Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Shadows House
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1619 |
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and here it was, my favourite scene of the manga... although it's a bit less hype when the colors are so dulled. Maybe they could have pulled a page form Super Cub for this lol
The ballroom was also stupidly dark but I'm already used to it. Otherwise, great adaptation and I'm glad about how everything was conveyed. I loved many of the animation tricks: the way Sara and Mia were animated made their fluid mirror moves way creepier than those of other pairs, Barbara's voice perfectly conveys how she isn't as much of a gremlin as Barbie, Maryrose is as much of an overbearing prince as she should, Grandfather's slight and slow movements felt off and Shirley's death was oddly beautifully animated even when it was impossible to pull this off: https://i.imgur.com/4dIb6Dn.jpg The previous scene with the makeshift boat and soot wings were so exhilarating that I didn't stop to realize how sad Shirley and Ram's situations were in the manga. This episode was basically the payoff for this long arc. There was also a very short anime original cut which seems pretty significant. At a pace of 4 chapters per episode, we're one chapter short to fill three peisodes so it can end right on a "shocking" cliffhanger and this might be what fills in the runtime. I'm very curious at to what it might be, specially so since it could potentially alter some events in the meanwhile. The infodump was as clumsy as it was in the manga however (if they were going to do it like that might as well narrate it straight without the "as you know" framing) but at least it gives many answers going around in circles teasing them. Further down the line there are a couple other infodumps like this (with a lot of repeated information) but at least those are given to characters without any/all the information.
Some other things to consider: in the only skipped chapter Kate states that shadows aren't made of soot and proceeds to use Emilyko's soot removal room. John also used a similar facility to clean his clothes. And Ryan himself says the way Shirley died was weird (spoiler[the example girl in the infodump didn't have a chunk of her ankle missing in the manga])
Kate's oddity spoiler[has a little trick that we won't get to see this season.] |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2607 |
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Kate also dodged Emilico's questions about what the debut was or if she were actually human so those answers she likely knows and knows how terrifying those could seem. Third supporting evidence is that Shirley being an exceptional case where a failed shadow-person just disintegrates, likely due to a lack of a will to live I'd guess, it is possible that Kate would have survived to be gotten a "new face" and might have been motivated to do so because of the fate of her previous "face". These last items also supports the idea you mentioned that Kate knows something of what is happening in the "shadows" and why she is against it possibly from the start. Also, I just noticed that the Op did not show Rum in the "face lineup" sequence, so that was a hint... We will undoubtedly see Kate draw a circle of other shadows like John, possibly Maryrose and even Star-bearer (as an outside possibility) into a covert reform movement. The Op also has a twin shadow-pair and two other characters that have yet to be shown. My take on the infodump here is that the author or adaptation team decided to get all that out of the way to set up the story to focus on the action relative to said movement which will get set up in the remaining episodes and will be the core of next season. Last edited by Hiroki not Takuya on Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:17 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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John Thacker
Posts: 1008 |
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Yes, the infodump seemed honestly unnecessary. It's confirmation of things that most people paying attention would have guessed as one of the most likely possibilities. Was it really necessary to confirm them in dialog right now instead of waiting to show the facts when relevant? |
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John the Dark Lord
Posts: 255 |
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Because those facts are going to become relevant right now. The show needed to explain all that to progress into the next arc. Yeah, the infodump was clumsy, but the author couldn't afford to wait anymore. |
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1619 |
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The confirmations were necessary. Some parts (shadows take over the living dolls. Living dolls must have no self-awareness for this. Coffee makes dolls obedient. Shadows imitate their dolls...) were strongly hinted but not fully confirmed, and making sure the audience is on the same page on some of these subjects is needed in order to move on to what is about to happen in this mini-arc and the one right after the anime ends. Usually drip feeding these confirmations would be the way to go but for its apparent slow pace this series doesn't like to waste time, plus there are some pecularities about the situation of the main characters that makes it difficult to expose those points naturally. Of course there are other series that would gladly keep the audience in the dark for a long time and then make them reread half the series after the revelations to finally make sense of what happened. But this isn't one of such series. |
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ab2143
Posts: 743 |
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Emilico’s face at the end is absolute nightmare fuel. I’m so glad that wasn’t used for this week’s review thumbnail.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2632 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I was very sorely tempted, but my better nature won out. |
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1619 |
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Something that I've noticed - that Kate monologue in the "ship" is mostly a few lines that were moved from the ball to here. I thought they'd be reinserted a bit later but here it makes sense: although the topic of names has long passed, we get to fully learn of Kate's appreciation for Emilyko's kindness and individuality just minutes before she loses both to the machinations of the House (doesn't all this make you think of a cult btw?).
This scene was pivotal to my liking of the series. Not only is it cute and exciting, the consolidation of their relationship made me care deeply about these two, as Emilyko becomes a clueless and helpless child who needs saving; and Kate becomes her own lovely individual rather than the former's aloof reflection, not clueless but just as helpless. The change in circumstances also increase Kate's agency.
Something about these fairies: their nature seems to be just mimicking the form of something they watch. And after that... they just keep on mimicking. So at what point, for what reason or under what circumstances did they get the idea that they might as well "devour" that which they are mimicking? |
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Violet Park
Posts: 115 |
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It's ironic (in a cruel way) that shadows kidnap and possess humans, destroying their lives to get their faces but showing one's face is considered bad or a sign of weakness spoiler[except when they interact with humans outside of the house].
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jenthehen
Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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How come the living dolls like Sarah don't seem soot coffee drugged?
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1619 |
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Sara isn't a living doll. And why would they notice anything wrong when they've been literally brainwashed? Like that's the whole point of brainwashing: making people NOT notice that they're being manipulated to think and act as somebody else wants. |
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jenthehen
Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Sorry, I meant Mia - the one that's the face. She obviously isn't brainwashed, she gets angry/upset when she sees Sarah has come into her room and messed it up. She also acts normally. Maybe the soot coffee is used sparingly for special occasions (like making the newly debuted dolls forget about the failed dolls/shadows so to not worry about it). |
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Yuvelir
Posts: 1619 |
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Oh, you'll see how it works exactly. The thing you know so far though is that Mia 100% believes she's a doll, for instance. |
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jenthehen
Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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Ahhh ok, I see! |
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harminia
Posts: 2030 Location: australia |
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The debut is done! Overall a good adaptation of it, though I wish the Kate wing scene was a bit more exciting; it didn't look as beautiful as in the manga.
Regarding Rum and Shirley's failure, spoiler[I don't recall that backstory of how she disappeared happening in the manga? Or, like, it at least wasn't at that particular chapter. I tried looking for it but I couldn't see it... If it is anime original, it's a very nice touch.] NGL I actually started tearing up as Shirley disintegrated, even knowing it was coming. It was very well done. Hmmm, so we get more anime original plot twist with spoiler[John giving Kate a letter.] Rather than being disappointed by the plot changes I'm actually rather excited to see where they go with it. What significance will these changes bring? I'm intrigued. |
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