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EP. REVIEW: Combatants Will Be Dispatched!


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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 2:44 pm Reply with quote
Episode 3 was great and so far this series looks like it will continue to be a quality show. I thought that silicone joke was pretty funny and it works even better when thinking about it from an androids perspective (referenced later in the episode).

However, I did feel that in episode 3, Grimm and after the early interaction, Rose were both basically background characters who may as well not even have been there. Hopefully when the full cast is together in the future everyone can join in.

Quote:
Or wait... is this a Kamen Rider joke?
Was that what they were going for? I figured Alice was going to say something about her being able to jump better, but "nearly invincible" had me scratching my head unless grasshoppers have some unique ability I'm not familiar with. Kamen Rider seems like a pretty good guess.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 3:52 pm Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:

Quote:
Or wait... is this a Kamen Rider joke?
Was that what they were going for? I figured Alice was going to say something about her being able to jump better, but "nearly invincible" had me scratching my head unless grasshoppers have some unique ability I'm not familiar with. Kamen Rider seems like a pretty good guess.


Is that why zoom in on the grasshopper's head/helmet looked familiar as I only know Kamen Rider from anime references?

I like Grimm, Rose, Alice and Six, especially when he shows the more complex sides of his personality. Snow without the tragic/"tragic" backstories or evil tendencies of her teammates will come up short no matter what but it's by design.

Every episode is an improvement on the last and right now the best character title has to go to Six which is an impossibility for this kind of show. He's slight as a villain as I think his sexual harassment has more of a societal bent to it and his successful plans only work because he does the "Let's just not do the Chivalry" thing.

Does anyone else think there's something off about that princess though? Her father's an old king, her brother's the "chosen one" and she's there for strategy meetings yet she acts like she has nothing to do with any of it.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 4:24 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
• That said, I think the tower scene is my favorite bit in the story so far. The demons are just not prepared for someone eviler than they are.

So, so true. . .

But yeah, if you're turned off by what has been shown so far about Six's behavior and the series' sense of humor, you're best off bailing now. That's not going to change.

I'm having enough fun with watching Six being an ass that this series is definitely a keeper for me.
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Nordhmmer



Joined: 11 Feb 2017
Posts: 1028
PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 4:54 pm Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
Quote:
Or wait... is this a Kamen Rider joke?
Was that what they were going for? I figured Alice was going to say something about her being able to jump better, but "nearly invincible" had me scratching my head unless grasshoppers have some unique ability I'm not familiar with. Kamen Rider seems like a pretty good guess.


Yes it' a send up of Kamen Rider,and there'll be spoofs of other series as well - just like in his Konosuba series.
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Madzack



Joined: 30 Oct 2013
Posts: 36
PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:39 pm Reply with quote
The whole series at this point feels like the good old days with Pioneer anime in the 90s, especially the likes of Tenchi Muyo along Irresponsible Captain Tylor and maybe bits of Trigun & Outlaw Star. Six acts so much like those classic rascally MC of the 90s, it's like my inner 90s kid is back home.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:43 am Reply with quote
As I said in the series discussion area, I think Grimm has some potential of being a good character, especially if there is more of things like her and Six harassing happy couples. In Konosuba terms, it kind of made me think of Kazuma going along with Megumin in practicing her explosion magic.

I also think that so far the show has a pretty bad sense of comedic timing, a lot of the times it has felt like a long stream of things without build up and focusing on a joke.
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2858
PostPosted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 10:18 am Reply with quote
Madzack wrote:
The whole series at this point feels like the good old days with Pioneer anime in the 90s, especially the likes of Tenchi Muyo along Irresponsible Captain Tylor and maybe bits of Trigun & Outlaw Star. Six acts so much like those classic rascally MC o irf the 90s, it's like my inner 90s kid is back home.


i was thinking early 2ks, but that works too.

i am enjoying the show more than i expected, that means the jokes work twice as iam a manga reader. i just hope this keeps a profile low enough so that haters don't ruin the thread.

my favorite part is that six is uglynormal, the manga made him too pretty so i prefer the anime version.
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Agent355



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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 3:47 am Reply with quote
Are they “eviler” than the demons, though? It seems to me that Six and co are just the only ones in this world willing to use basic military maneuvers and tactics—is attacking the enemy’s supply chain “evil”? I don’t know that much military history, but I know messing with an enemy’s supplies is a basic tactic. I know Russia forestalled multiple invasions just by setting fire to their own supplies so the enemy couldn’t use them. That’s not evil; that’s strategy.

The only thing that might be evil about Six is that he’s craving specifically *nonconsensual* sexual contact. Which doesn’t have to be the case once it’s hinted that Grimm is attracted to him; he just has to make that mutual. It’s like Kazuma and Darkness in Konosuba (from my perspective watching them in season 2), so much sexual tension that the MC is resistant to despite being otherwise horny. Sure, they’re a little nuts, but they’d probably be into it!

This series is on the fence for me. I like Konosuba well enough, but this seems more focused on plot and action than humor, and none of the elements have gelled perfectly so far.
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Richard Eisenbeis
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 17 Dec 2018
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:43 pm Reply with quote
Agent355 wrote:
Are they “eviler” than the demons, though?

