HagarenFA episode 1 impressions.
Not that anyone cares, but in case anyone visits this; please feel free to jump in with agreements or disagreements. I like discussions on these topics and will try to pull in thoughts from other sources such as 2ch and the like so we can compare and contrast ideas and perceptions. People should feel free to link me to threads of interest, too.
The opening looks like a flash animation. I'm not fond of the shading this time around, but I understand it's the first project that this branch of BONES has ever had its hands on. Armstrong gets to look cool, Hawkeye gets to look SUPER cool, Al and Ed of course look cool, Hughes looks really cool followed by Roy who... makes a freaked out face. Considering the poor guy didn't get a single cool moment in the episode and the fact that he's the butt of no less than three jokes, at least let him be cool in the opening, would you?
The song itself is nice and despite its kind of slow pace, it creates a good strong feel. The animation doesn't seem to fit the mood it creates, though. Child Winry getting blown around feels out of place. Hawkeye and Winry's random lip synching is sexy. I imagine them in the same bed, for some reason.
Greed's 2 seconds on screen were awesome and reeked of everything I picture when I think of Greed. REALLY looking forward to Greed, especially in a series that seems to be playing up the humor (the last anime was busy carrying on a bit of a heavy theme, so Greed's style was expressed but understated). Those three seconds make me think they got his feel down. Or maybe any Greed makes me happy. But we're a long way from Greed...
Moving on to the actual episode...
Yama-chan did a great job with the villain. For a guy who only appears in one episode, he probably manages to have more presence than a lot of the established characters.
So how do those old friends feel?
Paku is spirited as Ed as always, though nothing to go "YEAH, PAKU!" at until the scene where the choir music starts and Ed talks about a step closer to hell. Also, the 'my only little brother!' line in the flashback (given in a style that clearly assumes the viewer already basically knows the story) was wonderful.
More than Paku, I was really feeling it with Kugmiya this time, some how. In the interview, she said she strained herself; if that's true, the results show. Even without any dramatic screaming scenes, she out does herself in creating a feel for him. I used to more or less ignore and forget Al. Kugimiya really shines in bouncing off of Paku (who is bouncing off of everyone else).
Fujiwara was all over as Hughes. He really created the feel of someone nosy and annoying well. It seems like a straight port from the prior series in terms of acting. Unfortunately, the director is rushing him on us. The random serious scene with Gracia in which he frets over two kids he just met disrupts the flow of the episode's story as well as makes him come off as too 'stock nice good guy.' I think it'd have been better to just have him go into helping him without the introspective scene and let his actions speak for themselves, particularly at the beginning. Maybe they were going for a bonding moment with Gracia...?
The Fuhrer really had some presence in the ending there. They've decided to spill the beans about him being a rather shady, moderately scary figure right away. Since this series has a much more slapstick tone to it (or is it just that all first episodes tend to start out kind of light for a series?) I can't wait to hear his voice in his gag scenes (Melon?).
I was not happy with Kimblee's first scene. Yoshino sounded like he was just trying to do a stock and openly evil-sarcastic-cynical Ueda voice with the role at first. However, at the end of the episode, his "Hontou ni Zannen desu ne~" ("That's truly quite a shame~") was something he did better than I could even imagine Ueda doing it. THAT line was the essence of what I expect from Kimblee. I'm really looking forward to where he goes with this and am completely willing to accept my interpretation of the first scene as in the wrong initially and try to accept the Kimblee they're giving us. He's my biggest hope for 'different is not bad.'
Hawkeye seemed a little younger and softer, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think some of her fans will miss her crisp freshness (what is she, a snack food?!), but given her larger role and the manga's attempt to make her come off as more sympathetic (which ends up only making her come off as hypocritical and a bit stupid to me...) it's probably a deliberate thing. I like it just fine, but she hasn't said or done anything yet. Her gag line was delivered with a good sharpness (telling Roy to only be useless on rainy days, while porting a case full of his gloves).
Inoue Kikuko is not as breathy as Satou. She definitely sounds older, smoother. It's a different kind of sexy, and she sounds more motherly towards Gluttony. I think it'll set up a different view of their relation. Satou Yuko's voice sounded seductive on every line. Kikuko sounds VERY seductive on certain lines. I like it a lot. I picture that voice at the end of her showdown with Roy and it makes me look forward to her second only to the new Kimblee.
Roy.
....Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy. Roy. Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy.
....Fuck you, Roy Mustang.
