One thing it does do is provide actual in-character reasons for the ladies to want to pursue the guy other than 'he's the main male character!"
You mean like "Protagonist-kun is so nice"?
A little more detailed than that.
Kirche was presented as the girl who could have just about anything she wanted, plus in season one she is pretty much opposed to Louise. So the guy tied to Louise that tells her no is much like catnip to someone like that. Kirche is also the first girl to move on from wanting Saito, as her attraction was mostly superficial to begin with.
Siesta gets established as being descended from a Japanese soldier who fell through a portal, establishing a bit of a tie to Saito. Plus, he has a peasant background like she does, plus he saves her from being a noble's plaything (they don't come out and say sex-slave, but it's pretty obvious what the guy wanted her for).
Tabitha couldn't have been set up to fall harder without a love potion, especially considering the circumstances she was under at the time.
Tiffa is another outcast like Saito, and Henrietta has the two-fold issues of Saito being there right after her heart gets broken, and being the guy attached to the friend she was always somewhat jealous of adds another layer.
Another note with the harem aspects of Familiar of Zero is that most of the girls don't seem to fall for Saito right away - it takes time and the proper circumstances for it to happen, and some move on from that desire before the series ends.
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Dragon78 wrote:
So who has seen Dragonar Academy, Umi Monogatari, Bodacious Space Pirates, A Letter to Momo, Summer Wars, Familiar of Zero, Leviathan: The Last Defense, Qwaser of Stigma, and/or Momo Kyon Sword? Also what did you think and if it would be worth owning any of them?
Well, I wrote a short review of The Familiar of Zero last year. The one-line summary is that it's a fun-filled show that knows exactly what it is (harem hijinks during a series of adventures) and isn't ashamed of it.
With regards to Qwaser of Stigmata...it honestly felt like it was trying too hard. The show has a super-serious tenor which works against it in terms of how palatable its execution came across. The show wants to be an action series with titillating moments, but keeps going for "extreme"-style instances of violence and sexuality, which come across as off-putting rather than tension-building.
So is it just me or is this volume shaping up to be much more brutal than the last two, especially with what happened to Penny?
Next episode should be very interesting as Ozpin seems to be getting ready to take the gloves off, and based on the way that Qrow and Glenda react, and the amount of damage Qrow and Winter caused just "playing around" I get the feeling that Ozpin's anger could easily flatten the city if it gets out of hand. Too bad this is a World of Remnant week.
So who has seen Dragonar Academy, Umi Monogatari, Bodacious Space Pirates, A Letter to Momo, Summer Wars, Familiar of Zero, Leviathan: The Last Defense, Qwaser of Stigma, and/or Momo Kyon Sword? Also what did you think and if it would be worth owning any of them?
I still have Summer Wars on my list, but it's recieved excellent reviews, had an excellent pedigree, and won the Academy Prize for Animation (think Oscar).
Our poor low level Protag-kun has himself a completely useless all powerful goddess and an even more useless all powerful wizard to help him in their current quest of Kill 5 Giant Frogs in 3 days.
Megumin, their new Wizard is just brilliant, in her adamant refusal to cast anything except High Level Explosion Magic. Despite the fact that 1 casting of that spell depletes all her Mana and Hit Points, leaving her passed out on the ground for the rest of the day. The Ultimate 1 shot glass cannon.
Next week they get their party Tank but going off his track record so far, there is going to be something seriously wrong with her too.
I'm really liking that show, especially how he's the one who, by all rights, should be totally useless but he's the one who is actually the most competent.
The new knight character seems to have the flaw of being very socially inept or at least very awkward. So she will probably be great on the battle field and useless off of it.
So who has seen Dragonar Academy, Umi Monogatari, Bodacious Space Pirates, A Letter to Momo, Summer Wars, Familiar of Zero, Leviathan: The Last Defense, Qwaser of Stigma, and/or Momo Kyon Sword? Also what did you think and if it would be worth owning any of them?
I still have Summer Wars on my list, but it's recieved excellent reviews, had an excellent pedigree, and won the Academy Prize for Animation (think Oscar).
