Saturday, January 2nd.
After politely declining his friend's invitation to go out with him, Luo Gaofeng yawned and lazily leaned on the sofa. The coffee table in front of him was now filled with various snacks. At this moment, he was rejecting his friend on the chat software while looking up and drinking the fat otaku happy water in his hand.
During holidays like this, there are crowds of people everywhere. What is there to do outside
Is it that the snacks are not tasty? The games are not fun? Or the new anime is not good
With an attitude of enjoyment, Luo Gaofeng happily clicked on the animation section of Yunsu Video.
The first thing that caught his eye was "Blood Rose" on the cover recommendation section.
As the sequel to a highly popular animation, the second season of "Blood Rose" still maintains its high standard. Luo Gaofeng quickly finished watching the first two episodes of the animation with a bag of barbecue-flavored potato chips.
How to say it…
Exiting the screen of "Blood Rose", Luo Gaofeng shook his head.
Perhaps it was because the quality of the first season of "Blood Rose" was so high that as a viewer, he couldn't help but compare the second season with the first season. With the first season as a benchmark, when watching the second season again, Luo Gaofeng only felt that it was good-looking, but not amazing.
It can only be considered a normal performance.
Thinking of this, he returned to the initial page of the app and continued to browse the new episodes updated on Saturday, and then his eyes fell on "The Immortal Lord".
Luo Gaofeng also reads online novels on weekdays, and this original novel of "Xian Zun" is his favorite. The author's writing style is sophisticated but not too literary, and it is just right to read. The author's various original settings for the world of immortals are even more eye-catching. The protagonist's personality is fashionable, and the supporting characters also have their own characteristics.
As soon as he heard that "The Immortal Master" was going to be animated, Luo Gaofeng immediately clicked on "The Immortal Master" and couldn't wait to watch it.
One minute, two minutes...
Luo Gaofeng turned his head to look at his coffee table which was piled with snacks. He picked up a bag of chicken feet and started to chew on them with the Coke he had not finished yet.
Ten minutes later, Luo Gaofeng finished eating the chicken feet in his hand and felt bored.
To be fair, the animation of "The Immortal" is actually quite good.
The animated characters are pleasing to the eye, the special effects are gorgeous, and the plot is completely based on the original novel without any magical changes. But it is precisely for this reason that Luo Gaofeng feels satisfied but also a little bored.
When he was out of literature in the past, he had read the original novel over and over again. Although the animation has been released now, the plot is exactly the same as the original. He can immediately imagine the next plot just by looking at the pictures. So what's the point of this animation
Just at this moment, a friend on the mobile app wrote to me: "I'm telling you, this newly opened haunted house is really interesting. It's completely different from those slutty places out there. You'd be missing out if you don't come and play!"
Luo Gaofeng sighed.
He now feels a little regretful.
The snacks are delicious, and he doesn’t know whether the games are fun or not, but it is true that the new anime in January this year are not very good. It’s not that "The Immortal" and "Blood Rose" are not good, they are good, but they are far from the feeling of being unable to stop following the anime in the past.
I always feel like something is missing, it's not exciting enough.
While thinking so in his mind, he pretended to be disdainful and typed a reply: "I'm too lazy to go out with you and squeeze in with the crowd. You don't understand the happiness of fat otakus." However, his eyes unconsciously lingered on the photo of the haunted house sent by the other party for a few more seconds.
… Actually, I am a little envious qaq
Feeling more and more regretful, Luo Gaofeng reluctantly closed the Yunsu Video app and switched the phone screen back to the Yueqi Video app.
This is Luo Gaofeng's favorite barrage video website. First, there are no annoying advertisements when watching anime. Second, when he is not watching anime, he can watch ghost videos and beautiful ladies dancing, which is also a kind of fun.
When he clicked on Yueqi Video, Luo Gaofeng immediately saw "The Devil's Retired Life", which was also recommended on the cover.
When he was watching Yueqi's videos before, he had seen the introduction of this animation in the new anime guide. It seemed to be an animation adapted from a popular light novel, and it was said to be quite popular.
Unfortunately, he has no interest in the same old Western fantasy anime. But then again, if there are no good new shows to watch, it's not bad to watch pretty girls dancing otaku dance.
Thinking of this, he moved his index finger slightly and was about to slide to the dance section next door.
Just then, his eyes fell on the cover of one of the new anime -
Compared to the recommended positions received by other animations, this new show seems to be casually stuffed into the corner. The girl in the picture is wearing a handsome white and red uniform, and her long black hair is neatly tied up with a light green headband. At this moment, she folded her arms, and her crystal purple eyes looked straight at him, showing a heroic and valiant military look.
