Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「God Save The Girls」 by 下地紫野
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「スタート地点」 (Sutaato Chiten)
“Starting Point”
Stella no Mahou was actually a lot better than I thought it was going to be. A lot better.
General Impressions
For those of you who came in with some idea of what this show would be about, be it from our preview or other various sources, I think this first episode lived up to everything that it promised and then some. Starting off as a typical high school slice-of-life that revolved around the life of Honda Tamaki and her goal of trying to figure out just what the heck she wants to do, I never thought the story would have kicked into gear so quickly during the first episode. But when I say “into gear”, I mean it in a slightly different sense then what you’re probably thinking about. With the SNS-bu focused on pumping out a game by the Summer Comiket, I really enjoyed discovering that there’s going to be a general timeline that the show will follow. Which in turn should mean that all the characters should get a healthy dose of development as they struggle to make that deadline. Something that isn’t necessarily required in a show in this genre, but definitely welcome when there’s an end goal in mind.
When it comes to the characters, I thought everyone and everything was spot on. Starting with the vocal cast, it was absolutely perfect in my opinion. From Yuuki Aoi who voices the high tension Kayo to Murakawa Rie who handles the somewhat monotone Shiina, everything just fit so damn well. When it comes to the characters themselves though, their unique personalities and the unique way they all try to inject some humor into different scenes really sold the show to me. Personally speaking, I’m having trouble picking a favorite between Ayame and Kayo. The former is a fellow megane wearer and seems to end up as the straightman for most things while Kayo is the down-to-earth one who also has the voice of an angel (Yuuki Aoi is a god). In any case, I think there should be a character for everyone to attach to with the wide range that the cast encompasses.
Overall, I think we have a pretty good slice-of-life on our hands here. With its focus on a specific topic (doujin games in this case) and a fantastic cast to help tell the story, you can bet this is going on my “make sure to watch every week” list. That said, I can see some people having trouble with the art of the show, but I think the designs and slightly bright color palette help make this show stick out from the rest.
Tl;dr: Watch this show if you’re looking for a good slice-of-life/school-life show that has good subject material and great characters to back it all up. DO IT.
P.S. I thought it was HILLARIOUS that the show had a designated fujoshi character. Man, this show’s opening is great, haha.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「ヨナカジカル」 (Yonaka Jikaru) by たまきとゆみね（CV 長縄まりあ・前川涼子） (Tamaki to Yumine (CV Naganawa Maria & Maekawa Ryouko)
Preview
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If you didn’t catch it, all the pixel art in the OP was done by the original managaka, who really loves that style and even streams while working sometimes.
I liked how well the BGM was used in this episode. At least twice, a joke was made by changing the bgm on the fly or cutting it out entirely. Its the kind of humor that I have come to enjoy from this director.
Great episode that balanced both comedy, plot, and some sentimental moments well. Can’t wait till next week.
Honestly, this is what I wanted New Game to be.
Now don’t get me wrong. While I still enjoyed New Game’s take on its themes regarding the workplace and standard employment woes, I was a bit miffed that it wasn’t actually about making games. I mean it was but barely.
On the other hand, this show seems to be in the spectrum of club series where the girls actually go balls deep into their respective hobby. I’m slightly excited to see them go on really off-the-wall discussions on coding, sound design, and just game development in general. Hopefully, they can use that to frame how the girls grow as characters as well but I’m mostly in it for that sweet sweet doujin dev hell.
PS.
That ED song is perfect. Hopefully they can update the visuals in it as the show progresses.
That’s an interesting viewpoint, you’re right how New Game was set in a workplace where they made games, but that was mostly just the backdrop for cute girls with cute personalities to intermingle with one another, similar to how K-On was really more about the moe girls than going hard on playing music. Both shows were fun, but it’s interesting to see a show where the characters are actually serious about what they want to do.
I also hope the ED gets more animation because the song is great.
New Game! goes into game development a little more beyond the point the anime stopped at, when they start working on their next game. Though it still does focus more on the people and workplace than the game…
…Are you watching this raw? I haven’t found any subbed version for it, and apparently the official subs are being delayed a week.
Yessir. I gotta get them timely posts out, right?
*shakes fist* Curse you and your Japanese comprehension skills! 😉
This is just one of the series I’ve been looking forward to the most, and the fact that I can’t get a version I can understand is irritating.
I decided to watch this after I read the second paragraph talking about the VAs and it is spot on. The design is good for me and the OP is great. I can’t understand everything bc it’s raw, but I’m glad that Tamaki joined the club because she likes to think of games, I’m afraid that she’d join because of Shiina’s serious eye(which is okay, it just didn’t sit well for me).
Basically what I actually want from a (japanese) indie gamedev slice of life meet cute girls. Pretty great, somewhat melancholic atmosphere. A clear goal in the end. Not exactly unique but interesting characters. No glaring mistake.
Also, that’s basically me when I decided to join a Pop-Culture Product Development Club in my uni (Yeah, I make games). I swings a lot from drawing, game design, writing, etc, but in the end it’s just me loving making things like that from kids. I can feel similar passion coming from them, and that’s great.
More people should watch this!!
Not to mention, great OP + ED as well.