“Get In the Bus, And It’ll Get the Song In You”


「バスに乗れば唄心」 (Bus ni Noreba Utagokoro)

Characters That Don’t Play by the Rules:

I don’t think I’ve watched a series where 90% through the story the characters decide they don’t care anymore and instead want to sleep while the climax approaches. It’s bizarre, and it should be terrible, but like everything Mayoiga has thrown at us, I’m loving it. It’s in moments like these when it seems obvious to me that these characters – and the writer/s – are totally self-aware. I think Mayoiga is more comedy than a mystery at this point, though it’s easy to dismiss such a claim if it’s not making you laugh. But I speak for those who are laughing – who enjoy the intentional “bad writing”, cheesy character tropes, ridiculous plot twists, unpredictable narrative, and absurd one-liners – this is a blast. It may not be one of the best anime ever made, but it’s been a while since I’ve been this thoroughly entertained. From Maimai saying that staying in Nanakimura is “apparently” a bad idea, to the abundant side characters not even batting and eyelash when assaulted by flaming arrows, it’s so stupidly good. Or how about the issue of whether Masaki is a ghost or a witch or a monster or whatever else she was labelled only a few episodes ago? Yeah, they don’t care anymore. That plot point has been dropped. It’s just Mayoiga being Mayoiga, and I hope it keeps on mayoigaing for one final episode.

Wrapping It Up:

One criticism I may understand is that we’re actually approaching what appears to be a dramatic climax that ties the narrative together in some sort of sensible conclusion. I recall early in its run viewers hoped that things would remain unhinged until the end, and I’d say it has largely remained that way, but the fact that Mayoiga is actually attempting to explain what’s happening and setting up for a conclusive finish could rub people the wrong way. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that if we end up with a perfectly serious ending, but I’m also confident that won’t be the case. I’m willing to sacrifice some more gags and one-liners next week if it means wrapping up this nonsense story – I just hope it remains entertaining until the end.

I mean, between scenes like the bus driver reuniting with his daughter and accepting his past mistakes, or Mitsumune tearing up over Masaki’s trials, or Yottsun’s battle with classical music, there was actually some rather solid moments that would be considered well-written in any other show. But when sandwiched between dumb sleepyheads and crazy faces, it’s hardly going to get much acclaim. Though I don’t think Mayoiga is a show that deserves acclaim, just perhaps some more appreciation that it currently gets.

Overview – What’s Next?:

I must say that the final scene of this episode had me rolling on my bed howling with laughter. What is up with that character model? Actually, don’t try to answer that. All I know is things are both silly and serious at the same time, and I’m keen to see what awaits in the finale. It’ll be sad to see this mad little show end; I just pray it finishes in a fitting manner to what we’ve come to expect from it, and it doesn’t feel the need to become entirely logical in what would feel like a rushed attempt at an actual serious drama.

Preview

57 Comments

  1. The show-runners : “So we will create this original anime about a village spawning people’s inner fears and psychological scars and let them find ways to make peace with their struggles and let me tell you this dear viewers it will be HILARIOUS ! you will laugh so hard your hearts might stop , everything about the characters and the plot will be so ridiculous and nonsensical that you will wake your neighbors with the sound of your laughs , especially that part where jack and the other moron try to kidnap 2 people but at the same time confess everything to them without them even attempting to extract the info out , it will be your favorite scene all year so yeah , this show will be us showcasing how can we make a mess out of a show that is as seriously-themed as this one ”
    Mayoiga anime of the year confirmed fellas

    Urahara
    1. I posted this below, but this reddit comment from last week’s episode summed it up for me:

      “This is the anime equivalent of Nicholas Cage’s career. It’s entertaining, but you’ll always ask yourself if it’s really as bad or as good as you think it is.”

      Bamboo Blade Cat
      1. “I LOVE MY EYES!!!”

        “I DID NOT MISFILE ANYTHING!!! NOT ONCE, NOT ONE TIME!!!”

        Gehadsygfhjdzgfjhzadscjhdzvcb XD XD XD XD XD XD
        wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

        Nishizawa Mihashi
  2. Either they’re all stupid people or become stupid because of nanaki…

    shame…the introduction of nanaki as personal trauma can be used to make a great thriller, instead they make it like horror movie rip-off + comedy

    mr.anderson
  3. I’ve been reading every Mayoiga blog post so far and honestly, I’m starting to get far too annoyed reading them to continue lurking.

