Tsubasa Second Ep Review
Apr. 19th, 2005 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katharosThoughts on Tsubasa the Second Episode.
OK, let’s start by going over character designs. Sakura and Syaroan look about the same as the last episode, which is too say they’re not PERFECT but they don’t make me want to scream and track down Bee Train to do murder. I suspect most of their character design budget was spent on these too.
Kurogane also looks good. He seems to be surgically attached to his cape, and we have seen only head shots of him this episode, so we have been spared the sight of his cheesy-string body.
Fye… *whimpers.* I had relaxed about him after the first episode. He wasn’t perfect, there were a couple of shots I was unsure about, but overall he looked like Fye. I hoped they’d smooth out the problems in the next ep.
It was not to be.
Instead they seem to have smoothed out the good bits.
Seriously. There are still some good shots of him, so I know they CAN do it.
I must conclude, therefore, that it’s a case of WON’T that produces things like this:
Yuuko continues to just NOT be Yuuko. Sometimes I thought they’d almost managed it, but still…
Most of the time it really didn’t work.
Like this one:
This says: "You DID just fart Watanuki, didn't you."
Like this.
It took me a moment to realise it was her HAIR deforming her face like that.
The Hand. Oh God, the HAND!
The BEST shot of her was this one, because they’ve got her back just PERFECT.
Mokona’s character design is pretty much impossible to mess up. They more than make up for it in other areas though…
In the accounting of GOOD character design…
Masayoshi looks pretty much identical to his manga self. He’s a pretty hard one to get wrong though.
Shougo Asagi looks GOOD. Want to see more of his pony tail ;-)
And oh Fat Guy! Fat Guy is PERFECT in design, voice actor – he’s the best one yet!
Quick run down of the voices.
Syaroan continues to sound good.
Young!Sakura warbles. And yodels.
Kurogane is still good.
Fye sounds nothing like the way he does in my head, but he continues to win me over.
Watanuki (in his what? Two lines) sounds good.
Yuuko continues to be awful.
…maybe I’m overly harsh. There were a few moments when I thought grudgingly ok, maybe - give the woman her due. But… But. There is no WAY that is the voice of a woman who has been chain smoking for centuries.
In the voice acting and animation, Tsubasa is STILL suffering from that emotion amputation. There are a few exceptions, but they tend to be crippled in some way or another.
The Japan/Not Japan exchange between Kurogane and Yuuko. Neither of their voices changed, and Yuuko didn’t budge from this position.
Then the pokepokepoke bit. I’m glad to see it in there, but it felt really wooden. Their voices didn’t reflect it.
And the cosplay line! Best line EVAH and they didn’t keep it! I love that line – we have all this fantasy stuff, and Yuuko’s playing along in the wise and powerful and enigmatic mentor archetype, but because she’s Yuuko of course she won’t conform to expectation for long, so she comes out with a really pop-culturally reference!
However, Kurogane's voice actor is proving me wrong. Don't think much of him while at Yuuko's, but as soon as they get to Hanshin his acting imprioves by leaps and bounds.
The whole bit where Fye pays his price… his seiyuu was wonderful. Carried his feelings all but perfectly. The animation, however….
No painful smile (though looking at it again, it looks as if there is in this screen cap) and waving of the staff.
And this?
Yuuko: I want your most precious possession.
Fye: Oh alright then.
*Hiss*
And! And!
Yuuko TELLS Syaroan his price first! Syaroan doesn’t offer anything and everything to save Sakura, we don’t get to see that he is willing to give absolutely anything, that, ultimately, he really doesn’t CARE what the price is: All that matters is Sakura.
Mokona.
Because Mokona derserves a lament all to himself.
I cry. I honestly and sincerely do. Mokona has been mutilated, lobotomised into any other mass produced anime ‘cute magic animal sidekick.’ It’s the only explanation.
Mokona is vain. He’s occasionally selfish. He is, occasionally, genuinely helpful. He loves causing mischief, tormenting Kurogane, and is deliberately, gleefully annoying. In the latest chapter, he spiked Sakura’s drink.
In short, he has a PERSONALITY.
This… THING doesn’t.
His voice actor does him no favours, trying too hard to be ‘cutesy,’ but mostly it’s the dialogue. As in, meaningless noises. As in, not a single helpful comment. When he’s dancing around in front of Kurogane for a hug, he doesn’t sound as if he’s being deliberately annoying. He sounds like a small child begging for attention and being unintentionally annoying.
I'm right there with you Kuro-rin
Fye and Mokona are partners in crime. I can’t quite see Fye partnered with… THAT.
More specific points.
First, I’m sure EVERYONE’s spotted the big change. I should have more to say about it, but I find I’m just… numb, it’s so big.
Big changes in anime don’t grate across my nerves as much as big ones do, because it’s the little things that are so important to character development which is the thing usually sacrificed in anime.