What kind of anime is this? The heroine looks pretty.
People are visual animals, and Luo Gaofeng is no exception. In just a blink of an eye, he was attracted by the girl on the cover, and then his eyes fell on the name of the animation: Infinite Stratos.
Speaking of which, he seemed to have some impression of this animation. Just last month, he saw it in a video introducing the new January episodes. Although the production team was not well-known, the voice actors they invited were all big names. If he remembered correctly, the beautiful girl with long black hair in front of him was played by his goddess Zhuxuan.
This immediately aroused Luo Gaofeng's interest.
For them, the reason for following anime is sometimes as simple as this: a good-looking heroine or a favorite CV is enough to make them click on an animation.
As for whether it can retain the audience, it all depends on the quality of the animation itself.
With a strong curiosity and a hidden expectation that he himself was not aware of, Luo Gaofeng clicked on the animation in front of him—
Since the goddess Zhuxuan is dubbing, I hope this animation won’t be too bad. I don’t ask for it to be as high-quality as “Blood Rose” or “Xian Zun”. As long as he can enjoy the goddess’ voice happily without feeling that the pictures and plot are eye-catching, that’s enough…
As he clicked on the first episode of "infinite stratos", the animation began.
The first thing that caught his eye was the large patches of thin golden clouds dyed by the setting sun. His gaze stayed on the clouds for less than a second, and the entire picture quickly shifted downward to the endless sea, accompanied by the sound of fierce wind. When the camera cut to the lonely mountain on the sea, the BGM was immediately replaced by a series of strikes. Two mechas, one white and one red, were fighting rapidly in the air, occasionally making a harsh collision sound.
"Huh?"
Luo Gaofeng rubbed his eyes subconsciously, a little surprised.
Although he doesn't know much about "IS", he knows the general plot. It is a typical harem series. The detailed introduction is: the hero unconsciously wins the hearts of the heroines through a series of ways.
"No way?" Luo Gaofeng unconsciously put down the snacks in his hand and stared at the mecha moving rapidly in the air. He wondered in his heart: "Is this really a harem show? How come the battle scenes are better than many high-energy battle shows?"
The more he looked at it, the more amazed he became.
You know what, the battle scenes are really cool, and with the background music, they're actually a little exciting.
"The mecha design is also very handsome. It turns out that mecha is the eternal romance of men." While Luo Gaofeng was sighing, the heroines who were also wearing mechas appeared one after another.
Luo Gaofeng's eyes suddenly lit up.
"It's OK. It's worthy of being a harem anime. The heroines are all very good-looking, and there are no duplicate attributes. There are all kinds of flavors." Luo Gaofeng nodded with satisfaction.
After a short opening song, the animation officially begins.
In the spacious and bright classroom, a boy in a white and red school uniform sat in his seat with a nervous and embarrassed expression on his face. The camera expanded outward from him, suddenly revealing the whole picture of the classroom: the girls who densely occupied the entire classroom turned their heads vaguely, and their eyes all fell on the only boy in the classroom.
Although I knew early on that "IS" tells the story of the protagonist, the only male who can use IS, entering the IS Academy full of girls, but when Luo Gaofeng saw the protagonist fall into a group of beautiful girls in the first episode...
To be honest, I feel secretly happy.
Next, how will the male protagonist capture the girls? What role will the IS mecha that made a brief appearance at the beginning of the animation play
With such curiosity in mind, Luo Gaofeng continued to watch with great interest. He immediately grabbed the duck neck that had just been torn open in his hand and forgot to eat it for a moment.
"As everyone knows, the official name of IS is Infinite Stratos. It is a multifunctional outfit developed in Japan. According to the Alaska Treaty, it is prohibited from being used in the military. Now it has become a special competitive event as a sport. This IS Academy is the only educational institution in the world that aims to train IS operators..."
Luo Gaofeng was so shocked that the duck neck in his hand fell off.
Wait a minute, what was the teacher in the animation just now saying
To put it simply: because the IS mecha is too powerful and has extremely high military lethality, one IS can take on n armies, so countries have signed clauses prohibiting its use in the military, making it a special competitive event.
To put it another way that is easier to understand: Because nuclear bombs are too powerful, countries have signed treaties prohibiting their military use, making it a competitive event to see who can make the most beautiful mushroom cloud.
What kind of a idiotic plot is this? Where are you playing? Have you ever seen a sports competition where you compete in driving mechas or blowing up mushroom clouds
Luo Gaofeng was stunned.
