Anime, the eternal Jettokōsutā

[Bartimaeus]

Well, that was strange but good. Also, I got mixed up on what you said - it's not Sakura, but Tomoyo who has the same voice as her. Phew. Also ignoring that the way she was skipping was just like her...yeah, still kind of creepy.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

57 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Episode 25: ...Speaking of the voice actress:

  Hide contents

I immediately thought of Perfect Blue when Fake!Sakura popped up and started destroying things in front of her school friends. And then I remembered that they're actually the same VA for these two characters...creepy!

oh gosh what is happening in this episode

 

Spoiler

 

Mima is voiced by Tomoyo. I mean, the other way around. Tomoyo and Mima were both voiced by Junko Iwao.

I was referring to episode 22 where she ends up staring at her father's broken laptop, asking Kero with that broken voices how she can fix it, because nothing she tried worked, but look at you blasting right through. At this rate you'll be finished with the 70 episodes before I am.

 

 

57 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

  Hide contents

Yeah, I don't want to sound like I'm down on Sailor Moon either...it's just that Sakura is so incredibly well-made in direct comparison to Sailor Moon. It's like they identified all of Sailor Moon's biggest flaws and and did a good to great job at fixing each of them, while offering something very different character and world-wise and aimed it at a little younger demographic...without ever dumbing it down or talking down to the audience. If anything, the opposite - everything feels so grounded, relatable, and restrained here. It's...kind of remarkable. I am very curious to see if they can keep up this level of thoughtfulness and quality during the entire 70 episode run of the show.

I noted early on that I really liked how they were handling the "monsters" in this show because of the neat and interesting situations they were creating in the world and between characters, and it's really only gotten better. These are extraordinarily simple ideas...but the key thing is that they come in different shapes and sizes and they're executed so well. You can have the most impossibly clever idea or concept in all of fiction, but if you cannot execute it well, does anybody care at all? No! And yes, Sakura has well-earned some of her adoration from Tomoyo, .

 

Spoiler

 

Well, there are some benefits to making a magical girl show after Sailor Moon. I bet Madhouse never stepped on CLAMP's toes as much as Toei did. It was already a successful manga by a very successful manga writing group and was probably more or less guaranteed to be a success. Sailor Moon was a shot in the blue by Toei who just wanted to adapt Sailor V but ended up getting completely new material from Ms. Takeuchi.

The second arc so far seems to have a bit of the dreaded sequel syndrome. It's still occasionally brilliant, but it does feel like they upped the magical game a bit to the detriment of the other elements. Understandable, there were times in the first arc where I felt the card ideas already reached the limits of what they can do without the setup wearing a little thin (like between episodes 28 and 30). However, I've only seen 5 episodes so far, and I don't think... I mean, I hope they didn't stretch the current setup over all 24 episodes of the second arc, because otherwise that really is going to wear thin, even with less episodes.

I'm probably worried for no reason, but I'll see soon enough.

 

 

57 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

Yeah - Sailor Moon *desperately* needed to do exactly what Sakura has been unafraid to do, which is say "screw it" and hyperfocus on the character stuff while eschewing everything else when it's appropriate. That would be the only way it could have enough time to really do its characters proper justice. Alas, it was not to be - and it's such an incredible shame too, because it's not like there wasn't plenty of time to do so with the 40 episode seasons...but they had to follow their formulas, for one reason or another.

 

 

Spoiler

 

I remember reading an interview at some point about Cardcaptor Sakura way back when I first started watching the first couple of episodes that had one of the creators state that she wanted Sakura to have different outfits so she's not stuck wearing the same costume like the girls in Sailor Moon were.

From that point on I was afraid that they'd actually really do the same thing Sailor Moon did, and have Tomoyo come up with a new costume in each and every episode, but no - that only happens when it makes sense. She also doesn't always get to film her. Sailor Moon came really close at the end with Sailor Stars, but still had a monster show up every episode, even if it was just an afterthought that was defeated in a minute, plus 30 seconds of stock footage.

