Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「ギリギリ」 (GiriGiri) by Sonar Pocket
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“Visitor From the Other World”I should begin by clarifying that I am a pretty big fan of the World Trigger manga and it is undoubtably one of my favourite weekly reads. It’s an easy series for me to get behind considering how it danced on the edge of possible cancellation in its early months, only to prove that there is an audience for it and that as it has only gotten better and more nuanced along the way. World Trigger was by no means a success story from the starting signal, but that just makes it even more satisfying to see it getting its own anime and proving it’s worth. I’m going to be behind it every step of the way, cheering it on and hoping that it makes its name as one of the next generation of fist-pimping, adrenaline-fuelled Battle Shonen! Starting with the setup, we get a clear idea of the setting and situation that we’re diving into here, whilst the episode itself mainly focuses on introducing two of our four main characters to the audience as well as to each other. The first being Mikumo Osamu – arguably the central character of the series – a student from Mikado City, where the alien Neighbours appeared 4 years previous to wreck havoc and destroy everything they could, until a group of individuals called “Border” came together and defended the population from the alien invaders and created their base of operations right in the centre of the city. It is now the job of the Border agents to protect the citizens of Mikado City, and it turns out that Osamu is one of those agents, albeit a low-ranking and fairly weak one. That leads onto our second character, Kuga Yuma – also, arguably the central character of the series – who arrives as a transfer student who is moving to the city, only to later reveal that he has in fact moved from the other world… meaning that he, himself, is a Neighbour! And so begins the story of our Human-Neighbour combo! Now, to talk about this episode as an adaptation… well, with Toei Animation in charge I was never expecting the best of the best. In recent years they just haven’t been able to keep up with what various other studios are managing to produce, and whilst there were very nice parts to this episode, there were also a lot of inconsistencies and laziness when it came to in-betweens as well as the actual animation. That being said, I’m not going to try and focus too much on that – this is the adaptation we’ve got, so might as well get used to it. I just hope that it doesn’t worsen and bring the series down as a result. I’ve got my fingers crossed here, Toei! What I can say though, is other than Replica (who I imagined would have a high-pitched robotic voice, but this was a pleasant surprise) every character so far sounds exactly as they should – each of our key Seiyuu truly fit their characters perfectly. The Neighbours being CG is a slight disappointment, but if there was anything in the series for that to be present, it would be with them. It doesn’t look too bad I suppose, but it could always look better. I’ll be curious to see how the other Neighbours look when done in the same style. All I can say right now is that if this first episode didn’t exactly blow you off your seat, then don’t worry. Neither did the first chapter of the manga, which is what this episode was. In fact, the series never found it’s audience until around Chapter 14, but I’d say the potentials of World Trigger became evident even before that. I don’t want to give away too many details, because other than the set-up exposition at the start of the episode, we haven’t even taken a step into the grand story that lies ahead. One way to think about this first episode is to imagine that we’re looking through a telescope and we can only make out tiny bits and pieces that add together. But once we focus on them for a while and understand those essentials, we’ll zoom out and see the grand scope of that which awaits! P.S: Thank you to Zephyr for letting me use his lovely post format he created last season. Since World Trigger becomes a series with lots of details, characters, and information to keep track of I might keep using it! |
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Information Digest: 
Details Digest:
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Preview
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All I could think of when the battle music came on was “Did somebody call for a Gundam?”
https://randomc.net/image/World%20Trigger/World%20Trigger%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
“Ore wa neighbor da”
Ah, Kawai Kenji, why you so great?
https://randomc.net/image/World%20Trigger/World%20Trigger%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2016.jpg
“I’m Killua’s brother from another mother!”
https://randomc.net/image/World%20Trigger/World%20Trigger%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
“Also, don’t mess with the Kuga.”
Yes, this Post format give this Blog more a Pro touch, as it already has 🙂
Hmmm…. The opening song seems so familiar to a song from an old anime. Can’t remember the anime title though 🙁
I liked this episode more than I thought I would have. And you say it gets better? 😀 I’m looking forward to it! I’ll be here every week to read your posts too 😀
My main complaint was there was WAY too much tell and not enough show. I don’t really want to sit and watch a lecture when I watch Anime. I’d rather they show me what it is all about.
