Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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I liked several series a lot this season, but some felt very "something something that's all folks now read the manga!" |
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Sisyphusson66
Posts: 96 |
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Both endings are poor, but I don't know, I think this last episode was handled much, much better than the last episode of The Price of Smiles. While surely not anywhere near a perfect ending, and as much as it was a "read-the-manga" ending, the ending itself was relatively harmless to the narrative and themes. The ending stayed true to the anime's tone and direction, for better or worse, and doesn't ruin the experience of the anime in hindsight. The Price of Smiles, on the other hand, completely botched the ending by failing to conclude all of Stella's character and plot progression, rushing the end of the war and the emotion climax, and overlooking all problems Yuki's solution ought to have caused in favor of an unearned, uninteresting sweet ending. I think this ending, unlike Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka's ending, does ruin the experience of the anime in hindsight. |
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kotomikun
Posts: 1205 |
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If we accept that for the sake of argument, my one-liner response will be that it had much farther to fall than Spec-Ops Asuka ever did. Speaking of which...
The only good explanation for this I can come up with is that maybe someone mixed up the episode storyboard with someone's edgy hentai doujin. And that they also did that a few times in previous episodes. Not trying to kinkshame or anything, people can watch whatever they like as long as it's legal; but wildly unrealistic fetish plots and serious drama don't mix very well, which is what the review was trying to say. I'm beginning to feel like the older fans complaining about how Madoka gets too much credit for being the "first" dark magical girl show when many of its themes appeared earlier (even in Sailor Moon itself) are actually bothered by something slightly different--the fact that Madoka seems to be the last angsty magical girl anime. Or the last one to not stumble all over itself trying to be as dark as possible, mistaking that for the sole reason Madoka was popular. I wouldn't say they've been universally awful, but none of them have achieved much lasting success; Yuki Yuna is the only one I know of to get a sequel. Closest thing I can think of to a derived hit is Symphogear, but that may just be coincidence, since it came out only a year later. Maybe this all boils down to people enjoying (or hating) things for different reasons. It's just kind of troubling how easily "dark themes, female characters" slips into fetishistic territory; either in a literal sense, or through excessive tragedy and victimization. (Or, in the case of Spec-Ops Asuka, both.) Madoka indulged in those things to a lesser degree, but I think the main reason it was so popular was because it bridged a gap between masculine entertainment (moe, violence, tragedy/horror) and feminine entertainment (the entire magical girl genre up to that point) in an unprecedented way, without leaning too far into one or the other and alienating potential viewers. Asuka isn't attempting any interesting balance at all, it's just taking a 24-esque hard-boiled military action theme and slapping a veneer of magical-girls on top, primarily so that most of the characters can be hot ladies, who can do double duty as protagonists and damsels in (sexy) distress. It's far from the worst thing ever conceived, but like most pale imitations, it will probably be forgotten as soon as the next one rolls in. |
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Chrono1000
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Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka was a very entertaining show and I liked that it had a grounded explanation for how magical girls would work alongside the police and military. That the magical girls were effectively soldiers gives it a very different feel than other late night magical girl shows. The combination of action and fanservice won't be for everyone but it was one of my favorite shows of the season.
This show might also be the best example of a yuri magical girl show. There are several magical girls in this show with a female lover and there might have been more if Asuka wasn't afflicted with a severe case of harem protagonist syndrome. The show is unlikely to get any awards due to the moderate torture scenes but it did push boundaries even for a late night magical girl show. |
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otagirl
Posts: 111 |
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Best show this season. Gonna miss it.
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Nordhmmer
Posts: 1028 |
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Storyboard mix-up....no. In later chapters the manga treats it's readers to tentacle molestation, incest care of brainwashing(last episode teased this bit)-as the story goes on,the more "edgier" the material. Asuka is good ole fashion,trashy,pulp fiction. |
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Sailor Sedna
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I apologize for the long length of this comment, but I feel the need to speak my mind here. I've finally finished this series, and since I'm not posting my honest thoughts on this series on Crunchyroll (for worries of harassment as I've seen what the comments section can be like), I'll say them here.
Episodes 8 & 9: Chisato and Geiss' backstories were well done, though I was expecting Geiss to have a deep voice, not a child's voice. Nothing much besides that except fanservice, Kurumi acting like she's been possessed by the spirit of Norma Bates or Pamela Bates and General Tabira being so far, nothing but a superfluous character who looks like a rejected hentai OC (I'm surprised her fairy form doesn't have dirty pillows too). Episode 10: Like what Nordhmmer said, the animation quality went to shit here, relying on shortcuts like cameras and stills on speed lines and not enough animation, one disappointment as I was thinking it would be animated well, but it isn't. Seeing the dog/wolf fairy turn into an anime version of Doggie Cruger wasn't even cool as he goes down too easily. And it is at this point that I realize I cannot take the idea of giant evil cute looking plushies seriously anymore. And seeing what some of those plushies were doing to the humans, seriously? 
