Forum - View topicREVIEW: Fractale Episodes 1-11 Streaming
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14773 |
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Fractale was one of the more anticipated shows. Even the brouhaha about the Funimation simulcast being halted temporarily. That's why it's disappointing.
It's graded on a college curve. They help you maintain your GPA enough to keep your scholarships. 
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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The thing that keeps me watching anime about serious stuff is the story. If the story itself isn't strong, then the characters and setting are probably not going to be able to make me keep watching it. This was the fate of Fractale for me. The world, what little of it that we saw, was interesting. The characters -- hit and miss, mostly miss, for me. But while the story began well, as the reviewer stated, it fell apart.
I tried. I really tried to keep going. Sometimes, a series (even a short one) can recover from a bad episode or two, but things just kept getting more disjointed -- not in the fun and dizzying FLCL way, but in a grim, somewhat heartless way. I could see what the creators were *trying* to make me feel, but they weren't able to pull it off -- not even close. It was in the episode where the Lost Millennium guys decided to attack the uplink ceremony, using automatic weapons on what were basically helpless people. It was jarring. Not because of the violence, but because of the POINTLESSNESS of it. What was the scene aimed at making us feel? How serious the Lost Millennium guys were? Was it suppose to evoke a feeling of "desperate times call for desperate measure"? It failed. The times were not desperate. There was no call for what they did. All it made me feel was anger, especially after previous attempts to make the Granites into a group on a noble quest to free humanity from their excessive dependence on Fractale. I lasted most of the way through the series, mainly because I liked Nessa and, to a lesser degree, Phryne. But the horrible fragmentation of any sort of consistancy in tone and its wandering, disjointed plot eventually became too much, and I realized I no longer cared what was going to happen or how things were going to end. After that, I just gave up on it with only a couple of episodes to go. Maybe I'll finish it off some day, but I doubt it. I don't think I've ever given up on a series after having seen so much of it. Fractale was a great disappointment for me. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Definitely not for any program in Engineering, that's for sure 
I dropped Fractale in the middle, and I've felt no desire to pick it back up. Wandering Son was clearly the champ of Noitamina last season. |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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The ending probably won't change that impression. You're really not missing much. There are no surprises, no suspense. It's all about action (badly animated) and weak drama, and an ending that seems on one hand completely random and on the other hand stereotypical ... as if ... they really didn't care about the story. Luckily I didn't care anymore either at that point, so I didn't have to get annoyed about spoiler[Phryne's and Nessa's true identity and link to the Fractale system and the randomness of it all.] The main focus of the series was on slice of life comedy and moe fanservice by Nessa (and a little normal fanservice by Phryne). |
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leoval
Posts: 11 |
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I dropped the series because the writing was terrible, perhaps beyond terrible. Example: there is this episode when people are praying, you know, innocent civilians, and then this other group of anti-fractale freedom fighters come in and slain as many of those civilians as they can. Lots of dead people, blood and sorrow. Then the next episode comes along and is like it didn't happen. The main character doesn't question the massacre itself, there is no reference to it, no explanation why the civilians were killed, no purpose for the killings, there are no moral challenges at all to any of the participants involved, wtf? What was the point of the massacre then? Why the young boy who witnessed it doesn't react to it? why does he not confront either with an internal dialog or through a literal one the group he is staying with? Then the series moves to its next slice of life phase, life inside an airship. And I moved along too. |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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I wasn't aware there was Kannagi "talent" behind this show. No wonder it sucked.
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wizardz199
Posts: 112 Location: Hayward, CA |
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My thoughts on Fractle is that the series reminded me of a Miyazaki film especially from Laputa as well as splash of Naussica. On the technical side of things it is visually charming but story wise I could not find myself interested in the story. I found the story to be kind of convoluted and I just found myself losing interest after about three episodes.
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Somehow I don't think Yamamoto is going to "save the anime industry" with something like this.
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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I liked Fractale (perhaps I am the only one who does
 ) I found the world which was created to be fascinating.