Easy to say in hindsight, CLAMP had a while to contemplate what did and didn't work in Sailor Moon. There were six years in between the show and the first season of Sailor Moon after all, and like I said above, the studio that made the anime - Madhouse - probably left them to their own devices.

In a magical dream world the original writers and animators of Sailor Moon could collaborate with CLAMP to make a real Sailor Moon reboot. Now that would be something. Same characters, maybe different storylines.... mmmm.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Spoiler

 

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

In a magical dream world the original writers and animators of Sailor Moon could collaborate with CLAMP to make a real Sailor Moon reboot. Now that would be something. Same characters, maybe different storylines.... mmmm.

I was thinking of that exact thing earlier, actually - what would Sailor Moon have looked like if it was by the same team as Sakura with their level of expertise? Boy...but as you said, Sakura came out 6 years later having been majorly influenced by Sailor Moon, so it's not really possible to think about one without the other - it's for the best things turned out the way they did.

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

I was referring to episode 22 where she ends up staring at her father's broken laptop, asking Kero with that broken voices how she can fix it, because nothing she tried worked, but look at you blasting right through. At this rate you'll be finished with the 70 episodes before I am.

That was a great episode, too...but they all have been. In retrospect, that one does make the most sense for what you said, though, .

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

From that point on I was afraid that they'd actually really do the same thing Sailor Moon did, and have Tomoyo come up with a new costume in each and every episode, but no - that only happens when it makes sense.

Not only that, but they even show her spending actual time and effort to design them...and as Kero pointed out, one of them even appeared in the background as something Tomoyo was designing before she ever actually used it! Little touches, but they matter, .

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[InsaneCommander]

19 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Finished a rough draft of a short script, so I watched an episode of AoT to relax. It's intriguing but has one of my pet peeves, naked monsters with no genitals. Minor thing though, but weird when you think about it.

Maybe try the censored version?

No spoiler above, btw.

Spoilers below:

Popular ‘Attack On Titan’ Manga is Censored in Malaysia, And Yes, The Titans Wear Underwear.

Edit: No genitals? Maybe this is explained later? Who knows...

Edited May 29, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[HoonDing]

[majestic]

Spoiler

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I was thinking of that exact thing earlier, actually - what would Sailor Moon have looked like if it was by the same team as Sakura with their level of expertise? Boy...but as you said, Sakura came out 6 years later having been majorly influenced by Sailor Moon, so it's not really possible to think about one without the other - it's for the best things turned out the way they did.

It's nothing more but a fun thought experiment, because if Sailor Moon had been any different, Cardcaptor Sakura would have been too. One can dream of a proper Sailor Moon reboot though. Crystal sure isn't it.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

That was a great episode, too...but they all have been. In retrospect, that one does make the most sense for what you said, though, .

It does, doesn't it. Coming down from the high of capturing that card to wrecking her father's work must have hurt. Well, he sure learned a lesson there, always make backups. You never know when your magical girl daughter accidentially crushes your computer by landing on a pile of books after sealing away Sleep.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Not only that, but they even show her spending actual time and effort to design them...and as Kero pointed out, one of them even appeared in the background as something Tomoyo was designing before she ever actually used it! Little touches, but they matter, .

Absolutely. It's the attention to detail that makes certain things shine so much.

Speaking of the show, I watched one more episode of the Sakura card arc (episode 7), and it was... fantastic.

Out of context spoiler that will make no sense until you've seen the episode:

Spoiler

Also pretty sure that Tomoyo will never take a bath again from now on.  

 

 

 

[majestic]

Good thing I complained a little about the first couple of episodes of the new arc.

Episode 54 was an absolute highlight. The only thing is that Sakura looked a little strange. Not bad, just the animation was a little different than usual. Or maybe that was my imagination.

I... hey well, look at Kero getting all misty eyed here. Man Kero, really. Heh. 

 

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 60.

Spoiler

Yeah, so that had to happen.

