|
Community Links |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
Quote:
|
Episode 11: What Wish Can't Come True? While this episode does have alot of the usual Dynazenon fare, it does have a few aspects to it that help it to stand out. To start with the one major negative I had, I didn't like how Gauma was treated like a crazy person or the one who was in the wrong throughout all of this, because he was right. Just because Kaiju have stopped appearing, that doesn't excuse the actions of the Eugenicists at all. As well, the twist about him being revived as a zombie would have been an interesting hook... if it had been at all brought up earlier. I suppose our hint was the dark circles around his eyes, but I always felt that that was more of a result of how tired and worn down he was due to his overall situation rather than anything else. To do something like this so late seems pointless to me. Besides that though I felt this episode was... alright. Raising the question about what do after something you've been invested in for so long is over is a pretty good question to ask, even if I felt the show didn't adequately go through with it, especially given this is the penultimate episode. The one major positive of the whole thing though was actually the twist with Shizume being a Kaiju all along. It not only makes sense, but the foreshadowing of it was right there all along and I can't believe I missed it(it's his red eyes if anyone doesn't know what I mean). I suppose this also provides a meta reason as to why Knight keeps his left eye hidden ontop of the in-universe one. So yeah, don't say I never gave Dynazenon credit for anything. Not really too much else to say about this one other than that the next episode is the finale and... I don't have high hopes, unfortunately. But, calling it now, the soul of the Princess is totally inside of Dynazenon. |
Not much to say on this episode really, no gif even since I didn't feel like there was much to the brief fight we got. That being said, next time has a gif of the first ever thing I gif'd for Dynazenon because I thought it looked cool. So look forward to that!
Though it was at this point I realized what Dynazenon was trying to go for completely when it came to it's finale. To the point where I ended up imagining and calling a few things correctly. Though I'll save that for next episode. But yeah, stuff like Sizumu trying to be around the younger members of the group as much as possible, his remarks when it came to Episode 10's Voice Drama, and just stuff in general he talks about. It's what basically tipped me off that he'd be our big villain. Speaking of Voice Drama's... Unfortunately I can't find like an audio and sub combination of the third Blu-Ray Voice Drama, so have the transcript alongside the streamable link I found for this episodes Voice Drama. The one where I really want to try these meat skewers they keep talking about... Episode 9+1 Episode 11.11 |
Quote:
|
Well, there’s a lot to explain reference wise. Not least that Gauma’s blurry flashback is actually footage from an episode of the OG Gridman, entitled “The Legend of Dragon”.
To explain the plot of that episode, and how it relates here, said episode revolves around a 5000 year-old Chinese mummy being brought into the local museum, with a legend stating that he was separated from his lover, a Princess. The bad guys think this will mean he has a lot of pent up rage and send the monster Mecha-Baguila into the museum’s CAT scanner, reprogramming it to revive the mummy and send it on a rampage. But the kids trapped in the museum realise that the mummy isn’t angry, he’s sad that he didn’t get to reunite with his lover (who one of them just happens to resemble). Meanwhile, Gridman fights Mecha-Baguila and gets help in the form of a new Assist Program modelled after the sarcophagus the mummy came in, Dyna Fighter, which can transform into the Dragon Cannon, allowing him to win. And other things to note about this episode include: When the subs came out, Funi mistranslated “mummy” (mirraa) as “mirror”. Though that’s been corrected since, any third party sites you may or may not watch still have the original preserved in all its glory. Shizuma’s monster form actually appears briefly in the opening credits, during the shots of the Eugenicists. But it’s zoomed in so far you can’t tell what it is until this point. |
Quote:
Quote:
|
Super Robot Wars 30 is now out, as such we now have these two remixes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0CEurEQHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwVEDfUJd6Y What do you all think? |
Do love Union. Yume no Hero I think works better with vocals.
