Its not, but if you go in expecting a 'good' representation of the manga (let alone the novel) it comes across as painfully compromised.
One of the better observations of the anime I read. While I believe the anime more than stands up on its own merits, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss the nudity and gore.
Its not, but if you go in expecting a 'good' representation of the manga (let alone the novel) it comes across as painfully compromised.
If by painfully compromised you mean having to dial what right wing politics was still in the manga, as well as having to edit out the extreme gore, nudity and sexual violence there is in the manga due to censors existing for televised shows meant for early to mid teens, then yes, it's been heavily compromised. Because it's now an anime. Anime's have censorship when aired on television, expect the dvd/bluray releases to have all the gore, nudity and rape that the anime lacked.
If by painfully compromised you mean having to dial what right wing politics was still in the manga, as well as having to edit out the extreme gore, nudity and sexual violence there is in the manga due to censors existing for televised shows meant for early to mid teens, then yes, it's been heavily compromised. Because it's now an anime. Anime's have censorship when aired on television, expect the dvd/bluray releases to have all the gore, nudity and rape that the anime lacked.
I think the politics were still in the anime a near equal amount, like one of the most obvious moments when Rory was speaking to congress. I can't say if the light novel had more or not.
As for the censorship, I don't know if the show was created from the beginning with that in mind. Its like in monster musume or dragonball z, you can tell that they censored the hell out of the anime because of either censor bars or no blood, but here, it didn't seem like that. If I'm wrong, then that's great because I'll now have the experience I wanted out of the anime.
I've not read the manga or the light novel, but even to me, the first episode seemed cut short a LOT. I mean, we have this gate opening up in the middle of the city, then soldiers storming out of it, starting to slay the curious civilians. So far, so good, but then the army shows up almost immediately, without any details explaining how they were alarmed, the confusion of what is happening, etc. This first battle should have been drawn out over three episodes at least.
I've not read the manga or the light novel, but even to me, the first episode seemed cut short a LOT. I mean, we have this gate opening up in the middle of the city, then soldiers storming out of it, starting to slay the curious civilians. So far, so good, but then the army shows up almost immediately, without any details explaining how they were alarmed, the confusion of what is happening, etc. This first battle should have been drawn out over three episodes at least.
You'd be surprised how much shorter it was in the manga.
You'd be surprised how much shorter it was in the manga.
Heh. Just read the first four chapters in the manga and, yes, it was much, much shorter. Disappointingly so, actually. So far, I like the anime way better than the manga, which is super rare for me.
Different strokes for different folks. I utterly despise the looks of the characters in the anime.
They're not so good, I agree, but story-telling wise, the anime is better than the manga, in my opinion, at least until now.
The manga makes a very basic mistake, that a lot of authors make: Insufficient explanations of settings, events and people's actions. The author has it all in his head, so it makes perfect sense to him, but forgets that the readers don't have that information. Good authors know that and can explain settings, events and actions so that they make sense to the reader/watcher.
Not explaining everything can work in fanfiction, because here it is assumed that the reader understands the particular settings the story takes part in and how the protagonists are going to react to things happening around them. If the fanfiction takes part in an alternative universe, then the author once again has the responsibility to explain it all for us. It's a tough job, but it's critically important to the story.
I actually really liked the redesigns to the fantasy world characters, like Pina trading her stupid actual plate bust for the unconvincing boob window and Rory going from a lolita princess doll to an anime priestess figma. That being said, the reduced detail to the regular world's equipment is a disappointment, like all the subtle details on the guns and uniforms being mostly gone. Its the trade off when going from a manga to an anime unfortunately.
As for explaining, I think both the anime and manga do an okay job of it. The variable is whether or not the reader/watcher knows the politics of the world or Japan at the time and how the military works in general. I had just the common knowledge, so certain phrases and logic I couldn't understand at first. When it came to the fantasy world, I think they did a good job of keeping us in the dark, because the entire idea behind the gate is that we don't know whats behind it, so just as the protagonist learns something, so do we. What becomes a problem later on is that the manga and anime cannot convey the information learned over months, so later chapters and episodes includes information the reader/watcher is just expected to know. Its only a minor thing, but for someone who loves this series, its a pain.
I've read all the manga chapters now and holy shit, the story gets awesome!
I'm looking forward to how the anime will handle the battle with the dragon, as it's intensely brutal and violent (as it should be!) and I don't see any way they can avoid showing some of the most brutal scenes, as they are essential to the story (no spoilers!).
And oh my, how I am looking forward to see Kuribayashi give her knuckles a good workout...!