Excellent critic posted by an anon on /u/

So I just binged through this series today. Had been avoiding it for a long time since I have no interest in the in-your-face fanservices, but to my pleasant surprise, VD actually has some substance in it.

There are real lesbians, not just straight-girls-making-out-for-plot-reason. Mirei's attraction for Mamori was handled so well. So much so that I couldn't remember the last time I've seen a canon yuri romance being developed with such grace. It didn't feel rushed, Mirei's sympathy for Mamori just gradually changed into adoration and then full on romantic in a natural way. This is IMO thanked to 1) the excellent pacing of the show and 2) the tasteful execution of jealousy + protectiveness moments.

The OP and ED music actually sound good. I didn't skip a single OP for all 12 episodes, something I hadn't done in years.

The final battle was awesome. The weapons and Mirei's Valkyrie form all have great designs.

Most the characters, including the villains, are likable. While they're not the most multidimensional characters out there, they do exhibit some degrees of well-roundedness instead of boring archetypes.

My only griefs with this show is 1) the fact it's a softcore porn (The oversized breasts make some of the girls look less pretty than they actually are. The bare tits/butts/crotches, tentacle scene, undignified crude poses, etc. make the show look cheap and hard to respect) and 2) some of the plot points are lazy asspull (pretending to be a guy because "it will guarantee you to be a leader among girls", really??? Going batshit insane because you're being used as a lab rat, sure, but why not getting angry when they first turned you into a living weapon as well?)

Tl;dr: expecting dumb porn, got a decent action show with real romance instead - as long as you can tune out the porn parts.

I agree with this

My only griefs with this show is 1) the fact it's a softcore porn (The oversized breasts make some of the girls look less pretty than they actually are. The bare tits/butts/crotches, tentacle scene, undignified crude poses, etc. make the show look cheap and hard to respect)

I think some people got the impression about the show being cheap because of this. Let's be honest, if something is not straight up hentai, trying to add a good plot with this much ecchi is not a good move. I don't think these two can be combined well. And the tantacle rape was the worst thing of the show imo.
Also poor Lady J, the first thing you notice about her is her breasts. Although her face is actually pretty.
I think they tried to make the characters unique by using different breast sizes

Also another thing, I didn't like how in the end they lost their powers. This is what made them special and badass. They could escape the island in a different way than having to get cured. And maybe Valkyrie Drive ot being a cure, but being something really poweful instead

I can understand why they went with the cure route: culling the cast to a manageable size. Mermaid introduced a TON of characters that couldn't receive a proper focus once they introduced the cast of the other islands (let's not forget this is meant to be a multimedia franchise and thus, sequels are expected/planned)

Pretty much

MacySan posted:

I think some people got the impression about the show being cheap because of this. Let's be honest, if something is not straight up hentai, trying to add a good plot with this much ecchi is not a good move. I don't think these two can be combined well.

Fanservice made sense in setting. I agree it was main reason people didn't take it seriously enough from the start and wrote it off as just bad hentai. I find it really funny as past half the show, when plot gets really serious and dark, fanservice disappears almost completely, but nobody ever commented on that. People already had preconceived idea of the show and no matter what happened later in series refused to change it.

MacySan posted:

Also poor Lady J, the first thing you notice about her is her breasts. Although her face is actually pretty.

I agree, but in my case I was focused on their breasts in disgust. That was the main reason I never got behind their romance. Cos their boobs were just so big I couldn't take those character seriously for even 1 second. I never understood and never will how such unnatural breast can be a turn on for anyone.

I can understand why they went with the cure route: culling the cast to a manageable size. Mermaid introduced a TON of characters that couldn't receive a proper focus once they introduced the cast of the other islands (let's not forget this is meant to be a multimedia franchise and thus, sequels are expected/planned)

But they could just focus on the other characters without curing the previous ones. They could simply swift to the other islands while the girls from Mermaid have escaped without getting a cure. I don't think it was necessary that they had to cure Mermaid in order to be able to focus on the rest of the islands.

Plus, I've took some glimpses of the cast of the other two islands, and they seem nowhere near as interesting as Mermaid.

I agree, but in my case I was focused on their breasts in disgust. That was the main reason I never got behind their romance. Cos their boobs were just so big I couldn't take those character seriously for even 1 second. I never understood and never will how such unnatural breast can be a turn on for anyone

Yeah I don't actually like her breasts either. But I got used to it later. Noone is 100% perfect right? And Lady Lady couple grabbed my attention sincethe very beggining to just ignore them for J's breasts xD
Rain's are not that bad. I'd say they are within the normal range for an anime girl

last edited at Mar 9, 2016 5:44PM

MacySan posted:

Rain's are not that bad. I'd say they are within the normal range for an anime girl

That is just me. Anything bigger than C is too big for me, so those H+ are just a big turn off for me. I couldn't stand breasts of at least half the VDM cast.

MacySan posted:

Rain's are not that bad. I'd say they are within the normal range for an anime girl

That is just me. Anything bigger than C is too big for me, so those H+ are just a big turn off for me. I couldn't stand breasts of at least half the VDM cast.

Gotta agree here, I was seriously turned off by the giant boobs right from the original designs. When your boobs are larger than your torso, that's time for me to check out. I totally don't see the appeal, but I guess people like it.

