Anime and Manga - < To Be Continued I \ I /

[majestic]

Finished Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA The REBUILD MOVIE 1st

Final episode's nice character wrapup has been replaced by a seizure inducing extended action scene of Fate and Nanoha fighting giant robots, Amy's decision to adopt Fate comes totally out of the blue, but at least it keeps the final talk between them, which is underscored by... well, soft piano music that had me burst out in laughter. Yeah, this film doesn't work vis-a-vis the series in the same way the Rebuild movies don't.

The ending feels completely flat based on nothing but the film. Nanoha becomes friends with Fate instantly in a way that makes no sense because the episode establishing her easygoing and friendly manner were just dropped from the film in favor of dumb action stuff, and a lot of time spent telling us about Presea's past for a reason I can't figure out. It's really strange, they dropped establishing Nanoha in favor of expanding Presea, but they still kept both instances of Presea whipping Fate. Why? If you're pressed for runtime, that's the first thing to condense into one scene. Jesus.

It's sort of nice to see that she didn't start out as power crazy maniac scientist-mage, but really, film, you have two hours of runtime, why is the villain of the film the one to get the most character development? Was that supposed to be a boon for watchers of the anime series?

Things that made sense in the series make no sense in the film's finale that feels terribly rushed. Nobody is watching the captured Fate and they leave her alone with her techno-mage device because... yeah, no idea. Fate escapes and starts helping, and everoyne is fine with it for <reason that was established in the series but not in the film> and her and Nanoha fight a giant robot together, then are split up in the next scene. Why? No idea, something happened off-screen to facilitate Fate's fateful (lol) final meeting with her mother.

I guess it's time for Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA The MOVIE 2nd A's (yes, actual title), oh boy, am I looking forward to that. Ho ho ho.

Oh, right, the credits at the end are rolling over artwork showing Fate and Nanoha, and there's a nude one, because of course. The hell?

Edited December 8, 2021 by majestic

[HoonDing]

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

20 minutes ago, majestic said:

Finished Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA The REBUILD MOVIE 1st

Final episode's nice character wrapup has been replaced by a seizure inducing extended action scene of Fate and Nanoha fighting giant robots, Amy's decision to adopt Fate comes totally out of the blue, but at least it keeps the final talk between them, which is underscored by... well, soft piano music that had me burst out in laughter. Yeah, this film doesn't work vis-a-vis the series in the same way the Rebuild movies don't.

The ending feels completely flat based on nothing but the film. Nanoha becomes friends with Fate instantly in a way that makes no sense because the episode establishing her easygoing and friendly manner were just dropped from the film in favor of dumb action stuff, and a lot of time is established telling us about Presea's past for a reason I can't figure out. Using that time to establish Nanoha more would have been a lot better spent. It's really strange, they dropped establishing Nanoha in favor of expanding Presea, but they still kept both instances of Presea whipping Fate. Why? If you're pressed for runtime, that's the first thing to condense into one scene. Jesus.

It's sort of nice to see that she didn't start out as power crazy maniac scientist-mage, but really, film, you have two hours of runtime, why is the villain of the film the one to get the most character development? Was that supposed to be a boon for watchers of the anime series?

Things that made sense in the series make no sense in the film's finale that feels terribly rushed. Nobody is watching the captured Fate and they leave her alone with her techno-mage device because... yeah, no idea. Fate escapes and starts helping, and everoyne is fine with it for <reason that was established in the series but not in the film> and Nanoha fight a giant robot together, then are split up in the next scene. Why? No idea, something happened off-screen to facilitate Fate's fateful (lol) final meeting with her mother.

I guess it's time for Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA A's The MOVIE 2nd (yes, actual title), oh boy, am I looking forward to that. Ho ho ho.

Oh, right, the credits at the end are rolling over artwork showing Fate and Nanoha, and there's a nude one, because of course. The hell?

[Bartimaeus]

11 hours ago, majestic said:

She probably felt like giving Sailor Moon a regular best friend would be a good idea from a narrative point of view.

#JusticeforNaru

11 hours ago, majestic said:

It's okay since I already know all the characters, but otherwise, oh boy, there's this weird guy who made a Nanoha video I watched who recommended starting the series by watching THE MOVIE 1st and THE MOVIE 2nd (real titles, lol) because they look better, were shot in 16:9 and are faster paced. I already knew from there what I was getting into, I guess, but it's really, ah, just worse than I imagined.

why do you keep watching rando video reviews by actual real life troglodytes???

