Forum - View topicRistorante Paradiso (TV).
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rainbowcourage
 Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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Well, since I'm on a roll here I might as well jump on this seeing as it's being simulcast tomorrow morning via Crunchyroll.
Anyway, I am prepared to love Ristorante Paradiso unconditionally since it's taking Michiko to Hatchin's Noise slot. It looks adorable and quirky, the perfect slice of life with a dash of romance thrown in. And I need my slice-of-lifes to remind me that life and not just fantasy worlds can be wonderful. Anyway, I have high expectations for such a low-key series. I hope it doesn't disappoint. Edit Episodes 1 & 2 were pretty good. The main selling point for me is Nicoletta, who is a charming and cheerful lead and wonderfully audacious. Considering the wide range of scoring this show got from the preview guide, it's safe to say it's of the more subjective variety. I like the female character designs, but sometimes the men creep me out just a tiny bit. While I'm not such a fan of the glasses fetish thing, I do like the quaint atmosphere and simple story, and I look forward to more of Nicoletta's interaction with her mother and with Claudio spoiler[though hopefully we've seen the last of the date rape]. |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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I'm liking this series quite a bit too.
It's a nice change of pace from everything else I've watched this season. Nothing truly remarkable, but I'm enjoying the atmosphere and the colorful cast of characters so far. Gonna stick with it. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I quite enjoyed the first episode of this series. The second was a bit of a letdown, I don't think it quite had the charm. The story with spoiler[Nicoletta and Claudio played a bit too high school for my tastes...I had hoped that having an older cast would give the romance a bit more maturity.] However I still am hopeful that it will be a fun series to watch and look forward to seeing more.
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kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
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Enjoying it so far although yes spoiler[that weird "date rape" scene kinda threw me; I was hoping it was a fantasy in her head when I saw the preview]. I actually like the glasses fetish, since I have one myself, lol, although I think it was a bit excessive to make everyone wear them, spoiler[including empty frames.]
The age difference is a bit weird for me, although I am enjoying seeing older characters. So far I like Luciano and Gigi the best, since they have the most personality (even though Gigi doesn't talk much). Claudio is too mild for me. Nicoletta's relationship with her mom is a strange one, I mean, I think it's just terrible that spoiler[her mom threw her over for a man..., and then her mom acts like she owns all the men... she seems terribly narcissistic and spoiled so far] |
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Sentire
 Posts: 981 |
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I just finished watching both episodes and like the glimpses of the personalities of each character. I am hoping to see more depth in the upcoming episodes because I feel they need to develop more. There is enough to keep me interested, so I'll definitely continue to watch. Nicolette is "real" and I enjoy that. Oddly enough, the age differences doesn't bother me. Right away I felt disdain for Nicolette's mother and what she did. Part of me wonders if that will change as the story progresses, but I have a hard time believing that from this standpoint.
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rainbowcourage
Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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episode 3
I have to say, I'm really enjoying this series. Especially in this episode the Claudio-Nicoletta dynamic was perfect; spoiler[they portrayed the awkwardness of the situation well. Claudio (and everyone) knows Nicolette likes him, and Claudio's stuck between being kind to her because he likes her as a person, and wondering if being kind to her is cruel. Then there's Nicoletta, confused about her feelings and not wanting Claudio's empathy, but also willing to take everything as it comes. That conversation in the garden was tre nice. I also like the Olga-Nicoletta dynamic; for once, there isn't a lot of drama surrounding an abandonment. I'm sure Nicoletta has a lot of pent-up feelings (and I wonder if they'll surface at some point) but she seems to understand that her mother is who she is, as flawed as she is. They've also progressed from hissing blackmail-buddies to having a budding friendship and relationship. Overall, the only mistake this show has made in my eyes was the ridiculous date-rape scene. That could have been done much more delicately, such as Nicoletta trying to kiss Claudio when he was standing, and him politely refusing her. The whole arm up and over his face bit was ridiculous. ] |
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Alestal
 Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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Watched the first 3 episodes of the show and I am verry happy with it, I tried to watch the first episode a few weeks back and it didn't feel right, but now that I've had a lazy laid back Sunday I knew that I could look at this slice of life series the way it should be admired.
