Meeting Date: 11/9/2016
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Mike Ferreira: Good evening everyone, and welcome to another meeting of the Herald Anime Club. I’m Mike Ferreira, de facto moderator, overlord, guy who brags about his hand size, etc. and I’m joined by Lydia Rivers and Anthony Simpson.
Anthony Simpson: evening.
Lydia Rivers: Hiii everyone! Man, what a week for anime. And everything else!
Mike Ferreira: Tell me about it! Crazy times all over.
Mike Ferreira: Aniwho, this week, we’re talking about Drifters Episode 5.
Lydia Rivers: Somehow the alternative title for Episode 5 of Drifters, aka Nobunaga’s Fun With Poo seems fitting!
Mike Ferreira: Yeah – lots happened. Lots of stuff – lots of poo.
Anthony Simpson: This was quite the feces centered episode and for good reason.
Mike Ferreira: Yep. It made sense – things like defecating in the wells and using shit to coat weapons is well documented in historical warfare
Anthony Simpson: When I saw the elves uses feces on the spikes I was thinking that the Viet Cong did the same thing during the Vietnam War.
Mike Ferreira: That was my thought exactly.
Lydia Rivers: I learned a lot, especially about one way to make saltpeter… It was really uncomfortable but I appreciated it greatly. It grabbed my brain and helped to wrap it around a bit of reality, like using whatever is at your disposal to prepare for the future. The brutal future.
Mike Ferreira: That part with the saltpeter was brilliant.
Mike Ferreira: It said so much about these ancient warriors in such a short amount of time
Mike Ferreira: Toyohisa’s explanation about how they handle corpses, it put a lot into perspective.
Anthony Simpson: Getting away from the topic of bodily waste this was a great episode.
Lydia Rivers: Yeah. That feeling is not one that I’m accustomed to having while watching anime, the having one foot grounded in reality. Along with old men peeing themselves and inappropriately timed humor, this series has been brilliant at keeping that appendage firmly anchored.
Mike Ferreira: Agreed.
Mike Ferreira: On both counts
Mike Ferreira: That ending, though. Holy shit.
Anthony Simpson: I felt this episode set in place the grey and grey morality we mentioned a few weeks ago.
Mike Ferreira: Fully agreed. They went out of their way to say again that this is a show about two groups of people who are legitimately horrifying. We’re just rooting for the side we like.
Anthony Simpson: And cynical too as well.
Anthony Simpson: Basically we’re not much better than the Ends.
Lydia Rivers: Um so. I’m going to say this, as a survivor of sexual predation myself. I hope Toyohisa does for the lady elves what he did for the dudes in the village, letting them handle their own oppressors like that. That is what I really want to see. I want to see what choices they make. It’s not that I want to see violence. I want to see them seize their freedom to choose how to handle the situation for the first time.
Mike Ferreira: I’m 100% with you. I want to see Toyohisa bring the soldiers down and allow the elven women to decide what’s just. I want to see them able to grasp their destiny much like the peasants did
Anthony Simpson: Same here.
Lydia Rivers: ^-^ Oh my god. Speaking of the village, did you guys start laughing inappropriately when the retreating soldiers turned around to see Toyohisa blocking their path?
Mike Ferreira: That was freaking great.
Anthony Simpson: that was amazing.
Mike Ferreira: Like “SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKERS!”
Mike Ferreira: Loved how Nobunaga pretty much became the de facto narrator at points, too
Mike Ferreira: Toyohisa’s battle scream, though…
[8:29 PM] Lydia Rivers: Yeah. And his face when he decides he’s no longer fighting a human being…I get chills, man
Lydia Rivers: He’s the sanest person we’ve met so far, except maybe Yoichi, but once you’re outside of his code of honor, all bets are off.
Mike Ferreira: Speaking of – I am loving how the camera often stands at a point where these warriors look like silhouettes, albeit with unearthly glowing eyes.
Anthony Simpson: I enjoy the camera work as well.
Lydia Rivers: Yeah! It perfectly balances the rather human way they portray the Ends while they’re not fighting. Even details like that help to define the greyness. :)
Lydia Rivers: Oh, the Ends! Did you guys notice Yoichi basically convincing himself that he’s free from his past with Yoshitsune?
Mike Ferreira: I did – that was very interesting.
Mike Ferreira: I still want to see some shenanigans coming up between them later on, though. That’s a very rich history – one too huge to exploit
Mike Ferreira: to not exploit, rather
Lydia Rivers: I thought he was a bit crazy like Nobunaga, but now we’ve been shown that he’s a bit soft inside. How do they keep adding so much color in mere seconds of exposition?! The editing on this show is amazing.
Anthony Simpson: Good writing is able to do that.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed… and these writers are on point. In these little glimpses, we’ve gotten such a rich backstory for all of our major players.
Anthony Simpson: We have.
Lydia Rivers: Yesss! They’re helped by knowledge of history, of course, but still. They’ve shown great skill in choosing what to show us to add color to these people’s portrayals. I think if I had any criticisms though, it’d be an absence of tiny expressions around the eyes. They chose to use other effective methods to communicate, but I think I’d like to see some expressive eyes every once in a while.
Mike Ferreira: Like that close-up shot we got of Nobunaga this episode?
Lydia Rivers: Yes! I want to see reflections baby!
