[Silencer]

Well, Zankyou no Terror has ended. It was...I'm not sure.

Spoiler

Part of me is thinking it was a bit of a cop-out. Part of me thinks I just didn't have enough investment in the show for it to resonate (teehee) with me as much as it perhaps could have. And yet another part thinks it was about the right ending for the show - though I wasn't quite expecting the nuclear bomb to actually go off, even if it was used for EMP purposes instead of death and destruction of a more immediately tangible nature.

I think the most contrived part of it was "let's shoot Twelve first, and then have Nine die of the mysterious causes from their childhood ubermensch program the same was Five". While potentially poetic, don't you shoot the guy who has the fucking detonator FIRST, regardless of how much you might be betting that it's not a legit threat and/or how little you care whether it goes off or not? And who the fuck orders you to shoot two people, with the potential for a nuke going off, non-simultaneously, while leaving not one, but TWO witnesses to this fact whose involvement is rather deep, just to cover up...what...the fact that Five was nuts and you went along with her little stunt at the airport? "Oh, yeah, there WAS a bomb on that plane which we planted to lure in the real Sphinx...but we were never going to let it go off near any people!" = problem mostly solved, and at least mitigated enough to fix things. Having TWO WITNESSES TO THE SHOOTING OF PEOPLE WHO HAD SURRENDERED TO POLICE CUSTODY is a much larger problem, especially when one of them is the police officer doing the arresting (disgraced/fired or not) and the other is a bloody high school student (never mind the likely plea of Stockholm Syndrome).

Sometimes, I love Japan's portrayal of America for the fact that it's slightly caricatured, slightly accurate, but always hilarious. In this case, I think it went waaaaaaaaaaaaay too far into "Idiot Ball" territory. I don't put it past the US government to perform a cover-up in this kind of situation, but by God, why would they leave two witnesses when they have every means and opportunity to get rid of all the possible loose ends with no ramifications, instead of deliberately creating a bigger problem than the one they were trying to cover up?!

That, and the lack of any suspense whatsoever to this episode really were the worst parts of it. The only real question in my mind was "Huh, I wonder if those F15s had time to get to the ground before the nuke-EMP hit them, 'coz they were at their altitude limit and had been flying for a good while before they had to give up." >.> And let's face it, it's not like they were going to do anything to stop the bomb - as much as shooting it would probably have disabled it, they were also faced with "oops, shit, now it's falling back to earth and is actually going to nuke Tokyo" or premature detonation. So, yeah.

Overall, just really let down by this show. I wish it had stuck to its early episode style and their promise of great and interesting things. The lack of a poetic final riddle also kind of bugged me. Shibazaki should have figured out they were going home based off a riddle, not just shown up because he intuited that's where they'd be.

So yeah. two and a half nuclear detonations out of five for this series, I think. Smack bang in "average" town.

[QuickTidal]

I don't know where you find the time Silencer! LOL I can't find the time to keep jup with one show these days. I'm going to have to do some binging.

Any whole seasons recently worth my time that I could find on CR?

[Silencer]

 QuickTidal, on 27 September 2014 - 12:53 PM, said:

I don't know where you find the time Silencer! LOL I can't find the time to keep jup with one show these days. I'm going to have to do some binging.

Any whole seasons recently worth my time that I could find on CR?

I wonder where all my watching time comes from too, sometimes. Then again, I also wonder why I keep having to rush through Uni assignments and why I don't seem to game/read/watch TV as much as I used. >.>


I just went through my MyAnimeList to update it with seasons I had finished, as I haven't been on there for what feels like ages, and to my surprise there was almost nothing I had to add except Sakurasou and Kyoukai no Kanata. If Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is available on CR and you haven't watched it yet, WATCH IT.

Otherwise I'm struggling for decent recco's from the past couple of seasons...there are some there, but nothing that makes the list if you're short on time. You might like Rail Wars, though I haven't watched any of it yet myself, but the premise sounds a bit like it might be your cup of tea...


Other than that, I'm sure if you skip back ~10 pages there might be something we were all raving about (or at least enjoying) that may catch your eye. But for some reason I'm drawing a complete blank on good recco's that are recent and/or you might not have seen...

You've watched Attack on Titan, Shin Sekai Yori, Psycho Pass, etc, iirc? Because those were probably the last "great" series to come along.

