Anime - Do you Understannnnnnndu?

[majestic]

Just now, KP the meanie zucchini said:

I was able to watch it for free without an account. I'll check on it to see if that's still the case.

I have had that account for a while, but like I said, the verification thing seems to be broken. I contemplated subbing for a bit, but that was before Netflix jacked up the prices and I added Disney+ to keep my Nephew away from my Switch at least part of the time he's here hogging my stuff.

I can watch episodes like that, just not sure how many or if there's going to be ads or whatnot.

[Bartimaeus]

26 minutes ago, majestic said:

To be honest if I weren't me and would finish it anyway, I'd only keep watching this because @Bartimaeus (look at the forum software doing that @ thingie well... haha @Bartimaeus look there it works!) said it gets much better. Dear Lord, between the insipid teenage coming-of-age superhero drama*, the Martian Flaxian invasion and that painfully terrible "love triangle" setup between Amber, Mark and Eve, the Demon!Columbo detective and the show lampshading how terrible its one-liners are, I have no idea why anyone would even want to continue watching this. Except to keep listening to the voice cast, which at this point seems to be where all the budget went. Instead of, say, writing an engaging storyline or interesting characters, or ideally both.

I do think it gets way less dumb and way more enjoyable. Uh, hopefully you'll agree, . If it had been just me watching it, I probably wouldn't have gotten past the first couple of episodes because the teen drama (and it is the very worst kind IMO) and the sort of dumb, irreverent tone the show was enough to send me packing...but I wasn't watching it alone, so I picked out the few characters who were initially likeable (Omni-Man, the Mauler Twins, Atom Eve kind of...well, the most out of all the teen characters in my opinion anyways) and grew to like it a lot more from there.

35 minutes ago, majestic said:

Even so, just from the OVA and the first episode, Miyu is one of the more interesting anti-heroes I've seen. Or probably the best. That depends a bit on how the TV show's going to work out

Yeah, she's pretty weird/cool. While the writing of either the OVA or the show isn't like awesome by any means (it's certainly not Sakura), it's her character combined with being in this sort of understated contemporary horror setting that manages to stay relatively grounded which makes me like it a lot more than I perhaps should. It's one of those cases where it's like, yep, this is simply inherently appealing to me on multiple levels.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

52 minutes ago, majestic said:

I have had that account for a while, but like I said, the verification thing seems to be broken. I contemplated subbing for a bit, but that was before Netflix jacked up the prices and I added Disney+ to keep my Nephew away from my Switch at least part of the time he's here hogging my stuff.

I can watch episodes like that, just not sure how many or if there's going to be ads or whatnot.

The last time I watched stuff there, it was adless on PC while on mobile there were ads. I can confirm mobile will have ads.

@majestic And now I can confirm that it won't have ads if you're watching on PC. So I guess that's the place to go for Golden Wind at least. Probably my favorite part so far because Giorno is pretty much 

Spoiler

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by KP the meanie zucchini

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

I do think it gets way less dumb and way more enjoyable. Uh, hopefully you'll agree, . If it had been just me watching it, I probably wouldn't have gotten past the first couple of episodes because the teen drama (and it is the very worst kind IMO) and the sort of dumb, irreverent tone the show was enough to send me packing...but I wasn't watching it alone, so I picked out the few characters who were initially likeable (Omni-Man, the Mauler Twins, Atom Eve kind of...well, the most out of all the teen characters in my opinion anyways) and grew to like it a lot more from there.

I'll see soonish enough. I got some free time on my hands now, after all.

Atom Eve is probably the only character I really like, but she comes with the package of being involved in that soap opera grade "love" plot. But who knows, maybe the how will surprise me and not go where I think it will, but if that really turns into another Otis/Maeve situation I'm going to delete my Amazon account (not really, just an empty threat ).

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, she's pretty weird/cool. While the writing of either the OVA or the show isn't like awesome by any means (it's certainly not Sakura), it's her character combined with being in this sort of understated contemporary horror setting that manages to stay relatively grounded which makes me like it a lot more than I perhaps should.

That's going to come up a lot. Because really, how could you get close to the first arc of CCS? You can have more appealing themes (but that's subjective), perhaps, characters that are a little older to make the character interactions carry a bit more weight or deal with more mature topics, or give them different backgrounds to explore something else, but in terms of pure writing quality, that's really going to be very tough beast to beat. Heck, the original team tried and failed miserably.

Plus the show isn't just well written, but otherwise great overall - I mean, as long as one does like mahou shoujo anime. Which I do, obviously.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

It's one of those cases where it's like, yep, this is simply inherently appealing to me on multiple levels.

I get that. I mean, being compared in tone and feel to The Outer Limits remake is something very positive. Maybe not for everyone, but when it comes from me that's pretty good.

Edited August 8, 2021 by majestic
I think I need a new keyboard, my spacebar is getting kind of worn out...

