Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Flip Flappers
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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Nah mayn, this was Gurren Lagann levels of bad-ass.
Okay, yeah, I guess it could have been better. *shrug* I don't know why I'm so willing to constantly give this show the benefit of the doubt because of how enjoyable it is to watch. Fingers crossed it sticks the landing. Also, when did surreal and wacky anime apparently become a niche "love it or hate it" thing? I always thought those were some of the greatest examples of the medium and its creativity. They tend to be my personal favorites, anyway. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5466 |
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Jake pretty much nailed it being an 80's giant robot since it's one gigantic, Flashman reference! Though it really raises the question (and frankly a HUGE missed opportunity) of why not have the girls transform into Super Sentai-like outfits instead of prancing around in bikinis. Seriously, they wore different, appropriate outfits in some of the worlds they ended up in so why not this one?
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John Thacker
Posts: 1006 |
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I suspect that in the end all the yuri scenes and sexy hints will end up being fanservice in the same way as the silly camera angles and Flashman giant robot references. The two main characters will be good friends, not any of the alternative relationships (such as sisters) portrayed in episode seven. I could be wrong, of course, but it's all in what the director wants to do. (Ikuhara certainly ended up stressing the lesbian element in Utena a lot more than Chiho Saito intended or wanted, and here there's not another work to adapt so there's a lot of freedom.) The way episode eight proceeded suggests that perhaps the director wants to make it more about friendship, including with Yayaka and the Mimi backstory. Perhaps not. Either way people can feel free to congratulate themselves if they anticipated the direction or attack the direction if it doesn't fulfill their wants.
It's not like Yuri on Ice, which always seemed likely to be an ice skating rom-com in the tradition of The Cutting Edge and its made for TV sequels. |
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Zhou-BR
Posts: 1422 |
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Since I grew up watching Flashman, I got a kick out of seeing homages to Flash King, Titan Boy and even Great Titan, especially because at first it seemed this episode was going to spoof Tron and Gridman (better known in the US as Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad) instead. Still, this was far from a substantial episode, even though it ended on an intriguing cliffhanger.
And while I noticed Yuniko Ayana didn't write the last two episodes, I wasn't aware that she had left the show. That's worrisome, and I hope director Oshiyama, who did a great job scripting episode 7, can pick up the slack. Last edited by Zhou-BR on Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:42 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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yuna49
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I'm a bit concerned about the writing change as well. This last episode seemed the weakest to me, all flash and little subtext. To me, this show has always been about the subtext, with the high-octane animation adding to its appeal.
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darkchibi07
Posts: 5466 |
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This is the first I heard about a "writer change" or that Yuniko Ayana "left" the series. Is there a reason for that? It's kind of making me worried about the rest of the series.
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web0shi
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I agree that this episode feels more like of an adjunct as it doesn't seem to have any bearing to the narrative as a whole, though I'll have to disagree with the complaints regarding the usage of fanservice. Backtracking to episode 2, we should already have an idea how Pure Illusion works -- simply that it's basically a literal manifestation of how a subject or a living being perceives its surrounding. Episode 2 is clever in a way that it shows us /the/ characters themselves reacting to their surroundings as if they are rabbits, and, at the same time, the subtle innuendos of phallic shapes/double entendres were used to show how we perceive media nowadays; we're too quick to call fanservice when we see a tit bounce. What we call fanservice may simply be an illusion -- as much as a phallic shape tastes like a carrot to a rabbit -- born fruit from the amalgamation of titillation we've been subjected to after all the countless anime we've seen. You bite it, or you don't.
