Forum - View topicShelf Life - Quantum of Solace
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 598 |
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Funnily enough, I never used the word "misogynist" in this column. I said HLP was "insulting to my gender".
Here are some responses, I'm still catching up with the thread.
Man, I hate being predictable. I like surprising people. But I have found the my "surprising" choices get me labeled "inconsistant" in the forums sometimes...
If we truly have the exact opposite tastes, then Shelf Life should useful to you, as you can just reverse all the ratings. Seriously, though, I'm not a fan of ecchi anime or "soft core" films or TV, so I'm interested in knowing what you think are some of the best and worse ecchi titles of all time. Like top and bottom three, and maybe two sentences about why each is good or bad.
Wait, can you give some examples of comprable shows with opposite reviews?
Wait, what? Close to what? What about Nymph?
Blatant doesn't always equal bad. Why cover up that it's based on a game? I'd rather see a good adaptation than something half-assed that tried to pretend it was never a game.
Well, I'm not going to sit here and count, nor do I have a handy spreadsheet of every last anime series I've ever seen one episode of, but you're welcome to count through titles I've reviewed on Shelf Life and let me know. I've tagged them all here. That doesn't count things I've watched for Otaku USA, or watched an episode or two of on my own, let alone all the first volumes (or more) of manga I've read for Publishers Weeky or Manga Recon... Later you mention Otoboku, I watched that for an early issue of Otaku USA magazine. It feels like I've seen quite a few.
Yeah, I have a hard time telling the difference because I don't play the games. Like, it's my understanding that Higurashi is a visual novel because you don't make choices. Is that right? However, it looked to me like it was based on a game where you made choices or could date girls! My husband helps edit the column, and he kept throwing in the term "galge," which I deleted. I've read and re-read the wikipedia entries about the different terms several times, and I try to be sensitive to fans of games by using the correct terms, but I often fail. I guess no one ever pats my back when I get all the game terms right in a column.
Wait, so if it's a visual novel where you make choices and the protagonist dates girls, it's not a dating sim? Arg... Should I have just said "this is based on a game"? Are visual novels "games" or not? |
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Chagen46
 Posts: 4377 |
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Erin: VNs are wierd.
A dating sim is a game where you actually have keep track of stats and stuff--hence the "sim" part. They're somewhat rare. VN's simply mean that it's like a book with pictures and sound--you can still have choices, but what matters is a lack of stats besides "player selected X choice on route Y". |
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2357 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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Well, the manga is actually in a teen magazine, so the mangaka couldn't get away with showing nudity even if he wanted to. He even makes that joke in the manga often enough. |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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FSN and Katawa Shoujo for example are VNs with no "dating sim" element* because there are no gameplay mechanics to "simulate" dating: the relationships/dating/sex are part of the story which is driven solely by prose and dialog punctuated by the occasional choice that may alter the story's path. Some VNs have dating sim mechanics. Some VNs are more like RPGs and have RPG or strategy mechanics between VN-tier volumes of text (Tears to Tiara and, IIRC, Utawarerumono, for example). Then again, things start to get into murky territory because those titles might be better classified as RPGs with strong VN influences, rather than VNs with actual gameplay. Most things considered VNs (with no extra qualifiers) have no "real" gameplay and are just "chose your own adventure" stories with varying complexity (some have very minimal choice/branching, some have fairly complex), thus the term "visual novel" instead of some other label that implies an emphasis on gameplay over reading. Whether or not VNs are "video games" is an old debate with valid arguments on either side. Where the line is drawn between what makes a "program" count as a "game" depends on who you ask. *FSN, to be nitpicky, actually does have some hidden "affection" stats that you get by picking "correct" responses but mostly they help you avoid death rather than "getting a girl." edits: rewording for clarity, fix typos Last edited by Veers on Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:23 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Apollo-kun
 Posts: 1213 Location: City 7, Macross 7 |
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Totally off-topic, but I noticed that this collector had a copy of Mixx Entertainment's "Graduation" hidden behind some stuff. If you can get past the "raising game" aspect of it and take it as a cheesy afterschool special, that was one fun game to spend a week or so on.
 Glad to know I'm not the only one who played it!
