(CR) Kiddy Girl-And (Kiddy Grade 2)

[cyth]

Ah, fiddlesticks. That's what I get for still not finishing the first series. Anyway, she looks like Eclair.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Toua

Ah, fiddlesticks. That's what I get for still not finishing the first series. Anyway, she looks like Eclair.

Can't blame you. The fact that the main characters in KG 1 (or at least, Eclair) seemed to be in the dark about her... background, actually caused the problem of making her character development stall. Gonzo decided not to let us know more about her because she isn't suppose to know either, which makes empathy from the audience next to impossible.
(It is even worse for Lumiere.... I am not sure she even classifies as a main character so much as a deux ex machina for the last episode, what with her knowing everything yet mentioned nothing to her partner the entire season. Thus she was a walking question mark.)

Personally, I will be watching KG 2 because now that the "Big Secret" is suppose to be out, Gonzo can get rid of those excessive mystery veils and shows us more about the private lives of the GOTT members. I am particularly excited about the fact that all the minor characters will return, because I was dying to know more about them in KG 1 but was disappointed in the end.

I am hoping there would at least be one or two episodes dedicated to something other than fighting bad-guys, though a hot-springs trip is probably too much to ask? Sympathy and empathy is essential; we need to relate in some way to the characters as people.

KG 1 episodes 9 and 10 were great. Now let us hope Gonzo can extend that kind of quality storytelling over the entire series of KG 2.

[Woland]

Gonzo?!
Last time I've checked (and it's what I can read on ANN now) was Asread in charge for the animation (and Kodakawa for the production).

The main staff is still the same (Gotoh & Co) however

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by [Woland]

Gonzo?!
Last time I've checked (and it's what I can read on ANN now) was Asread in charge for the animation (and Kodakawa for the production).

The main staff it's still the same (Gotoh & Co) however

I stand corrected.

...Though it is unusual isn't it? Changing teams between seasons isn't unheard of, but usually happens to series that were adaptations. Gonzo had helped creating KG from scratch, so no wonder I can't get around my head that the team might change 2nd time around.

Oh well, let's hope the animation quality doesn't suffer for it. Gonzo's script doesn't always work, but their animation quality could generally be relied upon (except for the reverse happening for Speed Grapher. ).

We will see.

EDIT:
By the way, it will be interested to see how the GOTT's very nature affect the plot this time around. It is, in essence, an intergalactic militant wing of the world-trade organisation. Their goal had been securing commercial interests of the relevant parties and nations, not fighting justice.

Besides stopping smugglers, mad people wanting to blow up planets, and arms dealers, the ES members were also suppose to assist in the morally ambiguous things like crushing worker rebellions.

Spoiler:

What made episode 10 of KG 1 good, was showing GOTT commanding Eclair to use her lethal force against a group of peasants who just want to be free from slavery. Eclair snapped and turned on the local army instead, assisting in the rebellion.

Assuming K-G 2 is a sequel, then a young boy in the episode mentioned above should now be a big sponsor of GOTT. Hopefully that means ES members don't need to spend too much of their time fighting each other in KG 2.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

Personally, I will be watching KG 2 because now that the "Big Secret" is suppose to be out, Gonzo can get rid of those excessive mystery veils and shows us more about the private lives of the GOTT members. I am particularly excited about the fact that all the minor characters will return, because I was dying to know more about them in KG 1 but was disappointed in the end.

I really want to see more of the loli and the her lolicon and the blood related sister/brother couple

[mangatron]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

I really want to see more of the loli and the her lolicon and the blood related sister/brother couple

Hey Jello, you crazy bastage I knew you'd say something like this. I go absent like 2 weeks and you didn't change. Good. lol.

Kiddy Grade Fumoffu. Ah, sounds good. If only

I want to see Eclair wear a OL(Office Lady) getup more often complete with stockings

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by mangatron

Hey Jello, you crazy bastage I knew you'd say something like this. I go absent like 2 weeks and you didn't change. Good. lol.

Kiddy Grade Fumoffu. Ah, sounds good. If only

I want to see Eclair wear a OL(Office Lady) getup more often complete with stockings

Lolitron, like you weren't looking forward to the Loli/Lolicon couple and the Blood-related brother/sister couple

[mangatron]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

Lolitron, like you weren't looking forward to the Loli/Lolicon couple and the Blood-related brother/sister couple

The hell lol that sibling relationship annoyed me a little, the way the niichan was always like a lugnut dumkopf in the eye's of his voluptous sis

That, and....I had to stop imagining Tweedledee in other outfits....she is cute

You'll never sway me aside!