|
Episode 12: What Was I Entrusted With? I have a feeling that this post is gonna come across as extremely backhanded. But, please keep in mind, I'm literally just typing my thoughts out as they happen here. I am in no way going out of my way to be mean spirited. Because man, I have so many mixed feelings about this. As a standalone episode, as a finale, as an emotional roller coaster, as a symbol of the series as a whole, and the overall writing style and message it's trying to present. Here's the thing, if I had at all been having a better time with SSSS.Dynazenon as a show up to this point, then I would not at all hesitate in saying that this episode serves as a perfect emotional finale to the season as a whole. I can very easily see how fans would fall in love with this. Heck, I myself even got swept up in the sheer emotion present all throughout the story of this one. I didn't want to see Gauma die. I was happy to see the entire group working together and displaying their bond as a family. I was super ecstatic that the episode basically ended with Chise and Goldburn. And the final action sequence felt like something the whole season had been leading to. But, the issues that take me away from the entire experience is how, as a finale, this episode does not at all bother to properly wrap up much of anything in terms of plot. There have been so many plot threads that were brought up through the show's' run that are now never going to be followed up on. So many potential character moments that, with the death of the Eugenicists and everyone parting ways, will never be seen to their full potential. It's also difficult for me to say too much in regards to the episode itself because there's alot of thoughts racing through my head right now in terms of how everything fits together overall, and I wanna save alot of those thoughts for the final wrap up post that I plan to do once things have settled down. That said, I do think that, given its major highlight in this episode with both the above screenshot as well as the talk between Yomogi and Shizumu, there is one aspect of discussion I can quite possibly raise: Instance Domination. I... am very confused as to what exactly the overall use and purpose of it was? Keep in mind, it is very possible that it's something that went way over my marble-sized brain, but again, I'm confused. Because as this episode seems to present it, the "Domination" part of the name is kind of the wrong term to use? It appears that in order for Instance Domination to be successful, the Kaiju User has to be in tune with the emotions and heart of the Kaiju itself, which WOULD thematically fit in with the overall message that Dynazenon seems to want to present. But on the other hand, that also doesn't change that the User does still infact Dominate, take control, over said Kaiju. Which kinda gives the sort of exact opposite message, doesn't it? Not to mention, Shizumu was already Dominating himself, ontop of having absorbed the other Users and thus uniting all of their hearts as one, so how could Yomogi have possibly Dominated Kaiju Shizumu clean the way he did? Hell, the entire sequence even emphasizes what might be my major problem with the season as a whole: It's clear with this that the writer's' purposefully went out of their way to not expand upon or explain anything, highlighted by Gauma telling the Eugenicists to shut up. Overall, this episode is the perfect emotional finale to Dynazenon and its characters as a whole, but if you're like me and the show has been majorly rocky for you, don't expect it to accomplish too much. I liked the episode overall, I think, but did it overall save the show or justify any of my previous critiques? No, I personally don't think it did. The final thoughts posts will come tomorrow after I've allowed my thoughts to settle some. Until then, what did this final episode do for all of you? I'm curious. |
Yeah I figured, shame to see that you weren't able to vibe too well with it. I for one thought this was a pretty strong finale. You could tell they were definitely holding back after Gridknight's debut on some of the fights sans Kaiser Gridknight's debut purely so they could get this final battle going. There's a lot of cool CG stuff, a ton of beautiful traditionally animated shots (That part where they're shrouded in the light and they unfurl the cape? *chefs kiss*)
Everyone just shouting their pathos and punching the shit out of each other? That's basically my jam, especially when it involves gigantic robot fists. Also I'm a Yomogi and Yume shipper through and through so the final sequence of them at the school was a delight to see, and also them basically hard confirming that "Yes they are together" instead of like the teasing and complications that came from Yuta and Rika's whole thing. I have a feeling we might not be done with Chise admittedly, and feel like she's one of the likely ones to come back during Gridman x Dynazenon while everyone else seems like they've moved to their endpoints. Other than that, my mindset going into the finale was basically like "Are they going to answer like the big looming questions?" and I thought back to Episode 7 when we get introduced to Knight after watching Episode 11 was like, "No they aren't". This especially becomes the case when they focus everything on the fallout and how the Kaiju Eugenicists are having a hard time coping with their loss in Episode 10. Dynazenon wasn't a story about the greater Gridman Universe, it was merely a story within it. A story of a feud that was revived and needed to be put to rest while helping those in the present days with their issues. So much so that I didn't expect any big revelation move from Dynazenon compared to what we got with Gridman. We did get a cool combo with Gridknight and Golburn though and that was fun to see. But yeah, I found it fairly enjoyable. I think the thing with me that made me enjoy Dynazenon more than SSSS.Gridman were a few factors. The fights were definitely improved I feel, there was a lot more cool stuff that I recall from Dynazenon than SSSS.Gridman. Not to mention, where in I only care about two characters in SSSS.Gridman (Anti and Akane), Dynazenon had me latch onto basically all of them in some way or form. The fact that I even decided to sail on the Yomogi and Yume ship is definitely a sign of that. Not much else to say aside from rambling... but, here's the gif I first made when the finale aired because it was too cool to have it just not be gif'd. http://64.media.tumblr.com/70c6ca7e6...daba763336.gif That run, the missiles following along and encircling the arm, the slowdown, and then the hit connecting! Real good stuff! |
With this finale, every answer I got led to more questions.
