AnimeSuki Forums

k//eternal · 2009-07-02, 04:15

I felt like it's less an issue of "they didn't show X or Y" than the fact that (even though I knew what was going on) it felt like a bunch of random scenes haphazardly stuck together. I was honestly quite worried that the first-time viewers would be turned off by this, but apparently it's been less of a problem than expected.

I think it's a worthwhile sacrifice, but I wouldn't give this ep high marks because it just felt sloppy.

FlareKnight · 2009-07-02, 04:19

Anyways it was a pretty rushed first episode. Guess they wanted to get right into it and not spend a couple episodes for introduction. At least the obvious was what the adults were fighting over. Still haven't gotten a great feel for all the personalities of the kids yet. Though I suppose that will come as we see them deal with whatever is coming.

Not a great first episode, but will have to see how they handle the rest now that they have gotten right into things.

Shiroth · 2009-07-02, 04:20

I didn't find the first episode rushed at all. Guess a lot of people are going to think that when so many characters were introduced right from the start.

Either way i'm really liking it so far. Gonna have to decide on a favorite character by next episode, and so far it looks like Jessica could be it.

Oh and the ED is so 80s over the top. I love it.

aroduc · 2009-07-02, 04:23

You guys do know that 島 means 'island,' right?

TheForsaken · 2009-07-02, 04:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by k//eternal

Because they didn't want someone calling it "Rokukenjima" or "Rokuinkenjima"?

So they didn't fear that other people'll call it Rokkentou ?

k//eternal · 2009-07-02, 04:30

If that's a valid pronunciation, then apparently it's unintuitive enough that they didn't, yeah.

But really, "Rokken Island" is like calling Beijing "Bei Capital". Yeah, it means "capital" and it's the capital, but nobody does that.

Tokkan · 2009-07-02, 04:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by aroduc

You guys do know that 島 means 'island,' right?

Yeah? So? There's a whole bunch of Japanese islands out there where 島 is considered a part of their proper names.

TheForsaken · 2009-07-02, 04:39

If that's a name, then Rokkentou is better than Rokkenjima.
It's very weird for a name to have two first characters are On'yomi and the last one is Kun'yomi.

And I think Rokkenjima is just like Chiba-ken, that's Chiba Prefecture, not a place named Chibaken.

Circular Logic · 2009-07-02, 04:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by k//eternal

If that's a valid pronunciation, then apparently it's unintuitive enough that they didn't, yeah.

But really, "Rokken Island" is like calling Beijing "Bei Capital". Yeah, it means "capital" and it's the capital, but nobody does that.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/マン島

They do it to foreign islands too. Presumably we should call it 'Mantou'?

How about Awajishima, not Awaji Island? Fuji-san, not Mt. Fuji? Osakafu, not Osaka Prefecture? It gets rather silly.

aroduc · 2009-07-02, 04:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by k//eternal

If that's a valid pronunciation, then apparently it's unintuitive enough that they didn't, yeah.

But really, "Rokken Island" is like calling Beijing "Bei Capital". Yeah, it means "capital" and it's the capital, but nobody does that.

Actually, Beijing means Northern Capital.

MeoTwister5 · 2009-07-02, 04:58

It's awesome they kept the original OP in, and the ED is indeed awesome. As for the episode itself.

The Bad:

1. Gah. Battler is a complete perverted doofus. Well... a wee bit more than he was in the game anyway but it felt a bit over the top to an extent. Maybe it's more linked to the nature of Daisuke Ono's voice, but here's to hoping it isn't because they radically changed is character for the anime.

2. Yes there is indeed a LOT of things missing, but thankfully at least for the plot's sake they weren't detail-intensive scenes. Then again, those scenes dealt more on the familial relationships, which can still be important. The first game section really established the nature of the intrafamily relationships and it seems to be really missing here. Not too big of a deal maybe for a VN player, but it might be important for an anime viewer so it's kinda subjective. The adult's discussion did come off a bit compressed though. Here's to hoping they delve into that more later.

