J-E Discussion

[Weeaboo Name]

Ever had the feeling that you're going to love an anime from the moment you see and hear the opening?

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Downloaded it as a recommendation of Black Lagoon but the similarities are superficial at best. After only five episodes I truly thing this could be could be one of my favourites ever. :)

The score of the series so far has been awesome so i looked up the ound Director, Yota Tsuruoka. As well as this he is the guy that has done all of the Key anime sound, Azumanga Daioh, K-On! and a big chunk of Shinbou's Shaft anime.

 

[digi-kun]

Not surprised, same writer as Fate/Zero and Madoka Magica

 

[Shanghai Alice]

Only three episodes seen, and it's becoming very clear to me that Madoka Magica was made on drugs.

Like I said, it's my first mahou shoujou series, so that'd probably explain my reaction to it. XD

Good so far, though.

 

[jigglyppuff8]

More like first SHAFT animu. Most magical girl series probably aren't like that. :x

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Indeed the madness is more Shinbou than the genre it's self, I haven't seen a lot of straight up Mahou Shoujo but that is fact. crap, for this statement to work you can't look at who directed Lyrical Nanoha.

 

[Shanghai Alice]

EDIT:

YOU KNOW WHAT?

I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN NOW, AND HAVE DELETED MY POST.

0_0

Ah, what a fool I was...

 

[Weeaboo Name]

For magical girl Madoka is actually pretty dark. :o

And two of the best transformations sequences of recent times.

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[Shanghai Alice]

Destroying all the references to free and delicious chocolate... These girls must actually be evil!
Oh, yeah, and major spoilers for the third episode following~

Spoiler:

On a more serious note...

HOLYHELLWHATTHEHELLWASTHAT.

Then again, I feel mildly evil. I sort of... er... laughed maniacally when Mami died.

Now, after having a few minutes to think about it, that actually was... errm... This'll be an interesting show. A very interesting one. I'm incredibly, incredibly angry that I broke my "No Research" vow on this show. Moments before it counted. RAAAAGE.

Still, in absolute seriousness though, holy crap. That was real. D:

On a side note, apparently Homura-chan has gained the nickname Homerun-chan.

I'll start calling her that now. It's easier.

This series now interests me.

And, also, because someone already said it...

Spoiler:

THE CAKE IS A LIE.

 

[Elite Overlord LeSabre™]

Spoiler:

NO!!! MAMI-CHAN!!!!

Anyway, the cake/sweets world battle was boss. Being raised on CCS, Sailor Moon, and Pretty Cure, I wasn't sure how I'd react to a darker mahou shoujo series, but I'm really impressed by Magical Madoka.

Now to (try to) wait patiently till the next episode :P

 

[Weeaboo Name]

Does anyone think that Mami is.....

Spoiler:

Working with the devil rat to get Madoka and Sayaka to join up with the magical girl crew? It seems that Kyubey gets something out of having the girls signed up. It wouldn't surprise me if it suggests using a wish to bring her back.

Anyway, I hope Mami is out of the picture for good as she had creepy eyes the show needs more Homura.

 

[Shanghai Alice]

Personally, I think...

Spoiler:

Mami is dead for good, or at least, in this form. I can't see her coming back as the same, cheery Mami-chan. If she does, it's either as some scheming force of evil, some hollow, darker version, or... not at all.

She died three episodes in. That's not enough time to fully establish her. Also, she threw up a hell of a lot of death flags in that episode. The only reason they went unnoticed was because, well, it's a mahou shoujou series, so I assume most people just expect everyone to live.

Personally, I was expecting her to be all like, "BWAHAHA! I TRICKED YOU!" and start massacring them a la Geass. So, yeah.

But, anyway, I think Mami, or at least, Nice!Mami is gone for good. If this wasn't anime, I'd write her off permanently.

Also, about Kyubei...

I think Kyubei is Satan, by this point. I really do. Now, maybe I'm just reading too much Good Omens (Awesome book, you should all read it. It's hysterical), but...

Let's examine the signs.

-Friendly, if not creepy, personality.

-Make a deal with me for great power!
-Said deal involves risking the deal maker's life and soul.

-Works hard, along with Mami, to portray Homerun-chan as evil, or, at least,
untrustworthy and cold. Come on, now. This is a common villain tactic.

-Doesn't bat a freaking eye when Mami bites it. Sure, you could say that Kyubei has
made a lot of deals in... its... life, but... I mean, come on.
-Also, tries to use Mami's death to pressure the other girls into selling themselves
into magical girl-ness.
-On that note, look at how Kyubei pressured Mami into joining.
-On that note, what's a cat-thing doing going around recruiting 8-10 year-old girls
into some hellish occupation that has a really, really short life expectancy (Ever
heard of a magical girl over the age of 20?)

