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SaiyanHero16
Joined: 23 Jan 2010
Posts: 265
Location: South Carolina
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:05 pm
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If I could describe this series with just one word it would be "fun." Just an entertaining way to spend half an hour.
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prime_pm
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2372
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:17 pm
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An excellent word to describe it: fun. This show was pretty much entertainment for the sake of entertainment. Not to mention the ED which captures the personality of the characters perfectly and is still fun to watch at the end of every episode.
Between watching the bipolarity of Kotoura-san, the climax of Pet Girl, and the political fantasy of Maoyu, Problem Children is a nice break. GJ Club, take or give.
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Exaar
Joined: 19 Apr 2006
Posts: 279
Location: Delaware
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:39 pm
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I have to disagree with the cons statement of the reviewer. Izayoi is a fantastic protagonist. Watching him, indeed, swat people like flies gives me a big grin every time.
Also his sort of buddy-buddy relationship with Shiroyasha is awesome.
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Hardgear
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:27 pm
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I think they deal with Izayoi being extremely overpowered quite well actually (at least in this latest arc), much the same way that good DM's deal with players that are considerably more powerful than the rest of the group: by taking advantage of the fact that the overpowered character can't be everywhere at once. Yeah if the victory condition is destroying the enemy and the defeat condition is you getting destroyed, characters like him come out on top all the time. That's why you mix it up and give enemies objectives that are NOT the destruction of the overpowered character... Then you only need an enemy just powerful enough to keep him occupied long enough for the rest of the enemies to complete their mission. And I know from D&D this can repeat as often as necessary.... It doesn't matter how powerful your character is, if he can never be where he needs to be to make a difference.
That, and I agree with Exaar, it is fun watching him "go to work"
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ChibiKangaroo
Joined: 01 Feb 2010
Posts: 2941
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:14 pm
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Although I certainly agree that the main 3 protagonists (i.e. the problem children) could be much better developed in this show, I'm not really sure why Carl so heavily criticizes the show when he admits that he's having fun watching it. I'm having fun watching the show too. In fact, I think it is the best show this season. There's no BS in Problem Children. Maoyuu and Vividred, probably the two heavy hitters from this season, are loaded up with BS, even though they may also have their own merits to them. Those shows take themselves seriously while at the same time using cheap tricks, shortcuts and crude panders to keep their audience engaged. Problem Children, by contrast, doesn't take itself seriously. It is a show that is basically all about having loads of fun with the various genres, tropes and concepts we have seen over the last several years (most prominently, the idea of child heroes transported to alternate worlds/video game worlds etc...). It spices up that fun with exciting characters, hilarious gags, and a kind of clever fan-service that is both titilating and self-deprecating. Problem Children also has its moments of self reflection. Interestingly, such moments usually involve dialogue between Izayoi and one of the other characters... I say that is interesting because Izayoi is cast as the stereotypical strong-man who uses his fists to solve everything, yet he seems to equally use his intellect to help the team rather than his brute strength - imagine that.
As I said, I think the main 3 could use a hell of a lot more development, but I find each of their self-contradicting personae to be intriguing.
Yo is a quiet, gentle girl who is friends with animals and carries around a pet cat who she speaks to. You would expect her to be a simple minded and weak "moe" girl. Yet, instead, she seems to be the most determined and fearless of the three. Even though she doesn't possess Izayoi's strength, she acts like she does, overcoming a seemingly impossible challenge against the gryphon and then being grievously wounded in trying to protect her friends from the beast guy.
Asuka is what appears to be a spoiled rich girl who gets whatever she wants. You would expect her to either be an ice queen with a heart of gold, or some kind of aggressive tsundere. However, instead we see almost from the start that she is in fact a very caring person who almost sees her gift as a curse. She is tired of everyone doing what she says, and also realizes that her powers are worthless if she encounters an opponent who can resist her mind control.
Izayoi, yes he is a super powered jerk. Yes, he is clearly also "our" super powered jerk. I do think he is the most challenging of the 3 children to like. However, as I've said before, there is some kind of populist charm to him that makes him more and more likeable as the show goes on. His seemingly chaotic thoughts and actions cause you to question his motives early on, but as the show progresses we see a kind of loyalty to him which may have originally been born from boredom, but somehow still doesn't feel fake. He wants to help the no-names crush a bunch of super powered bad guys, yes. However, have you considered the fact that he never tries to seize control over the no-names himself? A normal high powered protagonist like Izayoi in any other shounen show would declare himself leader and take over, or be pushed into such a leadership position by his friends. Instead, Izayoi seems perfectly content to be the right hand man of Jin, the child-like leader of the no-names. Also, they almost have a kind of brotherly relationship going on right now, which I think softens up Izayoi's character quite a bit.
