Okay, the manga isn't here, the novels have an official translation so they'll never come here, there's an anime airing soon and volume 4 of the LN just dropped... Figured this was as good a time as any to open a thread.
Also, I can't stand not knowing where to post my thoughts about this series. I want to talk about it, damn it!

To sum up for people unfamiliar: horror + yuri and I do mean yuri about two college-aged girls exploring another world where everything can potentially kill you or make you go insane. I wouldn't call it scary, just intensely creepy, although it is very good at that.

Opening a thread is scary, so I sure hope other people will show up here!

I know nothing of the LN or manga but aside from YuruCamp S2 this is the only anime series I'm looking forward to.

I love the manga, but I think the success of the anime will depend on how well they nail the horror and the uncanny valley effect of the various anomalies. On the one hand, animation allows you to do some insane shit with movement, but on the other, there's also a lot more things that could go wrong or ruin the tension. CGI, despite being despised by many an anime fan, would actually bring out the otherwordly nature of the outsiders incredibly well, but there's no way to know unless we see it in motion. I also hope they don't dump in fanservice to make up for the inevitable lack of yuri in a twelve episode run.

I haven't heard of any good horror anime recently (the Junji Ito Collection was terrible), but I've got high hopes for this one as long as they faithfully adapt the source. It stands as a fascinating work irrespective of the yuri, and I'd love to see its charms applied to an animated medium.

I hope they do my girls justice for the anime, no extra fan service like in Adashima's adaptation and stick to the story not trying to be extra. It could be huge, I would really like them to get a second season since it might only possibly cover to the "beach episode" (so I've heard) I'd love to see "Little Bird in a Box" be animated as it's my favorite chapter. Also currently reading the light novel and it has me dying, and while it doesn't have that much creepy stuff as the last ones, the few parts that are creepy got me like :0 , their relationship is progressing though, god I love it.*

last edited at Dec 28, 2020 4:30PM by

Is it gonna adapt the manga or the LN? (Though I think they aren't that much different from each other. On a side note, even though I believe this series isn't really scary, but I think the Anime will nail the creepy atmosphere of the otherside based on the trailer. I don't think they will go further with Yuri, as it only begins in the third volume, which I doubt the Anime will be able to cover that far. I am also particulary assured because the director for the anime is Satou Takuya (Asagao to kase-san, Steins;Gate, Frag Time).

^Karateka Is a character who already has a design for the show, however she hasn’t appeared in the manga yet (the raws are doing the beach chapter rn), so it’s safe to assume that they’re adapting the LN, though there wouldn’t be a big difference if it was adapted from the manga, other than there being less to adapt. I think ending the anime with the end of vol. 2 would be the best bet, since pacing wise, not much would need to be cut for it to fit in pretty well. If a faithful adaptation is done, I don’t see why the show wouldn’t become popular enough to warrant a season 2, it appeals to horror fans too, who have yet to see a good horror anime come out in a bit that isn’t a remake (so no higurashi). Though shows can be super popular and still not get a second season for a multitude of other reasons, so it’s nothing set in stone.

Is it gonna adapt the manga or the LN?

...Do they ever adapt the manga in this sort of circumstance?

^^ I see. I hope a second season would be possible though, cause the yuri won't happen in the first season, and I'm dying to see an anime that doesn't focus mainly on yuri, but it is more of a nice suprising side thing. It's rare to find such stories. Maybe the fact that the first season won't contain yuri is for the good, I guess? since not many people would be pulled off by the yuri and will actually stick to follow the good story and won't complain about the Yuri in the second season. One could only hope I guess.

On the other hand, have you guys seen Iori Miyazawa's views on Yuri? like holy cow that dude is a diehard Yuri fan. Most male yuri authors don't know a thing or two about Yuri but this dude explains the nature of Yuri perfectly, and even better than many female yuri authors I know! He is my spirit animal. I am honored to read such an amazing work by him.

...Do they ever adapt the manga in this sort of circumstance?

I haven't read the Manga yet, but I've heard it follows the LN perfectly. After taking a sneak peak on the latest chapters, It's obvious to me now that the Anime couldn't adapt the Manga as it was way behind at the time of production of the anime.

last edited at Dec 28, 2020 9:16PM

On the other hand, have you guys seen Iori Miyazawa's views on Yuri? like holy cow that dude is a diehard Yuri fan.

I was going to post that, it's a genuinely funny and interesting read. This part just hooked me tbh:

"It's just a transient phase of puberty"

Saying this will also get you killed. Even if a relationship is intentionally depicted as yuri, some will nonetheless insist it's all a fleeting delusion, people who can't take a single step out of their heterocentric values where love only exists between a man and a woman. Report spam → Block user.

