Forum - View topicYuki Yuna is a Hero (TV) (all seasons + movies).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Hmm, I kinda would of preferred if spoiler[Yuna remained in comatose rather than coming back as it breaks the momentum a bit that has been setup for the past few episodes.] The action was a mixed bag for me in the finale but overall the series was decent for its portrayal of the characters and setting. OST is pretty good for this show as well too.
I wonder if they might adapt another version of the LN soon? Not sure though but I heard some rumors... spoiler[YUNA has saved Christmas!] |
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Vaisaga
 Posts: 13240 |
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While I hardly dislike the ending, it does feel like a bit of a cop out. spoiler[It makes the dramatic weight of the previous episodes completely meaningless. If it all could have been fixed so easily, why bother putting them through all that in the first place? I like happy endings and all, but I think there should have been some sort of permanent repercussions. The important thing is to show that those sacrifices were worth something in the end. Akame Ga Kill had a much stronger ending in that regard.
Togo got off easy as expected, but no matter what they say it really is all her fault. She turned against the Shinjuu and tried to kill everyone, but she's actually rewarded for it. Wasn't Sonoko supposed to step in if a Hero went rogue?] It's still a show I'd gladly recommend to others but it could have been stronger. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 12
More than a cop out, this ending was highly suspicious. After everything they did it seems they all spoiler[lost their fairies and the magically became fixed, even the one who was stuck to a bed and not part of their group was healing]. That seems more like evidence of spoiler[an ulterior motive like the negative effect were entirely up to the Shinju, and either it became unable to hold it over the girls or it no longer needed to do so.] With the mention of dataspoiler[ collected, it kind of seems that it might have been the point the whole time, like what they did to the girls was to gain data]. That Yuuna pretty much spoiler[lost everything after that fight and took a while to recover before being able to suddenly be able to make a leap from brain dead, I can't feel sure it was because she got hurt or that she was the centre of what happened]. Really I think that saying that it is spoiler[will is kind of missing the point that they could recover when they could not before], or really it was actually the wspoiler[ill they showed in the final battle]. Perhaps it was the power that Yuuna showed that was the last it needed to see. Regardless this was far too happy for what this series had set up. I really liked some of the mirrors to the spoiler[ED where we had Yuuna as taking place as the one in the wheelchair, and then finally no one in it]. For this series I at first was mighty surprised to see that it was not just a "cute girls doing cute things" show, it was quite a twist at the beginning having known nothing about it. Honestly I was actually quite surprised it was not darker since there was quite a few hints that this fell more in the dark side of these magical girl shows, it did get quite so with the disabilities and stuff connected to Tougo and Fuu towards the end. The ending part of specifying that it was the end of Yuuki Yuuna's chapter seems to hint that this is not the end, and I would suspect then that there is more being left unsaid, so we can accept the happy ending while thinking that it is a little too good. I will rate it Very good, it was an interesting take not just into the hero thing but dark magical girl anime that has been a little heavy with melodrama, which largely only really hit with Fuu which was pretty great. |
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Vaisaga
Posts: 13240 |
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From what I understood, it works like this: The Shinju takes parts of the girls away in exchange for power. So at the end spoiler[their powers got taken away and thus the Shinju returned what it had taken. That they'd get their bodies back once they stopped being heroes is really something Taisha should have told them in the first place. But the Vertex are forever regenerating, and Karin's mention of their data being useful is talking about the Heroes that will come after them.] You know, come to think of it in the end Karin is the only one to have significant growth come out of all this. All the other girls are more or less exactly the same as they were when we first met them. |
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Sunny milk
Posts: 695 |
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I do think they are overshadowing more sinister happenings, and with it ending up as the season's top seller title (not to mention, as an original) I think we might expect a continuation too.
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ChibiKangaroo
 Posts: 2941 |
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(Copied from the episode review section, since I figured it would be easier to see the reply here.)
