Ahiru no Sora – 03
I’m still on-board with Ahiru no Sora – as a viewer. It’s competent and occasionally surprising, and it appears to be a rock-solid sports anime in the most basic of traditions. But as for covering it, I’m more in the position of wanting to find some compelling reason to do so rather than actually having any. Nothing (well, apart from the OP, and you can only write so much about that) really stands out so far, and for blogging purposes that presents a challenge.
I won’t deny I’d like this show better if someone besides Kaji Yuuki was voicing Sora. It’s just such a boring, bog-standard Kaji performance that I feel nothing for the character at all, and that doesn’t help in my attempts to really engage with the series. The story is very, very familiar – an undersized protagonist, a group of thugs about to be reformed. The supporting characters are more interesting than the lead, and there are some potentially interesting avenues I could see this following, but even if Ahiru no Sora actually helped perpetuate some of the tropes it uses (which seems entirely possible given its age) they still play as pretty predictable so far.
The upcoming match between Kuzu and Maru – while based on a pretty ludicrous pretense if we’re honest – will tell a lot about Ahiru’s potential We haven’t seen any formal game action yet and obviously the series’ effectiveness in bringing those sequences off is going to be an important factor in its success or failure. Until then I’m kind of in a holding pattern – maybe there’ll be more posts on it and maybe not, but that’s a decision I can only make week-to-week at this point.
Radiant 2nd Season – 03
Pretty much in the same boat with Radiant. I’m certainly interested enough to keep watching but unsure on the blogging side. My hope was that this season would be considerably better than the first (thanks to a focus on the source material), and so far we’ve certainly seen an improvement. The first three eps haven’t been on-par with the best Rumble Town episodes (which represent Radiant’s anime high water mark), but they’ve been coherent and solidly entertaining. Again though, the search is still on for a compelling reason to keep covering it.
Among this week’s developments, we have Melie giving Seth the cold shoulder (which casts at least a little doubt on my assumption that she and Doc specifically followed Seth to Caislean Merlin), as does the receptionist at the town hall when Seth goes sniffing around for clues about Radiant. Apparently it’s not a topic much discussed in Caislean Merlin these days, as the Sorcerer-Knights are preoccupied with battling the new “spectral nemesis” that have started turning up. The only place Seth might find any info is at the Castle Library – which is off-limits to civilians. And as a horned sorcerer, she declares him unilaterally disqualifies from being a Sorcerer-Knight.
That’s where a couple new figures factor in. Myr is a weird forest dude who introduces himself as a Fairy, then sneaks Seth into the stables. There he meets Ocoho, an apprentice knight who assumes he’s supposed to be her partner as she boards her “dracoon” and heads off into battle. Also, Seth’s fantasia doesn’t work here – whether that’s some sort of residual Merlin security feature or the presence of the spectral nemesis, I’m not sure. This is all pretty good stuff, classic anime fantasy. It is enough to keep me writing every week? As with Ahiru no Sora it’s going to be a week-by-week kind of thing – though I do feel a certain inclination to try and stay with this series if at all possible.
BlueBlue
October 18, 2019 at 5:53 amHuh hoh…I smell something familiar…Kimetsu no Yaiba, is it you? Ahahaha. Anyway, I am going to repeat myself once again but I am so happy to be immune to seiyuu stuff as after seeing how it impacted you in the aforementioned series and how it impacts you on that one, I feel really really lucky. Well, n that matter, I can argue nothing as it is what it is (or maybe reading the manga as there is no sound? It worked for some people who didn’t like the “blond swordsman”).
So, about that episode, as I had also already said last time: “I was impatiently waiting for that episode as (as a manga reader), that one and the next one (and another one maybe in about 10) will define, in my opinion, who really wants to stay on board or not.”. So, it seems that I was not that wrong.
Talking about the episode itself, I have been extremely positively surprised as contrary to the episode 2 (and even 1), almost have been conserved (ironically, the author who manga readers know that he really didn’t want an anime, kind of joked/complained about one “minor” change made on episode 1).
But I say almost conserved, because regarding your comment on the reason of the match, the anime actually removed a scene which changes a bit the “ludicrous” tone. Indeed, when Momoharu decided to go the gymnasium with Sora (btw, in the manga Sora does not run happily like a baby in front of Momoharu, this is extremely different), the latter tries to teach (briefly) Momoharu how to shoot and there is Madoka who’s still doing the stalker. And this is her who tell them that they received a proper regular offer from another club (Maru) for an exhibition game but they refused because Maru is a male-only school. And so, this is actually Sora and Momoharu who asked her to try to fix that and accept the match for them. I am not saying that it makes everything perfect, but this is way less random that the anime describes it (even though, as they show it, Chiba also wanted that game and do not care at all about the thugs’ business).
So, very excited for the next episode (which will contain some scenes which should have been on that episode but that I am sure they choose to invert) and so the beginning of the game. I am not expecting at all a prod I.G. production level (so not enough to make you forget about your “beloved” seiyuu) but I have no doubt that it will be more than decent.
I could debate for a long time about the “very, very familiar” and other tropes (which I do not agree with) but well, will keep it for when the bubble will burst (maybe..)
Guardian Enzo
October 18, 2019 at 7:45 amThanks for all the background. It’s wait and see mode for me I guess.
Guardian Enzo
October 18, 2019 at 9:23 amAlso, just out of curiosity why did Sora decide to play basketball naked when the dare was he had to do it in boxers? Is that some deep insight into his character or is he just really weird?
BlueBlue
October 19, 2019 at 7:41 amAahaha. Sorry for the late reply but I imagine you are used to the time difference with the audience. Well, regarding your question, I am sorry to tell you that this is not Sora but Hinata-sensei to blame, lol. I would say that this is his way to show how the character is extremely “all-in” and stubborn mentality (because yeah, he really is), through mixing it with a gag which unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the point of view) the author is very fond of (yeah. Actually the anime removes a lot of them). I mean, this is like his addiction to calcium-rich products and the fact that he’s always ready to get into fights even though he knows he’s useless.
On a more general comment and also a bit related to that, I totally agree if the series can seem confusing, especially through mixing up so many genres and tropes. But maybe another explanation (for the moment) lies also in the context in which this series has been published. To make a long story short, that was the second series of the author after the first one bombed hard. And so it is blatant (for manga readers) that the beginning of the series was strongly influenced by the editor/”tantou” of the Shounen magazine, trying to load different “trope-bullets” as backup plans incase they would need to save the series from cancellation. Actually, people do not mention it very often but this is exactly what happened also with “Slam Dunk” (and even Inoue-sensei admitted it a bit if I remember). I mean, if you compare the beginning of Slam dunk and what it became when the success was clear, well, this is almost a different story, or at least a clear different focus.
So, I have probably not exactly answered to your question but in brief, I would say that Sora is not weird but the author has a weird humor (but me I like that kind of humor, so…) and his own way to lighten the mood. But as I know that you will anyway continue to watch it (blogging or not), I can reassure you, the insight into personalities will not be lacking…
Guardian Enzo
October 19, 2019 at 8:27 amOK, thanks. Appreciate the insight, especially as it manages to avoid spoiling.
Rita
October 18, 2019 at 12:09 pmWith Radiant you may have to see how you feel at the 4 or 5 episode mark with it’s current pacing. The Wizard Knight’s arc was great fun (at least for me) and had some of my favorite moments in the middle, but it was definitely more of a slow buildup towards the beginning.