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Blood- wrote:

If a reviewer says that an episode is just a touch above middling and I feel that an episode has been very good, I feel it is worth commenting on the discrepancy in views. Isn't that the point of a thread like this? To comment on stuff the reviewer has written?

Absolutely. Agreed 100%.

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Giving a letter grade of B when I think A- is more appropriate is the exact same thing, just really pithy in nature. It still bears commenting on if a poster feels like it.

It doesn't bother me if someone says, "B, huh, I'd probably give it an A-" but half the time it's, "B?!?!? What the hell is wrong with you? This clearly deserves an A- rawr rawr rawr! This series needs a different reviewer!" Or "A B?! You said it was flawed, what does it have to do to get a C?" I'm not telling you you can't comment on it (even if that were in my power), I'm just saying it's pointless to do so.

Commentary about the letter grade itself isn't just a more succinct way of disagreeing with the review, unless you leave it at that - just say what grade you'd give it and walk away. But to have any meaningful discussion of the grade you have to somehow know what all went into the reviewer's translation of all their thoughts on the episode to a single letter grade, and say how that compares with your own process of distilling all your views into one grade. It's more productive to address what the review actually said and where you disagree, than trying to divine each person's unique method of grading and fixating on that.

Really, I don't care if people want to talk about the grades, but I just get tired of the life-or-death focus on the grade to the exclusion of all else, and most of all how frothy people get over it. I'll never understand it, but as long as they have a grading system I can't stop it, so I'll shut up about it now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

dark_bozu wrote:

Blood- wrote:

Oh come on. The opposite of weak is strong. Do you really believe that Akari showed strength? Go back and watch her shuffle like like a 90-year-old woman, propped up by Hina. She has to be taken to the nurse's office, for Pete's sake. That is not anything remotely resembling strength.

Oh, yeah, she's weak because she can't find words that would prove her position Rolling Eyes

.
She's trying to defend her sister, this isn't what weakling do. Yeah, she struggles, but this is what ALL people do in those situations in real life - it's nearly impossible to find an evidence of bulling, unless you caught bullies red-handed. And this shows her strength, because she hadn't give up.

You know the kind of argumentation I despise most? When somebody uses a cheap, strawman argument like yours that I have bolded above. When I buttressed my opinion that Akari showed weakness, I cited the fact that she was walking like an old woman with Hina having to prop her up. She was taken to the nurse's room where the nurse observed that she was "white as a sheet" and gave her a hot beverage to help her recuperate from her trauma. I notice you conveniently ignore all that and try to pretend that the fact she couldn't find find the right words is what I am citing as evidence of her weakness. Cheap, dishonest argumentation like that is a real waste of time.

Gina Szanboti wrote:

[It doesn't bother me if someone says, "B, huh, I'd probably give it an A-" but half the time it's, "B?!?!? What the hell is wrong with you? This clearly deserves an A- rawr rawr rawr! This series needs a different reviewer!" Or "A B?! You said it was flawed, what does it have to do to get a C?"

So it sounds like it's not commenting on the letter grade that you object to so much, but rather the tone a poster takes when doing so. Well, fair enough.

*leans in*

BUT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE STAKES OF LETTER GRADES ARE NOTHING LESS THAN LIFE OR DEATH???

Blood- wrote:

She was taken to the nurse's room where the nurse observed that she was "white as a sheet" and gave her a hot beverage to help her recuperate from her trauma. I notice you conveniently ignore all that and try to pretend that the fact she couldn't find find the right words is what I am citing as evidence of her weakness. Cheap, dishonest argumentation like that is a real waste of time.

So, you mean that she was weak in terms of health? I got it. Still, I think that she's not weak. She was very nervous before that meeting and such agressive opponent brought a huge stress to Akari, because of that she was pale and tired.

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... refusing to embrace convenient solutions or easy emotional shifts

All too convenient for my taste. Elderly male authority figure steps in and Chio-chan has pastoral fairy tale setting for her recovery. Dad promises to spend more time with daughter. Hina receives a letter promising happy reunifications. The girls go off to bake cookies together after tearful apologies. I'm cynically concluding that the reasons why MEXT felt comfortable adopting this series for a collaborative anti-bullying campaign have been revealed in this episode. In a country rife with institutionalised bullying, a country for old men- the old guy even gets to preach the solitary recalcitrant bully not to assign blame to society. How is that not "convenient"?

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... at this point Hina's bullying narrative has drawn on for long enough that I'm eager to see where we go next

To me, another indication that "convenient" is precisely the right word for this pat resolution and ultimately the failure of the show where the bullying arc is concerned. If it indeed stops here. The creators and sponsors too must have started wondering if the bullying was getting too tiresome for the audience. Time to wrap up that story line. Neatly. It is a work of fiction after all.

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To me, another indication that "convenient" is precisely the right word for this pat resolution and ultimately the failure of the show where the bullying arc is concerned. If it indeed stops here. The creators and sponsors too must have started wondering if the bullying was getting too tiresome for the audience. Time to wrap up that story line. Neatly. It is a work of fiction after all.

The mangaka based this story on the experience of her niece, who stood up to bully on behalf of her friend. She said she was so proud of her niece for doing that, and wanted to incorporate it somehow in a story.

