#driftiniwatches — Public Fediverse posts

wrapped up symphogear G, starting and finishing shows so fast kinda rubs me the wrong way, even though I am following my 2eps/day routine as usual, maybe I should start doing 1ep/day for sub-20ep shows?

at any rate, G: weaker start than s1, the show takes weirdly long before it starts picking up in ep5, and considering the highs it manages to hit around and after its midpoint, it almost feels like satelight put the most attention in crafting those setpieces while leaving the beginning and some of the rest kinda halfbaked

that said though, as I just hinted at, the closing episodes are definitely much better handled than s1, the pacing doesn't feel nearly as rushed and it's obvious the studio was looking forward to get to them

as far as the music goes I generally prefer s1, both in terms of op/ed and of returning characters' inserts (although I will say a certain new theme for hibiki/gungnir starts off SO good), whereas the new symphogear wielders pretty much all have good songs, with shirabe/kirika's duet taking the cake from me

speaking of new characters, all with the exception of ver are cool.. after the plot finally allows them to be interesting several episodes in

ver on the other hand might be the worst villain ever in terms of both writing and how the show denies you the sight of his cold corpse no matter how much you desire for him to die over and over and over, he might genuinely be a detriment to G as a whole, that's how much I hate him

even though the kinda stuff that happens sometimes gets more fucked up than anything s1 had, G's tone feels brighter, guess an effect of the more polished artstyle? and well of the ed not featuring eerie carved up dolls in a black void

overall, G is fun you just gotta tank the mid first episodes to get to the good stuff (also I haven't watched the two special OVAs yet and I'll get around it later today or tomorrow, came across a clip of the first on bsky before starting s1 and I already know I wanna watch the rest)

#driftiniwatches #symphogear #symphogearG

I started symphogear G a couple days ago

reason why I haven't talked about it yet is.. I don't really have much to say yet? I think this is a way weaker start than s1

#driftiniwatches #symphogear #symphogearG

watched kill bill vol.1, it's been a while since my last tarantino movie and I now know I need to get back on that unhinged crack

#driftiniwatches #killbill

it's been a good while since I last watched an actually short show huh

so, symphogear s1: I had fun!! the plot may not particularly shine but the characters are fun, the action gets gurren lagann-grade ridiculous and maybe sometimes even beyond that, and the op/ed are awesome

the presentation is pretty cool, the op would lead you to expect a cheery and bright mood all across but, while this is no madoka magica, there's some darkness peppered around (hell ep1 literally kicks off that way)

putting aside the insane shit they do, most of the characters are just about fine, though some (ahem chris) definitely come across as far more interesting

I felt the show was at its peak around the middle (no doubt partly because chris was at the center of it), the last 2-3 episodes feel kinda carried by the off-the-scales hype moments

this feels really short for being a closing thoughts post but then again, symphogear IS short so go figure

can't tell yet if I'm going all the way to XV but I am absolutely continuing with G

reaction thread here

#driftiniwatches #symphogear

started symphogear today, new thread as is now tradition

#driftiniwatches #symphogear

FINALLY 00 closing thoughts, a few weeks late

echoing the ones I watched before it, 00 is another gundam entry I WANT to love but that didn't fully let me

the tone is comparatively dark and the morals grey, there's quite a lot of death around compared to the entries I watched before it, and the protags' faction's expressed goal of eradicating wars isn't presented as a simple, clean act that ends all suffering overnight with no consequences

the protags make for probably the best lineup I've seen in the franchise so far, there are echoes of themes brought up by older gundam entries like zeta, but also plenty of novelty, especially with their stated nationalities rather than the usual "born in colony #232", and with how they develop throughout the story

even outside of the protags, there are quite a few interesting types, between people ignoring the state of the world until they're hit by a very rough wake-up call, others struggling in positions they don't fit into, and more

though when it comes to main villains, 00 fumbles the ball.. pretty bad, I didn't find pretty much any of them particularly interesting and they tend to be quite clichey1

while not being a horrible character per se, graham is definitely the worst pseudo-char I've seen yet

his personality is just. completely wrong, he gets his ass kicked WAY too often for a char clone, and he adopts the goofiest ass alias in s2 which makes him even harder to take seriously

though I will say he is entertaining in regards to how he's lowkey sexual about fighting gundams and that's probably the one thing he most has in common to UC char

(1/6)

