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Mekaku City Actors; X-Men, assemble! With contacts and hoodies!
Topic Started: May 7 2014, 09:03 AM (383 Views)
ZetaStriker
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This is probably one of my favorite new shows this season, even though it's still fairly early in its run. It's not No Game No Life, mind you, but it's still pretty darn good. Here's an early version of my piece in a Spring 2014 Impressions article I'm working on for a summary:

Me
 
Mekaku City Actors

David

Vocaloid has grown into an otaku culture phenomenon in the last decade, and its green-haired virtual idol is a powerful icon within the community. It's never been a favorite of mine, but I don't need to appreciate its music to get value from its existence. The creativity it inspires in its user base often seems to spiral out into other projects entirely, and like Black Rock Shooter before it, Mekaku City Actors is one such venture.

Based on the song series turned light novel Kagerou Project, the story as presented by the anime is one that's difficult to summarize. Its perspective changing from character to character each episode, most of their stories have yet to build into a cohesive whole. Nonetheless, a pattern is emerging, as each of the protagonists have been cursed with some sort of special ability by means unknown. These abilities, left uncontrolled, have wrought pain and tragedy in the lives of those possessing them, and thus far these tragedies have been the focus of each episode's story.

It's definitely going somewhere interesting, and there's still much we don't understand about their abilities. For instance Momo, a girl whose ability draws people's attention to her, wasn't able to go outdoors even before she was an idol without everyone's eyes following her everywhere she went. From what we hear over the course of the episodes focusing on her, it's hinted that she gained this ability during a near-death experience that caused the drowning of her father, but it's still yet to be seen whether the other members of the Mekakushi Dan have similar stories.

Verdict: Recommended

While the first episode centered around the NEET Shintaro didn't do much for me, the episodes that followed were absolutely enthralling. Each one has been a moving character drama with just enough supernatural ambiguity to raise questions and inspire wild theories. The writers are holding their cards close to their chests, keeping an air of mystique around both the characters and their powers, and it's been enough to keep me begging for more on a week-to-week basis. Anyone who enjoys a dialogue-driven comedy, a supernatural mystery or a great character drama is sure to find something to love here. Just give it a chance beyond the first episode, and you'll see what I mean.


Anyway, ever since I saw episode four, I've had the song from it stuck in my head. I just can't stop listening to or humming it. Apparently it's also the most popular entry from the series of Vocaloid songs that inspired the series, so I guess it makes sense, although my loathing of all things auto-tuned continues as the original Miku version is the only one I don't like. Here's the PV, re-made with the collected audio samples of 49 different singers and one rapper who just kind of did his own thing. It has spoilers for episode four, since this is the song that inspired its plot, but is well worth a full listen. The ending was a zinger in particular, and I wonder if the anime will take the same angle or leave that plot thread to dangle. Here's the video:

[utube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPvwla-oLig[/utube]

EDIT: Also, slight spoilers for the cause of what happened in episode four, since a little more is shown of that. Forgot to mention that, sorry.
Edited by ZetaStriker, May 7 2014, 09:09 AM.
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Anata
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Almost as good as Lowe ^_^
ZetaStriker
May 7 2014, 09:03 AM
and I wonder if the anime will take the same angle or leave that plot thread to dangle.
Jin (the creator of the Kagerou Project) has confirmed that the anime will be a different loop from the rest (Manga, LN, etc). It looks like the difference in this loop from the rest start from episode 5, so it will be a new territory even if you are familiar with the stuff from other medias. It would probably still have similar conclusion though
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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Sounds good, but I'm going to finish the anime first anyway before I track down the other material. I'm only looking up the songs as they play in the series, but I do fully intend to dig through them once everything wraps up.
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Se7enSword
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Episode 5 is the best one so far! I love Shintaro and Ene's interactions.

Next one is going to be pretty good too, Headphone actor!
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ZetaStriker
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I thought Konoha and Shintaro was the funnier pairing, but Ene is still pretty great. I wasn't sold on them in the first episode, but now that they're bouncing off the rest of the Mekakushi Dan they've all really endeared themselves to me.

Also, dat power. Konoha seems like such a badass, for someone who can barely remember the people he's living with. The episode title seems to imply we'll be seeing more about him next episode, but I hope we get back to the present too so we can find out what the hell happened to Hibiya. Not to mention who was trying to abduct him.
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Se7enSword
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Don't hate me, hate your fate!
Yes, next episode we will see Konoha a lot. ;)
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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You guys seem pretty familiar with the series, do you know of any collections of these songs that feature vocal covers? I can't stand auto-tune or electronic vocals like Miku's, but I'd love to get copies of these songs sung by actual people.
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Se7enSword
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Don't hate me, hate your fate!
ZetaStriker
May 12 2014, 09:18 AM
You guys seem pretty familiar with the series, do you know of any collections of these songs that feature vocal covers? I can't stand auto-tune or electronic vocals like Miku's, but I'd love to get copies of these songs sung by actual people.
I've heard they'll be released when Blu-Rays for the Anime are out.

Ep-07:

This episode man, this episode. It was absolutely brilliant! The pacing was great and the episode left me wanting more. Good to know how Haruka lost his memories.

Spoiler
Edited by Se7enSword, May 24 2014, 03:37 PM.
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Posted Image Ovan
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ねぷは..自由だ!!!

*sigh*

I didn't read the post but that Avatars now going to make me want to start it, isn't it.
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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Are you saying my opinion holds no value until I upload another avatar? XD
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Posted Image Ovan
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ねぷは..自由だ!!!

