12-19-2011, 09:11 AM | #51 |
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12-19-2011, 02:23 PM | #52 |
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Yup, more or less the same spoiler.
Chihaya has the worst family situation of the idols, and that's juxtaposed with her incredible talent. Small wonder why she's my favourite! Once upon the dawn of time, I wrote a scenario for Haruka when she sang Maison Ikkoku's OP. I really liked it! I wonder if I could dig that piece up...
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12-24-2011, 02:39 PM | #53 |
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I managed to finish this. I originally put this down because I couldn't stomach the Hibiki episode, but I decided to go ahead and finish all of the episodes since the show was finished.
I thought episodes 20-25 were great. They were a bit cheesy, but I couldn't help but get into them. Chihaya's part of the concert in episode 20 was an especially powerful scene. I'm honestly surprised I got into this show as much I did. Sure, it's riddled in cliches, and most of the pre-episode 20 dramatic scenes were pretty bad (the very reason I lagged on the Hibiki episode), but I thought every character was fleshed out pretty well and likable. Hell, I think everyone had some really good moments. It's also nice how Jupiter ended up the way they did. I assumed they'd automatically make Jupiter evil since they were males other than the producer. Thank goodness it didn't happen. I'll miss this show. It wasn't exactly great, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. If I had to rate it, I'd give it a 7.8. EDIT: Doppel, if you catch this, I would strongly recommend that you watch this scene from episode 20. This Chihaya scene is the most powerful scene in the entire show. The lead-up was perfect, and when Chihaya started singing, I got freaking chills. Last edited by big bad birtha; 12-24-2011 at 09:00 PM. |
08-23-2012, 03:44 PM | #54 |
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Well here's a bump from the bottom of page 3. ^^; Having polished off Pokémon and caught up or stayed caught up with most of the other shows I'm watching (only Polar Bear Café is stalled, still at Episode 13 ^^; ), a few weeks ago I decided to catch up on this series. I re-watched the Makoto episode (the one with the amusement park and the bulk of Makoto's backstory), then I re-watched the Ritsuko episode (a personal favorite even if going into this series I didn't think I'd like Ritsuko very much), and then I put the show back down for a bit just 'cause. Picked it back up a week or so ago and re-watched the Takane episode (19). Then a few days ago watched the first half of 20 but had to put it down. Finally I circled back around and finished the rest of Episode 20 today. Thoughts:
It was good. The series is not what one could call "great" by any stretch of the imagination but it has its own charming appeal and is probably one of the better series I've seen with a main cast this large and consisting almost entirely of girls. But Episode 20, which can rightly be referred to as the Chihaya episode, was good for this series and it was modestly good for any series. I liked the song number at the end but I do wish that a voice as wonderful has hers had been given more screen time. I was expecting to hear a full rendition of Aoi Tori / Blue Bird before all was said and done but we never did: closest we ever got was a tiny morsel of the song back in like Episode 04 or 05 or some such. As for her character's backstory ... Spoiler: show Just looked up at the bottom of bbb's last post. I agree: that scene was probably the highlight of the series thus far. The animation was a little rough for the girls' faces but they seemed to save their budget for physics surrounding Chihaya's face and eyes throughout the episode. But what really sells that scene anyway isn't the animation but the singing. Doppel once mentioned that, just like with Morning Musume, some of the girls of 765 Produce can't sing for shit but are cutie-pie idols for the fanboys, like Kago Ai in Momuse or Yayoi in Idolmaster, while others of the girls have got the vocal chords it takes to cut it as an actual singer, never mind as an idol, like Takahashi Ai in Momuse or Chihaya here in Idolmaster. (For singing sample, consider her cover of "Haru yo, koi".) I would've loved to have heard Chihaya sing more rather than waste so much time early on with forced ensemble episodes; but then again, we kinda knew that that's what we were getting into with this one. A twenty-six episode iM@S anime can't bring the game to life with full fidelity to the source material. It can't possibly give every Chihaya fan as much Chihaya as he wants, every Iori fan as much Iori as he wants, every Ritsuko fan as much Ritsuko as he wants, and so on. It was limited from the beginning to pretty much being an affair where each girl gets an average of 1.5 episodes to herself (some two, others only one) and the remaining episodes are episodes featuring the entire group. I realize the anime's not intended as a replacement for the games and that we should probably play Idolmaster 1 and 2 for ourselves some day if we want to get the full Chihaya path, but still: I'm a little disappointed with how little we've gotten to hear this wonderful singing voice.
