First Impressions – Gakkou Gurashi!
Look, cute girls doing cute things! Wait a second…
I had absolutely no idea what I’d gotten myself into. Well, that’s pretty much the case for every series I watch, but most don’t have the potential to make me break down and start weeping in a corner (obvious exception AnoHana). And I guess I did sort of know from reading the description. Okay, I’m a liar; I totally knew what I was getting myself into. Using my highly questionable and strangely accurate ability to gauge an entire series based on its promotional art, I knew right away that there was much more to Gakkou Gurashi than meets the eye, and so I sallied forth into the unknown slightly sort of known.
I remember back when I found the Gakkou Gurashi manga thanks to tumblr posting random shots from the manga, but after reading a few chapters I had no idea how addictive this series was and while I am happy to see this getting an anime finally I have my fears just like any hardcore fan of any manga that eventually gets an anime series. Will they do it justice? Can they get to the really important parts before ending the series? I guess we shall see…
It seems really odd for me to do an introduction for this show, considering that I talked quite a bit on it during our Team’s Summer Picks post, and did a manga review for it on Halloween 2014. But, all things considered, you can’t keep me away from one of my most eagerly anticipated shows of the Summer, and there are enough new things happening in the production to warrant some discussion.
This totally doesn’t throw off any signals.
Kyon_ While the majority of time was devoted to various introductions of characters and setting alike, it mainly focused on Yuki and Miki, and the soon to be clear dissonance between perception and reality. There wasn’t a whole lot of time devoted to the two other members of the School Living Club, but it was nice to receive at least a glimpsing pass at those who will become significant in some form or another later on, because there really would’ve been no point in including the characters otherwise, especially in light of the situation. Miki, apparently, isn’t supposed to even show up this early, but there wasn’t a time it felt unnatural, and it appears in regards to this and from any indication of the execution by this episode, that only her original introduction could be negatively affected by this choice, whether it be altered to oblivion or completely wrote out in a way as to discount other important involvements. I’m not all that concerned about that though, and if a series is seriously aiming for the heartstrings, it’d actually be better to introduce an important character as early as possible in order to increase the amount of time we become familiar and attached to them. The later a character is introduced, the more you’d have to make them standout in order to remain memorable.
The twist about everyone in the final minutes didn’t surprise me, because, well, I had already read the synopsis beforehand. But, I really enjoyed the development that Yuki was imagining the previous happenings. It’s clear that she’s delusional, presumably as a result from the traumatic experience of everyone she knows becoming zombies and her denial of how bleak reality has suddenly become, because I doubt she was like that before. It’ll be very interesting to see how this plays into future events, because living, let alone surviving, with a person that has this kind of mental illness can be extraordinarily difficult, and now there’s the chance of it jeopardizing not only her life, but the lives of the remaining club members. Dealing with the existence of Yuki’s fantasies alone will likely be a major source of distress and contention among the group as it would be particularly trying to cope with a person they hold dear and is known to no longer hold a handle on reality, while they themselves still do.
The phrases they’re teaching nowadays.
Moe of THE DEAD
Fosh_ I love cute girls doing cute things anime themed plots from the world of K-On, Non Non Biyori and Kiniro Mosaic but they are a dime a dozen and typically never blow our minds because as OC would call them they are “healing anime” typically a series you watch to chill after watching people get stabbed or suffer through some emotional drama. That said the very first episode of Gakkou Gurashi gives you those similar vibes for roughly twenty minutes and then near the end the OH MY GOD truth bomb EXPLODES! And you learn the world isn’t so bright and shiny as Yuki makes it out to be or did you pick up on that early?
sky_ First of all I think that studio Lerche did quite a great job bringing the character designs from page to screen. Iizuka Haruko is a great choice for that job, as she has brought so much life to so many great moe, slice of life programs, while keeping true to the original designs of all that source material. For a show that is set to run into a clash of styles, getting this portion of the content right was key. For this episode, we only got a very short, but very pointed, period of time with the zombies, and they were functional, if a little too moe themselves in some regards. I’m kidding, of course. But I was expecting it to be a bit more jarring; looking at it a second and third time, it does fit rather well into the end of the show, as it was more a psychological edge than gross out shock they were aiming for. Which keeps with the spirit of the manga quite well.
I thought they did a great job balancing the characters. Yuki can be a huge burden, but they did pretty good in contrasting her to her classmates in creative ways. If you were paying attention you could see how their reactions were just a tiny bit off in how they reacted to Yuki. So I praise the direction for keeping that well heeled. All of the VA’s did a great job. I felt that they had to get Yuki right, and Inori Minase is a great choice. Mao did good for Yuuri’s closed eyes delivery, and I didn’t get enough of Ari Ozawa as Kurumi. Of course the best has got to be the awesome Queen Rie as Best Girl Miki!
