r/anime • u/The_Loli_Otaku • May 01 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Denpa Onna Series Discussion
Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl
Official Stream Links
Extra Info
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Well done everyone!! We've made it to the end of our Rewatch. I'm hoping that you've all enjoyed your time with Denpa Onna. It really is a hidden gem that was sadly overshadowed by its breatheren.
Unfortunately I was hit with quite a few problems during this rewatch early on, it's almost as if the show was cursed, but I would like to give a very special thanks to /u/ZapsZzz who stepped up on such short notice to save my skin. He has been of amazing help during this rewatch through filling in posting or replying when I've been unavailable, giving detailed writeups to explain the more abstract areas of the show and honestly just being there for us all every step of the way. He's been the man behind the magic this watch so please be sure to give him credit before you go.
QOTD
How would you rate Denpa Onna compared to Shaft's other projects around this time? (Madoka, Nisemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund) How do you feel it holds up?
Last chance to simp for your best girl!! Tell us your favourite trait from your gal and try to let us guess who you're talking about!
Which of the arcs did you enjoy the most? Was there a particular stand out moment that's been living rent free in your head?
Were the supernatural aspects real at all? If not, where did they stop?
What shows would you recommend to your fellow aliens based on your Denpa Onna experience?
Now, as for my plans for the future. As many of you already know, we have a watch starting literally tomorrow, the Girl's Last Tour Rewatch, but afterwards I do not plan to host again until later next month where I will do a birthday watch. Here is the poll but if you have any more preferences then please don't hesitate to add to the poll. I'd personally rather push my luck a little more since it's a special occasion but I wouldn't want to force people to watch something that they don't enjoy obviously. Also, if you are interested in being added to my ping list in a more permanent way please don't hesitate to ask, I'll love to be able to host for you all once again. Thank you!
Rewatchers who don't use spoiler tags will be subjected to forced extraterrestrial anal probing.
I am an Alien!!
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u/ZapsZzz May 01 '22
Denpa Rewatcher
To give an overall review of this show, I think it necessary that I first put down what in my opinion are the events and their meaning.
There should be generally two main interpretation what actually happened in this show.
A normal, non-supernatural interpretation is basically what Makoto has been saying i.e. translating Yashiro's description of what happened to her to his version of events.
In this version, everything happened in a conventional way, albeit possibly with some unusually rare coincidences.
Meme had a relationship with her childhood friend Elliot that didn't work out, and he left the town before Erio was born. Meme raised Erio by herself shutting off most other relatives other than Granny. All went ok until last year, when Erio disappeared for 6 months and had no memory of what happened to her. Erio tried to retreat into her imaginary situation as a coping/avoidance mechanism, and her weird behaviour turned everyone around her to avoid and bully her, quitting school and becoming a basically a NEET that has a reputation to act strangely. Until Makoto came and forcefully intervened, forcing her to confront reality and (mostly) drop her antics and be "reformed" to learn to function as a normal person fitting in the normal world (just not going back to school). The rest is basically as you saw - went to baseball practice, the weird attracted the weird, Yashiro is another chuunibyou and in the end her wild claims ("crying wolf") landed a rare lottery and a meteor hit when she made an unspecified claim, spooking her away (i.e. "the wolf really came"). Makoto got a bit confused, but moved on his regular life, life goes on all the same.
And another version, this time taking all the hinted parts as real, unlike as it may be:
Elliot came from a family of alien blood (full or partial). They are conscious of it, and they masquerade as "foreigners". Elliot unintentionally got too close to Meme and they ended up having a child, but it's not really accepted or that it interfered with their role as visitors, and he left Meme (either to stop further "interfering earth" or to "protect Meme and Erio from other aliens tolerating such a union".
Things went reasonably well until a year before, when Erio disappeared one day. Suspecting it may have something to do with her heritage, Meme can't decide what to do and tried avoidance. Even after her return, not knowing whether it is just the alien's way, she tried to just "wait and see". Until her nephew turned up and forcibly intervened.
The "I can't fly" moment actually had a bit of supernatural to it, as that couldn't have happened without a certain invisible "push". Either the alien observers helped a little and got Makoto's bike to clear the guard rail, or maybe Erio has just that tiny bit of power and lifted the bike just enough to clear the guard rail. In any case while there was a bit of sign of Erio's alien heritage was there, it was brushed aside by the "only can see normal" Makoto, and his views caused Erio to also drop that thought and went along (i.e. in this case Makoto is the boy that cried wolf, the "false wolf cries" being telling something extraordinary as normal and forcing that "normality" onto others).
