What I just finished watching and what I thought about it 2 (USE SPOILER TAGS)

[Gallarn]

Originally Posted by VivisQueen

Yeah. My favourite character was Rachel...

I really want to see if her and Luke sort things out and how they deal with the whole immortality palava. And is it just me or were Miss Paula and Kate totally a lesbian couple???

Defo lesbian tbh :p The ova takes place after a very long time tho.They are a hundred years or even more(not sure) in the future.I'm guessing we wont see how Luke dealt with Rachel's "condition"

[VivisQueen]

Originally Posted by Gallarn

Defo lesbian tbh :p The ova takes place after a very long time tho.They are a hundred years or even more(not sure) in the future.I'm guessing we wont see how Luke dealt with Rachel's "condition"

Damn. But still. Exciting. Is that airing this coming season i.e. October?

[Gallarn]

Yes its supposed to air on October.The trailer is out for some time now.Looks pretty interesting.

[VivisQueen]

Originally Posted by Gallarn

Yes its supposed to air on October.The trailer is out for some time now.Looks pretty interesting.

Trailer??? Where?! Where?! LINK!!!!!!

[Gallarn]

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[vivafruit]

Flag:

Flag, I think, is a true example of how ambitious failures are often infinitely more interesting to write about than unambitious successes. This series, in spite of several arguably irredeemable flaws, is challenging and intelligent. Even though the show is dull in some spots and downright tedious in others, overall I'm glad I saw it.

The following passages don't actually contain any spoilers, but they're hilariously long (I'll probably be turning it into a review tomorrow), so I'm hiding them to help with clutter.

What the show did right:

Probably the most noticeable aspect of the entire work is the extremely unique visual presentation. Everything except for the ED is either a recorded video or a photograph, and the entire idea is that the entire presentation is a documentary playing on a character's computer. Digital noise is added to every scene to emphasize the fact that its low-quality video, and oftentimes a camera HUD is placed on top of the animation. At first the approach is jarring and even obtrusive, but around episode 3 I began to appreciate it. In many ways this is an anime interpretation of the Blair Witch Project, not in genre, but in the shaky, granulated camera footage that takes the "show, don't tell" rule of thumb to its logical extreme. Anime tends to focus on the imaginative and fantastic rather than a realistic "you are there" sense of immersion, and Flag deserves praise for even attempting it.

In some cases, the anime succeeds impressively at immersion. Flag takes place in the fictional failed state of Uddiyana, and the series does an impressive job of creating an entire culture to go with this country. Indeed, Uddiyana is perhaps the best "character" of the entire series. When the protagonists' cameras turn to focus on this culture, Flag is fascinating. These moments of quiet, rural life feel unscripted and natural. Along with the narrator's melancholic reflections on what journalism should be, they are easily the best parts of the show.

The final two episodes are also excellent. While I won't get into details, they represent a natural conclusion to everything that has gone on before it. Aside from the obvious message that peace is worth fighting for, Flag is about the importance of journalism in an age where modern society is becoming increasingly insulated from reality. Especially at the end, these themes are presented powerfully.

What the show did wrong:

Flag wants to be both a mecha action show and a hyper-realistic account of 3rd world war. This, in my mind, is perhaps the series' greatest weakness. After going to such great lengths to immerse the audience with its realistic setting and innovative visual presentation, the series basically throws suspension of disbelief out the window by including mechas, which - let's face it - are absurd in a real-world setting. Not only this, but the show seems absolutely convinced that the mechas are a prime selling point of the series, showing the same two-minute introductory CGI mech sequence not once, not twice, but three fucking times over the course of the show.

There are those that are going to argue that the presentation of the mecha is just as realistic as the rest of the show, and that's true to an extent. However, I'd argue that this does little to actually help the problem; no matter how "realistic," large, bipedal mecha will always be unfeasible from an engineering standpoint. The concept becomes more absurd the more thought is put into it; why, for instance, are the mecha given 5-digit hands when they're just going to be shooting everything with a giant gun anyway? Moreover, the slow as hell, "realistic" mecha only serve to make the combat in Flag deathly boring. Of course, there is always the nagging voice in the back of my head that tells me that had the anime's script not called for mecha, such an ambitious and innovative show would never have been produced. Perhaps, then, the mecha are not a mistake, but a necessary evil.

No matter. After the mecha, another weakness that comes to mind is the characterization. Perhaps the only character with a true dynamic arc is the narrator, and he is not a large enough part of the series to carry the show by himself. For the most part, the characters (including the protagonist) have little, if any, depth to them. The result is that while oftentimes I could intellectually appreciate a scene for how innovative and well-crafted it was, I often had little emotional investment in what was going on.

Overall:

So, is this show something I would recommend? I think it largely depends on the person, and how much they value innovation over sheer quality of execution. While Flag is ambitious and impressive in several spots, the series' weaknesses make it uneven at best. As a result, Flag may be a tough sell, especially to those that do not enjoy "realistic" mecha.

