Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo - General Discussion

[Dark_Geass]

Interesting first episode, the vibrant colors and visuals is too pleasing to my eyes

Aside from Akasaka, I was surprised though that they've introduced the characters quite fast. but aside from that I really like the episode.

[Insane]

Man, episode 1 was very amusing. They made it in a smooth and easy to understood pacing (I've got enough of rushing adaptation just like Campione), that didn't leave even a single detail from its original source.

I love Matsuoka Yoshitsugu's role as a tsukkomi, and i hope he should do this more often. Seeing him as the only normal being get surrounded by a bunch of weirdos was a very nice treat.

[Klashikari]

Not exactly original, but the first episode was entertaining with a good exposure of every characters quirks.
The art direction definitely made the mood appealing (some camera angles and all reminded me a bit of Hyouka at times), and the vibrant colors give a very eye candy aspect, to which makes me wonder why JC Staff has such a inconsistent backstory, and even now, this looks way ahead compared to other series from the same studio on the same season (one of them being the hugely hyped LB).

I just hope that Mashiro won't be too much of a deadpan, otherwise we might be served by the same jokes ad nauseam.

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Insane

Man, episode 1 was very amusing. They made it in a smooth and easy to understood pacing (I've got enough of rushing adaptation just like Campione), that didn't leave even a single detail from its original source.

I love Matsuoka Yoshitsugu's role as a tsukkomi, and i hope he should do this more often. Seeing him as the only normal being get surrounded by a bunch of weirdos was a very nice treat.

It should be noted that this is a 2 cour series so there's no need to rush anything.

And by nature, romcom series doesn't require extensive details to tell it's story.

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Not exactly original, but the first episode was entertaining with a good exposure of every characters quirks.
The art direction definitely made the mood appealing (some camera angles and all reminded me a bit of Hyouka at times), and the vibrant colors give a very eye candy aspect, to which makes me wonder why JC Staff has such a inconsistent backstory, and even now, this looks way ahead compared to other series from the same studio on the same season (one of them being the hugely hyped LB).

Same Studio, different teams and sponsors.

[Insane]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

It should be noted that this is a 2 cour series so there's no need to rush anything.

Two cour? NICE!

BTW, it is said that Sorata adopted six cats in his dorm, but why i had only seen one cat (Hikari)?

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Insane

BTW, it is said that Sorata adopted six cats in his dorm, but why i had only seen one cat (Hikari)?

Go back to the scene where he's fixing the sign- there should be six cats there.

[novalysis]

It's a very strong start. I pushed it from my Borderline Watch List up to the Will Watch list from this episode alone.

[Midonin]

Mashiro and friends join CR's simulcasting.

[Haak]

I'm impressed they managed to turn something that I thought was totally bland and generic based on the manga, into something so engaging, though the genki girl is still a little annoying.

I'm now actually interested in seeing where this is going.

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

At first I thought it was just me and thought there were way too many innuendos and "perv" scenes and I thought I was just over thinking them... but then I remembered who the series composer for this series was. . Granted I did chuckle at a couple of them... like the "leaving it on my old man's testicle" line or the "you're only allowed to be turned on by vegetables till you're out of middle school". Ah well... creative perv is better than caveman perv I suppose...

I await the day when Ecchi zingers actually become the norm in typical highschool anime conversations. It would make things more grounded in reality...

[Amoiro Nguyen]

The first episode was pretty fun, as expected. Misaki really is a perverted girl. Our MC is the only sane man there on Sakurasou and Mashiro is cute like in the manga. I'm sure this series is going to be one of the best of the season.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Same Studio, different teams and sponsors.

I know that, however sponsors and all don't lead to THAT much difference, except if we have a complete different league, such as GSC/Bushiroad in contrast to Lantis/Pony Canion etc (unless Warner is really that stingy with JC, which would be stupid to begin with). The sheer difference in competence between these 2 teams is even bigger than previous series, hence the surprise there. In fact, I wonder if it isn't a new team, as Sakurasou is quite different than stuff like Index/Toradora/Ookami-san.

Anyway, I just realized that it is yet again Matsuoka (Kirito from SAO, Godou from Campione) for the main role, and it seems his popularity is rising in a similar fashion than Hanazawa, which is good (usually, I would have expected the likes of Shinono Hiro or Yuuki Kaji for this role, so it is a good change).

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by Midonin

Mashiro and friends join CR's simulcasting.

Now I don't have to wait the whole day

Originally Posted by Haak

I await the day when Ecchi zingers actually become the norm in typical highschool anime conversations. It would make things more grounded in reality...

Whose reality ? I have no idea what Japanese Highschoolers actually talk about

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Haak

I await the day when Ecchi zingers actually become the norm in typical highschool anime conversations. It would make things more grounded in reality...

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Whose reality ? I have no idea what Japanese Highschoolers actually talk about

Can't comment on this, given that I was at a girls' high school (nothing interesting, move along).

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

I The sheer difference in competence between these 2 teams is even bigger than previous series, hence the surprise there. In fact, I wonder if it isn't a new team

Just look at who's directing this,at the risk of sounding a bit fanboyish director Atsuko Ishizuka is quite talented , her Aoi Bungaku episodes while far from masterpieces were quite interesting visually.

