RE: Grand Blue Anime Review
"It was at the top of my list of anime to watch this season in a tie with Asobi asobase and some people ranked it even higher than Asobi asobase due to superior drawing and animations."
"you're projecting the idea that it's a show just on average and a filler when it's actually one of the best that aired this time, it's just that it's not a battle manga or any of the other archetypes."
It's my opinionated review of the show. If the show is something you are passionate about liking, it's natural to be in disagreement about any perspective that contradicts your interests. Does it matter if the show is someone else's top of the list or not great on someone else's review? or if the consensus of the mainstream says it great or not? If I were to make a review, I am going to make a review based on what I honestly think about it.
If there is anything I forgot about mentioning in the review why this show hooked me into finishing it, it has one of the best soundtracks I've listened to and for the sake of watching it full before making a review.
"You must NOT like comedy like at all... I mean, Grand blue is damn HILARIOUS"
I did enjoy Arakawa under the Bridge, Chromartie High and School Rumble. Humor is subjective.
I like the show.
"Try to judge it like that instead of focusing on the diving, because the show itself doesn't focus much on the diving either."
I did and I stuck with my set criteria.One can execute comedy without sacrificing the plot and explore more character development for the supporting characters, one example is School Rumble. The show revolves around a love triangle but viewers are able to see the story in multiple perspectives that let the supporting character shine through episodes. On the other hand, the characters on Grand Blue hardly get any meaningful exposure.
We get hints that Chisa works at the aquarium and loves the ocean but we don't get to see scenes that she has her own moments away from the shenanigans the MC is involved into. We get some laughs about Nananka's obsession with Chisa but no further explanation on how things came to be, we are left to accept what is. If the argument is about the collective experience as a group, then the anime falls short even on that department. There less room for individuality to grow if most of the scenes feature the characters lumped into one drinking session and less of the individual alone time to get to know them.
There are ways to create more depth in a character even if it's just a comedy anime and I guess my opinion about Grand Blue just doesn't suit it's mainstream fanbase even if I can agree on liking the show still.
Well, sure, you can create more depth and make things more complicated by sacrificing other aspects, that's true. There is quite a bit of supporting characters and I think they did show quite a bit of love to some of them, they just didn't go too much in depth with the ones closer to the protagonist. There is also the fact that there were little episodes...
I watched Arakawa under the bridge and School Rumble, I don't know about Chromartie High so I can't give an opinion about that; but if that's the kind of comedy you like, then it's understandable you wouldn't enjoy Grand blue much. School Rumble has twice the episodes and even another season, you can't compare the sizes of both. Plus there is also the matter of perspective, Grand Blue IS focused on the MC, on what he sees and the things surrounding him and I actually like that fact.
I found out that Cakey and Chise are pretty well fleshed out as characters that perform their role correctly, as well as the two big guys. You want to know the in and outs of everyone, and maybe that's why you don't like this show; who cares about why Nanaka's obsessed with Chisa?, who cares why the girl is lesbian and an alcoholic?
There is also a contradiction in what you wanted to see and what the show delivered... Grand Blue is a gag, comedy anime, not a romantic comedy or something that has humor as part of the central idea. Chisa is the typical serious character, what's the point of showing a scene about her working in the aquarium seriously? it would kill the mood, remember that this show focuses a lot on the traditional tsukomu of the japanese.
I saw Nichijou recently as per recommendation of @ascheriit. It's exactly the kind of show you would enjoy as comedy, but there is a catch: EVERY character has comedy in their lives, so they can go ahead and switch characters and focus on the supporting ones because all of them have crazy lives and you can focus on them while keeping the comedy. You CAN'T do that in Grand Blue, period.
If you wanted to say that there are ways to bring complexity and depth to a comedy anime then I DO agree, it's not impossible, but it's not likely when gags are the main selling point. Grand Blue does suit the mainstream fanbase, in fact it's ranked very high (8.2 if I remember correctly) and amongst the most liked this season. I still think it's hilarious, but of course it's not a masterpiece, we've got Detroit Metal City for that, which is also one of the reasons I always make relative comparisons to the rest of the ones airing instead of absolute comparisons... otherwise it would be very hard.
