×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
What are you watching right now? Why? (please read 1st post)


Goto page Previous    Next

Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
4750G



Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Posts: 546
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:50 pm Reply with quote
That's unfortunate. Too many good relationships have been ruined because of money. It may have been pure business to the producers, but changing seiyus after that long a time could affect the anime entirely. If your opinion about the new seiyu is shared by other viewers, that might have an unpleasant effect in the long run. Hopefully that's not the case, but I've seen people who are quite particular with this stuff.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1151
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 2:56 pm Reply with quote
Finished Gunslinger Girls. Thoroughly did not enjoy it- I wonder where does the opinion about this series come from. The characters overally had no appeal to me- they were either undeveloped, or just not that interesting, or died quickly. I never really got into the plot. I don't know how to put it, but somehow it seems to me as if someone tried to make a series about something controversial so chose child assassins, and stuffed the series with philosophy and ideology that all in all end up feeling empty. Not even once I felt bad for the girls or their 'brothers', not even once I felt like admiring them. Maybe that makes me a bad person, but oh well. The only feeling I did have from time to time was actually that of irritation. The whole thing was overdramatic and pretentious.

I wonder whether Jose ever felt uncomfortable about being a 'master' of a girl who obviously has got romantic feelings for him and who would shoot him anytime if she felt he is not reciprocating her feelings. I found that bit a little disturbing.

After 13 episodes, I would have difficulty explaining what actually happened- except for a lot of shooting so called bad people.

On a bright site, I picked up Mushi-shi after a 2 year break, and I can't even remember why I dropped it. It is such a good series, but I guess back then I was not in a mood for such an episodic one. So after a massive disappointment of GG, it is really refreshing to see something intelligent.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:52 pm Reply with quote
Unicorn_Blade wrote:
I wonder where does the opinion about this series come from.

The power of sad little girls with tragic backstories. Some people love this sort of stories.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1151
Location: UK
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:34 pm Reply with quote
I would like it too if it was well executed. Sad little girls with tragic stories as such do not necessarily make a good story.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 7:29 pm Reply with quote
Unicorn_Blade wrote:
Finished Gunslinger Girls. Thoroughly did not enjoy it- I wonder where does the opinion about this series come from.


There you go again - absolutely stupified that somebody could possibly have a different opinion than yours. Rolling Eyes From what I've read here at ANN, opinion on GSG Season 1 is divided. Some of us - like me - love it and others, like yourself, don't. OMG, HOW COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE??? WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY HAVE YOUR EXALTED OPINION??? Rolling Eyes

Unlike you, I did become involved with the characters and their backstories as well as the dilemma faced by the Agency that claimed to be doing good while using these reprehensible methods.

You really should stick to "watching paint dry" series like House of the Five Leaves and Mushi-shi. Doubtlessly those [attempts to attack someone personally are not necessary - Keonyn]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Errinundra
Moderator


Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 6516
Location: Melbourne, Oz
PostPosted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:27 pm Reply with quote
Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Overture to a New War

Encouraged by the franchise’s boosters here at ANN and the nomination in the best rivals tournament I watched my first ever instalment of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. The ANN encyclopaedia tells me that this film covers the first two of the epic 110 episode series and adds extra material.

From a dramatic perspective this is a beautifully paced film. The backgrounding of the two rivals, von Lohengramm and Wen-li, adds to the build up rather than detracting from it and the climactic scenes are effective yet economical. It helps that the two characters are so compelling: the laid back and kindly Wen-li and the intense and ambitious von Lohengramm. Both are as cunning as shithouse rats (to use an Australianism). Add to this some wonderful romantic era central European orchestral music (Bruckner, Mahler and others) and you have a film that revels in its epic scope.

The romantic era music, however, gives a hint of those aspects of the film that arouse important misgivings for me. The shallow romanticising of war that infuses this film from first frame to last reveals that it doesn’t have much philosophical depth. Now, I must admit, a 90-minute film doesn’t provide much opportunity to tease out difficult and complex ideas and I’m sure that over the 110 episodes of the TV series many such issues are examined thoroughly. (Similarly, the Star Trek and Ghost in the Shell TV series are more interesting from an ideas perspective than their associated films.) Here war is a grand opera, where every hot-blooded man would dream of being on the bridge of a battleship alongside Wen-li. Even the tragic scenes, such as Jessica Edwards losing her man, are presented as noble. We may even envy her sacrifice.

I can only consider a film on what I see, not on the potential of its elements. I would still rate it as very good, despite my reservations.

