(L) Shikabane Hime Aka

[Esper 28]

I watched the first episode last night and I'm a bit iffy. I just don't know if I can care about Ouri. I just felt like, the more story that was put on him, the less I found myself wanting to watch. However, Keisei and Makina had me completely sucked in. Whenever they were on screen, I wanted to watch. Ouri just didn't have that appeal, but hopefully, with time, that will change.

I'll be there for the second episode, for sure.

[Brack]

I thought the first episode was far better made than the well trodden source material deserved.

[Ninjacat]

Originally Posted by Brack

I thought the first episode was far better made than the well trodden source material deserved.

That was my feeling as well, I'm totally sold on the series but the premise is amazingly generic.

Still, the soundtrack is good, the animation is top-notch with the Gainax action style I love so much. I really like Keisei and Makina, and the world seems very solid. It does help that they look like they're about 20 instead of 14.

Ok, I'm not too fond of Oouri, but a least he's not as bad as the other characters in his cathegory. Saji anyone?

[Kaoru Chujo]

I thought both eps 1 and 2 were good. The story worked, the animation was decent, the whole atmosphere worked for me. The writer who adapted the manga for anime was Aikawa Shou, who did FMA and Oh Edo Rocket, and may even have done Simoun, under a pseudonym.

The voice-acting is, shall we say, uneven. I often enjoy the work of amateur seiyuu, but not so much here. There are a number of film/TV actors in this show, it appears. The scene in the bar was painful, but the two leads have a chance to get better, I think. Fortunately, there are some pros in the background: Chiba Saeko, Fujiwara Keiji, Horie Yui.

And angela is terrific doing both the OP and ED.

Spoiler for ep2:

I am normally turned off completely by monsters, but those in ep2 worked for me. I think the way they connected them with the kids, and the actual character design and animation, were what did it. There are two character designers, both of whom worked on Gurren-Lagann, and one of whom was animation director of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Kubota Chikashi). The other, Sadakata Kikuko, did bits of key animation on noein, Black Cat, and Ouran.

[maplehurry]

I dont like Ouri. He seems like a necrophilic when trying to peek at the face of that girl whom he knew is already dead..

[DangerMouse]

Originally Posted by orion

I'm still wondering what Ouri is being setup for (hopefully a very big fall). That demon cat is hanging around him for a reason. I really like Kessei.

Yeah, they've done a rather good job making him quite likeable very quickly in just a few scenes.

[LeoXiao]

This reminds me a lot of Claymore but with Mac10s. That will make me watch the rest.

[Shadow Kira01]

This anime is like a female Dante taking on hordes of zombies in a more creative manner.

[Gin456]

Yep,I am soul eater fan and I like it.

[King Lycan]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

This anime is like a female Dante taking on hordes of zombies in a more creative manner.

Good comparison

[kron]

So they just took the name and characters of the manga and made it a 99% original story. Despite nice animation and music (at least characters look better than manga), I'm really disappointed with the story and the over the top shikabane in ep 1 and 2... hold on, they are more like monsters than shikabane from the beginning of the manga.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by kron

So they just took the name and characters of the manga and made it a 99% original story.

Not really 99%, i mean they're keeping the basic story, just changing how the beginning starts and making Ouri a main character.

[NakedAngelX]

Ep 2

Spoiler for Ep 2:

Only thing good about this EP is the atmosphere in the hospital scene. Rest of the episode sucked.

Was my 2nd most anticipated show of the fall release, now losing interest in it...

[solomon]

I tried this again first ep 1 and then ep 2. I realized theres really no reason I shouldn't enjoy this when I enjoy Bleach and One Piece everyonce in a while.

I basically let the mood and style work it's magic cause that's what really makes the story work for me, plus I'd be lying if I wasn't in it just for some crazy good animation as per the OP

oh yea, angela rox as usual.

Hmm, I've heard in this thread that they are deviating from the orignal source material, anyone know how much? Actually I don't think that's sacreligious in and of itself if you have a great Head Writer, especially like Shou Aikawa who worked wonderfully in the "reimagining" of FullMetal Alchemist, plus if the show is fairly generic shonen on it's own I think it would be rather interesting to have an actually retooling of the story. Of course I haven't seen the original source material so....