I didn't respond to this back when you posted it a while ago Theron, though I meant to. I wanted to respond thoughtfully but I was a bit too busy at the time. I'm going to go into it with a bit more detail right now. First of all, I want to say that I love the concept of magical girl shows. I like watching magical girl shows. Any time a new one comes out, if I have a chance and it looks interesting, I will watch it. The reason I love those shows is because the generally create this kind of modern day fantasy story (and I also really enjoy fantasy literature and shows/movies). Instead of transporting us from our everyday world to a fantasy world, they do the reverse and bring the fantasy world to us. So, in that way, I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing how those fantasy elements are woven into our daily lives. The more imaginative the better. I also enjoy seeing how the main characters react to the fantasy elements. Whether you are talking about a show where the MC is transported to a fantasy world or the fantasy world is brought to our modern world, there it is great when there is that sense of wonder and exploration. If the directors can effectively bring that out in the characters, it makes the experience much more immersive for the audience. This is one of the reasons I loved 12 Kingdoms so much. Youko ultimately gets to that point of sort of awe and wonder, but she even goes through so many different emotions and mental states before that: fear, confusion, helplessness, anger, hatred, self-reflection, and some love. The story does a wonderful job of letting the audience experience all of that with her. Although there is a lot of emotion involved in that, a good show that connects emotionally can take things to the next level by making it intellectual or philosophical as well. In the early parts of 12 Kingdoms for example, Youko is too frightened to defend herself so her protector inserts a body-controlling creature into her that can take control of her body and force her to do things. She is of course frightened by that and resists the idea of being controlled by someone else, but then you see how that creature saves her life on many occasions. So you can think about that intellectually: is it ethical for her to be forced to share her body with this strange creature that can make her do things? It takes away her autonomy and makes her kill, but then it also saves her. You see her struggle with that on more than one occasion and at some point she rebels against that creature and forces it to withdraw and let her control her own actions. There were a lot of other examples in that show where Youko's experiences in this fantasy world would go from an emotional level to an intellectual or philosophical level. In the fantasy world, she's taken advantage of by many people and abused. It causes her to become very angry and distrustful. At some point, she lost the sheath of her magical sword which creates a very cool analogy, as the sword - her weapon for killing - begins to represent her unrestrained anger and suspicions about people. The "spirit" of the sword starts to try and influence her and corrupt her. Is the sword evil? It's not clear at first. It's always been used for good before, but now it seems like it is possessed by an evil demon. spoiler[(This narrative thread then intersects with the romantic one, as the sword tries to make her kill the one person in the fantasy world who had been kind to her and eventually becomes her love interest.) Eventually, it is revealed that the sword was always just a "mirror" and that the evil in the sword was coming from her, not the other way around. She just couldn't see it when the sheath was on. Then we have to ponder about her personal demons. What kind of person is she, really?] All of this stuff gets real deep. It's awesome. Even the later parts where we see spoiler[her becoming more trusting and connected to her love interest - how she identifies with him because he is discriminated against for being different just like she is.] You get so much great intellectual stuff like this out of what could just be a very straightforward fantasy story. There have been a million fantasy stories like 12 Kingdoms, where someone gets transported to another world, but they don't take it to that intellectual level like 12 Kingdoms did. Many of those other shows deal with some of the emotional stuff, and a lot of them can evoke a sense of wonder, but they don't take that next step that I think makes a good show a great show, and perhaps even masterpiece. Now let me bring up another example - Daybreak Illusion. I've made this comparison before, so I won't go into as much detail here. The central story in Daybreak Illusion centers around a young girl who, like Yuuki and her friends, suddenly becomes a magical girl and is exposed to a fantasy experience in the modern world, something she never knew existed before. There is a lot of emotion in both shows, and there are some cool fantastical elements that give us a sense of awe. But then, in DI, the main girl is immediately confronted with a soul crushing philosophical challenge. Just as she transforms into a magical girl for the very first time, she unknowingly murders her beloved cousin (first episode). Normally, changing into a magical girl is framed as this fantastical experience, but here the change causes her to kill