2012-08-07, 00:15 | Link #1961 |
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Yeah, I have to agree with Sol.
Perhaps ironically, the very same flaws that Akito points out is precisely why Achiga-hen is a show that any true Saki anime fan should watch. It's true that Achiga-hen doesn't stand on its own all that well... and that's because I don't think it's meant to. It's more supplementary material than true spinoff, imo. But its supplementary material is strong, compelling, and informative enough that I also would consider it required viewing for fans of the Saki franchise. My impression is that the three most important characters in Saki-verse are Nodoka and the Miyanaga sisters. Achiga-hen goes into considerable detail over Nodoka's personal backstory, and really highlights how Nodoka is the Kevin Bacon of the high school mahjong world. Teru is showcased brilliantly in Achiga-hen, and so getting to see her here will go a long way to fully appreciating Teru in any future Saki anime shows, imo. And there are some nice subtle hints about the strained sibling relationship between Teru and Saki and what might be fueling it. Another thing I want to add, Akito, is that I actually think you were a bit too hard on the Achiga-hen protagonists. I myself initially had difficulties telling Kuro and Ako apart, but that had at least as much to with visual similarities as personality ones. Thankfully, Kuro was in the Teru match, and that alone will forever distinguish her from Ako for me. I also think that personality-wise Shizuno is pretty good and distinctive. She's a fiercely fiery competitor with real genki girl spunk. And she wears virtually nothing from the waist down... how can she not stand out to you? All of that being said, you raise some valid points against Achiga-hen. I do think that Achiga-hen is the classic case of an anime adhering too tightly to its source material, causing pacing problems for the anime. It might have been more effective if they had wrote some anime original material to stretch out some of the mahjong matches featured in the first few episodes.
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2012-08-07, 02:50 | Link #1962 | |||||
Sekiroad-Idols Sing Twice
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And sorry. I was too busy d'aaawwwing over Ryuka's overprotectiveness of Toki. Quote:
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2012-08-07, 07:04 | Link #1963 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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Not to mention that one of Achiga or Senriyama/Shindouji (with by far the edge to Achiga) will unconditionally be showing up in those Finals as well. The extent of characterization given to these other teams is much more than could have been covered in some short OVAs. Achiga's problem is not that it spent too long on "irrelevant" material, but that it didn't spend enough. Initially at the start of this adaptation people were expecting Achiga-hen to run as a two-cour series (frankly, with only three episodes left to cover the rest of Shiraitodai's/Achiga's Semi-finals, it is still clear that ideally Achiga-hen could have definitely used those extra episodes). Unfortunately, as it's eventually become clear, that would have been pretty hopelessly impossible. |
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2012-08-07, 08:56 | Link #1964 | |
Sekiroad-Idols Sing Twice
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However, I question the franchise's move to develop a major character in what is supposedly supplementary material. Now, there might be a valid point in saying Achiga-hen can't stand on its own but I'm one of those types who holds an original series (Saki) by itself unless we're dealing with a sequel. Maybe Team Achiga and Team Senriyama's story would have worked better as flashbacks in the final round of the next "true" Saki season; the other teams in Achiga-hen certainly didn't get much development anyway.
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2012-08-07, 11:04 | Link #1965 | |
Moderate Haruhiist
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And I'm also of the opinion that there's no way one could flesh out the bracket that Shiraitodai was in with a "few" OVAs. The viewers had to come to grips with just how much of a threat Shiraitodai really is, and this can only be done by having them utterly CRUSH a character that viewers could consider a serious threat previously (in this case Toki, and how she ran away with a massive lead over Achiga). Teru did that, and more, to Toki. The latter girl trounced the protagonists of the show almost too easily because she could see into the future, and STILL couldn't stop the elder Miyanaga alone.
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Last edited by Myssa Rei; 2012-08-07 at 11:19. |
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2012-08-07, 12:54 | Link #1966 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 42° 10' N (Latitude) 87° 33' W (Longitude)
Age: 45
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2012-08-07, 13:24 | Link #1967 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
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At first I felt like this, but somehow someway, within the thralls of the final episodes, Achiga just grew on me tremendously.
I can't explain it, but that's what happened. Teru started to lose my interest, and Kuro was suddenly the center of my attention. I also don't think it's fair to call them all 'unrecognizable from eachother'. I'll admit I mixed up the bowling girl and that other girl often enough, but that's just because they look like clones almost o_o But, Shizune always stood out strong from the rest for me. I will say that they gave perhaps too much focus on Senriyama. Although I've heard the manga does this too. This IS a case where I think the studio should have taken some liberties with things to liven it up. As I hear the manga has pretty much the same faults as the anime. |
2012-08-07, 18:59 | Link #1969 | ||
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Teru showing some degree of concern over Toki's welfare suggests that Teru is not really all that bad of a person (in spite of what the original Saki anime might lead you to believe). On the other hand, we have Saki being frightened to death at the idea of simply watching Teru play a match, live. Taken together, this suggests to me that Saki feels some degree of responsibility over the estrangement from her sister, and that Teru likely has at least an understandable reason for being upset with Saki (obviously Teru is upset with her, or she wouldn't go so far as to even deny that she has a sister). My broader theory was a bit more complex than that, but I think that this alone shows how certain Teru and Saki moments in Achiga-hen can provide some added subtle hints to what lead to their sibling estrangement. Quote:
Does Batman look more impressive when he hands over random thugs to the police, or when he goes a few rounds with The Joker, Two-Face, and The Riddler and manages to defeat them all?
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2012-08-10, 06:12 | Link #1970 |
Meister
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Me: 2 units incoming, there they are!
Requiem-x: Alright, lets...kill... WOAH! Me: Isn't it too... 00-ish? One of them is. And shouldn't it be 2 months away and NOT closer? Requiem-x: Lets not care about that and- UWAH!! *Shot from far by 1 of the guardian units.* Me: REQUIEM!!! Great now I have to call night_sentinel.
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2012-08-12, 02:00 | Link #1973 |
Meister
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Looking for the little lost rabbit while the tiger is trying to eat her. *Beam Rifle'd*
You come with me to the manga thread. We can discuss something there. Me: Lets eat Ice kachang shall we. *Toki eats a big portion of Ice kachang in one shot* Toki: My head hurts... Me: O_O Don't gulp most of it in one shot. ETA: 2 months 1 week 5 days to 2 character songs release. *Double Beam Rifle'd*
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2012-08-12, 02:16 | Link #1974 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: 42° 10' N (Latitude) 87° 33' W (Longitude)
Age: 45
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2012-08-13, 10:33 | Link #1977 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Age: 35
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Here's the data provided in the description at the bottom: Undefeated within the country. Eternal Title "7 Crown" (or "Peerless 7", something like that). Number 2 ranking in the world. Voted every year in the Ebisu Jidai (I'm guessing that's a national league) as league MVP. |
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2012-08-14, 01:46 | Link #1979 | |
El Psy Congroo
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Within the choice of Steins Gate...
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Pleasing Chickens should be changed to Scary Chickens... It had been more than a month now and still no news about the last three episodes... it's like the anime was stomped... I hope the culprit is not an armrest...
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2012-08-14, 01:51 | Link #1980 |
~Maru~
Join Date: Mar 2008
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.....i wasnt paying much attention to this series after ep3 i really wanted to \see that end bit ^^
But did this series get kind of choppy like 1 episode was coming out a mth or was it just me? or the subbers? is this even finish yet
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mahjong, nopan, seinen, sport, yuri |
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