11 hours ago, majestic said:

try German reported speech

no

11 hours ago, majestic said:

That's what I liked about StrikerS. Characters having their "badass" moments felt earned or normal, not just there for effect. I mean, that's not going to make you like the season, given its other problems, but there's something rather satisfying to see Tia being able to outsmart and defeat her opponents when cornered in her moment of glory, relying on almost a full season's worth of training and character growth from silly shounen action first, thinking later to proper team member.

Yeah, the general writing quality of that show is like the only appealing part of that show to me, from what you've said about it. But you're right, still don't want to watch it, .

3 hours ago, majestic said:

I guess it's time for Magical Girl Lyrical NANOHA The MOVIE 2nd A's (yes, actual title), oh boy, am I looking forward to that. Ho ho ho.

Tough to see it being better than the first, .

Spoiler

Real talk, the 2nd one gets somewhere between half a point and an entire point (out of ten) higher than the first one on all the score aggregators I checked, so...have faith, .

[majestic]

45 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

#JusticeforNaru

She sure deserved more than that terrible looking sendoff in SuperS.

45 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

why do you keep watching rando video reviews by actual real life troglodytes???

It was masked as a way to untangle the Nanoha timeline that's a tad confusing, what with several movies, series, spin-offs, continuations and in-between chapters. That was when I was done with the first season which is always the recommended starting point (except for someone who would want to start with the first movie for... reasons) and looked for a way how to continue. I went with chronological by release date after the video.

Here, look at the video, I've time coded the most important part that he so helpfully left for the very end, the one that made me immediately disregard anything else he said.

"And tell me that's not some tiddies you'd pay some good money for! *stupid grin* *wink*"

I wish people would put these super self-defeating comments in the beginning. Like good old Unicorn of War did. I mean, I don't like what that guy is saying, but at least be begins with it so I can helpfully not listen to the rest.

45 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, the general writing quality of that show is like the only appealing part of that show to me, from what you've said about it. But you're right, still don't want to watch it, .

Not everyone feels like that, check out this super helpful five star rating on Amazon Prime:

Quote

It has pacing problems, way too many characters, sub-par animation and writing, and I LOVE IT TO F***ING DEATH.
Long live the Nanoha franchise. May the giant magical laser beams of friendship and destruction never be forgotten.

Granted, whoever that is, they're right about the sub-par animation, but I really have no idea what the sub-par writing could be. I mean, it could be that the subtitles were better written than the original dialogue, it wouldn't be the first time another translation pass creates superior dialogue, but that review doesn't look like it was written by a Japanese native, or someone able to judge the quality of dialogue in geneneral.

Pacing problems? StrikerS is breakneck from start to finish, but never feels too slow or too fast. Probably talks about the centerpiece middle of the season two-parter that's almost entirely character interactions. The tail end of StrikerS feels a little tacked on and the level of care taken with the plot falls a bit, but that's like two episodes with a forgone conclusion anyway. So dunno. *shrug*

Seeing StrikerS having a lower rating on IMDB than the first season is also a bit weird.

Speaking of those laser beams of friendship, that's something that stopped me from trying Nanoha for the longest time. There's this image on the TV Tropes page:

Female bonding at its awesomest.

With that picture, and that caption, who wouldn't go *skip*:

Turns out Fate and Nanoha become friends after being enemies for a while. That Nanoha summons the GDI Ion Cannon and blasts Fate out of the sky at one point is incidental to them becoming friends, not the root cause. Fandoms, the scourge of the world, really. Ugh.

45 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Tough to see it being better than the first, .

There are changes to how the second film opens to how the show opens, and I think it's mixing the ending episode of the first season with the opening of the second, but I'm not sure because I binged the two seasons too quickly to really separate them.

In the series, Fate sending video messages to Nanoha's friends makes sense. The second film opens with showing that Nanoha's friends have Video messages from Fate, and that makes no sense at all. I'm just not sure if that happened in the first or in the second season before the action goes nuts.

45 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Real talk, the 2nd one gets somewhere between half a point and an entire point (out of ten) higher than the first one on all the score aggregators I checked, so...have faith, .

Lord knows why. The Book of Darkness opens for Hayate while she's reading on her bed in the original series, the movie begins with the Book of Darkness protecting Hayate from a truck driver who fell asleep and otherwise would have run her over, but mostly only because she stopped her wheelchair on the road and plays deer in headlights for 15 seconds - more than enough time to wheel out of the way otherwise, and all of the animation with the truck and some of the book is terrible CGI.

Arf, Nanoha and Fate have their linker cores absorbed at the same time. That takes the series like half its run time to set up. I'm not going to finish the movie tonight, but I hope that means it takes a backburner on the action stuff and spens some more time with Hayate and her summoned family. Yeah, who am I kidding, right? Myself?

