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Million Ghosts posted:i have to agree with whoever said it feels like a cheeseball 80s/90s OVA but i'm not sure totally why Because it's hyperviolent and has lots of extremely strong emotions going on onscreen at all times.
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Apr 30, 2016 08:23
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The sheer stupidity of the opposition faction to give the only master key to the train to a trio of idiots while the train was traveling at high speed through mountainous terrain full of kabane is actually impressive.
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May 6, 2016 18:43
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Shakugan posted:Pretty close to giving up on the show at this point, it's clear the show runners don't really know what they're doing. Every bit of drama is the result of someone or some group of people doing something incredibly loving stupid. Every single episode. Random train thugs trying to kill the only people that can protect them, Ayame giving the keys to other thugs, train people not willing to look at Ikoma's new weapon, Ikoma running after Ayame instead of sticking to the plan, everything Mumei did this entire episode, Ikoma not completing his mission etc etc. Literally all of these things make perfect sense in the context of the setting.
Context is really important for understanding why characters act the way they do and I haven't seen any really egregious "the way this character is acting makes no sense" problems.
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May 14, 2016 03:45
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Kytrarewn posted:Can you explain the steam powered bow-and-arrow, then? It looks like basically a more primitive version of the steam guns; steam pressure assists in pushing a projectile forward at drastically higher speed than manual human muscle power and bow tension could achieve. It's probably not in common use among the bushi because it would be harder to train people to use it than simply teaching them to use a gun, and it's probably not as powerful because instead of the big backpack steam pressure units that the steam guns have it just has a smallish pressure chamber on the limb of the bow itself. As for why you would need to draw an arrow instead of just slotting it in and pulling the trigger, it could be an aerodynamic/flight stability thing, or it could be to help improve the accuracy because you don't have a rifled barrel to aim. (The real answer is that this show is Clockwork Steampunk to its very marrow while also being Romanticized Feudal Japan as gently caress, and a stereotypical martial noblewoman in Anime Feudal Japan would use a bow and a naginata, so she has a ridiculous nonsensical clockwork bow).
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May 14, 2016 06:45
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Lestaki posted:I agree with this as far as it goes. Mumei becoming a loose cannon, in and of itself, makes perfect sense. She's a headstrong youngster defined by her physical prowess. You don't need any further explanations for her to do something stupid. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to contend that the writing is subtle or elegant, because it's not. Most of the characters slot into blatant character archetypes seamlessly and many of the characters' actions and emotional reactions are very exaggerated and, well, cartoonish. Ikoma is the young, selfless male hero who suffered a loss of a loved one early in life and has devoted his life since then to both seeking vengeance and protecting the innocent and has now been granted a special power to achieve his goal. Mumei is the physically unstoppable but emotionally and mentally brittle headstrong young assassin. Ayame is the young noblewoman who is naive and self-conscious about being thrust into a leadership role but ends up displaying incredible savvy and inner strength. All of these characters could have been basically copy-pasted from other shows and stories. That said, the directness of the writing is almost charming to me. It's internally consistent, everyone acts in an exaggerated manner to the extremes of their character archetype. I generally can tell exactly what is going to happen before it happens, but it's usually done in a way that entertains me and the animation and sound work is extremely good. Watching this show very much reminds me of watching a dumb, fun 80s or early 90s gorefest OVA like MD Geist or Ninja Gaiden, where the characters and plot are kind of goofy but you're not really watching for an original story or to do literary analysis. Darth Walrus posted:I dunno, their courage has been valourised pretty heavily. Think about all those big dramatic suicides, and the princess's stick-in-the-mud bodyguard duelling the sword-Kabane. They definitely feel more like admirable people stuck in a bad system than the politicians we've seen. Them having cool weapons and getting involved in cool action scenes helps too - this show absolutely knows we're here for the steampunk zombie violence, and therefore the characters who provide it to us are inherently better than the characters who do not. The portrayal of the Bushi has been a little schizophrenic. Since we've hopped on the train they've been mostly spotless, but in the early episodes there was definitely some messaging about how the Bushi might be corrupt or cowardly; specifically the scene where Ikoma gets the poo poo beaten out of him and imprisoned for the crime of trying to get them to follow the established law and imprison the bitten guy for a couple of days to see if he's actually infected or not rather than simply executing him on the spot out of fear. This might just be part of the setup that paints the society in the show as incredibly hostile and fearful of Kabane to set up why Ikoma and Mumei are outcast at the start, but it seems weird to use the Bushi to do it if you're then planning to pivot to showing them as flawless noble warriors.
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May 14, 2016 16:48
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Tuxedo Catfish posted:It's not that they're corrupt or cowardly, it's that they're proud and Ikoma offended them, even though he's right. Their reaction to Ikoma is definitely motivated by him stinging their pride, but they were going to straight up execute the bitten guy before Ikoma intervened at all, which suggests a culture of superstition and fear. Similarly, when the town got hit, Ayame's father's first reaction wasn't "We need to get as many people out as possible", it was "Ayame, stay here while I clear the path to the train and then we're going to get the gently caress out of here". Obviously a big part of that is simple pragmatism, but the message being protected was definitely not one of selfless nobility and bravery.
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May 14, 2016 17:02
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C-SPAN Caller posted:So I've enjoyed this show as the mindless action it is, but holy poo poo this show triggers some deep set sperg in me I never knew I had. This is a super interesting post. I'm not being sarcastic or a dick, it really is. Seriously, I never thought I'd see an honest to god train worker come in and comment on the plausibility and logistics of steampunk anime zombie-mower trains. 
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May 20, 2016 22:00
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Darth Walrus posted:It's implied that they had different creation methods. Hence Ikoma's always-on harness and lack of a time limit. On the other hand, it might just be that he's a pasty nerd and she's a healthy kid who gets plenty of outdoor exercise. Ikoma still has a time limit, it just seems to be far less restrictive than Mumei's. He almost hit the end of it when he first got blood from Ayame.
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May 28, 2016 22:01
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 13:09 |
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Darth Walrus posted:I think there's two separate (though probably related) things going on there. All Kabaneri go into a frenzy if they don't get regular doses of blood. However, Mumei also gets sleepy after extended physical activity, which doesn't seem to be affected by how much blood she has, whereas Ikoma is basically a humanoid Energizer bunny. It looked like Ikoma was going to pass out before he got the blood from Ayame, not go into a frenzy. He could barely move any more. He even got the same glowing face lines that Mumei does when she overworks herself.
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May 28, 2016 22:13
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