Still, it's hard to discount how different Flag is from any anime that's come before it. This originality, coupled with the strength of certain scenes, made it a worthwhile watch. As far as scores go, I could see myself giving it anywhere from a 5.0 to a 7.5 depending on my mood, but for now I think I'll settle on a 6.5.

[GosoxJ]

Just finished D.Gray-man. Enjoyed the series, but the "ending" wasn't one at all.

[ForgottenSon]

That shite is finally finished? Perhaps I should take some valium and struggle through the last 30 eps, then.

[Worosei]

Witch Hunter Robin


GAH!!! the ending is frustrating.

Im not sure what to make of the series. I really need to dwell on it a bit longer...

Its much 'tamer' than ergo proxy, but you can definately see signs of witch hunter robin in ergo proxy.

As i didnt keep to the same fansub group the translations kept changing so it was a little confusing in some of the terminology too.

I liked Witch Hunter Robin, i think its a very good series, i'll give it a high rating on a-p, but there are a lot of it im irritated by. There are a lot of plot i cant digest, but its mostly made up by the atmosphere and cast.

Well here's my slab of text :D

Ok, i started Witch hunter Robin for the 'deep' plot in the second half. I was hoping for this suspense/action kind of of thing that is full of intrigue and mystery about a sinister organisation. I was a bit hesitant about having to go through the first half of just random 'beat the witch' episodes.

Ultimately, I must say, i think i may have enjoyed the first half probably more enjoyable. Im glad it stopped where it did as it started to become a bit repetitive, and i wished they added a bit more information about the setting that what was leaked through, but i thought it was fun enough.

Then the second part happened and i had a bit of a 'huh' moment. Maybe it was because i wasnt paying much attention to the beginning, but i got a little puzzled by the difference between a 'witch' and a 'hunter' and what the 'craft' was. I always thought that certain people had a 'craft', and if they used it for bad they became witches. And then some people who had a craft enlisted to be trained hunters.

Further i thought that witches were only hunted when they killed people. However as the series progressed Robin seemed to have had large dilemas in being a witch as she supposedly hunted out 'seeds' too even though they initially had done no wrong. I think i have to rewatch a bit as i think im a little wrong but anyways.

Art-wise i was happy with Witch Hunter Robin. It felt a little 'men in black' with the weird dude who's waiting in the lobby all the time, and even the building design looks similar. And i thought Robin's look kept changing where she would look 30, then 15, then 20... And i thought when she went in to hiding it was a bit crazy she would keep her same hairdo, but wack on some sunnies instead.

I liked all the characters except Amon. He was meant to be the silent cool dude. But i was just a bit annoyed with him. There was a lot implied that Robin likes Amon, and he likes her, (eg. in ep21 on zaizen's pc there's a little 'poem' that mentions she loving amon). But it just felt too annoying, and i'd be much better keeping Amon and Toko together with Robin as their surrogate child as it seemed at first.

He also never came across as being cool enough. He was given enough scenes to show himself as being completely awesome it was mainly through heresay and his knowledge from his contacts.

Plotwise, i was kinda disappointed. Whilst ergo proxy had a highly bizzare kind of ending, Witch hunter robin's resolution was kinda bland.

It wasn't very palatable believing that huge assaults on STN-J was due to orbo manufacturing. If STN is already a subsidiary of Solomon, then why dont they just tell STN direct. It seemed far too excessive even if Zaizen was kinda rogue. I also dont understand why STN was raided instead of the Factory when they wanted to see the research on Orbo.

It was also a little haphazard in Robin being hunted. She goes on the run, gets hunted by 2 very experienced hunters and there's the whole dilema of can STN-J hunt Robin, and then it just drops. It seems bizarre that a single hunter is sent each time to hunt Robin, and Solomon doesnt seem to care about their hunter's deaths either.

Further the plot about Robin being the 'eve of witches' was a bit eh? So Robin possesses the ability to pass down her genetics to any offspring she has. Which is already the case with all witches anyway, however for Robin she'll be passing down uber strong genes that could result in the creation of a super-race that could turn into 'gods'. And from what we've seen, these uber strong genes are just strengthened parts of her own ability and her ability to 'see' other's ability. All of which didnt seem new...

And then Zaizen's entire rebellion against Solomon wasnt very palatable, he's some human supremist who hates any possible taint... so he uses orbo to kill witches, and wants to start killing hunters because of his fear of non-magic users... it just felt too anticlimatic, at least make him a megalomaniac trying to get more power, or give him some sort of vengence gaining revenge on a witch who killed his kid and solomon not doing anything, but it just felt weak... especially for the amount of resources both sides would have had to expend (and especially when the funding for zaizen came from solomon already...). Further it felt too much of a 'Solomon' are the good guys. It spends so long portraying them as sus, and then ultimately Zaizen is villified and they all work to an extent with Solomon to rid Zaizen's activities.

