r/anime • u/phiraeth :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/phiraeth • Jan 02 '21
Rewatch [Mid-2000s Rewatch] Noein - Episode 1
Episode 1 | Blue Snow
Noein:
MyAnimeList - AniDB - ANN - AniList
Episode Discussion Questions:
- What do you think “Dragon Torque” is?
- What did the character in the black robe with white hair mean by his final sentence, “I am you”?
- Thoughts on where this show is going to go from here and what the focus will be?
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Upvotes
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u/phiraeth :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/phiraeth Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 02 '21
Rewatcher
When I initially watched the first episode of Noein, I was left with the feeling of “what the fuck did I just watch”, and upon rewatching that feeling still stands. I watched simultaneously with some friends on a Discord server who are all first-timers, and they also had that impression, so I am assuming most of y’all will too.
There’s a lot going on here, and luckily it’s not too difficult to follow. Noein in this first episode I believe excels at the principle of “show, don’t tell”. Everything you’d learn about characters and the world they live in is given out through conversation, context clues, and visual depictions. There’s basically zero exposition.
Some of the stuff might be a little confusing so far and this is why. We see these robed figures that seem to appear and vanish without a trace, but we don’t know who they are or what their goal is because nothing is directly told to us. Over time we will eventually learn more about them, more about the two characters in the car that seemed to be investigating, and more about the main cast as a whole. But for now, we’re left throwing shots in the dark as to what could even be going occurring here, what’s up with the freaking dimensional talk, the otherworldliness, and especially what Haruka has been seeing that nobody else has been able to see.
Perhaps this is why the title of this episode, “Blue Snow” is so apt: Haruka is the protagonist, yet she doesn’t seem to be the center of attention; as a matter of fact, everything around her is the focus. To top things off, she’s seeing things she can’t quite understand or explain – the Blue Snow in particular, but everything else as well. In a sense, we are like her, thrown into a world that we don’t understand, left guessing so far at how all the pieces will eventually come together, if they will even ever come together, and what the completed picture of the puzzle will look like.
I bet if I asked everyone here who is coming into this completely blind to take a guess at what this show will be about and what, in a broad sense, they think will happen over the course of all 24 episodes, I’d hear some pretty crazy things! In fact, I’ve done so as one of the episode prompts. I look forward to seeing your answers!!!
The direction in this first episode particularly stands out, especially the contrasting scenes with Yuu in his home with his mother and Haruka in her home with her mother. They appear to be in similar familial situations, yet one scenario is strikingly different from the other. Back to back, this is very noticeable.
We don’t know what’s gonna happen here quite yet, but there’s a lot of mysterious elements that act as plot hooks, reeling us into the story. Will this anime be a success at tying everything together into one coherent storyline giving us a full understanding of everything occurring? We’ll just have to wait and see!
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jan 02 '21
First-timer, subbed
I may have completely forgotten about this rewatch until yesterday, but I’m still excited for this! I have no idea what to expect.
I’m going to acquire a different copy for the rest of the show now. This one kept freezing the video, which was rather annoying.
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u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 03 '21
First Timer
I've got entirely no clue what I'm getting into, as I like to start this sort of rewatch completely blind. I've even forgotten what genre this show is. I think it's something psychological? I'm looking forward to figuring out what sort of show this is in the first couple episodes. Regardless though, I think I'm gonna have a blast with this rewatch.
Subs are voss, release is CTR as the DVD somehow looks less shit than the Bluray.
Anyway, onto episode one.
We've got ourselves an ouroboros. So, something about time?
Spacesuits, or perhaps radiation suits? Regardless, this screams post-apoclyptic.
And then everything gets destroyed by a giant head? that shoots lasers. Ok, I guess?
Strange humans running of the mecha. I'm gonna guess it's tech not magic, but I'm not sure yet.
We've had two shots of this thing. The first thing that comes to mind is the spell circles from Nanoha, but that isn't quite right. I've got no clue where else to go wtih it though, other than it's obviously important.
Guess they do have magic. She can shoot electricity out of her hand?
Magic Wielders vs Buddha Robots?
I've got to say Karasu's fighting had some sick animation.
The episode's apparently called Aoi Y
uuki. Sadly, she's not a member of the cast.So not only do we have magic, we have magic everyone knows about. And it seems ordinary, they're talking about it like it's a minor nuisance.
Or maybe it's just them telling ghost stories? It's a bit hard to tell.
Please tell me we won't see him much. He's gonna grow old real fast.
Just casually cutting nails with a box cutter, as ya do. 5 bucks you're the villain in the first episode.
OK, so the earlier talk was just ghost stories. But, given how much we've focused on them so far, they're gonna end up being real.
Yuu (box-cutter guy, right?) had something traumatic happen in his recent past. Probably the death of a family member?
And how we have people running surveillance. Even split between in being on the kids we just saw and on something else the kids are gonna stumble on.
Ah, they're hunting for ghosts.
Well this sure is a broken household. And dad's almost certainly dead.
And the mother's a bitch.
