Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Sword Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side
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Cam0
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I haven't read the manga but I found the boss battle to be pretty decent. Aiz almost got hit in that unprotected underboob spot... which I thought was a bit funny somehow even if the idea was just to show us some skin.
I agree with the review that it felt like we are finally getting to know Aiz. Rivera laughing at Aiz and Aiz getting a bit annoyed by it was nice. The first 4 episodes were kinda lame so I'm happy that this show is starting to get pretty good. These last two episodes at least have been good. Less Lefiya helps too. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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The source is light novels, not manga. But I do agree that the LN version was a more harrowing affair. The last few minutes of the episode moved into territory beyond the second novel (which is all that's been released in the States so far) so I'm eager to see what's coming up next. Last edited by Key on Mon May 22, 2017 8:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Gina Szanboti
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Well, these last couple of episodes have been an improvement, but 6 in and I'm still not feeling it yet. The only time my interest is piqued is when Bell makes his brief cameos before running away. The story really needs to start moving soon, but I'm afraid they're going to return to focusing on Lefiya to keep it at bay.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Not sure what story you're expecting to see moving here. There's actually been quite a bit of story so far.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11407 |
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Well, I can't say it hasn't lived up to my expectations since I didn't really have any coming in, other than it probably being a lot like the first series. So I guess it's failed at that one thing.
I think Rebecca said it best: "The plot itself is interesting, but the characters aren't matching it." More than not matching it, they're overwhelming it with their dullness, to the point where all I remember coming out of an episode was what eye-rolling thing some character did this week. As she also noted, this is the first episode in which Aiz has allowed herself to show emotion beyond vague surprise, and it's hard to get invested in characters like that. I do enjoy the upper level adventurers in her Family, whether fighting or just talking, but they've had precious little to do, sidelined by Lefiya and the twins' antics. There's been plenty of fights, but they've been uninspired. I know not to expect Bell vs the Minotaur levels of awesome each week, but they mostly seem pretty by the numbers to me. And undercutting (npi) Aiz's supposedly life-or-death battle with boobservice didn't make it more exciting. Like I said, I'm just not feeling it. They haven't made me care enough about the characters (which is bizarre considering that some of them I came in caring about!) for the plot moving through fan-service-clogged arteries to engage me yet. But it's showing just enough signs of life to stick with it. Last edited by Gina Szanboti on Mon May 22, 2017 3:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cam0
Posts: 4888 |
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Gina, I'm relatively sure Rebecca is the one doing the weekly reviews not Theron so she said those things.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11407 |
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D'oh. smh Thanks for the correction, I've fixed it. I'm not sure at what point I started reading the reviews as Theron's.
 Maybe because he's been posting in this thread more than she has. 
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Much of what you said are fair criticisms, Gina; I'll definitely agree that the thrill factor has just not been there in the action scenes, for instance, except perhaps for Aiz's fight against the Tamer. And even that one isn't on a level with the top scenes in DanMachi. (Although honestly that's an almost impossibly high standard to judge against.) If those are the kinds of things bugging you about the show, though, then I don't think "not moving the story along" is the criticism you actually intend here.
