What's your favorite anime of the decade so far? Mine is pic related
>>135717472
Good taste
>>135717472
I'm still not sure if this was a masterpiece or just used being weird as a way to fake it.
It's of course Sakura Trick, the greatest masterpiece to date.
Definitely that one so far. But there have been some strong contenders. Uchouten Kazoku or Kyousougiga (2012) come to mind.
>>135719042
If you can think of it as a masterpice, then it is. It has as much meaning as you can extract from it.
>>135719104
All I know is that reveal with Ringo wherethe teacher was actually a lesbian and was hot for herthrew me for a loop.
>>135719042
Look up "Theatre of the Absurd."
Nichimasterpiece, watching it always makes me very happy.
![[Meguca]_Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_-_12_[BD][h264-1080p_FLAC][AF72CAC4].mkv_snapshot_06.21_[2015.12.19_09.52.13].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/KxmAbI6.jpg "[Meguca]_Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_-_12_[BD][h264-1080p_FLAC][AF72CAC4].mkv_snapshot_06.21_[2015.12.19_09.52.13].jpg")
I loved Penguindrum, a lot. But I think Madoka Magica still has a slight edge over it.
>More consistent pacing
>Less filler
>Better use of background music
>More iconic character design
>Mostly hand-drawn with less CGI
>More compelling plot twists
>Story was more character-driven
I think the only thing Penguindrum really did better than Madoka was the humour. Penguindrum was downright funny at times in a way that made you like the characters more. Madoka tried to do this but never really pulled it off.
>>135719229
I can also think of it as just throwing stuff together and figuring, eh if we make it complicated it will give people shit to argue about. Overthinking something doesn't make it deep.
At the very least it gets major points for being a ballsy show. Shit was hard to watch at times, the Ringo rape scene made me super uncomfortable. Points for making me feel that way when watching anime.
>>135719239
Nigga I know my lit background, just because something tries to be absurdist doesn't make it good or deep. Fuck, there's an absurdist movie about a rubber tire that kills people, and it's garbage.
>>135717472
this shit made no sense
>>135719457
Please don't compare Rubber to Mawaru Penguindrum.
Absurdism is putting characters in unrealistic or implausible scenarios in order to explore the human condition. That's precisely what Penguindrum does. The scene with the boys locked in cages, or every scene with the Child Broiler, are the more blatant examples. But everything else serves this overall purpose.
It couldn't have been much more blatant about reiterating the themes of fate, sacrifice, and familial love being more significant than "what does it meeeeean."
>>135719512
Having themes isn't the same as having actual meaning though. Meaning is what you extract from those themes.
You can throw a bunch of imagery and symbolism together with a common theme, but unless it works together to actually say something it doesn't have meaning.
I agree with you about those themes - it hits all of those, and does so in a pretty unique way.
What I'm still undecided about is if there's a cohesive enough take-away in all of that for me to call it meaning. Everyone has a different line on how cohesive that meaning has to be, which is why we get debate about it.
>>135719814
>You can throw a bunch of imagery and symbolism together with a common theme, but unless it works together to actually say something it doesn't have meaning.
I thought you said you knew what "Theatre of the Absurd" was? It's a postmodern style of storytelling where images don't necessarily come as signifiers with discrete signifieds. The idea that every story with surreal imagery is a coded message that you can decode by figuring out what each thing "symbolizes" is a very early 20th century mode of analysis which just doesn't really apply to a lot of art.
To give you an example, Ikuhara has said that the reason he liked penguins as a recurring motif was that penguins are awkward, they hobble around on land, have wings, and are only really comfortable in the water, even though they're birds. And he thought people were as awkward as penguins. Which of course is the topic of an early conversation Himari has with her brothers in Episode 1. You don't need to take it to another level of "the penguins represent blah blah blah" or something.
>>135719042
>>135717472
Ikuhara really should do more anime often.
>>135719937
I feel like we're saying the same thing. It's not about imagery and shit representing other 2deep4me stuff, it's about what you get out of the complete picture.
If you don't get anything from it then it might be because there's nothing to get.
In either case, the penguins are hella cute and are a major plus for the series.
>>135720587
You seemed to be saying that you suspected it lacked "meaning" which was a knock against it. I think all you really need to do is see how everything works as a unified whole.
Sorry if it seemed like we were disagreeing. Who's your favouriteboy?
>>135720647
But if I give it its due diligence (however much a reasonable amount of attention and thought that is) and still don't see how it works as a whole, is the flaw with me or with Penguindrum?
Man, that's a tough call about favorite boy. I think Sho wins because of the Ringo interactions and how they develop. Although I might be biased because I think he got more screen time in general.
>>135720863
Yeah Sho has it. I don't want yucky playboy Kanba germs.
>>135717472
Definitely Penguindrum.
Whether it was just being silly or was secretly brilliant it was such a really fun ride and had a great ending.
>>135717472
That's a hard one OP but it's probably one between Madoka,Fate/Zero,AoT or OPM.
>>135719435
I liked Madoka too, but I think penguindrum had the edge over it in the character department. Homura was definitely interesting, but I really don't think Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko were more interesting than penguindrum's cast.
I really liked the Takakuras. I like how Kanba felt responsible to keep the family together, ultimately leading him down the path of pink haired wizard's terrorism. I like how, despite not doing much, Himari was arguably the strongest of the three and had the right ideas from the beginning. Shouma wasn't all that interesting, but I can't complain much.
>>135720363
I'm going through pic related right now specifically because of him. Definitely reminiscent of Penguindrum in a lot of ways, but that's a good thing.
>>135721147
As you said, it is reminiscent of penguindrum, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it nearly as much