Spoiler

 

Anyway, the arc found its footing and has stronger episodes now. There's a certain amount of sequelitis going on and a bit of flanderization with Kero and Tomoyo, i.e. the show's beginning to overplay their love for sweets and Sakura, respectively, to the point where it sometimes becomes ridiculous. It's not entirely bad because they're still doing other things as well, but sometimes it's a tad too much.

This episode... oi. Kero isn't just misty-eyed right now, why is he sobbing?

Edited May 30, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

Demon Slayer 1-8

I'm enjoying it so far. Some things are happening faster than I expected. I like that they don't unnecessarily overextend things like training, traveling or searching for a demon.

Spoilers:
 

Spoiler

 

It was nice to see the villain appearing "soon" and showing without a doubt how bad he is. Better than fighting random demons until the end of the season. It could have been interesting to consider that maybe he wasn't that bad, just a guy living with his human family. But the way it is going is good because it doesn't seem like they will sit around and avoid a confrontation.

It all depends on how many minions need to be lost for Kibutsuji to decide to do it himself.

The little girls at the Final Selection were weird. Strange eyes, maybe too mature for the age, not caring about being threated. Are they human?

What happened to the people who failed the trial? Are they now demons on the mountain waiting for the next selection? Doesn't seem effective. What if in the next time less people come and they all die because there were more demons? What a waste of talent.

Edit: actually the demons on the mountain can't turn humans. But the problem persists, each year there must be a different proportion of humans and demons, so someone skilled enough to survive in one year might die on another. Not an effective way to recruit.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura, episode 65.

More sad incoming in #66 by the looks of it.

Poor Kero is getting really worked over now.

[majestic]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

More sad incoming in #66 by the looks of it.

Right, so that's enough for today. I'm going to sleep now.

With four episodes left, the writers better had come up with a happy ending. Seriously.

Guess I'll know tomorrow.

@Bartimaeus why the confused look? Expected a real spoiler?

I'll leave this here for posterity. You're probably done with the first arc by now anyway.
edit: Or not, I've cut the Episode 60 spoiler. It's still in the preview, so unless Firefox crashes over night or the software eats it, I can still post it later...

edit 2:

Episode 66 had probably the best dialogue in the entire run at the end there.

 

Edited May 30, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

I've still only finished episode 25. I'm getting the feeling that I won't be able to finish before you after all...

I gave a confused look mostly for the mention of flanderization and Kero crying. Glad to hear the show hasn't disappointed, though!

[majestic]

37 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've still only finished episode 25. I'm getting the feeling that I won't be able to finish before you after all...

I gave a confused look mostly for the mention of flanderization and Kero crying. Glad to hear the show hasn't disappointed, though!

Hard to appreciate at times just how incredibly well done this is. I've been a bit hard on the second arc because some of the setup is a little forced and not as neatly integrated into the world as the first one was, but that first arc and the way it was set up was pure magic and probably hard to replicate.

It's always Kero crying, not me. I'm totally not using the poor guy as a stand-in here. Nope! He really has a tough time dealing with the emotional stuff on the show when it happens.  

Non-descript spoiler (it still is a spoiler of a sort - so yeah, take care):

Spoiler

In all seriousness, you can probably guess what that was, the show's about to wrap up its run, not counting a sequel season made almost 20 years later, and it was time to resolve some longstanding things that have been around forever and ever.

And... they end up being incredibly well written episodes. Especially 66, one that's also heavier on the metaphors than usual.

Sakura also gets some character development. It's not that there never was development for her, but the writers made her deliberately more static than the supporting cast around her (at least, I think, maybe I'm reading too much into these never truly changing running gags, little kaiju ), as an anchor for the audience and a way to show how much far other characters have come.

[Bartimaeus]

@majestic

I was sorting through some Sailor Moon music this morning, and did you know that three separate releases of American Sailor Moon songs were released in the late 90s/early 2000s?

https://vgmdb.net/album/47597, https://vgmdb.net/album/90045, https://vgmdb.net/album/47596

I just listened to all of them...well, sort of - I skipped through tracks a lot - and I can thus report to you that they're quite horrible. About the only song throughout all three albums that is even a quarter-way decent is the intro theme. That, and the Lunarock one actually included the Japanese S1/S2 intro song (good choice - always thought Dali in those seasons sounded better than Moon Lips in S3/S4, probably why I wasn't as sad when Sailor Stars replaced it with something else entirely since the better version had already been long gone). Straight into the bin they go.

