Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - gdgd Gravy
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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I could never really get into Gdgd Fairies. WoGE was great in that kind of weird, abstract way that seemed to be in vogue at the time (Funky Forest came out in the same year, as I recall) & I've been a fan of Peeping Life since I stumbled across the original shorts on youtube (the TV series had the best OP of last year, as well). But GdGd Fairies just never did it for me. The scripted comedy conversations never hit, they didn't have much time to improv & the animation sequences were a painful reminder of being 10 & crowding round a school computer, being really impressed by the complete shite we were making with 3D Movie Maker.
I didn't realise the same guy, Ishidate, was behind several of the series named. Now that I think about it, though, they all have one thing in common: the writing sucks & they all improve massively when the VAs go off script or improvise. Tesagure was probably my favouite for that reason. |
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Kimiko_0
 Posts: 1796 Location: Leiden, NL, EU |
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I wish some group would sub the gdgd Fairies movie and NariHero www. Maybe Naria Girls will bring back some interest in the older anime.
Gdgd Fairies was so-so. With that much rambling you're bound to hit a funny once in a while, but the novelty of the improvisation wears off. The main fairies segment was better, but didn't get much time or depth. Well, for the length of the eps. it was mildly amusing. |
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Hawkmoth
 Posts: 62 |
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I'm with you Mike: I loved gdgd, despite me wondering why the hell I had even clicked on it to watch it. The dubbing lake section, and the sad moments when one of the actresses failed to be funny, afterwards being colsoled by the others, had me rolling.
That said, Straight Title Robot Anime was worth it for the end sections where they loaded a room full of props and re-enacted parts of human culture using them, followed by the actresses explaining what they had dressed up as (apparently they did this for real, not sure if that's true). The way they stifled their laughs and often completely broke character, especially if explaining something more vulgar was amusing, especially as it seemed as though the actress for the blue haired robot seemed far less innocent than her voice let on, quite happily saying chinko without hesitation or apology, among other savory topics she discussed without fear. And although I don't really find that kind of joke funny, when one of the robots explains why some humans have smaller chests than others, and one of the voice actresses seems to be genuinely offended by the subject being brought up, I thought it hilarious. Why the first part of each episode was so boring was a strange decision, considering how funny the ending parts were. I know the idea is that they're learning to be funny, but seeing as they never become funny, it becomes a meta-joke that you can appreciate but not actually, crucially, fatally, laugh at. |
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harminia
 Posts: 2064 Location: australia |
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I love Gdgd Fairies. I still haven't finished season 2 but I also kind of don't want it to end. I love how the opening and ending songs always have little twists. The changes to "let's party!" in season 2 Op gets me every time ("let's panty!" cracks me up). The songs are also just plain catchy (the naria girls songs are sooo catchy....)
I want to go and watch other stuff by the staff because they look funny too; I did start watching the robot anime one but I forget what I thought of it. I'm watching Naria girls this season and while it isn't as good as Gdgd it's still really funny. The segments in the eyecatch where the guest star chats about some random thing are so funny, and I love when the girls have to tell a story during their transformation. I really dig the freestyle dubbing parts of gdgd and Naria because not only is it just plain fun but you also get to hear the voice actors doing different ranges of voices, and sometimes they'll do a voice you didn't realise they could do! It's also funny seeing the people who don't Get the concept between naria and stuff and are like LOL WORST ANIME EVER!!! |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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I had just watched that Crunchyroll special earlier today (what Christmas on Labor Day Weekend is totally a thing, I wasn't drunk and depressed at all what are you talking about weirdo...) and had thought that the way that Crunchyroll-Hime was animated seemed familiar. I couldn't place it at the time, but it feels obvious in retrospect.
The special was enviably fantastic. (It made me want to give up every trying to tell a joke again; I give up on things when other people are better at them then me, so I'm essentially catatonic now) I hope that Mike does more work like it some time in the future; it's a strong start and could end up pretty special with opportunities for refinements of style and expansion of range. ("Want an example? Here's a counterexample," was particularly excellent writing; credit to Miles for the performance too) I haven't watched Ggdg Faeries, but I periodically consider doing so. It's on my list of, "maybe ones of these days," shows, which I could watch right after I finish writing this or never. (See ladies, I'm flexible, but admittedly not in the fun way) I'm leery, because I suspect that it might be a case where I get the joke, but I just don't think that it's a very funny joke. This has been my experience with Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!; I grasp the comic approach and aesthetic that they're using, I just don't like it. (Tom Goes to the Mayor was as far as I could go with those two) That said, I did find the clip in the Crunchyroll TV special amusing and it probably requires a small enough investment of time that I'd lose little by watching it, even if I fail to enjoy it. The humor of these shows seems to hinge upon a rather particular sensibility as much or more about context and presentation than the jokes. This necessarily narrows its appeal, which is a potentially good thing as the best comedy usually has a distinctive style and clearly bares its creator's mark, but that also polarizes reactions and can lead to a, shall we say, high standard deviation in responses even from those who like it. I suspect that I will turn out to enjoy at least a half season or so of Gdgd Faeries, but get tired out and a little jaded if I went further, especially to anything that might be overstretched, like Straight Title Robot Anime. |
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Night fox
 Posts: 561 Location: Sweden |
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Heh, for some reason this pic reminds me of the main protagonists of A Certain Scientific Railgun. Specifically, from left to right, Ruiko, Kuroko, Kazari and Mikoto.
