[ShadowBlazer3000] go
[MartAnimE] Go~! :flying_saucer:
[Noirlax] go~! :rocket:
[forlornhope] go
[MartAnimE] it's a song by Narcia
[Noirlax] aww this translator really loves this show
[Noirlax] truly a fan-sub
[MartAnimE] I'm glad :smile:
[forlornhope] 4 years :open_mouth:
[MartAnimE] aww the last OP :sob:
[MartAnimE] maybe Blue Narcia is Kai :thinking:
[forlornhope] her evil twin :smiling_imp:
[MartAnimE] but they also show Kai in the OP, so I dunno :sweat_smile:
[MartAnimE] maybe it's her third personality :smile:
[Noirlax] lol you're going to watch Season 2 to solve this mystery
[MartAnimE] yes, I must! :open_mouth:
[forlornhope] aww no
[MartAnimE] aww erased his memories
[Noirlax] doh
[forlornhope] not all of them I assume
[forlornhope] just of hyuu :sweat_smile:
[MartAnimE] maybe just Hyuu yeah
[MartAnimE] still, kinda rude :sweat_smile:
[forlornhope] yeah :sweat_smile:
[MartAnimE] ah it didn't work :smile:
[forlornhope] it's the dragon power
[MartAnimE] yeah I think so
[ShadowBlazer3000] his eyes are weird
[MartAnimE] yeah he's struggling a little bit
[MartAnimE] the dragon power was inside him the whole time :dragon:
[MartAnimE] maybe he doesn't need that stone
[MartAnimE] his eyes are normal again
[MartAnimE] lol GamiGami is exactly as I said before :sweat_smile:
[forlornhope] lol we dont need you gami gami
[forlornhope] pietros got it all handled
[MartAnimE] slash
[MartAnimE] big dragon
[forlornhope] ah not his mom afterall
[MartAnimE] it looks too chonky to be able to fly with those little wings :smile:
[MartAnimE] but it's ok, it's a fantasy dragon :dragon:
[forlornhope] yeah :smile:
[MartAnimE] Narcia save!
[MartAnimE] I guess Hyuu save
[MartAnimE] there goes my ship :unamused:
[forlornhope] lol
[MartAnimE] oh it looks like DNA
[Noirlax] yeah
[MartAnimE] no more Man's Romance
[ShadowBlazer3000] we interrupt Poplocrois to bring you 2001
[MartAnimE] 2001 Space Monolith :smile:
[forlornhope] creepy kids laughing
[forlornhope] lol
[Noirlax] yeah it does look like that monolith
[forlornhope] oh nvm I guess they're kinda cute
[MartAnimE] this is the part where everyone laughs
[forlornhope] :smile:
[forlornhope] so cheesy
[MartAnimE] I like it was kinda abstract
[Noirlax] It is
[MartAnimE] the Monolith is telling them to stop the shipping wars between Hyuu and Narcia and just embrace the one true threesome Narcia/Pietro/Hyuu
[Noirlax] lol
[ShadowBlazer3000] lol
[forlornhope] lol
[MartAnimE] oh she is going back
[MartAnimE] this feels right still
[Noirlax] yeah
[MartAnimE] yes that means my original ship is still fair game! :smile:
[forlornhope] lol
[Noirlax] lol it was just scaring you. Your ship is the best ship :smile:
[MartAnimE] aww we get to hear the special ED
[MartAnimE] with funny scenes from the show
[ShadowBlazer3000] shot on Kodak :film_frames: :video_camera:
[Noirlax] wow on Kodak
[MartAnimE] the last ED is Hyuu version
[Noirlax] It's amazing this was practically done on traditional cel and paint
[MartAnimE] fitting
[ShadowBlazer3000] 1998 yo :paintbrush:
[forlornhope] do kind of miss the more earthy tones from old cel and paint
[MartAnimE] I liked the grainy quality of cels
[Noirlax] I miss that on backgrounds, it's less defined but it feels less sterile
[MartAnimE] and to think every frame is a painting
[Noirlax] yeah
[MartAnimE] imagine the dedication and love that was put into those old shows
[forlornhope] overall I think it was a really cute show. tbh didn't expect much going in but I ended up enjoying it a lot
[MartAnimE] I like that it's childish but it doesn't talk down to the audience
[forlornhope] yeah
[Noirlax] yeah I didn't expect much but it's a lot more heartfelt and deep than I thought
[MartAnimE] it dares to be ambiguous at times
[MartAnimE] and even abstract or experimental
[Noirlax] This is pretty ambigious at times
[MartAnimE] it doesn't need to spell out every little detail
[Noirlax] This thing about wind, dragon and humans at the end is quite meaningful
[Noirlax] Tolerance, friendship and harmony
[MartAnimE] and I really love how minimalistic the character designs are yet they are still so effective at conveying emotion
[Noirlax] Yeah
[forlornhope] I liked the musical parts too
[forlornhope] those were a lot of fun
[MartAnimE] that's really one of the strong aspects of anime, the simplification of visual language
[Noirlax] I really rate this one
[MartAnimE] the songs were pretty fun and sincere
[MartAnimE] got a soft spot for the OP :smile:
[Noirlax] I feel the simplification is partly due to the time period as well.
