Asatte no Houkou (old generic discussion thread)

[Vulcannis]

There's another reason to explain Hiro running off like he did--Karada was pantsless at the time. I can see him being embarrassed suddenly running into an attractive woman wearing just a t-shirt. And for that matter, Shouko had to go home pantsless the night before too... That's 2 for 3... perhaps it's a pantsless wishing stone?

[NeoSam]

Originally Posted by Vulcannis

perhaps it's a pantsless wishing stone?

In order for your wishes to come true, the wishing stone needs the power of your pants to give you the wish LOL when you become pantless you'll know that your wish came true

[physics223]

No, you need to look good already before it grants your wishes - it doesn't grant wishes to non-cuties and non-hotties.

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Srin Tuar

The official website seems to use:
Shouko(kodomo) and Karada(otona)


I don't think they'll get to that point, but, excluding cancer, your dna should never change.

Your right DNA shouldnt change unless there is a mutation or from evolution or spontanous Evotution which has not really been proven yet

Originally Posted by Matrim

None would have freaked me out. Now I don't smoke but I if I end up in such a situation one of my first reactions could well be to get really, really drunk. At the moment Shouko was having way too big of a problem to care much about a possible lung cancer because of smoking or liver troubles because of drinking alcohol.

Im just talking about seeing someone who looks like a child doing it my brain just would compute it very well but i do agree with you if that happen to me getting drunk would be the first thing id do, get waxed pass out and hope it was just bad dream

[Anacone]

Yeah, it would be much easier to get drunk in that body Thinking about good sides, but where do you get your booze if you don't have it already?

[fignae]

Argh. I can't believe how moe this show is. I'm not the kind to squeal at children's cuteness, not at all, but I did in ep 2. And it's double the dosage, practically oozing cute through every pore (moment).

Gotta love the character designs, the music and the sound. The little noises are so appropriate. People walking, things being moved. It's equivalent to a visual zoom-in on the objects, and really brings out the life in quiet frames. Who is this sound director, anyway? I see he did Air, maybe an anime with similar sound factor.

Wonder what happened to Hiro, to make him become like this.

Hmm. I'll add that my suspension of disbelief was shaken sometimes during the second episode; it just doesn't make sense for brains to remain exactly the same at different parts of life. But that only adds to teh cute, unfortunately -- Shouko's so darned serious. She's going to make me change my mind about lolis sometime.

Now I understand why there are three excellent groups doing this. XD

[Matrim]

You know, one of the last words I would use to describe this series would be moe. That's not to say your assessment is wrong, it's just that the word itself is so ridden with negative connotations in my mind. Not to mention the definition of moe seems to be somewhat unclear...

Hmm. I'll add that my suspension of disbelief was shaken sometimes during the second episode; it just doesn't make sense for brains to remain exactly the same at different parts of life.

It does when the aging process (or the reverse one) is done by a wishstone. All I expect from wishstones is granting wishes and I doubt Karada had the idea to ask to get the life experience or attitude of an adult.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by fignae

...Gotta love the character designs, the music and the sound. The little noises are so appropriate. People walking, things being moved. It's equivalent to a visual zoom-in on the objects, and really brings out the life in quiet frames. Who is this sound director, anyway? I see he did Air, maybe an anime with similar sound factor...Wonder what happened to Hiro, to make him become like this....

Yes, the sound effects just bring things to life. "Visual zoom-in" is a great analogy. Going over the list of credits for Tsuruoka Yota, the sound director, I can see he's at the top of the profession: Air, FMP, Suzumiya Haruhi (all KyoAni), Rozen Maiden, Petopeto-san (the sound of her shoes was so striking), Inu Yasha, Macross 7, Gravion, RahXephon, Lain, Speed Grapher (with all those shutter sounds), Turn A Gundam, Negima!? -- the list goes on and on. And sound effects on Last Exile, so sound effects may be his specialty, as voice-acting coaching was the specialty of the sound director on Simoun.

The music guy, Mitsumune Shinkichi, hasn't done as much, but his list is impressive, too: Utena, in particular, but also FLCL, Rozen Maiden, Hanbun no Tsuki, Speed Grapher, Negima!?, et al.

Also a good point about Hiro. The way they used his hair to hide his eyes. The way he seemed blandly cruel to Shouko. There is definitely something going on there.