3. Minor issue with the character designs. The women are... a bit top heavy, especially Jess and Shannon. Well the original art does lean on that a bit, but for Jessica and Shannon it's bit exaggerated. Kanon is a bit too bishounen and Genji looks sort of malnourished . Again character designs are a minor issue.

4. The pacing IMO isn't as bad as people say it is. Granted we lost a lot, but what we lost was mostly character interactions and relationships. Plot and detail wise most of it was there, and VN players I'm sure know that there's still a lot of time for that, so I can easily forgive the pacing for this episode. I was actually expecting them to cut out most of Battler's monologues but they didn't, which when compared to what wasn't included was a big plus.

5. If I do have one big beef with the episode, it has to be the initial characterization. Again it's kinda obvious that DEEN chose to emphasize plot over establishing the personalities of the characters, but if I hadn't played the game I'd come out with an impression that at the end, the characters would still feel like strangers to me. There really isn't anything here to establish just who each of the characters are as per their identities, but I guess it's more because we have a large cast to deal with. I really hope that they decide to establish more of the characters as the series goes. I'd really dislike if it we did't get established characters by the end of this arc.

The Good:

1. "Sinister... Sinister..." I'll admit it now and I'll eat my previous comments again: Yui Horie almost has Maria down pat. That single line made me respect her voice talents a lot more. Based on her performance for the first episodes, Maria's future lines might just be epic.

2. Got to hand it to Rie Kugimiya, she laid off the helium for this. She sounds just about right for Shannon's reserved nature. In the plus side, hearing her voice a character who actually need to wear a bra is a big plus.

3. Using the same exact painting of Beatrice for the anime is awesome. Heck the first time the anime showed it I knew immediately it was the same exact painting from the VN.

4. They got Kinzo's madness spot on. I'm with Klashikari on this one though, Kinzo in the game did have some charisma in the game as is obvious with the servants, but it's not really present right now, but of course it's still early in the story.

Saerianne · 2009-07-02, 05:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

It's awesome they kept the original OP in, and the ED is indeed awesome.

Original opening? =/

k//eternal · 2009-07-02, 05:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Circular Logic

Presumably we should call it 'Mantou'?

Oh, but being Chinese, that would make me hungry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheForsaken

If that's a name, then Rokkentou is better than Rokkenjima.
It's very weird for a name to have two first characters are On'yomi and the last one is Kun'yomi.

Well, with the lack of furigana above it, apparently there's no reason you can't call it that, unless "jima" is part of the name.

(Honestly, with the amount of nitpicking we seem to be doing, I think we're better off agreeing to disagree on this one.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by aroduc

Actually, Beijing means Northern Capital.

And Rokkenjima means Six House Island. Evidently you missed the point of the example.

MeoTwister5 · 2009-07-02, 05:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saerianne

Original opening? =/

Original OP song, I meant.

Actually when you think about it, the nature of some of the scenes in the OP are similar to the VN. It's just that in the VN those scenes were static and here it's animated.

Saerianne · 2009-07-02, 05:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Original OP song, I meant.

Actually when you think about it, the nature of some of the scenes in the OP are similar to the VN. It's just that in the VN those scenes were static and here it's animated.

Ahh, alrighty. Sorry. XDD
I think I liked the VN's opening better cause it had more 'suspense' to it, while this one was more soft I guess.
I think this series will be interesting. =D

Kyral · 2009-07-02, 05:13

Definitly a pretty good start.
While they skipped some parts I really like to see animated it was not that bad.

Was also nice to hear zts' 'witch in gold' (well an arrange of it) as bgm.

Skyfall · 2009-07-02, 05:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

It's awesome they kept the original OP in, and the ED is indeed awesome. As for the episode itself.

Kept the original as in ... the same as the VN ? They absolutely did not

- this is a completely new song, albeit it does draw inspiration from the original Umineko No Naku Koro Ni. (And both are awesome).

TheForsaken · 2009-07-02, 05:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by k//eternal

And Rokkenjima means Six House Island. Evidently you missed the point of the example.

The problem is "Beijing means Northern Capital" is not the proof that Rokkenjima is the right name instead of Rokken. Most of Japanese name is meaningless anyway.