Confession: I don't like any of the animes designs, most fanart is much more tolerable in terms of prettiness

Also Pandora sex plot device > VD's

Edit: Also, also wanted to mention how the creators will probably only stay subpar, the only really good and interesting plotthread they had hinted at in Seiken no Qwaser got dropped for jokey fanservice.

the brown haired chick really trying to denyher pedophilic urges could have been so much more

last edited at Mar 10, 2016 11:11AM

Mamori and Mirei's figures were released this week and Kaneko tweeted that as long the fans keep supporting them, figures of Charlotte, Kasumi and Lady Lady are a definitve possibility.

And the fans, didn't miss the chance to comment on it

If they're really making Lady Lady figures, shouldn't it be enshrined as holy object of the Yuri God ?

Another pretty insightful analysis of MireMamo from /u/

ep 1 mirei feels the urge to protect mamori due to her past obviously
ep 2 mamori starts to question her own sexuality
ep 3 is when I'd say mirei actually falls in love with mamori
ep 4 mamori sees what she thinks is a lifeline back to normality and mirei gets jealous
ep 5 shows them both the importance of being with your true love and further emphasises to mamori that girls can love girls while mirei wants to put more effort into wooing mamori
ep 6 just general relationship building
ep 7 mamori is on the path to full homo
ep 8-9 mamori sees how important mirei is to her as she throws her life on the line and frets over the wounded mirei
ep 10 mamori chooses to leave akira's side as she acknowledges that mirei is actually more important to her and puts herself in danger again to go help mirei
ep 11 momoka makes mamori doubt mirei
ep 12 mirei proves momoka wrong and mirei and mamori fuse their hearts together and become one, something that only lady lady were matched well enough to do

Also note, Mireikami's outfit is based on Mamori's wedding dress, the final battle takes place in the wedding chapel and after the battle they go on a honeymoon cruise. Hint hint.

MIREI IS LIVE FOR BHIKKHUNI!!!!

Ugh, I never ended up getting a second Vita to use my Japanese account for DLC.

We smash now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEVj3DyvfuE&feature=youtu.be

MireMamo defeated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60oPMHM0SP8

Dark_Tzitzimine posted:

MireMamo defeated

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60oPMHM0SP8

The censuring though. Also wtf with the flowers xD? If you are going to censure with them why then bother with normal censure over it x3"?

Mirei gameplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVWbjrmpMhE

All of MireMamo's Drive cutscenes, Drive Breaks and intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxvxPx6n2-8

Mirei looking pretty good in a red shirt

The Drama CD was released today in Japan, sadly, it was sold via subscription and thus the odds of us getting a copy are extremely slim. However, people at /u/ scouted twitter for info an managed to gather this little tidbits on it

Rain got her first kiss from J.

Mirei hold grudge against Rain for kissing her.

Apparently Mirei turn into some kind of harem MC in the drama CD.

From sakasana

美鳳とレディ・レディは仲良しさんかよ、お友達さんかよ、とりのさんも驚くわけでもなく普通に迎え入れてるし交友関係があるのかよ……最高のかわいい情報ですね……………………………
Meifon actually get along with Lady Lady.

処女さんが輪姦プレイをご所望している
Virgin's is your desired gangbang play

Momoka turn into stalker

I don't know the details but the oppai battle is like fist fight but instead of using fist, they used oppai. No one mention who won. I don't even know whether J participate in the battle or not.

Momoka outright declare that she's Mirei girlfriend

Most of the spoiler were about how Lady Lady are the bestest of best and how ridiculously amazing everything is. So far I only found one about Kasumi being too serious. As for Charlotte I don't get the context so I can't say anything.
Here is one of the reaction about Charlotte

陥没と書いてシャルロットって何wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Nishidaken Comment

エンハンス処置による味覚の変化
賞味期限
飲食
名前の呼び捨て
彼女
執着

Jealous J is canon. Rain kiss Mirei to make J's jealous.

J wants to be spoiled by Rain.
J might be uke
Meifon is bothered by her lack of boobies.
Mirei's sense of taste change after she went through the enhancement procedure
Apparently Tokonome wanted to try a play with multiple participants
Tokonome call Mirei without honorific in second(?) track
They play pocky game and Lady Lady kiss even more intense than usual.

Dark_Tzitzimine posted:

処女さんが輪姦プレイをご所望している
Virgin's is your desired gangbang play

So Virgin wants to try gangbang? Now that is something interesting xD

Have anyone else listened to the character songs? I really, really love Beat Magic! (duet between Charlotte and Kasumi)

Have anyone else listened to the character songs? I really, really love Beat Magic! (duet between Charlotte and Kasumi)

I like them all, but yeah, Beat Magic is something really special.

My personal ranking is

-Lady Lady song
-Beat Magic
-Mirei song
-Mamori Song

Also, let me lose my shit over the final cover AND the boxset cover art

At last, looks like Momoka gets her happy ending.

(Unless it ends up being a dream sequence or something).

Best box art ever? we need more like this one hehe~

"VD isn't yuri"

"VD isn't yuri"

Don't forget

"Mirei and Mamori aren't a couple"

:p