(L) BLUE DROP ~Tenshitachi no Gikyoku~

[guest]

Originally Posted by Hakuryu_Hikaru

Yeah, I read about Simoun and watched one episode, but unfortunately, it didn't do it for me. Maybe I should give it a second look.

I watched Simoun for like 11 ep before I gave up. That show just doesn't interest people. This director always has this problem. Putting on some show which seemly (Yami bon with a giant hat thing) or really (Simoun) have good story plot but puff, it is just hard to relate to the show itself.
Blue Drop is the first yuri sci-fi anime, I think. Yami bon whatever is fantasy yuri show. I don't know what to make of it yet. I really enjoy the sci-fi part, just like Crest of the Stars. I like that show. Unfortunately, I was never able to watch the entire series but I made sure that I watched the ending.

[guest]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

All the people calling Blue Drop "great yuri" really, really need to read the manga

I may be stating the obvious, but it seems to me that Hagino's fixation on Mari is something like an atonement. I guess if she feels that if she can do something good for someone who was deeply hurt by her actions, she'll feel a bit better about herself.

Spoiler:

I think that was the case before ep 5. But the purpose of ep five is to show a transition of Ekaril, like someone says. Now she is re-considering and more aware of her feelings toward Mari. She is slowly falling for her.

[Hakuryu_Hikaru]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

All the people calling Blue Drop "great yuri" really, really need to read the manga

.

Is is obligatory? What is the penality for those who just care about the anime?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Hakuryu_Hikaru

Yeah, I read about Simoun and watched one episode, but unfortunately, it didn't do it for me. Maybe I should give it a second look.... I won't give a second look to Strawberry Panic for one. I found it deeply irritating and non-sensical for several reasons I don't feel like mentioning....

It sounds to me as if you should try at least one more episode of Simoun. I think it might end up being the kind of thing you like. Episode one didn't do it for a lot of people, even some who went on to like the series. (Although I love it, especially in the light of the rest of the story.) Strawberry Panic is okay in its way, but it's yuri of a totally different type, aimed more directly at guys, and with a lot more fanservice and less real plot or character than Simoun or this. There's more fanservice in the OP and episode one of Simoun than in the whole rest of the show, as far as I recall. And "homosexuality" is a fairly meaniningless concept in that world, too, where everyone is born female and some become male at 17.

But I do like a lot of shows with yuri relationships in them (e.g., Marimite, and even Oniisama-e) so your mileage may vary.

FPB, as far as "great yuri" is concerned, I'd say that the mangas are more "yuri", but the anime so far is more "great."

And guest, Simoun is not by the same director as Yamibou or Touka Gettan (I haven't seen much of Yamibou, but I liked TG). All three shows have the same animation director and sound director, but Simoun is by a different director from the other two. If you watched ep8 and still weren't captivated, then Simoun definitely wasn't the show for you. However, I agree with what you say in the spoiler about Hagino's feelings in ep5 (if not before).

[Kieli]

Good lord, I go to run errands for the day and I come back to some interesting commentary.

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

All the people calling Blue Drop "great yuri" really, really
need to read the manga

Well the first manga is what I call "yuri lite". Sure it has Yui and the teacher with a Yui-fixation but overall, I'm missing the deep romantic connection that I personally associate with "yuri". The serialised manga is just too painful to even read. I had to wash out my eyes and brain repeatedly after reading the first few chapters. I agree with Kaoru's explanation...SP was ok but I really wasn't expecting much from it to start with. I found the anime enjoyable but not fantastic. Let's just say it was mindless fun (Thanks to Kazu-kun, btw, for the link that answers my question to some extent.)

Insofar as Simoun was concerned, I'm sure it was an excellent anime. But it didn't really capture my interest in the manner I thought it would. To be honest, I would be hard pressed to find the reasons WHY it never held my attention. *shrug*

The seiyuu cast for Blue Drop is indeed impressive. My personal favourite is Watanabe Akeno (who played Jo in Bakuretsu Tenshi, is Akane in Blue Drop and played other notable parts such as Chachamaru in Mahou Sensei Negima, Robin Sena in Witch Hunter Robin, etc.). She has this tendency to refer to herself as boku which I find completely amazing...very masculine and I wonder if that's a rare thing among female seiyuu (I'd imagine it would be).

[Hakuryu_Hikaru]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

I[...]owever, I agree with what you say in the spoiler about Hagino's feelings in ep5 (if not before).

