Last Celebration posted:As someone who’s only watched the anime aside from the post-anime content, I just picked up the first volume (wasn’t on sale for the longest time) and wow, Togashi has a really engrossing way of drawing. It’s something I’ve known from the Eyepatch video on Yu Yu Hakasho but still. I love his"intense" faces, they look legit amazing and sometimes he does this calligraphy style as well with really think lines which also look great.
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# ? May 25, 2021 10:46 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 19:35 |
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Last Celebration posted:As someone who’s only watched the anime aside from the post-anime content, I just picked up the first volume (wasn’t on sale for the longest time) and wow, Togashi has a really engrossing way of drawing. It’s something I’ve known from the Eyepatch video on Yu Yu Hakasho but still. Honestly, the art direction in the 2011 is not that great and completely changes the mood of a lot of scenes.
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# ? May 25, 2021 16:26 |
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I got volume 2 in the mail and Togashi’s art continues to own, also I love the 2011 anime for being a well done show in and of itself, great English dub, quality OST, got me in the series, etc blah blah blah, but also gently caress the 2011 anime for taking away the sushi competition from me.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 16:37 |
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Is the dub good? I watched 5 min of one episode and wasn't impressed
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 17:07 |
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ITa probably not better than the JP version but imho it’s generally pretty good in its own right and from what I can tell the dub script is better than the subs and reading/hearing mediocre translations takes me out of a show so I kinda rate it highly for that too. Plus I much prefer the dub narrator but that’s a very subjective thing since both go for different styles.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 17:16 |
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My only problem with the dub is that it replaces "Shoot McMahon...is a coward" with "is faint of heart." It's a very solid to good dub throughout, though.
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# ? Jun 4, 2021 17:29 |
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Last Celebration posted:I got volume 2 in the mail and Togashi’s art continues to own, also I love the 2011 anime for being a well done show in and of itself, great English dub, quality OST, got me in the series, etc blah blah blah, but also gently caress the 2011 anime for taking away the sushi competition from me. Yeah, taking away the sushi was the worst. Should've taken away the boars if anything.
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# ? Jun 5, 2021 01:35 |
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https://twitter.com/mrjeffu/status/1405703041815236609 https://twitter.com/mrjeffu/status/1405709038516523010 https://twitter.com/mrjeffu/status/1405710660575453184 This explains a lot.
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# ? Jun 19, 2021 22:20 |
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The volleyball game is still one of my favorite scenes, but on a third watch it's like "Oh... oh yeah, that's really self-destructive behavior they've both got going on, and they're both acting like it's a good thing and literally no one else is." And every so often they'll cut to Hisoka who is obviously rock loving hard.
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# ? Jun 22, 2021 05:45 |
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I think part of my dislike of the Chimera Ant arc is it's a sudden hit of the brakes, you go from the dodgeball game and the fight with the Bombers to two entire episodes of gushing about King of Assholes Ging and a screeching halt to the action. Yorkshin to Greed Island was at least a gradual transition and they kept the action at a moderate level while they introduced the new mechanics, GI to CA is a sudden shift to a new scenario and a gradual buildup of tension from there, and the biggest fight is a kid with a stick versus a snake. Not even a Badass Anime Stick or Badass Anime Snake.
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# ? Jun 26, 2021 23:29 |
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Man, I had completely forgotten all the ridiculous poo poo that happened with Palm. loving metronome of characterization, every time it seems like she might become interesting if she goes down this path a little more, she just yoyos back across the line. When I first saw it, I thought Shoot's battle upgrade was dumb, but on this rewatch it is clearly cool as hell. It's weird that Netero vs. Meruem only gets like two episodes where Youpi gets 5+ and even Morel staring at Pouf's cocoon gets a solid 3. The scene of the Royal Guards feeding themselves to Meruem is uncomfortably close to fetishized. Adorable chibi Pouf makes a sort of sense with his design and personality. Adorable chibi Youpi is an abomination, he should look like a hunk of meat with a grimace all the time.