Dirty Pair: Project Eden

This Koichi Mashimo film follows the well-worn formulae of the franchise, except that it is faster paced, better animated and funnier than the original TV series. It is probably worth watching just for this hilarious slapstick scene:



Kei is trying to grip a pistol between her toes, while Yuri’s knickers are coming apart. All the while the big bad is lecturing a rock (yes, he is that crazy), blissfully unaware of the drama taking place overhead. Mashimo beautifully prolongs the agony, milking it for all it's worth.

Rating: decent

Gunslinger Girl

Unicorn_Blade wrote:
...Thoroughly did not enjoy it- I wonder where does the opinion about this series come from...


Aylinn wrote:
The power of sad little girls with tragic backstories. Some people love this sort of stories.


As one of the contributors to this forum that rated this as a masterpiece I’d like to respond to these comments – hopefully not in an inflammatory way.

Firstly, the appeal is much, much more than any “sad little girls with tragic backstories” trope. That trope is established to provide an element for something I think is altogether more sophisticated. The opening scenes aren’t about cuteness; the overwhelming sense is menace. Triela walking through a door with a trench gun and bayonet is signalling that something odd is happening here. The unease continues throughout that first episode in subtle ways: how Jose adjusts his tie before entering Henrietta’s room; or how her feet don’t reach the floor while she dismantles and re-assembles her gun with her hands smeared with gunpowder. This hinting at violence by and against children and the paedophilic tease that hovers constantly create a sense of rottenness at the very core of the Social Welfare Agency and, by extension, the series itself. Like an overripe durian, if you can ignore the smell there’s some tasty flesh to consume here. Thanks to some deft writing and an implied moral stance, the series never quite oversteps the limits of propriety. Hovering at that boundary is a large part of the pleasure.

Having now watched many “girls with guns” anime, I believe that it stands with Kite and Noir as the only examples that have pushed the genre in interesting new directions. At the core of the GwG trope is the phallic mother – the woman who replaces the male as the wielder of the phallus, metaphorically represented by the gun. In Gunslinger Girl this is up-ended; the girls are simply tools for the men. It’s a fascinating step forward in the genre, if a retreat for feminism (assuming that valorising the phallic mother is a positive, which is arguable, and also assuming that anime can ever be a flag waver for feminism, which is also contestable).

It also goes somewhere Noir never did: to create the killers in Noir something thoroughly foul must have been a part of their childhood training. Gunslinger Girl explores that in depth. For sure, it’s all implausible fantasy, but what in anime isn’t?

One of the reasons why the second season doesn’t work as well is that it abandons the creepiness of the original. In Il Teatrino everything appears as sunny and bright until the killing starts. Where it is better is in the depiction of the “terrorists” who are ultimately shown to be more human and moral than the handlers and leaders of the Social Welfare Agency.

Finally, I see the series as a satire on moe-ism, so the “sad little girls with tragic backstories” is being deconstructed, rather than milked.


Last edited by Errinundra on Tue Nov 07, 2017 7:38 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1151
Location: UK
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:43 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Unicorn_Blade wrote:
Finished Gunslinger Girls. Thoroughly did not enjoy it- I wonder where does the opinion about this series come from.


There you go again - absolutely stupified that somebody could possibly have a different opinion than yours. Rolling Eyes From what I've read here at ANN, opinion on GSG Season 1 is divided. Some of us - like me - love it and others, like yourself, don't. OMG, HOW COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE??? WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY HAVE YOUR EXALTED OPINION??? Rolling Eyes

Unlike you, I did become involved with the characters and their backstories as well as the dilemma faced by the Agency that claimed to be doing good while using these reprehensible methods.


There he goes again...

Criticising someones taste is the lowest and easiest sort of criticism- and I can see you're loving it. I don't know whether you have a bad day/week/life or just a problem with people who don't share you're opinions, I don't care- you really need to get a life and let other people express their opinion in the way they want. Or maybe you're just bored and like to troll. If I wanted to get down to your level, I would say that perhaps HoFL is too intelligent for you to get, if that is sort of a conversation you are interested in having.

So accept that by not liking the series I am not attacking other's peoples tastes and that I can simply not enjoy the series you do- the first line in my post is a rhetorical question, You're right, I do not understand why people like GG, but they do, and I am not gonna start a crusade to convince people that it is not such a good show.

