Forum - View topicREVIEW: Outbreak Company episodes 1-6
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belvadeer
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Hey lizard, not dragon. He hasn't yet done that tongue thing. He's also my favorite character. XD I'm finding this show quite enjoyable. The otaku gags are well done and they keep the zaniness corked so it doesn't get too out of hand at any point. It's got this level of charm and wit that keeps its audience interested. |
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CrownKlown
 Posts: 1762 |
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Crawling Chaos Nyrakuo already did this, but reversed where the foreign culture was actively trying to get anime and games, due to being the pinnacle of entertainment vs here they are trying to export it.
Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar also did the exporting otaku/Japanese culture to another civilization, mainly making them look like idiots. Others have also done something similar, so Outbreak is far from anything original, but it might still be decent. |
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AnimenexuS
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I'm enjoying Outbreak Company. But It's not best anime of Fall season.
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504NOSON2
 Subscriber Posts: 647 Location: Body:Santa Barbara, CA ~ Heart:New Orleans, LA |
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This is my favorite series of the season (with Nagi no Asakura coming in at a very close second, sometimes even jumping to first place). In my opinion, it wins on two fronts: It's educational. In that, as more-than-just-casual anime fans, we already have a somewhat encyclopedic knowledge of otaku/anime culture, lexicon, or what have you. But, there's still many things that we don't know; usually very Japanese otaku-specific stuff. For example, at the end of episode 5 spoiler[when the students are arguing over which Japanese snacks taste better, and can't quite pronounce them correctly, and instead of "Kinoko no Yama", Kinako no Yama, meaning mountain of flour. And instead of "Koala no March", Doala no March is said. Which refers to a Japanese baseball team's mascot, named Doala the koala.]
So, it either teaches us new things, or motivates us took research certain references. The other is that it deals with mature topics, like in-group biases and social stratification. As well as the commonalities that lay behind all of those arbitrary, invisible divisions. Sure, it has some otaku tropes, cliches, and stock characters. But in the same breath it'll poke fun at many of them (BL, Tsundere, otaku flaming each other etc). Myucel also gives Belldandy a run for her money for Best Yamato nadeshiko in Anime. |
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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For me, the show has its ups and downs. I think the ups includes the comedy part where I do think the jokes are humor is fun to keep watching. There was one episode that involved a bit of more serious moments but later shifted back to the fun zone. On the negative, the overall premise and repetitive jokes gets a bit stale. I'm also not too fond of most of the main or supporting characters yet.
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phia_one
Posts: 1657 Location: Pennsylvania |
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I was initially passing on this series, but it seems like it's worth checking out.
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Sylpher3
Posts: 85 |
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I agree with most points the review covers, yet I don’t hold the same appreciation towards Outbreak Company.
Positive points like empowering the servant, addressing themes of inequality, racial tolerance, rebellion, society change, schooling and showing limited fanservice are all nice, but not particularly compelling nor strong/well-handled enough to elevate the show to greatness. What’s worse is that the emphasis lies on the weakness, the unfunny otaku humor. Even though the show is self-aware and applies jokes, references to the main themes (for example, dwarves and elves in dispute about anime/manga resembles internet flame-wars on such topics), it still felt like inserted otaku-pandering humor instead of something more sophisticated that keeps me hooked. So while Outbreak Company is cleverer, sharper and less trashy than the usual otaku-targeted series, it isn’t a worthwhile watch. The themes lift the grade from a 3 to a 5 in my opinion, not higher and that’s too bad. The strong points just aren’t good enough to cover the weaknesses. I’ll acknowledge OC is better than what it could have been, but it’s not interesting enough for my personal enjoyment. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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That the humour is unfunny is entirely subjective. In my eyes the jokes are funny, at least the jokes that good-naturedly parody Otaku values and beliefs. And the references are also fun to spot, with a lot of recent shows being used alongside the obscure Galge stuff. While this is not high-brow humour it still is quite entertaining. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Does the fan service actually get tamer? I stopped at episode 2 (or was it 3?) when the spoiler[MC is caught between the maid and the queen and get incredibly turned on by the fact that he has two pair of breast on each side, not even stopping to consider the fact that one of them is very much a minor, in fact it's like the fact that she is minor is really really turning him on. And the show doesn't make it into a joke, it's like "yay little girl boob" and then you wait for a punch line like "this is sick" or a guard coming in and realizing what's happening, but nothing, the point of the scene is really just "yay little girl boob".]
It's just hard to take the serious part seriously after that, it's like sure he's against racism but hey spoiler[lolicon] is perfectly fine, our hero, let's root for him. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Petrarca isn't a minor. I have no idea where you got that info.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18220 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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After that scene there's maybe one fan service shot of any significance in the rest of the first half. And while I'm not crazy about this defense, as Megiddo noted, Petralka apparently looks significantly younger than what she is. (I believe this was pointed out early in episode 2.) Make assumptions about the series based on that one scene and you will be led astray. |
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Ortensia1980
 Posts: 803 Location: some town near Amsterdam |
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Outbreak Company is definitely the surprise of this season. When I first read the synopsis I didn't think that I'd still enjoy watching it 6 episodes later. I think that it's found a nice balance between humour and dealing with more serious issues. The highlight of the show has to be the otaku references which cracking me up and now that the elves and dwarves have gotten in on it as well, it's gotten even funnier. I'm always pleased as punch whenever I get the references, because there are quite a bit that fly right over my head.
And regarding the fan service, meiam, there's barely any in it. |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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I can't say that this show does anything for me, at least not subbed. I can't say that the humor appeals to me and the Japanese really need to see Star Trek as they really need to have the Prime Directive as their attempts to alter the culture (and the protagonist's angst over cultural differences) was tedious. I wish they had shown us the entirety of the "Are you a super otaku?" quiz. Also, I didn't realize that you could gain fluency in written Japanese to the point of being able to read manga with ease in only a few study sessions. |
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Leebo
 Posts: 660 Location: Somerville, MA |
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In episode 1 she says she's 16. Obviously she's supposed to look younger though. So, either way, she's a minor and meant to look like one. Also, that spelling makes me chuckle. That's the last name of the local weatherman when I lived in Rhode Island. http://www.wpri.com/weather/weather-team/tony_petrarca_155881 |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Sixteen may be a minor (under our laws anyway) but it is also the age of consent in many modern countries.
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