Umi Monogatari ~Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto~

[Kaioshin Sama]

I actually found this episode more interesting than the last. It picked up where it left off and built on it with both the characters and what exactly Urin released, and so what if it has magical girl elements and it's not all 100% slice of life. Thing is, I've seen so many cookie cutter slice of life shows that just don't even bother to do anything the slightest bit outside of the popular formula (You could say I find SOL just as formulaic lately as Magical Girl or any other handful of genres are capable of being), that I see this series attempt to meld a slow relaxed pace with well animated magical girl combat a magnificent breath of fresh air. Somehow it does work.

Besides, we'll still probably get to see all of those events you normally see in a modern slice of life series. They're near a beach so you can have the beach episode, they are near a shopping strip so if need be they can have that one too, there are moeish girls dominating the cast and representing all of the usual favourites (one happy go lucky, one loli, one kind of sassy), it's all still there, but with a twist. I like twists (however minor), they keep me interested. For how much longer I don't know, but I'm just grateful that this show at least for now is likely not to be tempted to fall back into the commonly popular slice of life stylings of the now.

[felix]

Well when I started picking at mahou shoujo genre part of the so called formula was that there is this random factor (lets call it "Element X" =P) in every which series, that no matter how you dice it every one of them has a different approach. I guess that also would mean the quality has always been umm "questionable" but what have you, some of them are enjoyable so I'll just take the producers of such shows are weary of "lightning won't strike the same place twice" in this hit or miss game.

[4Tran]

I can't find a whole lot to write about Umi Monogatari so far, but I was wondering that whoever put this show together must have been watching a stack of Sato Junichi shows. Then I looked at the credits .

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Besides, we'll still probably get to see all of those events you normally see in a modern slice of life series. They're near a beach so you can have the beach episode, they are near a shopping strip so if need be they can have that one too, there are moeish girls dominating the cast and representing all of the usual favourites (one happy go lucky, one loli, one kind of sassy), it's all still there, but with a twist. I like twists (however minor), they keep me interested. For how much longer I don't know, but I'm just grateful that this show at least for now is likely not to be tempted to fall back into the commonly popular slice of life stylings of the now.

Given that Umi Monogatari is a Magical Girl show, I doubt that it should be classified as a slice of life. I do share your concern about predictability, but Sato Junichi has a pretty good record of putting together some cool ideas. It helps a lot that this seems to be an anime-original show.

[felix]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

but I was wondering that whoever put this show together must have been watching a stack of Sato Junichi shows. Then I looked at the credits .

Should we be disappointed or happy?

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

I can't find a whole lot to write about Umi Monogatari so far, but I was wondering that whoever put this show together must have been watching a stack of Sato Junichi shows. Then I looked at the credits .

Yeah i went into the first episode without the information. It's so obvious that he's behind this.

I still love the fact that this show is based of a Pachinko game. Looking at the site , and the only thing they have in common are a few similar character designs. The way i see it, this adaptation is Sato Junichi's creation.

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Cats

Should we be disappointed or happy?

Happy for sure . While Sato Junichi tends to reuse a lot of motifs, his works tend to be extremely good when he's on. So far, it's hard to say where Umi Monogatari will fit in, but there's a decent chance that he's on with this show given how strongly it adheres to his distinctive style.

[felix]

Right, well I won't hold my breath. Given the huge amount of good series for what is the Summer season I can just see karma biting us in the ass.

But anyway thanks, its good to hear its in capable hands.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

I can't find a whole lot to write about Umi Monogatari so far, but I was wondering that whoever put this show together must have been watching a stack of Sato Junichi shows. Then I looked at the credits .


Given that Umi Monogatari is a Magical Girl show, I doubt that it should be classified as a slice of life. I do share your concern about predictability, but Sato Junichi has a pretty good record of putting together some cool ideas. It helps a lot that this seems to be an anime-original show.

Hey we agree on something again. Yeah I think it's more appropriate to classify Sea Story as Magical Girl with slice of life elements rather than the other way around.

[serenade_beta]

BGM...

Spoiler for ep3:

I guess I can give up expecting the BGM to change into something more tenseful, huh...

Everything before the battle was interesting. Very entertaining... everything but the battle. The moment the battle began, it suddenly became a lot less interesting. And compared to the previous episode's fight, this week's feels horribly pointless except to just have a fight... It's a shame the quality of the fights aren't that bad itself though...

It's a shame there is probably going to be at least 1 fight every episode... If they just focus on the character interactions instead, it would be perfect...

There were so many bubbles, I couldn't see anything in the bath scene... Cursed bubbles...

[Midonin]

Spoiler for Episode 03 - Bathtime Fun:

Call it the second (or third) episode morning. Seeing Kanon's mom's almost total non-surprise at having two skimpily-dressed freeloaders and Kamen Rider Turtle staying at her place was nice, and Marin continues to have a hug that will save the world. At least this week's Monster of the Week wasn't attempting to touch Kanon in awkward places. Or at least, in less awkward places than before. Good to see Suzuki getting some more screen time, and I look forward to getting to know the rest of Kanon's friends.

