Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Actually, I Am…
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
AmuroNT1
Posts: 106 |
|
||
|
Well, I was wrong and myskaros was right that it wasn't the curry incident that revealed Aizawa's cooking skills in the manga...but then the anime went and made me right by changing the particulars of the story. Weirdness.
(For the curious: in the relevant manga chapter, Aizawa's recipe simply blew out the window and caused everyone to panic; there was a separate chapter much later where Akari and Aizawa attended a baking class.) I admit, I love this series but it does bug me how they've spent so many episodes on purely comedic stories without much in the way of plot development. (Admittedly, fans of the manga have observed that there are something like 40 chapters between major developments in the Asahi/Youko relationship,) On the other hand, it feels like the people behind the anime are really enamored with Aizawa since they've either adapted stories where she was an important player, or taken stories where she wasn't and shoved her into them. Now, I do like Aizawa as a character, but that sort of thing can backfire; a prime example is the film version of Scott Pilgrim, where they made Knives Chau look like a better love interest. Anyway, I can kind of assuage Paul's worries in this week's review by promising that based off of its title, next week's episode will marks probably the first big development in Asahi and Youko's relationship as well as opening up the story (and maybe resolving his earlier worries about Akane by showing her in a new light). |
|||
|
|||
myskaros
 Posts: 600 Location: J-Novel Club |
|
||
Yeah, I was thinking this too, funny how it worked out this way lol. They finally debuted the evil faces, which was pretty great  I will agree that, because they keep skipping around with chapters, Akane's powers seem completely out of left field. Instead of padding with random montages and extra scenes, they should've tried to also smush in the Burger Race chapter. This would at least show off some of Akane's ridiculous powers while also being the real meeting between Mikan and Akane, instead of the fake one they contrived.
I think the meandering is just because they know they're only getting 12 episodes and can't afford to animate some of the plot episodes without introducing other characters or significantly changing the events. It's a real shame, but the varied cast definitely makes the manga amazing, and we're only getting a small portion of it here. It says something that the best chapters include ones that don't really feature the main characters at all (any Shima x Ryou is ****ing gold, so is Akari cooking class). |
|||
|
|||
AnimeAddict2014
 Posts: 925 |
|
||
|
sometimes i found the joke after the credits of this series is funnier than the episode itself
|
|||
|
|||
Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
|
||
Depends on the gender pronouns in one's language; some languages could refer to it with male pronouns, some with female pronouns, and others as neutral/non-gender-specific pronouns. |
|||
|
|||
Wrangler
 Posts: 1346 |
|
||
|
I thought the principle being tortured by her great grand daughter pretty funny actually, playing chicken with planet fate at steak. Specially when she keeps mentioning stuff she did and her daughter didn't know about.
Hopefully the next episode will be better, i think introduction of new characters helped keep the pace, but they've hitting that situation comedy brick wall or least bounced off it this episode. |
|||
|
|||
|
Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18210 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
|
||
|
Guess I was more entertained by the most recent episode than most. As cooking episodes go, I found it to be above-average (though admittedly, that's not saying much) and found the sheer perversity of the asteroid business to actually be pretty funny.
|
|||
|
|||
HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
|
||
Probably the most amusing part was the escalating test of wills between Akari and Akane. Atkari is completely unintimidated by any demonic attack and Akane can summon Earth-destroying asteroids but is helpless when tied to a chair. I know how it feels: sitting through yet one more rendition of girls-make-disaster-in-the-kitchen. |
|||
|
|||
HelloBucket
 Posts: 477 Location: Upstate New York |
|
||
I dunno. I think a running theme of the show (and part of its appeal) is exactly that: the women all have some unusual secret but that this isn't really what defines them. It's the thing that superficially jumps out but isn't really what makes them interesting or valuable. Shiho is better defined by her affected perversity than by being a wolfman. Mikan is better defined by using her warped approach to fulfilling a need for control and attention to mask insecurity and loneliness than by being the lady with the talking glasses. Aizawa is better defined by her obsession with structure, planning and doing things properly than by being an alien. Shiragami is better defined by being someone trying all too hard to be the person they want to be rather than the person they are however good their intentions for that may be, than by being a vampire. Heck, even Akane is probably better defined by a highly competitive nature that constantly drags her past her own limits than by being a demon. |
|||
|
|||
|
AmuroNT1
Posts: 106 |
|
||
|
I was really happy when I saw the title of this week's episode, since these chapters of the manga were one of the earliest moments where the Asahi/Youko relationship actually makes real progress. This episode was almost completely a straight adaptation of a two-part manga story, the biggest change being that the manga fell victim to "show, don't tell" by having part of the story be second-hand narration by Asahi, which the anime fixes by having Youko actually tell the story herself. The flashback there also marks the first animated appearance of Youko's mother Touko, who will become important in later chapters.
