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Kanon (2006) #8

This show is amazing. Like really amazing. Like really amazing. I love Yuichi as MC so much the guy is a riot! All the girls are unique too.

Please for the love of Kami KyoAni please don't mess this up by the end between ABP, Hyouka, Dragon Maid and Phantom World been disappointed in the writing one way or another and Clannad was so great until the end too... Come on KyoAni pull through on this, please.

This is all I'm gonna watch all weekend it seems stayed up until 2am last night after watching Supernatural I was like I'll wtach one episode then little did I know I watched 3!
 
Baggie_Saiyan said:
Kanon (2006) #8

This show is amazing. Like really amazing. Like really amazing. I love Yuichi as MC so much the guy is a riot! All the girls are unique too.

Please for the love of Kami KyoAni please don't mess this up by the end between ABP, Hyouka, Dragon Maid and Phantom World been disappointed in the writing one way or another and Clannad was so great until the end too... Come on KyoAni pull through on this, please.

This is all I'm gonna watch all weekend it seems stayed up until 2am last night after watching Supernatural I was like I'll wtach one episode then little did I know I watched 3!
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So glad you’re enjoying kanon too!
 
So... this is all a bit complicated, but I hope you'll bear with me. I started watching the six-episode OVA series of Girls und Panzer yesterday.

That first episode is really something quite staggering. Especially for something with such a short running time, the narrative just simply exists on a higher plain relative to other offerings of fiction — and I would argue that this includes not just other works of Japanese animation, but probably even classics of the world of literature.

Allow me to at least attempt to provide a précis of the plot.

A decision is made by the powers-that-be that, for undisclosed reasons, training manoeuvres are to take place at the beach. Amongst the extensive cast of assembled characters, there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation at this unexpected turn of events. There is one noticeable exception, however, and that is our story's protagonist, Miho. This is where the writers deliver their first plot twist.

You see, Miho is not currently in possession of a swimsuit. (You see? I don't imagine that any of you still reading this managed to anticipate that bombshell any more than I did.)

As this has now more than likely piqued your interest in witnessing this watershed moment for yourselves, I feel loathe to provide anything more revealing than the most teaser-like gloss of the events that follow.

A joint decision is made between Miho and her friends that they will go shopping for swimsuits and try on an array of said outfits, consulting with each other in order to decide upon which piece suits each individual girl the best. The last thing I am willing to reveal here is that this process is not merely left to the viewer's imagination, but is actually depicted in animated form.

Then they visit the beach.

All of this is really quite extraordinary. Not since the bold conclusion to the anime TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion has a work of fiction so clearly sought to demolish barriers and challenge accepted norms of what is viewed and recognised as a traditional form of storytelling within a typical framework of— fine, then: it's just another f***ing anime beach episode, okay?

In episode 2 they go camping and have a barbecue — while wearing their swimsuits.
 
Neil.T said:
@D1tchd1gger: Hmm, interesting. I must've wrongly assumed that Manga's disc contained the original Japanese audio alongside the UK dub. So, I'm guessing it doesn't, then?
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D1tchd1gger said:
Original Japanese (stereo) and English dub 5.1 (the US version it would seem).
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Sorry for the confusion guys - yeah, it was the old Manga UK dub I was after. I did assume the Manga Force release would be the same as their other DVD (with the US dub from Streamline), but I just wanted to be certain. The Manga UK dub is well worth having (one of their best, IMO), but never seems to have been released again after the initial VHS.

It's a shame really, they cast William Dufris (sp?), the Manga UK VA for Lupin, as Cobra, which I thought was a nice bit of symmetry as Cobra is often described as 'Lupin in space'. Also I think the Yello ost fits the film well - it brings out the darker, more brooding tone it has in comparison to the tv series.

The old trailer is still up on youtube, gives a little flavour of what it was like:

 
Neil.T said:
So... this is all a bit complicated, but I hope you'll bear with me. I started watching the six-episode OVA series of Girls und Panzer yesterday.

That first episode is really something quite staggering. Especially for something with such a short running time, the narrative just simply exists on a higher plain relative to other offerings of fiction — and I would argue that this includes not just other works of Japanese animation, but probably even classics of the world of literature.

Allow me to at least attempt to provide a précis of the plot.

A decision is made by the powers-that-be that, for undisclosed reasons, training manoeuvres are to take place at the beach. Amongst the extensive cast of assembled characters, there is a great deal of excitement and anticipation at this unexpected turn of events. There is one noticeable exception, however, and that is our story's protagonist, Miho. This is where the writers deliver their first plot twist.

You see, Miho is not currently in possession of a swimsuit. (You see? I don't imagine that any of you still reading this managed to anticipate that bombshell any more than I did.)

As this has now more than likely piqued your interest in witnessing this watershed moment for yourselves, I feel loathe to provide anything more revealing than the most teaser-like gloss of the events that follow.

A joint decision is made between Miho and her friends that they will go shopping for swimsuits and try on an array of said outfits, consulting with each other in order to decide upon which piece suits each individual girl the best. The last thing I am willing to reveal here is that this process is not merely left to the viewer's imagination, but is actually depicted in animated form.

Then they visit the beach.

All of this is really quite extraordinary. Not since the bold conclusion to the anime TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion has a work of fiction so clearly sought to demolish barriers and challenge accepted norms of what is viewed and recognised as a traditional form of storytelling within a typical framework of— fine, then: it's just another f***ing anime beach episode, okay?

In episode 2 they go camping and have a barbecue — while wearing their swimsuits.
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Wait... tanks on the beach... wouldn’t they just sink? :p
 
Neil.T said:
Oo-er. I can see this descending into some kind of saucy farce comedy.

Probably called "Carry On Tanking".
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Just imagine the hilarity. We could have one tank that tries it’s best at everything and just keeps failing in the most hilarious ways. Y’know that one tank that would end up going on the beach and getting stuck.
 
'GIRLS UND PANZER MARATHON'

Girls und Panzer OVA series eps 3–6 (complete)

You know what? Hats off to this. That was fun. This is what happens when a writer gets to poke good-natured fun at a series, doing things like coming up with intentionally ludicrous alternate-history explanations for why our girls go to school on board a colossal battleship, complete with deliberately dumb "I hadn't really thought about it before" reactions from the characters themselves. (This particular education-driven episode still finds the time to fit in an open-air bathing scene, of course.)

Other episodes include a two-and-a-half-minute comedy dance routine, and a talent show complete with impressions of characters being performed by other characters. This latter episode has some genuinely on-point comedy.

Possibly my favourite, though, is the reconnaissance episode: the dialogue offers some very interesting tidbits of info that even a non-military buff like me enjoyed learning, and there's some frankly really lovely interaction between the two characters, one of whom gets a bit of time in the spotlight and the chance to show more of her character, having been rather anonymous and one-note during the series proper.

Well played!
 
BEATLESS (Japanese audio) - Episode 3
DARLING in the FRANXX (Japanese audio) - Episode 3
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (Japanese audio) - Episodes 1-3
 
Baggie_Saiyan said:
Kanon (2006) #8

This show is amazing. Like really amazing. Like really amazing. I love Yuichi as MC so much the guy is a riot! All the girls are unique too.

Please for the love of Kami KyoAni please don't mess this up by the end between ABP, Hyouka, Dragon Maid and Phantom World been disappointed in the writing one way or another and Clannad was so great until the end too... Come on KyoAni pull through on this, please.

This is all I'm gonna watch all weekend it seems stayed up until 2am last night after watching Supernatural I was like I'll wtach one episode then little did I know I watched 3!
Click to expand...
One of my fave animes utterly brill
 
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