Caligula (aka J-Pop Will Kill You)

Basically "The Animatrix: Reloaded".

Shikishima Ritsu is just your ordinary psychology student who has been feeling… odd lately. Everything around him seems normal but slightly off at the same time. And he feels like he's the only one noticing these anomalies, which seem somewhat connected to a virtual idol singer named "μ" who's been all the rage lately. Ritsu and several other people in the city will gradually realize that those glitches they're witnessing aren't hallucinations. And that some mysterious powers aren't at all okay with these people "waking up".

Only two episodes so far, but this is really quite intriguing. The directing and sound desing help to sell the increasing discrepencies in the characters' awareness. And boy does this show manage to make J-Pop sound creepy. But the weirdest thing about it all is probably the tiny floating girl tagging along with Shougo. What's up with that? >.>

So basically Superidol?

Watched it and its pretty interesting so far. Mu interested me tho..... in all seriousness, should this show be classified as Genre Busting or not?

I haven't played the game because it seemed pretty meh from what I saw but this anime is interesting so far as Ritsu tries to adjust to his life breaking apart and the visual and sound direction taken really enhances that.

Peter Pan Syndrome was really catchy and I checked out the original game version and I actually like its anime rearrangement better.

Probably this could be the type of the anime that I would watch haha but yeah.... Cant wait for the next episode though

So.....Anyone watched the 3rd Episode yet? It was.....okay I guess. We saw the dark side of Mifue about her hating fat people but yea.....

Oh my god… The protagonist looking like Battler… the creepy tea parties… cute girls "granting your wishes" in ways you didn't ask… the clock motif… this really is Umineko.

Joke aside, I really enjoyed this episode. The conclusion was a bit… eeh, but the directing was really effective and there were even some darkly funny bits, nya. But boy, headphone girl really needs to look around her more often. >.>

Dunno… I have some problems with the whole idea of "genre busting", since no work belongs to one single genre in the first place… I guess this one would be Sci-fi Psychological Thriller or something?

edited 24th Apr '18 1:59:59 PM by Lyendith

Hmmmm I see..... Actually I love the trope by the by and I thought it could be a bit of a genre busting anime given the anime ks all about Pop Idol taking over virtual world,Action,Thriller and Mysterg but thats just me

Eeh, kinda.

Episode 4 is this time focused on Suzuna and Smeagol. Not as over-the-top as episode 3 but it brings the main party together in a pretty nice way and I found the discussion about Gollum pretty interesting actually. The conclusion was a bit too conventional, but eh. I like Suzuna as a character at least.

Episode 5… We're introduced to the fourth and seemingly final girl of the group, but I'm a bit confused. Why did Kotono awaken a weapon when Rits & co. didn't? I also didn't care much for the beauty contest − it made the episode a bit tonally off to me. And the animation took a bit of a nosedive too.

But it seems like we're getting into the core of the story now and that the Monster of the Week formula will take a backseat, so I'm curious to see how all of this develops. It might become a bit more action-focused now.

Yeah, episode 5 felt really disjointed with everyone split up. The concept of making ultimately shallow attachments to others to stay in the virtual reality has some merit but feels really vapid in execution.

So episode 6 is the "Avengers moment" for our heroes. I'm torn between liking the developments and cringing at the low-budget animation. But man, Mu's high note at the end was something to behold. Especially when her singing gradually devolves into screaming. That's a lot of pain to endure.

And Mu is a girl who has past ties to Ritsu… the Umineko flashbacks are getting even stronger!

...It feels like we just cleared the prologue

µ's breakdown was pretty great, though the sheer size of the cast bogged down the rest of the episode

True, I hadn't realized until now how many fucking characters there were in this show. Though I do remember all of them, which is a good point. X)

Seen the latest episode............I can relate to μ on so many levels IMO and I felt her pain. Though have to admit that yeah, the pacing is kind of jumbled up

So the integration of J-Pop is really this show's biggest strength, while it's been effective so far especially with μ's breakdown, I just hope it doesn't turn into a crutch for the show.

