Forum - View topicREVIEW: Usagi Drop
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6584 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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It's not random at all. The water-colour like segments only appear in the prologue in each episode. I agree, though, it's a great series. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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It's better than great. It's amazing. It's fantastic. It's everything I was hoping it would be.
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6584 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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I'll raise your amazing and fantastic; and call it a masterpiece.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Check myAnime; I already did months ago, LOL.
And I don't give out those grades like cookies; a title has to really work hard for one of those. The final two episodes may have been a bit weaker than the rest, but overall this show thoroughly deserved the esteemed rating. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I'm guessing the PG rating has mostly to do with Rin's illegitimacy and her mother's unwillingness to take responsibility for her daughter. These would be difficult concepts to explain to, say, an eight-year-old, even in a world where families come in all shapes and sizes.
I wondered why I hadn't heard of a DVD release for Usagi Drop before now; then I learned it was from Siren. Why are the Australian licensors so much more willing to take on series like this and Dennou Coil? Is the audience for anime in Australia that much different from the audience in the US? Are their costs so much lower that even niche series can sell enough units to make them profitable? |
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Errinundra
Moderator
Posts: 6584 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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"Mild themes and course language" are the reasons provided with the rating for this release. So, along with what you say, the occasional expletive would be the reason.
Why are we so well served in Oz? For sure, this is mostly speculation but I think there are a few reasons. 1. Australia has had a long fascination with Japanese culture. I think this goes back to WW2. They may have frightened the bejeesus out of us but I think this also created an awe for their approach to things. Also, when Japanese products flooded our market in the 60s and 70s we didn't have much in the way of our own industries to worry about. There wasn't a lot of self-interested prejudice. In short, we loved their motorcycles and miniature radios. On TV, the 60s live-action drama, The Samurai, was the highest rating show for a time. When the star of the show visited Australia he was mobbed by fans at the airport. Increasingly, Australians see themselves as part of Asia, rather than the west. You could say that Australia is becoming more and more Asian in the same way the US is becoming more and more Hispanic. 2. For two decades now Madman Entertainment has assiduously and conscientiously developed the local market. They have been a stable influence and aren't the sort of company to overreach. They are part of a much larger corporation involved in the entertainment and publishing industry and can afford to invest in the genre. They make sure that most anime films get a cinema release in one way or another in the major cities (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane), if only in a film festival (even if Madman has to instigate the festival themselves, ie Reel Anime). There are quality cinemas in the major cities that are willing to show one-off films this way. Important festivals such as the Melbourne International Film Festival always have a selection of anime films. 3. Siren Visual has been a real boon for an anime fan like me. They specialise in fringe titles in all sorts of genres. So, anime is a natural progression for them. With their mindset it also means that they are prepared to take risks on their titles. Their tie-in with noitaminA has been sensational - something that overseas fans are beginning to latch on to. 4. JB Hifi, a nationwide chain of discount electronic and media retail shops, has long provided anime with dedicated floor space in its major outlets. It's city store here in Melbourne always stocks hundreds of titles (at modestly discounted prices) and even its suburban stores have a wide range (although this can vary). Even if Australia's overall market is smaller North America's, I think it has deeper penetration. Anime doesn't have the same stigma it seems to have over there. *** I've never been part of the fan community (ie, conventions, clubs, fansubbing networks, etc) so I can't provide any insight into contribution of fans to the development of the anime market in Oz. Perhaps someone else can? |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Yes, JB Hi-Fi is certainly my first destination for buying Anime. My local store doesn't have much shelf space devoted to Anime (maybe 2.5m of three-level shelving) but they usually have a copy or two of the latest titles and at reasonable prices. They also have several older niche titles which are hard to source elsewhere (at least from a brick & mortar store). I'm certainly pretty happy with them right now. |
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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Thanks for that well-written and informative answer! |
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georgiab
 Posts: 7 Location: WA |
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Two short observations from the fandom side of things:
1) Anime fandom has been established in Australia for a long while. JAFWA for instance, Perth's oldest anime club, has been around for over 20 years and has strong ties with the rest of the local fandom scene, so even though a dedicated anime convention didn't appear for a long time, the fan base was already there. Madman was seeking input and requests for new series from JAFWA attendees while I was going there. 2) A lot of anime con attendees are immigrants and overseas university students, and many of them are from countries with well-established con scenes and are already accomplished artists, cosplayers etc.. As errinundra said, anime and Japanese series have been on television for a long time, since the 60s at least. Also, as well as the usual suspects (DBZ, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, etc), the free-to-air multicultural station SBS (similar to PBS I think) screened several movies and TV series including big names like Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. (An odd aside: SBS only screened anime dubbed in English, which irritated a lot of the hardcore fans since they played every other foreign series and movie with subtitles, including the arty/campy borderline-porn films the channel was infamous for  )
I'm not sure exactly how many watched Neon Genesis Evangelion on SBS (I was pretty young and the station started South Park at the same time which obfuscated things a little). Apparently, when JAFWA screened the End of Eva movie fansubs in an average-sized lecture theatre, people were standing in the aisles... so, pretty big, I think. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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I am not sure that it is entirely true, I am sure that I watched something that was subbed a while back, I think that it might have been Vexile, although it took me a while to realise that it was in fact was original language, and that it was odd for the chanel. Anyway I bough Usagi Drop as soon as I saw it, definetly is a special series, and Siren were smart enough to jump on it, definetly an asset that they are getting these type of series. Still need to watch the DVD though, been so busy that I am waiting till the right moment. |
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