[Bartimaeus]

3 minutes ago, majestic said:

Atom Eve is probably the only character I really like, but she comes with the package of being involved in that soap opera grade "love" plot. But who knows, maybe the how will surprise me and not go where I think it will, but if that really turns into another Otis/Maeve situation I'm going to delete my Amazon account (not really, just an empty thread ).

And speaking of Cardcaptor Sakura...

Spoiler

I forgot that Toya was Cinderella...so that means both he and Sakura have played opposite roles in their respective plays. Weird! Rika, Chiharu, and Naoko all being the three good fairies...what a coincidence, . And Tomoyo dragged off not just Sakura, but also Xiaolang to dress them up. Awkwaaard!

LMAO at Xiaolang's costume, what the hell, that's so much worse than I expected, Tomoyo you troll...oh wait, lmao, she told him she was doing it for him and Yukito, that sly dog Tomoyo

Oh gosh, why is Takashi the queen, and...oh my. I forgot all about Meiling - her being Maleficent is perfect and cannot be an accident, .

Can't disagree there, girls. Rofl, the way Xiaolang just tripped onto the wheel and freaking died had me dying.

Great episode. A bit of a small deus ex machina moment there at the end, but I don't care, it's Sakura. Don't really know what Mizuki's angle is, but I don't...think it's hostile?

 

[majestic]

Tomoyo is quite the boss at times.

43 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

Great episode. A bit of a small deus ex machina moment there at the end, but I don't care, it's Sakura. Don't really know what Mizuki's angle is, but I don't...think it's hostile?

 

 

Spoiler

We really hope you will be our new master!

Did you watch the preview at the end of the episode?

[Bartimaeus]

1 minute ago, majestic said:

Tomoyo is quite the boss at times.

 

  Hide contents

We really hope you will be our new master!

Did you watch the preview at the end of the episode?

No, but I literally just finished watching the next episode.

Yeah, so if Meiling isn't back sometime soon, Sakura is going to be cancelled. But she did promise that she'll be back, so you know, I'm gonna trust her on this. Because otherwise Sakura is going to be cancelled, and that'd be really dumb.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

2 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

No, but I literally just finished watching the next episode.

Yeah, so if Meiling isn't back sometime soon, Sakura is going to be cancelled. But she did promise that she'll be back, so you know, I'm gonna trust her on this. Because otherwise Sakura is going to be cancelled, and that'd be really dumb.

Poor Meiling. Called back to where she came from, a place outside the manga. Did you know that she wasn't in the original material? Nanase Ohkawa created her just for the anime.

Spoiler

What did you think about Sakura and Meiling talking for a while? That "engagement" story of Meiling was quite something. Sakura trying to console her over Shaoran's behaviour, and her saying that she knows Shaoran cares, just not in the way she'd like want him to.

That was such a gut punch that I had to pause for a bit.

No wonder she was constantly dragging him away from Sakura, Yukito or any of her friends.

 

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, so if Meiling isn't back sometime soon, Sakura is going to be cancelled. But she did promise that she'll be back, so you know, I'm gonna trust her on this. Because otherwise Sakura is going to be cancelled, and that'd be really dumb.

I'll do my best Kaho impression and pack it in a spoiler.

Spoiler

You might think that now, but be careful what you wish for. Sometimes wishes come true, and only for you to find out it was the wrong one.

 

What did you think of the episode overall? I mean... aside from Meiling leaving. I'm kind of curious because that one wold probably make it into a top 10 or so list for me.

[Bartimaeus]

That's the beauty of Cardcaptor Sakura - I think I said it before, but the way the show balances between being cute, funny, dramatic, heartfelt, and simply beautiful without ever sticking too hard one way for too long is like...perfect? Yeah, perfect. If every single episode was like that episode, it'd start feeling too hammy and melodramatic...but it doesn't. It went harder into dramatic and heartfelt and it worked perfectly because it was driven by an important character moment that was extremely deserved. That's the ideal, and it's rather alarming how often Sakura manages to do that. Great episode, just like the one before it, but for completely different reasons. I wouldn't even know where to start with top ten episodes...but once we've finished the show, we really ought to make such lists and compare, .

[InsaneCommander]

@Majestic where did you watch the Violet Evergarden movie? I don't see it on Netflix. There is an extra episode about an opera singer and movie about teaching in a women's academy.

[majestic]

6 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

That's the beauty of Cardcaptor Sakura - I think I said it before, but the way the show balances between being cute, funny, dramatic, heartfelt, and simply beautiful without ever sticking too hard one way for too long is like...perfect? Yeah, perfect. If every single episode was like that episode, it'd start feeling too hammy and melodramatic...but it doesn't. It went harder into dramatic and heartfelt and it worked perfectly because it was driven by an important character moment that was extremely deserved.