Drop everything else and watch it. IMO it is one of the most awesome anime films to date, and actually quite better than many Ghibli films (of which I've only not seen Nausica, the most recent ones after Wind Rises). Actually had me cheering out LOUD, which I've never done in my entire life save for a few episodes of Gurren Lagann.
I'm really liking that show, especially how he's the one who, by all rights, should be totally useless but he's the one who is actually the most competent.
The new knight character seems to have the flaw of being very socially inept or at least very awkward. So she will probably be great on the battle field and useless off of it.
I'm really interested in seeing where it goes.
It's like he's in a Party made up of those players who tunnel-vision on a Specialty
Like the Wizard who specializes in Magic Missile and fills every spell slot with Meta-magiced Magic Missiles
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So I've watched the two episodes that are currently available for KONOSUBA -God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! ("Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo!"), and I have mixed feelings about it so far. So far I like it, but I have some familiarity with this series, and I'm doubtful regarding its staying power.
KONOSUBA utilizes a trope that seems to be in vogue these days (or has always been popular and I've only recently noticed) wherein the hero is someone from this world who dies tragically, only to be reincarnated in a fantasy world with all of their memories of their previous life intact. In this case, the hero is one Kazuma Satou, who arrives in the afterlife after dying while saving a girl from being hit by a truck.
Of course, KONOSUBA is quick to make a mockery of this trope, as the goddess Aqua that Kazuma meets in the afterlife is quick to reveal the circumstances under which Kazuma actually died, and openly mocks him for it. After having a laugh at his expense, she explains that he can go to boring ol' Heaven, or be reincarnated in a fantasy world (at his current age, no less) with any one item or ability of his choosing. Angry at being made fun of, Kazuma chooses reincarnation, with Aqua as his "one thing," and the two of them now have to get along in an RPG-style fantasy world.
I mentioned that I was familiar with this particular series before I started watching the anime. That's because this (like so many anime nowadays) was originally a light novel series, with a manga adaptation, both of which have already had fan-translations, under the title "Gifting the Wonderful World with Blessings!" It's from having read these (though admittedly not that much, since the series couldn't hold my interest to get through all of the translated material) that I'm dubious about how much I'll enjoy the anime overall.
Simply put, KONOSUBA is a comedy series first and foremost. While it's technically an adventure-comedy, the adventure part is a very distant second to the comedy. Personally, I don't think that comedy, as a genre, stands very well on its own. There's a reason why it's usually partnered with some other genre (e.g. rom-coms, "dramedy," action-comedy, etc.), and when it does stand alone, it's usually confined to stand-alone movies or series where each individual episode is unrelated to the others. That's not a universal truism, of course, but the "relief" in "comedy relief" comes from the fact that comedy works best when it's letting us take a break from something more serious, rather than being its own sustained thing.
In KONOSUBA, the comedy comes from the fact that Kazuma, Aqua, and the comrades they gather are all incompetent. While they're able to accomplish the tasks they set out to do, it's an unending comedy of errors as we watch them eventually bungle their way across the finish line each time. The problem, at least for me, was that once you realize the show's formula, it gets old fairly quickly. The only question becomes what new way can Kazuma and company make complete asses of themselves while somehow managing to squeak out a win.
It's entirely possible that the series will graduate from this as it goes on; as I mentioned, I didn't read very far in the light novels that have been translated, and the manga hadn't advanced very far when I read it either. So maybe the hijinks will be tempered with a more serious foundation; alternately, the series might simply be short enough that the comedy won't wear out its welcome, simply being a short-and-sweet series that exits before it becomes boring.
Either one would serve the show well, and so far I'm resolved to stick with it and see what it does. The first few episodes are definitely the honeymoon period, when the series' hijinks still feel fresh and new. It's how long it tries to sustain itself on comedy alone that will determine the show's fate.
6 months ago I wasn't watching any anime series... I was finally over my addiction. Then I decided to try a suggestion someone made here... And now I'm watching 6~8 series... And waiting for more.
G~~#$&mit, you guys! I hope you are proud of causing a recovering addict to have a relapse. :P
6 months ago I wasn't watching any anime series... I was finally over my addiction. Then I decided to try a suggestion someone made here... And now I'm watching 6~8 series... And waiting for more.