[Shiroth]

I'm loving Beautiful fighter more and more everytime i listen to it. The OP animation fits it perfectly.

The only thing that's bugging me in this adaptation compared to the manga is how Makina keeps on getting the hell beaten out of her by doing rookie mistakes. Yes i know this the story has started differently compared to the manga, though you'd think they'd keep the way she just kicks so much arse in the manga in the adaptation.

Also they haven't mentioned why the Shikabane Hime fight, though there's still time for that.

[DangerMouse]

As someone not familiar with the manga, I can see why they might have established her both kicking ass and getting the hell beaten out of her to show off what she can take, however I'm in agreement, going forwards I'd really like to see her start kicking more ass and spending less time on the ground due to those rookie mistakes, they've more than established what she can take for people like me who were unfamiliar with the series, now I'd like to see her do some more cool ass-kicking that we've seen way too short bursts of, which is supposed to be one of the draws of the franchise.

Since I don't know the manga, does she tend to blow through more opponents in cool ways right away in the manga? Atleast until she goes up against any reoccurring villains or anything ofcourse. I'd love to see a longer fight soon with more of that in the style and camera angles they've used to "film" some of her short bursts of cool moments so far.

The imagery in the OP, not to mention the perfect meshing of Beautiful Fighter with it, still has me hyped for where this show can go if they don't get bogged down in monster-of-the-week which the OP gives me hope they don't intend to do, with all those important characters thrown around, and they've done a real nice job establishing the atmosphere that can support a lot of meat despite the rather by-the-book premise.

Originally Posted by solomon

Hmm, I've heard in this thread that they are deviating from the orignal source material, anyone know how much? Actually I don't think that's sacreligious in and of itself if you have a great Head Writer, especially like Shou Aikawa who worked wonderfully in the "reimagining" of FullMetal Alchemist, plus if the show is fairly generic shonen on it's own I think it would be rather interesting to have an actually retooling of the story. Of course I haven't seen the original source material so....

That's a good point. I tend to follow anime closer than manga for the most part so I didn't find out until a little later on that that was the case which really drove home for me how strong and well focused the "reimaging" was and how it kept to the strengths and feel of the material and didn't pull any punches. So like you I definitely feel that even if they are diverging from the source material Shou Aikawa can definitely give us a really strong story with this if they really do want to put the work into this show.

[kamikazex]

episode 2 seriously creeped me out.....god damn that little girl..........and the way they drew it CREEPY!!!

[Megrim27]

I have to admit, despite, as someone said, the well trodden source material, I do like this show. However, once, just once, I would like to see the monster slaying heroes have to be undead old men, or maybe undead middle aged shopkeepers, rather than undead young schoolgirls. Would be different at least

[King Lycan]

Yes episode 2 was good but at the same time very disturbing O_O school children !...thats just sick and why does she always get her ass handed to her in every fight !

[serenade_beta]

*scratches head*
Trying to find something good to say about this episode...

Spoiler for ep3:

...Yeah... This was a rather unmotivational episode...

If I have to find a good point of this episode, it would be that more characters are slowly popping up.
That, and the last scene with the poor doctor and his wife was somewhat moving....


On the other hand, this was pretty much another episodic monster hunting. What's more, the atmosphere wasn't as good as the previous. As a result, it turned out to be quite the plain and dull episode.

Another thing is that I've definitely started to hate Makina now, thanks to this episode. Why? Well, practically everything, from the fact her eyes looks half-murderous all of the time to the part where she actually stole the baby. Personally, I was irritated at her the whole time, but the fact the characters were trying to get serious with the horrible voice acting turned the scenes somewhat comical...
On top of that, she seems strong at times, but ends up being weak at the most important times.

And Ouri? Still seems as useless as ever. Gets a fever, gets caught up in the corpse attack, wakes up and thinks it is all a dream. Wow, some development.

Overall... All of the characters that have appeared so far leave little impression... The story has potential, but the characters are disappointing...
And this anime can be renamed Bou-hime now...

Preview: That girl at school becomes a shikabane (corpse)?