[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Midonin

I kinda take umbrage at the idea that, for a show like VRO, the plot is simply "tacked on" or the show is a "guilty pleasure". It's like the anime community has this idea in its head that certain shows can only be enjoyed through a lens of detached irony.

I agree with you. I actually find it sort of vaguely demeaning of the show and its fanbase. There are shows that I have enjoyed despite things I recognize as areas that may negatively impact the enjoyment of others, but I never feel "guilty" for the things I like. It implies that there's something wrong with liking it, and I find that rather backwards and repressive.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

And besides, there's just no need of it. Isn't there enough time in non-action scenes for this stuff?

But why shouldn't there be shows that choose to blend things in this way? Just because you don't like it and would prefer the keep the potatoes away from the meat and the veggies doesn't mean it's the only way to enjoy a meal. I mean, there's nothing wrong with your view either, but this insistence that it should be keep separate is just a personal preference. I don't see anything inherently superior of that view, despite your "there's no need for it" insinuation.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I just want "the cameras" to film a serious action scene like I would any fight presented seriously in real life.

I want anime directors to be able to do all sorts of things, even things that you may not do in real life. I know that I won't be a fan of all of it, but I don't necessarily consider it a problem when a director takes an approach that I don't prefer.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Fanservice tends to be loud, by nature, much like a hawaiian t-shirt is loud. A hawaiian t-shirt tends to get noticed by people who love it, by people who hate it, and everyone between. Sexual fanservice is the same way.

And things that are loud are inherently distracting.

Really, it doesn't have to be that way. Once you've acclimatized yourself to a world where everyone wears "hawaiian t-shirts" all the times, it stops being distracting. You stop noticing it. It stops being "inherently distracting", but without at the same time becoming superfluous. It becomes part of the flavour of the show (or the character of the locale). That doesn't mean that (perhaps unlike Hawaiian shirts) people won't still comment when they find it particularly attractive.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

alas, the one criticism I made is what spurred a lot of discussion.

So much so that it started this thread on General Anime which, I should add, is not a discussion that I personally wanted to have on General Anime (relentlessflame moved it here, and I never asked for it to be moved). I was just interested in discussing VRO itself on the VRO thread.

The criticism was moved here because there isn't really enough actually shown in VRO to discuss this issue in the context of that show (yet). It's more of a complaint in the context of your negative experience with Strike Witches, and your hope for VRO. In my view, anyway, it's better to have this tangent in a separate thread because it's about more than just this one show, whether you intended for the comment to result in this tangent notwithstanding.

Everyone can still discuss VRO in the VRO thread, of course.