[LinearPhilosopher]

So i haven't gottena round to watching ZnT yet.. so im glad silencer included a spoiler. Right now im catching up on today's matches at worlds (league of legends) so ill do it later.

As for recent great anime. I'd say SAO season 2, but its entirely possible im forgetting.

edit: No game no life was epic bro. How could i've forgotten it.

This post has been edited by BalrogLord: 27 September 2014 - 02:23 PM

[Silencer]

 BalrogLord, on 27 September 2014 - 02:22 PM, said:

So i haven't gottena round to watching ZnT yet.. so im glad silencer included a spoiler. Right now im catching up on today's matches at worlds (league of legends) so ill do it later.

As for recent great anime. I'd say SAO season 2, but its entirely possible im forgetting.

edit: No game no life was epic bro. How could i've forgotten it.

I left SAOII out because he said "whole seasons" - I figured he wanted something finished airing.


And of course I spoiler'd my thoughts on the final episode of a currently-airing anime! Who do you take me for? XD

[D'rek]

 Silencer, on 27 September 2014 - 11:28 AM, said:

Well, Zankyou no Terror has ended. It was...I'm not sure.

Spoiler

Part of me is thinking it was a bit of a cop-out. Part of me thinks I just didn't have enough investment in the show for it to resonate (teehee) with me as much as it perhaps could have. And yet another part thinks it was about the right ending for the show - though I wasn't quite expecting the nuclear bomb to actually go off, even if it was used for EMP purposes instead of death and destruction of a more immediately tangible nature.

I think the most contrived part of it was "let's shoot Twelve first, and then have Nine die of the mysterious causes from their childhood ubermensch program the same was Five". While potentially poetic, don't you shoot the guy who has the fucking detonator FIRST, regardless of how much you might be betting that it's not a legit threat and/or how little you care whether it goes off or not? And who the fuck orders you to shoot two people, with the potential for a nuke going off, non-simultaneously, while leaving not one, but TWO witnesses to this fact whose involvement is rather deep, just to cover up...what...the fact that Five was nuts and you went along with her little stunt at the airport? "Oh, yeah, there WAS a bomb on that plane which we planted to lure in the real Sphinx...but we were never going to let it go off near any people!" = problem mostly solved, and at least mitigated enough to fix things. Having TWO WITNESSES TO THE SHOOTING OF PEOPLE WHO HAD SURRENDERED TO POLICE CUSTODY is a much larger problem, especially when one of them is the police officer doing the arresting (disgraced/fired or not) and the other is a bloody high school student (never mind the likely plea of Stockholm Syndrome).

Sometimes, I love Japan's portrayal of America for the fact that it's slightly caricatured, slightly accurate, but always hilarious. In this case, I think it went waaaaaaaaaaaaay too far into "Idiot Ball" territory. I don't put it past the US government to perform a cover-up in this kind of situation, but by God, why would they leave two witnesses when they have every means and opportunity to get rid of all the possible loose ends with no ramifications, instead of deliberately creating a bigger problem than the one they were trying to cover up?!

That, and the lack of any suspense whatsoever to this episode really were the worst parts of it. The only real question in my mind was "Huh, I wonder if those F15s had time to get to the ground before the nuke-EMP hit them, 'coz they were at their altitude limit and had been flying for a good while before they had to give up." >.> And let's face it, it's not like they were going to do anything to stop the bomb - as much as shooting it would probably have disabled it, they were also faced with "oops, shit, now it's falling back to earth and is actually going to nuke Tokyo" or premature detonation. So, yeah.

Overall, just really let down by this show. I wish it had stuck to its early episode style and their promise of great and interesting things. The lack of a poetic final riddle also kind of bugged me. Shibazaki should have figured out they were going home based off a riddle, not just shown up because he intuited that's where they'd be.

So yeah. two and a half nuclear detonations out of five for this series, I think. Smack bang in "average" town.

Pretty much agree with you completely, Silencer. Definitely the last episode resonated with some people quite a bit, as there were comments beneath of people crying or being super pumped or whatnot, but I don't think I was anywhere near emotionally invested enough to care much.