And seeing a Kana Asumi character in a bath just called to mind Shaft and Hidamari. Though with less bath colors and more bubbles.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

BGM...

Spoiler for ep3:

I guess I can give up expecting the BGM to change into something more tenseful, huh...

Everything before the battle was interesting. Very entertaining... everything but the battle. The moment the battle began, it suddenly became a lot less interesting. And compared to the previous episode's fight, this week's feels horribly pointless except to just have a fight... It's a shame the quality of the fights aren't that bad itself though...

It's a shame there is probably going to be at least 1 fight every episode... If they just focus on the character interactions instead, it would be perfect...

There were so many bubbles, I couldn't see anything in the bath scene... Cursed bubbles...

Why would you want the music to change? It's nice the way it is and kind of refreshing. Can't go wrong with slow piano music. Also I say if they can keep the quality of the battles up then let em' have em'. There's no reason why something should be rejected at face value, especially if it's admittedly well done.

[germanturkey]

from the director of aria. i was caught from that line on. i still have yet to watch an ep though.. i'm hoping a more well known group will pick it up.

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Why would you want the music to change?

There's no reason why something should be rejected at face value, especially if it's admittedly well done.

Because the tension remains at 0. Not making the already bad fighting scene any better.

It is well done, but... boring/uninteresting.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

Why would you want the music to change?

Change? how can it change when its not even there.

[Fuze]

I loved the direction of the first episode even though there were no fight scene. The second episode was still fine, although a bit overwhelming in my opinion, with introducing new elements into the series. And now..

Spoiler for episode 3:

Oh, I know! Let's throw in pointless bath scene fan service! They developed Kanon a little bit but with this being a 12 episode series, it just seems like they are aiming more for sea-creature-gone-bad-of-the-week. I really hope this isn't a routine of predictability: possessed sea creature appears. Marin plays defense with her water moves until Kanon decides to help. Wise old turtle breathes fire by making funny faces. Kanon uses the said fire to put possessed sea creature into submission. Marin gives a magical hug making the said sea creature return to normal. Rinse, repeat.

I really want to like this show and I still do. I just hope it still has more to offer because it is a fun show. The animation and character design is wonderful. The atmosphere is great. I just desire more story and character development. Hopefully, we will get that in the future. But I feel like the third episode was a bit of a downer.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Cats

Change? how can it change when its not even there.

I take it you mean the music isn't your thing then? Fair enough, it's not for everyone i guess.

[felix]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

I take it you mean the music isn't your thing then? Fair enough, it's not for everyone i guess.

Well its not like I'm surprised or anything. I've come to expect this of m/s shows, for this particular series though the music is sometimes so subtle its almost not there and when it goes up in important moments and such its still almost like just some background noise.

Fair enough, its not my thing =P I like it nice and clear, not so subtle I have to focus to hear it.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by serenade_beta

Because the tension remains at 0. Not making the already bad fighting scene any better.

It is well done, but... boring/uninteresting.

A very bizarre assesment.

[Guido]

Umi Monogatari starts to impress me not only for its visual animation and characters' design, but also because the narrative storytelling focuses on a slice-of-life approach intertwining fantasy, mahou-shoujo genre.

I'll tell you that both the soundtrack and situations are not typical in contrast to other magic girls like Sailor Moon or Pretty Cure, among many others.

For example, most of the music employs soft, jazz melodies to depict the everday instances of Kanon, Marin, and Urin at both the sea and the island.

When Sedna's evil aura or minions manifest around the vicinity, the soundtrack doesn't use music or tunes that feel like the stereotypical evilness song filled of ethereal and haunting motifs.
It is a sort of a soft jazz which narrates that the girls have found themselves into a pinch.

Spoiler:

Furthermore, when the Turtle elder explained that Kanon and Marin have to transform into magical priestesses, Kannazuki no Miko came into my mind.

I think it's fairly obvious for me to say that this show implies that both Kanon and Marin will engage into a platonic relationship, which would be viewed as shoujo-ai by the more fervent otaku on this show.

I don't think it will ever feature the overly, yuri-esque motifs and atmosphere of Kannazuki no Miko, since this anime contains both fantasy and magic-girl elements.

I think a relationship between Kanon and Marin would be more akin to Misumaru Nagisa and Yukishiro Honoka from Futari Wa Pretty Cure

[zzeroparticle]

I'm mostly on board this show because of Muramatsu's compositions. Only saw the first episode so far and even then, that's not a whole lot for me to work off of, but seeing that opinions on here are pretty much mixed, I think it'll be worth it on my end to explore where on the spectrum I fall in terms of liking it.

Anyways, Muramatsu's music here is closer to sketchbook's than kure-nai's, though it brings out more of a summer-ish feel, making it entirely appropriate for the series. Stylistically, it's not a huge departure from what he's composed before, but that's not a bad thing imo.