Sunday, August 30, 2015

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers - Not an Action show.


Last Seen: Episode 8

Most of the time, I wouldn't have bothered to stop and say anything about something like this, as it's the kind of thing that tends to get spread around on it's own. However, thanks to reading some comments on a few of the earliest episodes, I feel like being on the safe side today.

Rokka is NOT an action show. That is to say, if you were to know anything about the show after it had completed and were learning about it, you wouldn't categorize it under the kinds of shows you watch just to see lots of flashy action combat.
What Rokka's specialty is: Intrigue.

...and roughly that's it. I mean, I could say mystery too, but that's really just part of intrigue anyway. As a show that's primary interest element for the viewer is intrigue among the characters and world, it is technically a division of human interest as well. I take the time to mention it right now, because last episode was the deal sealer for me on this show, it's going in a great direction so far, the pacing is excellent, (terrible if you thought it was an action/shounen show), and the characters, the all important part of an intrigue show, are slowly shaping up in an excellent way. The character I expected to be the weakest link, Hans, just got much better fleshed out this episode, so that's great in my opinion.
Last episode was when it became undeniable to me that the core of this show was Intrigue, suspicion, and tension between people with trust. Adlet's story about his past, and Flamie's feedback from it made this conclusion in my mind, and I have great confidence in it. Certainly, the show will have action and fighting in it, there has already been some, and it's been great as well, but I just wanted to take some time to point out to as many people as I can get it to reach that this is not an action-based show, and if you expect it to be, the slower pacing that is appropriate for what it is, is going to annoy you. Which will annoy me, if you then go about foaming at the mouth on the internet about how the show sucks because its pacing is crap.

Friday, August 21, 2015

[New][July 2015] Gatchaman Crowds: Insight

A poisonous question.

Last Seen: Episode 6

Summary: "Gatchaman" is the general term for those who wear special suits called 'NOTE', which are manifestations of special spiritual powers possessed by living beings. The Gatchaman force on Earth consists of aliens who have been dispatched by a council, and Earthlings who have been scouted for their latent abilities, all of whom work together to protect Earth's people and resources from alien criminals who have invaded the planet in violation of the probation enforced by the council.Insight: After the conflict in the first season is settled, and things begin to settle back into peaceful routine, trouble begins anew. Red Crowds appear and begin terrorist acts, and a new Alien arrives on earth.

First Impression: At first I wasn't sure how I felt about using the 'New' title on this, since it is from a month ago now. Really, I could just have posted and written about it as something I was watching rather than a featuring of it as a new release. Doubly so, because Insight is a second season to the original, not a stand alone. However, the fact that I had never heard of or watched the first season, but after starting it promptly burned through it and all of the current second season...well. I think that speaks loads for what my first impression of the show was. It was positive, to say the least, but I did almost drop it after the first episode. That's quite something for me to say, I usually like to have an ambiguous moral high ground all the time of: 'Everything deserves a chance, don't judge a book by its cover'.

My Opinion: So like I said, I almost dropped this after one episode. It just...seemed to be hopped up on way too many drugs at first. So that's my first opinion for you all: The animation is sometimes outright trippy in this show. It is however, extraordinarily misleading. I almost want to say that the tone of the show is way off, but somehow...it's not. It feels like it should be, but it is not. I suppose that's because while the entire atmosphere of the thing screams 'Shounen!' 'Magic!' 'Sci-Fi!' 'Aliens!', the show never really gets caught up in the stereotypes of those things. In fact, my highlight memories of the entire first season are almost exclusively of people (usually Hajime) just...talking. The show is very down-to-earth. It gets to talking about some deep shit, but my personal taste is for the primary topic in the second season. I fail to find a name for what it is, but a good reference would be a tangent of it, the " 2:6:2 " that it talks about in one episode. I've always had a keen interest in the heart of what everything the second season is working on is orbiting around. Perhaps...Human Disparity? would work as a temporary term.

Regardless. The show's amazing, but in a very...subtle way, despite its very flashy animation and fights at times. I almost want to say that it's better to be surprised by the show, by having low expectations for it. The design of the first episode seems like it uses the somewhat standard Hook technique I rant about all the time, just for that purpose. By baiting the hook with a misleading first impression of what the show is actually about, and then slowly working you in to what it really is about, without letting you realize you were initially mislead. Which is Human Interest, to use the broadest term. It's actually about Human Interest.

I give it a sound
Recommendation.
For great depth of story and great character depth.