First Impressions – The Rolling Girls
It’s time to transform and roll out!
Don’t let the title fool you Rolling girls is not a moe blob thing about girls riding on bikes eating cake and drinking tea oh no! This is something entirely unexpected and AMAZING! I noticed a lot of people over the past few days have said this reminds them heavily of Kill la Kill in terms of over the top battles and of course a girl uses over sized weapon in the form of a giant safety pin? YEP! Crazy indeed and I loved every moment!
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This ended up being a huge surprise for me – namely because the trailer I watched was the one that just showed fluffy, slice of life bits. So you can imagine my shock when we opened up with a power ranger fighting a sadistic lady with a massive safety pin. Best surprise ever? Best surprise ever.
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“Stuff happened and each one (prefectures) of them declared independence. They did whatever they pleased, while embracing their individuality.” * That in a nutshell is really all the history lesson your need and, indeed, are gonna even get at this point. *From the Cthune subs*
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What the hell did I watch?
Super hero suits for the win!
Indeed that is the burning question on all of our minds! What the hell did I watch? For starters AWESOME-NESS! For me it was like the creators took parts of Zvezda, Kyousosgiga, Kill la Kill, FLCL, Gatchaman and threw them into a blender and BOOM The Rolling Girls was created and with a title like that you probably assumed it might be dull or maybe you saw those trailers and your jaw dropped at the eye popping visiuals? That is what caught me the use of color and animation is quite amazing, but I know it might be a bit much for some out there who probably are not a fan of all those bright colors especially during the more over the top combat moments between Kuniko Shigyou and Masami Utoku or are you in the crowd that found that to be great? As an artist myself that is what originally pulled me in and those cute character designs; however there is plenty of WTF as far as some design choices go like the guy who wears a crocodile mask simply named Crocodile, we also have Chiaya Misono who wears a gas mask and I can’t forget to mention when Masami is in fighting mode she cosplays as a Super Sentai hero named Maccha Green!? I kind of love that and I am sure there is some story behind that suit! Now I just want to see the other mob leaders and find out if they wear any crazy outfits into battle.
What is going on!?
Safety first.
Do I know what’s going on? Not really. But I love the idea of a bunch of gangs fighting each other in order to solve problems and that much I can easily get on board with. Even the prologue doesn’t seem to care about properly explaining anything, as the narrator rattles off places and events (sometimes skipping stuff) without much concern. I’m getting the same vibes from this show that I’m getting from almost every other show this season: FABULOUS and SO STYLISH WE DON’T NEED A PLOT. Or maybe I’m just not paying attention to it because I’m too distracted by all the sparkles and shiny stuff. I’m no better than a magpie.
Amazingly, I’m still captivated by a show where I have no concept of what anyone is even doing. Rolling Girls manages to carry itself by having beautifully designed characters you feel like you’re dying to get to know more about, excellent battle choreography, a flashy style, and the guts to put the pedal to the floor at any given moment. I mean, why not make a conversation in a ramen shop into the most intense noodle-slurping battle of the century? Why not throw in exploding roller coasters and giant robots? Why not just have a guy with an alligator mask on for literally no reason???? Rolling Girls doesn’t give a fuck about anything and that’s why I love it. It’s zany, unrestrained fun with a whole lot of style. As much as I make it sound like an empty action show, I do feel that there will be a bit more to it than that in the coming episodes.
Who needs plot!
Look at those colors!
This was another show I was looking forward to, and did I love how they just jumped right into the action that defines the world’s background. You got the Rest, but all eyes are on the Best! It’s all about turf wars, and in that we get the battle of the hired guns. Kukino and Maccha really aren’t all that different, as both are payed to protect the piece. But Kukino comes out as being much more mercenary. Maccha Green, by contrast, has some roots in the community and leads up the local protection squad the HIyoshi Town Propeller….a group that has a Crocodile for a member! I loved how they just unlocked that battle. Kukina with her awesome battle Safety Pin, and Maccha Green in her, one would assume super-powered Sentai suit.
I really like the sense of community building they are going into. Nozumi was happy to come of age and work her way into the Propellers. And my goodness the food. Why does anime hit me with it all the time. I love that Dango shop. I want to live above it! Taiyaki! Takoyaki! Heaven…you must protect those smiles. And have Epic Ramen Battles! But, if anything I’m looking out for the Propellers. Wow, some of them look about as dense as a lead weight, and with the leadership of Masami Utoku, who cannot help but be a derp when it comes to hiding her Macha Green uniform, they need some looking after.
FK YA EXTRA ROLLING GIRLS
Awwwee yeah cupcakes <3
hnnngggg
Best fight ever!!
Alright maybe not.