someone she loves. She then spoiler[is made to understand that fighting the bad guys means killing innocent people.] This concept is brought up again and again, and we see how she struggles internally with the ethics of it and constantly tries to figure out a way to change the system. I won't give away the end but it was so thought provoking and the ending totally sticks the landing. So then we get to Yuuki Yuna. Specifically, I believe you were responding to my criticisms of how the Togo character was treated, but before I get to that there are some broad points involved. Like I said, in Yuuki Yuna there were some powerful emotional aspects (eventually). The show also had the fantastical stuff that I spoke of in the other shows. But then, on the intellectual front, it just doesn't reach as deep as the others. The primary conflict in Yuuki Yuna from an intellectual perspective is the system where the girls spoiler[lose functionality of body parts when they use their special power-up forms.] The show establishes this broader ethical question of whether it is right for these young girls to spoiler[endure that sacrifice in order to save mankind. (It is a very similar idea to Madoka, though I won't go into that now.)] This ethical question might have been something that could have been explored in a very satisfying way, but the show doesn't really attempt to do that. It puts the question out there, and then once most of the girls realize it is the truth, they just carry on and "grin and bear it," so to speak (with the exception of Togo). So the show sort of asks a question and then mostly answers it immediately after in the affirmative. spoiler[(We get a definitive "yes" answer at the very end of the show, which some people referred to as the "cop-out," but i'll leave that for now.)] The crisis of conscience is thus very short and not very meaningful, aside from the deep emotional impact of watching cute, friendly girls suffering (whereas in Daybreak Illusion the crisis lasts for the entire series and the answer is most definitely NOT a cop-out.) Togo's rebellion against the system was the only crack in this armor, but her actions were framed in a way that made her seem insane rather than thoughtful. She wasn't portrayed as someone doing something thought-provoking but instead spoiler[as someone who would blow up everything to end a world gone mad.] So before I finish, the final point was more about Togo herself. Like I said at the start, I think the best magical girl shows (and fantasy shows) take a fantastical element, inject awe and emotion into it, and then take things to an intellectual or philosophical level. I agreed with you that Togo was probably one of the most unique magical girl characters I have seen. She is a girl who starts the show as a paraplegic, and through transforming into a magical girl, regains the ability of motor function (though not through her real legs). This is a top-tier fantastical element. I am amazed no one did it before now. A wheelchair-bound person regaining the ability to "walk" is a powerful dream, no doubt shared by many all over the world. However, when Togo transforms into a magical girl, we never see the awe and emotion of that. I don't recall if there was any particular reaction by her to it other than maybe a few glances or initial surprise. What is it like for someone to go through that transformation of being unable to walk, and then suddenly having the power to walk? That's powerful stuff, but the show pretty much completely ignores it. Likewise, we don't get to that intellectual or philosophical level. Would transforming into a magical girl be like a drug for her? She can only walk when she is a magical girl. Would she be tempted to figure out a way to not change back? I wonder how this would change her perspective on things. There's so much that could have been done there - so much potential for depth. I think she could have been a masterpiece character. But they didn't go into any of that. Instead they just sort of spoiler[made her go crazy because of her hatred for the sacrifice system]. Maybe you can understand now why I felt like that was such a huge waste of potential. Anyway, that's enough for now 
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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@ ChibiKangaroo
From the first episodes I was saying that they were missing opportunities with Tougo's character, in playing up her angst in being lied to. In the end she perhaps seems a little too mixed up while there were things they could have explored. Going off your example of Daybreak Illusion, which I think that I might have enjoyed more in the end, I think you might make an obvious comparison to Luna. I think they spoiler[perhaps did a better break the nice one to have her on the other side with her]. In the end, Fuu was probably the best explored character, her upset scenes were easier to understand. Which I would then follow with Karin. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24157 |
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Very interesting post, CK. I certainly take your meaning with respect to how powerful shows can be if they manage to fuse emotional and intellectual heft. A recent episode of Parasyte involving Reiko, her baby and Shinichi literally blew my mind because it managed the rare trick of firing on all cylinders at the same time.