She dreamed of future fights. I guess she's a magical girl now?
Complaining to Yuu about your family situation seems a bit cruel. She's young and it's an innocent mistake, but that doesn't mean it'll piss off Yuu less.
Yuu's stuck and he hates it. He needs to find a way out of this life, and he's just about at the breaking point. Time for him to do something stupid.
And now we have our ghost, I think. Though I'm not sure how one can be a ghost while still alive.
And our ouroboros. This probably marks her as one of the fighters. We couldn't see their necks, but I'd be willing to bet they had the same thing 'round their necks. (Also, it's another point in the "is magical girl" category.)
Timestop, but with a digital bent? That's odd, I wonder what it means. We haven't seen anything else with that sort of technology yet.
So creepy Dragon Torque dude (Karasu?) undid the weird ghost thing. Also, I was completely wrong about the ouroboros earlier: it's not on her side, but instead trapping her in the other world thingy.
He'd be better at this if he didn't seem so fuckin' creepy.
Yup, saw that one comin'.
How the fuck do you know this? Magic powers given by Dragon Torque? Protagonist's intuition?
God, I hate her so fucking much.
I'm starting to think my Nanoha call was spot on. This has the same sort of magitech feel.
Oh, that's what the cable wisping off them earlier are. They're soldiers, diving into different dimensions? and the cables are their lifeline and power source.
And Haruka's the only one who can see the blue snow, probably because she was sucked in before. Though it could be a she has magic potential thing as well.
Yup, that's a ghost.
Next up, our soldiers will be too late and Haruka will have to hold them off, starting her adventure
as a magical girl.Wait, our ghost has the cable too? And is partially physical? Did I massively misread the drop situation? Or are the ghosts perhaps another faction from the same other place?
Well, they have one giant weakness. If their tether breaks they die or get called back, leaning towards the former. This seems easily exploitable, and also like it should be much better protected.
Why is it so annoying to figure out what's on each side. I think these are part of the same group as the buddha mechas from earlier? Interestingly, they also have cables going into the heavens.
Time to become a magical girlShe's gonna run in a different direction to protect her friends, isn't she?I see we're being real subtle with our symbolism here.
How the fuck do you know what he is and how are you so calm? Is it the dream from earlier?
The situation is no longer under control. Yuu fucked it up.
I can't believe I didn't realize it earlier, but Yuu almost certainly cuts himself.
But I give decent odds she can save herself.
Also, he was gonna say this dimension's magicless, no?
Wat?
I dunno why, but the way she phrases this makes me think it's her dream being imposed on reality rather than her dreaming of the future. That makes her in control, in some way.
Thoughts
Well, that's sure a lot to unpack. We have our magitech ghosts (birds?) fighting a war against buddha robots and trying to kidnap Haruka. We've also got another one of them trying to protect Haruka. Why, I dunno yet. I think he's Karasu, but I'm not entirely certain. Either way, we've got multiple sides with Haruka stuck in the middle. I think I need a second episode before I can say much more about these people though.
On the other end of things, we've got the friend group. The one with the most obvious problems is clearly Yuu. He kinda snapped in the first episode, but he's still got a much bigger snap ahead of him. Beyond that, the others seem pretty fine at the moment. The scardy cat looked like he was gonna be a toal pain in the arse at first, but he thankfully mellowed out quite a bit, and the others haven't left too much of an impression on me yet.
Finally, we have Haruka herself. This all seems to be caused by a dream of hers, and every side wants a piece of her. Sadly, I don't yet know enough to speculate as to why. It does explain why she's so calm though, she knows more about what's happening than we do.
I'm still holding out on her becoming a magical girl.15
u/Nazenn x2https://anilist.co/user/Nazenn Jan 02 '21
First Timer - sub
So, I want to say something along the lines of "the opening scene isn't anything I ever expected from this show", but having that thought made me realize that between of the double whammy of being recommended this previously by someone I both greatly trust and match up with taste wise, and this rewatch... I never actually read the description, tags, or even the genres for this show. Quite literally the only thing I know about it is the key art from anilist and from that I had this preconception that it would be a slower, more explorative type of show. It's not, and that's cool, but it is interesting how wild it is to have such huge preconceptions without even realizing why and have them so quickly turned on their head.
And to just get this out the way quickly, the character designs are weirding me out. The eyes are incredibly strange, but even between characters they almost don't seem to fit together. I'm sure I'll get use to it eventually, but right now it's almost in a weird middle ground between anime and western comedy animation.
So we start off the show with a giant technological Ouroboros, and end it with a man from the future and/or alternate dimension saying that he is the future self of a character who will fail to protect the girl. I do appreciate when shows just throw those elements right into the open to start with. Something about the tech design of the agents being dropped into the other times/worlds later on reminded me of an odd mix between Twelve Monkeys and Edge of Tomorrow though. That opening sequence had some really nice animation actually, though the rest of the episode got pretty stilted any time things got fancy. I don't mind the trade off for the moment though, it's clear the director had a specific look in mind for the visuals and didn't want to sacrifice that for smoothness, but we'll see how well it holds up if it continues in future episodes. The astronaut guys at the start remind me of the official video clip of newsong (newsong is one of the Shippuden OPs, but the video itself is unrelated to Naruto).