[forlornhope] nice tune :smile:
[Noirlax] Blue Narcia your new obsession/cryptozoo
[MartAnimE] lol XD
[forlornhope] character designs were pretty simple but I think a lot of care was put in the bgs
[Noirlax] Yeah the BGs were very good but the simple character designs allowed animation to be smooth
[MartAnimE] I think character designs are simpler than average, but at the same time they look unique and stand out from other anime
[Noirlax] I always felt Bee Train designs are simpler than average to allow better movement with the limited budget they had.
[MartAnimE] yeah
[ShadowBlazer3000] i never thought of their designs as very simple
[MartAnimE] just this one looks particularly chibi and video gamey
[ShadowBlazer3000] in general that is
[forlornhope] think it's more simple because it's a kids show
[ShadowBlazer3000] for Popo yeah they have a chibi look with gemstone eyes
[MartAnimE] I think the game came first?
[Noirlax] I think it's not very simple either just simpler than average in terms of clothes and details imo
[ShadowBlazer3000] yes
[MartAnimE] so it's heavily inspired by the game style I gather
[MartAnimE] I'm gonna call them "pie chart eyes" :smile:
[Noirlax] lol
[forlornhope] lol
[MartAnimE] I'm honestly very impressed by the eyes in particular, at no point did I feel the eyes looked empty or soulless
[MartAnimE] simple as they were
[MartAnimE] and it could easily have come across that way
[forlornhope] think they were pretty expressive yeah
[ShadowBlazer3000] yeah better than xxxHolic's void eyes
[Noirlax] you can do a lot I reckon by adjusting the eyebrow and by the size of the pupil imo
[MartAnimE] I feel the modern style tries to do too much in the eye department at times and sometimes I find it off putting
[ShadowBlazer3000] eh
[Noirlax] I think it's better for illustration but anime I don't mind either way
[Noirlax] I feel the eyes for the early 2000s is my preferred one for animation though
[ShadowBlazer3000]
https://imgur.com/HBMaNnm[MartAnimE] whether it's illustration or anime I think the eyes don't need to look like the endless universe, with all the colours and sparks and stars, they just need the right focus
[ShadowBlazer3000] the alien style
[MartAnimE] you just need to be able to tell where the character is looking
[Noirlax] lol
[MartAnimE] basically
[Noirlax] but the otaku want their moe girls to look all sparkly and shiny XD
[ShadowBlazer3000] I know I do
[ShadowBlazer3000] sparkle shiny moe of moeness
[MartAnimE] lol well this is just my preference
[MartAnimE] my aesthetic sense
[ShadowBlazer3000] but I'm not really big on the realism styles or super flat in general
[ShadowBlazer3000] I've always liked anime for it's more defined character designs and vibrancy and detail
[MartAnimE] I really like the eyes in Noir and Madlax
[Noirlax] I get a different sense in different styles. Like older styles, the girls feel more down to earth and reality and now they seem a little more like super pretty dolls in a way. Sorry I don't know how to describe it well
[MartAnimE] but not as much in Cazador
[Noirlax] Kirika's eyes are shockingly intense for me
[ShadowBlazer3000] more Osawa less Kikuchi
[Noirlax] Like you can feel the darkness and emptyness of her soul in them :open_mouth:
[ShadowBlazer3000] but Ellis has such pretty blue eyes
https://imgur.com/oqVhlBr[forlornhope] lol didn't know eyes were so important. I think I'm fine with anything as long as they don't look dead :woman_shrugging:
[ShadowBlazer3000]
https://imgur.com/oUNVpcN[MartAnimE] lol but those are brainwashed eyes
[MartAnimE] bad example Alex
[ShadowBlazer3000] I wasn't knocking
[ShadowBlazer3000] I pulled it up as the best example I had on hand
[ShadowBlazer3000] to compare
[Noirlax] I guess it's also a matter of culture too, like in Japan people gauge emotion by the eyes and not by their facial expressions
[MartAnimE] that's very interesting
[Noirlax] yeah there's articles on stuff like that.
