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EP. REVIEW: Thunderbolt Fantasy


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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:19 pm Reply with quote
Yeah the subs not matching the spoken names are making it impossible for me to remember names. Thank God Gabrielle went through them all again here. I'm not even going to attempt typing them on this keyboard though.

My favorite parts this time were all Dan Fei. I loved her talk with Hero-san, and I loved when she basically told Lance-san to stay out of the way and proceeded to kick major butt. I was afraid we'd just see a helpless damsel and so very glad she's more. I'm looking forward to the necromancer, who is the coolest-looking of them all so far.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:26 pm Reply with quote
the "roadway" has been setup so nicely, that I "fear" something will go horribly wrong regarding that, like archer dying before he even ahs a chance to comply wiht his duty.
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DrunkAyanami
Get off my lawn



Joined: 27 Feb 2015
Posts: 88
Location: The great state of Vermont
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:45 pm Reply with quote
maximilianjenus wrote:
the "roadway" has been setup so nicely, that I "fear" something will go horribly wrong regarding that, like archer dying before he even has a chance to comply with his duty.


Archer was recruited for a specific task, and has already demonstrated that he a huge badass ("oops, it seems I've overestimated you, I thought you wouldn't have stepped back so far that my arrow missed you..."). So going by Madoka (or even Jojo) rules, yea, that would honestly make for the most obvious choice for an early "oh crap things have gone horribly wrong" plot twist.

Also, I really enjoy the fact that this is an "anime" original by Gen Urobuchi, since I can speculate like crazy and nothing I say is actually a spoiler. Although I was largely wrong with my Rokka no Yuusha predictions, so take my ramblings as you will.
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DrunkAyanami
Get off my lawn



Joined: 27 Feb 2015
Posts: 88
Location: The great state of Vermont
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:22 pm Reply with quote
Brand wrote:
I feel like MAL has had their guidelines for years now, people should know. I knew it wouldn't get in the DB I in fact waited for people to start posting threads suggesting reasons that don't match up in the guidelines at all for it to be in. So, not really shocked there.


Yea, I get their reasoning and I'm not really surprised, but I also feel it's overly restrictive. It's not like MAL standards are part of an FDA clinical trial. It's freakin anime. Lighten up a little, you know?

I'd frankly be fine with allowing popular exemptions like Avatar The Last Airbender (which I have exactly zero opinion on) along with Thunderbolt Fantasy. They can be shoved into a category of "kindsorta anime" for all I care.

The best argument I've read for adding puppets to MAL was somewhere in the MAL posts you are describing: "Thunderbolt Fantasy is more anime than most anime."

Brand wrote:
I don't frequent r/anime as much so I was kind of surprised when they said no. There was a thread for it early on but I guess it has been removed. If you are interested someone did make a r/ThunderboltFantasy.


Yea I'm no longer a reddit member myself, so I probably won't bother, but thank you for that subreddit!. I usually only browse reddit at the start and end of anime seasons in order to selfishly, pretentiously affirm that yes, indeed, I am correct in ignoring /r/anime. I just was really taken aback at the fact that Thunderbolt Fantasy is not only unpopular, but any related thread seems to be actively deleted. Meanwhile crap like "Best Girl Competition #23" is still going strong. Go figure.

Brand wrote:
Yeah, I'm enjoying the show and tropes and clichés they are very well excited but I also feel I am waiting for that "WHAT A TWIST" moment also. It is interesting to see puppets do some of the silly and goofy anime stuff. Somehow, I feel they work better for the action.


Has there actually ever been an Urobuchi work where he plays it completely straight? Or, at least, delivers a happy ending for everyone? On one hand, I like his moral grayness (which in my opinion is a hallmark of what attracts me to Japanese media). On the other hand, what if he pulls a Mayoiga (I should copyright this phrase...) by completely messing with our expectations?
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:31 pm Reply with quote
DrunkAyanami wrote:
maximilianjenus wrote:
the "roadway" has been setup so nicely, that I "fear" something will go horribly wrong regarding that, like archer dying before he even has a chance to comply with his duty.


Archer was recruited for a specific task, and has already demonstrated that he a huge badass ("oops, it seems I've overestimated you, I thought you wouldn't have stepped back so far that my arrow missed you..."). So going by Madoka (or even Jojo) rules, yea, that would honestly make for the most obvious choice for an early "oh crap things have gone horribly wrong" plot twist


Nooooo, don't kill off my one true love~! Crying or Very sad But i agree, it might actually happen, their journey can't just be smooth sailing forever.

I'm still madly in love with this show, but i gotta echo everyone elses complaint about the names, that's just unnecessarily confusing and distracting.
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Melchiorgk



Joined: 13 Jun 2014
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 2:56 pm Reply with quote
I love Lancer's semi-drunken ramblings in this last episode, and how they used the puppet's movements (especially during non-speaking parts) to convey that.

As for Shang's purpose.... I have two suspicions. First: He's the Necromancer's type, and thus pivotal to convincing her to help. Second: Even after depriving Evil Overlord of his magic mcguffins, you still have an incredibly talented swordsman with magic swords to beat. So, having your own that is very practable (let's use the magic sword to beat the magic bad guys!) will help resolve that situation.

I do wonder - Shang did seem to have a definite goal while traveling, though I do not think he knew where the goal was other than a vague direction. I wonder if that will come up again.
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DrunkAyanami
Get off my lawn



Joined: 27 Feb 2015
Posts: 88
Location: The great state of Vermont
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 3:14 pm Reply with quote
Merida wrote:

Nooooo, don't kill off my one true love~! Crying or Very sad But i agree, it might actually happen, their journey can't just be smooth sailing forever.


