Forum - View topicLast Period: the journey to the end of the despair (TV).
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Last Period: the journey to the end of the despair (TV) Genres: comedy, fantasy Themes: Plot Summary: Fantastic beasts called "Spirals" are born from isolation. Those who can defeat the beasts are called "Periods." Haru is an apprentice Period who belongs to the Arc End 8th Branch. However, after a mysterious theft incident, there is an economic collapse, and the Arc End headquarters abandons the 8th Division, leaving only three Periods left, including Haru. Haru and the other two Periods start their work to rebuild the 8th Division. ---------------------------------- Episodes 1 to 6 I know that most people are not watching this, and I really would not have thought it worthy of making a discussion here. I had already posted earlier in the general anime watching thread, but despite I don't think being really good, it has made me want to talk about it again, so rather than somewhat spamming weekly thoughts there, I thought that I could perhaps put some here. The show started off with having a plot that felt a little too lazy and transparent, but it also feels like it has itself sort of sabotaged itself in regards to what it has, specifically in regards to Choco who breaks the fourth wall in pointing out lazy aspects. But it feels like the latest episode (6) went a step further by outright starting with what it did not hide very well that, spoiler[Campanella, the kind big sis character, is also the villain hiring the other villains to cause conflict with the main cast.] The main theme of this episode was pretty much pulling apart the main dramatic touch this series had, with the big bad kind of just being a nonthreatening goofball. The Two Face like scene was inspired, especially in how it said that it was kind of dumb. And that is kind of the other thing with the villains, that the recurring group, Wiseman (said in a whisper), are comically not really the villains. Sure they act as obstacle to the main characters, they are dressed as "bad guys", and have some stereotypical punk character moments, but their motives are truly a nothing personal scenario despite the personal focus. Underneath that, Wiseman have even been more principled than at least two of the main characters, that it is kind of sad that Haru couldn't just go with them instead. Episode 6 pretty much had them at the same level as the main characters. They are certainly more interesting than the main characters. And then what has been a threat in the show based on a game with gacha elements, especially in episode 5, it has been deceptive and unhealthy elements of the gacha model, that through luck can cheat customers over others. The very thing that probably makes some money for what this is based on. The heroes have failed everytime they have tried to do the by luck pay for content thing. In the end it has instead looked like the show has instead encouraged a responsible use of finances, and find joy in what they can get. A joke I kind of enjoyed earlier on, which I am kind of sad seems to have past from being running anymore, was that they got a kind of worthless and mostly uninteresting monk who was weaker than them so they put him down as random housework, and the next time got just a colour pallet swap that they had just join the first. They decided to get rid of what could have continued to be an easy running joke. As said earlier, it has actively decided to make fun of most of its running characteristics, with its own running joke of Choco pointing out things like keep reusing pretty much the same character with just change in gimmicks (with its mayors). But also quite a bit of references. They went so far as having pretty much a Higurashi crossover, where the plot was an easy Higurashi crossover event to get attention. Episode 6 kind of had a funny one, in my opinion, where they were going to an amusement park in a land of witches, and Choco keeps talking about getting jelly beans that taste like things like earwax, barf and boogers, and is later seen with a box of jelly beans that indeed look like one of the boxes of Bertie Bots Every Flavour Beans, that I am sure are sold at places like a Harry Potter land. It has generally given this feeling that the character Choco has in every sense sort of represented this idea of fanservice, with her overcomplicated design, moe aspects like into eating, and constant references or fourth wall breaks (without actually getting sexual, because the show has not really seemed to feel it has needed to do something like that with its cast). I am going to repeat that nothing has really made what one might call the show good, with being aware of something lazy does not excuse partaking in those things. Just pointing out the things does not mean you have anything interesting to say, and the creativity of what you are referencing does not mean you have the depth of the things you are referencing. But it has a couple of interesting ideas, kind of like a Deadpool sort of thing, although nowhere near as good that it would probably be unfair to really compare. I think that it has kind of turned out better than I expected, at least so far. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 7
