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Excessive use of flashbacks.


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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 1:05 am Reply with quote
Both Cosmic Era series used far too many flashbacks. Some flashbacks were shown several times in a single episode, for multiple episodes in a row. Really and truly, that is too much, and actually lessens the impact of the particular death or scene being referred to. What did the staffers think, that if they didn't show that scene enough times that people might forget about it? What is the rationale, beyond the obvious fill-out-the-screentime-with-cheap-garbage excuse? There isn't one.

I can see why recap episodes can be a necessary evil, but one of the worst "group" of flashbacks in Gundam SEED came on the back of one-and-a-half episodes of recap. So yeah.



Edit: "None" to "one". One letter can change the meaning of the entire sentence. Remember that when it comes time to vote.


Last edited by dtm42 on Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:51 am; edited 1 time in total
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 6:12 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
Really and truly, that is too much, and actually lessens the impact of the particular death or scene being referred to.

Though not quite to the same extent, I wasn't happy to see the most powerful sequence in Crest of the Stars being repeated in it's sequel. Though I don't think it was quite possible to conclude a battle with the same impact as spoiler[that of the Crest's Gosroth] in Banner, it wasn't entirely necessary to repeat images that are already highly memorable.
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spooksmagee



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 182
Location: Rochester, NY
PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 12:58 pm Reply with quote
Noir comes to mind for me. It was a decent series as a whole, but they flashed back to spoiler[the death of Mireille's family] like every freakin' episode during the first half of the series.

I mean, yeah it was a traumatic event in her life and all, and actually is a rather large plot device, but still. Something that huge happens to a character, it's not something you'll just forget from week to week...but apparently Bee Train felt it was necessary to throw in constant reminders, set to the same music. God, I couldn't get that stupid jingle out of my head for weeks after I finished the series. Shocked
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:06 am Reply with quote
spooksmagee wrote:
Noir comes to mind for me. It was a decent series as a whole, but they flashed back to spoiler[the death of Mireille's family] like every freakin' episode during the first half of the series.

Like I said - this is the curse of 24+ episode Beetrain series.
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spooksmagee



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 182
Location: Rochester, NY
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:24 pm Reply with quote
Shiroi Hane wrote:
spooksmagee wrote:
Noir comes to mind for me. It was a decent series as a whole, but they flashed back to spoiler[the death of Mireille's family] like every freakin' episode during the first half of the series.

Like I said - this is the curse of 24+ episode Beetrain series.


Oh man I hope not, as I'm really enjoying Bee Train's Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ so far, but if they start flashing back like crazy... Evil or Very Mad Although upon further inspection, it's only 13 episodes, so hopefully I'm in the clear.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5633
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:26 pm Reply with quote
The one series that came to mind was Wolf's Rain, where they had four episodes that consisted solely of flashbacks.

Now I realize that the SARS epidemic hit Japan at that time AND they were contractually obligated to have a certain amount of episodes produced by a certain date...but REALLY!
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JacobC
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Joined: 15 Jan 2008
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Location: SoCal
PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:37 pm Reply with quote
^ Well, on the positive end of things, those episodes never aired (or should I say "air," as my sister just informed me that Wolf's Rain still comes on adultswim sometimes randomly,) they never aired in the american TV broadcast, they're easy to skip in fansub form, and if you're collecting the DVDs, they're all on ONE DVD that you don't have to buy, just like Chobits! Hip hip hooray! So no matter how you watch, they're easily avoided. I find it weird that people even complain about them, they're effortless to avoid and there's no plot information missed at all by doing so because they're 100% recap, not those annoying mixes of new and old which require you to watch...

Which was the entire problem of .hack anything, and the reason I hate .hack with a passion. I mean, REALLY. Could they take a really cool concept and make it ANY more boring! I can't believe they ever thought kids would sit through that, either! Anime dazed

It's also the greatest blemish of Yu Yu Hakusho. That shonen tourney show usually keeps a good pace in contrast to its awful DBZ/Naruto/hey, let's have a fight last eight episodes and recap half of it at the beginning of each NEW episode to stretch it out MORE shows. Yeah, thank goodness YYH didn't do that, the longest fights are four episodes, and rarities at that, but there are still SO many flashbacks when it looks like someone is going to get pwned that you wish they'd just die and spare you having to see "how far they came" before they got their butt whooped.
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Shiroi Hane
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Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:27 am Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:
Which was the entire problem of .hack anything, and the reason I hate .hack with a passion. I mean, REALLY. Could they take a really cool concept and make it ANY more boring! I can't believe they ever thought kids would sit through that, either! Anime dazed

See? Beetrain. I thought the shorter Twilight Bracelet was better paced but, having since read the manga, they really should have included Zeffie.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4566
PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:29 pm Reply with quote
JesuOtaku wrote:

Which was the entire problem of .hack anything, and the reason I hate .hack with a passion. I mean, REALLY. Could they take a really cool concept and make it ANY more boring! I can't believe they ever thought kids would sit through that, either! Anime dazed

This kid was enraptured by it, even at a time well before he really knew what "anime" was. To each their own, I guess. Razz
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