Forum - View topicThe Spring 2009 Anime Preview Guide
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5473 |
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After watching the first episode of Saki on Crunchyroll, I have to say knowledge of mahjong is a MUST! Oy, so much stuff flew right through my head so it's hard to get into the dramatic moments. And the yuri subtext between Saki and Nodoka just went through the roof! 
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Ranma824
 Posts: 456 |
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Fixed.
Ya see, just knowing that he's going to make fun of show "x" means that he shouldn't waste his time watching that show. Unless he gets a kick out of making fun of shows, but that doesn't leave a good impression in the long run. Another Observation: I find the scores for Asura Cryin' and Phantom to be very telling. Both have "mystery" storylines running, but the former gets labeled with confusing and unnecessary, while the latter gets a pass or praise for it. Also, both shows throw a good amount of characters into the first episode. But again AC' gets penalized for this (even while showcasing some of said characters), while Phantom gets the OK. (Phantom just threw them all right at the end) Not that I dislike Phantom, I liked the first episode and am a huge fan for Beetrain. It must be the priestess outfit that gets ANN's ire. 
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Tenchi
 Posts: 4472 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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Aww... I really liked the character designs for Saki, but don't tell me I actually have to *know* something in advance to be fully able to enjoy this particular show about cute girls doing cute things. So the moé designs were just there to trick me into watching a "tournament" show? Fie, I say, Fie!
I'll probably just stick to watching K-ON this season as nothing else really grabs my interest. |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2339 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Not the best year for anime, I'm guessing.
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Ausdoerrt
 Posts: 481 |
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^ Wouldn't be quite so sure yet. Some of the "meat" (for me at least) is yet to air, I'm putting my money on Souten Kouro and Eden of the East.
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Teuvan
 Posts: 34 Location: America |
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Thank god someone agrees with me. You completely hit the nail on the head. I was pretty excited for this series, but the first episode turned me off so severely that I'm dropping it for now. I'll pick it up again if I hear it gets good further down the line, but for now I'm uninterested. K-ON! is stereotypical "cute girls doing cute things," but it's good at what it does. And personally, I really liked the animation, especially in the movements of the characters. And Yui's hair...omahgawd dowant. Natsu no Arashi was interesting. I'm really not sure how to describe it. On the surface, it looks like a bad, stereotypical romantic comedy. And it acts like one throughout, yet there are enough clever twists thrown in to make it really enjoyable. Shinbo's direction is always a plus, too. I'm not sure if I'll watch it. It's not quite my thing, but I feel like it deserves attention. Going to watch Saki next. Moehjong? Count me in! So far, nothing's left me raving, but I get the feeling there's some really good stuff that's yet to air. |
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Tenchi
Posts: 4472 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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As far as I'm concerned, new episodes of Haruhi Suzumiya alone should validate the worthiness of this year, but I'm also holding out hope that sequel series to the two series I enjoyed from last autumn, Kannagi and Kemeko Deluxe, will air before the end of 2009.
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DKL
 Posts: 1956 Location: California, USA |
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I'm actually having a hard time following the accusations of K-On being poorly animated (or to the very least, being sub-par).
(has pictures... feel free to remove if it's against the rules; haven't been here in forever) I'm like studying some sequences and the movement is pretty rich: 
In this one, Ritsu utilizes all the space around the area of her head as she makes her way to the end of the emoting. 
In this one, there's more detailed use of space, once again as she, well, emotes, but there's a nice little effect where the subtle movements of her head successfully convey the illusion of her bobbing towards and away from the camera. 
And there's even little details where her eye looks back, as if trying to look for old memories or something to say or... whatever. ======== While it may be because I'm just picking out random sequences, it doesn't seem very inconsistent either: 
After Mugi covers her mouth while laughing, notice how her hand rotates, successfully conveying the idea of space (once again). 
More detailed rotation... 
Followed by a movement across her face accompanied by her head bobbing down as she wipes the laughter tears off or whatever. ========= ANYWAY... yeah... there's a lot of stuff like that (or maybe it's just these two sequences, I don't know... I'd go into more if I could work with GIFs or if my computer wasn't terrible) and the grasp of weight and whatever is arguably competent. ANYWAY, I can't think of many things off the top of my head that have that kind of detail... even if it might not be blisteringly high-quality (like, say, the animation you'd see in TV episodes directed by Kitaro Kosaka or Shinsaku Sasaki or Tetsuro Araki or the best stuff out of Kenji Kamiyama's camp or whatever), it isn't exactly a common level of quality; and, going by Kyoto Animation's track record, the visual experience will most likely be more or less as consistent as it could be (unlike, say, Kawajiri's X-TV... some episodes don't look too hot in terms of the animation... but then when the stuff Hiroshi Hamasaki did rolls in, the upwards jump in quality is ridiculous). And I've seen Kamichu and I can kinda understand the comparison, but until I see more of K-ON, I'll just say that this seems to do it a lot more convincingly (honestly, I did think that Kamichu got pretty lax with its animation and animation direction at a lot of points). But, I dunno... Just thought that I'd chime in on the subject (though, I'm no animation expert and can really only go with my gut). Like, say what you will about the moe thing (which, I guess, is a legitimate annoyance... yes, they look like Lucky Star characters, but without the SD), but I'd really have to stretch myself to say that it wasn't at least put together well. |
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Mr Adventure
 Posts: 1598 |
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Wow, based on all the first episode reviews, there isn't anything good this season yet. That's disappointing.
I was looking at this visual guide and the only show that remotely jumped at me was Rainbow: Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin (which might not even air this season) Anyone got any info on the manga source? Worth a look in anime form? What about Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen? Looks like it could be a good super-robot show. Maybe. |
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Teuvan
Posts: 34 Location: America |
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...So Saki is amazing. Despite my love for epic gambling anime and mahjong, I wasn't expecting much from this. I thought it'd be another dime-a-dozen "cute girls doing cute things" show, but I was wrong. Alongside a generous amount of well-engineered cuteness, there's an interesting story, good characters, intense drama, and high quality animation. This is the first series I've seen this season that I say can I'll definitely, without doubt, be following. Now to wait and see what else this season might have to offer...
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Tenchi
Posts: 4472 Location: Ottawa... now I'm an ex-Anglo Montrealer. |
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But will Ritsu's "Hail Mary" pass be able to penetrate the Steelers' defense? 
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Or the fact that Asura Cryin' is really, really badly written and chock full of incredibly lame, cliched ideas. It's not that the shows are the same and there are only cosmetic differences, it's that one show seems like it was written by some idiot teenager with terrible ideas and one feels like a standard Bee Train assassin show. |
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DKL
Posts: 1956 Location: California, USA |
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WHO KNOWS?! Let's ask an expert: 
Okay, but seriously: I too wanted to see that Rainbow show thingy in the preview... thing... Seemed interesting and different; was it canceled? That said, Maria-Holic was awesome... gonna most likely see Natsu no Arashi. |
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Daemonblue
 Posts: 701 |
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I personally picked up Saki cause I've been following the manga. It's kinda like taking Bamboo Blade and mixing it with Shion no Ou, but instead of kendo or shougi it's mahjong. In the end there will be people who'll like this kind of stuff and others who will hate it with a passion, I'm one of the former cause even though it's the same formula that's been slightly changed, it's still pretty entertaining for me. |
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Ushio
Posts: 630 |
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This has to be one of the worst lineups i've ever seen. It almost makes me consider giving up anime (at least new shows anyway).
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