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01-07-2013, 12:57 AM | #56 |
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So I decided to start watching the episodes of Puchimas. 5 of them are out at the moment. They're about what you'd expect from 3 minute specials. Obviously it's really cute. Puchima Yukiko giving Ritsuko a massage was probably enough to kill a fella. Though so far, there has been no Yayoi, Takane, or Iori, so I'm basically just watching stuff for characters I don't care much for.
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01-07-2013, 01:14 AM | #57 |
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I've watched the first four. I've enjoyed it so far, and up until Miki showed up in Episode 04 I kept thinking "WHEN WILL THE REAL GIRLS SHOW UP AND MEET THEIR
But I'll say again, for now, I've enjoyed it. Haven't gotten around to watching Episode 05 yet but I will soon. As for the main series, each episode of Puchimas I watch makes me feel guilty that I am SO CLOSE to finishing off Idolmaster and I still haven't done it yet. Should totally just plow through that one tomorrow. Not even two hours. Less than that. Four episodes, just bam bam bam bam done.
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01-11-2013, 01:28 AM | #58 |
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The Chihayas meeting each other wasn't that bad. Chihya is more open and childish, so there's atleast a clear difference between those two in personality. Though the "Chihaya doesn't like her flat chest" joke constantly shoved in your face is annoying. Chihya herself is adorable though.
Next episode is Iori! Can't wait. Though looking at this, everyone looks like they're from IM@S1, which likely means no Takane. Such a shame. |
01-11-2013, 01:43 AM | #59 |
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Iori's thing might've just been a flashback. Though you are right that Ritsuko has her iM@S 1 look and not her lady business suit iM@S 2 look, so ... But wait a second. Miki's there, isn't she? So doesn't that mean it's after Miki+Takane+Hibiki's group joins 765 Produce? 'Cause Miki shouldn't be there otherwise, not if this really is iM@S 1. No? So yeah, maybe Ritsuko is just rockin' her old look and Iori's having a flashback or something. We'll see tomorrow.
Caught up on Puchimas (through Ep09). Series continues to be cute but insubstantial. I mildly enjoyed the boob size joke with Chihya and Chihaya but I totally misunderstood it at first. I thought they were implying that Chihya, in reference to Chihaya's breast envy, liked girls with big breasts (and displayed this affection by biting them). Only in Episode 09 did it become clear to me that, no in fact, she dislikes Miki and that she likes Ritsuko in spite of her decent rack. I thought she was Chihaya's opposite (of sorts) in this regard, but it turns out she's very much just like Chihaya. ^^; Episode 06 was cute. I was hoping for / expecting Azusa to show up in 09 given Chihya's deal. No one has breasts like Azusa does. Looking forward to Kotori getting her own chibi.
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01-11-2013, 02:00 AM | #60 |
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I thought Miki was there from the beginning, and one of the 3 main girls along with Haruka and Chihaya. Also it's not only Iori and Ritsuko, but the twins as well. In IM@S2, one of the twins has a longer side ponytail, but in 1, they're the same length. When I first saw the show, the fact that the twins looked like their old selves flew over my head.
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01-11-2013, 02:25 AM | #61 |
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I see the source of my confusion. Miki was in the 360 version of iM@S 1 as a bonus character (this I knew) and was a member already of 765 (this I did not know). Canonically, she leaves 765, unsatisfied with her producer, and joins 961 Productions' Project Fairy in a PSP game. Then she, along with the other two in the group (Takane and Hibiki), bounces back over to 765. See, I didn't remember the PSP game. I thought the 360 version of iM@S 1 was the one where the girls' rivals are Miki, Takane, and Hibiki. But I guess that never even happened.