On the other hand, have you guys seen Iori Miyazawa's views on Yuri? like holy cow that dude is a diehard Yuri fan.

I was going to post that, it's a genuinely funny and interesting read. This part just hooked me tbh:

"It's just a transient phase of puberty"

Saying this will also get you killed. Even if a relationship is intentionally depicted as yuri, some will nonetheless insist it's all a fleeting delusion, people who can't take a single step out of their heterocentric values where love only exists between a man and a woman. Report spam → Block user.

For me it was when he was talking about how a bench on a grassy hill could be considered yuri. Not sure if it was the posted article, but it was whichever one he was talking about watching Sicario lol

Ooh, people showed up!

On the other hand, have you guys seen Iori Miyazawa's views on Yuri? like holy cow that dude is a diehard Yuri fan.

Thanks for linking to the interview, I read it once a while ago but couldn't find it again. Fantastic read.
I also liked this part:

And just like with emotions, I believe that if you don't avoid female libido and carnal needs in your writing, that will make it stronger.

Hard agree. Realizing that a story has yuri elements but the writers feel it should remain "pure" is an annoyance to me these days. It's also relevant to Otherside vol. 4.

My hope is that the anime will adapt the first three volumes of the novels. It would make for a nice one chapter=one episode structure, and the end of volume 3 is satisfying from both yuri and storytelling standpoints. With how dense the novels are, however, and seeing how many chapters the manga needs to adapt one LN chapter, it does seem unlikely. In any case, it would be great if the anime could make people check out the novels.

Read all the translated chapters so far and the story is really well-crafted.
Definitely gonna buy the novel books as soon as possible.

Episode 1 was pretty good, although I have a couple of complaints, because of course I do. For starters, I do wish translators of different versions of a story would look up how the names and technical words have been officially translated by their colleagues. Or decide on one spelling if it's the companies calling the shots. We can look forward to the Sorawo/Sorao debates now. Just fantastic.

Secondly, this is animated by the studio behind the Hanebado adaptation, so I was hoping to be blown away by the animation here, but it didn't feel that way. That's just nitpicking though.

The other issue I have is that the anime cut out so much! Not just Sorawo’s internal monologues, but also much of the dialogue and banter between her and Toriko. As a result, the episode felt rushed even before I re-read the novel's first chapter for comparison. Most notably, Sorawo’s motivations appear unclear and the anime-only viewer must be wondering why she accepted to go back to the Otherside after she nearly died.

The good news is that if the anime adapts one chapter per episode, we might reach the end of volume 3, which is what I was hoping. The OP sequence features Natsumi and a reference to the Sannukikano chapter, so that actually seems likely.

Animation aside, the technical aspects seemed good to me. I liked the music, and the sound design in the Otherside was really good. The seiyuu are great too, but that was a given.

Looking forward to the next episode!

I'm just gonna nitpick one thing mainly, why is it that eachtime some girl is line in some different plane of thinkin/deep thinking or whatever it is, they most of the time gotta make her naked, like do they really have to do that? Like they did that quite a bit in Adashima too.
Anyhow
CGI was alright, it did look wonky at times.
But yeah I do definitely agree it was quite rushed, it didn't really show how Sorawo is actually is, like how she can come off as rude to people, and her thought process with things. Which is what I love about her. I'm still hyped though.

The good news is that if the anime adapts one chapter per episode, we might reach the end of volume 3, which is what I was hoping. The OP sequence features Natsumi and a reference to the Sannukikano chapter, so that actually seems likely.

If that’s the case, then the pace is going to be about a chapter an episode (save for file 11, which would most likely be two episodes long)

Most of my “issues” with the first ep could just be amounted to animation and novels being structure differently, leading to a different adaptation. Things like internal monologue, detailed descriptions of emotions or facial expressions, and the unsettling feelings specifically for this work can really only work well in a novel; the manga adaptation does a great job of replicating it. The novel is so unique because of the perspective it’s told from, especially when it’s obvious Sorawo is not telling it how it is; I don’t think you can translate it well into an anime, so directors/writers just drop them. The most recent example I can think of is The Journey of Elaina, which while being a decent anime by itself, left out a lot of things that were in the novel.

