#i tried somehing new and talked about directors and people involved in making the show

[romchomp]

My Thoughts on Carole and Tuesday So Far (Ep 1-12)

So I finally went ahead and caught up with Carole and Tuesday.

There has been a lot of hype behind this show, which a lot could come from the people involved in its creation.

Shinichiro Watanabe is listed as the director. This is the guy that directed Cowboy Bebop, Zankyou no Terror, Samurai Champloo, and Kids on the Slope- all shows that are fairly stylistic as well as acclaimed. 

Motonobu Hori is the supervising director. He’s directed a few episodes of Beck and Paradise Kiss, both anime music orientated.

The aesthetic of Carole and Tuesday makes a lot of sense when taking those two into consideration 

Aya Watanabe is listed as the scriptwriter and in charge of the series composition. While she’s popular in the world of dramas, she never actually worked on an anime. It makes her a rather strange choice, to say the least. From what I’ve seen, she’s been getting a lot of criticism over the script. And while I agree that the script is a bit clumsy, when I look on Wikipedia it says Aya (I’ll be using her first name since the director is also Watanabe) hasn’t even been the writer for any of the current episodes. In fact, Aya isn’t anywhere to be seen on the Wikipedia page of Carole and Tuesday. Where is she? What she is she doing? Another thing is that Shinichiro hasn’t been the director for any of the current episodes, he’s only been the writer for episode 12 (which funnily enough, is one of my favorite episodes to come out so far but that’s beside the point). Shinichiro Watanabe, who directed Cowboy Bebop, Kids on the Slope, Zankyou no Terror, and others...why would anyone working on this NOT want his dirty hands all over everything??

My point is, it’s not all that surprising to see some people being disappointed in this show. Not a lot, granted. Its score on MyAnimeList is an 8.23 and I’ve seen nothing but positive feedback on twitter and tumblr. That doesn’t mean the show hasn’t had it’s well-deserved criticisms though.

The script...is clumsy to say the least. Or better yet, it was noticeably sloppy from episode 5 to 9. The show really struggles with build up. The pay off/ resolution to conflicts never really feels deserved.

When Roddy monologues about being Carole and Tuesday’s biggest fan in episode five I just...had a hard time connecting with his character when I was clearly supposed to. It didn’t feel earned.

I had the same issue in the following episode when Carole and Tuesday went from performing to a 10 people audience to a 200,000 people audience. I mean, come on. Granted, the larger performance blew up in the girls’ faces, which I think was the show acknowledging that this was way too big of a jump but even then I can’t help but feel like the audience not giving them a chance and them crying after practically getting booed off stage would’ve been more emotionally impactful if the build up to that scene was more gradual and generally done better.

None of this means I dislike Carole and Tuesday. I actually like the show quite a bit. 

I really like Carole and Tuesday’s (the characters, not the show) chemistry; I think they work really well together. Their meeting actually reminded me of how Gon and Killua met, and really, if you’re reminding me of killugon then you’re probably doing something right.

The side characters are likable as well, even if they were set up a bit awkwardly. If you’re wondering what I mean by set up awkwardly I have one word for you: Angela. She’s a fine character but the way her character is introduced to the story is just so strange. I couldn’t even figure out where the show was trying to go with her storyline until like episode seven. While it was pretty obvious she was going to end up being a rival of Carole and Tuesday, she wasn’t really set up as a rival until the talent show arc which is in episode seven without any prior connection between her and Carole and Tuesday. It was just kind of odd to me.

Something else I’d like to pick on is the romance...ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ⁱˢ ⁱᵗ? I’ve been checking everywhere this anime is listed on just to make sure I wasn’t going crazy but, every website I’ve been on has this show categorized as a romance. And yet, at the halfway point, there’s been very minimal hints of romance. It’s definitely hinted a little bit more in the recent episodes with Cybel, Carole’s present for Tuesday, and Tuesday thinking about Carole when she was back home in episode twelve. However, these are all really subtle for a show that’s at its halfway point. This also isn’t to say there hasn’t been any development in Carole and Tuesday’s relationship because there definitely has been throughout the talent show. It’s probably been my favorite part of this arc.

Another thing Carole and Tuesday has going for it is it’s production value, which is off the fucking walls. The character designs are gorgeous. All of the songs are catchy and fun to listen to (Round and Laundry has been stuck in my head for days now) and the opening oh my god.

In conclusion, I really liked episodes 1-4, felt okay about 5-8, and feel more hopeful for the show based on 9-12 which were interesting and showed development in the characters and their relationships that I hope I to see Carole and Tuesday further build on. It’s been a bit of a mixed package for me.

 I definitely plan on writing about Carole and Tuesday again once it’s finished airing but for now this most of what I have to say. You can send me your own thoughts on anon or ask about something I didn’t mention in this post if you feel inclined.