[MartAnimE] but I think it's just the cartoon/animation language in general
[Noirlax] They say thats why in the West happy is :slight_smile: and in Japan it's ^_^
[MartAnimE] people like Disney started the whole large expressive eyes trend, then Tezuka copied it
[MartAnimE] now all anime has large expressive eyes and western animation tries to copy anime :smile:
[ShadowBlazer3000] and everyone copied Tezuka
[MartAnimE] so it came full circle
[ShadowBlazer3000] and then people copied anime
[ShadowBlazer3000] so yup full circle
[ShadowBlazer3000] :white_circle:
[Noirlax] then people became anime characters and they started animating characters like humans before those eyes.
[Noirlax] Sci-fi :smile:
[MartAnimE] sounds legit :smile:
[MartAnimE] any more thoughts on Popolocrois?
[Noirlax] Yeah this is going high up on my BTF list, it's good music, good characters, animated well, entertaining and plenty of thoughtful stuff that elevates it above most kids shows. Mostly about friendship and harmony but not in a boring standard way.
[forlornhope] not off the top of my head. solid 7/10 for me
[MartAnimE] I rated 8
[ShadowBlazer3000] 7/10 for me too
[Noirlax] I'm going 9
[forlornhope] might check out the sequel or one of the games later too so that's something
[MartAnimE] a 7.75 average, not bad
[Noirlax] The hardest part is where does this go on my BTF ranker list :smile:
[MartAnimE] yeah gotta figure that one out also
[forlornhope] hmm
[MartAnimE] I think I like it as much as Arc the Lad, more than Wild Arms
[forlornhope] probably replaces arc the lad at #7
[MartAnimE] will check the sequel, if nothing more, just to validate my Pietro/Narcia ship, which I assume is canon :smile:
[forlornhope] lol
[ShadowBlazer3000] it can be in your heart
[Noirlax] No you're watching to find clues to the Blue Narcia theory
[ShadowBlazer3000] just like my Kumiko/Reina ship
[MartAnimE] lol that's called a headcanon Alex
[MartAnimE] was hoping Narcia would have a bigger role near the end, but it's in her nature to play a supportive role I guess
[MartAnimE] and the final conflict did relate to Hyuu more
[MartAnimE] but I was happy with the resolution
[MartAnimE] and I like to think that Pietro will still be able to access his dragon powers in the future
[ShadowBlazer3000] maybe he does somewhere sometime but he didn't in Return to Popolocrois we fought the final boss normally
[MartAnimE] interesting
[ShadowBlazer3000] and Narcia turned into a wolf
[MartAnimE] but I mean, the dragon power shouldn't be something linked to an artifact
[MartAnimE] it should be something he was born with
[MartAnimE] oh she turns into a wolf, I like her even more now :wolf:
[ShadowBlazer3000] true but he's half human so maybe that has something to do with it
[MartAnimE] still no explanation on why his mother looked 100% human even though she was 100% dragon :smile:
[MartAnimE] go figure
[Noirlax] shapeshifting?
[MartAnimE] maybe it's one of the dragon powers to be able to do that
[Noirlax] Like Tohru :smile:
[MartAnimE] brb a sec but feel free to keep discussing
[Noirlax] ok
[Noirlax] Lists and scores are a pain now I think about it, shows are better described in words. :smile:
[MartAnimE] yeah, it can be tough
[forlornhope] lol yeah sometimes feel that way too giving scores on mal and goodreads
[forlornhope] easier to say hey I liked this or nay I did not
[MartAnimE] to organize from favorite to least favorite
[MartAnimE] I think the more honest way to rate something is often to point out both what you liked and disliked about it
[MartAnimE] gives a better perspective on what are that stories strengths and weaknesses
[MartAnimE] but also gives a better insight about what a person likes or dislikes about stories in general
[Noirlax] Just having a hard time putting this on my ranker. Anyway I'm done with all comments. Thank you for this rewatch guys. This has been a real hidden gem for me.
[MartAnimE] yeah same, I didn't expect it to be as touching
[Noirlax] I even liked the cheesy GamiGami :smile:
[MartAnimE] very happy I finally got around to watch it
[MartAnimE] if everyone's done I'll end the log now ^^
[Noirlax] So the White Knight in Popolocrois has the same Japanese VA as Friday Monday :open_mouth:
[MartAnimE] lol nice :smile:
[forlornhope] cool
[MartAnimE] ~ THE END ~