Though one cool tidbit I found out via Twitter is that with everyone having a scar (Yomogi on his hand, Yume on her thigh and Koyomi on his ankle), the scars indicate their defining traumas. Though the only one that I know off the top is Koyomi’s indicating his trauma was running away. |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Giganto-post incoming. You have been warned.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON SSSS.DYNAZENON It's funny how these things tend to line up for me. Earlier in the year, when I was reviewing Blassreiter, I was also at the same time watching Kamen Rider Wizard, two shows that had quite the strong opinions on life, tragedy, and Optimism vs Nihilism. Two shows made years apart from one another, and yet handled alot of the same subject matter in very different ways. Now, I've just finished three different shows, all of which had a very similar(but to differing degrees) effect on me: Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Ghost, and the subject of the recent posts of this thread, SSSS.Dynazenon. What's the common link between all of these? That link being that I am a simpleton, and I do not "get" any of these shows. And it's not for a lack of trying either! I did some reading to try and figure why people love Ghost, Decade, and Dynazenon, and kept all this reading I'd done in mind as I sat back and let my thoughts try to sort everything out as I reflected back on all three of these shows that left me more cold and/or confused than anything. Looking back, I think I can sum up why many people seem to jive with these sorts of shows alot more than what I ever could, and it has do with how I go about absorbing stories seemingly being different from the "norm." I've always felt that getting enjoyment out of a story by diving deep, reading between the lines, and looking for symbolism, metaphor, allegory, what have you... it should be a bonus, not a requirement. I believe I've said before that whenever I experience a tale for the first time, I try to take everything at face value while keeping in mind characters, plot, etc in a greater context. If I end up liking it, then it's upon a revisit that I put in more effort to find various extra aspects I might've missed, or find meaning in things that maybe the author didn't even intend, or put in research into behind-the-scenes elements that give greater context to things. Not only was SSSS.Dynazenon a show that I ultimately feel is alot smarter than I am, but it also has to contend with being a sequel, a second season(and make no mistake it was advertised as the second season to SSSS.Gridman) of a show that I liked alot despite its short comings. This really hurt the "greater context" of my line of thinking, as it'd be more accurate to say that the show is more akin to what Captain Earth is to Star Driver: A show set in the same universe that is otherwise unconnected. I'm not exactly sure if this preamble is making any sort of point, but I hope it helps to frame the sort of angle I'm coming from when I reflect back on Dynazenon and why it's a show that, ultimately, was not one made for me. As such, just like I did with Gridman before, I'm gonna highlight what I feel are Dynazenon's' biggest aspects and how they left me. Here we go. Action Scenes I imagine this is one of the biggest highlights for many, and I will admit, most of the action sequences in this show are rather good. While the animation was jank at times(chopping explosions in half), there was definitely a great sense of fluidity and choreography to nearly every fight scene, with the final battle in particular really standing out, just as Gridman before it did. Have I seen better? Sure. But these were by no means bad. Plot I'll just cut straight to the point here. It became incredibly obvious that Gridman x Dynazenon was planned right from the outset, and as such the team behind SSSS.Dynazenon knew that didn't need to dedicate their time following through on or fleshing out much of anything in regards to the overall lore, world, or over-arching plot of the season. This leaves a bunch of dangling plot threads that, while interesting, go absolutely nowhere and likely never will. Lots of questions, almost zero answers. Questions such as: "What even is Dynazenon?" "Who revived Gauma and the Kaiju Eugenicists?" "What constitutes a 'real' Kaiju Eugenicist and why don't they need to sleep?" "What's up with the scars that everyone gets during the final battle?" "Why does Yume look and sound like Rikka?" There's alot. My personal philosophy is that stories should do what they can to wrap up as clean as they can. You can't always bank on a sequel, or a spin-off, or whatever sort of bonus material to help cover up the holes and hooks you left. Like, yeah, sure, the next entry in the franchise has already been announced, but what if, say, it gets cancelled last minute? That just leaves the story unfulfilled and incomplete, and makes alot of aspects feel like a waste of time. This ties into an aspect of the show that I have a big problem with. Pacing SSSS.Dynazenon is twelve episodes, and it's very rare that I get to say that I felt that a twelve episode show has bad pacing, but, I feel that Dynazenon really does. So much time is wasted on the