The 'agents from Solomon' was also kinda lame. I mean it was introduced at the beggning where they suspected/knew Robin must be a spy, but ignored it to the very end and made it that Dojima was also a spy, where in essence you didnt care but it just helped the group as they had an 'insider' inside Solomon now to help explain more things. Harry was also kinda lame, he had a meeting with Amon giving information, and then his son comes in and dies, and that's it, he just goes back to serving food with you never finding out any more about him. And then Toko was just shafted, you hear how she was Zaizen's daughter, and then she's half-loopy and waiting for the return of Amon but it just feels like they couldnt be bothered to flesh her out a bit more. And Michael's coming out of his room was really anti-climatic, it was nice seeing them all get together, but it just felt all to nice and i wish you saw some repercussions for him as it just felt like he should have moved out long ago as noone would care...

So plot-wise im a little frustrated by Witch Hunter Robin. It was a really nice set-up, i liked the cast a lot. I really like Robin and think she's really cool. I really like the whole magic/sci-fi stuff with guns and magic interacting in a credible manner - it felt really balanced. The atmosphere was really set up nicely, but i felt it was a little flat.

You can see so much on how he wanted to make Witch Hunter Robin much more 'substantial' and philosophical like Ergo Proxy, and its a shame he didnt as i felt that if they made Witch Hunter Robin really dark towards the end that made everyone a shade of grey where both sides have a side of good and bad, which you dont know what exactly is good and bad, then i'd be happy, but everything was a bit too defined. They tried a little with Robin having to avoid Solomon, but it was just wasnt dealth with enough which i feel Murase wanted to do.


Also im a bit confused by the ending after the credits. The leg that steps out of the car im assuming are Robin's as its the same as the first episode. Further i refuse to see how Amon and Robin would 'disappear' without letting the others know, and it'd be much better just seeing Sakaki go to Harry's and have a cup of coffee again with everyone rather than a half-assed 'zomg what happened to Robin' thing...

edit;
gah! just realised Jun Fukuyama voiced Sakaki... i never figured, im going back now and i can slightly hear his voice, but im just too used to his deeper lelouche or 'glam sight on' voice :p

[valondar]

Originally Posted by Worosei

Further i thought that witches were only hunted when they killed people. However as the series progressed Robin seemed to have had large dilemas in being a witch as she supposedly hunted out 'seeds' too even though they initially had done no wrong. I think i have to rewatch a bit as i think im a little wrong but anyways.

I thought it was something like people who have the 'craft' have the capacity to become witches but they're currently being employed by the witch hunters, and they hunt witches and seeds (who may or may not have done anything, but they seem to focus at first on those who do.) And so Robin may have been hunted eventually anyway if she hadn't been on the witch hunter side (and even there it's dubious).

Plotwise, i was kinda disappointed. Whilst ergo proxy had a highly bizzare kind of ending, Witch hunter robin's resolution was kinda bland.

The difference in plot can be probably attributed to the lack of Dai Satou's involvement. He deserves much of the praise (or blame, depending on your viewpoint) for Ergo Proxy's storyline. I found Witch Hunter Robin simpler, but I liked it just as much as I did Ergo Proxy.

Loved the atmosphere. Musically and visually Shukou Murase hit this one out of the park just as strongly as Ergo Proxy though, obviously, the animation is lower in quality. Liked the cast all around, and Robin is a rare example of a teen heroine who can be moody without ever irritating me. And that's understating the case, I really liked her. I found the show's initial 'monster-of-the-week' format to be surprisingly well done. The doctor who saves lives by killing others was a pretty interesting ethical problem, and the ending scene of that episode kind of prefigures what is to come.

Then there's 'Time to Say Goodbye' (a favourite episode of mine, actually) and the show goes off. IIRC, while the plotting does get quite a bit convoluted here, I thought it made sense in broad strokes - presumably only one hunter was sent after Robin at a time because they thought that would be enough to handle her and she's not the only problem around - but it may have some holes I've forgotten about. While the ending twist wasn't original, I thought it was handled better than, say, in Elfen Lied. Whatever the show's flaws, Robin was simply one of the most enjoyable anime I've ever watched.

It wasn't very palatable believing that huge assaults on STN-J was due to orbo manufacturing. If STN is already a subsidiary of Solomon, then why dont they just tell STN direct. It seemed far too excessive even if Zaizen was kinda rogue.

Again, it's been a while, but I thought that was the point.

That is, Zaizen being rogue is why he has to attack STN.

I really like the whole magic/sci-fi stuff with guns and magic interacting in a credible manner - it felt really balanced.

Strictly speaking it's not magic. The difference between magic and science fiction often simply being whether or not there's a science-y sounding explanation. Witch Hunter Robin attributes witch powers to a 'witch gene', so it qualifies.

Agree with your point here though.

Also im a bit confused by the ending after the credits. The leg that steps out of the car im assuming are Robin's as its the same as the first episode.

When I saw that I assumed it was Robin's replacement. I think I'm the only one who felt that, that it's Robin appears to be a popular theory. Anyway, I like ambiguous endings, so I was fine with Robin's.