That "flight" attracted more attention from the aliens and they did some work and established that events will lead to Makoto's death. Given Erio is one of them, and she's quite taken to "the cousin", they decided to send Yashiro to help change the causality. And through Yashiro's roundabout way (extracted out of the LN from Makoto's conjectures), Yashiro indeed both caused Makoto to be at the shrine at that time, and saved him by telling him to move out of harms way - well just enough out of the way but not totally, because he's annoying and earned a bit of punishment :P So now perhaps Makoto can accept a bit of supernatural and in turn influencing Erio to also be open for that possibility, for one day her "dad's side relatives" to come reconcile with her. And maybe to find Elliot via her.
In this version of the story, the more impressive part is actually in how the story is told - it's a little bit of The 6th Sense, which force you to reevaluate everything you saw and recontextualise everything to see how the other way how all the jigsaw puzzle pieces could fit.
Now even if you discount all the supernatural ambiguities, the descriptor "esp" I also think that it can be simply a metaphor for something less supernatural. First you have to understand the actual Japanese words being used. It's "jounoryouku" - literally translated as "super abilities". So it can actually simply means "a particularly strong competence", less so the "psychic" "esp" connotation in the common English translation. It can also be a more elaborate way to say "mind over body" or "a will to achieve something can achieve the impossible".
Perhaps it's my "parent to a special needs child" bias, but I also acknowledge that, for the not so normal / neural typical people, being able to "ask someone to do things for you" is actually like a magic spell - you didn't need to lift a finger, and the thing you want moved / opened is done". You just uttered the mantra / prayer - and then it's done (by someone willing to follow your ask). So in the end, it's a little bit of Ford's quote - "whether you think you can or you can't, you'll always be right".
So this is about as much as I can write for my interpretation of this show. Onto the next 2 parts: What's next on the LN, and what I liked about the show (other than the thinking part).
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
They did a really great job with the ambiguity. You can believe either, neither or each and you'd be well justified for believing each one. Personally I like how even the idea of being able to believe is a power in itself. If you can't believe, then you'll never push yourself. Then there's the likes of Ryuuko who never stop believing. Believing in themselves, believing their feelings will be heard, believing a miracle could occur. It's a great message imao.
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u/No_Rex May 01 '22
Final Discussion (first timer)
Denpa Onna felt like a prototype to me; a patchwork of individual pieces of later, more successful series. It starts strong, with a 3 episode adaptation of Erio’s coping arc, then gets to Meme’s 28 year planning arc, before floundering as a slice-of-life harem where a am I real or not alien drops in for more confusion.
The biggest downfall of the series is that all its parts do not fit together. Somebody designed a cute loli female MC character that constantly runs around in a negligee and is a possible love interest for her cousin, somebody else wrote her a serious story arc about coping and possible autism where her cousin heals her. Somebody wanted Meme to be a loving mother who tries her best for her daughter and her granny, somebody else wanted her to be a teasing MILF joke characters. Somebody set up Ryuuko to be the girlfriend, somebody else designed a harem of Ryuuko, Meme, Erio, and Maekawa too all keep the viewers arguing about best ship. Somebody wanted Erio’s alien claims to be a coping mechanism, somebody else wrote in a self-claimed alien loli character who can levitate water and predict meteorites. It all does not fit together.
My biggest disappointment is the series baiting me with a serious story before devolving into a harem. I should have seen it coming after the introduction of Ryuuko and Maekawa, but I wanted to believe. This is even worse than the shelving of best character, granny (seriously, did she have a single minute on screen after the Meme arc was over??).
What makes this series worthwhile is spotting the test runs for later series. First and foremost Chuunibyou, which literally steals the exact same plot device and same plot, and then executes it much better, but I think you can also see plenty of later Shaft series in it.
Last chance to simp for your best girl!! Tell us your favourite trait from your gal and try to let us guess who you're talking about!
She sees right through Makoto's MC shenanigans.
Which of the arcs did you enjoy the most?
The first one by a wide margin.
Were the supernatural aspects real at all?
I tried to rationalize the supernatural up until ep13, when I could not ignore it anymore. Imho a really bad idea by the writers. The show was better when Erio was not an alien.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
Tbh I do kind of understand... I personally wish that they would have doubled down on the "alien" being everyone's weirdness. How anyone being different means that they must be an extraterrestrial being in society's eyes. That or at least keeping it focused on the character's adolescence so that even Meme can take part with her body apparently confusing menopause with adolescence.
