Shuffle! Episode 24 Discussion

[Vexx]

I *know* the japanese know how to tell a story in film and play, but apparently many studios hire hacks and less than competent people to actually *do* the screenplay after putting in excellent work in character design and story premise. All the more aggravating when you see the design people and voice actresses pour their souls into it.
Yeah, the game path with Asa plays out this way --- and guess what? its a lame arc in the game too --- given the liberties anime producers take with storylines there's certainly nothing wrong with saying "this sucks" and tweaking enough improvements into salvage it.

Kuro: alas, no common sense --- both Asa and Rin (who are shown to be fairly clueful people for multiple episodes) have their brains swapped out with sponges for the last few episodes, thanks to poor writing. That said... the actual scene plays out well as TDRKZ describes:

Spoiler:

he can't live without her and pulls a Romeo&Juliet... except this Juliet has a heal/resurrect button

As it is, it finishes out as a fairly decent series with many good moments ... but misses being a *great* story with tragic elements.
And yes, the preceding is completely my opinion ...

[SoldierOfDarkness]

Originally Posted by Kuro

So, Rin cuts himself. I haven't seen this episode or played the game yet, so could somebody fill me in on some things? Where did he get the idea to cut himself w/the razor? How did he know that Asa could cure him? Did he just assume "hey, I'll cut myself, and force Asa to forget about her retarded-ass vendetta against magic on my behalf?" Was any common sense used here at all?

*looks out the window* Hey, look. I see creativity and a sound plot!

So now Kaede x Shia? Hmm.

Pretty much what TDRKZ said though one could say desperate measures calls for desperate acts. Asa is the one thing in the world he cares the most about and he would lose the will to live if she dies. THat or crazy people (Asa in this case) makes people do crazy things. Or love makes people do crazy things.

Though not gonna comment too much until I see the subs to get a better idea but I think the episode was a bit gory (I expected the scene but I still felt uneasy about it) and weird....did they just switch animators or something?

As it is, it finishes out as a fairly decent series with many good moments ... but misses being a *great* story with tragic elements.
And yes, the preceding is completely my opinion ...

I find almost all finales for animes seem to fall short. I think by the end most of them just "burn out" and just want to finish.

[TDRKZ]

The gore part wasn't anything new.. the new animators was after the gore i believe... at least thats the impression i had. The gore itself wasn't too bad i mean... remember psycho kaede and the falling box cutter? -_-''' thats was pretty bloody too. This isn't made for little 10-14 year olds which is why its r-15 or whatever its called.

[SoldierOfDarkness]

Except with Kaede and the flying box cutter it just cut Rin with a little blood splatter and bleeding. Obviously not fatal.

Here we got an artery severed and litres of blood pouring into a pool and Rin losing conscious...

[TDRKZ]

i dunno animated blood doesn't do it for me. And i thought it was quite peaceful ... i know that sounded wierd but i mean there was no yelling screaming or pain of any kind shown for the most part.

[Kuro]

Originally Posted by TDRKZ

well...

Spoiler:

he remebers boxcutter then starts walking away from her and asks her one last time. tells her that he wants her to live no matter what and there is no world without her... and he basically slashes his wrists... and lots of blood everywhere and Asa screams NOOOOOOOoooo runs to him and holds his wrists that just keep bleeding and just keeps saying don't die i don't want you to die DONT" DIE and he says some stuff to her as well and dies. Then she screens a light surrounds them adn shoots up in the air and then he wakes up with asa looking over him and a little glowy and a glow around his hand where the cut was and he says "o hio" i think... thats what it was basically hello or whatever.

didn't seem unnatural at all

That is... the lamest thing I have ever read.

Rin wins the award for the biggest douchebag in recent anime history.
I want my already miserable girlfriend to suffer MORE from my suicide, and make her last moments one full of regret and sorrow. (Assuming she didn't use magic)

Asa wins the award for having the most inane melodrama void of ANY and all common sense
Uh, duhr. I dun want my loving mom to be sad, so I'll just die!

The writers, screenplayers and directors win the award for doing a job that a 5th grader could have done infinitely better.
We just like Asa, so we'll put together different things that come out of each of our asses to make her ending possible and hope the fans will buy it.

POOR Miki Itou... You deserve a better role than a piece of crap character like Asa. ~_~

On the plus side, at least Kaede didn't get completely shafted. Better with any of the other girls than alone. Or worse off, Rin.

[TDRKZ]

kuro is bitter -_-''' very bitter

[KJlost]

Rin took less than 2 minutes to loose consciousness after slitting his wrist. I guess flexibility in time is allowed in stories, but it did bother me a little. While wrist is one of the most commonly attacked point in knife-combat, it's one of the most slow acting. It could take a person from 15 minutes to as much as 30 minutes to lose consciousness and lose fatal amount of blood.