Alternative scenarios:

1) Archer is a mole for the bad guys, and betrays our good guys, and therefore ve must deel wif him.

2) Archer is in fact a badass good guy, but is kidnapped or otherwise incapacitated by Plot, so he remains alive but can't actually contribute to the fighting (I call this "Lisa Lisa disease").

3) Archer serves an Obi Wan type mentor role, where he dies early but motivates one or more of the remaining group through his ghostiness.
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Alabaster Spectrum



Joined: 02 Sep 2015
Posts: 528
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 3:32 pm Reply with quote
Why does it feel like these are less a review series for this show and more a love in for Gen Urobuch (or apparently "The Booch" according to this article? I mean the writing is still pretty cheesecake Saturday morning cartoon show tier which is pretty fitting for Pili Puppet theater and shows he's done his homework but really nothing special at all in the grand scheme of things. IMO there's not a single thing special about the work he's doing here, he's merely demonstrating competence which at this point I guess is enough to put him above most writers this industry has but still not worth singling out to the degree people do or putting him on a pedestal every time he writes somthing. Of course that's just my opinion, but I find the guy almost comically overpraised for what he does with most of his shows. When things go okay with a show he gets massively inflated credit and it's all 100% thanks to him (no praise for Pili here I see on the presentation, effects and directing so apparently that was all Urobuchi too Laughing ), when things don't go so well it's "not his fault" even if he's listed as the original creator and overseer.

The reviewer also openly admits to being a massive fangirl for the writer so like what are we even doing here. It's admitted that it's cliche stuff that she's seen a hundred times before but apparently because it's Gen Urobuchi it's an instant A. There's no way to take it seriously as a review or guide to go off of so again like what are we doing here and what service is being provided to readers and curious parties besides a fan wank I could read anywhere else on the internet as a general reaction. You might as well just call it a series overview right now and post something like "episodes 1-13, for everyone that's a huge Urobuchi fanboy A+, for everyone else maybe C+" and you could cover all the ground that it seems like is going to get covered in these columns.

I mean it's basically stated straight up that there's no way this can be anything less than an A because of the reviewers biases towards the writer so either ANN should cough up a second opinion (probably by Theron Martin because he's the only one that doesn't put his transparently out there for everyone to see and tries to do his job as a reviewer) or we're kind of just done here already 4 weeks in as there's nothing else to write or review if the reviewer truly feels that way.
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notrogersmith



Joined: 06 Jun 2010
Posts: 192
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 5:35 pm Reply with quote
Brand wrote:
Yeah, I'm enjoying the show and tropes and clichés they are very well excited but I also feel I am waiting for that "WHAT A TWIST" moment also. It is interesting to see puppets do some of the silly and goofy anime stuff. Somehow, I feel they work better for the action.
I'm wondering if Shāng Bù Huàn complaining about how so many of these supposed mystical weapons are fakes will turn out to be foreshadowing.
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2165
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:22 pm Reply with quote
This episode dragged a bit in the spooky scary woods where everyone went "zomg she's a demon" about three times more than necessary. Other than that, I enjoyed the episode.

So to get things straight, we have Robin Ho- ahem, Merlin, gathering his merry band of Serva- I mean warriors, including Arche- I mean, Saber, Kiritsu- uh, Archer, Mikiya, now a Lancer, currently pending Irisvi- er, Caster, and then someone with a magic flute Noble Phantasm.

Now they just need to beat up the evil sword collector Gilgamesh!
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Sat Jul 23, 2016 10:43 pm Reply with quote
"Alright guys we'll need to cross an evil forest full of zombie, so to do that we'll have to cross an evil forest full of zombie to get a necromancer otherwise we'll never be able to cross an evil forest full of zombie" genius!

Yeah I agree archer dude is the obvious candidate to die before fulfilling his role, I mean he already has an apprentice whose weapon can also pierce stuff (he'll probably just throw his spear to kill the golem).
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9809
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 7:22 am Reply with quote
I find it interesting that the archer is as accurate as he is, since he aims with his patched eye.
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notrogersmith



Joined: 06 Jun 2010
Posts: 192
PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 3:14 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
"Alright guys we'll need to cross an evil forest full of zombie, so to do that we'll have to cross an evil forest full of zombie to get a necromancer otherwise we'll never be able to cross an evil forest full of zombie" genius!
Bear in mind that to recruit the necromancer, they don't have to win against the zombies, only hold out long enough until the necromancer is on their side. That's not true for evil zombie forest surrounding the big bad's castle.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:30 am Reply with quote
I loved this pose when he's trying to be all nonchalant (wish I could easily do gifs because coming out of the pose was what made it funny):



Bu's arm is still driving me nuts. I can see that it's an artifact of how the puppets are moved, but all the others' have that well-hidden in their robes and such so that it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. I wonder why he apparently presents a different problem for them?
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Koda89



Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 7:27 pm Reply with quote
DrunkAyanami wrote:
OberonBob wrote:
I also want to thank ANN for covering Thunderbolt Fantasy, I never would have taken a look at the show if it wasn't in the preview guide.


MyAnimeList refuses to list it as it's not technically animation (freakin pedants...), and reddit is apparently completely denying its existence (I cannot find a single thread on it in /r/anime).

As I do not usually frequent crunchyroll, it is absolutely because of ANN that I discovered this series. I am super grateful that I did find it though: it's a jolt of originality (despite the very rote plot so far) in the midst of what I consider to be a somewhat lackluster season.


At least Hummingbird and Anime-Planet don't have a stick up their bums regarding the classification of this show as they both have it listed as anime. Very Happy
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