    Mayoiya is not a comedy and your take on it that both the characters and the writers are simply your own opinion. Having your own opinion is fine and at times you try to point out that it’s ‘nothing wrong’ if others want to enjoy the show as a serious one. Except the way you do this is extremely condescending whether or not you intended for it to be. There is this whole air of superiority around you. That people unable to view Mayoiga as a self-aware-next-level comedy are simply too daft to view it that way.

    The show has provided reasoning for each and every event so far (even if said reasoning aren’t that good). What do you mean when you bring up the characters not caring about the flaming arrows? They’re not supposed to care… it’s been explained that staying in Nanaki Village without accepting your Nanaki leads to losing your sense of self and becoming apathetic.

    Why is Mikage showing that sort of face hard to take seriously? They’re trapped in the mountains with a supernatural monster. His peers have seemingly gone insane and don’t seem to care about anything anymore. He’s had to face his trauma when he wanted to escape for it. He’s a control freak afraid of people seeing him as incompetent which just happened. It’s not like he went insane out of the blue.

    I could say Sword Art Online is a next-level show instead of a dumb shonen by sticking to conventional character and plot tropes so strictly in order to show how ridiculous such a setting would be…

    lionking
    1. 100% agree, well said.

      this blogger isn’t a fan, fine, you’re entitled to your opinion. but the extremely patronising way in which these posts are written (implying that this is the only interpretation with merit, with no semblance of a balanced approach) is very irritating.

      i expect better from RC, to be honest.

      grayne
      1. Sorry if my posts come across as patronising. But I don’t see why I should try and be balanced when the vast majority clearly don’t like this show. I don’t need to repeat their talking points and pretend I believe them when I don’t. I just talk about Mayoiga in the way I see it. Again, apologies if that comes off as patronising, it’s more just disappointment that people aren’t enjoying it as much as I am.

        I’ve not got much else to say except hopefully next season I’ll be able to blog something I can treat seriously and write how I usually do. With popcorn flicks like Mayoiga and Kabaneri I haven’t had that luxury this time around, which has its ups and down. All I know is I like both shows, I don’t think they’re the best things ever, but they’re both thoroughly entertaining and I’m not going to be overly negative when I don’t feel the episodes don’t deserve it.

        Samu
      2. I don’t know why your reviews of this show couldn’t be like the last paragraph here, which is balanced in the way most reviewers and their reviews tend to be. If they were, I don’t think readers would have the same criticisms. It just seems odd (and frankly a little petty) that just because viewers didn’t like the show, you decided not to be balanced. Alas, we’re only human.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
  4. That was a more straightforward episode, but I guess they got to tie up their loose ends, then when Mikage and Love-pon showed back up, it was back to crazy central. The tonal shifts can be really jarring.

    Luckily the bus came out of nowhere just at the right time, so that didn’t get all that drawn out.

    Speaking of which, the bus driver and his nanaki in the form of his daughter was surprisingly touching, especially since he doesn’t even have a name! But I felt the feels creeping up damint!

    Reiji is Masaki’s nanaki. Definitely did not see that coming, but makes total sense.

    Wannabe rapist/rapper – can’t really forget about what he was doing before he disappeared.

    I think if Lost developed like this, its fanbase would have a whole lot more to be actually pissed and disappointed about. They should be happy with what they got!

    Found this funny quote from a reddit about last week’s episode:

    “This is the anime equivalent of Nicholas Cage’s career. It’s entertaining, but you’ll always ask yourself if it’s really as bad or as good as you think it is.”

    Bamboo Blade Cat
    1. Like dude, by the end of the show, the only characters who I even ended up giving a fuck about were Yottsun, the bus driver and Kami-sama man. Because for fuck’s sakes, I just couldn’t give a motherflyingfuck about the rest of the guys. The parody is just way too strong in this one man.

      I mean seriously, and I’mma say this again, when a show references a line straight outta the Sixth Sense in such a fashion, of course it’s gonna end up becoming one big, gigantic clusterfuck or an unintentional parody yo~~~!!!

      Nishizawa Mihashi
      1. SHOUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        Oh Mai Gahd, GEJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJA XD XD XD XD XD XD

        wwwwwwwwwwwwww

        Nishizawa Mihashi
    1. The biggest twist imaginable would be Lovepon becoming reasonable and actually speaking in full sentences without mentioning the world “execute!”. That would certainly be something.

