Gift: Eternal Rainbow Discussion Thread [Archive]

Suwako Moriya

10-06-2006, 02:59 AM

Official Site (http://www.gift-er.com/index.html). Yeah I know this was already mentioned in another thread, but I'm confident in assuming that this series should have its own separate thread. In any case I've just recently finished watching the first episode.

First thing I have to say is that Tisa makes me wonder who made Blonde Twin Tails popular? Not that I'm complaining since I'm a fan of them. Still I do have to wonder. My first guess is Sailor Moon, but perhaps I'm not educated enough in the anime arts to really know as it may have been someone else. After all she may not have been the first and even if you are the first it does not mean you are the one that made it popular.

In any case the first episode gives a good indication that this will probably be a love triangle/harem anime. As in the other girls will get their moment to shine, but the main competition will be between two girls. Cara and Kirino. Although episode 1 is more focused on Kirino. Of course this is just speculation on my part.

Too early for me to say which girl is my favorite. They're still setting things up for one thing. However I definitely have a liking for Tisa due to the hair thing and well she's was riding a broom. I also definitely like Kirino. She's just quite cute and something about her is quite appealing.

So as you can probably guess I kind of like the first episode. Granted it was nothing ground breaking or deep, but it was still pretty decent. I definitely want to see the second episode. Of course the fact the first episodes ends with Cara about to return probably helps.

something

10-06-2006, 03:16 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
First thing I have to say is that Tisa makes me wonder who made Blonde Twin Tails popular? Not that I'm complaining since I'm a fan of them.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm sure Sailor Moon or like you said, even an earlier character could have done it, but a lot of the characters like that look very familiar in recent years. The one these specific blond twintails girls remind me of first is Sakura from Da Capo. But whether or not it was her, or someone she was based on some time before is certainly beyond my knowledge. But I do think there had to be some girl in the last few years that really made it popular again because while I'm sure it's always been around, it seems like a major current design.

Skywise

10-06-2006, 07:06 AM

I really liked the concept of the gift as a story element. It kind of gives it more depth instead of just making it another harem anime, as you look at other side characters, not just the main one. One thing that's a bit of a turnoff however is the character designs of the eyes. Especially on the males the pupil seems to not only fill up the eyes, but also they're also kind of hexagon like. It gives them more of an otherworldly/insect like feel to me, so it's kind of creepy. It really is too bad as otherwise the character designs are quite nice.

treatment

10-06-2006, 11:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
I really liked the concept of the gift as a story element. It kind of gives it more depth instead of just making it another harem anime, as you look at other side characters, not just the main one. One thing that's a bit of a turnoff however is the character designs of the eyes. Especially on the males the pupil seems to not only fill up the eyes, but also they're also kind of hexagon like. It gives them more of an otherworldly/insect like feel to me, so it's kind of creepy. It really is too bad as otherwise the character designs are quite nice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah. The eyes were weird and freaked me out a bit. The panty-shots kinda help, tho I think the ps were to balance out the freaky-eyes. Aside from that, I just can't help shake the dc/dcss-vibe from it. I mean, there's a tree, a Nemu-clone, a Sakuranbo-clone, etc, etc. Then there's the DC-anorexia bug. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif /images/graemlins/relief.gif

However, the pacing seems pretty ok so far. The vocals are fine from both the males and the females. The BGMs are so-so. Hey, Kotori dyed her hair pink and now sports an antennae-bang. Oh, wait. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

At any rate, it's still quite a bit interesting even with the weird char/eye-designs.

treatment

10-14-2006, 02:36 PM

ep2 formally introduces Riko, the main girl I think.

I'd gotten used to the char-designs. Nothing spectacular or amazing happened, besides Haruhiko being hinted at having a sister-complex. Sorta like reverse-DaCapo. /images/graemlins/relief.gif

Suwako Moriya

10-14-2006, 03:11 PM

Heh maybe it's just me, but it seems in the episode Kirino gives Riko an angry stare or something that makes Riko take notice. Still I'm hoping to learn a bit more about the other girls before the two lead females go into full fledged cat fight mode. Also I hope the Da Capo comparisons don't go over board...

relentlessflame

10-14-2006, 08:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
Heh maybe it's just me, but it seems in the episode Kirino gives Riko an angry stare or something that makes Riko take notice.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't think it was just you... The tension between the two is already very visible. You can tell that they both already know how each other feels about Haruhiko. And Kirino stepping back at the end of the episode (sort of a "now that Riko's around, you don't need me as much anymore/I'm in the way") was definitely a sign of the rising jealousy. In other words, they both know, and I agree... I can't see this heading anywhere except conflict.