And for laughs, I actually started going through the Sailor Moon VIDEO GAME music, and...surprisingly, there was actually a song by the original Japanese VAs ("Peach Hips" - apparently, "Moon Lips" is the VA group from the musicals!) that was original and exclusive to this game that was half-decent.

Sailor Mars has no chill.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

More AoT, episodes 2-4. It's an extended introduction where we get to meet the cast of would be soldiers as they train to fight the eponymous sexless monsters that have terrorized humans for at least a hundred years.

So far it's OK, but could have been cut down without losing anything. The cable swinging can be a bit hard to keep up with and I want to punch half of the cast, but I assume some will become snacks for the big eunuchs once things kick into gear. I'm getting negative vibes from the government and military, so I'm gonna bet some shady **** is going on there.

[majestic]

9 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I was sorting through some Sailor Moon music collection this morning, and did you know that three separate releases of American Sailor Moon songs were released in the late 90s/early 2000s?

https://vgmdb.net/album/47597, https://vgmdb.net/album/90045, https://vgmdb.net/album/47596

I just listened to all of them...well, sort of - I skipped through tracks a lot - and I can thus report to you that they're quite horrible.

No kidding, I just tried "I Wanna Be A Star!" and stopped after a minute or two. I don't even want to try anything else.

At least our Sailor Moon songs were decent Eurodance trash (I mean "decent" in the way that I love the genre), aside from having lyrics that make no sense, like having a song about Sailor Saturn's conspiracy to... do something bad. No seriously, bad conspiracy. Huh, what? Right guys, maybe not write lyrics when you don't know what the show is a bout, huh?

 

Moonlight Densetsu and its versions: I tend to agree, kind of. I wish the two were combinable, because I prefer the Dali version vocals over the Moon Lips vocals, but the audio engineering for the Moon Lips version is just better. It's not better performed, as much as I can tell, but it doesn't sound like it was recorded in a garage on a Sunday afternoon after Toei found out that they don't have an opening theme yet.

It's really strange, because the other music in the show is top notch. Maybe that was intentional. My emotional attachment to that song is less than it could be, what with our German dub always having the same opening theme song for all seasons.

The Sailor Star Song on the other hand, well... for some reason that just worked for me. I started out being weirded out by the change, and then loving it. I also appreciated Sailor Stars a lot more this time around than last time, but that's the changed perspective of adulthood, I guess, and it no longer bothered me that it had way too little Ami time, and what little was there wasn't as good as in other seasons.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Sailor Mars has no chill.

Heh.

CCS, mild spoiler stuff:
 

Spoiler

 

I'm extremely unhappy to report that episode 66 of Cardcaptor Sakura has bummed me out so much that I only watched one more episode today. Everything is daijoubu again. Of course it is, it wouldn't be Cardcaptor Sakura if it weren't, but...

It was also really a bad time for the show to pick up symbolism. Seriously, now?

Single screencap, but hard spoiler, don't @ me if you click /Lindsay Ellis (no, seriously, I guess you figured out what that was already and in that case it's "safe" to look, but... I feel like venting, so sorry. I'll wrap things in a couple of tags!):

Yeah, nope, wrote it, vented, deleted it. We can talk later.  

I don't know if I should congratulate the writers on making a terrific episode or hate them all for including it.

 

I also feel like apologizing to the people who made the Netflix subtitles. Yes, it did seem like they didn't realize that snowbunny wasn't supposed to be translated literally but is a nickname, but it probably was a stylistic choice, because Toya keeps calling Yukito "Yuki" after all, and it's never translated literally as snow, but if the quotes for the episodes on Wikiquote come from otherwise official subs (i.e. the ones on the BR), or one of the English dubs, then the Netflix ones are much better at expressing the emotional feeling that the situation carries. I don't know how accurate they are, but they certainly feel better than what the quotes read.

