(L) Oh! Edo Rocket

[aardvark]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

-_- Lucky Star, Hayate, Zetsubou Sensei , ... and now Edo Rocket. Stop that please dear animation studios. Sometimes I simply want to watch the anime I'm watching without any nod to a parody of a reference to a rip off of a homage to something else.

The original author of Oh! Edo Rocket is the writer of Gurren Lagann, so it's more than just a homage. More of a writer injoke.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by duckroll

No, it's actually based on a stage play. The author of the original stage play is the lead writer of Gurren Lagaan. EVERYONE seems busy this Spring.

After watching the three-episode burst from Shinsen (thank you so much!), I'm trying to imagine how this show would have been staged. The set and prop designers must have worked a lot of overtime if half the stuff we see in the anime actually appeared on stage. Of course, the biggest challenge so far would probably be

Spoiler for ep 7:

the Karakuri robot

especially since it would have appeared on stage so briefly.

As others have said, the score for this show is truly a cut above most anime soundtracks, too. I love the jazz settings.

The plot has definitely become more linear in the most recent stretch of episodes which helps a bit. Still we saw a lot of side plots at the beginning (the abacus dance lady comes to mind) that I hope don't get lost in the turmoil that constitutes Oh! Edo Rocket.

Oh, and just one question:

Spoiler for sky beasts after ep 7:

If the blue beast needs to drink blood for nourishment, what nourishes the lovely O-Sora-San? Have we see anything about her dietary needs yet?

[Asai]

Loving the series. I know it's been running a while, but I only recently picked it up when Shinsen's activity increased. And I think it's bloody brilliant. I love comedy that doesn't take itself seriously, but still has a real storyline.

Plus, the setting is just awesome. Edo, with Akihabara, blogs, TV, helicopters and reset buttons! Great series, and batch releases by Shinsen are great. Getting to watch 3 story driven eps back to back this morning was a nice thing to wake up to. ^^

[SeijiSensei]

I just did a little hunting to see if the OST was available yet. Not until October.

I see those lovely ladies from Natural High have some performances in this series as well. I already own two of their Bartender CDs and have thought about maybe buying another CD or two of theirs as well. Ootake Kaoruko has quite an impressive range of piano stylings which the Bartender series displayed to great effect. It appears they performed "I've Got Rhythm" in Edo Rocket, though I don't recall exactly where.

I don't really like the piece that plays when you visit their website, though. It's apparently designed to sell them into the J-Pop audience. Ootake's smoky jazz performances are orders of magnitude better than that song.

[outcast_within]

[Guardian Enzo]

And Shinsen goes crazy! 4 releases in a week.

Love that OP - it's the catchiest thing since the ED from Kamisama Kazoku...

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

And Shinsen goes crazy! 4 releases in a week.

Wasn't it 5? Ep 6-10?

Spoiler for ep 10:

So, is the old man (wikipedia sure is fast) an alien too? Or am I thinking too rational?

I'm also wondering if his human-feline transformation skills are the secret of his harem ... nyo.

[lightbringer]

This show is finally getting some love.

Spoiler for ep 10:

I absolutely adore the little cat performance / song in episode 10.

[outcast_within]

Originally Posted by lightbringer

This show is finally getting some love.

Spoiler for ep 10:

I absolutely adore the little cat performance / song in episode 10.

it kinda felt like buffy the vampire slayer the musical episode

[Guardian Enzo]

That was a brilliance almost on par with the "Police! Police!" segment in ep 1. OER just gets better and better.

[outcast_within]

Take me far away

[hi no ken Jebus]

Spoiler for ep 23:

This one was a lot of fun and puts Ginjiro back into the spotlight with more stuff about his past. The weird little stuff like the nico video text scrolls and Tenho swallowing a TV were hilarious and out of nowhere to say the least. Even though the last couple of episodes while they added to the main plot they seemed more like fun filler at times it's still very enjoyable. Anyway this was pretty action packed with another short Kamina cameo appearance. The rocket is almost complete so things should start wrapping themselves up in the next three episodes.

[outcast_within]

shunpei and the dog girl are a nice couple

[anime_layer]

Oh! Edo Rotcket has turned out to be one of my favorite series of this season. I always had a weak spot for postmodern humor and with this series I really get my monthly dose of that.

Episode 12 was the one with the most postmodern humor up until now and I really enjoyed it. The part where the old man tells the story of Nadjanadja was great. How suddenly only the layouts and later the storyboard are shown. I love this kind of self-referencing humor - like earlier, when they mention that they only have to redraw the destroyed hut they still need for episode 13. ^^

I also like how the series fluently switches to a more serious and dramatic tone. In the last few episode this tone is missing a bit and I hope we get to see more serious episodes like 3/4 have been.

[Master Chibi]

This show was a surprise to me as well, as I just randomly picked it up, but hell, am I ever glad I did. I'll chime in with everyone else on all the good points brought up thus far. Totally loving the show, can't wait for more.

[Guardian Enzo]

This one and Potemayo make me laugh as consistently hard as any anime I can remember. OER is stylish and edgy, very unpredictable and occasionally outright bizarre - but it usually works. Love the music, too.

[outcast_within]

potemayo is not in the same category is it?

i watched five minutes of it.
it had a jealous potata girl in it that came out of a fridge for no special reason.

Is that show really as good as oer?

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by outcast_within

Is that show really as good as oer?

It's better. At least if your taste coincides with mine. It's a fast random comedy without ever becoming too random (à la "Yes, it doesn't make sense. So laugh, dammit!") or repetitive. But if you watch 1, 2 eps and don't like then forget it. The characters become better developed and more numerous but the overall style of comedy doesn't change much.

[anime_layer]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

It's better. At least if your taste coincides with mine. It's a fast random comedy without ever becoming too random (à la "Yes, it doesn't make sense. So laugh, dammit!") or repetitive.

Well, I didn't really like Potemayo. It's funny all right but there are too few jokes I really found funny to keep me watching it. There are some good ones but overall a find it a bit boring.

Comparing it to OER is kind of hard since both are two different kind of comedies. Potemayo features mostly random humor (like Potemayo emerging out of the fridge for no apparent reason) while OER has more satirical, postmodern and slapstick humor. Of the two, I find OER much more refined and entertaining. Potemayo seems rather bland in comparison. OER features much more in terms of references (to other anime, hollywood movies and itself and its production), drama and characters. I'd call Potemayo a cream puff and (tasty but not really rewarding) and OER a full course.

[Guardian Enzo]

I don't know which is "better" - for me, they're both very, very funny and that's the hardest thing to achieve in a TV show. I certainly agree that they're totally different in their approach to comedy - Potemayo is pure farce, while OER is a post-modern satire. But thank goodness for both of them is all I can say...