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The Winter 2021 Preview Guide


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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Dark Mac wrote:
You guys doing Cute Executive Officer? It was real good imo.


Not much point in doing a preview guide for something that's already fully out, especially when that's only 30 min. Super bummed there won't be anymore cause it was excellent and I'd watch another 5 hour of it.
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Sisyphusson66



Joined: 04 Dec 2018
Posts: 96
PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:20 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
There's something...off about Otherside Picnic that I can't quite put my finger on.


This was the same feeling I had about the first episode of Otherside Picnic as well. I liked it, and the ideas and characters were interesting enough for me to decide to add it to my watchlist, but the entire episode seemed off. I think a large part of it came down to the pace. There is no time for anything to sink in before the characters were off doing something else, so it just left me a bit mentally winded trying to keep up with all that was happening. This is especially troublesome in a show that is trying to be conceptually interesting and have a string air of mystery about it.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:37 pm Reply with quote
Kid from the last dungeon was fun, but I wish Selene wasn't in the show. The accidental cure is just weird when you consider that she could have just gone to the witch to have her curse removed, apparently she didn't bother looking for a solution that hard. Also, why does she wear a belt if she was cursed with belt? Wouldn't you want to avoid having any on yourself, yet she's wearing some in her hair as an accessory, that's weird. Plus the whole scene where she's in her underwear for literally no reason, don't mix fan service with scene that are supposed to be more emotional...
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18135
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:47 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
Kid from the last dungeon was fun, but I wish Selene wasn't in the show. The accidental cure is just weird when you consider that she could have just gone to the witch to have her curse removed, apparently she didn't bother looking for a solution that hard. Also, why does she wear a belt if she was cursed with belt? Wouldn't you want to avoid having any on yourself, yet she's wearing some in her hair as an accessory, that's weird. Plus the whole scene where she's in her underwear for literally no reason, don't mix fan service with scene that are supposed to be more emotional...

I haven't read the novels, but my impression was that the belt being wrapped around her head was the curse. She couldn't undo it.
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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1346
PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 11:25 pm Reply with quote
Reading the descriptions in the reviews of Lloyd Belladonna in Kid from the boonies... I kept being reminded of Terry Pratchett's Captain Carrot of the Ankh-Morporkh City Watch.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:37 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
meiam wrote:
Kid from the last dungeon was fun, but I wish Selene wasn't in the show. The accidental cure is just weird when you consider that she could have just gone to the witch to have her curse removed, apparently she didn't bother looking for a solution that hard. Also, why does she wear a belt if she was cursed with belt? Wouldn't you want to avoid having any on yourself, yet she's wearing some in her hair as an accessory, that's weird. Plus the whole scene where she's in her underwear for literally no reason, don't mix fan service with scene that are supposed to be more emotional...

I haven't read the novels, but my impression was that the belt being wrapped around her head was the curse. She couldn't undo it.

Oh yeah, but after she's free she still wear some belt on her, seemingly just as an accessory, they're on the back of her head (https://twitter.com/lasdan_PR/status/1346063833270390785/photo/1). She also has one on her waist but that one you could maybe make an excuse that its necessary from a structural point of view.

It's just a weird thing, if I was cursed with being forced to wear suspender my entire life and then would be free from them one day, I wouldn't wear one again for the rest of my life.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:44 am Reply with quote
Sisyphusson66 wrote:
Quote:
There's something...off about Otherside Picnic that I can't quite put my finger on.
This was the same feeling I had about the first episode of Otherside Picnic as well....
For me, what bothers is that Sorawo claims there is a logic behind what is happening in Otherside but so far, what has been revealed has none I can find. There are "regularities", like looking at the WW while throwing NaCl polycrystal reverts the WW to a cube, but there is no logic to connect those things yet. The same for the elevator journey. A couple of more episodes will likely tell or else I for one will lose patience...
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whatev



Joined: 31 Dec 2013
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 1:41 am Reply with quote
I think that the pacing for Otherside Picnic is just a little bit off. The show would be somewhat off kilter even with an ideal adaptation, but the slight bit of rushing just throws the atmosphere off. I think that while one episode per chapter is too fast, two episodes per chapter may be too slow. It would be ideal if it didn't have to fit into a typical number of minutes per episode, but that's not really possible outside of a Netflix-like distribution model.
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ErikaD.D



Joined: 09 Jun 2019
Posts: 658
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 3:00 am Reply with quote
So on Skate-Leading Stars(supposed to be Yuri!!!on Ice 2.0.), the MC's parents are dead (looks forced and so cliche) but on Yuri!!! on Ice (the original skating anime), the MC's parents are alive and well. What a difference.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 3:14 am Reply with quote
Well, none of the new stuff is knocking my socks off yet, though I might keep watching till my dance card fills up (and it's certainly going to be full!). Otherside Snoozefest actually knocked me right out. It was nice to look at and had some potentially interesting things going on, but I fell asleep right around the time they were surrounded by the red-eyed snot-creatures (are they like allergies incarnate or something?), which doesn't speak well for its ability to engage me.

Also very nice to look at was The Big City Adventures of OP Last Dungeon Boy. I think I could've liked this one, but Marie is right up there below Asta for too annoying to listen to screaming all her lines, and the Belt Princess is just annoying. I really liked the kid's older brother though. Too bad he's probably already out of the story. Oh well, I'm probably out too.