When I saw the PV for the show a few weeks back, I was a bit taken about by the inclusion of Miki. I took it into account as I thought they wanted to include all the major characters in one go for the promotion. So, with that in mind I went in expecting a straight up page to page, scene to scene adaptation. But her inclusion in the first episode changes quite a bit. They followed the first chapter to the spirit, if not outright letter. The lead up and the twist we saw here was how the first chapter goes in the manga, only by the reveal Yuki is by herself, and musing out loud. Miki is not in the manga until around chapter six, and her inclusion is quite awesome in the manga, and her character really changes the dynamic they had for the previous five chapters. So, Lerche is really doing their own thing with the material, and for that I am quite pleased. I know this may tick off the fans of the manga to some degree, but since I have long stated that an anime should be it’s own thing….well, yeah, now I get to own that a bit more…
It wasn’t me.
Please don’t kill Taroumaru. My heart won’t be able to take it. I suspect there’s a very low chance of that considering how dark everyone says the series is going to get, and dogs are cute, cuddly, and therefore, easy sacrificial lambs, but think about my feelings! It’s pretty remarkable that a series can keep me this interested after giving away so little, and yet, here we are. From the explanation of what caused the situation to become the way it currently is, to the effects Yuki’s mental status will have on the rest of the School Living Club, to even how the following episodes will be presented, there’s a great deal of potential contained within this setup, and I have no doubt in my sane mind that it will be explored upon in full. But seriously, don’t kill Taroumaru.
Whoa that so freaking cute, but I heard a few people on twitter, Youtube and Facebook complain that was just twenty minutes of moe garbage and some even skipped though it just to reach the WTF zombie reveal which makes me sad! I guess some just don’t have the tolerance for cute girls doing cute things or they got spoiled early? I know a handful of people that got spoiled early which sucks…as for the question some might ask are they sticking to the original source material? Not really, but with any adaptation you love sometimes you gotta have faith that the anime studio will get some parts right while making a few up for the sake of an episode. I can say that the way they are doing it for Gakkou Gurashi works, but either way I had fun with this and I can’t wait for more because it is so AWESOME.
I found this to be a great episode. It did exactly as I wanted it to as far as the lead up and the twist went. It didn’t overemphasis it in any clumsy fashion, nor did it undersell it. If I have one complaint, it’s that the doggy chase went on a bit too long. Since they’ve gone “off the page” considering the manga, I have become very curious about what comes next, and how are they going to play some of the major points coming up. As you can tell, this isn’t typical cute girls doing cute things by any stretch…It will get even heavier than this. I can’t wait…
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: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
When i watch i was thinking…Is this an SoL (Slice of Life) or a Zombie Survival?…UH…UM…. QUE?
and after that! i’am listening to a certain music…like this one!…and this one too
….But anyways! Well see how those girls will keep that up for this adventure of theirs… >:) XD
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I have been hearing that comment a lot towards this series and it always makes me scratch my head because I assumed people saw trailers and even read Skylion’s review that Gakkou wasn’t a cute series but a horror themed series? Then again as bloggers we tend to look at that stuff especially for charts.
All I can say is prepare to be shocked xD
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
The Lyrics is Something like this…
He’ll be comin’ down the mountains
He’ll be comin’ down the mountains
He’ll be drivin’ all his hatred
He’ll be drivin’ all his hatred [3x]
Who’ll be the first to test his gun Who’ll be the last to see the ground And when appeased will be his hatred And when complete will be his revenge Who had put flowers on your grave There is no way out for you, men And also for you who always have won comes The moment of truth comes… The moment of truth comes…
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
“Please don’t kill Taroumaru. My heart won’t be able to take it. ”
HAH…Well see about that…and if that mutt dies…
Show ▼
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Folks just don’t understand the value of pacing and the setup required for the true emotional power for a proper reveal. Sure, you could skip straight to the reveal, but it hits with more impact if you’ve gone all the way through Yuki’s happy fun delusion day at school first.
Just as a note, I am not in fact watching this series. I will not watch this series. This series is going to do horrible things to these innocent girls, and I won’t be able to take it.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Yep! EXACTLY I don’t understand why people couldn’t handle the overly moe stuff and you also have the odd handful of people that complain about wanting more of the cute and less of the whole OMG ZOMBIES aspect of the first episode so I guess there are a lots of random complaints flying around.
