tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1970063565985184238.post4811388972420017885..comments2024-02-10T00:22:59.121-08:00Comments on Yuri no Boke 百合のボケ 〜百合が好きだ〜: Anime Review: Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon season 2Katherine Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00209832803059188448noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1970063565985184238.post-68996368303392613962012-11-30T19:32:15.137-08:002012-11-30T19:32:15.137-08:00Oh shut up,fanservice show is mindless but quality...Oh shut up,fanservice show is mindless but quality show makes me show,horizon is half fanserve and quality so that make the show uniqueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1970063565985184238.post-20173161002484531662012-10-20T19:18:19.208-07:002012-10-20T19:18:19.208-07:00For me, the real story is the ensemble: the crew/r...For me, the real story is the ensemble: the crew/residents of the <i>Musashi</i>, struggling to win their survival through wits and courage.<br /><br />It's true that the Toori/Horizon relationship is what puts their survival at risk, and provides the engine that moves the series along, but I tend to view the Tenzo/Mary story as just one of the many in the second season, only slightly more important than the Malga/Margot story or the Neshinbara/Shakespeare story. The Tenzo/Mary story does gain significance by culminating at the end (and given more weight because of the hints of the Mary/Elizabeth story), it's true (and it's the center of the promotional art for this second season, so probably I'm wrong to discount it).<br /><br />Sadly, the Juana/Phillip story was just a footnote, as it was a case of a woman acting to save the man she loved, even in the face of his resignation to his fate. But they're minor characters and that whole drama was largely lost amid the rest of the series (and, mostly, you see it through Phillip's eyes and not Juana's).<br /><br />Some of the best reviews of <i>Horizon</i> have been the negative ones.dm00http://bignanime.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1970063565985184238.post-54773155675384650402012-10-20T13:54:48.234-07:002012-10-20T13:54:48.234-07:00@dm00- Haha, no worries. ^^ And sorry about the la...@dm00- Haha, no worries. ^^ And sorry about the late response.<br /><br />I do like that almost all of the other women in the cast are active. My problem wasn't so much with there being two passive female characters in a mostly active female cast as each one's rescue being used as the McGuffin for each season so far. The other female characters have been active, but most of what has happened in each season has built up to: in season 1, Toori rescuing Horizon from execution and giving her the first piece of the Armor of the of Deadly Sins, and in season 2, Tenzo rescuing Mary from execution and Toori giving Horizon the second piece of the Armor of Deadly Sins. This season made me raise my eyebrows over Horizon and Mary's roles more than the previous season did re: Horizon's role (even though Horizon's role then was still problematic) because it pretty much repeated last season's damsel-in-distress plot thread, just with a different couple. And again, none of the major male characters are especially passive.<br /><br />I'm glad you liked this review, and I appreciate you explanation of your perspective of it. Even though Horizon's narrative technique didn't do it for me, I'm glad I got some insight into why it does work for some people.Katherine Hansonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00209832803059188448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1970063565985184238.post-3802759129798319972012-10-19T13:22:29.936-07:002012-10-19T13:22:29.936-07:00I am hesitant to comment because I'm reluctant...I am hesitant to comment because I'm reluctant to cause you to spend more time thinking about this series you clearly did not enjoy.<br /><br />Masazumi, Margot and Malga are certainly among the high points of this series --- very nearly worth the rest of the series by themselves. I think they've done a superb job building Malga's character, and I hope we will be seeing more of Masazumi's inner life. <br /><br />The next season might involve a return to Margot and Malga's homeland, but I'm afraid if it does, it will be disappointing. The <i>Horizon</i> I imagine from the hints and promises always seems a little better than the <i>Horizon</i> that ends up on the screen (I'd hoped for a Japanese <i>Rosencranz and Guildenstern are dead</i> when Shakespeare threw down the gauntlet to Neshinbara, but instead I got a mecha battle).<br /><br />The camera's tendency to focus on breasts and bottoms is an annoying descent into unnecessary leering that invariably ruins the mood. These scenes make me sad, because I would be ashamed to share this series with others who might otherwise enjoy the series.<br /><br />I am one of those who think the show is brilliant --- not as a work of speculative fiction (books invariably win that battle, and I have serious doubts about the potential of the <i>Horizon</i> novels), but as a work of <b>animated</b> speculative fiction. For me, the energetic direction and the interweaving of the various characters' stories works quite well. I admire the economy with which they've been able to build this complex cast and the show's complex world. But it's more an appreciation of technique than an aesthetic judgment, and the technique clearly doesn't work for a lot of people.<br /><br />Mary and Horizon passively accept their fates, it is true, but I hope t that passivity balanced somewhat by the activity of almost all the other women in the cast.<br /><br />Thanks for the great review, even if a negative one.dm00http://bignanime.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com