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FalloutFan56 posted:You brought up how money isn't an issue by this point in the game and that reminded me. Are they ever going to resolve that whole "thief stole all your money" thing from the beginning of the game? HA! Fat chance of that. The only possible chance of that getting resolved at this point is in one of the 3 main story events that are left. Either one of those mystery events (of which I'm pretty one is the Harem ending) or the final main story event right at the end after the big stuff has happened. I don’t think any of those are likely. That dude is gone. Which means that the developers drew a unique sprite for a random NPC that literally only shows up for 1 second. SSNeoman posted:I think the characters are at their best when they're not acting like their stereotyped personality. Agreed, mostly. Some stereotyped personalities bother me more than others. AnAnonymousIdiot posted:Anime or Zodiac? I think Anime is the safe answer to that. Zodiac personalities seem to have some flexibility.
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Mar 19, 2020 20:53
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Psycho Knight posted:Now the bonsai version of these, I'd be down for seeing one of those. I know they can be grown, but I honestly do not have the time or expertise to devote to doing that. After looking it up, apparently they're not terribly difficult. I could claim I don't have the time for it, but I realistically do. This epidemic outbreak already indefinitely shut down my usual weekend activity / personal contact with the outside world. Anyway, here's a picture of one in the color was talking about. There's pink, red, and orange varieties too, but this is the only color I've seen in person.  Psycho Knight posted:The beach events don't seem to be all that bad from what I gathered from dialogue choices. Ruka is the only one that gets a CG and it will probably require a TCG appearance, but it's nothing suggestive. They mostly just seem like "fun at the beach" events. I'll take your word for it, but you can never be too careful. My opinion of them aren't high in the first place, but I'll go out on a limb and have to say Sue's is the worst thanks to how out of place it feels.
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Mar 19, 2020 23:53
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Psycho Knight posted:At the flower viewing spot, Mahiru is enjoying the sight of the flower trees and Itsuki mentions something interesting. Apparently these are cherry blossoms. Itsuki says that a previous God’s Gift had been carrying a cherry tree seedling when he was brought over (which… how?). Mahiru then asks Itsuki how much he knows about “the floriography of cherry blossoms”. She says that they mean “purity” and “superb beauty”, which sounds about right but I know nothing about flower arrangement so I can’t tell you if that’s accurate or not. Anyway, Mahiru figures that maybe the God’s Gift had been carrying it in order to give to someone as a gift. She also says that if that’s the case, then she feels sorry for him because he didn’t get the chance to give the gift. Original Mahiru event is more-or-less the same - as you probably suspected the 'God's Gift brought a seedling' thing was inserted in Plus which probably accounts for the weird back-to-back fades. Originally when they arrive Itsuki says 'are you going to keep reading your mystery novel?' (it's a mystery novel here, instead of a romance one) and Mahiru says 'no, I have a collection of poems' then they argue for a bit about whether poems 'suit' her and then they move on/fade out to sitting under the tree. Also I see they dodged translating the lap charge (10 yen/10 minutes) even though this is still there in Japanese Conception Plus. Though, it's always weird when you have to choose between giving a number in yen which half the audience won't have a feel for the value of, or giving a number in dollars which is obviously out of place for Japan.
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Mar 20, 2020 15:20
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Special Events IV: Day at the Beach Part 1 - Aries, Leo, Cancer It should go without saying, but this update is all swimsuits. None of it is censor worthy in my opinion, but if it’s something you think you’ll be embarrassed by then consider this your warning. If it doesn't embarrass you, then keep in mind: We’re finally at the last of the Japan Events for the game. We’ve seen the Autumn Festival, Starmas, and Flower Viewing. All that’s left is the beach. Strap in for sun, swimming, swimsuits, shaved ice, and whatever other things happen at the beach that don’t start with the letter “s”.  However, unlike the other Japan Events, there are no unique CGs for this one. I thought Ruka’s final CG was part of this, but it turns out that her last CG is in her “Final Unique Side-Event” that just so happens to also take place at the beach. Because of that, we’ll be going in regular polling order for this update. ~Star God Academy Field~   Yeah, although the way you’re dressed is probably making it worse for you. Oh, this? It’s fine. Enduring the heat can be part of my training.That’s Saitama approved. Don’t use the AC in the summer and don’t use heater in the winter. Well sure, but don’t you ever relax a little and take a break from that? Why not try going to the beach and cooling off a little? Well… it seems going to the beach is quite a popular thing to do.It is now that Narcisstes has created some magic barrier that stops the horrors of the deep from killing everyone. Before Itsuki got here, not so much. Would you like to go with me? With you? I’m not so sure…  But I am interested in going to the beach. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just a swimsuit.Sort of depends on what the swimsuit looks like, I think. Everyday swimsuits? Nothing to be ashamed of there. Dead or Alive: Extreme Beach Volleyball swimsuits? Now those are a different story. I’m pretty sure wearing those would get you written up for indecent exposure. If you’re interested in going, then just do it.Keep in mind that these events can occur at any time because they aren’t linked to Bond Level, so Arie still has her “What would Star God say?” attitude where we have to twist her arm into having fun. If you insist… I will.~Beach~ It’s the beach! …I hate the beach. Heat, stepping on broken glass or random litter, and mentally scarring everyone within eyesight with my fat disgusting body. I’ll stick to my ice coffin, thanks. Um, Itsuki… Well we’re here, so it would kind of be a waste not to. But… this is too embarrassing… I’m sure it’s fine, Arie. Come on, I won’t say anything. R-Really? Do you promise? Of course. Then… here goes… That’s… Huh… It’s very plain, which makes sense given that Arie is a nun. She doesn’t like flashy things after all. Plus, her colour scheme is black and white, so this matches. On the other hand, that is way more revealing than I would have expected from a nun. Ah… The Star God won’t forgive me for coming out in front of a man in this…He does not care, I assure you. He’s probably passed out drunk right now or something. If I weren’t with you, I would never do such a thing… Don’t worry so much. I think you look amazing. Really…? I don’t look funny anywhere, do I? Of course not. Try and show some more confidence, Arie. Show more confidence in what? Well… yeah, kind of. Maybe I really do look strange… Why don’t we go out into the water, then? You won’t be embarrassed that way because nobody can stare at you. R-Right… I just need to go into the water…*To the water!*  It’s okay, you’ll get used to it in a little bit. Are you feeling nervous at all? Y-Yes. It’s my first time swimming at the beach, so I’m a little scared… So you can’t swim then? How deep a river are we talking? Because if you pulled out a drowning child from a deep river, then that takes some decent swimming ability. Then I think you’ll be just fine. But the river and ocean are very different in size and depth… Ah, Itsuki! Behind you! Ah! A wave!*The screen flashes white as a wave crashes into the pair* Ahh! Arie! Here, hold on to me! O-Okay! L-Like this? That’s good! Hang on! That wave crashed in so suddenly… It’s fine. As long as you hold on to me you’ll be fine. Please don’t let me go. Please, please don’t let me go. Promise me.Jesus, you two. Those waters look completely calm. You’re not riding out a hurricane. It’ll be fine. I’m not going to let you go.*Another flash of white* Ahh! Another wave. Phew… The ocean is so scary…I was going to say not to be such a baby, but apparently beyond that magic barrier that Narc set up there are various horrifying deep-sea monstrosities, so… yeah. I guess it is pretty scary. Oh man, what if these crazy waves were the result of some Granvanian sea creature trying to sweep beachgoers out beyond the barrier? Please, Itsuki… let’s go somewhere else. W-Well, if you want. But… uh… I can’t really move when you’re latched on to me like that. Please… Let’s return to the sand. Okay, okay. Come on.*Back on the safety of the sand* Phew… Are you okay? Yes, but that was so frightening… Everyone around us appears to be enjoying it anyway. There’s no need to rush it. Just take it slow. Yes, I’ll do just that. Will you accompany me? If we have another chance, I’d like to come here again, together. Sure. I hope I can get used to the waves by then… and the swimsuit too.You could always just buy a more conservative swimsuit, you know. As well as your gaze… My gaze…? Am I looking at you in a weird way or something? It will take some time for me to get used to it is all.Good stuff. You’re up next, Femiruna. Whatcha got? ~Star God Academy Field~  What about you? Don’t you feel hot wearing that heavy dress? Of course I do. But it is always nice to relax by the pool in my manor on days like this. So you have a pool at your house?How would this be a surprise to you, Itsuki? Of course she has a loving pool at her house. Her family is loaded and a pool is a status symbol. I have everything there. The best way to get out of the heat is to stay at home. Then why are you standing out on the Academy Field? Oh, well… I was going to invite you to the beach with me, but I guess you’d rather go home. Huh…? The beach? Yeah. But you’ve got a pool, so I guess there isn’t a reason to drag you out there for that. I’ll check in with someone else. Of course. It’s the ocean. I want to go! I have always wanted to swim in the ocean! I will have my servant prepare a swimsuit immediately. Wait just a moment, Itsuki.*And Femiruna heads off to grab a swimsuit* So much for that stuff about being a fool for going outside.~Beach~  Femiruna briefly appears further back before walking up to Itsuki, so we can get a more complete shot of her swimsuit. She’s wearing a skirt that has frills along the bottom edge and her top is also frilly. It matches her, but I was sort of expecting something more elaborate or flashy. Hehe… I can see you are charmed by me. But of course you would be. My perfect body and this swimsuit makes me nothing short of marvelous.All right, let’s dial back the vanity a little bit. I welcome you to try expressing just how beautiful I am. Now, do I not look good in this swimsuit? Hmm… What if I described you as a goddess of beauty? Ohohoho! I will accept your compliments, but you will get nothing in return.I knew that laugh would follow after a line like that from Itsuki, so I pre-emptively blocked my ears. Nevertheless, that is an adequate way of describing me. Careful, Femiruna. That’s how people in ancient Greece wound up getting all of their children murdered, or turned into spiders, or struck with a thunderbolt… the point is, you don’t boast about being better than the gods, even if it’s true (Arachne). The ocean is so vast. I am deeply impressed by it. My pool is not as splendid as this. Now then, let us go swimming!*Femiruna then tears off for the water* Femiruna, don’t run like that. The beach isn’t going anywhere. ”I will swim even more swiftly than Poseidon himself!”  Don’t go out that far! It’s dangerous! Ahhhhhhhh!That didn’t take long.  Dammit… she was heading deeper… did she drown? Itsuki… *glub*! Help! Femiruna! Here! Grab on! Itsuki… *glub glub* Help… Come on! I’ve almost got you! Itsuki… I can’t… Got you!  Not today, you trident swinging dick! How are you feeling? Are you okay? Oh… Y-Your face, it is too close! Oh, sorry about that… I was just worried. Ugh… Hey, come on. You’re safe now. The ocean gets a lot deeper as you go further out. You need to be careful. I… I! Ugh… Waaah… It’s okay… Come here.*After a brief brush with death and a good cry* Phew… Feeling better? Itsuki, you will forget what happened today. Understood? I’m not sure I can forget a memory like this. I-I said to forget it! Otherwise I will never forgive you! Goodness…*A time skip happens* The ocean is so deep… I learned something new today. Try and stay closer to the shore next time. That is not what I meant. I was speaking about something much more complicated.  I will continue to learn even more about them. Itsuki, I permit you to invite me out to other places. Well, okay then. I promise to teach you more stuff the next time we go. Then do what Itsuki just told you and don’t go running out into the deep like a reckless idiot. This is the second time in this game that you’ve almost gotten yourself killed. ~Star God Academy Hallway~  Something to do with the axis of the planet and how close to the equator you are which determines how much farther or closer to the sun… Forget it, let’s just say that it’s because of Star Energy. Summer is long because Star Energy.  I get the feeling this world is already broken beyond repair…I agree with you wholeheartedly, Ruka. Granvania is terrible and nothing we do will fix it. *Itsuki presumably moseys on up at this point. Usually he’s just silently standing there* Hey, Ruka. …There you are. This eternal summer… Dead brain cells… Well fine, gently caress you then. We could always go spend time with one of the other 12 Maidens vying for our attention. Or Narc. Or maybe Shang. Shang is probably down to party. Not Mana, though. We’ll never willingly spend time with Mana. If you’re hot, then why not go with me to get some shaved ice? No way I’m going. I have to scout out the location for the next field trip. There’s a beach resort there, so I want to take a dip to cool off.Hold on a second, since when does Granvania have beach resorts? “A day at the beach” was basically a foreign concept until Mana mentioned it to Shang after hearing about it from Mahiru/Itsuki. Narc had to set up a Star Energy barrier around the one that we go to. If these things already existed, then why in the gently caress did Mana do that whole scene where she asked Itsuki about it and we had to bring it up with Shang? You can eat your shaved ice in the meantime. Well, okay then. I guess I’ll just grab some from the clubhouse. Why don’t you find a shop close by? It’s like you’re coming with me already.We all know that we will be. So let’s just hurry up with this whole song and dance. Well I can’t let you go by yourself. What if a bunch of guys start hitting on you or harassing you? It’s partly my duty to protect you guys. …Just do what you want. I’ll do my own thing. Then let’s drop by my place first. I want to grab my swimsuit. You said you want to protect me, but you just want to play around. You promised me that, so follow through with it, okay? That’s so true. Can you imagine? What guy trawling the beach to pick up girls would pay you any mind? You’re flawless skin, jet black hair, and supermodel body are enough to make any man puke. Plus the ability to read minds? Horrifying. This whole “people stigmatize Ruka because she’s a Tsukuyomi” thing is really poorly implemented. Anyway, let’s go. If you’re dropping by the inn, we have to hurry. It’s a bit out of the way, but I’ll go with you…~Beach~ There you are. Did you scout out the location for the field trip? I’m pretty sure we’ve already seen Ruka’s swimsuit from that “walking in while changing” event. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I also can’t find much to say. At least it is somewhat more modest than Arie’s. Ruka is a character that I envision as having one of those beach outfits where she has one of those really light fabrics tied around her waist as a skirt, a big straw hat, and maybe a light shirt over her top. She’s definitely not the kind of character that I think wanders around the beach like what we see here. …Wh-What are you staring at? Do you have something to say to me? Why don’t you just hurry up and say it? I was just going to say that it’s nice to see you wearing something new. R-Really…? It’s somewhat hot out, so it’s a nice change of pace. I’ll have you know, I didn’t wear this for you… A-Anyway, stop staring at me. Yeah, I know. Do you still want to get some shaved ice though? Shaved ice already…? Well, it is pretty hot right now. All right. I’ll go and get some for us. What kind do you want? Hmm… There’s so many of them. Speaking of which, you have these clubhouses in your own world, right? Oh, I’ve never seen a blue syrup before. What does that taste like? Hold the gently caress on, “Blue Hawaii”? I’m going to heavily assume that Itsuki is just referencing the name of the flavour in his world and not reading off a menu, because I don’t believe for a goddamn second that Granvania has any idea what a “Hawaii” is. That’s not descriptive at all. I may as well try it out myself. Which one are you getting? Actually, I wouldn’t mind getting the same thing. I don’t mind, but don’t you have your own preferences? If mine doesn’t taste good… I was planning on trading with yours… Oh well.Just get the drat saved ice, Ruka. It all tastes the same in the end: like sugar. …Okay, I’ll have one in the Blue Hawaii flavor. It’s really cheap, you know. I don’t mind just buying yours for you.We’re loaded, Ruka. I think we can afford 1 dollar. No way. I don’t want to owe you anything. I hate treating and being treated by anyone. …Oh, I forgot my wallet. Where would she even carry a wallet? N-No… Why would I want to do that?! F-Fine. Not eating shaved ice isn’t going to kill me. I’m going to go swim.*And Ruka walks off* …I might have made her angry. I better just get some shaved ice for both of us and go find her.You’re bad at this Itsuki, but dammit if it doesn’t somehow manage to work regardless. Ahhh… H-Hey, don’t come near me! Was that Ruka? …What? How did she get all the way over there so fast?*A quick black wipe to Ruka*  Thank god, they didn’t make unique sprites for this rando unimportant NPC. I don’t feel well right now. If you get any closer, I can read all of your ulterior motives.[Beach Guy A]: Wooo, she’s a spirited one. Hear that? She’ll read our minds. What do you say? [Beach Guy B]: Really? Then why not give it a shot!  Why? It’s not like it’s leaving very much to the imagination. What…?! Hey, Ruka! Wh-What were you doing?! You’re late![Beach Guy A]: Tch… She’s got a man. [Beach Guy B]: She’s too good for that little twerp. Let’s pound him down. Try it. You won’t be laying a finger on her, I promise you. Ah… Yeah, they are pretty bad. Itsuki’s heroic dialogue needs work. [Beach Guy A]: Shut up. You may be a kid, but I’ll still crush you if you get in our way. I-I’ll have you all know, he’s God’s Gift.That’s literally all you ever have to say, Itsuki. If “This is God’s Gift” is enough to make the Granvanian Mafia poo poo their pants, then just about any jerk you run into is going to respond in the same way. If you’re still prepared to fight him, then by all means.[Beach Guy B]: Ugh… S-Seriously? If that’s true, then this is gonna be trouble… [Beach Guy A]: Tch… What a waste… Let’s split. … A lot of this could be prevented if you just had the Star Children following you around. Seriously, why are the Star Children not a larger part of these games? It’s over now. Just try and relax. I-I’m fine. I could have taken care of them easily without your help! I was just trying to make sure you were okay. Listen, if you want to go for a swim, then I’ll go with you. There are a lot of jerks like that around. I-If you want to swim, then I won’t stop you! L-Let’s go then. Sure. H-Hmph. I-I’m not saying I’m happy because you helped me or anything. *After some fun in the water* Ah… That was great. We swam a lot. It’s getting late though. The sun is about to go down. Yeah. We should go home. …Y-You don’t lie to me, and you seem like the type to keep your promises. Hm? What do you mean? Did I promise something? A-About protecting me! Did you forget already?! Oh, that. I would have done that either way. O-Oh, right… I guess you would… Then maybe I didn’t need to thank you. Let’s just go home. You better protect me until we’re back. And that’s all for Ruka. That’s about what I expected, to be honest. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Mar 22, 2020 |
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Mar 22, 2020 22:41
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Special Events IV: Day at the Beach Part 2 - Capricorn, Libra + Bottom 7 Summaries ~Star God Academy Classroom~   I wanna go somewhere when it’s this hot. Somewhere cooler… We could go to the beach. Oh, that seems to be pretty popular recently. That sounds like a good idea. Great!~Beach~ She sure is taking her time… Does it really take this long to get changed? This looks pretty on point for Farun, what with the flashy colour and the tassels. Honestly, at first glance I actually thought she had just taken off the outer layer of her dancer outfit, but this is different. The under layer of her dancer costume doesn’t have that bow/knot in the middle. There you are. H-Hi, Itsuki… Sorry to keep ya waitin’. Don’t stare, ‘kay? I get embarrassed when ya look at me… Why is that? It’s barely different from your dancer attire. Well, except for the absurdly low cut bottom I mean. Did you not go swimming during your travels? I only swam in the rivers or ponds in the forests. I’d be takin’ a dip an’ go swimmin’ while I was at it. …You were wearing a swimsuit during those times though… right? W-Well, yeah, course. Even if no one is watchin’… C-Course I’d wear a swimsuit. Mostly. What do you mean “mostly”? … Sometimes, the moon an’ the river would be so beautiful to look at… So you went skinny dipping? O-Only when no one’s lookin’! I’d be alone! An’ it really ain’t all that often!Still a bad idea though, especially when you think about all the apparently dangerous animals roaming through Granvania’s forest. It’s not all the time, seriously! I ain’t always swimmin’ naked! I didn’t say you would be! Just calm down, okay? People can hear you. Oh… S-Sorry… I really am… I won’t be skinny dippin’… I really won’t…Nobody said anything about you doing that today, Farun. Calm down. …Did somebody just groan? Sorry… if I ruined your dreams…Ha! There’s one dude sitting on the beach nearby that’s just going “poo poo! I was so excited there for a minute… Now my day is ruined…” Forget about that. Let’s just go swimming. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Let’s play around a ton today. *Some fun time in the water later* Ahhh… That was fun… You looked like such a kid. Hey, ya were enjoyin’ it, too. I saw ya havin’ fun, ya can’t fool me. Hehe. Farun… don’t. We’ve seen that look before. Keep it in your pants for once. …What do ya think of me in this swimsuit? Wh-Why are you asking me that? C-Cuz… I just wanna ask. Askin’ ya that all of a sudden would be embarrassin’…Aren’t you doing that anyway? It’s not like you built up to it. So… what do ya think? You’re… uh… you’re really attractive… You don’t need to apologize. It’s not like I haven’t been thinking it the entire time. Hehe, I see… Oh, ya were starin’ just now, weren’t ya? I did ask for your opinion, but I didn’t give ya permission to stare, ya know. Oh! S-Sorry… I’ll, look over there. But… ya did compliment me, so… maybe just a li’l is fine… …Ahaha! Just kiddin’! This is too embarrssin’!I’m not quite sure what it is that Farun just did. I assume she booped Itsuki’s nose or something. We’re done here! All over! Closin’ up shop for today! Well, it is getting late. We should probably head back soon. Oh, right… Yeah. … …Farun? I… I really like the settin’ sun over the ocean… …Hey, can we stay a li’l longer? Sure. That should be fine. Yay! Let’s go somewhere to eat later.Man, this is a full on date, huh? Didn’t know we were going for an evening dine after this. We can continue this fun summer day just a li’l longer. What do ya say?That’s all for Farun. We’ve got one more to go and then we’ll hit the summaries. ~Star God Academy Classroom~  Whew… Oh, it’s you, Itsuki. Maybe you need a break. Do you want to check out the beach for a while? I hear that’s quite popular right now. I would normally never go myself… I might be able to make some new discoveries, so I’ll go.That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Usually Mirei has to have her arm twisted for this kind of thing. Great. Let’s head out.~Beach~ …I wonder what’s taking her so long? …Yeah, that’s about right for Mirei. The big piece cut out of the middle is a little off though. I always pegged her as the type to wear one of those crazy Olympic swimmer outfits that’s all about ergonomics and cutting through the water and poo poo. Itsuki, apologies for being late.  Do I look strange? Not at all. They were staring because you look so good. I’m not interested in swimsuits, so I purchased one the store clerk recommended. How do I look? drat, alternate reality Itsuki. “I’ve seen better”? loving harsh. You look amazing. I see. That’s good to hear. I think that suits you really well. It really highlights your body. Heheh. Then I should thank that store clerk. Oh, right. Are you going to keep your glasses on?Why would you even ask her that? You know she’s practically blind without them. Naturally. I’ll take them off before I go swimming however.*Speaking of, I guess swim time is right now because there’s a fade to black where Mirei takes her glasses off*  Itsuki, hold these for me… Agh…*Mirei then proceeds to immediately trip* Ugh… I twisted my ankle… Itsuki, support me. Uh, right… Let me see… What about like this? Does this help? Yes, I should be fine. I only need to rest a little… Hm… It’s difficult to see your face without my glasses. …Mirei? Could you not stare like that? It’s embarrassing. R-Right… Uh… So, how is your ankle feeling? It’s fine now. Do you think you’d be up for some swimming? Do you know how? Heheh. I did research it. I know the theory behind the movements. Let’s go. Hey, wait! Mirei, you can’t—Never mind… she tripped again… Hold on! I’m coming over!*After some swimming, where Mirei manages to not drown* Whew… It feels like we swam for quite some time. I admit, I didn’t know how things would go at first, but you were really good. Once I got the hang of it, I put the theory of the movements into practice.  This was a nice change of pace. Though, I do want to resume my research immediately upon returning… But, to be honest, I’m quite tired. I could even fall asleep right here. Yeah, that’ll happen after spending a day at the beach. Oh, really? Heheh… It seemed like a waste of time, but I don’t feel too bad about it. No experiments that time, unfortunately. Oh well, can’t have that happening all the time. Now, what does everyone else have to offer?  Mahiru’s event has Itsuki looking for Mahiru, which I want to point out is something that happens a lot during Mahiru events. There’s always this pointless scene where Itsuki will be standing in the hallway going “I should find Mahiru to ask her something” and then we cut to a different location where Mahiru actually is.  Anyway, Itsuki finds her sweating to death because the AC is broken… which I guess is something else that Granvania inexplicably has. Itsuki suggests going to the beach and Mahiru doesn’t even get the chance to respond, we just go straight to black and fade back in at the beach.  I guess this fits Mahiru, although I personally think it’s a tiny bit childish for the “school idol” character. Although I guess it’s got a bit more to its design compared to characters like Ruka or Arie. They get to the beach and Mahiru comments on how crowded it is and how many people are there wearing revealing swimsuits. Itsuki is completely spaced out, so Mahiru has to ask him if the heat has fried his brain or something. Itsuki just says that he was captivated by how cute Mahiru looks and this gets Mahiru all flustered. Mahiru says that it’s just a plain swimsuit that she uses for class, so she wasn’t expecting any compliments from him on it. Itsuki says that it looks pretty flashy to him and asks if that’s really the one that she uses for class, but Mahiru just ignores that and moves on by asking if Itsuki is hungry. They head to the clubhouse because they smell some roasted squid and want to get some, but the shopkeeper reveals that Granvania’s squid is a bit different.  Mahiru says that the squid legs are like 2 kilos (which is like ordering a 70 ounce steak). Mahiru says that she doubts she can even finish that and the shopkeeper suggests that her and Itsuki share it since they obviously have the hots for each other. They decide to go somewhere else to eat so that they don’t have to be teased. Itsuki decides to take a break in order to let the 2 pounds of squid he just ate settle. However, Mahiru is good to go and decides to head out for a swim. Itsuki ponders what the hell Mahiru’s stomach is made of since she ate just as much as him and is somehow totally fine to go for a swim right after. Itsuki then sees Mahiru get hit by a big wave, although she seems fine afterwards. He sees her trying to call him over or something, so he heads out to see what’s up. When he gets closer, Mahiru starts telling him to stay back. Turns out that the wave ripped Mahiru’s top off. She pitches a washbowl at Itsuki’s face when he notices and starts to comment on it, which leads to a small gag of Itsuki asking where the hell she got her hands on that in the middle of the ocean. Anyway, Mahiru orders him to go get her a towel and he does so. The event wraps up shortly after with the two agreeing to do this again next year.  Yuzuha’s event has her commenting on the heat, Itsuki suggesting the beach, and Yuzuha mentioning that she doesn’t have a swimsuit. It starts very similarly to all the other beach events. Itsuki tells her to just buy a swimsuit, but Yuzuha says that she makes a point not to wear those because it’s too embarrassing.  They get to the beach, but Yuzuha is still in her regular outfit. Yuzuha says that the swimsuit was too embarrassing for her and that she’s fine just wearing her normal clothes. Itsuki asks why she bothered buying the swimsuit then and Yuzuha starts regretting going to the beach in the first place.  Kind of looks like Mahiru’s swimsuit a little bit. Also, holy poo poo does this really drive home just how pale Yuzuha is. That is pure white. She still ends up changing though. She does a bit more of her usual self depreciation and Itsuki tries to reassure her that she looks good in the swimsuit. Itsuki then suggests they go for a swim and have a race, but Yuzuha points out that even though she’s the Pisces Star Maiden, she can’t swim. She says she’s more of an indoor activity kind of person.  I think this has been the only time in the game where the constellations are mentioned in this way. Yuzuha says that Itsuki can go for a swim and she’ll just busy herself by collecting seashells and building sand castles. Itsuki tries to convince her to go for a swim by saying that it’s probably not that she can’t do it, but that she hasn’t tried before. Itsuki eventually twists her arm into going into the water (or possibly just outright drags her in). In the water, something slimy brushes against Yuzuha’s thigh and she freaks out, but Itsuki says that it’s probably just a jellyfish. Yuzuha then mentions that she once wanted to own a jellyfish as a pet, but she decided against it because she felt it would be cruel to take it away from its home. After some time in the water, the event wraps up with Itsuki suggesting that they go drink some Ramune… which is something else that apparently exists in Granvania somehow. Probably because Star Energy. Or “a previous God’s Gift did it”.  