Well, what sold BD to me is transformation. Change. People *learn* stuff as the story develops. They may start with flaws but learn to deal with them. It's o up to the bad guys *not* to learn anything. And get doomed because of that.
Some characters have to learn the real meaning of love, for one.
Mari obviously changed. She hated school but as she was walking with Micchi, she goes and says that people like her make school fun. Personally, that's what any story is about. Many anime, independent of genre, start great until the main character plays the same gag for the 100th time. Tons of things happen but the character stays at exactly the same level of cluelessness than he/she was on chapter/episode one. For me, it's boring.
And yes, I find it sad that for many yuri=fanboy service. I haven't seem much if any of this in BD so, another reason for me to enjoy it.

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Hakuryu_Hikaru

Is is obligatory? What is the penality for those who just care about the anime?

Well, none, really. I'm just saying that the yuri aspect of the story may not turn out the way people are expecting due to a theme the manga has going.

Originally Posted by Kieli

The serialised manga is just too painful to even read. I had to wash out my eyes and brain repeatedly after reading the first few chapters.

I felt the exact same way, too, until I realized something: the pr0n in Blue Drop is used to the same effect as the ultraviolence in titles like Battle Angel Alita. It's supposed to bother you. The author intended for you to be disturbed by it, because it's there to illustrate just how far humanity has fallen.
[/$0.02]

[Solace]

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

I felt the exact same way, too, until I realized something: the pr0n in Blue Drop is used to the same effect as the ultraviolence in titles like Battle Angel Alita. It's supposed to bother you. The author intended for you to be disturbed by it, because it's there to illustrate just how far humanity has fallen.
[/$0.02]

I agree it's disturbing, but to be honest I don't feel it's to show how far humanity has fallen as much as how humanity has been changed by the introduction of the Arume. After the first few chapters you realize there is more to the story than just boy turned into girl and does gross things, and you notice the layers of society (in glimpses of course) that go beyond the homosexual element. For instance, men crossdressing is something I could see happening in a society where women are more desired than men. They would do it to fit in better.

To me I see the events of Bokura (and Blue Drop in general), as a big what if story, using shock elements and the introduction of the Arume as a major influence/catalyst in the perceptions of standards we have as humans.

Certainly frowned upon or deemed unacceptable in our societal view, but putting yourself in the shoes of the stories characters helps to illustrate the shift in thinking one would need to undertake in an extreme situation such as the one we're discussing now.

[FatPianoBoy]

Ah, "fallen" was a bad choice of words. You said it better. Glad I'm not the only one who caught onto all of that

I'll add that the interesting thing is that some people have still held onto the old views of society despite the drastic changes, but that they still try to adapt as best as they can, even if it means going against their own beliefs/morals.


Hmm... I wonder if this is too much manga for this thread...

[Hakuryu_Hikaru]

It's been 5 episodes into the show and I am yet to see any similarity between the storyline of the manga and that of the anime, except for the background story.
For what I read, the Anime events happen around a thousand years before the events described in the manga.
So, why exactly are we still discussing the manga in the Anime forum?

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by Hakuryu_Hikaru

It's been 5 episodes into the show and I am yet to see any similarity between the storyline of the manga and that of the anime, except for the background story.
For what I read, the Anime events happen around a thousand years before the events described in the manga.
So, why exactly are we still discussing the manga in the Anime forum?

Just to be nitpicky... The thousand-years gap is between the anime and the original Blue Drop manga. Here people is talking about the Bokura manga (the new one), and the gap between this one and the anime is just of 10 years.

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Just to be nitpicky... The thousand-years gap is between the anime and the original Blue Drop manga. Here people is talking about the Bokura manga (the new one), and the gap between this one and the anime is just of 10 years.

Hmm...
*Heaves this discussion back onto the anime*
Hopefully the anime will run right up to the beginning of the Bokura time period. The anime is great opportunity to show if that war was as bad as I think it was.

[Deathkillz]

question - i see a few versions of the manga scanalated but just how do they fit together? are they even based on the same timeline or some alternate versions of each other? and exactally how many volumes are out?

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

question - i see a few versions of the manga scanalated but just how do they fit together? are they even based on the same timeline or some alternate versions of each other? and exactally how many volumes are out?

You should probably ask this question in the Blue Drop manga thread: however, there is only one full volume published. The Blue Drop Tenshi no Bokura is being serialised in the shounen magazine, Champion Red.