The episode felt like it was just thrown together in a hurry. Only good things were seeing somewhat of development from Sayako and Sacchu with his deranged "I'M GAWNA KILL YUUUUU" expression. Episode 11: Best episode of the series, hands down. The only well animated episode, the fight scenes were cool, Geiss' death gave me Darth Vader vibes and it along with Chisato's realiziation of her manipulation made me feel sad, but it still felt like it was thrown together in parts. Episode 12: Here's where we see a lot of the horrible, creepy vibes this show has. It sucks Pei Pei didn't appear much at all, leading to the opening being a case of false advertising, and whilst I did like the idea of the reformations of Chisato (whom I find more interesting and enjoyable than most of the other girls) and Nazani, Nazani, who looks about to be the age of 12-13, in a dog collar, skimpy sling top that may as well be and panties killed it for me (and the fact how I found out in a preview for the later volumes Fukami can't stop sexualizing her, as there's pictures of her in bondage on a rope and then her in nothing but a bra and panties watching what I believe was that tentacle rape Nordhmmer mentioned). Please excuse me whilst I board up all the cracks around my doors with boards and then weep into my pillow like a sailor suited schoolgirl as the modern manga and anime industry is petrifying me. 
(I don't care, I couldn't even look at it, this is literally one of those times where you have to wonder what was going on in the author's head and why this somehow got licensed here. Not to mention the added torture thing to Chisato that wasn't in the manga was not only mean spirited, but is giving me vibes and implications Kurumi could be a predator. And the thing with Pei Pei and that other girl, I have no comment) The sex scene was unappealing, forced and I've seen better sex scenes (and animation) in a hentai. And we also hear one magical girl, Sailor Mercury, behind the microphone wondering what the hell she is doing with her life... I'm sorry, but Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka was terrible, and failed to live up to expectations. The animation is terrible, the action is over too quick and not exciting, the pacing is terrible, slow and boring, the storytelling is too weird and ridiculous in concepts, the torture scenes rely too much on appealing to prurient or pedophilic interests and are beyond forced, most of the characters range from being bland to annoying to superfluous, none of the magical girls have any arcs whatsoever, the tonal whiplash is so annoying, that it makes Voogie's Angel (another similarly bad magical girl military styled anime OVA from 1997) look like a Miyazaki film, and certain scenes are so disturbing the anime is becoming incredibly, mind-bogglingly offensive, sickening. Even if it is to show how, well, fucked up war can be, Fukami and the directors took it way further than needed, fell short and couldn't figure out how to develop their cast properly. I also can't believe that I'd ever find a magical girl anime that was worse than Sailor Moon Crystal Seasons 1-2 (I know it's old news, but still it was so shockingly horrific I never even thought it would be topped), but lo and behold, how I hate being wrong!! I mentioned "The Room" earlier, but I'm saying this is the "Birdemic 2: The Resurrection" of magical girl anime, that's how bad it is! 
There were some good things to it, like some of the beginning episodes, character development to Asuka, Sayako and Chisato, and the final battle was good, but they can't save this series, there's nothing to it and it's a waste of time. It started off good but it slowly went downhill. We don't even learn anything about the other five dead magical girls like the jungle girl and what appears to be a Christian magical girl. I don't really care if we get a second season or not, and maybe I'll read the rest of the manga to find out how the story ends as normally I'm not the type of person to give up on stories, no matter how great/horrible they are, but if it gets to a point to where I just can't stand it anymore or I once again, find parts of it incredibly, mind-bogglingly bad, sickening and offensive, my copies are going into the trash to spare others the agony like I've done with some hentai doujins. If anyone likes this series, good for them, I'll forever see this as a besmirchment on a genre I've been losing hope in. Final rating: 0.5/10. Last edited by Sailor Sedna on Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18187 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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^
Definitely sounds like you shouldn't be wasting time pursuing this title any more if you genuinely hate it that much. A lot of your comments are, in my book, To Each His Own kind of statements, and I can definitely understand why some are going to have a very viscerally negative reaction to this series; there are parts that even I found uncomfortable, after all. Hence I'm only going to take issue with one of your statements:
Pretty dangerous statement to make. There are quite a few people who either weren't bothered by the objectionable material (or are actual fans of it) or, like me, liked enough of it to overlook the objectionable parts. |
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Sailor Sedna
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Yeah, I think I'll pass on this series. I'll still check reviews here on this website to see opinions if it continues though. Oh well, hope there's another series this year that will catch my eye. Any recommendations?
Also edited that part of my comment out, didn't mean to sound like dangerous or anything, sorry. Normally I could handle seeing some of the dark elements in it but they pretty much crossed the line to me in episode 12 and it gets worse in the manga. I do respect your opinion and opinions of others who liked it. |
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