Like Ryll said, I find this show to be more like Aria than K-on in terms of characters. The two contrasting senpai and the two contrasting kouhai, plus the single aloof extra. There are of course differences, but one cannot deny the dynamic is pretty much the same.
Peace.
Not to mention the soothing element it gives offOriginally Posted by shinta|hikari
Actually, after seeing an article in Sankaku Complex, the characters are actually more similar to Strike Witches (to a terrifying amount, I must say). I am a bit embarrassed I didn't catch it earlier. I guess it is because the characters in Strike Witches vastly outnumber those in the other shows mentioned, not to mention it does not give off the relaxing atmosphere like Aria and this show does.
Peace.
On the other hand, yurri-san-m33w's release sported beautiful karaoke. If I had to pick something other than non-intrusive white translation, this would be it.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Episode 2 - Yuurisan-m33w
This ep certainly gave contradictory hints about the world like Ryll said. The fact the rifles look WWI era whereas futuristic walking tanks exist as well, suggests to me that it's a world quite devoid of large civilizations capable of coordinated mass production. That is, they use what they can dig up from old rubble and perhaps manufacture simple things small-scale in workshops.
Why the heck did those two go to check the school carrying those insanely huge backpacks? The director's image of soldiers must have come only from pictures of soldiers being translocated.
Anyway, I don't dislike any of the characters. Too bad the tank is in such a sorry condition. I was already looking forward to the girls driving around the countryside...
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Sora no Woto - 03 (720p) - [HorribleSubs]
Sora no Woto - 03 (480p) - [HorribleSubs]
The tank looks to be even more badass than I previously thought and the depths to which humanity, at least in this little corner of Helvetica, has seemingly fallen are somewhat clearer now.
Stealth Mode?
STEALTH MODE?!
Good luck finding parts to repair that thing now, though if it's something from the past I suppose simply digging it up isn't such a far-fetched idea.
The control panel gave me Macross vibes. It better not remain a music player for the rest of the series.
I thought the atmosphere was portrayed rather well, music + art and all. I had a bit of a hard time with "malaria", but if there's a vector and an infected, I suppose it's entirely possible.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Yeah, the tank looked pretty advanced. I wonder what manner of a cannon it has. At least it has nice warning lights for driving among general traffic.
This episode worked nicely and demonstrated that despite her normally cool and professional attitude Rio has quite strong weaknesses as well. She was quite panicked and useless when confronted by a sick person.
I wonder if this series is going to have any male characters... Male VAs will be out of work soon if this trend continues.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
Again, I'm really in love with the setting to this story, much more so than the characters.
From the remarks made in this episode, we can conclude:
- That the War occurred a long time ago since there was a Twelfth Helvetican Archduke. This means that the current empires have been around at least that long, probably much longer. Society must have collapsed completely and rebuilt itself from the ground up (often by moving into abandoned buildings like their school/fort) with relics like the tank all over the place.
- The world was nearly completed destroyed in the previous war. The oceans are sterile.
I'm really liking this show. It is like War Aria, or Waria for short. Noel is cute too. If the glassblower was telling Kanata what a genius Noel was, I wonder what the condition of the Tachikom- err...Takemikazuchi was before Noel started working on it. I was also greatly amused that the reason Kanata sucked was because she was trying too hard. I would have liked to hear her still screw up a bit still, but this is good too.
Looking forward to the next episode.
Last edited by Ryllharu; Tue, 01-26-2010 at 05:22 AM.
Another great episode. This show is definitely my favorite this season. Waria is a great description of it, and I love both the characters and the setting. I am glad that Kanata does not suck anymore. It is very weird for someone with perfect pitch and who practices so hard to not be able to play properly, and it is a nice change from the common pattern of spending an entire season just to make the main character play at a decent level.
I like Noel, but I usually like the silent and smart types. I am more surprised that I actually kind of like Kanata as well. I usually hate air-headed characters, but the voice acting definitely does not make her as dumb-sounding as Yui in K-ON, and her perfect pitch makes up for what she lacks in other areas, as her usefulness in this episode evidences.
