Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Wise Man's Grandchild
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Mugen1style
Posts: 281 Location: North of the wall |
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Despite the poor review I am still liking this show. I was never really expecting a ground breaking new take on a Fantasy show. I agree about the change in art work when it comes to the dogs although I kind of understand it was meant to be a joke of sorts. The rest of the show seems to be executed well enough, and watching the MC with seemingly unlimited power take on the bad guys is always fun in my book. Aug is up to something for certain but if you were him you would be too. As far as the rest of the cast and their new problems with the rest of there lives being decided , I did not hear one of them bitch about it. They all were pretty pleased with their new stations in life or so it seemed.
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Covnam
 Posts: 3644 |
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Wasn't expecting the MC to be so OP even his friends become OP in no time at all
While I can understand that comprehending chemistry helps with this type of magic, it seems odd that only Shin & his grandfather are the only ones to have discovered the other part of their power (refining mana I think it was) and that the rest of the world is so far behind them that in such a short time (has it even been a month?) of training, the other students are already among the most powerful mages in the country. You'd think magic would be researched constantly to find ways to increase it's power considering it seems to be seen as just as important as any other military tool. So instead do we just presume that (basically) everyone in the world just accepted magic as it was and didn't seek to improve it? Don't get me wrong, I was expecting some improvements (over time), but nothing like this :/ |
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arkhangelsk
Posts: 20 |
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I'll dissent with this week's review. I suspect that Wise Man's Grandchild is indeed meant to be a comedy first. It might not be the reviewer's direction, but it is a direction, and apparently it even sells. What? 3 million copies? Frankly I've read the manga and my rating is that the story isn't "3 million copy" good to say the least but ... hah, I confess, I just contributed 4 manga to that count...
Anyway, the show can either choose to be bright or grimdark over this. It chooses to be bright. And I'll say it is not handled too unrealistically. Shin shows some of the "modern people's sensibilities". But though it is easy to forget, ultimately every other person in that group is a Medieval age person. Some are nobles and others are at least middle class merchants. They simply don't have as much freedom in their lives as we do, nor do they expect it. The boys choices are between some kind of government service and succeeding their parents' trade. The girls choices are between just getting married off or government service for a few years before getting married. Anything else is not in their vision. Cutting aside those who volunteered for Knight School before being transferred here, to someone like Alice Corner, this is already a better, much more fun life and career than she ever expected. The people who were going to choose government service anyway think they are on the path to contributing much more than they originally hoped. What's not to like? There's nothing unreasonable about this ruling. Besides, the idea of kids being conscripted by circumstance to save the world is almost as old as anime. Giant Robo, countless magical girl anime, even Astroboy is very much about a boy that keeps getting forced into things by virtue of his robot body. In the 90s there were at least 2 anime series (4-cour each IIRC) where an entire class of primary school kids get conscripted into driving giant robots (3-4 of them were driving, the others were in this ops room backing them up). Oh yeah, and Isekai, almost all of it. Shows that get grimdark about it are AFAIK a minority, and really, those shows end up having them fight anyway. So why not let them go happy? ===
Mmm, that seems unfair. The main thing here is not "arrogant knights" - they are non-entities. The main thing is to demonstrate that everyone in the class is far above the baseline level, so you have to allocate them all a firing pass that really allows them to show their stuff in a scenario where if everything went well they should only have to demonstrate average capabilities. The only real alternatives are to suddenly change the threat level, but Shin already took that one and you can't keep doing that. So what kind of scenario can an average writer (I think we both agree this is not brilliant, so we should only demand things that can be successfully written by an average writer) pull? |
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steelmirror
 Posts: 342 |
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Accepting bad writing by saying "well the show is bad, so I'm fine with it if it continues to be bad" is well and good for you personally, If you are enjoying it despite the badness (I sure as hell have done that before with other shows), but it's not a justification. It's not even an excuse. It's just low standards. |
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arkhangelsk
Posts: 20 |
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Basically, what your solution neglects entirely is the importance of appropriate allocation. If for example, we throw away 7A, then in effect we have yet another Shin Wolford gets all the limelight scenario. Shin is already a OP protagonist and our tolerance for him is at the limits. He needs to be shown sharing his gold around so he doesn't look too disgusting.
And we can't have only some people showing their firing pass because those that don't, or those that get lower quality passes, will be perceived as inferior, and the start of power stratification even within the class. This is not the intent - in fact, that all twelve of them would be improving is actually of this series' highlights, so the implication should be avoided In fact, the care shown in allocation in this segment is rather impressive. For example, why is Shin's team the only team where cooperation happened? From a story construction perspective, it is because successful cooperation actually means a lower demonstrated output (a weaker pass) compared to one where the magicians have to do all the work. However, August, Maria and Sizili are in the 1st ring relative to Shin, so no one is worried about them - even if the implication is that they are weaker, no one believes they would be left that way for long. They can "afford" the weaker pass. Or why Yuri and Alice expressedly got to shoot in the test range scene. This is not in the manga (everyone was just shooting things in the distance there). The difference is that the anime changed something for comedic effect. In the manga, Yuri and Alice had successful passes and then defended against Lynn's misfire. Only Lynn turned into an afro. I guess the TV staff thought afros are a good joke, but good joke or not the new implication was that Yuri and Alice also failed. To maintain balance Yuri and Alice had to be given their passes at the earliest opportunity, which was there. Or why Lynn was allocated the pass for the wolves. Similarly, it is because she had to have a successful pass as soon as possible for balance reasons. This time, she succeeds, thus ending that demonstration cycle. Which leaves poor Thor as a bit of the leftout. But he's male and he's not the protagonist. He doesn't count and I guess the budget and timetable ran out 
So there was quite a bit of care taken there. Second, the story needs to demonstrate that Shin's group are all above the level, as preparation and justification for their next step to become the special forces. There will be victims and to justify their victim status, the victims need to do something unambiguously bad. Interservice rivalry and sexual harassment may be old hat, but it also means they are established, easily understood and uncontroversial. No one is going to debate or feel too sorry for those knights. |
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steelmirror
Posts: 342 |
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Cryten
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I wish they would show a scene or two of shin actually teaching them magic technique instead of showing off his skills. It would give his character some more roundness instead of all edge. I dont want the only thing for the class mates to get stronger to be charging their power level like DBZ.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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Didn't the series say that in this world you're an adult at 15? So why do they need chaperones? I can't just write that off to Grammie being overprotective - she was raised in this world where 15 year old adults are the norm, so there's no reason for her to be aghast at a mixed overnighter. If she wants to be there to watch his back against the rising threats around him, fine, but just say that. It seems like the series can't commit to its own world-building.
