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Billy02
Joined: 13 Jun 2018
Posts: 9
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 4:19 am
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I have not watched but by reading all the comments, it really interests me. i think i should start watching.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2018 6:33 pm
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#11
This episode is fun. The episode title revealed last week was indeed a harbinger of events that transpired this week. Ienaga Kanou is a great believer of a treatment that has long roots in older societies but has since been disproved by modern science; but if he's really as old as Shiraishi and the other prisoners knew him when in Abashiri then there's no denying the efficacy of his extremely depraved "treatments".
I wonder how the guards in Abashiri controlled Ushiyama when he went off the rails with his testosterone excesses. Hijikata said in a previous episode that Ushiyama needed to sleep with a woman periodically or he'd lose control. He certainly wasn't kidding. This is the same Ushiyama who treated hard labour in Abashiri as a weak substitute for his own judo training regime.
I'm in full agreement with Ushiyama when he regretted not fighting Sugimoto for longer in a judo match. Ushiyama nearly got flipped onto his back and was lucky there was a wall for him to kick off and reverse the situation. Just as well he's shown to have survived the fire and collapse in the post-credits scene so there may be more chances to see the pair of them fight each other. Will Ienaga get skinned now that he's under Ushiyama's custody?
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:21 am
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Yeah, episode 11 was weird and a little silly, but really fun. Based off the title given last week I thought it was going to be a sort of horror story, and indeed had aspects of it, but it played out in a funnier aspects even called on things like stage plays. The locations of characters played out like looking like sets, what with the behind the walls corridors. It reminds me of things that SHAFT has done before, notably some of Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase.
How did this show get away so much with an older man talking to a teenage girl about dicks.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2018 6:21 pm
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#12
One more introduction to the cast before the show goes on a season's hiatus. Inkarmat is either a really good con artist or someone who has talent and uses it to make money from specific persons without offending the spirits too much. I don't think viewers have seen the last of her, especially since she's dropped a heavy hint she may or may not know who Asirpa's father is.
Is it just me or did the encounter between Hijikata and Ogata feel a little rushed? All that trouble to describe the situation in a town riven by Yakuza civil war and the next time we see the three characters there is a bloodbath and Ogata has a skin to give Hijikata as a tribute in exchange for employment?
It's a stretch to claim Kiroranke was the progenitor of the modern jockey's riding stance on the racetrack, but that's exactly what he's doing compared to the others who are sitting normally (I suppose that might have been the case in early 20th century Japan). He's certainly backing up his claim of an upbringing amongst horses. As for Shiraishi, he might be easily swayed by the promise of easy money, but his point about raking it in without getting killed like the treasure hunt for the mountain of gold fits his character to a T.
With a quarter to work with, I'm looking forward to the continuation. The animators need some time off and less stress working with a weekly deadline, so that might lead to a superior production down the line.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:18 am
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I am really not sure what to write about this series for the end of its first season. I liked it, I was honestly more interested in the cultural aspects of the Ainu, rather than the hunting down people to get treasure. Asirpa was fun, special mention for her strange faces. Much rather the chemistry between her and Sugimoto, rather than all the crazy generals and stuff who have grand plans for the gold. Feels like more of a motivation of Asirpa getting some closure at the end, rather than really gold itself. Episodes though could be a little strange in how they shift to away from its regular settings, after it feeling like they stayed in the same place for so long. But I do think the hotel was fun.
I really don't know what else to say. It certainly kept my interest, which feels really good im comparison to other things. I give it a rating of Good (7/10), it is worth watching. Looking forward to season 2.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:12 pm
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#13
Picking up where the last episode left off, winter is receding but Hokkaido is still full of delicious food, perverted weirdos as well as armed and dangerous men with an agenda.
Edogai might be technically gifted at what he does, but Tsurumi seems to have latched on to the man's twisted psyche. If he plans to use the fake skins to mislead the other interesting parties in the hunt for the gold, he's probably found the only person on the whole island capable of pulling off the forgery.
The shifty Ainu fortuneteller made contact with Tsurumi! Tanigaki will search for Asirpa because he owes Asirpa's grandmother Huci and the other villagers for taking care of him while his leg was out, but Inkarmat is too shifty for his liking and he seems wary of her gifts. There's no doubt she's talented at swindling easy marks like Shiraishi, but how will she fare against someone more straight-laced?
