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Freedom-Prologue (Complete)

Not really much to say about this. I'm not sure if I was supposed to watch this first or not. It's only 6 minutes long so it doesn't really have time to do anything meaningful. I guess it introduces the premise and a bit of the lore. Since it is a separate entry on MAL I have given it a score of a 6 since it's kind of just nothing but I'll probably take it up to the score of the rest of the show when I finish it. What I will say is I'm not completely sold on the choice to make the characters 3D. It's a bit distracting and it just feels kind of unnatural. I have no idea if they have any justification for the choice and maybe it will grow on me but I'm not really into it.

Freedom-Episodes 1 and 2

Episode 1: Can't say I'm really feeling this one. Only episode 1, I know, but just initial feeling isn't great. The protagonist is kind of unlikable, the animation is quite off putting and I thought the race was fairly dull. The ending is intriguing so I guess I'll just see how it goes from there.

Episode 2: Okay, I liked this episode quite a bit more. I thought this show was going to be predominantly about racing and if the first episode was anything to go by, a pretty bland show about racing at that. However, now the story has been properly set in motion, it's a lot more interesting. I feel this show works better as a sci-fi adventure show than a racing one.
 
Durarara!! x2 episodes 15-18

Eps 13-16 just seemed to be average slice of life episodes, glad 17 & 18 have started more an arc now. Wouldn't surprise me if i finish x2 Ten tomorrow as Durarara!! works best as a binge watch.
 
ilmaestro said:
britguy said:
Gosick Episodes 1-3: Taking a break between seasons of K-On and felt the need for intrigue. Seems like the making of a good mystery/supernatural show.
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I didn't love the first handful of episodes of this show, but thought the last two thirds was honestly excellent. Not a show I see a lot of people talk about, so I'd be interested to know how you find it as you go on.
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Watched up to episode 8. stort in episodes 4 and 5 was ok, nothing special, 6-8 arc was decent. Looking forward to seeing where this goes with an overarching plotline.
 
Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie 1: Beginnings

I've gushed about Madoka Magica enough on this forum, so I'll keep this brief. Despite there being several scenes cut, at its heart, this is still my favourite anime, and as such I absolutely loved it. Its still the same breathtaking animation, the same excellent characters and the same heart wrenching story that I've come to love. This is my fourth time through (Seen the series 3 times and now this movie) and this just doesn't get old to me. I love it even more every time I watch it. I tried to keep track of the scenes that were cut and this is what I came up with (Full spoilers for the series and movie):
-Opening dream sequence
-Mami telling the girls what she wished for
-Madoka's breakfast the morning after Mami's death
-The walk to school after Mami's death ("Girls can't love Girls!")
-Madoka's flashback to her mother teaching her not to mix chemicals
-Sayaka and Kyoko walking to the abandoned church
-Homura confronting Sayaka about not using Grief Seeds
Not sure if I missed any (I'd actually really like to see a comparison between the series and the movies) but those are all the ones I noticed. Whilst there are a couple of great scenes in there that were cut, I can see why they chose to cut them and no vital character or story moments are missing. I actually thought they had cut Sayaka confronting Kyubey about putting her in a Soul Gem and Kyubey demonstrating what pain she'd be in if she wasn't but I think they moved it up slightly and showed it in flashback, which was different. I also thought that they were going to cut the train scene towards the end (Well, end of the film, middle of the show) as the movies was rated a 12, as opposed to the 15 of the show, which I think was due to Language. Seeing as the train scene includes multiple uses of the word "Bitch", "Slut" and "Ho", I thought that might have been cut or altered but it's all there. I actually have no idea what *was* cut to get the rating lower. In terms of what was added, I think a lot of the animation was improved in places, despite it being amazing in the show already. In particular, I think all the transformation sequences were completely redone and I *think* Sayaka's flashback sequence may have been redone, I'm not sure. Anyway, I've gone on about this far too much already. Needless to say, this is still amazing.

10/10
 
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IncendiaryLemon said:
Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie 1: Beginnings

10/10
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I honestly felt Madoka Magica's recap movies were excellent, I had one minor nitpick with both parts though.

Part 1 - They cut out the character development for Mami which I felt should have been kept in or at the very least implied or altered just to make us love her. It gave me a headache to see that decapitated.

Part 2 - The special intro/outro thing used in the Homura episode was kept in and I felt it was very out of place. If they removed it or had reworked it to fit the film then I wouldn't mind.

And it was a good thing I imported the Japanese LE because the OST is as good (and quite possibly even better) than the TV version.