Still, I hope Masayoshi offers to take them to a certain hotel…
Our first view of Yuuko’s magic is as a nice gold, just like Yukito’s a few universes over.
But, just as I was beginning to relax, entertaining some nice thoughts about parrallels and connections across universes and Clow’s influence in both…
PINK. GLOW. OF. DOOM.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hiragizawa, are you clairvoyant? Ah, how terrible it is to see the future but be unable to change it!
Alright, it is slightly more reddish than the bogstandard PGM, but still.
Also, the removal of Fye’s tattoo…
The first bit was nice.
However, the way it sailed down to one of the twin girls (and what are they doing there by the way? Didn’t they go with Watanuki?) it looked like on of those ancient special effects where the object is clearly imposed over the top of the shot.
OK, OK, I’m already nitpicking and we haven’t even got to the section yet!
To balance it out, let’s have a positive point.
*sighs happily*
About the music… it’s good music. If it was JUST music, I would listen to it and say ‘this is very good music.’ However, it is a soundtrack. A soundtrack is supposed to reflect and enhance the mood of the anime. And as that, it is very hit and miss.
A Miss.
We switch to a shot of comatose!Sakura and…. Cue the tragic violins!
Melodramtaic, over the top, and I have a dreadful suspicion they mean for it to be taken seriously… It turns what might have otherwise been a poigniant moment into a farce.
A Hit.
*Points Above*
The very first name game? The music playing then? PERFECT. It’s like Fruits Basket. And Fruits Basket has my favourite soundtrack of all time, so this is a high compliment. It reminds me of the music that starts up whenever Yuki and Kyo start fighting, or when Shigure starts /tormenting/ playing with his /chew toys/ cousins and/or editor.
(I just had a very scary thought: Fye and Shigure joining forces.)
The nitpicking.
It’s the stargate!
It’s a big glowing ball of flames with slitty eyes!!!!!! (multiple exclamation marks implied)
Kurogane and Fye DO NOT speak at the same time, thus NOT demosntrating that they are counterparts, opposites, mirror images, the other inverted... And while Kurogane looks, he is the only one who does so.
Watanuki is not dragged of his feet by the twins. *whimper.* They almost appear to be genuine sweet little girls!
You know the flashback to where Touya is King? Is it just me or does Sakura look way to young here?
Wah! We didn’t get to see Fye molesting Syaroan!
NAME: BEE TRAIN HQ
LOCATION: BUNKER A MILE BELOW TOP SOIL (because of pesky things like FANS OUT FOR THEIR BLOOD)
Flunky 1: Sir! Whole minutes have passed without the deployment of the PGD!
Director (aka Satan, the Beast Called Dragon, He Who Has Become Destroyer of Worlds (starting with Tsubasa), Soon to be Deceased if he Messes about with my KuroFye dynamics anymore…): Egads, You’re right! You did well to bring this to my attention, Flunky 1!
Flunky 1: Thank you sir!
Director (aka Satan, the Beast Called etc etc…): [assumes thoughtful pose][minutes pass] I have it! Envision this, Flunky 1! Bright pink background. Flying feathers. A naked body floating slowly downwards, done in Psychedelic colours! From the pink side of the spectrum of course. Inserted for no earthly reason! Lasting almost a full minute!
Flunky 1: [sparkles] You are so amazing, sir!
(the only logical explanation I could come up with for this)
Mokona's wing span drastically reduced... just like Sakura's.
Sparkle Sparkle. Why?
Water drop falls off a leaf.
IDENTICAL to a tiny inset panel in the manga.
If they can be this faithful with the pointless things, why the HELL can’t they be more faithful in the really important bits?!
The good bits.
Watanuki looking good and sounding good.
This shot as his foot splashes in the puddle – I just like it. *shrugs*
And Touya! More Touya! Standing on a balcony waving to his people, looking bored out of his mind, I can’t believe I’m doing this, Yuki if you laugh I’m going to do something painful. Yay! Perfectly in character. If Touya had looked HAPPY to be standing around waving while holding an overly ornate sceptre, I would have been worried. (No Yuki though...)
This shot of Sakura and Syaroan managed to tug on my heartstrings as nothing else in this anime has so far.
I liked these shots of Fye... just something about his posture said him to me.
An SD! At last! And it's a spazzing Kuro-rin! Yay yay and yay!
I like that they've kept the detail on the feathers.
Both the Kudans!
Landscape shot of Hanshin as good as might be expected.
Now, if they’d got another studio in to do the characters…
This is not a nit pick or a good point, just... are they going to end every episode with the camera pulling soely away and a kneeling chacrter standig up? In the first ep it was Kurogane, in this Shougo.
Manga images came from Be With You Scans
Anime images from a subbed episode by Dattebayo, so any subs that appear are theirs.