-Kyubei is creepy. Really, really, creepy. Oh, and it tries to further tempt Madoka into
joining with the whole "You could be powerful!" thing. It even freaking asks, "Do you
desire power?" Sure, Mami echoed that thought, but Mami's probably in cahoots. No,
wait, she owes it her life. She's definitely in cahoots.

-When's the last time you've seen Kyubei and Satan in a room together? Just sayin'.

-Kyubei is a little too comfortable with letting Sayaka get swallowed up into that
freakish hell. Typically, this'd be... understandable? This is a deconstruction. It's not.

So, yeah. So maybe not Satan, but some demon/other force of evil. I mean, Homura and Mami were clearly in opposition, and there seems to be a fair bit of Light is Not Good/Dark is not Evil going on between them, so...

Yeah. Also, Sayaka annoys me. Homura needs to slap that witch magical girl.

Man, I'm sure all the spoilers are driving everyone nuts.

 

[jigglyppuff8]

I'm pretty sure that everyone who visits this thread watches Magika Madoka. Well, except for me.

 

[donavannj]

I don't watch it either. I'm perfectly content to wait on the verdict of the masses on whether anything from this season was truly worthwhile. Plus, I'd forget any spoilers made here by the time I would get around to watching anything from this current season anyway.

 

[Shanghai Alice]

Complete Topic Change.

Okay, so, eager to move on, I watched Higurashi Kai last night.

While I haven't seen enough of the series to pass judgment, I really hate the opening.

Not because it's bad in it's own right, but... Compared to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni from the first season, it feels like a bloody letdown.

Let's compare the two seasons, shall we?


This song hits you. After the cold open, the audience is treated to creepy singing that is slightly reminiscent of some form of occult ritual, or, to fit in with the series, some creepy ancient sacrificial ceremony. Then, it breaks into this... weird, yet driving song about horrible, horrible things. Sorta like Dokuro-chan, without the cheery tempo and sugary feeling.

Alright, let's look at the second season's opening.


The title card shows, and the show cuts right into...

What the hell is this?

Okay, so I'll admit that it sounds... weird, especially towards the very end. But the brief flashes of distortion and the creepy chanting just... don't compare to the first opening. The intro is way too soft and mellowed out, and the song does a really bad job of transitioning into the weird. Not a bad song in it's own right, but it just... can't compare to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and, personally, it just felt wrong for Higurashi.

But, as a side note, at least the full version is better. Video spoiler'd because the actual video contains images aplenty from the last episodes of the first season.

Spoiler:

But still. It feels too... light(?) compared to the first.

EDIT: A present for all of those who have read my rambling:

 

[jigglyppuff8]

Where the first season was depressing and cruel due to the immense amounts of betrayal and gruesome murders, Kai was depressing due to the fact that they are unable to escape this fate. I feel that the first opening theme reflects this with its incredibly harsh theme, while the second fits the more mellow and desperate tone of the season. Something like that, I guess.

Also, that ending theme.

Still one of my favorites.

 

[digi-kun]

Fun Fact: Ever notice the end of the Higurashi Kai opening is the beginning of the Higurashi ending reversed?

Higurashi goes along the Key formula with key differences. Kai puts more a plot on what happened in 1

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I haven't gone onto Kai yet but i'll agree that opening is a slight let down after the awesomeness that came before it. Tbh I don't think many openings will ever beat Ni.

I actually brought openings up yesterday as i started Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, this series has 2 openings and i've felt the same kind of disappointment.

Opening 1

Spoiler:

Opening 2

Spoiler:

5 points if you can guess without googling what other anime this artist was involved with. It's an easy 5 points I think.

Actually Death Note had the same thing, the first opening was epic, the second was trash. Even if i do like Maximum The Hormone that song was awful, and having Light mime along with the screams was almost as bad as Mello's dress sense.

 

[Shanghai Alice]

Fun Fact: Ever notice the end of the Higurashi Kai opening is the beginning of the Higurashi ending reversed?

REALLY?

YOU POST THIS RIGHT BEFORE I'M ABOUT TO POST THAT ENTIRE SERIES OF VIDEOS?

CUUUUUUUURSE YOOOOOU!

Fine, then I'll at least give y'all these two.



Enjoy.

EDIT: With this revelation, the second opening just got... mildly awesome, I'll admit.

 

[A Pixy]

The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called...

[ythd]FM99ufkxY6g[/ythd][ythd]LGAnQDj8ais[/ythd]

"COWBOY BEBOP"

Tank! has energy and its stark, memorable visuals tell more about the show than lyrics ever could.
The Real Folk Blues is the perfect ending to the series, especially after you've seen the last two episodes. Melancholic and epic at the same time.

So, yeah. Cowboy Bebop has the best opening and ending ever.

Bar none.

 

[Weeaboo Name]

I can't agree with that Pixy although they are both very nice, I really like the ending song. I expect it's different if you watch the series though.

In other news **** YOU BEE TRAIN.