Forum - View topicREVIEW: Mardock Scramble: The First Compression DVD
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vulcanraven01
Posts: 677 |
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Gonna be waiting for the BD version myself.
Wonder why they aren't releasing it until next year? A request from the Japanese I wonder? |
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GhostShell
Posts: 1009 Location: Richmond, B.C., Canada |
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This review just makes me want to see this movie even more, though I am a bit disappointed that it only runs for sixty-five minutes. Looking at the promotional trailers, it seemed that the movie very closely followed Book One of the trilogy, as I could identify various preliminary chapters from the scenes that were shown. Based on what I've read in the review, it sounds like most of Book One ultimately ended up on screen, and not toned down. I especially wondered how Balot's interaction with Oeufcoque in the final moments of the main battle scene was going to be portrayed.
I, too, will be eagerly awaiting the BD release in 2012 (hopefully early in the year), as the animation quality demands the better format. I'm also pleased that Sentai Filmworks is releasing the full trilogy, and also with an English dub. I've just started into Book Two of the omnibus, and should have it and Book Three finished by the time the BD for First Compression comes out. I'm picking up the manga as they're being released, too, though won't be reading them until after I've finished reading the book trilogy. At first glance, the manga appears to be much tamer than the novels and movies. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18457 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Japanese companies seem to be very particular about making Blu-Ray masters available in a timely fashion, probably due to fears about reverse importation. That's what the problem is here and what is doubtlessly contributing to Funimation having such a long turn-around time on some (most?) of their acquisitions from the past year and a half. |
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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I plan to double dip on this title because I feel that if everyone waits for the Blu-Ray, there will never be a Blu-Ray.
Besides, I think my husband will love this even more than I will. He's a big fan of both Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner. I'm sure that this title will meet with his approval. |
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njprogfan
 Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1225 Location: A River Named Toms |
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Yeah, I'll be doing the same thing. It sounds so good I can't wait to see it. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1341 |
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spoiler[Just like how the first half hour of Saving Private Ryan is the bloodiest part of the whole movie, the Bander Snatch guys are the most twisted elements of the story, but their part is over before you know it and the rest of the story isn't quite as messed up (although it still has some of those elements), which surprised even me.] Having read the novel omnibus, I do look forward to seeing this movie once the next Section23 sale on Right Stuf takes place, and I would certainly hope they complete this trilogy, because even from the trailers it appears so sharp-looking. Also one of my hopes is that they trim down the casino subplot that not only starts in Book 2 but ends in Book 3. It was the most unbearably boring part of the story, something I literally had to slog through before the story finally got back to, well, the story. |
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pajmo9
 Posts: 630 |
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I may invest in the BDs if I have some extra cash when they come out. The last show I remember seeing like this was A.D. Police Files. That was back when I was in college, so it's been at least 6 years ago. Watching one of these types of shows again could prove to be nostalgic.
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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If judged as only half of a film, The First Compression is commendable within its genre. Although forewarning of the cliffhanger ending is quite necessary for all viewers, your awareness of the plotline beyond the first chapter may dampen any resultant frustration. |
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Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
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Man that was fast. I can't wait to pick this up. Too bad it's a mediocre release. I'm just wondering if there is going to be a special standard edition that has more extras.
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GATSU
Posts: 15571 |
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Well, if it follows the book to the letter, then I guess the answer would be, "Not leading on the viewer into tedious casino porn?" 
Key: I think it's more like they want to make sure they don't release a half-assed upgrade meant to con viewers like our studios. |
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CareyGrant
Posts: 453 |
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As a man-crush fan of Ghost in the Shell, I'm both surprised that I've not heard of this until now, and happy that some folks in Japan are still making anime for those of us who are less than enamored with the pandering moe revolution of empty, formulaic shows.