Besides that, I still feel like TOO much is being left out. Things just happen, and the audience is supposed to go “ok” with no question. Though this complaint really is too early to call, since the first half of the next episode can be spent covering those bits missing from the first episode (file two isn’t really that long to begin with)

What I really hope they don’t do is make this a “monster of the week” type series, that would just take the specialness out the story, which is how the characters grow and react to the Otherside over time. “The adventures of two college girls shooting ghosts” is fun, but doesn’t do the original material justice, especially when taking the brilliant romantic development into question.

also there was some wonky CGI in there, but not too big of a deal to me

Anyways those were just my thoughts, I’m really looking forward to how this will turn out!

last edited at Jan 4, 2021 6:17PM

The other issue I have is that the anime cut out so much! Not just Sorawo’s internal monologues, but also much of the dialogue and banter between her and Toriko. As a result, the episode felt rushed even before I re-read the novel's first chapter for comparison. Most notably, Sorawo’s motivations appear unclear and the anime-only viewer must be wondering why she accepted to go back to the Otherside after she nearly died.

That was my number one concern going in. Sorawo is such a meek, introverted character. You get much less of her out of her voiced dialogue than her internal monologues. This could definitely be brushed up or expanded on in future episodes, though.

I'd say it's a decent start? I thought the comedy was a bit off, but that tends to be something that improves as the staff gets used to the material. Some issues with the pacing, but that's also something common to first episodes

I got about four hours of sleep last night because I binge-read the whole manga after the first episode.

I want to say it's visually unremarkable/cheapish but there were such nice directorial touches. I particularly liked the moment when the camera shows a random landscape, tilts across empty sky and finds Toriko on the ladder - it actually felt a little dizzying.

The one thing I didn't like (and this is in retrospect after reading the manga) was how the critter was beefed up from a vague wisp into a snarling RPG monster.

So I watched it, and I must say that it wasn't as good as the manga. The pacing is way too quick, to the point where there's no time for any of the major plot points to sink in, and even though I knew the general beats, I still found myself rather disoriented by the pace at which stuff happened- and not in a good, 'whoa, this is insane' way, but in an 'Oh, that looks cool- aaaand it's over' kinda way.

The approach to horror in the anime's case seems to be focused on jumpscares rather than tension, and while some scenes, like the one in the elevator, felt appropriately tense, the big fight at the end was just rather forgettable instead of feeling like an epic confrontation. It didn't seem like two plucky girls in an absurd land finally figuring out the rules and striking back so much as a stock shonen scene in which a hero unlocks his powers and wrecks a mook.

The lack of buildup really hurts the show, because the otherside isn't an RPG dungeon- it's a large, complex world entirely different from our own. That difference should've come through in the air, the mist and every blade of grass, but it barely felt any different from the real world. So many scenes that smacked you in the face back in the manga slide by before you notice in the anime. The one with the dead dude was supposed to establish how deadly the world was, and just how terribly it could warp human bodies, but it felt hilariously perfunctory, and the reaction was less impactful than seeing the daily muder victim in a police procedural.

All in all, I can't help but feel like the anime staff misunderstood what made the manga and LNs work so well. It reifies the Otherside as the monsters instead of a world, and rushes to the fights so quick that Sorawo's final dialogue about wanting to keep the Otherside to herself feels monumentally stupid. We don't see her relationship with the Otherside, the way it pulls her in, the solace it offers her in between the cracks of the real world. We just see a nightmare battleground that no sane person would want to get within a mile of. As much as I loved the cute character interactions and the voice acting, it's based more on the impressions that I have from the source rather than anything the anime did to invest me in these people.

There's just something incredibly tokenistic and shallow about the anime. Save for a few scenes with cool direction, it just feels like a louder, dumber repainting of the source with very few attempts made to actually adapt its virtues to animation. When I first found the manga, it was a terrible scanlation with horrible formatting on a bootleg site lined with porn ads, and I could still tell that I'd come across something special and unique, something different from what the industry normally spews out. But the anime just left me feeling empty and uninterested, to the point where I'm honestly not sure it's worth my while to watch the remaining episodes as they come out. Maybe they'll have better episode directors or slow the pace down and focus more on the introspection after the first 'hook' episode, but I'm not optimistic.

At the very least, I hope this is successful enough to attract people to the (much better) source.

The one thing I didn't like (and this is in retrospect after reading the manga) was how the critter was beefed up from a vague wisp into a snarling RPG monster.

Oh yeah, same. I mean, when you compare that scene in the anime with this page from the manga the anime kind of dropped the ball on that one.

I'm just gonna nitpick one thing mainly, why is it that eachtime some girl is line in some different plane of thinkin/deep thinking or whatever it is, they most of the time gotta make her naked, like do they really have to do that? Like they did that quite a bit in Adashima too.

