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Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

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  • Tag Archives Comic Relief
  • VINLAND SAGA & Kimetsu no Yaiba

    Posted on February 11, 2021 1:45 pm by Offkorn 7 Comments

    The problem (well, one of the problems) with Vinland Saga is that the protagonist is pretty bad: He starts out bad, becomes merely tolerable, and then ends bad. The show seems to be aware of this and as result shows him as infrequently as possible… which is of course another problem. The best character by far ends up being the protagonist’s sister, and she only appears in like 3 episodes. All the rest feel out of place in one way or another; Askeladd ripped from a Roman epic, Ragnar from an English play, Thorkell from One Piece, Canute from Berserk. None of them feel like they should coexist in the same creation.

    Also based on a manga series, Kimetsu no Yaiba in contrast actually comes across as a self-contained work. The problems here mostly stem from the worldbuilding being poorly thought out, the plot developments being boilerplate battle shounen, and Nezuko’s identity consisting of little more than being brainwashed luggage. Pretty much the only part of it I really enjoyed was the (over)reaction humor since most of the action scenes are polluted by overly obnoxious graphic effects.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8984

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Autumn 2019 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Amazon Prime Battle Shounen Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Drama Finished History Hulu Incomplete Source Netflix Partial Adaptation Series Televised Urban Fantasy
  • ØBSOLETE & PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA SIDE STORY – Magia✧Record: Mahou Shoujo Madoka ☆ Magica Gaiden

    Posted on February 11, 2021 3:27 am by Offkorn Comment

    Obsolete is a web series exploring the idea of what would happen to the current western-centric technological hegemony if aliens showed up one day and offered a cheap, powerful machine that could be used for both manual labor and combat to anyone willing to pay their price. As the title suggests, it would become obsolete. While there is a simmering conspiracy plotline lurking around in the background that links the various episodes together, it would probably be best to approach this as more of an episodic ‘what if’ kind of series with a military theme.

    In Magia Record‘s case, it would probably be best to treat it as a stand-alone sidestory rather than as a technical sequel to Hangyaku no Monogatari. It nails the atmosphere and visual style… but stumbles pretty badly at the ‘making you care about its characters’ bit.

    Oh, and if you decide to watch a fansubbed version, make sure to avoid any release that uses YameteTomete’s subs. Arbitrarily changing “Tamaki” to “Iroha” is just flat-out unacceptable. Gods only know what other bizarre alterations they made.

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Autumn 2020 - Autumn 2020 - Winter Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Comic Relief Crunchyroll Drama Dropped Finished Game Adaptation Magical Girl Science Fiction Series Televised Urban Fantasy
  • Akudama Drive & 7seeds

    Posted on February 7, 2021 10:36 am by Offkorn 2 Comments

    Being a heist movie in series form, Akudama Drive‘s primary trait is momentum. To work, it’s got to keep the pace moving so that you don’t have time to dwell on the oddities present in the post-apocalyptic setting.

    And it succeeds in that task beautifully.

    7Seeds features a more conventional post-apocalyptic setting but doesn’t pace itself anywhere near as well; the first season is only barely watchable due to a combination of trying to juggle too many balls at once and concluding in one of the worst places possible.

    The second season however improves the pacing quite a bit while simultaneously narrowing the focus, resulting in tighter, easier to follow plot and relationship developments. Making the work as a whole a decent enough choice for when you’re in the mood for relatively light post-apocalyptic survival content.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8984

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Spring 2020 - Autumn 2020 - Winter Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Drama Finished Funimation Netflix Partial Adaptation Science Fiction Series Televised
  • Munou na Nana & Yuukoku no Moriarty

    Posted on February 7, 2021 7:04 am by Offkorn 1 Comment

    Taking the standard murder mystery setup and flipping it on its head, Munou na Nana introduces you to the killer in the first scene and revolves its (early) mystery elements around wondering how she’ll get away with it. As it progresses and more is revealed about the protagonist the focus shifts to a broader conspiracy-minded framework without losing any momentum whatsoever.

    I’m particularly fond of the ending, though most will probably be more pissed off about the show wrapping on an arc’s climax with no sign of a continuation in sight.

    Also told from an antagonist’s point of view, though one more morally ambiguous than Nana‘s, Yuukoku no Moriarty tells the story of Sherlock Holmes through the lens of his greatest rival. It’s less a mystery series and more an almost episodic revenge drama, one populated by surprisingly likable characters and consistent thematic framing.

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    This entry was posted in 2020 - Autumn 2021 - Spring Anime Related and tagged Action Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Drama Finished Funimation Incomplete Source Mystery School Life Series Televised Thriller Urban Fantasy
  • Dragon’s Dogma & KIMI to BOKU no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru SEISEN

    Posted on January 22, 2021 10:10 am by Offkorn Comment

    I’m not really sure what the point of making a new series based on an action-RPG from nearly a decade ago was. If the MMO version were still active or they were in the process of hyping a sequel I could understand… but there just doesn’t seem to be any reason for it to exist.

