(L) Sora no Woto

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by Cats

If you end up totally disappointed in the show because of their design its a fetish as far as I'm concerned. Also, critics are just people with very deep fetish for little insignificant things so don't see how that makes it different. =P

I don't have a hand fetish, they just stroke me as very odd looking in certain scenes. I should have probably said the fingers though and I know I'm probably over-reacting cause of scenes like this:

Spoiler for large image:

But to reiterate no I don't have any hand fetish

[Dop]

I really enjoyed that. REALLY enjoyed it. The opening song and sequence was something wonderful I thought. Then I really loved the establishing shots of Seize and its people, it really gave a sense of PLACE that worked really well for me.

But by far the best part was the story of the fire maidens, with its Gustav Klimt pastiche artwork, almost straight from Klimt's Beethoven Frieze. Then again the director did make Elfen Lied which also borrowed from Klimt!

That, and the glimpse of what looked like it could be a crashed spaceship/aeroplane gives the impression that this series could have a hell of a lot going for it.

[chikorita157]

Not a bad start and was pretty enjoyable. The animation was nice and also OP/ED was decent. However, the part with the maidens... well somewhat confusing. Good thing that they didn't went overboard with the moe, but I'm expecting this to be a lot more serious as it goes on...

Rating: 8.4/10

[Freya]

Really really good episode. Songs and animation was amazing. Hopefully this continues as the series goes on.

Too bad A-1 can't do this for Fairy Tail....as gosh Fairy Tail's animation is so bad...imo of course.

[Noe]

Impressional first episode. The ED was pretty good.

[fict_ticious]

Originally Posted by Cats

Also, critics are just people with very deep fetish for little insignificant things so don't see how that makes it different.

Great Scott...

[keri]

I just watched the first episode without having read anything about the series whatsoever before, and it was so confusing, you guys.

Spoiler:

It took until the scene with the story about the maidens and the dragon for the setting to click with me, because I couldn't figure out when or where it was taking place, too many clues from too many cultures. And I still can't figure what's up with this Helvetia military - surely those five (six?) girls aren't the only military people in town? and why is it they who do the whole dragon maiden ritual thing instead of townsfolk? and is the dragon skeleton underwater made of gold or something? Mostly, though, the military thing is confusing me the most. I feel like the story so far would work perfectly well if Kanata weren't a new recruit, but came to Seize for some other reason.

But it was very pretty, with pretty music, and that's enough to make me want to watch next week, too. Even if I felt like I was watching the first episode of Kanamemo again, what with the confusing/weird plot that may or may not get fixed, and the optimistic teenage girl who is lost from home. (Thank goodness this one doesn't have the lecherous lolicon, at least.)


And someone mentioned the ending song being startling: omgyes. It felt really out of place. And kind of generic and forgettable, too, compared to the opening and insert songs. Maybe it'll grow on me?

[blewin]

Pretty good episode. I'm impressed with the OP, the insert music and the animation (I wish to see the lyrics subbed!)

The myth included was executed well in terms of balancing the mature atmosphere of the series vs the moe/young age of the girls. Looks like the myth will play a critical part in the story.

The scenery could have been more stunning with even better animation. Still, this is more than good enough I suppose. I really like the scene of the main character standing above the cliff.

I wonder how many episode this series is.

[keri]

Originally Posted by blewin

I wonder how many episode this series is.

It looks like 12, from the ANN page. (They've noted "twelve episode titles", though only two are actually listed.)

[Starry Dust]

Well, that certainly turned out better than what I thought.
I really dig the music in this series.
The soundtrack is so going to be amazing.
And the ED isn't that bad to me. It's pretty catchy~

....so, I really enjoyed everything the first episode had to offer and I hope it continues that way too. I have a feeling this series will kick K-ON's butt big time.
Not that I mind lol.

[Ansalem]

If nothing else, I'd watch this show just for the background art.

The first episode was a nice, slow introduction. It wasn't particularly attention grabbing, but a nice leisurely entrance into the setting. It felt relaxing. The music was also enjoyable. I'll look forward to seeing how the story unfolds.

[Kotohono]

Originally Posted by Stardust Romance

The soundtrack is so going to be amazing.
And the ED isn't that bad to me. It's pretty catchy~
.