Well if you are the type of person to get attached to these kind of characters when they could die at any moment I suppose that could be tough…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…the show will constantly surprise you. They have the tone of the manga down pat.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
This is what I thought too when I read some peoples comments. Yes, the moe is really hard to sit through if you hate that sort of thing, but it’s all the clues that you get along the way that are the fun part. And the big reveal at the end doesn’t have the same punch if it you didn’t spend most of the episode in “cute land”.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 54 comments
Not to mention if they didn’t include the Delusion Day (I like that; it’s how it’ll be referred to from now on), they’d have to replace almost 20 minutes of content with something completely different which likely would have made the premiere another beast entirely.
Don’t worry though, I’ll take it for you. Now I just need someone to take it for me.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Such weak knees…
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Spammy is a zombie.
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
…or not? Posts were not showing up, suddenly they do. Much faster than if they’d gotten caught by Spammy (usually).
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
mmmmm brains mmmmmmmmm
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*calls in the Space Marines*
*takes out the BFG10k*
Time to go a huntin’
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…or Kurumi’s shovel!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
DOOOOOOOM!
😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Just don’t make a lot of noise.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
We will hunt those wascally wabbits.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Alright, Elmer Fudd. 😛
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Excuse me while I go find a shotgun. This zombie needs to be double tapped in the head.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Silly….zombies don’t let you make excuses…and Spammy cares little…the beast…
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 54 comments
Relevant
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Meh… Sorry to disappoint but I honestly wasn’t sold on this opening. It did poorly to win me over. Far too much time was spent on Yuki’s delusions. Like the PV, everything was so unbearably dominated by moe, the thought of considering anything remotely serious happening was near impossible. All the activities and other happenings in between, I just couldn’t bring myself to care about them. So the zombie apocalyptic world that surfaced afterward came in so forced and out of place, it felt as though this was trying to be a completely different series at the last minute while using the exact same characters. On the chance that was the idea, it still creates a mismatch, so the result leaves an unnatural feeling.
It will be annoying for me if Yuki keeps falling to her delusions in order to sever herself from reality when the time and place don’t call for it, given the apparently grave situation the cast is in. Calling it “inopportune” and “dangerous” are understatements and unfortunately, it seems that will be the most focused aspect. Not a pleasing sign in the slightest.
So you know what that means. The three episode trial is in effect, though I have nothing to expect or hope for. Now, if you’ll excuse me while I sharpen and ready my axe just in case. I’m not feeling optimistic about this series.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I think you missed the point entirely on what this episode was setting up, they want you to believe just like Yuki that the “world” is happy and full of sunshine and rainbows like any slice of life moe series, but in reality the zombie world is indeed a nightmare as we can clearly see from the reveal at the end! Was it perfect? Nope they could have had 12 mins of cuteness and then the other half the reveal.
I don’t think she will this first episode was just setting up the fact that Yuki is mentally unprepared for the truth and she rather live in her fake made up world so I think from this point on you will have a mixture of Yuki’s world and the real zombie world and how the others survive day to day.
Well I hope the next two episodes change your mind.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, calling it that is exactly what the story is about. How do they pull through with this on their shoulders? That simple idea is better than anything Walking Dead ever did…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I never seen the Walking Dead though I’ve been hearing good things about it for some time.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
The first season was quite good, until the last episode. Seasons after have since degraded the characters to Walking Cliches and plots that are basically made for shock value. The production also gave into fans of the show and had character either over-stay their welcome or act in ways that were just non-nonsensical…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I saw the minor signs that things were off like a shovel having a kill rate, the writing on the black board, the barricade of tables and a makeshift cross in the garden. But it didn’t help that most of the run was enveloped in a sugar-coated delusion. That’s too uneven for a First Impression so I can understand the dissatisfaction flying around.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
I think that’s exactly what they were gunning for. Imagine if you had known nothing about this story going in, you just saw cute girls doing cute things. Even the opening sets you up that way with not a single clue as to what really is going on. That ending will hit you like a ton of bricks and create this sureal mismatch and unnatural feeling that you have to try to go back and see where you missed that this was what was really going on. It’s supposed to be jarring and not quite lining up. It’s as broken as Yuki’s broken mind. The tonal whiplash is acting as this show’s hook, and for a great many people I saw online, it worked beautifully like a charm. I know it did for me.
