Winter 2021 anime thread

[RoydGolden]

It was mostly the dialogue. In the first episode the off-ness of the dialogue felt like it was in service to the disjointedness of everything happening. Episode 2 lacked that disjointed direction but kept the dialogue so I was left feeling "Wow, these characters don't talk like human beings".

Also I knew it was over once the wonder killers started talking lol

It's funny you say that because one thing a lot of people (myself included) noted about the series from its premier was that the dialogue sounded unusually natural and realistic compared to other anime. To each their own I suppose.

[pinetree]

It was mostly the dialogue. In the first episode the off-ness of the dialogue felt like it was in service to the disjointedness of everything happening. Episode 2 lacked that disjointed direction but kept the dialogue so I was left feeling "Wow, these characters don't talk like human beings".

Also I knew it was over once the wonder killers started talking lol

Huh, I'd say most of the dialogue is standard anime stuff, with a few really corny one-liners thrown in there.
Though I agree with Royd that the dialogue felt refreshingly natural, though in my case I only felt that when it comes to the dialogue between the main girls.

[RoydGolden]

If you really want to stretch things, there's the the casual sexism from the Accas. It's been brought up before and a lot of the suffering the wonder egg girls (& boy) have gone through is a direct result of men or of the unfair expectations forced upon them by men. The villain is the embodiment of two men's ideas of what femininity is and should be, forced onto a being who is now causing women to suffer and die. In that sense, the idea that she's just the last little push would also work thematically, as the the Accas' sexism has very little to do with the dead girls, except for being just two more men in positions of power.

I only thought about all this because despite not addressing their sexism properly in the show, the director seems to think it is an important enough part of the narrative to justify himself on twitter after episode 4. Having conscious mind behind those suicides also justifies a lot of questionable stuff said before, like how "women are more easily influenced" or how a transboy is included among the girls (or at least one could use Frill and the Accas to justify this, I don't think it holds up).

Still an awful idea though, most of the criticisms towards Frill and this episode still hold up even if we assume this whole thing is the intention. It's just something I came up with while trying to understand how the fuck they thought this entire thing would fit in WEP.

Yeah, I've heard that interpretation brought up amongst fans discussing the series too. It's an interesting one, and while I'm not sure if the show is going to "go there" it's undeniable the Accas did a pretty slipshod job of parenting and are partly responsible for the monster Frill became. I mean, they created her with the body of an adolescent girl but basically a newborn when it came to emotional intelligence, then raised her in a single apartment where she never got the chance to go out into the world or have friends, before self-admittedly neglecting her in favor of a "real" woman that comes around. It's no wonder she snapped.

[ballinamon]

This and last week in Slime Tensei have been my favorite episodes of all, the ones I was expecting getting animated from the manga.

On a side note if Sword Tensei ever get anime I would love an anime of the same quality as that of Slime.

[mami-kouga]

It's funny you say that because one thing a lot of people (myself included) noted about the series from its premier was that the dialogue sounded unusually natural and realistic compared to other anime. To each their own I suppose.

Huh, I'd say most of the dialogue is standard anime stuff, with a few really corny one-liners thrown in there.
Though I agree with Royd that the dialogue felt refreshingly natural, though in my case I only felt that when it comes to the dialogue between the main girls.

I was mostly speaking in reference to episode 2 since that was when the dialogue felt it's most scripted (the rest of episodes flow better but it was that specific episode that made me start to worry about the show) but as for naturalness I don't really know what does and doesn't constitute natural teenage girl interactions even as an ex teenage girl so it's never stood out to me in a meaningful way. Rika does sound a bit like someone I knew in secondary school but I kind of hated said person so lol

[pinetree]

You're making me want to revisit the second episode.

Also I imagine IRL Rika would be unbearable lmao

[mami-kouga]

It might just be a me thing admittedly, though I do vaguely remember someone agreeing with me that it sounded a bit odd but I'm not 100% sure.

And you have no idea...

[RoydGolden]

You're making me want to revisit the second episode.

Also I imagine IRL Rika would be unbearable lmao

Yeah, early-series Rika is the kind of character whose fun to watch in a story but would be absolutely obnoxious to deal with in real life. That said, she's really only that bad until around episode 5 or so. After that she's still a teasing and smug person but shows a more vulnerable side and doesn't tend to egregiously push people's boundaries as much...

