Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of The Anime Pulse! This week will be a bit of a shorter column as it’s been kind of slow in the anime world, but there is one touchy subject I will delve into as well as another topic that I’ve tried to write about a few times, but just doesn’t really equate to a full column. So with that being said, let’s get into it, shall we?
God Haters
So… God Eater had this marvellous hype surrounding it. Many fans have heralded it as the second coming of Attack on Titan, however, fans seem to be completely agitated by the show. I’m not sure of the source material as I’ve explained a few times over my past columns that I am an anime-first-type-person, but I know this anime was based off of an RPG game in Japan, though so I can’t really say how good or bad this adaptation is. All I can do is watch the show and take it at face value and formulate my own opinions based on that and that alone.
And my opinion thus far? I find the anime quite enjoyable. I don’t think it’s as epic or as grand as Attack on Titan and I don’t think it ever will measure up, but that’s okay because it is doing its own thing. The cast of characters do seem a bit cookie cutter, but at least the main character isn’t some second-guessing, wet-behind-the-ears, passive type like we’ve been seeing as of late.
The art and animation of the series is something I’m getting used to. I made reference to it in my First Reaction series about how the CG makes for a unique look, but at the same time, it detracts from the expectations that we have from a works from ufotable… especially after Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works. I’m not hating on it as much as I did a few weeks ago, but it’s still something that’s growing on me.
So all in all, I think the anime is just fine, but that’s not really the big thing that’s being talked about. Recently, there was a poll held in Japan and all of the God Eater haters jumped all over it like it was the newest and shiniest bandwagon in the lot because, apparently, Japan hates this show, too… or so we thought.
The poll had the results of the following:
Loved it – 8.5%
Liked it – 1.9%
No Like or Dislike – 4.4%
Disliked it: 10.1%
Hated it: 75.1%
Or course, all of the haters pointed and laughed and stood on top of their soapboxes as they shouted at the top of their lungs in glee because their opinions were justified. This poll was also released at an inconvenient time as well because ufotable was experiencing some production issues with the show and Episode 4 was delayed by an entire week because of it.
So what does that have to do with the poll?
Well.. since the fourth episode was delayed, ufotable aired a special in place of its normal time slot. The poll was the reaction to the special.. not the series, but because haters need to hate in order to thrive on the internet, they grabbed onto it and tried to market the poll as the world’s collective opinions on the show just so they can justify all of their troll-ish claims despite the fact that they’re probably sitting in front of their computers, watching God Eater, and fapping to it right now because let’s face it… if you don’t hate something on the internet that everyone else likes, then you’re not cool by internet standards, right?
As they say in anime… yare yare…
Hey… You Look Like My Favorite Anime Character, Desu!
As I mentioned at the beginning of the column, I actually wrote this a couple of times, but I just couldn’t say enough about it to make it into a full column even though it’s something I enjoy looking at.. and that’s Cosplay.
I see cosplay as an art form, plain and simple. There are those out there who love anime so much that they show their dedication by dressing up as their favorite characters. It’s actually become a sub-culture here in America and you can’t go to any type of geek convention in this day and age and not see at least one person cosplaying. Some people dress up for the sake of dressing up… some people take it above and beyond just simply dressing up and go into insane detail… and then there are some that are… well….
Yeah…
At least the spirit is there, I guess?
But I have seen some amazing cosplay over the years and I have some of the best saved on my PC. No.. I’m not a creep (well, I guess anything involving saving photos in this day and age could be considered as such.. damn you plastic society!), but I do hold cosplay in the same regard as fan art. I also have a ton of fan art from anime on my PC because while the official art for a show is cool and all, sometimes the fans will create something that will blow the official art away.
When I see cosplay doing the same thing, my jaw drops. I’m stunned, and it makes me appreciate cosplaying more as an art form than anything else. So whether you do it for fun or you do it on a serious competitive level my glass is raised and my hat is tipped to you for bringing your form of art into the world for us anime fans to enjoy!
Below is a slideshow of some of my favorite cosplays because they just made my jaw hit the floor when I saw them.
Welp… that’s going to do it for me this week. As always, if you would like to write in with thoughts, comments, suggestions, or what have you… you can send it all over to joshpiedra@theouterhaven.net. If you tried E-Mailing me this past week, my apologies as there was an error in our mail system that idn’t allow us to receive mail and my account was one of the ones affected. That issue has been taken care of though all thanks to our resident IT pro and boss of bosses, Keith Mitchell. I’ll make sure to send him some Trident Layers for his efforts.
Also, if you feel inclined to do so, feel free to follow me on Twitter @PulseIn.
Until next time,
Ja ne!