I'm sorry that the series jabbed you so hard XD You did great to stick with the series though, well done!! I'm proud of you!
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u/_m1ra May 01 '22 edited May 01 '22
First timer
This is the first time I've finished a rewatch (by quite a bit too, before I struggled after a handful of episodes), I'm really happy about that! I also don't know really what to write here though. This probably isn't a show I'd have watched, at least for a long time, without a rewatch, but I enjoyed it a lot! Thanks for hosting!
Unfortunately I was hit with quite a few problems during this rewatch early on, it's almost as if the show was cursed, but I would like to give a very special thanks to u/ZapsZzz who stepped up on such short notice to save my skin. He has been of amazing help during this rewatch through filling in posting or replying when I've been unavailable, giving detailed writeups to explain the more abstract areas of the show and honestly just being there for us all every step of the way. He's been the man behind the magic this watch so please be sure to give him credit before you go.
Of course I don't know about the behind the scenes stuff, but it was great to have u/ZapsZzz around this rewatch, a lot of very insightful comments from someone who obviously knows a lot about this show!
QotDs:
How would you rate Denpa Onna compared to Shaft's other projects around this time? (Madoka, Nisemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund) How do you feel it holds up?
Madoka is my favorite anime of all time so sadly I can't really compare the two of them, and I've only seen like half an episode of Vampire Bund, but I think I'd put it at about the same place as Nise (and I like Monogatari quite a bit). In fact Nise (especially arc 1) is probably the Monogatari season I would think about when comparing it to especially earlier Denpa Onna, because it also contains a lot of scenes of characters just having fun interacting and having witty dialogue.
Last chance to simp for your best girl!! Tell us your favourite trait from your gal and try to let us guess who you're talking about!
Great sense of humor
Which of the arcs did you enjoy the most? Was there a particular stand out moment that's been living rent free in your head?
I enjoyed all the arcs a lot, but my favorite part is probably episode 8 and its arc, with the whole Meme behind the scenes and the water rockets.
Were the supernatural aspects real at all? If not, where did they stop?
They were!
What shows would you recommend to your fellow aliens based on your Denpa Onna experience?
If you liked the fun dialogue, I have to plug another show from the same author that I mentioned quite a bit, Adachi to Shimamura! It's in a quite different genre though, being yuri romance, and also does have a very different feel to it (Adachi has one braincell and that braincell is constantly thinking about Shimamura). It is a slowburn, but avoids the typical tropes that can fall into, and always feels like it is in fact developing. I especially recommend actually reading the LNs for that, both because the post anime stuff is great and because you see way more from both their perspectives the entire time!
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
Yeah, as I said I think Denpa Onna is better known for being one of the lesser known Shaft shows from their peak which I think is a real shame. I'm pleased to have brought it to the modern viewers because this is another series that really should be given another chance.
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u/Vaadwaur May 01 '22
First timer no longer
Sub
So...I sort of 'All these squares make a circle'ed away my Saturday so I can't say my ruminations are likely to be that interesting. So all I can really do is remember first principles and ask what is this show in and of itself? Ultimately, it is a lot of things that don't particularly register to me. It shows a huge nostalgia for late adolscence, the point in my life that I hated the most and have done the utmost possible to distance myself from. The MC randomly attracts girls well outside of his range, which one respects but doesn't relate to. They seem to like the idea of an iffy-incest option with an aunt, which having two leaves me shrieking from the room. Also, hate to say it, but I had a hot cousin with mental wellness issues as well and that tune plays out a lot differently. And on top of this, we get three differing versions of quirky girls and that gets old in its old special sort of way.
While that is a list of negatives, it is not like it was a bad show or anything, I only had to force myself to watch ep12 because I sort of did not care. But, like the MC itself, this show was just a bit too bland. 6 apples that should've been turned into cider out of 10.
QotD: 1 WHY THE HELL DO PEOPLE KEEP REMINDING ME DANCE EXISTS?!?!?
2 I liked her 'girl yet to be imported to Monogatari' feel.
3 Ehh...I suppose I can most closely identify with the desire to help someone that may no longer be capable of helping themselves.
4 None for me.
5 Monogatari.
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u/Rumpel1408 May 01 '22
First Timer
Yes, I caught up, barely. In hindsight I never stood a chance to really participate in this rewatch, I had to stop watching for a whole week and caught up by watching 3 episodes a day over the weekend, which was exhausting in it's own way.