Spoiler

I did like that the nuke actually went off, was afraid they were going to cop out on that one, and it looked fantastic, but it's not like there was any foreshadowing that they wanted to EMP all of Japan, nor did it seem to accomplish much of anything. The supposed answer they give is that it is to get everyone's attention... did they not already have everyone's attention when they were hacking into public televisions and announcing a new bomb threat every day? How is EMP'ing Japan and surrendering, so Shibazaki can launch a police inquiry over the course of years or whatever, any different than just saying in their bomb announcements "Oh and by the way here's a list of the assholes who stole us away as children and abused the crap out of us, we're doing all of this in revenge against the government for their child abuse program"?

Plus, it's not like the show reveals any of the fallout from the bombings or from any revelations Shibazaki and Lisa revealed, so there's not much visual impact for the audience to get on board with and feel satisfied about.

So my overall impression of the show: Has some cool bits but mostly meh. I'm not sorry I watched the show, but I don't think I'll ever be inclined to re-watch it either.

[Silencer]

 Nep Furrowed Brow, on 28 September 2014 - 01:14 AM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 25 September 2014 - 03:46 PM, said:

 D, on 25 September 2014 - 03:05 PM, said:

 Nep Furrowed Brow, on 25 September 2014 - 02:57 PM, said:

When I say weebs online, I mean those review sites full of fan service shows getting 10/10.

Indeed. Silencer knows the term, he was just surprised at the (unnecessary?) abbreviation of "weeaboo" into "weeb".

Yup. Including the fact that the term is highly offensive to a lot of people. No one should have to be reprimanded and called silly internet buzzword putdowns due to the level of their enjoyment of a piece/genre of media.

You may as well walk into SDCC and scream at nerds for being nerds.

Every fandom has levels. Just because someone may be a little more or a little less into something, is no reason to slam them for it. Let them enjoy the things they enjoy how they wish to, and you do the same.

Using the word weeb in a casual sentence doesn't need a paragraph of indictment about "slamming" nerds. Back to the topic of anime, you guys should download the OST for Aldnoah Zero. That show has great music.

Well, that depends. As noted, it's a pretty offensive term in a lot of circles, far worse than otaku is (even how that's used in Japan).

I can certainly imagine aldnoah's soundtrack to be good though - the composer has a few good ones under his belt, like Attack on Titan and Guilty Crown, so I'll check it out.

[Silencer]

 Nep Furrowed Brow, on 28 September 2014 - 02:21 AM, said:

 Silencer, on 28 September 2014 - 01:49 AM, said:

 Nep Furrowed Brow, on 28 September 2014 - 01:14 AM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 25 September 2014 - 03:46 PM, said:

 D, on 25 September 2014 - 03:05 PM, said:

 Nep Furrowed Brow, on 25 September 2014 - 02:57 PM, said:

When I say weebs online, I mean those review sites full of fan service shows getting 10/10.

Indeed. Silencer knows the term, he was just surprised at the (unnecessary?) abbreviation of "weeaboo" into "weeb".

Yup. Including the fact that the term is highly offensive to a lot of people. No one should have to be reprimanded and called silly internet buzzword putdowns due to the level of their enjoyment of a piece/genre of media.

You may as well walk into SDCC and scream at nerds for being nerds.

Every fandom has levels. Just because someone may be a little more or a little less into something, is no reason to slam them for it. Let them enjoy the things they enjoy how they wish to, and you do the same.

Using the word weeb in a casual sentence doesn't need a paragraph of indictment about "slamming" nerds. Back to the topic of anime, you guys should download the OST for Aldnoah Zero. That show has great music.

Well, that depends. As noted, it's a pretty offensive term in a lot of circles, far worse than otaku is (even how that's used in Japan).

I can certainly imagine aldnoah's soundtrack to be good though - the composer has a few good ones under his belt, like Attack on Titan and Guilty Crown, so I'll check it out.

If someone told me in real life they were offended by the word weeaboo I would laugh in their face. It's a word made up by moot, don't worry about it. Just chill and watch anime desu desu Silencer-chan.

Mmmhm. Someone clearly didn't get the hint. Enjoy your 3 day ban, sir.

[Silencer]

Right, back to anime (FYI everyone, after my last post, Nep Furrowed Brow contacted me and requested a permanent ban/deletion of his account.)


