__MoBlack’s avatar__MoBlack’s Twitter Archive—№ 4,931

                                1. owo? Fall 2020 seasonal anime thread? Yes! Yes it is. WARLORDS OF SIGDRIFA
                              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                                I'm a little stuck on this show. On the one hand, it's definitely NOT vibing with me. But on the other, it's not doing anything obviously bad that I can pinpoint in a sentence.
                            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                              If I were watching this casually I'd chalk it up to the show "not being my thing" and move on. But Tappei Nagatsuki wrote this. And he like did Re:Zero. I am almost contractually obligated to bring takes, given how much my Re:Zero opinions break people.
                          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                            Warlords of Sigdrifa is a show about cute teenaged girls fighting existential threats to humanity in WWII-era fighter planes. Re:Zero is a moody isekai horror about an otaku coming to terms with his own mortality. The two shows aren't exactly comparable.
                        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                          The last thing I'd want to do is get essentialist and say "because an author wrote something I didn't like nothing he does will ever be good". Still, from time to time, the stuff that bothers me about Re:Zero shows up in Warlords as well.
                      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                        The writing is very much "tell don't show". Re:Zero I think it a little better at this but not by much. Every episode has had a scene where the characters sit around and describe their personality traits. There are 3 at time of writing but ep1 is a 50-minute double feature.
                    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                      In episode 1 we're told Miko is clumsy and energetic but loves food, that Sono is the little sister of the bunch, and that Azu is the smart one who acts tough but is nice on the inside.
                      oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                    In episode 2 we're told Miko is clumsy and energetic but loves food, that Sono is the little sister of the bunch, and that Azu is the smart one who acts tough but is nice on the inside.
                    oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
                1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                  In episode 3 we're told Miko is clumsy and energetic but loves food, that Sono is the little sister of the bunch, and that Azu is the smart one who acts tough but is nice on the inside.
                  oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                I've seen a comparison to Deca-Dence, given that this is the "non-adaptation" of the season. So I rewatched the first episode of Deca-Dence and it's a world of difference.
            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
              I came into Deca-Dence skeptical. But I came out of it in LOVE with Natsume after *one* episode. And I can tell you: it wasn't because Natsume was in 7 conversations in which she talked about her character traits to her friends.
          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
            It was actually because the show put her in a relatable situation: having ambition but being stuck in a dead-end job. Being bullied for something she can't control. And then we just get to see how she deals with the hand life gave her.
            oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
          She's also just the goodest bean
          oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
        But if I have to hear the Sigrdrifa pilots tell each other what they're like ONE MORE TIME I will bash my head into a wall. Just act the way you're saying you act, instead of telling me that's how you act. Y'feel me?
    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
      Second: the tone and characterization are fucking unbearable. In my Re:Zero Frozen Bonds essay I talked about how Emilia was nice to everyone all the time. And this didn't work for its own reasons. In Sigrdrifa, like, everyone is like this. CONSTANTLY
  1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
    The show wants to be Eva in the sense that teenagers are tasked to endure trauma and risk death save the world for governments. But all the characters are not only perfectly fine with this, but more fine than anyone could possibly be.
    1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
      The thing about Eva: its main cast Shini, Rei, Asuka, Misato... they're all deeply depressed. Because their environment has made them depressed. Because it is human to be depressed. They're not depressed all the time or in the same way. But their environment changes them.
      1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
        In Warlords of Sigrdrifa it feels like the setting, which, for all intents and purposes is dystopic and miserable, has no impact on the characters, who were ripped out of a kids' show.
        oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
        1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
          It's like Tappei recognized shows about cute girls being cute are popular. And he recognized that post-apocalyptic military stories are popular. But then didn't realize that you can't just mash the two together and call it a night. There's a gap you have to bridge there.
          1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
            Lastly: the show is weird around white people. The protagonist Claudia is a German who immigrates to Japan. And the show NEVER STOPS BEING WEIRD ABOUT IT
            oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their APIoh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
            1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
              The show also makes multiple remarks about Japan, its men filled with honor and pride, and its women who strive to be ideal women. Claudia's dad loved Japan. He kept a katana for his daughter and raised her to be the best of both Japanese men and women.
              1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                So to sum up: after almost 2 hours worth of content - I don't like the characters - I don't understand the setting - I CAN'T stand the tone - the way the anime treats foreigners is strangely uncomfortable
                1. …in reply to @__MoBlack
                  I've seen a lot of people say they expected better from Tappei Nagatsuki. But given that I was already skeptical of Re:Zero so I'm not exactly sure what to tell you here. Sigrdrifa isn't actively awful like Our Last Crusade or King's Raid. But it isn't doing anything well either