Damn you, Crunchyroll! No english subs available! Oh well, French will have to do. Can't go wrong with watching one of Ikuni's works in French, right?

Aelanie wrote:

I watched the raw just now. Truly, it was 100% Ikuhara. Could not have been more inimitably him. I can't put any faith in the yuri yet, because it may turn out to be all just a metaphor for bears literally eating humans, but there's no doubt it was an amazing spectacle. Now I need subs.

Haha, considering he consulted Morishima Akiko on creating this, I think it will do justice to yuri.



...But also I'm prepared to be trolled.

Last edited by Maarika (01-05-2015 07:46:50 PM)

Well, I just watched the first episode, and I think that's about enough for me.

I have no wish to watch Ikuhara fap all over himself for 25 episodes.

Episode 1: Mini-Review

Before I start the review, despite what Flah said, I can't watch this show in Australia so I have to wait for it to be uploaded on sites that haven't license it at all.

Two things to note, like the previous anime Ikuhara directed, it will require a second viewing to get a decent understanding of the plot, admittedly I had trouble keeping track of characters which was a storytelling issue Utena had.

Another thing is that you need to understand the show's main motif, the White Lilly flower which has multiple meanings in the context of the show:
They represent Chasity and Virtue which heavily relates to the concept of Virginity A piece of Symbolism that become prominent when Kureha cut off the flower soff their roots as it relates to scene where Kureha was getting eaten by Ginko and Lulu later in the episode which was visualized for SFW reasons with Ginko Lulu licking off a Lilly flower which was placed above Kureha's Crotch(I assume); plus It's Japanese Name is Yuri so it makes the uses of the flower in the scenes even more ironic because of the Lesbian Overtones and the Tittle of the show.

This Differently feels like Ikuhara's return to the Shoujo genre compared to the pseudo Slice of Life feel that Penguindrum had thought this new show still does't feel as grandiose as Utena was, the Duel Themes are gone which were the best part of that show's soundtrack and the move away from fantasy/fairy tale themes gave Ikuhara's newer shows a more restraint feel, it's annoying how Ikuhara can't seem to return to what made Utena a great show compared to his newer works, he already fucked up the movie adaption that does't translate any of the character developments from the show and simplify some aspects of the story resulting in a movie that is't as interesting as the show it was base off.

I don't know honestly, I'll do a second review of this episode during my second run of the show because It's hard for me to discuss in depth with the current subtitles and the nature of Ikuhara's directing.

Edit1: I've had to change some things because I've made some errors and I needed to expand the last sentence a bit , and a final note is that silver link is comprised of ex-shaft staff so that's why the show has a shaft feel to it in regards to production value thought the characters designs are more shoujo then moe, I'll re post this when Giovanna changes the Penguindrum subform to incorporate the other anime Ikuhara has directed including this show as mentioned in Random Thoughts Thread.

Last edited by Rosesareawesome101 (01-06-2015 03:02:04 AM)

Just watched the first episode...I went in without any real expectations (this being an Ikuhara anime after all) and I must say I'm intrigued. It's somehow making me think of the first episodes of say, SKU or especially Princess Tutu, where it all seems like a very standard anime yet there's something going on under the surface.

So I had a thought!
WHO ELSE IS A BEAR????
Think about it. Could some other character secretly be bears besides the main two?

Atropos wrote:

Well, I just watched the first episode, and I think that's about enough for me.

I have no wish to watch Ikuhara fap all over himself for 25 episodes.

The series is only 12 episodes long. Barring there is no second season, of course.

I actually found the bears really, and I mean really annoying. Especially in their cute bear form.

Oddly enough, I watched this back to back to Binan to the insanity that is Binan Koukou and I'm not entirely sure what was more over the top, the Binan boys of the Bishie court.

I actually liked the Shaft-like visuals and the academy is full of rule of cool. But perhaps because of that I got more Madoka vibes than anything else.

It was pretty good! I enjoyed it. I don't think it's amazing yet, but it took me until around episode 10 for Penguindrum to really get my attention. (Hopefully that won't be the case here since it's so short!)

Also, plushies:

Last edited by HonorableShadow (01-07-2015 11:55:46 AM)

HonorableShadow wrote:

It was pretty good! I enjoyed it. I don't think it's amazing yet, but it took me until around episode 10 for Penguindrum to really get my attention. (Hopefully that won't be the case here since it's so short!)

Also, plushies:
https://33.media.tumblr.com/d7c24d6d362 … 1_1280.png

Fucking yes.

Please.

I watched episode 2. I still really like it but I am not sure if I understand the symbolism. I guess 'bears eating humans' has something sexual. I am not sure if I like seeing it this way since that look like the bear judge approve girl-on-girl rapes.

I like the bear's sound's. Grawl! Grawl!

A question (spoiler)

[Is everyone except the main character is a bear or what!?!]

just little ikuhara/utena things

-the backstory at the beginning was repeated,but wasnt part of the opening, so look forward to near the end when it changes to turn out that kureha met sumika being impaled by the hundred flowers of humanity's hatred seven years ago!!!!

-speaking of flowers/swords the flower-licking scene is this show's sword-pulling scene and i dont know how to feel

-i was right about the zettai unmei stairs leading up to where the fights would happen in each episode, but unfortunately kureha seems to be mysteriously incompetent at aiming for now, so no real fights (yet?)

basically my point is you can make a lot of comparisons between the episode structure of these two shows

oh yeah i forgot, was anyone else reminded of Chiho Saito's weird fixation in the utena mangas when Ginko talked about how tasty tears were?

Last edited by Arale (01-12-2015 11:24:46 PM)

Everyone is bears.

Gio and I have decided that you become a bear when your love becomes impure (sexually aggressive). This is based on a whole shitload of takarazuka history, yuri tropes, and historical treatment of homosexuality between women in Japan that someone posted on another forum. It was fantastic. I'm going to try to get permission to copy it here because it made me think more about the meaning behind what was going on.

Although, when it comes to characterization, son, I am disappoint.