The setting is wonderful, the characters are all deciding different, they are refreshingly nice and engaging and blend together to create an interesting atmosphere. I'm kinda impressed by how well the voice actors are pronouncing the italian words, I've got a nagging italian mother and they words sound rather spot on to my ignorant ears. 
The art, kinda lousy at times. The wrinkles on the faces make certain characters look like corpses. (sp?) But I am appreciating it more and more because the emotion of the characters is well portrayed. spoiler[I also like the Olga-Nicoletta relationship, I like how the daughter isnt shutting her other out my steadily letting her into her life. She's a bigger person then I would be in her place. The date-rape scene was over the top and akward but they toned it down by how the characters discussed such an immature action in a mature way. Overall the show screams mature. ] I'll keep on watching. |
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rainbowcourage
Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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Doesn't "screaming mature" kind of defeat the purpose of being mature? 
Episode 4 came out a few days ago finally, I wonder why they skipped a week? Very odd. Anyway, this show continues to relax and entice me (which is probably why I should check out Aria). This episode focused on the restaurant's origins, which, while not particularly exciting, was pretty good. What this show really needs to figure out is where it's going, and then meander itself in that direction. At the moment I'm seeing a rather open ending, but maybe that will change. |
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Sariachan
 Posts: 1494 Location: Italy |
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I only watched the first episode, and I couldn't enjoy it (mostly because I'm Italian, I guess ^^' ).
Italian words are overused (their pronunciation is exact, but they are spoken in a quite "lifeless" way, to me it sounds like when the seiyuu use Italian they don't act anymore, but just read their lines -___-' ), Rome is depicted in a hilarious (read=untrue) way. Even if the backgrounds are beautiful, they give a false image of Rome which doesn't suit a "realistic" anime like this at all. "Casetta dell'Orso" isn't a name you would use for a restaurant in Rome... it would better suited for an Alpine one, and even in that case we Italians would rather call a restaurant "Casa dell'Orso" over "Casetta dell'Orso" ("casetta" means "small house" and sounds too cheesy and awkward to be likely used for a restaurant name, especially for a high-class one like the one in this anime). Finally, I hate the fact that they made all these men charming and "Latin-lovers"-like, it's too forced imho (this last critique isn't related to me being Italian, I wouldn't like ANY anime that "forces the hand" so much without even a bit of irony). So, even if I only watched the first episode and I could be wrong (not about the Italian language/cultural bits of it though), I think that Ristorante Paradiso only seems a "mature" anime, but it isn't, really. Too bad... well, at least I've my Fuyumi Soryo's Taiyo no Ijiwaru manga to read, an it DO is a great story placed in a realistic Italy (even if in the past)! 
I hope they'll make an anime of it. |
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rainbowcourage
Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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I'm not Italian, (I was in Rome for the first time over the winter), however what does inaccurate research have to do with a show being "mature"? As for the stuff you pointed out, well it's rather nit-picky, I mean if it bothers you enough that you can't get past it then I understand but from what I saw of Rome the background isn't so outrageous (the side streets are portrayed as a tad small; it would probably have been better off set in Firenze somewhere along the Ponte Vecchio). Also, is the name of the restaurant really counter-culture? There are some very famous restaurants with cutesy names like that, for example the very expensive The Little Nell in Aspen. (Also, I don't know Italian but I believe that like Spanish you don't necessary literally translate casetta or casita into "little house"; it doesn't translate very smoothly, it's simply better in the language.) The funny thing about the waiters is that I had one very similar to them in Firenze the day before new years, which is why I laughed when I first saw this show. |
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Sariachan
Posts: 1494 Location: Italy |
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Well, a "mature show", for me, has to have better research behind it, like Monster for example (it wasn't perfect either, but it went really close).
