Shounen Orient by Shinobu Ohtaka

[Tamil]

LCP

I really wasnt expecting much, but god damn the 1st episode is rough, like really really rough. I know that the Engoku Tengu arc has a mid start, but the anime made it look even less appealing. Shame Ohtaka drew the short straw with the anime adaptation.
Honestly the best thing at this moment is the OST. Its really good.
Other than that, i have a feeling we gonna see lots of power point presentations in the next episodes.

It was rough. The shitty part is that while its hardly animated, they aren't improving the pacing at all. This engoku arc should only be 2 episodes, I feel bad for anime onlys that have to endure this arc longer than 2 episodes (this arc singlehandedly started the downhill of the series popularity lol). There's a lot of action so it can totally be summarized in 2 episodes. Orient really needs that Fire Force anime pacing (another manga had a rough start)

OST's were great and the OP/ED is growing on me.


If I had to make a prediction on Orient's animation quality, I think it will be very inconsistent, not going downhill as many people think it will be. We've already seen nice clips for the Daito Mine arc from Shiro/Nanao PV. This production is 100% a mess though and if it ever does get a S2 they should hand it off to JC Staff or collab with them (& ideally kick this current director out)

At least I'm happy this cut wasn't in the opening so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Best animated cut we've seen by far. It does look like maybe from the OP/ED but I hope I'm wrong. Regardless looks great

It's ripped from the anime website (they added clips and this was the only new one)

 

[Valhalla]

LCP

It was rough. The shitty part is that while its hardly animated, they aren't improving the pacing at all. This engoku arc should only be 2 episodes, I feel bad for anime onlys that have to endure this arc longer than 2 episodes (this arc singlehandedly started the downhill of the series popularity lol). There's a lot of action so it can totally be summarized in 2 episodes. Orient really needs that Fire Force anime pacing (another manga had a rough start)

OST's were great and the OP/ED is growing on me.


If I had to make a prediction on Orient's animation quality, I think it will be very inconsistent, not going downhill as many people think it will be. We've already seen nice clips for the Daito Mine arc from Shiro/Nanao PV. This production is 100% a mess though and if it ever does get a S2 they should hand it off to JC Staff or collab with them (& ideally kick this current director out)

At least I'm happy this cut wasn't in the opening so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Shame her Orient intro arc wasnt appealing to the community and lost popularity cuz of that, but its understandable. The start was slow, weird and all over the place.
Then again i think thats how Ohtaka usually writes her stories (minus the weird stuff). She is a very slow builder. Even Magi did not start with a bang, it was super slow with its intro, and the manga wasnt all that popular back then. I think it was when it got adapted that it exploded. I hated A1 for cutting the entire 1st and 2nd chapter of Magi and rearranging it in a different way, but i did understand why they did it. The pace would be too slow if adapted as it was in the manga and potentially boring to some.
They could have done something similar with Orient. If nothing else, like you said, blow through the Engoku arc as quickly as possible, max 2 episodes. And then onto better things (although i would argue that even the Kosameda arc was still a bit mid and didnt do Ohtaka any favors ... i think that Daito Mine is where it truly begins with the hype, and honestly the hype didnt stop since then, for me at least).

In the end we ended up with a third rate animation team doing a mid intro arc as close as possible and with barely any good animation. Its rough man. Honeslty I wasnt even sold on Nanao's and Shiro's PV.



Bessatsu Magazine cover, February edition

 

[Tamil]

Orient volume 15 cover preview

I would also recommend watching this week's episode of Orient. It's story boarded & directed by Hiroaki Takagi.

 

[Valhalla]

Pretty cool. Hojo and the worker girl.
Kinda back to form regarding the volume covers imo. Wasnt blown away by the previous two.


lol because i went through the raws without translation i actually didnt realize Hojo was a white crystal bushi. I thought he was green because of the strong barrier he made around him. Its hard to tell with the manga since all the crystals look the same

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 10, 2022, Original Post Date: Feb 17, 2022 ---

God damn the translations, still nothing for the next arc. Despite that i really couldnt help myself and just blew through the raws with some summaries here and there.

The new arc with the Hojo bushi is super interesting. At least it looks that way lol. Just when i realized Shishikado was a white bushi, he pulls out some crazy space shit against one of the black dogs in one of the newer chapters that i did not read yet at the time when the new cover released. It seems like White bushi powers are space related. Which would further explain Shiro's unique ridiculous powers.
And to top it off a pretty neat Jisai flashback using his powers as a host of the OG.
Can Kodansha finally give Orient a simulpub

Really cool volume cover. It will take a while to get a physical release but im really looking forward to buying it.

