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EP. REVIEW: Just Because!


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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 11:39 am Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
I disagree. While this sentiment shows up occasionally in anime, in real life I've never heard it expressed by anyone who was not well beyond high school and looking back through a lens of nostalgia. Very few high school students (or anyone for that matter) engage in activities with the intent of making memories. They do things because they have to or because they are enjoyable and they want to have fun. The memories are a side effect they don't recognize until years later. In my experience the things you remember about high school most vividly are those involving strong (mostly negative) emotions.

I have no reason to disagree here, though while it may be the case that someone's school memories vary between the unpleasant and the mundane—to the extent that they are glad for such a time to be over—this needn't impede the enjoyment of anime that practically consecrate the same period.
Such an enjoyment might be vicarious to the extent that it embraces a possible school life that isn't tainted by exams, bullies, cliques and an overarching sense of alienation, yet at the same time this enjoyment might entwine with an appreciation of spending time edifyingly and forging intrinsically worthwhile relationships; things we often gain only once our school years are past us. A case of relating to an adolescent through that which one learns after adolescence ends, if you will. So while I admit that this sort of enjoyment is a pseudo-fantastical, escapist pleasure, it can nonetheless accord with the sentiments we eventually gain in our own lives despite the inaccuracies of its source

In other words, people like me who were emotionally stunted due to the requirements of school curricula can use these shows to revisit our own youths, albeit once we've had enough time to catch up.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9812
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 21, 2017 12:30 pm Reply with quote
@Zin5ki

Agreed, I actually enjoyed a number of anime and manga stories set in high school. However it was not because it invoked any aspect of my own past. It was the same kind of enjoyment I got out of Konosuba or Black Lagoon. I wouldn't want to be there except in imagination. I really doubt I would do any better socially if I found myself re-experiencing high school. The main difference is that I would understand what my mother meant when she said "this too shall pass". High school doesn't last long enough to sweat the details, but you can't convince kids of that.
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Galap
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Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 4:48 am Reply with quote
Zhou-BR wrote:
After the visual mess that was the second episode (5 storyboard artists, 3 unit directors and 7 animation directors), I really appreciated the third episode's consistent tone and animation quality. I hope the rest of the show is more like this, but after director Atsushi Kobayashi's recent Twitter tantrum, I'm not sure what to expect.


Can you explain the twitter tantrum? I don't know aobut this.

Also, I liked the multiple animation directors. I like when there are multiple artists' takes on the same thing at once; consistency never really interests me and is frankly a bit boring IMO.

As for ruminations on high school, I don't really see why people think the characters' high school experience is particularly idealized; It all seems pretty mundane to me (which is something that I really like). My own experience was a mixture of positives and negatives (like so many things), and it seems like for the most part theirs is too.

I distinctly remember being really aware that everything was going to change after I graduated and that there's no way to predict what you'll be doing in the future. I know this because I remember writing a story at around the time I graduated with this as the main theme. It was kind of interesting that I felt compelled to write that kind of 'coming of age' (in a sense) story right after my own 'coming of age.
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:56 am Reply with quote
Galap wrote:
Zhou-BR wrote:
After the visual mess that was the second episode (5 storyboard artists, 3 unit directors and 7 animation directors), I really appreciated the third episode's consistent tone and animation quality. I hope the rest of the show is more like this, but after director Atsushi Kobayashi's recent Twitter tantrum, I'm not sure what to expect.


Can you explain the twitter tantrum? I don't know aobut this.
This article goes into detail about that. Basically he revealed that he was still correcting the storyboards for episode 8 (scheduled to air in slighlty more than a month), said that "the misfortune of the project started the moment this studio (Pine Jam) was chosen for the production" and that "this week was the first time in 20 years where I've cried outside of watching movies and anime; three times even". Apparently some anonymous industry members are alleging that he isn't blameless either, but these are still clear signs of a troubled production that may have been too ambitious with its character animation for its own good.