 

[Bartimaeus]

3 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

More AoT, episodes 2-4. It's an extended introduction where we get to meet the cast of would be soldiers as they train to fight the eponymous sexless monsters that have terrorized humans for at least a hundred years.

So far it's OK, but could have been cut down without losing anything. The cable swinging can be a bit hard to keep up with and I want to punch half of the cast, but I assume some will become snacks for the big eunuchs once things kick into gear. I'm getting negative vibes from the government and military, so I'm gonna bet some shady **** is going on there.

Spoiler

I think a few years back, my mom mentioned to me about trying an episode or two of Attack on Titan because she saw it on Netflix and was like "what in the world is this". As far as I know, I don't think she ever watched any more than that. That's all I've got for you on the subject of AoT, .

@majestic Ironically, there was that one horrible video I posted where Chibi-Usa was flying with Pegasus that actually had a kind of okay love song (ugh), but I tried every song on those soundtracks - it wasn't on there. So presumably there was even more that didn't make it. One day, I'll watch the entire series in the original dub and I'll be sure to send you the very best songs, .

I tried your song and no joke, I audibly groaned and facepalmed upon hearing literally the very first few words. Usagi screaming "OH MY GOD!" is basically me whenever I'm subjected to the German Sailor Moon music stuff, .

I actually prefer the original instrumental for Moonlight Legend in terms of actual instruments (simpler and cleaner, IMO), but yes, in terms of engineering/quality, the Moon Lips version is better.

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Single screencap, but hard spoiler, don't @ me if you click /Lindsay Ellis (no, seriously, I guess you figured out what that was already and in that case it's "safe" to look, but... I feel like venting, so sorry. I'll wrap things in a couple of tags

I have literally not even the foggiest idea what you're talking about, I haven't figured out anything lmao (and that's okay, better even!)

Edited May 31, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Bartimaeus]

 

Spoiler

I thought Toya had the hots for Yukito, but now I'm pretty sure it was actually this wizard teacher lady after all. That was a long setup for that.

...Well, next episode confirmed that.

Xialong says they're naturally drawn to those with power...and Sakura is put into the same kind of daze that she gets with Yukito with this teacher lady. And Yukito seems to be constantly going out of his way to interact with Sakura...MAYBE HE'S A CARD USER TOO?!

Probably not (that would *truly* be the long con), but it's basically what Xialong implied!

The goth shop lady returns! And she tries to make Meiling spell out which exact card she wants...ouch. Poor Meiling can never catch a break.

(e): Of course, unfortunately being a bit of a moron is really her biggest problem... You don't see Tomoyo causing all of these problems!

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

@majestic Ironically, there was that one horrible video I posted where Chibi-Usa was flying with Pegasus that actually had a kind of okay love song (ugh), but I tried every song on those soundtracks - it wasn't on there. So presumably there was even more that didn't make it. One day, I'll watch the entire series in the original dub and I'll be sure to send you the very best songs, .

I tried your song and no joke, I audibly groaned and facepalmed upon hearing literally the very first few words. Usagi screaming "OH MY GOD!" is basically me whenever I'm subjected to the German Sailor Moon music stuff, .

I actually prefer the original instrumental for Moonlight Legend in terms of actual instruments (simpler and cleaner, IMO), but yes, in terms of engineering/quality, the Moon Lips version is better.

That's probably some licencing stuff. I think that song had the same melody as the Japanese version in SuperS.

You know what just happened? I went to YouTube to look the videos up to confirm if they have the same melody, found the Japanese one, scrolled down a bit and found these:

There are the anti-vaxxer nutjobs that think vaccines are used for poplation control by Bill Gates. The more I read comments under Sailor Moon videos on YouTube, the more I wonder if that wouldn't be a good idea. Mr. Gates, please save us from Pedosus/Chibi-Usa shippers and people who think that Crystal's animation is beautiful, and make sure people who think that season 1 and 2 looked better than 3 spend eternity in that special place in hell reserved just for them.

