2011-10-20, 20:08 | Link #883 |
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Eden Hall
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Well, that was better than the first episode, at least.
I liked the music this time. The placement felt a lot better and the tracks themselves were more interesting. Not to mention the opening. Sadly, the writing continues to be lackluster and full of conveniences. Shu still somewhat rubs me the wrong way but what really pisses me off is Inori's whole submissive female thing. Stop that shit, it's annoying. Strangely enough, though, I'm having the time of my life watching it. The action is fabulous, the music is nice and I am simply addicted to crisp, clean futuristic designs. And those character designs.. oh Tsugumi. Last edited by Narzia; 2011-10-20 at 20:20. |
2011-10-20, 20:18 | Link #884 |
Guess what time it is?
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Age: 38
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Funeral Parlor's female attire is about as sexually progressive as an Andrew Dice Clay show.
OP was stunning, both in Ryo's ability to write a killer hook, and the animation. The new singer has pipes like woah, but I still find myself missing Nagi's voice. It's no Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, but still pretty epic. Kaleidoscope was pretty awesome until the execution scene. We get it; you're an evil organization. You don't have to twirl your mustache every 5 effing seconds. But aside from that melodrama, he kind of has a Dilandau Albatou vibe going on. Hope he isn't dead. Those calling this series a blockbuster totally nailed it. Don't think too hard about it, and lookit the purty colors. As long as I remember that, I think I'm gonna love this show. Last edited by ThereminVox; 2011-10-20 at 20:34. |
2011-10-20, 20:45 | Link #887 |
Udon-YAAAAAAAA
Join Date: Jan 2008
Age: 35
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wow. this show wins by production value alone. beyond that, if they play their cards right, this could be one of the best shows of the year and remembered for a long time. (i.e., everything Angel Beats wanted to be but fell short of doing)
also, the plot is rather great..
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2011-10-20, 20:47 | Link #888 |
Loves the Experience
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Earth...hopefully
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Okay, so according to what I looked at, the next few episodes will be focused on character development. Please do. I need some reason to care about these characters. Hopefully it won't be as lame as some of Code Geass's school episodes.
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2011-10-20, 20:54 | Link #890 |
Swayin' to the beat
Join Date: Dec 2006
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I've heard a longer version of the OP (though not the whole song) and it flows a lot better than the edited version we have for the anime as it should. There's some parts of Koeda's vocals that bother me though that make me think I like nagi better. Probably since I got used to nagi with supercell. The orchestration for the song is pretty epic though.
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2011-10-20, 21:02 | Link #891 | |
Loves the Experience
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Earth...hopefully
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Quote:
By the way, I noticed that people have tried to defend Shu and say he's at least more realistic compared to Lelouch. If you want to think that, fine. But why the hell did those terrorists just let him go with such a dangerous power like that (maybe next episode will explain it)? Why isn't he being hunted by the enemy (I'm pretty sure they know what he looks like)? And while Lelouch could be a bit of an unrelatable douche, he was at least interesting. And even if Code Geass never existed, it wouldn't change a thing about how I feel about the show. Not only is Shu boring, but so is the rest of the cast. While the show will probably get better from here, this is another anime that's fallen under one of my least favorite anime cliches, "The Crappy Initial Episodes".
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2011-10-20, 21:08 | Link #892 |
One-Eyed Dragon
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NJ, USA
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The OP was great. So Gai has some sort of power. Interesting how inori is out of commission when the void is being used. Wow Daryl is messed up, glad Shu was able to shut him up. The Kaleidoscope was awesome. Lol Shu thought he could not accept it, nice ending.
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2011-10-20, 21:24 | Link #894 |
Part-time Warrior
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: First star to the left, you should go there sometime.
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A pretty straight-forward episode this week, and I enjoyed it that way. Really surprised how far ahead Gai planned the whole thing, and I found that cool. But Shu just got a bit harder to read by the end of this episode. Usually I wouldn't mind twists like these going on, but I wish they elaborated at least a bit more his decision. Good series so far but the main character still needs some work. Then again there are 20 more eps for that... I just hope they're taken advantage of well.