On another note, I'm a bit curious about how this is going to go. It seems the show is 12 episodes, with an extra 13th episode on DVD. Here's to hoping the producers aren't evil and leave things hanging until the DVD finale...

Suwako Moriya

10-15-2006, 09:47 AM

[ QUOTE ]
relentlessflame said:
On another note, I'm a bit curious about how this is going to go. It seems the show is 12 episodes, with an extra 13th episode on DVD. Here's to hoping the producers aren't evil and leave things hanging until the DVD finale...

[/ QUOTE ]

Well it's going to be a lot harder to have "character" episodes focused on letting us know about the other girls with only 13 episodes total. Still then again maybe they'll find a way. As for what episode 13 should contain. Part of me wants it to be worth the wait so it won't be just another episode. While another part feels people should not be left hanging and that it should not be needed.

treatment

10-16-2006, 12:20 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
Heh maybe it's just me, but it seems in the episode Kirino gives Riko an angry stare or something that makes Riko take notice. Still I'm hoping to learn a bit more about the other girls before the two lead females go into full fledged cat fight mode. Also I hope the Da Capo comparisons don't go over board...

[/ QUOTE ]

I dunno. I took it as Kirino just pulling either a Nemu or a Kotori, with Riko pulling a Sakuranbo. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif

btw, wasn't there a Riko camel-toe service in this ep2? It was a little too subtle that I almost didn't noticed. Or maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif /images/graemlins/relief.gif

Skywise

10-20-2006, 12:40 PM

Sort of. They fixed the eyes of the males, but the rest of the budget is still pretty bad, and the body proportion sucks. At least with the improved eyes it's more watchable.

Story wise this ep goes straight for the drama - I'll leave it to others to comment on it first. While the slight design upgrade and story focus means I'll keep watching it, this series is still pretty low on my priority list. I'd drop it straight if it was a 26 ep show, but since it's not it survives.

relentlessflame

10-20-2006, 09:54 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
Story wise this ep goes straight for the drama - I'll leave it to others to comment on it first.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, I guess I'll comment on it, then. :p In short, wow! It wasn't what I was expecting, though in retrospect, I should have seen it coming. This officially causes it to diverge from its D.C. similarities. It's obvious now that the first three episodes weren't the build-up for the finale, but rather the build-up for the end of this episode.

Riko spends the whole episode trying to get Haruhiko's attention, and practically spells out her love for him. And of course, Haruhiko's still on his high (that he explained in episode 1) because his promised girl had returned and, as per his stated belief, he thought he could carry on where they left off. With his growing jealousy and concern for Riko, combined with her not-so-subtle signals, he took the step that seemed most logical. He finally confesses to her... she mumbles about a promise with Kirino... and she says "sorry". He of course reads that as him being rejected... ...and I feel like saying "now the show really begins".

For me, the show just moved way up on the priority list. Things just got a lot more interesting, and it put a new spin on my take of the first two episodes as well. I'm looking forward to next week!

treatment

10-21-2006, 12:32 AM

[ QUOTE ]
relentlessflame said:
[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
Story wise this ep goes straight for the drama - I'll leave it to others to comment on it first.

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, I guess I'll comment on it, then. :p In short, wow! It wasn't what I was expecting, though in retrospect, I should have seen it coming. This officially causes it to diverge from its D.C. similarities. It's obvious now that the first three episodes weren't the build-up for the finale, but rather the build-up for the end of this episode.

Riko spends the whole episode trying to get Haruhiko's attention, and practically spells out her love for him. And of course, Haruhiko's still on his high (that he explained in episode 1) because his promised girl had returned and, as per his stated belief, he thought he could carry on where they left off. With his growing jealousy and concern for Riko, combined with her not-so-subtle signals, he took the step that seemed most logical. He finally confesses to her... she mumbles about a promise with Kirino... and she says "sorry". He of course reads that as him being rejected... ...and I feel like saying "now the show really begins".

For me, the show just moved way up on the priority list. Things just got a lot more interesting, and it put a new spin on my take of the first two episodes as well. I'm looking forward to next week!

