Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Katsugeki! Tōken Ranbu
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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I only made it through a couple of Hanamaru episodes before i was bored half to death, so my expectations for this show were decidedly low, but i gotta say that i've been pleasantly surprised so far. It looks good, the action is nice, the characters are interesting enough and the plot is enjoyable if you don't think too deeply about its inherently silly premise. And i agree with Rebecca that the special ED for this ep. was really beautiful and emotional.
Now i only hope we'll get some kind of conclusion to this arc before we move on to the next group of gorgeous swords... |
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GoldCrusader
Posts: 1021 |
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I really doubt we are going to have a major change of group like you all seem to speculate. From the opening we obviously only really follow Kunihiro's group with the new sword introduce today being the only other important guy from the new group.
If I had to guess, the leader of this new group will probably be one of Kunihiro's group member. Learn something, don't feel guilty about what happended to Tonbokiri, etc etc. As for the show so far, I for one had really enjoyed Hanamaru. So seeing some of my favorite character from that show appear and have more focus has be quite pleased. Kunihiro is best boy. The action is nice, lots of emotions, fun characters, simple story. I have been really enjoying this. At least way more then the reviewer lol. Probably a B+ or something. |
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AholePony
 Posts: 330 Location: Arizona |
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I agree, harsh review when we're just dealing with an otome adaptation. For what it is, it's been fairly entertaining.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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I was hoping that with all the cgi in this they might be able to render the patterning in the fabric of Mikazuki's outfit, but alas, it somehow looks even more mundane than it did in Hanamaru, which at least managed to show it during his intro. Oh well. Did he sneeze during the preview because he was talking about himself? oO
It was fun spotting all the cameos in the dining hall. 
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CardamonPastel
Posts: 107 |
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On the magazine cover they posted before episode 6, they did show that they acknowledge that Mikazuki has a sayagata pattern on his outfit. So likely they'll add it in the bluray? I think they made quite a few alterations to his outfit for budgets sake. Like they removed some of his tassels, he doesn't have his crescent moon crests on his arms, his armour is missing a few things but they didn't remove enough to make the character less iconic in terms of design so I'm glad haha. Still slightly disappointed that they didn't go the whole 9 yards but its not as bad as what they did to Tsurumaru ( what with making his choker look like a rubber band and his chains a string ) etc. He still looks good. Also I think Mikazuki might have sneezed because someone off screen referred to him as handsome. You know how someone sneezes when they're talked about? Haha maybe. Or its just chill like he said. Either way his sneeze was super cute. |
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CardamonPastel
Posts: 107 |
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Katsugeki Touken Ranbu isn't an otome adaptation as Touken Ranbu, the source game, isn't an otome game. Otome games are mostly story based, goal driven dating sims which Touken Ranbu is not. It's a sword raising simulator in the form of a browser aimed at toukenjoshi ( or katanajoshi as in women who study and pose with Katana ) and Rekijo ( female history buffs ), though its made to appeal to male players as well hence the perpetually genderless saniwa so that they can fit in. To put it plainly, its just a simulation browser game/mobile game. Not an otome game. Just wanted to correct you on that since people outside the jp community often assume its an otome game because its aimed at women. But otome game isn't a blanket term for all games like that. |
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Clover_Zero
Posts: 23 |
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I'm just glad my best boy Yamanbagiri Kunihiro is here.
I think the focus won't entirely shift, but unit 1 will instead become some kind of catalyst for something for unit 2. I really want to see more of Yamanbagiri, though...but next episode's focus might be Honebami instead. Yamanbagiri has plenty of ways to develop his character as he greatly suffers from inferiority complex, which I believe can spread anywhere inside his already disturbed psyche, but he is managing somehow as he's pretty responsible (and he wants to show that he is himself to not get compared to original). I'm looking forward to see how this might affect their mission in a serious way. The other swords in unit 1 are: Oodenta Mitsuyo (tired-looking one), Hizamaru (gren-haired one), and Higekiri (who doesn't speak at all). |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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I'm not sure I understand the logic in either the assignments the two units get, or the make-up of the units themselves. If the swords have an emotional investment in protecting or not protecting the targets of the mission, it would seem wiser to send other swords to that era, or at least not both of Hijikata's swords to his stomping grounds. Although I guess personal knowledge of events has proven useful. But we also ran into that problem back with Hanamaru and Okita's swords. It seems unnecessarily cruel as well as a tad counterproductive.
Likewise, it seems like the First Unit is way overpowered compared to the Second Unit, so if I were in charge, I'd mix them up a bit so that both units would have someone who could single-handedly dispatch an Ootachi. I get that it's good to have a team you're used to working with, but it's better to be able to work with any team, so that units could be tailored to fit the mission better (it would also let us meet more swords without having to learn a whole new set of names each mission.  ).
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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This trope has always made me crazy, especially when it appears in real life sportscasting. "It looks like they really want to get a run here! (like they normally don't care?)" "They're going to have to score another goal now if they want to win (as if that's not a given)." Nothing like stating the obvious.
But it looks like Saniwa is following my game plan of more flexible teams. I wonder if Yagen, Tonbokiri and Tsurumaru will get transported to the action or if they're stuck with seeing Ryoma off. And whether the rest of For a second there, I thought maybe Saniwa was suggesting going back even earlier to undo all the damage done previously. But that probably wasn't too feasible with one episode left. And yeah, I was wondering what Horikawa has been up to myself.
I really hope this gets a nice finale. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11352 |
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And it did! Looks like I'm the only one left watching it though.
 I also don't understand why the ratings have dropped so over these last few episodes, which I think have been some of the best of the series.
I really like the way they rendered Hijikata and Ryouma in this. And it's nice that all their swords got a chance to have a chat with them. This is going to look really nice on Bluray.
Shout-out to Anne for her stellar reviews of this series (even if her grading system is unforgiving! ;P ). They helped me keep everybody straight and brought my attention to things I hadn't noticed. |
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Merida
Posts: 1945 |
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Seconded! This may not have been the best but it was defnitely one of the prettiest shows of the season and - for me at least - a huge step up from the previous Touken Ranbu. As for the drop in ratings, judging by comments i've seen, some fans of the franchise seemed to be displeased that their favourite characters weren't featured (enough), so i figured that might be at least part of the reason. |
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