OK, let’s start by going over character designs. Sakura and Syaroan look about the same as the last episode, which is too say they’re not PERFECT but they don’t make me want to scream and track down Bee Train to do murder. I suspect most of their character design budget was spent on these too.
Kurogane also looks good. He seems to be surgically attached to his cape, and we have seen only head shots of him this episode, so we have been spared the sight of his cheesy-string body.
Fye… *whimpers.* I had relaxed about him after the first episode. He wasn’t perfect, there were a couple of shots I was unsure about, but overall he looked like Fye. I hoped they’d smooth out the problems in the next ep.
It was not to be.
Instead they seem to have smoothed out the good bits.
Seriously. There are still some good shots of him, so I know they CAN do it.
I must conclude, therefore, that it’s a case of WON’T that produces things like this:Yuuko continues to just NOT be Yuuko. Sometimes I thought they’d almost managed it, but still…
Most of the time it really didn’t work.
Like this one:
This says: "You DID just fart Watanuki, didn't you."Like this.
It took me a moment to realise it was her HAIR deforming her face like that.
The Hand. Oh God, the HAND!
The BEST shot of her was this one, because they’ve got her back just PERFECT.
Mokona’s character design is pretty much impossible to mess up. They more than make up for it in other areas though…
In the accounting of GOOD character design…
Masayoshi looks pretty much identical to his manga self. He’s a pretty hard one to get wrong though.
Shougo Asagi looks GOOD. Want to see more of his pony tail ;-)
And oh Fat Guy! Fat Guy is PERFECT in design, voice actor – he’s the best one yet!
Quick run down of the voices.
Syaroan continues to sound good.
Young!Sakura warbles. And yodels.
Kurogane is still good.
Fye sounds nothing like the way he does in my head, but he continues to win me over.
Watanuki (in his what? Two lines) sounds good.
Yuuko continues to be awful.
…maybe I’m overly harsh. There were a few moments when I thought grudgingly ok, maybe - give the woman her due. But… But. There is no WAY that is the voice of a woman who has been chain smoking for centuries.
In the voice acting and animation, Tsubasa is STILL suffering from that emotion amputation. There are a few exceptions, but they tend to be crippled in some way or another.
The Japan/Not Japan exchange between Kurogane and Yuuko. Neither of their voices changed, and Yuuko didn’t budge from this position.
Then the pokepokepoke bit. I’m glad to see it in there, but it felt really wooden. Their voices didn’t reflect it.
And the cosplay line! Best line EVAH and they didn’t keep it! I love that line – we have all this fantasy stuff, and Yuuko’s playing along in the wise and powerful and enigmatic mentor archetype, but because she’s Yuuko of course she won’t conform to expectation for long, so she comes out with a really pop-culturally reference!
However, Kurogane's voice actor is proving me wrong. Don't think much of him while at Yuuko's, but as soon as they get to Hanshin his acting imprioves by leaps and bounds.
The whole bit where Fye pays his price… his seiyuu was wonderful. Carried his feelings all but perfectly. The animation, however….
No painful smile (though looking at it again, it looks as if there is in this screen cap) and waving of the staff.
And this?
Yuuko: I want your most precious possession.
Fye: Oh alright then.
*Hiss*
And! And!
Yuuko TELLS Syaroan his price first! Syaroan doesn’t offer anything and everything to save Sakura, we don’t get to see that he is willing to give absolutely anything, that, ultimately, he really doesn’t CARE what the price is: All that matters is Sakura.
Mokona.
Because Mokona derserves a lament all to himself.
I cry. I honestly and sincerely do. Mokona has been mutilated, lobotomised into any other mass produced anime ‘cute magic animal sidekick.’ It’s the only explanation.
Mokona is vain. He’s occasionally selfish. He is, occasionally, genuinely helpful. He loves causing mischief, tormenting Kurogane, and is deliberately, gleefully annoying. In the latest chapter, he spiked Sakura’s drink.
In short, he has a PERSONALITY.
This… THING doesn’t.
His voice actor does him no favours, trying too hard to be ‘cutesy,’ but mostly it’s the dialogue. As in, meaningless noises. As in, not a single helpful comment. When he’s dancing around in front of Kurogane for a hug, he doesn’t sound as if he’s being deliberately annoying. He sounds like a small child begging for attention and being unintentionally annoying.
I'm right there with you Kuro-rinFye and Mokona are partners in crime. I can’t quite see Fye partnered with… THAT.
More specific points.
First, I’m sure EVERYONE’s spotted the big change. I should have more to say about it, but I find I’m just… numb, it’s so big.
Big changes in anime don’t grate across my nerves as much as big ones do, because it’s the little things that are so important to character development which is the thing usually sacrificed in anime.