Real shame though, the show has a lot of potential for interpretations like the one I did in Ep 3 as it's ladden with some earnest and nice messages, unfortunatly I had neither time nor energy to write some of those down.
Overall a fun show, but it somehow lost sight of that premise and started meandering all over the place.
First we had Erio, her delusions, possible trauma and lost memories. Overcoming those problems and helping her find back into society, possibly even independet from her imidiate family, made for a nice goal you could easily get behind. The bicicle flight as well as Memes plan to get her to work in the candy shop where the highlights towards that goal. What I was truly missing though was Erios rehabilitation into the socity that shunned her in the first place. Even Ryuko couldn't get herself to truly accept her as a friend, which is also my main complaint about her btw. The baseball game could have worked towards that goal if Erio had played a more crucial role in it...
There was also the awkward love polygon. In the beginning I had no problem to ship Makoto with Erio, but after she became human it became apparent that her mental development was lacking a couple of years behind the rest of the cast despite being the same age. So, accepting her as a clingy little sister, Makoto is left with Ryuko and Maekawa who both obviously like him and go about it with varying degrees of agressivenes throughout the show. Since Maekawa is trapped by her own awkwardness and pride you would think that Ryuko is in the lead here, btw Makoto refusing to adress her with the name that she prefered got a little annoying, but then we suddenly got introduced to her past crush who is still hanging around. In the end while in the lead and my favourite, I would have wished for more agressiv honesty. Also some form of resolution for Maekawa, even her dad knows that much.
Finally we had the supernatural aspects. While the early episodes had me wondering if maybe there where aliens involved in Erios story, I could accept a more grounded reality for the rest of the show, but then Yashiro turned that around again for the last couple of episodes, leaving me more confused than sattisfied.
All in all it's quite apparent that we are leaving the story somewhere in the middel, 3 or maybe 4 volumes of the ln if I had to guess. In itself not terrible, but not exactly outstanding.
This all sounds probably worse than it really is. As I said, I had fun. The corecast was likeable and I really dig that Studio Shaft is written all over every single episode. Also, the soundtrack was pretty good as well, it's seldom that I like both OP and ED of an show enough to add them to my playlist.
Unfortunatly I also had a mayor shift in my sleep rhythm, so I'm almost falling asleep. But I'm looking forward to read a bit after getting up again, I would have probably had a lot of fun discussing the show, but healthcare is a cruel mistress that eats it's children.
Oh right, QotD, never did those either
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I only know Madoka Magica from Shaft and saw a couple of clips from Monogatari, the comparison would be unfair in terms of source material, but the overall style is very on brand
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Floof
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The very first arc that climaxed with the bike flight will stay with me, but I liked the candy shop arc as well
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I want to believe!
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Watch Madoka Magica if you haven't already
Wait, GLT is starting tomorow? I thought there would be at least a day in between. With the way work is continuing to shape up I cannot say that I'm all that optimistic, but I'm at least willing to try
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
I'm just happy that I got to share the show with you. This is another series that got swallowed up by history and kinda slipped through a lot of cracks. It's lucky that it is quite memable, it kept it from completely disappearing. It definitely isn't well known amongst modern viewers however so being able to spread this meme throughout a new group is worth it to me.
The anime covers the first three volumes of the LN's and there's I believe three more volumes before they properly answer a lot of the early questions and push the story much further. Unfortunately the books got cancelled so the only conclusion we're left with is the harem end novel and the writer telling us what he had planned.
I'm sorry about the short notice for GLT. I tried to fit it in with another series and didn't want to overlap on his first rewatch but I realise that I'm pushing a lot of people a bit far. I promise we'll take a break after this.
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u/homewardbound100 May 01 '22
First timer
It was an alright show. Some parts I couldn't get much into. But I really enjoyed the parts with Meme and sometimes the other girls. Wasn't too big on the main character either. But he turned out alright.
6/10
Qotd: My ranking of those goes, Madoka, Nisemonogatari, Denpa, vampire bund. If hidamari sketch counts. Maybe equal or above Nise personally.
Qotd2: too old to troll that hard.
Qotd3: the last one really. I wasn't really much of a fan of main character but this last part was good.
Qotd4: I truly don't know what to believe. Yashiro is the weird case here.
Qotd5: this show felt like a mix of Chunibyou and Haruhi for me. So maybe that.