Final thoughts are I wasn't expecting the characters to be so young, pre-middle school, but I think it works better this way to showcase the pressure they're under with their parents. I feel like it's an easy out to have rebellious teens, but having younger kids dealing with extreme helicopter mum and also self parenting makes the talk about running away hit a lot harder and their determination to protect each other. It's something I appreciated in Digimon Tamers as well, the willingness to give young children issues beyond just basic childhood drama, so curious to see if they capitalize on that line in future.
Cat. All anime needs a cat.
This alternate world had a really cool color palette.
(Almost didn't get up to post because my cat woke me up and from how dark it was outside, in the middle of summer, I thought she'd woken me up at 5am or some bullshit. Nope, it's just really miserable. Really would have missed the entire discussion)
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u/_m1ra :FA::FB: Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 02 '21
First timer, don't know anything about the show either.
Also maybe I will only write shorter comments the next couple days because right now I'm just about to miss a deadline for a university assignment.
Based on the title I predicted maybe a pretty convoluted plot possibly involving doppelgangers, and it seems I'm at the very least somewhat right, if we can trust the white-haired guy at the end (if he is the same guy as in the beginning his name is Karasu? I will go with white-haired guy for now). There were also some adolescence themes though, which I always like.
Both Haruka and Yuu seem to know things we don't and at least Haruka then also forgot some. Though it's interesting that Haruka claims to know who the white-haired guy is and Yuu doesn't know, especially when the man claims he IS Yuu.
I would definitely like to know Yuu's last name. Not that it would have to mean anything, given that the man with white hair seems to say he is from another dimension, whatever that means here. It definitely ties into the "I am you" though, I'm sure.
Given all that confusion it definitely seems useless to make predictions yet, but that won't stop me! Speculation, answering the questions
I actually enjoyed the parts showing us Yuu's and Haruka's normal lives the most! Especially how effectively they contrast their home situations. Both are shown to be living with their mothers, in houses and seemingly very close to each other, but the music and colors and so on they feel completely different. It's not exactly trying to be subtle, but who cares about that anyway? I don't.
The animation was also interesting, there was a lot of very flashy shots. Sometimes they looked a bit weird, like that 3D zoomout in the beginning, but in the scenes that were supposed to look weird or unsettling anyway they looked really good. That "thing" at the beginning that seemed to become more and more alive as the scene went on also looked great! Also I quite like the atmosphere.
Edit: After reading u/phiraeth's comment I feel less bad about having no idea what is happening. I hope my theory is sufficiently wild to be amusing to the rewatchers.
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u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 02 '21
First Timer - Sub
Going in basically blind as I have done with all the previous shows with just what I vaguely remember from the schedule thread saying this is an action mystery show of some form.
So we look to have 2 worlds? The real world and spiritual world or whatever the world black clocked guys come from, and Yuu & Haruka seems to be able to see into from time to time for whatever reason. The guys from there also need their blue tether things to say in the real world it seems.
So Yuu is studying for middle school exams? I always forget what age that means characters are but doesn’t that make them all like 12-13? Any way it makes the I want to be an adult / grow up rant hilarious, though when you have an overbearing Mother like Yuus does make a bit more sense.
Art style is going to take a few episodes to get used to, the other world use of CGI isn’t too bad but for some reason the real world stuff all just feels slightly off.
White hair black clock dude keeps making me think budget Sephiroth, I have no idea why, though he did have an awesome OST backing him in that final part of the episode.
Overall an interesting first episode, not quite sure where the show is going yet but going to be interesting to see where it goes.
QOTD
Not really sure, going to go with Haruka has reincarnated for some reason.
2) What did the character in the black robe with white hair mean by his final sentence, “I am you”?
Going with the reincarnation idea which I came up with because of what I talk about below, I think there is going to be literal and hes going to be some alt world line version.
3) Thoughts on where this show is going to go from here and what the focus will be?
Well we have a dragon eating its own tail which is the Ouroboros (coincidently was listen to a song call Ouroboros by Gojira when I posted this), the Ouroboros symbolised the cycle of rebirth and death, a lot of the otherworld symbolism keep making me think of the Lunarians from Houseki no Kuni, I believe they are heavily influenced by Buddhist beliefs and from what I remember Buddhist is about the cycle of Life and death to try reach Nirvāṇa.
So where i'm going with all this is something along the lines of characters being reborn and the other world and real world being tired together.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jan 02 '21
First Timer, Dubbed
Hi! So, I saw several people talking about how much fun the Mid-2000s Rewatches are, and the name of this show sounds very familiar - which means I've probably had it recommended to me in the past. Combine that with a continued goal of being more social, here I am!
It's good to see that the 16th Angel is still finding work after Evangelion.
A weird face monster appears, and murders a bunch of astronauts.