[/ QUOTE ]

Very nice ep-3. The emo-level is just the right amount and the execution was very nicely done. The buildup and flow was really good.

Oh, what's up with the DC forehead-thingy in it? /images/graemlins/relief.gif

for anyone who's gonna buy this in R2, here's amazon.jp's listing for all seven volumes: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/search/ref=nb....y=17&Go=Go (http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/search/ref=nb_ss_gw/250-4328500-8988266?__mk_ja_JP=%83J%83%5E%83J%83i&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Gift+eternal+rainbow+&Go.x=7&Go.y=17&Go=G o)

Suwako Moriya

10-21-2006, 01:04 AM

[ QUOTE ]
relentlessflame said:
Things just got a lot more interesting, and it put a new spin on my take of the first two episodes as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Episode 3 was rather nice over all and I can say for certain I'll look at episode 1-2 a bit differently now. Partially because I'll be asking myself this. Was Haruhiko attracted to Riko even before she moved? Or did he grow to fall in love with her because of the whole absence thing? Of course the simple answer may be I'm reading too much into this and getting the wrong signals.

This definitely remains a series to watch, but I am still hoping they let the other girls have a chance to shine in the sun. Sure we were introduced to them, but I want to get to know them during the whole drama between the trio.

relentlessflame

10-22-2006, 12:49 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Yuzu Hieda said:
Episode 3 was rather nice over all and I can say for certain I'll look at episode 1-2 a bit differently now. Partially because I'll be asking myself this. Was Haruhiko attracted to Riko even before she moved? Or did he grow to fall in love with her because of the whole absence thing? Of course the simple answer may be I'm reading too much into this and getting the wrong signals.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, I guess that's a matter of opinion... Basically, even though Haruhiko chose to see Riko as a sister, they were still very much "childhood sweethearts" as indicated by their tearful farewell ("I wanted us to be together forever!" "So did I..." (rough rendition)). Then their relationship gets put on hold until she returns, and his last memories are that tearful farewell, and his belief that feelings can cross any time or distance. So, she returns, not as a little girl, but as a grown woman - he tries to carry on where they left off (relying on her signals as well), but that has a different meaning/connotation now that they're grown-up. So, I don't know if he was "attracted" to Riko before (they were kids), but I think the feelings he's showing now are an extension of the way he felt back then, heightened by their sudden reuniting. That's just my take on it, of course.

Suwako Moriya

10-27-2006, 03:45 AM

This was a beach/fear trial episode as far as I can tell. Still it was kind of fun over all and the next step in the err love triangle happened. Which is basically Rika catching Kirino crying in the arms of Haruhiko. Oh yes it seems that episode 5 will have some focus on Rinka if the previews are any indication.

Skywise

10-27-2006, 07:53 PM

I've only got one thing to say about ep 4:

HOLY CAMELTOE BATMAN! (http://hikaru.mine.nu:5432/gifttoe.jpg)

I haven't seen that blatant one outside hentai like.. never. It's conspicuously gone in the next scene. With the low animation budget I'm guessing they didn't bother paying anyone to do animation checks, and one of the animators is just messing around.

10-27-2006, 08:39 PM

I think it's there to keep the fanboys on the hook.

treatment

10-27-2006, 09:22 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
I've only got one thing to say about ep 4:

HOLY CAMELTOE BATMAN! (http://hikaru.mine.nu:5432/gifttoe.jpg)

I haven't seen that blatant one outside hentai like.. never. It's conspicuously gone in the next scene. With the low animation budget I'm guessing they didn't bother paying anyone to do animation checks, and one of the animators is just messing around.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's deliberate fanservice. They introduced this feature back in ep-2, too. Around 11:40 to 11:47.

With ep-4 now having it as well, I like to speculate the pattern that they do services during even-numbered episodes and do drama on odd-numbered episodes. /images/graemlins/relief.gif

btw, the girls were seriously too anorexic even by Da Capo standards. /images/graemlins/depresse.gif

As such, despite the rampant anorexia and Rinka's bizarro-eyes, I like the way this ep went, especially with the emo-ending. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

Do I really have to spoiler-block those?

