ilmaestro
State Alchemist
OK, I finally got started!
/slow
Thread was a nice read, good work on the screencaps especially, Prof.
Ep 1 - Not exactly the least telegraphed slice of hubris pie any group of people pushing up against nature have ever had to eat. In fact it would be easy at this stage to be almost scared at how obvious the show's potential messages are. Once we hit the in-world present day though, it becomes more clear that there are layers - Haru and Kushima no longer on entirely the same page, and there's a bubbly young girl who can hear the sea (a strangely Ghiblian turn of phrase in Shirow's tech-head world).
But what I really like is the foundation of the sea as the setting. So much speculative fiction (and, indeed, real world research and experimentation) looks outwards towards space, or takes the high fantasy road towards an alternative world to find its metaphors and symbolism, that it is quite refreshing to have something looking so intensely inward towards such a crucial and misunderstood aspect of our planet.
It's also worth noting the inevitable quality of the visuals - some very tactile animation, and great use of the bold colors for which the setting allows.
Ep 2 -
This episode solidifies some pairings in the themes we see being explored - it's hard to watch characters like Haru and Minamo in a Japanese show and not instantly relate it to the problems of Japan's aging society, the reliance of new technology on old backups when the shi-! hits the fan, the subsequent reliance of old tech on nature itself.
Ep 3 - The A Plot is perhaps the least notable so far (the situation that develops leading to Haru's eventual "redive" success is beyond contrived), but the intangibles are far and away the most intriguing.
Minamo's inexplicable link to Haru (it was my impression that she was the "control" character, likely to have no [whatever body/brain modification is required to access the Metal]) is massively played up, with her being shown as some sort of mental anchor to allow him to dive safely, on top of her self proclaimed ability to "feel" when things are going to happen (clearly in-character she doesn't mean much by this, but still).
Possibly another rung up the ladder of "hold on, just how fruity is this show going to get" is the sudden change of Haru's visage to that of his younger self - but I also wonder if this is just another manifestation of the connection between himself and Minamo.
This ep also really hammered home just how advanced the Metal is. The general premise (and, indeed, the promotional paragraph tagged onto a lot of the show's advertising) feels like a reaction to the real world slowly catching up to Shirow's prophetic presentations of digital social networks in his earlier series, but this hasn't meant that he has tried to tone down the outlandish scope of the details in an attempt to look more relevant.
--
A note on episode titles - I forgot to remember if this is actually displayed along with the regular episode title, but each episode has a title in Japanese text (such as "The Girl" for episode two) and also a subtitle in English text, these are the first five:
island
impact
identity
inside
item
Two more tomorrow, and then I'll catch up to pace with two more on Friday! I will also try to add some pictures of the stuff that came with the Japanese DVD sets as we move through, from the design work booklets and such.
--
/slow
Thread was a nice read, good work on the screencaps especially, Prof.
Ep 1 - Not exactly the least telegraphed slice of hubris pie any group of people pushing up against nature have ever had to eat. In fact it would be easy at this stage to be almost scared at how obvious the show's potential messages are. Once we hit the in-world present day though, it becomes more clear that there are layers - Haru and Kushima no longer on entirely the same page, and there's a bubbly young girl who can hear the sea (a strangely Ghiblian turn of phrase in Shirow's tech-head world).
But what I really like is the foundation of the sea as the setting. So much speculative fiction (and, indeed, real world research and experimentation) looks outwards towards space, or takes the high fantasy road towards an alternative world to find its metaphors and symbolism, that it is quite refreshing to have something looking so intensely inward towards such a crucial and misunderstood aspect of our planet.
It's also worth noting the inevitable quality of the visuals - some very tactile animation, and great use of the bold colors for which the setting allows.
Ep 2 -
I couldn't agree more. I think this is a great narrative construct, the first episode and a half overall providing a slight twist on standard use of in medias res that quickly firms the main characters in our mind.Professor Irony said:
This episode solidifies some pairings in the themes we see being explored - it's hard to watch characters like Haru and Minamo in a Japanese show and not instantly relate it to the problems of Japan's aging society, the reliance of new technology on old backups when the shi-! hits the fan, the subsequent reliance of old tech on nature itself.
Ep 3 - The A Plot is perhaps the least notable so far (the situation that develops leading to Haru's eventual "redive" success is beyond contrived), but the intangibles are far and away the most intriguing.
Minamo's inexplicable link to Haru (it was my impression that she was the "control" character, likely to have no [whatever body/brain modification is required to access the Metal]) is massively played up, with her being shown as some sort of mental anchor to allow him to dive safely, on top of her self proclaimed ability to "feel" when things are going to happen (clearly in-character she doesn't mean much by this, but still).
Possibly another rung up the ladder of "hold on, just how fruity is this show going to get" is the sudden change of Haru's visage to that of his younger self - but I also wonder if this is just another manifestation of the connection between himself and Minamo.
This ep also really hammered home just how advanced the Metal is. The general premise (and, indeed, the promotional paragraph tagged onto a lot of the show's advertising) feels like a reaction to the real world slowly catching up to Shirow's prophetic presentations of digital social networks in his earlier series, but this hasn't meant that he has tried to tone down the outlandish scope of the details in an attempt to look more relevant.
--
A note on episode titles - I forgot to remember if this is actually displayed along with the regular episode title, but each episode has a title in Japanese text (such as "The Girl" for episode two) and also a subtitle in English text, these are the first five:
island
impact
identity
inside
item
Two more tomorrow, and then I'll catch up to pace with two more on Friday! I will also try to add some pictures of the stuff that came with the Japanese DVD sets as we move through, from the design work booklets and such.
--
Hehehe, I'm glad you're watching that, too. ^^;MercenaryRaiden said:
Last edited by a moderator:
