Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Assault Lily Bouquet
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2 Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Electric Wooloo
Posts: 310 |
|
|||
|
At the risk talking into the void in this forum, I find the antagonistic aspect of Gehena the last couple episodes interesting but somewhat poorly executed. We have this big bad company and are told what they've done in regards to Yuri and Tazusa, but they're still really vague and mysterious. I guess that's intentional, but its so much so that they feel disconnected from things.
I do however like the "What happens to the soldiers after the war is won" angle that they're taking. A lot of other series treat super powered or magic characters like they're normal, and while the lilies are certainly normal girls for their age, obviously the general populous might be concerned that they even exist. As for Yuri spoiler[I'm glad the principal and I are on the same page, a human is a human regardless of their source.I suppose the principal's seeming compliance in the first half of the episode was meant to mislead us while he had Moyu prepare things behind the scenes. Let's hear it for precedence indeed.] The political hoops the principal jumps through in order to get his way must be backbreaking, and while the scene with him and the councilors felt a bit bog standard I can't deny that Moyu coming in, dropping fact bombs with her cheery tone, and the principal shrugging and being like "well that settles it" was pretty fun. Kaede giving it to her father after the red herring last episode was such a joy to watch. She's 100% cemented as my favorite character. I thought she'd be a boilerplate ojou at the start, but her continuous willingness to stand up to anyone based on her convictions, rather than perceived privilege, is such a nice change. spoiler[The ending to this episode though, felt suuuuper rushed story wise. Making all the build up seem pointless if they're just gonna kill Yuri off in a sudden 3 minute fight. I suppose the subtitle of the next episode "Believe in you and wait" points to her maybe surviving, but I certainly do feel the pace issues in this one.] Haven't been that into the Yuri arc in general looking back on it and I hope we got back to the HUGE and their origins as well as the potential connections with CHARMs hinted at in episode 6 again soon. |
||||
|
||||
|
Kaylee Smerbeck
Posts: 149 |
|
|||
|
Sounds like this is a series where it was designed to see how long lesbians can stick for the possible yuri
|
||||
|
||||
dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1359 |
|
|||
|
Was Yuri waving to one of the huge Huge’s drone escorts when the scene shifted to her and Ruri in the old building? I’m wondering what’s going to happen with that bit.
|
||||
|
||||
|
OtherSideofSky
|
|
|||
I thought that might have been a military drone or something, since you see shortly afterward that the whole pursuing force has found them and is parked outside. My interpretation was that Yuri just didn't know what it was and Riri was too lost in thought to look outside.
I think this is in there as a nod to the light novel this series is loosely based on, in which Tazusa gets her own chapter that's about leading to her joining up, instead of just joining up with Mai for little reason like in the anime. (LN Tazusa also regenerates like Wolverine and talks to her body as if it's a group of separate entities because she feels disconnected from it.) The LN doesn't have enough material to fill 12 episodes (it doesn't have the whole Yuri plot at all and ends on dealing with Yuyu's past, in addition to a lot of setting details being slightly different), but structurally it has a much clearer through-line than this show. I know there's another novel centered on Moyu (who isn't in the first one) and some stage plays that this anime also probably draws plot elements from, but the way it all comes together certainly leaves a lot to be desired. |
||||
|
Sisyphusson66
Posts: 96 |
|
|||
|
For about 3/4ths of the episode, I was really enjoying it. Is it very clumsy, full of info dumping yet again, and a bit contrived? Yes. However, the rest of the anime is like this, and I realized last episode that I am starting to actually really appreciate its particular brand of ham-fisted storytelling and character. However, the last fourth or so just felt like watching a train derail in slow motion.
It was going so well, and the episode could have easily stopped. But they had to throw in a Huge fight that had more questions brought up with it, had Yuri go off to fight it alone to prove herself(?), and had to leave it with her dying in the aftermath. It happened all so quickly that it failed to register what was actually happening, and thus it had no impact. I at least thought that GEHENA was going to try and assassinate/capture Yuri, maybe while wounding the other Lilies, but that might have made too much sense. |
||||
|
||||
|
dm
Subscriber Posts: 1359 |
|
|||
I thought the same, at first, but then a swarm of similar drones showed up in the company of the huge Huge and played a big part in the battle. So, I don't know what to expect from this (but part of not knowing what to expect comes from not really trusting the creators of this show to exploit such a possibility with finesse --- I'm not sure why I continue to watch this show beyond being a bit of SHAFT fan-boy). Maybe we'll learn that the drones are full of jellybean-cucoons like the one Yuri emerged from, they're about the right shape. |
||||
|
||||
|
Electric Wooloo
Posts: 310 |
|
|||
|
I hope that the next few episodes can wrap things up satisfactorily. The characters are enjoyable if nothing else, and the animation is beautiful in places.
The pacing is a mess, but it is kind of the guilty pleasure of the season for me atm. |
||||
|
||||
|
Electric Wooloo
Posts: 310 |
|
|||
|
Ultimately Yuri's entire character seemed to exist solely as a plot device to give Riri trauma so she could connect more with Yuyu, which is pretty shameful. That said even if the means were subpar at least the results might lead to some interesting developments between Yuyu and Riri.
I'm glad with episode 10 the series is transitioning back to Yuyu's past and the questions raised in the first 6 episodes, I feel the series is/was at its best when dealing with Yuyu's trauma and the mystery of that charm and the Huge. Even though the last 3 episodes felt nearly pointless in hindsight, I'm hopeful about the next 2 after that ending tease. I just can't seem to bring myself to dislike this series despite it's awkward pacing and questionable writing. Kaede being a real friend here definitely helps with that view I'm sure. |
||||
|
||||
|
dm
Subscriber Posts: 1359 |
|
|||
|
I guess I've given up on this series, though the review of episode 11 reminds me of the similar dynamic in the (vastly superior) Simoun: Yuyu is Neviril, paralyzed by the loss of Amuria (Misuzu); Riri is (perhaps a weak analogue to) Aeru, the newcomer who forces her way into partnership with Yuyu/Neviril. Yuri is... dunno and don't really care.
Yes, I've definitely given up on this series, I think I'll spend the time rewatching Simoun, instead. |
||||
|
||||
|
Electric Wooloo
Posts: 310 |
|
|||
|
Man, I know I probably had unrealistic hopes going into this series considering it was basically a toy advert, but I'm still disappointed. It had a lot of potential that was squandered on bad pacing and weird writing decisions.
The series wasn't atrocious or offensive or boring, but it's just kind of overwhelmingly meh. I still like all of the characters, which I guess was the only goal they had considering the product, but I'm left with so many questions that will never be answered even if I wanted them to be, which I'm not sure I do. If they had focused more on developing the Hitotsuyanagi squad as characters early on (more daily life episodes like we had with the ramune episode for example), stretched this finale into 2 parts, and cut Yuri entirely as a character we might have had something memorable. Instead we just have a forgettable lump of gay undertones, cute girls, and thighs. |
||||
|
||||
|
OtherSideofSky
|
|
|||
|
Looking back at the whole series now that it's done, Assault Lily reminds me of one of those books where a different author writes each chapter, like The Floating Admiral or The Challenge From Beyond. The tone and pacing is so all over the place that it's easy to imagine each episode being written by someone who was handed the previous episodes and had to come up with a continuation on the spot. I especially get that feeling from the way plot lines are introduced and abruptly dropped or concluded only to occasionally be revisited episodes later.
For the finale in particular, the spoiler[suspicions about Misuzu] really needed more time to build slowly in order to have any impact. As it is, spoiler[they get introduced one episode only to be summarily dismissed in the next]. There's also failures like most of episode 10 existing to introduce everyone's Rare Skills, only for none of them to ever be used again (or in Tazusa's case, at all). |
||||
|
Nate148
Posts: 468 |
|
|||
|
good old lame mobile game ads
|
||||
|
||||
|
Electric Wooloo
Posts: 310 |
|
|||
I mean I don't disagree, but stuff like Princess Connect was able to craft an enjoyable and memorable anime despite also being a mobile game ad. Uma Musume as well, though that one was weird in that the anime came out like 2 years before the mobile game. |
||||
|
||||
|
dm
Subscriber Posts: 1359 |
|
|||
|
For a palate cleanser, go back and watch the original My-Hime (I think you can skip the sequels).
|
||||
|
||||
DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15462 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
|
|||
|
The real baffling thing is the implication that Misuzu was probably kind of toxic in that she messed with Yuyu's will with her skill, like you could bring it into question this genre that is about a relationship with an imbalance of power between a younger and older girl. And then in the end it just went that Misuzu just really cared about Yuyu after all, so there is nothing to discuss.
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group