In Reone’s event, she talks about heading to her office to get out of the heat, although she doesn’t like to go there on her days off because she’ll probably be roped into working while she’s there. Itsuki asks about going somewhere else and this time it’s Reone that suggests the beach. She bought a new swimsuit and wants to show it off. She’s also wondering if Itsuki would be interested in seeing it and obviously he’s down for that since he’s a teenaged guy. He even outright tells her that she has a nice body. Well, that’s what happens in the best choice anyway. You actually can have Itsuki respond with something like “Meh, swimsuits aren’t my thing.”  We’ve partially seen Reone’s swimsuit already, during that event where she got the poo poo kicked out of her while beating up the thugs. The style is definitely something she’d go for. Weird how she’s still wearing that thing on her head though. Also, her Scorpio tattoo has disappeared completely. No, it’s not being covered by her top. If you overlay two shots of Reone in the same pose then you can see that the tattoo should be clearly visible. It’s a strange detail to leave out considering that it’s one of Reone’s major design elements. At the beach, Reone asks what Itsuki thinks of her swimsuit and he says that it looks great, which prompts Reone to respond that he doesn’t look too bad himself. Reone suggests they go for a swim right away and that they can enjoy it later, although Itsuki isn’t sure what she means by “it”. She tells him not to play dumb and that they should hurry up and swim. Apparently Reone gets hit on a lot when she’s just standing around for too long.  They go for a swim, although Itsuki runs out of energy long before Reone does (yes, of course this is an excuse for Reone to tease him about “stamina”). After that, Reone has Itsuki rub sunblock all over her. The event wraps up shortly after that with the two of them agreeing to do this again sometime. Reone’s beach event is one of the shorter ones.  For Sue, we open with her being bummed out that the weather is so hot. She says she prefers when it’s colder because she can bundle up and cuddle up next to her animals for warmth. Itsuki asks her about going to the beach, but Sue says that she’s worried about not being able to swim, or accidentally swallowing seawater, or the beachgoers causing a commotion. Itsuki clarifies with her that she intended to bring her animals, which of course she was planning on doing. Itsuki convinces her to go with him by herself, framing it as a way to deepen their bond together. Sue is okay with that, so they get ready to go. Except…  Yeah, Sue is going to wear that cosplay swimsuit thing she was in. I guess it’s too much work for the developers to just delete the ears and tail portion in order to turn it into a regular swimsuit.  We’ve seen this from Sue before. I only censored it that last time because of the rear end-first pose she was doing. Sue’s swimsuit is what you would expect. It has the animal-like fur on the top and also along the top edge of the bottom. The tail isn’t visible this time, but the ears are and they look out of place for the beach. Sue mentions that this is the first time she’s gone to the beach with someone (she usually goes with her animals). She asks what people do at the beach and Itsuki suggests maybe playing in the sand. Sue grabs a stick and starts drawing something in the sand, leaving the screen momentarily before returning a little while later. Itsuki wonders what she drew, since it’s so large. Sue points out the ears and eyes and mouth, then says that she had drawn Itsuki. They do a bit more drawing in the sand, which leads to a time skip. It’s then time to head home, although Itsuki points out that they didn’t really go into the water. But Sue says she had fun, since she likes the quiet activities more. The event wraps there.  For Collette’s event, she’s the one that suggests going to the beach to escape the heat. Collette says that she’s interested in checking out the beach hut that just opened there. Itsuki asks her what happened to the work she had to do today, but she tells him that the Academy is too hot for classes so they were told to study from home. Collette says she’ll just do all the work later.  Collette’s swimsuit is a simple school/gym class style. Personally I’m grateful for that, because it means we don’t have to deal with quite possibly the youngest looking character in this game wearing something like Reone or Arie. Collette mentions that she bought the swimsuit last year, but hasn’t had a chance to wear it until now. She’s wonders if it’s a little childish (which it is. But that’s the point. She’s a kid). Itsuki says that he’s glad it still fits, and Collette says the same. She says that she’s growing at a rapid pace, so this will be her only chance to wear it before it gets too small for her. Itsuki questions the “growing daily” part, since she doesn’t really look like she’s grown at all. Collette is leery of that comment, since she thinks he’s specifically talking about her chest. Itsuki then proceeds to dodge that topic by complimenting her on how she looks, and Collette just goes with it. Then they go to play in the water.  She says that, but we just dealt with a Pisces that couldn’t swim. She assures Itsuki that she can swim and even challenges him to a competition where the loser has to buy lunch. She then mentions that she’s going to grab some floaties real quick. Itsuki has a reaction of “Wait… seriously?”, but Collette insists that they allow her to move faster and that they put her in competition mode. You know how this goes down. Itsuki somehow gets his rear end kicked (10 times!) in a swimming competition with a child using floaties. He’s not putting on an act for her either. His legs are so worn out that he immediately trips over himself and runs into Collette. Then there’s a typical scene for this game: Itsuki feels something soft, Collette slaps him away and tells him to watch where he’s grabbing, she says “that’s a maiden’s special place!” which implies her privates or something—  And then it’s revealed that it was something completely innocuous. After that, they go off to eat at the beach hut, where Collette says that they should order everything on the menu (she’s not paying after all, so what does she care?). There’s a time skip to when the sun is going down. Itsuki says they had a full day and that they should head home. Collette then pulls her “cute” act again to try and convince him to do this again sometime since it was so much fun (she says that it’s hard for her to get out here by herself).  For the twins, we start off with Lillith. It opens the same as most of the other beach events. Lillith is initially hesitant to go because she can’t swim, but Itsuki tells her that there are other fun things to do at the beach besides swimming, such as playing in the sand. At the beach, Lillith is hiding away somewhere because she says that swimsuits are too embarrassing, but Itsuki tells her that everyone here is wearing one so it’s no big deal. This draws her out to reveal—  Come on, what did you expect? They aren’t going to change her model for this. Lillith gets embarrassed when Itsuki compliments her on being cute, because she’s not sure how to respond to stuff like that. Lillith goes to grab a parasol and the two decide to just relax on the beach. There’s a brief time skip, and when we come back we find that Lillith and Itsuki are playing some kind of word association game. Lillith says “Whale”, but then Itsuki says “Eagle” and blows it because he apparently had already used that one. Itsuki’s punishment for losing is getting tickled by Lillith, which she does. Lillith is enjoying it, but then gets shy when she realizes how close she’s getting to Itsuki.  Being partially naked is normal for you, Lillith. Lillith is still embarrassed and quickly says that she needs to run to the restroom. This is just an excuse for Lillith to wander off and smack her head off of something in order to bring out—  This is the swimsuit that they are wearing. …It’s somehow more modest than their normal clothing. Lillie says that Lillith saw a sea louse and tripped, which is why Lillie is here now. Lillie is stoked about being at the beach because Lillith normally refuses to go. Lillie immediately starts planning on Lillie things.  A time skip happens to the end of the day at the beach. Lillie and Itsuki both had fun, Lillie tries to get Itsuki to answer which one was more fun (being with her or being with Lillith), to which Itsuki just answers that both of them were equally fun to play with. Lillie is satisfied with that answer. Lillie says the only downside to the trip was the swimsuit that Lillith picked out. Lillie says that Lillith always picks out really plain stuff. Lillie says she would have picked out a much sexier one if she had been in control. Lillie then gets a little shy and offers Itsuki a closer look at her swimsuit as she moves in close. Then she pulls back and throws kelp at him as a prank because that’s her character. Lillie then runs off laughing as Itsuki starts to give chase.  And now we come to Tarua. Any bets on what her beach event will involve? Tarua’s event starts with her complaining about the heat. She says that it’s making the tip of her nose dry out. She then tells Itsuki that she always does her letter delivery earlier when the weather is hot in order to avoid the hottest parts of the day. Itsuki suggests that they go to the beach and Tarua is excited about that. She says that swimming is the best during hot days and mentions that sometimes she’ll just jump in the river in the middle of her deliveries.  Not sure what to make of this. It sort of looks sporty, which is Tarua’s whole thing. That’s about the only thing that seems to match with her though. Itsuki is relieved that Tarua actually came out wearing a swimsuit (I guess he figured she might be the type to just run out buck naked or something). Tarua says that she doesn’t like wearing it, but people always make her do it. Either way, she’s pumped about the beach and starts cheering. Itsuki joins in, which makes Tarua very happy because she says that Itsuki doesn’t usually go along with her cheering and unchained excitement for stuff. Tarua starts losing her drat mind, talking about how pretty the ocean is, how she sees jellyfish, how she sees a wave, how fun the beach is, and how happy she is. She then bolts, but returns a few seconds later saying that her foot cramped up.  Itsuki tells Tarua that swimming is different from running and that she should take it easy. He helps her uncramp her foot and then there’s a time skip to the end of the beach trip. Tarua had fun and wants to go to the beach again, but she’s also tired out and feeling a little sleepy. The event ends there. Yes, 90% of Tarua’s beach event was her talking about how fun it is to be at the beach. And that’s all for the Japan Events! I think the only event update we have left is that special “Final Side Event” one that I didn’t originally plan on. Going to have to figure out a good time for that one. I thought about doing it after the next dungeon, but I think we could all use a break from Not-Bonding Events considering we just did all of the Final Bonding, plus Flower Viewing, plus Beach Day. Unfortunately (for me), there’s only one thing we can do other than that special event…   ...Yeah, it’s time to go back to the anime again for Episodes 4-6. But first, Dungeon time! I can buy myself one more update of procrastination!
Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Mar 22, 2020 |
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Mar 22, 2020 22:42
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A thumbnail spoiled this Conception revelation for me way before now, but now I can share it  Psycho Knight posted:Anyway, Itsuki finds her sweating to death because the AC is broken… which I guess is something else that Granvania inexplicably has. Itsuki suggests going to the beach and Mahiru doesn’t even get the chance to respond, we just go straight to black and fade back in at the beach. Another one for the 'weird cuts' department. Itsuki says it's a good day to go to the beach, Mahiru agrees, Itsuki says 'but do you have a swimsuit?' to which she says 'it's ok, I have one for class', then they leave - obviously this is the conversation they instead have at the beach in Plus. To be fair to Plus, asking 'is that really your swimsuit for class?' is a question you would very likely ask, but that doesn't stop them putting in an earlier line for Mahiru saying 'sure let's go'.
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Mar 23, 2020 00:41
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Polsy posted:A thumbnail spoiled this Conception revelation for me way before now, but now I can share it Arie isn’t a surprise since you showed off the original game's inability to remove her hat during the festival/yukata event. It is a bit more noticeable during the beach event though, especially since she goes into the water and gets hit by waves. Original Arie's hat would be soaked. The Mahiru change is, as you said, strange. They didn't really cut something out so much as they just shifted it to a later part of the event. Why bother with that? SC's choices with Mahiru continue to confound. Is it possible to do a quick check on Reone? Arie's hat has me curious about Reone’s tattoo and whether or not that originally appeared in her swimsuit costume. Not sure if the PSP resolution would allow for that detail though.
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Mar 23, 2020 00:52
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Psycho Knight posted:Is it possible to do a quick check on Reone? Arie's hat has me curious about Reone’s tattoo and whether or not that originally appeared in her swimsuit costume. Not sure if the PSP resolution would allow for that detail though. Same issue, it disappears. You'd think they'd just duplicate the model and put new clothes on it (if it works like that) but apparently not.  
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Mar 23, 2020 02:32
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Polsy posted:Same issue, it disappears. You'd think they'd just duplicate the model and put new clothes on it (if it works like that) but apparently not. Weird. That was my line of thinking. That they just used the 3d model and changed the clothing. I guess instead they used the animations/frame and did up a new skin to put over it. Either that or that they did use the same model, but Reone’s top was made one solid piece (no transparency in the middle chest portion). Either way, that’s a big oversight. Reone’s tattoo stands out and is a unique element of her character design (no other Star Maiden has a constellation tattoo).
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Mar 23, 2020 02:43
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Psycho Knight posted:Thanks, I'm always glad to know there are people following from the shadows. Makes me believe that there's a bigger audience than just the dozen or so people I see posting in the thread all the time.
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Mar 23, 2020 21:46
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"one of those really light fabrics tied around her waist as a skirt" <- I'm pretty sure that's called a pareo, for future reference.
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Mar 24, 2020 07:14
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CannonFodder posted:Yeah, I'm a lurker and only catch up once a week and by that time the thread has moved on so I don't comment on stuff. I'm glad I got in to cast a vote for the final choice before it closed. Good to hear. Yeah, I have a (I assume) bad habit of getting updates done and out every 2 or 3 days. Great for people that like to read a lot, but bad for people that only read on weekends or occasionally. Raitzeno posted:"one of those really light fabrics tied around her waist as a skirt" <- I'm pretty sure that's called a pareo, for future reference. So it does have a name. Thanks. I kind of figured that it did because clothing has a name for everything, but I thought it was just "beach-skirt" or something plain like that. Didn't think it had a fancy name like pareo.
