(L) Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica

[NeoSam]

Originally Posted by houkoholic

I've read the first novel, it's not that bad, the agency thing is a bit goofy but it's no Scooby-Doo either so it's not really a problem.

Since the anime is based on the light novels, can you give us some info about the first one that you read ?

Hmm has there been any changes between the relatioships of the characters ? I mean is there any progress between the male lead and one of the female characters ? or is it an all fight and no romance at all type of light novel ?

I so want to play the game, but I'm so busy lately

[houkoholic]

The first novel feels more like a built up than anything to be honest (there're currently 4 novels in the Crimson series) and is to setup the world view of Polyphonica.

A bit of spoilers here:

Spoiler:

Basically it deals with Folon (the male lead) getting his first contract work as a worker in the agency and how it lead to him and the agency tangled in a much bigger conspiracy about an underground group of Dantists whom had apparently learnt one of the original musical score of Dante - the very first human who gained the ability to summon and control Spirits via music, though his music and abilities hints at being much more powerful, and this group's secret plot with something bigger.

There wasn't much romance in the first novel, but from the short description of the second novel it looks like the second novel deals heavily with romance as it's a case related to a human falling in love with a Spirit, thus directly reflecting the situation between Folon (male lead), Kody (Folon's Spirit), and Peru (the blond haired girl).

I'd assume the anime will cover more than the first novel and most definitely will take bits from the others as there doesn't seem to be enough material from the first novel alone to write a 13 episode series.

[Owaranai Destiny]

Just a question: How did you come by the novels? I've got a feeling they are going to take a pretty short time of about half a year or double that to reach my country , so I just had to ask.

[the.Merines]

If houkoholic's location is correct... It shouldn't be too hard to find them in Tokyo.

[houkoholic]

What the.Merines said, I live in Tokyo.

Picked the novel up at the bookstores.

[Owaranai Destiny]

^Whee....*Is now "contented" to wait out a possible year*

Thanks anyway. Your insight about the anime's timeline according to the novels helped.

[MeganeShounen]

Spoiler for Polyphonica's visual novel OP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28hyjQhUvas

Rather nice song with it, but I'm more interested in the novel and plot itself. It does show some relation between Folon, Cortikarte and Perseti, and some of the other characters...

Still, can't wait until the next season comes.

[Shadow Angel]

Just saw some screens and I most say the art for this anime looks really nice

[eggplant]

Saw episode 1.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

Normally, I won't stay up until 4:15AM to watch anime, but I believe a new title warrants an exception (Kaze no Stigma is another title that airs in the wee hours).

Hm, maybe I should've just hit the sack, as it would've been better for my physical and mental state. Had high expectations for the show, as it is based on a kinetic novel by Visual Art's. Too bad the anime version isn't kinetic.

Make that on the account of the poor artwork (I really wished they did it the way it's portrayed in the ending sequence). If the story atoned for its shortcomings, it would be understandable. Episode 1 does little to explain the background of the Seirei, Shinkyoku, and Dantist, where viewers unfamiliar with the novels or game will be left out in the dark, only to see a comical and uninspiring transformation sequence take place.

There are some virtues to this show, however.
Newcomer Tomatsu Haruka does a good job of voicing the tsundere Corticarte, and I'm happy that Kamiya Hiroshi (Tatara) has fully recovered from his serious injury. The seiyuu lineup for the backing characters is solid, comprised of an all star cast.

It's always nice to listen to Eufonius and Shimotsuki Haruka (Kukui) songs (BTW, Eufonius' Riya used to be partners with Kukui's myu when they performed as refio).

I certainly hope the subsequent episodes will delve into the characters and the plot.

[Crystal_Method]

I definitely was expecting a lot more from this show, especially in the character designs. Is it me or does the worst character design seem to be the female lead. From the promotional art, I was thinking that she would be the best looking character. Idk maybe it's the hair thats throwing me off.

[aroduc]

Yeah, this episode wasn't stellar. It was pretty relaxing, though the art did morph around quite a bit. I did love the OP though, but I'm a sucker for Eufonis. I'll upload it once youTube finishes maintenance. I admit to laughing when the motorcycle morphed into an organ.

Caps and the like.
http://www.seiha.org/blog/?p=34

Alt

[houkoholic]

Originally Posted by eggplant

Had high expectations for the show, as it is based on a kinetic novel by Visual Art's.

Polyphonica is not by Visual Art. It's by ocelot.

Episode 1 does little to explain the background of the Seirei, Shinkyoku, and Dantist, where viewers unfamiliar with the novels or game will be left out in the dark.

