Forum - View topicInterview: Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina Author Jougi Shiraishi
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#917425
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[deleted -mod]
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andramus
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I'm curious what your basis for this assertion is. Since I got into anime a few years back I've always been curious about how Japanese audiences and critics respond to anime as opposed to those of us in the West. I've even started to attempt to teach myself to read Japanese. However I'm probably years away from a point where I could casually browse Japanese websites and forums to see what people are saying about various anime/manga/light novels etc. What exactly do you mean by sales? Is that a reference to Blu-Rays/DVDs of the anime? Or do you mean ratings? I would have thought it was too early for there to be any Blu-Rays or DVDs available but maybe they are released faster in Japan. My only problem with the "no pantyshots" request was that Elaine is wearing a very short skirt flying around on a broomstick which challenges my suspension of disbelief that you never get a glimpse of her knickers. If it was said that she was using magic to prevent accidental/incidental exposure then it wouldn't bother me. That or have her wear shorts under her skirt like Misaka from A Certain Magical Index/A Certain Scientific Railgun. Or alternatively have the character wear leggings. I remember a couple of years ago there was a comment below a review of an episode of Supergirl where someone complained about a scene where Supergirl did a mid-air somersault and kicked her opponent during a fight scene with her skirt flipping up for millisecond as a result briefly revealing her leotard underneath. I thought the complaint was stupid. Complain about Supergirl's outfit - either the skirt or what she's wearing underneath it - but not the natural result of an intense action scene. |
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Seagloom
Posts: 276 |
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It is a poor attempt at a specious statement. The first BD volume will not be available until January. Until then we have no concrete sales numbers. Merch that has already been released is selling well enough and already spiking in the aftermarket with more on the way. There is even a figure and dakimakura cover up for sale with the former definitely doing okay. Besides, if they were expecting abysmal numbers it would have been delayed, if not cancelled outright. While there is nothing to suggest Wandering Witch is a breakout hit like The Demon Girl Next Door, there is also no incontrovertible evidence pointing to failure. Last edited by Seagloom on Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
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So, you can suspend your belief for a girl flying around on a broomstick and using magic, but not seeing her underwear is a bridge too far? Do you know what that sounds like? |
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AmpersandsUnited
Posts: 633 |
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I assume that's why she wears those ugly leggings in that version, to make it less revealing as per usual live-action superhero costume changes. Although in cases like that it's probably an accident that nobody caught, which isn't too uncommon in live-action shows to see production errors and oversights.
Seems like a typical thing to point out. I remember loads of people making fun of Kagome's magic skirt back in the days of Inuyasha having gravity defying powers. People just like to point out the sillyness of things sometimes |
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PonSquared
 Posts: 246 Location: Lost in the Catskills |
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The anime isn't doing well because it's one of the worst stories and worst main characters of all time in any media. It has nothing to do with panty shots. No, it has everything to do with the dumpster fire of non-intervention and complete and the total apathy of the main character.
Honestly, it absolutely made my day to hear that this show is not doing well. Nothing could make me happier. |
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andramus
Posts: 165 |
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I actually feel the opposite way. Going into this anime I thought it would be light fluff that wouldn't really engage my interest. I'm suprised by how much I've actually been enjoying it and I'm even thinking of reading the light novels as a reult. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Uh oh! Something doesn't think/act the way you do! Hurry up and cancel it! It has no right to exist, and other people have no right to watch or enjoy it! |
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PonSquared
Posts: 246 Location: Lost in the Catskills |
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This is a real head scratcher. Try as I might I can't find anywhere that I suggested no one else is allowed to like or enjoy the show. I am pretty sure I was talking about how much I was happy about someone saying the snow wasn't doing well. Yes, yes that's exactly what I said! See, it's right there where I kept saying "my" instead of "you" or "your" in my sentences? Hope that clears it up for you. Enjoy whatever you like. I'm sure you wouldn't cancel me because I don't like what you like. |
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andramus
Posts: 165 |
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I'm an idiot for buying into someone elses' disgreement but I will say that I sympathize with where Tuor_of_Gondolin is coming from although I wouldn't have come at you the way they did. Say a company makes several different flavours of ice-cream and there is one flavour that you think is absolutely disgusting. For someone else however it is their favourite flavour. You hear that ice-cream flavour isn't selling well and the company is going to stop producing it and this makes you so happy you cheer about it for all to hear. However one of the people who hears you cheering that the flavour will no longer be available is the person for whom that flavour was their favourite. For that person you are basically cheering over their loss whilst you have gained little and lost nothing. |
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NeverConvex
 Subscriber Posts: 2301 |
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I don't know that I'd state it as passionately, but I tend to agree with PonSquared. I think the show doing poorly is mostly due to it being poorly written, and its main character, in particular, feeling like a cardboard cutout of a person.