Apart from that I thought it was OK.
Omg his faces lmao
The manga is pretty good but this episode… WTF was that? Terrible animation and art, poor voice acting and bad directing.
World Trigger manga has a very different art style, but this anime looks freakin’ generic.
I don’t think the style is that different, but they certainly could have made it more appealing, that’s undeniable. I think it’s a little early to judge it as whole considering the first few chapters of the manga were the weakest, so once they get to the better parts of the series then I have hopes they can adapt it well.
Well, the first episodes ares usually the strongest ones in terms of production value (because studios want to catch the audience’s attention from the beginning). And this episode didn’t have a lot of action, so they had the chance to make the characters look good with good art and background. But they didn’t, this was worse that your average cheap hentai episode.
I hope they can do better, but I’m not confident they will (if they can’t animate slow scenes well, I don’t see how they will animate the many action scenes this show will have in the future).
Not only that but the directing, the way the scenes were build… It was a VERY amateur job.
Koga’s (=3=) face works against all arguments.
You can expect many more (=3=) faces to appear. It’s basically his default expression and it’s awesome.
Awful. i read this manga and loved it, so I’m disappointed to say I hated this and this first episode was absymal.
One of the comments said not enough show but just tell and I agree. Even though I already read it, it was so dull! I simply wasn’t interested at all and while you can say “well that’s just cause you read the manga,” please tell that to Noragami who managed to do a much better job. The world building in this first episode did such a terrible job. Even if the first chapter of the manga wasn’t great too (which I agree with) there’s still no goddamn point in making this anime such a boring crapfest.
No humor, so dry, and the animation. Oh God. What in the holy hell was that? What a poor excuse for an animation — Toei, you did yourselves proud with this one. It looked and felt like a 90s anime. HEEEY! Toei! We’re in 2014! Use some friggin budget for once! >_> The bullies were literally so irritating in the way they were drawn. And that action sequence?? It was literally freaking jump, slam, slash. WTF?! Where is the over the top energy I’ve been wanting?
And don’t even get me started on the OP.
What an awful first episode. Toei better get it’s stuff together because I’m not impressed AT ALL.
@Samu
Well, it wasn’t exactly what I’d call a good premiere episode, but I’ll take you at your word that it gets better.
I haven’t read the manga or anything, but I’d call that the prototypical shonen start. Heck Nanatsu no Taizai’s first episode is going to be quite similar in format.
It’s actually kind of dismaying really. I can’t honestly tell if mangaka’s are just honouring to the standard shonen format (Japan loves their tradition) or if they just lack originality.
Even though I didn’t really like the episode that much, I will say this…
That opening is probably gonna be on repeat for a while. That was catchy.
Well, the first half of the episode was about as exciting as watching paint dry, but it definitely picked up in the second half. The setting has me groaning at it’s cliche-ness (child supersoldiers, high school, alien invasion, secret organization, etc…) and the Neighbors look, to put it bluntly, awful. The part I enjoyed the most was the snarky white haired kid’s antics, which contrasted well with the MC’s righteousness complex. I’ll be giving this one the old 3-5 episode rule. Will this be one or two cour?
you mean it picked up as a white cgi blob of unintimidating awesomeness got his ass handed to him by a white haired shrimp that divekicked him and ended the only potentially exciting moment of the episode?
oooookaaaay
I’d place my bets on it being two-cour. Anything less and we wouldn’t even see the start of what’s to come, and if it’s ongoing then it might be disastrous given there is most certainly not enough source material for that, and also that fact that it’s Toei. I do hope you stick around until the second arc at least, which is when the manga started gaining popularity. I just hope the anime ends up doing the same…
@Noragami: I’m a man of simple tastes, half the reason I watch anime is for such spectacle. But in this instance it was more the fooling around before and after said blob got kicked.
@Samu: 2 cour is a relief, this definitely feels like a show that will need the extra time. Can’t tell if I’ll stick with it or not yet; this season’s super packed (and I’m kinda tight on time these days) so unfortunately there’s a good chance it’ll get the axe.
I like how basic information of the series is included on the right. Introductory posts are more interesting this way IMO.
