I have to admit that this was better than I was expecting. Even graded on a curve, Wakusaver's first episode was just okay. Dinnovator's first episode, by contrast, is stronger. It seems to have a better idea of what it wants to do, and I feel benefits from using a straightforward plot instead of doing things
in medias res.
Two series and 6 episodes in, GIGA's strengths and weaknesses are becoming clearer. The short episodes are a major bummer, and it's particularly problematic for the first episode, which ends up being an exposition dump. They're also clearly hard-up for good filming sites (so many garages), so I was a bit surprised by how much was shot outside here.
Compared to the first episode of Wakusaver, it's easy to see right off the bat that both the fight choreography and the cinematography have improved. This is probably due to the fact that there are only 3 characters to keep tabs on instead of 5, but either way, the action is a bit more impressive, and we don't have any weird camera shots to hide a lack of action.
The introduction is practically seizure-inducing, however. Seriously, the amount of flashing (the bad kind) is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not sure how someone at GIGA didn't pick up on that in production. On the plus side? The OP is better. Checking the wiki, it's the same artists, but far fewer verses are sung in harmony, which wasn't all that harmonious in the Wakusaver OP.
As for our star/heroine/victim-to-be, while this is a bit of a hot take since it's only the first episode, I think I like her more than Waku Pink. Her voice isn't nasally - though she's still a bit soft-spoken for a hero - and she doesn't have that unfortunate lizard eye thing going on with her makeup. And though I can't put my finger on it as to why, the giant red bow in her hair is oddly amusing. You just don't see that kind of thing these days. Bonus points are also due to the actress for running around in ballet slippers, which I understand to be
quite painful due to the lack of support.
Finally, the MOTW was great proof that there's a very fine line between "horrifying" and "horrible". It's ever so slightly asymmetrical, which makes it off-putting. And I can't tell if that's intentional to freak out the audience, or just careless craftsmanship. Past that, I think someone nailed it by calling it a TMNT reject.
takenoko wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:58 pm
This lady has some big eyes.
I didn't notice it the first time around, but now that you mention it, you're right. Those are some big peepers.
What? There's a dark Dinnovator?
Well if they're doing a B-Fighter homage, then they have to do Black Beet/Shadowborg. It's pretty much mandatory.
There's a certain irony in designing such detailed costumes when the entire point of their productions is to get the actress
out of the suit.
Ashki wrote: ↑Mon Aug 23, 2021 6:48 am
I'm actually a bit more iffy on the costumes for this one, but mainly because they look more like some robo anime than metal hero.
Agreed. They're relatively well-designed suits, but they're missing that extra layer of polish to give them a metallic look. So they end up looking closer to colored plastic (which is what they're made out of) than they do faux metal.
"It shows she's full of spunk" No, that's not until episode 5.
Okay, that was well played.
