(L) Fractale (TV)

[Jimmy C]

Funny you should mention Nanoha in relation to this. I noted that Strikers suffered from the same problem in the Nanoha board too, but that was before your time.

[tyciol]

Would the title of this anime qualify as a portmanteau of fraction and tale?

[roriconfan]

Maybe an allusion to "frakked all"

[wandering-dreamer]

Nope, it's a reference to this (which should also explain the opener's art).

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

Nope, it's a reference to this (which should also explain the opener's art).

This. It's just fractal written in French.

[Kayoubi]

I think the anime was pretty good overall. Hanazawa Kana was great doing the voice of a 10 year old all cheerful and perky.

But that whole thing with Phyrne's dad just came out of the woodwork. It was hinted at, but overall it shouldn't had been tied in as an important plot point. It's not that I can't accept that concept, but just that it's used completely wrong. The scene devolved to a tasteless WTF moment, then the world carried on.

The utopian world setting was nice. For a few episodes the anime looked Korean outsourced but the towns and backgrounds especially Xanadu looked spectacular.

No lingering loose ends since I don't feel like there's anything to dwell on in this anime. Big bang and a happy ending. Straight forward enough.

[pseudonhym]

I really liked this series... It's very interesting. Ending is great.

[Cream]

Hahaha. Finally finished watching, even though i was always one of those people who saw the episodes within the first 24 hours of release.
I wouldn't say i'm disappointed in the ending . . . just not satisfied. I did enjoy the series though ! Not sure how i would of liked it to end either. I'm rather confused with my feelings toward the ending.
I sorta feel mindfucked , but i shouldn't be .

Nonetheless , great series !

[stormy001_M1A2]

Liked this series but some characters are really just thrown in and dies too fast before the audience can even give a shit about. Some plotholes is so big that SDF 1 can pass thru. Awesome background and story but the character writings is somewhat uninspired. Seriously uninspired. Yamakan is a really slick visual guy but he failed to give the characters more meaning in this story.

[wandering-dreamer]

ANN has a write up from an event back in April that had a lot of the staff/cast from Fractale talk about the show. I skimmed though it but there are some interesting bits in there.

[Dextro]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

ANN has a write up from an event back in April that had a lot of the staff/cast from Fractale talk about the show. I skimmed though it but there are some interesting bits in there.

So... Yamakan is proud of Fractale? Seriously? Jeez!

And when he says he had a lot of trouble making up the ending just confirms mine and many others suspicions: Fractale was overambitious and they didn't have the skill to pull of an ending to it so they kind of went with that randomness we got. At least that's cleared up: it truly was half-assed.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

ANN has a write up from an event back in April that had a lot of the staff/cast from Fractale talk about the show. I skimmed though it but there are some interesting bits in there.

Thanks for the link. That was very informative. Now we know for sure that the ending was entirely Yamakan's fault. And his closing words... I don't even know what to say. I feel a bit sad for him, he seems to have worked harder than ever on this, and the end result was little more than mediocre. I'm not expecting anything from him anymore as a creator (not that I expected much in the first place), at least as long as he remains convinced Fractale is a masterpiece.

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by Dextro

So... Yamakan is proud of Fractale? Seriously? Jeez!

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm not expecting anything from him anymore as a creator (not that I expected much in the first place), at least as long as he remains convinced Fractale is a masterpiece.

I think you guys might be misunderstanding what he's saying. He's not saying its a master piece or that he's proud of it because it's perfect. Rather, he's proud of it because, in a way, Fractale is the mirror to his own soul. This part in particular:

My personal feeling toward anime has changed time and time again. I got lost, distressed, and felt anguished. I still don't know if it was valuable or not. Some people might say, “Don't put so much of yourself and your personal feelings into a work of entertainment”. However, I have a personal creed that as an artist, I don't want to deceive myself when I'm expressing myself. I believe that Fractale was, without doubt, the project where I could reflect on and express my thoughts and feelings 100%.

Shows that when he was making the show, he was filled with many negative emotions. I don't think it's a secret that Yamakan has some sort of self esteem and image issues (he clearly puts a rather high value on himself and his skills, in a very non-humble and pretentious manner) and that a whole lot of what he had felt had been reflected in the work. The show is a very uneven mess, and as much as he accentuates the positives, he is indirectly admitting that yes, this wasn't that great of a show. But I think he doesn't want to say that because he had ''placed so much of himself'' in it that, in a way, saying that Fractale was a mess would be admitting that he was a mess.

I understand what he's saying though. He is proud of this show, as it's his first original anime, a work that reflects his soul, that he worked hard to make, that he was willing to quite anime over it, so rather than shun it due to the failure, he wants to carry it with him every where because it represents who he is and in a way, his baby. In a way, I can respect that.