mundane, or on a romance that I personally didn't get anything out of, or bringing up more plot threads that go nowhere, rather than staying focused on any one thing or atleast balancing screen time between characters. About half of the episodes in this show could've easily been cut in half and nothing of value would be lost. I made the claim that S4 Gridman was designed to be binged, and I feel that for S4 Dynazenon, that's even more true. Granted, there is a sort of counter-argument to be made for these claims, but let me address that now. Emotional Attachment To Characters Dynazenon really, really banks on you forming an near instant attachment to these characters, and, unfortunately, I did not. Yomogi's' arc went into a much different and(in my opinion) far less interesting direction than what I initially thought it would. I felt that Yume's' arc with Kano became wasted with the reveal that Kano didn't actually kill herself, as I felt the "suicide due to online bullying" was a really strong way to follow up on themes and commentary present in the previous season. The Kaiju Eugenicists have basically no backstory, and as much as I liked Gauma, Chise, and Koyomi in terms of personality, their screen time suffers in favor of the romance between Yume and Yomogi. Dynazenon was never once interested in focusing in on the aspects of its storytelling that interested me. And while the show certainly is all about bridging gaps and making connections, I felt that, especially compared to what came before, there really wasn't much of a distance to close? The characters hit it off, they stay friends, they talk to the villains, it's all simple. Whereas in the first season I actually felt a journey. I felt all of the effort that went into the characters creating the bonds that they did. Akane's' whole deal was a major fumble, sure, but the journey had an overall bigger impact on me than what Dynazenon's' did. In the end, I had no one but Knight and Second to really attach to, and even then they're just cameos, not main characters. And not once did anything really emotionally grab me like how the previous season did. Infact... The Missing Piece I've read many comments, both on these boards and off them, that people managed to find an emotional connection to Dynazenon that they didn't manage to find in Gridman. And I very much have the exact opposite opinion. And let me make this clear here and now, I am by no means trying to say that I'm "above" having a strong connection to a story, or a character, or what have you. Heck, you guys wanna know the exact moment I knew that SSSS.Gridman was a story that was special to me? Right here: It's a moment that I just kinda glossed over in my initial write ups on S4 Gridman, as I just sort of assumed most would know where I was coming from when highlighting it. But now, after some more life experience and talking about this sort of thing with others, I see that I was wrong to make that assumption. So, what makes this moment, where Yuta and Sho appear to be doing nothing other than just sitting next to eachother on a train, so special? Afterall, they're not even interacting, so what could possibly be the big deal? It's the mere fact that they're choosing to spend time with one another despite not having anything super "fun" or "interesting" or whatever to bring to the table. They're there to enjoy each other's' presence, and that's all. Infact, that is everything, and it's the type of friendship moment that many don't comprehend. For many people, extroverts especially, this might seem super boring or awkward, but something that is super undervalued in friendship, as weird as it is to say, is the people involved in them, specifically. For people like me, it doesn't matter if you're not the life of the party. It doesn't matter if you don't have a super eventful life that you can babble for hours on end about. It doesn't matter if you even have any sort of plans for an activity that takes us all day. The only things that matter are you, me, the bond we share, and the mere fact that we desire to be around eachother. To me, the fact that SSSS.Gridman chose to highlight this aspect between Yuta and Sho's' friendship was huge, and I will always appreciate it. SSSS.Dynazenon, unfortunately, did not have anything like that for me, and as such, I could not create nearly as strong of a connection. Overall If it seems like up to now that I've been doing nothing but saying that Dynazenon is a bad show, that's actually not my goal at all. What it essentially comes down to is that Dynazenon is a show that was not made with my tastes in mind specifically. I don't think the show is horrible, or that it's a disgrace to the franchise, or anything of the sort. It's just that, unfortunately, despite what positives I found in it, it overall just didn't do anything particularly well in appealing to me, specifically, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you found value in this story, then that's all that matters. In the end, I give SSSS.Dynazenon a 3/6. Not a bad show, and I am still looking forward to Gridman x Dynazenon, whenever the time comes. |
so.....
what's next? |
Quote:
|
You know, it's always nice to hear something about the SSSS series that's not about Anime thighs.