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# ? Aug 25, 2021 19:28 |
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Chimera Ant arc done, and while it is a lot better than I initially gave it credit for, I still prefer Greed Island. I still think it introduced way too many characters purely to kill them off, and some of the ones that survived have less characterization than the dead. Gon-san is still a completely ridiculous upgrade, and not only because all his nails and body hair should have grown as well. But it does make sense for a twelve year old who needs more power. Who has more power? An adult! I do feel that we got cheated out of, like, three fights and a satisfying resolution thanks to that and the bomb, but that's entirely my standard shonen rear end. I still cried at the end, though. What we got was well done, even if I might have wanted something else. I mentioned that GI to CA felt like hitting the brakes, but the transition into the Chairman Election feels like CA was slowing down way before it needed to make the turn, so it's not such a jarring transition.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 03:14 |
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I feel like Chimera is almost twice as long as it needs to be. The first part, before the King and the royal guards show up, is especially slow. I wouldn't say it's totally pointless, but it could definitely use a lot of trimming.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 07:37 |
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I almost think it works better a slow burn; the ants start off as intelligent animals treating the act of killing in a mechanical fashion and the shift to them being “man I sure love killing them humans and watching the life bleed out of humans” is the most disturbing aspect of them. But yeah, there definitely could stand to be some trimming overall since Chimera Ant isn’t quite like other long arcs in shonen like Red Ribbon and Baroque Works that are mostly semi-related vignettes on the way to the big bad. I could do without the dart match fishman-ant guy that I only really remember cause he was voiced by Little Kuribo, for instance.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 08:01 |
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Last Celebration posted:I could do without the dart match fishman-ant guy that I only really remember cause he was voiced by Little Kuribo, for instance. Wait, what? I never watched the dub. That’s hilarious.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 11:37 |
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Is the pacing argument from the perspective of the anime or the manga? I generally re-read the manga once a year and the CA arc doesn't feel bad but somewhat related to Clarste's observation, I tend to think of the NGL as "Part 1" and East Gorteau as "Part 2" for the purposes of my binging.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 13:43 |
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Last Celebration posted:I almost think it works better a slow burn; the ants start off as intelligent animals treating the act of killing in a mechanical fashion and the shift to them being “man I sure love killing them humans and watching the life bleed out of humans” is the most disturbing aspect of them. I mean red ribbon was more of a slog than CA by a lot.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 15:23 |
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Dareon posted:Gon-san is still a completely ridiculous upgrade, and not only because all his nails and body hair should have grown as well. But it does make sense for a twelve year old who needs more power. Who has more power? An adult! I do feel that we got cheated out of, like, three fights and a satisfying resolution thanks to that and the bomb, but that's entirely my standard shonen rear end. To be more specific he didn't want to become an adult he wanted to become "as powerful as he'll ever be". It's not that he just rapidly grew into an adult (and therefore would've had years of not shaving and grooming) he just became the endgame version of himself after decades of adventuring and training for a moment before he got hit with the backlash of his vow.
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# ? Aug 30, 2021 19:32 |
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excuse me Gon and Killua are at least 13 by CA (or even Greed Island) because it's a full year between exams and they're 12 during the first one. I sure hope Togashi got fired for that blunder
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 03:12 |
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bees x1000 posted:I sure hope Togashi got fired for that blunder functionally similar to togashi still being employed rn
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 06:04 |
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Man, I do not remember anything of substance about the Chairman Election. I remember the tree at the end and the old lady that turns into a motorcycle and a jet, but nearly every single story beat has been a complete surprise. I think I've only got a few more episodes to go, then I can start reading it again and get into whatever's left until Togashi went on infinite hiatus.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 06:56 |
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You don’t remember the punch? I remember most of the Killua/Alluka-centric stuff, the punch, and that’s basically it besides the end but that’s still like 2/3 of the arc.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 08:37 |
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Last Celebration posted:You don’t remember the punch? I remember most of the Killua/Alluka-centric stuff, the punch, and that’s basically it besides the end but that’s still like 2/3 of the arc. It's weird. Clearly I watched it, because I remember the ending, and everything had that "oh yeah, that happened! That was awesome!" quality of something I've seen before and only vaguely remember rather than whatever reaction I have to a completely new occurrence. You'd think I'd remember the punch.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 10:21 |
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I finished watching the Chimera Ant arc last night with the gf. I admit it, I cried during Meruem and Komugi's last moments together. When he asked if she would hold his hand, that's what got me, and everything afterwards just added fuel to the fire. I was not expecting it to affect me as much as it did, but drat. That was intense.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 14:58 |
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Chimera Ant arc definitely drags at points, but it's my favorite in terms of the climax and resolution. York Shin is my favorite overall.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 17:39 |
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Oh yeah, there were moments throughout where they really over explained stuff and dragged things out with ~significant looks~. Thankfully the overall story was strong enough to push past that filler.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 17:52 |
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pnumoman posted:Chimera Ant arc definitely drags at points, but it's my favorite in terms of the climax and resolution. York Shin is my favorite overall. Same, CA had a grand scale and dramatic personalities but you always knew the King wouldn't take over the world in the end. The Phantom Troupe was more likely to murder your favs bc they really only cared about their gang. That made things more tense for me. Pokkle was a definite "Oh poo poo" death in CA though. Marx Headroom fucked around with this message at 18:22 on Sep 2, 2021 |
# ? Sep 2, 2021 18:20 |
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Did anyone actually think the troops was going to do anything significant? Like if a Chrollo killed Killuas family but they no one that mattered felt threatened
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 20:57 |
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if u dont remember pariston crying at the end what even are u
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 21:38 |
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I tend to prefer YYH as Togashi's magnum opus (not least because it was at least finished), but I think the Chimera Ant arc and its resolution probably end up being one of, if not the, strongest shonen arcs of all time. I also think it's an incredible example of manga as a serial art form - you can practically see Togashi go insane and somehow take the scale up to 11/10 and turn the whole thing into some kind of commentary on evolution and human nature. The fact he ends it with a loving nuke is just pure batshit Nippon in its maximum glory and I loved it. The fight between Netero and Mereum is also incredible.