I'm pretty sure there's some space in between the poeople from the KKK, all the popes, Bruno and Stjepan.

Don't you hate on my German Sailor Moon stuff! Well, actually... the Super Moonies are really, really, really bad.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I have literally not even the foggiest idea what you're talking about, I haven't figured out anything lmao (and that's okay, better even!)

Okay, that's good.
 

Spoiler

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I thought Toya had the hots for Yukito, but now I'm pretty sure it was actually this wizard teacher lady after all. That was a long setup for that.

...Well, next episode confirmed that.

That's what that flashback was for. Her ominous "When I return, you'll be in love with someone else", who else could she mean. As for whether or not something is going on already, that... well, I guess you need to keep watching.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Xialong says they're naturally drawn to those with power...and Sakura is put into the same kind of daze that she gets with Yukito with this teacher lady. And Yukito seems to be constantly going out of his way to interact with Sakura...MAYBE HE'S A CARD USER TOO?!

Probably not (that would *truly* be the long con), but it's basically what Xialong implied!

Sailor Mizkui doesn't use cards to be powerful (she does have a bell though, pretty impressive how she blasted through Maze there, right?), and neither did Shaoran before he got his first card. Toya can see and interact with spirits without having any cards either. Just sayin'. Yukito doesn't need cards to have some sort of power.

But indeed, that was there to imply that Yukito is more than he appears to be.

I also loved the two talking about their feelings. It was such a sweet, unexpected moment.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

The goth shop lady returns! And she tries to make Meiling spell out which exact card she wants...ouch. Poor Meiling can never catch a break.

(e): Of course, unfortunately being a bit of a moron is really her biggest problem... You don't see Tomoyo causing all of these problems!

Buying a card called Shot and aiming it at Shaoran's heart wasn't the smartest of ideas, was it?

Meilin(g) really is the Butt Monkey of the show.

 

How do you like Sailor Mizuki so far? I mean... all I heard was Makoto talking, but I guess you don't really have that problem.

edit:

Right, so the big question, did you too think that episodes 28 through 30 were a little less interesting/great than the... oh boy, like 20 before them? Or was that just me?

Edited May 31, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

I've only seen 28 and 29, but they were absolutely less interesting. Why, though? Hm...hm, hm - I'd say it comes down to characters. Xialong is not Tomoyo or Sakura, but he's mostly a net-positive in the capacity that he is used. Mieling is...a work in progress but surprisingly doesn't really usually actively detract even when she's being Meiling (they've made her juuust sympathetic enough that I don't hate her and she's usually good for a few laughs and facepalms per episode without it lingering for too long at any one time), but now this other lady to add onto things? Feels like too much attention has been split between too many things - too many cooks in the kitchen, as it were. Speaking of, the cooking episode should've been prime material for some fun Sakura and Tomoyo shenanigans and interactions, but we didn't really get that - it was much more focused on other things, like Meiling being a complete screw-up, and the small bit we got was most perfunctory (i.e. short and necessary for explaining the plot). I'm presuming that Xialong will be around for the long haul, but I'm not sure that I can expect the same of Meiling or this other lady - and right now, I like the new lady the least given how much of a flat deadbeat kind of character she is among a bunch of other much colorful characters. The only thing she would have going for her is that's she's mYstEriOuS, but as is usual for me, that simply does not entice me any, . Hoping that she is not here for too long...

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Don't you hate on my German Sailor Moon stuff! Well, actually... the Super Moonies are really, really, really bad.

Hey, you do you, but as a non-German, as someone who didn't grow up with that, as someone who has no appreciation for that particular style of music...it's a tough sell, a reaaal tough sell, .

Also, I maintain that we should destroy all the shippers...or rather the shippers who shamelessly talk about it in public. If you can keep your shipping to yourself, then I can tolerate you, .

(e): I had thought that scene between Toya and whatsherface seemed familiar, but I had forgotten when/where it happened and why it was important!