Well I'm just b*tching about nonsensical thing anyway.

Scenes with Primura were all cute. My sister damn near squealed in middle of the night because of them. The sudden comic moments with her were bit strange for me since the character did change from the very foundation in less than several seconds.


Question though, Primura *did* say '3 weeks' from that incident, right? I'm not sure if I heard right, but if the time of passage has only been 3 weeks, a hell lot happened as far as Primura goes.

[Kuro]

Originally Posted by TDRKZ

kuro is bitter -_-''' very bitter

No, Kuro expected better writing. ;_;

[TDRKZ]

ya thats what i commented on before... wasn't sure how long it took but he died pretty damn fast.

Character seems like change is what i believe to be a change in artists and an attempt to make everyone seem older aka time pass aka change in the characters.

Just take the series for what it is Kuro. Enjoy what you can ^__^

[Kuro]

I'm wondering... Were there different writers for different parts of the anime/game scenarios? I can't understand how the Kaede arc/episode 19-20 was actually decent (MANY people became interested in Shuffle here) but everything else after was a hack.

Just take the series for what it is Kuro. Enjoy what you can ^__^

I enjoyed Shuffle for its art, some of its music, Primura and watching Kaede beat the crap out of Asa. Everything else was mediocre to crappy. And the weak ending only contributes. An ending goes a long way to make or break an anime, IMO. Shuffle did the latter.

[Rion Steiner]

Yey! Shuffle has finally come to an end and this will be one of my favs. Asa was lived was looking great, Kaede and Sia were...... I dont know I cant explain this ecstasy!!! Awesome!? Primula pwned and might be Sub-Zero's next generation if they ever get those ideas.

The only one that I was abit regreting is Nerine, too bad she had the KGNE-Haruka ending (no matter how I look at it, she always seemed like she finally gave up on Rin and started her new life from scratch). Not really a fitting ending for someone specially if they showed that she jsut started it at the end of series and thats it.

Shuffle! handled each girls in the ending nicely than DCSS. It seemed like most of the girls in Da Capo except Nemu got the KGNE-Haruka ending while Shuffle! gave us some humour or even crazy ideas that temps us to beg for more series. But I was more satisfied of the main couples in DCSS than Shuffle though. Asakura and Nemu were really devoted lovers and they even got married. I wanted more between Asa and Rin though, I don't think the series gave enough of their own screen time as they tried to balance out the chracters. Can we have Rin+Asa wedding and a Kannazuki no Miko ending for Kaede and Sia for an OVA!? sorry jsut a crazy thought

Well guys, I guess we have come to an end now Its really been fun and I meet so many great and unique (very unique ) people in this thread. I got served.

Oh yeah!....... Can you guys spoil a something for me a lil bit so that I wont get dissapointed on a series Im trying to finish?

Spoiler:

Is the series "Wind a Breath of Heart" a satisfying one? I need to know if Minamo will be Mako's choice in the end.

[Altima of the Gates]

Originally Posted by Kuro

I'm wondering... Were there different writers for different parts of the anime/game scenarios? I can't understand how the Kaede arc/episode 19-20 was actually decent (MANY people became interested in Shuffle here) but everything else after was a hack.




I enjoyed Shuffle for its art, some of its music, Primura and watching Kaede beat the crap out of Asa. Everything else was mediocre to crappy. And the weak ending only contributes. An ending goes a long way to make or break an anime, IMO. Shuffle did the latter.

I think i heard somewhere that the a writer who worked on KGNE worked on eps 18-20.

[TDRKZ]

stop the bashing and enjoy it whether your girl *won* or not if you feel she won by losing theres no need to bash ppl still.

[Eclipze]

Originally Posted by Kuro

I'm wondering... Were there different writers for different parts of the anime/game scenarios? I can't understand how the Kaede arc/episode 19-20 was actually decent (MANY people became interested in Shuffle here) but everything else after was a hack.




I enjoyed Shuffle for its art, some of its music, Primura and watching Kaede beat the crap out of Asa. Everything else was mediocre to crappy. And the weak ending only contributes. An ending goes a long way to make or break an anime, IMO. Shuffle did the latter.

I dont know....I do think people need to start giving anime script writers a break.

Its bad enough that people who watch or have a part with anime in japan gets deemed as a pervert/anti-social. Yes, that even goes for singers.

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=17501

Apparently groups like T.M Revolution (who sang the OP for GS and GSD) lost their place in the jpop charts (or something) due to their association with anime. Yes, Japan is no heaven for Otakus.

That aside, I think its a pretty good job for an ending to a series, especially one that has a much higher potential of being labeled as a hentai show in Japan by the "people with life".

[Tatiana Razajev]

I definitely like how the series ended over all. I think my only complaint is certain "arcs" such as the Lisianthus arc felt a bit rushed. Then again that could be due to time constraints.