I liked the ED, and found it catchy, but now that I found who did the singing for it, Tomatsu, Haruka[she did twins from Nyan koi, and Hime from Sora no Manimani] I like it more xD, odd though since I didn't see her listed for any of the characters, wonder if she will be voicing someone later in the series.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Alright well I didn't really get to laugh at a hopelessly pandering moeblob series because this really isn't a pure moeblob series....at least not yet and/or in the same vein as K-ON was. It's just kind of bland execution of concept with moe characters in it.

I kind of have to say the first thing that hinted to me they weren't going for a straight up moeblob intro or copying the K-ON formula verbatim was the presence of honest to goodness male background characters. While not major characters or even people with names the fact that the male sex was shown to exist all but broke the sort of moe otaku fantasy world that shows like K-ON and Strike Witches managed to portray from the get go. Second was the inclusion of actual honest to god distinct (and by that I mean not stock modern Japanese centric) setting and atmosphere that doesn't just have to do with the moeness of the characters, also something I didn't think K-ON managed to do at any point. I'm talking about the presentation of the town's atmosphere and traditions that we get to see where even while it still revolves around the fanservice oriented idea of getting our lead character (I'll get to her in a moment believe me) soaking wet and for getting our potential breakout character (also in a moment) into a miko dance ritual, was still a sign of honest to god effort in an area other than maximizing the moe.

Now as for the characters, I can't really say the same effort in creating interest was present for the likes of Kanata who comes across as rock stupid and not very endearing at all. The other members of her squad who we see briefly also don't leave much of an impression except for Rio who depending on what they have in mind for this whole premise seems like she might pull off being what everybody expected Mio to be in K-ON before they turned her into an exploitation character. A kuudere. At the moment she seems almost normal and like she has a clear head on her shoulders........but it all could just as easily be a diversion and she's really just a stock tsundere character. In any case that doesn't stop her voice acting from acting being kind of appreciable and from being a break from the squeak-tans that fill out the rest of the casts vocal roles.

So nothing terrible outstanding about this opener at all really aside from I guess some above average animation quality and a relatively imaginative sequence showing that legend which seems like it must certainly come into play at some point, but really for a show that everybody seems to be labelling as a pure moeblob series it kind of manages to be a little bit more than that. I'm pretty sure by the second episode when the trumpet squad starts intereacting it will either have all of it's cards on the table straight up or there might be some real character development and a hidden hand to be played later on. I'm at least a little curious to see if this female cast will be awarded the increasingly rare privilege of actual backstories and if this show ends up taking the hard path or if they just jump into developing moe fetishes for the characters and they take the easy path to the 1st place DVD/BR cash in with moe otaku. That curiousity means I'll follow it into next couple episodes as one of my anime trend studies.

[ZODDGUTS]

Anyways pretty good first episode. It was a bit slow but I liked it. Good music besides the ED of course. Though I have a feeling that girl with the onee-sama crush will annoy me like her other previous type of characters have.

[Solace]

Kaoshin, I don't think I'll ever be one to say you don't give things a chance. ^^

[velvet nightmare]

for some reason this series looks like a mix of k-on and valkyria chronicles and looks kind of fail. just something about kids and military made me feel awkward watching this. i'll watch a few episodes and see where they go with this.

[SuperKnuckles]

^

To me, that kind of a weird mixture of moé and war-era plotsetting is the interesting part. I just hope they can do a bit of both without getting too cheesy or too inconsequential. And if they're going to have some kind of a plottwist, at least let it not be too cliche..

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by blewin

I wonder how many episode this series is.

Winter anime are typically only one season (12,13 episodes) long. There are exceptions however.

Originally Posted by keri

It looks like 12, from the ANN page. (They've noted "twelve episode titles", though only two are actually listed.)

No, that is a common misconception of what ANN claims.
"Episode titles: We have X" means: at least X episodes.
"Number of episodes: X" means: definitively X episodes.

Also, never trust the fansub wiki on this because they simply copy it (wrongly) from ANN it seems. Which is why almost every series is one season long according to them when they start but later some turn magically into 2 seasons series.

tl;dr: We don't know but 12 eps is very possible since it's winter.

[Flash Gordon]

Characters: Meh.
Story/Plot: Has some potential to be something decent/not bad.
Music: So much grander than the characters and the plot. I loved every minute of the music played in this episode ('cept maybe the ED).

These are only my first episode impressions, mind you.

[Shiroth]

I'm glad to see a lot of people mentioning Oshima Michiru's score. This work is very similar to her Xam'd score from last year, which means it'll just keep on getting better and better. Does help that the setting for both shows are very similar.