Mike Ferreira: On that note: We’re starting to see some real movement with the Orte empire. I’m curious to see if this will continue up the chain to the capitol, or if we’ll be looking at “Oh shit the Ends are here” midway through
Lydia Rivers: Hm, it’s difficult to say. I think we can be perfectly sure from the symbolism that it’s Hitler. Also I think we can be sure of another thing, which is that the overconfident-in-delusions-of-superiority empire is beset on two sides by blazingly passionate enemies.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Anthony Simpson: true.
Mike Ferreira: The symbolism is about as opaque as it gets at this point.
Mike Ferreira: We know this is basically the fourth Reich.
Lydia Rivers: Nobunaga is terrifying me though. Wow. Toyohisa said to him at one point “It’s no wonder you were betrayed!” NO KIDDING! I really wonder how much better off the people are going to be under that shadow king.
Mike Ferreira: Not much, I’m guessing.
Anthony Simpson: Who knows.
Mike Ferreira: But it’s one of those grey things – trading the tyrant the don’t want for the one they chose to follow, etc.
Lydia Rivers: It’s basically like chumming the water to attract a shark to chase away another shark.
Mike Ferreira: Exactly
Lydia Rivers: I’m pretty sure Olminu is hiding a brain behind her boobs….sigh. Don’t hide it, Olminu! We know you’re hoping the sharks will kill each other and take care of the problem!
Mike Ferreira: I can tell she is – she knows a lot more than she lets on.
Anthony Simpson: I don’t have anything else to say about this episode, but I do want to talk a little bit about the Simuldub since that went live on Sunday. I initially though that this would end up being an Aaron Dismuke directed dub since he starting to ADR direct now, but then I realized that this would be too much for him right now because of the massive cast of characters. So the dub end up being directed by Chris Bevins instead. While it was just the first episode I found it to good so far. I need to see more episodes to hear more of the cast to get a better idea of the dub. Script it sticks pretty close to the subtitles. The dub did take the one option I though they would and they didn’t dub the elves into English yet. They kept them speaking their original language and have subs for when they talk.
Mike Ferreira: I have to agree. The dub was surprisingly strong. The casting was good and the entire crew did a great job of fitting the characters
Lydia Rivers: I watched the simuldub too. I am exceedingly critical of dub directing because I can’t stand it when an uneven priority is set on matching mouthflaps at the expense of expression. But I didn’t hate it! I didn’t hear “good enough, good enough” on the takes, which totally wastes acting talent. Yeah, it was well done.
Mike Ferreira: I’m not a dub fan by nature, but I could see myself watching this one further
Lydia Rivers: Definitely. I’m looking forward to purchasing the video release thanks to it. I might even watch the extras!
Anthony Simpson: I’m probably going to continue watching the dub to see how it plays out. Watch the new episode on Saturday then the dub on Monday or Tuesday.
Mike Ferreira: I might watch the next two to see how Easy and the Ends come through, myself
Lydia Rivers: I can’t wait to hear Kanno in English, to be honest. I’m looking forward to him the most. Please be super unhinged!
Anthony Simpson: well Easy is Monica Rial so I have a good idea of how she will sound.
Mike Ferreira: Well yeah.
Mike Ferreira: Kanno’s English voice needs to be freaking amazing. You NEED that “FUCK THEM ALL FUCKIN’ ASSHOLES” screaming when he’s fighting freakin’ dragons
Anthony Simpson: I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Mike Ferreira: Definitely.
Anthony Simpson: That is all I have to say for this week.
Lydia Rivers: Yeah, if they censor that I’ll be super disappointed. Any predictions for what will happen next week?
Mike Ferreira: “There were no survivors.”
Anthony Simpson: If there isn’t a blood bath I will be protesting in the streets.
Mike Ferreira: Joking aside, we’ll probably get another perspective shift after the inevitable bloodbath
Lydia Rivers: Indeed. I’m predicting a Hitler reveal and a glimpse at what the other drifters are doing after that fort is taken care of by Toyohisa and his merry…er…violent elf rebels.
Anthony Simpson: probably.
Mike Ferreira: Likewise.
Anthony Simpson: I’m missing the other Drifters.
Mike Ferreira: Planes vs. Dragons needs a sequel, dammit
Lydia Rivers: GIVE IT TO ME!!!
Lydia Rivers: Ugh, grabby hands!
Lydia Rivers: Although Kanno’s plane, which is apparently called “fukkin dumbass,” has been grounded.
Mike Ferreira: Boo.
Lydia Rivers: Maybe the wizards can make it fly again.
Anthony Simpson: She isn’t flying anymore.
Mike Ferreira: Maybe we just need Angry Japanese Man vs. Dragons
Lydia Rivers: Hahaha! I think he’ll get along well with Butch and Sundance.
Lydia Rivers: You know…once maybe he realizes they aren’t the Americans he’s been at war with….*cough*
Mike Ferreira: …He fought a dragon. I think he realizes he’s not in WWII anymore. (lol)
Lydia Rivers: Hell, WWII… what’s the difference
Mike Ferreira: Hell has cable.
Lydia Rivers: Oh right. And dragons!
Mike Ferreira: And dragons!
Mike Ferreira: Thanks for joining us, readers, and remember: making saltpeter is very disturbing business.
Anthony Simpson: Good night everyone.
Mike Ferreira: Have a great night!
Lydia Rivers: One last note. Funimation has posted a quick video to introduce people to the character history in Drifters! That’s great of them. Check it out if you haven’t hit up Wiki yet! Waste not now so you can lay waste later? Stay shiny, everyone!
