I met with the other manager this Friday past and I think it may have been an actual interview.
Hell yeah!
Too bad for Kill la Kill. I found it pretty entertaining, and while the quality of the animation didn't shine, the deranged action of certain scenes was pretty fun. Oh, and I absolutely adore several tracks of the OST (Blumenkranz, Before My Body Is Dry and Nonon Jakuzure's Theme to name a few)
Completely unrelated: I'm having an excellent time binging the Dimension 20 campaigns! They strike an interesting balance of heart and silliness, and some of the cast definitely entered the pantheon of My Fave Human Beings
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Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) wrote:
Too bad for Kill la Kill. I found it pretty entertaining, and while the quality of the animation didn't shine, the deranged action of certain scenes was pretty fun. Oh, and I absolutely adore several tracks of the OST (Blumenkranz, Before My Body Is Dry and Nonon Jakuzure's Theme to name a few)
[/quote] Yeah, personally I'm on board with Kill la Kill as well. (In so much as I have a giiant corkboard linking it, Darling in the Franxx, Gurren Lagann, Diebuster, and FLCL into a giant shared universe.)
Personally, while Nonon's theme was okay, it paled next to Satsuki's or Nui's theme. Even of the Big Four I think I prefer Sanageyama's theme.
Blumenkranz is definitely one of the greatest villain themes in any media ever.
As to Monster Musume, find it lacking all you like, but it walked so the entire monster girl genre could run, slither, and fly.
As to Big O, well, the comparison to Batman shouldn't be shocking, what with the same studio having made both.
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At twilight's end, the shadow's crossed / a new world birthed, the elder lost. Yet on the morn we wake to find / that mem'ry left so far behind. To deafened ears we ask, unseen / "Which is life and which the dream?"
Joined: Oct 19, 2015 Posts: 2220 Location: Homestuck rehab center
Identity: Casual Genderf---ery
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(In so much as I have a giiant corkboard linking it, Darling in the Franxx, Gurren Lagann, Diebuster, and FLCL into a giant shared universe.)
Oh yes, Gurren Lagann (of which the movies are superior even just for giving Nia a mecha gogdammit) and FLCL belong to the same category alright! I don't know the other two but if they share the same vibe I could check them out at some point.
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Personally, while Nonon's theme was okay, it paled next to Satsuki's or Nui's theme. Even of the Big Four I think I prefer Sanageyama's theme.
Well, I loved them all three of them too, as I did Ping Pong Circulate as well, but I don't come back to all of those years after. While Nui's theme is definitely excellent in the anime, and I remember her introduction as absolutely blood-chilling in no small part because of that, there's something that makes it less memorable than others for me? And while I appreciate Satsuki's character it didn't 100% click for me, so that might be a slight emotive disconnect - while Ragyo's outrageous evil felt immediately (and morbidly) magnetic, for example.
Tl:dr: knowing myself, the interest I had for the characters deffo affected my love for their themes
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Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) wrote:
Joined: Sep 22, 2013 Posts: 5699 Location: Inside my own head
Identity: Human
Crap, I only just realized that the censor kind of changes the message I was trying to convey because of the ambiguity of the curse. At least I meant for it to say "that was an effing show." And I suppose I should expand a bit on that since others have commented on it.
Kill La Kill
Like, it was still a massive letdown for me, but that's specifically because I had really high hopes for it. I remember being told way back when that it was the next Gainax project after Gurren Lagann, which is kind of true-and-not-true since studio Trigger was founded by Gainax expats and this had been their first work. I basically expected it to be the spiritual successor to Gurren Lagann, which is one of my favorite anime for actually being rather smart underneath all the dumb action. The gorgeously painted backgrounds of Kill La Kill also had me salivating and expecting more from the get-go, and they are nice but like I said the (lack of) animation is front and center and I could not just ignore it.
Because the thing is it never felt like it came together in terms of story or especially themes. Apparently the whole plot came about just because of the identical pronunciation of the Japanese words for "fashion" and "fascism", which tracks with my impressions of it. There were a few points when it almost seemed like it was going to make a point, but then it just kind of resolves the issue and never brings it up again. Then there was the big "act 3 plot twist" that just comes out of effing NOWHERE with no buildup whatsoever, and it makes me think of a Tumblr post I saw recently complaining about the trope "look at this normal guy thrust into circumstances beyond his ability doing his best to save the world, NOPE, he was actually the specialest little boy, descended from a long line of specialest little boys". I just disliked that turn of events entirely.