The second movie also has half an hour more than the first, but the amount of real padding in the second season was a lot less than in the first too. That's... again, probably not enough. The series had double the runtime and felt barely okay, pacing wise. Geez.

edit:

Found this gem on Prime now:

Quote

I really liked it an so did my daughter , wish it didnt become unavailable

Yeah, I don't even. That's just super weird. I really don't want to know.

Edited December 8, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

the one that made me immediately disregard anything else he said.

LMAO. I love that he put his crap-eating face on right after that, absolutely zero shame. Yes indeed, so glad that he put that at the end of the video instead of the beginning, .

Oh, you literally said just about exactly what I said under the video - I hadn't looked below and read what you said yet.

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

I'm not going to finish the movie tonight, but I hope that means it takes a backburner on the action stuff and spens some more time with Hayate and her summoned family.

Oh no, the reviews I saw specifically mentioned it was more for the non-stop epic action stuff. Isn't that what you liked about the series in the first place?

Spoiler

PSA: I did not read or see any reviews.

Can a PSA be a PSA if you hide it in a spoiler?

 

13 minutes ago, majestic said:

Speaking of those laser beams of friendship, that's something that stopped me from trying Nanoha for the longest time. There's this image on the TV Tropes page:

The promotional materials for this show make me want to stay as far as I humanly can as it is...

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Stardust Crusaders 45-48 DIO's World

So that's it for part 3 and goodbye to the best named attack in anime.

 

All in all, my favorite anime.

[Bartimaeus]

11 minutes ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

So that's it for part 3 and goodbye to the best named attack in anime.

Objectively, this should be hilarious, but subjectively, I don't even get a chuckle out of it. Why don't I like JoJo the show?

Edited December 8, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

14 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Oh no, the reviews I saw specifically mentioned it was more for the non-stop epic action stuff. Isn't that what you liked about the series in the first place?

  Reveal hidden contents

PSA: I did not read or see any reviews.

Can a PSA be a PSA if you hide it in a spoiler?

 

Oh, it's a very helpful PSA.

There's one thing this film does at the very beginning, and that's being fodder for the shippers.

Some helpful "sub"text here, huh.

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

The promotional materials for this show make me want to stay as far as I humanly can as it is...

I have no reply, because indeed, almost all of it is just really... off-putting.

[Bartimaeus]

3 minutes ago, majestic said:

Some helpful "sub"text here, huh.

Yeah, just for that image, Nanoha is going to the very back of my...actually literally ~60 item-long anime "check out" list. Mind you, that means it only had to go back a couple of places, but still.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

21 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, just for that image, Nanoha is going to the very back of my...actually literally ~60 item-long anime "check out" list. Mind you, that means it only had to go back a couple of places, but still.

Surprised it's even on there at all.

Speaking of the list, are you going to finish Samurai Hokkaido now? Any plans moving forward with Princess Tutu? Ruin a perfectly good series by trying Clear Card?

After this movie I'm going to need a break from Nanoha, as much as I liked StrikerS, these films are, uhm, yeah. Finishing Dropkick on my Devil! is probably next. That one at least is pure fun, as long as it's not a Pekola focus episode, then that other really short anime with the terrible name just to get some more items off the list. Plus mental preparation for tomorrow's double whammy of Komi and Star Dreck. Yikes.

Edited December 9, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

Surprised it's even on there at all.

Speaking of the list, are you going to finish Samurai Hokkaido now? Any plans moving forward with Princess Tutu? Ruin a perfectly good series by trying Clear Card?

After this movie I'm going to need a break from Nanoha, as much as I liked StrikerS, these films are, uhm, yeah. Finishing Dropkick on my Devil! is probably next. That one at least is pure fun, as long as it's not a Pekola focus episode, then that other really short anime with the terrible name just to get some more items off the list. Plus mental preparation for tomorrow's double whammy of Komi and Star Dreck. Yikes.

Future Boy Conan is next, likely to be started this week or maybe early next, depending. The new English dub version is out, although no decision has been concretely made on what to go with yet. By the way, does anyone know why the hell buying the series to stream on Amazon is more expensive than buying the actual BDs? 52 freaking dollars to stream it, $35 to buy the 4-disc BluRay set. HUH?! To be honest, I'm not...super into the idea of getting into a classic adventure story like this right now after having seen Nadia not all that long ago, but... Well, hopefully I'll enjoy it more consistently than Nadia.