But seriously, there's nothing wrong with not being a fan of something like this. If anything, I'm sorry we might have over-hyped Dynazenon for you. I'm not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can still follow this at least a little better than you (again, nothing against you or anything, you're opinion is perfectly justifiable). First off, the producer stated when Dynazenon was announced that it wasn't a Season 2 or sequel, but as you mentioned about Star Driver and Captain Earth (haven't seen either), they are set in the same universe, hence the "Gridman Universe" in the title. Sure, I wasn't expecting Anti to show up, but he's still able to stand in this show well enough without any context to SSSS. Gridman. I know what I'm saying here kind of contradicts what I just mentioned about whether this is a second season or not, but you can see that there's almost no direct reference to the SSSS. Gridman, at least nothing that requires you to have seen it to understand it. Next: The cast. I can perfectly see why some of these characters didn't quite leave much of an impact for you, but I can definitely see how this cast feels more "developed" compared to their predecessors. Where the Gridman cast were mostly innocent bystanders trying to wrap their head around the situation, with Yuta being the only "driving force" while the others saw themselves as "useless." Nothing wrong with that, they still have some great moments, but when you look at some of the other characters and their role in the story, some of them lacked backstories or motivations, which does work with the style of show SSSS. Gridman was going for, with the cast being more grounded and awkward, in an almost realistic sense, instead of something you normally see in Anime or even Tokusatsu. The Dynazenon cast were a group that "grew" throughout the season, starting off as these complicated strangers with rocky lives (I know how that feels), to facing their past and scars to unite alongside Gauma, which feels symbolic to the Gattai Mecha that is the title. It's also worth noting, that Gauma never mentions the third thing most important thing, which I've always felt was either something they say in the end (which they didn't), or it was an answer you, the viewer, had to discover for yourself. The popular belief being memories, which is foreshadowed across the show, and even having (mostly) an entire episode based on reliving those memories. This show was not about the title character like last season, but more about the people who make up the mech, which is probably not the best way to say it, but the show demonstrates throughout, that together they are Dynazenon, not it's allies. Even Chise, is a good example of the show's theme on that, where she doesn't feel like part of the team because she's not part of Dynazenon (the mech), which fits for her arc, which even with how much I liked Dynazenon, feel she could have had more. And of course, we can all agree the action for the Gridman Universe is indeed, the best aspect. It goes beyond what is capable of Tokusatsu, and comes up with the most over-the-top ways to reinterpret it here. Something I enjoy from Trigger's work. We can also agree that we all saw the Gridman X Dynazenon coming a mile away. Thinking back to my first watch of SSSS. Gridman (which I believe I've mentioned in another thread), I liked the show at first, but then I watched the original Gridman and everything culminated into why these shows were great. They had so much references, callbacks, and love for the source material (and the genre) that every episode is full of that admiration for what it's based off, whether it shows or not. Especially since SSSS. Gridman used lots of ideas and names from the unmade Gridman sequels, even the characters being based off Transformers (which I only recently found out). I think I've gone on for long enough. But it's perfectly fine if this wasn't to your liking, and your reasons are (even if you're not very smart, like you say) perfectly understandable. There is much this show leaves to be desired, and maybe some things could have been pulled off better, but it was still a fun experience for me, and I look forward to Gridman X Dynazenon for what they bring around this time. Speaking of the Garo Anime adaptions, I've still yet to finish the original Garo and I don't know if or when I'll see the Anime adaptions. But as of now, I've been watching a clearly Toku-Inspired Anime, Shikizakura. Unfortunately, two episodes in, and I'm not exactly thrilled with it. Aside the action scenes, the CG characters feel robotic, something I feel the Netflix Ultraman did better with MoCap, despite my feelings for the show itself, and the characters and story are not great. Even if there are references to Sentai and Ultraman, I'm not really enjoying it, despite how much I love the aesthetic. Here's a little sample for anyone else who's curious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPfgQE1xxGM Anyway, hope you enjoy your next series more than this one. |
Quote:
|
...I kind of deliberately avoided mentioning this back in July when you started covering Dynazenon, but I actually have a partially-written big post about it I was planning to put in the show's thread right after it ended, before I ended up abandoning the whole thing when it was like half done. Or maybe a third done. Or a fourth. I have no idea how bloated it would've ended up being, because it was already nearly as long as that post I put in here after you covered Gridman, and yet I had barely started talking about the show itself.