The plot of the animation continues.
After class, as the only boy in IS Academy, the male protagonist Ichika Orimura undoubtedly received the attention of all the girls in the class. The girls whispered to each other and pushed each other to approach the male protagonist.
"That's him, the only boy in the world who can control IS!"
"I heard that he activated IS during the entrance exam. This is big news in the world!"
“As expected, they are here.”
"Go and talk to him."
"How about I go?"
The girls' voices were sweet and melodious. Luo Gaofeng's index finger, which had moved to the back button on his phone, immediately stopped. He suppressed a certain indescribable expectation in his heart and told himself: "I'll just take a look. It's already so ridiculous, I want to see how much more ridiculous this animation can be!"
I have to say that Luo Gaofeng has watched quite a few harem anime, including some with classic plots, but he has never seen one as direct as IS, which made up a setting and then threw the male protagonist rudely into an all-girls academy without any explanation.
Combined with the animation plot, the male protagonist's existence is like a giant panda, which easily makes people think of the subsequent plot, how the male protagonist, as the only boy, will be popular in the all-girls school, and how all the girls like me as the moon and star.
…Who the hell can stand this!
Before he even had the idea of giving up the show, it was completely extinguished by the plot of the animation. Luo Gaofeng watched with great interest as the protagonist's childhood sweetheart, the beautiful girl with long black hair who had attracted him to click in, took the initiative to walk up to Ichika Orimura amid the hustle and bustle in the background and invited him to come over for a chat.
The animation scene immediately switched to the rooftop.
At the top of the teaching building, the girl stood near the railing, her fair face slightly flushed, her deep purple eyes filled with lovely confusion. The boy smiled and congratulated Qingmei on winning the kendo championship last year, and said by the way that although they hadn't seen each other for six years, he still recognized her at a glance.
Although the plot was very clichéd, Luo Gaofeng watched it with great interest.
It's nothing, the production team portrayed the expressions of the animated characters very vividly. The girl wanted to say something but hesitated, and her expression of sneaking glances at the boys from time to time was too cute, coupled with the voice of the goddess Zhuxuan...
Ah, I'm dead!
Sure enough, in the harem anime, creatures like Qingmei have already been conquered before the story begins.
As Qingmei took the lead in making her presence felt, soon, the tsundere young lady with light blonde curly hair also appeared. After accidentally learning that she was not the only student in the school who defeated the instructor on the day of enrollment, but the only one among the girls, and that the male protagonist also defeated the instructor, Cecilia resolutely challenged the male protagonist to a duel.
Here we come!
Luo Gaofeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately rubbed his hands in anticipation. Generally speaking, according to the routine of ordinary harem animation, the way the male protagonist conquers the female protagonist is nothing more than to attack the heart, such as the female protagonist's childhood trauma, which was discovered by the male protagonist and then changed, or the female protagonist's dream that was not recognized by her family, etc. In short, there will be a process that is either touching and tear-jerking, or exciting...
I wonder how the male protagonist will conquer the female protagonist in this movie "IS"
"If you lose, you will be my servant," the girl raised her chin arrogantly and walked slowly towards the boy. Her light golden curly hair swayed gently with her movements. She glanced at Orimura Ichika with a scrutinizing look, and a sarcastic sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth: "No, a slave."
The boy's voice sounded indifferently: "How much do you want to give?"
"Oh, you're asking to give in so soon?"
"No," the boy said calmly, "I'm asking you how much you want me to give you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole classroom paused for a moment, and soon the girls' laughter could be heard. Amidst the laughter, one girl asked jokingly, "Orimura-san, are you serious?"
"Men are stronger than women. This was a thing before the IS came out, right?"
Another girl added casually: "If a man wants to fight a woman, it is said that he can't last more than three days."
The blonde girl placed her right hand on her chest and said with a smile in her eyes: "I was still hesitating whether to let you go. You boys are really humorous."
As she spoke, the camera cleverly focused on the male protagonist's left hand, which was clenched into a fist and trembling slightly.
As soon as Cecilia finished speaking, another girl in the audience persuaded him with a clear voice: "Orimara-san, it's not too late to ask her to give in now. Ask her to give in to you more."
"A man's word is his bond," Orimura Ichika said calmly, "That's not necessary."
"Is it settled?" Chifuyu Orimura, who is both the eldest sister and the homeroom teacher, announced, "The duel will be held next Monday at the third arena. Orimura and Orcott will prepare on their own."