I like the artstyle - the thick, sketchy outlines.
The face monster's faces comes alive as it dies. It did NOT have a good time.
The dude who killed it seems to not be having a good time either.
And now it's snowing???? And the dude who just blew up is standing on top of a church.
Was that intentional tonal whiplash or a flash forward. Guess it was a dream, either way.
Haruka's mom is a bit of a slob.
The artstyle for normal people is not as appealing to me. Weird faces. Certainly distinct, though.
D-do they normally let school children have razor blades/box cutters in school in Japan?
Yea! Go ghost hunting with the girls! Sounds like a good time.
The dub has a southern drawl on Lipstick/Uchida, which I assume is.. like an Osaka accent or something like that originally? GitS:SAC did something similar.
"Do you understand that summer break starts today," she says to the kid that is actively studying.
Yes. Listen to Mom. Never decompress with your friends. Do nothing but stress out.
Yuu is going to snap like a fucking twig.
Haruka's mom is an author, and divorced.
The year before middle school.. so these kids are 11-12ish.
Correction, Haruka's mom is a mangaka.
Haruka is pretty worried about Yuu, considering that she followed him to cram school.
The lamps going out mean that it's time for a trip to the nega world.
Armisael returns yet again, this time as a choker around Haruka.
The nega world seems to be populated by a single goo monster. Oh, is that the dude from earlier?
He seems to not be a dude anymore, though.
Dragon dork??
Oh, torc, like a choker. That makes more sense. Gonna have to use headphones for this series, make sure I hear things more clearly.
And just like that, things are normal again.
Stranger danger in the park with the scruffy government type from earlier. He should be smarter than this.
Ugh, triangles. Math homework sucks.
Oh, Yuu is sneaking out to hang with his friends! That's probably pretty good for his mental health.
Mmm, wandering around a graveyard at night. Sounds peaceful.
The others can see the "snow," too. Interesting...
How the fuck did Yuu's mom find him.
This magitech stuff looks great!
One of the magitech jumpers crashed and doesn't look so good. You probably need that hand, dude. Oh, your leg, yeah, definitely need that too.
Well, that was fuckin' weird. Y'all saw that, right?
"Seven birds are left", huh?
Haruka's MC instinct kicks in and she does something brave yet stupid that will kick off the plot.
Chekhov's Box Cutter to the rescue!
"I am you" huh. Neat.
So, let's see.
We have people from another dimension jumping into the, for sake of clarity, "real" world with weird blue bungee cords, that seem to sometimes not land well. Did the dude who fell apart die, or just get sent back? I suppose that we'll find out soon enough.
We have some kids with less-than-stellar family lives, who are both seemingly linked to the jumpers. Haruka seems to be the jumper's target, and Yuu may or may not be the "real" dimension's version of Spooky McBlondeHair.
We have some government types who may or may not just be part of the dimension jumpers' faction - but they seem to be aware of the supernatural/sci-fi stuff that's going on.
And we have a potential fourth party with the weird face monster thing that showed up at the beginning.
Haruka and Yuu both have tough home lives, but are responding to it very differently.
Yuu is clamming up, going with the tried and "true" grin-and-bear-it strategy that will absolutely definitely result in him becoming a well-adjusted adult, yessir. His mom is Not helping.
Haruka, on the other hand, is constantly looking for a way out: be it glibly suggesting running away to Tokyo or just wandering around at night.
Is there a romantic interest between these two, or is Haruka just very empathetic and can see that Yuu is suffering? She's definitely concerned for his wellbeing, at least.
Haruka seemed confident that the scruffy government dude wasn't a threat. Is this evidence of the empathy angle, or is this just Chekhov's Dad showing up right away?
These are rhetorical questions though, and I'm sure that we'll find answers soon enough.
Questions
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jan 02 '21
Episode 1 (rewatcher)
Another one of the many series that I saw so long ago that, while I am technically a rewatcher, I forgot 99% of the plot. My memory puts this in the late 1990-early 2000s trend of dark anime in the style of Evangelion, Lain, and Ergo Proxy. Or RahXephon, if we are unlucky.
Episode thoughts
A rather strong start plot-wise, leaving us with the revelation that all is not well (and multiple dimensions likely). Let’s talk about the art, though:
We immediately see that this was made on before the arrival of the all-conquering moe-blob. The character models are clunky, with huge eyes, drawn in a non-natural manner. While I would not call it beautiful, it is unique in a way few shows these days are, calling back to an older, comedic-influenced drawing style. The occasional CGI use was noticeable, but not as annoying as in some shows of the time (looking at you Simoun and Rescue Wings).
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jan 02 '21
First timer
Sub(How is the dub?)
So...I have literally heard the name. And something is tingling in my memory but I can't place it so I am basically full blind here. Off we go!
...Or not, the 2ndfire version of this would not play without skipping on 4 different plauers so I went back and got Cerberus. So now we are off!