I think you maybe giving Yuki a little to much credit if you think she is consciously doing this. AS far as I can tell, she seems to be in this dissociative state all the time. It’s not something she turns on and off at will. In fact, trying to “snap her out of it” without the professional know-how could do more harm than good. It’s not that she “keeps falling into her delusions” it’s that she never leaves them. The brain can actually act on it’s own without you telling it too, if it thinks it’s in danger. Her delusions is her subconscious way to protect herself. And considering how deep she is into them, it would either take another incredible jarring event to get her out of it again, or some serious professional help. She’s not get out of it on her own.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
This is how you stomp all opposition!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
How did you feel about the switch in Owari no Seraph’s beginning? Kids suffering under vampire reign, and then BAM, time-skip and you’re in a regular school setting. Unless you read the manga, you would have thought they switched genres to a school slice-of-life.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I honestly didn’t care. It’s something I’m numb to. Whether or not there’s a school in an anime is irrelevant to me. My interest is finding out what happens next. Besides, it’s 8 years later and the humans are in a city so you have to expect they’ll try to regain some of their former glory and a school is a social responsibility. And what they have isn’t even a regular school.
That never crossed my mind because even with the setting, the tone was still there. Everyone was still wary of the outside dangers.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I don’t know about the tone, Owari no Seraph for me felt it switched gears to be like a normal high school setting until the vampire showed up, and the mood only slightly changed to a more shounen battle school setting. And then later the whole school setting was forgotten. I felt the whole school plotline was random and just an arbitrary way for the team to be formed (reckless and don’t listen to orders? Ok! You’re demoted! Now go to school and can’t leave until you make a friend!)
I feel like it was more the moe and slice-of-life that turned you off more than the mood/tone switch at the end.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Like I’ve been saying in the series’ posts, it had nothing to do with the school. The groundwork was being laid out for the world building:
Episode 1: (Prologue, Guren’s mention of the Hyakuya Labs)
Episode 2: (The world 8 years later following the aftermath of the viral outbreak)
Episode 3: (The school’s true face and purpose, The Japanese Imperial Demon Army’s highest ambition, Shinoa’s explanation on why building social connection within the army is necessary along with its higher aim)
Episode 4: (Vampires securing extra food sources, evidence of Krul’s secret when she called the slain orphans her seraphs, Yuu meeting his soon-to-be comrade and his motivation for joining the army, benefit of the doubt that the vampires weren’t behind the plague)
Episode 5: (Discord among the army’s top leaders, Guren’s belittlement from his superiors due to his low birth which fuels his resentment, early signs of his hidden agenda)
Episode 6: (Ashuramaru telling Yuu he is not entirely human, that he may have been experimented on and humans are more dangerous and untrustworthy than vampires or demons)
Anyone overly hung on the so-called “school setting” probably wouldn’t have picked up on all of those. And future developments tie in with what the first six presented.
So I really couldn’t see any slice of life/moe stuff you were talking about. I was paying close attention.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
BB, the guy can’t write his way out of a wet paper bag…the school setting was a lazy familiar uninteresting choice for a guy that couldn’t be bothered to come up with any real world building for the end of the world. Just make it look a worn down….that should do… That’s the reason I was “hung up” on it. Obvious lazy writing is obvious and lazy! Then you put a putz of a plot armor wearing MC into it and everything compounds…The future developments in the first cour…are garbage….
There is nothing wrong with liking a bad show, I love me some stinkers like no one’s business…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You’re on about that again? I thought I got it through to you last time. Like I said, it’s a matter of opinion. And again, those words have no merit if there are no results to support it. Meaning, a lot of people like what’s done and you’re in the secondary camp after I showed you how well the source material is doing. The fact it’s already reached the New York Times best seller list is nothing to sniff at.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m just walking away from your explosion…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Whilst it may have reached the NYT bestseller as the printed work, the media sales of the animation have been disappointing. As per previous discussions, this does say something about that core fanbase and their perception of the adaption.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Sorry, meant slice-of-life/moe in Gakkou Gurashi!, not Seraph.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Please be more careful next time.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
@akagami
Yes, that was my biggest gripe with this series opening.
Please try to be more careful as to what series you’re referencing. I’d rather avoid making another inane fuss like what’s above.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Next time, try to not take this so personal that you jump someone’s shit for a simple misunderstanding. You’re being a real pain in the ass over this issue.
We don’t like a show you like. Get over it…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No, that’s telling you to stop trying to change my mind when you know I’m not going to. I like something, you don’t. It was telling you that if you don’t like it, that’s your business.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Nope. You’re missing the point. You just passively-aggressively blamed someone for your own mistake. You blamed them for the so called “fuss”. That was on you. Please, in the future, refrain.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You’re missing the point. Everything was fine until you intervened with your unneeded analyzing and blew everything up. It was all casual until then.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We are free to offer our opinions at any time. They will get heated. This is no excuse for you too take out a simple mistake you made on another commenter.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Correction: Comments can get heated.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You still don’t get it. I said be careful for the naming, that’s it but the one in my sight for starting this quarrel is you when you already knew where I stood. The other commenter had nothing to do with it and was excluded a long time ago.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well, what is said is said and what is done is done. I’m gonna take a chill pill. I’ll pass ’em around if needed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Be quiet. All of you. This is enough.