Just like Fuji-san, Chiba-ken, ... I see no reason for Rokkenjima to not be able to be Rokken-jima.

Shinndou · 2009-07-02, 05:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by kj1980

While many have pointed out that it felt a little rushed, the parts that they skipped over could be introduced later if need be. If the first episode was to introduce the characters, the setting, and the basic plot as quickly as possible it did its job. Sure the details were cut out, but they did manage to hit the big parts: the characters, the meeting, the introduction of Beatrice and the epitaph, and the Maria-Rosa relationship.

Overall I gave it a 9/10 for its promptness. Rather than spending minutes on details that could be covered in later episodes, it went straight to the facts and I am pleased with the outcome.

My thoughts exactly.
I honestly don't understand why some people (among those who played the visual novel) are overly reacting at this. We knew it from the start and it was fairly obvious that this anime adaptation can't cover everything from the game, and they had to cut certain scenes due to the lenght of the serie and the lenght of each episode. The good thing is that they kept the important ones. All the other scenes that had character interactions can still be portrayed in the following episodes.

It would have been awkward if they didn't introduce all of the cast and instead focused on certain interactions, since that would likely not click that well with people who have not played the game. It's better to have a first episode that introduces everybody (while keeping the key scenes) and then developing all the characters and their interactions later, than doing the opposite, in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Kept the original as in ... the same as the VN ? They absolutely did not

- this is a completely new song, albeit it does draw inspiration from the original Umineko No Naku Koro Ni. (And both are awesome).

I guess he's not talking about OP's song but about the OP image sequence, which indeed is almost identical to the game's one.

k//eternal · 2009-07-02, 05:57

Like I said, I think it's better that we just agree to disagree on this one; it's not such a big deal that it's worth cluttering the thread with an argument over. I can't produce "proof" for you; I feel that saying the place is called "Rokken Island" is awkward for various reasons, and if you don't think so, we'll leave it at that.

View Poll Results: Umineko - Episode 1 Rating
Perfect 10	42	15.73%
9 out of 10 : Excellent	50	18.73%
8 out of 10 : Very Good	67	25.09%
7 out of 10 : Good	57	21.35%
6 out of 10 : Average	28	10.49%
5 out of 10 : Below Average	10	3.75%
4 out of 10 : Poor	5	1.87%
3 out of 10 : Bad	6	2.25%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad	0	0%
1 out of 10 : Painful	2	0.75%
Voters: 267. You may not vote on this poll

2009-07-02, 04:19	Link #142
FlareKnight User of the "Fast Draw" Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Canada	Anyways it was a pretty rushed first episode. Guess they wanted to get right into it and not spend a couple episodes for introduction. At least the obvious was what the adults were fighting over. Still haven't gotten a great feel for all the personalities of the kids yet. Though I suppose that will come as we see them deal with whatever is coming. Not a great first episode, but will have to see how they handle the rest now that they have gotten right into things. __________________ Anime-Evo

2009-07-02, 04:20	Link #143
Shiroth Beautiful fighter. Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: England, UK Age: 37	I didn't find the first episode rushed at all. Guess a lot of people are going to think that when so many characters were introduced right from the start. Either way i'm really liking it so far. Gonna have to decide on a favorite character by next episode, and so far it looks like Jessica could be it. Oh and the ED is so 80s over the top. I love it. __________________ MyAnimeList Twitter

2009-07-02, 04:39	Link #148
TheForsaken Winter is coming Join Date: Aug 2008	If that's a name, then Rokkentou is better than Rokkenjima. It's very weird for a name to have two first characters are On'yomi and the last one is Kun'yomi. And I think Rokkenjima is just like Chiba-ken, that's Chiba Prefecture, not a place named Chibaken. __________________