Accompanied by Qingmei's worried look and the male protagonist's unwavering eyes, the first episode of the "IS" animation ended here. It was not until the ending song sounded that Luo Gaofeng blinked his eyes with an unsatisfied look.
Is that it
He lowered his head unconsciously, and then he realized that because of his startle, the duck neck in his hand had been scattered all over the floor without him noticing. Without time to clean up the mess on the floor, Luo Gaofeng couldn't wait to click on the next episode with infinite curiosity and expectation for the plot.
On the one hand, he was annoyed by Cecilia's insulting the male protagonist in public in the classroom, so he looked forward to the duel between the two. On the other hand, he also had a strong interest in how the male protagonist would conquer this tsundere young lady. After all, according to national conventions, the tsundere young lady would often be as adorable as she was annoying before she was conquered, based on the contrast after she was conquered.
What? You said the plot of "IS" is illogical and the setting of "IS" is too stupid
—But he looks happy!
With such irresponsible thoughts in mind, Luo Gaofeng happily continued to watch the second and third episodes.
In the following plot, there is no doubt that the male protagonist defeated the blonde tsundere young lady through the awakening of his special machine (cheating), and then the tsundere young lady was conquered by the male protagonist.
Strategy.
.
There is no teaching on how to be a good person, no specific heart-to-heart talks, and none of the heartfelt events that are bound to happen in other harem anime. To put it simply, after the fight, there is no foreshadowing, reason, or twists in the strategy, and the girl is successfully taken into the harem.
Luo Gaofeng was stunned by the simple and crude approach.
However, even with such a simple, crude and silly plot, Luo Gaofeng was surprised to find that he couldn't stop watching it
If the previous harem shows still followed some procedures, then "IS" is the first one, which simplified all the procedures to the point where it couldn't be simplified any more. After being used to the long-winded procedures in the middle, it was the first time for Luo Gaofeng to watch such a brainless show like "IS". He felt that it was ridiculous, but his body clicked to the next episode honestly...
This animation is silly, but it seems... pretty good
With this in mind, Luo Gaofeng waited eagerly for the arrival of the fourth episode, but the animation page showed a black screen, and then a window popped up:
Click to follow the show, every Saturday, infinite stratos, see you there~
…That’s it.
Luo Gaofeng smacked his lips, feeling unsatisfied and totally unsatisfied.
Alas, it’s time to go through the pleasant yet painful days of chasing anime again.
Although he was full of resentment in his heart, he honestly clicked the follow-up button under the animation. At the same time, a feedback form about is popped up. This is the usual practice of Yueqi Video. The audience can give their own evaluation after watching the first three episodes. Those who are interested in the animation can also pre-order the animation in advance. Yueqi Video will adjust the recommended position of the animation in Yueqi Video based on the audience's feedback.
He was very satisfied with what he saw, and when he saw the evaluation form, he bought it without hesitation!
As for his evaluation of the work itself, he thought about it and wrote frankly: "Although the logic is flawed, it seems unexpectedly addictive. The flaws do not outweigh the merits. It is a surprise work in the January series and worth watching!"
After doing all this, he reluctantly put down his phone and started to tidy up his messy room.
…
As the animation director of "The Devil's Retired Life", Ying Kaiyu is very concerned about the clicks, comments and followers of the animation.
He has participated in animation production in other capacities before, such as assistant director and animation supervisor, but he is the chief director in charge of an animation, and "The Retired Life of the Devil" is his first one. It is conceivable that Ying Kaiyu cares about his debut animation.
He took a deep breath and clicked on the comprehensive ranking of various data of new anime in January.
No.1 "Blood Rose"
No.2 "Xian Zun"
No.3 "The Devil's Retired Life"
…
No.7 "Infinite Stratos"
After seeing the ranking of "The Devil's Retired Life", Ying Kaiyu finally breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but smile on his face.
"Blood Rose" and "The Immortal Lord", one has the bonus of popularity from the first season, and the other is the most popular animation adapted from an online novel in the past three years. It is normal for them to get first or second place. Ying Kaiyu has never considered the possibility of "The Devil's Retired Life" surpassing these two.
In his opinion, it was a very good result that his work ranked third.
After discovering that the performance of his debut work was better than he had imagined, Ying Kaiyu felt much more relaxed and was now in the mood to watch animations that were ranked lower.
The next 4-6 are all anime series that were serialized at the end of last year. Due to his concern for the production level of the animation industry, he watched them one by one last year. Soon, his attention turned to the seventh-ranked anime.
Infinite stratos
After taking a glance at the name of the animation, Ying Kaiyu couldn't help but frowned. This name of the animation is a bit discouraging.