End Thoughts
Wooooooooo! Now that was something extra special because it was flashy, over the top, insane and so damn pure fun! Which is what I enjoy in my anime! Sure I admit plot wise it had most of the viewers shouting WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! I was doing the same thing, but after a while I was like nope just roll with it man and enjoy the ride and yes this will be a completely wild ride. On a side note it was great to hear Ari Ozawa again after her role as Chiyo Sakura from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun ended I wondered will we ever hear her again? Yep! Now I want to see how she gets involved in the mob fights or can we just switch it to ramen eating contest for every future battle? So what did you enjoy about this unique episode?
I expected a healing show and ended up with Kill la Kill but oh man am I happy with the results. It’s silly, lively, and it makes me want to go out and punch a bunch of people square in the jaw to see if pink fireworks will come out. Sometimes I like story-heavy shows that put a huge amount of effort into planning an intricately woven narrative. Sometimes I like shows that literally skip over the explanation and give you girls beating the shit out of each other. There’s so much promise for more episodes too! I want to see more of these gangs and the different regions of Japan with their individual customs. Rolling Girls looks like it will be a wild ride from start to finish.
This series just pops. It’s got a great alternative history feel to it, and the looks of the lunatics running the asylum. All of this thanks to some wonderful design by tanu and Kitada Katsuhiko. All under W.I.T studios and Deai Kotomi’s first time direction. It all popped just right with lovely Tari Tari like character design and great super battles. Gonna love keeping up with this one…
About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Roll them into tasty onigiri instead. No other comment.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Onigirl dropped in hot macha is a treat…
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Sounds amazing.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Devious thinking.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
All those shows you mention, but the one that it felt like to me was Yozakura Quartet. That and a big KFC bucket of confusion. Too much exposition at the beginning that made no sense, and went by too fast to even read, much less understand.
Plus, the concept of “Best” and “Rest” just torques me. I dunno, just the idea kinda ticks me off. Don’t like it at all.I understand it’s descriptive, and I understand that it’s what they’ve got, but I just don’t like it.
Don’t know if I’ll stick with this one. I’ll give it a few more episodes maybe to settle down, but just didn’t click.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think the concept of “Best” and “Rest” are self-torquing…at least as I came to it.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I don’t think bright and colorful shows are for you and yeah I guess the rush of here is the plot and that is what were doing was quite fast and quick for the audience, but I kinda like that they didn’t spend the first ten minutes breaking down and explaining every tiny detail because in the end its mob vs mob to gain more territory at least that is what I think the main “plot” is.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m not asking for “sit down and explain the whole thing.” But it’s pretty crappy storytelling to throw 5 minutes of made up names and jargon at your audience right off the bat. They could have gotten rid of that whole prologue about town names that noone’s going to remember and the fall of whatever world there was, and the show would have been much the better for it. It was confusing and offputting, because they either seem to expect us to remember it or are just getting it out of the way because we don’t need to remember it, in which case it was a waste of time.
Bright and colorful is fine. I’ve liked plenty of bright and colorful shows. But I’m not going to be snowed by a show that tries to use bright and colorful as the Emperor’s New Story. They’re not mutually exclusive. Uchouten Kazoku was bright and gorgeous, and was still a tremendously well-told story. Kyousougiga told a story (but had really annoying-to-me characters) even if I didn’t care for it. You can do both.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
I’m really wondering where did you guys find so many words to describe this. I don’t even know what’s going on! I just know that I love it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Some of the words I Have on hand. A few I got on credit. I outright stole a handful when no one was looking. But I could be making that up….
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Cause were all a bit CRAZY! Muhahahaha!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The Word Bucket(tm) store.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Yeah, they just randomized a bunch of words and put them there. And it strangely fit together so well…
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
An interesting series, I’ll give it that much. And wow, is this show full of a lot of bright colors and happy songs.
Show was okay, I’ll have to watch a little bit more but looks to be funny with some serious spots here and there. The world is awfully ridiculous though.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It was a bit of a mood whiplash when they go from a superhero battle where the one person is just trying to unmask the other and then a ramen eating battle to “Oh, we’re going to kill all your friends on this sabotaged roller coaster.”
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…love it…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s like they go with whatever comes to mind and don’t think twice.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I apparently still haven’t eaten real ramen yet. I did go to an “authentic” ramen place locally and thought it tasted so much better than cup ramen.
But my asian friends (some who have been to Japan) were like, no this stuff is weak sauce. Apparently I need to visit Japan, baring that, the west coast, to get something close to the good stuff.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
It’s a funny little trick of our global economy. We’ve been lulled by fast food. Everything has to taste the same everywhere.
Food has always been and will always be regional.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
We have a few authentic ramen shops in my city on the northside and in chinatown, however, I have yet to go to any of them. I’ve had the college-staple kind for years while at school and work, but I’ve never really liked them that much, and it’s kind of put me off from trying the real thing.
I’ll probably go later this year to just get the experience. It does look good.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
That was a little weird and not what I expected. I’m glad that it ended up being a little more serious than one would think at first glance.
