General anime discussion thread

kuwisdelu

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Tell me what you think of it. I've started episode one, but quit almost immediately. (On a related note, Kamisama Dolls is picking up; it's promising to be surprisingly good. Not a masterpiece, but well worth a watch.)

I'm up to episode 3, and as I mentioned, it's only worth watching if you're a Megumi Nakajima fan. With the random talking rock face dude and all, though, it has the potential to achieve "so bad it's good" status, but I'm not sure yet. Either way, Ruri is adorable, and that's all that matters.

I considered watching Kamisama Dolls, but the robots or whatever looked too much like Kyuubey, and kind of freaked me out. Maybe I'll give it a chance soon.
 

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I considered watching Kamisama Dolls, but the robots or whatever looked too much like Kyuubey, and kind of freaked me out. Maybe I'll give it a chance soon.

The way the show looks is... odd, overall. The main lead's breasts are not only incredibly oversized, but also... oddly proportioned. Glued on rugby balls? Despite that, it's not played for teh durties, and most of the time the characters look childish (as if this was Pokemon). But then the plot doesn't fit... It certainly doesn't win with design consistency. I almost quit myself. Maybe my low expectations gave me that surprise experience?

In the latest episode the intensity increased. I thought it would, but not so soon. If the pacing's that quick, I suppose things are actually going to happen at a steady pace. Again, if you don't watch it, you probably won't miss out too much, but on a slow day it'll probably pass the time.

And, yes, it does look like a Kyubey robot (and may turn out just as trustworthy, for all I know...).
 

Camilla Delvalle

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First season of Clannad finished. At the beginning I had some doubts, but the plot turned out to be great and the characters had interesting backstories and secrets. A plot that is about starting a school drama club - I never knew starting a drama club could be so difficult. A seemingly simple plot was bent into many turns, and it had quite high stakes for the characters, and some tragedy.

The main lead Tomoya was somewhat competent and witty. I found him more likeable than Junichi in Amagamis SS, who I don't think I'd like to date. Some of the girls were stupid, e.g. Fuko, but she was also fun.

I'd recommend this series for the crooked plot and because it's fun. There were also some eerie scenes around Nagisa.
 

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The main lead Tomoya was somewhat competent and witty. I found him more likeable than Junichi in Amagamis SS, who I don't think I'd like to date.

Well, as far as typical harem leads go, Junichi is quite good. But he's still designed to be rather non-descript, a foil for the girls, mostly. Tomoya is actually a character in his own right (which is what makes Afterstory possible).

Some of the girls were stupid, e.g. Fuko, but she was also fun.

Heh. I love Fuuko. (I shall never forget her epic clash with Nagisa on whether starfish are cuter than dango...)

If there's one thing I don't like about Clannad it's the character design. Not a fan of those big eyes. It's not as bad as Kanon, but still...
 

Camilla Delvalle

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Just now I saw the Clannad movie too. It was very different. I wonder if it follows some story path from Afterstory that I haven't seen.

Well, as far as typical harem leads go, Junichi is quite good. But he's still designed to be rather non-descript, a foil for the girls, mostly. Tomoya is actually a character in his own right (which is what makes Afterstory possible).
Ok, Junichi is perhaps nicer then Tomoya, because the latter is a bit harsh, pulling pranks all the time and stuff, and in the movie he was a horrible person. What I was thinking was rather that I found Junichi boring and unattractive, while Tomoya had some wit and awareness.

Heh. I love Fuuko. (I shall never forget her epic clash with Nagisa on whether starfish are cuter than dango...)
Yes, and there are many other fun scenes that I've seen on youtube too.

If there's one thing I don't like about Clannad it's the character design. Not a fan of those big eyes. It's not as bad as Kanon, but still...
I didn't like it so much either, because I like more realistic drawing in anime.
 

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Just now I saw the Clannad movie too. It was very different. I wonder if it follows some story path from Afterstory that I haven't seen.

I haven't seen the film, so I googled. Yep, the latter part is in Afterstory, but from what I can tell they cut the most important part and changed things (such as Tomoya's Father) so that certain things must seem more arbitrary. From the summary, I'm not in a hurry to watch the film.

Ok, Junichi is perhaps nicer then Tomoya, because the latter is a bit harsh, pulling pranks all the time and stuff, and in the movie he was a horrible person. What I was thinking was rather that I found Junichi boring and unattractive, while Tomoya had some wit and awareness.

I actually understood what you mean, and i agree. I was merely pointing out that - in the most stereotypical harem show - the male lead is totally devoid of personality, and the spotlight is on the girl. The idea is to provide a canvas for male fantasies. In a way, things like Tomoya's relationship with his father, for example, are a deal breaker for the genre. They push the harem show into romance territory, by placing boy and girl on equal footing.

Junichi has no past beyond being stood up for a date. No parents. A little sister (it can't be a little brother; not in a harem show). No interests. Nothing that could interfere with male identification. His personality changes according to the girl he's with. He's the typical harem protagonist: probably the dullest guy in school, yet all the girls fall for him. Yet, somehow, I actually like him and he leaves an impression.