    Is it worth watching? Not really, no. Though I will grant that the production team did seem to put some effort into re-working the story to fit a miniseries mold.

    The show with the long title on the other hand has an obvious reason for existing: It’s an adaptation of an ongoing light novel series. And is it worth watching? Again, not really. Although most of the action scenes are surprisingly decent; it’s rushed, the comedic elements feel out of place, and both the story and character behavior are as generic as can be.

    Skip them both unless you’re incredibly bored. Maybe even then.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8984

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    This entry was posted in 2020 - Autumn 2020 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Comic Relief Dragon's Dogma Drama Ecchi Fantasy Finished Funimation Incomplete Source LN Adaptation Netflix OVA Romance Series Televised
  • Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka III: FAMILIA MYTH & MWZ: MAGATSU WAHRHEIT ZUERST

    Posted on January 17, 2021 7:54 am by Offkorn Comment

    After the massive disappointment of the previous DanMachi season, my expectations going into this third season were rock-bottom. So the fact that it actually manages to advance the shadowy background Guild plotline and recapture some of its earlier momentum came as quite a surprise. Unfortunately… that plotline turned out to be incredibly dumb, executed in the most hamfisted manner possible, and arguably wasn’t even properly resolved.

    So I would say the end result is watchable, but only just.

    Magatsu Wahrheit Zuerst on the other hand has a well thought-out story with remarkably nuanced characters. Attributes which are particularly impressive considering it’s based on a smartphone game. The problem here, aside from a slow start (a notable contrast to DanMachi III‘s rushed start), is that the end is really the beginning of a story that will almost certainly never be told.

    So whether or not its worth watching will depend upon how much you’re willing to weigh the journey over the destination.

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    This entry was posted in 2020 - Autumn Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Battle Shounen Comic Relief Crunchyroll DanMachi Drama Fantasy Finished Funimation Harem Hulu Incomplete Source LN Adaptation Series Televised
  • Sundry Anime Movies

    Posted on October 11, 2020 3:19 am by Offkorn 1 Comment
      Gekijouban: FAIRY TAIL – DRAGON CRY
      The improved animation (compared to the parent series) is offset by the worse character artwork and massive pacing hit watching it where it supposedly takes place (post-episode 285) causes. Content-wise it’s effectively a generic battle shounen filler movie.
      Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata Fine
      The franchise‘s conclusion begins by almost entirely sidelining the harem aspects to focus on Megumi and how her comments regarding the game mirror her real-life relationship with Aki… only to have the entire thing derailed by a completely unrelated dramatic development about a third of the way through which inexplicably reintroduces the harem elements. They had a natural ending right there only to go and water down and delay it via contrived drama. Why?
      Goblin Slayer -Goblin’s crowN-
      It starts out with a 25-minute recap of the first season (focusing on the violence and rape; which is an odd choice considering the initial reaction to that season was mostly split between ‘the first episode is nothing like the rest of the series’ and ‘the series is nothing but rape’). Such baffling production decisions. As for the new content, the quality level ends up slightly worse the prequel… assuming you go in expecting a double-length TV episode rather than a movie. If you go in actually expecting a movie it will probably end up mostly disappointing.
      HUMAN LOST
      While inspired by No Longer Human and including some of its major plot points, this movie changes far too much to be considered an adaptation (so best to just forget about that if you haven’t already). It’s an action-drama now and a gorgeous work of desolation and futility… though I feel the giant monster and final fight in the ‘void’ were overkill.
      BURN ✠HE WITCH
      Taking place in the same universe as Bleach, being set in a completely different location (one with more of a Harry Potter vibe to it), this movie focuses entirely on the franchise’s magic system rather than item-based or physical combat. It starts off well enough with crisp artwork, fluid combat animation, and mostly decent characters. The problem is with one particular character: Balgo. He’s awful and has no reason to exist beyond being awful and causing some of the most contrived plot developments I’ve recently had the misfortune of being exposed to.
      Sora no Aosa o Shiru Hito yo
      While the movie works decently enough as a music-themed relationship drama for about 3/4ths of its runtime (leavened by ample comic relief), the vaguely Anohana-like supernatural elements don’t really add anything. It doesn’t have much of an ending either, with events being resolved in the most arbitrary manner possible and an epilogue taking the form of still images embedded in the credit roll.

    Related posts:

    1. Miku Hatsune Concerts Doremi has been releasing some of them subbed, and while...

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    This entry was posted in 2017 - Spring 2019 - Autumn 2020 - Autumn 2020 - Winter Anime Related and tagged Action Anime Original Battle Shounen Comedy Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Crunchyroll Drama Fairy Tail Fantasy Funimation Goblin Slayer Harem Incomplete Source LN Adaptation Movie Music Romance Saekano Science Fiction Urban Fantasy
  • NO GUNS LIFE & Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T.