SAOII ep 13:

And now you know why this arc is called "Phantom Bullet". XD

Spoiler

And why it *should* have been called, "Present Grenade"

So yeah, that was glorious. God I love this arc...

[amphibian]

Did you watch Daily Lives of High School Boys yet, Silencer?

Once I got used to the VERY off-beatness of it, I loved it. The interludes of the High School Girls rescued it from being misogynist and preserved the funny.

[D'rek]

 Silencer, on 28 September 2014 - 04:25 AM, said:

Right, back to anime (FYI everyone, after my last post, Nep Furrowed Brow contacted me and requested a permanent ban/deletion of his account.)


SAOII ep 13:

And now you know why this arc is called "Phantom Bullet". XD

Spoiler

And why it *should* have been called, "Present Grenade"

So yeah, that was glorious. God I love this arc...

Spoiler

Oh my god that bit with the grenade, Kirito's reaction, and Sinon's overly pleased hug had me in stitches!

[Silencer]

 amphibian, on 28 September 2014 - 05:27 AM, said:

Did you watch Daily Lives of High School Boys yet, Silencer?

Once I got used to the VERY off-beatness of it, I loved it. The interludes of the High School Girls rescued it from being misogynist and preserved the funny.

No, I haven't! I'll move it up the list and see about starting it next weekend. It sounds like an excellent slice-of-life/comedy from my brief look at TV Tropes' page on it.

 D, on 28 September 2014 - 05:33 AM, said:

 Silencer, on 28 September 2014 - 04:25 AM, said:

Right, back to anime (FYI everyone, after my last post, Nep Furrowed Brow contacted me and requested a permanent ban/deletion of his account.)


SAOII ep 13:

And now you know why this arc is called "Phantom Bullet". XD

Spoiler

And why it *should* have been called, "Present Grenade"

So yeah, that was glorious. God I love this arc...

Spoiler

Oh my god that bit with the grenade, Kirito's reaction, and Sinon's overly pleased hug had me in stitches!

I was grinning ear-to-ear for that entire segment - they absolutely nailed it!

Spoiler

And aside from the fact that, like in the VN, Shinkawa's suddenly-a-serial-killer-slash-rapist personality is not really hinted at (plenty of foreshadowing and bits of evidence that made him the only candidate for the 'other Death Gun', sure, but nothing in his *actions* to suggest he was completely psychopathic - though at least his obsession/pushyness with Sinon was established/built up) sufficiently for his sudden complete break from reality, the whole episode was really great.
It took a lot of the 'impossible last-minute, beat-the-system-through-willpower victory' stuff that Kirito did in the past and went "you know what...let's have him win barely through actual justifiable circumstance and outside help" - recalling Zaza's name threw his opponent off-balance, plus a perfectly time intercession from Sinon to press the advantage (and yes, for once, the female lead actually more than carries her own weight, and becomes basically the reason Kirito won - sure, Asuna had her moments in the Aincrad arc, but they were usually of the 'motivate Kirito but otherwise pointless' variety - yet here, Death Gun is responding to a genuine threat which Kirito capitalises on. The fact that Sinon probably couldn't have hit anything was irrelevant to her involvement, and the fact that she used her head to come up with that strategy just makes it even more satisfying in a series where the female characters are normally a bit lacking in self-actualisation)...but yeah, it all adds up into a much more believable, enjoyable victory - and THEN goes for the double-and-triple play of the post-GGO scenes, which really only serve to up the ante in terms of Sinon's empowerment, and still retains everyone acting in character and giving Kirito a chance to 'save the day' again.

I really can't stress how much I enjoy this arc. And the adaptation has so far been spot-on. I'm still shocked that it's this well done after my disappointment with season 1, but I don't care - just glad its so good!

And Mahouka...

Spoiler

Obvious sequel-hook ending aside, I was actually surprised at how relatively OK the ending was. It wasn't brilliant or redeeming or anything, and it still essentially maintained the status quo, but for 20 minutes they sure did manage to tie off the plot surprisingly well (though I wish Lou Gonhou had been more of a threat/challenge...and that those cars hadn't been so suspiciously intact and well-placed for throwing people into...I mean...come on...XD) and generally just didn't suck as much as a lot of the rest of the series did. XD
Though...again...did we seriously have to power Tatsuya up AGAIN?! I know it's a super-special CAD he was using, but FFS, the man didn't need to be able to instantly long-range nuke things AS WELL. *sigh*
Hopefully the sequel series doesn't come to fruition (or, somehow, there is a huge and dramatic and earth-shattering step up in writing quality...and a reigning in of Tatsuya. Or hell, just focus on some other, more interesting characters...XD). I certainly won't be watching it if it does...

