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EP. REVIEW: Blade of the Immortal


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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 9:57 pm Reply with quote
RedSwirl wrote:

The main issue I see here the anime didn't really talk about how all the Mugai-ryu members are death row prisoners. That bit of detail lends more context to Hyakurin being saved from death in her flashback.

The anime may want to use the excuse that the episode implied this information.
Like with everything else the episodes are explaining nothing. You are required to scrap for every bit of information and assemble the puzzle for yourself. In this episode was the scene where Shinjiri says that "I doubt you forgotten" to Hyakurin. The information is there, the issue is that only a few will stop to think and solve this charade.

I can't judge if I'd be able to notice all this if I hadn't read the manga, but for what I'm seeing there's a good reason why anime uses so much exposition. Anime that "trust" the viewer end not being popular (like Kemurikusa).
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:13 pm Reply with quote
Posts removed. Misogyny isn't welcome at ANN. Please report, rather than respond to such posts.

It is entirely appropriate that reviewers discuss the content of the anime they review, without limiting themselves to its production merits. Such a limitation would make for anodyne and uninformative reading. I, for one, want to know if the show is going to present its content and / or express a social attitude that I might find odious. I rely on reviewers and fans in threads like this to draw my attention to such things.

All of us have views on social issues and I expect the reviewer to be open about their attitudes. If I don't like the political stance of the reviewer I will factor that into my assessment or simply ignore them. Please do likewise.
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Apocalypse_EX





PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:20 pm Reply with quote
Panino Manino wrote:
@#902839
Did you read what I wrote about the review?
I agree with him, except for that phrase that no one should ever agree and allow.


@Panino Manino
Just chiming in with my thoughts as well, sorry about that.
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Apocalypse_EX





PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:21 pm Reply with quote
Tbh I think I'll refrain from reading any further episode reviews for Blade of the Immortal. It's not that I find James a bad reviewer, I really like what he writes and agree with most of it but the constant focus and his annoyance on and about the fan service and sexual content in his reviews for Fire Firce, Blade of the Immortal and Babylon are tiring, especially for Babylon (which has so far atleast, not deserved it).

The reason I decided to regularly read ANN's episode reviews for the shows I watch (especially after the mess of a review that was Unlimited Bladeworks Episode 20) was because I was particularly impressed with the ones Christopher Farris wrote for SSSSS. Gridman ( where he used his knowledge and familiarity with the original show) and it genuinely made me enjoy the show a lot more. His reviews of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These have been similarly good. Haven't been as satisfied with some of the other reviewers so I guess it's just better that I don't read every single one of them expecting the same quality.
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Errinundra
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Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 10:33 pm Reply with quote
Any views people may have about reviewers and moderators are more appropriate on the feedback board. This thread is about Blade of the Immortal.
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Apocalypse_EX





PostPosted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:42 pm Reply with quote
Errinundra wrote:
Any views people may have about reviewers and moderators are more appropriate on the feedback board. This thread is about Blade of the Immortal.


Sorry, new to ANN Forums. I'll make sure to do so in the future.
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Jinbei



Joined: 12 May 2014
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 3:45 am Reply with quote
Hooooooo boy... Been a while since my last comment, ay? This decision to basically cram 4 books of manga in to 2 episodes(??!!) has left me kind of wondering how the heck are they going to explain a mountain-load of things? First off... about the torture scene:

spoiler[ The result ended up being very cruel not that much for torture-fetishistic reasons, but because in the manga the guy whose eye was lost, went overboard and kept raping Hyakurin even when the others had lost taste/given up. They originally weren't going to let it all go to such lengths. There was also one of the guys, who bragged about having tortured/converted japanese christians in his past and "what we're doing here is just a wee bit playing compared to that shit".. flaying people, raping and cutting daughters in front of their parents, pouring molten sulfur down the throat... yikes....but I guess leaving all that out was for the best. No sense in rubbing it to our faces even more... I just wanted to point out that there was something like half of a reason why Hyakurin had it so bad. The guy that cut Shinriji wouldn't probably have gone that far.. ]

the whole construction of the past 2 epiodes smells funky. Manji and Magatsu meeting was originally preluded by a LOT of action, character development for Shin/Hyaku pair(an important flashback was torn off TT^TT) and the thread that ties Sori sensei back to this was quite a lot different..

But to put this very bluntly... the way this is going doesn't bode well. I'm not saying Mugen no Juunin; Immortal should be treated the same way as its predecessor anime version, as in denying its whole existence(I'm also looking at YOU, Shingetsutan Tsukihime!) but within 6 weeks from now, I might have to just tell the possible manga enthusiasts to stick to the original and save themselves the pain... i don't wish to do that, but the way this is treating my oldest favourite...dang....
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:03 pm Reply with quote
Interesting episode, I have been interested in seeing more of Hyakurin. She has a somewhat extensive backstory for a 29 year old, she must have had her children early on in life. I do have two question for anyone who knows the answer. Did Japanese women really dye their hair blond back than, and if yes why? And how heavy was that sword, I don't know Japanese weights.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 1:21 pm Reply with quote
#11
I already complained and gave more then enough examples, about how the framing in some scenes is too closed and we can see nothing, even during moments when we were supposed to have a better view of the place and the full bodies of the characters.
This is probably a "budget" constraint and will not change, so I'll try to not talk about this anymore.