    Posted on October 7, 2020 2:08 pm by Offkorn Comment

    The action-drama No Guns Life has a visual similarity to Zetman, an atmospheric similarly to detective noir, and a small ill-fitting streak of often ecchi-related comic relief. Personally I just strongly disliked Tetsurou and Olivier’s character design and wasn’t interested enough in the plot developments to stick with it beyond the first half.

    Yet another entry in the Index franchise, Railgun T takes place sometime between the Accelerator spinoff and Index III. It’s strange. Ideally you would want consistent visual quality, right? Yet here the end result comes off as unnaturally natural. Like, there are fully drawn people walking around with detailed background destruction down to individual glass shards… the world actually looks real.

    And that’s the problem: Anime, in my opinion, shouldn’t look real. It’s disconcerting. Almost as disconcerting as the large amount of fanservice (e.g. there’s an entire episode dedicated to two characters’ quest to enlarge their bust size).

    Oh yeah, I also watched some of Eizouken ni wa Te o Dasu na! recently; if you really like the mechanics of making Anime (and don’t mind children’s drawings) give it a shot. I’m not all that fond of creator mythmaking myself and didn’t like the character design much either.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8984

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    This entry was posted in 2019 - Autumn 2020 - Spring 2020 - Summer 2020 - Winter Anime Related and tagged Action Comedy Comic Adaptation Comic Relief Drama Dramatic Support Dropped Ecchi Finished Funimation Incomplete Source School Life Science Fiction Series Televised Toaru
  • Sword Art Online: Alicization & War of Underworld

    Posted on September 23, 2020 5:37 am by Offkorn 1 Comment

    There are a great many problems with the three part sequel to the SAO Ordinal Scale movie.

    The central one is the ill-conceived fusion of the sci-fi modern day plotline and Underworld’s essentially stand-alone fantasy plotline. The two never had any reason to mix. Assassin’s Creed does something similar, and the criticisms about the way that franchise mixes its past/present settings hold doubly true here since Underworld is effectively self-contained as opposed to being a reflection. The author could have easily wrote Alice and Eugeo’s story as its own thing with no association whatsoever to Kirito’s group and ended up with a far more consistent and immersive product.

    Pretty much all of the remaining issues can be tied back to Kirito’s involvement with the story; spontaneous power-ups, random cameo appearances, last minute saves, questionable character motivation, harem elements, and bizarre plot twists all. Really, the only flaw that can truly be called its own is the re-occurring theme of using psychosexual megalomaniacs as main villains.

    Vaguely related to all of that in a ‘you can probably watch this if you’re a fan of the genre’ sense are the series Runway de Warrette and Princess Connect! ReDive. The first of which is a fashion industry-focused Cinderella story overloaded with assholes who magically become nice while the latter is a conventional fantasy action-comedy whose protagonist has the personality of a particularly dull puppy.

    Continue reading → Post ID 8984

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    This entry was posted in 2018 - Autumn 2019 - Autumn 2019 - Winter 2020 - Summer Anime Related and tagged Action Battle Shounen Comic Relief Crunchyroll Drama Fantasy Finished Hulu LN Adaptation Romance SAO Science Fiction Series Televised Virtual World
  • The Huntsman Movies & GRIMM

    Posted on September 6, 2020 2:55 am by Offkorn Comment

    The first Huntsman movie, Snow White and the Huntsman, is as the title would imply more focused on Snow White than the huntsman. The movie features a particularly martial variation on the tale, going pretty heavy on action and gritty medieval atmosphere. It’s a solid enough adaptation visually speaking with the main flaws being the anticlimactic final confrontation and pretty much everything about the evil queen.

    Unfortunately, that queen plays a role in The Huntsman: Winter’s War as well… along with a second queen who’s no better. Not helping matters is that with Snow White gone and her replacement being even more aggressive than the huntsman, the work as a whole becomes overly action-focused. There’s pretty much nothing recommendable about it; if you want to watch Hemsworth in an action role Thor: Ragnarok would likely be a better choice.

    Also fairytale related, the TV series Grimm takes the trappings of a generic police procedural and crosses it with some Buffy-like fantasy elements themed on classic folklore. The ‘adapting ancient stories to modern crimes’ aspect works well enough, the problem is the whole metaplot with the inexplicable werewolf sidekick and transforming the protagonist from relatively normal detective into a supernatural warrior. Maybe the integration works better in later seasons, but after the shakiness of the first I don’t care enough to find out.

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    This entry was posted in Movie & TV Related and tagged Action Comic Relief Drama Fantasy Literary Adaptation Movie Series Televised Urban Fantasy Workplace

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