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EP. REVIEW: Thunderbolt Fantasy


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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:15 pm Reply with quote
Urobutcher is involved? Can't wait for the gory puppet deaths.

Does the puppetry use supermarionation or a different technique?
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FloozyGod





PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:15 pm Reply with quote
This is one of the best things I've ever watched
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Kikaioh



Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 1205
Location: Antarctica
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:21 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The best way I can describe them is “real life Yoshitaka Amano illustrations.”


This is also what I was reminded of watching through the episodes.

Overall it's a fascinating show, that's surprising in how it demonstrates that puppetry can be a compelling entertainment format even for a visually demanding genre like fantasy adventure. Although the story hits a lot of familiar beats, it does carry an endearingly cool sensibility to it that I can get behind. Leave it to a puppet show to be the most interesting "anime" of the season!
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Caramichael



Joined: 07 Mar 2015
Posts: 114
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 8:38 pm Reply with quote
Lemonchest wrote:
Does the puppetry use supermarionation or a different technique?


There is an episode 0 where all the details of the production are presented. Basically, it's traditional puppetry topped with CGI special effects in some cases.

Personally, I loved these first two episode. It's Wu Xia crossed with Jojo with Attack on Titan (among others) composer Hiroyuki Sawano. To me that last part plays a gret deal on the impact of the action. Don't get me wrong, I know it's also a matter of composition but with another composer I doubt the finishing moves would have had as much impact as they did here.
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CaRoss



Joined: 11 Nov 2014
Posts: 457
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 9:44 pm Reply with quote
I've always thought puppets and puppeteering are cool, but I didn't know what to expect out of this one when I watched the first episode (haven't seen the second yet), but I got an enjoyable introduction to a delightfully vicious action series that has no qualms about what it is.

The backstory on how this came to exist is also awesome. Despite not feeling every work that Urobuchi has done over the past few years (in a post Psycho-Pass world), I'm definitely glad that he's out there experimenting. It really does lead to some cool directions.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:27 pm Reply with quote
It's kind of odd that the names are spoken according to Japanese pronunciation, but subtitled according to the Chinese readings. I assume that the production company prefers it that way, but it still throws me when I hear something in Japanese and the subtitle is different. You do sometimes see that with more famous names, such as gods borrowed from China or from Buddhism (Yuu Yuu Hakusho subtitles would generally put Yama even as the Japanese said Enma, and I think that some fan translations did that with Noragami) but it's a bit different when it's not a well-known name already introduced to English through other sources. I guess it is supposed to give the effect of something originally in Chinese.

That's apart from the bits of Taiwanese that are still present, like some of the chanting when descending in the first episode.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:37 pm Reply with quote
I'm going to display my lack of culture and open-mindedness now I guess. I honestly just wish this was animated traditionally. I will continue watching because I'm a huge Urobuchi fan, as well as a Sawano fan, but I'm also primarily a fan of 2D animation techniques, so this is just a little out of my normal field of interest.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 1:33 am Reply with quote
This show is so awesome! It looks absolutely stunning. And how can those pretty puppets be so badass?! I think i'm in love with "Archer".Laughing

So thanks to ANN for writing about it, even though it isn't technically anime because otherwise i'd probably overlooked it. Smile
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6199
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 2:40 am Reply with quote
I think it's really shallow to call this "Camp". This is a legitimate production that people are actually putting their heart and soul into. It's kind of lame to look down on it just because of "lol puppets".
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JacobC
ANN Contributor


Joined: 15 Jan 2008
Posts: 3728
Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 2:49 am Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:
I think it's really shallow to call this "Camp". This is a legitimate production that people are actually putting their heart and soul into. It's kind of lame to look down on it just because of "lol puppets".


Camp can be (and most often is) intentional. It just means you're being silly and theatrical and impossible and impractical on purpose, with a wink and a smile. It can be a positive adjective for people who love camp. If something is "campy" because it's so-bad-it's-good, that's completely different, but Thunderbolt Fantasy, like a lot of super sentai type stuff and all number of anime, is campy on purpose.
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Pipoko



Joined: 13 Jun 2014
Posts: 165
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 5:54 am Reply with quote
This was something I quite haven't seen anything like before.

The sets and puppets look beautiful in their own, but the action scenes combining CG and great cinematography are pretty incredible. The story is simple, but still compelling and Hiroyuki Sawano's music compliments it all perfectly.

The second episode was a little slower, but it's just a really unique thing to look at.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 9:37 am Reply with quote
The puppet are interesting, but to me it's just a gimmick, it work here because it's novel but if there's another one next season/year I'm not watching it. I think Urobochi dream of making puppet action into a popular genre is doom from the start.
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Sahmbahdeh



Joined: 05 May 2015
Posts: 712
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 10:10 am Reply with quote
Episode 2 was definitely slower, but I'm still enjoying this quite a lot. This is one of the most interesting "anime" I've ever seen, purely from a production standpoint.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:26 am Reply with quote
Is it just me, or is Bù's upper arm waaaay too long? Very Happy



So they split the sword into 3 pieces to keep anyone from using it, then a brother and sister have 2 of the 3 pieces, while the 3rd is in their temple? Why bother to separate it?

Dān Fěi: I will protect this with my life!
Lǐn Xuě Yā: Good for you. Can I see it?
Dān Fěi: Sure, here. ::hands it over::

Good thing I'm not supposed to take this too seriously. Smile
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egodfrey72



Joined: 17 Jul 2016
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Anyone else getting a Thunderbirds vibe off this show? That's not a bad thing though?
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