The One Introducing That Gunman Dude
Apr. 12th, 2012 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tilly_stratfordWhathisname. Fedora. Chinbeard. Can draw in 0.3 seconds flat (and that number totally got a mention in the episode, gosh!).
Episode 2: 'Magnum .357'. JIGEN EPISODE.
I was pretty damn impressed last week when I realized the creators weren't going to put all the traditional main characters into the first episode, that shows a shocking amount of restraint. I mean. It's been forty years, the formulas are pretty deeply ingrained by now. Intriguing.
ALSO.
This is where I got BOWLED OVER by the boldness of this new series: Lupin doesn't appear in this episode. Lupin isn't mentioned. Lupin isn't involved AT ALL.
THERE IS. NO. LUPIN.
Which of course makes sense because this series is pre-teamup and Fujiko's the protagonist and all. But. There's no Lupin. Jigen's completely on his own, carrying the story on his own, being the focus of the story all on his own (plus Fujiko here and there). I love Lupin but THAT'S what I'm talking about, the delicious experimentation that this show seems to be all about. Wow.
I'm not saying I loved everything about this episode, but still. KUDOS.
Okay so the animation was really really really not comparable to the first episode, but I'd already suspected as much. I don't watch a lot of anime but I've been told that's how most shows work these days, spending a lot of the budget on the first, final and SHOWDOWN episodes, and trying to save money inbetween.
Lots of static images, lots of silhouttes, lots of closeups of objects and hands. The animation is a lot more clunky in the action scenes as well. And for me animation counts. A LOT.
It's not half as visually interesting as the first episode. I assume the overly grey, desaturated colour scheme of this episode was purposely chosen to portray the hardboiled, claustrophobic criminal underworld Jigen belongs to.
Not that I hated all the visuals. Not when I saw the ridiculousness of Jigen's profile in this new style.
RIDIC.
And also there's some good framing and wow I just realized that this entire episode is visually very very dark until the final scene (which was adorable and actually felt kind of satisfying) where Jigen decides he'll quit the mafia.
MMM SYMBOLISM.
I already miss the lush textures and patterns of the first episode but hey at least I like the character designs and the pencil shading makes the visuals stand out from other shows.
Also the Fujiko fanservice felt a little less... natural this time (what the HELL was up with those end credit images?) but I have to admit none of it was jarring as far as the plot went (again excepting end credits). And I guess there's some sort of fairness in me going "HAHA JIGEN YOUR LEGS ARE RIDICULOUS I LOVE THIS" and then in the next scene I go "Fujiko your spine is ridiculous I don't even..."
Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna: EVERYBODY's bodies are kind of ridiculous.
OKAY SO THERE WAS MORE OF A PLOT THIS TIME.
And there were things I've been trying to find out a way to deal with it the best I can because I'm an overly invested fangirl with a loose-but-specific headcanon by now -
Yes exactly thank you.
- and then I have to figure out how I feel about Jigen most definitely fucking a woman. In a church. In a coffin.
Look at your life, look at your choices.
Yes okay I'm using hyperbole. Overly invested commentary alert:
Mostly I guess I'm disappointed they pretty much made a "The Woman in Jigen's Past" story. It's not the first time we've been introduced to The Woman in Jigen's Past, the one who ruined him for all other women (how many have there been by now? Eight?). It's just, sigh, so clichéd and obvious, and it ALWAYS fails to add anything to Jigen's characterization. Jigen's relationship with women is complicated and dysfunctional and insoluble (most of all to Jigen) and THAT'S INTRIGUING. I'm not speaking as a "as long as I get my yaoi" fangirl, my opinion is simply that ambiguousness is one of Jigens key character traits and it will trump This Explains All of Jigen's Motivations every time.
I guess the bottom line is TILLY SHEESH just accept that this is a NEW CHAPTER and that these characters DON'T HAVE TO BE the Lupin and Jigen and Goemon and Zenigata and Fujiko that you feel you know from the previous stories.
OKAY I'LL TRY. SURE.
