Firesun
First come: I commend you for going with something as difficult as a -30 manip and succeeding (for the most part) at it.
the opener was nothing spectacular, it is just there to get you into a good position. however, there are a few movements that seem to be a result of carelessness, such as the left elbow being contracted, relaxed and contracted again between frames 400 and 350, with no practical effect and little visual appeal imo.
another example of the same mistake is the quick right shoulder raise-lower-raise between frames 300 and 280, which was obviously a result of meticulous aiming. it is a difficult thing to avoid doing if you are not paying attention, and the only in very particular instances does it go unnoticed, specifically when travelling or rotating at very high speeds.
I am willing to overlook the fact that you bruised most of your torso during the manip, because I have never done a -30 manip longer than 100 frames and because it is a huge challenge.
I am not sure if i like the split. on one hand, it transitions to the pose perfectly, but on the other hand it is a bit anti climatic and simplistic after something so pompous and complex as a -30 manipulation. I do not necessarily believe that single/simple dismemberments are worse than lots of dms or hits, but in this particular case it felt like the manip built up my expectations for something clever and neat, which the split did not exactly deliver. I am aware that your position did not allow you many different ways to approach this, but i think i would pick almost any other route besides going directly for the hit.
I am almost never a fan of ground impact decaps, especially if they look unintentional or accidental (and therefore lazy). I have made -30 ukebashing replays before, and ground dms kept happening whether I wanted them or not. because of that, I developed some sort of stigma against those, unless they look completely intentional (for example: throwing bodyparts at the ground in order to dismember them). right now, decaps such as that just look like the "easy way out", if you know what i mean.
Reverse: I like this opener. once again, trouble keeping your arms in a comfortable position
at 940, your right elbow is relaxed and then contracted very quickly. I understand the practical effect of this, it is useful for getting the spins on. if you want to avoid those though, try to look at your arms once in a while during spins or flips. relax some joints and observe where the momentum pulls them. if you want to look smooth, if want to try and follow through those movements without looking sudden or abrupt. this is usually achieved by extending/contracting the joint during one or two frames, and relaxing it after that. it will move to the desired position smoothly.
however, this one was much less flagrant than last replay, where your arm was spazzing out. here, it is not as big of a problem, atleast imo.
(I am assuming that you did not do those elbow extensions/contractions on purpose, since doing them on purpose is an incredibly unusual stylistic approach. besides that, it does not make your movements look intentional, and it makes it harder to use your arms when you need them if they are constantly changing positions so i would recommend avoiding it since it is not a good idea regardless of opinion)
after that, very impressive display of execution. the dms were impressive, you clearly know how to hit uke.
I am almost never a fan of hitting uke when he is on the ground, but the crotch boom I do not mind at all, because the transition was sweet and trying to lift uke's lower body at such a high gravity would surely force you to make weird movements and distort your body, due to all the weight you would be carrying on your tori. all in all, simply airstriking the crotch was the best option from my POV.
not a huge fan of the anti pose. was it really impossible to pose from that position? genuinely asking, I have no experience with posing in -30.
440 problems: I am not very bothered by the fact that this is from an opener challenge, your other two replays already showed how you make your openers and what is good/bad about them.
I think you made good use of the given opener, you seem to be good at gathering momentum.
practically nothing else for me to say about this replay, because this is pretty much an ORMO worthy replay (i still dont get that anti pose meme though). good hits and transitions, and the one particular thing I enjoyed in this was how much better your movement was compared to the other two replays. you seemed more comfortable using relax and hold, and did not have the arm spasms I mentioned in the other replays.
you have 1 replay that is ormo worthy (440 problems), 1 that is borderline ormo (reverse) and one that did not impress me so much (first come). my decision here is to ask you to swap out First come for another replay, since you are so close. if you can post a replay as good as 440 Problems, I will accept you. I advise you to avoid posting another replay with an opener from an opener challenge though. one OC replay is acceptable, but two makes it harder for me to judge the quality of your openers.
good luck
Last edited by pusga; Sep 5, 2015 at 02:55 PM.