Still, I hope Masayoshi offers to take them to a certain hotel…
Our first view of Yuuko’s magic is as a nice gold, just like Yukito’s a few universes over.
But, just as I was beginning to relax, entertaining some nice thoughts about parrallels and connections across universes and Clow’s influence in both…
PINK. GLOW. OF. DOOM.
hiragizawa, are you clairvoyant? Ah, how terrible it is to see the future but be unable to change it!Alright, it is slightly more reddish than the bogstandard PGM, but still.
Also, the removal of Fye’s tattoo…
The first bit was nice.
However, the way it sailed down to one of the twin girls (and what are they doing there by the way? Didn’t they go with Watanuki?) it looked like on of those ancient special effects where the object is clearly imposed over the top of the shot.
OK, OK, I’m already nitpicking and we haven’t even got to the section yet!
To balance it out, let’s have a positive point.
*sighs happily*
About the music… it’s good music. If it was JUST music, I would listen to it and say ‘this is very good music.’ However, it is a soundtrack. A soundtrack is supposed to reflect and enhance the mood of the anime. And as that, it is very hit and miss.
A Miss.
We switch to a shot of comatose!Sakura and…. Cue the tragic violins!
Melodramtaic, over the top, and I have a dreadful suspicion they mean for it to be taken seriously… It turns what might have otherwise been a poigniant moment into a farce.
A Hit.
*Points Above*
The very first name game? The music playing then? PERFECT. It’s like Fruits Basket. And Fruits Basket has my favourite soundtrack of all time, so this is a high compliment. It reminds me of the music that starts up whenever Yuki and Kyo start fighting, or when Shigure starts /tormenting/ playing with his /chew toys/ cousins and/or editor.
(I just had a very scary thought: Fye and Shigure joining forces.)
The nitpicking.
It’s the stargate!
It’s a big glowing ball of flames with slitty eyes!!!!!! (multiple exclamation marks implied)
Kurogane and Fye DO NOT speak at the same time, thus NOT demosntrating that they are counterparts, opposites, mirror images, the other inverted... And while Kurogane looks, he is the only one who does so.
Watanuki is not dragged of his feet by the twins. *whimper.* They almost appear to be genuine sweet little girls!
You know the flashback to where Touya is King? Is it just me or does Sakura look way to young here?
Wah! We didn’t get to see Fye molesting Syaroan!
NAME: BEE TRAIN HQ
LOCATION: BUNKER A MILE BELOW TOP SOIL (because of pesky things like FANS OUT FOR THEIR BLOOD)
Flunky 1: Sir! Whole minutes have passed without the deployment of the PGD!
Director (aka Satan, the Beast Called Dragon, He Who Has Become Destroyer of Worlds (starting with Tsubasa), Soon to be Deceased if he Messes about with my KuroFye dynamics anymore…): Egads, You’re right! You did well to bring this to my attention, Flunky 1!
Flunky 1: Thank you sir!
Director (aka Satan, the Beast Called etc etc…): [assumes thoughtful pose][minutes pass] I have it! Envision this, Flunky 1! Bright pink background. Flying feathers. A naked body floating slowly downwards, done in Psychedelic colours! From the pink side of the spectrum of course. Inserted for no earthly reason! Lasting almost a full minute!
Flunky 1: [sparkles] You are so amazing, sir!
(the only logical explanation I could come up with for this)
Mokona's wing span drastically reduced... just like Sakura's.
Sparkle Sparkle. Why?Water drop falls off a leaf.
IDENTICAL to a tiny inset panel in the manga.
If they can be this faithful with the pointless things, why the HELL can’t they be more faithful in the really important bits?!
The good bits.
Watanuki looking good and sounding good.
This shot as his foot splashes in the puddle – I just like it. *shrugs*
And Touya! More Touya! Standing on a balcony waving to his people, looking bored out of his mind, I can’t believe I’m doing this, Yuki if you laugh I’m going to do something painful. Yay! Perfectly in character. If Touya had looked HAPPY to be standing around waving while holding an overly ornate sceptre, I would have been worried. (No Yuki though...)This shot of Sakura and Syaroan managed to tug on my heartstrings as nothing else in this anime has so far.
I liked these shots of Fye... just something about his posture said him to me.
An SD! At last! And it's a spazzing Kuro-rin! Yay yay and yay!
I like that they've kept the detail on the feathers.
Both the Kudans!
Landscape shot of Hanshin as good as might be expected.
Now, if they’d got another studio in to do the characters…This is not a nit pick or a good point, just... are they going to end every episode with the camera pulling soely away and a kneeling chacrter standig up? In the first ep it was Kurogane, in this Shougo.
Manga images came from Be With You Scans
Anime images from a subbed episode by Dattebayo, so any subs that appear are theirs.
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Date: 2005-04-19 09:13 pm (UTC)They'd better make Yuuko gorgeous! I mean it!!!11!