Pacing was slightly better since they were all heading towards one point, and the Producers all got a little character moment so there's a good idea of what they're like now.

I think with all the background and world building all practically done (though it would be better if they focused on Naruko, Izuru, Kotaro and maybe Kensuke a bit more), we going into a stage where the 'Go Home Club' go head on with the musicians and progress the plot.

We still haven't seen the Wicked and Shadow Knife, though their nature is well in spoiler region and mid-end game, so I don't expect to see them until the near end.

edited 15th May '18 12:42:46 PM by lastfight5

welp μ has just doubled down on trying to make everyone happy instead of reflecting on the individual's needs

IMO the episode just being about the club sitting down for hot pot was good to step back and have a breather but the Rescue Man gags started to grate after it kept interrupting the flow.

The Rescue Man parts is very important for Kotato's backstory, which will be revealed once we get to one of the Musician, which will also serve as the turning point

However, it would've been nice if this episode has Kensuke wanting to join the Go-Home Club and being tested upon it.

Dunno… Seeing her tears at the end, Mu might be starting to realize that her approach is a little… flawed. My headcanon for now is that she's actually a part of Ritsu's consciousness that took human form − a materialization of his past idealism or something… I'm probably wrong, but I'm starting to expect anything from this show. X)

The hot pot part was pretty nice indeed, and I didn't mind the Rescue Man part. What I do mind is that… I feel like the series is skipping some steps regarding the characters. Like, last episode I thought that Marie was just an ordinary girl that happened to know Ritsu, but turns out she is part of the Go-Home Club… and I can't remember when she joined it, or even when she was introduced. I'll really need to rewatch this show from the start when it's over…

As a side note, I like the stylistic experimentations this show does in some parts, like the "pastel dream" sequence in this one. It does feel a little gratuitous at times, but at least it gives the series a nice visual identity.

edited 21st May '18 6:14:02 AM by Lyendith

So Episode 8 shines some light on the Musicians and just how much they rely on Mu to provide for everything and IkeP is one of the less terrible ones to focus on, however since the last episode was mainly about what the Go-Home Club's doing in the aftermath with Mu's awakening as the ominous coda, and then this episode has to not only do that again, but focus on the Musicians and it feels a bit overextended in doing so. Some scenes probably could've been shuffled around to make the narrative tighter.

I didn't really mind, it was nice to get some spotlight on the Musicians as a sort of second protagonist group rather than just antagonists. They're all pathetic in their own distinct ways. I wish it had been done a bit more gradually, but there are so many characters already…

Splitting up the party is always a bad idea, Kotaro why.

Ritsu just seems to have straight up abandoned the club in favor of reality or something, kinda cold to do that but hopefully next episode we'll finally figure out who he exactly is.

Shadow Knife's song is probably my second favorite Mu song so far.

I’ll be honest; this episode kinda missed the mark. It supposed to be a Wham Episode, but to me, it feels like it doesn’t have that much impact.

First off, the confrontation between Shadow Knife and Kotaro. They both dealt with varying degrees of being bullied, but honestly, the way it’s executed, it’s not that great. It would’ve been better if one of the victims straight up admit with confidence he did the bullying to Shadow Knife, only to get the stare from Kotaro.

Speaking of Shadow Knife, for all the praise I gave this anime for world building, the building on him is really lacking. It’s as if Wicked just interrupted his character building.

Finally, what the hell is Ristu is doing? That doesn’t sound leader like for him to abandon his team at the end. Why did he decide to go to that door while everyone else return to the club room? At times like this no less.

While I’m not expecting Attack on Titan season 2 episode 6 level of Wham Episode, it could’ve been better.

edited 4th Jun '18 2:47:08 AM by lastfight5

You know, I'm starting to think this show should have been 26 episodes… It's been several times already that I felt like I had missed an episode, and as pointed out this one felt very rushed and underwhelming as a result… Shadow Knife and Kotarou's character arc should have taken at least a full episode. It's like Angel Beats all over again when you think about it.

And there's that character called Marie that seemingly appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as suddenly with no explanation… I'm confuse…

Hell, the preview even trolled me with the "Next, final episode… not"