I wonder then if P-san is voiced by the anime's Producer (i.e. iM@S 2 Producer) or whether he's voiced by somebody else (denoting he's a different person altogether from the anime Producer, and very probably is iM@S 1's Producer).
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01-20-2013, 10:47 PM | #62 |
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Hmm....it seems I was wrong about the lack of Takane and Hibiki. Not only did they appear during the next week's preview, but their page on Funimation has them. I guess they used the IM@S1 designs because they were more popular or something? Either that or they just seem like more lighthearted designs and are better suited for the show.
They like replaying the shot with Iori running away alot. I did like Haruka's puchima double. The "Ka KAAAAA!" is retarded but cute. Actually is Haruka that goofy in the original game? It would be a plus for her if she was. She isn't like that in the A-1 anime. My favorite episodes so far would probably be 8-9. Chihya is so god damn cute. |
01-23-2013, 06:25 PM | #63 |
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Through Episode 18 of Puchimas. Still no additional progress on Idolmaster proper.
Puchimas is cute but it's a bit too much effort to come up with something to say about a series for which, if you summed all of its episodes up thus far but not counting the recaps or the ED credits, would possibly be less than one standard episode. ^^; I guess I can try by saying ... I find Haruka (or should I say Amami Haruka? ) much more amusing in Puchimas than in Idolmaster. In Idolmaster, she always struck me as the forced "standard main character who doesn't really stand out in any sort of meaningful way" type. Well, it seems like Puchimas is to Idolmaster what Carnival Phantasm was to FSN and Tsukihime: and as such, it is completely lampooning Haruka mercilessly but to great comedic effect. The more I see of Ritsuko, the more I keep feeling like she is my top waifu candidate of all these girls. Which is ... really distressing. >_> 'Cause I don't like crabby women. Nor do I like Ritsuko's iM@S 1 hairstyle. Nor would I pick her for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th place in a beauty pageant out of all these girls. But Ritsuko is just so ... good marriage material. ^_^; She's smart. She's productive. She parents well with a balance of tough love and kindness. She's the most mature one of the group, even more mature than the Producer and Kotori. I guess I'm just attracted to that. Ritsuko: ^.~ But ugh, she's so crabby. >_< ^^; My favorite of the chibis so far is probably ... hmm, I dunno. Hard to say. I guess Yukiho's chibi form. Then probably Chihaya's. Then Miki's. And finally Haruka's. Hooray for Takane and Hibiki showing up, though I'm not really a big fan of Hibiki, I'll admit. ^_^;
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01-24-2013, 02:29 PM | #64 |
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02-01-2013, 01:51 AM | #65 |
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Puchimas: Saw 20 and 21 a few days ago; and saw 22, 23, and 24 just now.
One, Takane is awesome. Two, the accursed "Ritsuko is best iM@S waifu" vibes continue. Three, paradoxical to any talk of waifus, I'm shipping Producer-san x Ritsuko pretty hard now. Four, Azusa remains the best damn waifu on that show physically (age, body, face, hair, voice, everything). Fifth, did I mention Takane is awesome? One of the franchise's best characters just keeps on getting better and better.
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02-04-2013, 12:45 AM | #66 |
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Puchimas: Just saw 25. Amazing. Takane is amazing.
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02-04-2013, 03:01 AM | #67 |
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Indeed she is. That's precisely why I was afraid of her not appearing. It'd suck if the best idol wasn't there. Though I'm beginning to worry that they will run her into the ground. The last thing I want is to be sick of her. Though I'm glad they didn't throw the "BAIN BAIN!" thing at Takane. I always thought she was second to Azusa, so I was afraid they'd make that a focus too.