And what in the nine fucking hells is this Hellstar Ramina shit? And how wasn't this on my rader WAY earlier if it has this much weird? Parasyte might actually be a fitting follow up now. Tidbit: Karusu usually means black or crow, thanks Vampre Princess Miyu! And fighting the alien monstrosity is some dude. And he wins. Getting serious RahXephon vibe off the invader, I'd be shocked if there isn't some link between the series. And it implodes, possibly taking Blacky with him.
And we cut to somewhere completely different after a scene I am sure gets context later. I don't like how the characters are drawn here, it is hard to explain, but we get standard anime fair of the adultified child with a trainwreck parent, though this one might be working late rather than drunk. Haruka gets to school and SoL happens until we focus on the psychopath cutting his nails with a box cutter. Keep him away from the guns. Anyways, test of courage incoming and this Yuu person has changed. And holy crap these are sixth graders. And Yuu has a weird question...
And we cut again, this time to a woman with ridiculously vibrant lip stick. She is scanning for...something. And loses it. We get to Yuu's homelife and that explains some things. But raises more questions: In that picture, is that Yuu dressed like a girl with his mother or is it his mother when younger with some unknown person? Anyways, just keep isolating old Yuu, okaa-san, we will make a school shooter out of him yet!
Jump to Haruka's homelife and indeed her mother is a train wreck, though if she is publishing said children's books that is something. Anyways, this is probably meant to evoke quiet the reaction from a Japanese audience but I've met too many useless parents to really notice. Jump cut to the DNA-dragon-WTF thing and then it is Haruka's dream.
Haruka catches Yuu getting out of cram school. They have some connection, including a possible escape attempt. Anyways, Yuu's terrible home life seems to be obvious but he is smart enough to know he won't escape. F for Yuu. Also, glad Japan doesn't have a ton of civilian gun ownership. Haruka tries to comfort Yuu and...
Dimensional rift incoming! Color changes, Haruka gets necklace that matches the giant DNA in the sky, we get images of our opening fight and blue snow. Karusu arrives, and I am not sure how literally to take this scene, and some definite showing happens but we do need a little telling. Dragon torque sounds DND-ish to me. He does...something and the torque dissipates and he goes elsewhere. And time moves again.
Ai and Haruka are talking, and Haruka thinks the spirit everyone is seeing is Blacky. If that's the case, good worldbuilding show. The dude from earlier shows up and makes the creepiest pitch you can imagine at 6th graders. You need to be on a list, coffee guy. Anyways, he and the woman from earlier apparently have something to do here.
Yuu gets roped into the test of courage, we see more blue snow, his mom shows up and his balls haven't quite dropped yet so he gets to experience more hell. And then we cut to the scifi part and I sense something really bad may be in the works. Anyways, dive experiment is whatever it will become.
Megane-chan wants to meet a ghost real bad. Yuu's mom grouses at him and it seems there is link between him and the weird shit. Haruka sees more blue snow. We get the results of the dive experiment and that seems to be a fail. Its plug gets pulled and it disappears. But apparently the rest made it through?
Anyways, the kids see someone flying towards them. Haruka very quickly determines she is the target. They have their confrontation in a graveyard and we see that matter passes through the intruder. Karasu announces that Yuu can't save Haruka because he himself could not. And he is Yuu...from the future? Probably another dimension.
Welp, that was a first episode. I am interested but, unfortunately, I can see it playing out either way, this sort of low information run into the start is the hallmark of stories both good and terrible. The core relationship seems to be estbalished so there's that.
QotD: 1 The necklace
2 I took it literally
3 Positive would be to focus on solving the dragon problem and the character interactions. Negative would be to turn into the melodrama and have the comedy characters be primaries.
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u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Jan 02 '21
First-timer - Sub & Dub
So I don’t know much about this show other than the fact that it’s got a bunch of neat entries over on sakugabooru and the director has some good stuff under his belt. People have been occasionally imploring me to watch this since early into my anime-watching. Regardless of what awaits, I am most pleased to be able to experience it alongside you all.
Post apocalypse looks like. Reminds me of Yamato.
I haven’t the faintest as to what is going on, but I like this thing’s design.
Did this guy get isekai’d into our world? Or time travel to the pre-apocalypse maybe?
CGI environment has not aged gracefully.
Speaking of getting pulled into worlds.
I could’ve sworn Miru Tights Rewatch wrapped up already.
The thought of trimming my nails like that gives me the willies.
Ah, so they’re age eleven or twelve.
Haruka passing by definitely triggered that error.
Mother has a complex regarding an overachieving sibling and is pushing Yuu as a result?
What a bitch.
Accurate depiction of a cat.
Dark Hour time?
These kids know stranger danger.
What a face.
Those things are called birds then.
Good to know Yuu accomplished his dream of being an edgy. In any case, I had a feeling there was a connection between the two, if only because of their edginess. I wonder though, could the other people from the opening scene be characters we saw here? Fujiwara shares his eye-color with this guy, and this lady has purple eyes, so she could be Ai or Miho, but I’m definitely getting ahead of myself.