If you have some arguments in support of the series and have actually something intelligent to say other than an angry tirade, I would love to read about it, but if your only line of defence is mockery, well, we're done here. Other people can do it- like errindura, and I appreciate it, perhaps you can work on ways to channel your negative emotions into doing something constructive.

Quote:

OMG, HOW COULD THAT POSSIBLY BE??? WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY HAVE YOUR EXALTED OPINION??? Rolling Eyes


It really sounds like your posts.


Arrow Arrow Arrow Arrow Arrow

errinundra - Thank you for the long post- there has obviously been details I have missed, I can see what the series was trying to do, and thank you for an interesting insight into I, although I do not think it would change my overal rating of the series. GG did not work for me on many levels, one of them being a fact that I could not connect to the characters and because of the way they acted, never developed any sort of sympathy for them, except for Elsa. The character portrayal is of course something aimed at by the makers, this was the effect they wanted to achieve, but their emotional detachment/confusion triggered my perception of the show. And what definitely pushed me away were the scenes such as the ones with Angel in hospital, which were orchestrated that we feel sorry for her, again and again and again. I had an impression that some characters, like Angelica or Elsa, served as some sort of martyrs in the series, the other end of "They get it always right": "They get it always wrong". I did not really find this very subtle.

Kite and Noir actually worked a lot better for me, although I would have to rewatch the later one to refresh my memory.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:01 am Reply with quote
@Unicorn_Blade: [color=red[personal attacks are not allowed. - Keonyn][/color] Saying that you don't understand how a show could be held in a good opinion by a group of people goes beyond simply expressing your own taste - it implicitly insults the taste of the people who hold that opinion. If you simply stuck to "I didn't like this show for x,y and z reasons" there wouldn't be a problem here. But no, as an [No!] you are never content to simply express your own opinion. You're not happy until you cast indirect aspersions on the opinions of others. So hey, knock yourself out - just don't be surprised when I call you on it every single time.

[Mod Edit: If you want to call people out on their behavior or whatever then do so, but you are still expected to be civil and respectful towards other posters. If you continue to demonstrate an unwillingness to do this then more significant action may be necessary. - Keonyn]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:04 am Reply with quote
You know Blood, I've seen you go off on this same thing a few times now. (Once over something I said if I recall). You get all worked up, call the person a bunch of names, and basically have a big giant shit fit. The thing is, I can't help but notice that for all your complaining you don't really seem to have much of a problem with crapping on fans of other shows that you don't like. I mean, it seems to me like your comments are way more of an aspersion on the taste of anyone who likes HoFL or Mushishi than anything Unicorn_Blade said. So I guess what I'm saying is that you'll forgive me if I think this really isn't about insulting other's taste at all and in reality, you've just got your panties in a twist because someone crapped on a show you like and all this half baked rhetoric is really just a big smokescreen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Unicorn_Blade



Joined: 18 Jul 2010
Posts: 1151
Location: UK
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:07 am Reply with quote
Bood - As expected from you, no sensible arguments, another personal comment. I learned nothing from you why GG is supposedly so good, but perhaps writing a few coherent sentences exceeds the capacity of your brain, yes, it would actually require some effort rather than mindless clicking away on your keyboard. You actually do those shows a major disservice, you know.

Yes, I said I find the general hight rating weird- where is the insult? At least it was never intended as such. If someone rates poorly what I rated highly, which happens, I accept it and move on, this is what normal people do. If your only pleasure in life is picking up on my posts, I feel deeply sorry for you.

And this will be the last time I respond to your frustrated self when it comes to exchanging opinions- don't be surprised if I will just ignore your posts from now onwards.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
PetrifiedJello



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 3782
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:35 am Reply with quote
Spice & Wolf II:

I fondly remember the reading of Theron's Spice & Wolf review left me nothing but excitement and I immediately placed an order for the series. The series was originally fun, especially considering the scope of economics it bore. The banter between Holo and Lawrence was fresh, witty, and had us caring for both of them, especially when they found themselves in unfavorable situations.

When word was spreading the latest season was released early, I rushed and purchased the continuing saga, nearly fainting from having to wait for the shipment to arrive.

Now, having finished it, I wish I could get my money back. This isn't the series I remember, and worse, its delivery had me wishing these situations would put both characters in the stockade, leaving them to rot for the remaining years of their life.

This isn't to say the second season is bad, but elements within it started to become irritating. The banter between Holo and Lawrence was no longer witty, but argumentative to the point Holo remarks it would get tiring after a while the longer they rode together. The longer? This doesn't bode well when this is the first of the two stories delivered to us.