[Mattias]

If you really want to stretch things, there's the the casual sexism from the Accas. It's been brought up before and a lot of the suffering the wonder egg girls (& boy) have gone through is a direct result of men or of the unfair expectations forced upon them by men.

But until we meet Momoe in the fourth episode all the Bosses had been based on women, with the Bully, the Gym Coach and the Idol Stalker. Train Molester was the first one based on a man. While there is quite a bit of sexism in the story, I'd say the narrative is more about unreasonable expectations. There's the 'stay quiet and take it' of the bosses, the magical solution to grief that the MC's have, or the 'we can just build a person and it'll be fine' of the Acca's.

I did enjoy the part where they shut away Frill, because both of the sides are right in that conversation. She is a person, but she's also a monster.

[LegalLoliLover]

Yes, in that moment, Frill was human to a fault. After all, a purely logical AI would totally realize that people can establish causality, and she would be caught. In fact, that murder attempt was so slipshod, that when... normally born humans do something like that, it's usually because they want to get caught on purpose.

[RoydGolden]

Yes, in that moment, Frill was human to a fault. After all, a purely logical AI would totally realize that people can establish causality, and she would be caught. In fact, that murder attempt was so slipshod, that when... normally born humans do something like that, it's usually because they want to get caught on purpose.

It's not exactly spelled out in the episode but "intellectual capacity of a teenager/adult with the emotional maturity of a newborn" is basically how I read Frill. It's possible she may genuinely not've known that murder was wrong and honestly expected the Accas to go back to loving her again once Azusa was gone. A lot of kids might have the thought "I wish s/he just disappeared" about a new sibling or stepparent they feel is taking away their parent's attention, but most wouldn't have the planning and innocent ruthlessness needed to actually go through with it.

[Mattias]

Was anyone else hoping that the hairdyer would fall short because there wasn't enough extension cord? I know it's way too much of a gag for this kind of show, but they made that toss so prominent, I wanted it to just fail at the last minute.

[RoydGolden]

Was anyone else hoping that the hairdyer would fall short because there wasn't enough extension cord? I know it's way too much of a gag for this kind of show, but they made that toss so prominent, I wanted it to just fail at the last minute.

Yeah, I read that method of murder is actually pretty unreliable in real life. Even assuming it landed as depicted there's no guarantee it'd deliver an actually lethal shock (obviously don't try this at home).

[LegalLoliLover]

... OK, who lent their copy of Hitman to Frill? Not me. I would have gave her... Well, any Elder Scrolls game with playable Dark Brotherhood faction... Then (following the Brotherhood's initiation quest from Daggerfall) she would have just left a bottle of poisoned wine on the floor and expected her exact target to pick it up and drink it without question.

[RoydGolden]

... OK, who lent their copy of Hitman to Frill? Not me. I would have gave her... Well, any Elder Scrolls game with playable Dark Brotherhood faction... Then (following the Brotherhood's initiation quest from Daggerfall) she would have just left a bottle of poisoned wine on the floor and expected her exact target to pick it up and drink it without question.

...You're not supposed to drink while pregnant though. Presuming Azusa was a good mom-to-be she wouldn't have fallen for that trap.

[LegalLoliLover]

Well, most people wouldn't drink anything left on the floor by an unknown person. That was the joke.

[RoydGolden]

Well, most people wouldn't drink anything left on the floor by an unknown person. That was the joke.

Fair enough. I was just trying to add to your non-sequitur.

[LegalLoliLover]

Promised Neverland had quite the time skip there. Also, given that the demon civilians were able to overthrow the old nobility, I'll just assume that Sonju is the best military instructor in both worlds. Military academies would be crawling all over each other to hire him.

[bassgs435]

SBR Stars over. A good show. It's good to see the old faces of S1 and S2 back and the show was fun with great songs. A good watch for SBR fans
Dr Stone S2 over. Fun arc. Looking foward to the continuation. I love this show's focus on and celebration of science.ç
Neverland S2 over. I like it, and think it's not that bad, but this is just me. I like what they did with the stories and characters. I'd like an episode or 2 more to expand on the ending montage, but still, fine for me

[Rafflesiac]

Night and day between Tomozaki's initial monologues and his current one. The RAW POWER contained within that waggling finger and his smug digs at Hinami's gamer pride.

Glad they've made up, I'll have to give the novels a shot.