I gave up on finishing that post because I realized all I was talking about in all those words was myself, and once it came to actually analyzing Dynazenon... I just kind of couldn't? Really, I still can't, but I think I at least figured out why that is. Again, I realized I was talking about me, and now I realize that's a sign of how deeply I connected with this show on a personal level. Of course it's hard to put into words! The feelings I have about it are just like, implicit, you know? But still, even though that big post never ended up going anywhere, I will quote a bit from it that I think would probably be most relevant to share: Quote:
Quote:
So yeah, it's a bummer those same decisions Dynazenon made with its storytelling didn't have the same resonance for you. For what it's worth, though, despite you claiming to be a simpleton, I think you've done a good job getting at your own feelings about the show, and it certainly takes some intelligence to recognize how subjective these things can be instead of just leaving at it "SHOW AM BAD 0/10" or whatever. It was a bummer that you didn't end up liking Dynazenon all that much, but it was still fun reading your thoughts on it all the same. |
Quote:
Quote:
https://i.imgur.com/Fu2Q6Yr.png Not that it matters either way. The show is what it is, and for many, it worked out great. Quote:
Quote:
I really wanted to like these characters, and it was such a shame that balanced screen time wasn't granted to them all. It's part of what made the Goldburn episode so special to me; We were finally focusing on something else. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
It's interesting, because the two moments are so similar, but yet so different. The churro thing, while it didn't do anything for me, I can see why it stuck out to you, En-chan, and other people who were enjoying every second of the show. Quote:
If the next SRW game has Dynazenon in it like I suspect it will but not a single version of "All This Time" that will be a HUGE wasted opportunity. Quote:
In seriousness though, thank you for the kind words, and I'm glad I was able to get across why exactly this sort of show typically doesn't work out for me, specifically. And don't get me wrong, reading everyone else's' thoughts on the show, I did find some other aspects of it to appreciate; You all helped! It's just... yeah, personal taste and a lack of a strong emotional link like what most others had. It happens. And hopefully this thread can find another show that we all love the same. |
And with that, I guess that officially wraps up the SSSS.Dynazenon section of this thread! Of course, like with every other show covered, if anyone reading has anything they wanna add, or they watch the show down the road and wish to share their thoughts, then by all means, do so! It's just me doing weekly coverage of the anime is now over.
If you did somehow manage to read through all of the thoughts I had, and are curious as to the kind of show I kinda-sorta was hoping that Dynazenon was gonna be; One about broken homes and/or family dynamics, I actually have a show I can recommend that guns for almost that exact thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgYrJ4AsGio Brain Powerd is a show by Tomino, the creator of Gundam, and is often called his version of Evangelion by those who've seen it. It's a show that's all about the human connection, to the point that the mecha of the show, the titular "Brains" barely even qualify for the category. It's not one of my all time favorites, but it is one that I always look back on fondly, and I highly recommend checking it out if it at all interests you. Starting a week or two from now will be Garo: Crimson Moon! I hope to see you all there! |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Quote:
Gauma Best Boy. Quote:
That said, for Garo's Anime Adaption, I've heard mixed things, leaning more towards the negative, so this should be interesting. Though JAM Project's openings (as they did pretty much all of Garo's songs, Anime and Toku) are still amazing, so good or bad, this show still has a great opening. |
Quote:
Carved Seal of Flames and it's accompanying movie, Divine Flame are pretty great honestly. Probably the best of the anime trilogy, and ranking both series and movie they end up hitting my Top 6 which are comprised of three series and three movies. Crimson Moon... I've not heard good things about it from people who have watched it and are into Garo. To the point where the series order guides I read online usually recommend never starting with it. Vanishing Line... it basically automatically goes up to second best for me due to how I haven't watched Crimson Moon (That might change soon). It's a lot more straightforward in some aspects but I really enjoyed it for what it was. I really wish we'd get a Vanishing Line movie! |
as someone who's seen all garo anime
i wont dispute whats been said about seal of flames and vanishing line crimson moon however...... the show had some very good ideas and one of it's earlier episodes is still one of my favorites in the franchise problem is some of said ideas were executed very poorly or were wasted I do have more to say on the show, but i'll leave that for the actual watchthrough and discussion later on |
Quote:
Was planning to watch the first live-action season too, but it stopped getting uploaded to YouTube and the first half of physical set has long been out of print. |
Also! I figure I might as well post this again here as a reminder for where the thread is currently at. I'll be sure to add it to the opening post as well and try to keep it updated. It's the list of all of the Toku-inspired anime that I know of so far. If the list is missing any, be sure to let me know!