Edited May 31, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

10 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Hey, you do you, but as a non-German, as someone who didn't grow up with that, as someone who has no appreciation for that particular style of music...it's a tough sell, a reaaal tough sell, .

Ey...

Spoiler

I'm a non-German too, I just happen to speak German as my native language, really! *cough*

Would it surprise you if I said that I don't like the Super Moonies' vocalist? She's pretty bad. Really, like bad. Capital B Bad.

However, not liking Eurodance trash... I just got over you not liking Madoka, you know.

Just kidding. It's one of these things that I grew up with and like even though it's 99% objectively bad - as objectively bad as music can get. It's my musical guilty pleasure.

Have some Aqua!  

Okay, enough of that before I get a warning to not turn this into the music thread.

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Speaking of, the cooking episode should've been prime material for some fun Sakura and Tomoyo shenanigans and interactions, but we didn't really get that - it was much more focused on other things, like Meiling being a complete screw-up, and the small bit we got was most perfunctory (i.e. short and necessary for explaining the plot).

I think the Sweet card episode is the worst in the entire run.

22 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I'm presuming that Xialong will be around for the long haul, but I'm not sure that I can expect the same of Meiling or this other lady - and right now, I like the new lady the least given how much of a flat deadbeat kind of character she is among a bunch of other much colorful characters. The only thing she would have going for her is that's she's mYstEriOuS, but as is usual for me, that simply does not entice me any, . Hoping that she is not here for too long...

If you would allow me the "spoiler" your presumptions are pretty much spot on. Sailor Mizuki will still be around as Sakura's teacher for a bit of course, but she'll limit the mysterious act to a bit of dialogue here and there. And by a bit of dialogue I mean a cryptic one liner and a bit of prodding every now and then. I was hoping for more Makoto action than I got, so you'll probably be good.

57 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I've only seen 28 and 29, but they were absolutely less interesting.

The episodes also improve again after 30. 30 tries something different and it doesn't quite work. Some points for effort are in order, I guess. You'll see soon enough.

Unlike Sailor Moon SuperS, these episodes can be traced to a single writer: Tomoko Ogawa. Even though she wrote the otherwise fine episode #25 with the Mirror Sakura, she has written 28, 29 and 33, and they're all like really high up on the worst episode of the show list.

Probably to nobody's surprise, the only other episode not written by Nanase Ohkawa besides the upcoming #33 is #38, which, you guessed it, is also not entirely up to par. That doesn't mean that the other writers on the show all made episodes that were of lesser quality. Jirō Kaneko write some of my favorites (including the Wood card one), and Ms. Ohkawa has a few ones that aren't as good too, but that's not entirely surprising when she wrote like 50 of the 70 episodes.

Ms. Ogawa has the worst good to not so good ratio though, sitting at one really good episode out of four.

Although that's relative, the episodes are by no means bad, they're just not... as good as everything else is. In any other series, the baking episode would probably not be near the bottom (or at the bottom) of episodes.

26 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Why, though? Hm...hm, hm - I'd say it comes down to characters. Xialong is not Tomoyo or Sakura, but he's mostly a net-positive in the capacity that he is used. Mieling is...a work in progress but surprisingly doesn't really usually actively detract even when she's being Meiling (they've made her juuust sympathetic enough that I don't hate her and she's usually good for a few laughs and facepalms per episode without it lingering for too long at any one time),

Now for the kicker.

I'm going to say that Meiling worked for me in the way the writers probably intended her to. Completely, even. She begins her arc as an obnoxious, loud and supremely annoying counterpart to Tomoyo who simply self-inserts herself into the group even though nobody wants her there (not even Shaoran), then the show makes her the Butt Monkey so hard that you're beginning to find her sympathetic and then... she turns into a major Woobie while befriending Sakura and Tomoyo.

Cryptic Sailor Mizuki-level vague spoiler:

Spoiler

The one thing I did not really like is that... her arc ends the way it must. It was a beautiful episode though. Ms. Ohkawa really knows what she's doing.