G~%%@~mit, you guys! I hope you are proud of causing a recovering addict to have a relapse. :P
6 months ago I wasn't watching any anime series... I was finally over my addiction. Then I decided to try a suggestion someone made here... And now I'm watching 6~8 series... And waiting for more.
G#$&~+mit, you guys! I hope you are proud of causing a recovering addict to have a relapse. :P
I had a sinking feeling about this season of RWBY based on the opening credits (both the lyrics posted previously and the imagery in the opening itself.)
While this season hasn't been bad (far from it) the darker tone has been ramping up steadily with each episode, and I'm not sure it's really what I want out of the series. I'm not against dark stories in general, but I started watching RWBY as more of an escapist thing, so the tonal change is disappointing, in a way. Between RWBY and the ending of the most recent Critical Role episode, this has been a depressing week for my web-based entertainment.
It doesn't help that Pyrrah is my favorite character on RWBY and I have a ball of dread in the pit of my stomach as to where her storyline is going.
RWBY has always been a bit silly... but at the same time, it's also been fairly obvious that their world as a whole is pretty dark. Nevertheless, I think the series is a fundamentally optimistic one - bad things may happen, but in the end, the characters will overcome their problems.
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So the recent notation about how "a person dies in the real world, then reincarnates with all of their memories in a fantasy world" is a popular trope now, got me thinking about a few other series that are currently using that idea. To that end, I wanted to post some quick thoughts on a few of those here as well.
This is slightly awkward, as most of the series that I'm familiar with aren't technically anime...at least, not yet. Rather, they're light novels (and were sometimes web novels first), virtually all of which have manga adaptations, but so far haven't had any sort of anime adaptation announced (though I suspect that this is, if not inevitable, then at least highly likely). I call this "awkward" simply because this thread is for anime per se. I'll just have to ask for everyone's lenience in my bending the rules regarding this thread topic.
With that said, I wanted to mention one of the more unusual series that uses the aforementioned trope: Re:Monster.
Re:Monster is the story of an individual from Earth's future, where space travel, aliens, and most notably espers - individuals with psychic powers - are par for the course. The protagonist has the power of absorption, where he can eat (at least part of) a creature and gain some of its powers. Having killed and eaten many alien creatures, he's gained a great deal of powers when the story begins.
...and then a stalker stabs him to death with a taser-knife as he's buying beer from the convenience store.
The story really begins when the protagonist - now named Rou (actually, "Rou" acts as a suffix, with the beginning part of his name being his race, so when he's a goblin he's "Goburou," when he becomes an ogre he's "Ogarou," etc.) - finds that he's been reincarnated as a goblin in a high-fantasy world. However, not only does he remember his human life completely, but he's retained his absorption power (though none of the other powers that he's absorbed previously). Re:Monster is the tale of his life in that other world.
I mentioned before that this series was unusual, and that's not so much with the premise, but with the execution. Each day of Rou's new life is recorded as its own entry; moreover, this is done in a quasi-epistolary format. That is, while this isn't technically him writing in a diary or anything, the presentation is very much in that vein. Each day is written from a first-person perspective, describing the events of that day. Moreover, each such entry is presented as a summary, which means that there's almost no actual dialogue to be found here; conversations and interactions are likewise summarized, rather than presented as they happened.
Rou's new life also defies a lot of narrative conventions regarding how you'd expect a story like this to go. There's no particular antagonist that he's working against, nor does he have any particular long-term goals that he wants to accomplish. Rather, his only motivation is to keep securing and enhancing his lot in life via the accumulation of new powers, more subordinates, more money, and greater influence. It's also worth noting that Rou is very much an amoral figure; he has no use for cruelty for the sake of cruelty, but doesn't hesitate to use, torture, or kill others if that's the best way to accomplish something. On the flipside of that, he recognizes that happy subordinates are the best subordinates, and acknowledges that his closest followers are important to him.
Given that, it's surprising that I found this story as engaging as I did, and it took some time to figure out why. The conclusion that I came to was that this story isn't so much an adventure tale as it is a sort of "sim"-style (or, for those who are familiar with this genre, a "raising"-style) tale, wherein you essentially follow along and watch as something great is built up little-by-little from something small; in this case, Rou's impact on the world around him.
