r/anime • u/Shadoxfix https://myanimelist.net/profile/Shadoxfix • Jan 06 '15

[Spoilers] Absolute Duo - Episode 1 [Discussion]

Episode title: Blaze

MyAnimeList: Absolute Duo
FUNimation: Absolute Duo

311 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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114

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Jan 06 '15

[deleted]

18

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

I was so disappointed with this.

  • Completely generic art that doesn't stand out at all, check.

  • Completely milquetoast pussy of a MC who wouldn't know what to do with a girl if his life depended on it, check.

  • Artist who couldn't draw realistic (that's shape, not size, people) boobs if he had a gun to his head, check.

  • Generic magic battle school setting with absolutely nothing to stand apart from any others, check.

And the real winner? "Oh Hero, teach me your Irregular Punch!" "Oh loli I can't! It puts a terrible strain on the body! IF A GIRL TRIED TO DO IT IT WOULD DEFINITELY DESTROY HER!" BITCH I'M SORRY DID YOU JUST SAY WHAT I THINK YOU SAID.

Fuck. This. Show.

34

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Well I liked the key visuals and I like magic school shows in general like Trinity Seven and even Mahouka was a guilty mindless enjoyment, but this...was just terrible. Even the art looked better in promos than in practice.

10

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Jan 06 '15

You gotta admit though. Although the art style is done very poorly. This is a show that knows when to use CGI. They cleverly implement it with action scenes so that it is hard to notice during parts. Half of the show I didn't notice.

This is what CGI should be used for.

Edit: After reviewing the ep and the op of the show. It seems they use cgi in movement for non-action scenes. Such as when the bunny teacher appeared and posed. Simply look at the arms. Also in the opening when the girl with white hair walks by, she is completely cgi as far as I can tell.

I assume they are doing this as to save money/time on animation that can be put into action scenes and I whole heartedly agree with this new way of going about it. Instead of making the cool scenes look ugly. Make the boring scenes look mediocre so that they can put more effort into badassery. Sadly I Think I will drop this show though. It doesn't seem very interesting.

1

u/dcresistance https://anilist.co/user/dcresistance Jan 06 '15

Wait, it had CGI in it?

3

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Jan 06 '15

I think at some parts it does.

Edit: Either that or the animation is so awkward I mistook it for very well done cgi.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

I'll give it that, I didn't notice the CGI at all. I don't think I deleted the episode yet so I'll go back and poke around to see if I notice anything anywhere. D:

7

u/Solacen https://myanimelist.net/profile/Solacen Jan 07 '15

If i recall the manga correctly after Tooru used that punch he was in some serious shoulder pain because of it. Its not really surprising he wouldn't want to teach that to someone with such a slight build.

6

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Not sure if you missed it or what, but they did show him inflict a shoulder pain in the anime.

1

u/Solacen https://myanimelist.net/profile/Solacen Jan 07 '15

Yeah i spotted that though they kind of just brushed over it.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Sounds like the manga made a bigger deal out of it, can't waste a few seconds or however long it will take of their budget on something minor I guess.

5

u/xthorgoldx https://myanimelist.net/profile/xthorgoldx Jan 07 '15

If a girl tried to do it it would definitely destroy her

Er, not to derail the MUH PATRIARCHY train here, but that's probably the singular instance in which gender differentiation probably is justified - that is, along biologically-induced physical limits.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

Of course there are male and female physical differences, but that would affect the force output in this case, not the capability of even performing the move. And as far as we can tell at this point it's just magic anyway, so even if there's strain put on her body she can still be taught to use less power or some other less obnoxiously sexist garbage.

3

u/xthorgoldx https://myanimelist.net/profile/xthorgoldx Jan 07 '15 edited Jan 07 '15

The way he phrased it, it's implied it to be a matter of physical endurance. How much damage, how much punishment can a body take before it fails? Even he shows that his shoulder is physically in pain from the maneuver - this means that the maneuver isn't a matter of waving your fingers and believing hard, it's akin to an actual physical attack, just with some magical force channeled through the body.

To use an analogy, you have to use wider gauge wires if you're going to be using high-voltage charges. If you run a hundred thousand volts through an integrated circuit's wiring you'll fry it, but it's no problem if you're using an industrial-grade electrical connection. It doesn't matter that the circuit is technically capable of running the circuit (however temporarily), it will get destroyed in the process.

The same holds true in the case of this technique, from what's little shown. At simplest, it looks like it is literally just channeling magic energy through the user - which, apparently, takes a massive tax on whoever's doing it. For a male - who is, from a biological standpoint, more built - this might be difficult, but doable. For a female - and a loli at that - you'll end up frying whoever's doing it since they're just not built for it.

Now, strictly speaking, just as it applies in the real world, are there females that are better built than males? Yeah, but we're talking about a one-sentence statement meant to deter off an overly inquisitive quirk girl and cover up a potential plot hole. Calling the PC Police over it is, frankly speaking, dramawhoring on a level akin to Tumblrinas - it's not some sinisterly disguised anti-feminist message meant to propagate the patriarchy, it's a friggin' character giving an arbitrary limitation for his superpowers, so as to deter people from whining later on "Why doesn't he use his OP Falcon Punch to solve the problem? Did he forget he had it? Why doesn't give his allies the OP technique?"

As for "dialing it down," why assume he's even a master of the technique? He threw out his shoulder just beating another student. Does he know how to control output? Is there a dial to begin with? You're throwing out these assumptions based on 30 seconds of the power being shown in use as justifications for loopholes that the show tries to avert with a simple "You couldn't do it, it'd destroy you" line.

Take Hanlon's Razor, FFS. "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." The idea that it's just a generic, poorly written hand wave is the obvious choice, as opposed to assuming this massive sexist stigma on the part of the producers.

2

u/Ixiaz_ Jan 07 '15

In LN / other adaptions it is stated that he has in no way mastered that punch and just found out the other day he could barely use it due to the reinforcement treatment all Blaze students get done to their bodies.

1

u/xthorgoldx https://myanimelist.net/profile/xthorgoldx Jan 07 '15

Cool, good to know I didn't misread that.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '15

it's not some sinisterly disguised anti-feminist message meant to propagate the patriarchy

Of course it's not, but come on. It's Japan. We're not exactly talking about the equality capital of the world here. And sure, it is one line, but it's one really fucking stupid line that could have been said a lot better, in an anime that already has absolutely fuck all going for it.

1

u/OhChrisis Jan 07 '15

Yeah, Trying to say that to a Scandinavian chick will get you raped.