P.A. Works: Studio discussion, speculation, and whatnot

[germanturkey]

i now need to find that crossover. thanks for pointing it out.

[Arya]

^Same here.

On a side note, I'm still waiting for the traditional True Tears reference from Nagi no Asukara. Well, if we don't consider the implied ones hidden in the Tsumugu/Chisaki relationship.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Arya

^Same here.

On a side note, I'm still waiting for the traditional True Tears reference from Nagi no Asukara. Well, if we don't consider the implied ones hidden in the Tsumugu/Chisaki relationship.

No True Tears cameo and the series is nearly finishing. Maybe they finally got tired of it and gave up

Also, there has still yet to be in a guy in drag .

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

No True Tears cameo and the series is nearly finishing. Maybe they finally got tired of it and gave up

I'm no expert but I think that might be because even if it's P.A works , the production comity behind it is quite different than the True Tears/HSI/Tari Tari ones, for example geneon universal is producing the music instead of lantis so I'd guess you won't be seeing any nagiasu songs if there's another PA works crossover concert..

Glasslip seems to go back to the "usual" comity so you could expect one there.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Arya

^Same here.

On a side note, I'm still waiting for the traditional True Tears reference from Nagi no Asukara. Well, if we don't consider the implied ones hidden in the Tsumugu/Chisaki relationship.

Uroko explains to Manaka that she must eat chicken feed, cluck like a chicken, and call herself Raigomaru, in order to recapture the emotion of love. After doing this, she has a vision of a cute, short-haired girl crying true tears of unrequited love. This causes Manaka to start crying herself, and she realizes who she feels love for.

She confesses her love to this special someone, and then Reflectia starts playing.

[Arya]

^^eheheh, I can see Uroko demanding something along those lines, even if I'd bet on something slightly more on the perverted side, knowing him.
Anyways, use Reflectia an you'll never fail.


Edit:

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

It's hilarious how only Taichi and Wien make a cameo for like 2 seconds and no other male PA character showed up.

I have to see the clip yet,anyways the reason is simple, because they were not intended to be male characters .. but frogs (j/k)

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Uroko explains to Manaka that she must eat chicken feed, cluck like a chicken, and call herself Raigomaru, in order to recapture the emotion of love. After doing this, she has a vision of a cute, short-haired girl crying true tears of unrequited love. This causes Manaka to start crying herself, and she realizes who she feels love for.

She confesses her love to this special someone, and then Reflectia starts playing.

Still better than Angel Beats' ending.

But that would be awesome. xD

[Pocari_Sweat]

I rather the Another ending for the Nagikara cast for maximum lulz.

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I rather the Another ending for the Nagikara cast for maximum lulz.

You must hate them a lot.

Anyhow, I wouldn't be surprised if they went OVA for the crossover some day. Will be nice if one can dream...

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

You must hate them a lot.

I do dislike some characters like Sayu and recently Chisaki, but other than Hikari I just feel rather indifferent to Nagikara's characters and don't really care. Which is very rare for a PA show because I've always really liked their characters, particularly their female lead ones.

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I do dislike some characters like Sayu and recently Chisaki, but other than Hikari I just feel rather indifferent to them and don't really care. Which is very rare for a PA show because I've always really liked their characters, particularly their female lead ones.

You wouldn't be saying that if you actually watched enough of the series .

Oh sorry, I was referring to the 4T-H crossover. I haven't watched nagikara but it does sound funny. I like the girl with the big rack though.

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Oh sorry, I was referring to the 4T-H crossover. I haven't watched nagikara but it does sound funny. I like the girl with the big rack though.

4T-H sounds like the name of some Idol group .

And yes you would find Nagikara ironically funny considering how over the top melodramatic it is at times.

Girl with the big rack is Chisaki. She goes full out Anohana-level teenage wangst in the second half which is why along with Sayu (bitchy loli moe tsundere type) I cringe everytime they are on screen.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Arya

^^eheheh, I can see Uroko demanding something along those lines, even if I'd bet on something slightly more on the perverted side, knowing him.

