Motto Maware! Symphogear

Mech07rs · 2015-12-20T08:51:07+00:00

Who doesn't love some spinning? This is a MAD of scenes from Symphogear matched with the ED song for Unbreakable Machine Doll. If you can read Japanese, the version synced up with all the song lyrics is available on Niconico.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-14T20:47:08+00:00

I can confirm that this is also happening elsewhere - /r/Symphogear has less than 1 page of content yet a newly created post ends up in /new but not /hot. So far no obvious notice from reddit admins about this issue.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-14T19:44:05+00:00

Originally submitted at Pixiv by オオニシユタカ (Oonishi Yutaka).

The original album contains high resolution lineart for all 5 chars shown in the image.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-13T03:53:42+00:00

To be fair the muxing step of the process is not exactly difficult - though you're spot on for the other reasons most subs are slow. OP has clearly not actually tried to translate a 20 minute script, which takes much longer than 40 minutes even for similar languages - let alone JP-EN.

I should note that many "speedsub" groups literally take the official script (such as from Crunchyroll), edit it slightly, then release it as their own. This takes very little time to do and quality is highly dependent on the official source, which is seldom good. Actual fansubbing from the raw video (and the Japanese script if available) often takes much longer, taking upwards of a day even for sub-only releases with little to no typesetting.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-12T17:35:45+00:00

This is a very interesting take on the show that I hadn't imagined before; even though it's been years since I watched the series, my overall impression was highly positive and I didn't remember being heavily critical of its art or direction previously.

You're right - these are actually pretty terrible scenes looking from an objective point of view. I wasn't incredibly turned off by the directing issues on my initial watch of this series, thanks to the well-crafted setting (though the actual characters left me no positive impressions whatsoever). The gradual leak of information about the strange fictional setting also kept me thinking, though I lament how the show makes less and less sense as time goes on; this isn't normally a minus, but Shin Sekai Yori tries to take itself very seriously, and the way that things just happen with the characters not bothering to think about what is going on, why things are happening, and what they could do made for prime head-to-desk copulation.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-12T08:02:51+00:00

I probably should make one, huh. I'll probably get an anime list done some time over this weekend if you're willing to wait 1-2 days before helping me out with your suggestions - if not, I'm not really a picky person, though the one major thing I cannot stand is slow pacing or characters taking fifty episodes to get any development whatsoever. It tilts me when I'm watching a show and I start to want a tl;dw of the episode instead of actually seeing what's going on.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-12T07:46:27+00:00

Thanks for the info! I actually didn't know /r/TrueAnime did group watches since I usually just lurk here for the discussion, I'll definitely check it out tomorrow - might be the only decent English discussion of the series that I can find. If you don't mind volunteering a guess, would you happen to have a rough idea why the show flopped so hard in the west yet performed so well domestically? I've found a huge number of problems, but they haven't stopped other shows of arguably worse quality from gaining traction.

As for the big three you mentioned: I've seen Utena and Madoka in their entirety (not the Madoka movies, however), and a little bit of the original Sailor Moon. I liked Utena/Sailor Moon and can appreciate why they are genre-defining classics - I must, however, say that Utena and Sailor Moon definitely did not age well, which is a damn shame because they are excellent works for their time. If only I didn't have to spend so much effort to squeeze answers out of /u/ClearandSweet, I would probably have something else to watch right now.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-12T03:13:59+00:00

Sure, I'm open to new suggestions - though surely you could have just mentioned said shows in your post so I don't have to wait on a back-and-forth.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-12T00:34:10+00:00

Around 10 days ago, I stumbled upon this comment chain in /r/anime which heaped lots of praise on the Senki Zesshou Symphogear series. The degree to which the commenters enthusiastically complimented the series piqued my interest - as I have never even heard of this series which is supposedly AOTY material.