      Samu
  5. I might as well call this an experimental anime at this point, as the likes of Aku no Hana, etc…

    Thing is, this experiment failed to be solid enough with its own themes and characters, besides more or less closing up the plot with some presentation issues here and there, enough said.

    Somebody published an interview with Mari Okada btw, you all should really give it a read to understand what went wrong with Mayoiga:

    http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=1519319

    Those numbers in the script material could have been used for a slow paced 3-cour anime or a slightly fast paced 2-cour one. Instead, Mayoiga got 12 episodes/1-cour. Calculating that with the various things they decided to go with after the production begins should show enough of how messed up the final product end up being.

    Reminds me of the disastrous anime adaptation of Umineko, but in a less self-destructable scale (that one even fucked up its own plot’s logic, let alone the themes and characters).

    Danpmss
    1. This provides a lot more context to the troubles that clearly originated during pre-production. I initially thought it was mainly Okada’s fault, but it looks like a lot of it can be pinned on the director.

      And judging from what one commenter said, based on the original Japanese transcript, Okada was trying to politely “express her utter discomfort and lack of satisfaction with this project”, or TL;DR: he done fucked up.

      Bamboo Blade Cat
      1. The translation and the above mentioned comment was by me, btw.
        Okada’s way to express herself in the interview sounded very unsure of the final product (I wouldn’t say she thought it an entirely lost cause). I will try to put up the second half as well, where she talks about the characters.

        But yes, I think the interview reveals a lot about how this anime was produced, and that it surely wasn’t a “well planned, satirical dismantlement of horror anime”. In the end it was more of a “two many cooks in the kitchen” dilemma. She herself said that it got so far that she couldn’t even remember details, that things decided in meetings would suddenly necessitate changes in earlier parts of the script.
        I am still of the opinion that an approach like the one the director chose CAN work on certain stories, but not necessarily in a mystery and suspense one. Things have to be carefully planned for hints to work and for foreshadowing and atmosphere to be effective. Would this be an action-horror or fantasy-show, you could make up stuff as you go along.

        seizonsha
      2. Honestly speaking, I’d be interested in reading that interview in Japanese myself. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been reading (and translating) a few interviews that Okada has given, including one where she commented on Mayoiga, and I certainly didn’t get the impression that “she was searching for polite ways to express her utter discomfort and lack of satisfaction with this project.” Same with the 10,000 word long interview with the producers, where they also talked about the unusual way that they went back and forward because of things that were decided for later episodes that needed foreshadowing in earlier episodes.

      3. What producer did they do the longer interview with? I’d like to read that one myself, if you have a link.
        Of course any such claims about what the people working on this THOUGHT is always going to be a guessing game. We can only take the situation they presented us with, as well as the few face-value things they say. Somebody involved in a project will very rarely say something negative about it while it is still on the air.

        It was simply a feeling I got from some of the words she used and that I would only speak like that if I wanted to downplay my actual feelings…which is why I want to stress that this could very well be heavily tainted by how I personally feel about Mayoiga.

        seizonsha
      4. I linked to the producer interview in this post — I translated a little bit of the first part of the interview, but the bit that I was referring to about how they worked on the scripts is in the third part of the interview, and I didn’t translate that. Another producer, Miyai Rie, also refers to it in this video special on Mayoiga. (NB: I recommend listening to the Japanese, because the interpreters didn’t always catch what the two producers were saying.)

        Okada also had a brief comment on Mayoiga in her Bandai Creator’s Selection interview (from March 25), which I’ve also translated. Here’s the relevant part:

        And for The Lost Village, you’re working with Director Mizushima (Tsutomu) for the first time.

        Okada: This one became something of an expedition. Director Mizushima’s works often have a lot of information contained within, so much so that I’ve often wondered what the (scenario) scripts were like? You just can’t work that out based on what you see on the screen. Now that I’ve worked with him, I’ve finally solved that mystery—“they’re 100 pages long (with approximately 200 characters each page).” Normally, even the heavy episodes are no more than about 75 pages long, so 100 pages seems crazy. But Director Mizushima is able to manipulate that at will, such that he completely paints the final film in his own colours. I felt like I was dancing in the palm of his hand (laughs).

        So you have been blessed with yet another new encounter.

        Okada: I have indeed. It’s a show that should give rise to the reaction “What the hell is this!?” so please look forward to it.

