Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「ヒカリ断ツ雨」 (Hikari Tatsu Ame) by 斉藤壮馬 (Saito Soma)
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「出陣」 (Shutsujin)
“Departure”
I’ve never played Touken Ranbu, and don’t intend to. I didn’t even watch that Touken Ranbu Hanamaru thing, so I can’t bring much knowledge about the popular franchise going into Kagetsuki Touken Ranbu. This ‘introducing shows I know nothing about’ thing seems to happen to me a lot, but videogame adaptations, especially those of the wallet-draining mobile phenomena, are a pet topic of mine and even the most uninspired of them make for interesting case studies (here’s looking at you, Kantai Collection). I also think that a perspective like mine is important, because I’m sure there are viewers who are wondering if they can jump into a show about an established franchise, especially for videogame adaptations where they often have to skip over a lot of material. Fans of Touken Ranbu will probably already watch Katsugeki even without my input, and it’s the uninitiated who need a more representative voice.
So, for those of us just browsing the pilots of Summer 2017, why watch Touken Ranbu? Well, obviously it’s a pretty show. This is a ufotable production so crisp action is almost guaranteed. I get the impression that Touken Ranbu knows that is its main appeal and thus jumps straight into it, only pausing once in a while to dump some exposition on the new guy (Enoki Junya) who, conveniently for uninformed viewers, constantly needs to be reminded about the nature of his organisation and his mission. I don’t mind that, for the exposition is not done poorly, and the emphasis in an action really should be on the action, so by all means equip us quickly with the necessary context then get back to the slicing and the the dicing. Take full advantage of the in media res opening—the second act is the juicy action part, and we can dwell on the details of the first act introductions at some later point.
But there does need to be a first act at some point, and Touken Ranbu needs to avoid overreaching before they address it. Right now, in the first episode, I may be willing to follow along with the conflict (because shiny!) but I am far from emotionally invested in it. The villains are simply just shadowy nothings without character or motivation, with no purpose other than to have something for the heroes to fight. And the heroes are simply People With Swords (or whatever), with no purpose other than to fight the villains. At some point those holes will need to be filled, and until then when someone takes a moment to doubt themselves or beat their chests about the tragedy of not being able to intervene in history (undercut immediately by the one little girl who wins the Passing Hero Lottery), I’m not going to care all that much. Your personal inner struggles are just too distant when I don’t know who you are. Characterisation first, drama second.
This is the part where game knowledge would probably be useful, so that I would already have an impression of these character and can dive straight into whatever drama they wish to partake in. Or, perhaps, just an appreciation of medieval Japanese weapons is enough; I’m under the impression that most of the pretty boys are based on some famous sword or another, and a good deal of work was put into this anime to make the weapons look authentic. If you know the history of those, that’s probably a good chunk of characterisation there already. It’d probably also help to know some Japanese history. Touken Ranbu is not a period piece by any means (the talking fox/dog thing with the iPad probably gives that away) but when the time police jump to an era and you can recognise the black ships and feel smart about it.
So yeah, even if don’t care about the game, as long as you have some peripheral interests—in Japanese swords, or history—then I think you’re good to go for Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. I can’t anticipate what depth it intends to have (if any), but it looks like it’ll be a solid action series, at least. Pretty men fighting in pretty ways should be some entertainment already, and the rest can be a bonus.
Preview
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You’re right in that it a pretty, actioning and yay… not much else. I likely watch one more episode but not likely series I want watch pure on that it pretty or it action fights.
And I really, REALLY doubt there will be any named female characters in any of this!
Touken Ranbu is a sausage fest you know….this is practically the male version of Kancolle for female players^_^ Since they also make the saniwa (the equivalent of the admiral on Kancolle) as male shota too, it’s practically all male or cute boys doing cute things show or in this case cute sword boys.
Well, when it comes to cute boys doing cute things, I had heard that the Touken Ranbu Hanamaru anime would be focused on that aspect, while this anime will instead be focused on the action aspect.
So one anime for each of its appeals I suppose!
I get that obviously
The biggest frustration I have is that because the KanColle anime was handled so disastrously, Touken Ranbu is basically reaping off its failures. KanColle fans are literally screwed out of this
By having a male Saniwa, I guess they’re trying to avoid anything resembling a reverse harem ala Hakuoki or Hiiro no Kakera. 😛
Regarding Kancolle, I’ve accepted the reality that it won’t get an adaptation that will satisfy me. 🙁
Well, there’s that KanColle movie, so… eh?
@Passerby
I’d have to watch the movie before deciding if I need to revise my opinion or not. 😛
The saniwa’s gender and age are unknown. (Though yeah they look like a boy to me too.)
@Passerby
I’ve watched the movie (yay for official theater release)…and let’s just say I had a similar reaction to Madoka’s Rebellion movie. I don’t really know this mixed feeling of positives and negatives, but I definitely know that it’s … something.
I’m watching this because I used to play the game and it is by ufotable XD
Why do so many fight scenes need to take place at night? Is it to make it easier for the animators in some way?
I don’t wish to presume, but it could just be that the shadow zombie things only attack at night. Or maybe it’s a stylistic thing. There could be various reasons.
Could just be the first episode. It definitely has nothing to do with the game because the larger swords are supposed to be weak at night battles, which they definitely weren’t here.
I don’t think it’s me starting to become jaded (I’m still way too young for that, and I enjoyed a lot of shows from last season), but I personally got bored by only the first half of the episode and quit the rest of it. It is pretty for sure, but being pretty alone isn’t enough for me. And even if I were knowledgeable in Japanese history, I don’t think that’s enough of a selling point here either. The characters didn’t even wow me in any way.
Man, dived into the show thinking I was watching Kakegurui…
-“Ok, I see a Bishounen, the girls must be at the school he’s headed to”
-“I don’t remember the show described as being in the feudal era”
-“Evil monsters?!? Must be possessing the students into gambling”
-“Hmmm, lemme reload that summer preview list.”
-“Oh, OH! Damn…”
It was a long first episode, definitely not my cup of tea…
Well, one thing I can say with certainty about Touken Ranbu: it’s definitely not Kakegurui.
I watched for the action scenes and wasn’t disappointed. Hopefully the plot and characters thicken next eps.
The first episode wasn’t all that interesting but I think I’ll watch at least up to the third episode to keep going or not.
A sword-fighting action drama is how it’s described. Count me in. If you want characterization Touken Ranbu Hanamaru has all that with much other characters I don’t think will show up in this anime; but not this guy Saniwa:
https://randomc.net/image/Katsugeki%20Touken%20Ranbu/Katsugeki%20Touken%20Ranbu%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
[You don’t see him at all except the mention of his name as “Master.”] So hoping his character is developed more in this series.
P.S. Pipe-Fox Konnosuke is kawaii as a walking computer.
What a waste of ufotable’s great animation. The characters are dull and the premise is underdeveloped. The show could just have easily been about fighting angry mindless spirits,
Anyone know why the show got ufotable’s attention? Do they just have enough money/fujoshi fanbase to make it worth it?
Your post – what a waste of everybody’s time.