Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rinbukyoku

[froinlaven]

Originally Posted by Catgirls

...though I must admit that I'm tired of this recent Japanese fascination with the word "Alice". It seems to be popping up more and more lately (Rozen Maiden for example).

Don't forget Gakuen Alice. My Japanese textbook's main character (yeah, it had characters) was named Arisu Arisaka I believe.

[ayyo]

Hazuki as in Furu furu furumoon Hazuki? ^_^

Anyway, theres already a thread on Kagihime but that was before any fansub. Yeah, the pink font was a pain to read, and defiantely not possible on tv or ipod, etc, but I won't drop a series just because stuff on a fansub's part.

[Conan-san]

Well, looks like the Keyblade war began just a few years earlyer than SquareEnix Was plannin', eh?

[Kamui4356]

Well, this series is... interesting... To be honest, after readng the discription, I was expecting to see the first epsiode, declare it to be crap, and never think about it again. However, it suprised me, and didn't completely suck. In fact, it shows some promise. I'm not sure that the whole alice theme will work in the long run though. The first episode also seemed kind of rushed. I'll keep watching for now and see how it develops. I'm not really expecting that much out of it though. Hopefully, it'll suprise me yet again and build on that promise, becoming a decent series. Even if it doesn't, as long as it keeps it's current quality, it'll be entertaining at least.

[Kensuke]

I watched the first episode and I find this anime pretty mediocre, it was better than I first thought. Those "key" scenes reminded me of Cosprayers and tennis rackets in similar situation, I just hope that this series will be better than that, so far I will continue watching.
Strange that the most hilarious part was preview of second episode.

Spoiler:

Kisa's introduction to it and those twins spinning in coffee cup, and then it starts spinning so fast that they are almost thrown away and lose consciousness, I think. I actually laughed and rewatched that scene couple of times.

[deathsvengeance]

very enjoyable, however, the subtitles (nameless-anime group) were really difficult to read D: both my friend and I had to lean to the PC and strain to read lol

Anyway! I really love the costumes in this anime so far, they're adorable! And the way the eyes are done, I really like that too.

I can't wait to see more

[Omniscient]

Episode 02 Screencaps and Summary

Spoiler for episode two:

It wasn't much better than episode one, but at least Aruto's now been given a purpose for being able to enter the special space and watch the fights: he can copy the girls' books so that they don't lose a part of themselves (the old method was Arisu tearing out pages). Kisa's love for Kiraha is a bit over the top and creepy, but in the end, they recruit her to help anyway.

I was thinking about the seemingly random episode titles, and it occurred to me that they’re based on the chapter names of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which makes sense since that's the inspiration for this series. Episode one’s A Rabbit-Hole = Down the Rabbit-Hole, this episode’s Tears = The Pool of Tears, and next episode’s Caucus Race = A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale.

[rale]

Originally Posted by Omniscient

Spoiler for episode two:

Kisa's love for Kiraha is a bit over the top and creepy, but in the end, they recruit her to help anyway.

Spoiler for ep 2:

I'm not sure which is worse; Kisa being so obsessed with Kiraha that she wont even talk directly to anyone else (not to mention her... collection), or Kiraha being so wrapped up in her brother complex that she doesn't even seem to notice Kisa's obsession.

Altho I wouldn't call it great, I'd say this series is turning out to be pretty amusing, so I'll likely keep watching it.

[deathcoy]

haha, i didnt quite have that much expectations for this anime but it was better than i initially thought... first episode was jux nice, content wise... it feels more of a parody of several animes but i like it... gonna enjoy this anime...

think kisa being obessed with kiraha is worst... brother complex thingy im ok with it, in fact i think its kinda cute... hmmm are they blood related?

love the ED clip where they flash the pics of different alice users... cant wait 4 em to make their apperance in the anime... especially those gothic maid-like alice users... >.<

[ctrl-z]

Fight other Alices and get their pages? Collect them all and be granted a wish?

Wait...

Fight other Rozen Maidens and take their mysticas to become Alice?

...
...

Okay, it's not that bad. Flipped through the first episode... Seems alright -- success/interest is gonna be riding on how the plot pans out, I think.

Edit: heh, sarcasm get.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by ctrl-z

Fight other Alices and get their pages? Collect them all and be granted a wish?

Wait...

Fight other Rozen Maidens and take their mysticas to become Alice?

It's not very different from fight all other opponents and take their Dragon Balls, or their pokemon, or their magic cooking utensils, or their eureka stones, or their madougu. The last few are a trifle obscure, so if anyone can identify all the anime I just referenced, I'll give them a cookie.