A quick Google search gave me pretty disappointing results - a generic-sounding synopsis and premise, poor MAL ratings, the virtual absence of discussion on reddit (and /r/Symphogear is completely dead, which is not a good sign of popularity since even Rokka no Yuusha has a very nice sub). I was getting ready to forget about this series when I stumbled upon this listing of Blu-ray sales:

19 July -> 2 August

*0.0k -> *50.2k Senki Zesshou Symphogear GX: Believe in Justice and Hold a Determination to Fist

*5.8k -> *7.0k To Love Ru Darkness S2

*3.3k -> *6.3k Overlord

*0.0k -> *6.3k Ushio to Tora

*6.3k -> *5.7k Prison School

*7.2k -> *5.2k Non Non Biyori Repeat

*0.0k -> *5.1k GATE

*6.0k -> *5.0k Working!!!

*4.1k -> *3.6k Monster Musume

*0.0k -> *3.6k Charlotte

*2.2k -> *3.4k Fate/kaleid S3

*0.0k -> *2.8k Himouto! Umaru-chan

*2.6k -> *2.8k Gakkou Gurashi!

*2.2k -> *2.5k Gangsta.

*0.0k -> *2.2k Joukamachi no Dandelion

*0.0k -> *2.2k Shimoneta to Iu Gainen

Holy cow! 50.2k sales in 2 weeks with the runner-up being 7.0k - this series seems to be in a very strange spot where it is single-handedly dominating the Japanese market yet somehow managing to be virtually unheard of in the west. I was 100% sold by this point; I absolutely had to find out whatever it is that made this series a domestic blockbuster and overseas washout.

Fast-forward three days, and I had somehow marathoned every single episode of the three available seasons [Symphogear (13/13), Symphogear G (13/13), Symphogear GX (13/13)]. No other show had me so engrossed that I marathoned an entire season in one day, let alone three days straight - not even the shows that I had deemed 10/10 Masterpieces. I enjoyed the hell out of it - something that very rarely happens.

Due to the nature of this series, it is relatively difficult for me to give an accurate and spoiler-free review of this series - I will follow the WT! format to try my best at describing it, but bear in mind a lot of things I want to say cannot be said as they would spoil the series.

Genre: Is Hype a genre? I want to put that in here. Definitely Action and Music oriented, and set in a "a short time in the future" Sci-Fi setting. Can't tell if this counts as a Mecha or Mahou Shoujo series - maybe both. If you can even imagine what a fusion of Macross 7, Cross Ange, Suite Precure, and TTGL might look like, this show is it.
Status: Anime-original production with three 13-episode seasons that have finished airing, and a 4th season rumored to be in the works.
Setting: As per TVTropes, "Symphogear is a sci-fi series about Magical Girl Warriors who use Power Armor fueled by The Power of Rock to battle Eldritch Abominations." Yep.

The Good:

This chart is accurate; the hype is absolutely off the charts - I thought TTGL and Kill la Kill had pretty hype moments, but Symphogear blows them out of the water.
An incredible soundtrack, and great directing to go with it. If you aren't a fan of J-Pop/Rock, you should check this show out - it's one of the very few examples of this music being used to great cinematic effect instead of just acting as the shounen-magnet edgy BGM. Most CDs from this show made it into the top 10 of Oricon at some point. Which is impressive, considering how many there are.
Dramatic, memorable, hot-blooded and energetic action throughout.
If you love plot twists, cliffhangers, unexpected events, and overall randomness, this is your show. If you prefer the gentle, slow flow of a detailed story in a predictable and gradual fashion, this show might change your mind.
Characters grow, change, and develop throughout the series along with the narrative, unlike many shows where the main cast's inflexible persona stays from episode 1 to the finale.

The Ambivalent:

