This series premiered over the weekend. I watched the first 15 minutes late one evening, and finally watched the full episode very late last night (two nights ago). I haven’t said anything proper about this episode, other than ‘lol’ or ‘it was quite funny’. I did have a few good chuckles, and within the abyssal depths of Google Reader Shared Items (GRSI), I did make a statement that the series wasn’t on the level to grasp the hearts of the ye diverse blogosphere. I stand by it.
Personally, I found the episode to be illegitimate, an episode 0. For the majority of the first 15 minutes, the viewer is presented with a number of anime references and source material references, while the characters trot along the fourth wall. The latter half of the episode felt more reasonable and less like it was dare I say, servicing itself.
As for the elements, comically it was fine, though I don’t think the references were hilarious. However, I question if the early part of the episode was even in the source material, or was this perhaps the adaptation’s way of saying “Hello, let’s be friends.” What do we know?
First, the episode was trying to break the ice with viewers by referencing franchises most up-to-date viewers would acknowledge. Second, it was totally servicing itself. Third, it displayed popular elements like harem, moe, and fan-service.
Intimacy is a concept rooted in closeness and familiarity, and this is precisely where I see the “bad” part of this episode trying to connect. I see nothing wrong here. While I did find illegitimacy, I found enjoyment as well.
My enjoyment came mostly from the energy, lightness, tone, and the glimpse of a school life series that might have tried too hard early on. It was cute, with cookie-cutterish characters I was able to smile at here and there.
I have no doubt this ship is definitely sinking could capsize, but at episode 0 1, my foresight is shot. No, this is definitely not “the next best thing,” but for now, I’ll be modestly optimistic.
Notes
Why the hell do I write 80% of my posts in HTML mode D:?
Did you always use translated titles (like Aero-Dork does)? o_O
@aurabolt not always, it’s just that romanji is crap. Could just use the official jp titles, but usually a viable translation exists. Good example: Chrome Shelled Regios being called Koukaku no Regios… or A Certain Scientific Railgun being called To Aru Kagaku no Railgun…. the formers just make sense.
Let’s just say in principle, reading romanji is worse than reading paragraphs in all hiragana… it’s just more difficult to make sense of it. Aroduc’s method is logical. ^^
One-word titles can go either way (ie. Toradora, Shigofumi), same with abbreviations.
I am not convinced. (Though I see the logic.)
Those are good examples, but most titles do not have identifiable translations.
Example: Shoujo titles are typically generic. They can easily mix with Western titles.
Though I can understand using them for consistency with the few viable translations.
Could just use the official jp titles, but usually a viable translation exists.
Yes, I caught where it says “usually”. Guess we’re exposed to different translated titles… or something. \(o_o)/
Identifiable translations… yea, that’s kinda true for long titles, or those which they actually make up some English title which is slightly different.
We need a big list of titles and their romanji counterparts…. actually, just looking at some of my logged stuff… with that list there’s less than 10% on the fringe (could fall either way, might be easier call it by name). There’s a bunch which can use romanji because they are really short or proper (Ga-Rei, Mushi-shi, Gintama, sola). Then there are a bunch which are pointless to use the romanji name (Eureka 7, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, 5cm per second, Melancholy of Haruhi, Library War, Honey + Clover, Crest/Banner of the Stars, Hayate the Combat Butler, Ghost in the Shell … I SHOULD JUST MAKE THE GROUPINGS WITH THE LIST LUL…
The debatable one’s are the most interesting… like Keroro Gunsou, Zero no Tsukaima (Familiar of Zero sounds just dumb), … uh, and others… Bokura ga Ita (We Were There), dunno.
We could probably turn this into a science if we enumerated enough and then built a set of equations/rules.
LOL
Zero no Tsukaima may be translated to Zero’s Familiar, which is fine as a unique identifier. (Now where did I get that term?)
Keroro Gunsou is only a bitch because of the onomatopoeia. Sergeant Keroro should work fine. (Since Keroro is also a name here.)
…Ouran High School Host Club…Melancholy of Haruhi…Library War…Hayate the Combat Butler… Ghost in the Shell…
These too; I clearly recognize them. Library War only passes because no other show has its premise.
Any titles with names are fair for translation. While those consisting entirely of common words are…
Thanks for mentioning Bokura ga Ita. This is my concern with shoujo titles earlier. Say you are browsing Animeblogger Antenna. Would you be able to draw the connection between We Were There and Bokura ga Ita? Even if you are fluent in Japanese.
Incidentally, I had to double-check your From Me to You post yesterday: “This is suppose to be Kimi ni Todoke, right?”
neeeerds
Antenna…kuuuu. Actually, the issue with the antenna is that it doesn’t use multiple aliases (or they are limited). Generally we can have multiple titles and still resolve to something people will recognize, even if the author mentioned it differently. (This is likely going to be implemented with melative acting as the nameserver for various aliases… but you’d have to talk to mellow_bunny about it).
Well, the official title of Bokura ga Ita is ‘We Were There’ which is how the manga is titled (on wikipedia and ANN). Now the anime apparently is titled differently.
As for Kimi ni Todoke, that’s another fringe one, though I think it’s a double title, ‘Kimi ni Todoke: From Me To You.’ Or ‘Reaching You.’
It’s okay to call it differently though, it’s natural and that’s the purpose of aliases and semantic linking… of course most sites aren’t using that sort of name resolution and get stuck with one title…. or having to know a numerical ID of something.
Wikipedia does names right (that’s how we can refer to a page), but doesn’t have aliases outside of alternate language pages. Add an alias engine to Wikipedia, and resolve titles based on a give ‘type’ or category… and that’s basically a good concept ^^ (.implemented)
@tot… N-N-NO U! XP