Both sides in this ridiculous tiff are doing things they keep accusing each other of. This was/is/will get us nowhere. If you all are adult enough, you should know when to respect the other’s position. If you don’t like something that someone has a strong position on it, say it once and stop laying into it. This applies to both your groups.
I CAN and WILL rip shows to shreds but don’t because it will end up nowhere. It is a completely pointless exercise unless your permanent job description is Internet Troll. Then there is no help.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Amen.
I mean, “boys will be boys” and all that, but this is ridiculous. Only about a fraction of these comments are even about Gurashi.
Come on, grow up a little.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Then you know exactly why they’d be ticked off. An anime’s free to be its own thing if it’s an original work. For example: Valvrave, Cross Ange, Aldnoah.Zero, Psycho-Pass, Guilty Crown, WIXOSS. Everyone goes in blind without expectations and nothing to compare so it doesn’t cause waves. If anything, they’ll go at it for the execution. But when it’s the adaptation of anything they’ve seen or read, the story’s already laid out, the expectations are fully set and they’ll want it to be accurate as humanly possible.
Anything significant that deviates, like a character getting introduced before their due time, and the readers will raise their pitchforks in anger. Akame ga Kill! stands as a testament to that by apparently using an ending that goes against the manga’s progression. Then there’s Tokyo Ghoul and Ao no Exorcist and Deadman Wonderland before them. From what I understand, Assassination Classroom lived up to what the readers expected.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Riots break out in Akiba. News at 9.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I don’t think it’ll be that bad.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Any adaptation is a derivative work, no matter what direction it goes in. No adaptation should be beholden to the work that comes before, because that work could be atrocious, or have parts that are just awful. Why leave in awful parts, or parts that don’t work on another media? That just harms your work.
The bind that the anime industry is in is that they’ve decided their entire audience is the amazingly small number of people who buy the discs. While this is certainly the group that produces revenue (in the business model they have now), it allows far too much of a heckler’s veto over the creative process. And especially considering that a lot of manga are written by newbie, and frankly terrible, writers, that heckler’s veto can push shows in a direction that is not the best.
And I don’t think it’s a universal thing that fans dislike changes in adaptations. If the change is done well, most of the time it’s fine. “Yeah, it’s different, but it’s still good.”
In short: the reverence some people hold for the original material is detrimental to that material.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That depends on who you ask because it’s based on opinion. It’s all about perception. Some people see and like things in a series that others wouldn’t. That’s why it’s called a fan base. Expecting a unanimous liking or disliking is unrealistic. And if it’s a fan of the work, regardless of whether the author is a novice or a veteran, they’ll hold it to the studio that it gets done right. If they like it, nothing you say is going to change their minds.
A minor, insignificant change is a hit or miss affair but anything major and they’ll definitely snuff it out and won’t let it go, no matter how much time passes after the series is over.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I’m still upset they didn’t show the Quidditch cup from Goblet of Fire. That was the best part of the book dammit. No matter how the rest of the movie was, that one omission ruined the movie for me.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 54 comments
I don’t care about altering original material as long as it works, and preferably works well, but that exclusion forever changed my life.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I don’t understand why that is though because do fans of the original works want shot for shot text for text of the same thing they already read before? I would think those fans would love to see new content from their favorite series? Personally id rather see some fresh content instead of stuff i’ve read before.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It’s the same reason that mention of some company’s version of certain properties on this site will result in… a hunt.
*whispers deen*
Imagine if the LOTR movies decided to write legolas out of the movie in the first 5 minutes. That is currently the best thing I can think of. It’s kinda difficult to put into words.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
You mean as opposed to writing him into 3 whole movies he wasn’t even in?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…also did DEEN change everything wholesale? did they make the VN fit the medium. Or was it very poor production values along with mediocre character design that earned the fan’s derision…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
From what I understand, they merged the routes to create that show and tried to appeased the entire split fanbase between aoi, tsundere and her younger sister but end with aoi-route. The other one with no anime, well, they butchered the characters. As well as insufficient: A CAT IS FINE TOO.
I’m currently watching the Aoki Hagane movie. Well, skipped the first 1 hour recap and watching the extra material. I prefer the manga as it introduces more characters and there is more character development. However, the original story is so loose that you can’t really make an enclosed story of it.
