(CR) Alice to Zouroku

[nicky.]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

It was just about wondering who is this guy and what sort of shady business must he be in to have been doing business with a yakuza boss, only to discover that he's a florist and there was nothing illicit involved at all.

Good point. Perhaps those thoughts had left my mind due to the episode being 45 minutes long and the large gap between the scenes in question. (Though, I didn't watch start-to-finish in one sitting. lol)
Despite all that, it's more than likely because I believe the anime did an excellent job of portraying him as one of the 'good guys', so him being normal was exactly as I expected.

I don't think they were but, if they were going for shock value then it wasn't handled well. After seeing the old man's characterization, it was obvious; they gave nothing to indicate otherwise.. Being completely honest I would have been blown away if he turned out to be evil at the end of the episode.

[Nivek von Beldo]

Pretty amazing first episode, surpise me and seems we will got a pretty nice anime.

And the agency already playing the nationalist card, this will be funny...

[Ghostfriendly]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have guessed it was them. The feel of the song is definitely similar.

The end song was indeed very calming and lovely.

I'm not interested in an "evil corporation hunts down escaped test subject" plot, but a "young girl who knows nothing about society learning about life from a no-nonsense old guy" plot would be much more interesting.

'Learning about life', becomes more serious in a way when you can chose to reject life for a sheltered facility, or have the choice made for you. The facility may also have more interesting children, as well as the wonderland space; so far we have 'Tweedledum and Tweedledee', 'The Doormouse' (though all of them seem pretty sleepy), and...Aladdin? Loved the kimono girl's surreal giant arms.

The old guy was rather cool, no time at all for 'anime' tropes, or the bossy loli schtick a young hero would've swallowed like medicine. I can understand him trying to throw Sana out of his car, since he'd seen her teleport, and guessed she could take care of herself. This anime feels very fresh, with great background features like the Chinese shopgirl and signage. Its quality will certainly depend on the fresh spin to an old-setup being retained.

Also, I don't get what's the big deal about him being a florist. Why does that matter? The anime made it out to be pivotal knowledge.. Unless they were just trying to show how surprised the girl is.

I saw that more as hidden depths to the old guy's character. I imagined he would be a woodcarver or sculptor from his gruff appearance, but flowers hint at much more soft emotion than we see.

[nicky.]

"Tweedledee and Tweedledum" I couldn't stop laughing, seriously.

Yes, flowers do hint at a softer side to the man. I wasn't expecting anything in particular, such as woodcarver as you mentioned, but I just knew he was not a 'bad guy'. I'm assuming you thought similar.

[DemonneoPT]

Man, that cgi in the car chase was probably one of the most horrendous animation works i have seen recently..lol. Not even berserk 2016 was that bad. They probably spent all their budget in that fight in the beggining of the episode tho

Anyway, i liked the theme (somewhat similar to Elfen Lied) and the unlikely main duo. My only problem with the old man was how he reacted to Sana's powers for the first time... i mean, common, it was like having girls summoning light crystals and disapearing in front of you is something you see everyday. It could be better executed... but hey, my surprise in discovering he was actually a florist after that reunion with the Yakuza almost made up for that
The mystery behind the Alice Dream and the ones researching it seems interesting. It might be an enjoyable experience following this one. Time will tell!

[BPD Renegade]

Having an old man as the lead is a nice change of pace. I dislike bratty moe girls, so I'm glad Zouroku shut her down so quickly instead of being the typical male lead who enables that spoiled princess behavior. I have no problems with the old man not caring about leaving a little girl out high and dry. It's his personality. He's not being depicted as a kind old grandpa, but as an old man who doesn't give a shit as long as he isn't bothered. If it were a young man or teen, no one would be batting an eye about it.

Like everyone else, I think the CG was absolutely atrocious, and the animation did really detract from what would have been a nice start. It was still a good episode though, when putting that aside.

[Ghostfriendly]

Didn't think the CGI was as bad as recent Berserk. Things like the giant summoned ball and chain are perhaps meant to look otherworldly and strange? I suppose it wasn't brilliant though.

