/a/ - anime/random

The smuggest.

3 episodes in and we've hit what I guess was the end of the first LN. Now to wait to see if the next episode has a massive drop in quality like I'm expecting.

That could have easily been two episodes if they removed the explanation character. Or, well, better paced three episodes. This arc certainly suffered from the pseudoscience.

But, you know, there's a reason why Bakemonogatari is so effective in its narrative, and it's not for being self-aware. It was like they were just making a superficial nod towards it with the dialogue after the confession. You don't actually get brownie points for making superficial nods towards a better work. And the next arc will probably be indeed a massive drop in quality anyway. After the completely pointless and useless misrepresentation of Schrodinger's cat, I can't wait to see how they will butcher Laplace's demon.

>>26184
>After the completely pointless and useless misrepresentation of Schrodinger's cat
I can't recall a show (western, Japanese, etc.) that I watched that didn't do this.

>>26185
Other shows usually at least use it for something. This time it didn't even serve any purpose.
But yeah, what the fuck. You'd think that at least one show would decide to portray it properly.

>>26186
>>26185
To be fair, didn't the science girl say "Oh, I just said it, because it is ridicules"?

>>26187
She did. But her saying that is again a pointless scene. I mean, it succeeds in characterizing her as stupid bitch who doesn't know shit about science and just likes cosplaying as a scientist. But I have a feeling that this is not intended. You could say that the misrepresentation of the Schrodinger's cat has something to do with the way the magic works… but no. That's not true. Her saying that it was a ridiculous suggestion says that it's not true (and the solution had nothing to do with the misrepresentation of the thought experiment). So the scene tells us nothing of value, and just wastes time.
Vice versa, for example when Koizumi Itsuki decides to just talk about some scientific concept, we can trust that it's used to characterize him. For starters, because he actually explains the concept mostly correctly, which helps characterize him as smart.

>>26186
Schrodinger's cat is either misrepresented or completely useless in most stories. The entire point of the analogy is to demonstrate something that is largely irrelevant in normal contexts.
Also I think that at this point it's a science variant of the coconut effect. People think they know what the cat is, and it's at least nominally quantum mechanics yet doesn't need advanced math, plus it sounds deep and impressive, so someone who defines it is 'smart'.
Doesn't excuse it being dropped for literally no purpose at all here, of course.

So this is now a shittier Monogatari Series?

That was awful… so, the setting is that he accepts stupid shit that's against his interest in order to get bullied by his girlfriend? Wow. Just wow. At least this time the "Laplace demon" thing got some use, even if it was butchered. Even the explanation character got some minimal characterization. But it still feels like in order to fix his mistakes from Sakurasou, this guy decided to copy *monogatari.

>>26226
And yet, I'm still enjoying it.

>>26226
I liked Sakura-sou significantly more than this (and liked it objectively, without needing a point of comparison), and I'm not entirely sure if that means I have shit taste or not. Either way, Sakura-sou had some pseudointellectualism going on but at least the pseudointellectualism had a point to it and tied neatly into the actual story instead of involving poorly (and sometimes incorrectly) explained physics trivia to do the work. I don't really understand the appeal anymore.

>>26233
Pseudointellectualism aside, Sakurasou suffered mostly from awful and unrealistic drama, characters, character motivations, and interactions. These aspects are what's more or less copied from *monogatari here. I don't understand the appeal either. I do find some appeal in making these comparisons, so the work is at least good enough to be dissected. And it's not offensively stupid the way Sakurasou was (some people enjoy what Sakurasou was doing, so it's offensive only to me). So I may actually finish it, even if I give it something like 5/10 at the end.

P.S. Oh, also, some small details like the flip he did in pic related are quite enjoyable.

I was thinking this episode that what I was liking most about this show was the dynamic between these two. And then the new girl shows up to shit all over it. I'm out.

What the fuck? No, of course she can complain. That's fucking stupid. The little sister is family, but that random girl isn't.

