Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Wish Upon the Pleiades
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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It'd be really interesting to see this thing actually compared, episode by episode, to "older" shows like Tokyo Mew Mew and such. Like, what did they do in ep. 4 that this didn't! Also, it's always worth keeping in mind. Gainax is not jut Eva and FLCL and Gurren. Gainax is also This Ugly and Beautiful World, and Melody of Oblivion, and Mahoromatic and He Is My Master. And the influence of all of those shows stays around! |
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Storm101
Posts: 38 |
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I just don't see how a magical girl anime, let alone one that airs at 3:44 AM, is supposed to sell cars...
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SquadmemberRitsu
 Posts: 1391 |
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Modern day Gainax is better known for C3-bu. I never thought I'd use the term train wreck to describe a Slice of Life series but C3-bu was a special kind of bad. A show that started off with a decent amount of potential, lost that potential after the smart people at Gainax willingly threw it out the window, had its conflict hastily wrapped up in the second last episode when Gainax probably realised they'd screwed up and ended with a fanservice comedy episode in a feeble attempt to bring back all the fans they lost. Some people like to argue that it wasn't that bad and while I find a lot of their arguments to be really, really dumb I guess they're entitled to their opinion. What they can't argue is the horrendous sales and the cancellation of the manga not long after. There's not going to be a C3-bu Brotherhood to faithfully adapt the manga and fix Gainax's screw ups because there's barely anything left to adapt. The damage is done. There were a few throwbacks to Evangelion, but the reaction was less 'Cool! An Evangelion reference!' and more 'Oh God why the hell are they doing this?' You want to see where the real Gainax is at the moment? Go watch Kill la Kill. |
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CorneredAngel
Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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I guess we have different definitions of "modern day". For me, it's everything Gainax did after Kare Kano. And, yeah, I agree, the C3-bu took an easy way out in the last couple of episodes, but until those last couple, it was like nothing else in anime, and like nothing else on American TV! And isn't that why we watch anime to begin with? |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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One cannot unsee the Madoka in this show.
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SquadmemberRitsu
Posts: 1391 |
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This Gainax is not the same Gainax that made Gurren Lagann, Evangelion, FLCL or PSG and anyone who says otherwise is in denial. It's not a matter of opinion, it's just a fact that a good amount of talented people who put them on the map (Including the masterminds behind Evangelion and Gurren Lagann) have left to go elsewhere and nothing they've made since has had even a fraction of the same impact on the worldwide anime community as the aforementioned shows. The old Gainax is still alive, but they're not called Gainax. Trigger had a huge hit with Kill la Kill (A show that's more Gainax than anything Gainax have made in years) and Khara are still rolling in the bucks with the Evangelion Rebuilds. But as for Gainax themselves? Well, they're basically doing nothing at the moment. At the very least they sure as hell aren't making a whole ton of money like they were in the glory days. Not to mention Gainax literally don't even own Evangelion anymore. It's the property of Khara and Hideaki Anno. |
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lucio542
 Posts: 263 Location: Brasil |
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great review i really like this anime .
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gpanthony
Posts: 241 |
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I had a similar feeling when I first heard about Madoka, it was actually really depressing to me that the Magic Girl genre was being subjected to the grim-dark phase that's been so prevalent in pop culture lately. It was really appalling to me that anyone would want to write about these kinds of horrible things happening to little kids (although it happening to high school kids is okay? not really, but it can work as a coming of age allegory)... Eventually, I did see hunker down and watch MM, thanks to Kamen Rider Gaim, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought and as has been pointed out, its not nearly as desolate as it's reputation implies. spoiler[The deaths that are there aren't particularly explicit, with the majority of the violence happening off screen and I wouldn't even say Madoka dies at the end so much as transcends her humanity- she still has a sense of self, her memories, and in Rebellion we can see she can still assume a semi-physical form if need be.] Still, I do think the series is a bit hyped, and could've been better in some respects, but due to series length I could understand that and really I enjoyed it mostly because I admire Madoka as a character. Anyway, to stay on topic, I'm actually pretty glad that Pleiades brings us back to a more typical type of Magic Girl show, but as has been pointed out there's still lots of time for things to go south in the cheerful brightness area. And it is Gainax... a Gainax that may want to reinvent itself and retake its risky storytelling reputation to show it can still survive in a Trigger-fied world. |
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DmonHiro
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I would eat my hat if I had one if this show doesn't give out some depressing twist by the end. It COULD stay an actual normal mahou shoujo show, but for some reason...