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundam00

decided to resume the gundam brainrot flow and started watching iron-blooded orphans

fucking INSANE ep1????? from the minister's daughter giving off strong (early) Turn A dianna vibes, to the ever darker undertones of the setting, this might actually be the first entry that I'll truly consider peak

I really like gjallarhorn's outfit designs, they're definitely a standout from all other faction uniforms I've seen in gundam before

oh and I also fw that mobile suit, I love me some ms designs that aren't just gm/zaku remixes and I'm glad IBO is keeping up 00's great record on that

#driftiniwatches #gundam #ironbloodedorphans

finally watched die hard after keeping it in my backlog for probably a whole year

actually kinda surpassed my expectations, fun characters, no real loose ends left untied, actual thought out action

#driftiniwatches #diehard

yesterday I started watching gundam the origin, finished ep2 today

at first I was put off by the 3d model usage for mobile suits and other mechanics but actually I think they're pretty well done, they don't feel cheap

also holy shit ep2 is so jojo p1 coded???? between char and dio (from memory) looking and a couple times behaving very alike, the setting's appearance and how much of a tragedy both stories are the bells wouldn't stop ringing

also the eds are lowkey catching my ear

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundamtheorigin

at last, got around to watching gundam 00 "a wakening" of the trailblazer after finishing the main show a week or two ago

not what I expected and in a good way!! it feels very different from 00 the show, I liked the glimpse into peacetime life (and the big gurren lagann reference at the start), the toying around with creepy, intentionally paranormal-looking ideas in a franchise that's usually pretty rigid with its realism was also super welcome

I'm super happy they backpedaled on the complexity of the gundams compared to 00 s2, I still prefer 00 s1's designs but the movie's aren't bad either

I felt one low point was the strewn out battles that quickly just turn into overwhelming visual noise, those could've definitely been cut down a bit

kinda anticlimactic (pre-credits) ending? I don't think that detracts much from the movie though, it's a good, sorta experimental cherry on top of the already good show 00 was

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundam00 #gundam00awakeningofthetrailblazer

quick slightly-over-halfway impressions about 00

I am liking it but I think as it goes on it cranks the hype a little too much, it's crazy well done hype don't get me wrong but hype it is still

I was expecting more resourcefulness when it comes to getting the plot out of sticky situations without suddenly bringing out plot armor

though I very much appreciate how nearly everything in 00 carries consequences, even when that plot armor does come it often does so at a clear cost to try and balance things out

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundam00

anyway op1 remains my favorite so far

op2 feels a bit too much on the noisy side, it's fine but not as good as daybreak's bell

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundam00

after a long week of break, I'm starting gundam 00

is it just me or this looks better than average for 2007??? I'm probably being gaslit by watching pre-2000s shit for the past half-a-year but still it looks quite good

they also made energy weapons that sound AND look good which is insane, Turn A has been topped at last

I do fw the religious references all over the place and I hope they're a synonym for peak just like in eva

#driftiniwatches #gundam #mobilesuitgundam00 #gundam00 (gotta figure out the most used of the two)

and so ends my 2nd gundam show, this time it's Turn A's.. turn

easily the best gundam entry I've watched thus far, for as much as it pains me to say it, zeta (let alone 0079) just doesn't hold up nearly as well

unlike with previous entries, presentation oddities are completely out of the window this time - great animation, very distinctive mobile suit designs, and finally great sound design that makes MSs FEEL heavy

the mobile suits here (with special exceptions I can't spoil) look very different both from each other and from anything the first couple gundam entries ever had, with common sights like WaDs and WaDoms outright trashing the humanoid silhouette for something entirely different¹
the Turn A gundam itself just looks awesome to me, the face has some weird appeal with the orange eyes, the crest-like feature on the head, the more dynamic shapes and all² (not to throw shade at more traditional gundams, the Turn A is just so different there's no direct comparison)
the pronounced textures on several mobile suits also look really cool, like the leg vents/thruster things on the Turn A and the extreme roughness of WaDoms' legs (Wodoms according to the wiki?)

production values aside, unlike the entries I watched prior to it, proper mobile suit battles not only take a long while to show up in Turn A, but they remain relatively uncommon (for most of the runtime at least) compared to 0079 and zeta, with characters getting far more attention instead

I've gone on several times about how I love most of the character designs here, they're a huge upgrade from differently colored spacesuits and they're also woven deep into the unusual steam-age setting of the show
the characters themselves feel more interesting, with even a few gimmick characters I originally dismissed as.. well, gimmicks, eventually redeeming themselves by actually having plot significance and just being fun to watch³

