Comments on: Allison to Lillia and the Nice Flying Boat arc: why am I still watching this?

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:07:52 +0000

@otou-san: the ‘lack of thought on the part of the writers’ is what lets the series down I think - they are after all adapting an existing story, so they have a head-start on shows that are completely original. Good choice on the Gunbuster box set though - that’s a true classic and one of my all-time faves.

By: otou-san

otou-san — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:30:40 +0000

I tried really hard with this one but finally gave up after I realized that I was trying hard to enjoy animated entertainment. I have a shiny new Gunbuster box set that demands my attention. I don't think it's the lack of logic that got me, but rather the fact that no matter how dire the circumstances of any particular arc, the resolution comes relatively easily and without much thought on the part of the writers. But I guess that's all inter-related. otou-sans last blog post..The Lucky Star OVA

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:26:18 +0000

@dm: I’ve often wondered if the books’ author is better at short vignette-type stories since the plots are indeed lame but according to the lucky few who’ve been able to read them, they are superior to the animated adaptation. I love Kino too, but sadly the light novels aren’t readily available in English so my hopes for Western releases of these books aren’t high either.

@Hanners: I see this arc as an example of How Not To Be A Terrorist - what amateurs! I’ve bookmarked your A&L posts for reference (and sources of comedy) as I follow this show. AnimeYoshi are a bit behind but the quality of their translation and presentation makes it worth the wait.

@Peter S: there are indeed too many shows to watch but the long periods of dialogue when the tension is supposed to be building is one ’schoolboy error’ that this show excels at. I’m sure Treize would’ve died by the time Lillia had decided if he’d get the wrong idea from her resucitating him!

@issa-san: you’re only missing out on lame dialogue by watching the raws I think. At least you still get to see the visual prettyness!

@Owen S: welcome back! I’m actually looking forward to finishing Geass and starting on R2 (something has to replace Frontier now, after all) but quite honestly there’s no way that the storytelling can be any sloppier than this. Common sense indeed…

@lostty: …while we’re on the subject of common sense, I find that I have to ‘leave it at the door’ for this show. That way it’s actually enjoyable!

By: lostty

lostty — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:46:51 +0000

I am one of the many who continue to watch this series as well. It really just bores me for the most part, but as you mentioned I really like Lillia and Treize. Besides that, I find that the plot is just too unbelievable and they almost always build up to something great near the end of an arc, only to have a stupid ending. I'll continue watching the series anyway... losttys last blog post..Toradora!, Casshern Sins and Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka ~First Impressions~

By: Owen S

Owen S — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 11:39:09 +0000

I now feel ready to look towards Code Geass R2 because despite the mixed reactions it’s received, there’s no way it can top to sheer scale of plot holes on offer here.

Damn right. There's been too little brains involved when it comes to pointing out "plot holes" in R2, and I certainly wish they'd taken it up with a lot more reasoned rhetoric served alongside a large helping of common sense, since none of the posts purporting to do so came close to what you've achieved--an extremely convincing argument. Owen Ss last blog post..Code Geass R2 25 For Dummies, or It’s not the horse cart, stupid: The ending explained

By: issa-sa

issa-sa — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:47:00 +0000

It seems that the main things that helped greatly in my viewing of this show would be 1) Watching it raw so I miss most of the plot-holes anyways; 2) Watching it alongside Code Geass since nothing really tops Code Geass in the "You've got to be kidding me..." department... issa-sas last blog post..The dullest post on Otome Road/Akihabara ever

By: Peter S

Peter S — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:07:42 +0000

I’ve discovered the series’ main strategy to building tension: when it’s a life-or-death situation have the characters talk and talk about nothing much instead of doing something about it. It builds the tension for me so much I’m nearly shouting at the screen in frustration.

I haven’t seen all of this arc. As of my last viewing the seaplane is about to sink. Credit the producers that I actually do care what happens next, at least for now. So I’ll watch one more ep and then probably call it a day. I can’t justify continued viewing just to laugh at it. Too many other shows to watch.

By: Hanners

Hanners — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:36:22 +0000

Well, I’m not sure there’s a lot I can say about this that I haven’t already covered in my own tongue-in-cheek ‘Blogging of this series, but the idea behind this particular story arc was easily the weakest of the lot, which is reall saying something!

I can only hope that this example can be passed on to future generations of bad guys, so that they can learn from such elementary mistakes.

By: dm

dm — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:48:59 +0000

I paused in my watching of the series just after the beginning of the Lillia&Trieze arc, but (for some reason) I intend to carry on watching it — I agree with all your criticisms, and I’m a bit unsure as to why I would want to continue. I think it’s the characters (indeed, I think the show is quite good when it is concentrating on the small, private moments, and not on the “adventure”).

The series is based on novels by the author of the Kino’s Journey books. Do you suppose the novels are as weak as the series, or does the series suffer from trying to cram (I think) about ten novels into 26 weeks? On the other hand, a lot of the weakness in the series comes from the fact that the villainous plots are so lame.