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EP. REVIEW: The Lost Village


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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 11:41 am Reply with quote
I have little else to add. This show is unsubtle, overly dramatic, and stars a bloated cast of terrible people. It didn't even have the courtesy to give us a weird lead; he's the blandest of the bunch. Based on how things are going, I do wonder if Okada will attempt to give nearly every character some back story or spotlight. Episode 3 and we've only hit one death. In any case, there's something oddly captivating about this mess of a series.

I actually like a few of the designs, namely sexist mohawk guy, even if he's a bit overdressed. Valkana is aggressive and loud, to where the over-acting distracts me, but he's the only one who seems to have any grasp on the situation. I guess he's also one of the few adult characters, though. Mitsumune seems to care about others, but the defense of Jack--who tried to seriously kill a guy for arguing over names--felt plain stupid.

Final aside: I thought the Judgeness vs. Jack thing was supposed to be a sort of joke because they aren't alike at all, but then characters were agreeing that it was confusing. What.

whiskeyii wrote:

As an aside, I really hope I'm wrong about this, but when Maimai failed to activate Mitsumune's girl-dar, my brain immediately went "Oh god, they're gonna' reveal that she's trans and use that as gross justification for why Mitsumune wasn't turned on by her because she's 'not really' a girl". Boy, do I really, really hope I'm wrong about that and it's just a silly running joke. >.>


Ugh, I hadn't even thought of that. His little speech to her was annoying enough--there's a difference between not having experience talking with girls and flat-out lacking social skills--but that'd be loads worse. Then there's the possibility that Mitsumune's friend is actually gay, which I fear may be handled...poorly.
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MidoriUma



Joined: 05 Sep 2014
Posts: 130
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:05 pm Reply with quote
RestLessone wrote:
Jack--who tried to seriously kill a guy for arguing over names


I think if Jack wanted him dead, he'd be dead. It seemed more like he was trying to scare the bejesus out of him (and it worked)
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DRosencraft



Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 666
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 12:15 pm Reply with quote
I am of the opinion that the writing and directing elements here are on purpose, not just an accidental outcome. I don't prejudice shows based on the folks working on them. I am not interested in what the writer or director did before, because everyone has a right to a hit or miss with each project. That being said, the litany of elements here don't naturally just appear in any project done by a professional of the apparent level of this team.

If anyone thinks there aren't people just like this group here, I feel both sorry and envious of you. To be fair, I've never met someone with the homicidal tilt of Lovepon, but there are definitely others who in real life meet the mold of the rest of the group to a substantial degree, if not on point. Would they all associate with one another? No, but I think that's part of the show's premise - these looney toons probably would never have associated with one another if not for ending up on that bus together going to the same place - i.e, they weren't willingly associating to begin with.

This show does seem to be a deliberate train-wreck. I can only assume that it is some sort of scenario like Btoom, wherein rich sadistic sorts are deliberately pooling socially inept folks and setting them up to kill one another for smut enjoyment. Or, alternatively, some over-the-top scheme by some person who thinks they're saving the world by cleansing it of obnoxious and annoying people. Heck, it could even be a version of Danganronpa we're looking at here. A lot of possibilities still here, and I'll likely stick it out just to see what they frame the ending as. Stellar this is not, but it's decent enough to serve as basic entertainment.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2872
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 1:18 pm Reply with quote
valkana is my husbando in this show; if only because he is doing what Iw ant to do to teh rest of the cast, crying and abusing them ebcause they act like idiots, he only needs to punch the mc before he dies.

considering the pedigree of the staff, I guess this is totally B tier movie parody on purpose, or at least I will convince myself that's the case.
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catstigereye



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 343
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Nuts pulled from the world, to be what? Well just plane nuts!
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TG72



Joined: 28 Jan 2011
Posts: 334
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 3:37 pm Reply with quote
Things seem to be shaping up like the last episodes of Another: misinformation, uncertainty and mass hysteria/mob rule. The show is ludicrous but great fun. I'm definitely on board!
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2872
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:35 pm Reply with quote
can't wait until the mc get ntr'd, his personality is the type that made that genre necessary.
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stilldemented



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 232
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 4:49 pm Reply with quote
DRosencraft wrote:
Stellar this is not, but it's decent enough to serve as basic entertainment.


My sentiments exactly. Wink

I'm having a fun time with the show so far. I don't really want it to be anything fancy. What it's doing right now is pleasing enough.

What exactly is it doing? I don't know, but I dig it.

The show isn't taking itself seriously and I don't think it's trying to parody anything. It's just a cute little B-Movie style anime with tropey characters in a would-be survival horror/mystery genre.

I'm getting exactly what I expect out of it, so it is pretty satisfying.

While I wouldn't say that this is the sort of show that causes me to like any of the characters...some are handled better than others.

My favorite character so far is MaiMai just because she seems to be the most normal of the bunch. I expect her to last a while since the opening spotlights her as a character of some importance. (she's the only character of all the generic characters that is isolated in the opening rather than grouped up).

Anyway, MaiMai is the only character that comes close to appearing multi-faceted for the moment. A side character has more personality than any of the main characters. Tragic. Oh well. She gets the gold star.

The only thing I dislike about the show is the main heroine, Masaki. I can't help but feel like the show really wants the audience to like her. But it's trying too hard. So it bugs me.

Show: "Look at this cute thing. Don't you just want to protect it?"
Me: No. Not at all..
Show: "But it's adorable~!"
Me: Kill it with fire!

I'm just waiting for the lovey-dovey couple to turn on one another right before they both die. Calling that like i see it.