He muttered to himself as he turned on "is".
As an animation director, he instinctively looked at the animation production team at the first time. The account ID that released this animation was "Huaying Animation". Ying Kaiyu recalled for a while and found that he really had no impression of this animation, so he shook his head.
It is probably produced by a small workshop team.
As I was thinking this, “is” started playing.
"The battle scenes are well portrayed, but this is a harem series. Does it really make sense to focus on the battle effects?" Ying Kaiyu shook his head. In his opinion, the selling point of a harem series is the girls themselves. No matter how cool your mecha battle is, what's the use
"Hmm? The character design of the heroine is pretty good too, it's definitely above average for a harem show," he frowned for less than a second before frowning again: "Why is the setting of this IS mecha just a joke? There's no logic at all, and the strategy is too simple and crude..."
After finishing the three episodes of the animation very quickly, Ying Kaiyu pondered over the plot of the animation and gave it three stars in his mind.
“Overall, this “IS” is quite attractive, but unfortunately the main plot and IS settings are completely untenable and illogical, and the strategy process is overly simplified…”
Ying Kaiyu concluded: "As a harem anime, it's barely passable, and it's well-deserved to be ranked seventh, but that's probably where it ends. It's just an ordinary harem anime, nothing to be afraid of."
After making this judgment, Ying Kaiyu put the animation called "is" behind his mind and no longer paid attention to it.
After all, judging from the ranking of animations, he is the one at the top. Instead of studying the work of an unknown animation studio, it is better to learn the storyboard techniques of "Blood Rose" and "The Immortal".
…
Also paying close attention to the broadcast situation of "IS" is Xiao Zhengwen, the purchasing team leader of Yueqi Video who is responsible for purchasing "IS".
Due to the popularity of the new January anime series, Xiao Zhengwen racked his brains but failed to get any decent recommendation spot for "IS" from the above. This made Xiao Zhengwen, who felt that the quality of "IS" was quite good, always feel regretful.
This regret turned into a slight remorse after he reviewed the status of "IS" backstage that day.
To use the popular emoticons:
The person involved (Mosaic Eyes): I regret it now, very much.jpg
He looked at the background data of "is":
Infinite Stratos
Click:41634
Follow:14823
Rating:7.1
Comments:1492
As the head of the department in charge of animation procurement at Yueqi Video, Xiao Zhengwen is naturally very familiar with the backend data of his own animation. Although the score of "IS" is not high, its audience retention rate is extremely high. In other words, most of the viewers who have watched "IS" were attracted by this animation and chose to follow it.
Judging from the current achievements of "IS", this animation can be said to be a sure win. If the January schedule had not been too competitive and if it had not been overshadowed by several popular anime, the results of "IS" might have been even better.
Looking at the comments section of "is", it is also full of positive reviews:
“I think this new show might be addictive… The plot is obviously illogical, but I actually watched it to the end, and I still feel like I can’t get enough of it and want to continue watching it…”
"Toxic +1, I think I have read thousands of anime, and I have seen harem anime that is better than "IS", but I don't know why, none of them can make me unable to stop like "IS"!"
"To be honest, although the plot is stupid and there is no explanation for why the male protagonist can use IS, how can I say that once I accept this setting, it is unexpectedly... exciting?"
"Great! Already purchased the pre-order, waiting for the update next month!"
Xiao Zhengwen regretted it so much that his intestines turned green!
If he had known that "IS" could achieve such results, he should have stopped the other party at all costs when Muxuxing asked to schedule "IS" in January. According to this trend, if it was a month without big guys, "IS" would definitely be at the top of the list, and it would not be struggling in the Shura Field like it is now, and being suppressed by "Blood Rose" and "Xianzun".
Thinking of this, Xiao Zhengwen felt very upset. You know, if the animation he purchased could rank in the top three, according to the rules of Yueqi Company, he would also be rewarded.
I finally bought an animation with great potential, but I accidentally placed it in the Shura Field and became cannon fodder for the big guys...
Xiao Zhengwen:qaq
His performance! His bonus! His promotion opportunity! Just passed him by like that!
What Xiao Zhengwen didn't know was that in the corner he couldn't see, the popularity of "is" was still spreading quietly:
In an anime discussion group, a netizen said in boredom: "It's so boring, is there any good new anime to recommend recently?"
Luo Gaofeng, who happened to see this message, didn't think twice and recommended it: "I'm following Yueqi's video "Infinite Stratos", it's a harem animation, it's pretty good, do you want to try it?"