[nicky.]

I didn't mind any CGI scenes either; probably because of lack of a highly artistic view. It also doesn't help that I'm usually into an anime for the plot and not the eye candy.
I do agree that the moving background, when the car was supposed to be stopped, was terrible. That's not a matter of CGI though, just a matter of ruining the entire scene.

[Kismet-chan]

I finally got around to watching this today and it was definitely one of my more favored debut episodes of the season. Not even the whole CG car chase scene bothered me that much, honestly. (I've seen worse.) I also think the double-length premiere helped get everything off the ground much better than a single episode would've. Had it ended at the halfway point, it would've lacked a bit of impact, imo.

[Darthtabby]

I'm not as enthusiastic about this one as many here appear to be. I like the gruff old man protagonist, but the show's outlandish and realistic elements kind of clash (even just the character designs for the two leads together), and as noted the production values leave something to be desired with the CGI car chase.

[Tenzen12]

Well, they are supposed clash. So If you gt that impression show delivered.

[Stark700]

Episode 2:

Ah, I like that OP song. There's a good degree of creativity poured into it and is catchy.

Sanae and Sana's character chemistry is really cute. I feel like the two can become good friends. Honestly, I thought this episode had much more humor than compared to the first one thanks to Sana's powers.

Shizuku' fun to watch with the business relationship she shares with Ryuu.
It's also interesting to see a little bit more of Sana's past.

[AB079]

Episode 2 wasn't that great to be honest, after all what happened on episode 1 now everyone is living a happy life? I mean we're talking about a powerful organization looking for Sana and they can't find her for some reason. Hopefully we're getting something more than cute girls doing cute things in the next episodes.

The interactions between Sana and Sanae was nice and comfy but an entire episode dedicated to that isn't really interesting.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Yeah, this was a boring episode that lowers my expectations for the series. One act of Sana and Sanae being goofy together would've been fine, but stretching it to an entire episode was too much. I also have a hard time believing, given everything that's happened so far, that Zouroku would not only leave Sana home alone, but allow Sanae to be there at all. Has the guy not seen Elfenlied and Brynhilder?

Plus I spent most of the episode thinking, "Man, Zouroku is gonna flip when he gets home and finds the place full of pig crap."

[Random Wanderer]

Well, Sanae is adorable. I'd like to keep her.

I was going to say when Sana tried making the hotcake that it couldn't turn out well. If she could make enough food to fuel herself properly, she wouldn't be in the sort of trouble she ends up in.

Sana still needs to work on the "don't use your powers" part of her deal, I think.

[Xical]

I'm the only one who got a flashback to " Léon: The Professional " in the pig doll scene?
And we know how that ended.

[pagan poor]

Old school is the best school.

Zouruku has seen stuff in his past. What with dealing with yakuza, and now escaped magical loli experimentations without batting an eyelash.

Also getting a little Pygmalion vibe as the old guy teaches some worldly manners to the then kept Sana and earlier the other girls.

[Wandering Soul]

Sanae is incredibly laid back. I think most people would freak out a lot more after having someone teleport to so many places.

[Proto]

I really loved this episode overall, especially Sana past memory with the twins. Many stories highlight the importance of a name, and the realization of the self that comes from acquiring one. Given that these two are the ones that gave this gift to Sana, it really makes me look forward to how their interaction will be in future episodes.

I haven't seen a series like this that attempts to merge serious adventure-style sci-fi and slice of life aspects into one package since Figure 17, and given that that was the series that made me fall in love with anime my expectations right now are pretty high. Keep 'em coming.

[Darthtabby]

I've still got mixed feelings on this one. Given that I'm not that enthusiastic about the series' plot I didn't particularly mind this episode being more about every day life. However, I found Sanae waaaay too easy going/laid back, and wow is her voice high pitched. I like the old guy but seriously the rest of the show kind of clashes with him.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

Plus I spent most of the episode thinking, "Man, Zouroku is gonna flip when he gets home and finds the place full of pig crap."

I was thinking those pigs seemed unnaturally clean.