I wonder what Asirpa remembered from that dream sequence. She seemed to be in a great hurry to get going after waking up.
No OP or ED animation this week. This season's OP song featured at the end isn't as catchy or as memorable as the first half in my opinion. Maybe it'll make more of an impact if the OP visuals this season are a good match.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 6:30 pm
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#14
OP visuals are better than season 1, but the song isn't. It's the other way round for the ED, but the song isn't as good as season 1 either. There's a lot of focus on Asirpa's father though.
Calling Edogai eccentric is putting it mildly, but he delivered on his agreement with Tsurumi for the fake skins and the lieutenant now has a considerable trump card against the rest of the competing groups. Oogata had it spot on; Tsurumi would have had too powerful an advantage had the other factions not discovered the sixth skin, although they do not yet have the knowledge to discern a genuine skin from a fake one.
I don't know if the kid's observation was a superstition from the era, but the dangers of coal mines are made manifest in this episode. As always, Sugimoto never gives up and his devil's luck eventually gets him and Shiraishi out of a bind. The series has some cheek using Da Vinci's Last Supper as an inspiration for that surreal eating scene between the two groups. It's also the only way for this episode to introduce some cuisine, although the unfortunate horse afficiando is going to go hungry for some time.
With this mini-arc done, I wonder what's up next.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:23 pm
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#15
Frontload the action scenes this week, put the culinary section in the middle sprinkled with some comedy and leave the character background exposition and main plot advancement to the end. Not a bad combination.
How many more body parts is the surviving twin going to lose before he can even attempt to take down Sugimoto? I make that at least one ear and half a leg by this week.
Oogata isn't a good sport and is immune to coercion from Asirpa. Ushiyama on the other hand isn't too different from Sugimoto in his reactions. Regardless, Oogata is a damn good shot despite the warning from Asirpa that the prey wouldn't be easy to shoot (one bullet for three birds?! Even if it's three for three he still needs to be insane accurate to not miss.)
Episode title did hint at some character exposition, and it turns out Nagakura met Hijikata by chance at one of the Hokkaido prisons. Looks like the warden who kept Hijikata imprisoned for so many years has been deliberately shifting him around to break his spirit but hasn't succeeded. As he's the current warden of Abashiri prison, he'll know about Nopperabou and what he's done to the prisoners.
They wanted Shiraishi to infiltrate Abashiri prison and it looks like he's accomplished step one of the plan: to get himself caught AGAIN. Never a dull moment with the combat-incapable escape artist.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:27 pm
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Season 2, Episode 4
This episode was hilarious. Especially on the Tsurumi side, treating Nikaido, like a dog with two fingers on his hand to tell him off, from overdoing it with the morphine, before Tsurumi is drinking it. Meeting the gun maker guy, who is also crazy. And the scene where Tsurumi was saying someone was for Nikaido, before some guy shows up that we have never seen before, who is kind of creepy in a not usual creepy way, actually scaring Nikaido, before showing that he was just some random guy that no one knew who he was. The random guy even showed up during the "congratulations Nikaido" bit, when they were all laughing after the doctor got angry about them firing a gun in hospital, out of the prosthetic leg.
Also, everyone looking back that none of them care for Shiraishi, seeing him as a fool.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 6:16 pm
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#18
Pace slowed down completely this episode since it's the Matagi, Tanigaki's turn to get his turn at character background exposition. His is a sad tale; joining the army just for revenge only to find out the truth of the matter was something he'd never have expected.
It does explain why he's so devoted to finding Asirpa for her grandmother, Huci's sake. He's no longer a lost soul who has nothing to live for after surviving the war in Manchuria. Tsurumi has a gift for keeping a motley crew of semi-insane soldiers devoted to him, but Tanigaki isn't like the other soldiers so it's not surprising he could easily desert the 7th to do what he really wanted.
Now that the two parties have reunited in Kushiro, I wonder what's next. It's an Ainu title for next week's episode, so the main storyline looks like it's back on track.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2018 1:45 pm
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#19
A quiet expository episode this week. Viewers are reminded about the concept of the Kamui amongst the Ainu and why they take such trouble sending off hunted bears. The first half doesn't really see much, aside from the ensemble cast taking it easy after the mad dash through the high mountains.