That being said, this clearly makes me all the more dislike him. I don't want to say Azuma was right or anything (both had acted in an unprofessional and IMO immature manner) but a whole lot of what I'm reading now makes it all the more clear that the man should have never said he would quite anime if the series didn't succeed. Gods, ''We couldn't come up with a way to conclude the story in the end, when we were discussing the series composition.''? So you stuck the ending of another series in yours and said ''it expresses what I want to say''? Cope+pasting something from another work into yours doesn't make a coherent tale, Yamakan. ''I actually tried and
succeeded in making a drama with a very traditional approach.''? Well, maybe in your word. And very humble now, aren't we?

Still this made me laugh (and felt a bit sorry for Yamakan)

Yamakan: I wonder why Phryne was found on the cliff, regardless of the fact that she clearly falls into the ocean. (Audience laughs)

MC & Asanuma: But YOU created that scene! (laughs)

Yamakan: Oh, yeah!? Then I'll explain it. (audience laughs). The ocean was sliding. So, Phryne was falling down diagonally like this, heading toward the cliff.

All: …(it seems like nobody understands his explanation)

Yamakan: Does that not make sense?

Poor Yamakan, he has no idea what this bullshit director is saying either.

Other bits that made me feel really nice inside

Yamakan: Regarding Dias, it was Ms. Mari Okada (Series Composition and Scripts), not I, who wanted to add that type of character. She began to say that without this character, she would be unsatisfied and get bored with the series.(laughs). So we decided to make up that type of character. . Maybe it was a good decision, since we've seen good reactions to the character from female fans.

Yamakan: Again, that was Mari Okada's decision! She came up with the idea that Enri would be a character who keeps yelling “ecchi”. She is crazy... she is an "ecchi" herself."

Feels good man!

(A shame no one picked my favorite scene, from episode 2 with Clain's parents. Oh well ...)

[wandering-dreamer]

It was actually Yamakan who was trying to explain how Phyrne was on the cliff, not someone else. Also, are they saying that people actually *liked* Enri running around saying "ecchi ecchi!" all the time? I thought the general consensus here (of both genders, how the hell did they think that a character running around saying "pervert" was somehow going to make women like the show more?!?) was that it was just annoying, I'm so confused....

[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

It was actually Yamakan who was trying to explain how Phyrne was on the cliff, not someone else.

The impression I had was that Yamakan was trying to explain what the director, Yutaka Yamamoto, had done on the scene, and realizing that it doesn't actually make sense (if she fell in the ocean, how did she end up on the cliff?) so he tried to explain it with a really strange way that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to try and correct the bullshit director's mistake.

i.e. Yamakan has no idea what Yamakan is doing!

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

Also, are they saying that people actually *liked* Enri running around saying "ecchi ecchi!" all the time? I thought the general consensus here (of both genders, how the hell did they think that a character running around saying "pervert" was somehow going to make women like the show more?!?) was that it was just annoying, I'm so confused....

It could be that the audience they brought were 5-year olds. Would explain why would anyone show up in the first place.

(That being said, I have no idea why would Okada consider this a good idea. Then again, she's not all that good in the first place so ...)

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

It was actually Yamakan who was trying to explain how Phyrne was on the cliff, not someone else. Also, are they saying that people actually *liked* Enri running around saying "ecchi ecchi!" all the time? I thought the general consensus here (of both genders, how the hell did they think that a character running around saying "pervert" was somehow going to make women like the show more?!?) was that it was just annoying, I'm so confused....

I liked it the first two or so times, in a despoilable-purity lolicon sort of way. But then it started getting aggravating as that single trait consumed all her lines and screentime, ruining an awesome "character design" by preventing it from containing an actual "character."

[wandering-dreamer]

Continuing with the weirdness, now the manga-ka for the manga adaption asked to stop work on it because she found it boring, although I can't say I blame her.... ANN article with more detail

[totoum]

Then again Mari Okada has characters like "crazy pervert writer" and "crazy engrish speaking management woman" in Hanasaku Iroha so I'm not too surprised by this.

[LKK]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

Continuing with the weirdness, now the manga-ka for the manga adaption asked to stop work on it because she found it boring, although I can't say I blame her.... ANN article with more detail

Wow. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by wandering-dreamer

Continuing with the weirdness, now the manga-ka for the manga adaption asked to stop work on it because she found it boring, although I can't say I blame her.... ANN article with more detail

This is so hilarious

All this Yamakan drama made Fractale worth it. Everyone is spitting on him now.