    2. If that is the case bro, Bros, Bros… If that is the case, then Tsutomu Mizushima should stay the FUCK away from directing these projects anymore man! Like seriously, Another was meh enough, not to mention this, which is a total clusterfuck. That dude should just stick to doing fucking comedies man, and at least partner up with some dude who can actually restraint the muthafockkah y’know?

      Nishizawa Mihashi
  6. https://randomc.net/image/Mayoiga/Mayoiga%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2002.jpg

    https://randomc.net/image/Mayoiga/Mayoiga%20-%2011%20-%20Large%2028.jpg

    I’d say the episode was worth it for the adorableness. And who didn’t feel at least SOMETHING with…

    “I’m sure the real Misato loves you! The fake Misato loves you too!”

    Also ironic how the bus driver was one of the ones to appear the most unhinged early on, and that Yottsun was made to appear like a scumbag, and yet they’re among the few who are able to escape and “be reborn” / “live a new life” and you actually feel good for them, while some of the “smarter” / “calmer” ones from earlier on (outside of Nanko) end up becoming more unhinged and crazy, unable to escape.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. The bus diver’s kid was so adorable (look at her little tiny toes! so cute!) and the show didn’t milk it exploitatively, so I was genuinely touched. Glad he got some catharsis. Though too bad he didn’t get his own name!

      Yottsun on the other hand, not so much (reasons stated above).

      Bamboo Blade Cat
    2. Dude, dude… The bus driver’s story is WITHOUT A DOUBT the best depicted aspect of the entire show given the *ahem* problems that it encountered. I was touched too really. Like let’s just be real man, my eyes man, mah eyes! Tears were falling though I wasn’t bawling! 😀

      Nishizawa Mihashi
  7. Mayoiga continues to be proof of how dumb the anime community can be in not noticing it’s a comedy, and saying, like parrots, ‘Just because it’s entertaining doesn’t make it good’.

    And I don’t even find it entertaining. I don’t even find it a good parody. But I know bullshit ways of trying to ignore perfectly good reasoning for enjoying a show when I them it from the community.

  8. I don’t get it. Why attack Samu instead of his ideas? Sure, claim Mayoiga is bad but labelling him as pretentious is self righteous to a fault. Darn it. We are not examining a show like Mushishi nor MonteCristo folks. He is enjoying the show, he is a blogger in RC so he makes this post expressing HIS THOUGHTS. What’s patronising here? Darn it.

    1. You do realize calling him pretentious is just a criticism of his ideas, right? No one is attacking him personally, just his reasoning. People do sometimes (maybe a lot) take criticism personally, but that’s the nature/conflict of criticism.

      And when he says stuff like “But I don’t see why I should try and be balanced when the vast majority clearly don’t like this show.”, that sort of statement should be criticized, specifically since he’s a reviewer/critic, who’s expected not to have such behavior.

      Bamboo Blade Cat
      1. Perhaps I should have worded that sentence better, but to be frank I’m sick of having to explain my enjoyment for the show every week in the face of “objective” facts that I just don’t agree with. What I was trying to say was I’m not going to keep reiterating the talking points of the other side – I’ve done it enough times already, and I think everyone has already made up there mind 11 weeks in as to whether they enjoy or dislike this show.

        But again, I don’t want to turn this into another debate. This will be my last comment on the matter until next week’s finale.

        Samu
      2. I don’t think you even need to explain yourself for one thing to be honest, especially at this point, and that’s probably what’s causing more issues than not, just let what you have to say stand, and if people don’t like it too bad, you’re gonna think what you think, and that’s fine. And no one is saying they want you to talk about the negative aspects, there’s plenty of commenters who are doing that. What people weren’t too pleased with was the tone and implication, and I think that’s fair game as well as criticizing your opinion.

        But my comment was really towards samui, which is, this isn’t criticism towards you personally, just your stance and tone, and commenters like samui are conflating the two.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      3. Uhh… I see it like this:

        You blatantly call a reviewer pretentious (in toto). What’s not personal about it? You are attacking his nature of presenting ideas and not the ideas per se. Explain why you didn’t agree without ad hominous comments.

        Oh. I wasn’t aware that these episodic posts of Randomc are supposed to be all objective (whatever the heck that term means, even numerical data are relatively subjective at times) and discount his enjoyment about the show. Mind you, we commenters and reviewers are all anime watchers at the end of the day so you can expect him to snap at some point defending a show, no? He is not a bot. Everyone has his limits.