Shows I've seen:
Shows I haven't seen:
Shows I don't plan to cover:
Keep in mind, that last section doesn't mean that I'll never talk about those shows ever, just that if I do, it'll most likely be in just one or two highlight posts like I did with Voltron. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
And after seeing your thoughts on Dynazenon and how you consider yourself a bit of a simpleton, I will warn you about Godzilla: Singular Point, as it has A LOT OF EXPOSITION, usually scientific or hypothetical comparisons. Now I saw Singular Point before it premiered on Netflix, and I'm not entirely sure I understand it as I might think since it was fansubbed, and have been planning to re-watch it on Netflix to see if I'm reading the series right, though I do know Netflix can have some pretty bad subs for some of their shows... * looks at Ultraman and JoJo* Of course, it's entirely up to you, but as I said, after Dynazenon, this one has a lot that will go over your head and mess with your brain, so just a heads up. Pacific Rim: The Black, I thought was good, easily a step up for both Polygon (The Godzilla Trilogy) and Pacific Rim: Uprising (which wasn't that good). It has some good ideas that fit the Pacific Rim world nicely, it isn't trying to be funny at every turn, it has the feel the original had, and the English voices aren't bad, something that most dubs (that I've seen) have a problem with. I really need to watch Ultraman Joneus... |
Quote:
Quote:
|
And already the list has been updated! A few I've seen, a few I haven't.
First up, ones I might cover:
And as for ones I most likely won't cover:
Of those the ones that I've seen are the two Megaman anime, and if you want a brief rundown of my opinion on those, I felt that the first two seasons of NT Warrior were good, but after that(Stream and onward), the show took a huge nosedive. As for Star Force, the adaptation of the first game was... okay. Not great, but had some shining moments and the dub had really good casting while it lasted. Meanwhile the adaptation of Star Force 2 was pretty bad, although I did like the anime version of Rogue more, surprisingly. |
And Sonic Soldier Borgman makes the cut! *pops open champagne* Salud. :lolol
|
This will probably fall into the last category but there is always Kyatto Ninden Teyandee.
|
Quote:
Oh, Samurai Pizza Cats? I mean, I guess that technically counts? But yeah, probably won't do full coverage of it, sorry! |
Episode 1: Onmyou As I usually do for these, let's set a sort of preface for these upcoming posts. These write-ups for Crimson Moon are coming from someone who has only ever seen the first Garo anime, and as such, likely has no idea as to what makes for a "proper" entry in the franchise. As such, any and all comparisons I make will be done in terms of the first anime alone. That said though, it might not be all that fair of a comparison, as this first episode right away sets itself up as something very much different from the previous entry that I saw. Sure, there are certainly a bunch of elements that they share: The basic premise of the Horrors who feed off human's' dark desires, the mission of the Makai Knights to slay them, all the base line things that you'd expect. But how exactly those elements are utilized, the type of setting it's being brought into, and the dynamics of the characters at play are all very different. Before getting into the finer details though, one thing I definitely wanna compliment this anime on is that it is very pretty to look at. Seriously, just look at that shot! Anyway, as this is only the very first episode there really isn't too much to say. While the exposition in it is certainly a bit clunky, I felt it overall did an alright job at giving us a base line as to what to expect from the show going forward. Compared to The Animation, this anime appears to going for a much more Shonen approach to things, as the Horrors are alot more talkative and the haunting atmosphere is more downplayed in exchange for an action-y one. The characters and their dynamics with eachother are also laid clear in a scene where they all share candy with one another. Raiko is the current wielder of the Golden Armor, is friends with Kintoki, a little boy who also doubles as his retainer, and Seimei, a Makai Alchemist in the same vein as Ema from the previous anime. For some reason, only Seimei can awaken Zaruba the Mado Ring, thus allowing Raiko to don the Garo armor. And while they all take their job seriously, they're friends, and have no problem acting light-hearted with one another during downtime. Again, these are all just impressions based on the first episode, but one thing I will say that is a bit of trade-off compared to Carved Seal of Flames is that, while this anime certainly looks alot prettier, the action scenes so far are alot less dynamic. There are definitely still some highlight aspects to them though, such as: Overall, not a bad start, and I'm definitely interested in seeing as to where this show is going, and how it'll differentiate itself from the previous anime. Oh, and I should probably also mention that Crimson Moon takes place in the Heian period of Japan, rather than in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition like The Animation did. Definitely makes for an immediate shake-up. |