I will continue finishing Samurai Hairdo on the side. After that's finished, I have...I have a lot of different choices, to be honest, but the ones at the top right now are:

• Princess Tutu
• Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer
• Kimagure Orange Road
• Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran
• Maison Ikkoku
• Mahou no Star Magical Emi
• More Devil Lady
• Serial Experiments Lain

Yes, I know a few of these are questionable - they're the ones I'll probably try first simply to get them out of my hair ASAP, . ...Of course, I've tried that strategy a few times before and then found myself juggling three or four different shows at once before because I found that I liked them more than I expected, so not always necessarily the wisest idea.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

48 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Why don't I like JoJo the show?

I don't know. Maybe it's that your taste interacts in such a way that makes JoJo's hilarious antics don't work for you. Or more likely, you're actually a machine from the future trying to warn the world of an apocalyptic event but got your circuits scrambled and are trying to communicate through 90's anime on an obscure video game forum.

[InsaneCommander]

1 hour ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

Stardust Crusaders 45-48 DIO's World

So that's it for part 3 and goodbye to the best named attack in anime.

 

Diamond is Unbreakable 16-17

Forget Dio.
 

Spoiler

Stando Rat (!) came closer to destroying Jotaru than almost anyone else. If Jotaru couldn't stop time, he would be gone.

Also: Koichi and Stando Manga man almost get killed and they weren't even facing a Stando user.

Edit:

Spoiler

Just remembered that Joseph actually died and had to be brought back with a blood transfusion. Maybe that is why he aged so badly in eleven years.

 

Edited December 9, 2021 by InsaneCommander

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

33 minutes ago, InsaneCommander said:

Forget Dio.

Never!

Bug-Eaten and Not Bug-Eaten's Ratts are really good stands though. I really like how stands have moved into really weird territory that you can just beat them with force.

Regarding Older Joesph, I think there are a few explanations. First is that he just got old because he didn't practice Hamon like his mom or adopted grandpa (that he also killed). This makes a bit if sense, 79 is pretty damn old after all.

The second is that dying ****ed him up. That probably was not good for long-term health, even with DIO blood.

The third is that encountering the old lady caused massive psychic damage.

 

[Gorth]

Finished first episode of Death Parade. It's... different (in a good way).

A young couple gets killed in a car crash at the start of their honeymoon and ends up in the bar. It takes a while for them to realize that the game (in their case, a game of darts) they have to play is serious and winner goes to heaven and the loser to hell. A few additional catches to the game, like each hit causes excruciating pain the other player. The girl reveals she's pregnant and asks her husband not to aim for any "belly parts" on the dart board. As the game progresses, the true nature of the couple sort of shines through more and more. Won't give spoilers as to what gets revealed, but at the end I was just sitting and thinking they both deserved the lift down...

[majestic]

9 hours ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

Never!

 

  Hide contents

 

Bug-Eaten and Not Bug-Eaten's Ratts are really good stands though. I really like how stands have moved into really weird territory that you can just beat them with force.

Regarding Older Joesph, I think there are a few explanations. First is that he just got old because he didn't practice Hamon like his mom or adopted grandpa (that he also killed). This makes a bit if sense, 79 is pretty damn old after all.

The second is that dying ****ed him up. That probably was not good for long-term health, even with DIO blood.

The third is that encountering the old lady caused massive psychic damage.

 

 

 

Josefu:

Spoiler

IIRC, the official explanation is that he couldn't be assed to practice Hamon enough to achieve life extension. Seems legit, considering young Joseph's total lack of ambition outside of being spurred into action by Santana, Wham!, AC/DC and The Cars.

Also, eh, adopted grandfather? Joseph's grandfather was Jonathan, right? I mean, his actual grandfather, and DIO's eventual body. Did I miss something? *headscratch*

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Josefu:

  Reveal hidden contents

IIRC, the official explanation is that he couldn't be assed to practice Hamon enough to achieve life extension. Seems legit, considering young Joseph's total lack of ambition outside of being spurred into action by Santana, Wham!, AC/DC and The Cars.

Also, eh, adopted grandfather? Joseph's grandfather was Jonathan, right? I mean, his actual grandfather, and DIO's eventual body. Did I miss something? *headscratch*

 

His maternal grandfather. Straizo adopted Lisa Lisa, so that makes him Joesph's (adopted) grandfather.

[majestic]

Ah, I kind of forgot about the other half of the Dire Straits.

Ewery-ting is myusical (helfpully linked at the proper time, as per usual)!

 

[majestic]

15 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yes, I know a few of these are questionable - they're the ones I'll probably try first simply to get them out of my hair ASAP, . ...Of course, I've tried that strategy a few times before and then found myself juggling three or four different shows at once before because I found that I liked them more than I expected, so not always necessarily the wisest idea.