In a canny move, the story helps to push this presentation by conspicuously calling out each time Rou gains a new ability. In fact, Rou even notes that these acquisitions appear in his mind as a sort of "psychic announcement." This isn't limited to gaining new powers either, as Rou also hears similar "pings" in his mind on the rare occasions when he ranks up; that's what it's called when monsters in this world, which can't use job classes the way humans can, hit their maximum level and evolve into a higher form. Rarely, he'll also hear these mental announcements when he's accomplished some sort of great deed (e.g. a quest clear). All of these help to punctuate new instances of accomplishment, and so highlight the story's unusual presentation.
So far there are three hundred some-odd days written, though only a little over two hundred-fifty or so have been translated to the point of making sense (the rest are in various stages of translation by the fan community). Most compose more than a few paragraphs, with the odd instance of an extremely long or an extremely short entry for a particular day. In addition to the novel, there's also a manga adaptation of the story (which is also being fan-translated into English).
While I've often said that innovation isn't that important with regards to how enjoyable a story is, Re:Monster serves as a good reminder that - presuming the story is still told well - doing something a little differently can yield great results.
One I found that I rather liked was "The Reincarnated one doesn't want to cheat"
Starts with a little girl in a fantasy world. Every few years people from the wizard school show up and test kids age 6+ to see if they can be wizards. Those that can get taken to school and their families recieve a monthly payment for their child learning to contribute to the kingdom.
Little girl gets told to tell her friend they are here and she gets hit in the head by the ball he is playing with and knocked out. The Knock to the head jarred loose memories of her past life, a University student in Tokyo. She also quickly realizes that in manga someone in her situation almost always gets some kind of cheat.
Sure enough she discoveres she can see spirits, in this case the ones helping with the wizard test. Her friend takes the test and the Red spirit gets excited meaning he can be a good fire mage.
Her friend then asks if she can take the test as she will be sick very soon.
The wizards let her and All of the Spirits get excited, meaning she has an affinity for all forms of magic. Sure enough she has a Cheat.
From there she starts to learn magic. Not only do the spirits love her but she is also very imaginative and has the advantage of applying University level ideas to how she does magic. Despite all this she is still a 5 year old girl so her interpritation and execution of her ideas is pretty funny.
The wizards very quickly realize she has the potential to be the greatest wizard in the world, but in her own mind she's cheating because of her reincarnated knowledge.
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Continuing with the series centered around the "reincarnated hero" trope, I just now finished reading the English fan-translation of Mushoku Tensei: Isekai Ittara Honki Dasu ("Jobless Reincarnation: I Will Seriously Try If I Go To Another World"). As with the previous series I mentioned, this was originally written as a series of web novels that are now receiving a light novel, and manga, adaptation. There's been no anime announced that I'm aware of (though once again I'd guess such a thing to be likely).
The first thing to mention about Mushoku Tensei is that it's not at all short. Even dedicating some time to reading it almost every day, it still took me over two weeks to finish the series, and it's not hard to see why. The main story composes two dozen novels that I'd wager collectively total somewhere between two hundred-fifty to three hundred chapters (with most of the chapters being divided into parts). There are also a few supplementary stories, some of which are still being translated. This is not something that can be read in an afternoon.
Mushoku Tensei is the story of a young man named (in his new life) Rudeus Greyrat. After living a worthless life on Earth, and dying while pushing a girl out of the way of an oncoming truck, he's reborn in a magical world. From there, the story can largely be divided into three major arcs: the first covers the early portions of Rudeus' new life, the second deals with a major disaster that devastates his hometown and separates his family, and the third is about his maneuvers and preparations for defeating the series' antagonist.
Now, that's a pretty general overview. Leaving aside my not wanting to give spoilers, the details of this story aren't anything particularly groundbreaking. In fact, Mushoku Tensei epitomizes what I've said before about quality not relying on ingenuity; this series exemplifies the paradigms you'd associate with a story like this, rather than trying to break them. (In fact, given that this story began in late 2012 and became such a hit, I have to wonder just how much it's responsible for the recent spate of "reincarnated hero" stories.) Rudeus is extremely gifted with magic, becomes a famous hero, and ends up having relationships with multiple women at once.
