03-26-2012, 09:58 AM | #3826 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Glad you watched it! I'm on my phone right now butI should very much like to write a lengthier reply later. (Remind me to if I forget!) For now I'll reply in brief:
Season 1 > Season 3 > Season 2, but each season has some great moments. One of my favorite episodes of all time is a Season 2 episode. Without spoiling others, I'll clue you in: it's the episode where Kana is scouring the city for a glass figurine. That episode just KILLS me every single time, both as Kana is on the hunt and her posse keeps reporting in as well as when Haruka opens the front door at the end and ... yeah. I'm surprised you didn't mention this one! I love Minami Haruka. So I can understand your vexation a tad bit. That stated, I didn't really feel that she was absent or unimpressive this season the way that you did. For example, she has one of the best roles in the episode I just mentioned. She's also an important anchor for the season's surprising finale. But sure, she's not up to her Season 1 par. Then again, no one is. Season 2 was just overall an inferior season to Season 1. I don't think Sakuraba Coharu's source material is to blame for this: I chalk a lot of it up to the change in studio. The new director, producer, and/or editor just couldn't pull off the same magic that the Season 1 studio's did. You'll be delighted to see, though, that while they got the rights to Season 3, they took fan criticisms to heart and they "Season 1-ified" their designs and such. Speaking of Season 3, you simply must watch it. Hosaka returns in top form. One of the greatest, and my personal favorite, Hosaka scenes of the entire franchise is in Season 3. The other Minami family returns after a conspicuous absence from Season 2 and Atsuki, the middle brother, has some great scenes. Just in general, you really should check out S3. While not quite as good as the magical Season 1, it's still very good. Just noticed my phone motives Hosaka into Hosanna. If stuff like that's happened elsewhere, my apologies. Okay, last thing for now: what did you think of the scavenger hunt towards the end? I absolutely LOVED what Chiaki drew and who she tapped for it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Their relationship is certainly hinted at in Season 1 (what with how she sits in his lap and looks so secure and happy, how he's the one who plays Santa for her, etc), but Season 2's where you get that first adorable (and awesome) confirmation that this is how she sees him. Anyway, I bring it up not only because it was one of my favorite moments in Season 2 and not only because it was awwwww adorable and you said you like that stuff, but also because you'll see a lot more of that in Season 3. And it's fairly awesome (imo). So what are you waiting for!? Go and check Season 3 out today!
__________________
|
03-26-2012, 10:28 AM | #3827 |
我が名は勇者王!
|
I need to do this today.
Nay, I *must* do this today.
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
03-27-2012, 08:09 AM | #3828 | ||
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Yes, I did like the ending to the glass bunny episode. The season 2 finale was indeed touching, but I knew she wouldn't leave, so no big surprise there. As Woody Allen said, 90% of life is just showing up, and that's all she had to do for that moment. Still nothing really creative like those awesome season 1 scenes I mentioned before!
Quote:
That reminds me: There was this blue haired girl from season 1 whose name I don't recall, who actually had a crush on Hosaka (though she was quiet about it!). It saddened me how all the girls thought that magnificent specimen of a man was gross, and that's why it was so satisfying and cute that there was one girl who actually did like him! She also acted as a sort of aide to him. To my great dismay, this girl was nowhere to be found in season 2! Poor Hosaka was left all alone, to be called disgusting by everyone. If she doesn't come back in season 3, I fear that she will be forgotten about forever, like a Nangou-san in the wind ... Quote:
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
||
03-27-2012, 08:36 AM | #3829 |
我が名は勇者王!
|
BPK you should make a club for the fantasy baseball. It'll probably only be a two person Gentleman's Association but we might get curious spectators and baseball enthusiasts.
I need to catch up on Cross Game. =_= I watched nothing yesterday. Still have a YGO craving in me that won't die, not until I perfect my side.
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
03-27-2012, 11:52 AM | #3830 |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,453
|
Ooh, you're watching Cross Game, Dopple? I read a summary of it a while ago and grew quite interested
__________________
|
03-27-2012, 01:16 PM | #3831 |
我が名は勇者王!
|
I started watching it years ago (2009?) following One Outs. I never kept up with the anime because I felt uncomfortable with the direction - that Kitamura Kou was having mild attraction to Tsukishima Aoba, which I didn't like because I was firmly Kou x Wakaba, and didn't think he should move on from her.