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Kalissa

The term bully was probably a little off-target. However, I would consider Kaioshin's comments pretty pessimistic considering the largely positive speculation surrounding KG2. I for one am looking forward to it, though like a lot of people, I left the series hanging about half way through and only picked it up again when I heard the news about the second series and movies.

I have to disagree with your views of Chihara Minori though. Given that her voicing Aya from Tenjho Tenge was not exactly the hottest thing I had ever heard, her more recent role as Nagato Yuki from Suzumiya Haruhi was great. It was a little monotonous, but it fit her character wonderfully, and I find it hard to believe that most people would dislike and even cringe at her work in more recent years. I would not have swapped her voice with anyone else's, because that's the way Yuki's sounds, in my opinion. The "tomato tomato" sound metaphor hardly works online, but it's something along those lines. Those cold emotionless voices works for some people and not for others.

Classic example would be Ayanami Rei from Evangelion of course. Some people go "How the hell could you go moe over her!?" and others are absolutely hot for her.

Meh, what sealed it for me though was Chihara Minori's character song Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite from the Suzumiya Haruhi CD's. One of the best character songs I've heard. So I'd say from her recent work, I won't be skipping the OP.

Just back on-topic, I am curious as to what this series will focus on. I'm sure there's something good in the thousands of systems they have to work with in the universe, but it's just so hard to guess. I'm hoping they'll explain how ES members actually join in the first place, but if they follow the same MO as KG1, there probably won't be much explaining.

I'm actually quite excited we have new main characters. Not that I'm tired of Eclair and Lumiere, I'm still looking forward to their appearances in KG2, but the concept of starting from the beginning is interesting.

My theory on her success in Haruhi with Yuki was that doing a monotonous and emotionless character would allow her to eliminate what I perceive to be her inability to emote in her roles. She's absolutely perfect for those types of roles because where other's might mess up and accidentely convey emotion, Minori sure as hell won't.

And now Vallen Chaos get's all upset and tries to poke holes in my theory and.....GO! I don't intend on budging though, but I am quite happy that Minori is only doing the opening as far as I know.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

And now Vallen Chaos get's all upset and tries to poke holes in my theory and.....GO! I don't intend on budging though, but I am quite happy that Minori is only doing the opening as far as I know.

I was poking holes in your theory?

To be honest, I wasn't paying attention to have read what your theories are.

EDIT: or do you mean it in the future-tense?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

I was poking holes in your theory?

To be honest, I wasn't paying attention to have read what your theories are.

EDIT: or do you mean it in the future-tense?

Future Tense.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Future Tense.

Nah. Critiquing voice acting, for better or worse, isn't my area of interest.

[Dreaming of Kalissa]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

My theory on her success in Haruhi with Yuki was that doing a monotonous and emotionless character would allow her to eliminate what I perceive to be her inability to emote in her roles. She's absolutely perfect for those types of roles because where other's might mess up and accidentely convey emotion, Minori sure as hell won't.

There seems to be a bit of a loophole in that theory. Which characters do people criticize Minori's voice-acting as being poorly emoted?

Originally Posted by mangatron

That, and....I had to stop imagining Tweedledee in other outfits....she is cute

o_O

Examples?

Just another thought, I wonder if Un-ou and A-ou have their "final confrontation" with Eclair and Lumiere in KG2. It probably won't be great though unless they include the full backstory behind their past association.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Kalissa

There seems to be a bit of a loophole in that theory. Which characters do people criticize Minori's voice-acting as being poorly emoted?



o_O

Examples?

Just another thought, I wonder if Un-ou and A-ou have their "final confrontation" with Eclair and Lumiere in KG2. It probably won't be great though unless they include the full backstory behind their past association.

Well her Toa in the Dragonaut trailer sounds detached from the scene and I felt Aya Natsume was a very poor showing for Tenjho Tenge (which actually had some good legends in Shuuchi Ikeda and Kazuki Yao) and stoody out like a sore thumb in the show.