First of all, I just want to say that I love this manga and I like this episode in that I know that the best is still to come. I’m happy that at least one reviewer has actually read the source material; most of the other reviews I’ve read have railed on it for poor production values and subpar story. You know what? That’s what a lot of people said when they started reading the manga.
For the production values, my biggest concern coming into this was that Toei would treat it the same as One Piece, with a very small budget. Although in this case it’s probably smaller than OP since it hasn’t really proven itself.
For everyone who decides to stick around though (and not read the manga), I will say that the story and especially the characters will improve as it goes on. We’ll meet a bunch of new and awesome characters like Jin and Kitora (you’ll know who they are). As for our main characters, we’ll learn more about Yuma and he’ll become much more than a mysterious, overpowered Mary Sue (which are so popular in manga these days), and Osamu becomes one of the best main characters/underdogs we’ve seen in years.
So stick around, you will at least be entertained.
I’m glad we share the same feelings. Even if Toei hasn’t animated this to the best of their ability, the content itself was also considered weak at this point in the manga. In it’s early stages it was just assumed it would be another of the many series that get cancelled from Weekly Shonen Jump, but one great chapter helped push it to the top of the rankings and here it is now! I just hope people stick around to see what the story holds.
this is in Weekly Shounen Jump… does not excuse the terrible animation style this anime has for a battle manga.
I feel bad for fans of the manga, as the animation and art were absolutely horrendous. I even noticed scenes where they actually skipped in-between animation frames! How could they let that pass? Show some effort, Toei. Are they overextending themselves because of their high QUALITY work on Sailor Moon Crystal, and the strict schedule of 2 episodes per month? Yeah. Toei’s just bad in general.
Seems like your basic shonen set-up so far. I just hope the animation improves.
I feel like I’m the only one here who really enjoyed the first episode. I also never read the manga.
Hey Samu! I like your writing style. I follow the manga casually. The highlight of the episode for me was Yuma’s action sequence. Like you said, the manga didn’t draw me in until a couple of chapters later. I’ll be looking forward to your coverage. 🙂
Thank you, I really appreciate that! I look forward to covering it as well, knowing the good stuff that’s to come.
@Samu: Have to say I like the presentation style with the “Information Digest”. Works very well for a season opening episode – especially a new series. Good job to both you and Zephyr (FWIW, I like the “info digest” on the right more than left).
As for the anime…TBH, I was singularly unimpressed. Animation quality (to the extent there was animation >_>) was shall we say sub-par. Watching FSN UBW right before this show did NOT help. As for the story, it’s OK I guess. I haven’t formed any attachment to either of the two MC’s introduced. I will say that I didn’t get an overly rushed, compressed source material feeling while watching (I haven’t read the manga) unlike some other adaptations, so points for that. Still, it’s all pretty much just there for me right now. :/
So…IDK. I had considered dropping it, but given that you say the story picks up along with the fact I do like other series which start off slow, I’ll give this another episode.
World Trigger is most definitely a slow burner. I think it’s absolutely worth it, since back then I didn’t consider it that special, and now it’s the one I look forward to reading every week – so I wouldn’t be too worried from a storytelling perspective.
Not sure if I will stick with this anime but it for sure looked interesting. I am a little curious about Kuga’s background.
Well… I kinda liked iit.maybe because I was expecting the anime for sooo long. Some points:
1) the opening. First time I saw it felt really weird. Remind me somehpw of nanana op. But npw I enjoy it.
2) animation. Veeery low action scenes. Few moviments. But remind me of early 2000 – 2004 animes which made me somehow happy. If we used to love those nor so well made animes, why cant we love them now?
3) negativr point I guess was tthe3D/CG I dont know what neighbors. I … jUst… Hate these kind of animation. I hate when they put together 3d and anime.
Definitelky will keep watching.
yuma kuga is so cute and shorter than me ;3
The OP is amazing. Love it! And Yuma was so cool!
https://randomc.net/image/World%20Trigger/World%20Trigger%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
To me, this episode felt poorly paced and some of the characters reactions seemed ridiculously forced… It didn’t blow me away, but I can see how it gets interesting