But, as I understand it, they are actually the members of the afterschool club from Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono? |
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ajr
Posts: 465 |
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gdgd Fairies is great, I first heard about it on the AWO (Anime World Order) podcast. I'm pretty sure Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono's opening sequence is the one where the opening song self-narrates it's own visuals, camera pans, etc..
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Puniyo
 Posts: 271 |
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It's nice to see a positive article about MikuMikuDance. The software is great and the fact that whole shows are made with it is impressive, but the western MMD community/fandom is just horrible.
That aside, there's an extension for MMD that allows for the usage of shaders and lighting effects (MikuMikuEffect), which can make a final render look much more professional. I'm surprised none of the shows use it. Last edited by Puniyo on Mon Sep 05, 2016 3:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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jymmy
 Posts: 1244 |
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Awesome column! I haven't yet finished rounding out these series – I haven't actually seen gdgd Fairies, to my chagrin – but I got in with Straight Title Robot Anime. While I agree the show is not the finest of the crop, if you watch one episode straight to finish it has to be the last one, which introduces a brilliant melancholy air and elevates the show to a new level.
I'm more familiar and enamoured with Koutarou's side. Minarai Diva was a lot of fun. It was streamed live, complete with "technical difficulties" screens depicting the protagonists in progressively less clothing, to which the voice actresses reacted with feigned outrage. They would listen to a song prepared before the show, and then fans would Tweet lyrics at them live, out of which they would construct the lyrics to the song and perform as the ending theme. The second half of the episode featured a lot more variety-show style stuff, such as the brilliant game of charades in episode 3 (the last fansubbed one). I spoke to the character designer Adachi Shingo just this Saturday, who was amazed and happy that someone in Australia had heard of it when I asked him to sign the first Blu-ray volume. Referring to "Naria Girls" doesn't fully capture it. Mahou Shoujo? Naria Girls Nama de Anime wo Tsukuru Sama is similar to Minarai Diva, where there's a forty-odd-minute live broadcast with motion capture suits and MMD models. Ishidate Koutarou appears as the mascot, Animaru, and coaches them through the voice acting sessions, which become protracted and bizarre as they improvise wildly off script. Lots of fun, very breezy. Those clips are then used in the 10-minute TV anime (just "Mahou Shoujo? Naria Girls") the characters are "making"... and the results are pretty awful. The humour from the Nama de Anime wo Tsukuru Sama isn't given room to breathe, and it's not very good. Probably the highlight of the TV series is Naria Spring hacking and coughing her way through her "transformation speech" as she's struck with allergies because it's... Naria Spring! Tesagure! Bukatsumono went unlicensed for its first two half-length episode seasons, but then Crunchyroll picked up its sequel, Tesagure! Bukatsumono Spinoff: Purupurun Charm to Asobou, which was maddeningly brilliant and the best comedy anime of 2015 along with Osomatsu-san and One Punch Man. They then added the first two seasons. Season 3 expands the formula by crossing over with the characters from web manga Minarai Megami Purupurun Charm (which I bought to read before my anticipated rewatch of the show) and somehow becomes even funnier. The entire two-episode sequence where they play a game of Yurirou (or Lez-Garoux, as I call it – a game of "Werewolf" set in a girls' boarding school where there's a yuri character on the loose, much better and less cringey than it sounds) is flawless and blends character acting into the real improvisation and psychological warfare they're doing, along with the perfect conclusion to the game. Plus some Danganronpa references for good measure.
Another stroke of brilliance. Season 2's lyrics (it's the same song, just the second verse and chorus) are about how hard it is to write lyrics for the second season's OP. Tesagure! is great. |
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melmouth
Posts: 167 |
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Thank you for this column. I just recently discovered Tesagure! Bukatsu-mono, and I'm loving it.
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Chipp12
Posts: 332 |
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There's also another great series that also sadly ended unnoticed called Wailing Nightmare/Doukoku no Nightmare that was also using MMD for animation but the results were astonishing. I liked it much better than the first season of RWBY that was being released around the same period.
Here's a link for an opening movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bh7xLZksDI |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4830 |
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Fun article; I'd barely even heard of most of these shows, much less understood where that visual style was coming from. But it does leave me with a pressing question...how in God's name would you actually pronounce "gdgd fairies"?
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jymmy
Posts: 1244 |
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"gudaguda fairies" – "gudaguda" means incessant or rambling.
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casualfan
Posts: 333 |
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Gdgd Fairies is a classic in my book. It's up there with Cromartie as my favorite comedy anime. It's one of those shows that I could enjoy through countless watch. A very nice blend of cuteness and comedy.
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