Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 304 |
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This scene was moved from an earlier moment in the novel (it was meant to occur before the summer villa attack) and the whole moment was one of my least favourite parts of the story because I just straight up could not parse the story's conceptualisation of homosexuality nor why this author's choice to protray this "complicated not romantic but stronger than platonic" relationship was just to write it as a romance, give the girls trauma and then go no homo, but it was a bit more interesting in the anime, mostly Sakura's parts. Her VA did a strong performance and I actually felt something towards her when she thought about how she can never allow herself to not just constantly traumatize herself and blame her fellow victims or else she'd crumble and leave Hinagiku with no allies again.
That said, as affecting as the scenes of Sakura wandering cities with nothing but a backpack and her clothes even with the extended winter was, I was confused on just...like how? She's an orphan who lost the backing of her job (look forward to when Sakura gets fired and thrown out a third time I guess) and who turned her back on the people who were sponsoring her for 5 years after, did Itecho and Rosei somehow manage to sneak assist her so she doesn't freeze to death on the streets, what did she do for work in between mentally tormenting herself? Also the insurgents are already not the most interesting antagonists and I'm not sure the choice of mixing it an evil lady who forces her kidnapping victim to be her child/doll is going to help |
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Aerdra
Posts: 551 |
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"Redundant" is the perfect word to describe much of episode 6. There are some new bits here and there, but much of the episode feels like a recap without actually being a recap. This show will apparently have 14 episodes, but it doesn't seem like the directors/scriptwriters are using the extra time effectively. There's some progress in this episode, so not all is wasted. We get a glimpse at one of Hinagiku's abductors, who could be interesting later. Hinagiku's personality change is explained (kind of). I also thought Sakura's hatred of the winter agent and guard were misplaced, considering they continued to search for five years while her own village abandoned her immediately. Here Sakura finally admits, to Hinagiku and to herself, that her hatred is a coping mechanism, so that might eventually lead to reconciliation between winter and spring. |
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 304 |
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I'm honestly not sure what I'd say about the redundancy from the flashbacks because some of it is a consequence of the anime teasing certain moments earlier than they were in the novel/moving some of them so that they take place back to back but honestly the redundancy isn't really improved even then so I don't think theres a lot the adaptation could do to improve things outside of just going ham with original material like Kyoani did with VE (this being serialised unlike the more anthology focused VE, I imagine that would be more difficult)
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Saeryen
 Posts: 1162 |
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Except she wasn’t spoiler[blown up]? We clearly see that she spoiler[survived and was kidnapped]. Considering the way Agents work, it will quickly become clear to everyone that spoiler[she is still alive]. No disrespect to James, but I’m not sure he understands that this series is so emotional because it’s shoujo. |
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James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 304 Location: USA |
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I never said she died. I said she got blown up by terrorists, which is an accurate description of what happened to her before Crazy Kidnapper Lady came in and dragged her off. And broad genre staples are never a good excuse for bad writing. "Aot4S" could be *good* melodramatic spectacle if it wanted to be. |
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Saeryen
Posts: 1162 |
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Shoujo isn’t a genre, it’s a demographic. And I like this series. It’s about our central characters healing through their bonds with one another. Also, spoiler[“blown up” implies someone was totally destroyed. She wasn’t. She was severely injured but still intact and alive]. |
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 304 |
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Thank you agents of 4 seasons for your answer to the much talked about hydrogen bomb Vs coughing baby debate.
Jokes aside, I actually did like the stark visual contrast as the end of the episode, wish it had cut off when he picked up the doll because the constant "Ringo!" "Nadeshiko!" tipped it from stark to overdoing it. Honestly a lot of this story's flaws is overdoing it, I know that's kind of the charm of melodrama but even melodrama needs to know when to pull back. I don't really mind the newly introduced sweetest baby ever being victimised but the bomb does tip it into unintential comedy and like, at that point I might as well watch dorohedoro because it at least intends to take the piss. I actually don't mind winter boys much, part of it is just that Rosei is just attractive so I can at least enjoy looking at him, but it's mostly that the anime has cut off their more corny scenes from volume one which makes them more basic but I'd take basic to overwrought at this point (the anime's blink and miss moment of him taking his psychiatric medications might be too subtle but I'd take it over spoiler[the sheer over the topness of him apparently waking up every night screaming about how he should have won these 4's self sacrifice Olympics and how they calm him in the morning by telling him spring is here now.]) If there's at least something I like it's that the agents are powerful fitting their god on earth status which explains some of the fear around them, the agency does keep the complacent with rules but I'm kind of curious if there's been previous cases of agents going berserk because if 14 year old Hinagiku could apparently break out of a terrorist org all by herself then what is actually stopping any of the other agents from deciding to be evil? At what point was the retainer system implemented to regulate their emotions? |
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James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 304 Location: USA |
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Then change my comment to: "Ineffective writing choices based on the assumed tastes and preferences of an incredibly broad demographic are never a good excuse for bad writing. 'Aot4S' could be *good* melodramatic spectacle if it wanted to be." Of course, you're welcome to enjoy the show, even if I don't like the creative choices it has been making as of late. You'll just want to approach discussion about those differences in opinion with a stronger argument than, "James obviously doesn't understand the entire general concept of shoujo anime." EDIT:
