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The Best and Worst of the Season So Far: Week of Nov 19-25 [2017-11-30]


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Joshua Zarate



Joined: 12 Jan 2017
Posts: 2061
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:19 pm Reply with quote
Land of the Lustrous continues to rise in the ranks. That makes me happy as it’s deserved it and I hope that the show’s staff can keep up the good work. Smile
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klv
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Joined: 08 Feb 2017
Posts: 84
Location: Ba Sing Se
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:59 pm Reply with quote
Look at that! Urahara got a big 'ole spike last week due to its discussion in This Week In Anime.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5407
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:06 pm Reply with quote
AMB is back to its rightful spot at number 1 in the cumulative. All is right with the world.

klv wrote:
Look at that! Urahara got a big 'ole spike last week due to its discussion in This Week In Anime.

Guess this means King's Game is getting a big boost next week.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:06 pm Reply with quote
klv wrote:
Look at that! Urahara got a big 'ole spike last week due to its discussion in This Week In Anime.


If anything it was the opposite, as the review for the episode in question was on the 15th and the TWIA entry was on the 21st. I remember because the day after the column, the next episode came along as if to say "Nope, it isn't the hidden gem of the season"
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
Posts: 4125
Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:11 pm Reply with quote
I am enjoying URAHARA, but anyone thinking it is underwatched for any reason other than that it lacks accessibility is kidding themselves. It's just not going to appeal to more people than are keeping up with it, I think.
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Niello



Joined: 22 Dec 2013
Posts: 302
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:11 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:
AMB is back to its rightful spot at number 1 in th cumulative


Not for long if it doesn't up its game. It's still a no.2 disappointment of the season just behind Kino.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:24 pm Reply with quote
I forgot to mention, if the eighth episode of Lustrous keeps its current rating at least until Saturday, it will be tied for highest rated episode on this site or better, the other being Haikyuu 3's 9th

Niello wrote:
Not for long if it doesn't up its game. It's still a no.2 disappointment of the season just behind Kino.


How so? If you see it as disappointing, I can't help but wonder if you've let your expectations become over-inflated.
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+ 光



Joined: 22 Mar 2016
Posts: 226
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 3:45 pm Reply with quote
I like the variety of the top 10 in the weekly rankings this season - it shifts a lot, which i don't think has happened before? But i haven't exactly been following the seasonal weekly rankings with a magnifying glass, so i can't be sure.

Less than inconsistent quality within the shows themselves, i think this indicates more how competitive the shows are this season in terms of quality: just when one show has its 'best yet' episode, another show comes by with its own stand-out episode. It's healthy (?) competition.

You can't write off just any show (save a few of them) as being completely good or a complete lost-case yet, since this season especially has shown to not get too comfortable in expectations.
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Niello



Joined: 22 Dec 2013
Posts: 302
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:01 pm Reply with quote
zrnzle500 wrote:

Niello wrote:
Not for long if it doesn't up its game. It's still a no.2 disappointment of the season just behind Kino.


How so? If you see it as disappointing, I can't help but wonder if you've let your expectations become over-inflated.


Not really, I like the manga but it's not one of my favourite. It told a good story and is well put together, and I appreciate that. I was expecting something of about the same level as Erased (minus the ending) and Re:Zero, which should be reasonable considering the source material.

When the first episode came out I thought it was okay, not great but passable. After that it just became more and more obvious that it's hardly a decent adaptation. The show is only relying on its source material, and background visual and music fluff. While its parts are good, it wasn't well put together. What are supposed to be heartfelt moments often feel forced and overly melodramatic, not to mention dragged out. The pacing is awkward. The way it copies the chibi straight out from the manga is also irking. Also, I could swear Seraph of the End had better animation than this show and they are both Wit Studio's project. When I watch it the way it's handled reminds me of Shoukoku no Altair just not on the same trainwreck level of treatment. despite its pretty look, it feels souless like One Piece where it's just doing what is passable because they know the manga story will do the job.

I was close to tears reading the dragon chapter. The episode not only did nothing for me, but near opposite.

It also only became more apparent when airing alongside Land of the Lustrous. Even without taking adaptation effort into consideration, the fact that it's letting LotL becomes a legit competitor is saying something I think. As much as I love LotL manga and anime, AMB has a much wider appeal and arguably a stronger story (the part this fall season covers anyway, since LotL story is the weakest in the beginning, like the ranking demonstrated). If done right, LotL shouldn't be able to become as much of a competitor as it is, since it spent much of its run time before the tonal shift in the story.


Last edited by Niello on Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5296
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:27 pm Reply with quote
I was really hoping to see the 3DCG show at the bottom.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18137
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:38 pm Reply with quote
^
You won't get any agreement from me on any of that, Niello. The only thing about AMB's adaptation to anime form that I haven't been happy with is the retention of the chibified shots. (That has long been my main fault concerning the manga, so I was hoping that the adaptation would drop them.) I actually found the dying dragon scene to be more effectively emotional in animated for, and there have been numerous other places where I've found the anime to be an improvement.