Mikitang (Miki's rendition of Mustang) not only lacks presence but is ANTI-PRESENCE, as if they're trying to create the feel of a forgettable background character half of the time. There were two times he spoke when I could humor him in the role. Admittedly, when rousing the troops and giving orders, he did just fine. He wasn't commanding, but he did not come off wishy washy in the slightest, there. The only flub for that scene was the lack of confidence or any sort of tone at all when saying that he would be armed with his own deadly weapon, his hands.
When taunting Ed, he sounds like he's flirting with him, mostly for how breathy his voice is. He never does sound cocky--with good reason, he doesn't get a single cool moment in the episode, so maybe it's a realization that he sucks.
Roy's scenes consist of giving some background information on Isaac, rousing the troops, being the butt of a joke, having a pissy little hissy fit (I see I translated the interview correctly after all...), being the butt of another joke, and being the butt of the end-of-episode joke. In case anyone was wondering, his hissy fit is the moment of the infamous "Watashi no honoo wo nameru naaaaAAAAaaa!"
Someone on 2ch suggested I try not to think of him as Roy but as an original character, Colonel Mikitang. I wonder if they were trying to make him someone who fades into the background so much on purpose, to create the image of a soldier nobody really expects to be more than a brown noser trying to rise in rank? I mean, not many people suspect him of attempting a government overthrow, true, and his every word sounds flirtatious, but he is a shamelessly flashy man who smirks a lot in the manga. I wish some of that confidence (and competence) were put into this.
With that said, the series seems to be going on with the assumption the viewers are already familiar with the characters, as everyone is rather thrown at you together without much of a special entrance, save for Hughes. His photo wielding fell flat for me, but his entrance as nice. It seems Ed and Al already know Armstrong. The scene where the first meet him I was looking forward to, but his scenes here are also gold on their own. His best scene is the ending in the hospital; that angle, those eyes, the invite to enjoy his flesh, the roses... Run, Ed. You've just found yourself in an episode of Junjou Romantica.
The episode doesn't manage to get the tension or emotion very high, but I don't think they were particularly trying to. It's pretty much gags straight through, with a few spurts of action and the forced 'touching' scene with Hughes. The action's pretty good, but I don't think it's as fluid as the last series. They animate a lot of little characteristic body language with Ed, though, which I enjoy. They also clearly draw from the manga a lot on comedic expressions, which I think a lot of people will appreciate. Most series that balance humor in with other elements tend to start out heavy on the humor. And it usually does help to create a feel for everyone's place. Hawkeye's role as the competent backup who should probably be leading rather than following is emphasized. Ed and Al in the apple pie thing is a good light way of developing their relationship to the audience. Kugimiya really did great in that scene, especially.
It's a very stylish episode. It reeks of over the top alchemy from a B-movie. It's a shame the style they've chosen for Mikitang is bitchy and incompetent; I wish they'd gone for the ego-ham route humor instead, with him. That said, it's definitely style over substance with this first episode. For example, when Mikitang is ordered to involve Ed (for no discernible reason), why the bloody hell are Ed and Al randomly on a moonlit roof when they find out they're going to be involved? Maybe it was just so they'd have a dramatic scene for commercials. Pretty much every 'serious' scene you saw in the PVs (including flashy-glasses Hughes, battling Armstrong, and Hawkeye's talking scene) come from a gag scene. Granted, the episode is 80% gags.
As for the ending theme? It's a good song, but I'll be tuning out before the ending theme for this season. It's something cute you'd expect to see as a fan video on Youtube, but unfitting for an ending. It doesn't speak well for the tone of the series if they think this'll be a good ending feel to step off on. I guess they really are going to tone down the heavier aspects at least for the first 12 episodes.
Next time, maybe I'll get into the theories of Tomodachi Casting and the like. I'd like to get a few more sources and interviews in on that, though. The long and short of it is that a lot of people think the sound director just picked a bunch of voice actors he liked without considering whether they fit well or play well off of eachother, since it's full of people he's casted a lot of times before. On the last one, there's some sourced and unsourced sentiment that he had the consultation or pressures from other staff members to effect his casting. Since Yasuhiro's new to directing, some think he applied no pressure, had no weight to apply pressure, or was just as lost as anyone else on the casting issues. Or maybe it's all a coincidence of the small world of seiyuu that the cast aligns with G00 enough that a nickname for HagarenFA is Hagaren00. Hiromu's comments on Paku and Kugimiya suggest no hint of her involvement or consultation on the creation of this particular series at all beyond designing Isaac, despite apparently sticking closer to her original work. Again, purely speculations, some I agree with, some I don't. Throw yours out there. I like to hear these things.
What are everyone else's thoughts, if you're reading this? Feel free to violently disagree with me, particularly on Mikitang. I am 100% aware that I may have a strong bias here, so I need someone to talk some sense into me. If I can enjoy Mikitang, my ability to enjoy this series will jump considerably. I'd consider it a personal favor to be converted.