Chicken hearted, yes. I'm still not sure I'm mature enough for it.
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
03-28-2012, 02:45 AM | #3832 |
Volcano Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,878
|
The Daily Lives of High School Boys
Like many others, this show ended. The show had a fantastic start, leaving me laughing constantly. While still funny, the show just....lost its magic after a while. The show went from hilarious to slightly funny as the show went on, and I'm guessing the writers just ran out of jokes. Don't get me wrong, I still think this show is still the best of this season, but I wish it kept the momentum it had for the first three episodes. Also, some jokes were really really bad. Like, straight pissed me off bad. This show gets a 7.5 from me. Shana Final I made my review and all that, but after seeing the last episode...I wanna mock it some more. The final episode was oozing in pure, concentrated R-E-T-A-R-D-E-D! I mean, I knew they'd pull something stupid, but when I saw Margery become a giant hydra-bear, I realized this show would blow me away with stupidity that I couldn't even imagine. I'm gonna stop there, but this shit's almost Jeanne and 11 Eyes level. It's really sad that Shana turned into this. Season 1 was awesome. However, everything after that was just....ugh. To my surprise, not only is Daitarn 3 subbed, but there's a well-seeded batch of it available. I assumed Daitarn 3 wouldn't be subbed, since it's an old, obscure mecha anime that's only known nowadays for being in SRW. I guess I was wrong. Anyway, Daitarn 3 is my favorite mech in SRW, so obviously I should give it a shot. The opening is spectacular too. Finally, Shooting Star Dragon's summon was glorious. Maybe it was the JAM Project, but it was a great scene. |
03-28-2012, 11:47 AM | #3833 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Oh GOD! Just watched Minami-ke season 3 episode 2, aka The Triumphant Return of Hosaka.
Spoiler: show
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" Last edited by McSweeney; 03-28-2012 at 12:29 PM. |
03-28-2012, 11:50 AM | #3834 | |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Quote:
Cross Game is on my radar screen of stuff I might watch in the future. I have a feeling I'd like it more than One Outs.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
|
03-28-2012, 12:06 PM | #3835 | |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Quote:
So ... now to reply to my fellow Minami-ke fan. You totally hit the nail on the head. Your assessment is very much in line with mine (in line with every fan's?). Just like you said ... Spoiler: show It is, by far, one of the most memorable moments of Season 3. I'm glad you enjoyed it seemingly as much as I did, and I'm glad you decided to take my advice and press on to Season 3. I think you are now seeing for yourself that your buddy Talon wouldn't steer you wrong and that when he told you "Season 1 > Season 3 > Season 2, but Season 3 is really, really close to being as good as Season 1," he meant it. Look forward to the rest of the season. And put your spoilers in goddamn spoiler tags next time. ^^;
__________________
Last edited by Talon87; 03-28-2012 at 12:12 PM. |
|
03-28-2012, 12:28 PM | #3836 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Ahhh, yes, I suppose so. I just assumed there was no one left who intended to watch the show, and if they did, they'd have no idea what I was talking about anyway and would have forgotten about it by the time they got there.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
03-28-2012, 01:03 PM | #3837 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Forgot to mention this the other day, but ... you had mentioned that Atsuko doesn't show up in Season 2. But she does. ^^; She's there just as much as Maki. Did you mean that she just doesn't have as much scene presence as she did in Season 1? (I'm not sure I even agree with this ^^;, but ...) Or did you just fail to notice her? She's definitely there.
Flipping through some of the past seasons' episodes, you've got some fun Hosaka times ahead of you yet. Also ... I really need to get some pocket money and fast. ;_; It looks like in the years since I last imported, there have been no fewer than five new volumes of Minamike manga (Vols 5-9). And that some of the more recent ones have had bonus content inside if you got copies from the initial publication batch. ;_; I've got to get on the ball! But do you know what this means ...? :O If there were four volumes when Season 3 came out, and there are nine volumes total now ... that means we have enough material for at least an additional three seasons if they should ever decide to go back and do it. Oh please, oh please, oh please let the original anime studio do this. No more Asread. T_T (Sure, they improved in Season 3, but ...) Anyway, I'm probably just dreaming. Three whole seasons is more than most manga can even dream of, so we're probably not going to get any more Minami-ke anime. But you never know ... you never know. :o
__________________
|
03-28-2012, 01:29 PM | #3838 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Oh, really? Where in hell is she?! I must not have recognized her because of the studio change. She must not have said anything to make me recognize her either. I need to re watch some stuff ...
