I didn’t say twists should be out of left field to be good. I said they are bad if they are predictable, since the whole point of a plot twist is, by definition, something that should surprise the viewer. A good twist is one that is previously foreshadowed but not easily predictable. I think you’re assuming that foreshadowing always make it predictable, but that’s not the case at all: take Ever17 for an example, where the twist is bombastic, surprising, and completely foreshadowed and full of hints sprinkled throughout the entire game. It’s fair because you could have guessed it beforehand, but it was not obvious. Now, Punchline? I could see most coming from a mile away, despite they being properly forshadowed or not.
Exactly. He stated in an interview that the fanservice was an afterthought (almost everything 5bp touches becomes a fanservice fest after all), which is why I got into this expecting a big subversion. But so far, this hasn’t quite happened. They are trying to blend both aspects insted of subverting one for the other, and that’s not working FOR ME, personally. I think you have to commit on which type of show you want at some point, but Punchline keeps going back and forth, and in a very fast pace, so I always feel like it’s not quite living up to it’s potential. It’s serious parts don’t feel really dramatic or…well, serious enough, and it’s comedic parts are so-so (I did laugh a lot at the first episode, but that’s about it).
That is something that could be resolved in it’s upcoming Visual Novel, perhaps. But the anime just feels too fast-paced and stuff like Hercules Virus or whatever just pass by in brief mentions instead of proper build up.
Just out of curiosity, have you caught up with the Infinity series? Ever17 (which was mainly written by him) and Remember11 (which had Nakazawa on the helm) are much better than what Uchikoshi has to offer nowadays IMO.
The difference between our opinions is that you think this is a storytelling technique, while I see it as a straight-up flaw. We can’t know who’s right as of now, though lol.