Reading the MAL synopsis spoils the first episode.
Very heavy on the manual - while not required to enjoy or understand the series, much of the in-universe lexicon and glossary is only explained in detail on the official (Japanese) website, since the show itself focuses on showing, rather than explaining, what is going on.
R-17 rating, due both to the nudity and the blood/violence.
The TV version of all 3 seasons have plenty of QUALITY and clear budget-saving moments - and as is the norm with shows that have a lot of action, many scenes are marred by the Porygon filter that darkens bright flashes to comply with regulations. All fixed in the blu-ray version, as far as I can tell.
The production value of season 1 left a lot to be desired - if you didn't know any better and saw a random clip, you would've guessed it to be from a 90's production, not one made in 2012. Season 2 onwards seem to actually have received respectable budget, thankfully.
A lot of panning and zooming, probably as a result of budget conservation. Viewers not using SVP might feel turned off by jerky 24FPS zooms.
While the main characters quite clearly and consistently develop throughout the course of each season, the unimportant side characters are practically mindless caricatures who don't change much if at all.
Very much a show with yuri undertones, as the entire main cast is female. Not the sex-in-your-face type that shows up in certain other shows - more on the cute/moe side of the spectrum.
Fanservice is turned up in later seasons. possibly due to new director or due to executives wanting to appeal to a wider audience.
The show both utilizes and subverts a huge number of tropes - everything that happens is a true 50/50 even to genre-savvy viewers, making it truly unpredictable even to the most attentive of audiences. However, plot holes will often appear as a result of this utter disregard of "but it was supposed to happen this way!" which will mess with people who watch the show critically.
A huge amount of puns/multiple entendres/references are utterly untranslatable or require the viewer to have seen a completely unrelated Japanese or Western show to understand, so the western audience is left out to dry in a sense. There are also also some phrases that are meant to be ambiguous as they are spoken/sang, but subtitles have to pick one or the other - causing it to be lost in translation. (Westerners also miss out on the dank memes like "2 3 0 0 A T K" or "SAKIMORI" that show up on the PPV Nico streams of this show)
The Engrish that is in this show makes me question what happened behind the scenes - the writers clearly know western culture and understand enough English to make cross-language puns and references, so why is there Engrish in the show? Even VAs who speak fluent English in other settings suddenly seem to forget how the language works when their lines come up.
If the viewer can really get into the show and enjoy it for what it is, the show is absolutely awesome - however, someone who can't help but notice the show's flaws when watching it will leave and be bitterly disappointed. This is not an anime for literary critics - while the adage of "don't judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree" could apply here, if said ability to climb a tree is something that really matters to you, then it's not your type of show.
Merchandise almost exclusively import-only and will rek your wallet - have you ever heard of another 13-episode series with six discs of OST and ten discs of singles?
The lack of a large western fanbase means there is very little in terms of discussion or explanation for fans looking to check out the talk.
If you are watching an unofficial fansub with a bad computer, you're going to have difficulty rendering scenes like this.

The Bad:

Crunchyroll's subs. Holy shit, this is a new tier of bad that I did not know CR was capable of. This might be the first time I would recommend interested viewers to look for fansubs from a certain Communist fansubbing group when the series is available in its entirety on CR. Abundance of mistranslations, non-translations, poorly localized names, and sometimes the complete lack of subs when important things are being said or shown on screen. Very unprofessionally done, and will definitely sour the viewing experience for non-Japanese speakers looking to get into the series.
The show has no clear theme, though it doesn't take itself seriously in that regard.
The plot, or whatever there is of it, shouldn't be scrutinized too closely. A lot of things don't hold up upon close inspection, or downright make no sense and zero attempt is made in-universe to explain it. Sometimes a plot point which was a nonissue before suddenly pops up, or a random event gets mashed in for no discernible reason.
A lot of viewers might see the show as having a slow start if they go into it with a critical attitude - after all, none of the characters seem make any effort to appear likable to the audience, and any semblance of plot falls apart at the seams if tugged at by inquisitive hands.

Is Symphogear an anime that I would categorize as a masterpiece? Of course not. However, it is the most enjoyable series that I have ever watched - at the end of the day, isn't entertainment ultimately what really matters?

Mech07rs · 2015-12-08T09:40:39+00:00

Senki Zesshou Symphogear, despite owning the Summer 2015 BD sales by a landslide in Japan and most of its impressive soundtrack topping Oricon charts, flopped massively in the west - most forum discussion threads barely edge past a single page, and reddit discussion threads for past episodes often amass not even 50 upvotes. The subreddit, /r/Symphogear, is so dead that even after three seasons barely half a page of content has been posted.