 

[Tamil]

Michiru will be voiced by Kiyono Yasuno

Spoiler

This is really hinting at S2 but why even bother when S1 was such a mess. They most likely won't but they better find another studio or at least collab with JC Staff,

 

[Vortigern]

Introducing Michiru in the last episode certainly does seem to hint at a season 2, but it could also just be an attempt to get the audience to pick up the manga to find out why she's important. The Awaji Island arc was when the story really took off for me, so I would like to see that arc animated even if the quality is a little iffy at times. However, is the series really popular enough to warrant producing another season, presumably a 24 episode one at that? I was hoping that the anime would generate some buzz for the series, so it was disappointing to see the English speaking world pretty much ignore it. I guess the reception in Japan has been more positive?

 

[Valhalla]

Went and watched the season finale just so that i could see and hear Michiru. Pretty decent, and ok VA choice. Still not a fan of the animation, and i really doubt that will improve in season 2, unless they find another studio for some reason (which wont happen of course).

Another good VA choice is definitely Toshiyuki Morikawa for the leader of the Obsidian Eight. It really fits.

 

[Tamil]

Second cour for Orient has been announced for Summer 2022 and here's a celebration illustration from Ohtaka

Strong VA cast for Awaji Island arc

 

[Valhalla]

Cover for Awaji Island arc, and Kuroko VA

 

[Tamil]

That visual looks great mainly because Kishida designed it much like the very first visual we got of the first cour. I would imagine the second visual for the Awaji island wont look as good as this since he may not design that

 

[Valhalla]

Same old same old, but the VAs sound are pretty decent. Anime only people getting Kanetatsu and Kuroko and Seiroku and Akihiro of course




On the other hand, the manga ....

Spoiler

Musashi vs Kazumasa ... god damn the translations, and where is the simulpub, shit is getting crazy in the latest arc

Spoiler

 

[Tamil]

PV looks bland as usual. The only main praises I can give to the anime is the voice acting selection, backgrounds & the ED (it really grew on me )

This summer visual looks nice and also the artstyle here, while being different from Ohtaka, still is nice. I believe the character designer of Highschool DxD has done this

The manga is heating up and looks like Ohtaka answered many of our wishes with Musashi going back to a pickaxe (well it's more of scythe but very interesting weapon choice for an MC). I hope it stays that way

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 9, 2022, Original Post Date: May 22, 2022 ---

Second cour PV


EDIT : WOW these raws have been intense. It looks like the monthly schedule is working out well. More than anything we desperately need a simulpub or sensescans to have a bigger team

 

[Valhalla]

New volume cover

Jisai vs Kazumasa (not sure why but it seems like instead of black crystals like all the other Obsidian siblings, he has white crystals)

Plus i think this might be on the back. If not on this one, then the previous one
Young Shihikado and Kojiro

 

[Tamil]

Yes, that is the back cover for volume 16. Most likely a coincidence but volume 16 of Magi has similar coloring lol.

Also brief backstory of Kuroko/Naoe is updated on her blog

2022年6月30日 – 大高忍の手書きブログ

大高忍は June 30, 2022に 1 件の投稿を公開しました

otakashinobu.wordpress.com

Pretty neat visual for anime merch

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 2, 2022, Original Post Date: Jul 1, 2022 ---

New visual for Orient 2nd cour

Seiroku will be voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki & Yataro by Tomokazu Sugita

 

[Valhalla]

They got another good VA in their lineup
Gintoki/Joseph Joestar/Katakuri as Yataro

And it looks like Seiroku got Lemillion from MHA

 

[Tamil]

OP/ED

--- Double Post Merged, Aug 9, 2022, Original Post Date: Jul 12, 2022 ---

Raws for Orient 132 was fantastic, best fight so far in the series. Imagine having bones or an actual good studio animate this

Actually these past chapters have been consistently great. A shame we have no simulpub or consistent translations.

 

[animeangryfan4]

Dont really know what is happneing though to which raw is before translation but it seems that the dad is deeply connected more then before.

 

[Tamil]

Back cover illustration of Orient volume 17

 

[Valhalla]

Back cover illustration of Orient volume 17

Nice cover, kinda reminiscent of Volume 9 back cover with the crystal color categories. Only this time its the Obsidian Eight.
I like the Mikito-Katsumi chain connection in the pic

 

[Tamil]

Orient volume 17 cover