Kimagure Orange Road sounds like something as fun as driving a spork up my <insert painful body part of your choice here>. A shounen love triangle story? Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran sounds like an interesting idea and it's short, so, hey... not a lot that can go wrong if it's not good.

Not that long ago I would have dismissed Maison Ikkoku out of hand, but hey, seinen isn't necessarily always bad as I've noticed.

However, I'd suggest you prioritize Angelic Layer and let me know if that's worthwhile.

Watched this week's Komi Can't Communicate. It's episode number I have lost count. The series is broken up into chapters anyway, so episode numbers aren't the most useful anyway.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this really needs to do away with all side characters, and in this episode that includes Najimi, but most importantly the insane stalker girl who insists that Komi eats her sausage. Yeah... no... really, that's a thing that happens. She wants Komi to eat her sausage. I don't know if that's some Japanese weird thing or a joke that totally misfired, or if my broken mind is going places when I see scenes like that, but she tells Komi to kneel down and then whips out her sausage and... sorry... I...

Nope.

To think that there's a Star Dreck episode waiting for me too. Sigh.

Edited December 9, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Ah, I kind of forgot about the other half of the Dire Straits.

You forgot about SPACE RIPPER STINGY EYES??????

But yeah, I can see how the Pillar Men would erase ol Straizo.

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this really needs to do away with all side characters, and in this episode that includes Najimi, but most importantly the insane stalker girl who insists that Komi eats her sausage. Yeah... no... really, that's a thing that happens. She wants Komi to eat her sausage. I don't know if that's some Japanese weird thing or a joke that totally misfired, or if my broken mind is going places when I see scenes like that, but she tells Komi to kneel down and then whips out her sausage and... sorry... I...

Nope.

12 minutes ago, majestic said:

To think that there's a Star Dreck episode waiting for me too. Sigh.

There have been no Star Trek shows since Voyager.

[majestic]

17 minutes ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

You forgot about SPACE RIPPER STINGY EYES??????

But yeah, I can see how the Pillar Men would erase ol Straizo.

I didn't forget about Joseph punching Straizo out of existence, but the connection to him killing is adoptive grandfather that way was somewhere lost along the way. I recounted who Joseph killed in Battle Tendency and then came up short for a grandparent. 

Dunno, I have no excuse.

22 minutes ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

There have been no Star Trek shows since Voyager.

Heh.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

7 minutes ago, majestic said:

Dunno, I have no excuse.

It kind of happens fast, with it just being maybe a minute of dialogue in total. I mostly remember it because the stone mask killed both of Joesph's grandfathers.

9 minutes ago, majestic said:

Heh.

That photoshop doesn't mean anything.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Kimagure Orange Road sounds like something as fun as driving a spork up my <insert painful body part of your choice here>. A shounen love triangle story? Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran sounds like an interesting idea and it's short, so, hey... not a lot that can go wrong if it's not good.

Yes, well, all of that basically describes the first season of Ranma 1/2 as well PLUS Ranma had martial arts mixed in as well (and I am a noted hated of martial arts crap), and I actually really liked that until it so suddenly and tragically ended. Sometimes you can like something in spite of everything working against it...and also, a shonen story made in the 80s is not likely to be nearly so horribly obnoxious as a shonen story made in the 2000s or later, though that's still obviously no guarantee I'll like it, .

Those are the "top choices" because they're the ones I already have and just...need to try to make a decision on. I should really just stick with what I've already started, but I have a compulsion to attempt to eliminate that which I don't think I'll like first simply so I no longer have to worry about them. I have a good feeling (but no prognostication) about Angelic Layer, so that's probably what I'll actually try last out of everything.

Speaking of Kimagure Orange Road...episode 1.

The protagonist and his family have psychokinetic powers? Their cat escaped from the building and one of the protagonist's sisters just yoinked it from off the street back into their apartment - then a motorcyclist nearly ran them over while they were on their way to school and she pushed the motorcyclist away from them, and apparently they've had to move seven times out of fear of being discovered. Don't...really know what all that is about.

Eh...nope, don't think this is for me. The protagonist isn't a total shonen scumbag or anything, but this is still too...80s and too shonen-y for me to be very interested, just from a stylistic and character point of view. Sudden stops in what's happening so the protagonist can monologue, other idiot boys HAVING NOSEBLEEDS (UNFORGIVABLE!) over stupid stuff, very...let's say tropey female leads. I might try one more episode at some point, but it's a no for me right now.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

2 hours ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

There have been no Star Trek shows since Voyager.

I still remain unconvinced there's any Star Trek shows since the Animated Series (and I'm on the fence on it).