Forum - View topicShelf Life - I Am Xam
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Wooga
 Posts: 916 Location: Tucson |
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Ok- I know whoever posted these pictures wish to remain anonymous, but i still want to ask- in the fourth picture, left shelf- what series are those characters from? I want them.
And, wow, Basara is Shelf Worthy  That's pretty awesome. Date Masamune is one of my favorite characters- fictional or non. I got to see his actual armor in person, it was really impressive.
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shamisen the great
 Posts: 658 Location: Oregon, USA |
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I never really connected with X'amd. I think it was just a little to obtuse for it's own good. I loved Eureka Seven, which had a lot of the same staff, but I feel X'amd didn't establish it's world as well.
I agree with your review of Sengoku Basara. I was skeptical when I heard it was based on a Dynasty Warriors style video game, but it won me over with it's over the top action. It's got a guy who wields six swords, for crying out loud! I'm tempted to check out the game now. I liked Kaleido Star. It's silly and predictable, but darn it, I couldn't help rooting for Sora |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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Aww, I would've put Kaleido Star season 1 on the shelf worthy, perhaps not season 2 (I don't think it's as good), but yeah, it is a bit like Glass Mask but with more defying of physics (and with improper juggling technique that secretly just burns me up inside). Oh and it is Junichi Sato, and he is amazing (Princess Tutu, Aria, Junkers Come Here and Sailor Moon? This is my go to guy for shojo). I think it should've ended after the first season all the same, the second season isn't bad, just unnecessary. Junichi Sato fans should go grab this for sure though.
As for Xam'd, that one of the few series I actually dropped 4 episodes before the end because I couldn't even care to finish it to the end, that's pretty rare for me, so I'm not going to touch the DVDs with a 10 foot pole no matter how much budget they had (and they had a lot). It would go onto my perishable shelf personally. But yay, kitties! And I see Dr. Slump figurines, there is a happy Wooga above me, isn't there 
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ss-hikaru
 Posts: 269 Location: Western Australia |
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I've been undecided about whether to buy Sengoku Basara but now I think I will! It does seem like a title that anyone could like, just because it's so over the top. And this is one title where I'm actually curious about the dub , though I probably wouldn't watch the entire series dubbed. Just wondering though, is the second season any good? I vaguely remember it being streamed by Funi (which was why I couldn't watch it fansubbed), but haven't come across many reviews of it.
By the way Erin, is it just me or have we not seen a Stream Review in a while? Are there rules where you have to watch a certain number of episodes streamed before you can include it in this column? Or perhaps it's because you've been on the move a lot recently? Anyway, looking forward to reading your thoughts on all the series being simulcast 
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leeleekins
 Posts: 26 |
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I'm so glad to see someone else appreciate the craziness that is Sengoku Basara. (I got the Blu-Ray, even though I don't own a Blu-Ray player
 But my friend has one and she really likes the series too, so I watch it at her house.)
Compared to the first season, I gotta say second season is rather...angsty. Its centered more around Maeda Keiji (the big guy with the feather in his hair), but theres also Yukimura trying to find his place in the Takeda army, and Date and his retainer Kojuuros relationship becoming strained (trying to be as completely ambiguous and non spoilery as possible). Of course theres still tons of kickass action and some pretty cool new characters are introduced. If you're a fan of the first season I'd recommend not missing out on the second season. |
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NeoMaster1
Posts: 29 Location: Albuquerque, NM |
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Incidentally, I just finished re-watching the first season of Kaleido Star about an hour ago. My old ADV thinpaks of the series have served me well over the years. With that said, I would personally put Kaleido Star as high as possible on my Shelf Worthy list, as it's cemented a permanent place in my 'Top 3'. In your review, this quote caught me a bit off guard:
Honestly, if that's what you were expecting from Kaleido Star, I can see why you were disappointed. If anyone came up to me and told me that they just finished watching a series that Junichi Sato directed and that it was 'badass', I would probably laugh them off of the face of the Earth. Yes, the performances are flashy and there are some death-defying stunts performed in the show on a regular basis, but what really drew me into the series was the way that the characters grow and interact so warmly with each other. They all root for each other and are always standing by like a safety net in case one of them should fall. Sure, there are some characters who start out a bit rough around the edges, but they are all redeemed by the end of the series. I think Bamboo hit the nail right on the head when she said this:
You did make a really good point in there, though. Like you guessed, I participated in theatre during my Junior and Senior years of high school and I think that dramatically increased my enjoyment of the show. I could relate to Sora's frustration when she couldn't get it right, her high levels of anxiety before performing, and the absolute rapture that you feel when you know that you absolutely nailed a performance. All that said, I don't hold it against you that it didn't make your Shelf Worthy list. After all, it's your own personal opinion of the series. |
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BeanBandit
Posts: 303 Location: Canada |
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Always been curious about Xam'd, good to know it's shelve worthy as I might check that out one of these days.