Galap wrote:
Also, I liked the multiple animation directors. I like when there are multiple artists' takes on the same thing at once; consistency never really interests me and is frankly a bit boring IMO.
That's what the key animators are there for though; an animation director's job is specifically to ensure a degree of consistency. While there are cases where the character designer (aka the chief animation director) deliberately makes the instructions loose in order to bring out a variety of styles (for example, what Kōichi Kikuta did in Konosuba), and while there may be cases where ADs are responsible for different parts of the episode depending on their strengths (for example, one AD for action scenes, another for everyday scenes, yet another for character acting-heavy scenes, etc.), when the number is as high as seven it's usually born out of necessity rather than a deliberate artistic choice. When the schedule becomes tight it becomes impossible for a single AD to finish checking everything on time, so more ADs are brought in to split the workload. This is why the number of ADs per episode tends to increase closer to the end of the season, and why some notoriously messy episodes, like the finale of Grimgar, have more than 10 ADs.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:04 am Reply with quote
I didn't think the second episode was a visual mess at all.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:05 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
I didn't think the second episode was a visual mess at all.


Neither did I, this definitely isn't a gurren lagann episode 5.
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GoldCrusader



Joined: 25 Apr 2017
Posts: 1021
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:37 am Reply with quote
I also disagree that episide 2 eas a visual mess. I like the many details the characters' movements have. The show is looking really great so far. Episode 3 was fantastic. The comedic moments were on points, every character interaction were full of meaning on how they felt. That's the type of show that speaks through visuals. It's great. We need more ambitious project like this.
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Galap
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Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 3:44 pm Reply with quote
vonPeterhof wrote:
Galap wrote:
Zhou-BR wrote:
After the visual mess that was the second episode (5 storyboard artists, 3 unit directors and 7 animation directors), I really appreciated the third episode's consistent tone and animation quality. I hope the rest of the show is more like this, but after director Atsushi Kobayashi's recent Twitter tantrum, I'm not sure what to expect.


Can you explain the twitter tantrum? I don't know aobut this.
This article goes into detail about that. Basically he revealed that he was still correcting the storyboards for episode 8 (scheduled to air in slighlty more than a month), said that "the misfortune of the project started the moment this studio (Pine Jam) was chosen for the production" and that "this week was the first time in 20 years where I've cried outside of watching movies and anime; three times even". Apparently some anonymous industry members are alleging that he isn't blameless either, but these are still clear signs of a troubled production that may have been too ambitious with its character animation for its own good.

Galap wrote:
Also, I liked the multiple animation directors. I like when there are multiple artists' takes on the same thing at once; consistency never really interests me and is frankly a bit boring IMO.
That's what the key animators are there for though; an animation director's job is specifically to ensure a degree of consistency. While there are cases where the character designer (aka the chief animation director) deliberately makes the instructions loose in order to bring out a variety of styles (for example, what Kōichi Kikuta did in Konosuba), and while there may be cases where ADs are responsible for different parts of the episode depending on their strengths (for example, one AD for action scenes, another for everyday scenes, yet another for character acting-heavy scenes, etc.), when the number is as high as seven it's usually born out of necessity rather than a deliberate artistic choice. When the schedule becomes tight it becomes impossible for a single AD to finish checking everything on time, so more ADs are brought in to split the workload. This is why the number of ADs per episode tends to increase closer to the end of the season, and why some notoriously messy episodes, like the finale of Grimgar, have more than 10 ADs.


Thanks for the link.

Regardless of whether it's intentional or not, I like the results; it's really interesting to see somehting that's simultaneously low-key and nuanced and rough.

One of my favorite series, Noein had no series AD, so the episodes varied significantly, and that was part of the appeal to me.

I recognize that ADs in certain productions do more serious correction and enforce consistency more than others, and I tend to like the results of the looser ones. And I am always interested in the uniqueness of different key animators.
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myskaros



Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 598
Location: J-Novel Club
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:00 pm Reply with quote
I think you're looking for the name "Hazuki," not "Hatsuki," which seems like a confused mix between "Hazuki" and "Natsumi" >_>

I also have a personal problem with the prodigious use of first names in reviews of very Japanese shows since we only tend to hear last names in the actual show, so I always have to spend a minute reaffirming who's being talked about. I don't know a good solution to this, though Anime hyper
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:41 pm Reply with quote
Ah, young, tender hearts... I was glad that Haruto's confession wasn't dragged out any longer than it was. Actually, by usual anime romance standards, a confession from a main cast member at episode 4 would qualify as "break neck speed." Haruto, understandably, didn't want to hang around for an explanation, thus blowing his chance to say something clever, like, "Why??? Are you, like, a LESBO or something???" Anyway, not a good start to the New Year for Baseball Boy.