Neither voice seems to truly fit the character and neither was convincing, but to focus on Aya Natsume, the laugh in the one episode of Tenjho Tenge was one of those rare moments where it was just an absolute "What The Hell?!" for me. Very unconvincing laughter that is meant to torment the person, but just sounds detached from the whole scene. Basically Aya beats some guy and then is supposed to be laughing in a way meant to humiliate the guy, he's questioning what the laughter conveys and I thought "You know buddy, as much as your think too hard about the laugh, I can almost sympathize". Okay so picture the Lelouche laugh when he steals the Gawain in the one episode and how out of sync it seems and double Jun Fukuyama's inability to sell the scene (Strangely he gets the evil laugh perfect in episode 23) and you've got this scene pretty down pat.

I should mention that I think she's had one decent role though and I REALLY mean just decent in Ikkitousen Dragon Destiny, where she actually emotes. The characters voice (Zhang Fei) is very annoying in an almost female Sugita Tomokazu way (that's the only way I can describe it), but at least she seems to be trying as Zhang Fei. Still it unfortunately doesn't work and is easily the weakest role I've seen in the show though. If she's ever going to make any outstanding impression, (and Ikkitousen doesn't count because even what I feel is her best role is still one of that shows worst for me) on me though it's going to take a lot of work. Really though I wonder why the studios even bother trying to help her improve by giving her roles, when somebody else can probably do her job so much better. I'm not sure if she works cheap or if the lucky break by being cast in Haruhi has somehow inflated her reputation and is a leader for viewers or what, but I can't wrap my mind around why anybody would use her in anything other than a singing capacity. She's actually not a bad singer.

At first I thought they had cast her and I though "Oh Boy", but they've probably made a wise decision. People will buy the single because they'll go "Hey, Yuki Nagato, I have some money on me, why not buy it", but she won't be in the actual show. There's also a possibility that they are trying to pull in the Haruhi cast, which is like the holy grail of casting these days if you can get one or more people who were involved. Aya Hirano was already in Kiddy Grade, so they snatched up Minori to appear in some capacity and bang, you've got yourself a talking point for the show now.

[Dreaming of Kalissa]

That scene in Tenjho Tenge definitely weirded me out a little, and like I mentioned before, I don't think she really voiced Aya the way I thought she would. I actually got the first ep of Tenjho Tenge in English on a demo cd, and thought I'd get it in Jap, because it usually sounds better. It was true for all of the characters, except Aya, who I thought sounded better in the English version.

So her record so far is not perfect, but not terrible either, which may or may not be because of the roles she's been selected for, and possibly could be just the way she interprets her characters. I'll probably be looking at some other series that she's casted in and see. For the time being though, at least it won't be agony to listen through the OP.

[Woland]

Originally Posted by Vallen Chaos Valiant

I stand corrected.

...Though it is unusual isn't it? Changing teams between seasons isn't unheard of, but usually happens to series that were adaptations. Gonzo had helped creating KG from scratch, so no wonder I can't get around my head that the team might change 2nd time around.

Oh well, let's hope the animation quality doesn't suffer for it. Gonzo's script doesn't always work, but their animation quality could generally be relied upon (except for the reverse happening for Speed Grapher. ).

We will see.

It's unusual but nothing new, and it's not necessarily a bad thing (look at FMP for example, another Kadokawa brand). Gonzo, indeed, helped actively in KG1 creation but mostly because it's a Gotoh and Kimura (and others people that work together since then) creation for the most part... And they don't work at Gonzo since... well the end of KG1 (maybe were pissed of something? ).
The right people are still here, so it doesn't matter who will animate the series as long as is competent.
Uta-Kata was animated by Hal and was near flawless but the same studio was in charge for Aria or Kaleidostar, series with more than one problem in animation's consistence (at least in aired version, I cant speak for DVD release).
And at Gonzo, for my personal experience, tend to have problem in quality department for most of their series, after just a couple of episode (Speed Grapher was one of the most dramatic case but it's not for the drop of quality that I couldn't pass the 3-4 episode ). KG1 was, well, exceptional for the animation, and unusual for the 2d mechanic (rare thing for Gonzo)... not to mention I'm a big fan of Gotoh design (now Kanodosono, but his/her style is a way too similar to Gotoh one) since Nadesico (especially Prince of Darkness). To bad the anime itself is not that great thing, but the potential is good (character, back story and background) and that's why I'm so waiting the new KG2.

