Dat pun. https://twitter.com/SpikeChunsoft_e/...41189882560512
Zeldy said she'd fix it, but she's probably going away from the forums soon, so she might not make it XD
Goddamnit, I noticed the pixel once and now it's getting on my nerves every time =P
It's always a big part to me, and I always get mad when it's neglected by the creator (as I've noticed it's far too often the case that creators of anime just get lazy and put no effort into the looks of it all) since really, in a visual medium, the art should really be as big a storytelling or character-building element as the textual narrative.
I'll be honest, graphical style is something I hardly care about at all. There's pretty great, there's not good and then there's inbetween. Art style is usually something I wouldn't even think of bringing up in a review or discussion and it's always a "huh I never even thought about that" moment when someone does bring it up (like when you brought up the sister's design back when we talked about SAO). And overall I'm rather terrible at judging it. =P And yeah, it's refreshing to have friendly disagreements on common ground ^^
Ooh, I also love it because I look up to Arakawa as an artist, not just a storyteller. Her styles amazing - it's so simple and yet, despite that, every single character looks distinct. Not to mention very varied body shapes, both in men and women, and I like how she draws both big breasts and big muscles in a completely non-sexualized way (except when it's supposed to be sexual, like Lust ).
Haha, see? It's funny how we can have discussions and agree on many aspects of storytelling, but when it comes down to it, I love FMA, you love FFX, despite the other not enjoying it. It's beautiful
Eh I dunno. I think you can present anything in a way that makes it an enjoyable read. I know you can't write anything that's not tropey in some form. Still there's usually tropes one likes less than others, like how say a lot of people dislike the "girl that constantly stutters, apologizes and can't speak coherent sentences" where not even a justifying backstory would help if it just makes scenes involving that character unenjoyable, y'know? I agree on that last point, blind use of easy archetypes and stereotypes just gets a from me as well. Hmm, FMA:B. Glad you enjoyed it that much. Didn't work that well for me. It's not that I dislike it... it just doesn't really have anything memorable for me. Pretty uninteresting villain motivations, plot points that could've been interesting but never went anywhere (Edward using his own life force as a source of alchemy? Done once and never mentioned again, yay. Edit: I know, Philosopher's Stone and all, but I constantly felt from the first half that bringing human life force into a usable form was a really complex and time-consuming process, which is also why the end part where Homunculus casually does it to random strangers felt extremely off to me) and just overall a plot that didn't grip me especially in the latter half. But it doesn't do anything particularly bad either. It's just eh for me.
Something can be well written but still present a viewpoint you completely disagree with, which can seriously ruin your enjoyment, no matter how well-written. Melodrama is probably the thing, yeah I still think melodrama can be done well, but I honestly think Toriyama seriously just has no idea how real human emotions and relationships work And tropes are tools. I've never been in the camp that diss something because it's "tropey" (however infantile that notion is). You seriously cannot write anything that would be void of any tropes whatsoever. The key is utilizing the tropes skillfully, and I don't mean just by deconstruction or subversion. A good, rounded selection of tropes can make a fantastic character, even if they're all played straight. You just have to think. What I don't like is blind use of easy archetypes and stereotypes, hoping that will make your viewers relate to the characters quicker. that's just being a hack, not a writer. On that note, I just finished FMA Brotherhood, and wow, was I blown away. This is a perfect example of a show that really doesn't do anything groundbreaking on paper, but it has an interesting premise, phenomenal characters and a plot that perhaps isn't jaw-dropping on its own, but is built-up pretty much flawlessly.
