×
  • 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
EP. REVIEW: Yatterman Night


Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:44 pm Reply with quote
With all the stuff about the unfairness of generational guilt, but warning over too much revisionism of one's ancestors, I'm almost awaiting the first thinkpiece drawing an analogy to the Article 9 debate. (Considering how many similar things have been written about Yamato over the years.)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
gloverrandal



Joined: 20 May 2014
Posts: 406
Location: Oita
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:45 pm Reply with quote
I've been really enjoying this series. It reminds me of Gatchaman Crowds in it's reinventing an old anime. I hope we see more reinventions of 70s and 80s anime like this.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Via_01



Joined: 24 Aug 2014
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 7:25 pm Reply with quote
gloverrandal wrote:
I've been really enjoying this series. It reminds me of Gatchaman Crowds in it's reinventing an old anime. I hope we see more reinventions of 70s and 80s anime like this.


Gatchaman Crowds was done by the same studio as this one. However, unlike Gatchaman Crowds, which only seems to share the title with Gatchaman, Yatterman Night DOES have something to do with the original Yatterman.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:15 pm Reply with quote
I went to have a look at the original tv series' first episodes just to get a better feel for what was going on, and although I didn't make it through either episode, I saw enough to get the idea. And I think it does help to a degree, at least artistically. Those Yatter outfits! Very Happy (that bellybutton!? Embarassed)

But what is the deal with all the birds in this? Yatter Kingdom is more like a bird sanctuary than a place where people live. Even their mecha was a stork. Is that a reference or something unique to this storyline?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2530
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:58 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
But what is the deal with all the birds in this? Yatter Kingdom is more like a bird sanctuary than a place where people live. Even their mecha was a stork. Is that a reference or something unique to this storyline?


Later on Gan-chan makes more mecha, including a giant bird mech called Yatter-Pelican. The birds are likely a reference to that.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Angel'sArcanum



Joined: 02 Sep 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Toronto, Ontario
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 9:09 pm Reply with quote
I was suspecting something like this seeing with how Casshern and Gatchaman went. Still need to check Yatterman out, but I'm stoked that it is taking that new revisionist Tatsunoko route, can't wait!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Redcrimson



Joined: 30 Mar 2013
Posts: 160
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:28 am Reply with quote
Quote:
This is hardly a "trend" yet


I dunno, if we count Casshern Sins, I think we have enough for a trend. One which actually seems to be churning out good stuff for once. Crossin' my fingers for a new Tekkaman reboot!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
SailorTralfamadore



Joined: 25 Feb 2014
Posts: 499
Location: Keep Austin Weeb
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:41 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I wasn't thinking of Casshern when I wrote the review -- only Gatchaman Crowds -- so perhaps you're right. I hope it is a trend, since it's one I like. I love shows that play around with genre conventions and take apart what we teach kids to value through the media aimed at them. I hope the trend sticks with that, and doesn't descend into "grimdark" nonsense like the magical girl genre is going through now, with its host of Madoka-ripoffs.

Yatterman Night is noticeably "darker" than its source material, but there's still a very strong ray of hope shining through it. And it clearly has interesting things to say about how we think of heroes and villains, and good and evil.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2530
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:29 am Reply with quote
SailorTralfamadore wrote:
Yeah, I wasn't thinking of Casshern when I wrote the review -- only Gatchaman Crowds -- so perhaps you're right. I hope it is a trend, since it's one I like. I love shows that play around with genre conventions and take apart what we teach kids to value through the media aimed at them. I hope the trend sticks with that, and doesn't descend into "grimdark" nonsense like the magical girl genre is going through now, with its host of Madoka-ripoffs.


Well, to be fair, this isn't the only time Tatsunoko has re-done their shows before. The 90s also had re-imaginings of Tekkaman (Blade), Casshern (the OVA), Gatchaman (the OVA), Hurricane Polymar ("Holy Blood"), & even Mach Go Go Go/Speed Racer (the '97 TV series). You could also include the Time Bokan: Royal Revival OVA as well, but that was more of a celebration of the franchise than any sort of re-imagining.

It's just time to do more re-imaginings for Tatsunoko, I guess.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:56 pm Reply with quote
SailorTralfamadore wrote:
... and good and evil.


I disagree in this last remark. After many years of watching anime I have come to the realization that unlike the west, in Japan it is not about being the good guys, it is about being an ally of justice! Most people will think it is the same thing. Not really.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18135
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:38 pm Reply with quote
This one is a very close second to Maria the Virgin Witch as both my favorite of the season and the best of the season so far. (And it's not often for me that those two dovetail.) I absolutely adore the balance it's finding between paying homage to the silliness of the original and playing out the sentimentality at the series' core; I'll freely admit that I got a bit emotional at the end of episode 2. Like Rose, I also very much like the way they aren't playing the "Doronbow was just misunderstood" card, and how Leopard's going to have to go through a journey of discovery to figure out that Yatterman seemingly being in the wrong now doesn't mean they always were.

I also still have to wonder if there isn't some social commentary intended here, perhaps not about Japanese society but about others.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 2658
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 3:09 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
I also still have to wonder if there isn't some social commentary intended here, perhaps not about Japanese society but about others.


Here! Here!

p.s. Did you notice the big eye in episode 2? big brother much?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
brankoburcksen



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 126
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:35 pm Reply with quote
Out of all the new shows, this is the one I feel most excited about and stuck with me after watching it. I never saw Yatterman, but I am familiar enough with that type children's cartoon villain to know what they are going for. In fact, even as a kid, I found myself sympathizing with those types of characters more because they always got the short end of the stick, but they never gave up and were always coming up with new ideas to achieve their goals. Their morals were wrong, but their spirits were always in the right.

I am most curious about the world and what characters the trio will meet along the way since very little of the overall cast the setting has been explained at all, which was a very smart move to keep story intriguing.

Also, I wonder to what extent Leopard's two adult companions sincerely admire and follow her or whether there is an element of them going along with this to help her and themselves work through their grief.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 10:39 pm Reply with quote
SailorTralfamadore wrote:
Yeah, I wasn't thinking of Casshern when I wrote the review -- only Gatchaman Crowds -- so perhaps you're right. I hope it is a trend, since it's one I like. I love shows that play around with genre conventions and take apart what we teach kids to value through the media aimed at them. I hope the trend sticks with that, and doesn't descend into "grimdark" nonsense like the magical girl genre is going through now, with its host of Madoka-ripoffs.


The Mine Fujiko series would surely also fall in this category, wouldn't it? Even if you ignore that, you're already talking about at least as many such shows as there are "grimdark Madoka-ripoffs". So it seems exceedingly silly to complain about a "host" of one while wondering if there's a trend of something with, at worst, a similar number.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SailorTralfamadore



Joined: 25 Feb 2014
Posts: 499
Location: Keep Austin Weeb
PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:16 am Reply with quote
Lupin III is more shounen and less of a "kids' show," so I don't think it's quite the same thing. Even the original "green jacket" series had a little too much sexuality and violence already to be in the same boat as Yatterman.

I'm not sure why people are taking that "it's not quite a trend yet" phrase as though I stated it with rock-solid certainty, though. I just admitted here that maybe it was more of a trend than I thought when I'd mentally skipped over one of the more notable examples.
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 -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group