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Akukame
Posts: 117 |
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This is a rarity among rarities. Xam'd was released over the playstation network originally. AND, it was released to a north american audience, subtitled, before it was released to the japanese audience. And not by a small amount here: Episode 1 US release: July 18, 08 JP release: Sept 24, 08 The japanese release was given 2 episodes a week for the entire first half, and then they got released at the same time by episode 15. I don't have much information on why it was released this way. I think it was actually due to other production reasons. AFAIK, the show was originally intended to be sort of simulcast. Only paid of course. Since the episodes were rented over the playstation network. But it was most definitely intended for an international audience. |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Hey, a Xam'd review I agree with!
 Well if you like what you saw in the second half Erin, I'd recommend going back to watch the first as well. It is too bad you went out of order though.
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Erin, you cannot seriously have actually watched the brutal training for the spoiler[Legendary Great Maneuver] and thought that it was somehow less than a director throwing a rock at some actor. We're talking spoiler[about stopping a mini-wrecking-ball using only your arm strength and not allowing any further movement in your body. And repeatedly pushing off against a cliffside at full strength, over and over and over again, causing even the gifted Layla Ashley to hurt her shoulder]. You're going to have to come up with something greater from Glass Mask than that, otherwise I'll once again think that you didn't even complete the show.
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Emerje
 Posts: 7413 Location: Maine |
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The four girls with the white body suits and armor? "Mayu no Ichizoku".
I'll agree with this. Where the first season was fueled largely by testosterone, the second season is more about adrenaline. Things are much more dire and intense. It's a lot more story driven, not that the first season didn't have a good story, but the scope is much larger, maybe even a little hard to follow, but when things converge at the end it's a great payoff! And to the anonymous collector who submitted the pictures: You don't have a problem at all! As long as you're buying for fun and not stupid things like "value" or "collectability" you'll never have a problem. Emerje |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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Actually, I think the second season has barely any humor at all. It really felt like a completely different series. Season 1 also had its serious parts and some people dying, but it was mostly over the top action and comedy imho. The second season still has the action, but ... the comedy part is gone. Second season was less enjoyable to me, since they were suddenly asking me to take Sengoku Basara seriously. Which I can't 
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asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
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I do happen to think that Kaledio Star is shelf worth, but IMO it's on the fence between shelf and rental worthy. I didn't have a problem with the dub, I didn't think it was that bad.
I did wish Season 1 had more training scenes but Season 2 has a lot more of them. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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Since Erin and I don't see eye-to-eye with much of anime (and that's okay), I couldn't help but chuckle at reading the Kaleido Star review as she critiqued the dub. As she closes, she mentions "season 2" and I nearly busted a gut as I can see her writhing in agony trying to get through 26 episodes of Hilary Haag playing Mae, the whiniest brat I think I've ever seen in anime.
I love Hilary's voice, but not too many people do. Good luck, Erin. You're going to need it if you found "season 1" difficult to mire through. Note: I will have to say, I found the story of "season 2" better than the first. It'll be interesting to see what your take on this will be, provided you survive it. *** I'm a collector, and I have to ask: why is it I want something from every single person's collection who has submitted a picture to Shelf Life? I mean, I feel my collection is pretty good, but there's always that "one thing" I want. Should this thing already be in my collection? That's when it hit me: where do people get their stuff I can't seem to find? This week's photos feature a ton of tiny figures and I've never seen them! I know Nendoroids are small, but these are even smaller than that! And they look good. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place, but I want these tiny things. Less space. More of them. Here I thought figma was nice, now I want to go smaller (not really a fan of Nendoroids). *sigh* |
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ZakuAce
 Posts: 525 Location: SE Wisconsin |
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Aw man, no shelf worthy for Kaleido Star? I don't know if I can still trust you Erin. Our tastes are many times similar and you usually give ratings that I can agree with, but I just love Kaleido Star to death. Normally don't like shojo shows much, but this is an excellent show. I really think you were watching the show for the wrong reasons. It's about the characters, and Sora trying to reach her goal with everyone supporting her.
I can agree with the dub though, even though I'm still watching it. I always thought Layla's dub voice was the weakest of them all - it just didn't fit. I did like Sora's and the Fool's voices a lot. |
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