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Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Thunderbolt Fantasy is a puppet show written by Gen Urobuchi. It is a collaboration between Nitroplus and Pili International, a traditional Taiwanese puppetry studio. It owns really super hard! It's a cross between a Wuxia film, traditional Taiwanese puppet theater and a Toku show. The main characters are:


Shāng Bù Huàn
A wandering rogue from a foreign country. Sick of this magic poo poo!


Dān Fěi
Damsel in distress. Extremely magical.


Lǐn Xuě Yā
Either a god or a wizard. Possibly both.


Miè Tiān Hái
Satan.

It airs every Friday at 4:30 pm EDT on Crunchyroll. Give it a watch! Puppets are super rad!

Smoking Crow fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Jul 10, 2016

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Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

This show is really loving good, that is all

Butt Ghost
Nov 23, 2013

I will give this a shot!

gimme the GOD DAMN candy
Jul 1, 2007
i was planning to watch one episode for novelty's sake, but i really like this

Parallax
Jan 14, 2006

title should've been Thuderbolt Fantasy are Go!!

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

Goodsmile Company is also contributing. Can't wait for the figmas

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

https://u.pomf.is/mhzajh.webm

fadam
Apr 23, 2008

Dang this ruled.

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012
Sawano's soundtrack was a real good fit for the show.

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

He's always at his best when not phoning in robot shows.

devtesla
Jan 2, 2012


Grimey Drawer
I spent the entire episode watching the rainwater splash everywhere it looked so cool!

gimme the GOD DAMN candy
Jul 1, 2007
how big are these puppets, anyway?

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Serious Frolicking posted:

how big are these puppets, anyway?

They look pretty substantial, about 3 feet tall

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012

Sakurazuka posted:

He's always at his best when not phoning it in.

Fixed. Gundam Unicorn had a real nice soundtrack, while Kabaneri was pretty generic and weak. His only other mech OST is Aldnoah Zero, which wasn't great by his standards, but had its moments, and certainly had catchier themes than his bottom-tier stuff like Seraph of the End and the aforementioned Kabaneri. I guess you could count Guilty Crown and Attack on Titan if you stretched the definition hard, but those were fairly deece music-wise.

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012

Serious Frolicking posted:

how big are these puppets, anyway?

Watch Episode 0 on Crunchyroll. It's a really interesting, charming documentary that tells you the answer to that and many other questions (including the origins of the show title, and just how much effort it takes to properly destroy a lamp).

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

I could call shang by his name but I'll just keep calling him Scruffy.

Also yeah those puppets are huge and they all have billowing robes to hide the puppeteers operating them.

El Burbo
Oct 10, 2012

Serious Frolicking posted:

how big are these puppets, anyway?

Thy work like this

Davincie
Jul 7, 2008

wasn't there a making off episode of this supposed to be somewhere?

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Davincie posted:

wasn't there a making off episode of this supposed to be somewhere?

It's Episode 0 on crunchyroll

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

Oh hey that's cool, I figured they were Thunderbirds style puppets only with the strings CGI'd out

It's kind of funny that their arms are like twice as long as they should be but you only really notice it occasionally.

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

I'm glad Thunderbolt Fantasy is getting so much attention because the last time I posted about Taiwanese puppet shows in the chat thread people looked at me like I was crazy

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

I also love the overly elaborate body language they use to make up for the puppets not having real expressions

Pierson
Oct 31, 2004



College Slice
Sold.

Relin
Oct 6, 2002

You have been a most worthy adversary, but in every game, there are winners and there are losers. And as you know, in this game, losers get robotizicized!
i cant believe i'm watching this. it's as braindead as all of urobuchi's works but the puppet gimmick is just too good

dogsicle
Oct 23, 2012

i'm glad a show like this is being made with a big name like urobuchi. it's cool to see something super steeped in tradition/history still around, and cooler still that it'll be drawing a lot of eyes and appreciation, even if it's just for the novelty of the concept.

Relin posted:

i cant believe i'm watching this. it's as braindead as all of urobuchi's works but the puppet gimmick is just too good

thankfully, his braindead works are better than your posting

Ccs
Feb 25, 2011


Apparently this is selling super well in Japan. I might actually have to watch an episode.

Butt Ghost
Nov 23, 2013

This show is badass!

Phobophilia
Apr 26, 2008

by Hand Knit
i hope the next time a bad guy tries to pull off the send-information-via-decapitated-head-to-base stunt, the MC just baits him into doing it early and then shoots down the bone bird with a magic sword missile

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012
Can we put in the OP that Episode 0, the making-of documentary, is real good and interesting, and makes a great introduction before you watch the actual show?

StrixNebulosa
Feb 14, 2012

You cheated not only the game, but yourself.
But most of all, you cheated BABA

That was way better than I thought it would be! I don't usually go for wuxia or puppets, but damnit, I'm in!

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Relin posted:

i cant believe i'm watching this. it's as braindead as all of urobuchi's works but the puppet gimmick is just too good

Oh, this isn't just a simple gimmick. It's a whole drat genre, and this show basically only exists because Urobuchi stumbled onto this stuff when he was in Taiwan and decided he wanted in on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dercYcpxcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwNB2Ig37HI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs1mnL-LvrE

Yes these are three different OPs all from the same show I don't give a gently caress


Also the actual physical limitations of using puppets means these go full CGI sword wizard all the drat time

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Basically Thunderbolt Fantasy only exists because Urobuchi nerded out over pretty kung fu dolls

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012
To clarify what I alluded to above, 'Thunderbolt Fantasy' is an affectionate reference to Pili, the company who are primarily responsible for these sorts of puppet shows in Taiwan, and who collaborated with Nitroplus to create this one. Pili means, yes, thunderbolt.

Vitamean
May 31, 2012

T.G. Xarbala posted:

Oh, this isn't just a simple gimmick. It's a whole drat genre, and this show basically only exists because Urobuchi stumbled onto this stuff when he was in Taiwan and decided he wanted in on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dercYcpxcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwNB2Ig37HI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs1mnL-LvrE

Yes these are three different OPs all from the same show I don't give a gently caress


Also the actual physical limitations of using puppets means these go full CGI sword wizard all the drat time

Jesus Christ, how did I go this long without realizing this is entirely my jam?

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

I don't think any of the others have any kind of English translation, apart from one from the 90's getting a horribly mangled US dub I think?

Shinjobi
Jul 10, 2008


Gravy Boat 2k
I'm going to watch it tomorrow; how long is each episode?

Smoking Crow
Feb 14, 2012

*laughs at u*

Shinjobi posted:

I'm going to watch it tomorrow; how long is each episode?

30 min

Darth Walrus
Feb 13, 2012

Shinjobi posted:

I'm going to watch it tomorrow; how long is each episode?

Both the doc and the first episode are standard TV anime length.

Sakurazuka
Jan 24, 2004

NANI?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D73KE-4MNfM

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Relin
Oct 6, 2002

You have been a most worthy adversary, but in every game, there are winners and there are losers. And as you know, in this game, losers get robotizicized!

Darth Walrus posted:

To clarify what I alluded to above, 'Thunderbolt Fantasy' is an affectionate reference to Pili, the company who are primarily responsible for these sorts of puppet shows in Taiwan, and who collaborated with Nitroplus to create this one. Pili means, yes, thunderbolt.
i thought it was a reference to thunderbirds

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