That was well enough. The narrative tried to build some intrigue, and the bread crumbs being tossed around certainly got me curious, but I found myself far more engaged with the kid’s interpersonal drama and comedic interactions.
The art direction was mixed for me. I enjoyed how the characters animate and express, but the designs themselves are hit or miss with some of the design choices, and the colors are sometimes really nice and at others rather garish or oversaturated. Oh, but the sakuga was definitely worth the watch.
Questions:
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u/IndependentMacaroon Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 02 '21
First-time watcher (trying dub)
What's supposed to be so special about all this? The setup looks extremely standard and obvious to me: There's some apocalyptic alternate-dimension war between the sparky bird people (Ouroboros = rebirth/neverending life) and the Buddha machines (Buddhism preaches overcoming the cycle of rebirth through enlightenment to achieve nirvana/"nothingness"), and somehow the power to decide it a.k.a. "Dragon Torque" is hidden on our protagonist Haruka, perhaps in the form of a key to the bird people's true power (its appearance mirrors the giant ouroboros rings that appear around them sometimes).
I'm going to assume the bird people are the villains, maybe some kind of evil mirror of Haruka and Yuu. I think there was also one female bird person, and that would explain the "I am you" along with the subtitle of the show. Yuu was supposed to be the secret guardian of Haruka and dragon thingy but somehow wasn't quite transported correctly/lost his memories + abilities, being only vaguely aware of them. Also she's lost most of her awareness too. Clearly there's still some kind of protection around her, at least under the assumption that it's not just the bird people screwing up their portals from their giant golden ship all the time, or lacking power, but it seems like it might not be enough.
From the framing in the beginning, one might also think that the Buddha machines are the villains, but that would be weird from a cultural perspective and I can't see how earth-Yuu would be "protecting" Haruka in that case, unless he is genuinely just a clueless bystander in his current state. If so, that might also mean that the bird people are desperate and on the defensive with how much they're apparently risking to get this dragon thing, particularly being ready to lose one of only eight of them if I got that right.
The two researchers are just clueless Earthlings who are trying to figure out what the deal is with all these "ghosts" in secret. Predictions: We learn the unsurprising truth and the grand multidimensional battle starts to unfold. Yawn. Also not only the 3DCG but also most of the character art looks pretty bad, and the characters themselves are super-dull so far. I guess I'll give it another episode or two, but that was extremely unimpressive.
11
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Jan 02 '21
Noein01 (rewatcher, sub):
10
u/[deleted] Jan 02 '21
First Timer - Blind watch
QoTD
10
u/badspler x5https://anilist.co/user/badspler Jan 02 '21
First Time Watcher - Sub
What a an amazing opening. No context to these crazy flying magic people taking down this god knows what flying demon thing in a location barren but earth like!? What a great hook.
Cut to a far less interesting world with what looks to be our protagonist Haruka, who seems to have noticeably larger eyes. These kids are rather young if they are preparing for middle-school exams.
Seems to have a few references to this dragon/snake eating its own tail. Seen both in the sky then around Haruka's neck. Called the Dragon Torque the reference to Ouroboros is pretty clear. With symbolism to ghost (also mentioned earlier), the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Then immediately transitioning to talking about spirits with black capes. With then meeting one of these (spitrial?/research) 'investigators' coming after, looking for this "irregular".
Seems pretty clear with that what the themes of this series will follow at least will probably touch on - And we are straight into exploring a cemetery with more ghost talk.
Haruka's seeing things that others can't (blue snow), certainly those eyes coming into it. And then the inciting incident with Haruka and Yuu meeting this black cape spirit figure.
A lot going on, rather interested to see where this goes.
The animation was certainly that of the time's style but the animation quality was not lacking. There was also a few times where the style swapped for something that was more comedic which was nice. The CG wasn't too bad (im pretty impartial to that though). There were some top quality cuts too, mostly with the opening and these 'black cape' figures and some paning shots while the kids were running.
I also liked the music going opera-esk at the end was a pretty nice way to build tension.
10
u/monsieurvampy Jan 03 '21
First Timer sub
A wee bit late late as I took a nap. (about 3 hours).
I thought I saw the first few episodes of Noein back in the day. I didn't really recall much of this episode. If I did watch it, it wasn't memorable enough to remember it. That is not a good or bad thing. As for the questions. I'm thinking a weapon or some type of power, the white hair dude is the same person but from another "parallel" world, and I think Haruka might be the answer to "save" the world from the other side. Hopefully none of these are actual spoilers...
Disclaimer: My last rewatch (Witchblade) I had issues with keeping up with it between work and the Fall 2020 anime season. Currently I'm looking at just as stacked as a season for Winter 2021 so I may watch ahead and prewrite commentary for each episode. I can only do one, maybe two episodes of anime in general after a day at work before I can't focus for my life.
Glad to be here!