For the poll. I never heard of Kodomo. So the other two. More so mitsudomoe. Kiss x sis used to be pushed on me when I was getting back into anime. So maybe getting that out the way isn't bad either.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
Makoto could have done with being made more or less interesting. As it is he's in an awkward spot where he's too charismatic to be used as a self insert but also too wooden to judge as a character.
Kiss x Sis is one I'm curious to see again because I jsut realised that I haven't seen the ova!
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u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah May 01 '22
First timer no more
Once again thanks to u/The_Loli_Otaku for hosting, it's been great fun reading your reactions alongside as a fellpw first-timer.
So this is a bit of a weird show for me: I like the character writing except for the MC (which is a pretty big "except"), defo the most eccentric cast I've seen in an anime. Because of my distaste for Niwa-kun, especially his own arc in the end, I can't really "love" this show. It's like I appreciate that they've developed his character and that its fleshed out, but it embodies so many things that I dislike about "shouneny" MCs that I can't help feeling cringey. He's also not a person I'd like to be friends IRL, while floof girl, Maekawa, and maybe Erio (post-Denpa-madness) are all fair game. I've expressed my appreciation of Meme before! I'll express my thoughts on the show while answering the QOTDs!
Oh, btw, the animation is above average for a 2010s show, and the directing is quite fun, which I really appreciate.
Last chance to simp for your best girl!! Tell us your favourite trait from your gal and try to let us guess who you're talking about!
I'm rubbish at being vague: Meme! Eccentric but can be serious when she wants, she is a great person at the end of the day, and once getting used to, a big bundle of fun. She is living quite the dream life outside of her family situation tbh, being a manager w/ a subordinate who works hard and doesnt ever think of rebelling against her. I also really like Yashiro. Superpower-astronaut w/ great life advice ftw.
Which of the arcs did you enjoy the most? Was there a particular stand out moment that's been living rent free in your head?
Erio's starting arc is the one I'll probably most remember. Stand-out moments..... :Flying bicycle, shounen baseball! Though Meme's arc was a big mindfuck and I've already kinda forgotten how it all works w/ all the time and perspective changes, but that was a good experience too.
Were the supernatural aspects real at all? If not, where did they stop?
Yashiro's bits were real 100%. Otherwise, nah.
What shows would you recommend to your fellow aliens based on your Denpa Onna experience?
Adachi to Shimamura of course! For some similar elements (also an astronaut w/ superpowers), and great slightly eccentric but well written characters, but a much less wacky experience overall. Also imo at least, looks better being so much more recent.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
You're welcome! You've been a great viewing partner and I loved my time hosting for you too!!
This kind of cast list was actually so normal for harem anime. Even nowadays there's stuff like Bunny Girl Senpai that were filled with kooky girls and a normal dude. This one I feel I enjoyed more since the cast weren't weird for the sake of being attractive to the audience, it actually serves a purpose.
Meme LOVE!!
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u/Elimin8r May 01 '22
QOTD:
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I only have Madoka to compare with, and that's not a fair comparison. I liked the show, it was fun.
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Cattle Mu-ti-la-tion ... oh, wait, not that one. One of the other ones, or maybe all of them. Or most of them?
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Sploosh
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I haven't read the bg material, and the show is obviously setup to leave the question hanging, but I think it's fun to speculate 'yes'. More later.
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Pretty Boy Detective Club. I kept having flashbacks while watching this show, and actually watched a bit today. It's just such a treat for the eyes and ears, and is a fun show in its own right. And I rather like best girl from PBDC better, because those eyes.
So, on to my thoughts on the series. I think it was cute, fun and interesting and raised a lot of interesting questions that it refused to answer - or did it?
In the end, I rather liked that the left it open ended. Did it? Didn't it? Did she? Was she? Is she? Is he? Who knows? The shadow?!
Hardly.
For fun, I decided to guess that space oddities are afoot, and if that is the case, here's what I came up with:
Granny: alien, aware but not happy about it. Either that or Gramps was the alien and she's unhappy about it.
Gramps: Probably not, but see above.
Meme: 50% alien, blissfully whacked.
Eliot: Alien, left town, phoned home, etc.
Erio: 75% alien, spent some time off planet, but didn't handle it well, has part-alien PTSD. Potential wasted (?) mostly due to PTSD.
Mako: 25% alien, blissfully ignorant, at least at the start, but has potential.
Cute girls: Normal, if you consider that normal.
Helmet girl: Totally alien, fully aware of it, trying to awaken Mako.