These are all very good points! I agree that there is something there when it comes to the basic concept of the world being warped by the presence of these godlike beings, but I think the vagueness over the methods and motives of the insurgents, alongside all of the questions raised by the very nature of these Agents even existing in the world, is the source of a lot of my frustration. I'm all for abstract or dreamlike worldbuilding, but this show is striking an odd balance of taking some elements of the setup with deadly seriousness while completely handwaving others, and it's not quite working for me at the moment. [/b] Last edited by James_Beckett on Mon May 11, 2026 1:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Saeryen
Posts: 1162 |
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Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. I just thought you weren’t aware of the demographic. I was trying to say “these writing choices might not make as much sense in shounen or seinen, but this series is actually shoujo.” EDIT: When I think about it, this series reminds me of Fruits Basket. Modern day mythical fantasy with a lot of emotional beats and focus on the relationships between characters. And the coldness of the Agency reminds me of how the Sohmas operate. Any other Fruba fans watching? |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5569 Location: Mexico |
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Oh, James is absolutely gonna love this week's episode 
You know, I've always been pretty self-aware, as a fanfiction writer, that I have a penchant for the melodramatic. It's a little cringey but I sometimes can't help myself. Anyway, after watching this episode, anything I've written feels as emotional as a string of binary code in comparison, and I do not mean that as a compliment |
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 304 |
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How kind of the terrorists to politely shoot the hole away from any of their targets while Hinagiku and Rosei had their drawn out "suicide is bad" speech wherein she explains what the audience would easily have gleaned about how she feels about people dying "for her sake". I'll hold back any final thoughts I have regarding their relationship since we still don't know how they play off eachother in the presence outside of pining, their childhood playtime is cute enough (its a bit saccharine in a way that just like melodrama starts tipping into feeling insincere) but:
1. Itecho (whose decade age gap from Sakura gets more blatant as his big ass 19 year old self hangs around a bunch of babies) seriously discussing the possibility of marriage about his 10 year old ward's first crush is baffling 2. A few cute scenes of children bonding for less than a month does not make a relationship I'm supposed to believe endured the test of separation for a whole decade. It honestly ends up feels sustained more for their trauma/lack of socialisation (and kidnapping in Hinagiku's case). I'm all for enduring love between two traumatized characters but I just read house of fata Morgana to completion a month ago and it somehow did a better job at making me give with why it had to be these two even with the drastically longer separation time (totally recommend for anyone who wants to read some nice melodrama). I didn't feel any of the emotions I'm sure I was meant to at the terrorist attack scene, Itecho's upside down katana attack made me laugh and the insistence on characters monologue ends up deflating whatever tension existed, which wasn't much because the insurgents are still the worst part of this entire story. |
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Mami-kouga
Posts: 304 |
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I'm also a big fan of fruits basket, the comparison did come to mind but I think the issue this story has that fruits basket didn't personally (though I'm sure there are people that were also tired of every new addition to godawful parent league) is that fruits basket is at its core a story about how insular family ties can end up hurting people. The world of the Sohmas is very closed off, the inner circle are basically ordered who they're allowed to trust (with maximum suffering afforded to those who don't fall in line) which is why it usually requires characters to break out or outsiders like Tohru to manage to help and continue holding on even despite the insanity of the household. 4 seasons could probably work well enough if it had stuck to confining it's drama to the family restrictiveness (even as the author seems to insist on endlessly cycling through only 2 things ever), but expanding this into the bigger world with the government involvement and weather terrorist subplot because obviously abusive restrictive families must not nearly be enough trauma (/s) just spoils the dish for me. |
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James_Beckett
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 304 Location: USA |
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I am professionally and spiritually obligated to give you a massive fist-bump for the House in Fata Morgana comparison. That is one of my favorite stories of all time, and I think it provides a perfect example how to do right by these kinds of flashback-heavy excursions into the Deep Roads of the Melodramatic Misery Mines. The secret is that the characters have to actually, you know, change and grow from their experiences, and the audience's understanding of the story has to change and grow as well. |
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IronWish
 Posts: 231 Location: Ukraine |
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Damn, ep8 is an anime equivalent of a meeting that could have been an e-mail. It did nothing that couldn't be achieved with a two minutes long flashback, and barely added any context to the stuff we already knew. Only thing that it changed, is that now I want to smack Hinagiku on the head extra hard each time she ships Sakura with Itecho. Also pre-trauma Hinagiku talks as annoyingly as current one, bar 3rd-person gimmick.
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Aerdra
Posts: 551 |
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A little clarification: this anime is expected to have 14 episodes (multiple sources, including ANN), and 8 have aired, so the anime is a little over halfway through the season. Put another way, there's still half of a normal-length cour to go.
This is the crux of the matter. This flashback episode has been expected for a long time and is a vital component of the story; by itself, it's fine. The problem is that the events of ten years ago have been recounted so many times already. The most dramatic scenes of this episode don't have much payoff, because the contents were pilfered and spent in previous episodes. This anime is one of the lucky few to get a longer than normal cour, but the length feels wasted because of how repetitive the story has been so far. Now that the long-awaited flashback is finally done, maybe the story can finally move forward. |
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