×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
EP. REVIEW: Yuki Yuna is a Hero: The Great Mankai Chapter


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 6:58 am Reply with quote
I keep coming back to the YuYuYu anime to relive the magic of the first season and I keep leaving disappointed.
S2 was pretty bad, with a first half that didn't do WaSuYu justice and a second half that felt rushed and definitely could have used (many) more episodes to breather.
Then comes this, we start with sort of an interlude episode... and suddenly we're thrown into a whole differnet story with different characters? Wut? Okay, good enough, I don't mind having a different kind of story, at least it will cut the main cast a break from the Misey Mill and these new characters and their arcs are pretty compelling and... oh wait, what? Isn't this moving too fast? Of course they just had to rush through a good story to... well, I dunno, maybe rush through yet another story. I didn't know this story was an adaptation but I looked into it and indeed it was. Just no way that they'd write this solid of a foundation just for 3 episodes.

And I agree: Minowa Gin is just the coolest and the way to bring her back for a scene just felt appropriate.

Quote:
The most glaring point arrives in the form of more of that aforementioned metatext. Basically, the writing now seems extremely aware of how hard it has been (and continues to be) for audience members to be wholly sold on 'forgiving' Togo for her actions at the end of the original Yuki Yuna season.

Oh, the audience hadn't forgiven Tougou? That's news to me.
Even if she wasn't right, it always felt like she was well within her rights considering the hopelessness of their situation and the sheer sadistic assholery of the organization that was supposed to save them all yet was just playing and betraying them nonstop.
It got mended pretty quick anyway.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:00 pm Reply with quote
some did not oh and more side story yay... this is the last main side story though so should have new content at some point
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:05 pm Reply with quote
Yuvelir's comment is even more relevant with this last episode. It definitely feels like the Cliffnotes version of "hey, check out our side stories!" It's not Muv-Luv Alternative bad, but it's definitely disappointing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Fri Oct 29, 2021 5:30 pm Reply with quote
Good old "redacted by Taisha". Sure was a convenient ploy to ommit most of the novel huh? It's not that they skipped it, it was just redacted by Taisha. The SCP bastards.
And wait, wasn't that SAO's Yuuki kinda hanging out in the background? I guess even her name got redacted.
Pretty much all we got to learn is that Yuuna was pretty much identical to Yuuna... which I guess will have story importante but I'm not much of a fan of the creepiness nor the implications - I like Yuuki Yuuna because she was just a gutsy girl that achieved great things because of her kind brave heart, not because she was chosen by fate, or cloned or selectively bred from a previous hero.
Speaking of whom, that initial summary scene felt weird with Yuuna thinking so deeply about religion and divine punishment.

Yttrbio wrote:
Yuvelir's comment is even more relevant with this last episode. It definitely feels like the Cliffnotes version of "hey, check out our side stories!" It's not Muv-Luv Alternative bad, but it's definitely disappointing.

Yeah, I write all that and a day later they speedrun NoWaYu... Which if I'm not mistaken was kind of a big deal, way to do it a disservice Crying or Very sad
Maybe the WaSuYu adaptation was great actually.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Sat Nov 06, 2021 9:30 pm Reply with quote
yuna is not a clone the name is some thing else all together also the Chikage plot is what if togo whent full evil
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18175
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 8:04 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I can't disagree with any of Chris's criticisms about episode 6. Something has felt off with this series since episode 2, to the point that this has slid quite a ways down my priority list. (It's no longer a same-day mandatory view for me.) I'm also curious about what the ultimate point to all of this will be, since I'm not at all clear about what more these revelations could add to the story.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 8:25 pm Reply with quote
I actually liked this episode a lot, it's pretty well done, the spiraling darkness was just so stark... but it feels completely out of place and pointless. Nice that they for once took time to show and develop something to the extent they got rid of the framing device... but what's the point when the foundation to get to this emotional peak has been completely destroyed?
Imagine getting to episode 9 of the original series (Itsuki's song, Fuu's rampage) after blasting through the previous 8 episodes in just 15 minutes.

It's nice to have some insight ino the context of the setting and how things got to be like that in S1, but it's not worth mauling and cramming all the side material into a messy franchise summary.

P.S.: seeing Yuuna being so identical to Yuuna down to having the same voice and quirks as Yuuna was a bit creepy Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5823
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2021 10:55 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
dedicated to trying to assure us that, no really you guys, Togo felt super bad about that whole 'trying to destroy the world' thing, and she willingly went full martyr mode because she was still stressing over it, and even noted that Yuna forgiving her was something no one else could possibly do.


The writers are still clueless about this. Enacting global genocide and the total extermination of humanity is what Togo is guilty of. That is not something that is forgivable. You can have sympathy for the devil, but at the end of the day, they have to pay for what they did. Replace the loveable and beautiful magical girl with a certain male dictator, could we still actually pretend forgiveness.

On a personal level, all those magical girl teammates have loved ones, family, and friends who would all have had horrible deaths. Only an insane person or someone who hates humanity would forgive Togo's actions.

