2014-07-04, 02:59 | Link #61 | |
Blooming on the mountain
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....
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The OP is quite nice, and the visuals are simply a delight. The non transfer student charas were fine - no complaints there either. And after all it is only the first ep! But hey, you might be delighted more than you think and not bothered by the rest of our impressions! ^^
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2014-07-04, 03:12 | Link #64 |
♪~ Daydreaming ~♪
Graphic Designer
Administrator Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Italy
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The first ep. of NagiAsu had this almost unique premise of sea villagers sharing the world with earth villagers, so that alone was fascinating. And it had 26 episodes. Even though I preferred Tari Tari's energetic first ep. , I have to give NagiAsu some merit.
The many characters introduced at once for me can work in an action series, not in a drama series where you're supposed to let the characters and their personalities sink in. The fact that we remind them for their aspect rather than their name is everything except a good sign. Finally, I didn't see unique traits in Glasslip, except the glass working which went too fast and seemed more like a side element rather than a main one.
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2014-07-04, 03:41 | Link #66 | |
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The best type of series is of course one that is ambitious and successful but those are very rare. There's also occasionally a type of series that does a genre so well and you haven't seen one like that in many many years (White Album 2 comes into mind for me in the romance/drama department). But by the sound of things, it appears Glasslip doesn't fall into any... Last edited by Pocari_Sweat; 2014-07-04 at 04:48. |
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2014-07-04, 04:21 | Link #67 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Austria
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I'm predicting enjoyment levels around NagiAsu for me - a solid mid-tear PAW show. This is no Tari Tari, and it's certainly no True Tears. I'm worried that I might have to quit on the show for the light effects; they left me with a slight headache. @transfer student: For some reason I thought David San@Ganbaranai. Huh. |
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2014-07-04, 05:07 | Link #68 | |
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So with that in mind, I don't think the number of characters introduced is the problem in and of itself. Nagi no Asukara had a fair number of characters to introduce in its first episode as well. But the thing with Glasslip is that it really hits you over the head with the romance drama in the very first episode. So much so that when you strip that away, it leaves most of the characters feeling a bit like blank slates to me. Really, it's only "David" and the lead girl that feel introduced beyond just their romantic inclinations. So, for me, this is like putting the cart before the horse. I mean, to care about romance drama, it's obviously important to care about the characters involved. And when you have very little feeling for most of the characters except their romantic attachments, it's hard to care about those same romantic attachments. Nagi no Asukara was no less obvious when it came to "who likes who?", but its characters were pretty well-defined aside from that, even from the opening episode.
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2014-07-04, 06:20 | Link #69 |
Art Block Specialist
Join Date: Jun 2007
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We don't really feel any motivation nor drive from those characters aside from the usual romantic tension. Considering that I don't really care about romance in general (yet still tried out this ep), it just doesn't have anything for me worthwhile to latch onto. They can all be background characters for all I care.
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2014-07-04, 06:38 | Link #71 |
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Ok watched the episode. And I can see why this got a negative response overall as I'm in the same boat though not necessarily for the same reasons.
My biggest problem was by far the pacing. It was... all over the place. If anyone remembers Tari Tari episode 2 and how that had some pacing issues, well Glasslip felt like if they made that episode the pilot episode for this series. One moment they are at a summer festival, next moment at a restaurant, next moment at school, next moment talking about chicken hot stew, next moment about romance. Talking about chickens... wtf? Did someone get the name wrong? I'm thinking this series should be Chickenlip instead of glass because frankly I saw jack shit glass but like 1minute of footage. It also pretty much dumped us right into the middle of things and expected us to care about all the characters and their issues. Not to mention the still frames. Now True Tears was PA's first series and it was obvious they had budget issues there since it was their pilot series but cmon PA, you're not exactly a poor studio anymore and you give us cheapstake stills. No it wasn't really artistic, it was pure, obvious shortcut. And the love polygon off the bat... well hopefully it won't be as obnoxious as a Mari Okada show or Nagi no Asu Kara (tbh I don't think it'll be) but PLEASE don't make that the central theme. Coming of age, friendship and glassmaking please ok? Now despite all the above I said, it wasn't god awful, though it was flat out ballpark average with above average visuals (but below average considering PA standards). Definitely no where near as bad as Nagi no Asu Kara's pilot episode, which was just cringy. |
2014-07-04, 09:38 | Link #72 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
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Overall, I think the first episode is certainly not bad, but it also leaves something to be desired. More specifically, my biggest problem with this episode and possibly this series in general is the way they try to (intentionally?) accommodate at least two different interpretations, and in the end fall short.