The opening looks like a flash animation. I'm not fond of the shading this time around, but I understand it's the first project that this branch of BONES has ever had its hands on. Armstrong gets to look cool, Hawkeye gets to look SUPER cool, Al and Ed of course look cool, Hughes looks really cool followed by Roy who... makes a freaked out face. Considering the poor guy didn't get a single cool moment in the episode and the fact that he's the butt of no less than three jokes, at least let him be cool in the opening, would you?
The song itself is nice and despite its kind of slow pace, it creates a good strong feel. The animation doesn't seem to fit the mood it creates, though. Child Winry getting blown around feels out of place. Hawkeye and Winry's random lip synching is sexy. I imagine them in the same bed, for some reason.
Greed's 2 seconds on screen were awesome and reeked of everything I picture when I think of Greed. REALLY looking forward to Greed, especially in a series that seems to be playing up the humor (the last anime was busy carrying on a bit of a heavy theme, so Greed's style was expressed but understated). Those three seconds make me think they got his feel down. Or maybe any Greed makes me happy. But we're a long way from Greed...
Moving on to the actual episode...
Yama-chan did a great job with the villain. For a guy who only appears in one episode, he probably manages to have more presence than a lot of the established characters.
So how do those old friends feel?
Paku is spirited as Ed as always, though nothing to go "YEAH, PAKU!" at until the scene where the choir music starts and Ed talks about a step closer to hell. Also, the 'my only little brother!' line in the flashback (given in a style that clearly assumes the viewer already basically knows the story) was wonderful.
More than Paku, I was really feeling it with Kugmiya this time, some how. In the interview, she said she strained herself; if that's true, the results show. Even without any dramatic screaming scenes, she out does herself in creating a feel for him. I used to more or less ignore and forget Al. Kugimiya really shines in bouncing off of Paku (who is bouncing off of everyone else).
Fujiwara was all over as Hughes. He really created the feel of someone nosy and annoying well. It seems like a straight port from the prior series in terms of acting. Unfortunately, the director is rushing him on us. The random serious scene with Gracia in which he frets over two kids he just met disrupts the flow of the episode's story as well as makes him come off as too 'stock nice good guy.' I think it'd have been better to just have him go into helping him without the introspective scene and let his actions speak for themselves, particularly at the beginning. Maybe they were going for a bonding moment with Gracia...?
The Fuhrer really had some presence in the ending there. They've decided to spill the beans about him being a rather shady, moderately scary figure right away. Since this series has a much more slapstick tone to it (or is it just that all first episodes tend to start out kind of light for a series?) I can't wait to hear his voice in his gag scenes (Melon?).
I was not happy with Kimblee's first scene. Yoshino sounded like he was just trying to do a stock and openly evil-sarcastic-cynical Ueda voice with the role at first. However, at the end of the episode, his "Hontou ni Zannen desu ne~" ("That's truly quite a shame~") was something he did better than I could even imagine Ueda doing it. THAT line was the essence of what I expect from Kimblee. I'm really looking forward to where he goes with this and am completely willing to accept my interpretation of the first scene as in the wrong initially and try to accept the Kimblee they're giving us. He's my biggest hope for 'different is not bad.'
Hawkeye seemed a little younger and softer, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think some of her fans will miss her crisp freshness (what is she, a snack food?!), but given her larger role and the manga's attempt to make her come off as more sympathetic (which ends up only making her come off as hypocritical and a bit stupid to me...) it's probably a deliberate thing. I like it just fine, but she hasn't said or done anything yet. Her gag line was delivered with a good sharpness (telling Roy to only be useless on rainy days, while porting a case full of his gloves).
Inoue Kikuko is not as breathy as Satou. She definitely sounds older, smoother. It's a different kind of sexy, and she sounds more motherly towards Gluttony. I think it'll set up a different view of their relation. Satou Yuko's voice sounded seductive on every line. Kikuko sounds VERY seductive on certain lines. I like it a lot. I picture that voice at the end of her showdown with Roy and it makes me look forward to her second only to the new Kimblee.
Roy.
....Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy. Roy. Roy.
Roy.
Roy.
Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy.
....Fuck you, Roy Mustang.
Mikitang (Miki's rendition of Mustang) not only lacks presence but is ANTI-PRESENCE, as if they're trying to create the feel of a forgettable background character half of the time. There were two times he spoke when I could humor him in the role. Admittedly, when rousing the troops and giving orders, he did just fine. He wasn't commanding, but he did not come off wishy washy in the slightest, there. The only flub for that scene was the lack of confidence or any sort of tone at all when saying that he would be armed with his own deadly weapon, his hands.
