Ace wo Nerae! 2

Hey dere:
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You know I've shilled the OP a lot, but the ED is pretty damn fucking good to me as well:


Too many orgasms. Still can't really believe this is finally happening, feels like I'm dreaming tbh.
 
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Episode 1

You better believe I'll be the first.

There's a lot I liked about this episode.
One of the good things about a second season is not needing a great deal of introduction to the characters and setting, you can just jump straight into the actual content of the show.

So we're 3 years on from the first season, and Hiromi just won Junior Nationals, showing us that she has come a long way from the girl that took countless balls to the face in the previous season. I fucking love the design choices in the games here, the Dezaki still shots that we all know and love, Hiromi's serious and focussed face, the games look like they're dynamic and full of power.

One of my favourite things is that the other characters have moved on too, Ochofujin got beat by Hiromi at the end of the first season, but she kept training and is still one of Hiromi's biggest opponents. I hate the trope when someone gets left behind just because they were beaten once.

Of course Rank drives an E30 325i, she has the best taste.

Munakata needs to fulfil the destiny we all know is waiting for him because Gunbuster spoiled it for us years ago.
 
01:

I gotta say one thing first of all: the animation upgrade and art is too fucking SEXY for me to handle, the tennis action is just on a whole other level than the first season. This is making me explode from joy to see everyone in Dear Brother quality. THOSE DEZAKI DRAMATIC STILL SHOTS! Hiromi being such an intense motherfucking badass now after all that hard work and effort is especially such a satisfying feeling for me, jeez, I want to put on a track suit, go on runs and train with her. Can you even believe this is the same dork from the start of the first season? There's a pretty tragic tone as well though with Munakata's terminal illness. I am not ready for coach Munakata's inevitable death and the fall out. :crying:

Also, Hiromi still distinctly retains that great/innocent doofy charm to me even after all these years with the intense skill she's attained and Maki still a best cheerleader. Ochofujin really doesn't underestimate Hiromi at all either, they really feel like they have such a deep deep great respect for each other as equals, Hiromi even consistently running with her! Best yuri ship in the game guys.

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2cute4me with that hat.

Getting back into the swing of things here(hurhurhur) and there isn't anything I did not love about this first episode. This is better than sex to me.

Taek said:
So we're 3 years on from the first season, and Hiromi just won Junior Nationals, showing us that she has come a long way from the girl that took countless balls to the face in the previous season.
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I kind of laughed out loud to be honest at this moment:
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Hiromi is the one beaning people now with a ball. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
 
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Episode 1:

Forget gamer girl bath water I want some Ochofujin racket sweat.

If Ochofujin doesn't leave America with some hair product endorsement deals then this whole thing will have been a waste. Yeah, she good at that whole tennis thing, but her real superpower is the ability to maintain he perfect hime curls no matter how hard she's exerting herself.

This episode is all about showing how the characters have moved on. It leans hard into portraying how close Munakata and Hiromi have grown in the three year gap. Honestly, the way they think about each other is a little too close to romantic, but that makes it all the funnier that he's still pretty tsun to her when the interact with each other. Almost as if he's keeping an intentional distance.

It's all for the purpose of setting up new stakes for the tournament in America. It's something Munakata has spent a lot of time setting up even though he's not going to make there because he's dying of tragic unspecified anime disease. Luckily, he's got a seemingly even more eccentric bro in Daigo to take his place. Munakata's death doesn't come as a complete shock since he died in the movie as well. I'm expecting the next episode to hit an early dramatic peak with Munakata either kicking the bucket or at least having to reveal he's too sick to travel to America.

Gens said:
01:



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They need to get that chick checked for internal bleeding. This was my favorite dramatic shot in an episode full of them. It shows what a powerhouse Hiromi has become. She's much more confident now especially when it comes to tennis.

I also like the effect of sending the ball whizzing past someone's head so close that it causes their hair to fly all over the place. Seems like it's going to be a signature move for Hiromi if she can learn to perfect it.

The OP is pretty bomb as well. The increased budget for art and animation make the show look much more crisp. Also moving the style up from the 70s to the 80s gives it a different and more pleasing visual aesthetic.
 
Episode 1

This is what I call one hell of an art improvement

I have a feeling I should have watched the movie before starting the groupwatch because I felt like I missed something when I saw the coach was pretty much terminally sick.
It feels really satisfying to see how much Hitomi progressed since S1. She went from taking balls to the face every day to being on Ryuuzaki's level (while pushing her to get better) and beaning the occassional unlucky girl Hitomi has to play against.

I can't wait to see the next episode

ZetsubouKaiji said:
I also like the effect of sending the ball whizzing past someone's head so close that it causes their hair to fly all over the place. Seems like it's going to be a signature move for Hiromi if she can learn to perfect it.
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She could even give it a name like those chicks did to their signature moves in S1, as long as she names it "Warning Shot" =P
 
Episode 1
This is overwrought and melodramatic in just the right way. I don't feel like I'm missing out on that second season at all, but I would like it if this had been transferred to Blu-ray. There's some cheesy eye candy here that I want in that HiVision 10p or whatever the hell weebs name their .mkv files these days.

I'm glad Hiromi's derpy cat is still alive, despite Hiromi not being great at this whole caring for animals thing.

Running is the worst. 0/10 so far.
 
1:

I wasn't sure if the whole Munakata catching Clannaditis was just a thing for the movie or not, but I guess that ran past where the first season ended.