Peace.
I remember a class discussion we once had in Yr10 English, and our teacher proposed the question of what would happen (to our knowledge, lifestyle etc) if some catastrophe happened, and only our class was left alive. I suppose this gets pretty close.
Noel's really cute, and while I'm not attracted to Kanata all that much, she's definitely likable, and far from annoying.
This show is sure to satisfy my steampunk appetite.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
I definitely like Kanata's really enthusiastic nature. She's only been in Sieze a few days or weeks, and she still finds so many things about the place wonderful. Kureha or Rio might have found her a bit annoying with all those questions, but Noel stopped to take the time to answer, even before Kanata proved herself to Noel by saying a machine is just a machine, it's not something you can blame.
I said that the characters aren't as interesting as the setting, and while that's true, there have already been some hints, as with the blond woman that inspired both Kanata and Rio.
The two have a connection through her, but they don't know it. However, with what Rio said the episode prior and what we've seen from Kanata's flashbacks, the two of them couldn't possibly be more different. Kanata may have been orphaned, or perhaps she was just poor and miserable. The woman raising her spirits with the impromptu trumpet performance led her to join the army. Rio on the other hand, seems to have come from a rather wealthy and well off family. Yet she also mentioned that she "escaped" to the army, for a reason completely different from Kanata's. I wonder what Rio is running from.
Would it not be the usual avoidance of responsibility? I think it is possible that she has an amazing talent for music, and that her family may be well known for it, and that she simply chose to escape the pressure by going to the army. It may also be possible that she was chosen as the successor of a business or the like, and she opted to follow her love for music in the army.
I do hope it is something different, yet believable. Surprises are very rare in stories nowadays, much more so in slice-of-life shows.
EDIT: This is my favorite excluding Katanagari, which I watched after making this post.
Last edited by shinta|hikari; Wed, 01-27-2010 at 12:29 AM.
Peace.
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
at first, i felt a little bit cheated that Kanata just jumped from Suck to Pro in the span of one revelation. it felt like they only bothered recording two bugle tracks, one awful, one great. i'd rather see development play out over a longer period of time...
but i don't suppose this show is going to be that long. i sure hope we get some answers (and some action. I'll be pissed if this ends up being a moeified "The Desert of the Tartars") before it ends
also have to agree with "the facts" about the Helvetian royal family, The War, and the disconnect between the old world and this one. i enjoy "post-apocolyptic" stories that aren't set immediately after the crisis
not sold on this show as far as characters go. feels a bit too much of "the usual moe suspects". the premise is good. i think i could stick around for almost the whole thing just because i found episode 1 to be so rich.
i really like the cast. The girl who does the gunner was great as Budoko in Akikan! (and i was afraid we wouldn't hear from her again, but she's in two big shows this season). Yu Kobayashi always puts in good work as "the tough one" (Shidou Mariya, Kimura Kaede, Rio) and the girl who does Kureha has had some big roles before. I even caught Sergei from Gundam00 as the dude in who drops off Konata in the first episode.
but on the other side there are a ton of unknown or start-up VAs in this, working right alongside some of the bigger recent players. i can not believe that Kanata is voiced by a girl doing her first role.
hah. as much as i don't like this song, i think the title is humorously clever.
Humans are different from animals. We must die for a reason. Now is the time for us to regulate ourselves and reclaim our dignity. The one who holds endless potential and displays his strength and kindness to the world. Only mankind has God, a power that allows us to go above and beyond what we are now, a God that we call "possibility".
If it's not Isuzu-chan Mii~
This is probably the most hilarious episode so far.
The way their eyes looked when they first managed to carry those huge backpacks was really funny. I also really liked how they commented how uncool Rio was when she demonstrated how to carry the packs.
While it was interesting that Kureha saw Phylicia as evil, it was even funnier how Noel not only confirmed it, but also added that it was Phylicia's good point. I would have to agree, since a kind senpai is really boring compared to a "seemingly" kind senpai.
Peace.
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