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Mar 24, 2020 12:45
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Update XVI: They see me walk; They hear me talk; I make them feel; Like they’re on Cloud Nine Song Title Reference: Sexy Boy – By Shawn Michaels This update is short. Very short. I basically only have a boss fight to show you as far as main content goes. The rest will be something a little bit different.  The Summer Labyrinth is complete, which means we’re moving on to Autumn. First up is Scorpio.  It’s definitely not as fancy to look at compared to Virgo. It has the colour scheme of Reone and some of the columns have that headlamp/doctor thing that that Reone wears on her head, but that’s it. The columns have a black chain hanging from them for some reason. Not sure what the connection is to Reone there.  The enemies are largely made up of the Rhino/Warthog looking types, as well as the usual Bootes variants. Other than that, Aquila types show up on some earlier floors and those ghost/skeleton looking dudes will pop up occasionally on later floors. Those floating elemental skull enemies tend to act as backup for everyone else, but they don’t seem to roam around on their own.  The difficulty level has not caught up to our Star Children, so I mostly avoided fights. We’re stomping everything that shows up, largely thanks to Chain skills that everyone has. Here’s the current flow to every battle:  Itsuki uses Blitz Blow to boost the CD gauge.  Team FlyingNeoRaiPol… Team B, let’s just stick with Team B. Team B usually gets the next turn, in which they hit with Gran Chain to boost the CD gauge more (targeting a different enemy than Itsuki did).  Team At this point I either mash the physical attack button until all the enemies are dead, which they always are before the Chain wears off. Or, if I’m especially bored, I have Team A(wful) MECUNITE and just dust everything at once.  It’s all about whether or not I want to bother getting any more bonus Exp. …I probably should not bother getting any more bonus Exp.  The only thing to happen in terms of equipment upgrades is that Mokino gets a Light Ninja Garb, which is ever so slightly better than the Wind Clothes+ he had been using. Most of the other equipment pickups in this dungeon are specifically for Sorcerers, Clerics, and Grapplers (of which we have none on the team). We snagged various types of Claw weapons, but none of those were better than the Storm/Death Talons that our Ninjas already have.  Let’s just end it. I’m not even sure why I’m trying to drag this out.  It’s a big-rear end scorpion. I think this is tied with Cancer as being the most obvious boss design, although I don’t think we’ve seen Pisces yet.   Oh, you poor bastard.  We all know how this is going to go down. Dark offence element might be fairly effective against our teams, but Dark defence doesn’t stand a chance. In case you end up fighting Criminatores without the use of devastating Light magic, like we have, then here’s a look at its stat sheet. The stats are pretty evenly spread out, except for the noticeable spike in physical defence. If you have been relying on physically oriented teams, then this is probably not going to go well for you. As Mana said, Criminatores is able to cause Poison, so even if you have great defence, you won’t really have the time to spend chipping away at the boss little by little. This is not the time for a turtle strategy.  Also there are two Crater D enemies here. As usual, deal with them first. Dark enemies are not ones that you want hovering around. Well, unless every one of your teams has Light element defence I guess. Even then, they will still probably be a danger to Itsuki, so it’s best to just clear them out.  Criminatores’ attack is decent. It doesn’t look like much in this screenshot, but that’s because Team A(wful) has Light element as their defence. Team C gets hit later on and takes about 2100, which is still not something to worry about, but it is slightly more dangerous at least.  Unfortunately for Criminatores, its dungeon didn’t come along until after we formed the final teams for the game. Dark Element used to be scary, but now everybody has the Photon Driver team skill, sooo…      Goodbye, Criminatores!  We get some experience, some of the Star Children snag a level and break into the 50’s, and we also score 2 Knowledge Fruits (which I actually give to Isabel because Itsuki doesn’t really use Magic).  Then we seal the big screw in the ground and go home.  So, what now? Well first of all I’ll mention that those exclamation points you see in the screenshot are all a load of nothing worth talking about. Day Camp is just informing me that some Star Children I dropped off ages ago have finished their training regime. The Tavern is for turning in that boss we just killed. Finally, the shop just updated their selection with poo poo that’s been outdated since 2 dungeons ago instead of 3. I’ve shown off just about everything I can think of in terms of random side content. Everything that would be slightly interesting to see anyway. The only thing of substance I could do is show off some generic Maiden events, but we’ve been through enough events lately as it is.  That said, I do want to use this opportunity to show off Alfie’s generic bonding events. Alfie was left out of all the side events in this game, because her inclusion seems to have been done as cheaply as possible. The developers were nice enough to throw her a few generic bonding events though (probably because they had to have something to show when the player selected her at the Academy and her route wasn’t ready to move forward yet). So let’s have a look at Alfie’s three generic events, because Alfie fans deserve at least something after being left out in the cold during the Autumn Festival, and Flower Viewing, and Beach, and Starmas, and also the final side-events update that will be happening in the future.  I should note that “Beyond the Goodbyes” isn’t actually a generic event. “Beyond the Goodbyes” is the event that plays after Alfie dies. It’s the one where Itsuki goes to the church and prays to her Matryoshka, which has to be seen 3 times in order to revive her. Generic Alfie Event 1: For Tomorrow ~Day Camp~  Also, because these are generic events, you’ll notice that Alfie is wearing earrings. Gift Accessories are only worn by the Star Maidens during generic events.  All right! Now cool down and stretch! Relax your body while you rest! Looks like Alfie is as stern as always. Oh, Itsuki. Hello there! The Star Children are all in tip-top condition!Good for them! …You did tell them that I won’t actually be needing any of them anymore, right? There are no more openings on the dungeon express for the rest of this game. I just want to be clear on that. Are you always this hard on them during training? Oh, yes! Oh, well I guess I should have expected that from you. Well, as long as there’s love and passion in it then… I guess I should tell you to make sure you keep it up. Yes! I intend to! It’s easy to spoil the Star Children, but that wouldn’t be to their benefit. I hope that, even if it’ [sic] is tougher for them now, they can grow to learn and build confidence. That’s all I think about when I train them!Good thing Alfie is handling this. Itsuki seems like the type that would cave immediately if the Star Children looked at him with big ol’ puppy dog eyes. He’d spoil the poo poo out of them. Right… Sorry I interrupted you, Alfie. You’re a lot better at this than I would ever be. You take so much into consideration when training them. Just… well, promise not to overdo it. Okay? Hehe, thanks. I feel much better just hearing that! Oh, that’s right… I was on my way to get some disinfectant, so I have to get going now! I’ll see you later!*And Alfie darts off to go fix a boo-boo* She’s really serious about her job… I feel like she might be overworking herself sometimes, though. I’ll have to keep an eye on her.Generic Alfie Event 2: Heart-Throbbing Questions ~Day Camp~ Hmm… Exposing everything we hold inside is said to lead to friendship and love… Hey, Alfie. Are you taking your break? Oh, Itsuki! I actually wanted to talk to you about something. Phrasing… kind of. Uhhh…. W-What are we talking about exactly? What do you mean by “expose”? U-Um… That would be… our more… shameful parts… I’ll answer with full honesty! This is to deepen our bond! Oh… oh! That’s what you meant! The way you said that was really making me nervous. Well, if that’s all you mean, then let me think… We’ve got three options, none of which stand out as being obviously “good”. “How old are you?” and “How big are your boobs?” are never good questions to ask a lady. However, I believe the worst option here is actually “Nothing comes to mind.” Alfie doesn’t like us trying to dodge her like that. The neutral answer is “What’s your bust size?”, to which Alfie just answers that she doesn’t know, but she could probably get Reone/Mirei to check for her. Itsuki then backs off on the question because he’s a shy boy (sometimes). Well… how about your age? How old are you, exactly? Well… That figures… Yup! People shape their hopes and dreams at that age!Do they? I don’t remember a lot from when I was 16, but I’m pretty drat sure I wasn’t shaping my hopes and dreams. Pretty sure I was busy being an emo teen that was counting the days until graduation so I could be free of the waking nightmare that was High School. But you said that you were created 30 years ago. You have to be at least that old. Hehe… Sorry.  It sounds like something an idol from Sora would say.They do say that! Usually when they are hitting 20 and realizing that their “expiry date” is one or two years away, but they still have that faint hope that their fans won’t abandon them for younger girls. This quickly gives way to melancholic acceptance and an attempt to spin off into a new career while they’ve still got some popularity to leverage. I need to stop doing that. Whew… Is this how we’re supposed to deepen our bonds? How do you do it with the other Star Maidens? I’ll be honest, it’s not much different than this. We mostly just talk. I see… So communicating is what’s important. What do you mean? Oh, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself. Oh, I have to resume training. I hope we can chat again soon, Itsuki. Listen, I’m sure it must be hard to balance being a Star Maiden with being the Star Childrens’ trainer, but just know that I’m here to support you. I never thought it was all that tough, you know?Honestly, it really doesn’t sound all that tough. The trainer part is probably the most difficult part. The Star Maidens don’t seem to do anything in terms of “Star Maiden duties” other than hang around Itsuki and occasionally go to a class where Narc lectures them about random topics that don’t have any real bearing on their lives (Seriously, Narc. What the gently caress good is it to teach them about different Impurities? They can’t fight the drat things!).  All right! I’ll work hard during training! If you’ll excuse me!*Alfie heads out*  One last generic event left. Time for “Against the wall!” Generic Alfie Event 3: Against the Wall! ~Day Camp~  Speaking of, I wonder what type of romance dramas are popular on Sora.Not sure. Western drama tends to just mix romance in as a side-piece to whatever inane bullshit they came up with for their main premise. Usually hospitals for some reason. Although I guess that’s what Romance Dramas technically are when you get right down to it… I know Korean Dramas are pretty big right now, although hell if I know what the most popular ones are. Romance-Drama isn't really my bag.  That doesn’t count! It was $2 and I was just grabbing whatever PSP games were left! Also the stuff in my Steam library doesn’t count… those were from Humble Bundles. What’s wrong, Alfie? Oh, Itsuki! You came at the right time. There’s something I wanted to ask you. I only watched the dramas from 30 years ago, so I’ve been wondering about any newer ones. I’m not the person to ask about that. I don’t really follow them. I heard that the wall-pounding thing was really popular for a while, though. W-Wall pounding?! No, but that sounds pretty cool. No, that’s not what I meant. How do I explain this… I think it was something where the guy backs the girl against a wall and mumbles sweet nothings to her… or something like that.It’s called 壁ドン (Kabe-don). Normally it just refers to banging on the wall to get people to shut up, but it’s also become a thing in the romance genre. It’s that thing where a girl (or guy) has their back against the wall and a guy (or girl) slams their palm/fist into the wall next to them. It’s normally an aggressively/very forward romantic thing, although sometimes it’s done out of legit anger/as a threat. …Don’t ask how I know that. It’s not important. Sweet nothings… I’m definitely interested! Itsuki, if you don’t mind, can you do that with me? I guess I can. There’s no wall nearby, though. If that’s fine, then try coming a little closer to me. Y-Yes, of course!*Alfie moves in a little closer… which requires a fade to black transition for some reason* Ooh… Okay… um… what exactly am I supposed to say, though? This took me a multiple attempts. All of these choices are basically the same, so I had no idea which one was the “best” choice. It’s actually “You only have eyes for me!” You only have eyes for me! Alfie is in to that. If you’re curious, “You can’t get away from me!” (Neutral) just has Alfie say “Sure, I mean… I don’t have any intention of running anyway.” “Let me… kiss you.” (also Neutral) has her respond by freaking out a little because it’s so sudden, but then quickly going “B-But… maybe if we were in another place…” W-Wow… I couldn’t help but say that… Huff… Huff… So this is what the latest romance dramas are all about… They’re so much more powerful… Part of me worries about how easy that was with you…*Another fade to black transition. Probably to shift Alfie further back*  Was that actually helpful? Yes! I think I understand what this wall pounding thing is now. I’ll do it to you this time, Itsuki! Me? I’m pretty sure it’s usually a guy that does it to the girl, not the other way around…It happens. More than you think. There’s always a first time for everything! Okay, Itsuki. Look straight into my eyes! … And you…? …Why are you talking that way?4/10. Too robotic. Not enough passion. Points for the blatant “I love you” and the stern expression though. A-Ahhhhhh! Itsuki just stared at me blankly! I shouldn’t have done this!*And Alfie bolts*  …I didn’t think she’d be that forward. That kind of surprised me.And that’s all. Yes, Alfie only has those 3 generic events. The plus side to having so few is that it is easier to give her gifts compared to the other Star Maidens. The other Star Maidens have generic events that don’t give you the option of giving a gift, so it can sometimes take multiple tries. Alfie has a 2/3 chance of the event being gift capable. Next time… yes, it’s the anime again. I have to find some time to watch the next 3 episodes. The whole social distancing thing has given me lots of free time, but it’s also happening right at the end of the semester when a bunch of stuff needs to be turned in. Fun times. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Mar 25, 2020 |
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Mar 24, 2020 22:40
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Well, those are relatively inoffensive, you could probably expand those into early bonding events if you wanted. Actually that just makes me wonder if they just threw out a bunch of ideas and rewrote the better ones into the full events and kept the leftovers for the generic events.
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Mar 25, 2020 22:15
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Polsy posted:Well, those are relatively inoffensive, you could probably expand those into early bonding events if you wanted. Actually that just makes me wonder if they just threw out a bunch of ideas and rewrote the better ones into the full events and kept the leftovers for the generic events. It's possible, at least for the other Maidens. With Alfie, I don't think so. Everything about Alfie's inclusion seems to be rushed, so I doubt they came up with much extra content to be reused as generic events. It's also obvious that there was nobody keeping an eye on this game in terms of review and quality checking, so I don't think there was any rewriting going on for Alfie's stuff. Edit: Goddammit... I just did my watch/commentary on Episode 4 of the anime. Nothing was overtly bad except for the fact that Arie has apparently been shunted off to the side and also bowdlerized for the sake of being "funny". You got your wish, people reading and hoping for my suffering. The episode might not be horribly bad, but it did succeed in getting me pissed off. Now I've got 2 more episodes to work through with this bad taste in my mouth. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Mar 27, 2020 |
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Mar 26, 2020 13:11
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So, I'm hoping to have the next update out tonight. I'm just trying to get the screenshots done at the moment and then I'm pretty sure I'll have to try and find some stuff to trim in order to fit it into a single update. I just want to say that I got angrier as the episodes went on, so the second half of the update starts to skip through things more quickly and results in more of me just ranting at the show rather than doing a summary of what's going on. Episode 5 is silly anger, where I'm mad at the show for destroying a character I like. Episode 6 starts out okay, but it veers off hard about halfway through and ended up leaving me feeling outright disgusted. Now, it could be that I'm just going stir-crazy from the combination of my stressful final semester work being upended at the last second and thrown into chaos because of the virus situation, the constant unending torrent of fear being blasted by every news channel and site about the virus, and the fact that I've been mostly locked away for the past week. I'm probably just overreacting because of that poo poo. Even still, I tapped out three quarters of the way through Episode 6 because I felt like the anime crossed a line of bullshit that I wasn't willing to put up with. Episode 6 gets bad, and I don't mean in a fanservice way. Just a heads up. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Mar 28, 2020 |
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Mar 28, 2020 20:46
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I take it someone mangled Femiruna? Also, I might add an extra astrology appendix as a palette cleanser for what we're gonna have to process later.
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Mar 28, 2020 21:04
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AnAnonymousIdiot posted:I take it someone mangled Femiruna? Well, yes, but that's not who I was talking about. Arie gets mangled hard. However, Femiruna plays part in why I bailed on Episode 6.
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Mar 28, 2020 21:14
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Psycho Knight posted:Well, yes, but that's not who I was talking about. Arie gets mangled hard. Oh gently caress... so what did the writers think was supposed to be funny? Did they...
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Mar 28, 2020 21:23
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...Yeah, all I really knew about the anime series before you started it was what happened with Femiruna. Hell, that's all I knew about the original Conception before the LP started. I spent pretty much the entire time waiting for poo poo to get real bad, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. But yeah, its clear the anime is really, really bad about this poo poo and I wouldn't blame you for dropping it. Also, hi, I've been reading since the start of the last thread, I just don't like to comment if I don't have anything to really say, so... Silence from me, mostly.