As for Akane's scene, I think the main reason it happened was to show that there actually is some depth to her character beyond being a childish brat with phenomenal cosmic power. She was there a generation ago when Youko's parents fell in love, and she's watching it happen again with a great deal of interest. This is something to definitely keep an eye on when the show focuses on the "rom" more than the "com". Finally, if I'm correct, then next week's episode will finally explain what the deal is with Mikan's talking glasses, which is another important plot development. |
|||
|
|||
|
HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
|
||
|
Yet another episode of Why Some Guys Will Never Make It To First Base.
Other than that, mildly amusing. They get credit for not overdoing the fan service. |
|||
|
|||
|
HaruhiToy
Posts: 4118 |
|
||
|
Episode 10 review: well put.
However what we are winding up to here is that Mikan is now going to be in the circle that knows their mutual secrets since she is now known to have one of her own. That is going to neutralize a big part of the comedic tension that tries to keep things hidden from Mikan. That might not be a bad thing if they can replace it with something. For a malevolent deity capable of crushing planets Akane sure is a dimwit. |
|||
|
|||
|
AmuroNT1
Posts: 106 |
|
||
|
Heading into the last couple of episodes (assuming this is a 12-episode series) things really got kicked into high gear thanks to those damn glasses. This might be the only series ever where a serious love epiphany happened while someone was vigorously head-desking. In the first part, the interactions between Youko and Asahi's friends were really cute, and helped emphasize the point made in the previous episode that thanks to him looking out for her, she's had the chance to actually make friends and have fun at school.
Akane is very short-sighted when it comes to her pranks; all that really matters is that she's having fun NOW. She doesn't consider what's going to happen LATER, when the people she's futzing with deliver some payback. Now for all the spoilery stuff... Overall plot discussion: spoiler[The hilarious thing is, if this were just a stand-alone anime, one might assume based off of this episode that the love triangle would get resolved by that 12th episode...NOPE! Unless they completely ignore about 70 chapters' worth of content, then the best we can hope for by the end of the season is Youko starting to realize that she might like Asahi in more than just a friendly manner. I kind of hope they at least cover the arc where the cast visits Youko's house and you finally get to meet her parents for real; that's a good 4-5 chapters, so stuff would probably have to be cut, but her parents really are important to the overall narrative.] Specific discussion of Mikan (vis-à-vis HaruhiToy's post): spoiler[...Again, NOPE! As of the latest manga chapters, Mikan still doesn't know Youko, Aizawa, or Shiho's secrets. She does participate in an entirely separate set of weirdness thanks to Asahi's time-travelling granddaughter Rin (which does end up tying back into the love polygon), but that's about it.] Loose-brained rambling about the series in general: spoiler[We've all seen the problems with adapting a manga while it's still ongoing, and how it forces the anime staff to go off in their own directions (which can be good OR bad), but I kind of feel like Jitsu Wa is showing the opposite problem. It was pretty far along when they started work on the anime, meaning the staff had an embarrassment of riches when it comes to material. Sometimes they handled it well, as seen with their merging similar chapters together; other times, it seemed like they relied too heavily on comedy chapters, delaying any advancement of the main romance to just about the end of the season. If anything, I hope this anime at least inspires people to look into the manga and maybe get a better idea of why (at least IMO) this series stands out amongst all the cookie-cutter harem shows that have cluttered the anime landscape for years.] |
|||
|
|||
Goober2049
 Posts: 55 |
|
||
|
The MC actually picking a love interest at the end of a harem anime? I've only seen 1 where that actually happens.
|
|||
|
|||
CRUZINFORIT
 Posts: 38 Location: Albany, NY |
|
||
|
@Paul Jense:
Sounds like you need to go watch Shuffle! if that is what you are looking for in a harem. That in fact happens. I won't spoil it beyond that but the MC does not end up with anyone you'd expect. |
|||
|
|||
Animechic420
 Posts: 1728 Location: A Cave Filled With Riches |
|
||
What anime was that??? |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group