2011-07-19, 13:05 | Link #183 | |
worshipping the pantyhose
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Manila, Philippines
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Episode 03
Well last ep I was wondering how Aki escaped. good thing they start the ep with that, although I'm left wondering what was so special about that sword.
That said, after that OP, I say they must have fit in all the facial expressions known to a girl, they spent about 5 minutes on Utao and her face Fat Utao.... lol. Ahem, oh, she went and bit on Kyohei's head. Oh bugger. Still though, interesting that they have Hibino help train Utao, of course to a disastrous conclusion. And it's great that the second half of the ep really gets the story going, way back in the beginning we hear of talk of a rift between the Hyuga and Kuga families, looks like a brawl coming up. Ah, Family Matters.... I say, those dolls have a bad flaw: everytime they show up, they give their target a warning ahead of time what with that singing. Kind of a bad choice for a sneak attack Even Kuuko got some screen time, and I'll say this: Kuuko X Aki sounds like a good start. She needs a new slave, he needs out of that village, why not? No complaints here although in ep 03, there are times Hibino looks a little scary with her big ones and pencil waist Quote:
It fits. The blonde hair, the drinking, ah I wonder if there's a hidden message to that |
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2011-07-19, 14:53 | Link #184 |
One-Eyed Dragon
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NJ, USA
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So we find out how Aki escaped. Utao was great with her thinking about cake and then her weight gain. So Kotoushiro shows up to bring in Aki, seems tough even Aki said it was a bother fighting him. One of the villagers said that Kotoushiro's family and Kyohei's family were fighting, i wonder what over. Also another small doll master shows up who tried to take out Utao, seems like they're rivals.
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2011-07-19, 15:31 | Link #185 |
Pretentious moe scholar
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 37
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Well, the events of this episode certainly leave me dying to see the next one (particularly Kuuko's actions, lol).
As to whether the episode was well done, however... what happened? Kyohei and Aki's scenes were handled well enough - the confrontation between them was great - but Utao's scenes were awful compared to those in episode 2. Episode 2 was subtle in its use of tropes for her character, but that's not the case in episode 3. The scene making fun of her clumsiness and love of cake was way too drawn out and over the top. I wouldn't say I would have liked to see it cut entirely as the "she never learns" bit with her saying she wants to go to a cake shop later in the episode was genuinely funny and I actually did like her expression when she served Suou, but it needed to be shorter and more subtle. To me, the real joy of Utao's character is watching her operate Kukuri and her (previously more moderate) interactions with her brother and Hibino, not this kind of thing.
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2011-07-19, 16:09 | Link #186 |
User of the "Fast Draw"
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The real downside was pretty much not showing the fight in the episode. I mean all we get are clashing flashes in the sky?
Well either we're going to get the classic girl changes the crazy killer thing or Aki will kill Kuuko at the start of episode 4 . Oddly I'd be more for the other one. She went and rushed into things so if she gets killed oh well. Kyohei's character should be interesting to watch. Certainly he goes between the annoying submissive guy that is trying to fit into the regular world, but then you get the flashes of the angry other side of his personality.
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2011-07-19, 16:25 | Link #187 |
Kana Hanazawa ♥
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: France
Age: 37
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I bet some people here hated/will hate the first part of the episode. Even I have to admit they tried a little too hard here, as 0utf0xZer0, those scenes were too over the top. They still did a good job making Utao look cute, but it felt forced and flowed less naturally than in the previous episodes. I guess Hibino doesn't have to worry about gaining weight, huh, we all know all the fat is concentrated only on one (two) part of her body.
Utao definitely seems to be getting better at controlling Kukuri. Catching that truck in mid-air was pretty badass. She's got her own shota rival, I take it as a sign she'll keep Kukuri. Kyohei will have to find another doll. I was slightly shocked that guy went after Aki in broad daylight. Aren't they supposed to keep the Gods a secret? The little piece of info we got about the current situation in the village was interesting. I bet the shota is a Hyuga. Not sure about the other guy though.
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2011-07-19, 16:30 | Link #188 |
Mmmm....