      4. It’s one thing just to call someone pretentious without evidence, or at least not offering any sort of evidence, but I don’t think anyone here who mentioned it did not explain their stance which included quotes of Samu’s reasoning and innuendos to make their point. You might disagree with the evidence, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any presented, so that’s a complete misrepresentation you’re making by accusing people of baseless remarks (ad hominem).

        Your second statement is just your opinion of how you think “episodic posts of Randomc” aka reviews, are supposed to be. In general, that’s not how most people approach reviews, reader and reviewer alike. It just sounds like people want to be willfully ignorant of what reviews are just to further their narrative.

        And yes, people snap, people get defensive, it’s being human, but as a reviewer, you’re probably expected not to do that. Of course it happens from time to time, but the majority of reviewers try to avoid that sort of thing (which is why they don’t respond to criticism).

        Also his compulsion to defend this show at every turn didn’t help. He has every right to do it if he’s so inclined, but now he’s opened himself up to further debate and criticism. It’s sort of like how free speech works, you’re free to say whatever you want, but you’re not free from the consequences, especially once you start becoming combative in your reviews and replies.

        But like I said, he just should’ve let his opinion stand without further explanation, and that would’ve ended it. If he didn’t want to get embroiled in a long heated debate, he should’ve recused himself from the discussion. Look at the Gundam IBO reviews and all the criticism there. Enzo stopped replying, because he knew it’d be futile to do so, and there was only so far commenters could delve into it because of that.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      5. @Bamboo Blade Cat
        @But like I said, he just should’ve let his opinion stand without further explanation, and that would’ve ended it

        But why were YOU unable to walk away from this? People only have to read back on the most recent episodes to see that you were pretty much carrying it on unnecessarily.

        Lyfe
      6. Because he kept replying? Duh.

        Plus I’m not the only one debating this with him, nor am I the one who’s made direct posts about Samu in the last few reviews, my initial comments are usually just about the episode. Now, I may choose to get involved after the fact, and that’s my prerogative, and I understand the consequences of that choice (further debate/argument). Is it really that tough for people to defend their points of view at length? If you don’t want to argue at length, stop replying. I’m perfectly comfortable defending my points for however long I need to or admitting when I’m wrong. It’s probably also because I’m a bit of a wind bag, but I digress.

        Also you guys really crack me up with your cherry picking and that makes for easy targets. You specifically trying to hang the blame on me is esecially hilarious. Most of your replies, and those who defend this show, are so generalized and lack any real explanation, it’s all very accusatory and incendiary without proof. Notice how other commenters articulate their view points? They could be wrong, but at least they’re putting effort into trying to detail their thoughts, to encourage discussion. Most of your comments have amounted to trying to shutdown any negative commentary.

        As a result some of you, not all, are just pushing incredibly myopic view points and are being willfully oblivious about it because it’s a show you like. I mean the whole there’s no such thing as objectivity to invalidate criticism argument? C’mon.

        And good god, if you guys can’t take criticism of a silly little show, then good luck in the real world. I honestly don’t know how old any of you are, but you’re starting to sound like the entitled millennials (generalizing, I know) that everyone/the media likes to use as their whipping boy who get easily offended and want a safe space to discuss their precious little show. I’m fairly/very progressive and supportive of social ideals and of the struggles of the disenfranchised and marginalized, so I find the accusations of “safe spaces” or being “easily offended” as ways to shut down the argument, but that’s really what you’re just trying to do here, silence any criticism (which quite frankly seems to be common amongst the anime, manga, comics community).

        And see what I did here? I brought up some points, detailed why I thought this, and came to a conclusion. I just didn’t say what you said was ridiculous or unnecessary.

        Anyhow, see you next week!

        (and I end with humor to show I’m not a self-serious jerk)

        Also downvote away!

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      7. @Bamboo Blade Cat
        @Because he kept replying? Duh.

        There is such a thing as walking away from a discussion if you don’t agree with someone, or if you don’t see a point in continuing. Perhaps you should learn either of these. I personally don’t see this point as a good excuse, you can’t really consider him being polite and responding to you as an invitation to drag something out unnecessarily.

