Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Tamon's B-Side
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Oggers
 Posts: 467 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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This has been a fun watch so far. I'm generally not into idol anime that play the concept completely straight (which is why I enjoyed Zombie Land Saga as well), but this series does a great job at parodying boy bands and their fans while also clearly coming from a place of love. It's nice that there's also clearly some effort into making the show look good, since the art and animation quality for anime based on shoujo manga has been rather lacking in recent years.
You'd have to thank someone at Viz Media for coming up with the title, since they picked up the manga for an English release back in 2023. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 4366 |
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This has been enjoyable so far, though I find Kinoshita's devotion a bit off putting to say the least (probably because it's believable O_o).
I probably wouldn't have tried it if it didn't air so early, but I'm glad I did 
I couldn't help laughing at the song in the first episode being Face Off as I will never not think of the Nick Cage movie when those two words are put together by themselves like that 
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quentntarantado
Posts: 61 Location: Indonesia |
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B side refers to the bottom side of a vinyl record or a magnetic tape. Neither exists anymore, so how much meaning would it be for kids this anime is targeted to?
Nevertheless, it's my favorite new anime this season. So far Love through a Prism has been disappointing... |
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Oggers
Posts: 467 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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Vinyl records do still exist and have been making more of a comeback since the late 2010s (they even outsold CDs in 2019 for the first time in over 30 years). I'd say most younger generations have at least heard of them. |
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meiam
Posts: 3674 |
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I'm mostly just enjoying Utage antic for the moment, I don't care much for idol stuff, so that aspect doesn't do much for me. But I doubt I'll make it very far since I know I won't care for the "rom" side, and I imagine as we go further in it'll become the dominant aspect.
Its just a bit creepy that Taimon is falling in love with someone who A) worship him and B) is mothering him. |
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LR.Skyrabbit
Posts: 28 |
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I have been cursed to be more receptive to the weird long original show name, and rather cold to the localization. Kennedy attacked my beloved Which Face Is Tamon Something Something Whatever with statements that were in no way objectively incorrect, and I could only sit there and grumble, "Yeah
 , well, ummm....." I tried to sort out my feelings, andarrived at the explanation: "It's too short and curt. The JPN name is longer and ends with a question mark, so I feel a disconnect!" It's possible that even "Tamon-kun's B-Side would have left me more satisfied...
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Gina Szanboti
 Posts: 12725 |
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One of the funniest visual bits so far was in ep 2, where all of her explody moments were pixelated as if her head had literally exploded a la Scanners and were too gruesome to show.
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SinisterOracle
Posts: 848 |
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I’ve read the manga and the anime is doing an excellent job at adapting the source material. One of my top anime this season!
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2319 |
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I don't know maybe I watched Perfect Blue too many times, but I have a different reaction to this show. Yea I find it funny at times and I like the relationship between the two leads. But I feel like the story is trying to make us feel sympathy for these idols, meanwhile it plays for gags the way the entertainment system takes advantage of fans obsessions. Uta literally has a job to buy multiples of merch to try to win tickets, she says more than once that she has to work harder so she can support Tamon by buying more merch etc. It doesn't seem to be critical of anything its showing us instead it feels like its normalizing a system that can be exploitive of both the idols and the fans. I mean Uta is not really critical of what the system is doing to Tamon (he's kind of an introvert straining to be an extrovert), she instead celebrates his hardwork and encourages him to basically "do it for the fans". And Uta is kind of the ideal fan who supports both financially and emotionally her idol while trying to maintain a respectful distance. It weirdly comes off as pro industry to me.
So yea that's my take so far, maybe it will examine the industry more critically going forward or maybe not. Maybe I'm just too cynical and I'm totally misreading this and maybe I watched Perfect Blue... |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2557 Location: Online Terminal |
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Not to get too whatabouty, but "ditto" as a term follows a similar path in that it's based on a technology that no one uses anymore. These things happen. |
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Oggers
Posts: 467 Location: Ontario, Canada |
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I've seen other people express this sentiment and no offense, but it sounds like you want the series to be something it's not. While there is certainly a lot to criticize about the idol industry, not every anime about idols is going to be like Perfect Blue or Oshi no Ko, which are both aimed at adults. This is an anime based on a manga aimed at teenage girls, so I doubt it'll go much further than parodying how boy bands' public images are usually quite different from what the members are really like as people. If it ever does, great, but so far Tamon's B-Side is a romantic comedy (with emphasis on comedy) first and foremost. |
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Bern73
 Posts: 57 |
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I have no doubt this is part of it, given that Crunchyroll rarely dubs insert songs anymore even when the actor in question can absolutely sing the part |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 12725 |
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After gritting my teeth through half of Kakuriyo watching Aoi wear her mask on the side of her head to keep youkai from seeing she was human, it was so nice to see Tamon and Ouri actually cover their faces!
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One-Eye
Posts: 2319 |
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I'm not offended and its not my intention to bring down your enjoyment of the show, but I do believe a show can be a romantic comedy and also take a moment or two to say something about the industry. It doesn't have to be the major point of the show it is primarily a romantic comedy as you stated (really I was making a little bit of a joke with the Perfect Blue reference), but instead its perhaps validating some of the problematic parts of the industry and that makes it a little distracting for me. It keeps me from enjoying the pure fantasy of a romantic comedy. I was just curious if any one else had similar reservations, but since I seem to be the only weirdo here I'll refrain from making further comments along those lines. |
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meiam
Posts: 3674 |
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My main takeaway from this episode is that Japan has some really cool slide in public parc.
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