The result is that this episode can be quite a mess to behold. If you put more attention to the romance/drama aspect, then arguably aside from the love dodecahedron itself, the characters and their interaction/dialogue are noticeably stilted and unnatural. Some specific dialogues are very liable to make you think either "wtf?" or "who even talk this way?". On the other hand, if you put more attention to the (potential?) magic realism aspect, then the whole episode can be quite jarring, especially when almost all non-trivial dialogues/background setting screams "FORESHADOWING" at you. "If she tells you to die, would you do so?". "No matter what (bad things) happens, I wish my future self will fix it". "I saw what you saw that day". And the thing is, you can explain many of the above with by assuming that they are trying to do both without paying due attention to the cross-inteference. Of course, this is just the first episode, so I can't be too hard on the series. It might well be the case that in the it will get better in the future. It's just that when the root cause of most problems is overreaching, i.e. trying too hard to be accommodate both magic realism and romantic drama, then it can be unlikely if the studio thinks that they are in fact doing a good job and not overreaching at all. To me, at least, just from this first episode it feels like this anime can well be split into two different version, one focusing on romantic drama/slice of life and one focusing on magic realism. Perhaps somebody else who think that this (clumsy) blending of genre can be good enlighten me as to how? |
2014-07-04, 09:51 | Link #73 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Tuscany, Italy
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IMHO it's too soon to make a judgment. We've seen too little, and this anime could virtually became everything. So I'll go along for the ride too
What interests me the most is the glass processing. I hope there will be a lot of space for that! Lol @ the end, I was really thinking "here begins the catfight" or I should say "the chickenfight"? xD
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2014-07-04, 10:43 | Link #75 |
ˇGracias Totales!
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Entre caníbales...
Age: 31
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What I'm afraid it's the pseudo-intellectualism we're given glimpses off, transfer student aka I might as well use a fedora and his thoughts about the chickens, glasses girl who's the living steoreotype of intellectual and isolated reading Camus's Exile and the Kingdom (who even reads Camus for fun, quite especially that short story collection?), all of wich may turn into senseless ramblings about poorly exposed philosophic arguments, wich have no room on a romantic drama...
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2014-07-04, 10:49 | Link #76 | ||
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
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2014-07-04, 12:36 | Link #77 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Episode 1:
After skimming through the episode, it seems like this will be a slice of life with romance drama. The pacing feels kinda slow, and I'm not sure what else this series has to offer. I am curious about the transfer student and his background. I get this really mysterious vibe from him. Anyways, will take a look at the second episode. |
2014-07-04, 13:14 | Link #78 |
Blooming on the mountain
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....
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Licensed by Sentai: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-titles/.76300
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2014-07-04, 13:15 | Link #79 |
Yuuki Aoi
Join Date: Jul 2004
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As often seems to happen, I will be the odd one out here. For me, this first episode could be the beginning of a masterpiece. It was beautiful, subtle, interesting, stylish. It had a unique rhythm. It was actual Art -- starting with the glorious opening sequence and OP animation.
The show created a style and used it to produce various dramatic/artistic effects. The somewhat stilted way the transfer student spoke was part of the stylization that elevated this episode, for me. The contrast with the others lifted him above them, but also excluded him. Simple naturalism is not the only way to write dialogue. Sure, he's an outsider, like Noe in True Tears, but I hope no-one's dismissing him as only that. Making comparisons with other PA Works shows may be a good game, and is certainly possible, but to me it is tangential to what's important and enjoyable here. Everything means something in this episode. That's part of what makes this real art. Just by watching them, we get a lot of info about the characters. You can call some things "obvious," I guess, but to me that feels like classic drama: the story progressing inexorably. The idea that "too many" characters are introduced is just preference. The slight distance from people that creates is part of the style here. Let's see what they do with it. I certainly had no trouble identifying all the main characters and getting a feeling of who they are. The ignorance and vulnerability of the chickens does suggest something about the people, but the fact that the people quickly move to protect the chickens also shows their good-heartedness, as well as showing the influence of our "Miss Natural" heroine. I liked the efficient way the story moved from the encounter with the transfer student to everybody having been roped into protecting the fowl. And the feeling of having chickens running around your house is pretty disorienting. The transfer student is a similarly disorienting presence. Now, it is true that I think Shinbou is one of the great directors, and others don't, so I understand others' mileage may vary for this show. That "rhythm" I spoke of above is what I most love about Shinbou: the sound and image weave a symphony with its own subconscious life. And in this show by Nishimura Junji, the way the characters and relationships are being unfolded also has a special, unusual rhythm. As for comparisons between this and Nagi no Asukara or Tari Tari, for me this stands far above both, through one episode. I do admit I took a visceral dislike to Hikari from the start, as others have for Transfer Student here, so that no doubt coloured my impressions. But this just seemed to have a lighter touch all round. However, this is just a beginning. We'll have to see how the show evolves. This first episode sketches the characters pretty vividly for me, and inserts a mysterious stranger with unknown ideas of his own. We get forward motion from the mystery of his background, skills, and nature; the mystery of what he will do now; and the mystery of how -- or simply how soon -- our heroine will respond to him. For me, of course, calling this show "shoujo" is praise rather than blame. I thought newcomer Fukagawa Seria (not Amamiya Sora, as I wrote before) was effective as Touko. Despite some moments of flatness. On the other hand, much as I normally love Hayami Saori's work, I found her extreme prideful voice a bit distracting this time, especially at first. But she did make me feel her character, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. In any case, to me this first episode could be the beginning of a masterpiece. It could climb toward the heights occupied by this same director's Simoun, which is my favorite anime. Let me draw your attention again to my characters/seiyuus page for this show, which could help others as well as me to find our way among the characters.
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Last edited by Kaoru Chujo; 2014-07-05 at 17:45. |
2014-07-04, 13:30 | Link #80 | |
Blooming on the mountain
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light....
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For what it is worth, from the ANN announcement and summary of this series from CR we might be getting a little more of a hint into what is going on with the transfer studemt:
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glasslip, love polygon, p.a. works, romance, supernatural |
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