I felt the need to create a thread to discuss Sakura Trick's anime adaptation.
I also felt the need to say...
EPISODE ONE WAS AWESOME!!
though I think the fanservice is just a little too NSFW and thats excluding the kissing scenes.

Well, I definitely don't mind a bit of fanservice ("As a feminist I'm appalled, but as a lesbian I'm delighted!") but I was a bit surprised at the amount of jiggles in the opening theme. But hey, if that's the price to pay for those really good kiss scenes, I'll pay it nooooooproblemooooo!

Also, the veranda leap was WAY more awesome than the manga version.

Well, I definitely don't mind a bit of fanservice ("As a feminist I'm appalled, but as a lesbian I'm delighted!") but I was a bit surprised at the amount of jiggles in the opening theme. But hey, if that's the price to pay for those really good kiss scenes, I'll pay it nooooooproblemooooo!

Also, the veranda leap was WAY more awesome than the manga version.

Yeah as a feminist we had the same reaction, as a lesbian I kind of counted the times anime physics made everything awesome. The leap was a totally different thing that anime physics made awesome. ahaha! now I think I'll watch the episode again this weekend and count how many seconds they kissed.

last edited at Jan 10, 2014 10:26PM

I must say also, that's one of the more loving depictions if a kiss I've seen in anime. I was disappointed in the Lynn/Jenny kiss in Bodacious Space Pirates that was almost like them just banging their faces together, so this really makes up for that.

Of course when the main characters kissing is kinda the whole point of the series, you'd want to do it right.

last edited at Jan 10, 2014 10:45PM

Seen somewhere that there was staff that worked on Hidamari Sketch on the team for this one (?). I am glad and.. kind of not glad at the same time. How would it have been animated in a more traditional way? Still keeping the bright visuals ofc. With higher fidelity animation (I sense that the quality it had right now will drop after ep3, and some of it wasn't very good, but the kiss scenes were... PERFECT). Still, can't help but wonder.

Anyways, the part of me that is glad for this is much greater. I always loved graphics and visuals going about on Hidamari Sketch, it gives off a dynamic feel to it, in transitions from scene to scene or moments within those very scenes. Fan-service quite mild IMO (not taking into account the OP/ED), from someone who usually detests fan-service, it was more like small eye-candy treats for me.

Really looking forward for the next episodes, and now I feel like re-watching ep1 again :D

I must say also, that's one of the more loving depictions if a kiss I've seen in anime. I was disappointed in the Lynn/Jenny kiss in Bodacious Space Pirates that was almost like them just banging their faces together, so this really makes up for that.

Of course when the main characters kissing is kinda the whole point of the series, you'd want to do it right.

Absolutely, but if you think about it Bodacious Space Pirates art isn't as detailed as Sakura Trick. Plus, yuri wasn't really as popular.

...
Thinking about it now, that kiss was probably the make or break of the yuri fandom (and/or the producers) for the next few years. If it were "too much" for regular un-yurigoggled watchers, we probably won't have an adaptation of Sakura Trick and such. ...probably. O.o

last edited at Jan 10, 2014 11:14PM

OP/ED aside, the fanservice was notable mainly in that there was more than in the manga. I don't think it's a big deal, and in some ways kind of a good thing? The kiss scenes were fairly erotic in the manga to begin, and like this it's playing the girls as actual lesbians, rather than friends messing around

I like the fan service when the character are like "on" or interacting with each other.( the fan service is for the other character to see; I'm a mega shipper for yuri) . I don't like the fan service where they show the big boobs jiggles up close for the viewer to see. fan service for the viewer(?) It's alright but i rather be fan girling when something "good" happen between the characters.

last edited at Jan 11, 2014 1:04AM

I just noticed... THERE ARE MALE STUDENTS IN THE BACKGROUND! :O
haha.

Seen somewhere that there was staff that worked on Hidamari Sketch on the team for this one (?). I am glad and.. kind of not glad at the same time. How would it have been animated in a more traditional way? Still keeping the bright visuals ofc. With higher fidelity animation (I sense that the quality it had right now will drop after ep3, and some of it wasn't very good, but the kiss scenes were... PERFECT). Still, can't help but wonder.

The director of the series was the director for Hidamari Sketch Season 3 (and some earlier episodes), but the quality of animation itself is more dependent on the budget for the series (in terms of the number of animators they can hire, and for how long) than the directing style. Even without an experienced Slice of Life director/team at the helm we likely wouldn't get much more of an increase in quality, so I consider the team we have right now to be wholly a good thing.

I can certainly agree that the show's budget restrictions are visible in the animation though. But at the same time, they've nailed the important moments (the kiss scenes) so perfectly that I just can have no issues with the animation.

In terms of the animation for the kiss scenes themselves, it seems like they have the animator for the Sono Hanabira OVA on board. I can definitely see the similarities. Suffice to say, I was blown away by the first episode and have no doubt that the rest of this season is gonna be an absolute blast.

(Looks like this series is the one that's gonna make me take the plunge into buying imported BDs :P. I've been tempted before, but finally this series is one where I can't afford to hold back.)