Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: The Testament of Sister New Devil
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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Not all of them all the time. I like fan service too but it really leaves me perplexed and out of the story when the camera focuses on Maria's seated rear end while she is just talking normally to Basara. What -- is she farting her words or something? Is she dripping? Then of course they have to streak it out. It ends up being about as welcome as someone pouring a bucket of M&Ms on your chess board while you are trying to figure your next move. |
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
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I don't think the show has earned a "chess board" comparison. Maybe a checkerboard, but even that's pushing it. A tic-tac-toe board? And then the M&Ms make things better, because who wants to play tic-tac-toe?
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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Ha ha. You are right of course. It isn't as if omitting those scenes would turn this anime into a masterpiece or anything above average. But I stand by my description of the anime-to-fanservice-to-censorship cycle. The fan service may or may not annoy you depending on if it is done well or appropriately, but the censorship is annoying under all circumstances. |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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That's the key sentence here. One mustn't forget that for nearly half of the first episode, the Tōjō family baited Maria and Mio into believing that they - the Tōjōs - were fooled by the girls' deceit. As stated in the review, surprisingly not a lot of ero (compared to the regular amount in this show) - a Master-Servant moment, a "best-of" from Maria Production and some "mischief" in Mio's locker. Also, one of the best quotes yet in this show...
...as well as a new censorship image (middle-of-swing Basara). On the other hand, Yuki behavior in this episode has taken a turn, and not for the better. From being somewhat stoic and distant, to basically a slut - willing to be subjected to Maria's Master-Servant Pact (on the Servant side, of course), repeatedly reminding Mio of that with a gleeful voice, eager to let Basara fondle her breasts (because everyone knows that they grow bigger when rubbed) and was willing to let Basara smear chocolate on her because Mio got the same treatment in the video shown to her by Maria Production. Now, Yuki was kept in the Heroes Village for almost her entire life, apparently only being let out for the observation mission, so she might not know a proper way, or at least a less imposing one, to court. Like Isuca's Shimazu Suseri, Yuki's action can be attributed to her social awkwardness. However, the biggest flaw in that logic is that Yuki is the the class rep, and unless the people in Shinmai Maō no Testament choose key figures by their looks (and I won't put that past this show, either), I find it hard to believe that she isn't aware of her, to put in frankly, horny behavior. Regarding the animation, since this episode's focus was more on the Slice-of-Life aspect, I didn't find it too bothersome. In a perfect world, the show would've put its animation quality above-par. But, since this isn't a perfect world, I would prefer the show put its resources into the more taxing action sequences and be at-par or slightly below for the calmer parts of the show, than the other way around. With only only 4 more episodes, and what appears to be the Last(est) Boss of the show, I wonder how the show will handle with the upcoming battle scenes (and since this will probably be the biggest Boss yet, there'll undoubtedly be quite a few battle scenes). |
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Godzuky
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((On the other hand, she appears to have little-to-no self-respect, as the first of these two episodes opens with her throwing herself at Basara in a bid to have him do exactly what he did/does to Mio, thinking that engaging in sexual behavior with him is the only way to achieve a similar status in his life.))
Well, she is a Succubus and you are giving her a real world woman's problem and comparing her to a real woman . But as a Succubus this is what she does, it is not only part of her but in her nature. And what you might consider as a negative, a demon might consider a good thing, sometimes you have to look at things from their perspective and leave your judgements of right and wrong at home. |
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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Your first post? If so welcome to ANN abandon all hope ye ... etc. Although I think there are enough people watching this anime there doesn't seem to be a lot of commentary in this thread on it. I think that is because there isn't really that much controversial to say. At least the compulsive I-hate-the-male-harem-lead-just-because crowd seems to be taking a nap. As far as this trope goes, I happen to like the harem females in this particular instantiation. Maria is the tease-with-sex-positive type seemingly imported from To Love Ru and she gives the other two something to do other than fight the bad guys. Although the putative sex scenes are rather dumb and for the most part whited-out they at least happen and the characters don't spend endless screen time cringing about it. The story so far is pretty bland, but we keep watching for some reason. |
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ichii_1
 Posts: 151 |
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My boy Larz can't be dead :'( this is bullsh!t
Is it so hard to do lower the artsyle for a bit and up the animation for the fight scenes?