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Lexomatic
Posts: 4 |
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A story with three writers with divergent ideas, leading to mush? Hmm, sounds like the reputed situation with the 2007 Transformers movie.
I agree that parts of Fractale's middle were a bit flabby, and the world-building was incomplete, but I'm willing to forgive that. Why? Because (a) I found the characters interesting -- their motivations were subtle, (b) most of the questions were answered to my satisfaction, and (c) it was short -- only 11 episodes. Not like, e.g., Last Exile with 26 episodes, a protracted final "haven't they run out of ships yet?" battle, and a conclusion that answered few of the tantalizing mysteries. Maybe I was able to enjoy it because I've read enough SF, using variants of this premise, that I could automatically patch any gaps -- and I was happy to see the ideas visualized. My biggest problem with the world-building is that the writers seemed unclear on how the doppels worked. (They're not alone: I've seen the same symptoms in novels, e.g. Chris Moriarty's Spin State.) Were they teleprescence avatars? Independent software agents? Are they consensual hallucinations or can they run on external hardware? Nobody seemed surprised that Nessa lacked a human at the other end, Sunda only once wondered how she could operate outside the Fractale network, and at in scene she stood alone on a cliff, watching the Danan depart. Are there nano-nodes suffusing the landscape? As a short series, it could probably be rescripted as a two-hour movie without too much trouble, hit all the story beats (establish the world, the protagonist Clain Decran, the opposing sides who are all shades of grey, and the resolution) and be the better for it. Heck, it could be redone as a U.S. telemovie without much damage -- there's nothing uniquely Japanese in the milieu or personalities. Heck, I think I've seen the Trek and Stargate crews encounter much this conundrum. ("Do we repair the nanny-system on which this alien civilization is dependent, or force them out of their complacency?") Fractale was prettier, of course. |
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Akuma381
Posts: 3 |
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I don't know why so many people are disliking this show so much.
I really enjoyed it. To me it was very refreshing to watch. I really liked the ideas and presentation. I especially enjoyed the theme songs don't ask me why. It reminded me a lot of Nadia. But very short and sweet. It definitely keeps you wondering about the many unanswered questions (but I wouldn't consider them plot holes). I think you should take it for what it is and enjoy it. |
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Great Rumbler
 Posts: 328 Location: Oklahoma |
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Fractale desperately wanted to be the next Castle in the Sky or Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, but, in the end, it couldn't even be the next Last Exile.
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mango2425
 Posts: 1 |
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I just finish watching the series. I, personally, thought it was great. After reading all the really hateful comments about it, it makes my feel like I totally missed something flawed in it =_=.
I think that reason so many say that they don't like it is because there are a lot of just different kind of textures to it (I can't find better words to describe it). The were scenes that ranged from super-cuteness to really violent to gross pedo guy. I will say that the pace of the whole show was a bit erratic and I'm not the biggest fan of any kind fanservice or awkward scenes. I think that the only people who can really appreciate this show are those otakus who can, after watching Elfen Lied or Higurashi, go straight to watching Hetalia. I'm talking about those people who like watching most if not all genres and themes. For me the show was mainly about the selfishness and weakness that a vast majority of humans have. My only real complaint about this show was how they just left the whole Clain's father deal and the archpriestess/Dias thing unfinished, but overall I loved the show and I thought the ending was sweet but not sickly sweet. |
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Special-Ed
Posts: 1 |
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I kept in mind that it might have just had good timing with me looking through a mountain of soul-less anime and happening upon this bright, and heartwarming adventure. But once I read "the way science fiction was meant to be" I nearly threw up. I've never heard or read something so artistically disgusting. Whether I enjoyed the show or not no longer mattered, I hate this review because of that line. I can't take a reviewer seriously if they categorize what they're looking at, then make judgments based on how fitting the category is.
Man I'm tired, I'll probably be less agitated in the morning. But seriously, this person thinks too much, they must not get much enjoyment from life. I'd love to see the anime that gets a good score from him/her! |
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