(1/5)

#driftiniwatches #gundam #turnAgundam

starting gundam seed today after finishing turn A last week

you can definitely see the bigger presence of effects like blur etc but I think it's still not a clear improvement upon the cel animated entries I watched so far, from what I gather seed does seem to be gundam's transitional period to digital animation so I guess that makes sense

the opening song is ever more typical anime fare but I don't entirely say it as a negative, it's good, if somewhat unsurprising

plenty of chaos in the first episode too, I guess they were going for a shock and awe introduction to hook you?

also I'm watching the original bluray release to preserve the wow factor when I inevitably get to 00 and finally see things in widescreen

for some reason the HD remaster release does an evangelion in the opening with flashing MS and character names, serif font and all lmao

#driftiniwatches #gundam #gundamseed

new day, new gundam thread, this time it's turn A

that was a great first episode??? also at a glance you'd absolutely NOT guess this is gundam with the old-looking setting, this is super intriguing

nice ed theme too, super looking forward to ep2 this evening

#driftiniwatches #gundam #turnAgundam

watched char's counterattack, it... didn't live up to the hype

insane production values for 1988 (not that I watched much - if anything - from the 80s besides akira and zeta gundam, but still I think CCA must be among the best-looking of that time?), but the ending felt like a huge asspull and it didn't feel like a great conclusion to amuro and char's long-running on and off rivalry

the movie doesn't really offer a whole lot besides the battles and I don't think they were that incredible, they were fine but not much beyond that I'm afraid, zeta and even 0079 had many that were infinitely more memorable

the bit right before the end credits was great though, no music, absolutely awesome shots, nothing bad to say about that... besides the ending itself being a letdown but I already said that

I wouldn't say I wasted my time watching the movie as it was a formal conclusion of sorts to my UC watches, but it could've definitely been a lot, and I mean a LOT better

#driftiniwatches #gundam #charscounterattack

well, after almost a whole month of watching zeta, it's about time for my closing thoughts on it

I'll start by saying this is not one of those insane shows I'd recommend hands down with no strings attached, for two reasons

for one, it semi-depends on having watched 0079 first, and that's 50 episodes/3 movies of prelude, which is undeniably a lot; the second reason is zeta itself is pretty long for today's standards with its own 50 episodes, and I feel like it could've handled its runtime better

it's probably just a product of its time, but I believe if it rearranged certain events, removed some repetition¹ and simply cut to the chase on several subplots², zeta could've managed a shorter, but much better paced runtime which would've absolutely served it well

I really don't like admitting zeta isn't an awesome show because it IS awesome at its peak, it's just that I didn't feel it reach that peak very often³

now that the cons are out of the way, let's balance things out with the pros: the artwork and animation are a great step up from 0079, you can see the advancement in animation techniques, audio quality and overall polish

battles feel way better than 0079 too - maybe it's just cause I got used to the mobile suit designs, maybe for the slower pacing, but I didn't find action scenes to be confusing like in the original show/trilogy

in addition to that, there were many fights in unique contexts that really helped set them apart from the others⁴ and the mobile suits' designs are far easier to take seriously as they no longer look like plastic toys, and are clearly more original in terms of design

the character cast is also great, most of them distinguish themselves well and kamille especially is a far better protagonist than amuro, imo (I expect pitchforks for saying this), acclaimed AEUG lieutenant Four Pussy is also part of the cast which automatically elevates the show to a higher level

(1/5)

#driftiniwatches #gundam #mobilesuitzetagundam

finally started watching evangelion

the first episode flew by in no time, I think this'll be REALLY good

the artwork (backgrounds especially) is insanely good, the vibes are strong with the distinctive old anime colors and whatnot

the presence of in-universe jargon everywhere, especially during the evangelion launch really makes the moment FEEL important regardless of context, again I barely even noticed 20mins had gone until I saw the credits roll

this might be the most captivating first episode of all the shows I watched in these past couple months

#driftiniwatches #neongenesisevangelion

I started watching gurren lagan yesterday, only 1ep in so far

I'm not really used to this kinda non-bleak and over-the-top shows so this is gonna be interesting

still curious about that 100% rotten tomatoes score

#driftiniwatches #tengentoppagurrenlagann

sooo I picked the raid 2

it's actually insane how amazing the action scenes are here, I'd argue they even reach past the heights of john wick's and not by a remotely small margin

#driftiniwatches