However, in my case, I fall into the category that Toni Morrison was referring to when she said that people may not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel. I'd rather a show do a great job of engaging my emotions even if it falls short of engaging my intellectual ya-yas, than the other way around. From that aspect, Yuuki Yuna did it for me. Even now, I can tear up a little thinking of the scene where Togo meets her old friend that she can't remember, due to the cruel sacrifice system. She doesn't even realize that the friend is referring to her when she talks about the girl she misses, but we the audience do (or at least suspect and eventually have the suspicion confirmed). Effing heart-breaking. Yeah, give me stuff like that and I can overlook a lot. |
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ChibiKangaroo
Posts: 2941 |
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I enjoy talking about the Luna arc also from Daybreak Illusion. It wasn't perfect, but it was a pretty strong arc. For me, I really liked how they handled her spoiler[going from good to evil and back to good again]. Specifically, it was intriguing to see how her journey made her stronger and they made that explicit because spoiler[when she turns back to good her attributes and attacks are different and seem more powerful]. Again, it does a good job dealing with the intellectual issues because one of the big themes of the show is that the girls are all flawed and part of their journey is that each one of them has to confront her personal flaw and overcome it. Luna's flaw is her insecurity/lack of confidence and naivete. spoiler[When she comes back to the good side she seems like a different person and has done a lot to overcome her weakness]. It was compelling character growth, especially since (like Yuuki Yuna), Daybreak Illusion had a very short one cour run time. I also agree with you, Fuu was the best developed character in Yuuki Yuna. We spent the most time watching her struggles, and the parts with her feeling guilt about her little sister was probably the most emotionally effective material in the show. If you think about it, Fuu's struggles involving her little sister and the spoiler[sacrifice system] really make the part where Togo goes crazy pretty duplicitive and unnecessary. I think they probably could have completely eliminated the part where Togo goes crazy and instead used that time to develop her experiences transitioning from a paraplegic girl to a magical girl, and more of her relationship with her forgotten friend. We could have gotten a lot more great philosophical stuff with her that would have taken the show from good to outstanding. And Blood-, yea I agree the whole Reiko arc in Parasyte has been masterful. It touched on all levels. I do agree that sometimes a show can be so powerful emotionally that it doesn't need the intellectual heft to be fantastic. I can't say that Yuuki Yuna did that for me, probably in large part due to the fact that the show decided not to be emotionally consistent. As I said in response to DP, I thought the Fu arc was pretty powerful stuff. However, there was a strange kind of "seesaw" effect right at the end of Fu's arc that had the emotions all over the map. Fu was the one who sort of lost it first, and there is a climax where they bring her back from the brink, but then suddenly Togo loses it right after Fu comes back, then they have to bring Togo back from the brink. I think that undercut the ultimate impact of Fu's arc and made Togo's arc feel (as I noted above) sort of duplicitive. The fact that the ending spoiler[pulled back all of the emotional impact that was previously built up] also threw me off a bit. I do think the way Yuuki Yuna eventually focused on the emotional impact was very good, and it's the main reason I think it is a good show. I just think it could have been a masterful show if they had used the Togo character to her full potential. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Just finished the TV series. Overall I liked it.