I liked the relationship between the two main girls and how one is really trying to keep her identity a secret (though maybe she should think to put her costume in something else other than a paper bag? 😛 ). I want to see where that goes, especially since it seems that the younger girl rather than the older is the one that will be the main character.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
That is where we are different I loved how out there and crazy things got xD
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Loved it! First season premiere that surprised me, as pretty much the others met my expectations (average was average, good was good).
I was expecting slice-of-life, but got splashy over-the-top fun. Which is still A-oK in my books. Reminds me a little of Horizon with the warring states, which I absolutely loved (where is s3?!? also more k plz (movie and s2 date!).
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yeah!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah it was a great surprise.
Horizon in the middle of nowhere? Sure I liked that but it was really really really confusing for the most part! I mean season one anyway…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
That’s the one! It was one of the few shows that made me go digging for any and all information I could find after each episode. I turned into an info sponge.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
S2 had a lot of cool stories, but overall I was confused for 80% of the time I do love the powers and characters though so I would watch a movie or 3rd season.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s exactly what gives watching this a whiplash. I was expecting boring, slow, fluffy, slice of life style storytelling. Not over-the-top adrenaline fights with people clawing each other for territory and glory. I was about to ignore this because of my groundless preconceptions. Fortunately I didn’t.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
You take that back! Slice-of-life is awesome! *virtual pickets BB*
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
**pokes BB with sharp stick**
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*puts up shield*
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*sends over Raw Ass, I mean Rho Ais*
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yikes! I stepped on a land mine. Need to tread carefully.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
What a wild ride! It was nuts! Curse you, misleading moe-blob style header! I almost missed something good. This reeked of Kill la Kill similarities which is a good thing and the sequences of people sent flying off from shockwaves was a lot like Ryuuko and Satsuki’s second fight. No one knows what’s going on. I say to this: Does it matter when it’s so much fun?
A few things the characters should do better. Masami needs a smarter place to store her costume. She almost blew the whistle on herself and someone please tell the guy with the gator head he’s wearing it wrong. Unless he has x-ray vision and dons it like that for the hell of it. The place and its constitution look so absurd the possibility shouldn’t be a stretch. Each of the gangs looks tough as nails. Rolling Girls is going the list!!
Not even Naruto can handle that much!!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yeah as far as I know people are only comparing it to Kill la Kill for the fighting style and not the OMG BOOBS side of things so I can get behind that cause it works.
I figured a suitcase instead of a brown paper bag LOL that is not smart! That gator mask is like the TK of Angel Beats Id guess xD
I know right?! Daaamn.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
At least put the costume in something less conspicuous. She was this close to having her cover blown.
I’d be happy to take some of that ramen off her hands.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Wait what, that was a mask? I thought he was a gator-human for sure, who had a tendency to look sideways while walking.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Exactly! That’s a gator-dude…
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I know, right?
So he could easily look sideways and walk straight!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, it’s a mask. Given the way he carries on, he must be a frat boy.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Damn you spammy, he’s just decided to start chewing away.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Always at the worst possible time.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Makes me wonder though, short posts usually get through. Is it after a certain word count that he starts to get hungry? Or is it because there are extras (e.g. links, quotes, etc.)? Hmmm…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think once a comment even looks close to becoming a wall of text, it becomes a spam target.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
That bastard, I tried three times and he got me each time. Bunny rawr~
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Need some patience, Padawan. 🙂 We’ve actually been getting a lot less spam so we definitely go through all the comments. If you get a comment caught, it’ll get approved in a few hours at most. But you don’t need to redo the same comment, as that just makes us decide which comment to approve and have to delete the rest.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Hai, sensei
Good to know, I thought they would be relegated to the grey zone of the internets until we starting waving signs everywhere.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
He must really be out to get you.
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Fosh, why didn’t you insert the song I requested? I am disappoint. =(
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Wait what song? Limp Biscuit rolling? LOL sure sure
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Nawwwwwwww. I mean this.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Ahhh next time I shall 😀
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Keep rolling, rolling, rolling, rolling!!
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yessssssssssh
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
One hell of a song.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
That reminds me of Sacred Seven, when during one episode gg decided to swap the tracks. I remember watching the episode and laughing pretty hard. It was pretty epic, considering Alma’s ride and attitude.
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
Hmmm…Hey You Guys, i was thinking that this site needs more ramen and doughnuts rather than pancakes and fried chicken LOL…OH…OOOPS! Forget about it!
Anyways, i think this show is something like this…in a nutshell…The country was suffered from a cultural wars or sort…and…um…ugh…The Rest is just too confusing anyways…
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
I love the two rival “bests” – I could watch those two interact for episodes upon episodes. The MC is pretty charming and fun too and I look forward to seeing how she turns out.
This looks like good brainless fun – which is just what I want from at least one offering per season.