(L) Devil Survivor 2 - Anime-Only Discussion (no game comparisons or spoilers)

[shmaster]

You mean the hacking? He never went as far as disabling the barrier though. Nor he ever tries to purposely invites a Septentrion into a certain area.

[tsunade666]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

It's not like the episode was devoid of qualities that can be enjoyed: Merak certainly looked more impressive and devastating than ever, for example. However, in terms of faithfulness as an adaptation, this anime is anything but that.

This I agree.

One of the good things about the anime is the battles are great and I expect nothing but the best on the next battles with Septentrion.

But really... Hibiki is turning into Shinji and I don't like it. His being pushed around and he just follows his feelings. In the game. The MC in the game isn't rushed at making decisions. (there are choices) But given, he shows more level headed than the one in the anime which is pure emotions. He is letting his emotions clouded his judgement but I can't blame him if he is seeing others dying in front of him and him being left as the rear guard but really... Yamato is a screwed person and Ronaldo is like Ronald Weasly that I like to bashed again and again. And Daichi being useless -_-

[novalysis]

I'm actually enjoying this - though, I'm treating this as a "As an Apocalypse unfolds" anime. Though Hibiki right now feels more like a Shounen hero, if anything else.

[shmaster]

That belongs to Yamato according to his profile back on ep.2

[The Bloodlust Kid]

Next episode = Possible chance for light-hearted scenes?

Spoiler for Next episode:

Io, this is a solo sneaking mission, your objective is to sneak behind enemy lines, retrieve Daichi and stop Metal Gear. All equipment is procure on-site.

[Kirarakim]

I have mixed feelings about defending this series because I think it's pretty meh overall.

But I do think they are actually making Hibiki and Daichi flawed for reasons.

Daichi is weak and can't do much but that has got to start bothering him. I think he will play a pivotal role in the future to save the day.

As for Hibiki, he's been putting the entire burden on himself and not relying on anyone, because of this bad stuff has happened. So I think the point of his character in this version is to be really strong but that doesn't mean you can do everyone. If he doesn't rely on others he will ultimately fail.

[jeroz]

I have no trouble with them making Hibiki initially flawed, only if it's a 2cour show.

Spoiler for P4A spoiler for comparison:

The way they established the change and growth of Narukami from an unsecure person to a charismatic leader is fantastic. Imagine if Hibiki sheds off his confidence issue alongside Daichi and becomes a great tactician like how he displayed in the previous episode, then it would be great. However, with only 13 episodes they don't have the time to do it.

I do agree though that this story is channeling Eva too much than actually trying to be its own.

[Gundamx]

about ds games...
the problem with game with many choice is that you can have smart MC, idiot MC and sometime even pervert MC...
+
Daichi really need to buy more demon from AH...

[Kirarakim]

I don't know I don't really notice much Eva in the story or Shinji in Hibiki at all.

I am not saying the series will be able to pull off the character development but that has nothing to do with it being 1 or 2 cours. Plenty of series have developed their characters in 1 cour.

[Dengar]

People see Eva references in one place, they start seeing Eva references everywhere. Likening Hibiki to Shinji is something that people seem to do automatically without thinking.


Nobody has been talking about the fact that Io called Hibiki "Hibiki-kun" in this epsiode.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

I don't know I don't really notice much Eva in the story or Shinji in Hibiki at all.

Apparently "huge otherworldy monster thing attacking a city" = Eva.

[Libros]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Apparently "huge otherworldy monster thing attacking a city" = Eva.

When I read that, Godzilla comes to mind.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Apparently "huge otherworldy monster thing attacking a city" = Eva.

Well, since the first episode, I consider this series as "Digimon goes EMO dark" .

[GoldenLand]

I did feel a bit as if the Summoners were Eva units and Merak was an Angel. Hibiki is very much not Shinji, though.

This ep was...hmm...On one level it was entertaining. Io finally got to do something, Merak was amusingly Eva-esque, the Anguished One had a stylish scene with Hibiki, and Ronaldo got introduced. It was interesting having all those many Summoners in the battle, although it was a pity that so many died. What a huge-scale fight! I did like the fact that Hibiki chose to go against orders and join the battle early.

So far, Hinako = best character. Lovely voice acting, and she gets to be the voice of reason. I'm glad she didn't get killed off.

