Episode One: Seigaku in Osaka
Synopses
3/5
After a random turn of events, the Seigaku tennis team (sans American based Ryoma) ends up in Osaka, where they meet up with Shitenhouji in their native territory, an HigaChuu on... cemetery cleaning duty?! Expect to see people flying through the air, an adorable Eiji skip, fly-smacking, touching moments with deer, hostage apples, and pillowfights. With very lacey pillows.
Oh! And octogenarians in pink frilly see-though nightgowns.
I make no guarantee for your sanity.
This one has the best clips, all condensed into one video:
Part One (RAW) :
Part 2(Raw):
Alas, there is no part 3. WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!
Animation
5/5
Why are OVAs always better than series? The shading is smoother and deeper, the colors richer with a new vibrancy, and with more liberal uses of glows. The movements are so much smoother now, and character's faces are much more effective at showing information, and are far more recognisable. The follow-through in the motions is what the original series was missing, but neeed so much. I'm a bit sad that they had to make so many OVAs (they stopped the first series right before the National's Arc) to get the right look. It's the kind of thing that the show needed to show how it was from the original manga. It looks like what I'd expect Konomi to do.
Screenplay
4/5
The shots are smooth and dynamic, but don't really focus on one person. The focus of the shots is most certianly the team. In touching moments, we're up close, and in action-packed, we have a bunch of weird angles that frame everything we need to see. We don't just get minimalist shots here it all seems like there's a couple cameramen on the court that don't show up on the camera. But there isn't really much to do in this episode, nothing of significance, so there's no real highlights.
Story
4/5
Unfortunately, the main subbers seem to have disbanded, and all I can find at the moment are raws. But trust me, this time you can just about understand what's going on, with the magical proterty that it's-crack-and-therefore-doesn't-really-matter. I'd guess it's something about a surprise trip (Oh, their parents must be soooooo stretched, what with the fancy rackets, shoes, and visiting your captain for a day in Germany) to Osaka to build morale, meet shitnhouji for a random set of joke matches, or for the lulz. Or, they were going somewhere else, and they got on the wrong plane. Personally, at the little scene with Koharu Konjiki and Yuuji HitÅji (Yes, the series' one canon couple. Yes, that's it.) I like to think that Konjiki is not noticing the Seigaku regulars are there, but that he's suddenly yelling why he was wearing the dress when he's the seme. It's just soooooo much more fun that way. It does a great job at showing characters characters, which is really what the OVA is about. I don't get the apple, though, or the random HigaChuu in their bedrom (But I do love the TE-ZU-KA scream)
Presentation
3/5
In this, there wasn't too much of a focus on sports, nor on fighting, rivalries (but there was a bit of a rivalry-fueled scene, but it took place in a bedroom with a ton of bishies and there was a pillow fight and the pillows were black an white and... frilly... But I don't think that counts. Unlike normal tradition, the serving shots weren't all about shirts rising up and awkward leg views.
Sound
3/5
A bit better than normal, but just a bit. The opening and ending are catchy, upbeat, a bit cheesy, and is something that, without, wouldn't be my PoT. The voice acting reveals a lot about personality, and they have quite a nice pool of talent, as always. But it's not that radically different from the normal series.
Overall
4/5
This OVA's purpose is to compile a couple oneshots, show the futures and pasts of some of the characters, and, I suspect, give the fans some more of what they want. It was certainly quite better in some areas than the series, but it, well, it didn't have the drive behind it. It did, however, replace it with silly humor and ridiculous things that shouldn't have made me laugh, but did. Normally, that'd make me worry, because it's so out of nowher, but it works so well into this show's long history. Not perfect, but it's above the effort I've come to expect.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment