/lit/ - Literature

3

>>2627408

Out of 5?

being meguka is suffer

From looking at the picture, it looks like the same stereotypical characterization most anime has.

1/10

Are we being raided by /a/ or something...
Anyways I'd say a 7/10 for lack of originality.

Writing 8/10
Themes 10/10
Characterization 4/10

I felt that the characters were really kind of undeveloped, the only ones I had an attraction to were Madoka and Homura, and they were both undeveloped.

I still enjoyed the series, though, and it is in my top 10 (not that I watch that much anime, but)

The art, especially for the backgrounds and enemies, was great. (Typical SHAFT quality faces are more an animation issue.)

The characterization, I would say is average for an anime, the characters are presented with their personalities, they're given a back-story episode to explain why they are the way they are... only Homura and Sayaka really develop in any way over the course of the show, and it's pretty much "I had one outlook on the world, something happened, now I have a different outlook." Not really paced out or complex.

The writing is also pretty average... The themes are what made people flip out about it, the darker spin on the magical girl genre where the main characters aren't simply chosen to have a power they can use apparently infinitely without any consequences (hell, Sailor Moon even died like five times and they could always magic her back) but instead have to make a serious sacrifice for a short term benefit that slowly kills them made it more unique.

I wish they had run with the parallels to Geothe a bit more. For the first few episodes I could figure out where they were going with the comparisons but they definitely lost the thread towards the end. The ending was well done, visually and emotionally satisfying, but by completely rewriting the process through which the magic is governed and entropy is prevented the show sort of negates the struggle of the first 10 episodes. Maybe I wanted it to have a less hopeful ending? I dunno. It's good enough for being a 12 episode show, yes, but if it was twice as long I would definitely say more character development would be the best thing to add.

polite sage

>>2627492
>the only ones I had an attraction to were Madoka and Homura, and they were both undeveloped.
>the charters I liked where not given enough attention BAWWW
Sayaka was very well done and Homura got an amazing episode. I agree with Madoka being undeveloped, but we'll have the movies.

>>2627461

Because it's fanart.

back to your shithole, pedestrian

all of them were rather poor. costume designs were the only high point followed by some of the music

>>2627506
> completely rewriting the process through which the magic is governed and entropy is prevented the show sort of negates the struggle of the first 10 episodes

I think Homura's creation of infinite timelines deludes that a bit. It's just one timeline of struggle amongst many but it's the one where events and actions coordinate to allow Madoka to make a game changing wish and bring an end to Homura's mission.

But character development was a weak point. Solid for the show and everyone plays a role but it would have been nice if they were more fleshed out. To show as well as tell. But there may be danger in more time hampering the shocking developments and pacing of the show.

>>2627507

I can wonder but guess why Mami is so popular and Sayaka is so unpopular.

Kyouko was kind of thrown in as an afterthought, and the title character herself was surprisingly void of characterization and even any interesting interactions (though maybe I'm just hating on the silly ending that goes against everything in the rest of the show). The other characters were pretty good. Mami was probably the highlight of the entire thing because she was well characterized in a short time and she pretty much embodied the theme for the entire show, not to mention her leitmotif was by far the best piece of music in the show.

As /lit/'s resident SHAFTfag I suppose it's time I weigh in on this. My own self-aggrandizing aside, Madoka isn't really all it's cracked up to be. I won't say it isn't "good" as far as those sorts of things go, but I did too little with the enormous task it introduced for itself (that is, a game-changing dialog with the entire canon of "magical girl"). Bakemonogatari, SHAFT's previous chart-topping blockbuster reached a greater height, in my opinion, if only because it was less ambitious. It had nothing to add to the simplest structure of storytelling aside from an attempt at pure artistic beauty, and at that, I think, it succeeded. Truly beautiful in every material way, I'd say.

SHAFT's brand might be better occupied with wit and comedy than darkly re-envisioning the cheerful (and they're hardly the first to do so--Madoka is neither the first nor the seminal 'deconstruction'--as its fans will call it--of the magical girl archetype). I think nothing SHAFT puts out will top Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei in a fair contest balancing "social value" (or "artistic meaning") with execution and class, and I am doubting that they're newly moneyed status (since Bakemonogatari) will ever result in a production with a more appealing aesthetic than Bakemonogatari itself.