I just expected her TV directorial debut to be some sort of madhouse anime original,not a JC staff LN adaptation

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Whose reality ? I have no idea what Japanese Highschoolers actually talk about

*shrugs*, I heard it was same there as it was for me.

Amd for me it was pretty much "teachers suck", "homework sucks", student banter/gossip, lolpenis, some rare philosophical/political musings followed by more lolpenis. XP

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

I know that, however sponsors and all don't lead to THAT much difference, except if we have a complete different league, such as GSC/Bushiroad in contrast to Lantis/Pony Canion etc (unless Warner is really that stingy with JC, which would be stupid to begin with). The sheer difference in competence between these 2 teams is even bigger than previous series, hence the surprise there. In fact, I wonder if it isn't a new team, as Sakurasou is quite different than stuff like Index/Toradora/Ookami-san.

I think the biggest difference between the two shows is really the art direction and the compositing/effects. In terms of the actual animation of characters, there isn't really all that much going on here, but they mask it by making it all look really, really pretty (it's a show that looks great in stills). They say that anime is an art of finding creative ways to mask your lack of budget, and I suppose the lesson here is that the director for this show was more successful in that task (based on the fact that people are having this conversation).

That aside, I quite enjoyed the first episode as a setup for what is to come. There was a lot of poetry in the narration, and the conflict in the main character was well-developed. He's surrounded by people who are arguably crazy, but also incredibly smart and talented. So on the one hand he's the voice of reason, but on the other he feels like he can never measure up. And that's pretty much the story of being a teenager in a nutshell. His realization that his "living boring days" really meant that he was himself a boring person was quite introspective. I think he has an interesting crowd of people around him who are trying in their own way to bring him out of his shell and help him discover his purpose. I think he doesn't yet understand that people do look up to him for who he is.

The other thing I liked is that the pacing felt very comfortable. As many have said, it does remind me of the 24-26 episode shows from a decade ago simply because of the subject matter and the time available. They setup the premise quite succinctly, and introduced the characters in a bit of whirlwind manner, but without feeling particularly rushed or hurried. The overall mood was more important than getting through a list of plot points.

I saw a lot of people comment (particularly off this forum) that they felt this anime was putting women down. I guess if you go down the checklist, it can seem a bit suspect: starting with "I want to be a housewife", the teacher who just wants to bag a man, the womanizing player character, the shut-in whose AI is a female maid, and the whole concept of a girl being equated to a "pet". But I don't know how I feel about this. I didn't really feel that was the intention of the show, but perhaps I'm not the right person to judge. The key point that I took away from the show was that all the characters (barring the main, and perhaps Nanami) were eccentric geniuses who strengths in one area masked weaknesses in others. But we'll see. Based on some of the vitriol I read, I almost felt like "wait, should I be offended by this?", but I just couldn't see it that way. Who knows...

Anyway, looking forward to next week.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

I know that, however sponsors and all don't lead to THAT much difference, except if we have a complete different league, such as GSC/Bushiroad in contrast to Lantis/Pony Canion etc (unless Warner is really that stingy with JC, which would be stupid to begin with). The sheer difference in competence between these 2 teams is even bigger than previous series, hence the surprise there. In fact, I wonder if it isn't a new team, as Sakurasou is quite different than stuff like Index/Toradora/Ookami-san.

This isn't the first time we've seen such a disparity in quality from JC -- earlier this year we had Ano Natsu, which was about the same visual quality as this, and Kill Me Baby which was one step up from South Park.

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Whose reality ? I have no idea what Japanese Highschoolers actually talk about

Well in more literary Japanese novels, teenage girls are a lot more sexually active and willing to talk about it instead of blushing and running away at the slightest mention of the subject.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I think the thing that broke this show for me more than anything is the just plain unlikeable and grating cast. The main characters basically a putz, Mashiro is just kind of dull and dim-witted in the extreme, the one dorm-mate is obnoxiously loud and insists on screaming all of her dialogue. Really about the only one I didn't adamantly dislike upon first impression was Nanami. I wasn't really expecting anything huge here, maybe something vaguely sexist, but not this difficult to make it through the opening episode. That's about it for this one then.

[ahelo]

How can something this astonishingly cliched be so. . . well good? Everything played in a manner that I would normally get turned of about but I didn't. This is just so likable. I really think this has something to do with the directing. Sukitte pulled something like this off too.

I'm surprised too at how pretty this looks is which is really weird because Little Busters, the one you would think they would prioritize most of their budget into, nowhere looks as good. Not that I'm complaining though (JC Staff likes looking great at times anyway).

There's some slight old-ish feel to this too in a sense that it uses dorm plots which reminds me of stuff like Maison Ikkoku and Rough. Definitely a good sign (+2-cour = wowowow).

[ultimatemegax]

Point to add to the "They're animating it in one season" theory: volume 8 was just released and the author comments that there are plans for the story to end in two more books. Akiba blog mentions that it sounds Toradora!ish (that series had a total of 10 main story novels and was adapted into 25 episodes in 2008-2009 as the final novel was released the month of the final episode).