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superdry
 Posts: 1309 |
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Probably the best modern non-computer example that's easy to understand for people unknown to dating sims is Love Plus. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6897 Location: Kazune City |
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And yes, I'm aware of the differences between dating sims and VNs (and the other subcategory of "Adventure Games"), but since that was the term used in the review, I didn't want to drag things off-topic. Others have already covered the distinctions. |
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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Is the Yoshika figure a FuRyu?(the stand looks like it.) If yes, how did you get the gun so straight. I've heard that the FuRyu Strike Witches figures all had bendy gun problems(my FuRyu Francessca has a horribley limp gun) and that prevented me from getting any other SW figures from FuRyu.
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Cecilthedarkknight_234
 Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
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lawl thanks bro and yeah it was cheesy... lol but I will make this statement now for some peeps on ANN i am a huge visual novel nerd if you are interested send me a p.m.
Hmm on that yoshika figure it was just a random buy off ebay which is Russian roulette but I got a decent figure, i will send a p.m. on the company later. |
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BalmungHHQ
Posts: 433 |
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Well when it comes to an ecchi series, I tend to enjoy it as long as it has appealing characters and at least a decent plot in which the fanservice works well. I consider HLP a standout ecchi series because it has great characters I really like in addition to a plot I think is good. The fanservice in it works well due to how much of a perv Tomoki is and all the hijinks he brings about, but he's also a really good guy at heart so all serious moments involving him work as well, so I find him a pretty well-rounded and appealing lead. The female supporting characters all have their perks, and some of them I like more than others, but I find that I do care for all the characters in some way from watching the show. Sugata I find appealing just because of how odd he is, he's pretty fun to have around and flows well with the rest of the cast. Despite how some may view the plot of the series, I enjoyed how the first season developed and am looking forward to season 2. I don't want to turn this into a wall of text, so I'll stop here, but HLP is definitely one of my top favorite ecchi titles. Other ecchi titles I enjoyed include Sekirei and Strike Witches, both for relatively good action-series-esque plots for what they are, in addition to a majority of the characters being likable to me. And Queen's Blade for some pretty likable characters, though the first season had a pretty weak plot, and some characters having unappealing designs (Cattleya...). Ecchi titles I've disliked include Green Green for having very boring characters and dedicating far too much screen time to the overly-perverted trio of guys that do some rather disturbing things and add nothing to the near-absent plot, Master of Martial Hearts for being too bland (though I do give it points for the out-of-nowhere-ending), and Eiken just for its character designs... This is all really my opinion of course, and there are those out there that view these titles differently, but this is just what I have to say on the subject. :V
I kind of figured it was due to something like this. Maybe my expectations for the series' fanservice aspects were too high when I viewed it, but I found it a bit more tame than I expected. But as I said, I don't really hold it against the series at all. The tone of the series seems to use the fanservice more for comedy than just service anyway, which works for it. |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Posts: 598 |
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This is a most excellent and insightful comment, and I also like your historical references to explain the new otaku sexuality. Put in this context, it makes much more sense to me now! Thanks! (I'm serious.)
Game theory is a big topic. OK, so should I have said "based on a visual novel"? Is that safe? Do visual novels have "readers" or "players"? My instinct is to say "visual novel games" although this sounds controversial, or worse, like someone's mother who's not up on all the media types kids are consuming these days. |
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Cecilthedarkknight_234
Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
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Well to make it easier on you Erin AGSS it is based on all ages ps2 visual novel and they have both actually. It requires you to read large amounts of text but they also command or force you to make a decision that determines at outcome which is a game. That's all I can say on them really |
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Veers
Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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I mean, I understand the desire to get the details right, especially when posting something on a site like this(!), but honestly it's a technicality that I don't really care if people get "wrong" in the context of something like your review--it's when people make posts like the one I originally replied to where I feel it's worth bringing up (accusing something of being something it technically isn't and dismissing accordingly vs mistaking something for something it technically has things in common with) and I haven't played Amagami so I don't really completely qualified to say which specific description you should use. It varies on a title-by-title basis so even saying something like "just say 'based on a visual novel'" wouldn't necessarily always be accurate. At any rate, no, I don't think you need to tack "games" onto the end of "visual novel," that just kinda sounds weird and even people who will argue until blue in the face that VNs are legitimate video games don't do that. Also, sorry, I gotta pull this one out of the meme bag. Not the title in question but still relevant: http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3894/1326608587870.jpg |
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Cecilthedarkknight_234
Posts: 3820 Location: Louisville, KY |
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dammit you made me lawl 
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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That was my favorite part of the whole route. The whole scene was just hilarious with the gay captain's quarters, the wheelchair, and the uncomfortable faces.
That must sound really bad to someone who hasn't read it yet. |
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