The characters themselves are another matter entirely, and a big ol' question mark for me. I can't help but notice that most of the cast are gender-swapped versions of typical shounen action character tropes, which I'm not sure how to feel about in the first place. The fact that they are massively sexualized on top of that also makes me question what I should think about them. I wish that sexualization had been explored in-universe more because it was actually a plot point for a minute there, but it's never actually explored and they just go back to doing the eye candy thing. Meanwhile, the literal sex scenes with the mother and her daughter MASSIVELY weird me out (I guess squick is the term?), and I GUESS that they're supposed to paint the mother as a monster but like ??? I don't get it??? Why???
The show is, like, passable if you're just looking for some dumb brain-off entertainment, but I wanted and expected so much more.
Side-note: I don't know how you are remembering these people's names, I barely even remembered Ryuuko Mattoi and Satsuki Kitryuin's names even though they're repeated 10,000 times. Everybody has the worst kind of animé names in this show.
As to Monster Musume, find it lacking all you like, but it walked so the entire monster girl genre could run, slither, and fly.
I'm going to retain my doubts on this, but I also realize that I am about 10 years out-of-touch with the anime scene, so I don't even know about any "monster girl genre" outside of hentai where it's always been popular. Monster Girl Encyclopedia,* which I always hear referenced as "sacred texts" because it seems so much monstergirl content takes direct inspiration from it, has been going since 2010, for instance. And like, I'd love to expand on what I thought about the show, but now is not the right time. Point being, I accept you may be right, because my frame of reference isn't enough to tell me one way or the other.
*in a strange twist of fate, I found physical copies of an official English translation that I didn't know existed the other day in a Half-Price Book store, so I knew in spite of everything (such as a creeping dread that the content would be considered illegal here) I had to buy them, so now I own the monster girl "Holy Bibles"
Joined: Oct 19, 2015 Posts: 2220 Location: Homestuck rehab center
Identity: Casual Genderf---ery
Preferred Pronoun Set: he/she/whatever
Kill La Kill
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The characters themselves are another matter entirely, and a big ol' question mark for me. I can't help but notice that most of the cast are gender-swapped versions of typical shounen action character tropes, which I'm not sure how to feel about in the first place.
I mean, our Jackie is a shining example of gender-swapping character tropes with amazing results. However, one could say that the gender-swap happened mostly to wrap the shonen hero and the eye-candy in one character and... I'd have a hard time arguing against that
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Meanwhile, the literal sex scenes with the mother and her daughter MASSIVELY weird me out (I guess squick is the term?), and I GUESS that they're supposed to paint the mother as a monster but like ??? I don't get it??? Why???
Well, as you point out, the sexual interactions with one own's underage daughter do kinda paint a picture. The horniness with which those scenes are portrayed, though... mixed feelings about that. The fact that sexualization is, as you say, at some point tentatively gestured toward as a theme makes that scene particularly significant... or at least it would be if there was at any point the awareness that to portray Ryuko's sexualization in-universe the anime has to sexualize her to its audience - or rather, it CHOOSES to egregiously eroticize that in-universe sexualization. Keeping those same icky scenes and all the rest of the eye-candy intact, a more self-aware framework could have done very interesting things. As it is, it's certainly a missed opportunity and sadly more useful as a case study
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Apparently the whole plot came about just because of the identical pronunciation of the Japanese words for "fashion" and "fascism", which tracks with my impressions of it. There were a few points when it almost seemed like it was going to make a point, but then it just kind of resolves the issue and never brings it up again.
All in all, I agree - while again, the relationships between fashion, culture and politics are an interesting subject that has a lot of potential - and I can see how KlaK can be experienced as a pretty massive letdown. It certainly ain't as good as TTGL,* sure, but... that brand of outrageous, unashamed fun vibes was pretty hard to come by when I had an eye on the anime scene. I was less put off by the animation than you, but that's a matter of taste I guess?