But Tomoya is an actual character. He's not tailor-made to be a harem lead. His father's a drunk. He gets into fights for the heck of it. He may have a good heart, but he's not nice. This is not the sort of guy who disappears to leave the spotlight to the girls. He's an integral part of the story. It's no surprise he's more attractive: whereas Junichi is designed to be as generic as possible so as not to interfere with male girl-fantasies, he's designed to have a personality and a story (and a dark side, without which Afterstory would not have been possible).
 

Camilla Delvalle

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I haven't seen the film, so I googled. Yep, the latter part is in Afterstory, but from what I can tell they cut the most important part and changed things (such as Tomoya's Father) so that certain things must seem more arbitrary. From the summary, I'm not in a hurry to watch the film.
The movie was interesting. It was like an alternate reality where many characters were different and had other roles. Kotomi was the conductor of the choir, Tomoyo was not good at fighting, Tomoya was more depressed and Nagisa was more assertive. I love alternate realities. The movie was darker and more depressing than the series. I just wish I had not seen it before After Story, since it seems to contain spoilers for that.
 

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And I'm loving Usagi Drop. Rin is terminally adorable, and reminds me of my niece.

Absolutely. (Except I don't have a little niece.)

***

No. 6: great pacing. Love the doghandler.

Penguindrum: Those logos appear in the oddest place...

The movie was interesting. It was like an alternate reality where many characters were different and had other roles. Kotomi was the conductor of the choir, Tomoyo was not good at fighting, Tomoya was more depressed and Nagisa was more assertive. I love alternate realities. The movie was darker and more depressing than the series. I just wish I had not seen it before After Story, since it seems to contain spoilers for that.

Yeah, spoiled a big event. But the heart of the show is yet to come. :) (Maybe I'll look at the movie one day.)
 

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Camilla Delvalle

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Windows surface? How do you make that. Must be pretty complex. (I like the way the answers aren't "obviously tendentious", as in most of the fan-games I've seen out there.)
With C#.Net it's embarrasingly simple. It's just to drag the things into place and write some code for what happens when the player clicks on them. In this kind of game I guess most of the work is to write the dialogue and paint pictures. Maybe I'm too lazy to do that. I'm also not sure how I will organize the dialogue to give the player many choices while I don't want to plan for every possibility. I mean some dialogue parts should be possible to have in different places or in different order.

For the plot I'm thinking it should be the first two weeks in college with different activities and maybe some conflicts. Choices that the player makes should influence what happens later and what options there will be.
 

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I'm also not sure how I will organize the dialogue to give the player many choices while I don't want to plan for every possibility. I mean some dialogue parts should be possible to have in different places or in different order.

Interesting problem. One thing I can think of is player stats, like empathy, daring etc., which might make different replies available... Not sure, really, if that works. Maybe also reputation stats, which makes the girls give different replies? Not sure if that's even managable if you want anything like a plot.

***

On a different note, was bored today and watched episode 1 of Idolm@ster. Wasn't originally interested, and it's not something I want to watch too much of all at once, but it's surprisingly fun. Lighthearted slice of life (as far as you can tell after a single episode).
 

Camilla Delvalle

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Interesting problem. One thing I can think of is player stats, like empathy, daring etc., which might make different replies available... Not sure, really, if that works. Maybe also reputation stats, which makes the girls give different replies?
That's exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking about having hidden stats like outgoing, geekiness, empathy, and respectability. These would change depending on the choices made, and also influence what options there will be for the player, like one has to be very outgoing to be able to suggest to have a party. Also the girls will have different demands, like one would perhaps not date someone who had not shown empathy. Geekiness would be needed to attract some girls, and to get a good result on the math test.
 

kuwisdelu

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lolWHUT.

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Dawnstorm

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Vampire Ninja Maid Violin Power to the rescue. Heh. I loved the finale (and they did show penguins near the end - I wonder...)
 

kuwisdelu

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Wow. They're making a live-action show of Arakawa Under the Bridge, with a live-action movie coming out next here. The TV show's web page is here. And here is the badly Google-translated version. I wonder if it'll get fansubbed. I remember [gg] did the live-action movie of Kimi ni Todoke, and they included the commercial for the live-action Arakawa at the end of their release of episode 4 of Sacred Seven, so maybe they intend to sub it.
 
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kuwisdelu

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Is Durarara!, the anime, any good?

I have 5 episodes left in it. It's rather good, but I found the new plot direction after the Anon arc finished less interesting than everything that lead up to it, despite the new OP theme being better (IMO). I'll let you know my impressions when I'm finished. If you liked Baccano!, it's probably worth starting, since it's by the same author.
 

kuwisdelu

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Also, what's with all the loll detective series coming out lately?

This said, I'm really digging the OP and ED of both Kamisama no Memochou and Dantalian no Shoka. For the former, particularly the illuminated-keyboard-as-piano speaks to me, as both a computer geek and musician. And for the latter, the soft, orchestral music over an opening that would otherwise have a more driving theme attached to it is rather refreshing, and the utter weirdness of the ED is quite interesting. I wonder if these two series wouldn't be regarded as so generic if they weren't airing right after Gosick finished. (After all, none of them are anime originals, Dantalian and Gosick started life as light novels a couple of months apart from each other in 2008 , and KamiMemo predates both with its light novels originating from 2007.)
 

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Just bought Kara no Kyoukai 4 & 5. :D

***

Gossick's popular because of Victorique. Her character design is great, and Yuki Aoi does a wonderful job with her. Other than that, Gossick is pretty avarage, I'd say.