Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Flip Flappers
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chaccide
Posts: 295 |
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The animation style in Pure Illusion was very French to me, reminding me of that animation of the 1960's and 70s. I felt like I was on a magical mystery tour.
I have no idea what's going on yet--I think this is a show where what's going on is a partly rooted in the person watching it. Papika fascinates me. I generally hate characters like her, but she's so charming that I adore her, so part of this show already has me taking apart my reactions to it. And I find it interesting to watch what I focus on and how my mind is automatically stringing all of it together into patterns, sensical or not. Anyway, I'm hooked. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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I was wondering about the significance of the rabbit's name being Uexküll, because that sounded way too specific not to be a reference. I think it's safe to say that it's a reference to Baron Jakob von Uexküll, one of the creators of the concept of Umwelt. There are other people with that name, but this man is the only one with an article on Japanese Wikipedia, which even includes a brief section about the reception of his ideas in Japan, so I think it's a very deliberate choice. I'm more of a database than a critic though, so I'll let others draw their conclusions about what this might have to do with the show's themes
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Merida
Posts: 1946 |
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That's pretty interesting. I knew the name sounded familiar, but i was too distracted by the rabbit's cuteness (and manliness). I'm loving this show so far, it looks fantastic and i'm eagerly waiting to find out where this will be going. |
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Hameyadea
Posts: 3679 |
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The show's almost sarcastic in its portrayal of "coating" danger with a layer of "fluff" and "awkwardly cute" scenery and settings.
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meiam
Posts: 3443 |
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But you didn't learn anything about Cocona from the setting, you're applying what you already know of Cocona to the setting. If the first episode had been shoot in first person and Cocona didn't say a word you'd never have noted the symbolism of the cold and isolation saying something about Cocona. That's why I'm saying it's just random stuff that would work no matter what, no new information is obtained you just apply what you already know to the setting. And the fact that different people can interpret the same stuff different way is just more proof that its just random, there's no deep meaning there, if there was everybody would reach the same conclusion. To me, this is about as deep as the fake medium show, where some guy throw random idea at an audience until something stick and then he use that to claim he can talk to spirit. For example, the review linked to some illusion picture, so the show throw the first extremely obvious one at the audience, and then sit back and let people note other way that are barely there, crop out the two face/cup and show the following two to people and everybody would tell you it's a stretch to see those, the lady looking away does not also look like an old woman and the two girl in the snow do not look like a skull. The story is pretty close to incoherent for the moment, stuff we know: There's a world of illusion After they spend some time there the character eventually leave and get a crystal That's pretty much it, it hasn't broken any rule because there are none to break. The first time they went into the world because the robot activated something, second time they just entered it from some random vacuum under a statue. First time the setting had nothing to do with the object they went into, the second time it was kinda the interior of it. |
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chaccide
Posts: 295 |
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Interesting, that really fits what we've seen so far. Our bodies 'shape' our worlds because our experiences exist within the limitations of what we are. And for these characters that's not only taken to a very primitive level of touch and taste and smell, they literally are shaping the world they interact in. Papika coalesces into herself from a strange blob because she's recognized on that level by Cocona. There is no one reality, just our experience of it, so one wonders how there can be Pure Illusion. |
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Muffum
Posts: 100 |
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You're saying that if the scenes in Pure Illusion were shot and framed differently, people would derive different meaning out of it. Well... yes? Obviously? That's how that kind of thing works; it isn't just a matter of "the world is cold and distant like Cocona," it's a matter of how the whole world is portrayed, from the aesthetic presentation of it to the characters' reactions to it to what actually happens in it and how those events are portrayed. All those things together paint a full picture. And the idea that people will universally come upon any deeper meaning something has is almost laughably wrong. I've never seen universal consensus for the meaning of every symbol or scene in a given work, regardless of what the work was or who the people discussing it were. By that logic, no piece of media in existence has any deeper meaning. |
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CrimsonDX
Posts: 171 |
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Looks interesting so far, but I am going to hold off on my judgement. If this show decides to suddenly goes grim dark depressing I will immediately drop it.
