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Nausicaa_Cat
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I enjoyed the animation even more this episode, the 'fight scene' between Kinkau/Ginkau and Yaichirou made for fun viewing. I enjoy how colourful everything is.
I didn't feel like a ton of plot progression happened (maybe I'm just way too used to animes like Shingeki no Kyojin where there are twists and deaths galore) but it didn't feel boring or anything. The scene where they were crying over their father was super, super sweet.
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 06.15.2014, 08:25 AM |
  
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arren18
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I'm not so surprised that Raijin didn't show up in person. All the characters we have are regular earthly beings (even if they are shapeshifters) so I wouldn't necessarily expect any gods to appear. But then I guess we don't know enough about this world yet, so who knows what might happen.
The story is moving along fairly slowly, much as I thought it would. I'm looking forward to seeing where they go with it, and what the inevitable twist(s) will be.
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| 06.17.2014, 12:26 PM |
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Saddletank
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I liked how this episode set in place some fresh story elements avoiding Benten and the old master; the twin cats have a sister who is helpful which I thought was a nice element, no doubt we'll see more of her later.
I enjoyed the fight scene as well. I learned from Pom Poko that the male Tanuki can do this weird powerful thing with their balls so seeing them get bitten there was both amusing and presumably meaningful.
Art style - yes, loving it more and more; the backgrounds that is.
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| 06.17.2014, 04:37 PM |
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Roarkiller
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Cats? I thought they were all tanuki?
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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
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| 06.17.2014, 08:59 PM |
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arren18
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quote:
Originally posted by Saddletank
I enjoyed the fight scene as well. I learned from Pom Poko that the male Tanuki can do this weird powerful thing with their balls so seeing them get bitten there was both amusing and presumably meaningful.
I didn't even think of that at the time! You're completely right, and I don't know why it didn't occur to me. That makes it even funnier in hindsight.
I'm pretty sure they are all tanuki, but they did take the form of giant cats.
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| 06.17.2014, 09:10 PM |
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husky51
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| 06.18.2014, 02:17 PM |
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Saddletank
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Shall we move on to watching episode 3 over the weekend?
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| 06.19.2014, 03:57 AM |
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arren18
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Sounds fine to me. I'm quite happy with the current schedule, since we all seem to be watching it at different times of week. Adding more episodes per week would be overdoing it.
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| 06.19.2014, 04:28 AM |
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husky51
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| 06.19.2014, 05:29 AM |
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Saddletank
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Yes, the giant cat 'dolls' were just forms the nasty brothers assumed. A pretty weird form to take, a statue that can't alter its shape, only shuffle along. Presumably there's a reason in Japanese folklore to make the cat form significant. Roar? Arren? Orphic? Anyone else studying Japanese culture? Have you come across a meaning that might fit?
The fight was between cat forms as well, lion and tiger IIRC.
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| 06.19.2014, 05:39 AM |
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arren18
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It's the kind of cats people put in their houses for good luck. I don't really know what the significance was in this context.
And husky - Raijin is god of thunder. They were worried about the thunderstorm, though I did miss why that was such a big deal for the mother.
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| 06.19.2014, 05:50 AM |
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husky51
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| 06.19.2014, 11:47 AM |
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Kazegami
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I thought the mother was just plain scared of thunder. Like Haruhi in OHSHC. Or like some dogs. 
And yes, perfectly happy to watch episode 3 this weekend. This pace is perfectly fine, I feel.
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| 06.19.2014, 04:52 PM |
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husky51
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| 06.19.2014, 06:19 PM |
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Roarkiller
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According to wikipedia there's no concrete background for the maneki-neko, only they were quite a modern invention (late 1800's). My guess is that its use was entirely random.
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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.
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| 06.20.2014, 08:54 AM |
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Orphic Okapi
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Okay, I've now seen episodes 2 and 3. I thought the third episode was the strongest by far, although I'm still not entirely sold on the series as a whole. I think the frog-brother is now my favorite character. His voice actor is the least hammy.
Have any of you seen Tatami Galaxy? I think it could be interesting to compare the two series, since they are both based on novels (somewhat unusual for an anime in the first place), moreover novels by the same author.
But Tatami Galaxy was directed by Masaaki Yuasa, probably the most creative mind currently working in Japanese animation right now. Uchouten Kazoku on the other hand was directed by Yoshihara Masayuki, who does not possess the same kind of idiosyncratic genius; he's directed a few episodes of GITS:SAC, a couple of Eden of the East, and some animated specials for children (according to his My Anime List page). Not saying he's bad; I think he's certainly competent. But if you compare this and Tatami Galaxy side by side, the gap between "competent" and "brilliant" starts to seem pretty wide.
One thing I've noticed about Uchouten Kazoku is the dialogue: there's lots of it, and the script has flair, it's not just perfunctory exchanges of information to get to the next plot point. I'm guessing a lot of the dialogue was lifted directly from the novel, since Tatami Galaxy is similarly wordy. But I don't feel like Yoshihara really knows what to DO with it. The animation is great overall, but so many scenes are just talking heads (sometimes cat heads). Whereas Masaaki Yuasa always seems in total control of the script and knows exactly how to make the rapid-fire dialogue work.