Incidentally, looking at it from a different angle, it was pretty much My Favourite Type of Love Story. Which is all kinds of embarrassing to admit. IT HAD IT ALL. Class differences (well kinda! Oh God I was just about to compare this episode to Our Mutual Friend oh no Tilly you don't get to pull Dickens into this), secrecy (including sexytimes in secret) and deception (that scene between Jigen and his boss playing chess was pretty delish), forsaking your honour for your love's sake, deadly outcome, and 1930's style Italian mafia.
That's pretty much the recipe for Love Stories That Will Always Melt Tilly's Heart. If only it didn't have to be Jigen. But that might just be me, I realize that.
Also I'm just gonna point out that I really loved how the story was set in Jigen's mafia days. They're all cool and awesome and call it THE ORGANIZATION.
Also I LIKED HIS NOSE. And seeing the blue shirt with the button-down collar again, gosh I love that thing.
Okay wow this post went TEXT TEXT TEXT PIC SPAM TEXT TEXT TEXT. That wasn't supposed to happen.
But if I'm going to mention a random thing; I enjoyed how very Monkey Punch-y the secondary characters looked. That one mafia boss even had a pointy bald head, that's how you know somebody's rich and evil in a Monkey Punch manga.
Also this guy:
Partly because he too really does look like he belongs in a Monkey Punch manga, scar and all, and also because he's in the mafia so OF COURSE HIS NAME IS A TYPE OF PASTA. YES WONDERFUL.
Visually it's a disappointment compared to the first episode, but less eyecandy means more plot which is a good thing except the things that felt kind of strange and new. Overall I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. A rewatch is in order.
Episode 2: 'Magnum .357'. JIGEN EPISODE.
I was pretty damn impressed last week when I realized the creators weren't going to put all the traditional main characters into the first episode, that shows a shocking amount of restraint. I mean. It's been forty years, the formulas are pretty deeply ingrained by now. Intriguing.
ALSO.
This is where I got BOWLED OVER by the boldness of this new series: Lupin doesn't appear in this episode. Lupin isn't mentioned. Lupin isn't involved AT ALL.
THERE IS. NO. LUPIN.
Which of course makes sense because this series is pre-teamup and Fujiko's the protagonist and all. But. There's no Lupin. Jigen's completely on his own, carrying the story on his own, being the focus of the story all on his own (plus Fujiko here and there). I love Lupin but THAT'S what I'm talking about, the delicious experimentation that this show seems to be all about. Wow.
I'm not saying I loved everything about this episode, but still. KUDOS.
Okay so the animation was really really really not comparable to the first episode, but I'd already suspected as much. I don't watch a lot of anime but I've been told that's how most shows work these days, spending a lot of the budget on the first, final and SHOWDOWN episodes, and trying to save money inbetween.
Lots of static images, lots of silhouttes, lots of closeups of objects and hands. The animation is a lot more clunky in the action scenes as well. And for me animation counts. A LOT.
It's not half as visually interesting as the first episode. I assume the overly grey, desaturated colour scheme of this episode was purposely chosen to portray the hardboiled, claustrophobic criminal underworld Jigen belongs to.
Not that I hated all the visuals. Not when I saw the ridiculousness of Jigen's profile in this new style.
RIDIC.
And also there's some good framing and wow I just realized that this entire episode is visually very very dark until the final scene (which was adorable and actually felt kind of satisfying) where Jigen decides he'll quit the mafia.
MMM SYMBOLISM.
I already miss the lush textures and patterns of the first episode but hey at least I like the character designs and the pencil shading makes the visuals stand out from other shows.
Also the Fujiko fanservice felt a little less... natural this time (what the HELL was up with those end credit images?) but I have to admit none of it was jarring as far as the plot went (again excepting end credits). And I guess there's some sort of fairness in me going "HAHA JIGEN YOUR LEGS ARE RIDICULOUS I LOVE THIS" and then in the next scene I go "Fujiko your spine is ridiculous I don't even..."
Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna: EVERYBODY's bodies are kind of ridiculous.