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gpanthony
Posts: 241 |
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Yeah, I'm getting a bit of that vibe too... |
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Hameyadea
Posts: 3679 |
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I liked that whole "oh, so you are watching a nice, easy-going Mahō Shōjo show?"
*le wild MCs-in-swimsuits Illustration Card appear* Since the show has established that other Timeline/Realities/Universes (or "possibilities", according to The Pleiadeian Alien) can be interacted with, and even be merged with other Timeline, I think that Minato, the boy that Subaru meets in the that Observatory Garden is a different version of the "Minato" (if that's how he calls himself) that keeps interfering with the girls. His insistence that the Engine Parts are his, and not The Pleiadeian Alien, lend more credit to that theory. Also, with each Timeline merger, the intended targets "disappeared" from their surroundings (as evident when Subaru and Aoi accused each other of leaving them behind and moving away), and they "merged" (integrated) in a quiet manner - no sudden landscape changes, no "Japan has dissolved into independent regions" or whatnot. A small inconvenience at the classroom over desks and chairs and that's about it. |
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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I don't know about you, but I don't watch anime to find stuff to complain about. I'm pretty sure the only reason C3 was hated so much was because it was Gainax, so people expected something spectacular (even though, as you said, Gainax has effectively moved over to Trigger). Well, that and the dumb swimsuit bonus episode, I guess. And the fact that people will do a total U-turn on their opinion of a show if the last 20% of it is even slightly disappointing. C3 was pretty average as anime with weak endings go (there are a lot of them). On topic, the sudden beach-episode-ification was rather unnecessary, but otherwise this was a good episode. I can't say I'm expecting this to get really dark or anything like that, but there's a good chance it'll end with the group having to split up or something, given how they were brought together. |
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SquadmemberRitsu
Posts: 1391 |
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And as I said before the anime, which was likely made in an effort to boost the manga sales like many anime adaptations, selling like garbage led to the manga being cancelled shortly after. If Gainax hadn't done what they did I guarantee you it would have sold a lot more than it did. If being directly responsible for the source material's cancellation isn't the sign of a failed series, I don't know what is. |
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CorneredAngel
Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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I know it's been a few days now, but still - to bring this up for the record, SAEKI Shouji, the director on Pleiades, started out as an in-betweer on Eva, directed two eps of FLCL, and is the director of both This Ugly Yet Beautiful World and He Is My Master. All very successful shows, so, respect! |
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Selipse
Posts: 216 |
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Again, where are all these Madoka clones?
There's Day Break Illusion. Yuuki Yuuna was very different and pretty good. I know there are wishes and girls with "magical fights" in WIXOSS, but it isn't even magical girl. I mean, I love Madoka, but come on, cute girls suffering have existed since way before.
I strongly disagree. The CGI isn't bad at all, and it's implemented quite well. It's only used when there's a wide shot and it transitions very well into 2D when the characters get close to the camera. The camera is also very dynamic. These are the best scenes and where all the effort goes to. I don't get how you would think otherwise. The other parts don't have anything really unique or interesting (except for that great story part this episode). Also, I love the engine sounds and those designs with the lights in front of the sticks are pure genius. Hikaru's episode was good, and Aoi the tomboy actually being girly and Itsuki the girly girl actually being a tomboy was nice. We'll have to wait until the very end to see how the general story ends up, though, since the few, puzzling, hints we've gotten until now make it look like they're aiming for a "Gainax ending". And knowing recent Gainax, it probably won't go too well. |
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