(oh god, I’ve run into Takao’s cute Tsundere ass…)-err- disregard that.The series and the movie instead develops some of the many characters instead. Yes, you do lose something but you have got to replace that loss with something equivalent or better, in this case a more coherent story. The problem is, quite often, this equivalent exchange is inferior.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I like the HISHE version of LOTR and the Hobbit. Eagles do solve everything.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Why would I imagine something that didn’t happen. They left out bits that wouldn’t make a good film or make it work like a film. It’s not so complex to understand. A manga is not a TV show. They both have different production techniques. A good story will fit any medium, despite some losses from one to the other.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Did someone call for me?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Virgin blood sacrifices do work! 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
*warily looks around at the trees but sees nothing*
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Boys or Girls?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I think that’s more than 75% of the entire fan base you may be talking about. People were vocal in a positive manner about how it went with Attack on Titan and I heard that was page for page.
You remember the negative uproar that came with the first half of Tokyo Ghoul last Summer, right? About how an untold number of chapters got crammed into a single cour, making the story incoherent. Apparently, certain things had to happen but never happened because of the rapid pacing and some were denied scenes they were anticipating. The displeasure only worsened as the series continued to its end according to the comments. You guys even have Hoshi and Kyokai who’ve expressed disappointment somewhat and they’re manga readers.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Rule #1, production companies are out to make one thing: Money.
Rule #2, if its not out to make money, then at least make it an expensive ad for the original material.
Unless it’s like Precure which caters to TWO particular demographics (young girls and I’m not going to even say the obvious second one…), they want to minimize their loses, ergo, milk the fanbase. Annoying that 75% can cost money.
I believe there might be an except towards long running series like NE PEC (I just like dropping the symbols 😛 ), or Chlorox (look it up if you don’t understand) where merchandising offsets the anime. I frankly haven’t seen sales figures for those long-running shows.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The point you think you’re making and the point you’re making are two different ones. The point you’re actually making is “Bad productions are bad productions.” The examples you use have no bearing on whether following a source is better or worse than making changes. What it shows is that if you make a bad production, it doesn’t matter if you follow the source or not.
Changing things from the source material can work tremendously well. For example, Sanae Dekomori is a character that does not even appear in the source material for Chuunibyou, yet there are no problems with the anime including her.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That doesn’t apply to me because I haven’t read the material for Chuunibyou, so I wouldn’t tell the difference unless someone pointed it out. What I’m saying is, if it’s an anime-only viewer, the chances are 50/50 but if it’s a viewer who’s also a reader of the material, no matter how it’s done, the judgments are going to be severe. Most of the anime I’ve seen up to now, I’m not a reader of the material. So it’s all up to chance on how a series goes.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…to expand on that. The original work is, by itself, very personal and has it’s own tone and story-beats. The story was clumsily written, but it’s a good story despite that. The anime is an anime, of course. The tone is different, yet similar in many respects. And that worked for it. They added characters, and that changed the beat of the story, and it works great for television. Yeah, adding more characters, gave them more characters to market, but they were resoundingly good characters.
The original books would have been a series of about four ova. They might have been pretty decent. The anime was an expansion of the material. And it worked exceedingly well. And it doesn’t make the books any less readable.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
*hands up* I do! If I want new material, I’ll go read new chapters. Or maybe watch an OVA. Well, I want to explore what happens in greater detail, from panel to panel. That kind of fresh content is good. Not the “let’s go left when we should go right” or filler type material.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
My thoughts exactly. New content is reserved for future developments of a story. You don’t derail the already placed tracks to get there or the whole thing is pointless from the get-go. If done that way, it might as well be a whole different project with another name altogether.
That can be used for in-between scenes that get shown later on. You had one person’s side of the story in the past and another side for the future as a sort of reveal/revelation.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Nah. They are far to lazy to do that half the time. It easier to just bitch and moan like wittle ones. Oh, poor fan, did someone step on your cookie?
Highway and Fosh handled the question in the best since. So I’ll just invite the fans to CRY MORE! It sounds like music to me!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But I do have an idea on how they’d feel. You do remember the few times I’ve mentioned that SHAFT did a botched job with Dance in the Vampire Bund. There are a handful of reasons to why I say that:
Anime original opening and ending episodes along with an original character. Having said original character take the place of a canon character and curbing the story to an ending that drastically hurt the chances of a second season. Not to mention making Mina Tepes a blonde when she’s supposed to have pink hair like the manga covers and forcing the unneeded amnesia subplot on the lead male.
Too many unnecessary changes that made no sense. There was more than enough material at the time and had things been done properly, the series could’ve easily been a two cour instead of a single with the possibility of a second two cour season if looking at the current time. Vampire Bund was a Winter 2010 anime so unless there’s a reboot at the hands of another studio, the hopes of a second season are long dead.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
poor LOLi. no loev. 🙁
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I thought she was fine, pink hair or blonde hair. Both the manga version and anime version are essentially the same personality. Besides, the manga cover is just one artists interpretation….