I'm just glad the "Asa uses Magic" stuff was finished in the first half of the episode. Don't get me wrong. I like the scene in general. It's just that such a scene could not carry a full episode at all. Besides they had enough of the story dedicated to "No I won't use magic" stuff.

Thus it's far better for the second half of the episode to instead be dedicated to the fun side of SHUFFLE! itself. Which also gives us a chance to interact more with the other members of the cast. Thus I'm glad they went that route.

[Tabris]

Originally Posted by Kuro

I'm wondering... Were there different writers for different parts of the anime/game scenarios? I can't understand how the Kaede arc/episode 19-20 was actually decent (MANY people became interested in Shuffle here) but everything else after was a hack.

I guess after you reach such a dramatic high point, it's hard to follow up with something just as good.

The episode went as I'd thought with the Asa sickness being resolved in the first half and some closure for the second.

It was a nice ending, nothing stand out, but I liked it. I've enjoyed the series and here's to the next series of whatever I watch Like I said earlier, I hate ending an anime series, it's like saying goodbye to someone, but not quite if you get what I mean =/

[Riker]

Ah, now that I've seen the episode, it's time for some comments/rants.

I was pretty bored with the first half.

Yes I know, it's my own fault I spoiled the ending for myself by reading spoilers.
Still, it's such a pity how the Asa arc was written.
Given a few tweaks and minor story changes, it could easily be the most dramatic and touching conclusion to the series.

Ahh... such a wasted potential.

Oh, and btw Rin cut his wrist the wrong way.
If he really wanted to die quickly he should have cut down instead of across.
Unless of course, it was all calculated risk.
Yes, Rin was desperate, but maybe not that desperate enough to want to die.




On to the second half, ahh... back to normal life.

I LoL at the Rin, Asa and Kaede scene (briefly before H man shows up)
Know why ? Because it's played out exactly the same as episode 1.
Seriously, go rewatch episode 1.
It made this dialogue in episode 1 more thought provoking.

Rin : "If you don't have those kind of intentions, don't do weird things" (refering to grabbing of his arm)
Asa : "Do you really think that?"

Very nice touch there. The writers almost redeemed themselves. Almost.




Note to self : Don't piss Mayumi off.
Itsuki never learns. :x
Oh and btw, during that scene, look carefully outside the window.
WTF are those 2 people doing?


Awww, Primula steals the show for the second half.
It's nice to see how much she has changed since episode 2.
Much more lively now.


The Eustoma, Forbesii and Ama scene touched my heart.

You could clearly tell that Ama was worried about being found out after she passed by the two.
From their words, they mean :
"We are sorry for what happen. Carry on with your life. We won't pursue any further"
After which, Ama took off her hat.
As you can see in the credits, Ama has no reasons to hide her ears anymore.
Perharps she has been living in fear all this while about being found out and taken back to the labs.
But after reassurance from the 2 Kings, she can put those fears to rest.


Thus, the series came to a conclusion.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the series.
What started out as a simple comedy slowly dips into an engaging drama.
Sure, you can claim the story is inconsistent at times, but which series doesn't have ups and downs?

This is definitely a series I'll remember fondly. (For me anyways)
Now if only there's an affordable DVD collection of the series I can buy. :x


p.s.
Woah. I typed way too much in this post.
Time to go spam one-liners to even things out.
...I'm kidding, Mods. Please don't ban me.

[Wrath88]

So now it's time to wait for the subs.... haiz..... Primula really looked very different from how she was at the start. I think the use of her face to convey expressions must have increased like 400% since last time. Is it me or does her skin colour seem slightly brighter now? Whatever, she looks very nice. Very funny pic at the end too, by the way. Still, I think they're trying to make up for this ending with humour and fanservice. I wanna see that yuri part though!!!

[Tabris]

Originally Posted by Riker

Still, it's such a pity how the Asa arc was written.
Given a few tweaks and minor story changes, it could easily be the most dramatic and touching conclusion to the series.

Ahh... such a wasted potential.

Agreed, though I enjoyed it, I know it could have been *much* better than it was.

I LoL at the Rin, Asa and Kaede scene (briefly before H man shows up)
Know why ? Because it's played out exactly the same as episode 1.
Seriously, go rewatch episode 1.
It made this dialogue in episode 1 more thought provoking.

Rin : "If you don't have those kind of intentions, don't do weird things" (refering to grabbing of his arm)
Asa : "Do you really think that?"

I noticed that, though I couldn't make out much of what they were saying.

With the whole Rin slitting his wrist thing. Even if he had gotten an artery (and I guess he did if it somehow ended up on his face), it would have taken at least 10 minutes for him to pass out and die. But yeah, down the street not across.