Was referring to Seven's previous one. Assuming it's from this series.
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I don't even know if people don't use avatars or they're just dead links I can't see half the time.
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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I can't even see mine, so I'm assuming mine at least is totally dead. I felt it was appropriate though, because it took me like six years of the Guild existing to even upload one in the first place. It's like going back to an old friend.
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Se7enSword
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Don't hate me, hate your fate!
Ovan
May 30 2014, 04:53 PM
Was referring to Seven's previous one. Assuming it's from this series.
I accidentally used that as an avatar, I forgot to copy the link to my current one. >_>

And yes, it is from this series.
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ZetaStriker
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These episodes need to stop being so great. It'll make it easier to wait a week for the next one each time if they do. XD

Spoiler: click to toggle
Edited by ZetaStriker, Jun 1 2014, 01:21 AM.
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Posted Image Ovan
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ねぷは..自由だ!!!

Se7enSword
May 31 2014, 03:22 AM
Ovan
May 30 2014, 04:53 PM
Was referring to Seven's previous one. Assuming it's from this series.
I accidentally used that as an avatar, I forgot to copy the link to my current one. >_>

And yes, it is from this series.
And yet due to that accident, I'm now going to start watching it once it's done.
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ZetaStriker
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Was digging through covers of the original songs again, this time for this week's Lost Time Memory. I found a pretty good English cover with a different arrangement for the music. Again, spoilers for the show if you haven't watched through to episode eight yet. And maybe even a little beside that, if they end up using something that may have happened in the middle there with Ene.

[utube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKrP_fu4m0s[/utube]
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Se7enSword
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Don't hate me, hate your fate!
ZetaStriker
Jun 1 2014, 12:22 AM
These episodes need to stop being so great. It'll make it easier to wait a week for the next one each time if they do. XD

Spoiler: click to toggle
I know what you mean! That ending segment was great.

Spoiler @Zeta
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ZetaStriker
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I'd wondered about it, but yeah, these last few episodes I realized how the fairy tale connected. Not 100%, but it's clear there's a correlation. My theory is the same one my other friend came up with:

Spoiler: click to toggle
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ZetaStriker
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Holy shit. That's pretty goddamn worrying.

Spoiler: click to toggle
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Se7enSword
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Spoiler
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ZetaStriker
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After this last weekend's episode I couldn't help myself and just poured through the entire Kagerou Project via Youtube. The only song I didn't listen to was Dead and Seek, because I'd rather let the anime unveil Kenjiro's story, and luckily as of this point the other songs didn't really spoil too much about anything else either. Only the bad end and the happy end's epilogue are really shown, and most everything else was already covered in the series itself. They still need to pull all these characters back together for the ending in just two episodes, so I don't think they have time to tackle much more than what they already are.

I love pretty much everything, even if there are a few favorites. Youtube had limited resources for subbed songs and covers, sadly, so it was difficult to find everything I wanted while minimizing the use of the original Miku versions. I hate Vocaloid, autotune and other digitized voices, so even though I listened to them when necessary, I was grabbing covers whenever possible. In particular Yumeko, Yuikonnu and Soraru were great for that, and choruses were great when individual videos weren't available on Youtube itself. My favorites included Outer Science, Kagerou Days, Lost Time Memory, Otsukimi Recital . . . and my #1 was absolutely Yobanashi Deceive. 'Dat Kano, he knows how to have a great theme song.

I'm in the process of making a playlist of the entire series with just covers and choruses I like . . . when possible. I want every song represented, and will include up to three versions of it if I find enough good options. I also want the video, and I want it English subbed, for each one. That means I do occasionally have to include the original Miku versions when nothing else is available, if for the video alone. I've currently grabbed everything I want up through Konoha no Sekai Jijou, so check it out if you're interested. For anyone lurking who's watching the anime and doesn't want spoilers, only the last three videos(which are the aforementioned Konoha no Sekai Jijou) cover something not seen in the anime so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ncH0_Z9FDE&list=PLVyGsmv7qaNPOoLJ4r9Z8zfOZ46OcgNTU
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ZetaStriker
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It's Like You're Carrying the Weight of the World~
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I just got done selecting Ayano's Theory of Happiness covers for my playlist. Oh jeebus, that hurt my heart. I can't listen to that song that many times in a row every again. ;___;
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ZetaStriker
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Both this episode and the last just didn't work for me . . . and I think I know why. It's the same problem I had with the first episode, really. This anime seems to have characters, their backstories and how they related to one another down pat . . . but doesn't seem to know what to do with them after that. The . . . mall terrorists? And the giant creepy science lab, and armies of minions . . . they just don't work with the story as described. Either that, or they're used so ineptly that it all just feels rushed, forced and awkward.

Then there's the actual final climax.

Spoiler: click to toggle


There just wasn't enough new material, alongside all of the flashbacks, to really make a good anime adaption. The actual plot, short as it was, didn't really directly involve everyone enough. It used the characters sloppily, innovated in the worst possible ways, and stuck slavishly to the content of the original videos. Overall, it's a pretty shitty adaption.

But. The stuff they recreate from the videos, the finale aside, was very well done. If viewed as supplemental material meant to add context to Kagerou Project, it actually works pretty well overall. Episodes two through ten were executed so well that it made me a die-hard fan of the franchise, so even if they failed to build into something worthwhile it at least gave me incentive to track down the light novels and manga in order to see if the story is being handled any better in these other formats. In the meanwhile I'll just wait for the OST, because hot damn were the song covers in these amazing.

[utube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzF2LuW5j6Y[/utube]
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Posted Image Ovan
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ねぷは..自由だ!!!

Oh that's right, I'm supposed to start this now that it and everything last season are over.

Buuut I am already in my pajamas...
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ZetaStriker
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I wouldn't recommend it as strongly, having seen the ending. The middle section was still strong enough that I'd say give it a look if you want to marathon something before you get too heavily involved in next season though. I'd just also suggest looking up the Kagerou Project videos on Nico/Youtube to get full enjoyment from the series.
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