Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: ONIHEI
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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First and foremost, Chugo was not a ronin (which were nothing but high class neets back in the day), he had a master to serve (Onihei). Second, thinking Chugo might become one of the truants Onihei will have to slash is a gross exaggeration of his "evil" (remember the ying-yang symbol, there is a little white in the black and a little bit of black in the white). At the end it is not clear if Omatsu went to work into another brothel (I mean, same day hiring?) but what is clear to me is that sooner or later Chugo will marry her, he needs her (and not just any other woman) and back then without the extensive makeup anyone can buy at a store, becoming old must have been on the mind of any woman forced into prostitution (sometimes taken at kid age as payment for unpaid debts) so she would not be against the idea and Chugo has little prestige to lose, if he can keep his employment (and he seems to be an effective bureaucrat) then everything would work out.
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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I, for one, hope those two crazy kids make a go of it.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2606 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Chugo referred to himself as a ronin during the episode; maybe it was a cover for the brothel. Likewise it was the madam of the brothel who told him that his favorite had moved to the Yoshiwara to another house and that he could visit her there.
I'm not usually someone who mulls over comments a lot, but Blood-, I have been thinking about your statement that I'm not connecting with the show. (Thinking in a good way!) I'm definitely not seeing it the way some of the rest of you are, and I'm not sure why that is - I'm enjoying it and I like what I've read of the author's other work. For this episode, I'm going to have to say that humor is subjective and that I just didn't find it funny, but I'll bear it in mind going forward and see what I can come up with. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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Well, you have my sympathy, because as a reviewer it has to be tough separating the subjective (your personal feeling about a show) with the so-called "objective" (the artistic merits of a show). The example I use for myself all the time is Cowboy Bebop which is justly hailed as a classic, but as a viewing experience kind of left me "meh."
In the case of your last review, the text itself was not particularly negative. About the only negative was that the humour didn't land for you and left you wondering what message was being conveyed. So in the absence of any other stated demerits, (i.e. indifferent animation, poor use of music, mediocre seiyuu performance, etc) I was left to conclude the B- grade was really a reflection of your lack of engagement. |
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donhumberto
Posts: 807 |
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Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a more light-hearted episode but it totally worked for me. For some reason it kept reminding me of Hyouge Mono (another impossibly underrated/underwatched series about mature/adult samurai). Somehow the character of Chuugo reminded me of the great Furuta from HM (which can only be a good thing, of course).
It's such a damn shame that such a great series is flying under most people's radar though 
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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Yeah, I think it would be getting more notice if it was streaming on CR.
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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That is unlikely IMO since this is an adult drama. I do not mean "adult" as in "look, sex" since that is one of the things that I most look forward in an anime as a teenager; what I mean is that this a story about adults in an adult setting that I would call "Hill Street Blues: Japan18xx". The action scenes are quick and non-glamorous, you are slashed you die, no secret techniques, no gravity defying antics, no special weapons. The color palette is dull (except in flashbacks) which reflects the end of an stagnant era (japan had isolated from the world for centuries). Characters do not have complicated backstories that need full arcs to be explored. This is the kind of anime you can show to those that are not keen into watching one. Somewhere I read that the intended demographic of a series can be determined by the age of the protagonist, so I think there are few millennials out there watching this series. So far there has been no episode I have not enjoyed. Also, I remember in a Honey and Clover episode how there was a scene where a male understood for an instant the heart of women and shook in fear, I feel Onihei was written for a male audience and most females will see a very different story while watching (i.e. Males laugh while females want Chugo tied to a rope and hang by his feet). |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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What I meant is that IF it was streaming on CR, there is a higher likelihood it would be attracting more notice than it is on Amazon Prime. Whether it would actually be popular is another matter.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2606 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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You're absolutely right - the novels I've read by the author are among the most masculine I've read. They very strongly remind me of mid-twentieth century (English-language) pulps like "Men's Daring Action" or "Rugged Men." This is not something I was aware of when I put in to cover this series (I read the books as research once I was assigned it), but I'll do my best regardless. As I said earlier, I do enjoy it; it was actually my top choice based on episode 1! EDIT: I agree, Blood-, if this were on CR, it'd likely have more viewers. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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I don't get that. Maybe I've already forgotten some details, but what did Chugo do that was so terrible that women would want him hung by his feet? oO He didn't abuse his consort or shrug and find another one more local when she left town. He struck me as sort of a lovable loser type. I wouldn't hook up with him, but it's nice someone wanted to. I thought the episode was amusing, but not lol funny, mostly because even the ending wasn't a surprise to me. Ok, I did kinda chuckle audibly when he was scuttling away to save the family jewels from the repeated knife attacks. ㅋㅋ At any rate, I didn't see anything to get up in arms about. I pretty much shared Blood-'s view of the story, except for the no lesson to be learned part. He actually did take his father's words to heart when it counted. He wanted to look the other way and just go see his lady, but even though he knew it would out his activities, he chose to behave honestly and do his job. Even when he could've gotten off with no consequences and been hailed as a dutiful hero to boot, he again chose to be an honest man and come clean. It was only in the end, when he realized what a hypocrite his father had been, that he said "screw that noise, I'm following my heart." So I'm not sure what lesson he failed to learn. Following his heart =/= being dishonest. It's the opposite, actually. You need to live honestly to yourself as well as others. Without knowing how far away this other town is, I'm not even sure he abandoned his job to go to her. He probably did, but if it was close enough, he could still keep his job and go see her on weekends. 
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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[quote="Gina Szanboti"]
Just to be clear, I didn't say there was no lesson to be learned. I said there was no refusal to learn a lesson. I was rebutting Rebecca's contention that Chugo's going after his honey-for-money dramatized that he was ignoring his father's edict to live honestly. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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But it is not in Prime, it is on Strike (along with Scum's Wish and Urara MeiroChou). which makes it even less likely that people will watch (the difference between "I already I am paying for Prime so it is basically free" to "I have to pay for Prime to have the *privilege* of paying for Strike!?*).
The knee jerk reaction IRL when a female hears a male has gone to a brothel is to avert their gaze and say in a low voice "disgusting" (if he is good looking it is disgusting that he would pay for what many girls would give for free, it not he is disgusting for forcing a woman to do something unpleasant). Whether he is single (like Chugo) or went only to have a sympathetic ear (like our villain of the week) is irrelevant, right there he gains the "loser" and "enemy of women" labels, albeit it seems nowadays those are (in anime fandom) reserved for harem leads (heck, some *men* label Kirito as such). |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11339 |
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I see. Thanks for explaining how I feel to me. I had no idea.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23752 |
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Okay, so my point is even more valid. We seem to be in this weird place where I get the impression you are arguing with me, yet you are saying things that strengthen my opinion. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2606 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Same. And here I thought I just didn't like him shirking work and being fiscally irresponsible! |
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