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s what the author decided, not the artist’s interpretation
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ve read most of the manga for Bund. And I’ve seen the anime. Both are pretty bad regardless of adaptation strain or fan hand-wringing. I mean both the manga and the show have good moments and bad moments, and sometimes they are exclusive of each other. So, this is an example of “meddling’ that went wrong; and it’s just one example…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…also, there is a good example. Nagato Yuki-chan is following the manga to very nearly the letter; I still don’t know how the next and last episode will work out, given that there is at least one more long arc after in the manga. But they’ve enhanced the material a great deal, adding things that only anime can do. They’ve made it even more charming in my mind. I love the manga, and am happy they changed the character design, which was not all that great. I’m also happy they didn’t make it look just like KyoAni’s previous work. It’s a good example of how minor touches can make a great adaptation…a product that can stand on it’s own.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
But you’ve touched another crucial factor for a series: whether or not it catches the viewer’s interest. That’s what makes go into the series’ detail that determines an adaptation. I just find the whole “Slice of Life” genre in general particularly bad, really bad. It’s an absolute bore, especially without some kind of hook to it. There’s no appeal to watching people go about their daily lives and such so whether it’s enhanced right or not for whatever reason, I’m not going to care in the slightest either way.
Nagato Yuki may be good for you because it’s within your strike zone but I wouldn’t watch it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
But that’s the crucial factor for original stories as well. Charlotte is original, but many factors might keep people away from it. It’s always a risk, adaptation or original…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Charlotte gets away with murder because there’s the presence of people with superhuman abilities. That’s enough to qualify as a hook and hardly qualifies as someone going about their daily lives, otherwise I wouldn’t have given it so much as a single passing glance. Believe me when I say that.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
All those other slice of life shows you dismiss have a hook also. It’s not solely “Let’s watch the life of a random person.” It’s possible that it doesn’t catch your interest, but it’s completely false to say that there is *no* hook. Frequently it’s the situation that they’re going through, which interests people because they’ve been through it and enjoyed it, or have feared going through it, or have loved ones who have.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s another thing needed to be made clear. All those Slice of life scenarios you frequently bring up, I’m not the type of person who’s wired into that stuff. If I see something like that, it’s “okay, this happened so let’s move along”. Such things that are drawn out don’t do it for me. That’s why I don’t look at them. It’s especially bad if it’s part of a sappy romance genre series. After Golden Time, my policy on not bothering with that genre was reinforced.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Whether or not like you the genre at hand is immaterial, I’m citing examples of show’s that work, or don’t work for the given context; adaptation. I could have said Food Wars and the points would remain the same. As for Charlotte, I fear you missed the point of the show. It very much is their daily lives, just with the addition of an esoteric set of problems and circumstance. So if you are watching it, congratulations, they’ve not gotten away with murder, they’ve just made a non-SOL watcher into one!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Don’t be so sure. It’s a conditional thing. The minute that certain aspect is gone, I’m gone. Simple as that. Besides, it’s nothing more than a whim so don’t think I’ve changed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s also that it might be a no-win for the adapting studio. Adapt a crappy manga straight up, and who gets blamed for it sucking? The studio. Adapt a crappy manga with a bunch of changes, and at least you have a chance of making it something good. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. But then you still have the fanbois who whine about the changes.
And that’s where a lot of this goes: A lot of fanbois don’t want to admit that the source material is crummy. They like it, and they don’t want to see the flaws in it. So when those flaws are put in glaring full motion on the screen, it must be the fault of the adaptation. Even if it’s exactly like it is in the manga.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Just going into a bit of spoilery details about the changes.
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POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
But the question is:
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POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Show ▼
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I also really liked the lead up to the twist. I knew it was coming, so that might have had a lot to do with my patience, but I thought how they built the illusion that everything was cute and happy (and then how they destroyed it) went really well. The clues that not all was well were also nice and subtle!
Maybe it was the addition of the voice acting (or it could also be how they spent a long amount of time on the happy things), but the reveal was even more heart breaking here than the manga for me…
I’ve definitely forgotten details when it comes to the manga, but Show ▼
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yes, this is one of those instances of the anime really enhancing the manga’s overall feeling.
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POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Wow did this post catch on fire. You’d think it was Gate considering the amount of traffic it’s got.
What can I say, I knew the zombies were coming, but I wasn’t expecting the huge 180 twist that they were able to pull on me. The majority of this episode was spent having cute girls doing cute things, and it was nauseating me with it’s cuteness. However, that ending happened and suddenly I was sucked in and had to watch the entire episode again. And it wasn’t even because of the zombies. I’m not a big zombie fan at all. My brother and dad cannot get me to watch Walking Dead no matter how hard they try.
