Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: BBK/BRNK
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2518 |
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Review:Not enough Reoko-sama, too many foreigners, obvious comic relief filler episode. Shizuru's character is starting to look like she has potential at least, Akihito maybe too. Have to say, I'm beginning to appreciate the show's character designer and color-stylist though, the variety of designs and wild (neon/glowing!) color schemes are refreshing. Though I could be officially offended by Team USA, OMG is that what the Japanese want to make Americans out to be? To reference a recent ANN article, I get the sense that the Japanese of Mr. Evans may be a little too unflattering stupid, but I'm probably not qualified to judge. And now we see what Mr. Genius does with that pen...Will BBK/BRNK pull it all together, or just go "Kaboom"? I'm staying tuned.
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DangerMouse
Posts: 3983 |
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Been really enjoying this show. Also, the art style and color design is pretty fantastic.
You can definitely see Kill la Kill's awesome art director's distinctive work and special effects on this and I like Yusuke Kozaki's designs.
Yeah. |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3767 |
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Epizo is so American even his eyes are red white and blue.
I'm thinking, at least for the American team, the author brought them in to deal with the stopped heart situation, as the leader has the same issue. I'm guessing that they need a new one to fix the old one, and unless a new buranki is coming, that just leaves the one that Reoko got from the one defeated last episode. I guess that means the Russians will be an obstacle in that endeavor. There. Wasn't that difficult to see why they would introduce new characters at this point. Also the recent news that it will be 24 episodes gives it the space to do it. I really hope this show does well enough so the hate watchers feel a little silly. I can't imagine they'll like it but I hope they feel a little bad for hating on a show that, while hardly the best ever, is not genuinely awful, unlike say last year's Chaos Dragon. Eagerly anticipating a train derailing doesn't look much better metaphorically than in reality. Some people are trying find things to enjoy in it rather than trying to find something to hate on it for. Not to say that one cannot criticize a show but give it a chance before you hate on it. As you might tell from my mention of Chaos Dragon and if you've seen some comments on the Shippuden episode review forum, I am not against hate watching or hating on a show. I believe that it should deserve it though. It has to be bad not mediocre, and I do not believe BBK/BRNK is bad enough to do so. Do whatever you like though. We'll just think you're haters if you don't give it a fair shot. |
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danpmss
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Now, now. When I wrote my comment, I didn't have any intention on hating on this show (I was just, as objectively as possible, analysing all of its elements presented so far, while pointing out why are they doing things wrong in many instances). This show is fairly try-hard in many ways I could think of, to the point of ruining the presentation of the most interesting characters (which would be the initially attention-grabber villains... That were quickly turned (in a very flanderized way) into a jerkass "for the evulz", a jerkass pedophile, a sensitive jerkass, a bad explained 180° face-wheel turn friend->foe b*tch, and my favorite, the even more insane than usual 40-years old jerkass teenager... By far, the most entertaining character, at least). Besides that, those new characters actually seem to be pretty charismatic imo. Like, most people out there seems to hate them somehow, but yeah, I kinda like them so far. |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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I'll admit during the bubuki battles the villains were definitely weak characters. I would say, as the reviewer mentioned, that the last episode did introduce some moral ambiguity to Team Reoko and their role. Yes they are the crazy dictator and her mostly nutjob lackies but they do defend the country and by extension the world. Also I disagree with your characterization of one of them as a pedophile, as the guy is her uncle and her teacher, so it isn't unusual for him to care for her, unless you're talking about the guy with the shaved head. In that case yeah maybe. Possibly a sex offender as well. Your use of the words try hard don't help me think you're not a hater though. I don't dislike the new characters either, especially Epizo.
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15471 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Is there an actual staff connection? Hmm, it was not here on ANN, but MAL says that both series share an art Director, Yuuji Kaneko. Well if Episode 7 had some Ryouko going for it, episode 8 has some Mako with Epizo. Honestly I thought there character was great, and seems meant to be contrasted with Reoko. Actually I though someone would note that the animation kind of changed in the new episode. Earlier characters moved smooth if somewhat so in the lower frame rate, but here the characters seemed to move more in imitation of standard 2D animation. I noted in the other topic that for some odd reason it makes me think of how it is done in RWBY. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
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It's been several episodes since then, and I'm starting to think the completely over-the-top villainy might have been just an act on their part. They've shown very little of that since then. And Reoko is quite clearly a little unstable. And I'm not sure you can call Tsuwabuki a jerkass given what we've been shown of his personality. Honestly, probably the worst thing you can say about him is that he's on Reoko's side. |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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Now, now right back at you. I wouldn't call danpmss a hater either, just seeming to be tempted into it. Unfortunately, as you don't give any specific qualms, as danpmss was so courteous to give, I cannot give much of a response other than I do not share your opinion of the actions of the characters or the plot progression. As to the benefit of the doubt given, 7 episodes is probably good, though it can go bad at any moment so it doesn't work the other way. From the beginning, I have seen potential, and my opinion hasn't changed. You're free to state your opinions without shame, but it would make it easier to at least get our heads around it if they weren't so nebulous. I certainly don't hold operating under the assumption of 12-13 eps against Mr. Jenson. Merely wanted to mention that more episodes were available. All I'll say about Chaos Dragon is there is a reason I have referred to last place in the episode ratings as the Chaos Dragon place, even though Shippuden has held it for longer. Also if you'd like to see what my standard of WTF is, just watch it to the end. spoiler[Dog human hybrid, though more human in overall appearance. Not really generally but rather in this specific case] |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2518 |