But like other posters have said, I kind of agree the finale was a mixed bag. Like the power of love and friendship, that makes everyone forget that you tried to kill them all and the world they live in. If it was so easy to restore the girls physical bodies by removing their powers and fairies, then why have generations of girls suffered for so long. The last couple of episodes established that the outside world was a veritable monster factory, with all the defeated Vertexes being restored quite quickly. Yet, somehow the monsters are no longer coming to visit for the near future. Doesn't make much sense that there are significant delays in Vertex attacks. Still even with the nagging questions, there was a lot I enjoyed about the show. |
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Crisha
Moderator
 Posts: 4290 |
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Anime Marathon Discussion (Nov. 6th, 2015 - Nov. 15th, 2015)
Spoilers Reminder for Marathon Discussion: Tag all spoilers within your post(s) and record the episode number(s) you're discussing at the top of your post. |
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CrowLia
 Posts: 5528 Location: Mexico |
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Episodes 1-12
I was originally attracted to this show mostly because the design of the girls' hero attires was very beautiful. I was aware that there was some sort of Madoka-esque twist down the line, so I went in fully expecting to be frustrated to tears like with other Madoka ripoffs (read: Daybreak Illusion). It was, surprisingly, not that bad, but it was hardly stellar overall. I liked the flower motif for the girls and all the implications it had. Particularly spoiler[using it later for the Sange process], I thought it was a good use of what could've been a completely random and arbitrary theme. The animation was pretty great and, as expected, the girls' hero costumes and transformation sequences were very beautiful (with the exception of spoiler[Togo, her transformation felt unnecessarily creepy and borderline gross and it felt like the show focused too much on her T&A, which felt completely out of place]). The girls' friendship was very cute and I think it was nicely developped. However, I felt the overall shortcomings of the show undermine the good qualities it had. The drama was very heavyhanded and the Madoka comparisons are inevitable, especially when there are so many parallels being drawn. spoiler[Togo losing her mind at the end felt exaggerated and forced], as did the way spoiler[Karin used like 5 Mankais in a row and lost her sight, earing, leg and arm]. Togo's fixation on Yuna also felt unearned, like they were trying too hard to mimick Homura and Madoka. spoiler[Heck the Togo backstory episode was ep 10, just like the Homura episode]. While it was nice tospoiler[ have a happy ending, it felt like a cop-out, which makes all the drama that preceded it feel cheaper. Even the previous hero girl that had lost her legs magically grew them back? If at least some sort of sequel had been left it wouldn't have felt so cheap] It was an overall nice but forgettable show. I liked the characters, especially Togo and Fu, but the drama felt too heavy-handed at times and the finale wasn't really satisfying. Rated Decent |
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Dessa
 Posts: 4438 |
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Episodes 1-2
So, I went into this not really knowing anything about it. Whatever the description about it when it first aired, it didn't interest me enough to check it out. But I remembered at Sakura-Con we had the lead seiyuu and a bunch of staff, and the character designs looked cute. So since it was on the list for the marathon, and short, I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm definitely getting a very spoiler[Madoka-esque] vibe to the show. The spoiler[alternate universe] very much reminded me of [spoiler]a Witch's labyrinth[spoiler]. And I'm also getting the sense that spoiler[something bad is going to happen down the road]. Part of it is because spoiler[it reminds me of Madoka], and partly because spoiler[anything this bright and happy is going to have to get dark somewhere down the road]. The spoiler[fairies] also remind me vaguely of spoiler[the ones in PreCure]. I do really have to applaud them for spoiler[having a character in a wheelchair]. It's not something that's done often, especially in Japan. After watching spoiler[.hack//SIGN] with spoiler[Mariko], it's especially nice to see other characters dealing with it as well. The spoiler[Tarot deck] is interesting to see, but I'm not sure if I'd prefer spoiler[it to actually be significant or not]. I've seen series where it's gone both ways, and while I prefer spoiler[them to be plot significant], at the same time spoiler[it's starting to get overdone and a bit cliche]. I really like that spoiler[Togo-san's powers don't magically let her walk], but that spoiler[they support her so that she doesn't have to use her legs at all]. It seems to indicate that spoiler[magic may not be the "magical" solution to every problem], but that spoiler[it can help you find a way to get around the problem]. It's a good start to the series. I hope it continues to be good. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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Episodes 3-5