That aside, there is a question that I always ask about shows like these or that use this premise is: why choose her to be your super cyborg? If I were going to go to the considerable trouble and expense of making said super cyborg why would I use some physically and emotionally abused teen (who's probably poorly educated, has a truck load of emotional baggage and scarring and knows nothing about being any sort of soldier or killer)? Why wouldn't you pick, say, someone who's already a highly trained, educated and motivated soldier? Someone without baggage who's calm, cool and collected. |
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GhostShell
Posts: 1009 Location: Richmond, B.C., Canada |
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In this case, the Blu-ray release has already been announced. I agree with Key that the Blu-ray release date of some titles seem to be staggered from the DVD release date because of reverse importation concerns on the Japanese side. An example of this is Funimation's BD release of Last Exile: Complete Series, which was supposed to have been released already, but has been pushed back, presumably because the Japanese release of the BD wasn't scheduled until this month.
Agreed. I ended up reading a little ways into Book Two after getting to the end of Book One, because I needed to find out what happened.
If the goal was to "build" a super soldier, I could see that. In this case, that wasn't the intent.spoiler[As part of the Life Preservation Programme, it was to allow her to defend herself.] |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1341 |
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In general, without the context of the story, that would be a good question. But if you have read the book, her being chosen had a lot to do with so many things at once, including: -that it was all experimental -it was to save her life -there's the fact that she's connected to an organization that her doctor is fighting to bring down and she served as the convenient key Last edited by pachy_boy on Tue Sep 13, 2011 10:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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This was a particularly encouraging and well-done review. I'd been curious about Mardock Scramble before, but a little worried because the premise suggested the possibility of something distastefully exploitative. The review suggests that it avoids, in at least some sense, what I'd being concerned about. After reading this and having just really enjoyed Le Chevalier D'Eon, I'm more hopeful and excited. I'm glad that the film seems to have the old-school OVA feel that the descriptions I'd read suggested. I came to anime just earlier enough for boom-era OVAs to have influenced my expectations at least a little, so I'm always happy to relive some of their style.
The voice work sounds promising from both tongues. Being an inveterate heathen, I'm eager to hear what Hilary Haag sounds like as Rune Balot; I imagine that it'll be more Chloe than Sister Rosette Christopher or.... uh... Menchi. I like Andy McAvin too and I expect that he'll play his part nearer to the Duc d'Broglie than Kenichi Kurokawa. Both Haag and McAvin seem to be able to play all over the place. I'm not sure if I'll buy this release or wait for the blu-ray, but that's because I'm not sure if I'm going to bother adopting blu-ray anytime soon, or ever.
The obvious guess is, to me, that a psychologically damaged adolescent prostitute is more readily appealing and dramatically compelling than a mentally stable professional soldier is apt to be. A cool-headed professional can be all of that, but damaged goods from a seedy back alley do it more directly and perhaps more deeply. The latter is probably also more readily sympathetic to audiences, who probably won't have lived lives very similar to either, but will find the personal and emotional vulnerability of the young prostitute more easily related to than the perhaps inhuman professionalism and discipline of the solider. There is also a certain dramatic value from the illogical and unexpected. Those are, of course, external motivations that the story'll have to rationalize. It'll be something to be in admired if it can do that well. This, incidentally, is why I was a little uneasy about Mardock Scramble. The premise caught my attention, but it also made me worry as I mentioned earlier and, frankly, even if it didn't go down a nasty path with its set-up, just why it was appealing made me uneasy in different ways. I'm still really want see it, but I imagine that I'll be nagged by small doubts and discontents through much of the film, even if I'm enjoying it. I suspect that it might be thought-provoking, but in a way that Tow Ubakata didn't intend. I'm very good at ruining my own fun. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Perhaps human experimentation on this scale is not exactly legal, and you get the people you know no one is going to miss or care about. Another possibility is that a mentally stable and well educated person, might not be so prone to being controlled by those who funded this project; while "damaged goods" can be quite susceptible to control, especially by those who are good at manipulation and know the seeds of psychosis for the test subject. |
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