I did not like Hibiki's angst and the way he lost his head. Hibiki on the whole is disappointing me a lot. There could be an acceptable conclusion to this if the story proceeds to have him continue with his "Much as I say that I want to run away I'm heroically committed to saving everyone singlehandedly with my Awesome Power" character flaw but he eventually learns teamwork and the importance of relying on his friends. Even if they do that it still seems a bit contrived. Or rather, I wish they'd focused on some other aspect. You can have a perfectly good series where people do not have to be hit over the head with blunt plot instruments in order to learn that Teamwork is Good. It feels as if this unsubtle, bland sort of character flaw is just the writing team's way of being lazy.

Daichi was interesting. I liked that he was on the medical team, although it seems odd that he was the only one to survive. I do see the problem with him having such weak demons compared to everyone else, but they are rather cute. Obariyon holding a bag for him in the background was a nice touch. It looks from the preview as if his demons will get some action next ep; maybe they'll level up? Daichi did seem interested in the demon auctions in a previous ep, so maybe he'll eventually surprise us by working hard and getting better demons, now that he knows his are too weak.

I'm in two minds about Io. She got a cool Kikuri-Hime this ep, and I did like that she got to stand and fight - that was refreshing given the story so far, although it does make me wonder why she didn't use Kikuri before if she already had her - but...

Spoiler for game comparison, not spoilery:

like most of the characters she's really lacking depth in the adaptation. I feel as if they could have done more with her. She's one of my favourites in the game - the other being the Anguished One - so I would really like to see more effort being put into showing Io's character. Because she's not a talkative character, I think it means they need to try harder with her than they have so far. Perhaps the choice of voice actress just isn't working for me.

The dark atmosphere would benefit a lot from being broken up in some way, even a small way. A good dark atmosphere is a wonderful thing, but it can be more effective sometimes if it has something to contrast against, and in the case of this series, it seems that characterisation is suffering badly from the way the story is being handled.

Although the scene with Alcor [mod edit: removed spoiler] was rather good in some ways, it was also a real head-banger in that Alcor said "Why, amongst people who do nothing, do you choose to act?"...Um, Alcor. Are you an idiot? A LOT of people are obviously trying to act. JPs, Io, Daichi, Hinako, basically every person we saw in this episode were all doing their best. At least Hibiki essentially answered (albeit in an angsty way) that it was because he had this really strong demon.

I'm looking forward to the next ep, since Jungo, Airi and Joe are there. This ep was overall towards the disappointing end of the scale, but maybe the next one will be better.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by GoldenLand

although it does make me wonder why she didn't use Kikuri before if she already had her - but...

She didn't already have her from the beginning. Didn't you see the part where she was downloading her?

Originally Posted by GoldenLand

it was also a real head-banger in that Alcor said "Why, amongst people who do nothing, do you choose to act?"...Um, Alcor. Are you an idiot? A LOT of people are obviously trying to act. JPs, Io, Daichi, Hinako, basically every person we saw in this episode were all doing their best. At least Hibiki essentially answered (albeit in an angsty way) that it was because he had this really strong demon.

While I don't completely disagree on the headbanger part, I don't think Alcor is an idiot, more like the writers (or translators, not sure) worded the question wrongly. I think he was referring to his rather unhealthy obsession with saving everyone that no one else seems to exhibit. Of course this is just my way of interpreting things, and it WAS worded pretty weirdly.

Everything else you said is pretty good though.

[ookamigirl]

There's nothing like a tragedy to make them fully aware of danger.
This time things got really serious.
The enemy was huge and practically unbeatable.
Hibiki may have overestimated his abilities...
Action filled episode with some intense moments.

[GoldenLand]

Originally Posted by Dengar

She didn't already have her from the beginning. Didn't you see the part where she was downloading her?

Well, that's good! It would have been strange and a terrible character decision for her to have had Kikuri-Hime in the previous ep and yet not used her.

[Kanon]

Since when did this thread become a spoiler-free zone? If you want to talk about the major changes the anime made, do it in the game thread. Or at least label your tags properly. Damn you for spoiling me about Ronaldo.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Since when did this thread become a spoiler-free zone? If you want to talk about the major changes the anime made, do it in the game thread. Or at least label your tags properly. Damn you for spoiling me about Ronaldo.

Ronaldo is one thing, a kind person a few pages earlier spoiled me about Sakurai Takahiro's character so there goes one of the big revelations, I guess. :/

[Kirarakim]

I am already starting to avoid certain posters posts because of spoilers.

Unless it happened already in the anime it should not be talked about in this thread.

I don't need to know what Ronaldo or Sakurai's character is like in the game because their personalities have not been fully revealed in the anime yet.