So yeah, no surprises there.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Finally got around to watching ZnT finale. I don't think i've much to contribute to this conversation.

This show had potential, but it never got actualised. Im just thinking as sort of a hypothetical what would have been required to make this a better show? For starters that girl didn't really contribute anything, And while the writing started out great, it really took a dive after the mid point

[D'rek]

 Silencer, on 28 September 2014 - 12:27 PM, said:

 D, on 28 September 2014 - 05:33 AM, said:

 Silencer, on 28 September 2014 - 04:25 AM, said:

Right, back to anime (FYI everyone, after my last post, Nep Furrowed Brow contacted me and requested a permanent ban/deletion of his account.)


SAOII ep 13:

And now you know why this arc is called "Phantom Bullet". XD

Spoiler

And why it *should* have been called, "Present Grenade"

So yeah, that was glorious. God I love this arc...

Spoiler

Oh my god that bit with the grenade, Kirito's reaction, and Sinon's overly pleased hug had me in stitches!

I was grinning ear-to-ear for that entire segment - they absolutely nailed it!

Spoiler

And aside from the fact that, like in the VN, Shinkawa's suddenly-a-serial-killer-slash-rapist personality is not really hinted at (plenty of foreshadowing and bits of evidence that made him the only candidate for the 'other Death Gun', sure, but nothing in his *actions* to suggest he was completely psychopathic - though at least his obsession/pushyness with Sinon was established/built up) sufficiently for his sudden complete break from reality, the whole episode was really great.
It took a lot of the 'impossible last-minute, beat-the-system-through-willpower victory' stuff that Kirito did in the past and went "you know what...let's have him win barely through actual justifiable circumstance and outside help" - recalling Zaza's name threw his opponent off-balance, plus a perfectly time intercession from Sinon to press the advantage (and yes, for once, the female lead actually more than carries her own weight, and becomes basically the reason Kirito won - sure, Asuna had her moments in the Aincrad arc, but they were usually of the 'motivate Kirito but otherwise pointless' variety - yet here, Death Gun is responding to a genuine threat which Kirito capitalises on. The fact that Sinon probably couldn't have hit anything was irrelevant to her involvement, and the fact that she used her head to come up with that strategy just makes it even more satisfying in a series where the female characters are normally a bit lacking in self-actualisation)...but yeah, it all adds up into a much more believable, enjoyable victory - and THEN goes for the double-and-triple play of the post-GGO scenes, which really only serve to up the ante in terms of Sinon's empowerment, and still retains everyone acting in character and giving Kirito a chance to 'save the day' again.

I really can't stress how much I enjoy this arc. And the adaptation has so far been spot-on. I'm still shocked that it's this well done after my disappointment with season 1, but I don't care - just glad its so good!

Spoiler

They did have Shinkawa hint a bit about his own troubled past and/or how he can empathize with Asada. But moreso, just the fact that he was the only unaccounted for character other than the nurse to get some major screen time that as soon as they conjectured Death Gun had a partner who would be sneaking into Asada's apartment you had to know it would be Shinkawa.

Does kinda seem like Shinkawa is very similar to Nobuyuki as an antagonist, unfortunately.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Spoiler

i did think the guy was a lil pushy (he has 0 tact and confidence) but i definetly was not expecting him to be the psycho. Great episode and great way to end the fight that didn't hinge on deus ex machina. Im looking forward to next saturday.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Been watching Log Horizon (up to episode 16) and I'm finding it a lot more enjoyable than S1 of SAO.

[D'rek]

I randomly watched the first episode of Karen Senki and of RWBY.

Karen Senki - Let's face it, there's a ton of CG in anime nowadays but most of the good studios use it very well - mostly for backgrounds and stationary objects or cool effects without it really changing the style of animation much/at all. This is not like that. Karen Senki is 100% CG - it basically looks like a video game cut-scene in a pseudo-anime style. That's not necessarily a bad thing - this show looks absolutely gorgeous at times (and Anilinkz had it in 720p, so that helps). The colour palette is very diverse and bright, and it's really interesting seeing just how glossy things can look - very different from hand-drawn anime. The robots in particular look really great. OTOH, this studio really hasn't figured out how to have their characters' faces emote in their CG setup - instead their heads bob up and down way too much and the facial expressions look too mechanical.