Skywise

10-28-2006, 04:07 PM

That's not anorexia - that's just the animators being sucktastic.

treatment

10-28-2006, 07:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
That's not anorexia - that's just the animators being sucktastic.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's quite disappointing with the bizarro-designs since the story itself and the pacing were proving it to be a better and rather tighter emo-series than DC.

relentlessflame

10-28-2006, 07:37 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
That's not anorexia - that's just the animators being sucktastic.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well, that's certainly true too (it's by all measures terribly under-budgeted - and we know the animation team can do better, because they just did Utawarerumono), but the proportions are actually not far off from the game art in this case. All the Gift girls are very very thin-looking, and they do have long bodies and necks that make their heads seem small (and make them seem sort of "stretched out"). Of course, that being said, it doesn't really look out of place at all in the game or in CGs, but the "look" didn't transition well to anime. Certainly, budget would have helped, but it would also have probably helped to pick character designs that diverged a bit further from the game in terms of proportions. Oh well...

Skywise

10-28-2006, 10:17 PM

It's not the design - it's just them sucking. You can see them not being consistent as in one scene they look fine, but in another everything just looks off. Plus, if you notice in the earlier episodes, the heads are much larger than their bodies would indicate, not smaller. It's all over the map and very distracting. I'm really tempted to just drop the show because of it.

Suwako Moriya

10-28-2006, 10:38 PM

On that note, I wonder if anyone has done a game to anime comparison image for the series yet. Yeah I know there are probably multiple DC to Gift comparison images, but that's another subject. Hopefully the animation will be improved on the DVD version. Yeah I know that may be wishful thinking, but ah well.

Suwako Moriya

11-03-2006, 04:28 PM

Yeah this episode was mainly focused on Rinka and her relationship with crazed fangirl err I mean Nami. So it's kind of a break from the Love Triangle Angst. It's a standard episode, but still Rinka is rather cute in it. Well for me she is and that's all the matters. Either way I guess there'll be using character focused episodes as a break from the main plot.

Skywise

11-03-2006, 05:31 PM

Unlike the horrible animation quality in ep 4, this one brought it back up to what it should have been from the first episode on. If only it had started out like that I think more people would have given it a chance.

Suwako Moriya

11-24-2006, 02:09 AM

Well as of episode 8, we've reached the "It's time for things to become screwed" moment. Simply because Haruhiko finally got to kiss Riko. Now we just need to wait for Kirino to go into full angst mode. As for episode 6-7, it gave us focus on Chisa. The girl who gives out fake gifts to make people happy. It also gives an idea of Haruhiko's dedication to Riko.

Haruhiko was seeing his mother whenever he looked at Riko. He discovers the cause is the "fake gift" that Chisa gave to Kirino. He wants Chisa to give her power back to her mother. However Chisa refuses at first because the benefits of the other fake gifts will vanish as well. At one point Haruhiko was even ready to completely forget about his own mother. Of course Chisa ultimately gave up her power.

In any case we've had focus on Chisa and Rinka. Which takes care of the two of the five main girls as shown on the official site. So all that's left is Yukari. I wonder what the heck she'll be like. I'm sure at the very least, they're going to need to get her done with before they finish the Kirino/Riko stuff.

So yeah I've been sticking with the series and will probably watch to the final episode. Hopefully the ending will be decent. Given the series, I'm not expecting an ending that will make me think "deeeeeeeeeeeep", but one that will make sense in the context of the story. For the record, no I'm not going to do any Da Capo comparisons in this post. I'm too lazy to anyway.

Skywise

11-24-2006, 11:57 AM

Pssst.. it's Riko, not Rika /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

relentlessflame

11-24-2006, 12:22 PM

Well, animation budget aside, this is actually one of my favourite shows this season, thanks largely to some very good story planning and time budgeting. Whereas a lot of shows in the genre tend to divert to tons of filler before getting to the "meat" of the story, it's as if the director here realized that, with only 13 episodes (12 TV + 1 DVD Bonus), they don't have a lot of time to waste. Even the characters and plot points that didn't directly contribute to the main plot were still on-theme and contributed to the overall understanding of Gift. So, I'm pretty confident that we'll get a well-reasoned, non-sudden ending, and that's something I appreciate. I still think the show could have used a larger budget and time allotment, but they're making the best of it. So here's to hoping they clean the animation up for the DVDs, but I've been quite happy with this show so far.