Plus, the fan service was a tad annoying too. Good OP though. |
2011-10-20, 21:42 | Link #897 |
On a mission
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"Believe" Yes, I believe in boobs please. I don't care for Inori at the moment outside of looks, but I could say that about the entire show. But that's fine, we have plenty of time to run along. They gave her a proper outfit, perhaps we can begin!
lol, at our fabolous blond jackass. They should have had them hang a sign that says EVILLLL on him, as the only thing he needed to do was behead a kitten onscreen. Tsugumi's pretty good looking, her running around poking all those panels (Why do I get minority report vibes) and bumps one with her ass; ah good and efficient. Some excellent backgrounds and BGM is good as well. The OP kinda blows, great scenes but the song can't catch up with it. Our main male lead still feels like kind of a placeholder but that's ok for now. He's not offensive or anything today. It's too early to complain about depth or whatever, so I'll just keep watching. Gai! Gai! Gai! 8/10
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Last edited by Archon_Wing; 2011-10-20 at 23:27. |
2011-10-20, 21:56 | Link #898 |
Senior Member
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I usually don't like fanservice in shows with serious plots, but I had no problem with it here. I honestly felt that the fanservice in this episode was largely seamless. Wearing skin-tight futuristic bodysuits to pilot mechas is hardly out of the ordinary for anime, and the camera angles in this episode didn't strike me as overly pervy. I mean, I found certain shots of Kallen in Code Geass to be much more obtrusive than this. At least when we focus on a character's butt in this anime, it's because it's actually being used.
This anime, at least so far, is like the anime equivalent to an action-packed Summer Blockbuster Hollywood movie, as others have wrote. What that means is that it's aiming for an high-octane adrenaline rush rising from a combination of magnificent visuals, exquisitely explosive exciting action scenes, 'Rule of Cool' moments, scenes that are sexy both literally and figuratively, and (often) clear dividing lines between protagonists and antagonists to heighten emotional catharsis when the protagonists win (as was the case for me in this episode, I must admit). Particularly within that context, I don't see why having totally evil antagonists is necessarily a problem. In this second episode, we get a sneering insanely snobbish bastard, and thus it's rewarding to watch him get used like he was in this episode. I will say, though, that the possibility of Guilty Crown having much of value to say in the way of serious geopolitical commentary has lowered considerably, and in that sense, the 'black and white' conflicts in this anime is disappointing. The idea that Guilty Crown is trying to convey some sort of intricate message or theme, or is advancing some sort of sophisticated view on international politics from a Japanese perspective, seems increasingly unlikely now. But then, an anime show doesn't necessarily need an overarching theme in order to be a great show with a lot of good, simple fun in it. This show has such good simple fun in flying colors, as though viewed through a kaleidiscope, appropriately enough. For pure enjoyment level, it's the best anime I've watched in a very long time. Now, even within the context of "action-packed Summer blockbuster", it does have at least one flaw it truly needs to fix, and Reckoner did allude to it. Shu's character is, yes, getting hung out to dry a bit. He probably had fewer lines in this episode than the male lead of Persona 4 had in Persona 4's first episode, and that is saying something. This episode provides plenty of great food for thought for Shu. We should get a real sense that he is grappling with all of the moral issues at play here - Do I want to side with people known as terrorists? Do I want to be involved in brutal, bloody warfare, even if it will benefit my nation? Am I willing to kill another human being? Is it nobler in Shu's mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or should he take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them? To be or not to be, Shu, that is the question. And Guilty Crown is avoiding it too much for my liking. Shu's character isn't grounded enough, we don't get a good enough sense of what exactly he thinks of all of this. Even within the context of an action-packed Summer blockbuster, we should know the motivations for the male lead, and right now, I'm not sure what they are for Shu. It's not a question of GAR vs. wimpy, or charismatic vs. plain, but a more basic question of "Why is the male lead doing what he's doing"? Episode 3 really needs to start asking that question more forcefully, and concretely answering it. Two cours or not, quickly establishing a solid characterization (and hence motivation) for the lead protagonist is pretty essential for any anime, in my view. And that is why I take off one point for Episode 2. 9/10 overall for this episode, imo. As for the OP, it's not something I'd watch over and over again on YouTube, but it serves the purposes of an OP (pumping you up to watch an anime episode) very well, imo. I found the ED nicely melodic and relaxing, a nice way to unwind after watching an action-packed anime episode. I'm definitely looking forward to Episode 3, but Guilty Crown truly needs to flesh out its male lead more, and make him seem less detached from the rest of the cast.
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2011-10-20, 21:57 | Link #899 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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I just can't believe how gorgeous this show is. Visually, this is the most amazing TV anime I've seen in 3-4 years. Story-wise it's all retread, but jeebus - there are very few series I would watch or recommend 100% on visuals, but this thing is special.
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2011-10-20, 21:58 | Link #900 |
Hiding Under Your Bed
Join Date: May 2008
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Am I the only one that thinks Ayase is the hottest Funeral Parlor girl (both in looks and personality)?
By 'Flagstaff Fire' @ Pixiv
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action, noitamina, production_ig |
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