It only gets like that occassionally, indeed. I wonder if you'll also think that the Sakura Card arc needs a couple of episodes to establish itself. Maybe I was too harsh on the first few episodes. Then again, maybe not.

12 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I wouldn't even know where to start with top ten episodes...but once we've finished the show, we really ought to make such lists and compare, .

I wouldn't either. Here's the rub, I'd probably pack two earlier episodes into the top 10 list that maybe don't belong there because they each made me realize something. The first is of course, and I've probably said that a hundred times now, the episode where Sakura and Tomoy clean the house and have a "dangerous", uhm, "battle" with a tree and a bit of rain. The other one is where Sakura accidentially destroys her father's work, because that really sold me on her voice performance.

Wait, no, the university episode is probably really top 10 material. Ugh. Top 5 is easy though: 16, 43, 56, 60, 66. Not necessarily in that order.

[majestic]

2 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

@Majestic where did you watch the Violet Evergarden movie? I don't see it on Netflix. There is an extra episode about an opera singer and movie about teaching in a women's academy.

The episode about the opera singer is what should have gone between 4 and 5, by the way. Did you like it?

The 90 minutes movie is already the first step to what I said the movie did wrong: It feels less grounded and more like a soap opera, but was still good.

Movie, movie... movie. *cough* That one is only available on a Russian streaming service right now. Yeah. *cough*

[Bartimaeus]

I see the 34 minute OVA opera singer special, the regular show, and the 90 minute "Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll" movie on Netflix.

[InsaneCommander]

8 minutes ago, majestic said:

The episode about the opera singer is what should have gone between 4 and 5, by the way. Did you like it?

Yes. And it's easy to see that was when she got better with the letters.

[majestic]

21 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I see the 34 minute OVA opera singer special, the regular show, and the 90 minute "Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll" movie on Netflix.

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.

Spoiler

The only way to watch it right now is to find the Russian rip with the Japanese microphone audio, and that one is, like Sarex said, really close to an actual theatre experience. Inlcuding people talking with each other, opening snacks and munching around.

I guess it's also possible to watch the Russian dub, but then you could just mute the film and watch it like that, because otherwise you'd want to pierce your eardrums. Boy is that terribad. The video source is pretty good though, but that's from an official stream, so no real surprise here.

Blu Ray coming out in three months, I think.

  

13 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Yes. And it's easy to see that was when she got better with the letters.

 

Spoiler

She researched a lot of love letters too, so no wonder she got that part of the job in episode 5.

More importantly, it explains why she did not mess it up. Heh.

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Ah, small bit of confusion on my part, didn't realize there was a second movie. I see the Russian one now...looks fine video quality wise, but if the audio is as bad as you say, I'd rather just wait for the real release...if it were me. I/we haven't decided yet on watching that yet, .

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So you're saying we have to use the Ludovico technique to get you to watch Violet Evergarden?

[majestic]

3 minutes ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

So you're saying we have to use the Ludovico technique to get you to watch Violet Evergarden?

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.

Edited August 9, 2021 by majestic

[InsaneCommander]

I found the movie in the same place I watch LoGH.

Edit: sound is good. 1080p.

Edited August 9, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

So you're saying we have to use the Ludovico technique to get you to watch Violet Evergarden?

Alright, fine, here we go, I'm going to watch the first ten minutes of the first episode (or maybe more if I feel like it). First observations:

1. These CGI pans are terrible and distracting.

2. "Why did you pick the puppy?"
"The Major's old brother called me Gilbert's dog."
Whoops.

3. The character animation isn't as bad as I expected...most of the time. Though unfortunately, depth of field always has the opposite of its effect intended on me - instead of focusing on the non-blurred object, all I can see is the fact that everything else is a disgusting smeared mess...and this show has already been making liberal use of it in just this first episode.

4. Adamantine arms? ...I feel like it would've been better not to specify that, given how out of place fantasyland "adamantine" sounds.

I finished the episode, and it was okay, it didn't really make me want to kill myself, but I have some...inherent stylistic issues with the dialogue and premise that also don't make me too terribly enamored with it either, .

[majestic]

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

4. Adamantine arms?

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.

[Sarex]

I have not heard good things about netflix's translations.

[majestic]

24 minutes ago, Sarex said:

I have not heard good things about netflix's translations.

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.

[Sarex]

I have been culturally assimilated, I don't even look for local subtitles.

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, silver would've made a lot more sense. I'll try another episode either today or tomorrow...or never, .

In other news, I read the first manga (book, chapter?) of Miyu, my AMA (ask me anything) starts now...and it thus concludes, because I don't think I could answer any questions about it anyways because that was just about impossible to make sense of* - I think the TV show and even the OVA do a better job of communicating than the manga does (particularly because many of the action scenes are just haphazard scribbles that I can't really follow). Thank you all for coming, have a wonderful day!

*It's also distinctly possible that I am just the bad at reading manga.

Edited August 9, 2021 by Bartimaeus