[Anacone]

Originally Posted by fignae

Now I understand why there are three excellent groups doing this. XD

I think that you mean subbing this. We should go and thank them, because without them and bloggers it could have been unnoticed. We own them our thanks. I often check myself what Lunar is subbing.

Although second episode was packed with sad emotions, I think watching it would be like a light in the dark cold winter. Not sure why exactly got that feeling maybe because OP is full of warmness (Yes it has shadowing elements but its there). I'm myself waiting this a bit more than Kanon. Maybe Kanon would be good summer Anime like this is excellent watching in winter. Only one Anime is better watching in winter... Just check sign.

[physics223]

I never got into Kanon as much as I got into this, and I thank Lunar for subbing shows that I watch, but I thank them especially for this. This is just a work of art. On the topic of subbing (and only tangential to this one), it's quite good to see TW work efficiently again with their releases of Death Note; it was a surprise to see Bartender subbed; and I wish sub groups would stop oversubbing Kanon and move on to under-the-radar stuff like Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohaniheto.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Also a good point about Hiro. The way they used his hair to hide his eyes. The way he seemed blandly cruel to Shouko. There is definitely something going on there.

I don't even think he was cruel to Shouko; I just think he wanted to leave the past as it were, locked deep with the skeletons in their closet. He was nonchalant to her, but he didn't even try or aim to hurt her - he knew he hurt her in the past; he thought that it was inexorable and incorrigible, so he left it at that.

Well, you could peg it simply as a fashion statement, but indeed, if the face told much about Hiro's current state it's that he wants to hide the past - shown by somewhat changing the way he looked. But meh. Enough of speculations: give me ep3!!!

[eggplant]

Watched episode 3, ah, the plot thickens.

Spoiler for Episode3:

Great Shouko story. She still can't get over her breakup with Hiro, and misunderstands the relationship bewteen him and Karada. Now that Shouko knows the siblings are not blood related, and upon him seeing Karada in her grown up state, I wonder how Shouko's state of mind will be like.
The scene where Shouko becomes jealous of Karada's karada (body) was hilarious.
I'm also looking forward to see if Hiro and Karada develop any romantic feelings for each other.
One thing that puzzled me was the post office scene (that's not a bank, FYI). This anime may be in a rural setting, but I would imagine it to have an ATM, although having to withdraw savings from the teller is more appropriate for the girls newfound situation.
Can't wait for the next episode.

On a different note, I also saw the widescreen version of Episode 1 on BS-i, and as with the rest of the TBS releases up to now, the 4:3 fullscreen version doesn't do Asatte ni Houkou any justice.

Some screencaps of the TBS version versus the BS-i version.

[JediNight]

I just finished watching Ep2: So that is the route they went with it eh.

After finishing Ep1, there were 3 paths it could have taken -- and any of the 3 are interesting.

#1 - Karada's name on the nameplate is magically replaced with Nogomi's ... aka they switched ages, but "life" for each respective age was the same. So the older brother in that case would have came and said "Thank goodness I found you Nogomi!" and hugged the 10/11 year old Nogomi. Meaning the now adult Karada was previously his girlfriend. (Was thinking this because they kept flashing to the nameplate, and expected in Ep2 for it to show a different name)

#2 - Similar to the first ... Nogomi is now Karada and vice versa, with the other characters recognizing them as such. (Was thinking this one was the most likely after seeing the nameplate the same ... ESPECIALLY with how Nogomi then put on Karada's clothes. That was a perfect setup for the brother to run up and ask where "Karada" has been and why didn't "Nogomi" call him and say she was with her.)

#3 - What actually happened ... they are different ages but the same people and have to convince others of what happened and try to deal with it now.


A lot of things could happen after this point I guess ... they show pictures of Nogomi now in the elementary school uniform, so I guess I'll just have to watch and find out Could be canon, could just be for a cute picture of role reversal.

PS: Anyone else think Karada will get a job at the cafe? =)
PPS: That's really corny of them to name her Karada (means "body" in Japanese) given what happens lol... It's written in katakana so you know it's not even a regular name in Japan either.