OKAY SO THERE WAS MORE OF A PLOT THIS TIME.
And there were things I've been trying to find out a way to deal with it the best I can because I'm an overly invested fangirl with a loose-but-specific headcanon by now -
Yes exactly thank you.
- and then I have to figure out how I feel about Jigen most definitely fucking a woman. In a church. In a coffin.
Look at your life, look at your choices.
Yes okay I'm using hyperbole. Overly invested commentary alert:
Mostly I guess I'm disappointed they pretty much made a "The Woman in Jigen's Past" story. It's not the first time we've been introduced to The Woman in Jigen's Past, the one who ruined him for all other women (how many have there been by now? Eight?). It's just, sigh, so clichéd and obvious, and it ALWAYS fails to add anything to Jigen's characterization. Jigen's relationship with women is complicated and dysfunctional and insoluble (most of all to Jigen) and THAT'S INTRIGUING. I'm not speaking as a "as long as I get my yaoi" fangirl, my opinion is simply that ambiguousness is one of Jigens key character traits and it will trump This Explains All of Jigen's Motivations every time.
I guess the bottom line is TILLY SHEESH just accept that this is a NEW CHAPTER and that these characters DON'T HAVE TO BE the Lupin and Jigen and Goemon and Zenigata and Fujiko that you feel you know from the previous stories.
OKAY I'LL TRY. SURE.
Incidentally, looking at it from a different angle, it was pretty much My Favourite Type of Love Story. Which is all kinds of embarrassing to admit. IT HAD IT ALL. Class differences (well kinda! Oh God I was just about to compare this episode to Our Mutual Friend oh no Tilly you don't get to pull Dickens into this), secrecy (including sexytimes in secret) and deception (that scene between Jigen and his boss playing chess was pretty delish), forsaking your honour for your love's sake, deadly outcome, and 1930's style Italian mafia.
That's pretty much the recipe for Love Stories That Will Always Melt Tilly's Heart. If only it didn't have to be Jigen. But that might just be me, I realize that.
Also I'm just gonna point out that I really loved how the story was set in Jigen's mafia days. They're all cool and awesome and call it THE ORGANIZATION.
Also I LIKED HIS NOSE. And seeing the blue shirt with the button-down collar again, gosh I love that thing.
Okay wow this post went TEXT TEXT TEXT PIC SPAM TEXT TEXT TEXT. That wasn't supposed to happen.
But if I'm going to mention a random thing; I enjoyed how very Monkey Punch-y the secondary characters looked. That one mafia boss even had a pointy bald head, that's how you know somebody's rich and evil in a Monkey Punch manga.
Also this guy:
Partly because he too really does look like he belongs in a Monkey Punch manga, scar and all, and also because he's in the mafia so OF COURSE HIS NAME IS A TYPE OF PASTA. YES WONDERFUL.
Visually it's a disappointment compared to the first episode, but less eyecandy means more plot which is a good thing except the things that felt kind of strange and new. Overall I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. A rewatch is in order.
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no subject
Date: 2012-04-13 03:02 pm (UTC)The animation still takes a bit of getting used to, and Jigen's profile really looks kind of oval and ridiculous, but Monkey Punch's drawing style was very rough and angular and blob-ular, and I have no art words for it, argh.
I thought it was an all right episode. I liked Jigen in it, and since he's one of my favorites in the series, that's good enough for me. :D
no subject
Date: 2012-04-13 08:44 pm (UTC)Aw yeah okay I can make this story work after all, mission accomplished :P
the line about never teaming up with Fujiko made me crack up.
Hahaaa, I think that was my favourite part!
Monkey Punch's drawing style
Yeah, Monkey Punch's Jigen profile was possibly even more exaggerated, at least in the later period! I always think "Banana-head Jigen" whenever I see it :P
I think I'll like the episode more when I've rewatched it and already know what's in store, I'm mostly unsure wether this kind of story was the best way to introduce Jigen in the new series? BTW; Word on the street is that next episode is a Goemon episode!