I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the ED sequence.

The good news is that if the anime adapts one chapter per episode, we might reach the end of volume 3, which is what I was hoping. The OP sequence features Natsumi and a reference to the Sannukikano chapter, so that actually seems likely.

If that’s the case, then the pace is going to be about a chapter an episode (save for file 11, which would most likely be two episodes long)

That seems likely. I do wonder how they're hoping to squeeze in one novel chapter's worth of content into one episode when the manga needs four chapters to properly adapt file 2, and ten to adapt file 4. Adapting novels is hard!

That was my number one concern going in. Sorawo is such a meek, introverted character. You get much less of her out of her voiced dialogue than her internal monologues. This could definitely be brushed up or expanded on in future episodes, though.

I hope we get a bit more of Sorawo's thoughts in future episodes, the internal monologues do a lot of work in this series--explaining Sorawo's thoughts, dropping breadcrumbs about her past, and summing up whole sequences (like what happened after the beach chapter). Skipping them all or compressing them into one infodump sequence would be a bit of a shame.
Sorawo's thoughts also include all the evolution about her feelings for Toriko, so they'd better translate them well into the anime. Some of my favorite lines are her being angry at how attractive Toriko is.

At the very least, I hope this is successful enough to attract people to the (much better) source.

I'm going to end up saying "Read the novels!" a lot.

TB posted:

I'm just gonna nitpick one thing mainly, why is it that eachtime some girl is line in some different plane of thinkin/deep thinking or whatever it is, they most of the time gotta make her naked, like do they really have to do that? Like they did that quite a bit in Adashima too.

I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the ED sequence.

Isn't it common to indicate that it's characters inner world etc? That it's projection of their pure self. I don't think it's done for fanservice or anything (usually).

At the very least, I hope this is successful enough to attract people to the (much better) source.

I'm going to end up saying "Read the novels!" a lot.

I'm like that with Magia Record.

last edited at Jan 5, 2021 6:09AM

Isn't it common to indicate that it's characters inner world etc? That it's projection of their pure self. I don't think it's done for fanservice or anything (usually).

I've seen it done both ways, though if the camera lingers and pans around the body, you can generally classify it as fanservicey. Personally, I find that showing a character floating in an abstract background and speaking in a mildy distorted, echoey 'inner voice' is more than enough to get the message across without showcasing their tits, but it's something of an industry convention at this point. Evangelion used it a lot, but I'm not sure if it was the originating point, and anyway, that show had enough sexuality and body/soul/mindscape motifs to make it work. Imitators that lift the aesthetic mostly don't. Though at least it wasn't egregious in this UP's case.

The one thing I didn't like (and this is in retrospect after reading the manga) was how the critter was beefed up from a vague wisp into a snarling RPG monster.

Oh yeah, same. I mean, when you compare that scene in the anime with this page from the manga the anime kind of dropped the ball on that one.

I'm just gonna nitpick one thing mainly, why is it that eachtime some girl is line in some different plane of thinkin/deep thinking or whatever it is, they most of the time gotta make her naked, like do they really have to do that? Like they did that quite a bit in Adashima too.

I may have rolled my eyes a bit at the ED sequence.

I honestly thought it was an Utena reference? idk it reminded me a lot of the first couple seconds of the opening song

I'm going to end up saying "Read the novels!" a lot.

That’s usually the case with novel adaptations, no matter how good they are lol.

I honestly thought it was an Utena reference? idk it reminded me a lot of the first couple seconds of the opening song

Oh, that could be it. I... have not seen Utena. (very bad, I know)

I'm going to end up saying "Read the novels!" a lot.

That’s usually the case with novel adaptations, no matter how good they are lol.

Yeah, what's really frustrating being a novel reader is that a number people are going to watch the first anime episode, decide it's not their thing, when many of their complaints are addressed in the novel. Oh well, that's what happens when a series you love gets adapted into an anime. You have to watch people decide it isn't for them. shrug

I forgot to mention this, but I recently read Side-by-side Dreamers, also by Miyazawa Iori. It was a single-volume novel so overall it felt a bit rushed, but it was a good read and I can recommend it. Especially to people who like Miyazawa's descriptions of otherwordly creatures.

As a follower of the LN, the anime got me to read the manga finally. The most disturbing image I keep remembering is the photo Sorawo found on her phone with a twisted version of herself staring at Toriko. I love the novel where I have to rely on Sorawo's dry narration, but the manga is also really good, especially by making some of the weird parts more intense