As for the top-level members not doing as much, I wouldn't much get your hopes up for that ever changing. One of the vignettes in the 8th main series novel does co-feature Finn (and quite satisfyingly so, I might add), but Gareth (the dwarf) is a background character except for one brief early scene in the 8th novel and Riveria is always a motherly figure more than a main player. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11407 |
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It is, in a general way. I mean, I'm not really sure what the story actually is yet. Somebody is plotting something to do with the dungeons for some reason, but 6 episodes in and I don't know who or what or why. All I have is some disjointed plot threads about the possible whos, even vaguer hints about the what, and no clue about the why. So far, it all just seems like set-up for whatever story is about to (hopefully) take off, but with only 12 episodes, that's a pretty late start. By disjointed I mean that for every hint they drop in a brief scene, it's isolated by more emphasis being put on nonsense like shopping, Aiz fending off Loki and Lefiya in different ways, the twins yammering on about boobs or weapons or Finn or squirrel! or something nobody cares about. Or a fight scene intercut with a plot point going on in another location. And now we know Aiz has some issues from who knows what in her mysterious past, and it took 5 episodes to even crack that - and that's not the story (though it's obviously tied into it), that's just character development. But at this point it feels like it might as well be the story, since it's at least gotten some sustained focus for more than a brief meeting or conversation. Compare Re:Creators, which has the disadvantage of having to introduce all its characters from scratch. Within 3 or 4 episodes we know who is plotting, what they're plotting, basically how they're planning to pull it off, and some hints and declarations about the various reasons why they want to. Yet mysteries and dilemmas still abound, fights are inventive and riveting, and the story is coherent and unfolding at a good clip, despite (or maybe because of) the exposition some people have complained about, but which I think the series is handling very well. Does that provide any more clarity as to why I feel Oratoria's story is mostly spinning its wheels? Have any of the whowhatwhys been definitively answered to give me a grip on something that feels like progress? (because admittedly I do miss a lot of things, so maybe something important happened while I was half asleep  )
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2616 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I think that's a fair statement. (And any reference to Dug is good with me!) I think the story is supposed to be about uncovering the reasons for the main plot in DanMachi - what's going on that triggers Bell's events, basically. But it isn't being clearly stated, and I suspect that if I hadn't read the novels I'd be more confused. The fanservice aspect has definitely been played up from the source material, and that's absolutely to the detriment of the show as a whole. Tiona and Tione can be so much more than Finn love and boob jokes... And yeah, Theron's definitely been in here more than me, so I can understand the confusion! I've been working on a couple of other big projects and grading far too many essays. 
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Pelfmiester
Posts: 24 |
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There's a manga adaption that is apparently closer to the source material than the anime. I'm so disappointed because I was so excited for this series. The anime's director is the thing that changed from the original and he dropped the ball hard. I'll never get excited over anything he touches again. Everything about the novels was so much better. These fights actually should have been on the caliber of the fights from the man series. Youhei Suzuki would just rather ruin a good series by making Lefiya and Loki annoying and changing good fights into garbage. The main series did the same episode count per novel but felt so much more like the source material. Probably because they didn't waste so much time on crappy non-canon comedy, so that they didn't have the time to focus on the action scenes. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18223 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Loki was annoying in the source novels, too. The extra bits added into the anime are entirely in line with her behavior in those. And before you pooh-pooh Suzuki too much, keep in mind that he did also direct the very entertaining SHIMONETA. That this one has been lackluster isn't indicative of all of his work. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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Just want to note, that if someone is pooh-pooh'ing this series for its over-emphasis on sexual humor, it may not be the best tact to reference that the director was the main man for a series where that was the defining characteristic.  I mean, Shimoneta's main stock-in-trade was sexual harassment and spoiler[not at all] disguised innuendo.
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TasteyCookie
 Posts: 421 |
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I blame the adaptation's quality on the director as well. Not because he's a bad director (which he's not) but the composition of scenes just doesn't gel as well as the first season. The animation quality is there, the cool characters (besides Lefiya) are there, the premise we love is there, even the music was on point. It's just the way the scene comes together just doesn't generate excitement.
For me the biggest example of this was the recent Aiz fight with the floor boss. That fight should have been just as epic as any of Bell's, and everything was setup to be a good fight, but it just.... wasn't. And I can't really pin point why. I had constant thoughts of "well that's kinda neat" but was not absorbed in it at all. I haven't read the source novel's either so this is purely just comparing it to the original series. |
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Pelfmiester
Posts: 24 |
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I think my main problem is the extra bits part. He wasted so much time adding filler jokes or expanding on and dragging out existing moments that nobody wanted while cutting and rushing through all the canon fights and story.
So basically the guy is only capable of doing sexual humor comedies, and will ruin an action series by trying to change it to a sexual humor comedy. |
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