And yeah, I was a bit disappointed by the "improvement" in visuals from season 2 to 3. It's not THAT much better, in fact, season 2 arguably looks better lol. The characters look too scrawny or something in 3. And season 4 was already announced, didn't you hear?
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
03-28-2012, 01:42 PM | #3839 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
GET. OUT. Noooooooo, I didn't hear!? Are you for real? You better not be pulling my leg ...
*goes to investigate* *finds this* CEEEEEEEEEEEEELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON! ^____^ This totally makes my year. This is better than Kaiji S2, Fate/Zero, or Usagi Drop (2011). 2011 is still probably overall a stronger year for me so far, but ... this is bigger than any one of those for me. HELL. YES. And now I'm more determined than ever to get Volumes 5-9 and add those to my collection. I will import those, even it costs me $100 to do so. (Which it should not , but I'm just saying.)
__________________
|
03-28-2012, 01:46 PM | #3840 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
I'm just confused as to how you didn't know already! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE?
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
03-28-2012, 01:52 PM | #3841 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Because the news only just came out, it seems, on March 19th-ish. And the last I had checked in, there was news of a ninth volume coming out with goodies co-packaged. Never in a million years did I expect that this would be one of the goodies. I also didn't know Volume 9 was out until today, as you just discovered earlier this same thread. So yeah. I just found out. But ... HOLY COW.
To-Do List:
__________________
|
03-28-2012, 02:28 PM | #3842 | |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,453
|
I plan to watch Minami-ke at some point.
On with Winter Wrap Up, Winter Wrap Up~ Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou Though the latter half ceased with some of the annoyances, I agree the humor never quite matched the punch of early episodes. In a sense it felt like they were playing it overly safe to compensate. The show ended on a pretty blah note - a little too mundane for my tastes even though there's apparently another season coming. At least the poor main guy showed up again for some of it after being almost completely absent from most of the later eps. While nothing really pissed me off, one of the sketches in the final episode honestly freaked me out. Maybe it's partly due to Another's influence, but I think even without watching random bloody deaths each week I would expect... Spoiler: show All in all, it was still a fairly funny show, and would look forward to a sequel. Quote:
Need to make my review post for the finale (and also for Another). So hard to sort out FEELINGS~ though. XP
__________________
|
|
03-28-2012, 03:00 PM | #3843 |
我が名は勇者王!
|
Something that bothered me about The Daily Lives of High School Boys was it started to lose that sparkle in the second episode. The first episode was amazing, but revisitng the skits in the second episode...considerably less awesome. And only hearing it gets worse isn't urging me to continue forward, it's just not interest.
Now, what is interesting - >Talon >BPK
__________________
あなたの勇気が切り開く未来
ふたりの想いが見つけだす希望 今 信じあえる あきらめない 心かさね 永遠を抱きしめて |
03-29-2012, 09:22 AM | #3844 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Come to think of it, I should have posted my rants in the old Minami-ke thread instead of here. OH WELL.
You're right, that girl was "Atsuko" all along. I have this problem with remembering the names of minor characters. Why'd her hair change from purple-blue to green? GOD! Well I'm just glad she's here. I found that whole apple gag in episode 3 hilarious. I was wondering if they were doing a parody of the the movie Se7en, with the scary atmosphere and the warning not to look inside that box! I was incredibly curious as to what could possibly be in that box to explain the eerie tension caused by the apple gift. Brad Pitt's wife's head? And then ... of course. That DOES explain everything!
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
03-29-2012, 11:23 AM | #3845 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
I don't think either of us have made any comments in these Minamike posts that tie in to other programs so we could always ask someone to kindly transfer the posts over. *cough* That's if you want them in the Minamike thread in the first place. Like I said, I really need to overhaul that thread. ^_^; Bring it up to date with my current thoughts, with some Season 2 and Season 3 commentary from me, etc. Which makes me wonder ... did I watch Seasons 2 and 3 while I was away from UPN? I wonder. 'Cause you'd think I'd have posted about those there. Anyway ...