I'm not going to go out and call this show a classic at this point, and I think the show could be MUCH better if they did have more deep character development for the main 3, but I do think there is a lot happening in this show under the surface that people are missing because they're missing the forest for the trees.
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Chagen46
Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:33 pm
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This is easily m favorite show of this season. No other show currently can compare with how much damn FUN it is. It's a blast to follow and the clever subversion of anime tropes/cliches makes it quite engaging. The fact that it manages to make a completely broken character like Izayoi an absolute blast to watch is really impressive.
Also, the character designs are quite nice in my opinion. Shiroyasha is <3
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Thatguy3331
Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1799
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:46 pm
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Quote: | − Izayoi is a terrible main character; forgettable execution; is ultimately a disposable trifle. |
On normal circumstances I would agree to this, however due to how un seriously the show takes itself I can't say I can this time around.
Ironically its BECAUSE he's the hax-card asshole that I like the character, not enough to make any "best ever" lists but given he's one of the more otaku-ish light novel protagonists (my only favorites being the 3 heros of index and possibly ayamu) I like how he's not the calm nice guy and more of an overactive jerk.
I can agree however that this is sofar disposable, I myself enjoy the show, but only for the characters and action, I'm personally not that interested in the world they're in so that just leads me to hope for a character narrative. I can also say that while I find Izayoi entertaining, he can't stay the way he is forever, I would like to know what the hell his power is and for him to eventually have some kind of achillies heel, given some slight spoilers I have seen there may be some hope but for now I like the show.[/spoiler]
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solar_eclipse749
Joined: 15 Feb 2013
Posts: 1
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:24 pm
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At first whe nI first saw the picture of Mondaiji I thought it was cute but I was surprised that it would be cooler than i thought.I like Izayoi as a character, In fact I always wish I could be like him. Although he seems to the jerk type of person, it's what I think that make him interesting. Yo maybe quiet but have very strong determination which I think is a good quality of hers. And Asuka I thought she was a spoiled person but in later episodes you see that she is a good person. Overall I like the anime as it is, it's one of the best Animes I've watched so far.
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Stark700
Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:16 pm
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I found the series quite pleasurable although at few stances, it got a little dull. Still, Izayoi was no doubt my favorite character from the series for his personality among the trio of trouble making children.
I'm hoping for a season 2 of this series tbh.
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prime_pm
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2372
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:17 pm
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Well, the show's over. Crunchyroll released the last episode today. Ten episodes in all.
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Chagen46
Joined: 27 Jun 2010
Posts: 4377
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:19 pm
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Stark700 wrote: | I found the series quite pleasurable although at few stances, it got a little dull. Still, Izayoi was no doubt my favorite character from the series for his personality among the trio of trouble making children.
I'm hoping for a season 2 of this series tbh. |
Season 2 won't happen, Japan has awful taste like usual so shit is selling while gems like this go unnoticed.
I'm gonna import a few of the LNs as soon as I get some money.
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jymmy
Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 1244
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Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:12 pm
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It's a pretty enjoyable show, the review hits its good and bad points pretty accurately.
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Spotlesseden
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: earth
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:41 am
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This is the most enjoyable show this season for me. I can't agree with the review. Other high rank shows in ANN like Maoyuu just have alot of BS, not fun to watch. I will just leave it at that.
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Monster in a box
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 671
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Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 2:54 pm
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I watched like 3 episodes of this, and it seemed really trite and bordering on self-parody. One thing I took away from it though: 'Galdo Gaspar' is a really fun name to say. No idea why, but it makes me giggle every time.
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Godaistudios
Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2075
Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment)
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Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:20 pm
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While the show is/was fun - as it's now ended, my biggest problem is iwth Izayoi. He's essentially a Gary Stu/hero worship character, especially in the last 2-3 episodes.
Nothing wrong with admitting we are entertained and being honest with ourselves about the flaws at the same time. Saying a show doesn't take itself seriously doesn't magically make a flaw a non-flaw.
On some level, this reminds me of El Hazard, but with less interesting characters.
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