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Mar 28, 2020 23:35
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Special Update III: PK finally breaks – Conception: The Anime (Episodes 4-6) Back to this nonsense once more. In the last update of this kind, we took a look at the first 3 episodes of the Conception Anime adaption and found out that some… liberties were taken with some of the characters, among other things. Despite that, and the overabundance of Mana, the first few episodes were largely pretty boring. Ruka’s complete change of character was probably the most egregious thing we saw. Everything else was mostly rushed exposition that tried to set up the remaining (limited) runtime of this anime as quickly as humanly possible. Even then, they still had to constantly refer the audience to go check the website and read up on poo poo themselves in place of explaining it within the show.  …Okay, we’ll get to that in a minute. Point is, the show has so far been boring as sin and fairly bland. With the exposition out of the way, will the next 3 episodes manage to conjure up something of interest? …Probably not, but hey, maybe it will manage to piss us off or offend us in some way that would clear the way for mockery and entertainment. Now, what the actual poo poo is going on with this opening of Episode 4? Did one of the local girls sneak into Itsuki’s room for some sexy time?   Oh dear god, no! NO! Stop doing that, Conception: Anime! That’s horrifying!So Episode 4 cold opens with some romance novel… thing. There’s a woman wearing a Mana mask and the story talks about how this dude that looks exactly like Itsuki (he’s shown with a blue tie instead of Itsuki’s red tie at one point, other than that he’s identical) met her. It also sets up other scenes where Not-Itsuki is clearly loving different women, including a lady that meets him in the park, the manager of a store, a peasant girl and a governor from what looks like the Feudal period (the governor guy doesn’t even look like Itsuki in this… so I don’t know what the gently caress), Not-Itsuki being dominated by a dominatrix, a girl in a school swimsuit (worryingly labeled as “Girl *** Student”). I’m just going to stop there. You get the idea. It’s being presented as though we are playing an ero game or 18+ rated VN. This goes on for the first full minute of the episode until Itsuki interrupts Mana as part of a fourth-wall gag.  That gag actually proceeds straight into the episode, with Mana chasing Itsuki to a church, where he locks himself in to find shelter from Mana’s weird role-playing poo poo. Mana then reveals that this was her plan or some crap.  The church is where he encounters Arie.  Arie seems to be presented pretty much in line with how she appears in the game. The kids are crowding her and being whiny, as kids are known to be. She’s polite and kind and all that. Not really anything to talk about so far.  Also we get to see that yes, Mana was indeed reading from an erotic novel and creepily self-inserting herself and Itsuki into the stories.  Anyway, because that scene with Arie had lasted for 60 seconds, we jump cut to a scene of Itsuki trying to battle his way through a big crowd for some reason. Mahiru is standing by, but decides to leave when it looks like Itsuki isn’t going to be able to get through the mob of people. He eventually fights his way out and reveals that he was trying to buy snacks of some kind. He spots Yuzuha looking at the mob of people, but when she sees Itsuki looking at her she bolts. He chases after her, but loses sight. Yuzuha spies on him from behind a tree though. Itsuki is then shown sitting down on a park bench eating his… sandwich? Bread? Some kind of snack or another. He wonders about Yuzuha and if she had a chance to buy lunch, at which point Mana drops another one of those erotic novel collections out of a tree and then starts offering him “advice” on which setting in the book might be a good fit for Arie. There’s a brief shot where I think Itsuki realizes that Mana is getting her “knowledge” from porn, but I highly doubt we’ll see him start to ignore Mana. It’s probably just a passing sight gag. Itsuki somehow manages to find where Yuzuha lives. He gets her attention by saying that he brought her some bread, since it looked like she didn’t get the opportunity to buy any herself.  Yuzuha seems to fit her game representation pretty well. She seems more frightened by Itsuki as opposed to shy, but the result is basically the same with her being introverted and kind of a downer. Yuzuha reveals that she was looking to buy some bread not to eat, but to use on her paintings. Apparently, bread works well as an eraser or something. Yuzuha also mentions liking Onigiri, so I guess I should give credit for the writers knowing that obscure fact about her. There’s a brief cut back to Mana, who is sitting in a field of flowers reading passages from the ero-novel. Also the camera focuses in on her lower half, her chest, and her mouth (with lip-stick) as if it’s trying to be sexy, which I guess is the gag. One thing that this episode is really starting to shine a light on is how much runtime is wasted. The show is clearly crunched for time. It was crunched for time the second that someone said “We’re doing a harem show with 13 women, it’s going to be 12 episodes, and also we need to set up a JRPG plot because we’re marketing a game.” Despite that, we still get (very) frequent 1+ minute scenes with Mana being Mana.  Back to what is important… sort of. Yuzuha does start showing some of her downer traits and being self-depreciating, so her anime counterpart seems to be pretty faithful. We’ll see how long that lasts. Oh, and yes, of course she starts doing the “onii-chan”/big brother thing. You really think they would leave out that? The rest of the scene is a condensed version of Yuzuha’s first few bonding events. It covers her job as a painter, her not liking to go outside, getting painting ideas from her dreams, and also her coffin bed. Notably, the anime gives us a brief line where Yuzuha says that she named her coffin (Katrine) in order to make it sound cute. I don’t think that has a basis in the game itself, but I’ll admit that it is a nice addition. From there, the scene fast forward through the next few bonding updates. Or maybe skip is the better way to describe it. Yuzuha goes straight into talking about how she hasn’t been dreaming as much lately (I think this is implied in the game to be because of Itsuki’s involvement in her life). Then they make the plan to go to the park, then we cut to the park.  Not going to lie, I thought this was somewhat funny. The game doesn’t give us a good idea of just how small Yuzuha is and how massive a coffin would be when being carried by her. Yuzuha drags her coffin along, just like in the game. Although in the anime she tells (and shows) us that she decorated it to make it look more cute (it’s very glittery and also has a pink bow on top of it). Now, here’s where that scene that I thought was cute takes a sudden turn. Yuzuha giving her coffin bed a name to make it sound cute? I don’t have any issue with that. Yuzuha is a very lonely girl and doesn’t have much contact with people, so personifying an object that is central to her daily life makes sense in terms of the illusion of socialization. Dressing it up and making it cute? I’m not as okay with that, especially since Anime Yuzuha is blushing and smiling while describing it. If you’ll remember what Reone told us during Yuzuha’s final few bonding events, the reason she carries that coffin around and sleeps in it is because she anticipates dying every time she goes to sleep (due to her disease) and she wants the “cleanup” to be as convenient as possible for whomever discovers her so that she doesn’t cause trouble for anyone. It’s morbid. It’s very morbid. It’s also depressing. I don’t really like how goofily the anime treats that.  Stupid kid and her stupid mom are in this scene as well, although the context has been changed to make it a misunderstanding. Yuzuha runs off back home and cries in her coffin because she thinks that the child and the mother were weirded out by her and (by extension) Itsuki. Yuzuha feels awful because she thinks that Itsuki was made to feel like a weirdo due to him hanging out with her. This is how it goes in the game and it is slightly important for showing that Yuzuha’s feelings of alienation are not completely without merit. But the anime changes that. How? Well, the stupid kid and her stupid mother in the anime are not pointing at/gawking at Yuzuha or her coffin. You see how their eyes are looking upwards and the little girl is pointing up instead of at Yuzuha?  Yes, in the anime the reason why the girl and mother point and gawk is because Mana is hanging out in the tree trying to disguise herself as a bird in order to spy on Itsuki (also she’s humping the branch in that screenshot). Yuzuha just thinks that they are talking about her because she didn’t see Mana up there being weird. On the one hand, this does make the people of Granvania look slightly less like assholes compared to the game. That part is fine. But on the other hand, this also implies that nobody thinks any differently about Yuzuha and she’s just overreacting and being paranoid that everyone is laughing at her behind her back. I don’t think I like this change, at least not for the sake of a minor gag. After that, Itsuki goes to the church to pray and repent for (in his belief) being responsible for hurting Yuzuha’s feelings. Arie finds him and explains Yuzuha’s condition to him.  She also explains why Yuzuha carries the coffin around with her and why she doesn’t want people around. It sounds like it’s almost line-for-line what Reone says in the game. It’s not a big deal that Arie is the one giving this explanation to Itsuki (I realize that they need to divide screen time between the Maidens however they can), but it does strike me as weird. It makes sense for Reone to tell Itsuki all of this, because Reone is the doctor that delivers Yuzuha’s medicine and checks on her condition. How did Arie, a nun, come to learn all of this? Either way, that scene ends and Arie disappears again. I think this is supposed to be a shared episode between Yuzuha and Arie, kind of like how episode 2 was Ruka/Mahiru and episode 3 was Reone/Farun, but we are now two thirds of the way through the episode and Arie hasn’t really had any time devoted to her as a character. We were introduced to her (a second time) and then her next scene is talking to Itsuki entirely about Yuzuha.  Anyway, the scene cuts and Itsuki finds Mana working on a coffin as an apology to Yuzuha for that misunderstanding in the park. Itsuki thinks it’s a great idea and brings it to Yuzuha’s house to show her. Itsuki talks about how he will support her and be there for her and all of that. They show the two having fun together outdoors:  They also talk about the Pisces constellation and how it’s fitting for Yuzuha since it’s the faintest, and doesn’t stand out, and its shape is uneven. She also wonders why it’s considered part of the zodiac even though it doesn’t have a third magnitude star (the answer is that that’s not how the zodiac works. Remember the Ophiuchus talk we had?). There’s also constellation puns:  Continuing on from that, Yuzuha’s entire route is basically wrapped up as she tells Itsuki that she will fulfill her duty as a Star Maiden and seems to have a new lease on life. This is followed by a very brief Love Ritual scene (yes, Yuzuha is naked for this as well and doesn’t seem the least bit shy). We don’t get to see the Star Child that’s created though. Instead, the scene cuts to Mana giving a gift to Itsuki and explaining that he should take it to Arie (there’s like 2 minutes left in this episode, I should mention). Itsuki gets to the church but Arie doesn’t seem to be there, until…  I will give the anime points for making Arie’s hidden room actually look hidden, though. It’s basically just a section of the wall that slides open. Arie quickly changes the subject away from her secret room and back to Yuzuha. Itsuki gives her the gift that Mana gave him to give to her. He says it’s thanks for the advice she gave to him. Then Itsuki realizes that he never actually looked inside the box, which is the dumbest thing you could do after getting something from Mana.  Turns out it was a perfectly normal gift though. Who knew?   For gently caress’s sake… of course it’s not. Yes, Mana included a whip in the gift box and I guess now apparently the anime is going to characterize Arie’s weapon-collecting thing as a dominatrix fetish.  Go drown in sewage, Conception: Anime. So ends Episode 4. We spent 85% of the episode talking about Yuzuha and going through her entire character arc from the game, and then the only thing we see of Arie is a  “funny” scene suggesting that she’s secretly into sadist stuff, even though (according to the game) that’s a Mahiru thing. Episode 5 opens up with the big crab we fought just a little while ago, which means that Itsuki and the kids are tackling the Cancer Star Labyrinth at the moment. Noticeably, he has added a bunch of new Star Children that we were not introduced to at any point, such as a Paladin and a Berserker. After killing the big crab, a scene happens where that loud roar is heard (they are still in the dungeon at this point, instead of the game version where they are standing outside). Apparently Itsuki and Mana are already aware of the roaring by this point, because Itsuki says “Again?” when it happens.  Itsuki talks about how he hasn’t had time to spend with the Maidens to make more Star Children because him and the kids have been fighting constantly. Mana then talks about having arranged a “summer fling” to remedy that, so I guess this is going to be the beach episode. Also, does something stand out to you a little bit in that screenshot? Maybe the very modern looking road?  Yes, the anime clears up the weird technology vagueness that the game has been giving us and just shows that Granvania is loving identical to Earth. They’ve got cars and modern highways.  Also, Alfie is coming along for the trip! You might be asking, “Why is Alfie coming along? Did we miss something where she became the Ophiuchus Maiden?” Nope!  It’s because the Star Children get to go along as well!  Look at those little monster slaying bastards.As soon as we come back from the opening, Mahiru mentions that Mana prepared swimsuits for all of them. However, before anything else can be said, we hear someone calling out.  Seiya is in this episode! Remember Seiya? Good stuff. Also he has a convertible. We’ve left behind basically all pretense of this being a fantasy world at this point. This is Japan, pure and simple.  I wanted to include this screenshot because it’s the Star Children and I love when they get screentime. The Star Children make a bunch of comments on Seiya, like how they think his clothes are ripped up (he has his shirt left open to show off his bod), or how they think he’s creepy, or that he looks weak. One of the Star Children even says they could beat him in a single hit. Itsuki wonders who Seiya is and Mana explains how he’s the idol of the academy.  Unlike the game, Anime Seiya doesn’t only have eyes for Lillith. Mahiru mentions that he has apparently been hitting on all the Star Maidens. Lillith is simply his current “target”. Farun mentions that Seiya used to spend every night at the bar where she works, drinking (I guess Seiya is exempt from the MINIMUM DRINKING AGE! DO NOT VIOLATE! law?). Mahiru mentions that before he was doing that, he was following her around.  Lillith isn’t quite as hard on him in the anime. She says that he’s not exactly a bad person, it’s just the kind of personality he has. Lillith then says that all they can do is wait for him to just give up. Anyway, the group wonders how Seiya managed to find out about their beach—It was Mana. Come on. I don’t even need to finish that sentence. You know Mana is behind it.  Yes, there’s straight up cell phones and social media in this world too. We’re not even going with the “Star Energy Communication Device” thing. There’s just smart phones and internet.  Anyway, we get a rundown of everyone in their swimsuits. Alfie’s is completely different from what she wears in the game, though (maybe it hadn’t been finalized when this episode was being animated). The design isn’t bad, but that colour combination doesn’t look great. I’m not a fashion person though, so maybe I’m wrong and that combo “works”, who knows? Also we can see that Sue is still in her cosplay gear. Itsuki is wearing standard trunks, in case you’re curious. No speedo for him.  The Star Children are apparently here to train, not have beach fun. Anyway, this is apparently going to be the Lillith episode. We get some scenes of the other Maidens playing and tanning and eating and enjoying the beach, after which we cut to Itsuki sitting down with Lillith. I’m not going to bother describing the Maiden scenes in detail anymore. I’ll just point out anything that is weird or different from the game. Lillith immediately talks about her having had a bad fortune in regards to water, which is why she’s not swimming, so I’m pretty sure we’re just going to be running through every other portion of her character route during this episode, like what happened with Yuzuha and Mahiru.  You know who is rocking a speedo, though? Seiya is. Also he has a selfie stick, because this is loving modern day Japan, not the magical fantasy world it’s supposed to be. One thing that does stand out here is that Lillith apparently thinks that Seiya’s narcissism is because of her fortune telling. We get a flashback scene where she tells Itsuki about how she answered Seiya’s question about his “fated partner”. Seiya talks about how he knows that the Star Maidens are virgins and that that must mean they have to remain pure, but that they still must be free to fall in love despite their duties. There’s a shot of Lillith looking into her Crystal Ball during this where we see Seiya looking at Seiya, implying that Seiya’s “fated partner” is himself, which I thought was a decent sight gag. Anyway, Lillith mentions that Seiya is the biggest narcissist and playboy in this world and Itsuki wonders how that can even be. Lillith then loses her poo poo because she thinks he’s calling her fortune telling a sham. She starts to cry a bit and there’s a brief cut to a fruity island drink or something. When it cuts back—  Yeah, it’s Lillie. I want to point out that it doesn’t seem like Lillith got hit on the head or shocked/surprised. The switch just happens because whatever. Lillie starts freaking the gently caress out about what Itsuki did, and he just explains that he doesn’t believe in that fortune telling stuff. Lillie then talks about how Lillith’s fortunes are never wrong and all that, then she hits herself on the head to bring Lillith back out in order to prove the accuracy to Itsuki. Lillith wants him to try it as well. Itsuki agrees to go along with it if it satisfies the two of them. I’ll admit, while I do think that Lillith/Lillie completely overreacts to Itsuki not buying the fortune telling thing, Anime Itsuki is also being kind of a dick in this scene with his insensitive attitude. It’s a bit weird. Even if you don’t buy into fortune telling, it is Lillith’s profession. It’d be different if she was scamming people, but she’s just running a little street business kind of thing for mostly love-struck students, so he doesn’t need to be so “Pshaw” about it in front of her. Lillith tells Itsuki’s fortune, although what she sees is shocking or surprising enough that she won’t tell Itsuki and immediately turns around to scrawl a note to Lillie while basically telling Itsuki that “You know what? My fortune telling is a sham! Yeah, let’s go with that.” Lillith then switches back to Lillie. There’s a minor scene in the middle of this where Mana is massaging sunblock onto Seiya’s back. I’ll spare you that screenshot because it contains Mana. The two of them are concocting some kind of plan and Mana is getting something out of it (a watermelon, I think). Not sure what Seiya is planning. When we get back to Lillie, her and Itsuki are talking about the fortune. Lillie finds the note that Lillith wrote to her and explains what Lillith couldn’t bring herself to say: Itsuki has the “seal of death” on him. He’s apparently fated to die in the near-future. Itsuki is… pretty nonplussed about that actually.  