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EP. REVIEW: All Out!!


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Valhern



Joined: 19 Jan 2015
Posts: 916
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 11:42 am Reply with quote
This was actually my favorite episode so far. The whole intro of this episode was great. In the train, they made the best height joke, because it's implied in how Gion is on his toes to reach the handles. But they also show quite a bit of character, since Gion is looking upfront to the platform, ready to get out, Iwashimizu is looking at it but over his shoulder, because he is worried (more on that later); Sekizan is just chilling, not even grabbing a handle, just laying back on the train's wall, and the other guy whose name I forget was reading, probably thinking about something.

And when the train opens, Iwashimizu doubts about crossing the line, showing his hesitation. A similar "line" is shown when Sekizan and the other guy with Takamura's voice (I think? it sounds a bit like Koyama) met, there is a moment in which they are separated by a line made by the roof, Sekizan was in the rain, fully engrossed in his game, and the other guy was clean and safe.

I don't have any problems with Iwashimizu "suddenly" changing, he's been changing the past two episodes, from refraining to ever enter the rugby team, to actively helping Gion in his tackles, and he clearly always had an inner spirit of fight when he's pushed, so Gion's wake-up calls doesn't feel like he suddenly cured his problem or anything, he just reminded him to focus back on the game, just like he pushed him to action in the other two episodes.

Maybe nobody else was, but I actually felt thrilling emotion in this one, I didn't expect the scrawn to have particularly strong animation, since that play was not the focus of this game, but Iwashimizu and Sekizan's tackles, as well as Miyuki's running power, which I liked far more for its presentation. The music in Iwashimizu's waking up, in the presentation of all the players and when Sekizan gives the murder look, all awesome soundtracks, I loved all of it.

If this episode had any flaws, it was that the part A was very tight, and the part B felt a little disjointed in terms of focus.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 5:44 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
It sure would be nice if there was much animation beyond stills and speedlines during the first scrum.

After watching DAYS it seemed like there was animation!

Quote:
But where there could have been dynamic camera angles trying to follow the ball, close-up shots of feet losing their ground, or hands clinging on to their fellow team members, there was nothing.

I think I saw all of that, except maybe following the ball. Did you miss this startling (to someone who knows nothing about rugby) shot?



Probably also the only sport where a man proudly proclaims himself best hooker. Very Happy No, you're right that the animation is lacking, but at least I'm able to follow what's going on.

Quote:
All it takes is being cheered on (or screamed at) by Gion. Sure, Gion is his teammate now, but given their very limited time to bond and Gion's consistent rudeness, it doesn't feel like their blossoming friendship would've had the time to emotionally surpass Iwashimizu's childhood bonds with Miyuki.

Nah, that wasn't a Power of Friendship™ moment. I took it to be more a matter of what he said, rather than who said it. By reminding him that "that's our ball!" he rekindled his competitive spirit (cue dramatic music). I've seen enough of these to know which cliche I'm being fed. Wink

I was also delighted that we got at least a (very) brief illustration of what Iwashimizu's leg bands are for in the line-out, but a little commentary from the sidelines on that wouldn't have hurt.

I had assumed Sekizan's hair was an unfortunate birth anomaly, but now that we know it always wasn't like that, its backstory begs to be told!
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 6:11 pm Reply with quote
^
Since I only know a little bit about rugby, I remember stopping at that scene and googling "rugby scrum" to see if it looked like that in real life, haha.

Another layer added to the Sekizan hair mystery. So somewhere between his first year and the start of his third he got them. Maybe his hair is prematurely going white because of all the dumbass underclassmen he has to keep in check. And the locks curl... for some reason idk.

So it's an average episode overall. I can't keep most of the players straight yet, but hopefully that will change after this first match when they (probably) begin training again. I like that their manager is given a bit of a different personality than what we usually see. A little more snarky. I like it.
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chaccide



Joined: 16 Aug 2016
Posts: 295
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I don't understand this game! I could have done with more info dumps lol. This looks exactly the same to me as American football except the men line up in a more soccer-like formation, passes can only be lateral and backwards with no receiver that could catch a forward pass, and god only knows what a scrum is. I was reminded of a giant Horta from Star Trek. Is the ball in there somewhere with them kicking at it? Their hands all seemed... occupied. ;D

Other than that I thought it was a bit exciting, but they could have done more with the animation to improve that.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 10:40 pm Reply with quote
chaccide wrote:
I was reminded of a giant Horta from Star Trek. Is the ball in there somewhere with them kicking at it? Their hands all seemed... occupied. ;D

Lol, it did!



I thought this shot was hilarious because of the woebegon expression on Iwashimizu's face peeking out. Kinda makes me wish I coulda sat in on the discussions when they were making up the rules to this game... Yes, yes, I know, I'm ruining the sport with my juvenile jokes. I wonder if this will get as bloody and horrific as the real life game often does? A dislocated shoulder seems like a jammed knuckle to rugby players.
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Valhern



Joined: 19 Jan 2015
Posts: 916
PostPosted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 11:36 pm Reply with quote


I forgot to mention this but Miyuki and Gion are almost the same height, and it's cool that the height jokes become a point of discussion here, Miyuki literally calls out on Gion for being so immature that he calls Iwashimizu a tree trunk, because Gion is literally thinking he's got the right to insult back on tall people because tall people call him midget. Except, Iwashimizu never called him that and never deserved that insult, but of course Iwashimizu would never respond to that except with passivity. On the other hand, Miyuki doesn't take it out on anyone, he's above that sort of pettiness of getting mad over such stupid insults.

