Forum - View topicThe Best and Worst of the Season So Far: Week of Feb 19-25 [2018-03-01]
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Admittedly I haven't even started 3 of my most anticipated shows this season, After the Rain, A Place Further Than the Universe, and 3gatsu, but I'm still a little sad to see what are my current favorites, Mitsuboshi Colors, and Laid Back Camp, still sitting so low on the charts as they've been consistently strong, if not getting stronger by the week. I'm happy to see School Babysitters up there though. It's been a really pleasant and fun show, and Kotaro better win Best Boy of the year in the CR Awards 2018. It would be literally impossible for someone else to be a better boy.
I honestly dropped it. They have used the "Tomoyo wants to take pictures of Sakura really bad" joke to death at this point. It feels like the show is trying way too hard to draw everything out as much as possible, leaving us with even more outrageously fluff-filled episodes than the first series ever did. And for the record, I finished watching the first series last October, so it's not a nostalgia thing, the first series was just balanced much more successfully. I guess to add to my unpopular opinions, I've been using rabb.it to stream VE with a friend from Canada, and I am honestly not really digging it. It's a solid enough show, but neither the drama, nor the writing has really worked for me much thus far. There are a couple of individually strong episodes, and the direction/storyboarding is wonderful, but as a whole it still doesn't really work. I am honestly mostly confused by how this won their prestigious grand prize.  (obviously a lot of people like it, I get that much, but I'm not really able to parse exactly why)
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5442 Location: Iscandar |
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Look closer at the rankings for Laid-Back Camp. It has been in the top 10 on both ranking charts for most of its run.
It has potential to improve, but it might not go beyond being a B+ show. |
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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True. I forgot to look at the Cumulative. Episode 9 is much stronger than 8 too, so it will probably stay steady there after next week. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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You're not alone on both point. CS:CC is trying to be both a nostalgia trip (for the old audience who are now adults) and a quasi remake for the the same audience that watched the first show (childrens). I think it'll just end up failing both camp. It doesn't rely nearly enough on nostalgia in the sense that the story isn't progressing at all, if anything it regress, with Shaolan and Sakura in sort of weird situation rather than an actual couple. At the same time most moment are just the character going trough the motion of who they are from the previous seasons 1, with the same joke/situation being brought back every episode, new audience will just find that boring. The show is competently made, but it doesn't have a soul. VE is really pretty and I'll watch it to the end on that strength alone. But the writing is amateurish and rather than actually crafting interesting story they just pile on the tragic situation and hope everyone just won't bother to think about it. Which is fine if that's what people are into but really doesn't do the visual justice. It's heart wrenching to see visual of the highest professional caliber paired up with writing of the level of a high school student. |
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Crext
 Posts: 211 |
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I kinda agree with most of these changes. I think I've basically set up my series watching according to the list, cause it has been such a weird season for me. My four favorites this season are actually all shows I now watch because this list "recommended them" and are all in genres and art styles I didn't think I'd appreciate so much at first glance. Those shows being Violet Evergarden, A Place FTTU, Laid Back camp and After the Rain. In my view they outshine the rest of the shows this season, all while being quite different from each other.
About Laid Back Camp dropping significantly this episode I'd say that was fair. For those not in the know that episode was basically a full "let's hang out at the mall" episode, and it felt too much like a commercial. There was no camp spot tips, no grand aesthetics, and one of the two "main characters" had almost no screen time. It was a very odd episode where they were discussing camp equipment rather than using them, then have "pop in" information while using them, which by far is more interesting and something this series do well. I felt it did redeem itself in episode 9 (the one after the one in this ranking). The series perfectly captures a slice of life about the joy of one's hobbies. Violet Evergarden is something you'd definitely enjoy if you've either been in the military or have friends/family who's had to deal which such experiences. It's probably one of the greater dramas we've had in a while. The voice acting is freaking astonishing. The way the major's brother's voice sounded when he was upset over Violet's emotional outburst and sadness, *mmm*. The feels are so strong in this show. A Place further than the universe feels like "Your Name"-the series, but without any romance and mythology. If anything it seems like a "reality adventure"- or "live streaming"-show, or some genre we currently don't put much anime into. After the Rain is just a very well written romance. Maybe I have to stop saying I like mostly ecchi comedy or action after this season. Then again, there's no real "great" shows of those genres this season, so perhaps I'm excused. Darling in the Franxx dropped greatly this episode, which isn't a surprise for anyone as this was "the beach episode". Considering how sexy everyone are in their normal zero suits I don't get why they spent a full episode on this, but I guess it's to be expected of shows like this to have one such episode each season. Ancient Magus Bride had a good episode, can't say much more. The show has gotten really drama-ish and dark as of late though. Thank god for the "wow" comment, it really helped people not freak out! Record of Grandcrest has evolved quite strangely. For a moment it felt like a Game of Thronesies and clever show, but it's going away from grand strategy to... Well, I don't know really. That last episode kinda made it all feel silly as The Alliance seem to be lead by a very weak and stupid leader, where she only does everything she do because she has a broken heart and was in shock/has become paranoid. It's like a Tsundere sending armies to die for her because she has to go baka baka baka for her love. I'm surprised to see school babysitters increase so much, and especially that Black Clover jumped so high. I dropped that show a while back now, so can't really comment as for why though. The rest hasn't changed much and is about where I expected they'd be. Last edited by Crext on Fri Mar 02, 2018 2:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Those are generally my feelings about Violet Evergarden as well. It is beautiful to look at but less compelling as a story overall. I'm disappointed Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens didn't make the list of shows eligible for weekly review. It's right behind A Place Further than the Universe for me this season. |
