Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Super Cub
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4074 |
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With every episode, my mind is kicking me where this realistic anime is unrealistic; No, that's not what I'd call it; Its style is naturalized compared to other animes of its type but:
The soundtrack stopped dead when Koguma's train of thought got derailed by a better idea for helmet and goggles. OK? And then there's the idea her dream soundtrack is the first track that isn't centered around a piano, in fact there isn't a piano at all. But the bit that has me face palming is the second passage of episode 3, our first returning combo... kind of. A jazz style piano based trio. except It's one person on the snare drum, two people on one piano in place of a bass. Well, that's certainly... symbolic... to her new companion but no one would create that sort of trio in real life except as a gimmick. I know it's ragtime rather than light jazz but they are practically next door neighbors. The first passage was piano, snare drum and acoustic guitar which go together as well as oil and mud. The third passage, the one that stopped dead, was... I want to say a synthesized piano piece you'd find in any early visual novel? It felt like half the instruments were real, the other half were virtual including the "Casio vibes" being used for depth. The fourth passage was actual background music and not music being played in Koguma's head, which is something of a change up. It's also not piano based which leads up to the Dream Sequence... one or two acoustic guitars, one electric guitar, a keyboard and cymbals but no drums? What's going on here? Oh. There's this western piece of music that's popular in Japan that uses a motorcycle as the start of its work and this passage uses that sound effect in the same way. It also explains the composition of instruments because I was thinking "You know, that first passage really reminds me of Alan's Psycha... no, it can't be." But "borrowing" from the same album's title track? It has to be intentional then. So we've gone from Peanuts' music to Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother. I'm not judging, it's just.... odd. |
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Yuvelir
 Posts: 1543 |
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Yeah, the cheese on those lines was laid a bit too thick, even for an excited teenager. And it's also so convenient how Koguma finds whatever she needs right when she needs and it either costs her little or the costs are completely glossed over. So I really hope they turn down the commercials later. As for Reiko, I buy the budding friendship from Koguma's perspective because I've been in her position several times. But Reiko as a character is... ugh. She speaks of one thing and one thing only, completely uninterested in anything that isn't that one thing (including the person she's dragging around because of that). The curry bit seems to be her realizing it's her fault that Koguma's food is ruined, so I hope the series is aware of how obnoxious and self-centered she is. |
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chronium
 Posts: 288 Location: Canada |
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It's not weird there are many hobbies that support each other like this.
That's actually normal they just found something they can bond over. |
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Dirtyshadow
Posts: 49 |
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3rd episode, loved it. The sound work is what gives me that tingly memory of motorbikes.
The small moment that got me in 3 was when she tried on the full face helmet... the sound was perfect. |
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Dirtyshadow
Posts: 49 |
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Episode 4 was a weak episode, the montage and 3 oil changes did drag on a bit.
Felt the school job was a bit insulting though, cause if a school advisor suggested her only qualification for vocational summer job is that she owned a bike. Way to encourage career and social development and support for an emancipated child with no family. She worked 2 round trips a day, 4000 yen a day ($48 AUD a day) 36 days for 144,000 yen (1700 AUD) Less expenses, new gear that is a bit of pocket money but geez felt a bit stingy... what is the school setting her up for a career in Pizza Delivery or UberEats. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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To me, a scene like her struggling to get the courage to knock on the door of the faculty office, with some of her trouble to do much talking, and the improvements of that, can kind of be a big relatable character growth. It can be kind of daunting when you are an introvert, and becoming more comfortable doing such things are big character growth. A character from another series comes to mind is Tomoko from Watamote, where you get a big eye of how hard what can appear as simple tasks, so there was a lot of growth this episode.
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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You often hear about japan being slow at adopting new technology, which would explain why they don't just email the document over. But the way it's often emphasized is by pointing out that many place still use fax machine. So... why didn't they fax the document over? The school literally wasted over a thousand dollars just ferrying paper back and forth... Also, not sure if public sector is heavily unionized in japan but, if it is, the local union rep will be screaming bloody murder when he find out they hired someone outside the union (without a tender!).
Oh and we get more advertisement this episode, remember kid, Honda makes the best oil around! Oh and if you buy a cub people will literally give you job regardless of qualification. 