Now, if you're strictly limiting your "#2 disappointment of the season" comment to your own personal viewpoints then that's fine. Unlike Kino, however, I don't think that's a widely-held opinion.

Can't comment on LotL, as I got turned off on that one over the whole dust-up on the genderless thing. Might try marathoning it towards the end of the season if the comments on it stay strong.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:50 pm Reply with quote
Niello wrote:
Not really, I like the manga but it's not one of my favourite. It told a good story and is well put together, and I appreciate that. I was expecting something of about the same level as Erased (minus the ending) and Re:Zero, which should be reasonable considering the source material.

When the first episode came out I thought it was okay, not great but passable. After that it just became more and more obvious that it's hardly a decent adaptation. The show is only relying on its source material, and background visual and music fluff. While its parts are good, it wasn't well put together. What are supposed to be heartfelt moments often feel forced and overly melodramatic, not to mention dragged out. The pacing is awkward. The way it copies the chibi straight out from the manga is also irking. When I watch it the way it's handled reminds me of Shoukoku no Altair just not on the same trainwreck level of treatment. despite its pretty look, it feels souless like One Piece where it's just doing what is passable because they know the manga story will do the job.

I was close to tears reading the dragon chapter. The episode not only did nothing for me, but near opposite.


So it's relying on the strength of the source material for its writing, has some nice backgrounds, and effectively uses its musical score supplement its visuals. What else does it need to be a merely decent adaptation? The direction in the first few episodes could have been better, but I think that has become more deft in the more recent episodes. The animation of the OVA was better, but that was effectively movie level (budget and time frame) work while the TV series obviously only has TV level work. Not to say that more lush animation can't be done on a TV series, but expecting something at the level of, say, what I've heard about Violet Evergarden (that it is(one of) KyoAni's strongest production(s)) is what I mean when I say over-inflated expectations. Wit does some good work, but it ain't KyoAni or Bones, or whichever other studio or staff that does a consistently good job visually that you want to compare it to. I'd say in terms of direction and animation it is at least at the same level as Re:Zero.

I don't generally read manga (or other kinds of source material) so I can't comment on how well it is adapting the material, but as an anime-only viewer, I'm only concerned about that as far as it affects the quality of the show standing alone from the source. Given what I've seen so far, I'm not concerned about that, unlike Kino for example. Frankly, that sort of thing is part of the reason why I don't read source material. If reading the original will ruin the anime, then I'm glad to evaluate the anime on its own.
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mangamuscle



Joined: 23 Apr 2006
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Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 5:52 pm Reply with quote
Konohana Kitan climbed 10 spots, go go foxy girls!
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Niello



Joined: 22 Dec 2013
Posts: 302
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 6:17 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
^
You won't get any agreement from me on any of that, Niello. The only thing about AMB's adaptation to anime form that I haven't been happy with is the retention of the chibified shots. (That has long been my main fault concerning the manga, so I was hoping that the adaptation would drop them.) I actually found the dying dragon scene to be more effectively emotional in animated for, and there have been numerous other places where I've found the anime to be an improvement.

Now, if you're strictly limiting your "#2 disappointment of the season" comment to your own personal viewpoints then that's fine. Unlike Kino, however, I don't think that's a widely-held opinion.

Can't comment on LotL, as I got turned off on that one over the whole dust-up on the genderless thing. Might try marathoning it towards the end of the season if the comments on it stay strong.


At this point I'm not expecting most people here to agree, but I do know that when it comes to manga readers this minority group isn't that small, which is the whole point, why isn't it smaller? I don't do anedotes much but a friend whom I didn't even know read and love the manga pointed out her dislike for the anime when the topic came up, and she seems like the type who would dig the anime. After my disappointment with Shoukoku no Altair last season, any adaptations should have been vastly better and I should be happy (certainly am with LotL and GLT), but this isn't the case.

I really do have to disagree with the dragon scene. Like I said, on paper it has all the right components, but the execution is way off. Again, not expecting an agreement, but just because I'm in the minority I don't think that means my opinion on this isn't valid or isn't useful to the show's overall evalution. Also note that the style of the "emotional music" used in that scene seems to be quite common lately, with MiA and GLT also making use of it. Maybe that contributes to it feeling like a try-hard knock-off, who knows?

As for the LotL gender thing, I would be glad if that never get mentioned ever again. I thought after enough arguments got thrown around people would just settle on something or stop caring, apparently not.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 6:40 pm Reply with quote
Niello wrote:
Also note that the style of the "emotional music" used in that scene seems to be quite common lately, with MiA and GLT also making use of it. Maybe that contributes to it feeling like a try-hard knock-off, who knows?


Uh, using (and not using) the score to convey the emotions of the scene is one of the reasons music is used, not just in anime but any medium that has both visuals and audio. Acting as if a show or two has a copyright on that rather than just being exemplary example of that is absurd.

Plus I'm not keen on calling something like this try hard, as if putting a noticeable effort into something is something to be mocked. "I know you put a lot of effort into the song choice and whatever, but could you, like, make seem like you didn't try at all? Actually don't bother, as some other shows already did a good job on that, so if you do, it'll just look like you're copying them [even though the show was already in production when both examples were airing]"
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