×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Brynhildr in the Darkness (TV).


Goto page Previous    Next

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:49 pm Reply with quote
So far the shows ok to me. A little dull for the first episode and I'll have to see where it goes, but I do like some of the set-up. I like the astronomy and some of the flashbacks to the childhood.

I didn't care for the pump scene, but I do think its possible that its a probability thing and probability of that situation happening as it did might have been manipulated. I also didn't understand spoiler[why the teacher didn't pass air to the student. She was going to keep yanking on her leg till she drowned]? That didn't work for me.

I'm not convinced its magic. It looks like spoiler[she has a man made device planted in her, she talked about labs and couldn't do basic math. To me this seems like it might indeed be his childhood friend who was abducted at such a young age that she interprets the things she does (due to the device in her neck) as "magic" and explains her confusion with math]. Then again maybe its a red herring and it isn't as straight forward as it seems.

I'll definitely stick around to see where it goes.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 11:09 pm Reply with quote
One-Eye,

As for the pump thing being a matter of probability. What do you think the probability is for an ant to lift an elephant? Some things simply aren't feasible, and what happened in that scene was an example of that.

As for the spoiler about the childhood friend: spoiler[I think *she* was part of the research there (as indicated by the trio of dots that the MC thought of as moles). It's even possible he was somehow induced to "accidentally" slip from the pipe. Where the water pump thing was completely implausible (to me, anyway), him slipping en route to what may have been a secure facility (where she said she saw an alien) was actually quite plausible -- he may have slipped on his own, or he may have been "helped". At this point, all we can do is keep the possibility that he was "helped" in mind for later when more data becomes available.]

spoiler[I guess what I'm saying here is that I wished they would've found a more... subtle method than the swimming pool thing, because the whole scene felt unreal to me, jarringly so. The avalanche seemed less so, but then we don't know anything about the area above the road, so we can't really say how plausible it was for there to be a mudslide/avalanche right there, let alone a giant rock that was headed squarely at the MC and nowhere else on the road, almost as if it had been aimed.]

Anyhow, it's kind of fun speculating about it. But I'm not convinced, yet, that it's the sort of show that can stand up to close analysis. One or two more episodes should tell us what we need to know in that regard.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime My Manga
Tyna



Joined: 04 Mar 2014
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:03 am Reply with quote
If i have to guess what's going on, but it's just a guess. I'd say it's something along the lines of spoiler[ Kuroha comes/escaped from a research lab, and she had magical abilities to begin with ]
But I'll have to wait and see.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 12:06 am Reply with quote
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote:
One-Eye,
As for the pump thing being a matter of probability. What do you think the probability is for an ant to lift an elephant? Some things simply aren't feasible, and what happened in that scene was an example of that.

No I agree with you. As I said I wasn't buying it either. I guess what I was trying to say is that they might try to explain it with a probability angle and that angle might include an outside factor. For example, spoiler[something caused the suction to increase beyond what is normal and expected]. Do I think they will go that far to explain it? I don't know. My gut tells me probably not. And I totally agree with what you said here:
Quote:
spoiler[I guess what I'm saying here is that I wished they would've found a more... subtle method than the swimming pool thing, because the whole scene felt unreal to me, jarringly so.]


I found the spoiler[mudslide] to be more convincing, but not great. spoiler[Mudslides can move homes off their foundations and drag other large debris like trees, so I didn't have too much of a problem with the boulder. I just wish that maybe it had been raining longer or even a background comment about the rainy season would have helped]. But yes so far those two things do feel a little contrived.

Quote:
spoiler[...a secure facility (where she said she saw an alien)...]
I wonder if it has to do with spoiler[aliens or alien technology (her neck piece) or maybe something that a child would think is aliens]? Maybe people in spoiler[quarantine suits]? Just speculating...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:36 am Reply with quote
Here's my speculation: Kuroneko spoiler[wasn't killed falling off the dam but somehow ended up being used in clone experiments. That "witch" that got, er, emptied, looked a lot like Kuroha.]