 

Something else, I just looked into the first few minutes of Clear Card. Tomoyo and Sakura sound the same, the writing is the same, the first joke is the same (guess who is almost late for school?), but... holy hell that looks so bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Why? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?

[majestic]

Well, that was that. Time for the second movie soon, and... Clear Card, I guess. If only it didn't look so... terribad.

The ending was... okay. Fine. I... hm. No, really, it was fine.

Mr. Wei is the best Alfred since Alfred, obviously. Damn.

[InsaneCommander]

Demon Slayer 9-15

Just because I praised the anime earlier, they did the opposite now.
 

Spoiler

 

There is a new character that won't stop crying and screaming and they kept showing that for an entire episode. Also, they left Tokyo and the main bad guy is completely forgotten.

Which raises the question, why did they send Tanjiro there? To deal with the main bad guy? He didn't fight any other demon there, besides the minions who only appeared because Tanjiro confronted the bad guy. Is the demon slayer corps even aware the guy is there? If so, why don't they send all their elite fighters to deal with him? Very strange.

And if they don't know he is there, why won't Tanjiro tell them?

They also send lots of new recruits to a mountain and most of them are probably dead now. Why? If many were required, then shouldn't they send someone stronger together?

 

 

[majestic]

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Also, I maintain that we should destroy all the shippers...or rather the shippers who shamelessly talk about it in public. If you can keep your shipping to yourself, then I can tolerate you, .

(e): I had thought that scene between Toya and whatsherface seemed familiar, but I had forgotten when/where it happened and why it was important!

Shipping a pedophile horse with a nine year old isn't, so that's not even something people should be doing in their private thoughts. Coyly writing (human) Helios doesn't cut it. The biggest problem with shippers is that they kind of get an idea in their head and usually won't budge, no matter how hard they're proven wrong, and that includes Carcaptor Sakura. There are "fans" out there who accused the writers of pushing a heteronormative agenda because Sakura doesn't have a crush on Tomoyo. Just because they are hardcore Tomoyo x Sakura shippers. 

A heteronormative agenda. In Cardcaptor Sakura. Really, here, have a very emphatic F*CK YOU you morons, and sorry but not sorry for the expletive.

 

Final thoughts? Maybe. I don't know what for, though. This isn't the type of anime that requires a post-watch writeup. In fact, it barely demanded mid-watch writeups either. It does have a few truly fantastic episodes, and long streaks of great ones. The few that aren't as good look worse than they actually are, because they're just next to really... great episodes.

For the most part, it's perfectly honest, grounded and as real as you can make a Maho Shojo anime about a 10 year old girl (that is 12 by the end of the run, or close enough to 12). It was a beautiful ride, and well worth checking out if - and that's a big if, I guess - you're... what? If you're what? Like me, I guess. Which is a horrible way to recommend something.

It's adorable. It's more shojo than maho, I'd say, and it has a lot less action than Sailor Moon, and it is for a slightly younger audience. It still is an absolute marvel.

Edited June 1, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Demon Slayer 9-15

Just because I praised the anime earlier, they did the opposite now.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

There is a new character that won't stop crying and screaming and they kept showing that for an entire episode. Also, they left Tokyo and the main bad guy is completely forgotten.

Which raises the question, why did they send Tanjiro there? To deal with the main bad guy? He didn't fight any other demon there, besides the minions who only appeared because Tanjiro confronted the bad guy. Is the demon slayer corps even aware the guy is there? If so, why don't they send all their elite fighters to deal with him? Very strange.

And if they don't know he is there, why won't Tanjiro tell them?

They also send lots of new recruits to a mountain and most of them are probably dead now. Why? If many were required, then shouldn't they send someone stronger together?

 

 

I watched Demon Slayer a while back. Some of it is promising, but in many ways it's kinda frustrating in the way Shonen anime can be. I watched a few minutes of the movie on....an adult site, but I haven't finished it.

Spoiler

The pig head guy is pretty annoying tbh.