Yet, Yuki Yuna is a Hero presents their Heroes in such a light, with Togo, not even in prison for life. Yuki Yuna is a Hero was a great show, with fantastic animation, but they stabbed themselves in the back with the ending.

Sad to hear the show is still peddling this baggage around.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Tue Nov 09, 2021 4:15 am Reply with quote
Good to know that show needed to hammer the nail was proved we all f'up some times in our f'up we get someone killed hell in rare cases one's attempt to kill them self's might get some one else killed and then what...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 1:16 pm Reply with quote
Another great episode, another episode that makes me lament they pretty much skipped all of the arc's first act. If we could have seen in more detail Wakaba's ideals vs her desire, if we could have seen Chikage's relationship with Yuuna grow to the point of dependency, if we could have seen what Chikage really thought of Wakaba before going full yandere, if we knew what moral support Hina even is... that could have enriched the perspectives shown in this latest episode and told a better story.
If past seasons are a good gauge to go with, the looming battle will last for an episode or two after which they'll have 3 or 4 episodes to... do what exactly? There isn't time to tell a good story and there isn't much of a time limit to do anything in the ""present"" time before the start of S2.

In a couple more technical details, it was a given due to their "openness" but the Taisha representatives aren't wearing their masks of non-accountability.
Also there is an interpretation to be made about the Shinju: after repeatedly trying to kill Wakaba, it stripped Chikage of her powers. However, when Tougou tried to destroy the world not only did it not turn off her powers, it granted her the mankai boost.
Another thing that stood out are the Vertex. While they've always been made of "stardust", while the ones in WaSuYu and YuYuYu are solid, hard and powerful, the ones in NoWaYu are basically soft sacks if stardust. The Vertex evolved faster than the hero system.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 9:59 pm Reply with quote
FYI the name of the tower Senkeiden is a refence to the meaning of the Kanji in Chikage's name
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:26 am Reply with quote
Mebuki's initial (very toxic) speech was weird... shouldn't she already be over that competitiveness? And while she resents how the Sentinels are sidelined, it never came across like she resented the heroes for it - nor that their shortcomings fell as a burden on the sentinels.

Anyway, it has been a pretty good stretch of episodes. Unfortunately, they come on the back of a mountain of failures. At this point, I think it's now clear that the purpose of this season is to patch S2... by ruining two other stories along the way. Leaving that destruction aside, I don't think this kind of hotfix would ever work, the S2 will remain pretty bad until it's completely remade. So instead of a good S2, we come out of this deal with two uneven seasons.

The series' major themes might be present in all... five? six? major arcs we've seen so far, and it's nice that they do keep them in mind instead of drifting aimlessly, but the results will vary greatly depending on whether you develop them at a good pace or rush through them in a crash course.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SigTheSauceMan



Joined: 13 Jun 2016
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 10:39 pm Reply with quote
Wait... can someone clarify for me? Is The Great Mankai Chapter a retcon of The Hero Chapter or a sequel with a prequel built-in (the Nogi Wakaba is a Hero stuff)? I keep seeing things that say it's a retcon of Hero Chapter's final episode. I am so confused. As far as I understand, the girls' final mission was at the end of Season 2 (Hero Chapter), and Season 3 (Great Full Bloom Chapter) began with the girls enjoying their new freedom, only to be quickly dragged back into the Hero stuff right after. Then it seemed like Tougo tried to sacrifice herself again, but that got resolved basically instantly... like, it literally got from the beginning to the aftermath of what felt like should have been its own season in a moment. And then the Taisha come to the girls with another "final mission" which we just saw play out, with the Hero Club seemingly killing the God Tree and freeing themselves from it all.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Yuvelir



Joined: 06 Jan 2015
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 4:59 am Reply with quote
SigTheSauceMan wrote:
Wait... can someone clarify for me? Is The Great Mankai Chapter a retcon of The Hero Chapter or a sequel with a prequel built-in (the Nogi Wakaba is a Hero stuff)? I keep seeing things that say it's a retcon of Hero Chapter's final episode. I am so confused. As far as I understand, the girls' final mission was at the end of Season 2 (Hero Chapter), and Season 3 (Great Full Bloom Chapter) began with the girls enjoying their new freedom, only to be quickly dragged back into the Hero stuff right after. Then it seemed like Tougo tried to sacrifice herself again, but that got resolved basically instantly... like, it literally got from the beginning to the aftermath of what felt like should have been its own season in a moment. And then the Taisha come to the girls with another "final mission" which we just saw play out, with the Hero Club seemingly killing the God Tree and freeing themselves from it all.

It's an expansion pack. It adds episodes and development to the rushed second season, while adding rushed adaptations of two other spin-offs to feed those develpments.
The latest episode was literally an extended version of 2/3 of last season's last episode.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 466
PostPosted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 8:52 pm Reply with quote
it's stuff that was cut from hero and quick recaps of the other LN's for the anime folk
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group