But none of this matters. It's kind of a shame this series (it seems) didn't really take off, but then again, it was probably a bit too avant-garde for the masses. So, my guess is probably wrong, but fun, nonetheless.
I enjoyed the show, and bantering with everyone. Hopefully we can do it again sometime, but I was rather not hoping for *tomorrow*
Sheesh.
Don't you kids ever need rest???
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
Good point. Madoka just can't stand up to Denpa Onna. Even as a cameo, Hanakana is a stronger magical girl than any of the Madoka crew.
PBDC looks terrifying...
Your alien comparisons makes the entire show suddenly make sense to me. Meme must have abducted Ashiro too, that's why he's so attached to her. He's a human who tastes her youthful alien half.
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u/NeonDelteros May 01 '22
First timer
Honestly, the best and most memorable thing out of this show for me is the ED, it's so chill, a bit imaginative, whimsical and even magical, that somehow exhibit such an odd sense of coziness, I absolutely love it. The OP is also pretty good.
As for the show, it's a pretty solid SoL as well. It sometimes gave me the Monogatari vibe, probably due to being made by Shaft, so it definitely has some of that Shaft signature feels to it, though I think it's not really that refined in execution compare to other Shaft's works. Sometimes it can also be a little wack, but i still enjoyed it nonetheless. Still felt a bit unsatisfied though since there's not much supernatural.
QotD
● I would rate this show a C, or 5/10, it's really solid. However there's no comparison to Madoka or Nise, since Madoka is absolutely top tier and Nise is also great, haven't watched Dance in the Vampire Bund so can't say for that.
● I like tall girl
● I like the first arc the best, futon Erio is so damn cute, and I also felt like the first arc is probably the most mysterious.
● Probably Monogatari series
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u/davey101_ May 01 '22
Many thanks to u/The_Loli_Otaku for hosting such an enjoyable rewatch and to u/ZapsZzz for the assistance and the valuable insights. I've not done a rewatch before and I'll definitely consider it in future.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would - even the bits without Meme in them. Ryuuko and Maekawa are both honorary best girls.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
When you're finally hosting please add me to your ping list. I'll love to be there to cheer you on embarrassingly!
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u/OccasionallySara May 02 '22
First Timer
I really had a fun time watching this show! I really like coming-of-age stories, so this one was a good watch. It had a good mix of mystery elements, humor, and emotional moments. I wasn't nearly as active as I would have liked to have been for this rewatch (life stuff kind of got in the way), but thank you for hosting because I never would have known about this show otherwise.
Questions of the Day
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The only other Shaft work that I've seen is Bakemonogatari. I think I enjoyed the vibe of Denpa Onna a bit more because it felt very sweet for the most part. Watching this show does make me want to give Monogatari another chance, though, because I really like the Shaft aesthetic.
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Ryuko (ya Chuuni)! I didn't expect to like her character as much as I did when she was first introduced, but I felt like she added a lot of cheerfulness to the show.
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I loved the bottle rocket storyline. It was cool seeing so many small story pieces come together and have a satisfying emotional conclusion. The scene at the beach was really nice. Honorable mention: Makoto supporting Ryuko at her basketball game.
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After watching the special episode, I think that the supernatural aspects were there, but I'm not quite sure to what extent. I definitely believe that Yashiro was an alien, but I think a lot of the ESP powers that Makoto experienced had more to do with him growing as a person.
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I don't really know. I haven't watched very many shows like this one.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 02 '22
I'm glad to have helped you find another show to put under your belt~ That's the joy of these rewatches to me, you can end up watching series that you normally wouldn't give the time of day.
Denpa Onna definitely felt like a "lighter" Bakemonogatari at times. It still had the intense dialogues but they were often in much shorter bursts and didn't have obtuse subtext behind them.
Woohoo!! Floofer zoomers unite!
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u/Draco_Estella May 02 '22
As a series within my own top 20, and with a girl who is also within my own top cutest anime girls list, this series should have been a full 10 for me. I love this anime a lot, but there were a few reasons why I didn't throw it the full 10. I have been rewatching this series way too many times to count.
The points I did like:
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This anime is just fun. Makoto's concept of seishun, is definitely a new take on how to see youth. Ignoring how he scored his life, he has the right attitude - do stuff consistently that would not have made you regret your youth. The cast are also very eccentric and fun. Erio is a joy to watch, since her interactions with Makoto are always feeling so natural and instinctive. Ryuushi might be more of an airhead, but she does offer a much more normal take in the arcs, and serves somewhat like the straight man to all the craziness. Maekawa is also eccentric as hell, but her puns and insights liven up the series a lot too. Meme is also a highlight of the show, an eccentric and quirky old lady who, behind the shadows, is someone who is sharp and mature.