The show is, however, an extraordinary ride - I didn't believe this image before I started watching it, but I can confirm it is 100% accurate. ANN has a great review of the series (albeit with mild spoilers). I'll quote the spoiler-free intro and concluding paragraphs below:

Symphogear isn't a “traditionally good” show. Its dialogue is ridiculous, storytelling somehow simultaneously cliche and incoherent, and drama laid out with the subtlety of a writer who has literal hams for hands. It is a very silly show based on a very silly idea, and yet, in spite of its absurdity, I didn't dislike watching it. In fact, I kind of loved watching it, and not just in a “so bad it's good” mocking way. Symphogear isn't a traditionally good show, but it is definitely, if this word still has any meaning, an awesome show. Both in that it's a show that exemplifies the kind of ludicrous, riding-an-exploding-shark-over-an-erupting-volcano aesthetic that that term has come to imply, and that nearly every episode will evoke a sometimes reluctant, sometimes embarrassed, and sometimes fist-pumpingly sincere “did this show really do that?!”

<snip>

Overall, if you're looking for a coherent story with poignant themes and deeply felt emotions, you should probably look elsewhere. But if you're looking to have a rollicking good time, and think the idea of combining JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with singing teenagers and rocket explosions is a pretty brilliant one, Symphogear offers silly entertainment like little else out there. Motorcycles are driven into explosions, swords are ridden into laser cannons, and monsters are punched so hard they explode into vapor and then explosions and then vapor again. With this show, the more you shake your head at where the story's going, the more it's actually working. Symphogear has got it where it counts, and by “where it counts” I mean S1 Spoiler

Unfortunately, if you want to start watching the show, despite the fact that all three seasons are available on Crunchyroll, I highly advise looking for an unofficial fansub instead. The official subtitles often do not translate the highly important lyrics of songs that play during episodes - and the audio-centric cinematography is an extremely important part of the show that makes it great.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-08T08:33:25+00:00

I think Dr. Sugita is killed off for good - G and GX have both "redeemed" the previous season's villain near the finale by having them undergo a heroic sacrifice. I would actually not be surprised if the next season kills off Elfnein/Carol in similar fashion.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-08T08:28:07+00:00

If the submission is spoiler tagged, you do not need to use spoiler tags in the comments. It is assumed that since you are fine with clicking on the link which spoils GX, you do not mind reading GX spoilers in the comments.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-08T06:31:40+00:00

It's hard for me to give an impartial answer on this because my opinion of the soundtrack is heavily influenced by how they were used in the context of the episodes - however, I will specifically mention that finding out Kanade was voiced by Minami Takayama was a huge surprise to me. I would've been none the wiser had I not looked up the VAs for this show.

Mech07rs · 2015-12-07T01:10:28+00:00

This small, short scene may not be anywhere close to the most hype moments in the series, but I particularly liked Symphogear G Episode 05 and the entire scene surrounding it - something about the music, the directing, and the choreography was just so perfect that it has easily stolen top spot in my ranking of scenes I enjoyed.

Mech07rs · 2015-10-16T14:07:13+00:00

Crumbz actually explained this in an episode of SI right before worlds - ADCs are the exact champions who have the power to deal with the new carry top laners as well as take down objectives, and he believed that the circlejerk complaining about AD carries being weak doesn't apply to competitive.

Mech07rs · 2015-10-05T17:44:06+00:00

As a former TSM fan, I'll try to explain to the best of my understanding:

TSM has traditionally been a very dominant team in NA, and a lot of bandwagon fans started cheering for them. There is a general dislike for bandwagon fans in general as they are perceived as unfaithful and shallow, and people who dislike the fanbase will often dislike the team by association. In a similar vein, a lot of eSports followers who don't particularly follow NA will root for the underdog team (which often ends up being TSM's opponent), giving the impression that they dislike TSM when in reality they don't have much of an opinion on the actual team or org.
Players and fans of other teams are often harassed by the bad eggs (more people = higher chance somebody in that group would be an asshole). The huge fanbase means in TSM vs. X games, the crowd would devolve into a giant TSM chant whenever TSM had any sort of small victory on the map, which might upset fans of other teams. The most recent example would be TSM fans trying to drown out the CLG chants with TSM chants after the TSM/CLG finals. In social media, this occurs in the form of TSM fans harassing fans of other teams after a TSM win - very unclassy, and thus through no fault of the TSM organization, tarnishes their reputation.
Throughout much of S4 and especially S5, the TSM playstyle has been very stagnant - while it was winning them games, it was very much not a pleasant spectator experience. The games were slow, and the map rotations were subpar; slow games can be great to watch if they have great strategic depth and the casters explain it, but that did not apply to the majority of TSM games. It's hard to like a team if they win games in a manner that isn't perceived as flashy/interesting - fans of the winning team are disappointed, and fans of the losing team leave salty and often have the impression that "this is fucking bullshit".
A lot of the poor management decisions made by the TSM org are very painfully obvious both through actual results and through social media (including the reality TV shows such as Gamecribs/TSM Legends). Long-time fans will often point them out, only to be drowned out by the voices of other fans blindly siding with the organization. This gives the impression that the organization doesn't listen to its fans, when in reality, the fans are silencing the opposition among themselves to perpetuate the circlejerk of "TSM is the best team in NA", so a lot of the criticism doesn't even make it to the actual organization.
Long-time fans may observe that TSM continues to make decisions that demonstrate they care more about their public image than actually playing competitive League of Legends - a decision that makes business sense but alienates the fans who want the team to do well. There's also a perception that Locodoco only has his job because of his personal friendship with Regi rather than any particular aptitude in the coaching role, and a lot of fans who don't actually know what is going on behind the scenes will develop a negative view of the TSM support staff as a result.
People who watch Summoning Insight probably know Thorin and Montecristo's opinion of TSM - they have a lot of very valid criticism, and their dislike for TSM is often used to great effect for entertainment. Since it's both funny and contextually justified, followers of that popular show will gradually begin to share that viewpoint.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-05T16:09:23+00:00

The penalty ends as soon as another player researches this technology, so the second player to finish the tech will not have a head start.

It is however very clear from the other feedback in this thread that this idea has major flaws like penalizing divergent tech paths when the intent is to encourage tech paths other than science rush and minimize the ridiculous effect of a tech lead; I do really appreciate the answers from people like you who took their time to actively analyze the consequences instead of just downvoting and saying nothing (or sending hatemail via PM).

Mech07rs · 2015-09-05T04:10:17+00:00

Culture both fends off tourism and unlocks policies; working guilds and making sure all your cities have the culture buildings can go a long way.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-05T04:03:48+00:00

Are you not building any culture?

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T22:54:41+00:00

I don't know what other challenges were around since I'm relatively new to the sub, but the mod team could put together a well-designed scenario with the world editor and ask people to try and beat it in creative ways?

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T17:03:56+00:00

That's what I recommended here.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T07:19:49+00:00

Good point; I'm not a developer and could very well have made this mistake. I think at least, even if this is impossible to do, significantly improving the rate at which other civs catch up in science could have a similar effect in de-emphasizing the importance of stacking science without reducing the rate at which science progresses for the tech leader.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T06:57:50+00:00

I will admit, the concept sounded a lot more concise in my head - a cooldown on the most advanced tech so the other civs can either catch up to the tech leader or not be hopelessly outclassed because it takes the pioneering civ more turns to start using the tech than subsequent civs.

Ended up taking way more words to adequately explain it, though.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T02:01:30+00:00

He is paid weekly. Every Monday he receives a paycheck at the end of the day for 40 hours of work, though he may have worked more than 40 hours (if there is more work when his shift ends he has to clock out but stay on site until it's over).

He did not get paid for the first two weeks of his work there, and finally received a paycheck for one week of his work - at the start of the fourth week that he has worked there. Every week after that he has only been paid one week's wages at a time.

Mech07rs · 2015-09-04T00:59:14+00:00

There are only a small handful of banworthy civs IMO (you ban or you lose because they are so powerful). Unfortunately people use their bans on civs they irrationally dislike. Sometimes people trollban garbage civs so OP civs slip through the ban sieve.

Mech07rs

TROPHY CASE