Anyway, I'm really liking this title. Kuroneko spoiler[wearing a floatie while claiming not to care about the trip to the ocean] - so cute!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 10:47 am Reply with quote
Episode 2:

That was cute but the brief moments of the spoiler[experiments got dark, like how I remember from Elfen Lied. The episode had its funny moments like the cake though. Hell, I even got hungry with that. Not too much revealed but it looks like Kana makes her rather interesting debut thanks to her words.]

Oh snap, that ending....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
WhiteHairGirls



Joined: 27 Apr 2011
Posts: 4713
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:23 pm Reply with quote
Poor Kana and cake Sad
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 6:37 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

This show can be surprisingly distressing, did you see whatspoiler[ happened to that cake]? Also isn't spoiler[saliva important in digestion, not just food being turned into a paste]? Oh, also apparently the spoiler[neck things can be removed, making the witches look like they just got dowsed by in water by Dorothy].

Looking at the OP again it looks like there are some sort of inquisition against witches. If the scientists and other villainous characters in the OP are part of the same group, which may fit what the scientist said, this might get pretty creepy. Also looking at the OP it had me thinking that if spoiler[Kuroha is a clone, then there might be some sort of evil clone] with white hair. What is the chances they are spoiler[called Shironeko] or something to that effect?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 11:15 am Reply with quote
Somehow I lost my appetite for cake.

Blood- wrote:
Here's my speculation: Kuroneko spoiler[wasn't killed falling off the dam but somehow ended up being used in clone experiments. That "witch" that got, er, emptied, looked a lot like Kuroha.]

Along those lines maybe spoiler[she did die and they used her cells for cloning. If they manipulated her DNA it might explain why she no longer has the birthmarks].

Quote:
Anyway, I'm really liking this title. Kuroneko spoiler[wearing a floatie while claiming not to care about the trip to the ocean] - so cute!

I think that might have been the best part of the whole episode for me. Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Darksorrow29



Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Posts: 412
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 9:54 pm Reply with quote
Keep in mind I haven't seen Elfen Lied yet >>... anyway overall I guess I am enjoying this so far.

I dunno how I feel though about the mixture of moe one moment and darkness the other. Like right before the cute happy cake scene we see spoiler[a restrained girl naked on a table that gets melted].

Anyone else find it odd how Kuroha is spoiler[hiding from the lab yet is attending a PUBLIC school?]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Gatherum



Joined: 14 Feb 2012
Posts: 773
Location: Aurora CO
PostPosted: Mon Apr 14, 2014 10:08 pm Reply with quote
I have mixed feelings so far about this. One cannot help but to compare it to Elfen Lied from the get-go because of who writes its source, but by the second episode, you begin to see roughly the same devices as well: a new form of humanity with abilities far superior to the average human has been genetically or technologically engineered, yet is subjugated by fear of death and inhumane experimentation, prompting some of them to flee. The backstory also features a budding childhood romance that, in some extraordinary way related to a(n alleged) tragic death, ends with the two children being separated.

The difference is mostly in the mood and execution. Obviously, this one lacked the controversial first nine minutes of Elfen Lied, wherein fifteen to twenty-five people were brutally slaughtered, and despite circumstances, most of the cast appear to avoid the rampant psychological depravity that plagued the characters of that show without fail. That in mind, it can be said that one can think of this as a more humourous and light-hearted, and less visceral and heavy-handed, successor to Okamoto's opus (not that Brynhildr lacks in disturbance in some respects).

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, the unadulterated violence and extreme damage inflicted on the characters of Elfen Lied are arguably the elements most responsible for how powerful that work was, leaving Brynhildr meek and safe by comparison. On the other hand, it's easier to stomach, since the show, with its more upbeat soundtrack, brighter colours, and livelier characters, doesn't feel like a constant gloomfest of absolute woe.