I do like this sight gag. Lillie gets mad because Itsuki doesn’t seem to care, but Itsuki rightly points out that there’s not really anything he can do about a fortune like that. If that’s what is meant to be, then that’s just what’s going to happen. Not like he can react in any way to a fortune like that since it’s vague as gently caress.  I don’t really want to talk about what’s happening here. The rest of this scene is quickly devolving into a clusterfuck. Itsuki tries to get Lillith to tell him details about how he’s supposedly going to die, like when, where, and through what method he’ll bite it, but she says she can’t do something like that because the Maidens are supposed to assist the Visitor and… I don’t even know. Somehow Mana fisting Seiya over on the beach (his speedo comes off and it’s clear Mana made him climax, so something happened) proves that Lillith’s fortune telling is accurate and Itsuki apologizes for not believing her.  Anyway, Itsuki’s belief in her gets Lillith to look into what they can do to save Itsuki’s life. Mana is implied to have some hand in the results of the fortune. Lillith turns beat red and writes a note to Lillie, then we cut to Itsuki naked in the Love Ritual bed with Lillie. The Love Ritual happens and then I guess that’s all for the beach/Lillith’s screentime.  Pull-ups are nothing for Paladin. The next scene brings us to the training camp with the kids and Alfie. A Merchant Star Child is now in the group, so I guess that was the result of Itsuki/Lillie’s session.  Alfie is a slave driver. Although I guess she kind of is in the game, too. Weirdly, Arie is also part of this scene. She’s hiding behind some nearby crates wearing sunglasses and spying on Itsuki with binoculars. I really despise what this anime is seemingly doing to Arie. Alfie gets weirdly affectionate when she sees Itsuki drop by and brings him out some tea.  This was a real-world tie in with a restaurant in Tokyo. They had the tea, as well as special merchandise to promote the game/anime.  Also Seiya is here now too. I assume he’s spying on Arie, because there’s still been no mention of Alfie being a Star Maiden, so I doubt he’d be here because of her.  This isn’t Arie, Conception Anime. You’re taking her “weapon hobby” thing, which existed for roughly 2 events, and stretching it out to compose her entire personality while also cranking it up to 11. gently caress off with this. Itsuki gets the same idea (of Seiya being after Arie) and summons his sword to try and chase Seiya away. Arie gets flustered and runs off, claiming that she is not Arie (she was wearing a “disguise”). Itsuki just decides to continue chasing Seiya. I will admit that I like this thing of the anime turning Seiya into a rival/foil of Itsuki. Not sure if it will continue or if it will only exist for this one episode, but it is nice. I mentioned this a ways back in the game: I didn’t like the fact that Itsuki never had any male side character to interact with. A “Chlotz” of his own, if you will.  The next scene (yes, we abandoned Alfie midway through that scene to switch to Arie instead) is Arie picking up a Naginata she had ordered from the weapon shop. The only reason I include this screenshot is because the shop owner makes an appearance and actually gets some lines. More than he gets in the game. Also, Arie explains that the reason she ordered the weapon was to be closer to Itsuki in spirit, since the Star Maidens can’t actually fight the impurities. I like the idea behind that line, but I hate the fact that Arie’s character has been mangled in the process. We also get a brief shot of Arie in her “forbidden room”, where she has the “creepy/sinister” look and refers to the weapon she just picked up as “Naginata-chan”. gently caress this show for what it’s doing to her. I cannot stress how much I hate this character mangling. Yeah, it’s mostly a personal hatred because I really like Arie. I’ll admit to that. I definitely wouldn’t be getting worked up if this was Tarua. But I’m the one that has to watch this so I’m drat sure going to openly complain about it in-update. We cut to Seiya again, who is still trying to dodge Itsuki. He ducks into the church where Arie is praying and Seiya apparently explains to her what’s on his mind (we don’t really hear what is bothering him, but it’s something related to love). Arie’s counsel seems to be a relief to Seiya. Arie then says that because he shared his secret with her, she feels as though she has to share her secret with him.  No, I am most certainly not making GBS threads you. Arie reveals her “BIG SHAMEFUL SECRET” to loving Seiya at the drop of a hat. We also get a close up shot “nudge nudge wink wink” thing before the shot above where the anime tries to suggest that Seiya is loving Arie from behind.  Uggghhhh… Yeah. Arie gets upset that Seiya isn’t good at swinging around the Naginata, then he slips in some of his own sweat and somehow falls off the table on top of Arie. Itsuki hears Arie call out and rushes to the church, which leads to wacky misunderstandings. Seiya tries to hurriedly explain the situation to Itsuki and clear up the misunderstanding, Arie is relieved that her naginata-chan isn’t broken, and Itsuki starts telling Arie not to worry and that he’ll still support her even if she’s no longer a Maiden. Yes, the anime is doing this scene. A scene where Itsuki thinks Arie was raped/sexually assaulted and now he’s trying to tell her that everything will be okay because he’ll always be there for her, even if she’s “ruined”. Am I reading into that? gently caress no! Mana floats around Arie sniffing her and then holds up an “Okay” sign while telling Itsuki that everything is totally cool, she’s still a virgin and she still hasn’t even kissed anyone yet, so she hasn't been ruined. That is 100% what the show was doing. gently caress this show. It took until Episode 5, but I’ve finally reached that point.  Can’t believe I still have 5 minutes of this episode plus another 20 of the next one before I can be done with this for another few weeks. So Arie explains things by showing Itsuki (and Seiya, who is also still around) her weapons room. She is worried that Itsuki thinks it’s creepy, but Itsuki thinks it rules. Arie then starts getting hot under the collar as Itsuki picks up a spear and starts posing with it.  This goes on for a bit. The one thing notable about this scene is that Seiya is there and excitedly taking pictures at Arie’s request. He doesn’t seem to have any animosity towards Itsuki, which I think is nice (assuming it continues that way for the rest of the series). As I said, the game was really missing a bumbling friend for Itsuki. It also helps to make Seiya look slightly less like a jackass and more like a lovable loser. Anyway, I’m trying to distract myself from this godawful excuse of an adaption of Arie’s route. She’s talking to her weapons and about how they want to be embraced by Itsuki and Mana is there and I hate it all. There’s also a scene where Arie talks about the naginata being a ceremonial weapon for weddings and that she wants it by her side for their (her and Itsuki’s) wedding (she doesn’t say that last bit, but that’s what is implied to be leading to). Itsuki stops her to point out that a real naginata looks different than what Arie had earlier picked up. Mana then shows her a picture of a real naginata (the one Arie has looks like a yanyuedao, or maybe a glaive) and also mentions the Firearms and Swords Control Act (Mana says that Arie would be arrested for carrying around a weapon like that on Sola). Let’s just finish the drat episode so I can take a break… Itsuki says that he’s relieved to see a hobby like this from Arie (or a frivolous side) because he found her hard to approach due to how serious she always looks. Arie is really happy that Itsuki accepts her hobbies and likes her a lot—  Then the Love Ritual happens where Arie acts as a total dominatrix by whipping Itsuki and getting turned on by it and gently caress IT! gently caress IT I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE! THIS EPISODE IS DONE! This stupid series completely decimated Arie’s entire character and mutated it into this abomination for the sake of desperately trying to be funny, which they still failed at. The only thing even slightly resembling sadist tendencies by Arie is her love of blades, and even then, she shows no inclinations towards getting pleasure from causing pain, with or without the weapons. She’s a goddamn nun that spends the majority of her route struggling with religious guilt about enjoying her weapon collecting hobby and feeling good during the ritual/her time with Itsuki. Where in the monkey-loving poo poo did the writers conjure up this interpretation from?  There’s a post-credits scene where Arie meets with Seiya and gets some pictures of Itsuki and the weapons from him and then it’s implied that Seiya is secretly after Itsuki. There, episode over now!  Christ, what fresh hell is this?  Okay, we’re doing Collette now. At least I kind of hate Collette, so I don’t have to worry about a gradually building rage-quit that eventually explodes. We’re told that Collette is pure and innocent, to the point that she thinks babies are delivered to the cabbage field by storks. We then see that this is Mana describing Collette to Itsuki, with the two of them hiding behind a nearby tree. Mana talks about corrupting her, but Itsuki is actually reluctant this time. He feels kind of scummy for doing something like the Love Ritual with Collette (as he should).  After the opening, Itsuki is in Collette’s bakery helping her out. I think we’re a third of the way into Collette’s route now and this is the first we’ve seen of her. This scene goes for a few minutes. It’s entirely about Itsuki wanting to help her out, Collette picking up on the fact that he’s doing that because of the Love Ritual thing, Itsuki denying that but also admitting to it, and then the two of them working together on making the bread. I should note that Collette doesn’t really feel like Collette so far. Game Collette has a bit of an impish side to her. The “I’m so sweet and pure and innocent” thing is mostly an act she puts on. She’s more frank with Itsuki and is clearly more knowledgeable about “impure” things than outward appearance would imply. Her whole thing is acting like a little girl, but teasing the player that is thirsty for her with the fact that they’re chasing a goddamn child. …Sorry, I’m still angry from last episode. I’m typing this as I go, so the last episode is still fresh in my mind.  Anyway, Mana is doing Mana things the entire time. Pretending to be Itsuki’s inner thoughts about defiling Collette and that creepy bullshit. It’s noteworthy that Itsuki is growing increasingly pissed off with Mana as the series goes on. There’s a scene here where he grabs Mana and pitches her out the window into the sky for muttering that stuff.  This is a 1-second shot that occurs after Itsuki and Collette talk about getting the bread ready to sell to Collette’s customers. I have no sweet clue what it means and the show doesn’t address it. It confuses me. No customers show up and Itsuki tries to reassure Collette, but Collette mentions that it’s been like this ever since her grandfather fell ill. So Anime Collette apparently isn’t even good enough to run the bakery at all. There’s no mention of a competing store (yet). Collette just sucks at running a bakery in this version I guess.  The anime does give us a look at Collette’s grandfather though, or at least a picture of his younger days. Collette seems depressed about her inability to draw in customers, Mana makes another appearance to destroy the mood and then we get the scene of Itsuki pitching her out the window for a third time (officially running the gag into the ground). Mahiru and Arie then show up at the bakery because they heard Itsuki was working here and they wanted to see if they could help out as well. They both buy a bag full of bread and take their leave. Itsuki then declares that they will sell a lot of bread today. There’s a brief cutaway that shows Ruka out playing with the orphans at the orphanage, then it cuts back to the empty store again. Itsuki asks if there’s some reason why the store is deserted like this.  Alfie then comes by the bakery with the Star Children and they proceed to act adorable, as they always are. This brings a flash of light to my cold dead heart. Unfortunately I now know that the light will be fleeting.  Grappler says he wants bread, Berserker says she’s hungry, and Warrior gives Itsuki a look of anticipation/begging. Itsuki then has a look on his face like “poo poo, there goes my money for the week” and caves, telling the Star Children that they can get as much as they want.  Itsuki looks through his empty wallet, but Alfie hands over a bag of money. I guess Alfie’s “focus episode” is divided into tiny chunks throughout the episodes, since she seems to show up and get little moments in-between the other Maidens a lot, instead of half an episode devoted just to her. We then turn our attention back to why Collette’s bakery doesn’t get customers, but are once again interrupted by—  Great… these two morons. Are we about to cross over into Reone’s route here? The two idiots introduce themselves as the “number one bakery in this country”. Yeah, that’s a thing that’s happening. These two guys are apparently from the company that produces the Lunch Packs (the vacuum sealed things that Itsuki grabbed in Yuzuha’s episode). They mention that their company has been looking for land for a new shop and Collette’s bakery meets all of their conditions. So yes, Collette is officially stealing Reone’s route and repurposing it. The two are trying to pressure Collette into selling her shop to them. I think it should be obvious to everyone that the reason she doesn’t get customers is that these two are bullying people away or something. It’s all falling into place now. The Star Children butt in to tell the two chucklefucks that they’re being too loud. I am really hoping that we get a scene of the Star Children beating the poo poo out of these two. Please, just give me this. Unfortunately, no. Granted, what actually happens is at least sort of funny in its own right. The Star Children start chewing out the two guys for being rude. They call them losers for going around harassing girls like Collette and tell them that their mothers would be ashamed to see them acting this way. The children then happily talk about being grateful that they are Itsuki’s children, that Alfie raised them the right way, and that they won’t grow up to be adults like those two losers.  Then the two thugs run from the store in tears, shouting at the Star Children not to bully them.  The Star Children are the best thing about this adaption. Why couldn’t they have had scenes like this in the game? Anyway, Collette finally explains that rampant capitalism is the reason why her bakery doesn’t get any customers (as well as why other bakeries have been closing down). The Lunch Packs are cheap and available in a bunch of different flavours, which traditional bakeries apparently can’t compete with. Interestingly, Mana pops in to mention that Lunch Pack is a business owned by Femiruna’s family (so I don’t know who those two guys were as far as “corporate ladder” goes. Maybe franchisees?). Mana thinks that Femiruna might be able to help Collette out if Itsuki goes to her to make a request.  We cut to Femiruna, who says that there’s nothing she can do to help. It’s not her business after all, it’s her family’s (meaning her mother’s and father’s). She says that, while she understands the situation, she can’t let her personal feelings get in the way of operations. Itsuki begs her, but Femiruna rebuffs him. Just as she turns to leave, Itsuki grabs her wrist and begs her to listen to what he has to say. When Femiruna yanks her hand out of his grip, she loses her balance and falls backwards, striking her head off of a table.  This is not a good situation. …I wonder what happens to a God’s Gift when he’s culpable for unintentional manslaughter? They kind of need him to keep saving the world after all. Itsuki is stunned and tries to wake Femiruna, but there’s no response and the title fades in to the bottom right corner as though we’re cutting to commercial break and there’s any semblance of tension as to whether or not Femiruna was seriously hurt (of course she’s not dead or concussed). When it cuts back, Femiruna wakes up in a darkened storage room of some kind, I think. Itsuki opens the door with a paper bag on his head that has a single eye hole cut out. He starts walking towards her and Femiruna understandably starts freaking the gently caress out at whatever this Hostel situation she now finds herself in is.  Not sure why the Japanese subtitles are in here. From what little Japanese I know, this seems to say roughly what English Sub Itsuki is saying. Maybe it’s intended to convey that his voice is being masked/disguised? Polsy will probably clarify this later. Disguised-Itsuki leaves a basket of bread for Femiruna and tells her to eat it and rest up, then leaves. Outside the room, Itsuki and Mana talk about the situation (Mana was the one that suggested that Itsuki disguise himself). Itsuki and Mana say that Femiruna hit her head really hard and still seems dazed and confused, which she would be because, you know… SHE WAS loving KIDNAPPED! Itsuki then asks if this was really a good idea, which NO! NO IT WAS NOT! I want to be clear. Itsuki grabbed Femiruna to try and force her to listen to him, she tripped and struck the back of her head/neck off of the edge of what looked like a solid mahogany table (which knocked her out cold for what seems like at least an hour), and then Itsuki proceeded to drag her out of her home and stuff her in a dark windowless storage room while disguising himself like he’s loving Faust from Guilty Gear. Mana says that it’s the only thing they could do, because even if Itsuki is a Visitor, he might be sentenced to death if he ever physically hurt a Star Maiden. So I guess a God’s Gift would suffer consequences… although I’m still not sure what the hell would happen to Granvania at that point. Killing Itsuki would mean condemning the world to death. Star God doesn’t just replace a God’s Gift willy-nilly. It’s a 10-year wait for a new one. Itsuki still feels guilty about what he did and is doing. Mana then says that if that’s the case, then he better take good care of her to make it up. Mana is sure that Femiruna will open up to him once she feels his sincerity. You know, like Stockholm Syndrome!  