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TasteyCookie
 Posts: 421 |
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Honestly that's how I feel about After the Rain. It's definitely not bad by any means and I'm still enjoying it, but I don't understand it's high praise. It's not clicking for me the way VE, Laidback Camp, Universe, Franxx, or the continuations of March and Magus Bride have. AtR writing has not done much for me, though it is pretty. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I am also sad that Ramens didn't make the cut. It's been quite entertaining and a change of pace to all the moe-goodness this season. |
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Well my Dad was in the military and two of my brothers are, as well as a couple of my very good friends, and VE is still not working for me, so I'm not sure what to tell you... |
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Crext
Posts: 211 |
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Hm, that is weird. Is there anything in particular you don't like about it? I'd definitely say it's not a show for everyone though, as dramas in general are usually not for everyone, especially not the ones dealing with sensitive subjects like PTSD in a fairly realistic manner. |
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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The drama comes across as a little melodramatic at times for me, the episodic stories feel a little disjointed, and Violet's character growth seems inconsistent, like how she was mostly unable to understand human emotion, spoiler[but somehow got assigned to write love letters for a princess among other things.] I don't know what amount of time is passing between episodes, but I would argue that is also another failure of the show so far. And based on her interactions it doesn't seem like she has changed much herself, as she still struggles to understand emotion, while she continues to get more prestigious and challenging assignments. It feels like everything is being done for the sake of teaching her/us a thematic lesson, but not enough consideration is being taken to make sure that the stories fit together in a congruous and satisfying way.
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Crext
Posts: 211 |
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I was actually thinking the exact same thing regarding that episode in the beginning, I think it had gone by 4 months or so... I would also not for a moment believe that Violet is 14, I erased that part from my mind and has her memorized deeply as being 24 (which is what she looks like). I took such a liberty as it doesn't come up again in the story later on. However, as the entrance of that particular episode said, she had been studying authors, love stories and letters of the past, and was able to copy them, but not understand them. This is actually not that uncommon a problem, where there are many people that understand the intellectual concept of those emotions without feeling them themselves (or at least not being aware/burry them within/suppressing them). And this mission seemed to be a very "formal political speech" kind of task, which in all honesty she would be perfect for if she had studied it as she told us. If you remember back to when she went to school, her biggest problem was converting people's thoughts and emotions into empathetic letters as "others would find them". If she now had the "standard best authors speech" at her disposal (in contrast to her earlier "perfect military reports of accuracy" speech), then political letters would be just up her ally, if you are to believe she is somewhat of a Sheldon Cooper genius kind of character that are able to learn that within months. Of course Violet Evergarden has been shown as that "Sheldon" type already, from the very first episode, so it would not be that farfetched for this to be believable. Also remember that they, not even the princess, was excepting this to be anything but "formal speech". "It's just you dolls speaking to each other, and I know it is not the Prince I am talking to..." If anything Violet's ability to pick up on the Princess' emotions showed more character growth than her ability to pick up new speech patterns. As the Princess told her, those speech patterns, virtue signaling and all of it was just a fake front even if it sounded very pleasant for those not knowing their true nature. It was "too perfect" which funnily enough was the complete opposite problems compared to when she was on the school bench, and which basically once again showed us that Violet had mastered a skill (of a silver tongue), but that it meant nothing to those involved if it wasn't true. Speaking from the heart, rather than speaking perfectly or as expected, was thus a lesson Violet had yet to learn. It's also quite funny as this is a dilemma which fits us perfectly in our current time, where everybody shows the perfect front on Facebook or social media, while the reality may be completely different. Same goes with public figures, or politicians, where speaking the truth may be harder and a more rare quality than people hiding behind perfect personas. It's also this contrast of her learning super fast, almost like a machine, but that she still struggles to picking up on the emotions of the people around her (despite being a genius) that is one of the things that is really interesting to watch. Overall I found that episode really satisfying as it showed that Princes and Princesses also are human, and that people sometimes allow their souls to crumble in order to please everyone but themselves. It shows how hard it can be to speak the truth, or at the very least not lie... Also, this was way to long, I apologize *bows and exit* |
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Joshua Zarate
Posts: 2061 |
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@ Crext - Very nice post. I agree with you about VE and overall, while it definitely has flaws, it’s still a solid enough show to watch. Although, it does need to be reiterated that it’s not for everybody and shouldn’t be watched by those who find that aspect of Violet’s character to not be all that engaging to them.
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relyat08
Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Yeah, her age is kind of ridiculous. And also kind of makes the fact that so many men are mesmerized by her a little uncomfortable. Anyway, she's definitely in her 20s as far as I'm concerned. And thanks for taking the time to respond. 
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Scion Drake
Posts: 942 |
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You do know that high placement is just for the singular episode right? Its still pretty low in the cumulative. Oh well we'll see next week if it maintains the score & if there's a noticeable boost. |
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