(EDIT: never mind. I just scrolled up after I posted this and ... I see that you did in fact make references to other shows. Shame on you. ) I feel like Atsuko's hair is blue in Season 1 and blue again in Season 2. ^_^; Different shades, sure, but ... I wouldn't call it purple in S1. Green-blue in S2, yes. I guess this gets back to how people perceive colors differently and how the Japanese in particular have a funny (to us Westerners) sense of what constitutes "blue." To them, colors we'd consider to be green (like a traffic light) or indigo-purple (like many scholars say is the case for Lady Aoi in The Tale of Genji) they just blanket-consider as "blue." You can actually see this in some older animes where the budget was low and/or the attention to detail was less and the traffic lights are clearly (to even our Western eyes) red, yellow, and blue -- because the studio just painted it in blue instead of trying to get that exact shade of green right. Anyway, digression. ^^; My point was, to the Japanese (and apparently this time to Talon too! XD), Atsuko's hair in both seasons is probably to be considered blue; but to your eyes, you see her S1 hair as borderline purple and her S2 hair as borderline green, so it creates cognitive dissonance for you. You mentioned yesterday that you prefer Season 2's art to Season 3's. Maybe it'll just take time for Season 3's to grow on you, but I've never much cared for Season 2's. I really don't like the way that Asread drew and colored the eyes in most cases -- Haruka's face is especially "WHAT DID YOU DOOOO!? " in Season 2 -- and I feel like S3 was a big improvement in that regard. S2's animation seemed to be trying to be too flashy -- for example, they made Kana's rival's hair a much brighter purple, they made Atsuko's hair practically sea green like you've already noted, they gave Makoto bright green eyes, etc -- but in S3 they seemed to take to heart the fans' criticisms of S2's art direction vs. S1's and they made the characters seem more real. I think it's most noticeable in the eyes. They return to a more realistic form and have better (imo) colors. For example, Haruka's bizarre acquisition of red eyes in Season 2 is gone and she gains back her golden hazel eye color from S1. Another example is Chiaki's hair: the bizarre red highlights from S2 are now thankfully gone, though her practically blonde S2 primary hair color remains.
__________________
|
03-29-2012, 11:43 AM | #3846 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Actually, watching episode 4 now, I definitely do prefer season 3's look. Especially the faces. But Haruka is supposed to have a fairly voluptuous body wouldn't you say? She's too damn scrawny in 3!
I never noticed how tall Hosaka was until Chiaki referred to him as "that big guy". Then I started taking note of his height compared to others. Holy crap he's huge! A foot taller than Haruka. He could have rested his chin on top of Haruka's head when he was hugging her in his fantasy!
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
03-29-2012, 12:42 PM | #3847 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Hosaka is amazing. He's handsome, passionate, a hard worker, and at least decently intelligent as far as we can tell. (His absurd adventures aren't the result of stupidity so much as they are peculiarity. ) His only problem is that he tries so hard from the shadows but he has virtually no game in the spotlight. This has the double-whammy negative impact of keeping him off of Haruka's radar -- she has no idea how he feels because he's never once even said "hello" to her! -- while registering as a creep to Haruka's best friends (who, luckily for Hosaka, do not appear to have told her that he's obsessed with her). I think Hosaka is pretty much the handsome, buff embodiment of a lot of fans of Minami-ke. I know I can personally relate to him. (Take that for what you will! ^_^; )
Regarding thinning, I've never noticed it. I went and looked back at several episodes in Season 1 and compared them with several scenes in Episode 04. The only "thinning" I think I can see is in the faces, but I don't really perceive the girls as having gotten thinner or anything: it's just a difference between how the two animation studios draw the faces. I prefer the original studio's designs to Asread's, but Asread's aren't bad either in Season 3. I guess they are a little ... I dunno, less baby fat-looking? A little more mature-thin? And thus thin? But ... as for the bodies (waists, busts, etc), I did some direct comparisons (can upload screencaps if you like) and they look identical. Haruka is depicted as a liberal B / conservative C cup in pretty much any clothed shot that isn't drawing special attention to her bust. So I don't feel like Haruka got a downgrade in that department. Since I randomly picked S3 E4 for the comparisons, I got to rewatch the scenes with Hitomi. Awww, so you've finally met her! What do you think? On the one hand, I was slightly concerned to see Season 3 introducing more complexity to the love web -- what are they trying to do? outdo School Rumble? -- but on the other hand Hitomi is pretty cute and it's interesting to see that ___ has a secret admirer. Sure, her voice is ridiculously childish, but I guess it fits what they're trying to do with her character: create somebody who wants to be seen as a woman by the person she likes even though she's younger than the person that they like. It also produces an interesting contrast with her manner of speech which is pretty gruff and yakuza-esque at points. lol @ Touma's birthday gift. XD I'd completely forgotten about that. My lord, those brothers are crazy. hahahaha
__________________
|
03-29-2012, 01:25 PM | #3848 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
Don't have to tell me twice. I'm Hosaka's #1 fan for a reason! He's right there with Akagi in terms of my favourite characters of all time. Akagi caters to my fantasy of being an ingenius badass with brass balls, but at the same time, Hosaka panders to my latent desire to be dandyish, sweet, and funny!