I do hope that at some point Gion reflects on this, in 24 episodes we'll have time for that.
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Zhou-BR



Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Posts: 1419
PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 6:15 pm Reply with quote
I really liked episode 3. Iwashimizu got over his complex much sooner than I expected, and it's always nice to learn the rules of a sport through a match instead of an infodump. Also, the animation quality is fine to me.

Gina Szanboti wrote:
I had assumed Sekizan's hair was an unfortunate birth anomaly, but now that we know it always wasn't like that, its backstory begs to be told!


Yeah, I can't believe he does that to his hair on purpose.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 8:05 pm Reply with quote
He probably got zapped by lightning while practicing in the rain, and it curled and bleached the wisps of hair that were sticking out of his helmet at the time. And since that tragic day, he has embraced his fashion disability as a badge of courage. Wink
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chaccide



Joined: 16 Aug 2016
Posts: 295
PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 9:17 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
He probably got zapped by lightning while practicing in the rain, and it curled and bleached the wisps of hair that were sticking out of his helmet at the time. And since that tragic day, he has embraced his fashion disability as a badge of courage. Wink


Either that or he met my mom and her home perm kits. *hides pics of my sister's wedding Anime cry *
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 10:14 am Reply with quote
Episode 4

Well, if Ōharano doesn't make it in rugby, there's always a career waiting for him on the runway with that strut.

And forget Sekizan, now I want to know the tragic story behind this guy!



He kinda makes me want to see an x-ray of his skull...
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 11:02 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:

He kinda makes me want to see an x-ray of his skull...


There are a couple of guys with really...odd features (jaws, eyes...hair) in this show, but that poor fellow sure got the short end of the stick...but hey, i'm sure, he's still got a nice ass. Wink

I enjoyed this ep. more than the previous ones, even if nothing surprising really happened. The underdog team losing badly in a practice match (just to get revenge later in a regular one) is pretty by the book sports anime stuff. But Gion was a lot less annoying and his getting subbed in made some sense at least since most of the other guys seemed to be really intimidated by Keijo(!!!!!!!!)'s players and if he's got one thing going for him it's that he's not afraid of bigger guys.

And that ending card was pretty adorable.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 10:36 am Reply with quote
Episode 5

OMG!! Shocked Actual coaching happening! It's a miracle! I gave it an extra star just for that alone.

Seriously, that was a pretty good episode. Made me feel bad for them not getting any help from the adults who are supposed to be helping them all this time. Their "advisor" doesn't even show up for their scrimmage games.

Sekizan sounds like the name of a school. Smile (like Seiseki, Seirin, Rakuzan, Seidou, Seibu, etc.)
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+ 光



Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 226
PostPosted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 11:44 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, if there's one thing about this show it's how the music is able to really set the atmosphere. As expected of Yasuharu Takanashi!

It was a really enjoyable episode, I laughed so many times:

- Gion catches the ball with his face
- The boys having to run underneath those ropes, and it's easy for Gion since he's so short, but he winds up running into a pole
- Komori sitting on the very big guys back while he's doing the turtle.
- And later when three of the forwards do the turtle while the small senpai, along with Komori, sits on their backs.
- Oharano's 'atsui yo, chikai yo, KUSAI YO' screech Laughing

Also it is really sweet how dedicated Sekizan is to rugby, and how happy he is that he finally has an opportunity to learn from a pro.

This episode focused on the forwards, so I'm looking forward to seeing some backs action next week!
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:25 pm Reply with quote
Episode 6

I think this is the best episode they've done so far. They may have been doing so all along, but I noticed this episode they've adopted the technique of the illusion of motion by only have the hair wafting in the breeze of their otherwise still-framed bodies caught mid-motion. Ace of Diamond had that down pat. Speaking of that, I think rugby wishes it could even see third place from where it sits on the popularity pole. Basketball, volleyball and tennis are all blocking the view, at least in anime.

It was also funny when people noticed Ebumi sneaking out, but somehow failed to notice (or care) that Gion was on top of Iwashimizu.

I really thought I'd end up not liking Gion much, but since they've taken him out of the spotlight, he's much easier to warm up to. "I wanna go to Koshien!" Very Happy

Strange that no matter how filthy the boys get, the ball remains pristine.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 3:38 pm Reply with quote
That was a lot of heavy panting...i bet the seiyuu were having fun with this ep. Laughing

Gina Szanboti wrote:
Episode 6

I really thought I'd end up not liking Gion much, but since they've taken him out of the spotlight, he's much easier to warm up to. "I wanna go to Koshien!" Very Happy


Agreed. I still don't like him particularly well, but he's become a lot more tolerable.

Even though there hasn't been anything even remotely original about this show so far (well, aside from featuring a less popular sport for once), i'm enjoying this quite a bit. Part of it is probably that it hasn't been in tournament mode, yet which is easily my least favorite part about sports anime. I very much prefer training arcs, watching the team come together and finding out more about the various members.
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