When taunting Ed, he sounds like he's flirting with him, mostly for how breathy his voice is. He never does sound cocky--with good reason, he doesn't get a single cool moment in the episode, so maybe it's a realization that he sucks.
Roy's scenes consist of giving some background information on Isaac, rousing the troops, being the butt of a joke, having a pissy little hissy fit (I see I translated the interview correctly after all...), being the butt of another joke, and being the butt of the end-of-episode joke. In case anyone was wondering, his hissy fit is the moment of the infamous "Watashi no honoo wo nameru naaaaAAAAaaa!"
Someone on 2ch suggested I try not to think of him as Roy but as an original character, Colonel Mikitang. I wonder if they were trying to make him someone who fades into the background so much on purpose, to create the image of a soldier nobody really expects to be more than a brown noser trying to rise in rank? I mean, not many people suspect him of attempting a government overthrow, true, and his every word sounds flirtatious, but he is a shamelessly flashy man who smirks a lot in the manga. I wish some of that confidence (and competence) were put into this.
With that said, the series seems to be going on with the assumption the viewers are already familiar with the characters, as everyone is rather thrown at you together without much of a special entrance, save for Hughes. His photo wielding fell flat for me, but his entrance as nice. It seems Ed and Al already know Armstrong. The scene where the first meet him I was looking forward to, but his scenes here are also gold on their own. His best scene is the ending in the hospital; that angle, those eyes, the invite to enjoy his flesh, the roses... Run, Ed. You've just found yourself in an episode of Junjou Romantica.
The episode doesn't manage to get the tension or emotion very high, but I don't think they were particularly trying to. It's pretty much gags straight through, with a few spurts of action and the forced 'touching' scene with Hughes. The action's pretty good, but I don't think it's as fluid as the last series. They animate a lot of little characteristic body language with Ed, though, which I enjoy. They also clearly draw from the manga a lot on comedic expressions, which I think a lot of people will appreciate. Most series that balance humor in with other elements tend to start out heavy on the humor. And it usually does help to create a feel for everyone's place. Hawkeye's role as the competent backup who should probably be leading rather than following is emphasized. Ed and Al in the apple pie thing is a good light way of developing their relationship to the audience. Kugimiya really did great in that scene, especially.
It's a very stylish episode. It reeks of over the top alchemy from a B-movie. It's a shame the style they've chosen for Mikitang is bitchy and incompetent; I wish they'd gone for the ego-ham route humor instead, with him. That said, it's definitely style over substance with this first episode. For example, when Mikitang is ordered to involve Ed (for no discernible reason), why the bloody hell are Ed and Al randomly on a moonlit roof when they find out they're going to be involved? Maybe it was just so they'd have a dramatic scene for commercials. Pretty much every 'serious' scene you saw in the PVs (including flashy-glasses Hughes, battling Armstrong, and Hawkeye's talking scene) come from a gag scene. Granted, the episode is 80% gags.
As for the ending theme? It's a good song, but I'll be tuning out before the ending theme for this season. It's something cute you'd expect to see as a fan video on Youtube, but unfitting for an ending. It doesn't speak well for the tone of the series if they think this'll be a good ending feel to step off on. I guess they really are going to tone down the heavier aspects at least for the first 12 episodes.
Next time, maybe I'll get into the theories of Tomodachi Casting and the like. I'd like to get a few more sources and interviews in on that, though. The long and short of it is that a lot of people think the sound director just picked a bunch of voice actors he liked without considering whether they fit well or play well off of eachother, since it's full of people he's casted a lot of times before. On the last one, there's some sourced and unsourced sentiment that he had the consultation or pressures from other staff members to effect his casting. Since Yasuhiro's new to directing, some think he applied no pressure, had no weight to apply pressure, or was just as lost as anyone else on the casting issues. Or maybe it's all a coincidence of the small world of seiyuu that the cast aligns with G00 enough that a nickname for HagarenFA is Hagaren00. Hiromu's comments on Paku and Kugimiya suggest no hint of her involvement or consultation on the creation of this particular series at all beyond designing Isaac, despite apparently sticking closer to her original work. Again, purely speculations, some I agree with, some I don't. Throw yours out there. I like to hear these things.
What are everyone else's thoughts, if you're reading this? Feel free to violently disagree with me, particularly on Mikitang. I am 100% aware that I may have a strong bias here, so I need someone to talk some sense into me. If I can enjoy Mikitang, my ability to enjoy this series will jump considerably. I'd consider it a personal favor to be converted.