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EP. REVIEW: The Reflection


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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5406
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 10:57 am Reply with quote
I took a look at this show, the barely animation is a no go for me. But my biggest issue is that I don't really like super hero comics. And I am not opposed to seeing more anime with a Western flavor, but I prefer it if it is done with traditional 2D animation from a great studio like Bones or Production I.G.
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Gemnist



Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 1754
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:19 am Reply with quote
Yikes, those reviews aren't promising. And that release time is also going to be detrimental.

angelmcazares wrote:
I took a look at this show, the barely animation is a no go for me. But my biggest issue is that I don't really like super hero comics. And I am not opposed to seeing more anime with a Western flavor, but I prefer it if it is done with traditional 2D animation from a great studio like Bones or Production I.G.


What's not to love about superheroes?? I respect your opinion (and agree with your East-Meets-West sentence) but... superheroes!!
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:27 am Reply with quote
Circumstantially, there have been a number of "Western Hero" stylized anime within the past decade, be it Tiger and Bunny, the licensed work of Marvel Disk Wars, and the recent anime adaptation of My Hero Academia.
As a premiere, it is a head tilter but most importantly it isn't the most engaging for an episode one.

Regardless, the art style feels experimental in the wrong way, while there are moments of extreme competence, much of the background becomes noticeably muted ala Flowers of Evil and at least for this viewer makes me feel like I was staring into a dual colored void at times.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:43 am Reply with quote
I like the art style and the animation, but this episode definitely felt longer than 25 min. and not in a good way...and it's probably not a good sign when the villains appear to be a lot more interesting than the heroes right from the start.

Kudos for best line (and name?) of the season go to I-GUY, though:
"Will you continue to protect NYC?"
"I actually live in LA!" Laughing
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scowler



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:54 am Reply with quote
The comparison to Flowers of Evil is apt, except it didn't go far enough.

If you've seen that show, you know the pacing there is also languid and often goes for an atmospheric effect, similarly with minimal dialogue and lingering camera shots.

If there's a major difference between the two (besides one being an action show, and the other a drama), it's that the three main characters in Flowers of Evil are so vividly realized, that their mere presence on screen can sustain tension and keep the audience captivated, even through otherwise long interminable sequences.

That's what is lacking in this first episode of The Reflection. None of these characters are fleshed out well enough to fill the screen.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:08 pm Reply with quote
Very mixed feelings on this one. I mostly liked the art style, but I think the backgrounds and sfx suffered. I did like shots focusing on people though, and the scene when the screens behind I-Guy showed traditional comic sound effects.

I wanted to like the show more, with the director's prior works especially, but the story isn't that compelling yet. I'm not sure who is responsible for most of the writing, but the previous (writing) works of the one on the Japanese side credited for the script aren't very promising, and they are mostly credited with animation rather than writing roles, though given they are only credited with Script, they may not actually have that much control over the writing. I should have considered that weak link more when setting my expectations.

We'll see how it goes, but for now it looks like it was lucky that it didn't air before the streaming reviews were picked.
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:21 pm Reply with quote
Honestly? It was terrible. There was almost no animation. I'm not a fan of the style. The pacing was super-slow and everything this episode was boring. There wasn't one interesting thing that happened. Guys with super-powers were fighting but the attacks lacked any kind of impact. I just couldn't get invested, and I love super-hero stuff. Maybe people who like Western super-hero cartoons will like it better, but let me warn you: this is not Tiger & Bunny. This is 10 leagues bellow it.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:29 pm Reply with quote
Personally I really liked it, the art style is really interesting and feel unique, and as someone who really wanted o like flower of evil due to the art style but couldn't due to the awful plot/character, I'm glad this exist. I guess part of the reason I like it is also because there's little plot, so that means there's nothing to ruin my enjoyment. I really like plot, but comparing my usual complain to other people's I guess I'm really exigent with how solid the plot needs to be otherwise it just ruin everything for me.

So yeah, slow pacing but good musical choice and great art style made that a non issue for me. There could have been a bit more animation during some of the fight scene, but I'd rather they pace themselves rather than waste there entire animation budget on ep 1. I guess I'll need to see the other episode in cases it gets worse, but if it hold steady at this level I'm fine with that.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6199
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 12:46 pm Reply with quote
Apparently 5 supervising animators were needed to complete this pilot. Just this episode. Imagine what kind of shitshow the entire series is gonna be. People keep trying to say it's the style, but that's no excuse for the awful animation. The wheels on the cars don't even move, that laughably bad teleport ability, long still shots of nothing happening... It's like Inferno Cop, but serious Laughing

At least the ending is really cool.
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thekingsdinner



Joined: 25 Sep 2010
Posts: 1067
Location: Geertruidenberg, Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:11 pm Reply with quote
To me, it wasn't the artstyle that put me off. In fact, I like it the look of it, I was excited for this after I saw the PV for it.

...Unfortunately that's about all I liked. What put me off after the first episode was how SLOW the episode felt. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is when it comes to a superhero show which I feel needs exciting action scenes. It has action, but without any excitement.
Also, I just feel like it's a case of bad directing. The animation isn't great, no, but I don't think it's bad either.

I'll give it an episode or 2 more to, but if things don't change for the better, no matter how much I love Stan Lee, I'm dropping it.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:27 pm Reply with quote
I wanted to like this and there is the crux of a good idea but it's too heavily bookended by exposition. I really think this could be this season's Hand Shakers if things get worse. That being said I thought some of animation in the fight sequences where quite nice and the ending animation was okay.
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ParaChomp



Joined: 10 Dec 2010
Posts: 1018
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 1:30 pm Reply with quote
It was bland and didn't really do anything. We'll see where it goes from here and then I'll decide to drop it or not.
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catbot158



Joined: 04 Mar 2017
Posts: 232
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:06 pm Reply with quote
I think what the episode was trying to do was to put emphasis on the tone and atmosphere of the show first, but that came at the price of any investment in its character and setting. Maybe they're saving character development for later, but right now there's nothing to latch onto and that's never a good sign.

The art style is okay to me. The comic-book aesthetic does come across, but the movement is bizarre. Then again, Studio DEEN has never had top animation for any of their modern work, unless the art is contorted or almost scribble-like (cough Higurashi and Konosuba cough). I really do not know why Stan Lee couldn't get Studio Bones to do the animation again like they did for Heroman, but who knows?
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:14 pm Reply with quote
I can't decide whether or not I like the art style or not, it certainly is bold and gives the shows world a very abstract look. I just can't work out if that is to the shows favour or not.
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Ambulator



Joined: 08 Oct 2016
Posts: 30
Location: California
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2017 4:17 pm Reply with quote
I liked the transition from the lanterns in the opening to the fight scene. I also liked the ending song.

On the down side, they lost too much detail in the long shots for me to be happy. Also, not everyone, but someone needed character development, even in the first episode.

I liked this enough to keep watching it, at least for now.
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