        Lyfe
      8. That’s interesting that you see it as “an invitation to drag something out unnecessarily.” as opposed to simply debating points because we both kept replying, and that I should’ve walked away. And why should I have been the one to walk away? I wanted to keep talking about it. If Samu didn’t want to talk about it, he would’ve stopped replying, we’re both adults ffs.

        See, I made that long reply, and all you can say/continue to repeat is, I should’ve walked away, not him, but me. There’s clearly a narrative you’re pushing here that you’re characterizing as “an invitation to drag something out unnecessarily” – which implies I’m the aggressor dragging poor old Samu (forgive the hyperbole, but I must express the ridicule I feel at such a claim) into a discussion he never wanted to be a part of and if only I stopped replying to his replies.

        Besides being completely baseless, it’s an insult to Samu since it’s implying he had no agency in this and was some sort of victim. You must be very good at gaslighting people if they’re unable to see through your blatant manipulation/interpretation of events.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      9. It’s clear that me and Bamboo Blade Cat have very different views on Mayoiga, which I have no problem with at this point. We’ve pretty much discussed all there is to discuss, and that’s that.

        But I will say I hope this doesn’t discourage people from commenting in future, even if you disagree with the reviewers. Of course there is reasonable and unreasonable disagreements, and anything that gets too personal isn’t welcomed, but I don’t think this discussion has got to that stage… it’s just went on for quite some time and is getting a little tiring.

        I do try and ignore those with obvious disagreements with me on a certain episode/show if I feel there’s no point making my case, but that’s not how things worked out with Mayoiga. Another recent example would be One-Punch Man, which I did not love in some earlier episodes despite how massively popular it was, but I stuck to my opinion until I felt the show deserved its acclaim. And then when the whole Puri Puri debate came along I stuck by my opinion because it was personal to me and I thought I was being fair and reasonable with what I said, and Bamboo Blade Cat was one of those who tried (because there was a lot of buzz around that topic) to explain why I wasn’t being all that unreasonable.

        But then again we don’t agree on everything. Hopefully next season we’ll both have a show we can appreciate. If not, the show goes on.

        Samu
      10. Samu, I hope you don’t consider our debate/argument as “an invitation to drag something out unnecessarily.” I really found that to be a blatant misrepresentation. It may have been very semantical (and possibly quite boring and pedantic), but I don’t feel anyone was dragging anything out unnecessarily.

        And yes, how could I forget the Puri Puri controversy! Oh how that just re-enforced in me that we have a long way to go as a species. To me, that was much more of a moral stance rather than a personal opinion, and one you definitely should never think of as being unreasonable.

        I’m sure we’ll have shows we’ll both enjoy in the future, though I don’t know what’s coming out next season besides Berserk and that other show from the One Punch Man creator.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      11. … Yet aren’t yours opinion too?

        Lastly, are you that dude who said those ad hominous remark? Wow. We are moving further from the original post.

        Now this felt like Mayoiga episode sans the ridiculousness.

      12. @Samui

        Nope, I’m not the one who originally called Samu pretentious (and you really need to comprehend what ad hominem attacks are before accusing others of it). After the whole hub bub about that remark, I said I could see how it could be perceived as such because of reasons X, Y, etc (see I just didn’t say it was so without any reasoning behind it). That’s all I said concerning that before getting into that long debate about nature and mechanics of reviews with Samu.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
      13. No, not, “Uhhh.. okay.” Don’t make it seem like I’m fudging details when it’s very easily confirmable. You’re also engaging in gaslighting and I won’t stand for that sort of cheap manipulation:

        excerpts from akor last review:

        “This show can be taken seriously, at least most of the time. And you insisting that it’s not meant to be taken seriously and that if you do you’re watching it wrong is quite pretentious.”

        “This wasn’t not about how you enjoy the show. But rather that you say your way is the only one and that people taking this show serious are wrong. That is quite pretentious.”

        excerpt of my comment further down thread:

        “Just like, subjectively, you enjoy it and can find what people dislike about it entertaining. That’s fine, but I don’t think that should be considered some sort of failing on the part of the viewer. That might be why that would be perceived as pretentious.”

        But again, believe what you want and whoever else is upvoting you, even if your accusation is completely baseless. And whether you agree with the reasoning or not, akor provided their rationale for why they thought this, and that was just a criticism of Samu’s insistence and not against Samu himself. That’s a big difference, one that emotional people often conflate, as an ad hominem is a baseless personal attack, like saying you smell, but again, keep using terminology you don’t fully understand.