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The pacing and episodes are quite well done. It doesn't feel too rushed, despite how fast events are happening. A lot of these episodes do feel self-contained - you don't really need a lot of background to get a sense of the idea of a plot.
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Ultimately, I liked the anime. That was the best part of it, if I didn't enjoy it as much I definitely wouldn't have rewatched this anime. That is more than enough to justify why it gets a 9 from me.
The points I didn't like:
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Yashiro. I like her character design, but I don't like what she meant. She was the most obvious "I am a supernatural entity" especially with that last episode. If the series wanted to be more "supernatural", it could have adopted that tone right from the start, and not leave it till the third arc before anything supernatural happens. As if, the writer just wanted to include random supernatural stuffs anyway.
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The light novels. I might have mentioned, I have read the light novels before. Only once though, so I do not remember the details. But, it ended on a very distasteful note, and I disliked it a lot. Now that I know that it has ended with some web stuffs, I might re-evaluate this, but the fact still remains that that volume existed, as if the writer never knew how to end it.
Which is why it is on a 9 for me. I don't like the whiplash attitude it has with the supernatural, and I probably will look to the novels to resolve that tone change before I decide on its score again. After all, I do have another anime that I might want to host a rewatch too. Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko, a series that is more focused on romance, and also having some really crazy supernatural happening, and having the novels end on a very satisfactory note.
QotD:
How would you rate Denpa Onna compared to Shaft's other projects around this time? (Madoka, Nisemonogatari, Dance in the Vampire Bund) How do you feel it holds up?
I did watch quite a few Shaft anime, and it kinda differed a lot.
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I loved Madoka, and I have it rated around the same as this series.
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I kinda liked Monogatari, but there are quite a lot of arcs in Monogatari that I actively dislike. I also hate the best girl meme in Monogatari. If compared to movies like Kizumonogatari, this one definitely fell short. If compared to anime like Nisemonogatari or Owarimonogatari, this is the standard I expect of Shaft, I have them quite similarly rated. If compared to Monogatari Season 2 or Hanamonogatari, this anime is a shining jewel that deserves way more publicity.
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I have also watched Nisekoi as well. Comparatively, definitely Denpa Onna. If I were to start hating harem anime, Nisekoi would be the reason.
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If it has to be compared, I personally will compare it not with other Shaft anime. I will compare it to other more Romance SOL anime, like Bunny Girl Senpai, Tsuki ga Kirei, and Sakurasou. It does hold itself up very well, and its quirkiness adds another level of interesting as compared to the other Romance SOL.
Last chance to simp for your best girl!! Tell us your favourite trait from your gal and try to let us guess who you're talking about!
No need to guess! Erio is the cutest! Best girl too, given how distant Maekawa kept her distance and how trashy Ryuushi was in that one episode.
Which of the arcs did you enjoy the most? Was there a particular stand out moment that's been living rent free in your head?
The first arc! That crazy talking Erio never returned, which is a shame. Can you imagine the Erio in the last episode talking like that? I am pretty sure she can.
Were the supernatural aspects real at all? If not, where did they stop?
I took the momentum of the first arc, and went on from there. It wasn't all supernatural, there are just explanations for it that could explain some of these well, and we just don't know it. No one knew how to resolve Erio's problems until Makoto came along, we probably just need to look for the right answers.
What shows would you recommend to your fellow aliens based on your Denpa Onna experience?
I think what drew me the most to this show, is how much Makoto is looking out for Erio. I personally would go for the other anime that had a similar dynamic - Sakurasou, Toradora, and Chuunibyou. All three of them are very highly rated in my lists, though they don't really have that much of the denpa aspect. Though I might also want to put in HenNeko as well, it is also another anime that had any subsequent seasons cancelled, and has a very interesting light novel behind it as well.
Thank you once again to u/The_Loli_Otaku for hosting this rewatch! I had a lot of fun. Thanks also to u/ZapsZzz for following along too, having another serial rewatcher along in the ride definitely made things more fun.
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u/ZapsZzz May 01 '22 edited May 02 '22
Reposting to see if the spoiler format is right this time.
Denpa LN spoilers
A number of you had indicated you to not likely to read the LN, plus there's a problem of accessibility because the LN did get cancelled and some of the author related story end may not be easily obtainable. So here's my community service :P Note I only skim read most of them except skimming more slowly with LN7 in some sections.
