Not familiar with GeekNights, but I'm down for this.
Where will the future episodes be hosted?

I was a bit doubtful at first glimpse, but I gave it a chance, and you know it was a really entertaining watch, highlighted some points I hadn't thought about and the pair are quite likeable and witty. I'll definately be tuning in for future videos!

Will definately be looking forward to their take on the Black Rose Saga, that was a real head-scratcher x3

Last edited by Tardigrade (12-05-2012 04:58:44 PM)

Episode 3 is up! Bahhh really wish these would be produced faster because I want more analysis like this pronto. That fucking shadow play with the two dogs! I never got that one until now and then they explained it and I was like "FUCKIN' A WHY DIDN'T I SEE THAT FFFFFFFFFFFF". Similar feeling with the explanations behind the uniforms/dresses and Touga's brewing plan.

I think my having missed a bunch of these things may just be a remnant of the fact that I've been more dismissive of the Student Council arc ever since I became a fan. I am just used to not thinking about that part of the show as hard as I think about the rest of it because I have always automatically described that arc like: "Oh there are clues about the future of the show there and it has a killer conclusion, but mostly it's just the fluffier, normal-ish season that's there to trick people into getting invested in the show before it reveals its true nature." That general purpose of the arc is still valid, I think, but I'm really starting to get the sense now that the dismissive part of my thinking is unwarranted, and I'm kicking myself over that. There are probably a lot more details and structures that I just never even bothered to consider because I was too busy thinking about everything in terms of the show's big picture. I need to break my lazy viewing habits next time I revisit these episodes for myself.

Last edited by Eryn Cerise (01-19-2013 12:42:36 AM)

I really like their take on Miki's stopwatch.

Holy man, yeah, I never consciously singled out the screaming in my mind before. In combination with the red and white font they used when they pointed that out, it made the scene feel like something straight out of a creepypasta. o.o Very cool indeed! I did tie that scene in the crowd to the later scenes in the show before, but yeah, that screaming, man. I love that I can still find all these new things to appreciate about the show.

Other things I never thought about (or never thought about very clearly):

- The possibility of reading every scene that takes place after a shadow play as a "duel" of some kind, whether it's a literal duel or not.
- Nanami being so strangely prescient about Anthy's weirdness
- Utena's grades and Chu Chu messing up Utena's homework as supporting symbols of her being drawn away from the "real world"

Last edited by Eryn Cerise (02-17-2013 10:26:16 PM)

Anyone else feeling like these guys are totally showing up IRG in their analysis? They're managing to find things I don't know if anyone on this site has ever talked about!

That said, I can't wait to see what previously unnoticed detail they're going to show us next. It's embarrassing to the forum to admit, but I'm eager to hear more of what these two have to say just the same.

I think the IRG community has always offered spectacular analysis on theme, story and characters, but it's often in a broader, big picture kind of way. I've seen some great detail-oriented stuff too, but not really as much as you'd think there'd be. I've read stuff like that one great essay by Celeste about episode 33 that offers that kind of in-depth, detail-oriented analysis, but yeah, overall I think I've traditionally seen more of the bigger thematic discussions around here.

Mostly I think what Rym & Scott are doing is just meticulous close reading of individual scenes/shots/dialogue exchanges/etc. Only analyzing one episode at a time gives them a good opportunity to take that extra time to take all those notes and do that close reading, which turns up a bunch of gems of insight one might not get otherwise. Also, forcing themselves to not get into spoiler territory necessarily stops them from spiralling off too far into big picture stuff and mostly focusing on what's in front of them at the moment. Never mind that they're just smart dudes who are clearly passionate about the show, and yeah, it creates a nice little storm of awesome analysis.

So yeah, they're definitely good, but I wouldn't call them better than IRG or vice versa. It's just different kinds of analysis that each contribute their own bits of understanding to our collective perception of the show.

Last edited by Eryn Cerise (02-19-2013 03:11:15 AM)

I really hate to bump the thread for a post like this, but...