Quote:
|
Ok, I don't have much to say about the first episode though I would like to specify a few things
the barrier Seimei puts up has 2 purposes: 1. To prevent any collateral damage 2. I never saw this brought up during your watch of the first anime, so in case you didn't know: makai knights actually have a time limit for how long they can keep their armor on (99.9 seconds to be exact), and seimei' barrier allows raikou to fight without worrying about said time limit which is why I always wondered why crimson moon was the only entry in the franchise to utilize this technique Now for some fun facts: 1. you may have not already noticed but JAM project are usually the ones in charge of Garo OP' most of the time but with this series first OP "Guren no Tsuki ~Kakusareshi Yami Monogatari" they did something special: for the first few episodes of the show each member preformed a solo version of the OP before bringing the full member version in later 2. another thing that was never mentioned during your watch of the first anime was the fact that every horror has a unique name- with the horrors in crimson moon being named after various yokai and oni |
Quote:
Personally I just assumed the barrier was to prevent Horrors from escaping. Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
Remember when Leon went berserk in the first anime? THAT'S what happens when the timer runs out or if the user is emotionally unstable |
Quote:
And also to like... you know, showcase that the armor isn't the main part of the Knight themselves, it's them and their training while the armor enhances that. Plus you know, budget. |
Oh yeah, Crimson Moon is for all intents and purposes a Shonen version of Garo. Is that inherently bad? Well, that totally depends on who you ask. For me personally, no. And I can see why they might wanna try their hand at such. It's simple really. Attempting to appeal to a younger demographic could potentially lead to bringing in more fans of the franchise, and in turn also give parents who are fans of Garo something to possibly bond with their children over. Now, is it odd to people who have been with the franchise since the beginning, and even for those who came fresh off the heels of the first anime? Yeah, I can see that, but for me, what matters most are the characters and the writing. As long as I find those entertaining, the target demographic doesn't matter too much. So how did this episode do? Well, aside from the exposition aspect of the show continuing to be rather clunky, I liked it! It's nothing super deep either. The setup is that the Watchdog Center tasks our heroes with letting an apprentice Makai Knight shadow Raiko in the attempt to learn more about being a knight. But, just like the apprentice in the first anime, things go south rather fast. Something that definitely stuck out to me in this episode, and something that I imagine is going to remain consistent throughout this show's' run, is the lack of gore from the first anime. Many a shot that would've ended with blood splattered across the pavement in Carved Seal of Flames are instead handled with cutaways and simple sound effects here in Crimson Moon, which makes the twist at the end have slightly less impact, but it's not too important. Rather, the important thing to come out of this episode was some elaboration on Raiko's' backstory and characterization. Why he's indebted to Seimei, why there's a seal placed on Zaruba, and why he personally is so determined when it comes to his destiny as a Makai Knight. There's a nice moment that highlights his character towards the end, where he's torn on how to handle a Horror of whom he empathizes with, yet realizes that there's no saving someone who's fallen so deep into the darkness at that at the end of the day, he still has a job to do. It's to the point that the action is a complete nothing in this episode. The fight at the end literally only lasts one swing. But again, this episode wanted to focus on the characters of Seimei and Raiko more than anything, and it did! Establishing the Watchdog Center was also important, as well as just showing what exactly Kintoki does as Raiko's' retainer. There really just wasn't much time to fit in any sort of flashy action sequence. And you know, I respect it. Is the result some of the best character development ever? No, but it got the job done and I am interested in seeing where the stories of this cast leads. Overall a solid episode, and I hope I can continue to like these characters as the show continues to move forward. |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:29 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
TokuNation News & Rumors |
Kakuranger: 30 Years After |
ToyRise RyuKenDo |
Alternative Cut of "Day Of The Dumpster" Released |
Shodo SUPER Kyoryuger Teaser |
Figuarts/Seihou GRIDMAN |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:29 PM.
|