It's the second half that's more interesting. Oogata isn't just the platoon's best shot, he's got the twisted mindset of someone whose surroundings from birth left something to be desired. I especially like the quote about how a child borne without love somehow ends up lacking something in adulthood, and in Oogata's case he has no truck with anything which isn't concrete or dependable like his rifle. It's because he has no trust in others that Tsurumi never got a hold on him like he did with his other subordinates, which might prove interesting down the line if they should cross paths on opposite sides once more.
That ending scene at the beach: it feels like a homage to something but I have no idea what it is. Next week's episode is "Blue Eyes", which for anyone who pays attention the ED animation should refer to someone in particular.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2018 5:36 pm
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#20
It's been a while but Nopperabo is finally brought back into the picture with this episode. As a bonus, the group now has intrigue as Kiroranke and Inkarmat bring two competing narratives to the table. As neither argument is reconcilable with the other, Sugimoto's solution that he kill one or the other should there be a fatality en-route maintains the peace for now.
If this show is anything to go by, I'm never having sea otter meat in a stew or hotpot ever.
After seeing the actual warden of Abashiri for the first time this episode, it's scary how accurate the fraudster from a few episodes back was at portraying him. Of course the easy way was to get the same VA to portray both characters and then give instructions to make the voices as distinct as possible, but seeing how far the fraudster was able to go before he was exposed makes me understand how good he was. Unfortunately for the hapless security chief Kadokura, it looks like Koito tried to infiltrate the prison to spy on its layout. Not a bad plan to use prisoners to make everything look like an accident, but Tsurumi doesn't randomly place disposable mugs as his spies.
It's all heading towards a climax as the episode count ticks down, and the show has lost none of the appeal that has drawn in viewers since the start.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:22 pm
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#21
Blind bandits, a hot spring and a running night battle featuring naked men with heavily muscled physiques. Only in this show can one put all three into a single episode.
All of a sudden Sugimoto and company are thrown into another dangerous encounter with tattooed prisoners. To think they did it all stark naked and in the dark makes it all the more surreal and impressive; it's cold where they're staying in springtime so if the injuries wouldn't get to them illness would.
Besides the action, the plot moves forward as it appears the Abashiri Warden is preparing for a war of his own. Why would a prison need so much money to buy Maxim guns?! Tsurumi's spy (I thought it was Kaito, but it's a different man) is infatuated with the lieutenant like most of the other men in the platoon, but he did a very good job giving a layout of the prison even though he was prematurely forced out.
I wonder what Hijikata is planning to do with those photos. Besides the sentimental value, photos allow for investigation as they are more accurate than hand-drawn portraits for describing wanted persons like Sugimoto. In this era, photo studios were a luxurious novelty in Japan so it's nice to thrown in the historical features of the age every once in a while.
New moon coming up next episode from the title, so what's coming next?
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 6:22 pm
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#23
So much happens this episode it gets overwhelming. As expected, the 7th Division's assault throws all plans up in the air as everyone tries to secure the real Nopperabo for themselves.
It all seems to be going working in Hijikata and Tsurumi's favour, but everything changes when Kadokura throws the master release switch. Without it, Sugimoto would have been gunned down in the cell. At least now even after his injuries he has a chance to keep his word and reunite the father and daughter (with those eyes, who else could he be?)
One episode remaining, so it looks like Inudou and Hijikata are going to duel next week since they're chained to each other. With the whole prison in an uproar, Asirpa and the group might just be able to walk out of there if they can secure the VIP. It's all up in the air though with the chaos around them, but everything in this season has to end somewhere.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2969
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Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:05 pm
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#24
What an ending. The great climax featuring the elusive Nopperabou, and then the two shots!
Clearly this series hasn't ended, since the final target of the gold hoard is ages away since the skins have not yet been completely assembled. The team pairings have changed as well, with former enemies now working together pursuing a common goal. Whether another adaptation will air is up in the air, but the source material is still going strong and it's not close to ending anytime soon, so whatever material an adaptation will cover is still in flux.
It's been quite a watch from start to finish, and to think there's (hopefully) more to come in the future. Eagerly looking forward to announcements of future adaptations.
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