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EP. REVIEW: I'm Standing on 1,000,000 Lives.


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Morry



Joined: 26 Jun 2016
Posts: 756
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:46 pm Reply with quote
The one thing I'll give this series: it feels authentic to spellcasters in RPGs. Ostensibly a powerhouse, but starts off worse than useless. Hopefully leveling the girls fixes this. (as well as teaching them not to lob your weapon at the enemy on reflex)
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The girls are practically useless and incompetent without him, they take little initiative beyond recruiting him, and he comes up with every clever scheme for defeating foes. Even if Yusuke is the protagonist, the girls should at least be competent at something. This is concerning and something that I will be keeping an eye on.


That gradually changes as the series plods on, but it is slow going.

spoiler[There is a lady who joins up later on that absolutely defies this trend, however. She has qualities Yotsuya lacks and can give him a run for his money in combat skills. So much so she actually shares the protagonist role with him for part of an arc. Unfortunately it would take another cour for the anime to reach that point unless they chopped the story to pieces.]


Last edited by Seagloom on Mon Oct 19, 2020 1:04 pm; edited 1 time in total
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sirdano1



Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Posts: 291
PostPosted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:55 pm Reply with quote
I get that they're going the cameo route, but I really wish they had just stuck with Norio Wakamoto as Game Master's voice, he makes everything 10X better.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:31 pm Reply with quote
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What the spellcaster-types can do with their magic at low levels is also comically underpowered, as is the whole notion of the benefits that Farmer and Chef classes get and how Yusuke keeps getting stuck with those atypical “classes.”

I'm not entirely sure he's being "stuck" with them as being singled out for them. So far his weapons and abilities have been the only thing having any effect against the monsters, and how sweet a power is that "scoping out beasties' weak points at a glance" thing he got with the Chef rank? It feels more like those slots are skinny for a good reason, like the million dollar sliver on Wheel of Fortune. Not that no one wants that title, but that everyone would want it.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 8:49 pm Reply with quote
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Sadly, most of the rest of the episode depended on the other girls being far less competent, to the point of being captured by bandits. (And not very high-level ones, from the looks of it.)

I didn't see that as them being less competent, but rather more foolish (which I suppose could arguably be a competency issue). Since they lose a level if they harm humans and were also vastly outnumbered, I'm not sure what they thought they could do to rescue her, other than be ninja-sneaky, which doesn't seem to be in either one's skill set.
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:47 pm Reply with quote
Gonna be honest, not sure who picks out the quotes from the reviews to be used as the blurbs, but I think they need to pick quotes that better reflect the review. I thought this was going to be a largely negative one going into it, but it turned out to be a lot more positively graded.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:12 am Reply with quote
Yes, things definitely picked up with this episode, on both the character development front and increasing the stakes. Realizing their "mission" may not be what they assumed or a job they're willing to carry out is one thing, but not even being sure if in fact that is the mission is a whole other level of dilemma.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:32 am Reply with quote
Oh dear, that trap might as well have had a sign out front saying, "This is a trap." Especially since they went in without the hostages! What's even worse, they left their horseybeasts to starve to death (or leap into the water when they couldn't bear the thirst anymore). Sad
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 2:33 am Reply with quote
Quote:
And speaking of Kahvell, she is rapidly becoming my favorite supporting character of the season.


And so another Kahvell fan is born. Several arcs in and I still think she is one of the strongest supporting characters in a story with several decent supporting characters. I really hope they find a way to squeeze in her scene from the next arc's prelude. There is no guarantee of a second season and it really rounds out her character arc.

Overall, this adaptation has been better than expected. Unlike most lower budget adaptations they are not rushing through the source material to reach a spectacular climax. Most of the minor changes that have been made are either an improvement or at least not a detraction.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:06 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Iu's flashbacks here reveal why she is not playing tennis anymore: again, not because of anything nefarious, but because she did not feel she was good enough.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the mechanics here. It sounded like in fact she wasn't good enough because her low Wizard stats somehow lowered her real world strength. She didn't blame herself, but rather "that half-faced freak."

I really liked this episode though. They packed a lot of action and info into it without it feeling like too much. My only question is how they got the "horses" and wagon back. Did getting through to the other side deactivate all the traps? Also, it was pretty funny that getting through meant just going on a straight path, despite all the side corridors. The only way to really get lost would be to follow the stupid signs.
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 3:25 pm Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the mechanics here. It sounded like in fact she wasn't good enough because her low Wizard stats somehow lowered her real world strength. She didn't blame herself, but rather "that half-faced freak."


No, you are correct. Their stats are adjusted based on current class. Iu totally lost her game because of reduced physical stats. One thing the anime doesn't make terribly clear is their abilities carry over into the mundane world, magic and all.

---

As for the episode itself, I liked how they handled it--some funky animation with Iu's fight against the gargoyle aside. This arc is wrapping up earlier than expected, however. There are too many episodes left to stretch it out and too few to cover the next arc without rushing it into incomprehensibility. Plus a new character is introduced but there have been no casting announcements made. Makes me think they may go anime original with episodes 9+. Otherwise it's going to end in a really awkward place.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18136
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:09 pm Reply with quote
Seagloom wrote:
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the mechanics here. It sounded like in fact she wasn't good enough because her low Wizard stats somehow lowered her real world strength. She didn't blame herself, but rather "that half-faced freak."


No, you are correct. Their stats are adjusted based on current class. Iu totally lost her game because of reduced physical stats. One thing the anime doesn't make terribly clear is their abilities carry over into the mundane world, magic and all.

Hmmm,I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that the tennis scene happened before she got involved in the game world. It makes much more sense with this interpretation.
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 7:11 pm Reply with quote
^^It's an almost blink and you'll miss it scene. Following their first quest together late into the second episode, Iu thanks Yotsuya for saving their lives and remarks her two years of preparing for the tournament won't go to waste. Yotsuya then thinks to himself how it will be her last chance to participate as a third-year in middle-school.

This series does that a lot. Something seemingly inconsequential will be mentioned only to suddenly become significant later. Sometimes waaay later.
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Cryten



Joined: 19 Jan 2019
Posts: 978
PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 8:23 pm Reply with quote
I've been quite enjoying this lower budget silly show. Sometimes it seems to be trying to be edgy but then everything slides back into being all moral lessons on personal growth. I do hope that the other 2 ladies of the party have an opportunity to grow soon as they are becoming more background characters then the npc's.

I think Key is right that she was giving up her tennis but it is also true that her weakened stats caused her to be frustrated at not being able to give the tournament her all. Perhaps we will be getting more story later about why she is giving up on a passion she cared about more then the rest of her life.
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The Scream Man



Joined: 01 Mar 2020
Posts: 148
Location: Sydney, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:08 am Reply with quote
yeah the animation is nothing to write home about, but its an oddly compelling and fun series. I think the limit of 5 main characters is good too, as it leaves a lot of room for those characters to be explored. This is just a nice pleasant 22 minutes each week that I look forward too Smile
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