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# ? Sep 2, 2021 23:36 |
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i dont think you need to be japanese to see nuclear weapons as the ultimate symbol of humanities hubris, destructive tendencies, and zero sum mindset when presented with an outgroup/"other"
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 01:15 |
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That's very true, but not at all what I was talking about. I was thinking more about the dramatic tonal shift leading into the Chimera Ant arc, culminating in breaking shonen conventions pretty hard by ending the big bad with a nuke instead of beating him up
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 02:37 |
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The ant arc was definitely togashi teetering on the edge of his skill as a writer, and a good portion of the tension in the arc comes 'well how could this this story possibly be resolved'
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 02:43 |
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Tunicate posted:The ant arc was definitely togashi teetering on the edge of his skill as a writer, and a good portion of the tension in the arc comes 'well how could this this story possibly be resolved' And it could very easily have been resolved with the actual power of friendship, Meruem was at the tail end of his redemption arc when the fight happened. The only reason I think the nuke was used was because society as a whole demanded the Ants be wiped out and Netero was not quite enough of a badass to kick capitalism's rear end instead.
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 05:44 |
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The ants were never a real threat to humanity at large, they were always being used as pawns for political powers in the metropole(s). The true monster of the arc is industrial society
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 06:15 |
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The Ants didnt get wiped tho. There are still Ants running around as a protected magical animal or whatever the designation was called.
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 07:19 |
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i would say that the villain of the arc is more the anger and animal side of humanity than anything. of giving up the core that sapient life has of curiousity and kindness and personal growth in exchange for pure power. just rather than the conventional framing of our heroes being kind and forgiving and winning a fight against a villain that has dehumanized themselves and become monstrous and then incarcerating or allowing for rehabilitation of our villain like we commonly have in shonen, we see the ants starting to overcome it instead before reaching an intersection with the human characters succumbing to it and harnessing the complete moral void it left in them to perpetuate more pain. its not just a matter of the pressures of realpolitik that drove netero to using his nuke, but the fact that it would still constitute a victory in his eyes, which is all that has ever mattered to him, hence his little captain ahab bit before he detonates it. and that inherent othering of everyone else in existence into the 3 groups of "not even possibly a viable challenge", "maybe might grow up to be a challenge one day so i will nurture them with the hunter association that i have expressly built in the image of a way to farm for gudfites", and "someone i can have gudfite with" is supposed to show you that netero had in fact not only been a horrible monster and not a man this whole time, but had been so for MANY DECADES, and as i mentioned, literally reshaped the world in his ideology of letting anyone with potential become a powerful sicko with no social obligations or repercussions for their actions in the hope that they would one day grow into being an interesting fight for him. every single time a character offhandedly does something hosed up and gets away with it, the viewer is supposed to think "wow what a hosed up world where people with crazy powers can just be insane for no reason" and the series starts showing you those instances very early on, and netero's backstory and fight with meurem are the payoff explanation.
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# ? Sep 3, 2021 21:30 |
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I don’t disagree with most of what you said, but I don’t think Netero considered the Poor Man’s Rose to be a victory cause he did tell Meruem his name before setting it off.
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# ? Sep 4, 2021 01:37 |
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Having just rewatched the Chimera Ant arc, I can confidently say that the arc was about the power of gamers
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# ? Sep 4, 2021 03:58 |
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# ? Jun 5, 2024 19:35 |
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ThatBasqueGuy posted:Having just rewatched the Chimera Ant arc, I can confidently say that the arc was about the power of gamers excuse me but it was clearly about an octopus wanting to be a squid so badly that he befriended literally everyone
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# ? Sep 4, 2021 14:30 |