Nisemonogatari is just pornography.

>>2627687
>I'm just hating on the silly ending that goes against everything in the rest of the show

I thought it was a fair assertion of will on Madoka's part. It's really the wish aspect and accumulation of karma centering around Madoka because of Homura's antics that lead up to that, as well as the fact that the girls become witches, which is why it was made.

What would have been a more appropriate ending?

>>2627716
>saying Bake is altogether better than Madoka
FUCK YOU PAL
>read that spoiler
I wanna hug you bro, finally someone who understands

>>2627730
>saying
>Implying I stated
I opined good sir.

>he hugs me
Well, ok, I guess I can deal with this.
Actually, on that subject, my favorite point of comparison has long been Tsukuyomi with Bakemonogatari: Tsukuyomi is almost certainly just an expression of Shinbou's somewhat regrettable lolicon (not to mention kemonomimi) fetish, and yet many of Bakemonogatari's most recognizable techniques are prototypical within the title. I particularly love the "house cutaway" scenes--between those and the solid color frames, you've practically outlined about two thirds of Bakemonogatari's essential aesthetic. One episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (I think it was in Zoku) actually included a sequence in which the characters explained many of Shinbou's most infamous techniques (including the color frame)--that is, they explained exactly what they are, what they are intended to convey, how they trick the viewer, how they save the studio money, etc. etc.

>>2627753
as someone who's never watched Bake/Nise but loves to go into shitthreads about them, what's the final third of the aesthetic?

When Madoka aired it was one of the most generic, overrated and predictable anime I had watched in a very long time.

The first episode was all I needed to see to predict, to about 90% accuracy, the plot, tonal, and character development of the whole show. I never got past that second episode but a friend finished it and confirmed what I said, though he seemed to like it, so I suppose shaft did something right with the execution.

I thought those final words were a massive letdown if they're directed to the audience.

>>2627779
>never finished the show
>posts about it

Initiate the time travel machine. Destination: 4chan. 2011.

BRZZZT
BRZT
BEEPBEEPBEEP
BEEOOOOWWWWWEAGHHHSHHHH
KACHUNK

I think I made it.
ISHYGDDT

>>2627763
I was ambivalently aiming at allowing any alternative aesthetic applicability. That is to say, I was mostly just trying to express that certain techniques which Bakemonogatari made famous had been part of SHAFT's repertoire for quite some time. I didn't want to leave anybody's favorite technique out, so I let them fill in the blanks on their own. Other devices which contribute to the aesthetic that I can think of off the top of my head include photo-animatic contrast, minimalist shading, extreme facial closeups, silhouette, and flat environments. Some people might also half-jokingly suggest other vaguely fetishistic components (kemonomimi being one previously established example) such as particular attention to knees and elbows, or strangely contextualized objects (Senjougahara's office supplies).

>>2627779
I really don't see how can you predict that, so, there's a girl in a dream, what about that? Also, being predictable doesn't mean it's bad at all, otherwise people would think that it was just random shit out of nowhere, it has to be coherent.

Also, saying this
>When Madoka aired it was one of the most generic, overrated and predictable anime I had watched in a very long time.
By only watching the first episode confirmed that you're full of shit.

>>2627811
>>2627785
It's like both of you don't realize that you are being trolled by a 0/10.

I will actually explain this: Everyone who watched Madoka knows that it pulled a not entirely unexpected bait and switch, where the cheerful tone of the first two episodes was rapidly struck out by the unexpected, gruesome death of a certain character. So, naturally, it makes easy trolling to insist that one is unaware of this genre switch, and imply that one believes the entire series to possess the same lighthearted tone.

>>2627785
>>2627811
OP was talking about the writing for the show, in other words characterization, story development, etc. These were generic enough that I was able to plot it out after the first episode so I would rate that at best mediocre.