Almost as surprising as the visual upgrade is the fact that Munakata has friends outside of tennis. His tsun is pretty much unrivaled after all.

I'm definitely tickled pink over having an entire season to appreciate a version of Hiromi that doesn't need to cycle between being an up-and-coming tennis star and a night useless crybaby anymore, as much as I did see a lot to like in how those growing pains were handled. When she does cry, she at least looks a lot more graceful now.

And speaking of grace, you could fill a magazine catalogue with shots from the OP.
 
02

I fucking love this shit

Pour one out for Munakata, 27 is no age to die, whether you've had forewarning, or whether you've lasted longer than expected.

I'll miss his presence in the show, he could be a proper dick and his coaching style was pretty horrendous in reality, but boy it made for some great drama.

This will break Hiromi. As Todo said, all the others played tennis before they met Jin, but Hiromi found tennis because of him and has never been properly coached by anyone else. At least in the US she will be out of her comfort zone, it might help her deal with the grief.
 
02:

MUNAAAAAAAAAAAKAAAAATAAAAAAAAAAaAAAAAaAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAA, fuck man, FUUUUUUUUUCK. His death here hits me even harder than in the movie. I'll miss his stoic tsun assholery. This was so superbly built-up and fraught with unnerving tension to his final moments dying on his literal death bed. You're just waiting for the other horrible shoe to drop. It's hard to believe he's gone now.

Also dramatic scenes framed in the snow is my favourite thing evar. I feel so fucking bad for Hiromi, it isn't even funny. What a depressing episode.

I did laugh my ass off when Daigo just randomly screamed under the water fall at the end with all his manly charm though, YAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH. This monk is hardcore to the max, and I already love him.

This is so damn great. They really don't make shows like this anymore.
 
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Episode 2
I don't like the OP.

As usual, doctor-patient confidentiality basically do not exist in anime. I wouldn't want any of my students find out about my incurable disease, either.

I like how only three years has passed in-universe, but fashion-wise we can see a lot of eighties varsity jackets among all the sports jacket/turtleneck combos.

While Munakata's death had some narrative and dramatic heft, Daigo's screaming did make me laugh. This is perfect.
 
HasseRovdjur said:
Episode 2
I don't like the OP.

As usual, doctor-patient confidentiality basically do not exist in anime. I wouldn't want any of my students find out about my incurable disease, either.
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It's funny thinking about this, but I feel like incurable/dire disease is basically a feature of every Dezaki work I loved. Dear Brother, Rose of Versailles, Ace wo Nerae, it just ain't a melodrama without this lol
 
Episode 2:

This one of those times that if I take the show at face value I like it a lot less. At face value this episode is a well directed and poorly aged farce. Part of that is its nature as mellow drama. At the same time if I do take it at face value then I really don't like what it has to say about Munakata's thoughts on women and dealing with grief.

Now if I take this episode and see it as portaying Munakata as someone that's dealing with his own impending demise and dealing with it poorly then I like the episode a lot better. He makes a lot of poor decisions here thinking he is protecting others. In reality he's protecting his own fragile ego. He doesn't want anyone to see him as weak. Instead, he chases off everyone so he can die alone because it's easier than seeing everyone grieve for him knowing what is coming. It's a human response, but the way he explains it in terms of his own mother's death is kind of insulting to the strength we've seen Hiromi build up.

That being said there are a lot of good little moments in the episode and several unintentionally funny ones. I'm sure this episode would have hit a lot harder if I was watching 30 years ago when it came out. Now it feels a bit like a relic. Munakata was a dick right to the end, but I think the show memorializes him a little bit too much as old school being a man.
 
Episode 2

I didn't realize how much I missed this even if I cannot take anything that happens seriously because of its peak melodrama shenanigans.

That bit where Hiromi visited Munakata in the hospital for the first time confused me. Him going hot and cold several times within half a minute gave me a damn whiplash and all there's left to do was to shrug and laugh.

Yes, let's coddle little weak lady Oka because that's totally not a dick move to lie and give hope like that. Fuck off. Plus Munakata passed on his dick rights for Hiromi to Todo. Mmmmhm.
 
2:
I can sort of get why Munakata would keep Hiromi at arm's length. Fragile ego aside, the last thing he wants to be is anyone else's source of weakness. He kept up his highly questionable, emotionally scarring and effective coaching till his last belaboured breath.

That said, y'all just know Hiromi will find out that the coach is gone at a particularly inopportune time to maximize DORAMA
 
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03:

have some faith, guys. Of course Hiromi will be devastated, but coping with loss is a part of life everyone has to deal with, let the girl grieve and don't add anger into it by keeping it from her.

I will criticise the show for only giving us male perspectives on the whole situation in this episode. Despite the show being about a female tennis player, it will lean into some inherently masculine tropes sometimes and although that doesn't bother me much, I think in this episode it kind of annoys me.

I still mostly enjoyed it though, the match the end was short but great. I do wonder if they'll go into people having different techniques and moves with names like they did in the first season, I don't mind either way if the matches are fast paced and exciting.
 
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3:

Man this is just determined to keep twisting the knife until our innards become mush isn't it? Well it isn't exactly the kind of storytelling that can sustain itself for long. Hiromi will surely pick up on how everyone walking on eggshells around here of the preview is anything to go by.

Don't cry Maki, you're the comic relief dammit :crying:
 
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