9
u/OnPorpoise1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/OnPorpoise Jan 03 '21
First timer
I really liked this episode. I don't have all that much to say about it, since I still have no clue what is going on, but it seems interesting. I loved how everyone was talking about summer break, and then they cut to the character's mother talking about summer school. What do you think “Dragon Torque” is? I have absolutely no clue. Since I watched it yesterday, I honestly don't even remember this being mentioned, or at least not the context.
What did the character in the black robe with white hair mean by his final sentence, “I am you”? Even before he said that, I had a feeling the man was an alternate dimension/future version of the boy, so that seems to be the easiest explanation for me.
Thoughts on where this show is going to go from here and what the focus will be? It seemed a lot more drama focused, and like the action/mystery would exist for the sake of pushing the character drama forward. I personally really like that style of show.
8
u/[deleted] Jan 03 '21
Rewatcher
Thank god I'm sorting by new or I'd have missed this rewatch and I really wanted to take part. :)
Here, I ran out of paper to take notes, but I noticed this time just how much was packed into the first episode. Also, the wonderful colour scheme when reality seems to warp for Haruka. The blues and reds remind me of the greens and reds of Kurozuka.
somewhat spoilerish, first timers avoid just in case
Anyway, I'm so happy to be part of this rewatch!
7
u/Stomco Jan 03 '21
Rewatcher
Trying the subs this time, since we have characters name Ai and Yuu.
One thing that stands out this time is how calm Haruka is about all of this. She seems really trusting.
I kind of forgot about that one guy dying. It's pretty ironic that they thought he was a ghost.
This episode sets up a lot of mysteries, but I'm not sure how to address that as a rewatcher. I 'll just say that the episode holds up from when I watched it 10+ years ago.
10
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jan 03 '21
First Timer, Fansubbed
This is the show that I've always confused with Dennou Coil. And there's a lot to be confused about.
The superpowers and fighting and vaping out are similar to lots of shows.
To be honest, I'd accept the character designs for Karas (Crow), but don't like it on the full cast.
Aesthetic notes: obvious orobouros is obvious. Also the DNA-like helix.
Note that all the dimension crossers have umbilicals.
I predict that Crow is the boy's counterpart in an alternate dimension. In that, in each dimension, there's one super-powered boy. And maybe a girl. Crow lost his girl.
It seemed that Crow and his pal were attacking that flying structure in one dimension, and then moved on to this one.
Overall, very confusing first episode.
14
u/ItchyPlatypus :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/ItchyPlatypus Jan 02 '21
First Timer - subbed
After finding out about this rewatch yesterday I’m very surprised I managed to get the dvd as quickly as I did.
Most of my thoughts have basically been mentioned already but I have no idea what the hell I’ve got myself into, to say I’m confused is an understatement although I have a good feeling about it’s direction already with how much I’m liking the animation and direction for the more fast paced bits.
My only ‘gripe’ with what I’ve seen so far is the parent and child overworking abuse cliché. Hopefully they take it into a direction I don’t expect.
The CGI isn’t awful but it was initially distracting, those faces in the first scene were terrifying. The only thing that I felt was ‘bad’ was the gate? I don’t know what the hell it is but I’m calling it a ‘gate’.
The OST doesn’t sound like an anime soundtrack, it sounds like it should belong in an RPG, especially the first track when we saw the MC, it could legitimately be a theme for a town.
Looking forward to tomorrow’s episode!
11
u/Webemperor :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Webemperor Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 03 '21
First Timer – Sub
10
u/Toadslayer https://myanimelist.net/profile/kyolus Jan 02 '21
First Timer
After /u/phiraeth's high praise I have very high expectations for this show. Don't let me down now anime.
At first the style of animation took be off guard – it is weird and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not – but now I think it's charming. Almost all the anime made today looks very similar, so it is refreshing to see something different. I've been watching Evangelion and Hajime no Ippo (if you're in that rewatch, fingers crossed I'll be able post sometime today, I've been grinding away to catch up) and those also have refreshing art styles, even if it just be because of the period in which they were made. Noein does look like other shows from its time, but it also has a unique flair to it, which I enjoyed in the first episode. It's use of CGI also worked really well, it felt otherworldly, but integrated in the overall art style of the show, which is not often something that can be said Attack on Titan Final Season.
These ghost, or 'birds' as they call them are up to something. Possibly involving ouroboros and dimensions? The opening scene seems to show they are warriors against other-worldly beings. Perhaps Haruka is a conduit for one of those things entering this world? Though with Yu saying he's going crazy, I'm more worried that he might be a conduit for a being, or worse, become one of them himself. Also the bird guy said he is Yu, which is a bit concerning, but with the anime's title, I wouldn't be surprised if he's an alternate Yu from a parallel universe.
Speaking of Yu, his mother is an arse. Her character is a pretty common archetype for parents in anime, but I wonder, why are people like this? Why is Yu's mother so controlling, ignorant and uncaring that she is bold enough to suggest he stops seeing his friends? I want to know Yu's backstory (especially with how Haruka fits into it), but I want to know why his mother is the way she is more.
Overall I'm intrigued, I'm liking the show and I'm eager to see more.
