Ah, screw it. Guilty Crown is hereby dropped from blogging. I’m still going to watch it, but I don’t want to blog about it anymore. Here’s the thing with it: it’s perhaps not as bad as say Majikoi or Maken-Ki, but it’s Noitamina. Not only that, but it has been given the rare privilege of 22 episodes. It should be more ambitious with that. My standards for this timeslot are very high, and I unfortunately have to say: these past three episodes were the most generic opening episodes of any Noitamina series I have seen.
As for a replacement: I’m not going to do Bakuman because of how it’s shounen jump, and I have some rather bad experiences with Jump adaptations after Gintama, Sket Dance, Toriko and Nurarihyon no Mago… and in any case there is the rare slice of life series that’s not based on any kind of manga or original material, and has Sato Junichi behind it. It’s also a good opportunity for me to find out why I have such a bipolar taste when it comes to the “group of girls living their daily lives”-genre. Seriously, I like shows as Tamayura, Aria and Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru a lot, but shows as A-Channel, Nichijou and Working never caught my attention.
In any case, what really helps is how much time this show focuses on fleshing out its characters. It doesn’t just have its cast do random stuff, but always tries to put meaning to what they do, fleshing them out in the process. The animation on top of that is really good, bringing the characters surprisingly to life. This episode was the same, and it was dedicated to Mao. She got a lot of depth here, which is great to see.
What I really hope to see in the second half of this series is that this series will make use of its format of being anime original, to really play with some of the conventions of its genre. It has the staff to do it; Sato Junichi will be able to pull it off, so I really hope that the creators will try this. It’s already doing a great job here to bring its characters alive.
Rating: ** (Excellent)]]>
Tamayura ~ Hitotose – 04
Good choice. Guilty Crown’s bad aftertaste is pretty strong. Go watch something refreshing –
But don’t you find Norie a bit irritating?
Well she has some great moments of hearthwarming (like well, she started to talk with Maon parents or that kitchen last episode).
But her interactions with Fuu-nyan brother are… too long :]
Mark: that indeed is one of the weakest parts of this series. In this episode she was okay, but she indeed took it a bit too far in episode 3. Although the attention to detail on her cooking was nice to see.
Psgels, I am happy that you decided to cover Tamayura ~hitotose which imo is undeservedly neglected in the blogosphere!
What I really love in Tamayura ~hitotose are the wonderful and detailed backgrounds with those small, old-fashioned towns and the gorgeous Inland sea scenery.
However, I find the girls rather annoying (except for the cute grade schooler). This is particularly true for Mao and her constant whistling. What’s wrong with her?
Can someone explain to me what it is about the “Noitamina”, channel / timeslot that makes it so prestigious? I always hear it mentioned / used but I am not familiar with why something being on the “Noitamina Slot” makes it special / expected higher quality.
If this show has more in common with Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru then A-Channel, I’ll give it a try. I really love that show.
@Draznar I’m no expert myself and I regularly rely on this blog amongst others for decent honest reviews. But if previous series that made it to this timeslot are any indication, Noitamina deserves a better effort than what the first 3 eps of GC have shown up so far. If I’m not too mistaken with my memory, prev shows that made it to the noitamina timeslot included AnoHana, Eden of the East, Tatami Galaxy, Saraiya Goyou, Usagi Drop, Ayakashi etc. Definitely many of these series had excellent writing & pacing, not to mention great production values and some managed to experiment/challenge what episodic tv anime can do.
Just my two cents from yet another passing admirer of animation, I’m definitely not any class of expert or critic 🙂
(Someone please point me out if I’ve got my facts wrong! much thanks)
well I don’t exactly agree with opinion about Norie (well she is totally annoiyng, yes) but she was bad in this episode, less in previous.
3rd one, in my view, made a good work in showing that yes, she is like she is, but sweets are serious buisness
not to mention that beautifull scene where she was making them – with full dedication and focus
she is exagerated but also realistic… which is good
this time we had similar thing with Maon, we learn more about her – and for those presentation I can say that this show is great
sidenote 🙂 Sato Junichi has this theme of stalkers in his series 🙂
in Aria it was Aika
in Ikoku Meiro of course Alice
and in both cases they turned to be quite good and deep characters (well Alice after that episode with visiting her home was/is my favorite in Ikoku… )
so I will believe in him :]
@Draznar
The general idea of Fuji TV’s noitaminA timeslot was to introduce anime to people outside of the predominantly teen/young adult male demographic. As such, it has become known for making mature, artsy and unique series.
Not every show has been a success, with many series only attracting a small but passionate following (House of Five Leaves, Wandering Son), while others with interesting concepts never quite fulfilled their potential and fell apart at the end (Eden of the East, No.6). However, even though noitaminA shows have often been accused of being boring and pretentious by some detractors, it’s always attempted to try something new and not be bogged down by otaku-pandering and lazy storytelling.
Unfortunately there have been signs of a shift over the last few seasons. The first was Fractale, a poorly scripted mash up of ideas stolen from other more successful shows, with a noticeable moe angle. It was a despised mess and helped noitaminA gain the lowest ever viewing figures for the timeslot. Now there’s Guilty Crown, which seems to be following the same approach, but with twice as many episodes allotted to it. The most worrying sign of all is the upcoming Black Rock Shooter anime (due to air in January), which is a completely otaku generated concept and is synonymous with the idea of style over substance. I can only hope these are just blips in noitaminA’s schedule, rather than an active attempt of dumbing down.
@Marcomax
Personally, I think you’ll be disappointed. I also really enjoyed Soredemo, but in regards to Tamayura Hitotose I completely disagree with Psgel. There are interesting elements in the show, but they’re drowned out with extended scenes of teenage girls being insufferably nice to one another and eating food. I actually enjoyed K-on quite a bit, but this… It even makes A-Channel seem energetic and dynamic. I guess you should watch for yourself though and decide.
@ Fathomlessblue
The thing is that I have this weird compulsion to avoid shows that can be summarized a ” X cute girls doing Y in Z” even shows which people say are great like Idolm@ster. Even though I know I’m going to have to get use to them eventually because there always around.
I think that people should accept that the old noitaminA is dead, and not judge shows in its timeslot based on what older shows in that slot is dead.
From Fractale to C to No. 6 to Guilty Crown, the time slot is now more defined by sci-fi shows geared towards otakus than it is about what noitaminA was about initially.
This change for noitaminA is certainly lamentable, but I don’t see the point in taking it out on the shows themselves. Rather, focus on the people behind noitaminA and the choices that they’ve made.
Judge Guilty Crown like you would any other anime, because there’s NOW nothing about noitaminA anime that distinguishes it from other TV anime shows.
I think NoitiminA art still choosing some good non mainstream stuff in my opinion, like Wandering Son and Bunny Drop.
So maybe there has been a bit of a shift, but it’s still quite a bit of Josei stuff.
And there is still a lot of interesting choices I mean No.6 with gay leads, and Un-go I think does have an interesting premise too. Not that I think Un-go is supergood, but they’re not safe bets in any way right?
Maybe sometimes it just works, and maybe sometimes it doesn’t?
IDK, It’d be interesting to see what happens the next few years.
Also, I love sci-fi stuff, so if I get them I’m not disappointed at all.
(regrets the demise of cyberpunk)