I don't think this is a very compelling argument. A limited amount of anime is produced each season; if anime I think is poorly written becomes wildly popular, it is more likely that similar shows will be produced in the future, to the exclusion of shows I think are well written. Because of this, I do in fact gain, albeit not very directly or concretely, when shows I think are mediocre also get sales that are mediocre. |
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PonSquared
Posts: 246 Location: Lost in the Catskills |
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To piggyback off of what NeverConvex said, if most or all anime began to feature main characters who, for example, could care less and did nothing when they came across a child slave being repeatedly raped, then I would certainly have one less hobby to participate in.
Right now we're showing our boys How I Became a Slime, Deamon Slayer, Shield Hero, and Promised Neverland to get them caught up and ready for 2021. There are so many amazing shows out there, unfortunately, this Witch isn't one of them. It hartens me to know that more people seem to agree with me than do not. But hey, as the analogy goes (especially in this thread) enjoy whatever flavor of ice cream you like. |
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Seagloom
Posts: 276 |
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You may want to reconsider Shield Hero and Slime if the morality of protagonists is a big concern of yours. If you think what Elaina does is bad, I doubt what Rimuru does in the upcoming season will sit well with you. spoiler[Rimruru commits genocide and the story in no way frames his actions as wrongheaded.] As for Shield Hero, it does little better in handling slavery. It trivializes and repeatedly uses it as a plot device and that only worsens as the story goes on. Criticizing the character of Elaina for her actions is perfectly understandable. I don't think she is a character with high morals either. But finding Naofumi's actions acceptable instead calls your stance into question. spoiler[I mean, Naofumi builds a friggin' slave village. That doesn't suddenly become okay just because he treats them well.] |
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PonSquared
Posts: 246 Location: Lost in the Catskills |
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I appreciate the reply SeaGloom.
Yes there certainly is some moral ambiguity in slime, and perhaps if you want to call what Naofumi does grooming then there as well. However, those shows are entertaining as hell they make us laugh cry afraid excited and so much more. Wirche's main character on the other hand, makes me want to hurt something or someone. Not in the way that good art makes you feel uncomfortable but in the way that bad art makes you feel disgusted, cheated, and angry. It's the first time I've ever experienced the following, at the end of that particular episode of Witch, my wife and I both simultaneously shouted "I'm done." As I said in another post, my older son's favorite anime this season is Moriarty and he's only 11. I absolutely do not mind showing my children things with questionable or ambiguous morality. What I do however refuse to watch, is a show that glorifies a complete lack of morality vis-a-vis complete apathy towards other humans. If I was watching berserk or evangelion then that would be completely appropriate. But in a cute slice of Life show that touches on horrible horrible problems with the main character who could care less - no, no thank you. Okay, think I've said what I need to say . Checking out. May all your main characters actually care about something. Enjoy your Japanese cartoons everyone. ♥️ |
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NeverConvex
Subscriber Posts: 2301 |
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I don't find Elaina repugnant in the same way PonsSquared seems to; she doesn't really elicit much emotion from me at all. That's actually what I dislike about her -- she seems so deeply disconnected from the world and story around her, and yet takes up so much viewing space and time, that I just can't find anything to connect with or feel anything about as she wanders aimlessly through each narrative.
If she elaborated on her emotions or belief system, and developed some kind of relationship with the world around her, I would suddenly find the show much more compelling. I don't have to agree with her reactions, or think that her relationships with other characters are healthy or good; but, I do need her to have something worth calling a reaction in the first place, particularly when events around her are clearly crafted to evoke strong emotion. Mm, and I need those reactions reasonably framed and her actions explored, I think. If she does something abominable, I don't need her to recognize it as such; often it's more interesting if she is convinced what she's doing is right. But I do need the show to realize that her, e.g., spoiler[plant-zombie-massacring a town] and zooming off into the sunset happily musing about how beautiful she is should raise the viewer's eyebrows, at the very least, to frame it as morally ambiguous and/or wrong, and to then say something about it, either through her, another character, or some more indirect route. I guess a much shorter way of saying this is: WWE just never seemed interested in showing much interest in its own tragedies, and that made me lose interest. |
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