On the other hand, the story didn't really grab me - just another "girl with guns, jetpack shoes and a too-short skirt shooting robots in a dystopian robot-controlled city" show. They don't really introduce the context of the situation much so you don't really feel like you have a grasp on what is going or what might possibly happen next. Still, the action bits were fun so I was going to give this one a few more episodes to see where it goes. Then the robot hookers appeared...

Nope!

(But if you're curious on just checking out the visuals, go watch the first 10 minutes or so.)


RWBY - A bunch of my friends have been gushing about this one for a while. Not strictly anime - it's a somewhat amateur production made by a north american company that, IIRC, got famous making web series with Halo and other video games. I found it pretty inconsistent - some of the writing is good, some is cringeworthy. The voice acting varies in quality. The animation is not super great most of the time but it's a bit hard to judge because the style is (deliberately I assume) not like a standard anime, and in the combat sections where all the budget went it is a lot better (but outside of combat some of it is truly terrible, with secondary characters just being unmoving grey blobs).

The episodes are only about 5 minutes, so I'll probably try a few more and decide what I really think later.

[LinearPhilosopher]

 D, on 01 October 2014 - 04:26 AM, said:

I randomly watched the first episode of Karen Senki and of RWBY.

Karen Senki - Let's face it, there's a ton of CG in anime nowadays but most of the good studios use it very well - mostly for backgrounds and stationary objects or cool effects without it really changing the style of animation much/at all. This is not like that. Karen Senki is 100% CG - it basically looks like a video game cut-scene in a pseudo-anime style. That's not necessarily a bad thing - this show looks absolutely gorgeous at times (and Anilinkz had it in 720p, so that helps). The colour palette is very diverse and bright, and it's really interesting seeing just how glossy things can look - very different from hand-drawn anime. The robots in particular look really great. OTOH, this studio really hasn't figured out how to have their characters' faces emote in their CG setup - instead their heads bob up and down way too much and the facial expressions look too mechanical.

On the other hand, the story didn't really grab me - just another "girl with guns, jetpack shoes and a too-short skirt shooting robots in a dystopian robot-controlled city" show. They don't really introduce the context of the situation much so you don't really feel like you have a grasp on what is going or what might possibly happen next. Still, the action bits were fun so I was going to give this one a few more episodes to see where it goes. Then the robot hookers appeared...

Nope!

(But if you're curious on just checking out the visuals, go watch the first 10 minutes or so.)


RWBY - A bunch of my friends have been gushing about this one for a while. Not strictly anime - it's a somewhat amateur production made by a north american company that, IIRC, got famous making web series with Halo and other video games. I found it pretty inconsistent - some of the writing is good, some is cringeworthy. The voice acting varies in quality. The animation is not super great most of the time but it's a bit hard to judge because the style is (deliberately I assume) not like a standard anime, and in the combat sections where all the budget went it is a lot better (but outside of combat some of it is truly terrible, with secondary characters just being unmoving grey blobs).

The episodes are only about 5 minutes, so I'll probably try a few more and decide what I really think later.

i have been watching rwby. I watch it for the fight scenes, that's pretty much it. The rest is all bleh. Not going to lie i feel cheated by the trailers.

[D'rek]

 BalrogLord, on 01 October 2014 - 01:59 PM, said:

i have been watching rwby. I watch it for the fight scenes, that's pretty much it. The rest is all bleh. Not going to lie i feel cheated by the trailers.

So, don't watch the trailers? Thanks for the heads up!

[LinearPhilosopher]

 D, on 01 October 2014 - 04:29 PM, said:

 BalrogLord, on 01 October 2014 - 01:59 PM, said:

i have been watching rwby. I watch it for the fight scenes, that's pretty much it. The rest is all bleh. Not going to lie i feel cheated by the trailers.

So, don't watch the trailers? Thanks for the heads up!

Do watch the trailers, best part agbout rwby. It's like most movie trailers these days. They are better than the actual movie