(too bad Gigantic Formula make me doubt about these people )

[Shiroi Hane]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin_Sama

Well if her singing is anywhere near as atrocious as her voice acting and I decide to watch this, I'll be exercising my power to skip this opening. If she's a major part of the cast its a severe blow to the chances of me watching this as her range seems to go from boring-uninterested to cute-uninterested

Someone on the staff heard her song and picked it for the pilot DVD, nothing more.

Originally Posted by Toua

In the pilot movie, I think I spotted a child-like Eclair at around 0:18, so this could as well be before K.G-1's time. I'm not 100% sure it was her, or that the footage was meant in that context, but... could be.

"chibi Eclair" is from the Kiddy Grade Pr. "pre-story" novels. She does feature in the original series in a flashback, but since the flashback is from her viewpoint (the scene where she is splashing water at Bran) you don't actually see her except in one of the Episode 10 eyecatches. This was around Star Century 0318-0319, 10 years before the start of the TV series.

Originally Posted by [Woland]

I'm a big fan of Gotoh design (now Kanodosono, but his/her style is a way too similar to Gotoh one) since Nadesico (especially Prince of Darkness). To bad the anime itself is not that great thing, but the potential is good (character, back story and background) and that's why I'm so waiting the new KG2.

(too bad Gigantic Formula make me doubt about these people )

Megumi Kadonosono is female, and according to some also Gotoh's wife.
Gigantic Formula has another character designer who worked on the designs after Megumi, if you want to see what her designs are really like then watch the ED animation.

[ZODDGUTS]

I guess I'll watch this series. The first series was alright but I wouldn't call it great hated the last arc as well. I especially didn't like how

Spoiler for spoiler:

Characters can be brought back to life by switching bodies after death. I guess I'm one of those people that prefers characters that are dead should stay dead.

[Woland]

Originally Posted by Shiroi Hane

Gigantic Formula has another character designer who worked on the designs after Megumi, if you want to see what her designs are really like then watch the ED animation.

Yes, I know this much (took me about... 1 sec. to figure the character designer for ed sequence ). And My complain for GF is not due to technical issues (except, maybe, the insect/alien looking children) but for the subject as a whole... but it's OT, and just a little concern of mine.

[octoberasian]

If anyone's curious, a DVD Pilot for Kiddy Grade II has been released, and I just finished watching the RAW. Those wondering if animation quality suffered when it switched from GONZO to Asread (if I read ANN right), I can assure you that it hasn't suffered and there is barely any difference between the two. The art style is still the same, so you can recognize a lot of the old characters. Thank goodness!

Spoiler time!

Spoiler:

Spoiler for Lotsa Spoilers if you haven't watched this yet:

- It shows glimpses what may be Episode 1, and Eclaire and Lumiere in their new bodies are undertaking a mission when something goes horribly wrong.

- Eclaire sacrifices herself, apparently, to save GOTT. (I presume this is GOTT, it's been a long time since I watched the first season, so I may have to refresh myself.)

- Eclaire gets reborn as a child and Lumiere has an adult/older teenage body as shown in a brief scene near the beginning of the DVD Pilot.

- It looks as if a lot of the old characters make a return.

- YES, it is a sequel!

- It shows the new two main characters', Kufiyu's and Asukuru's, abilities. One is chocolates, and I'm still trying to figure out the other one. It looks to me something to do with combs, but I'm not sure, have to rewatch it again. XD

- There are also another set of twins making their appearance, apparently as villains.

- The ending song is actually really good, which might be the opening to KG2. The title is called "Pure White" (純白サンクチュアリィ) if I translated the song title correctly. And, it looks like a lot of the music and art style will be retained.

- Lastly, will this be subbed, the DVD Pilot that is? XD I know there isn't much dialog, but it would be nice. ^^;; *crosses fingers*

Now, to wait for Second Season to start. >_<;;;

*waits patiently*

EDIT:
Checking the Kiddy Grade Official Website, I just realized there's apparently 3 movies relating to the first season (??) called:
- IGNITION (4/7/2007)
- Maelstrom (6/23/2007)
- Truth Dawn (9/1/2007)

My Japanese is rather terrible, so I don't know if these are just the first season truncated/re-told into 3 movies or they are a storyline filler between First and Second Season. >_<;