Well, between spoiler[looking at the voice cast] and spoiler[the very Sentai vibe], I was expecting spoiler[a 5th teammate], but I wasn't expecting it in episode 3. Then again, given spoiler[that we're a quarter of the way through with this episode] and that spoiler[Sentai 6th Rangers usually show up in the 12-17 episode range of a 50 episode series], the timing isn't too bad. Still, though, it spoiler[gives a bit of a rushed sense of pacing], because spoiler[we just got the team together last episode]. It would have been nice spoiler[to have one more episode of them working together, to cover the month skip]. Now that that's out of the way, I really dislike spoiler[Karin]. I know that it's traditional for spoiler[the 6th Ranger to be at odds with the main team], but at least spoiler[they're likable]. I'm sure it's setting up a spoiler[break the haughty] sequence, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm sure spoiler[she's got some dark backstory], but it feels way too cliched right now. Character focus episodes are always a different beast. I'd say that Episode 4 was on the better end. Too often, character focus episodes focus on the character to the detriment of other characters. At the same time, some go all the way to the other end, and barely have anything to do with the character. This one was a good mix, both of spoiler[Itsuki's struggle with her test], and everyone else. The end of the episode seems to be spoiler[setting up something big], and spoiler[Fu's apprehension] makes me glad that I can watch the next episode right away. With Episode 5 starting out with spoiler[a big battle], I would have liked to see spoiler[a battle with the 5 of them working together] before spoiler[such a big battle]. It just goes a bit more with the problems I have with this show's pacing. It also spoiler[gives a hint of foreboding], similar to spoiler[Personas 3 and 4]. In spoiler[Persona 3], you knew that there were spoiler[12 full moon bosses, and by the time you reached October you were done], but spoiler[you knew the game couldn't be over], because spoiler[you still had too many social links to go], including spoiler[3 that hadn't started yet]. In spoiler[Persona 4], it was much the same. Oh, hey, episode 5 finally spoiler[added Karin to the OP]. This also spoiler[gives me a bad feeling]. I think probably because of spoiler[what Joss Whedon pulled in Buffy]. Wait, how did spoiler[Karin get her katana back after she threw it]? I love spoiler[Itsuki's comments], especially after spoiler[her focus on music in the previous episode]. Something I always loved in spoiler[la Corda d'Oro] was how they pointed out that spoiler[the kanji for "music" combines "sound" and "fun"]. Well, looks like I was right in that spoiler[things weren't going to go well]. And, of course, spoiler[when pushed to the brink, we get our mid-season upgrade]. I do really like spoiler[the designs]. It is a bit of a reverse, though, from spoiler[Sentai series], in that usually spoiler[the main character (usually Red) and the 6th Ranger get their power-ups first], and here spoiler[they're the only ones without it at the moment]. Gotta admit, spoiler[Yuna's giant fists look ridiculous], but spoiler[are pretty effective]. Of course, now that spoiler[everyone but Karin has their power up], spoiler[she's going to have an inferiority complex] over it. It'll be interesting to see where the show goes from here, since spoiler[they've already completed their goal], and spoiler[we're not even halfway through]. |
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_Emi_
 Posts: 498 Location: Langjökull |
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Episodes 1-8
I'm definitely having a better experience with this show over .hack//SIGN. Probably would have finished it before the deadline, but I took a nap and spent some quality time with my kitty. Looking back over what other people have said, I'm going to sound like a parrot. First thing that sticks out is that its debt to Puella Magi Madoka Magica is blatantly obvious. I am very confidant in saying that if Madoka didn't exist, we probably wouldn't have Yuna. If you've seen Madoka, you'll know what's going on with Yuna. Not that I'm holding that against it. I like Yuna. One of the things that immediately stuck out is the friendship between the characters. Watching them, I can totally buy into their friendship. They truly feel like friends with the way they interact with each other. My favorite character is Togo. I also like that fact that she is in a wheelchair and that spoiler[her hero form doesn't magically make it all better]. From the information given to us in episode 8 it's obvious that spoiler[Togo has done this before. They get a new fairy after using Mankai and lose use of a part of their body. Togo already has three fairies and lacks use of her legs. She is the person Wesshu(sp?) Nogi refers too and that ribbon is Nogi's. Togo was in no car accident.] Their seems to be some disagreement about the ending. I'll have to wait and see what I think. |
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