Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: March comes in like a lion
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killjoy_the
 Posts: 2459 |
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They're adapting poorly the comedy bits because they're being completely straightforward with it - panel by panel, voicing every line, etc. A little panel or sound effects might be funny in manga, but here they're taking the entire screen and several seconds worth of time, killing the pacing. A panel by panel adaptation isn't necessarily a good one - an adaptation that elevates the good and makes the bad less so would be. This one has been just making the good better and the bad worse - which turns out alright overall, but with a general feeling of "this could be much better". I do think cutting some of the comedy would make for a better show overall but then again I didn't like them in the original anyway.
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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I'm happy that the show is adapting Chika Umino's manga panel for panel; it's extremely faithful. I don't need an adaption which alters the original's humorous scenes in any way just to make them "better". Part of why I love this anime is because its mixture of seriousness and humour enhances a certain feeling of bittersweet melancholy, which is exactly what I get when I read the source material.
If you don't like how the humour is visually portrayed in the anime, you'd probably not like it in the original either. Hence, it all boils down to matter of taste. Arguing about if the show's comedy works or not in an "objective" way is just a waste of time. |
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Jayhosh
 Posts: 972 Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania |
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It's great that you disagree with my opinion completely. What do you want me to do about it? I think this show and Nisekoi were/are weighted down by some unnecessary studio quirks at times, there's no point in asserting otherwise to me like you're dropping a bombshell fact. And I have read the manga of Nisekoi (at least the first 5 until I grew tired of it) and I'm not remembering anything particularly Shaft-y about it.
Really, you don't? What's there to not understand? First of all: Differing opinions. And second, WE GET IT. I get the purpose of it, I said so in the comment you quoted. The point is that those scenes do nothing for me. And I highly doubt that those scenes aren't intended to garner at least some giggles from the viewers, that notion is extremely laughable to me. When the little girl runs up and hugs the plump guy because she thinks he looks like Totoro (or at least a legally safe knock off of him), or the older sister having a thing for rotund gentlemen and vowing to preserve his figure, or a dog apologizing for hurting the little girl, are you really going to sit there and tell me with a straight face that that's just there make me "feel at ease?" Honestly, it's you not being able to understand why it wouldn't be some people's cup of tea that doesn't make much sense to me. I don't care if you can get behind it, that's great for you, but I think it's silly to condescend others for feeling otherwise, especially when I already understand the themes they're going for and don't need them spelled out to me. Also, yeah, the ridiculously faithful manga-to-anime adaptations can be pretty awkward. Like, I don't need to have a floating text and quirky voiceover tell me what emotion this particular character is feeling at the moment to understand what emotion they're feeling at the moment. It's unnecessary bulk imo. The best adaptions are the ones that retrofit a story to work within the conditions of a different medium. Mob Psycho 100 is a recent example I can think of in which the anime adaption turned out very well because its director and staff knew that simply adapting the manga straight wouldn't work because the formats are so different. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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I agree that it worked, but not quite for that reason, or that they drove the point home too hard, which you seem to imply. In another series, that whole tv program would've been background, to tell us the writer is saying, "Don't you see? He's analogous to a cuckoo!" and would have come across as pretentious, ain't-it-cool symbolism. Nevertheless, it's a perfect analogy, and by presenting it as a life-changing realization by the character himself, it avoids the traps that more subtle yet obvious symbolism can stumble over, and becomes characterization instead. This is really a week for repetitious themes across anime! I'm currently watching at least 4 series that use the drowning motif (of course DAYS swam the extra mile and had two scenes of characters metaphorically drowning), and I just finished watching the latest Udon which also has a woman who loses her big white dog's leash and lets it terrorize small children. |
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Swissman
Posts: 768 Location: Switzerland |
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I disagree. Visual cues like floating text or quirky voice-overs are part of the source material's breaking-of-the-fourth-wall. Taking away that kind of meta-humour in an adaption results in a show which, at least to me, wouldn't be "3-gatsu no lion" anymore. It's as if Hideaki Anno decided to leave out all of Masami Tsuda's shoujoesque meta-humour in KareKano. The result would be a drastically different show; at least in terms of slapstick humour. |
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chaccide
Posts: 295 |
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The humor is supposed to be intrusive, isn't it? It's the lifeline that keeps getting thrown to Rei, it's what breaks into his depression and pulls him to the surface. It's not just a sweet contrast, it's a hammer. And it seems to be working. I felt like he hasn't cried for his little sister before, and this family is providing openings though which he can express himself.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23770 |
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Well that episode made clear the full dimensions of the tragedy that is Rei's life. I don't think I was aware that Rei had a younger sister but obviously his entire family was wiped out in a car accident. That is the major tragedy of his life of course but then we find out the secondary tragedies. First, by rights, the child Rei should have gone to live with his uncle's family but his aunt is a repulsive bitch who doesn't even bother to hide her delight that this horrific accident means her husband will take over the family hospital instead of Rei's father.
