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Mar 8, 2019
Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan is a particularly notable show in its arrangement. Three to five minutes of animation is followed by a fifteen to twenty-minute segment of an interview with the voice actor and the director of each episode, and two to six minutes of a third segment where artists are drawing a key-frame. Twelve directors join in this project and offer various interpretations of Ekoda-chan.
This arrangement gives a unique insight into the thought process behind the scenes and highlights the different approaches of directors and voice actors. The sheer range of differences in style, substance, storytelling, and techniques used is enormous. Each take on Ekoda-chan
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intensifies the rich voice of a strong female character with her various issues and actions in a relatable manner. Ekoda-chan's life is full of concise worldly-moments presented in an engaging fashion, frequently from a witty point of view.
Ekoda-chan is audacious, insecure, straightforward and full of complexities. She is relatable due to all her flaws and a self-insert for acting against the norm and expressing feelings that are commonly subdued to socially fit-in. The twelve different takes on her character make her voice all the richer. Her character stays surprisingly cohesive.
This character-cohesion helps to establish a guiding thread that renders the vastly different animation and art styles into a continuity rather than a disjointed mess. The directors had a lot of free reigns, and this shows through the often quirky styles and compelling narrative choices that in their variety are rarely found in mainstream animation. The range is from absurdist arthouse to realistic first-person view. Visual gags frequently blend cartoonish comedy with everyday issues, creating empathy and laughter. The visual aspect is supported by excellent sound design throughout the series, with an amount of carefully aligned sound-effects and well-tuned sounds-arrangements that outshines most feature films. Her voice actors establish more space for resonance with different audience members and create a dynamic Ekoda.
The quality of the episodes is consistently good interspersed with excellent episodes. Episode five easily could have been a short animation film festival winner with its hilarious animation, hectic style, contrast, relatable narration and creative animation angles and plot-development. These episodes don't waste time. The details establish new aspects of Ekoda-chan's personality and her little world.
I highly recommend Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan to any fan of visual comedy, relatable narration and generally to a mature audience. If you seek more insight into the animation industry and behind the scenes elements that are case by case every episode and show a more complex image into thought-processes, you will find them in the interview-segments. If you are only interested in the animation, you can easily skip interview-segments and enjoy the series as a short-series spectacle of a character study. Interested artists gain access to a (tablet) speed-painting of a key-frame per episode which adds details to the approach and individual steps, but lacks details regarding the technical utilisation.
Take note: that Myanimelist doesn't list episode ten which features animated singing heads and an art segment that doesn't showcase key-frame animation. The art highlight of episode ten shows the filming and animated editing of a shot-composition. So if you want to skip an episode because you also have the notion that edited-animation doesn't suffice as animation, then you want to skip episode ten. Please do not skip the fantastic episode twelve.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 6, 2019
Pig: Oka no Ue no Dam Keeper features a colourful world brim with symbolism and creative morphing of the function of things. Beautiful sound effects and extraordinary arrangements of classical instruments accompany the visual story-telling that deals with concepts of basic needs. The anthropomorphism contrasts stark elements of an inhuman normative narration.
We explore this world that has a lovely blend of the familiar that meets the strange in often unexpecting ways. The story itself is one of coming of age, dealing with the harshness and all the wonders that life throws at you. The animation is simplistic and fluid, contributing to the atmosphere that reminds
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me of children's books, fairy tales, autumn breezes, a crackling fireplace and fables of old.
Each episode introduces a new conflict that gets resolved in a manner that foreshadows the next and progresses the overarching narrative. The contrast of warmth and harshness in these conflicts is outstanding, and the pig with all Its clumsy movements, little sounds, gazes, and sighs is relatable in its yearning and motivation. All the gestures and details provide the cast with charming qualities.
I highly recommend Pig: Oka no Ue no Dam Keeper and hope that every viewer who might shed a tear or two will feel entranced by the rewarding glimpse into the little pig's world and its delights.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 27, 2018
Contains minor structural and narrative spoilers; All links used are for educational purpose.
The main-error of Uchuu Kyoudai is its state of inconclusion.
This series is a journey through the life of two brothers who are much different in appearance but share the same yearning for space, and the fascination for space shared by many.
It features a plot derived from contrived storytelling, accurate implementation of nonfictional science (or extrapolating from current technology), and realistic development. If that were all, then it would be unconventional on these merits alone.
Uchuu Kyoudai does not rest on a premise of realism, detailed accuracy, and logical progression. It delivers in execution
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and manages to wave a mundane journey filled with droughts together with lighthearted comedy. The comedy brims with variety. It features everything from referential comedy to Buster Keatonesquece physical comedy. Most of it is well-executed with its highs being the observational comedy and its lows being the running gags in multiple arcs.