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Oubu the giant fighting robot is introduced in a land inhabited by one special family and sleep-walking robots. But it's not really Earth, just an orbiting asteroid and down to Tokyo harbor they go in free-fall, having accidentally made the robots mad by waking them up. But by Ep2, it seems at least the boy Azuma survived and has become a rebel punk from "abroad" somehow when a bunch of punk teens with bizarre BBK weapons arrive which turn into giant skeletal limbs and voila, Oubu is back (bearing no resemblance to the aforementioned parts). Sounds like a good start? But wait, there's more...The gang literally hops on, defying gravity, and fight a nasty-looking flying BRNK amid much silly drama and when the gang gets beaten, the bad guys just leave them alone and leave. WTF. It just goes on and on, fights to get the BBK weapons from the gang onboard the train bound for the asteroid "Treasure Island" (how that occurs remains to be seen) and when one of the big angry BRNK from Ep1 "drops in", though they knew it was coming and could have taken an alternate route to avoid it, the nasty BRNK and henchmen now need to fight this BRNK and ask for all the BBK they couldn't get from fighting our heros, their sworn enemies, to which our heros agree! And after the fight, the baddies give the BBK back and leave again. WTF. And before this story can go further, we get two new teams of foreigners to fight. You see where all this is going right? If you can't predict the show from here, I think my point is made. You can say "now, now" now. |
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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When it comes down to it, I'll say 1 is true. In my response to his response I wanted to leave it in the air, but after your response and again now I will say he is not. As for two, narratively, the American team will be there to assist with the stopped heart situation though in universe they are there to get a new heart, initially from Azuma. As to the two moments you specifically say WTF to, first the villains leaving them after their initial defeat by Entei, I would put that under arrogance and the knowledge they control the country, and since the kids were defeated so easily, there was no need to immediately get rid of them. They are allowed to be shortsighted, plus they don't know they are in a story where they are antagonists. For the second, Reoko's team giving their bubuki back, Zetsubi did give her word that they would be returned, and not being a mustache twirling villain (not literally) seems desirable to me. If you question their decision to give it to them in the first place, well their own bubuki were no good and team Azuma's were the only ones, and they had just been swiftly defeated, so Azuma felt the only option was to give them theirs. Reoko's team could easily get new ones later and did from the buranki they just defeated. As to avoiding the buranki, Azuma seemed to be the type not to let the buranki go wild and do nothing about it. Plus I'm not sure there was additional routes to Treasure Island as it was on a secret special line to there. Overall your point it that it is predictable, to which I just say that some people are not as offended by predictability as you. You also seem to sneer at the very premise and genre elements, so it really is amazing you didn't drop it. Most people upon seeing something and responding "Ugh, I know where this is going" would just say it isn't for them and leave it at that. Most people don't hate watch things they find predictable, usually things that are either awful or so bad it's good. It seems like an unpleasant waste of time to watch every predictable genre piece for those reasons. From the looks of it, I don't think I can change your mind on the show so we'll have to agree to disagree. I do still hope it turns out to your liking. Although if that is your standard of WTF, I'll just say I've seen worse, both in terms of character actions and plot developments and general writing. Though hopefully the next arc of Shippuden isn't as bad as the last. Thank you very much for indulging me. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
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zrnzle500
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Due to my current line of work, I stay up late, though 2 am EST is far from the latest I've posted. I did consider the possibility that your point was the opposite but much of your description exuded a jaded been then done that attitude that I thought you had been imprecise in your wording. In that case, some people complain about things being too predictable, so some unpredictability is desirable. I do have a vague idea where they may be going with the foreign team line so I wouldn't say it is unpredictable, though I could be wrong. Incidentally, I did not dislike Endless Eight too much, as there were slight differences between each iteration and I got to see Haruhi in different outfits, who was my then-waifu (as I imagine she was to many people). It helped that I marathoned it and didn't see it as it was airing. That would have been painful. To your last few lines, I appreciate it. |
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DangerMouse
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Yup, there is.  Like you checked, MAL shows he did both, and to be sure I also looked up to see his name was on the Japanese site for Buranki, and it's the same as Kill la Kill (his name is also ofcourse in English on the US Kill la Kill site).
I was really curious when the show started since I felt like I recognized his style even in little things like the stylish shot that opens episode 2 and the way the fog rolls through the detailed background of the city, they reminded me of Kill la Kill so I was really curious if he was indeed working on this.
Loving his work. |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2518 |
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Well, I hope others enjoyed this week's episode as much as I. This series is beginning to show a lot of heart...And we see that Shizuru can be one stone badass (not just a stoner)! Can't wait to see the series get it's legs under it more. It's looking like the writers are getting thier arms around the story finally...
@zrnzle500 Endless 8 was just that, after hoping season 2 would adapt more of the LN series, the only good part being Ep 9 and bringing up the concept that people very rarely behave differently than they usually do despite thoughts to the contrary. I'm not sure I'd want Haruhi as a waifuu, though I was rooting for Kyon.  Have seen much of Chaos Dragon and I can see how some of the story dropping out of the blue as it did was WTF, but it also seems a little similar to BBK to me. My daughter predicted some of the developments based on current D&D dragon lore though, so one's WTF is another's "that just makes sense" I guess.
I like to have a sense that the story is going somewhere and reflects enough planning and thought to keep from being just a collection of twists that happen for no reason. I call it the "make-it-up-as-you-go" syndrome that many anime fall into, where the first 2-3 episodes reflect obvious planning, followed by 1-2 "filler" episodes before the story becomes cohesive and launches an actual story arc. That is how BBK seemed to me until this week, except that there was no "planned" phase and was stuck in "filler" mode. Of course, a totally predictable story is not as much fun either but I think tolerable. Hooray that BBK looks like it is past all that. Last edited by Hiroki not Takuya on Sat Mar 05, 2016 3:24 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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