It was instead the psychological state of our main character and the situation these girls have found themselves in that caught my eye. They have found this oasis for themselves at this school, and yet it is also a prison where they are wasting themselves away with no contact with anyone else. It’s despairing and heartbreaking when you really think about it, hiding behind a veneer of cuteness.
Yuki alone is worth a thesis to herself. This poor girl had some kind of psychotic break and pulled herself into a major case of disassociation, and sees only what her mind allows her to see. She’s separated herself from her senses for the most part. I would honestly not be surprised if in the end, she’s the only one left, and she adds her friends to her delusion, and has the entire school to herself. That would be dark now wouldn’t it?
I wasn’t looking forward to this series, even after having read a couple chapters from the manga, which didn’t set it up well enough for me to understand what was going on. However, now, I definitely want to see what happens next.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’m sure analysts are having their say about Yuki’s condition. For now, I just say that she’s broken, and did her best to put herself back together. She’s functional to a degree, but those degrees that she lacks is the kicker.
I rather like how the cuteness factor masks the desperation. That’s for the analysts as well.
Good to have you aboard!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Overall my thoughts are with Wanderer. Me being daft missed all the signals that it was a delusion. While I knew the premise going in, I was thinking the events happened after her time in episode 1, and then the delusions kicked in after.
I’ll probably stick with it for another episode or two, to get the overall feel. But it’s not looking too bright, I’m not huge on dark series. Especially when cute innocent kids go bye-bye =(
If they keep the gore level to a minimum, I might be ok.
Delusion is one thing, but can delusion overwrite all that smell that rotting flesh? I could have sworn I saw body parts in the final scene.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Weird watching this first episode.
I mean, I came in knowing that they would probably mind fu*k you and stuff and that there were zombies and stuff…
And then there was a whole school… And a teacher… But there were only four members in the School Living club, so that means that the others go home, right? But there are zombies out there, and I know about them! How do they go home? And then suddenly, everything is destroyed and the MC has that mindbroken eyes…
How the hell did they manage to surprise me even though I came in so prepared? These guys are awesome, man.
Oh, and the dog. Yeah, they will kill him. Yeah, I will scream in anger because they KEEP KILLING ANIMALS TO MAKE THINGS WORSE FOR THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM!!! And I will peacefully go back to watching the show.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…yep, they got a ton of people…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The anguish.
The tears.
The agony.
The despair.
The scheudenfreude.
of all the series otaku.
Is delicious and fuels me. >:D
Keep it coming.
(I am beginning to sound like a priest and his daughter…)
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 54 comments
You are a stronger person than I am.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
Am I? I wonder…
*trembling in the corner of the room*
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Your fear is tasty. :3
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
D-D-D-Don’t you dare get a taste of my f-f-fear!!!
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Finally watched this after 5 days of anime blackout due to downed internet connection.
Gonna be a while before I catch up to everything though.I had to comment on this one because it was something else. I knew what was coming because of the synopsis that’s all around and because of skylion’s post last year(though I didn’t get to pick up the manga).
And I must say that it was done pretty well. I didn’t mind all the CGDCTs that the majority of the episode was focused on as I don’t have qualms over those type of shows. Rather, it actually made the reveal in the last part have more impact considering that the most of the episode was mostly in Yuki’s head. It definitely hurt to see Mii look at Yuki continuing talking to nobody. Seeing how the world became like that and how they’re probably the last ones still alive, it definitely had to takes its toll on their minds. I’m looking forward to know more about how this started, how they’re going to live in this situation and how it will affect their mentality. I hear it’s depressing and all.
Looking at the staff of the show, I can see the author on board as the scriptwriter and the series composition. Maybe that explains some of the changed things in this episode compared to the manga. I haven’t read the manga so I don’t know how much got changed but it seems to be intentional and done by the author him/herself so it’s not all bad I guess.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I almost never treat Original Author on Board as axiomatic for good. But if I had to shake the Magic 8-Ball, I’m sure the answer to “Will this turn out good”, would be Ask Again Later. There’s just to little to go on in the first episode. But, I do remain hopeful.
But, like you say, it’s cuteness factor has a reason for being above and beyond simple Moe Sells.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
OMG how did you survive? I struggle with even a day of internet down.
“OMG internet down, this sucks ( ﾟДﾟ)＜!! fix your sh*t” mad spam my ISP via phone. Of course, if my phone also went down, I’d be like (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ everywhere.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Spammy must be one of the zombies in the show.