Glorious Escapism Roleplay

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:19 pm Post subject:

The first half was just a touch slow to me, which is probably why I was holding off on it for so long.

But these last few arcs... yeah, now I'm fully on board and understand everything the show set up and why it was needed.

I will be surprised if this isn't in my top ten for the year.
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Toutaku · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:33 pm Post subject:

Heh, I'm glad, dude!

And the theme song was just gorgeous. The first ending, too. I didn't much care for the second.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:44 pm Post subject:

I liked the second ending better, personally.

Opening is amazing though.
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Toutaku · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:46 pm Post subject:

Victorique is adorable, too.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:47 pm Post subject:

Awesome character. Love her so much.

I love her mother too...
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Toutaku · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:56 pm Post subject:

Her skill with knives left me wondering where she picked it up, but yes. Her mother was awesome, too.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 11:58 pm Post subject:

Yeah. That kind of surprised the heck out of me too.

Probably something she learned traveling with Roscoe. He (or I suppose they) seemed rather skilled at a number of things.

Whatever the reason for it, it was just totally awesome.
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Toutaku · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:08 am Post subject:

Fuck yes.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:10 am Post subject:

That whole climactic sequence was one of the coolest things I'd seen in some time. Seriously amazing.
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Toutaku · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:17 am Post subject:

I totally agree. It's really nice to see an anime where the pairing actually hook up at the end, too.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:21 am Post subject:

Heh. Yes. That was nice too.

I found it kind of interesting and rather unique that in the final, massive climax of the series, the main character was completely removed from it all. Never seen that before, but it actually rather worked.
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Toutaku · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:27 am Post subject:

It did.

It irritates me when series with such good potential end with little to no development of characters. Take any classic romance anime released over the past year. If more that one person likes the main character, regardless of whether it's a harem anime or not, there won't ever be a confirmed progress in the main relationship. More than likely, it'll end with every relationship at the same level as when the series began.

It's why I adored Shuffle! so much, and especially Angel Beats. There was progression, actual character development and in the case of Angel Beats, some deep emotional plot points.

Yet people are content to watch a bunch of stereotypical archetypes fight over a pathetic lead, and end a 12 to 24 episode season with the main character kissing one of the girls and then deciding that he can't decide who he likes. Then everyone's friends and no-one fights anymore.

When will producers realise that conflict needs to happen for there to be any real semblance of a story?
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:49 am Post subject:

Realizing now that I didn't watch much of any romance anime from the past year... Seriously, outside Gosick, the most effective anime romance I've seen this year might be Freezing...

I kind of agree, but in some harem series you run into a problem. Take one of the few harem shows I did watch this year, Infinite Stratos (the only other one probably being Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?, but that was largely a parody of a harem anime rather than one present in earnest). After building up the harem, the show does seem to focus in on one girl in particular as the one the main character is going to end up with (he doesn't yet, but in this case I think its because they're planning to do a second season). The girl it seems to hint at extensively being the main one happens to be the one who is, in my opinion, the least fleshed out, interesting and likable of all the choices. In that case, making a choice is kind of detrimental to the overall quality of the show for me. I'd rather see the main character stay indecisive than watch him make the stupid choice that I can't relate to.

And that's probably why they don't often end with complete closure. Making a choice hurts the show in the eyes of people who would make another choice. Even if nopony is completely satisfied, leaving it open is safer for everyone.
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Toutaku · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:57 am Post subject:

Then it's just selling out to consumerism than actually trying to make something to tell a story. That makes me sad...

Again, Shuffle! is the epitome of doing it right. No-one could have guessed he'd end up with who he ended up with.
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"Victims, aren't we all?"

Phil the Time Wizard · Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 2:22 am Post subject:

I don't really see much problem with that sort of thing. I mean if it's a situation like Clannad, where the story continues after the main couple has gotten together, that's really cool. But if you're just going to finalize things just for the sake of the ending, I kind of actually prefer leaving things open. By doing so, you cut out a lot of potential ways the story could have continued.

I don't know. That's probably just me thinking as a fanfic writer though (and one who likes to fit stories into canon rather than change it). I like having options for continuing the story as opposed to just one ending that is canonically correct.
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