The series' length ends up working both for and against it. The unhurried pace that the story sets can feel frustrating at times - the entire middle section of the story is dedicated to a journey that takes literally years to accomplish, for instance - but at the same time the story's refusal to rush things means that it can spend a lot of time fleshing other aspects out, not just in terms of events but particularly with regards to its extensive cast of characters. This is a series that works far better if you're willing to let it unfold at its own pace, rather than wanting the major aspects of the plot to push forward quickly.
In terms of the overall tone of the story, it dances back and forth between serious and not-so-serious. A great deal of the humor comes from Rudeus being both slightly thick-headed and rather lustful. At the same time, the story isn't afraid to step back from this, and while it never gets anywhere close to what I'd consider "dark," it does have plenty of times when it's not trying to be funny, and even a few instances of being genuinely moving.
Overall, Mushoku Tensei can very well be called the archetype for the (sub-)genre that it occupies, due to both its "dramedy"-style presentation and for how lengthy it is. Getting into this story is quite an investment of time, but if you enjoy shonen-style adventure tales, you probably won't even notice.
6 months ago I wasn't watching any anime series... I was finally over my addiction. Then I decided to try a suggestion someone made here... And now I'm watching 6~8 series... And waiting for more.
G~%%@~mit, you guys! I hope you are proud of causing a recovering addict to have a relapse. :P
very.
You monster! XD
Greylurker wrote:
so.....
what shows are you watching?
Huh... Let's see...
(I don't know their english titles, though).
Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! - This is my current favorite. It's rare for me to enjoy Japanese humor, but this is one of the few animes that actually make me LOL. Literally.
Dagashi Kashi - My 2nd favorite of the ones I'm watching. It's very simple, but funny. The main heroine's devotion to candy and sweets is hilarious. :)
Koyomimonogatari - I'm a big fan of the Monogatari series, though its quality can vary from story to story (as happens to every series that runs goes for this long). Hopefully we'll see more Kaiki on the next saga. ^^
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar - I'm not sure how to classify this anime... I thought it'd be adventure/comedy, but it seems to be going for a "slice of life/(possibly drama) in a fantasy world" vibe. Still entertaining...
Shimoneta to Iu Gainen ga Sonzai Shinai Taikutsu na Sekai - My current guilty pleasure... It's so. freaking. dumb... But I can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
Musaigen no Phantom World - This anime has colorful art and great animation. I like the visual design of the characters and world, but it's not as fun as I expected... Good, but overrated, IMO.
Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut - Watched 2 episodes... Seem pretty uninspired so far... I'll watch another 1 or 2 and then decide if it's worth following... Probably dropping it, though.
Utawarerumono - Itsuwari no Kamen - Tsc... I'm watching this just out of inertia and nostalgia. I loved the original Utawarerumono series, but this is one is... Well... Boring. They wasted 12 episodes doing basically nothing but introducing tertiary characters, and are apparently setting up the same "twist" of the original series. I'm really disappointed... Watching it feels like a chore at this point. :/
Triage X - I thought the premise was interesting... A secret organization whose Punisher-like members see criminals as diseases to be expunged... Turns out it's a ecchi-fest with barely any plot or character development and mediocre action scenes... Now, I don't mind fan service... It doesn't make or break anything for me, but if that's all the series has to offer, it's a pretty weak series. Dropped.
I think there are a couple more... Though I can't remember them right now.
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So at the two-thirds mark, Utawarerumono: The False Faces seems like it's finally willing to start giving us some concrete answers, as well as start moving the plot forward.
6 months ago I wasn't watching any anime series... I was finally over my addiction. Then I decided to try a suggestion someone made here... And now I'm watching 6~8 series... And waiting for more.