So I kind of feel like the most effective scenes so far are the ones without much talking (Benten swimming with the whale, for example), or the ones with voice-over narration, where the camera is free to do what it wants. The submerged clock tower and the flying inner parlor were nice visual touches; I want more stuff like that.
I hope the story finds its crux soon, because the plot seems a little aimless at the moment.
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Post last edited by Orphic Okapi on 06.20.2014, 08:02 PM.
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| 06.20.2014, 08:01 PM |
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Saddletank
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deleted
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Post last edited by Saddletank on 06.22.2014, 07:33 AM.
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| 06.21.2014, 02:23 PM |
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Orphic Okapi
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But...that's what I was trying to do, critique the show based on what I just watched. Since I didn't really like what I watched, I tried to explain why. That involved bringing up the director because I think he does a boring job. What am I supposed to do if I don't like the voice acting or the way the show is directed? Just say, "It sucks," and leave it at that? I could certainly limit myself to gut reactions and leave out all rationalization, but does this club really need a guy just occasionally grumbling "bah humbug"?
Posting general reactions as the plot develops is fine, and I get the sense it's the dominant form of criticism in a lot of fandoms. But if that's all we're going to do here, ignoring everything else that goes into a work of art, you know, like acting and directing...sounds kind of boring to me.
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| 06.21.2014, 05:57 PM |
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Nausicaa_Cat
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quote:
Originally posted by Orphic Okapi
But...that's what I was trying to do, critique the show based on what I just watched. Since I didn't really like what I watched, I tried to explain why. That involved bringing up the director because I think he does a boring job. What am I supposed to do if I don't like the voice acting or the way the show is directed? Just say, "It sucks," and leave it at that? I could certainly limit myself to gut reactions and leave out all rationalization, but does this club really need a guy just occasionally grumbling "bah humbug"?
Posting general reactions as the plot develops is fine, and I get the sense it's the dominant form of criticism in a lot of fandoms. But if that's all we're going to do here, ignoring everything else that goes into a work of art, you know, like acting and directing...sounds kind of boring to me.
I have to agree with Orphic, I'm afraid Saddles, I think it's good to approach any kind of media with intelligent criticism (I mean, I'm biased since that is kind of what my degree is all about). It's impossible not to make comparisons, since we only know whether something is good/bad in comparison with what else we've seen.
There's a theory in English Lit by Roland Barthes known as the 'Death of the Author' which argues that the text should be judged essentially in a bubble and distanced from its creator. I've always thought this was dumb as heck, personally. Things like the author's intentions, the historical backdrop etc. - these things are all significant and play a part in fully understanding a novel. Similarly anime has to be viewed in its own context.
I find it quite interesting that Tatami Galaxy is by the same author, since I personally actually didn't warm to that as much. I prefer the colourful, clean art-style of this opposed to the sort of experimental, unnerving art of TG. I mean I can see how TG is a lot more original, but that doesn't mean I warmed to it in the same way.
I also think things like 'I don't enjoy the voice actress for blah-blah-blah' is exactly the kind of stuff we'd be commenting on? If we're concentrating purely on the plot than we're ignoring all the other key elements which make up the anime.
I really enjoyed the parlour/sunken clock tower scenes - Benten's ambiguity as the 'bad guy' lends a necessary complexity to an otherwise wandering plot. I'm enjoying the plot but I have to keep restraining myself from watching several more episodes at a time because I'm keen to get to the meat of it.
Post last edited by Nausicaa_Cat on 06.21.2014, 06:43 PM.
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| 06.21.2014, 06:42 PM |
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Orphic Okapi
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Just to elaborate a little on my original point: when an anime is adapted from a manga, the visual style is often lifted directly from the source material. Character designs usually aren't changed a lot, and you'll even see the anime reproducing scenes from the comic panel by panel. I think a lot of animation studios rely heavily on the original manga as a visual guide.
But a novel-to-anime adaptation is different, and in some ways a lot harder, I would imagine, which is probably why they're so rare. (Does anyone know of any other novel adaptations, besides Ghibli films?) You're much freer to experiment visually because there's no template laid out for you, but that means you have to start from scratch with character designs and everything.
Books are also made up of words. On average I'd say the average book has a lot more talking than the average manga; if it's in first person, the narrator is essentially talking the whole time, for hundreds of pages. So that poses a unique challenge: how do you animate a long conversation without it becoming visually boring?
Personally, I don't think the director of Uchouten Kazoku knows how to deal with this very well, but that could be because I'm looking for a more creative solution like Masaaki Yuasa's in TG. (I appreciate your perspective on this issue, Nausicaa_Cat, by the way!) I really like some of the visuals in this show. The colors are beautiful, the backgrounds are detailed and realistic, and the character designs aren't bad. But while the characters are talking, and they talk a lot, I feel like the "camera" (for lack of a better term) just sits there, and it's not very involving.
That's all I was trying to say, really, when I compared this to Tatami Galaxy. Although as the story unfolds it might also be interesting to see if they share any themes.
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| 06.21.2014, 07:59 PM |
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