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Interview: Promare Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and Screenwriter Kazuki Nakashima




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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2242
PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2019 7:11 pm Reply with quote
I felt like a real smart cookie for figuring out the triangles vs squares thing in the opening 10 minutes, and it actually made me pay more attention to what was on-screen. It was a heckuva film, though! Definitely gonna' buy this when it comes out!
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Zandy Brown



Joined: 08 Oct 2019
Posts: 11
PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 12:59 pm Reply with quote
The acid burns. Threw up in my mouth when I remembered how people compared this flat imitation to FireForce. Honest to god happened, not just being Snarky. Thank goodness they aren’t going to try and fabricate a series out of this.
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Scion Drake



Joined: 25 Nov 2017
Posts: 941
PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 2:54 pm Reply with quote
Zandy Brown wrote:
The acid burns. Threw up in my mouth when I remembered how people compared this flat imitation to FireForce. Honest to god happened, not just being Snarky. Thank goodness they aren’t going to try and fabricate a series out of this.


“Flat imitation”? Have you actually watched this movie?

“Fabricate a series” I'm pretty sure that statement makes no sense at all.

You are not making much or any sense here.
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simona.com



Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 330
Location: Tokyo
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:25 am Reply with quote
The opening scene [not to mention the whole self-ignition concept] is really too similar to Okubo's Fire Force. He complained about it too.
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Zunda-mochi



Joined: 19 Aug 2016
Posts: 36
Location: めっちゃうるさい東京都
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 12:00 pm Reply with quote
Wha... How is Fire Force similar to Promare?? The only thing I see even similar is the theme of firefighters and 'fire people' but the difference is (not sure if spoiler, but putting it in anyway), spoiler[the Promare (fire) is described as some kind of 'alien lifeform' hence why the fire color is pink and green and NOT the usual red and orange found on earth], while Fire Force's is, to me, reads as walking 'Spontaneous Human Combustions' and how they're 'evil' and stuff.
Fire Force, I watched only a few episodes or so, and just stopped caring to watch it because of how they treated their female characters (more 'naked fanservice against their will' yay... Isn't this an outdated trope by now?), as well as how the storytelling structure was just all over the place that it frustrated me more to the point that it was too distracting for me to continue, despite some nice animated action scenes and stuff. Not to mention, this one just felt like another (stereo)typical 'shonen manga/anime' series that has come out the last years or so just with a different theme. Nothing... really special, for me.

I loved and enjoyed Promare a lot more than Fire Force because it's been a while since an anime like this not only had a great art style direction that mixed Japanese and some American styles (I was right in thinking that some of the background art had that Pixar influence, and they did get a Pixar artist in their production) in it with bright colors and 3D graphics thrown in nicely. Not to mention, it actually made me really 'fired up' and happy to the point, that it literally got me out of a heavy art slump and depression I was suffering from for a very long time.
I usually don't watch a movie repeatedly, but this one actually made me go and watch it 3 times, and every time I keep seeing small details and stuff in the movie that I missed on the first watch. Planning and hoping to go again when there is a showing near me until the DVD/BD drops in February until then. And also waiting for their animation production art books to come out too.
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simona.com



Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 330
Location: Tokyo
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 12:23 pm Reply with quote
As I said, the opening scene is virtually a ripoff. spoiler[[i.e. middle age guy self-igniting on the train]]
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simona.com



Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 330
Location: Tokyo
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 12:27 pm Reply with quote
don't get me wrong, I totally love Promare and think it's a groundbreaking blockbuster - but the similarity, at least in the opening scene, is undeniable.
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Zunda-mochi



Joined: 19 Aug 2016
Posts: 36
Location: めっちゃうるさい東京都
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 1:51 pm Reply with quote
I literally had to go rewatch the first episode of Fire Force because I don't remember how the first episode went really. And honestly... while the starting of it is similar to Promare's, I noticed a lot of differences (for me at least):

spoiler[Fire Force's opening scene is that a guy (a regular old guy it looks like) is just standing there minding his own business, like he's REALLY calm, and the train (the train design is similar to Enoshima's train, now that I think about it) is not crowded at all, then suddenly black smoke starts to come out from the corner of his mouth. Then, he's become a 'Spontaneous Human Combustion' monster out of random and no provocation or any stress-related emotional factors, (which fits in with the actual lore of it, not surprising) but only burns ONE train car, and not the entire train. Then the Fire Force comes in, with Kusakabe just watching, and destroys it so we never knew what caused the guy to Combust suddenly. I don't think the cause of why and how this happens was ever found out yet in the anime/manga? (Wikia says it's caused by an insect, which is a little... underwhelming... if it's true...)
While in Promare, the opening scene is a literal business man who is stuck in an overly crowded (JR East) train in Japan and getting really majorly stressed and irritated in there. His breaking point is when he unleashes the Promare and affects ALL the train cars due to his really intense emotional state he's in. Like, we see that it's hinted there first, and then explained later, that the Promare reacts positively or negatively to certain human emotions. ]


So like, while I can see the way the opening layout of both animes is similar in premise and in a storytelling-sense due to fire and fire-fighting being the main theme, but how it's presented visually via where the setting and background is taking place, and how it affects a random, unnamed character to start the story, just feels REALLY different for me when I look and observe it critically. If it WAS a DIRECT copy of the scene visually, then I wouldn't be happy about that. Only similar? Uhhh...I kind of can't see and understand the huge freak-out over this...

(And really... one's a manga-adapted TV series here where you are allowed to hold off on the 'mysteries' until you either read the manga or wait for another season to be green lit to watch, while the other is a movie, so you have to condense the story and conclude it in one go, unless a sequel is planned but Promare of course won't have that. Though a side story in novel or manga form isn't a long ways off, really).
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