"Collect all the items" is just a variation of the "last man standing" plot. It is so common that you can't really claim that they are copying Rozen Maiden. This plot hook is so common that it is easy to believe that it is a mere coincidence. Especially since "Alice" related stories are so common as well. You're just seeing a conjunction of two popular story hooks that happened to come together twice. They're both so overused that it was practically inevitable.

[Tiamat's Disciple]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

It's not very different from fight all other opponents and take their Dragon Balls, or their pokemon, or their magic cooking utensils, or their eureka stones, or their madougu. The last few are a trifle obscure, so if anyone can identify all the anime I just referenced, I'll give them a cookie.

"Collect all the items" is just a variation of the "last man standing" plot. It is so common that you can't really claim that they are copying Rozen Maiden. This plot hook is so common that it is easy to believe that it is a mere coincidence. Especially since "Alice" related stories are so common as well. You're just seeing a conjunction of two popular story hooks that happened to come together twice. They're both so overused that it was practically inevitable.

Magic Cooking Utensils = Cooking Master Boy (watched this last night lol)
Madogue = Flamew of Recca )Anime sucked big time, manga is awsome)
Eureaka Stones........its on the tip of my tounge but i cant quite AAAARRRGGHHH

[Squid]

Usually I don't like Anime of this kind but this one was a pleasant surprise. I love the atmosphere and the original theme. The fighting with the large keys was very cool. ^_^

I'm looking forward to the next episodes.

[Kurogane_Shiroikaze]

Episode 2 Opinion and Screencaps.

Meh.... looking at it logically, Kagihime is just a low budget stereotypical mahou shoujo show. But for some reason, I'm kinda digging it, in the good way that is. I have to admit I get hardon's when they do that "unlocking" thing.

Kisa this episode was seriously eerie in the cute and innocent way. I mean she acts all shy all the time, but leave her alone, she goes all obssesive on Kiraha. I had a quite a lot of laughs from watching her doing that. Oh, and anyone else thinks that she looks like a combination of both Hayate and Viita from Nanoha A's?

[Dark Lord Zenigame]

I watched episode 1 yesterday, and my first impression was...

...their breasts are too big. ._.
Yeah, I'm losing it... >_>

Though the chara design grates on me, and the animation quality's not so good, I'm going to hang in there for a few more episodes. The premise looks interesting, at least. ^_^;;

Plus, Keyblade bunnygirls! XD

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by Kurogane_Shiroikaze

Oh, and anyone else thinks that she looks like a combination of both Hayate and Viita from Nanoha A's?

Well she does resembles them both a bit. But i wouldn't had thought of it though

[ctrl-z]

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

It's not very different from fight all other opponents and take their Dragon Balls, or their pokemon, or their magic cooking utensils, or their eureka stones, or their madougu. The last few are a trifle obscure, so if anyone can identify all the anime I just referenced, I'll give them a cookie.

"Collect all the items" is just a variation of the "last man standing" plot. It is so common that you can't really claim that they are copying Rozen Maiden. This plot hook is so common that it is easy to believe that it is a mere coincidence. Especially since "Alice" related stories are so common as well. You're just seeing a conjunction of two popular story hooks that happened to come together twice. They're both so overused that it was practically inevitable.

Originally Posted by NoSanninWa

It's not very different from fight all other opponents and take their Dragon Balls, or their pokemon, or their magic cooking utensils, or their eureka stones, or their madougu. The last few are a trifle obscure, so if anyone can identify all the anime I just referenced, I'll give them a cookie.

"Collect all the items" is just a variation of the "last man standing" plot. It is so common that you can't really claim that they are copying Rozen Maiden. This plot hook is so common that it is easy to believe that it is a mere coincidence. Especially since "Alice" related stories are so common as well. You're just seeing a conjunction of two popular story hooks that happened to come together twice. They're both so overused that it was practically inevitable.

Eureka stones = "Omoikkiri Kagaku Adventure Sou Nanda!"?

Actually, I was just being sarcastic about the parallels between Rozen Maiden and Kagihime. The relation of the story to Caroll's Alice works in Kagihime is more direct than in Rozen Maiden -- direct as in the synposis I've read notes the protagonist's fondness of Alice, as well as explicitly mentioning Caroll's work (although I don't profess to be extremely knowledgeable about Caroll's writing). RM does allude to elements of the Alice works with the use of the "N-field" and the term "Alice" for the perfect doll, as well, but I'm not sure if there are more direct references and if they are as critical to the background story as is the case with Kagihime.