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11330 |
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The oil change really resonated with me. I so wanted to hand her a ratchet wrench with a six-point socket and a cheater pipe! (12-pt wrenches will round an oil pan nut before you know it, especially if you lack the arm/hand strength to wield it precisely) But using leg strength is acceptable too if she's really careful.
Back in the Before Times, when cars still had carburetors and points and you didn't need a computer to do anything, I used to teach a class for women to learn to tune up their cars (and change oil and flat tires). So this was rather nostalgic, seeing that familiar look of accomplishment on her face. I'm still trying to figure out what this tool in her toolbox is: 
It looks like a ratchet wrench without a drive, leaving just a hollow bowl. If it's supposed to be resting drive-square down, that then leaves her with no switch to change direction (I guess it could be on the socket side, but that would be awkward). Her kit looks like she's got two kinds of sockets plus a set of Allen drive sockets, but there's nothing to attach them to. |
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minamikaze
Posts: 221 |
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Minor correction needed. The Tsuyu season runs from early June to Mid-July. Japanese school summer vacation runs from end of July to the end of August. They don't overlap: those were just ordinary summer rainy days. Actually, unless the story started in Mid-July, she should have had to deal with the frequent rainy days of Tsuyu in the weeks before summer vacation. Also, it kind of bothered me that she didn't buy rain-gear pants to cover her legs. Her jersey bottoms (and shoes) would have been soaked from riding in the rain like that. 
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1543 |
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That the entirety of her summer vacation was her job and nothing else is kinda depressing. But I guess that's basically Koguma.
It also didn't really feel like summer at all? Gray filter aside, the light was never too strong and it didn't feel like Koguma was ever uncomfortably hot despite being covered head to toe in the middle of the day. It's like temperatures never exceeded 23ºC
About the oil changes... at 100, 500 and every 1000km. I don't have experience with spoiler[mopeds] specifically but I've managed oil changes for other kinds of machinery, mainly vacuum pumps, and that seems like the guideline for new machines which still have to release their manufacturing gunk. But Koguma's machine isn't new at all, shouldn't the 100 and 500km oil changes have been taken care of already?
Spoken like a true adult!
Last edited by Yuvelir on Mon May 03, 2021 9:46 am; edited 1 time in total |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I thought the courier job might be a form of financial support for her. Seems like make-work to me in a country reliant on faxing.
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halo
Posts: 356 |
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I was thinking through the first few episodes that Koguma reminded me a little of Kokone from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. Mostly it was the shy girl on a scooter with a slightly similar appearance. After her first job was a delivery driver, I'm not so sure it's entirely coincidence.
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Nojay
Posts: 112 |
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I'm guessing but I think that Koguma-san's school is a middle school and the other one is a senior high school. The documents are probably something to do with students who will be graduating next year and applying to that school so the paperwork has signed forms, certificates, student records etc. which have to be passed back and forth -- the return trips will probably be carrying the same papers she took there a day or two earlier. Japan is probably more reliant on make-work than faxing, from what I've seen. I remember witnessing a car park exit operation in Nagoya -- lights would flash and three people wearing uniforms and hi-viz belts would leap into action to make sure the road was clear for the car to leave and block the sidewalks to stop pedestrians crossing the exit roadway. The pay she receives is not untypical of low-grade "arubaito" jobs, 900 yen an hour or so. I've seen restaurant jobs advertised at those sorts of rates even in expensive-to-live places like Tokyo. |
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ByakuyaToSaber
Posts: 5 |
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It is a ratchet-less socket drive. The peg is on the other side. The concave bowl on the back side that faces out reduces weight and material cost of the tool. This is a frugal person tool kit. |
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Dirtyshadow
Posts: 49 |
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When showing it to Reiko, it was "prime", only had 500 kms on the clock, nearly brand new tires. The bike itself for all intents is "as new" as you could get, seriously you would see more wear on a ex-demo bike  Like not an spec of rust on that machine, not a scratch, how does a bike kill 3 people and still be perfect.
You could in hindsight say its been gathering dust and got gunked up for not having been run in ages before being serviced and sold, which could be the reason to start basic run downs from scratch. |
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