Other than that I gave both of them 9/10. Same as the show and even with Rebellion (though I'm debating on what I should rate it due to the turnout).
 
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I haven't seen the 2nd movie yet but I agree with the first point. The scene getting cut of her telling her backstory and the like were a part of her character but I can't think of *too* much that got cut in that regard. Also, it's probably worth noting I give the series a 10 too, so that makes sense you'd give them both a 9. Whilst I do think the show is pretty much perfect (In my eyes at least) it holds a special place in my heart as the first anime I watched that wasn't Digimon or Pokemon and its ilk. It's probably a mix of the quality and it being my first that makes it my number 1. I've never felt as strongly about a show as Madoka.
 
My feelings on the Madoka recap movies:

Personally I really enjoyed the first film - although I agree it's a real shame they cut out a lot of Mami's character development - I felt they made up for it with the new mix of her title theme (ie. the full vocal version sung by Kalafina) - also I really like how the film ends with Sayaka going completely off the rails and killing the two mysogynists on the train - for some reason that scene had way more impact in the movie than the TV show for me because you know the end of the film is just round the corner and it leaves it on a massive cliffhanger

In contrast, I thought the second film was pretty so-so; the weird Homura insert scene killed all the tension for me, as did the way they slotted in the title music at an odd place.
 
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Lutga said:
My feelings on the Madoka recap movies:

Personally I really enjoyed the first film - although I agree it's a real shame they cut out a lot of Mami's character development - I felt they made up for it with the new mix of her title theme (ie. the full vocal version sung by Kalafina) - also I really like how the film ends with Sayaka going completely off the rails and killing the two mysogynists on the train - for some reason that scene had way more impact in the movie than the TV show for me because you know the end of the film is just round the corner and it leaves it on a massive cliffhanger

In contrast, I thought the second film was pretty so-so; the weird Homura insert scene killed all the tension for me, as did the way they slotted in the title music at an odd place.
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Speaking of the vocal song, I originally thought it was part of the Madoka OST and it was only until I checked out Kalafina's Best of album that it was on there. :lol:

Another thing, I'm not sure if this also applies to the domestic Blu-ray sets but the main menu in the Japanese sets were amazing to stare at. *MASSIVE SPOILERS TO ALL THREE FILMS*

[spoilerbutton]
[/spoilerbutton]
 
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NormanicGrav said:
IncendiaryLemon said:
Menus in the UK aren't like that unfortunately.
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Oh wow. In that case, as a Madoka fan, you should get the Japanese sets (they have subtitles!). :wink:

If they're available that is... :?
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They are in stock (assuming you mean this one) so maybe after Christmas, I've spent enough this week already :p

Also, confession, I watch Madoka dubbed. Out of the 4 times I've seen it now (Assuming you count both series and movie) I've never watched it in Japanese and as such it is my prefered way to watch, so I'm not sure how much use I'd have for sub only discs. I have seen Rebellion in Japanese and I found it incredibly confusing although if that was down to me having to read through it so I wasn't fully concentrating on what was happening or because the movie is generally confusing I'm not sure. I'll find out when I watch Rebellion dubbed for the first time on Tuesday. Still it might be nice to have as a collector's item.
 
Fullmetal Alchemist ep 13 - 15
Seraph of the End Battle in Nagoya ep 8
Chivalry of a Failed Knight ep 9
K Return of the kings ep 9
One Punch Man ep 9
Gundam iron blooded orphans ep 9
Young Jack Black ep 9
legend of legendary Heroes ep 21 - 24
 
IncendiaryLemon said:
I have seen Rebellion in Japanese and I found it incredibly confusing although if that was down to me having to read through it so I wasn't fully concentrating on what was happening or because the movie is generally confusing I'm not sure.
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Went to see Rebellion in the cinema with two friends at about 11am. By 11pm I still don't think between us we'd 100% broken down what happened.
 
One Punch Man ep9

That was a welcome return to form, after what I thought was a slight dip last week. You know it's a good show when your main complaint is that it's only on once a week.
 
ilmaestro said:
Went to see Rebellion in the cinema with two friends at about 11am. By 11pm I still don't think between us we'd 100% broken down what happened.
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Sounds about right. My best friend and I saw it one evening when it was on for Scotland Loves Anime, and on the bus home we were both just like "dafuq?" and she'd seen it before. It says a lot that she came up on a weekday and took the time off work to come and see it, despite having watched it on Netflix several times before.
 
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