All of that aside, it's nothing extravagant so far on its own yet, taking the slow-build approach. I can appreciate the fact that the OP song is different, much as I don't care for (arbitrary elements of) dubstep. The OP itself is less impressive to me: apart from the bloodied girls montage, the rest of it really feels like leftover clips they spliced together to create something to fill out the one and a half minutes. The ED is...an anime ED.

The male lead is about as generic as they come (with his name, Ryōta, even being phonetically reminiscent of Kouta, the protagonist of Elfen Lied), but he gets points for persistence and for not being a perverted fuckwit. Kuroha is, of course, the star of the show, being able to go seamlessly and comfortably from serious and in control, to cute, shy, and stuttering, and then back again--and unlike Lucy, she doesn't need to be shot in the head with a .50 caliber anti-artillery round to do it. Kana is a similarly nice contrast, if a bit unrealistic, considering the vibrancy of her personality compared to how static the rest of her body is (Okamoto seems to have a vested interest in very sharp contrast in some respect or another when it comes to his key characters). For all of that, though, the story is ultimately rather straightforward and quite predictable, the circumstantial evidence unraveling many of the prevalent mysteries before they are meant to come to light. Because of this, the series will have to amp up the twists in order to deliver.

But it's interesting enough, both in concept and execution, for me to make it my main watch for the season. Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Ortensia1980



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 803
Location: some town near Amsterdam
PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 2:25 am Reply with quote
I was not expecting that ending. After the cake scene spoiler[we got a scene where Kanade's neck-thing is removed and then she melts like the Wicked Witch of the West Shocked]

My theory about Kuroha is pretty much the same as what has been mentioned already. She'll either turn out to be spoiler[a clone] or she's spoiler[actually Kuroneko and her mind has been wiped for some reason.]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
leatherhead333



Joined: 15 Aug 2013
Posts: 1187
Location: Kansas
PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:51 am Reply with quote
I'm pretty certain that she is indeed a clone. Whenever you have characters talking about short life spans cloning is one of the first things that come to mind since almost all clones in sci/fantasy settings have a short life span.

That alone explains why she doesn't recognize Ryota and why the mark isn't there. However i wouldn't be surprised if she ends up remembering him with the whole "Even though i'm a clone my memories that i never had will show up...".

I do like how much more light hearted this show is compared to Elfen Lied which i felt sometimes was over the top gory sometimes. I think our male lead is going to get himself killed with the way he's been going about things though....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bango



Joined: 06 Jul 2013
Posts: 1122
PostPosted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:27 pm Reply with quote
ep 1&2

So I was told this show was about people from an alternate universe trying to prevent our world from becoming like theirs. I'm seriously wondering if the person who told me that watched the OP and then made shit up. I half re-thought this when Kuro was confused by how many constellations there are, but again it seems that was just to specify that she's unschooled.

That aside, I'm thoroughly enjoying this. There's some dumb BS, like forcing a school setting when it counters the logic of Kuro's surivability. But I've loved worse shows which had far greater nonsense.

I really like the two leads. While I feel bad for Kana I'm not really a fan of her. I do look forward to some future gore and for the lab to be complete immoral not-so-nice-people. It's kind of the role of secret organizations in stuff like this.

Also, I agree that the "accidents" are completely artificial in nature. Otherwise they might drift into the realm of "too unlikely to believe". That's one place Another did succeed in, that the accidents weren't completely random crap, but stuff that even happens in real life sometimes.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:31 am Reply with quote
Episode 3:

spoiler[Rankings and abilities. Well, this show doesn't hide itself from the grim nature anymore with all that blood and the ending there. Oh poor Kuroneko. She never stood a chance in combat against Saori this time around.]

Well, at least spoiler[Ryouta found out something else about Kuroneko] that gave him some relief..
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Series Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous    Next
Page 2 of 21

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group