Sugoi! Tanoshii! Oh my god, episode 7 was amazing. It was an *explicit* Kemono Friends episode. And not just some references, not just reproducing plot from that show, but the whole episode pretty much being a reference to the controversy of the director of Kemono Friends being fired by Kadokawa. Sure there were references, just like with what I said above, that the characters were made to say "Sugoi" (wow) and "Tanoshii" (so fun), the signature lines of Serval, with the new character being sort of like a fusion of Serval and Kaban, with his own Japaribus. But also details like mimicked transitions, and the one that totally made me burst out laughing was when it did parodies of I guess around where the advert would have been by having a trivia like segment where the zookeeper tells facts about an animal while we see it as a Friend while in the enclosure, this time being of Campanella and Erika. It just felt really well done, and showed itself as much more smarter than I was even thinking earlier on. The episode even snuck in several mentions of "Friend", the English word that it is used in KF. And I also feel the urge to give kudos to the translator of this episode on Crunchyroll, the way the mayor's verbal tic was turned into puns was really good. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 8
A beach episode, that was actually called "Swimsuit Episode". Fanservice was to be expected, but there was also a crazy amount of characters including new, that I think it was also kind of taking the fanservice route for fans of these characters. Especially the more crazy characters were kind of fun. But I also started to think towards the end, that I think it was getting a bit meta on some odd point about all the girls out of character saying sexual things out of their control. Before the strange bit with the military and laws, and the mention of freedom of expression. If I had to guess, it was kind of saying something in defence in being able to have fun in your own way, like being able to have such a fanservice episode. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 9
Usually a reveal is something that is supposed to be narrative, finding out a reveal of the story. This week though, it did a reveal in a very interesting way, that the episode's plot of a dangerous android, was revealed to be code spoiler[when revealing an apple with a bite taken out of it, and pretty much meant it was about android phones/tablets trying to take over, and some still prefer apple]. Or really that the entire episode might have been a joke spoiler[at the expense of android products]. The episode was even called Expanding Galaxy, that this being a mobage game, it is strangely fitting and right in the face, that I certainly found it funny when I realized. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 10
And the meta seems to have kind of folded in on itself, with the characters appearing to have been thrown into other mobile games. And yet seeming to kind of push to horror in their world starting to collapse in on itself. The best part had to be a multiple choice showing up, with Haru freaking out at time stopping, and having to say the line chosen casually. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15492 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Episode 12 (finale)
A happy ending, not even annoyed by the get the rest of the story from the game thing, because it felt like a good finale, and Choco actually said it. Compared to what I thought at the beginning of the series, I ended up really liking Last period. Despite this being an adaption to a mobile game, this actually felt like there was this sense of freedom, that they could actually play commercialism. I actually interested in there must have been something to explain it. It was not nearly as great as Kemono Friends, but especially its reference episode, suggoi, tanoshi. If there was a hidden gem this season, it was probably this. Not that it was amazing, but it had a surprising amount hidden underneath, and at least in the second part had a bunch of stories that there was a lot to them hidden under the surface. And I really liked the kind of friendly villain characters, Wiseman *loud whisper*, sure you can get ineffectual villains with these guys being like a Team Rocket or Doronbo Gang, and they can feel like a reason to watch, but Wiseman were simply delightful. By that token, the ED featuring them was also fantastic, totally my pick for the season, even if there is not much to it, and the OP grew on me too. I actually thought they were too childish at first, but later they just felt like general good fun, with I say a touch something good (The OP was about keep trying despite failing, to get better). I would say the show in general was like that, and being able to be like that despite some cynicism, and I think that is sort of worth something. Putting it down to a rating, I go with Good (7/10), possibly up a notch because of my personal enjoyment, but I felt like it was worth watching. I could totally keep watching shows like this. |
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