2009-07-02, 04:58	Link #151
MeoTwister5 Komrades of Kitamura Kou Join Date: Jul 2004 Age: 39	It's awesome they kept the original OP in, and the ED is indeed awesome. As for the episode itself. The Bad: 1. Gah. Battler is a complete perverted doofus. Well... a wee bit more than he was in the game anyway but it felt a bit over the top to an extent. Maybe it's more linked to the nature of Daisuke Ono's voice, but here's to hoping it isn't because they radically changed is character for the anime. 2. Yes there is indeed a LOT of things missing, but thankfully at least for the plot's sake they weren't detail-intensive scenes. Then again, those scenes dealt more on the familial relationships, which can still be important. The first game section really established the nature of the intrafamily relationships and it seems to be really missing here. Not too big of a deal maybe for a VN player, but it might be important for an anime viewer so it's kinda subjective. The adult's discussion did come off a bit compressed though. Here's to hoping they delve into that more later. 3. Minor issue with the character designs. The women are... a bit top heavy, especially Jess and Shannon. Well the original art does lean on that a bit, but for Jessica and Shannon it's bit exaggerated. Kanon is a bit too bishounen and Genji looks sort of malnourished . Again character designs are a minor issue. 4. The pacing IMO isn't as bad as people say it is. Granted we lost a lot, but what we lost was mostly character interactions and relationships. Plot and detail wise most of it was there, and VN players I'm sure know that there's still a lot of time for that, so I can easily forgive the pacing for this episode. I was actually expecting them to cut out most of Battler's monologues but they didn't, which when compared to what wasn't included was a big plus. 5. If I do have one big beef with the episode, it has to be the initial characterization. Again it's kinda obvious that DEEN chose to emphasize plot over establishing the personalities of the characters, but if I hadn't played the game I'd come out with an impression that at the end, the characters would still feel like strangers to me. There really isn't anything here to establish just who each of the characters are as per their identities, but I guess it's more because we have a large cast to deal with. I really hope that they decide to establish more of the characters as the series goes. I'd really dislike if it we did't get established characters by the end of this arc. The Good: 1. "Sinister... Sinister..." I'll admit it now and I'll eat my previous comments again: Yui Horie almost has Maria down pat. That single line made me respect her voice talents a lot more. Based on her performance for the first episodes, Maria's future lines might just be epic. 2. Got to hand it to Rie Kugimiya, she laid off the helium for this. She sounds just about right for Shannon's reserved nature. In the plus side, hearing her voice a character who actually need to wear a bra is a big plus. 3. Using the same exact painting of Beatrice for the anime is awesome. Heck the first time the anime showed it I knew immediately it was the same exact painting from the VN. 4. They got Kinzo's madness spot on. I'm with Klashikari on this one though, Kinzo in the game did have some charisma in the game as is obvious with the servants, but it's not really present right now, but of course it's still early in the story. __________________ Medical Student vs. Anime Last Exile - Fam the Silver Wing -

2009-07-02, 04:15	Link #141
k//eternal do you know ベアトリーチェ様? Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 35	I felt like it's less an issue of "they didn't show X or Y" than the fact that (even though I knew what was going on) it felt like a bunch of random scenes haphazardly stuck together. I was honestly quite worried that the first-time viewers would be turned off by this, but apparently it's been less of a problem than expected. I think it's a worthwhile sacrifice, but I wouldn't give this ep high marks because it just felt sloppy.

2009-07-02, 04:23	Link #144
aroduc Ruiner of Things Join Date: Dec 2005	You guys do know that 島 means 'island,' right?

2009-07-02, 04:30	Link #146
k//eternal do you know ベアトリーチェ様? Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 35	If that's a valid pronunciation, then apparently it's unintuitive enough that they didn't, yeah. But really, "Rokken Island" is like calling Beijing "Bei Capital". Yeah, it means "capital" and it's the capital, but nobody does that.

2009-07-02, 05:13	Link #156
Kyral OC Belka Scriptor Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Germany Age: 40	Definitly a pretty good start. While they skipped some parts I really like to see animated it was not that bad. Was also nice to hear zts' 'witch in gold' (well an arrange of it) as bgm. __________________

2009-07-02, 05:57	Link #160
k//eternal do you know ベアトリーチェ様? Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 35	Like I said, I think it's better that we just agree to disagree on this one; it's not such a big deal that it's worth cluttering the thread with an argument over. I can't produce "proof" for you; I feel that saying the place is called "Rokken Island" is awkward for various reasons, and if you don't think so, we'll leave it at that.