I didn't want to believe what I'd found, but I discovered a glaring error in their discussion of Miki's stopwatch:

They say it stops at 3 minutes 12 seconds, but after thinking about it (and making use of the app on my phone myself) I realized upon checking again that the time is actually 3 seconds 12 milliseconds, as to my knowledge stopwatches (including Miki's) are meant to keep track at least 3 notations of time: minutes, seconds, and milliseconds... and I strongly doubt Miki is the kind of person who would carry a stopwatch that tracked [hours/minutes/seconds]. I don't think they even make them like that.

Thus, this kind of ruins the basis of their theory.

On the upside though, I happened to find in ep.28 that he stops it at exactly the same time as in ep.1: 3 seconds, 12 milliseconds. Idk if anyone could make use of that info such that there might be a connection to draw from it, but I thought I'd mention it just because.

Episode 5 is up! This is mostly stuff that I'd already figured out for myself, but it still helps to solidify that stuff in my mind. Also it's a good fresh look at a lot of the little moments I often take for granted when I re-watch the series, like when the spinning roses appear, little snippets of dialogue, changes in facial expression, etc.

Chrome Homura wrote:

They say it stops at 3 minutes 12 seconds, but after thinking about it (and making use of the app on my phone myself) I realized upon checking again that the time is actually 3 seconds 12 milliseconds, as to my knowledge stopwatches (including Miki's) are meant to keep track at least 3 notations of time: minutes, seconds, and milliseconds... and I strongly doubt Miki is the kind of person who would carry a stopwatch that tracked [hours/minutes/seconds]. I don't think they even make them like that.

Thus, this kind of ruins the basis of their theory.

Interesting! Based on what I know of council and committee meetings, I know they can go on for quite a while, especially if they're important and minutes need to be taken. Never mind that lots of things are shown in this series that don't exist in real life or are crooked slightly so. Still, considering that the stopwatch does look like it's modelled after a real-world one, I would still say it's more likely that it does say 3 seconds, 12 milliseconds. The text isn't really clear, so there could still be some wiggle room, but yeah, more than likely I think you're right!

Regardless, I'd love to know what a potential theory behind the time being 3 seconds could be. Looking over the episode, the 3 seconds directly before the button is pressed covers the length of one of Saionji's lines: "We don't want you meddling in our affairs." This line in turn happens right after Saionji speaks about him and Anthy just being a pair of lovebirds; Miki then says "Lovebirds..." after stopping the watch, and he has a disturbed look on his face. Perhaps his mind went somewhere he didn't want it to go at the mention of (ahem) "private affairs" between Anthy and Saionji. Maybe the watch in that moment measured the amount of time it took Miki to go from zero to squick.

Still doesn't say much either way about what the stopwatch means in the grand scheme, but it is an interesting moment to consider.

Atropos wrote:

Every episode seems like they're Trying Too Hard(TM). And yet they hate the movie? What gives?

To be honest, I think they formed their opinions of the movie a long time ago and just haven't re-watched it in a long time. Either that or they just think it's pretentious, since in addition to its more objective flaws (i.e.: side characters that don't go anywhere and don't make sense to people who haven't seen the series; pacing issues), it communicates with its audience in a very different way than the TV series communicates. They might just not like that method of communication by comparison.

I could be way off base, though. I'm mainly drawing that conclusion based on my own feelings about the movie. Traditionally I've had the same hateboner for the movie that they do, and it wasn't until recently that that started to change for me. From the first time I saw it, I just felt like the movie couldn't live up to what the TV series had done and that it was nothing more than a hot, beautiful mess. It took studying hardcore film theory and seeing more actual experimental films to get me to give the movie more of a chance as its own thing. If it took that kind of extended experience to convert me, one of the stronger Utena movie haters I know, then I can imagine that it would take a lot to convince Rym and Scott too.

Last edited by Eryn Cerise (03-11-2013 05:20:36 PM)

With that episode I had the exact opposite thought. I never thought that they went to India. I don't know why exactly though. Episode eight was good though and so far the series is holding my interest.

soberdriver1 wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC4lD6j8psg&list=PL3eVql0CPrVh3UUsbw6sue7tj7-c5WBIN&index=14  They finally came out with reviews of episodes 11 and 12.

Just watched it... these guys are pretty entertaining