True. So he'd probably add "And you have to go completely naked except having feathers glued on to your arms and back. You know, so you look like a chicken."

Anyways, use Reflectia an you'll never fail.

Agreed. It's an awesome song. One of my favorite bits of anime music to be sure.

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Still better than Angel Beats' ending.

But that would be awesome. xD

roflcopter on the Angel Beats burn!

I'm glad you liked my idea.

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

I rather the Another ending for the Nagikara cast for maximum lulz.

Yeah, that would be darkly hilarious. Especially if it's Kaname that gets the ball rolling...

[Archon_Wing]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

4T-H sounds like the name of some Idol group .

Oh, I guess you're right; I shouldn't be encouraging that kind of thing after watching the Wake Up Girls movie. It would come across as kind of creepy trying to sell female characters as a product.

And that's definitely one fucking anime that could have used PA Works Frame Booster Buff (+15% frame rate -10% ending writing, +5% music, +25% lol). Also, they already have someone that resembles Wakana too. The other egregious example would have been White Album 2, with no Okada buff. (Interestingly, Selite also realized that too...)

And yes you would find Nagikara ironically funny considering how over the top melodramatic it is at times.

Girl with the big rack is Chisaki. She goes full out Anohana-level teenage wangst in the second half which is why along with Sayu (bitchy loli moe tsundere type) I cringe everytime they are on screen.

Oh, that's expected too. Moe Kaiji eh?

[Pocari_Sweat]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Oh, I guess you're right; I shouldn't be encouraging that kind of thing after watching the Wake Up Girls movie. It would come across as kind of creepy trying to sell female characters as a product. And that's definitely one fucking anime that could have used PA Works Frame Booster Buff (+15% frame rate -10% ending writing, +5% music, +25% lol). Also, they already have someone that resembles Wakana too.

I don't know what my opinion would have been if PA produced an idol anime, but yes Mayu from Wake Up Girls does resemble Wakana a fair bit which is a large reason why I'm watching that series .

The other egregious example would have been White Album 2, with no Okada buff. (Interestingly, Selite also realized that too...)

It's ironic how White Album 2 is the most "True Tears" like romance anime to come out since True Tears, yet whilst the scriptwriter and production studio for both True Tears and Nagi no Asu Kara are the same, NagiKara is significantly inferior in its presentation of a high school romance than the other two.

Perhaps I'm being harsh on Nagi no Asu Kara as compared to your average anime with a significant romance element, it is above average (and by extension, Mari Okada is at least an above average writer), but it doesn't take away the fact that romance as a genre is generally done poorly in the anime medium. And PA Works I do not think is an exception to that, though only two out of their now 10+ series had a significant romance theme (well I guess, you can add Hanasaku Iroha too, but in all honesty I never considered that a romance series).

Spoiler for Offtopic talk about a "dream" romance anime:

Talking about romance, I do have a dream combo. It'll never happen though, but I'll like to see Makoto Shinkai as a director for an anime original PA Works series some day. Their focus on background artistry and visual storytelling are similar (to the point where I actually call PA Works visuals a "budget TV version" of Shinkai) and they, when PA Works isn't going full ham on the melodrama largely due to the influence of a certain writer, their atmosphere/tone call can also be similar - the "mono no aware" element of looking back at days when the grass was apparently greener. The major difference is the narrative focus though, Shinkai does not cater to a latenight otaku fanbase, whilst PA Works largely does despite imo, being a cut above the rest in quality in that field.

Though I don't see this happening from a commercial or realistic point of view whatsoever, I can however see it working from a artistic point of view for something like this:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/AfbNS_GKhPw

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

I mean heck, this CM had the character designer who did Anohana and if that show was a critical success from both the otaku fanbase and the crossover TV dorama point of view then I don't see why this couldn't work if it wasn't for different sponsors, commercial viability etc. Plus, PA Works is in need of a strong director as it's also been their weak point!