[Lesca]

Has anyone seen episode 6?

Spoiler for Ep 6:

I haven't seen it yet but just looking at random curioustys site has left me confused. Why does it look like in just a single episode Mari and Yuuko are practically joined at the hip, yet its taken almost 4 episodes for Hagino and Mari to become friends. Is it some plan of Yuuko's to gain Mari's trust? or have the writers really just suddenly wanted them to be so close looking?
Like I said i haven't actually seen it yet so I might be looking into it too much, but if anyone has can they explain it?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Spoiler for ep6:

It did seem sudden that Mari and the teacher got so apparently close, but the story may explain it. The school's overall results are dropping and the director of instruction tells the teachers they have to get everybody's marks up. Mari gets the lowest mark on one test and is having trouble catching up. Hagino is occupied tutoring all her followers, so Mari asks the teacher to tutor her. In the process, Mari develops feelings for her, too. Blushes all round.

I think this means that we should not take these affections too seriously, or at least not treat Mari-Hagino or Mari-teacher as "couples" just yet. I think that her affection for the teacher can be explained as partly stimulated by gratitude, like her affection after the wharfside rescue. The affection for Hagino has deeper roots, I think, since she seemed to feel it even just before the strangulation attack in ep1.

It comes out that the teacher is actually there specially to keep an eye on or look after Mari. Mari overhears this and runs off on the night when everyone is going to a festival, with fireworks. Hagino gets Blue to shoot down the many attack-craft that are coming in, then actually damages the cruiser with what may be some specially strong weapon. And the whole thing looks like part of the fireworks.

Meanwhile, Azanael (I think that's her name) comes in in a small craft to catch or kill Mari, who has run off into the woods after learning that the teacher is just doing her job in befriending her. The teacher, following her, pulls out a pistol to defend her from Azanael's craft. Completely ineffective. But Hagino arrives in her own craft to save the day and capture Azanael.

We don't know what teacher thinks about these alien craft flying around. She probably doesn't know it's Hagino, but I'm not sure. At the end, Hagino is playing a trick on Mari and laughing. By the way, I really like the Japanese YouTube, nicovideo.jp.

I do have to say that this episode didn't do quite as much for me as the others have. I'll just have to watch it again, I guess, lol.

[darlliu]

Spoiler for ep6:

I think this means that we should not take these affections too seriously, or at least not treat Mari-Hagino or Mari-teacher as "couples" just yet. I think that her affection for the teacher can be explained as partly stimulated by gratitude, like her affection after the wharfside rescue. The affection for Hagino has deeper roots, I think, since she seemed to feel it even just before the strangulation attack in ep1.

I guess Mari was attracted by the teacher's beauty at first, she kinda admire her . After being saved by her "brave sacrifice" she might be touched.The scene doesnt seem odd to me because she's already so emotional lol maybe she needs a mom or maybe she loves mature women
As for the difference in the two relationships, I think in EP1 Mari actually quite easily liked Hagino at first, but the strangling made her mad,of course,while Yuuko has always been nice to her.
The alien ships can warp, so I kind of expect them to use some warping beams or sth like that(phase transfer weapon in Xenosaga is so cool).But it seems they still need to aim and fire, that's strange.
It seems the ships are kind of independent since no.5 could actually declare to be so.Maybe Hagino is representing her own people in a co-operation instead of being commanded directly by the military?Because it seems suicidal to turn against her own race and its army.Maybe she waits for her help along with the reinforcement.
BTW,Hagino laughing at the end was win and next ep what do they mean by her staying with a girl for the night, is it what I am thinking now?if so, ooops....

[Sinestra]

I am going through serious withdraw no subs for the anime for a while now. So i started reading the manga instead im liking it so far reading the post in here is helping me understand things a lot better.

[oneplusme]

Originally Posted by Lesca

Has anyone seen episode 6?

Yes. In this show the blushing goes up to 11!

On the upside, we get more of Hagino in uniform. I heartily endorse this product and/or service.

[Lesca]

Originally Posted by darlliu

Spoiler for ep6:

BTW,Hagino laughing at the end was win and next ep what do they mean by her staying with a girl for the night, is it what I am thinking now?if so, ooops....

Spoiler for Ep 6:

Is that what it said in the preview thing for the next episode? I thought it might have mentioning Michi's play or something. If that's true then that will certainly be interesting :P