*though that show also has an onsen episode which is hilariously bad on many levels, which I remember being related to budget/studio shenanigans? Idk
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Side-note: I don't know how you are remembering these people's names, I barely even remembered Ryuuko Mattoi and Satsuki Kitryuin's names even though they're repeated 10,000 times. Everybody has the worst kind of animé names in this show.
Tbh I remember most of those names because I routinely come back to that ost (And to be fair I didn't remember Nia's name either, I had to look that up)
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Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) wrote:
Side-note: I don't know how you are remembering these people's names, I barely even remembered Ryuuko Mattoi and Satsuki Kitryuin's names even though they're repeated 10,000 times. Everybody has the worst kind of animé names in this show.
Terror Guile Longarm Law Pricey Friday Vegas Singreed Prosciutto Manganese Scandinavia_Peperoncino One guy named "Sam" but everybody else has the above names.
*"To YMTC it up" means to design cards that have value mostly from a design perspective. i.e. you would put them in a case under glass in your living room and visitors could remark upon the wonderful design principles, with nobody ever worring if the cards are annoying/pointless/confusing in actual play
Well, as you point out, the sexual interactions with one own's underage daughter do kinda paint a picture. The horniness with which those scenes are portrayed, though... mixed feelings about that. The fact that sexualization is, as you say, at some point tentatively gestured toward as a theme makes that scene particularly significant... or at least it would be if there was at any point the awareness that to portray Ryuko's sexualization in-universe the anime has to sexualize her to its audience - or rather, it CHOOSES to egregiously eroticize that in-universe sexualization. Keeping those same icky scenes and all the rest of the eye-candy intact, a more self-aware framework could have done very interesting things. As it is, it's certainly a missed opportunity and sadly more useful as a case study
YES! Thank you. That's what I was trying to get across, but couldn't put into words. Like, those scenes could paint a picture, but the show is both too preoccupied with fanservice to make them hit quite the right way, and doesn't have enough overarching threads to tie it in (puns intended) to the rest of the show.
*though that show also has an onsen episode which is hilariously bad on many levels, which I remember being related to budget/studio shenanigans? Idk
Okay, yeah, I have zero excuses for the Gurren Lagann onsen episode because, to be honest, I frequently forget it exists. Even though I watch the show like once a year. I've never heard any reason why it was made like that, but this is the studio where the term "Gainax bounce" came from and all the fake girls are just famous Gainax girls like Asuka and Rei, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was done that way without any shenanigans.
Well, as you point out, the sexual interactions with one own's underage daughter do kinda paint a picture. The horniness with which those scenes are portrayed, though... mixed feelings about that. The fact that sexualization is, as you say, at some point tentatively gestured toward as a theme makes that scene particularly significant... or at least it would be if there was at any point the awareness that to portray Ryuko's sexualization in-universe the anime has to sexualize her to its audience - or rather, it CHOOSES to egregiously eroticize that in-universe sexualization. Keeping those same icky scenes and all the rest of the eye-candy intact, a more self-aware framework could have done very interesting things. As it is, it's certainly a missed opportunity and sadly more useful as a case study
YES! Thank you. That's what I was trying to get across, but couldn't put into words. Like, those scenes could paint a picture, but the show is both too preoccupied with fanservice to make them hit quite the right way, and doesn't have enough overarching threads to tie it in (puns intended) to the rest of the show.
To be honest, I had put KlaK in the "hella fun" brain bin without much thought at the time, so I have to thank you for taking a closer look to it, even after all this time. There is this phenomenon where you see what a show could have been and get enamored with the potential to the point you miss the factual show's traits, and I think that played a part for me when I watched it.
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Okay, yeah, I have zero excuses for the Gurren Lagann onsen episode because, to be honest, I frequently forget it exists. Even though I watch the show like once a year. I've never heard any reason why it was made like that, but this is the studio where the term "Gainax bounce" came from and all the fake girls are just famous Gainax girls like Asuka and Rei, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was done that way without any shenanigans.
Yeah, but I also kinda remember stopping after that episode and asking a friend whether the next episodes wouldn't be as badly animated because the general quality drop was so **** jarring to me. Again, I didn't mind Kill la Kill's animation though, which... idk what to tell you, honestly. Those years were my worst mental health-wise (to date, heh) so I ain't pretending I was extremely coherent.