        Bamboo Blade Cat
    2. I haven’t seen this episode yet(Not had the time..), but I agree. Samu is entitled to his opinion, but to drag the questioning out of his opinion over so many episode topics is just a whole new level of ridiculous.

      Lyfe
    3. Oh my motherfucking god, you guys are still going at this? JFC man, to be honest, I’d rather direct my energies scrutinizing the ENTIRE creative and production process behind this gigantic clusterfuck than pile on the plasma to what is an already-dying star of misunderstandings. JFC man, J-F-C.

      Nishizawa Mihashi
  9. seizonsha, Karice // Thanks for the translation and the links of articles.

    As regards whether or not Okada Mari expressed her dissatisfaction with the work and the project in the interviews, I think the evidence is ambiguous and ambivalent. There are certainly some passages in the interviews where she seems to express her discomfort (in a polite and roundabout way) but in some other passages she sounds like very positive about the experience she had with the project.

    But the interviews with Okada mari (and the one with Ishiguro as well) consistently and clearly shows that Mayoiga, the anime is not anything like a well planed intentional glorious mess Comedy.

    First, Okda Mari revealed that she “was afraid until the end that the plot would end up to bloated or that we wouldn’t reach our goal.” According to her, the team had a clear idea of the ending they want to arrive, and there are certain hard scenes are set in stone. Thus the project team had something like a main core idea of the story. But the fact that she had a concern about the plot shows they had hard time with adding the specific and concrete flesh to the core bone (main ideas, the ending they wanted to arrive and so on).

    This is confirmed by Ishiguro in his interview in which he said ” ほんとにみんな迷いながら。なので、こういう作品って、出口としては正解だよねっていう目標地点はちゃんとわかっているのですけど、そこにどう12話を配置してていけばいいのかは、簡単に答えは出ない。もうとにかく毎回壁にぶつかりながら。(Almost everyone lost his/her own way in creating the lost village – Mayoiga – . For this kind of work, it is not simple and plain at all to see how the 12 episodes should be arranged/organized to arrive the targeted ending/destination, even though everyone knows well of the targeted ending. So for each episode we came to a deadlock in the creation).”

    Secondly, all of the relevant evidences (official H.P. of Mayoiga, official Twitter, Interviews with Okada Mari, Interviews with Ishiguro – Kohara et al) go against the claim that the creators intended to make the anime a comedy.

    See what Okadam Mari hopes the audience to look out for when watching it

    “- What is something that we should look out for when watching Mayoiga?

    There are people who gather at a new place to forge new bonds with others, but in the end it’s important whether you harmonize or not. There are also some incidents right when they enter the village. An ominous shadow has followed them into the village, and many relationships are about to change. People tend to disregard interpersonal ties and let them decay, as soon as they are confronted with fear or a dilemma. And sometimes it is those you don’t suspect, who end up helping you. I would be happy if you could have an eye open for that.”

    “An ominous shadow has followed them into the village” and “many relationships are about to change.”

    ” People tend to disregard interpersonal ties and let them decay, as soon as they are confronted with fear or a dilemma.”

    Is this what we can expect to hear from someone who intended to make the anime a comedy? Not at all.

    If the claim that Mayoga is intended to be a comedy is repeated like a parrot ignoring all these evidences, the anime will be a proof how dumb some anime fans can be dumb.

    fripsidelover9111
    1. “If the claim that Mayoga is intended to be a comedy is repeated like a parrot ignoring all these evidences, the anime will be a proof how dumb some anime fans can be dumb.”

      lol

      Bamboo Blade Cat
    2. They should’ve just hired me for this shit man, lolololol.

      No, but seriously. I can make a story if you want one. Though that means proving myself first. Oh well 😀

      Nishizawa Mihashi
  10. So I was bloody exhausted watching E3 and trying to hang out with bros and watching the Warcraft movie at the same time, and this episode is what I was treated to the moment I returned to my anime watching tournament? I’ve probably already given enough POFITs for this goddamned show already and I’m already done watching the last episode (sorry no Skype viewing due to low demand, logistics and timing) as well, so I’mma just save the absolute final POFITs for the next Mayoiga entry. Just hope Samu’s prepared his essay on it, cuz man… IT IS TIME TO RIP SOME RECTUMS A NEW ONE, YEE-HAW!!!

    Nishizawa Mihashi

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