I liked Hitomi a lot! The way the show handles people crushing on other people is simultaneously humourous and cute. The best I've seen. There was also Fujioka marveling at Touma and "his" ability to be playful around girls without being shy. Then he's like, I must try that with Kana! I can do this! And, well. As for body types, well check this out: Okay so it's not AS severe as I thought, but I didn't almost mistake her for Chiaki in pic #1! VISUALS ASIDE, season 3 is better in overall quality just as you said. Remember how I said Kana carried season 2 when others failed to show up? Well she's actually taken a back seat in season 3 as others step up!
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" Last edited by McSweeney; 03-29-2012 at 01:36 PM. |
03-29-2012, 03:48 PM | #3849 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
|
Yeah, I took some screencaps to support my viewpoint too , but I was too lazy to upload them and resize them for you. Maybe later? ^^; For now I'll just say this: I don't think the girls have lost any weight or fat-padding in Season 3 versus Season 1 other than that they are narrower than they were in Season 1. Like, if in Season 1 the girls were let's say 2 feet wide at one vertical plane, here they're like 1.75 feet wide. I agree with you that they look much better in Season 1, but 99% of the Minamike fanbase is with you there, my brother. Also, just like you said, I took almost mistook Haruka for Chiaki in that bottom picture. Especially because ...
(Season 3 spoiler, safe to click if you've seen through Episode 02) Spoiler: show But yeah. It's not too bad. Just like you've admitted. Just like I keep repeating. ^^; We can all agree that Season 1 animation rocks the house but that Season 2 animation is bearable (for our beloved Minamis!) and Season 3 animation is actually pretty good, just not as awesome as Season 1's was. I think another thing you can spot them doing in Season 3, whether deliberately or not (and whether encouraged by Sakuraba Coharu or not, I don't know), and that is that all of the girls appear to be growing up physically. In your second screencap, for example, Touma looks a hell of a lot older than she does in Season 1, even though she's only 10 to 11 years old in all three seasons (her eleventh birthday taking place in Season 3, as you just saw). The first season covered some of spring and then all of summer, fall, and led us straight into winter. The second season picked up during winter and was pretty much one long winter smorgasbord. The third season starts us off with what appears to be a traditional New Year celebration (i.e. circa March; note the green shrubbery and tree leaves and the SFX crew's planting of bird chirpings everywhere ) and continues on from there. So in three seasons, we roughly cover one school year's worth of adventures. Which is why it's pretty crazy that Asread went so to town on the girls' designs and made them all look like they'd grown by 2-3 years. Haruka goes from looking like a young adult woman to definitely looking like a young adult (22+ y.o.) woman, various characters really shoot up (compare S3 Uchida with S1 or even S2 Uchida), etc. As a fan, I'd actually be really interested to know to what extent Sakuraba Coharu had a say in the anime's production and to what extent he was in support of making the characters all appear older in S3 than they did in S1. If Yuki decides not to copy these posts over to the Minami-ke thread, I'm definitely going to need to bump it and link to all these posts or something. ^_^; There's too much good Minami-ke discussion going on here to not include it in the proper thread!
__________________
|
03-30-2012, 05:17 AM | #3850 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 1,488
|
I'll just edit out anything not related to Minami-ke after the posts have been moved. Seamless! Like when Stalin photoshopped people out of pictures after he had them killed.
__________________
Smoking Gary sez: "Stay in school kidz" |
Lower Navigation | ||||||
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 2 (0 members and 2 guests) | |
Thread Tools | |
|
|