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Still the strange mishmash of styles between all the moe comedy (Utao likes cake! More cake! Oh no, too fat!), and action. Although when Utao summoned mecha-kyubey Kukuri to save them from the lorry that was pretty cool.
I have this theory that operating the 'dolls' can make people psychotic, and that's why Kyohei quit. Be interesting to see if Utao completely loses it later in the show. |
2011-07-19, 16:50 | Link #189 | |
Whatever
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SEA
Age: 36
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Other than that though, the story is heading somewhere interesting. Can't wait for next ep!
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2011-07-19, 17:18 | Link #190 |
Yurippe is mai waifu
Join Date: Sep 2006
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Like everyone else, I thought the Utao scene in the beginning was dragged out too much, especially when that screentime could've been used to show the fight between Aki and Koushiro.
As for the overall quality, is it just me, or did the animation quality make a huge jump from the last episode? I also like how the tone is a bit more consistent, not jumping from silly to serious in seconds like it did before.
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Last edited by Darkman.exe213; 2011-07-19 at 23:31. |
2011-07-19, 20:17 | Link #195 |
Senior Member
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Ugh. Can't say that I liked Episode 3 much.
Like 0utf0xZer0 and Kanon said, the comedy/slice of life parts early on where horribly overplayed, and became pretty tiresome to me after awhile. And keep in mind that I'm a moe fan, and I want to like Utao. Even so, I found the first half of this episode pretty tedious. In fairness, it was mostly not Utao's fault, but rather mostly how she was jerked around by other characters and the plot. And I was really disappointed in how the fighting action in this episode was largely done off-screen. This exacerbates the drawn-out first half, of course, because it's clear that some of the minutes spent on that could have been spent showcasing the Kyohei vs. Aki fight. Aki's tendency towards casual serial killing is rather disturbing. And the Village's obvious inability to handle him makes them seem somewhat complicit in his crimes, given that they're refusing to report him to the police or anything like that. I'm a little ticked off with how nobody seems to truly care about the bodies of innocent victims that Aki's piling up right now. This guy is a Joker-level threat to innocent people everywhere. I'm sorry, but at this point, he's not just an issue for some secluded little village anymore. He's a menace that needs to be dealt with, definitively, pronto. Simply telling him to "go home" after he kills three innocent people? What is up with that?! So far, this anime isn't doing a good job of balancing its slice of life/moe elements with its action/'grimdark' elements, imo. The characters aren't exactly growing on me, either. This anime may end up being a drop for me if the next episode or two doesn't show some improvement.
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2011-07-19, 20:48 | Link #196 |
Bittersweet Distractor
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 32
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The first half as other people said was a bit too draggy. Utao is cute, but playing it up like that in such forced and contrived situations isn't how to properly make use of it.
The second half was definitely a pleasure to see. I keep getting more interested in both Kyouhei and Aki. I have a feeling that the real insane on is actually Kyouhei and he murdered all those people in front of Aki in that scene. Something is clearly amiss about Kyouhei's character. I presume the real fight with Aki and that guy is going to be next episode, this is more the tune up to it. Show continues to keep my interest, even if it isn't the best out there. Can't ask for more.
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2011-07-19, 20:57 | Link #198 |
Guess what time it is?
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Age: 38
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Oh, Utao. You're cute but... How can I miss you if you won't go away?
Interesting contrast with his former self how passive Kyouhei's become. He pleads with an unrepentant serial murderer to just go away and leave him alone. So did he quit being what he was? Or was he dismissed? This episode kinda makes it sound like the latter. |
2011-07-19, 21:08 | Link #199 |
Seishu's Ace
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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I'm in line with the first half being way too forced with the loli antics, but the second half was really excellent I thought. First rate action and breakneck pacing, with great intros for the two new characters. Looks like the little one is a shota version of Utao, pretty much.
Edit: Yep, I thought that was Kobayashi Yumiko's voice as the shota.
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2011-07-19, 21:14 | Link #200 | |
Senior Member
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Don't feel like I've seen enough of the new shota to make a comment there, though.
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action, fantasy, horror, romance, seinen |
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