With respect to the "collect all the iterms" plot hook, I definitely agree that it is a common plot vessel and thus shows sharing it while airing in the same season is a link far from needing analysis. To expand on your comments, I guess the popularity of this hook -- from a creative standpoint -- is due to its flexibility with regard to plot. It allows the staging of myriad types of characters (along with a variety of personalities, purposes, and motivations), settings, and outcomes (i.e., what is the purpose of collecting all the items?). On the downside, it seems to suffer from a rigid positioning of the climax at the tail end of the story (i.e., when the task of collection is completed and the story must be resolved after some presumable suspense building), thus running the risk of a stunted ending (e.g., GSD, outside of this particular plot hook but suffering from denouement issues due to late climax). (Of course, I'm not proposing that a late climax always results in a poor ending.) If "completion" of the last-man-standing theme at the end can be avoided, it tends to be cyclical and loses scope (e.g., DBZ; lots of RPGs?).

Just my 2 cents. Great insight, NSW.

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by ctrl-z

Eureka stones = "Omoikkiri Kagaku Adventure Sou Nanda!"?

Yup. I really wish that someone would finish subbing Full-Blast Science Adventure Sou Nanda.
All my references have now been recognized, so here's a cookie for you:

[Guido]

I chose to give this anime a try on basis to treat myself with something exotic or just being whimsical.

The parallels to Rozen Maiden referencing Lewis Carroll's novel, Alice in Wonderland, are the most showcased at the start of the first episode which has fans discussing day in and day out.

But I think that "KagiMono" draws out fairy-tale stories themes settled in a real town revolving around a fantasy world like Princess Tutu did.

The soundtrack for both is full of music extracted from fairy-tale literature, however, Princess Tutu also uses classical music as well while "KagiMono" soundtrack is essentially more fairy fantasy.

Secondly, "KagiMono" employs conventional and traditional magic-girl themes, unlike Princess Tutu that makes use of ballet as plot device.

However I must say that Aruto's character shares some physical reminiscenses to Mytho and like Fakir, toward the end of Princess Tutu, is a writer, although an amateur one.

Last, the battle system that Alice users cast to control the flow of duels is similar to that of Shakugan no Shana. The Merbeyu space acts like a fuzetsu, freezing an specific area around town and fix it into an isolated space for the battle. Unsurprisingly, Aruto had no trouble whatsoever tresspassing and moving freely within the Merbeyu, therefore, makes viewers to grasp that there's something special about him to be used as another plot device later at the series.

This is my initial take on KagiMono for now. I will continue to catch on this series as more episodes are released, but I do not have intentions to burn it on CD or DVD.

As expected from Kaishaku artwork, the authors behind Kannazuki no Miko, great deal of emphasis is placed upon the character's eyes in the animation, but I found the girls physical attributes or female endowment either over the top or just plainly exaggerated.

And it will quite bugger me Kiraha's potential, incentuous affection toward Aruto if the animators don't choose give more substance to her character, seeing the direction they're heading on her.

As for the man at the end of episode one.....

Spoiler:

His name is Alternate L. Takion voiced by one of most respected, talented seiyuus, Koyasu Takehito.

[Taruto]

Originally Posted by GundamZZ

I think Kaishaku is going to become next Clamp. It's their forth manga been animated. IMHO, first is honor(Steel Angel Kurumi). Second is growth(UFO Princess Valkyrie). Third is charm(Kannaduki no Miko). Forth one is going to make Kaishaku remembered in the manga world(considered how many manga artists out there). The show looks like any other show appealing to otaku. Hail, this formula works so well.

Actually, they haven't had four series made - this is their fifth animated series (not including the spinoffs and second series [of which there are many] in this, either)! They are, in chronological order:
Steel Angel Kurumi, Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto, UFO Princess Warukyure, Kannazuki no Miko and now this one - Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo. I'm hoping that other manga of theirs gets at least a short made out of it though.. especially stuff like the second half of the Steel Angel Kurumi manga as a third series or something - their work really is fantastic, even if it is based around an otaku audience, and indeed, a fanservice-loving audience - even though I don't really belong to either catergory! <3
But in any case, I'm not meaning to split hairs or anything, but they're one of my favourite artists/manga-ka teams and it's a shame when people forget one of their animated works.

But, in relation to KagiMono, I haven't watched the first 2 episodes raw yet but I'm looking forward to when I get the time to. I don't expect anything special, but the other series of theirs always please me with their odd appeal. ^_^
Unfortunately, in response to a few posts here, the majority of anime series with a base manga done by Kaishaku do have slow starts and are well - let's just say - pretty uninteresting until it reaches some sort of vague storyline and climax halfway through (yes, even the sillier, 'filler' ecchi ones like UFO Princess Warukyure, or more innocent series like Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto).
I'm hoping KagiMono will be different.. but eh, everything's worth a try nowadays.
These kinds of "not-quite-shoujo-not-quite-shounen" series are cropping up everywhere and before you know it... bam! You're an addict!