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Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~ (TV).


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 10:55 am Reply with quote


Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~ (TV)

Genres: action, supernatural
Themes: youkai

Plot Summary: The town of Sakurashin is connected to the demon world by seven sakura pillars, allowing humans and demons to live together. The four members of the Hiizumi Counseling Office help and protect its citizens.
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Episode 1
Oh damn, I was excited about this series. The OP song was okay I guess. I love the humor and style of this though along with the backgrounds. Action wise was decent in the second half. The OST matches imo and I liked the fact that spoiler[everyone worked together as a team.]

spoiler[Is that a witch I spot in the ending there? Nice outfit LOL.]
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:24 am Reply with quote
Episode 1

I liked this. Well all it needed was the mention of Youkai to grab my attention, but catgirls and ninjas, and they have me. Something I find intriguing is how this seems to have so many elements that seem to be big otaku bait, but it presents itself in a way that does not feel like it is just catering to that group. There was even some fanservice, like a few panty shots here and there, but they are the sort of thing that you could blink and miss, and did not really come across as nearly pervy as you might expect.

So this is an alternate retelling of a 2008 anime, well I hope that the other series is not a required watch as I enjoyed what I saw here and currently have no plans to watch another series first.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:32 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed this episode, but the pressing issue is that it is almost necessary to have at least seen the previous series or else one can potentially get lost as the scenes quickly shifts between characters for there perspective on the situation, an in series example is some young girls sing the town song Tsundere tune to Yarizakura and a new audience member would probably be scratching there head.

If the viewership enjoyed the first series, they should be able to get into this alternative telling.
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WhiteHairGirls



Joined: 27 Apr 2011
Posts: 4713
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Is this going to be a completely different remake or a minor one? I watched like half of first series and this episode already revealed a character that comes later and a new one(?)- spoiler[There was an episode about Rin coming to town and hating the townspeople. Also the white haired bad guy usually worked solo with another guy who just talked with him. But in this one he is working with that girl who can transform into a little girl.]
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Galap
Moderator


Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:02 am Reply with quote
DuskyPredator wrote:
Something I find intriguing is how this seems to have so many elements that seem to be big otaku bait, but it presents itself in a way that does not feel like it is just catering to that group. There was even some fanservice, like a few panty shots here and there, but they are the sort of thing that you could blink and miss, and did not really come across as nearly pervy as you might expect.


Well, I'd say that those are definitely otaku bait catering to that group, and usually I'd hate that shit, but in this case it's tempered to the point where I can roll with it. It's tempered and not the main focus, and I like that.

A lot of the fights around these parts seem to be a conflict between the people who like the otaku pandering stuff and the people who don't. One of the most contested battlegrounds is whether or not anime has been consumed by this stuff. Many say that it has (myself included sometimes), and the common response is that it's always been like this: these elements have always been there.

This show illustrates the point I've often been trying to make by being a counterexample: Yozakura Quartet Hana no Uta feels like a lot of older anime did. Sure it had a lot of those moe elements, or fanservice elements, or other otaku pandering stuff, but it's not all there is going on, and it's not the main focus. There are a couple of panty shots, but it's not the character literally mashing her ass into the camera. It's a shot in which you can see her underwear, but it's short, off to the side, and the shot has interesting composition for other reasons. There are many other reasons to watch this other than that stuff. Personally, I find the story passable but kind of silly. The magic system is really cool, especially what Kotoha does. I'm really in here to see some Ryo-timo style animation (I've seen Hoshi no Umi which looks amazing, but not the original series because I don't care for the visuals).

Here's hoping that this one remains something where both sides of the force can find some common ground. I have pretty high hopes.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 6:17 am Reply with quote
I liked the original Yozakura Quartet TV series, I liked the OVAs that came after it and I liked this episode. I guess you could say YQ and I are pals. Look forward to following this one.
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ZorgonXtreme



Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 251
Location: Anchorage, AK
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:44 am Reply with quote
So, I know nothing about either the manga or the first show.

That said, I really like this. I like the presentation and I like the characters. I think the writing is good and the setup is solid.

There's promise here and I'm looking forward to see if it lives up to it.
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:14 am Reply with quote
This show has some smart writers who really know how to handle exposition.Introducing a spoiler[lost foreign child was really a great solution ,because the fact that they are giving her all this information makes sense.After all she doesn't know where she is and she seems to be very curious about the people around,so why not simply tell her the information and try to calm her down with it.The twist at the end was also great,for two reasons.First little girl isnt simply a tool for exposition ,like how Ellen Pages charcater in "Inception" was.No,she actually has some grander purpose in the story,and she isn't immediately wasted. Second this twist wasnt an ass pull,there were a lot hints given and looking back everything makes much more sense.]
Unfortunately my schedule is really chaotic,so unless one of the noitamina shows sucks ,I wont able to watch this weekly.However I will marathon it at some point.
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WhiteHairGirls



Joined: 27 Apr 2011
Posts: 4713
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 2:14 pm Reply with quote
EP 3

Holy @#$% that spoiler[car accident was brutal. Especially when you heard the 2 kids' neck snap. Good thing they are vampires or I would have been depressed for the day.]
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Heinzendegger



Joined: 22 Jun 2012
Posts: 321
PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 3:01 pm Reply with quote
It was still quite spoiler[brutal seeing how they were just squeezed to death, the desperate look on their face just before the snap was heavy on me.]
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:45 pm Reply with quote
I was somewhat surprised by that spoiler[car accident as well since I watched the preview for episode 2 last week and thought the accident] might of been avoided. Damn, that was brutal.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:06 am Reply with quote
Episode 3

Heavy moment, I had to replay the bit a couple times just to wrap my head around what I saw.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:25 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I found that scene quite upsetting, too. Especially since, when it happened, I had no idea the little tykes spoiler[were vampires.]
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 10:07 am Reply with quote
Episode 4

What the ages are really does my head in. Apparently to the two kids are spoiler[half vampire half mermaid, and one of them gets older when they enter water]. So I assume the other gets spoiler[older from blood], right? I had been wondering as they act older than their supposed age, but go to kindergarten, but now one of them spoiler[talks about drinking sake]. Then there are the land gods, I kind of identify the sister by the smaller form she appeared in earlier. He wanted Mariabelle to spoiler[dress in gothloli, but instead she was dressed as a kindergartener]. lol

As for the new character, Kohime, I recognised her quickly as being voiced by Yui Ogura, whose voice is divine. Wait a minute, the character's name is "Kohime", like an added bit how kittens are to cats as koneko to neko? A tiny Hime?

Theme song is catchy.
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Heinzendegger



Joined: 22 Jun 2012
Posts: 321
PostPosted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:29 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, Kohime is an existing name but it is most certainly a play on words.
Little Hime, that really fits her.
spoiler[also she was the only one who gave us pantyshot in the episode.]
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