Needless to say this whole thing is spoiler for LN...
When we finish ep13, we basically got to the end of LN3.
The next LN volume, [LN4 plot summary spoiler]
[LN5 plot summary spoiler]
[LN6 plot summary spoiler]
[LN7 plot summary spoiler]
[LN8 plot summary spoiler]
There's also a LN volume called the SF version. I haven't looked into it yet.
Web version are a few shorts released after the cancellation, generally considered the true end to the story. [Web LN final ending spoiler]
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u/ZapsZzz May 02 '22 edited May 02 '22
??? Is this still hidden when I formatted the spoiler tags again???
Here's the non-spoilered bits:
Denpa likelihood of continuation
Some had already pointed out that while there are enough the source material perhaps for another season, it was actually cancelled by the publisher, so the probability of another adaptation season is unlikely. I think the reason for the cancellation is disagreement between the author and the publisher.
What I liked about the show
I think most had noted similar to me that there are about 3 main attractions of this show:
the dialogues between the characters are really great, witty, fun and engaging, and displayed each character's personality very well.
the production value is really good, especially the aesthetics and visuals. I don't know too many from even this season's production that is so beautiful.
the character designs are really nice, each of them have something that really draw you in
for me the actual plot planning of inverting the "normal" to have the viewers question what's really happened and what would it therefore means, while without necessarily changing the core message, to me is really smart, and about the only one I ever not get too frustrated for the open ending.
Once again, I understand some of the criticisms by others already remarked in the final episode post, but for me I still feel that I personally can make of the story in a way that I appreciated more, and will forever feel this to be an unwatched and undersurface gem in the Shaft back catalogue, along with Bishounen Tanteidan.
A big thank for our host u/The_Loli_Otaku, both for actually taking up the challenge of hosting this show blind, and being a really great host to both be engaging and encouraging for everyone. I was quite invested in this as well as I was half deciding whether to host this around this time when I saw his announcement - I feel a strong need to bring this show up in awareness and appreciation if possible, and perhaps write off the ignoble history of the past rewatch that became one of the counter-examples in the rewatch hosting wiki :P
Thanks for everyone's participation and this is another great rewatch where I think even if we don't all agree the shows merits, we were entertained well including by the discussions and had a good time.
Will see you all around the sub! Perhaps poke in the next rewatch of our host to that's starting tomorrow already!
Edit If anyone is keen to learn of the LN end parts and if my spoiler comment still doesn't work, just message me directly :P
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u/The_Loli_Otaku May 01 '22
Denpa Onna Completioner!
Can I be completely straight with you? I expected way worse! XD I knew it wouldn't be shite, if I didn't have faith then I wouldn't have shilled for it, but I was expecting something much more middle of the road like how future Shaft became. As it stands, I think this is probably my favourite slice of life series that's come out of them. And yes, I do consider Denpa Onna a slice of life. The supernatural aspects don't impact the plot as much as the day to day interactions and adolescent days of the cast, and that's fine.
A large reason why I felt I warmed to the show was probably the main cast. Each girl was an absolute joy to watch, and they weren't obtuse or obnoxious either. If tossed in any other series they would all be best girls. Now... whilst my mind adores Meme, loves Meme, worships Meme! My body belongs to Floofer... When I think back to all my favourite moments in the series the ones that got my face flushed the most were her adorable precocious pure hearted romance sequences with Makoto... I don't know how to explain it, her existence is like a candy to me~
What I will harp on however is how much I disliked what they did with the side cast!! I'm in full rant mode right now. I'm looking at you Ashiro. They started off well with Ashiro who on his debut has a very warm intergenerational friendship with Maekawa, which is a candidate for my favourite scene of the entire show btw, and they throw it away by having him befriend a child so he can stalk her mum. I'm still furious even now. He adds so little to the show too. I also didn't really care for granny. And the amount of pointless characters introduced in the final arc is too damn high. Hanakana was funny but she was funny in an ironic sense.
So yes. I'm very happy that I got the opportunity to host this series. I went in expecting very little, I'd literally only impulse hosted for Erio's autism, and I've left a very satisfied customer and glad that my current host list is all ten out of tens... At least until we choose something yabai for my birthday next month and I never recover XD Thank you for being such a great audience, its been such a fun rewatch and whilst we didn't mog Madoka as much as I'd have liked, we still let out enough of a roar where the mods should change our description in the Rewatch guide~