't be responsible for another fiasco like the last one.

Violet Evergarden: The Movie will come to Netflix eventually. It should have been released a long while ago, but the pandemic delayed the theatric release in Japan. It only just started playing in cinemas in Germany, and in none here. So yay. Well, techincally incorrect, as it does play on and off in a small indie theatre which, next Saturday, will show Perfect Blue. Which sure would be nice to see in a theatre, but it's really remote, and... yeah, not going there alone, nah. Blu Ray coming out in three months, I think.