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Cam0
 Posts: 4888 |
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Good point. Melinda actually says that they are "of age" (subtitles do at least) meaning she acknowledges them as adults, but not old enough to sleep under the same roof. Not sure if that makes sense.
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Norm the genius
Posts: 91 |
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I at least if I would highlight the declaration of love of the last episode, this time, surprisingly the MC if he seems to have an authentic interest in his girlfriend, he declared himself of his own free will, it is not a big thing, but it's a breakthrough at least.
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Covnam
Posts: 3644 |
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Rebecca and others here make a fair point about the group being considered adults, but needing chaperones being at odds.
To play devil's advocate, off the top of my head I can think of two ways that might justify this: First, they're a bunch of (mostly) rich elites and thus have to maintain their chastity for marriage (presumably they'd be thinking of the women in the group more so then the men) since marrying for social and political means is likely important in this type of society. And second, while they may be considered to have reached 'adulthood'(able to work or get married possibly) by society, that doesn't mean that they still aren't going to be treated like "kids". Perhaps at 15 they can legally become an independent adult and their parents are no longer required by law to support them (if that's even a thing in this society), but if they aren't independent (as these characters don't seem to be), then they are still expected to act a certain way and follow certain rules. We have plenty of cultures (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coming_of_age) where people are considered "adults", but wouldn't be allowed to have a mixed sleep away camp without supervision. More so if you look back before modern societies. tl;dr Just because you're considered an adult, doesn't mean you're free to do what you want. It's more of a "stop acting like a kid and get serious about your future" thing |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11340 |
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I had to give this episode an extra star solely for this exchange:
Shin: When she puts it that way, I'm not that dense. Aug: But you are dense enough that she had to put it that way. |
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Cam0
Posts: 4888 |
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Usually I'd be a bit more excited about a confession scene, but Shin and Sizilien have so little chemistry and Sizilien has so little personality that it's impossible to get excited about it. I feel like Sizilien is only written that way to make her as nonthreatening (submissive) as pobbiel and easy to win over for basically anyone inserting themselves as Shin.
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Tony Baptiste
Posts: 1 |
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I rely on reviews like Ms Silverman's to tell me about shows that I might be missing in the world of anime... There's years worth of material and sorting through what I would find favorable is made harder by the cultural and linguistic nuances that I am not likely to get. But when I do find something that works for me like Wise Man's Grandchild I go all in I read the source material and try to get a variety of sources for feedback. I find that most of the reviews I encounter are on the same page. But your review Ms Silverman reads more like an assignment that you did not particularly enjoy. I would expect that you would be a fan of the genre to review items in the genre. But it seems like the points you find to be problematic are all tropes within the genre and the mildest and least bothersome tropes at that. I am thankful when I find a relatable story (a story where the protagonist is for all intents and purposes is good) that has morally acceptable subject matter (neither lolly or siscon are just plain rape for the sake of plot points (aka dumpster fires)) that is generally upbeat (the good guy wins without having to compromise principles). I like the dotting grandma and grandpa angle . I like the Idea that glaring issekai questions like language adaptation and biological compatibility are answered by the simple expediency of rebirth. On the whole these things makes me appreciate an author that has thought them through and come out not with the profitable answer but the right answer. It makes me happy for them and humanity in general when the right answer ends up being just as if not more profitable.... So it frustrates me when I read a review like yours that doesn't seem to appreciate the material For the relatable yet still innovative story that it is, Nor for the author's thoughtful choices to both place the story well within the genre that fans can appreciate with well recognized tropes but also to follow an upbeat and morally unambiguous path which differs from what seems to be taking over so much of what is now mainstream media.
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Changeitup
Posts: 9 |
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I think Rebecca's actually been quite merciful on this show. It's true there's literally nothing offensive in this show, no lolis, no rape, no slavery, but there's ways to avoid these elements and not be the viewing equivalent of unseasoned oatmeal. Is it really so much to ask that the protagonist have to struggle just a little? Is it too much to ask that his love interest have a personality and a life goal besides being the protagonist's wife? Is it too much to ask that the show have some dang tension?
I actually wouldn't mind more "clean" anime, as much as I enjoy the salacious stuff from time to time I do think anime often leans too much on its fetishy side, but sweet merciful candy-corn we can do better than this! |
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