>>26288
I can defend that point, but ultimately I disagree with the situation too, so no point in doing so.

Amazing. They didn't have to make four episodes about the same day.

So, the time travel arc was a splendid demonstration that the author knows what this archetype called "real teenagers" acts like. It totally lacked any soul. The first arc worked, because the two characters it focused on were the correct archetypes for such a writing style: smartasses that don't overact. But this one made the guy worse, and the new girl was not given any serious characterization or reason to be sympathetic. With Koyomi you kind of get how he's such a fluffie that he can't do the right thing if a girl has an one-sided affection for him. With this guy? I have no fucking idea why he helped her, or why he didn't at least distance himself from her so that she can get some closure. Of course, all of this I foresaw from the start of the arc, so it's not like I'm disappointed or something. Next time: Tsubasa Cat.

>>26301
Well the reason, because of which he helped her, is that she reminded him of her sister. Which was mentioned once and never properly showcased in any way. But doing that would have required to not have his past as the finale of probably the whole story. Or I guess at least the anime or some volume.

>>26304
Nah. You don't need any details about the past to show him associating her with his sister. It was just mentioned once, and then dropped. They could have shown random out-of-context imouto scenes, shown him act towards her as if she's his sister (not mistaking her with his sister, just a more brotherly behavior), or even simply shown him making vaguely strange reactions. And, besides, if he did help her because she reminded him of his sister, why didn't he distance himself at the end? The only reasonable explanation is his harem protag syndrome, that is to say, plot contrivance.
Vice versa, if this connection indeed depends on specific details about the past that are not shown yet, then this is just bad writing. You can't post-factum establish the key component of a previous arc, and expect your writing to work. If you really want to have your cake and eat it too, split the imouto arc in two. Have the first half as second book, and then the latter half as season finale. Establish the connection using the Imouto(jou) novel and the Laplace demon novel. It would make sense and it would be intriguing, framing the novels in such a way as to lead in the reader. Instead, we're getting something episodic. He should have copied that from *monogatari. Nise is one of the best examples how to write a fapfic that establishes your entire worldbuilding and creates the frame for the entire plot of the Second Season.

So, the explanation character literally suffers from that rape culture thing that feminists imagine everywhere. Only problem is, that rape culture thing exists only in the imaginations of people who have no inkling how real people act. I am not even disappointed. Or, well, if I am, I am disappointed in myself that I didn't drop this thing earlier.

>>26392
What are you talking about? Certainly not. Though she somewhat exaggerated about the guy creepy online guy, it is sure possible enough. That said it is a story about women being emotion wrecks. What do you expect?

>>26397
She "somewhat exaggerated" the reaction of each and every male around her. Then claimed that this perceived societal expectation made her take selfies of herself and post them. That's literally what feminists mean by "rape culture". That's not even being an emotional wreck, that just doesn't happen. Then again, really, what do I expect. Consistent characterization for the explanation character, when even the main guy doesn't get such?

Mai's imouto arc pretty much made Mai's characterization inconsistent too. That much I should have expected, as there isn't a single character with consistent characterization in this anime.
Frankly, the first arc should have cut out the explanation character and dealt at least a little with their familial circumstances… but we all know the author hadn't even considered their familial circumstances back when he was writing the first book.

>>26483
The novel (and adaptions) cater to idiots like me who don't/can't look beyond the veneer and thus don't notice the issues you've elucidated.
With that said, I didn't like this arc.

>>26406
Yes, she kind of said "what elsr am I suppose to post about?", but it was only a shalloe excuse. She didn't think of doing that before the split and striving for attention. If anything she learned that acting like a dumb slut will result in creeps going aftet her.

This was a diabetes-inducing episode, but I kind of enjoyed it. Mostly because of the enormous amount of screentime for the main couple. I particularly liked how Mai went to the beach. It truly demonstrated that they are a couple now. Anyway, best episode since the first arc.

>>26184
>>26185
Phantom World explained it correctly

>>26728
Guess I'll be forced to download the episode just to see this scene.