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Valhern
Posts: 916 |
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Why would anyone want to reach the same conclusion about an anime or any other show? That'd be boring. Also, I don't think it's related to obtaining new information, but noticing a more creative way to convey the same information and hammer it with as much strenght as possible, that's what leaves an impression on the audience. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15550 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Perhaps you are not paying full attention, because there was an explanation beyond being sucked into random things, Papiko said that they both have to be thinking about the same thing. Now what does that mean? Well clearly both girls were thinking about the vacuum machine in the second episode before they were sucked in, so the key to entering the worlds may be just as much what shapes those worlds. And that means that the likely subconscious thoughts that makes those worlds, and that extra meaning can be gathered from them. Cocona even commented on the type of ice on the trees with some glee, to me this conveyed an interest she has on experiencing things she had only read about. That is something we learned about her. And as I said earlier, the form that Uexkull took is reflective of Cocona herself, something that might be hard to have explained otherwise. And lets talk about the crystals. Do you think that the crystals are meaningless plot devices to force the girls to go into imaginary worlds? I really don't think so, and although it is only it is only the second episode and hard to see what the definitive message is yet, I do have a theory. My theory so far is that the story is a little meta, that the plot of an adult (man) who possibly looks nefarious is collecting little bits of imagination from little girls is somewhat reflective creative projects like anime. Like a director or producer collecting little crystallised pieces of imagination, and a question is left open of whether that figure is doing it for a selfish reason, or that he has a passion for that imagination and wants to share it. Because there are a few elements in this show that feel like Trigger, I have felt a specific comparison to Space Patrol Luluco which is filled to the gills with high energy weirdness. But specifically it was that Luluco was a love letter to their fans, both in style but also in symbolism, the themes that came together were all about doing what you love regardless of how weird it is. It was actually sort of self reflective in how it embraced its high energy weirdness as symbolism of how much it likes to embrace its high energy weirdness, and so far I have been thinking of Flip Flappers as something similar, it has been using its imaginative settings as a means of embracing that same imagination. I guess that is where you might misinterpret it as being weird for the sake of being weird, but that is missing the parts that have real intended symbolic meaning. It is likely that not everything is going to have a literal meaning either, but those things themselves are important to add a sense of fun, especially since these sort of shows are also about stop worrying and have some fun. It is also the lesson that Cocona is learning. I wonder if you have watched these sorts of shows before (TTGL, Abenobashi, FLCL, Kill la Kill and Kiznaiver) with the intention of reading between the lines to pick up the sub textual themes and symbolism that is baked into the wacky story elements. Those of which show that far more thought is put in than from base appearances. |
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Edl01
Posts: 117 |
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The first two episodes of Flip Flappers felt less like a narrative and more like a platform being used by some incredibly talented artists to express their creativity through beautifully made vignettes. I am completely okay with this. I enjoyed the second episode even more than the first.
Flip Flappers seems to be a very solid Dark Horse this season, if it keeps up this combination of fun, energy, style and creativity I feel I'll really love this show. |
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Yuukiwr
Posts: 16 |
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speaking about interprations and Speculation. -Cocona seems rather out of sync/touch/place in the real world for some reason, even in the snow world. - The river Nyx scene near the start of ep 1 is also interesting. Why and how did she get there? Based on the on the girls words she wars there at least ones. - Whats up with the Grandma? or the morning routine in general? It seems to repeat itself. But this is also a good way to show how monotone and structured Coconas life is. - The speculation about pure illusion being based on the imagniation of the humans also gets fuelled by the ending. It depicts them in various Folktales, i cant say on what the ep1 was based but ep2 almost screams Alice. |
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meiam
Posts: 3443 |
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So in the same paragraph you talk about both the girls having to think about the same things to enter the world, then you talk about how what they think about shape the world and then you talk about Cocona wanting to experience ice on tree... So was Papika thinking about those iced tree in episode 1 when they entered the world too? Why was Cocona even thinking about those when they were on the pipe? If she wasn't thinking about that, what exactly were the two of them thinking about when they entered the ice world for it to be connected to what they were thinking about AND be something that both would think at the same time? See how the rule just arbitrarily change to suit whatever is happening. My point is that this show has as much symbolism as any other show (including dumb cash grab harem laden with fan service) i.e. has much as the viewer are willing to see into it. By simply being random and weird about everything, the writer are ensuring that everyone will see pattern because they think there's some pattern, otherwise "why would everything be so random?", hence being random for the sake of being random. |
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BodaciousSpacePirate
Subscriber
Posts: 3018 |
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It is one of the most famous optical illusions in the history of western art. I am genuinely sad that you can't see it, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15550 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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God you are frustrating. Okay lets separate it out a bit, the first thing is that they need to think about the same thing to activate a catalyst, this most likely sets up the basic structure of the world they are entering into. But one single idea cannot fit in all of the details of that world, so one would guess that different things are taken from their minds to fill in those details. I am not entirely sure what the same thought Cocona and Papiko had in the same episode, but considering the world was in general about Cocona's icy appearance, than this was the probably the thought, and built a winter wonderland. Amongst the details were the particular type of ice on a tree, something that fit the winter wonderland and was something Cocona had interest in seeing herself. The second episode had the single idea of the catalyst being the rabbit in the vacuum machine. The details were things like rabbits like to chew on hard things, and cages, things that likely mean something to Cocona with her pet rabbit. They got the urge to chomp down on things which might have also been partially influenced by Papiko hunger like reaction earlier evidenced by her drooling over Uexkull. We kind of light so far on what is normal for Papiko so we have some trouble seeing what details she brings in, but that should not be much of a problem.
Looking for context, this might mean that she has been close to death. But rather than just herself personally, could it be her strangely absent parents, or a risk for her very frail looking grandmother? |
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