Uta-Pri on Ice is probably enough of a sports anime to keep me watching it, and I very much liked the skating animation. I didn't know that synchronized skating was a thing beyond pairs, and went to look at some of it on YT. The only video I could find that wasn't all-women's teams or slightly mixed teams (both of which did lifts) was some guys who looked like Proud Boys on skates and, well, they were terrible. Barely synced, no style beyond flannel, no athleticism (no lifts or jumps), and they skated like ten year olds. It was embarrassing. I would've thought they were a parody team, but the comments seemed to be taking them seriously. Anyway, tropes ahoy, I'm still looking forward to seeing what the fictional sport looks like in action.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:45 am Reply with quote
meiam wrote:

It's just a weird thing, if I was cursed with being forced to wear suspender my entire life and then would be free from them one day, I wouldn't wear one again for the rest of my life.


I agree, and Selen is (to me) the second most annoying character in the novels. (Alka takes the number one spot.) But Theron is right that the belt was the curse, and it's a measure of her obsession with Lloyd that she keeps it on as an accessory. (Even if that doesn't make much sense.)
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Agree that otherside picnic felt off, like it was a very weak version of this particular story which could be interesting if done better. The regular switch to CG for character model doesn't help, but mostly it's the writing. So much of the dialogue is just empty and pointless, when they were staring at the wiggle waggle and talking, they were just repeating what we already knew, like it was written for someone who's not paying attention. The initial dialogue was also vague to the point of being useless and the character constantly avoided asking obvious question, Sorawo says she's heard about the monster before, but from who? Toriko says she sold the cube, but for how much and to whom?

And then there were just so many weird little details, Toriko asks why Sorawo didn't report her for the gun, but how could she? She only know her name, what was she going to say to the cop ("I saw a girl named Toriko with a gun. No idea where she lives and I can't tell you where I saw her")? The secret to killing the waggle is to look at them while attacking them, but how did Sorawo throw rock/shoot at them without looking? If nothing happened after you shoot them while not looking, wouldn't you assume you missed since you probably shoot astray.

Not bad per say, just weak.
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 1987
Location: australia
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 5:41 pm Reply with quote
I haven't watched any of the shows yet but I have skimmed through most for work.

My opinions are:

Otherside Picnic
I didn't look at much at this so I didn't get to really feel the atmosphere, but the reviews make it sound promising. I'd be interested in giving it a proper watch because I like stories that deal with urban legends etc.
However the random CG was pretty jarring, even as someone only skimming through. I can only assume they used it because they didn't have enough time to animate everything, as it seems an odd choice otherwise.

Last Dungeon
I skimmed this one a bit more because the random scenes I was jumping to seemed quite funny. The animation looks pretty average but the comedy faces and animation seem really good, which is cool. I liked Marie's expressions and the delivery during her yelling "LOLI! BABA!" while closing the wardrobe was pretty great, but I think she might be too yell-based comedy for me. Belt girl was kinda obnoxious but I did like her unabashed craziness towards the other chick.

Skate Leading Stars
I actually have been planning to watch this one since ep 1 but haven't gotten around to it. I don't like sports anime but I really love the megane dude. He's such a petty, smug asshole, and it's refreshing to see someone so vindictive and nasty as one of the main characters. The fact the story is driven by sheer vindictiveness is pretty great for me. I'm interested in where it goes so I do want to watch it sometime.

Gekidol
The technology is pretty cool, and the world building seems interesting. The characters seem pretty boring though. I really do like how they have this awesome technology that can take performances to a whole new level, and the fact theres this underlayer of mystery and apocalyptic plot is cool. I also respect the fact the characters all (except for robot girl) have really normal looks, although it does mean they kinda all look the same. I haven't looked at the special so I haven't seen what the Alice zombie thing is like, but it's a nice touch too. Moe idol girls do zombie apocalypse.

And...that's all I've seen (skimmed).
I'm not super interested in anything much this season, but I am look forward to Horimiya and hopefully will be able to keep up with it at least (my track record of watching anime each week is not good though)

Quote:
Now, if you want a mix of Japanese showbiz hijinks and zombie carnage that is legitimately awesome, go watch the movie One Cut of the Dead. You're welcome in advance.

I second that!
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Nordhmmer



Joined: 11 Feb 2017
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 6:47 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
meiam wrote:

It's just a weird thing, if I was cursed with being forced to wear suspender my entire life and then would be free from them one day, I wouldn't wear one again for the rest of my life.


I agree, and Selen is (to me) the second most annoying character in the novels. (Alka takes the number one spot.) But Theron is right that the belt was the curse, and it's a measure of her obsession with Lloyd that she keeps it on as an accessory. (Even if that doesn't make much sense.)


The anime left out the where & how bit about the brooch thingamabob he brought back from his shopping excursion and gave to Marie. - nipping over to another country,ending a war...
So depending what else gets cut,the "belt" should get it's backstory told shortly within few episode.-spoiler[It's not exactly "cursed" nor was it originally a belt and it's semi-sentient ]
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5821
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 2:52 pm Reply with quote
LBX Girls

You have been summoned from your worlds to defend our world from these evil creatures. Will send you back home if you succeed, (if you are still alive).

Evil Creatures: Will send you back home post haste and for free. (This should be a lesson for all prospective demon lords. Send the summoned heroes back for free.)
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