Arcs are handled carefully and offer enough room to build and reduce the suspension to flow into a coherent style. The pacing throughout the story is phenomenal.
Good pacing serves its narrative.
Action, as a genre, is conveyed through quick cuts and few descriptions. The merit is a tempo that serves movement and builds excitement.
Life is not goal-orientated it always focuses on the very next step/stage. Dreams are ideas that inspire us to move in a particular direction. Sometimes this results in storylines being out of focus.
The impact that out of focus storylines have in the world emphasises on the living world that continues to move without the main cast. Main characters change things in the world, but they aren't the centre of the universe. Side characters have, at times, a more predominant influence on current events. This treatment, however, doesn't take away from the stakes and importance of the main cast.
The diverse cast of well over 50 characters sparks with interactions, with most of them having some level of backstory and character development. Their fears and motivations make sense and are consistent with their actions. Every further explored character has some character-flaws and comes off as relatable. Character development and events have sequential consequences.
The conflicts are relatable and never forced. From not meeting expectations to death of loved ones, it covers the full plethora of conflicts and ties them into an ever progressing overarching narrative. Topics like age-gap romance, anxiety and terminal disease are explored in various arcs and handled with appropriate respect and care.
The immense craftsmanship that it put into the arrangement of the story, what Aristotle would call mythos, and details of contraption construction (supervised by NASA and JAXA), has very few contenders.
The character design is simple and distinctive, albeit slightly cartoonish to emphasis. Colour palettes amplify the lighthearted aspect without interfering in dramatic moments. The realistic object design and reconstruction of real places stand out and further support the grounded nature of the series.
The animation is functional and serves the atmosphere. There are very few exceptional scenes, most of them include the launch of spacecraft, other moving objects or a situation of grave peril.
The voice acting and sound design are stellar. Hiroaki Hirata as Mutta delivers goofy comedy antics and drama with seemingly effortless elegance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTwBfMGsfR0 from episode 25 is one of my favourite snippets, showcasing Hiroaki's abilities. The rest of the cast does a good, up to a fantastic job.
Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide provided his voice in the 31st episode, recorded and performed from space. Multiple engine sounds and launch sounds were recorded at Tanegashima Space Center, improving viewer immersion.
The opening and ending themes change with each course. Most of them are either referential or lighthearted and inspiring - fitting the overall mood of the series without being exceptional for the majority. All of them highlight either interaction or separation of the main cast and their current attitude towards their dream. The one exceptional outliner is the first opening "Feel So Moon" which also has a great music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNcYk-qYtc
The soundtrack itself is good but lacks any innovation at all. It has tried and tested music, traced in the style of major movie productions.
The first arc of Uchuu Kyoudai is a character and motivation introduction. It deals with Mutta's reaffirmation of his dreams and introduces one of his main struggles - with anxiety and the fear of failure/meeting expectations.
The second arc of Uchuu Kyoudai is a realistic journey through the first two of JAXA's three astronaut-tests. Many characters get introduced, we learn about their dreams, fears, and motivations. Backstories and character development tie in the daily task and hurdles set by JAXA. The answer to the appeal and benefit of space-travel appear naturally woven into JAXA's testing. We see a variety of differently motivated answers, ranging from altruistic to self-interested.
At the start line of the journey, nothing gets decided yet. Mutta deals with job hunting and pressure due to his family. An adventure story would likely streamline this, but for a slice of life story, it is imperative.
I don't want to spoil further story arcs. Go ahead and experience what the series has to offer!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 25, 2018
The second season is story-arc and dialogues wise on par if not better than the first season. The main difference is the lack of novelty that the first season establishes with the merchant focus. The second season instead treads more common ground and focuses on character development and romance.
Themes change from distrust to vulnerability, from alien to distinctively irritated about the difference in details. While without season one the emotional connection wouldn't be established it is here that we get to see the payoff. I love the detail of the difference in problem-solving. The character development is careful, deliberate and steady without ever forgoing conflict
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or overdramatising none-issues. The exploration of their relationship and the problems that stem from their divergent realities is excellently-executed. Personal stakes are raised even further while the worldbuilding comes along and reveals the shape of larger political aspects.
While it never breaks the promises of an adventure story each MICE aspect gets explored during different arcs never once breaking immersion. Regarding the historical setting few mistakes only lead to minor irritation and are likely invisible to most consumers as a period drama it is astonishingly well-executed and highlights issues, ideas, innovations and social concepts of the time for the most part.
The animation and art are a straight downgrade compared to season one, but the aural aspects are still stellar.
Journey before destination remains the concept that also worked so well in season one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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