The Judgeness/Jack jazz...I'm guessing that they share similar kanji or something and that's why it's confusing. Benefit of the doubt on that.

Is the show good? Is the show bad? Is the show good because it's bad? ...I don't know if it matters any one way or another for me. The show is a nice little guilty pleasure that I'm more than willing to indulge. Smile
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2250
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 5:24 pm Reply with quote
stilldemented wrote:

The only thing I dislike about the show is the main heroine, Masaki. I can't help but feel like the show really wants the audience to like her. But it's trying too hard. So it bugs me.


Agreed. At this point, I'd be happier with MaiMai as the heroine. But I feel like the opening hints that Masaki probably knows the most about the Village (I don't think the faded silhouette laid over her matches any of the known participants), and I'm calling it now; last trio to live will be MaiMai, who will die after a heartwarming confession to Mitsumune, who will then die in turn to give Masaki a chance to live in the Village so she can meet/be with whoever that silhouette was.
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Hyro_10



Joined: 17 May 2015
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 5:49 pm Reply with quote
maximilianjenus wrote:
can't wait until the mc get ntr'd, his personality is the type that made that genre necessary.


Laughing Laughing Laughing

Excellent comment and i totally agree. Like most of the commenters here, i think the characters suck. I imagine that they chose the lamest person as the lead to make him more relatable and all that, but surely they could have chosen speedster. Him being a little controlling gives him just a little personality. I don't think Mari okada is any good at writing original series so i can't help but take this seriously. Her stories usually have some interesting backdrops but then that's it. I like the idea of these social rejects going to some unknown place to start over. The absolute worst thing i think that could be used as a twist is that this is all some setup lb some powerful or bored people. After Btooom! danganronpa and some other one i can't remember i'm sick of the idea.

If i turns out to just be some mistake or something that lead them here it would be so much better. The idea that some mutant has taken the shape of the bus driver crossed my mind too. When i first saw the image for the series i thought it was supposed to be some supernatural series.

"The first episode features an exploding basketball and a bus driver who nearly kills thirty people while ranting about not getting eggs on his ramen. The third episode contains an attempted execution"

That line was hilarious btw
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vonPeterhof



Joined: 10 Nov 2014
Posts: 729
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:32 pm Reply with quote
stilldemented wrote:
The Judgeness/Jack jazz...I'm guessing that they share similar kanji or something and that's why it's confusing.
No kanji involved, just Japanese phonology when applied to words of foreign origin. Jack becomes ジャック and Judgeness is ジャッジネス. English has a larger than average number of vowel qualities while Japanese has the globally more common set of five, so many vowel distinctions get lost in transliteration; in this case the /æ/ in Jack and the /ʌ/ in Judgeness are both represented by the Japanese /a̠/. The ッ is normally transliterated into the Latin script by doubling the following consonant, but it's often interpreted as representing a sort of glottal stop that makes the preceding vowel sound more abrupt, so this also adds to the similarity. Plus, both words are pronounced with the pitch accent on the first mora. I mean yeah, it's still a ridiculous reason to pick fights over, but it's not quite as nonsensical as it sounds in English.

Anyway, I'm also having trouble telling how seriously we're supposed to be taking the show, but I'm having a good laugh either way, so it all works out Very Happy
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stilldemented



Joined: 16 May 2015
Posts: 232
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 7:02 pm Reply with quote
whiskeyii wrote:
I'm calling it now; last trio to live will be MaiMai, who will die after a heartwarming confession to Mitsumune, who will then die in turn to give Masaki a chance to live in the Village so she can meet/be with whoever that silhouette was.


There are a few characters who seem to have a more important role than MaiMai overall despite not yet having their time to shine. Though I do hope that MaiMai lasts a good long while since she's best character by default in my book.

I feel that Speedstar, Lion, Mitsumune, Masaki are our primary, main characters.

Our strong secondaries at the moment are Varukana, Maimai, Jack, Lovepon, Driver, and maybe Koharun. The opening also makes me believe Mikage will be important.

Everyone else? Fodder for the beast. Cool (That is...assuming that this actually becomes a survival horror show. I keep waiting for that shoe to drop. Confused)

(No I don't know all these characters by name. I had to look them up. Laughing)

@vonPeterhof
Thanks for the information! I figured it had to be something like that in some shape/way/form/fashion. Laughing
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 7:14 pm Reply with quote
vonPeterhof wrote:
No kanji involved, just Japanese phonology when applied to words of foreign origin. Jack becomes ジャック and Judgeness is ジャッジネス.


While I understood it was the katakana phonetics that riled Judgeness, it's still such an odd thing. They have three Yuu- characters after all. Plus, Judgeness has the "Hyouketsu no" title. I could understand if it was just him getting upset, because he seems like the type to get overly angry over frivolous things, but the others agreed. I don't know, I feel like it might have worked a little better if their names were... Jack and Jax or something. Even Jack and Judge would have worked.

But, well, that's probably the least of the writing's issues~
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chex mix



Joined: 28 Mar 2015
Posts: 415
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:51 pm Reply with quote
Not good enough to be good, not bad in an amusing way. Only thing left is to root for the zombies.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 907
PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2016 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I'm actually hoping this show at least has enough genre awareness that the "obvious" main character candidates aren't necessarily the ones who stick around the longest. Secondarily, hoping it manages to not kill too many people at all, because honestly, that's pretty much the first thing people think of these days when a single-cour series announces itself with such a large cast. If it turns into standard kill-em-all fare where everyone but the obvious heroine dies (hero optional), it's already failed to have a "twist" in my book.

Before you ask me why I even started it in the first place, I don't know, myself.
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