Rei is faced with going to an orphanage but when his father's friend/shogi rival asks him if he likes shogi, Rei - in an act of self-preservation, to avoid going to an orphanage - lies and says he does, knowing that means the friend will take him in. Well, we all saw how that turned out. Ah, but that isn't tragedy enough. We see he quits high school to pursue shogi full time - again, not because he enjoys the game, but because if he starts earning money from it, he can move out of the House of Horrors he currently is in. We also find out that Rei's troubles began before the death of his family. He was already a loner and socially isolated. Gosh, having your entire family wiped out in a drunk driving accident must really have helped. Oi. So here is a guy who is well and truly trapped. Shogi has (mostly) painful associatons for him, it's a game that he's never really liked but that he's been pushed into by circumstances (desire to spend time with a busy father, desire to avoid being sent to an orphanage, desire to be independent so he can move out of fraught adoptive home) and yet he is doomed to have to pursue it as the only way to make a living. This show's genre is not slice of life - it's horror and belongs on the shelf next to Hell Girl. Please tell me that Akari is going to throw him a pity eff at some point because this poor, cursed sonofabitch needs some ray of sunshine. |
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killjoy_the
Posts: 2459 |
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He didn't quit high-school, we saw him going in an earlier episode. That scene where he said he was going pro was during middle school, where he was making a case not to enroll. He did at some point, however.
Last edited by killjoy_the on Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:39 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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Yeah...I kinda think that's already been ruined for him too, based on that brief flashback we saw previously. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23770 |
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Oh, Gina, Gina, Gina ... with the love of a good woman, ANYTHING can be overcome.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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Of course, but pity ≠ love.
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Knoepfchen
 Posts: 698 |
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While I'm having the most fun and feels with Yuri, this is "my" show of the season. Everything speaks to me - the pace, the imagery, the color palette, the way the humorous scenes feel like seen through Rei's lens of half enchanted, half confounded bewilderment. The only thing I'm not fond of is the excessive use of voice-over commentary, over-explaining what the visuals alone transport just fine. Why does Rei need to express his delight about the saved cardigan verbally when we can very clearly see what that scene is all about? This duplication has bothered me before, but it was particularly noticeable here, somewhat diminishing the emotional impact.
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3767 |
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Why, it's as if the lighter comedic moments are there for a reason. Of course, if you expecting funny jokes told purely as jokes, it will not help. But if you are expecting mildly pleasant "broad" comedy to prevent it from being too painful to watch, it might just work. I hope I am not overselling it. I must concur with Nick on March's depiction of depression. It is not an experience that I am unfamiliar with, and that is almost exactly how a doctor I spoke to said people with depression described their day to day mood. |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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I agree that the visuals were very strong this episode. In addition to the ones already mentioned, i'd like to add Rei's first meeting with Souya Meijin which felt a lot like him meeting a potential version of his older self.
On the bright side, it's nice to see Rei slowly but steadily starting to interact with more people, like his teacher (or Hina's crush  ).
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11354 |
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I think this pretty much nails it.
This was another excellent episode. Sensei kills me. And I was actually surprised when Takahashi sat down with them and wasn't just being a nice guy saying hi on his way to somewhere else. Since the previews suggest he's accepted the dinner invite, maybe Hina's more on his radar than she thinks.
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