A show with adults characters and themes isn't automatically "mature" in my opinion, as it could be just a "façade", like in this case (but please keep in mind that I only watched the first episode, so I could be wrong, story-wise and characters-wise). About the background, it was the "mood" of them that was hilarious, from an Italian point of view (I live in a city near Rome and I has been in the capital countless times, so you can trust me here), since it was just too romantic and the Japanese point of view about what Rome is was too "forced" upon the viewer, imho. Finally, "casetta" or "casina" (not "casita", there is a "n" there) does translate into "little house" or even "nice/cute house" for the second case, and a cute name for a Rome restaurant is utterly strange, since Rome is too much a chaotic, lousy and "spaghetti"-like place for names like that (it has to do with Rome dialect, too, which is quite "rough" but in a funny/friendly way, but not cute for sure). Mind me, I can't exclude that a restaurant with a name similar to "Casetta dell'Orso" could exist in Rome, but as a symbolic/iconic name it totally fails. Also, "Orso" means "bear", and bears in Italy aren't animals associated to Rome at all, but more to the Abruzzo region, for example. Maybe, not-Italian or less nitpicking people than me can enjoy this anime anyway, but keep in mind that the image that it gives of Rome is false and biased from a Japanese point of view. ^^' |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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IIRC, they do explain the bear part, though perhaps not in the first episode. I know there was a story given about the name at one point though. Anyway, I think we can probably say that in many ways it's as accurate in portraying Italian life as most anime are accurate in portraying Japanese life. It's a media that is designed to exaggerate for story's sake. If you nitpick anything too much, it's bound to fall apart. Also I have to say I completely disagree with your definition of mature. Research doesn't even remotely play a part of it, IMO, it's all about overall themes. Though I do agree, there have been times when I don't really find this show as mature as one would expect it to be. |
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Sariachan
Posts: 1494 Location: Italy |
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I disagree, since I believe that "mature" is how you talk about something, more than what the themes are.
Anyway, thanks for the clarification about the restaurant name, but it sounds strange anyway. About the accuracy of portraying a cultural and everyday life, whatever the Country, my problem isn't general but only with "realistic-like" anime. For example, I don't complain with the exaggerations in anime like Ouran High School Host Club, since they are clearly wanted from the staff and the story original creator.
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kornpone
 Posts: 55 Location: West of the Yodo River |
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I'm with Sariachan on this-- the details do matter, and in Paradiso the details bring to mind places all over the map, but sadly not many of those being in Rome.
For many Japanese the quintessential European city is Paris, and I have to say, this show absolutely reeks of Frechiness. That would be fine if we were talking about a cozy brasserie in the Latin Quarter, but alas we're not. It also doesn't help when one of the characters (such as in a recent episode) opens up a newspaper --and it's all in Spanish. That's just plain sloppy. Not all anime treats foreign locales so carelessly: Eden of the East recently created a smashingly good (if rather devoid of people) impression of Washington DC --with a few NYC tidbits thrown in as well; Michiko e Hatchin took place in a pastiche of Latin American countries, but the overall mood and flavor was grippingly well done; and when it comes to Italy, I'd say the Italianesque parts of Miyazaki's Kurenai no Buta even feel more genuine than Paradiso. And as for the depiction of Japan in anime in general, well, keep in mind that the intended audience is primarily in Japan. If the sociocultural references weren't spot on, the show wouldn't even get made. While I'll admit that real Japanese people don't obviously act like anime characters (who tend to be much more outgoing and outspoken, not to mention -- for the girls, especially -- sexually adventurous) the motivations, reactions, expressions, gestures, and everything else are all there in kernel form. If there wasn't a connection, Japanese wouldn't be able to relate to anime at all. I wish this show had tried harder. The Eternal City could use a really good, heartfelt anime tribute, but sadly this isn't it. |
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Alestal
Posts: 605 Location: Dallas, Texas |
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I just finished this series and I have to say that I liked it, I wouldn't rate it a masterpiece or even excellent, but a solid "very good". Heres what I liked about the show, I liked how it painted a very elaborate picture of a different setting (realistic or no), the character interactions (though the main was sometimes a tad boring, she had her moments such as spoiler[during the last episode when she called out Claudio's ex-wife of her bul]), how the show had several interesting things going on (romance, nicoletta and her mothers relationship, the coming of age story, various friendships, and food). The struggles Nicoletta endured to reach her assorted goals were relatible, which made it easy for me to connect to, I mean, she basicly balanced several different areas of her life at the same time, in a new environment.
And honestly, the last episode spoiler[really confermed my faith in the show, the emotions that were flying around before the mother's confession were extremely powerful, and what is even more amazing is that they werent really expressed in words. The viewer KNEW what Nicoletta must be feeling and the way that she forgave and optomisticly tossed aside all of her hurt, it really made for a very special ending. An ending that promised a happy life.] Sorry for the errors, thanks. |
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