I also hope that Lunar or another group redoes the episodes using the BS-i caps ... those are beautiful and you can see just how much of the picture is chopped off in formatting for 4:3 ... ;(

[Kaoru Chujo]

The pre-OP part of ep3 had me a bit worried that we might be descending into simple comedy -- but not very worried. The rest led us expertly along a narrow rail, as in the ED, balancing pathos and humor, not falling off into either bathos on the one side or comedy on the other. I am totally hooked.

Spoiler for ep3:

I loved the easy relationship between Shouko and Karada, and the fact that little Shouko keeps her sharp, depressive manner. Can Karada bring Shouko back from the dead? Will she get the chance?

Maybe the use of the Post Office instead of an ATM was just for dramatic reasons, for that business with the complex form. And most people would still be quite familiar with using the post office, I suppose.

Good points by physics223. I wasn't blaming Hiro, just saying that there had to be a reason why he said words that seemed cruel to her -- which they did.

Spoiler for just to be sure that these ideas aren't the result of seeing ep3:

I think perhaps leaving her may have hurt him as much as her, and he spent four years locking his feelings away. As you say, he thought it was all gone and too late to correct what had happened, but now that she reappears before him, the strength of his buried feelings may have expressed itself inappropriately in those sharp, offhand, "nonchalant" words ("world peace," "still love me"). The "offhand" is what I was trying to say with "bland." He wasn't trying to be cruel, but he was. I think the hair over his face may be to show he is depressed. Maybe he and Shouko are actually quite similar personalities.

And I agree with all you say about subs. Not to put Kanon down at all, but this is much more involving, subtle, and artistic so far.

Now to find the 16:9 raws. Negima has the same problem: the ordinary broadcast TV is 4:3, and the 16:9 version is only broadcast later on satellite. Makes commercial sense, I suppose.

[physics223]

Can I persuade you to pennies of my thoughts? But even if one can't be convince to do so, I generally share the opinion of Kaoru that this series is much more involving, subtle and artistic compared to Kanon. I guess I may have reiterated some of my points mentioned here, but some novel ideas came to my mind as well while writing that short ... disquisition.

[nojay]

Asatte no Houkou is turning out to be a rare series, a drama where people are getting hurt and it's also laugh-out-loud funny too. I don't do LOL much but watching the ep. 3 raw -- [stuff deleted] -- gold. Best series of this season so far and probably best of the year. Only twelve episodes? Rats.

[fignae]

Originally Posted by Matrim

You know, one of the last words I would use to describe this series would be moe.

You're right, Matrim, it was riddled with negative connotations for me--I was mildly disturbed, you see.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Also a good point about Hiro. The way they used his hair to hide his eyes. The way he seemed blandly cruel to Shouko.

The way he looked totally different a few years ago.

Originally Posted by physics223

Well, you could peg it simply as a fashion statement, but indeed, if the face told much about Hiro's current state it's that he wants to hide the past - shown by somewhat changing the way he looked. But meh. Enough of speculations: give me ep3!!!

Well, usually when anime characters' eyes are hidden, it implies that their emotions are masked or problematic. Perhaps Hiro's denying myself in order to take care of his family. Perhaps his attitude towards Shouko is related to this.

Eek, must avoid spoilers. The subs are fast enough that I can catch up easily. And yes, Anacone, I am thankful to the fansubbers, indeed.

[JediNight]

If anything, the reason it's only 12 episodes is because they started the anime with only 3 volumes of manga completed. Might have been better for them to wait for 7/8 volumes to be released first, because I doubt we'll see a season2 for something like this.

[nojay]

There's a bit in the OP where Karada and Shouko together say "This is the story of such a summer for us" (Lunar translation). I read this to mean the change they have experienced won't last for more than a few weeks, so a single 12-episode series will deal with the story start to end.

Heh, if I got my wish for a one-off series to be continued I'd plump for "Haibane Renmei" first off. If Asatte makes it to a satisfactory conclusion in 12 episodes I'll be satisfied though.

Is anyone scanlating the manga, or are there even raws available? I've looked in a few places but zip.

[Theowne]

physics223, I agree that this is better then Kanon, but I think we don't need to keep saying it in every post

I realized I don't have much info about the manga for this series. Is it going to be completed anytime soon, or is a deviation from the plot expected to close the anime?

[JediNight]

Shouko really needs to choose different glasses. Those thick rimmed ones she gets are awful looking and ruin her cuteness IMHO =\ Get contacts or better looking glasses like her first pair were decent