I can't find Chromartie High in my anime download site, though... did you make a typo? I always have time to watch another funny one :D
I don't think having little episodes is the problem. Even 3 minutes of screen time can give you a lot of information about a character that would influence how you view them for the rest of the show. Nanaka sniffing Chisa's clothing only took 2-3 seconds and then you'll get the gist of how she would act when the MC tries to do something to Chisa.
I don't think it's really that focused on the MC. We get to see a god-like perspective on the thinking process of some characters in the show while in the moment. The flaw is not taking this advantage to the fullest. For example, that mixer with Cakey and friends. We get to see the reactions on the male side of the story in the moment but we both knew that the women were already oriented about what to expect from the men. I mean, there's a gold mine of info to explore on that mixer episode about Cakey but it wouldn't deviate away from the MC focus.
Knowing the ins and outs of everyone is the purpose of judging the character based on their value to the show. If I were to ignore their ins and outs then wouldn't that make me more bias about how they are portrayed? Cakey started out as a comic relief but we get to see her motivations she does it because of well done character development. However, the two muscle heads are laid out in love with the ocean and we just have to accept that.
Ana is a bi-sexual. Anyway, I am supposed to care for the characters and supporting characters otherwise there won't be a moment where I, as an audience, would be able to relate to the show. It is difficult to see people's motivations for doing the absurd when you have little to work with and the absurd is something that makes sense to them. It's not comedy when there is no serious element to it.
It wouldn't kill the mood when it was Chisa that nudged Nanaka to take Iori to the aquarium using her connections. Having her own mini screen time not only gives her more depth but shows a prequel to the scene where Iori gets to see the beauty of the aquarium. Part of the tension building. A prep for the punchline.
Iori's rival otaku seems like a good candidate for the MC role. We take out Iori and place Kyohei as the one being forced into the diving club and go through all those shenanigans, Iori will not be missed. Why? it's doesn't matter because the story flows are not as rooted to Iori. We get to know Chisa is his childhood friend but not much to go on there. Any heavy connection you could anchor Iori to the show can be replicated by Kyohei's disposition and Kyohei is an otaku which gives it more room for comedy. Between Iori and Kyohei, Iori is the straight man.
I just think comedy done right is when it's done seriously. When you are in an environment where you expect the scenes to be funny, you become easily saturated with the gags that they don't come funny anymore. The fix is to provide novel situations the audience has not seen this one coming. But it doesn't have to be that way all the time. If this gag show taught me something, it's that serious moments in a comedy anime are gems if done right because they show marked contrast in the mood and further adds depth to the character.
We know the two muscle heads are funny but when it comes to safety in diving, their atmosphere changes and becomes a bit more serious. We appreciate these changes more because they act as unusual to the usual of the show and it speaks a lot about their passion for diving (done in less than 10 seconds of screen time.)
Yeah I made a typo, it's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cromartie_High_School
Well, when you can't see the punchline coming it's DEFINITELY a lot funnier, that's one of the reasons I got bored with gokudolls, their jokes got stale. I also agree that Kyouhei would have made for a better MC due to all the reasons you mentioned :D
I don't know, maybe it's something of a cultural difference but I could easily relate to the show, it reminded me a LOT of my own university days and all the crazy stuff we did. The "absurd" doesn't seem so absurd from my viewpoint, so maybe that's a point in our diverging opinions?
I enjoyed this conversation quite a bit, BTW, and thanks for the rec, I'll check it out and see if I like it :D
I don't think their sense of humor is absurd. I can relate to it but the funny threshold just isn't breaking through. I would compare their humor to an experience where I do think the joke is funny but I just can't bring myself to laugh at it even if I do sincerely mean it's funny.
Thank you for your input, this was a meaningful conversation and a rare one in the platform. :D