Needless to say, because of Takane, the episodes where they visited Chihaya were the best ones. Well another plus is that it was about the two cutest chibi idols (Yukipo and Chihya)! |
02-05-2013, 05:55 PM | #68 |
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Idolmaster: On a whim, and propelled by enthusiasm for Puchimas, I resumed watching Idolmaster proper and watched Episode 22. A pretty fillery episode (well, most are), this was the Christmas episode. Is it just me, or is there some envy of Miki / some feelings of self-worthlessness on Haruka's part that are simmering just beneath the surface? Maybe I'm imagining things. Four episodes to go and I can declare this one finished!
Puchimas: Just saw 27. Having a crazy-real feeling of having seen 25 and 26 two days ago, got 27 yesterday but didn't watch it yet, and got 28 today, meaning I had two new episodes to watch and would be on 28. While I did watch 26 already, it would've had to have been only just yesterday, given the time stamp and post body of the last post I made. Anyway, personal confusion aside, I've seen thru 27 and believe that makes me caught up. 26 was okay but nothing too great imo. (The twins just ain't that great. ^^; ) 27 was solid. Not the best we've had, but Chibi Kotori was cute and both gags (first with Producer, then with regular Kotori) were amusing if old hat (P's) or a bit too heavily forced (Kotori's).
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02-12-2013, 01:43 AM | #69 |
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Puchimas: Thru 31 (caught up). Looking forward to Yukiho meeting Yukipo. Yukipo is far too adorable to be afraid of! Interested to see what Azusa's chibi is like but, despite me liking regular Azusa just fine, I suspect that her chibi form won't be all that interesting. Who knows though, guess we'll have to find out tomorrow.
Idolmaster: Just watched 23 on a whim ('s why I'm posting) and holy cow at that ending. Spoiler: show Tempted to watch 24 now. I think I might, but it's late ...
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02-12-2013, 03:31 PM | #70 |
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Idolmaster: Ended up watching 24 last night and 25 today. Was surprised by just how much 25 felt like a series finale ... and then it turned out, it was the series finale and 26 is a bonus episode. So I guess I've technically finished Idolmaster. But I'll wait until I watch 26 before officially checking this one off of my checklist.
Thoughts on 24: Spoiler: show Thoughts on 25: Spoiler: show
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02-13-2013, 05:35 PM | #71 |
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Idolmaster: Finished Episode 26, and with it the Idolmaster anime as a whole.
Episode 26 was a cute bonus episode. I honestly enjoyed it more than the series finale. ^^; I tend to like parody works or other things which are done "for the fans", so this episode, which perfectly saddled that transition line from regular episode to parody episode, was great. We got to see some fun little situations ... Spoiler: show It was good like that. And now ... time to review the series overall. Plot: 5/10. Very average. There isn't much of a "plot" really to speak of, to be perfectly honest. Thirteen or so girls join a fledgling talent agency in a bid to become Japan's next top idol. These girls become friends and co-workers and work hard to achieve their professional goals and personal aspirations. They run into some potholes along the way when a rival talent agency starts resorting to underhanded (and in some cases downright criminal) tactics to try and sabotage the girls' performances or careers, but in the end they manage to overcome it all and become well-loved across all of Japan. That's ... pretty much it, and you don't need 26 episodes to tell that story. ^^; The result being that most of the episodes were just Girl of the Week episodes which gave us a closer look at one of the thirteen girls. Characters: 6/10. They were fine. The problem with Idolmaster ends up being that the cast is far too large to afford significant development time to most of the main characters. Even the ones who do get the most screen time and the most dramatic backstory developments, Chihaya and Haruka, only get a thimble full's worth compared with what the stars of a typical 26-episode anime series would get. It's simple math though really: when you have 13 girls (12 if you merge the twins into one) + 1 more in the form of Kotori + the Producer himself + the two presidents and the cameraman friend of theirs (if you merge them into one since they go together anyway), you have 15 or so character-entities to develop. That's 15 or so characters in only 26 episodes. Two episodes per character on average, if even that. And sure enough, most don't get two episodes. Yukiho gets one (thank God, it turns out ^^; ), Hibiki gets one, Takane gets one, Yayoi gets one, Azusa ... Azusa I think only gets the one that she shares with Makoto (who later gets her own episode) ... yeah, there just isn't enough time to go around. Animation: 5/10 or 6/10. Even for 2011, when the series first aired, the animation was already well below par when it came to character animation. This has to be one of the cheapest character animations I've seen in a mid-budget anime in years. It is so sloppy and amateurish! The background animations weren't too bad though, but that's not what you're really here for with a series like Idolmaster which is supposed to be all about the characters. Still, it wasn't terrible, and thanks to the background animations and the occasionally nice character animation as well, I would say it was about average for 2011. Music: 8/10. This is a matter of taste as most of the music in Idolmaster is either 1) background elevator music or else 2) the various pop songs that the girls sing in the games. I enjoyed but didn't quite love most of these songs. However, a few songs really grew on me, including the first OP and the second OP. The second OP I especially loved. Replay Value: Medium-Low. It was a fine little time waster romp, but in the end, it was very much a time waster. Nothing that had to be seen. Guess I'm glad I did see it though since it gave me a lot more familiarity with the various characters than I had had before, and that's useful since the girls do show up from time to time in Japanese fanart and the like. Rather than rewatch the Idolmaster anime though, I think I would much rather play the games. I'd be interested to see what the differences are between the characters' stories in iM@S 1 and iM@S 2, and I get the impression that each girl would feel a heck of a lot more fleshed out if I played a full game path with them rather than getting only tiny snippets of them in twenty-four episodes and center stage in one to two episodes. OVERALL: 5/10 or 6/10. Probably 5/10. Despite some of the above-average scores given in categories above, ultimately I felt like The Idolmaster was a perfectly plain, typical "filler series" for an anime season. Nothing was really off-putting or terrible, but nothing really grabbed you or made you desperately want to watch each week. I think that should be pretty obvious if you look at the various hiatuses I took to finish this series. (Three in total, I think? Four viewing stretches to get through this one, spread out over a 1˝ year period?) Puchimas: Watched Episodes 32 and 33. Cute. Would like to see more of both Azusa and Chibi Azusa though as we don't really have a great feel for the latter yet and I'd like to see how the former reacts to her.
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02-22-2013, 12:12 AM | #72 |
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Puchimas: I was trying to figure out why I hadn't posted in this thread despite watching 34 and really wanting to talk about it ... and then watching 35 and really wanting to talk about. Then I realized why:
I had wanted to share pictures. Episode 34: Spoiler: show Episode 35: Spoiler: show As for Episodes 36, 37, 38, and 39, I still haven't seen 38 or 39 yet and I only thought 36 and 37 okay, but I'll happily talk about those two briefly below. Episodes 36 & 37: Spoiler: show This might of course be answered by either 38 or 39, but all I'll say is that from where I'm sitting, there are two things I want to see: 1 - Yukiho meeting Yukipo, as I'm not entirely certain that this has even happened yet and if it hasn't, well, it needs to 2 - Puchi Takane The latter I am hoping that they're saving for last -- they certainly seem to be. They know their demographic! And they know that Takane is the star of this show! From where I am, I think the only chibis we have yet to meet are Hibiki's and Takane's, and I'm pretty sure we meet Hibiki's in 38 or 39 (that I've not seen yet), so ... that would mean they've indeed saved the best for last. =3
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02-23-2013, 02:29 AM | #73 |
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I'm keeping up as well. I can't really think up of much to say about 3 minute episodes though.
Puchima Azusa and Iori were cute. I really liked Azusa's little "Ara~". It's awesome how Takane has mastered the use of the Puchimas. I really hope they make Takane's Puchima double interesting. It would suck if they just make it a ramen muncher with nothing else to it. ________________ I just finished episode 3 of the A-1 anime. I almost forgot what an amazing scene the Yukiho "YAAAAAAAAAYYYY!" was. I don't like Yukiho that much, but it was still a great scene. I also forgot how much of a mood killer Chihaya was. God she's so damn emo. I think Takane straightens her out early on though, so that's a plus. |
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