Before I continue, I'd like you to remember the gold smuggling story. I'd like you to remember what Lawrence went through, and how he vowed to have learned his lesson for the future. Most important: I want you to remember he profited from this venture, and profited very well to the point he could open his shop.

Sorry to do this, but now you must disregard everything formed in memory. There were no lessons he learned as the next two situations prove, beyond all reason, Kraft Lawrence is a greedy, disgusting human being and he'll not be satisfied in life until he ruins everyone around him.

This season ruined the series for me as I have no compassion for Lawrence and find Holo to be not a wise wolf, but a desperate, lonely caricature. What the first season brought us, the second ripped it away, and shows no signs of bringing it back. My excitement for any future seasons is now gone, and it's without regret I say I will not be rushing out to purchase the next one upon release.

To discuss why the series is disappointing requires me to go in-depth into the elements of both stories I found ruined the dynamic we came to love. I will not do this. I want everyone to watch the series for themselves, and then decide what they feel afterward. I don't wish to taint (any further) the series you've yet to see by projecting my observations onto something you may easily dismiss as purposeful drama.

I will have to admit the series is delivered as well as the first in regard to art, animation, and music. I do enjoy the new opening theme song and the voice actors did a splendid job in their recurring roles. The animation did take a few shortcuts here and there, but not too noticeable unless one knows what to look for. Then again, with the success (and we're not talking record breaking sales, mind you) of the series, I expected nothing less.

I'm going to consider this season the proverbial "bump in the road". I don't want to lose my belief these characters are better than what this season portrayed them to be. I want to believe Lawrence truly cares more for Holo than he does silver coin, and I want to believe Holo isn't lying through her teeth just to be over-dramatic with her emotions.

The season left off on a quasi-"to be continued" (which means we can either assume how it ended or it will end on another season), which was rather surprising. I had expected the second story wouldn't end because the story was just getting started about the fourth episode in, leaving only three to finish up. Considering how much was going on, it would have been a very poor and rushed closing if it did end in three episodes.

I'm still keeping hope, but if the third season does what this one did, I will state for the record now this will be the end of the Spice & Wolf franchise for me.

I see enough human disgust in the real world, and I sure didn't want to see it portrayed through characters I come to enjoy in a series I fell in love with upon reading a review.

We'll wait to see what the future brings us all.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 8:02 am Reply with quote
@ ikillchicken - whatever, man. You've probably been involved in more beefs with a greater range of posters than anybody in ANN history. The only reason you're sticking your [keep it civil] in this matter is I mentioned your precious House of Five Snores in a derogatory fashion.

Unicorn_Blade - feel free to ignore me all you want, but I will continue to point out your [again, keep it civil] of other posters opinions.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:09 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ ikillchicken - whatever, man. You've probably been involved in more beefs with a greater range of posters than anybody in ANN history. The only reason you're sticking your [bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz] in this matter is I mentioned your precious House of Five Snores in a derogatory fashion.


Oh no, I'm afraid you're misunderstanding me if you think I'm being hypocritical. I'm not criticizing you for being annoyed that someone is bashing a show you like. I mean yeah, no question, I'm annoyed to hear you bash Five Leaves and Mushishi. You're right on about that. What I'm criticizing though is that you don't just come out and admit it. You go off on all this nonsense and feigned outrage over him "insulting people who like that show" when you're clearly just outraged that he doesn't like that show. Just be honest about it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23667
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:21 am Reply with quote
@ikillchicken - eh, fair enough. To employ a technique that I am criticizing someone else for using is hypocritical (not to mention ineffective), so I withdraw my HoFL and Mushi-shi comments.

And again, just so that I'm super-clear, I don't protest Unicorn_Blade's comments about GSG, either. I don't feel the same way she does, but I consider her statements about the show to be fair comment and I can understand how she or anybody else might feel that way, even though I don't. It's just a personal pet peeve of mine when somebody basically says, "I just don't get how somebody can feel differently about this show than I do."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:41 am Reply with quote
Finished my first re-watch of Jyu Oh Sei. I didn't remember much about it, but like most 11 episode shows from Noitamina, it lacked depth and a satisfactory ending (rushed, rushed, rushed!) Overall pretty interesting as a survival anime. If there's one thing that annoyed me was the sudden spoiler[romance between him and a] woman who just appeared which felt kinda like Deus Ex Machina. A well deserved 8/10 imo.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous    Next
Page 612 of 1060

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group