Also, Collette is an accessory to this crime. It’s her storeroom that they are locking Femiruna up in. Itsuki apologizes to Mana for thinking she was just some dirty racoon that was only interested in shacking him up with Star Maidens. As soon as Itsuki leaves, Mana reveals that Itsuki was 100% correct in his assessment of her. Mana is apparently using this situation as a way to get to Femiruna.  Look at her. She’s loving terrified! She’s from the richest family in Granvania. She’s definitely thinking at this point that she’s been abducted as part of some kind of ransom scheme or something. Femiruna then starts looking for a way to escape her new prison. She quickly discovers a small vent/window to the outside behind some bags. When she opens it, she sees nothing but open fields and mountains (she’s at Collette’s bakery in town, but because the storage room is at the back and facing away from the town, Femiruna thinks she’s been brought to some remote location in the wilderness).  Because she thinks there’s no escape, she stays in the room. Itsuki comes back with more of Collette’s bread and finds that Femiruna didn’t eat any of the stuff he left before. Femiruna starts freaking out a bit because she thinks Disguise-Itsuki is after her body (which Disguise-Itsuki doesn’t help by saying something like “I am worried about your body, but it won’t get better unless you eat”). Femiruna then understandably gets suspicious of the bread because Disguise-Itsuki keeps telling her to eat it and she thinks it could be drugged or something. She turns around and starts cowering in the corner, trying to fight the urge to eat. This sets up a gag where Collete quickly walks in, gets something off of a shelf, and walks back out (unknown to Femiruna).  I’ll be honest, I’m not sure I want to keep watching this episode. We get a montage of different kinds of bread/sandwiches being left in front of Femiruna and her fighting her hunger. Eventually she’s laying flat on her back, dead-eyed, as Itsuki finds her and rushes over to try and get her to eat something before she starves to death. At this point he finally takes off the loving disguise and explains that he’s trying to help her get better. He also apologizes for hurting her and says that he’s trying to make things right.  Of course this works on her, because Stockholm has completely set in. Femiruna thinks about how everyone else that gets close to her is always after her father’s power or wealth, but Itsuki seems different and seems to passionately care about her (HE KIDNAPPED YOU AND FORCIBLY CONFINED YOU! FOR WHAT SEEMS LIKE A FEW DAYS AT LEAST!).  Yes, they set up Itsuki feeding Femiruna some bread so that it sounds suggestive. I think I’m done. The Arie thing last episode pissed me off because it was assassinating a character I really like in the game, but this, this is different. This is offensive. This show just gave us half an episode where the hero kidnaps a woman he nearly got killed or paralyzed or potentially brain damaged (unintentionally, but still), locks her in a basement against her will in a desperate attempt to save his own rear end from the consequences, doesn’t seek medical help of any kind, disguises himself as part of the desperate attempt to dodge responsibility which leads to the mental torturing of the woman (who thinks she’s been kidnapped and could be killed or raped at any moment), and culminates in the woman thinking that the hero’s batshit creepy insanity is actually a sign of deep passion and caring. Then the show nudges us in the ribs and goes “Heh!? Heh!? The dialogue makes it sound like she’s blowing him. Get it? Open your mouth wider? Swallow it all? Did you choke? Take it slow? Are you getting it yet? It’s funny! You’re such a perv, viewer!”. It gets a little worse after that, with Femiruna starting to act like a fussy child, but I don’t want to go on. I’m just done with this. This isn’t an adaption of Femiruna’s supposedly “masochistic” side. It’s not. I’m sure that’s the excuse the writers of the show would throw out, but it doesn’t fly. This isn’t funny, or cute, or endearing, or romantic, or whatever. This is disturbing. This is disturbing even before you start thinking about the underlying implications of what kind of message is being sent. “It’s okay to do this, because eventually the person will learn to love you. It’s goofy romance stuff!”  In case you’re wondering, since the episode basically forgot about Collette’s bakery situation, near the end of the episode Collette’s grandfather runs in and implores her to take his bread recipes and get ready for the academy festival or some crap. We also get a brief shot of Narcisstes discovering (presumably) the whole 13th Labyrinth thing. There’s no rating this time. I don’t think Episode 5 or the latter half of Episode 6 deserve that extra effort. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Mar 29, 2020 |
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Mar 29, 2020 00:34
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Wow. It's almost like someone else entirely wrote the star children parts.
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Mar 29, 2020 01:32
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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:Wow. It's almost like someone else entirely wrote the star children parts. The scenes with them are consistently good, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone else was responsible for them. The SCs are adorable, they get touching moments with Itsuki, and they are funny to watch. I wish more time was devoted to them, since they all seem to have their own personalities and it's nice to see them interacting with Alfie and Itsuki. Having them interacting with the Maidens would be really nice, but there clearly is no runtime available for that. Ashsaber posted:...Yeah, all I really knew about the anime series before you started it was what happened with Femiruna. Hell, that's all I knew about the original Conception before the LP started. I spent pretty much the entire time waiting for poo poo to get real bad, and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. But yeah, its clear the anime is really, really bad about this poo poo and I wouldn't blame you for dropping it. Oh, good. Then it’s not just me that was turned off by that garbage scene. Also, no worries. I'm just glad learning that there are lurkers out there. Commenting is not for everyone.
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Mar 29, 2020 01:43
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...Cripes, this thing managed to nosedive into some godawful trash fire didn't it? I would have preferred if it had just stayed boring. I mean, I knew those reviews said 6 was terrible, but this was a lot worse than I figured. That last one was just downright horrifying; who wrote this and thought it was a good idea or even remotely humorous? I'll echo what Ashsaber said, this damned thing doesn't even deserve coverage. If you want to stop covering it, I don't think anyone's going to complain. Psycho Knight posted:Also, no worries. I'm just glad learning that there are lurkers out there. Commenting is not for everyone. The thread did get a bit quiet there, for a while. ...I'm still here too, but I've just been lurking for a while for personal reasons. This was terrible enough to warrant my response, even if you probably could've guessed it.
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Mar 29, 2020 05:04
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My god that was bad. I think this was the Arie a lot of us were worried about, and possibly an example of the dark side of the Sign's Impulses. It's the only thing I can think of to distract me from everything else they came up with. Just seemed like they digested their Zodiac Signs into caricatures. I'll see about getting that appendix up, asap
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Mar 29, 2020 05:04
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Well. That uh. Went places. Goddamn Granvania even has loving cars jfc. Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Mar 29, 2020 |
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Mar 29, 2020 05:54
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Yeah, okay, carefully rescue the Star Children from the anime and just put the rest of that in the garbage where it belongs and let us never speak of this again.
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Mar 29, 2020 06:02
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This is horrifying  .
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Mar 29, 2020 06:18
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 ... What the gently caress did I just read? Arie, what have they done to you?Every single moment outside of the Star Children moments was horrifying to read. This just continues to fuel my belief that Mana is an irredeemable piece of garbage that brings absolutely nothing positive to the table. I cannot for the life of me think of a single interaction between her that doesn't either a)highlight how much of an rear end in a top hat she is or b)make a situation worse. Like, at least Lillie has moments in her later bonding events that... was at least tolerable? Thank you for sacrificing your sanity for this (though I can't say it was worth it). 
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Mar 29, 2020 11:56
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Psycho Knight posted:
I think it's just a 'here's the other maidens!' shot like the other ones, but that one has weirdly sinister framing.  Psycho Knight posted:
Yeah, the subs match but the actual voice acting is incomprehensible and may actually have been done through a paper bag, so the subtitles would have been required for the Japanese viewers (also the voice acting doesn't entirely fit the subs so there's probably some ad-libbing going on) But, uhh, yeah. That was certainly a very Mana-like plan.
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Mar 29, 2020 12:58
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Polsy posted:I think it's just a 'here's the other maidens!' shot like the other ones, but that one has weirdly sinister framing. I'm aware of that aspect of it, but the other "here's the Maidens" scenes look fairly normal. But that first one is very strange. Why is Reone at the fortune-telling place? At least, that's where I think she is. The weird chair she's in doesn't look familiar. Also, Lillith and Lillie are both somehow there, despite the fact that they share a single body. There's also no fortune telling happening, since Lillith and Lillie are doing this weird pose thing. I'm just curious as to what the hell is supposed to be happening in that shot. Also, in the shot you posted, we can see that Yuzuha is now 100% over her dislike of public spaces and also doesn't bring her coffin with her. So after approximately 2 days with Itsuki, she's become a completely average girl. Polsy posted:Yeah, the subs match but the actual voice acting is incomprehensible and may actually have been done through a paper bag, so the subtitles would have been required for the Japanese viewers (also the voice acting doesn't entirely fit the subs so there's probably some ad-libbing going on) I thought they were doing some modulation with the voice that made it hard for me to understand, but after listening again, you're right, it is does sound like gibberish. The VA was probably told to just mumble stuff through his hand or something. I guess the dual subtitles makes sense then. TracerK posted:This just continues to fuel my belief that Mana is an irredeemable piece of garbage that brings absolutely nothing positive to the table. I cannot for the life of me think of a single interaction between her that doesn't either a)highlight how much of an rear end in a top hat she is or b)make a situation worse. Like, at least Lillie has moments in her later bonding events that... was at least tolerable? Mana is the worst character. Listen, this is in no way an excuse for Itsuki's behaviour, but I just want to say that Mana was the reason all of that went down the way it did. We're told that Mana was the one that suggested the disguise, and the locking her up thing, and the kidnapping. Mana was trying to find a way to get Itsuki into Femiruna's pants and when Femiruna was accidentally knocked out, Mana thought "Here's the perfect chance." Itsuki bears just as much responsibility for what happened since he's the one that actually carried everything out without question, but Mana is equally terrible in this situation. Mana is a horrible, horrible character that I wish could be removed from this series. It wouldn't fix all of this show's problems, but I can think of a basket full of problems that her removal would solve. The biggest of those problems is how much loving screen time she eats up every episode. In a series that's already packed and unable to properly find time to devote to everything its trying to do at once, Mana is in there taking up probably 3-5 minutes of each 20 minute episode. BlazeEmblem posted:This is horrifying I was not prepared for any of episode 5 or 6, especially 6. I was prepared to see Arie exaggerated, but I didn't think they would completely replace her character with something entirely different, which is what happened. We saw Ruka's character get twisted, but it mostly just made her a bit more bland (she doesn't have any of the internal struggles that she does from the game). Mahiru is in the same weird position she's in from the game, where she's caught between PSP Mahiru and "New" Mahiru. Reone seemed to have even been toned down a bit. But then Arie is turned into whatever the gently caress that was supposed to be. Once again, at no point in Arie's entire bonding route did we see any hints of the personality they gave her for the anime. She gets a little weird about weapons twice in her route, and the weirdest it gets is rubbing her cheek against them and talking about how beautiful they are. That's it. booksnake posted:Yeah, okay, carefully rescue the Star Children from the anime and just put the rest of that in the garbage where it belongs and let us never speak of this again. I wish I could. I wish I could take all of the Star Children scenes from this show, pull them out, and pop them right into the game. Then we could throw out the entire anime and be left with its single redeeming quality.SSNeoman posted:Goddamn Granvania even has loving cars jfc. The writers of this show seem to be writing the script first, as a "Generic Harem Anime set in Japan", and then changing whatever aspects of the setting they need to in order to make it fit what they wrote. "We're going to do a beach trip episode where all the ladies are in the bus hanging out and the school idol/rival drives up in his convertible to hit on them. Another character tipped him off because they posted a pic of them in their swimsuit to their twitter account!" "...Isn't this show set in a magic fantasy world that resembles 17th-century Europe?" "Right. I don't want to rewrite it though, so it's Japan now. They have cars and smart phones and internet and Instagram and mass-produced snack foods. We'll just call it Granvania." AnAnonymousIdiot posted:I think this was the Arie a lot of us were worried about, and possibly an example of the dark side of the Sign's Impulses. It's the only thing I can think of to distract me from everything else they came up with. Just seemed like they digested their Zodiac Signs into caricatures. Caricature is the perfect word. The writers looked over the characters from the game, zeroed in on every minor detail that stood out, and then crafted the character entirely on that. What blows my mind is that they only did this for some characters. Ruka's tsundere tendencies and mind reading? Barely mentioned or displayed, despite the fact that it's what most of her character revolves around in the early parts of her route. Femiruna's noblewoman "Ohohoho" stuff and excessive pride in herself? She just had her "focus" episode and we saw basically none of that. I won't say I'm sad that we didn't get "Ohohoho" Femiruna, but as much as I might hate that character type, it was one of Femiruna's defining traits early on. On the other hand, Arie's love of collecting weapons? Make that 70% of her character, turn it into a sadism fetish, and strip out three quarters of her character route in-game by ignoring all that stuff about religion. Collette's impish/devious side? Throw that out and just make her an innocent little girl, pure as the driven snow. loving Lillie of all characters gets hit with this. Lillie shows up in the beach episode and gets angry at Itsuki, but it's for a (decently) justified reason. There's no mention of her being a prankster or having a secret caring side or any of that. Lillie is just "the blunt side of Lillith". She just exists as an excuse to get Lillith to do/say things she can't. The Flying Twybil posted:I mean, I knew those reviews said 6 was terrible, but this was a lot worse than I figured. That last one was just downright horrifying; who wrote this and thought it was a good idea or even remotely humorous? When you mentioned a "bad" episode early on, I thought you were referring to whatever the game-show/"The Bachelor" episode is. I was like "Twybil is dreading it, so it must be heavy on fanservice, or unbelievably stupid, or something like that. I've got a higher tolerance for that stuff, so I probably won't think much of it." But holy poo poo, I was not expecting whatever that was. When Episode 6 started, I did not think for a second that I would be going "No, I'm done with this." I can handle just about anything as far as "the internet" or "anime" or "video games" is concerned, if I know that's what I'm getting into before I go in. I wouldn't have lost it like that if this was a horror anime or a serious anime right from the get-go. But this is a generic goofy harem anime that's marketing a generic goofy harem RPG. I was not prepared to have it veer off into trying to get the audience to laugh at the hero kidnapping and mentally torturing one of the heroines and then presenting it as romantic or heartwarming or dramatic or whatever the hell they were going for in their twisted minds. Here are the two scenarios I was thinking about when Femiruna hit her head off the table (that moment genuinely grabbed my full attention because I thought "drat, this could be interesting. How is this going to go down?"): 1) One of Femiruna's servants rushes in from the noise and discovers the scene. Itsuki gets arrested and there's a goofy courtroom scene where the Maidens are trying to defend Itsuki but the stuff they say is being taken out of context and is making him sound worse/more guilty. Like Reone saying "He treated us like animals" in reference to that Double Love Ritual with Reone/Farun/Itsuki. Or Farun saying "Well, he bit my ear when he first came to talk to me at the bar". Or Arie saying something like "Well, there was a whip involved in our Love Ritual". Eventually Femiruna busts in just as Itsuki is about to be condemned and explains how her fall was an accident and that Itsuki was very passionate in trying to get her to help Collette. This would have achieved the same end as the actual episode, where Femiruna takes a liking to Itsuki because of how caring and passionate he is in his interactions with the Star Maidens. 