Neither the novel or the games did that, they all started with a similiar "wtf" premise. It's not an uncommon story telling technique to throw you a bunch of terms and unknowns to "hook" the viewer with more action in the first episode and then explain the world behind it later, which is the case here. The only problem is that the action has to be engaging, which is not the case with the anime due to the generic-ness of the direction and the mostly sub-par art.

[eggplant]

Originally Posted by houkoholic

Polyphonica is not by Visual Art. It's by ocelot.

Ah, thanks for the correction. I never was able to discern Visual Art's and their partner brands, including Key.

[aroduc]

The OP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5906C2vEFU

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by aroduc

The OP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5906C2vEFU

For some reason it reminds me of one of those family values shows from the early 90's like Family Matters, Cosby Show or Step By Step etc. Does the animation really not look like this in the show like I've heard others say, is it a whole lot weaker or just the usual bizarre set of frames for a couple of sequences.

[the.Merines]

No, the animation in the OP matches the actual episode. I think a lot of people expected to see character designs that looked as excellent as the game's did (including me), which isn't the case. They do look a bit better than the crappy character sketches on the official site, though.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by the.Merines

No, the animation in the OP matches the actual episode. I think a lot of people expected to see character designs that looked as excellent as the game's did (including me), which isn't the case. They do look a bit better than the crappy character sketches on the official site, though.

Can't happen. Okay imagine this, an entire anime made up of Top Quality CG cuts. Seems expensive, probably is. Now consider this as well, do still idealic shots of characters seen in profile in a game work well in an animated series when seen in full motion. I would argue not always. As long as the characters never end up looking like they do in the transition phase we see on websites (Super Robot Wars Divine Wars as unfortunate and heartbreaking as it is for me to say it is the perfect example) I'm always satisfied.

I seriously think people need to stop expecting the characters to always look as stunning as Top quality CG in the game. The reason that those shots are able to look so good as that the artist painstakingly draw the still Top quality CG shots for a character knowing he only needs to work on about 300 or so plus high quality 700 character sprites.

Anime is literally thousands of frames an episode so it would take an entire team of animators many months working in perfect coordination to get things to match the flawless CG we often see in games and it would cost so much that profits would either be minimal or in red ink (meaning deficit).

If anyone wants to raise a "but Kyoto Animation can" argument I'll tell you this, the things they have adapted often used a minimalist art style or are light novels with only a few black and white still shot of characters. By comparison their stuff will always look heads and shoulders above the source material creating a distorted perspective between their adapted stuff and a lot of other companies attempts at stuff like Prism Ark. I'm not saying that there stuff looks anything but spectactular, but they have it easy and its creating unreasonable expectations for companies that work on stuff that isn't minimalistic the way Kanon and Air are.

[rg4619]

Polyphonica is not by Visual Art. It's by ocelot.

That's kind of unclear though.

Some brands, such as PLAYM are independent. Their company is technically autonomous, but they distribute their work through Visual Art's. Other brands, including Key, are in-house development teams within one office, and their core employees belong under Visual Art's. They may identify themselves by unique names, but they're still making games on behalf of their employer. You can compare this to how Interplay established separate brands for different divisions (Black Isle Studios, Digital Mayhem, 14 Degrees East, etc.).

In that sense, if we're classifying by company:

Realize = developed/published by PLAYM, exclusively distributed by Visual Art's
Kanon = developed/published/distributed by Visual Art's under the Key brand

I'm not sure what category ocelot falls under. However, it was a new brand established when Visual Art's launched the Polyphonica project, so I'd bet it's the latter.

[Honey_and_Cleaver]

Animation looks alright to me. The lines are formulated very well,eyes and hair are matching to the original and the ED.

I didint look foward to super animation since it isnt an OVA and not made my GONZO. You cant expect the exact replica of the ED art since thats CG master piece artwork.

Characters are really cute, i like cats eye characters than eyes low eyes.

[Srin Tuar]

Well, it was watchable, but not overwhelmingly good or anything.

The first episode raised alot of questions, first of all you have to wonder what the possible relationships are between humans and spirits, because... they were on a date and she was really possesive the whole time.

Why does her age have to change when she goes into battle mode? If she stayed in toshiue mode the whole time, i think the show would have been more enjoyable. There's enough mahoushoujo, and enough age-transformation stuff out there already.

They foreshadowed the love triange aspect very hard. Blond girl is going to cause trouble.

Going to the battle side of things... it seems without that bike/sounds system they wouldnt be too effective would they. I guess if their only job was hitodasuke that wouldnt be a problem, but the first cutscene indicates battles are to be fought.

If the battle scenes don't consist of attempts to shutdown the opponents music systems, they wont be very realistic. such a soft target...