Skywise

11-24-2006, 01:12 PM

Gift and Yoakena could both have used a much larger animation budget IMO. Of the two Gift has the tighter storyline, but in my case I enjoyed the characters in Yoakena more. The OP/ED was also much better IMO /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

relentlessflame

11-24-2006, 01:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
Gift and Yoakena could both have used a much larger animation budget IMO. Of the two Gift has the tighter storyline, but in my case I enjoyed the characters in Yoakena more. The OP/ED was also much better IMO /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd actually agree with all of that, for what it's worth. I'm assuming at this point that both shows will have at least a bunch of their art/animation issues addressed on the DVDs. I guess all I'd say is that Gift has left me more consistently impressed with the storytelling all along, whereas I think a lot of Yoakena's lasting appeal will come through in its final episodes. So, we'll see what happens. Certainly, I had been anticipating Yoakena more than Gift before and after episode 1, but Gift's "tighter storyline" sold me to this point. That being said, of course, this isn't about playing favourites: there's no reason not to watch both (though, to be honest, I'm still deliberating about R2 DVDs).

Suwako Moriya

11-25-2006, 04:12 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
Pssst.. it's Riko, not Rika /images/graemlins/happy.gif.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm I wonder why I put down Rika? Ah well it's been fixed hopefully.

Suwako Moriya

11-25-2006, 05:17 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Skywise said:
Of the two Gift has the tighter storyline, but in my case I enjoyed the characters in Yoakena more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well Yoakena is following the formula of fun first half and serious second half. Just as I suspected it would, but yeah I know half the universe could have guessed that. Still this leads to Yoakena being more fun to watch.

Still Gift's tight story line is a definite advantage. While it's not as fun to watch, I feel a stronger connection to the supporting cast in Gift than I do in Yoakena. Perhaps it's because of the way Gift has worked the supporting girls into the main plot so far.

However Feena is rather awesome and may be worth a Riko and Kirino. Except that in some ways Feena may be a bit too awesome. Still there is the Risu fact to give Yoakena bonus points.

Hmm I guess in the end, I'll probably watch more before deciding ultimately which I like better. Either way I love both series so far and that's ultimately what matters most. So yeah I'll continue with both of them.

Suwako Moriya

12-03-2006, 03:16 PM

Ah so we finally get into the true start of the climax. To make a long story short. Kirino finds out that Riko and Haruhiko are a couple. Kirino finds out that Riko used her gift. Kirino is angry that a promise not to use them for Haruhiko is broken. Kirino states that she can still use her gift. Yeah it's going to be interesting to see what they actually do in the last three broadcast episodes. It's going to be evil if they leave the series hanging like was done with "Girl meets Girl".

My only worry is how they will handle the gift aspect. For one thing you have to deal with how to take care of Kirino's gift which will probably be distorted. Then you have the Haruhiko's gift which is likely to be used in the series. They've already shown gifts are capable of a variety of miracles. Which is where the problem comes in. They'd need to choose a choice for Haruhiko's gift that works in the context of the series, but doesn't feel like a plot device. Then again since Gift is akin to a miracle, it doesn't matter what choice he chooses. People will still treat it as such

Suwako Moriya

12-10-2006, 02:53 PM

Well it's finally happened. Kirino used her Gift in order take away Riko's memories of time with Haruhiko and give them to her. Riko of course had to agree to it for it to work. Still kind of strange for the "receiver" to be the one losing out. Then again you could say Kirino is giving Riko a chance to make amends for what Kirino saw as betrayal.

The problems of the series can really be blamed on all three. Riko for breaking her promises and being impulsive. Kirino for her reaction to everything. While in the case of Haruhiko his biggest mistake was this. It's fine to love your girlfriend, but you shouldn't toss everyone else aside.

I can understand his sadness over losing his lov... err sister. However his reaction to Kirino about the piano competition most likely to Kirino was interpreted this way. That the only thing that matters to Haruhiko is just Riko. Of course to be fair they're both children

Of course the problem is still how to resolve the situation. One that works best for all three parties involved while keeping in the context of the series. Still I do have a theory about something.

It was quite obvious from the flashbacks that Haruhiko was already attracted to Riko and deep down saw her as a potential girlfriend. So perhaps what will happen is Kirino will come to realize that in reality she was more of the sister then Riko ever was.

The only problem through is while we've seen flashbacks of all three and even got to see Kirino and Haruhiko's daily life while Riko was away for one brief episode. We never got to see much of what Haruhiko and Kirino's relationship was like both before Riko came and after Riko left, but before she came back. That could make a huge difference.