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Cecil Gershwin Palmer (Welcome to Night Vale) wrote:
Yeah, but I also kinda remember stopping after that episode and asking a friend whether the next episodes wouldn't be as badly animated because the general quality drop was so **** jarring to me. Again, I didn't mind Kill la Kill's animation though, which... idk what to tell you, honestly. Those years were my worst mental health-wise (to date, heh) so I ain't pretending I was extremely coherent.
No, I get you and you don't have to make any excuses. I don't think anyone needs an "excuse" to not like something that they're told is good. I was just making a comparison to Evangelion -- which I do like (the original show which I've seen), don't get me wrong -- but that just because it's had such a long-lasting cultural impact, doesn't mean someone has to automatically like it.
Though, since you brought up the idea of missing the show for what it could be, ever since getting deep into pony for what turned out to be years, I give new shows a very long grace period. I would have dropped Blue Exorcist entirely within 3 episodes if it weren't for that, because I remember those first few episodes grating so hard on me, but then really liking it when it got past that point.
Though, Blue Exorcist is probably a bad example because for one reason or another I never actually finished watching the show. I think it was scheduling problems for being a weekly show on Toonami and me no longer regularly watching TV. I also have vague memories of the aired version finishing on a cliffhanger?
That dealt psychic damage to me lol what's Prosciutto Manganese from?
Once I saw "Scandinavia_Peperoncino" I thought it was crime that a real anime name was sillier than any parody. So I went and made up some even dumber names. I'd been sitting on that list of silly names for a long time. I couldn't believe I finally had a chance to use it. Here's a bonus real anime name - Jacuzzi Splot
*"To YMTC it up" means to design cards that have value mostly from a design perspective. i.e. you would put them in a case under glass in your living room and visitors could remark upon the wonderful design principles, with nobody ever worring if the cards are annoying/pointless/confusing in actual play
Feeling kinda bummed. Just found out an artist I liked died in a hiking accident last August.
_________________
At twilight's end, the shadow's crossed / a new world birthed, the elder lost. Yet on the morn we wake to find / that mem'ry left so far behind. To deafened ears we ask, unseen / "Which is life and which the dream?"
At twilight's end, the shadow's crossed / a new world birthed, the elder lost. Yet on the morn we wake to find / that mem'ry left so far behind. To deafened ears we ask, unseen / "Which is life and which the dream?"
Joined: Sep 22, 2013 Posts: 5699 Location: Inside my own head
Identity: Human
for Huey.
I have an official start date now: July 4th. Of course, that's a holiday so I'm not actually going to be working on that day, but it will be when I'm "on the books". I was told by the recruiter that since I had to start on a Monday it would need to be pushed to the 11th, but the manager was so adamant I start at the beginning of the month she talked to HR to get me to start a week earlier. (~_~;) I was kind of hoping to use the extra week to get some R&R but I couldn't think of a way to say "no" that wasn't rude.
I'm a (self) published author now! You can find my books on Amazon in Paperback or ebook! The Accursed, a standalone young adult fantasy adventure. Witch Hunters, book one of a young adult Scifi-fantasy trilogy.
Hey everyone, sorry for the radio silence. I've been around, but the past three weeks have been some kinda bloody hex from a voodoo curse or something. Nothing, for the most part, in the realm of the personal, but work has literally not had one day where something didn't go wrong. And I don't mean a little wrong. So... I've had absolutely no social battery.
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At twilight's end, the shadow's crossed / a new world birthed, the elder lost. Yet on the morn we wake to find / that mem'ry left so far behind. To deafened ears we ask, unseen / "Which is life and which the dream?"
I think we've all had voodoo hexed period at some point. Best wishes for that managing to pass and half a mind to send you a pile of Cursebreak and Disenchant sorts of cards.
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"Enjoy your screams, Sarpadia - they will soon be muffled beneath snow and ice."
I'm a (self) published author now! You can find my books on Amazon in Paperback or ebook! The Accursed, a standalone young adult fantasy adventure. Witch Hunters, book one of a young adult Scifi-fantasy trilogy.
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I met with the other manager this Friday past and I think it may have been an actual interview.
for Huey.