2) Itsuki panics and grabs Femiruna, but he takes her to Reone in order to get her help. He stays with her until she comes to and apologizes for everything, then there's a montage of him caring for Femiruna and doing everything he can to help her recover, which also achieves the same end as the actual episode of Femiruna seeing how genuine Itsuki's feelings are. Just in case anyone is curious about whether the episode is actually worse than what I described, I tapped out and skipped over everything else to that Collette part, but here's what else happens after that moment with Itsuki feeding Femiruna the bread where I quit: Femiruna tells him not to treat her like a child, says she's full now, which prompts Itsuki to point out that she only had two bites of bread. She then throws herself on the floor and pouts while insisting that she's full, like she's being a fussy child. Despite explaining everything to Femiruna and Femiruna realizing that Itsuki isn't like all those other guys that are only after her family's money, Itsuki still leaves her in the storage room. I don't think she's locked in, but we don't get any scenes of her outside of that room. She doesn't get moved to Collette's room, or a spare bed, or taken to Reone, or anything like that. Instead, there's a time-passing montage of Itsuki bringing her food, helping her to try and stand up and stay up, and also a scene where Itsuki washes her back. When the montage finishes, we're still in the stockroom. Femiruna tells Itsuki that she has never allowed a man to touch her bare skin before. She gives Itsuki a look and he picks up on the fact that he should say something like "I'm honored." Femiruna then hugs Itsuki and tells him that he better take responsibility for "tainting" her. Itsuki starts to ask Femiruna if that means she'll have his (Star) child, but it's interrupted with a "gag" where Itsuki puts that paper bag from earlier back on and Femiruna shyly says that he's "so lame". Then the Love Ritual happens (which is notable because Femiruna and Itsuki are both fully clothed, despite the anime implying this entire time that everyone has to be naked/nearly naked for the Ritual). So, a few thoughts on that. 1. Femiruna is shown to have difficulty standing up after waking up in the storeroom. She falls over outside (when she discovers that there's nothing outside but wilderness, as far as she knows), and she nearly falls again during the montage where Itsuki is helping her recover. Balance problems after a head injury mean that Femiruna suffered a concussion at best, or a TBI at worst. No medical attention was shown to be given to her at all. Reone doesn't appear at any point in this episode (other than that split-second cutaway shot from Collette's half of the episode). Itsuki also has to give her a sponge bath during the montage, which implies that she isn't totally capable of standing or sitting up to wash herself. 2. As I mentioned, Femiruna is kept in the stockroom even after Itsuki has "made up" with her. We don't know how long she's there, but given the fact that she seems to nearly starve, has to have a bath, and there's a time passage montage showing her gradually regaining her balance, it seems likely that she was there for a few days. At the absolute least, it had to have been a full day. Vertigo from a concussion tends to last a few days after the injury. That means she's left in a dark concrete room for days in order to "recover". No bed, no medical checkups, only a medium sized vent near the floor for a source of fresh air. 3. As I said, she had to have been in that room for at least a day. There's no way that she was only there for a few hours and then went home. Regardless of whether Femiruna was there for a day or several days, the fact remains that she disappeared from her house and the only people aware of her location are Itsuki, Mana, and Collette. Even if Femiruna's parents were away on business at this time, someone in her household (servants, employees, whomever) would have noticed her disappearance and informed the parents that their daughter was gone. Even if, for some stupid reason, Femiruna was living in that mansion by herself while her parents were away, Narcisstes or Shang would have been made aware that one of the loving Star Maidens (that are necessary for the world's survival) had suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. There's no way that Itsuki could have thrown people off. Femiruna is not Farun, she doesn't just run off on adventures or travels as the wanderlust strikes. She's sole heir to one of the most powerful/richest families in Granvania outside of the Royalty. Somebody, somewhere, was having a panic attack while this whole thing was secretly going on. 4. The anime makes a joke at the end of the stockroom scene out of the bag that Itsuki was using to hide his identity. Think about that for a moment. Think about how you would react if had been knocked out in your own home and woke up to find yourself in some cold darkened storeroom that appeared to be somewhere up in the mountains. Think about how you would feel if the only person there with you came in wearing a loving hockey mask like Jason Voorhees. You'd be terrified! Now imagine the mask being pulled off and revealing that it was some acquaintance of yours, like a coworker or something. They explain everything and that they were just trying to help and you (for some reason known only to god) forgive them. Then imagine that when everything was said and done, when you had managed to recover from your potential brain injury, that the coworker/acquaintance slipped the Jason mask back on as if the two of you were going to have a good laugh about all of it. I don't know if I'll keep doing the anime. The next entry of this won't be for a while, I think. Pretty sure that we've got 2 dungeons, a major story event, and also those Final Unique Side-Events to get through first, so maybe a week and a half or possibly two weeks from now. Maybe I'll have forgotten about this by then and I'll be willing to watch through Episodes 7-9. I mean, they can't be worse than this, right? What could these people come up with that's more insulting that what we just witnessed? An episode where Sue tells us that her animal bikini cosplay is something that her dad used to dress her up in and we're meant to laugh about how silly that is instead of recoil at the horrific implications it lays down? Maybe an episode where Itsuki enlists Mirei's help to make a clone of Reone's dead brother to make her feel better and we're supposed to think that's sweet even though it would be severely emotionally scarring for Reone because the clone would be nothing more than a hollow shell that just looks like her deceased brother? We'll see what happens. We'll see how I feel about all of this once we've gotten through the minor story-related Maiden Events in Offering 12. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Mar 29, 2020 |
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Mar 29, 2020 15:42
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...Huh, well Femiruna's arc was weird as all hell. Hated what they did to Arie. If it makes you feel any better your suffering was thoroughly entertaining and I hope you review the rest of the anime. Although no one would blame you if you got drunk before watching it.
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Mar 29, 2020 16:34
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FalloutFan56 posted:...Huh, well Femiruna's arc was weird as all hell. Hated what they did to Arie. If it makes you feel any better your suffering was thoroughly entertaining and I hope you review the rest of the anime. Although no one would blame you if you got drunk before watching it. As long as someone is getting some fun out of it, then it makes it worth it. The thing is, I don't drink (no particular reason, I just don't enjoy the taste and it's also more expensive than just getting soda or something)... but I do have a bottle of Chardonnay that I bought because it was part of an Air Miles promotion (it's a travel rewards thing in Canada). It's been sitting in the fridge since November, I think. If there was ever a time for me to get rid of it, it would be downing the entire thing in an ill-advised continuation of a lovely anime review. So we'll see what "2 weeks into the future" PK thinks about that.
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Mar 29, 2020 16:44
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... Its amazing just how poo poo the anime is at actually marketing the maidens, you know, the main draw of the series? It may be stupid, but probably someone out there liked the depiction of Ruka or Collette or Arie from the anime and bought the game to play their route. Those people probably are probably going to review bomb the game, spread negative press about it because of the differences from what they thought they would get. Maybe if they had billed it as a gag anime like, IIRC, Galaxy Angel it would work, but I don't think anyone could have been happy with the character drift here.
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Mar 29, 2020 17:05
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Ashsaber posted:... Its amazing just how poo poo the anime is at actually marketing the maidens, you know, the main draw of the series? It may be stupid, but probably someone out there liked the depiction of Ruka or Collette or Arie from the anime and bought the game to play their route. Those people probably are probably going to review bomb the game, spread negative press about it because of the differences from what they thought they would get. Well you said yourself that you had heard about that Femiruna thing from the anime before the we got into this whole deal and you were bracing for it to happen in the LP. If you had just bought the game and started playing yourself, chances are you would avoid Femiruna’s route because of it. I probably would have if I had seen this first (and wasn't LP'ing this). This was a very straightforward idea. You were hired to market this RPG remake. Everything other than the animation is already done for you. The story and characters are right there, pre-existing. This should have been an easy paycheque for the studio and a simple promo for Spike. But then they created a project that seems to diverge further and further from the game as it goes on. What kind of marketing is that? Obviously you don't want to just follow the game 100%, but you do want to make sure that what you are doing reflects the reality of what you are marketing to a certain degree, right? As you said, people who like the anime depiction of Arie or Ruka or Collette are in for disappointment when they play the game and find characters completely different from what the anime showed them. I'm curious about how much knowledge/input the Conception team had on this anime. Did they sign off on these characterizations? I doubt it, because companies usually don't like this kind of thing from their marketing. It does make sense for Gonzo, I will admit that. There’s a reason why Gonzo has a mixed reputation. It just seems odd that they would try their usual experimentation stuff on a brand deal project. But then again, I guess that’s one of the reasons why the studio is constantly going bankrupt or having financial difficulties (outside of the shady bookeeping and business practices I mean). Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Mar 29, 2020 |
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Mar 29, 2020 22:12
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I originally thought the game would go the dominatrix route with Arie after her "sword fetish" scenes. My guess is the anime just went with that and called it a day. If it weren't for Mirei treating Itsuki like her personal lab rat, it could've worked to fill that niche. I feel for you with how bad this anime is, but to be fair, the game really isn't much better writing-wise. Game Arie is an overly chaste and sexually-naive nun who's realizing she likes sexual things and has a secret blade fetish. Anime Arie is a nun with a dominatrix fetish and a weapon fetish. The only difference is confidence and some knowledge (and some liberties with non-bladed weapons). The biggest problem is that both were written and developed at the same time but with different writers and without communication or review. This leads to what we're seeing where the 2 stories are changed or completely botched up in parts, but it's impossible to know which one is canon. Because of this, you cannot judge one by the other.
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Mar 30, 2020 01:58
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mastersord posted:The biggest problem is that both were written and developed at the same time but with different writers and without communication or review. This leads to what we're seeing where the 2 stories are changed or completely botched up in parts, but it's impossible to know which one is canon. Because of this, you cannot judge one by the other. That's not true though. The original Conception game predates this anime by seven years, Plus is a remake. Aside from Mahiru(who got rewritten) and Alfie(new), the writers would have known exactly what these characters were supposed to be like and they still hosed it up this badly.
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Mar 30, 2020 02:40
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mastersord posted:I originally thought the game would go the dominatrix route with Arie after her "sword fetish" scenes. My guess is the anime just went with that and called it a day. If it weren't for Mirei treating Itsuki like her personal lab rat, it could've worked to fill that niche. As Yakumo says, the game existed 7 years prior to the anime. The game version is most certainly 100% canon. Plus is a remake and the only character rewritten or changed was Mahiru, so that excuse doesn’t fly. The writers had access to all characterizations long before the writing process for the series started. And you are right, the game isn't exactly great in its writing. I'm not going to sit here and argue that the anime is destroying a classic. But at the same time, the fact that the anime manages to be even more poorly written can't be waved off. I can see how they changed Arie from game version to anime version. As you said, somebody probably saw "secretly likes weapons" and just ignored everything else in order to draw their own conclusions. It doesn’t seem to have been unintentional, because the anime nails minor details of some characters like Yuzuha. They must have had access to detailed versions of all character routes. They just chose not to use some of them. But the fact remains that some characters, Arie especially, are completely different from their game counterpart. The anime writers made poo poo up. Normally that would be their call, but this was a marketing deal. I'm surprised that SC gave them free reign to do that. Companies are usually very careful with how their product is presented in marketing. Psycho Knight fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Mar 30, 2020 |
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Mar 30, 2020 03:27
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Psycho Knight posted:When you mentioned a "bad" episode early on, I thought you were referring to whatever the game-show/"The Bachelor" episode is. I was like "Twybil is dreading it, so it must be heavy on fanservice, or unbelievably stupid, or something like that. I've got a higher tolerance for that stuff, so I probably won't think much of it." Hey, you know me so well! Anyway, I might've been able to get at least some laugh in spite of the thing if it was just a "The Bachelor" episode. I don't think I remember any of the reviews I looked at briefly going into more detail than "it's the absolute worst" so I didn't even really know what made it so awful until now. Such are the hazards of exploring bad media, I suppose. It's not the first time it's happened to me, though nothing was at this level of severity. Psycho Knight posted:But the fact remains that some characters, Arie especially, are completely different from their game counterpart. The anime writers made poo poo up. Normally that would be their call, but this was a marketing deal. I'm surprised that SC gave them free reign to do that. Companies are usually very careful with how their product is presented in marketing. I'd have figured even Spike would know the basics of marketing with other groups involved, but I can't really say I'm too sure on that. The only plausible explanation I can think of beyond negligence or incompetence on SC's part is that the company doing the anime showed them very little in the first place. Yet, even that still leaves SC to blame for part of this. I went looking for answers of some regard, and the only thing I can find that offer some explanation is that Gonzo was derived from former employees of Gainax. Even with my limited knowledge and understanding of this stuff, I know the name for its typical infamy. Given Gonzo already has a reputation for "experimentation", as you put it, I figure that's not a surprise (and I suppose most people probably already knew this anyways). I still can't fathom why you'd let a company with a reputation of going bankrupt from this kind of stuff go so unchecked. Regardless, I suppose the majority of the blame is on the director and screenwriter, though there's still no way to know if some higher-up in SC actually wanted this.
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Mar 30, 2020 06:17
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FWIW Studio Trigger is also derived from former Gainax crew and I don't think they've stooped to Gonzo's level so it's all relative
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Mar 30, 2020 07:52
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