Now, applying the mechanics behind Pure Illusion, episode 8's fanservice isn't exactly in service of perking up your Johnny nor adolescent sexuality or whatever. It's neither. It's simply a clever use and manipulation of how Pure Illusion works in application to Bu-chan's perspective and how he views the world. Surely you guys aren't forgetting how perverted this robot is? Sure, it's still fanservice, yet, it's one that I feel was cleverly used, other than fanservice that shoves an ass on our face every second or two without any reason (pretty sure the review mentioned that there aren't any reason for the fanservice to be in this episode too?). Though, at the end of the day, if you'd like to be fair to the characters by discriminating fanservice, then you have to ask yourself if what you're doing is fair to the story/art itself first. As such, I really do applaud Flip Flappers for having confidence in its own skin. It was able to achieve what it wanted to be, without violating any rules of its game. |
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Zhou-BR
Posts: 1422 |
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No reason was stated, but Ayana said on her Twitter feed that she only worked on the show's first 6 episodes and had no idea what would happen from episode 7 on. She also said she'd continue to enjoy the show as a viewer. In fact, Starbuckets had already mentioned her exit in this very thread, but many people (myself included) hadn't noticed it. |
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Edl01
Posts: 117 |
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The fanservice bothered me a bit, but the fact it was clearly a nod toward the many staples mecha genre made it slightly more bareable for me. One of the shots was outright stolen from Code Geass if the internet isn't lying to me.
This episode felt to me like a cool-off episode, lots of plot in the past few episodes so this week was just a fun adventure with tons of Sakuga. It did a wonderful job sending up lots of fantastic mecha and tokatsu shows, capturing both genres perfectly(Both the good and the bad). And did I mention all the gorgeous sakuga. Certainly not the shows best episode, that's still episodes 5 and 6; but I still think it was an exceptional episode of anime with some wonderful moments(They actually made a cheesy 90's rock song for the robot battle!!!). |
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darkchibi07
Posts: 5466 |
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Oh yeah, funny how I missed that. I still hope for the best of this really underrated show of the season.
It's funny how that "cool-off" episode that also contained fanservice shots is also transition episode to the next stage of the story. Heck, even episode 4 could be considered a cool-off, transition episode towards an arc about strengthening Cocona's and Papika's relationship with each other. And that featured the two trapped in an island and a panning shot of Cocona in the shower! I guess you can say they got their series structure down, maybe? 
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I thought that we were not separating Bu-chan and Hidaka so much any more? I am inclined to believe that Hidaka largely puts himself into Bu-chan. The monstrous threats to Pop's city was representative of Hidaka trying to protect his workspace from people who want to "clean" or "organise" it. Like maybe he sort of copied a lot of himself and his love of kind of retro mecha and the like into the robot, including a little bit of his perversion that which he generally cannot indulge in because he has so much more to deal with and focus on.
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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Well... this episode is why. "Where there's smoke, there's fire" is a pretty accurate proverb for anime fanservice; if it's leaning that way at all at the beginning, there's bound to be a fanservice episode and/or more dumb titillation gimmicks further down the line. Especially when there's an openly perverted character. The same thing happened in Izetta--the first episode only had a relatively tasteful nudity scene, but before long we're crashing into every offensive fanservice cliche in the playbook: boob grabbing, unconsensual stripping, guy accidentally sees girl naked, etc., all for "comedy." Most anime producers just can't help themselves, apparently (though it's also done for marketing reasons). Flip Flappers hasn't been that bad, though, even in this episode, so I'm hopeful that it can get back on track after this unnecessary detour, which mainly just convinced me this show would have been better off without Bu-chan. |
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Alternative Ice
 Posts: 95 |
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Given that this was the perverted robot's head our hero's were in this episode, I'd say we got off easy with just some suggestive camera angles and swimsuits.
Heck they weren't even risque swimsuits, just plain one pieces. Last edited by Alternative Ice on Wed Nov 30, 2016 11:18 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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mbanu
 Posts: 159 |
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Someone posted a shot-by-shot comparison for Episode 7's locations vs the Real World's: http://imgur.com/a/NvGqV The Google Maps link is also pretty helpful, although with Flip Flappers being as it is, now I'm wondering if there is any symbolism in the movement patterns between locations... |
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Edl01
Posts: 117 |
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I said I felt episode 8 was going to more of an exception than a rule for the the future of the series, a breather episode outsourced to different animators(I'm 60% sure on this one based off Sakugablog) made as one last silly, fun adventure before the plot comes on thick.
I'm really glad to say episode 9 made that feel like the case. People were freaking out over the writer change, but episode 7 gave me faith that they knew what they were doing and this just reinforces that. Just a really generally great episode that highlights all of the shows key strengths; having an engaging conflict told mostly through the shows gorgeous and creative visuals. We're at the final stretch and to me the show is going strong! |
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