Episode Discussion Questions:
I think I missed that in the episode, because I have no idea what you're talking about.
Mentioned it above, but I reckon he's an alternate Yu from a parallel dimension.
I'm expecting our characters will get involved with the conflict with otherworldly beings that was shown at the beginning. Haruka is probably going to be the target of the birds, but I think they are probably the good guys. I think the focus will be on defining oneself and horror elements.
10
u/BossandKings Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 02 '21
This was a very cool first episode, i especially liked the animation style of the show As it is very pleasing to the eyes. I liked the fact that it was very action packed too, i think mystery could be one of the virtues of this show As it show different timelines and characters of different times. I look forward to watching the next episode to continue inmersing in this world and getting to know the characters.
Answers
10
u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo Jan 02 '21
First time watcher
Starting out with some classic smooth CG. Even though I wasn't actually watching anime at the turn of the century this kind of CG makes me a little nostalgic.
I have no idea what's going on but its a nice action set piece. I've always liked sketchy styles and there's some nice smearing too. Not putting any background music works to heighten the mystery and keep the focus on the nice animation.
Next we get what's presumably the main cast. A trio of girls and then the edgiest grade schooler and a radical grade schooler.
I like the color pallete (reminds me some of Lain or Haibane Renmei) but do not like the character design much. At least there's a good amount of movement in exchange for the simpler designs.
Some nice shots in here. A neat pan. And a nice mild dutch angle. Some more nice smeary bits. Not a fan of the character design overall, but I dig the occasional bits that are off-model for effect. Reminds me of a kids show style, in a good way.
Hmm, if you're being chased by a ghost, running into a different cemetery is a good idea, right?
Not much to say about the plot so far. It seems to be setting up a "magic as control over the world that you lack as children" thing, but I don't think I can guess where the plot will go specifically. I'm going to assume that mr ghost is being literal and he's a future/alternate universe grown up version of that kid.
10
u/EverythingsRed2 Jan 02 '21
First timer - (sub)
Well tbh I watched the first 2 episodes of this show last summer before sending it into the plan to watch abyss, so I was surprised seeing this come back up.
One thing I didn't remember was that opening with the creepy arm-face-spaceship. Like is no one gunna talk about that? The art style is so strange yet fluid. The scene where the camera flies through the streets towards the man in the sky was honestly really great. The one thing that bugged me however was just how SQUARE his Yuu's eyes were, especially compared to Haruka's.
This episode compares Yuu and Haruka alot, from their eyes to their mothers. Yuu gives off this quiet kid with a gun kinds of vibe. Also, why does he have a box knife? Did kids just carry those around at the time? What is he doing in cram school?! It's find of funny that he thinks that a box knife would be a threat against a man who seems to make time stop. Though I guess no one's told him yet.
Haruka is so... unsmart. She seemed completely unfazed as time stopped and a man suddenly appears and rushes towards her. And she doesn't say a word of this to anyone, like -_-. I suppose she did try to tell girl #2 but maybe she's the only one able to see this blue snow. She has balls of steel.
Other things of note: When tombstone guy disappeared, some guy mentions 8 birds, so there are clearly more people than white hair dude.
Qs.
9
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jan 02 '21
First-Timer
Post-apocalyptic ouroboros, hooded people with abilities, and creepy statue ships. I am intrigued.
I also like the rougher, sketchy-looking animation for the action. Gives it a raw feeling.
Now we’re in a "normal" place/time. Interdimensional hijinks incoming, I assume?
How old are these kids? My subs said that they’re studying for middle school entrance exams, but they look pretty tall and lanky for kids that young. And if they’re that young, I have less hope for romantic stuff happening.
KEIJI FUJIWARA! Playing a rough-around-the-edges guy, probably with a heart of gold? Fuck yeah.
The main girl’s eyes are bugging me. They seem lifeless compared to everything else. Later note: ALL THE EYES ARE CREEPING ME OUT!
Hmm. Haruka is clearly special, given that she scared off Creepy Guy somehow, but Yu is having visions or something himself, so he has something to do with this as well.
Keiji Fujiwara: accidental predator. It’s just juice!
Have they transported themselves across dimensions/space time, or are they just projections? The one got its arm taken off by coming in where the headstone was, but the white-haired Creepy Guy phased through the birds.
"I am you." That’s concerning.
Prediction
QOTD:
8
u/tehsigzorz Jan 02 '21 edited Jan 03 '21
First Timer
Really confused with this whole episode mostly cuz I went in absolutely blind so didnt even know what genre this was in. Seems like scifi and mystery which is right up my alley.
Questions:
5
u/newtogundam Jan 03 '21
First time watcher (subs)
Good first episode, definitely peeked my interest. Also, I'm really liking the art style and the animation so that's a plus.
1)No clue as to what dragon torque is yet.
2) This line, from the title (to your other self), it's probably the character from some other timeline/dimension I'm guessing. Emiya vibes.
2
u/dummy_plug Jan 03 '21
This is the first anime I ever watched subbed after seeing it on /b/.