I mean yeah. Unquestionably. It seems that both sides consider honorable, head-on combat the moral way to wage war. Neither side would attack the supply lines of the other before Six did so unilaterally. Of course, it's not "irredeemably evil" or anything so extreme but it is "eviler" than what was happening before from the viewpoint of the humans and demons in this other world.

But the real "evil" act so far is holding a demon's friend hostage so they can force that demon to let himself be beaten into a coma--then holding the comatose demon hostage so they can beat his friend into a coma as well.

And look, I'm not going to say that both instances aren't tactically sound--they are--I'm just saying that attacking the weak and taking hostages is "eviler" than what the demons are currently doing.
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Snowcat



Joined: 01 Feb 2021
Posts: 186
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:16 am Reply with quote
At the moment, i don't find the show that funny but i had the same reaction with konosuba at the beginning. It was when the main cast had been established and the running gags where more frequent that i started to really appreciate the comedy. I hope, it will be same here.

Quote:
That we're able to laugh is only because it does not involve the real world or real people—no one is really getting hurt.

I disagree with that, you can laugh about everything, that's part of the magic (and complexity) of humor.
In my opinion, it's more that some gags in the show were really silly and they kind of worked because they are done by toons. With real people, they would just fall flat.
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b-dragon



Joined: 21 Apr 2021
Posts: 430
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:56 am Reply with quote
Finally watched all 3 episodes last night. I like it, but I'm hoping it gels a bit better soon. I do like it better than Konosuba though- I think it has to do with the central group not being quite so mean spirited toward each other in this one. Snow is perhaps the exception- but she is still holding herself as "not a part" of the group. Alice and Six basically adopted/inducted Rose, and that Six cares about Grimm is very clear at this point.

And while I agree that thus far, they are more evil than the demons, I'm not sure Six is more evil than the humans. More calculating in his evil, certainly. But then, my patience for using individuals as a suicide squad because they are different- as with Rose and Grimm- is rather minimal.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3629
PostPosted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 6:18 pm Reply with quote
You could see it coming, but the fact that Heine melted Snow's ice sword (seemingly made out of actual ice) was still funny.

I wonder if next time Heine just brings along some of those demons with her she mentioned and finally tempts Six over Laughing
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4070
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 9:53 am Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
You could see it coming, but the fact that Heine melted Snow's ice sword (seemingly made out of actual ice) was still funny.

I wonder if next time Heine just brings along some of those demons with her she mentioned and finally tempts Six over Laughing


Heine should be able to tempt Six over by herself as I don't think she needs any help in that area. Actually, I was wondering why Six didn't just tempt Heine over to join him but I guess this show works under reverse Roger Rabbit logic: "Something will only happen once it stops being funny."

Snow's growing on me, less from her typical "I'm not a true knight but a tragic orphan!" backstory but more the idea that she not only has to buy her own magic swords to remain competitive in a magic filled world but she also has to do so out of her own pocket. And with a name like "Snow", ice should already be her element so naturally, she and her sword melt under the slightest bit of pressure.

Rose only tasted the griffon... I think? Griffons are already chimera like so how would that even work anyway?
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
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Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2021 12:18 pm Reply with quote
In which Six completely deserves the embarrassing nickname he brought on himself and should be so called for the rest of the series
My least favorite part of that cringe-awful sequence was Six’s implication that women traveling alone at night “deserve” or are “asking” for harassment. Doesn’t he come from the modern (or future) world? Aren’t all his bosses and colleagues women? Shouldn’t he know better? It’s not like he’s getting “evil points” for aside comments. That comment made my blood boil. The harassment itself was bad enough, but “evil points,” wtvr. Although, we’ve seen that Six can earn “evil points” via more innocuous or silly means—that “chinchin festival” comment didn’t target anyone specifically, and he doesn’t need to target random civilian women and kids on the street.

Meeting a woman after Darkness’s own heart and not knowing how to react was kind of funny, and his humiliation was completely deserved schadenfreude. But just like there are some war crimes that are beyond the pale for Six (chemical and biological weapons), I think the sexual harassment stuff should have some limits, or at least admit its all on the perpetrator.

And I’m glad that Six refuses to consider using chemical or biological weapons or Alice as a suicide bomber. I think planting mine fields in a world that has never encountered them is the most evil tactic Six and Alice has done so far (I agree taking hostages was pretty bad, but that was against 2 guys, not a whole army. Still don’t think attacking supply chains is that bad; it’s been par for the course in war since ancient times).

Betting that the Hero and the Demon Lord have been transported to Six’s world and are already rising the ranks of Kisaragi. That’s probably the new recruits that are always fighting each other that Six’s bosses were discussing in the preview.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
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PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2021 10:36 pm Reply with quote
In which our hero meets Darkness

I wonder if setting up the dimensional gate is what allowed the hero and demon lord general to teleport to "our" world or if that could have happened regardless.

I get that it's used as a joke, and that's all the justification a series like this needs, but while it makes some sense to have the evil point system on earth, it really doesn't make sense to hold Six to it when he's acting as a scout/vanguard for a new invasion. You'd think he'd get access to whatever he needs, regardless of the cost and would be trusted to not needlessly waste resources considering how high of a position he has.

Quote:
I liked the bit about the world being ruled by a stereotypical fantasy narrative structure—a structure that Six has messed up by winning battles the hero was supposed to win. This also implies that Six may have usurped the role of “hero” as far as the world is concerned.


The prophecy certainly didn't take into account interdimensional travel Laughing
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