I feel that continuing the arc for any longer would leave too few eps for the main narrative's progression.
If they wanted to go with a more true-to-life development to this arc, we could've well seen almost all remaining episodes allocated to this purpose and still not reach a conclusion that is more satisfying, or one that would offer some closure, at least. I feel that Hina's efforts and the strength she displayed throughout the drama deserved a proper 'reward' - in the form of relief, happiness, chiho's letter, and lastly personal growth. If also fits given the show's overall positive tone.
Just because it was more immediate and tangible than is usually the case in rl - or more 'convenient', as some put it - that doesn't take away from it's worth.
If one really wanted to delve into the depths of bullying and esp how to counter it, you'd prolly be best off to make an entire anime dedicated to this topic, rather than it being a side story. A Silent Voice (the manga) comes to mind as a good example.

On the part of Akari being weak - she was caught offguard. Completely and utterly unprepared for the retort - that of proof - on the parent's part (the same issue which ultimately broke the teacher, and which was eloquently countered by the replacement teach), and it came as such a shock to her that it rendered her inable to response or to keep her composure. If she had previous experience with such situations, I am convinced she would have acted differently, and would be able to hold her own (or at least, not clamping up) even in such difficult situations. While not confrontational or aggressive like the grandpa, she's also not 'weak' in the sense the female teacher is, but rather too kind and gentle by nature to imagine in her wildest dreams how people can be like. It goes without saying, however, that Hina is mentally far stronger than Akari is. Even Akari herself is aware that she isn't as strong as others (in particular grandpa) when she reexamines the events immediately after the first visible instance of bullying. Yet she still does her best to be there for Hina (and therein lies HER strength), and that along with Kiriyama's and grandfather's support is what ultimately gives Hina the strength she needs not only to face such situations, but to defy the wrongdoers throughout the drama and not (completely) lose heart even when the authority (her homeroom teach) that was supposed to aid her in her fight fails her and her classmates forsake her. I also strongly believe that her firm conviction that she has been doing the right thing from the get-go also helps Akari - and Kiriyama - grow stronger.
Hina has turned into my personal fav this arc, and I sure hope they have a lot of such and similar development ready for our main guy when it comes to personal growth.

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“Results are important, but it's not results that reach people. The world doesn't revolve around results.”

I thought this was a lovely sentiment when he said that, but I have not found it to be true at all. Quite the opposite, actually. For those few times when it appears to be true, it's usually down to what people mean by "results."

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Souya's words came off like canned responses from a mechanical device, further emphasizing his unreachable nature

To me it was showing that he might well be on the edge of a breakdown. Rei thought he was godlike when his responses seemed perfect, but he was as shocked as everyone when it became clear that he was on autopilot, not even properly reacting to being drenched in wine. It was a very disturbing scene and does not bode well for the upcoming match.

To me it showed that Souya is not nearly as functional as people think. Sure he might be good at shogi, but he has his only problems, and it came through in showing that he probably prepared for the interview like how those good at shogi prepare for a match, reading past records and preparing ahead of time. Souya is good at shogi, but it is not really fair to act like he is some inhuman demon, I and leaning that he might be closer to something like being autistic, but regardless of how different he appears, he is still human. And is rude to say otherwise.

I felt the Shougi Association did Rei a great disservice by not preparing him for what lay ahead. No one told him what to expect, what questions he might be asked and what answers he might give. Apparently the Association doesn't have a publicist who could have worked with Rei for a couple of hours on developing a public persona. Instead they just put him out there and let him suffer needless embarrassment.

I also wished we had a scene where Rei has dinner with the sisters before the matches so he could voice his concerns and fears, especially to Akari.

You bring up a good point, yuna49, especially given that the Shogi Association is clearly eager to exploit Rei for publicity purposes. You'd think they'd give him a bit of media coaching to help out. The funniest/saddest part of the episode for me was the two "old" guys seeing how different the promotion for their match was compared to Rei and his foe.

Last edited by Clematis on Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total

This episode, in particular the automated responses recited by Souya, served to disillusion Rei from the perfect vision of Souya he had carried with him since early on. Made me feel really bad for the guy, and how he has to go through such situations at every occasion possible given his position. And as others have pointed out, the episode sure does not portray the Shougi Association in a good light.

Gina Szanboti wrote:

To me it was showing that he might well be on the edge of a breakdown. Rei thought he was godlike when his responses seemed perfect, but he was as shocked as everyone when it became clear that he was on autopilot, not even properly reacting to being drenched in wine.

spoiler[It turns out that Souya actually "broke" a long time ago from the stress of his position. Its not that Souya is on autopilot, it's that he's literally doing the "best" he can in that interview. Rei finds out after he has to help Souya get to a hotel later.]

Not gonna lie: when the show switches to full on shogi mode with no involvement from the Kawamoto sisters my interest takes a nosedive.

Vaisaga wrote:

Not gonna lie: when the show switches to full on shogi mode with no involvement from the Kawamoto sisters my interest takes a nosedive.

I hears ya. I even miss Kyouko.

Guess I'm the only one then who really enjoyed the way their match was portrayed like a tranquil place far away from everything human, where just the two of them exist for one sole purpose. Not to mention the music was an excellent pick for the occasion. Ended up rewatching/listening the scene several times.

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