The Yuki fight was underwhelming. How did I not notice Maria had a key this whole time?!!! :O 
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Barbobot
 Posts: 460 |
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The line your quoting from the review was referring to Yuki, a human. Not the succubus Maria. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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I would think it is troublesome if said scenario felt forced/artificial, lets review it. Yuki is a country bumpkin (double so since the whole idea of ninja/hero villages is to isolate the young so they train with no distractions), who was already attracted to Basara and did not mind him going feely-touchy with her a few years ago. She is also a teenager, whose hormones are in full swing and has zero experience in how to attract the opposite sex (nor any close friends in the city that could advice her since she has to put some distance to protect her origin). Seeing how a complete stranger (Mio) has become so close to Basara in such a small time frame thru the "extreme skinship" they have, it makes sense that she would resort to a strategy that has already proven successful. p.s. Would it have been so hard to give Maria at least some abs in her power up form?  She is supposed to be a strong physical fighter type (not the magic using kind like Mio).
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Animelover12313
Posts: 278 |
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That transformation was so underwhelming....... I was hoping more of like an Oshino Shinobu => Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade transformation. Not the same person with bigger boobs and butts.......
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MysticMew
 Posts: 91 Location: Bremen, Germany |
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Let me put it that way because I've already talked way too much about the harem shows I'm watching this season on my blog...
I have three shows that I'm following. This, Absolute Duo and World Break. At the beginning. I enjoyed Absolute Duo and this because they did things somewhat differently. The former seemed to really be focusing on a pair mostly... Then things changed. AD got Lilith and the show turned full of classic harem trope and almost forgot all about Julie (who really was my biggest reason for liking it  ) just after teasing us with her own tragic past, following it with such a flimsy, incomprehensible "plot" and perhaps the most stock villian in recent anime history...
Testmanent rose to the top but continued to hurt itself more and more with the ugly censoring (and no amount of creative can change that). If it wants to emphasize its excessive sexual tendencies and themes, fine. But censoring it out defeats the purpose. Still focusing on it and then denying it, takes up precious time that could be used to develop the plot better. As it stands... Steadily but slowly, for me, World Break pulled even past this. It's nothing but standard harem fair but at least it keeps true to itself and does not pretend (and then fail) to do be something else. And occassionally you get really cool battle scenes out of it like last episode (which was rather great). I still like Testament somewhat, and I think without the censor (which will probably be gone on a disc release) it would be okay. However, even if I had the money to spend on a harem series, I'd seriously think about it. If the censorship is supposed to be initiative to buy the discs, it failed. By applying it, a lot of irritation was created. And that's not really a good think for promotion in my book. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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I laughed put loud when it became clear that Maria's mother is even younger looking. I liked that Maria thought "fudge the staying here waiting, let's kick some butt". But that was about it. Why Mio and Yuki didn't help Basara fight? It felt like a rpg battle where they just kept hitting the "pass" option while Basara got hit every round. Would have liked for Mio to power up, rip Zoglia a new bloody one and then have Basara stop her from dealing the killing blow, but I suppose the budget for animation is too tight (no pun intended).
I also think that the censoring is getting old fast. I can understand that there is this law that prohibits anything broadcast in open TV (in tokyo) to have any naughty bits (even if it is past midnight), but then this kind of show that relies heavily on fanservice should be broadcast only on cable tv since the only thing people is going to remember when the blu-ray is released is how cheated most people felt. Also, why do we, who live on the other side of the pond, have to suffer this censorship? I remember not so long ago how hentai anime released over here did not have censoring, I mean, it is not as if keeping this ludicrous censoring would allow to show this kind of series at a sunday church gathering 
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HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
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In the prior episode they had been paralyzed by a magic spell that was in place until Zoglia was finally drained of magic energy. Only Basara was able to break it, and then Mio could when she went Shana-mode.
In which case shouldn't they be censoring the opening credits? Although they are single character drawings they draw pretty much everything but genitals. (I am always amused because it looks like Maria's buttocks are inflating.) I have to agree with the review in that this seems like a pretty wan and lackluster climax. |
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Yttrbio
Posts: 3652 |
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I'm a little disappointed that MariaMom wasn't more interesting. She's not on screen very long, how hard is it to give her something funny to say or do when you don't have to worry about her characterization?
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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100% agree with HaruhiToy about how the opener not getting censored does seem likely a gross inconsistency.
Sadly, I can't argue against a single wors Rebecca said or the grade. In fact, only what Maria's mother looks like (the daughter is still way hotter in her regular form, though!) and the actions of that certain other character saved this episode from being a total disaster. It was underwhelming and limp in virtually every other aspect of what it tried to do, and I don't think even the censoring being removed would have helped much. Ugh. I never had high hopes for this one, but at least thought it wouldn't stink. 
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