G~%%@~mit, you guys! I hope you are proud of causing a recovering addict to have a relapse. :P
New episode of Grimgar, just brutal. Between this and Erased it's been a heart crushing week (new episode of Konobusa can't come fast enough I need some light hearted fun)
Spoiler:
the moment that slight shadow passed over Manato you could feel it coming. The ambush itself was just brutal. Not only picking the group apart to make sure each of our heroes was up against someone they were least suited to fighting but the snipers going for cripple shots. In the end they followed the main rule "Kill the Healer first"
This is a crushing defeat for our team and one that is going to be hard to recover from. Followed up by the gut punch of "You're gonna have to pay to cremate him or he'll come back as a zombie"
New episode of Grimgar, just brutal. Between this and Erased it's been a heart crushing week (new episode of Konobusa can't come fast enough I need some light hearted fun)
Between RWBY and Grimgar, I really need a new episode of Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! (aka: "Give Blessings to This Wonderful World!" or something like that).
The only thing I've heard is that Dimension W is pretty neat, though that was weeks ago so it could have gone to s@+# by now.
Dimension W is pretty good, last episode was ultra creepy ghost story. Show is really starting to touch on what it means to connect our world to a 4th dimension and how bad that can get when it goes wrong.
Grimgar Fantasy and Ash is the serious side of being transported into a sword and sorcery setting
Konosuba - God's blessing on this wonderful world is the not-serious side of what it's like being transported into a sword and sorcery setting
Erased is tense drama mystery series that will give you hope and then smash that hope to tiny pieces and kick you in the gut.
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So Utawarerumono: The False Faces continues to move one step forward, two steps back.
The current plot development was very much a step in the right direction, setting up an interesting dynamic for the characters to react to. However, it immediately managed to botch things by taking a relatively minor point (e.g. Kuon's reaction) and not only stretching it out to fill the entire episode (due to everyone involved being complete idiots, as usual), but having the resolution be so paper-thin as to make it completely unsatisfying.
This series just keeps missing opportunity after opportunity...
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Alzrius wrote:
Freehold DM wrote:
yes. More please.
That's about the limit for anime based on eroge that I'm personally familiar with. That's mostly due to happenstance, but also because the series that pull this off with the greatest success sometimes develop a body of work that can require some commitment to fully get through.
The best example of that is the Fate/Stay Night anime (the original work in what eventually became the entire "Fate/" series). Other notable titles include Koihime Musou, Comic Party, To Heart, and Da Capo.
Krensky wrote:
Muv Luv and Baldr Force come to mind.
Then there's Kanon.
Add A Bridge to the Stary Skies ("Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi") and The Fruit of Grisaia ("Grisaia no Kajitsu") to the list of anime based on eroge as well.
(For completeness' sake, Shuffle! and the original Utawarerumono were also noted in earlier posts.)
So this weeks episode of Hai to Gensou no Grimgar came out yesterday and
Spoiler:
its always great when the healer wont help the party. And I'm kinda thinking that Haruhiro and Yume were an item before they got to Grimgar. Just a thought but it seems like there is attraction there that might be deep seated.
Adam scary powerful. They've established that Aura protects people from harm until it's worn down (which is why they can have non-lethal tournaments with the combatants using normally lethal weapons) and that Yang in full-on Rage Mode is the most physically powerful of the team. So for Adam to take off her arm in a single stroke while Yang is at her peak power level is just craziness.
At least they've established with Mercury and the General (I can never remember his name) that cybernetic limbs are available in this universe.
I'm disappointed if Torchwick is really dead, though I don't see how he could have survived.
I'm still not getting what the Bad Guys' ultimate plan is, since (as established by Torchwick's demise) the Grimm aren't exactly discriminating in who they kill and I'm not sure how being the last living sentient beings in a world overrun by Grimm would be all that appealing.
I may have gotten a little misty-eyed when Velvet channeled Penny's attacks during her fight scene.
It's possible the White Fang - who obviously believe themselves to be 'superior' - believe they can defeat the Grimm once humanity is broken. Pretty risky maneuver, but nothing Adam's done suggests he's lacking in confidence...
True. But Cinder and company "recruited" the White Fang. This wasn't originally their plan. What is Cinder's endgame? We know she wanted to steal the Autumn Lady's power (and just did so) but for what purpose? What is she going to do once the Grimm destroy everything?