I groaned inwardly when we saw the birth of Mio's crush on Haruto: the tried and true "dude loaned chick his eraser, thus creating a love slave for all eternity." Gotta say that anime girls are pretty uncomplicated. Save them from a barking dog or loan them an eraser (which was the inciting incident for a crush in last season's Love and Lies) and you're gold.

I have to correct a few points in Nick's review:

Quote:
On the Haruto/Mio side, the big revelation of this sequence was learning that Mio used to have a crush on Haruto, and apparently she's still harboring feelings for him.


Mio's feelings for Haruto were hinted at long before this scene. I'd have to go back and check, but I think this was telegraphed as early as episode 2. Nor was she "putting out emotional feelers to see if she's still interested" - my interpretation is her feelings for him have never wavered.

I also question Nick's assertion that Eita was in a sense "rejected" by Mio. Rather, my interpretation is that the upshot of their exchange is that Mio may, for the first time, be clueing into the fact that Eita might have feelings for her.
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myskaros



Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 598
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:56 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
I also question Nick's assertion that Eita was in a sense "rejected" by Mio.

Eita learning that Mio won't confess in order to hold on to her feelings of love could be construed as a sort of an indirect rejection, or like a realization that he won't have a chance so long as she believes she has a chance.

I also want to correct the idea that "she fell in love because he gave her an eraser." In my eyes, it's not that "that's the moment she fell in love with him," it's just "that was the trigger to make her interested in him." As is commonly described in fiction, love usually doesn't just spontaneously occur, it's an afterthought that describes the feelings you've accumulated over time. It would be hard to answer "when did you fall in love?", but it's much easier to answer "when did you first become interested?" as well as "when did you realize you were in love?" Since the latter is usually a personal realization that may or may not be tied to a specific event, it's just easier to show the former since, again, there's usually a specific trigger.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:02 pm Reply with quote
@ myskaros - re:eraser - I don't disagree with your point, but the fact is that that is the scene we were shown to illustrate how the ball got rolling and it's a pretty hackneyed one. This is a pretty good show and I was surprised to see them fall back on a pretty stale and uninteresting device.
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myskaros



Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 598
Location: J-Novel Club
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 7:41 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ myskaros - re:eraser - I don't disagree with your point, but the fact is that that is the scene we were shown to illustrate how the ball got rolling and it's a pretty hackneyed one. This is a pretty good show and I was surprised to see them fall back on a pretty stale and uninteresting device.

I dunno, I can't really think of anything else that wouldn't be equally as overused.
  • Does something cool/motivational/desperate in sports
  • Does something smart/helpful/funny in the classroom
  • Talks back to the teacher/bullies/drunk accoster
  • Defends her/another person/animal from bullies/inclement weather/other hazard
  • Talks to her at school/outside of school/at all
  • Hears about him from other characters
  • Shares some kind of interest
  • Is visually unique in some manner

Like, I understand your point, but these are normal high school kids going to a normal high school. High school dramas are incredibly overdone, so pretty much every possible, plausible trigger is going to have been done. I think the show is well executed too, but I also freely admit that nothing about any of the characters or settings or events is particularly unique; it seems weird that you would complain about the eraser and not about any of the other countless tropes.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 8:16 pm Reply with quote
Actually, I don't think this show relies as much on tropes as other romance shows, so I actually don't have much to complain about in that respect. And even when they do tread on the familiar - i.e. an outing to an aquarium - they generally put their own spin on it (in this case Haruto interacting with Hazuki's younger brothers). Probably the eraser thing stuck out for me because I had just seen it last season on the first eppie of Love and Lies (which I dropped shortly after ... nothing to do with the eraser, though).
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AholePony



Joined: 04 Jun 2015
Posts: 330
Location: Arizona
PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 12:04 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:

I have to correct a few points in Nick's review:

Quote:
On the Haruto/Mio side, the big revelation of this sequence was learning that Mio used to have a crush on Haruto, and apparently she's still harboring feelings for him.


Mio's feelings for Haruto were hinted at long before this scene. I'd have to go back and check, but I think this was telegraphed as early as episode 2. Nor was she "putting out emotional feelers to see if she's still interested" - my interpretation is her feelings for him have never wavered.


Yeah I had to reread that a few times because I figured I had the character names mixed up. Wasn't her crush the entire point of the "I'll kill you" thing from episode 1? Eita saw her mooning over Haruto in middle school and put 2 and 2 together and when he cornered her on it she said she'd kill him if he told anyone. Or did my brain make all that up?
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