If I made it seem like I hated the show that wasn't my intention, my friend says he thought it was alright so there must have been something good about it, I said as much. I just didn't want to waste my time with another show that relies on exploiting the low standards of the audience.

I thought I saw where the story was going and it didn't particularly excite me. If I had watched it I would have had to deal with the bullshit hype neo /a/ now heaps onto everything so I decided against it.

I tried making threads about it after those first few episodes but people wouldn't have a rational discussion at the time.

The most memorable thing about the episodes that I watched was the scene where they went to a fast food place, ordered food, pretended to eat while consuming none of it, and then threw it away.

>>2627824
I refuse to believe someone so dense posts on both /a/ and /lit/.

How little media have you consumed that you could not immediately recognize what that show was trying to do? The opening and closing sequences could not have made it more clear what was going to happen. I was rolling my eyes by the time homura called that pink girl out of the classroom. You should have been able to right the damn script the moment she showed up as a transfer student (jesus fucking christ a transfer student).

There was no genre shift, there was no bait and switch, it was not subtle and it was certainly not trying to be. The light tone was not something used to hide anything it was used to accentuate, it was used to contrast. It was put there for you to pick up on not to be surprised by.

That might have been two episodes, I don't know. The beginning was needlessly slow.

>>2627893

> How little media have you consumed

You don't consume media, you fucking wretch.

>>2628006
are you being serious?

>>2627893
>>>/a/>>65511975

>You should have been able to right the damn script the moment she showed up as a transfer student (jesus fucking christ a transfer student).
>right
>/lit/

So what's the primary stereotype for anons that posts on /lit/ ?

>>2628191

We are Ubermensch

>>2628191
1. Got no swag
2. Stank foot
3. Put 3 syllables in caramel
4. Breath like UGH
5. Be trippin

>>2627716
>Nisemonogatari is just pornography.

>/lit/'s resident SHAFTfag

Lies. You certainly aren't a SHAFTfag nor cultured enough to represent /lit/ in any way.

Nisemonogatari's last episode was the deepest point out of the entirety of both Bake and Nise. I like how the philosophical question was brought up and dealt with, combining with succinct references to Chinese philosophers/philosophy. This was not a random "DEEP" addition, but instead aligned very well to the story and written to flow really well. I especially loved the part where they showed how the 3 mindsets would answer the same question with a different answer. Kagenui - tough justice v.s. Kaiki - the fake v.s. Oshino - neutral arbiter. And all this are on top of the fact that everything tied up nicely with the title theme.

Most of it might be pornography, but that's like saying most of the gold-containing river contains water.

did you guys know that shinbo directed actual anime porns. and did you know that they're also his best works

info: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=creator&creatorid=3014

MAMI WHY ;_;

madoka a shit

Kyubey pls go.

/lit/ will never give up the chance to analyze garbage

>>2628225
Yes I did, actually, and yes, I do agree that they have some splendid visuals. I don't know about "best works," but some of them are quite interesting as pieces of art.

>>2627650
Because Mami was hot.

>>2628645

She is. Well, they're all cute but Sayaka gives her a run for her money with that magical girl outfit.

>>2628596
no, they're the best because they realize fully what they are, unlike his other works: complete trash

>>2627893
you really didn't miss out on anything. i watched the first three episodes and i thought i could tell exactly how the series was going to be and dropped it. i picked it up again later when i watched it with my girlfriend and it was exactly as i expected. the only redeeming factor was episode 10 and although still mired by the rest of madoka's shortcomings, it demonstrated how good the series could have been. aside from that, there is a particular scene where madoka talks to her mother in like episode six or so that stands out because of how well it is executed. the rest of the series is a hugely overhyped waste of time and effort.

I thought /lit/ only talked about books on this board.

inb4 you must be new here

>>2628238

Because life is unfair my friend.

>>2630775

>>>/a/

Madoka is shit, Bake and Nise were shit, and SHAFT is shit.

>>2628805
Too bad she also paired her debut as a magical girl with extreme obstinacy and a descent into insanity.
That probably turned people off despite her cute outfit.