Maybe someone should start a kickstarter for it

[Arya]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

True. So he'd probably add "And you have to go completely naked except having feathers glued on to your arms and back. You know, so you look like a chicken."

Ahhh thank you, now I'll have this image in my mind for the whole day


I have to admit that NnA is a difficult beast to deal with. It can be really frustrating. I saw different people, myself included, at different times being disappointed or delighted by it. FWIW one thing for sure I can say, you may like it or not, but the writing is very accurate and realistic despite its settings, the sceneries outstanding and the BGM above average.

@Pocari_Sweat: talking about the romance aspect, well, the problem is that you focused on the middle school romance instead than the (Chisaki's) seinen one. And that's ironic given your avatar, since to me this one feels like the alternate/seinen version of Hiromi and Shin'ichirō.
*runs away*

[Birdway]

don't know what my opinion would have been if PA produced an idol anime, but yes Mayu from Wake Up Girls does resemble Wakana a fair bit which is a large reason why I'm watching that series .

>>Wakana

OK, I'm off to watch WUG.

@Arya

> Accurate and realistic writing

Hahahaha. No. :S

[TheSpoilerAlert]

For a relatively new studio with not as many titles to their name, they haven't been lazy with their work at all. I mean the background art in True Tears and Nagi is just so beautiful! And even though Angel Beats wasnt the best thing (still good though) out there, it was still really beautifully done!

I'd probably put it on my top 10 studios though!

-SheeGee

[Pocari_Sweat]

So Nagi no Asu Kara has finished, so time to update how it compares compared to other PA shows... and it was pretty subpar. For their TV series I would rank it something like this:

Top Tier

1. True Tears - Mari Okada was involved for this series.
2. Uchouten Kazoku

Great Tier

3. Tari Tari - 2nd lowest PA Works series on MAL at 7.55.
4. Hanasaku Iroha - Mari Okada was involved for this series.

Mid Tier

5. Canaan - Mari Okada was involved for this series.
6. Another
7. Nagi no Asu Kara - Mari Okada was involved for this series. 2nd highest PA Works series on MAL at 8.49.

Trash Tier

8. Red Data Girl - Lowest rated PA Works series on MAL at 6.72.
9. Angel Beats - Highest rated PA Works series on MAL at 8.57.

Added some side information which series writer Mari Okada was involved, since PA Works seem to favour her as thier writer of choice and as expected she is kind of all over the place in terms of quality, whilst writing for about half of PA Works TV productions. Also noted which PA Works series that the "western" fandom seems like to like the most. If anyone has the "Japanese" version that would be appreciated since I have no idea where to find that information. Overall, seems like my personal preferences, western anime fandom preferences, sales/disc scales and whether or not writer Mari Okada was involved seems to be all over the place and I can't correlate a pattern at all .

Glasslip is due in Summer 2014 and will not have Okada involved so I'm curious which direction it'll take and where about it will rank.

Not enough movies, OVAs or special material from PA Works yet to make a judgment hence their ommission, though I did really enjoy the Hanasaku Iroha movie and Mai no Mahou to Katei no Hi special. True Tours 6 parter special and Professor Layton movie were also pretty decent.

[Dawnstorm]

I didn't think Read Data Girl was that bad. It had pacing issues, too little time, and there was little emotional involvement near the beginning. But when the show worked, it worked really well. And the side characters were actually pretty interesting. I'd definitely rate it above Another (which makes my trash tier), and I'm debating with myself, if I like it more than Nagi no Asukara.

But, yes, I tend to agree with you on the whole where Nagi no Asukara fits in. Its main weaknesses, for me, were that over two cours the emotions wore thin through repetition, and that I never really got on board with the character designs. The fantasy setting was used pretty effectively for Okada (though she's clearly no master of the genre). And, of course, the visuals were pretty, but - no matter how bad their shows - a PA Works show will look good.