I feel sorry for the ANN reviewer, he'll probably have a stroke watching this, but can't be helped. This adaptation really got the idea that "Shira is evil" and went all the way with it, not missing out and highlighting the image of him falling to the deeps while promising to craw all the way up like a true banished demon.
Shira is a "villain".
This is a well known "fact".
But I didn't remember him being "evil".
When I read this years ago in the manga I don't remember feeling the same. What a difference that a voice actor does! And the way that some scenes were directed sure helped, then for me this was a good episode.

This episode also gave a glimpse of the potential to humor that this have and it's not being explored because of the suppressed dialogues.
To contrast with Shira we could see that Manji is a chill empathetic dude (when he gave the money to Magatsu) and that Anotsu isn't a "bad" person per se, helping an unfortunate person by the roadside.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 2:56 pm Reply with quote
This adaptation REALLY wants to get to the finish line at all coasts.
Look the preview for the next episode.

I can't believe that the anime will cut the mini-arc about what Anotsu went to do in Kaga.
I imagine that what remains will be explained (badly) with a flashback?
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RedSwirl



Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 344
PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:59 pm Reply with quote
Panino Manino wrote:
This adaptation REALLY wants to get to the finish line at all coasts.
Look the preview for the next episode.

I can't believe that the anime will cut the mini-arc about what Anotsu went to do in Kaga.
I imagine that what remains will be explained (badly) with a flashback?


Yeah I don't know how the hell they're gonna explain the Shingyoto-Ryu being there next episode without that arc, which went deeper into why Anotsu is doing what he's doing.

I didn't expect the anime to get to this fight until episode 13 or 14 because it basically represents the manga's mid-point.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Thu Dec 12, 2019 9:13 pm Reply with quote
Still funny how the reviewer still loves violence when the subject is male.

RedSwirl wrote:

I didn't expect the anime to get to this fight until episode 13 or 14 because it basically represents the manga's mid-point.

That fight with Makie next episode makes sense if this was one of these cases where the anime stops for six month, the "end of the first season", but if they are doing 24 episodes straight why not treat it like a whole thing and not force climaxes on specific episodes?
Can't be that Anotsu will end underdeveloped...
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 482
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 5:12 pm Reply with quote
John Thacker wrote:
Quote:
I did like the gleefully-overwrought shot of Hyakurin creating a mythic looking arc of viscera out of that guy she kills. The show in no way earns the catharsis it's going for with that moment, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for a good blood-geyser.


Honestly, not really sure there's much difference is between being a sucker for gleefully-overwrought shots of murder and being a sucker for gleefully-overwrought shots of rape, both intended to either shock, titillate, or both. Certainly both are justified with the same sorts of arguments. Seems like in cases where you think that the justifications are flimsy or unearned, and an excuse to show the violence that people revel in, there's enough reason to morally condemn it either way?

It may be a little late for this post, but the one obvious difference is that rape is a form of torture, while violence can be justified if it's about killing people who deserve killin', even if in brutal way. I don't think many people who dislike rape scenes would like gleefully-overwrought shots of torture. Actually there's a name "rape-porn" some people have for the kind of shows like "Saw" franchise and it's not a positive name, so there's definitely a difference in attitude.
There's also the fact that rape is a torture depicted almost always against women (like in "Blade...") and combined with sexism of the perpetrators, while general violence is sexism-free usually. Even if there's "don't kill women" rule, it's more about women being non-combatant in many settings - children and elders are also spared often.
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Panino Manino



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 734
PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 2:35 pm Reply with quote
#12
This is one of those episode that will take a long time for me to make my mind.
Yes, this was a good episode. It's at the same overall level of the other episodes, surely not less. But this episode should had be more. Good was not enough. Anyone can understand how this episode can be considered a "climax", right? Rin reached Anotsu and made her mind about what to do about him, but there was so much more going on... When Manji, Magatsu and Makie all appear in the end in the span of one minute, "makes sense" for them to reaper there, but this was the culmination of a really big two-three volume set up. The anime only gives you the payoff, and the reason is very clear, this is Rin's story, just her story. But her story is also told with the help of the other characters story, and cutting all their stories hurts Rin's story and development.
I said before that this adaptation asks and trusts you to think but at this point is asking too much from you. It's still a good episode like I said, but without all the missing content you have to ask, "what's so good about this, what's so special?". It's really hard to see the really good parts just from this adaptation.

I had seen some people having difficulty catching some details in the episodes, so I expect that almost no one will understand why Makie was moaning so much in Anotsu arms.
In the case of this scene wasn't just the details that were compromised. Anotsu enters that house two times, his conversation with Makie is much longer and she is much more defiant, confident and not as pitiful. The anime only showed her weak side, unfortunately.

Argh, there's more to talk, more that it's actually in the episode, but thinking about everything that the anime only watchers are losing...
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 3:08 pm Reply with quote
I'll probably finish out this cour, but I think I'm out after that. I just can't relate to Rin at all and can barely muster any empathy for her situation or feel moved to root for her. Since this now does seem to be her story, and they've done nothing to make me care what happens to her one way or the other, it seems pointless to waste more time on it. Now if this were about Manji or Makie or even Anotsu or Magatsu, I'd be on board to see how they ended up, but Rin is just killing this for me.

At least I got a good laugh out of everyone just happening to show up at the same place at the right time to have a grand old melee slaughter.
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