Forum - View topicREVIEW: K-ON! Season 2 Blu-Ray Set 2
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Fencedude5609
 Posts: 5088 |
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I'm actually, right this moment, in the middle of rewatching the movie, and I agree with everything you say here.
The movie adds some more depth to several things that happen towards the end of the series, and recreates a couple of "climactic" (such as it is for this series) moment with slightly different context. The school play episodes were especially interesting for how heavily they involved the rest of class 3-2, who despite being "background" characters all came across as real people. I just wish we could have gotten an episode from the perspective of Tachibana Himeko, the pretty girl who for a year sits next to Hirasawa Yui. What must that have been like? |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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I'm curious: How many readers knew who Preston Sturges was without having to Google?
I'm thinking that this one was a miss with the readership, but I could be wrong. I could just be the only one here who isn't a 1930s-era movie fanatic, but I doubt it. That said, this review sounds like a high-school English paper: lots of BS that ultimately says nothing. 
How can a show that is mindless, pure escapism have a "musical catharsis"? "Catharsis" and "mindless escapism" are mutually exclusive. Next we'll be talking about Ichigo giving soliloquies in Bleach...
Seriously, is this whole review supposed to be tongue-in-cheek or what? |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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How else is anyone going to come up with a couple thousand words about an airweight series about nothing in particular? |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I didn't need to Google, seeing how I was able to follow that introduction on a pretty old debate about the integrity of escapism as entertainment. Thought it was a well-done review myself. The first half of K-ON!! was a mess in terms of organization and flow, but the last half was pretty much exactly as Carl described, a slow build-up that ends with a touching goodbye. |
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amagee
 Posts: 333 Location: Orlando, FL |
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Though I've never seen any of his work, I'm at least familiar with Sturges. I wonder if any of that stuff is on Netflix?
I'll be damned shocked if I could find any other review out there that captures my personal feelings towards K-ON!! in such a cohesive, well-written manner. Don't worry about the folks who have and I imagine will continue to tell you about how this review is poorly done. Having read a plethora of the reviews available on this site, this is one of those times that reminds me why people like Carl are paid to do what they do. I think a discussion of some of the more notable specifics of the animation quality may have been nice since Kyoto Animation did such a phenomenal job with this but it's very clear that such a side-tracking would take away from the flow of the review itself so it couldn't really be helped.
In a show that embodies the idea of escapism, there is nothing that prevents the characters - and consequently the audience as well - from realizing a state of catharsis. |
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boredandlazy
Posts: 189 |
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I really preferred the second half of K-On!! much more than the first half. Personally I like there to be some kind of progression when I watch something, and the first half of K-On!! just seemed to happy to meander about a bit too much.
Although slightly bitter-sweet, the fact there was always the inevitible graduation on the horizon made this a much more purposeful watch and hence I enjoyed it a lot more. It's the same reason as to why Aria the Origination was my favourite season for that series, because there was an actual climax of emotional content(something that was understandably absent during the first couple of seasons) due to the impending need for everyone to move on. However you could also argue, that without the content from the previous season there wouldn't be the emotional connection garnered from spending time with these characters. |
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WallNotifyer
Posts: 20 |
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Overall, I thought the review to be pretty on-point and well-written. But Echo makes a completely accurate point here. I have yet to hear the dub cast perform the end of Season 2, obviously. However, I have not really found the dub to be lacking in any sense thus far. And you as the reviewer do not make the case to me that the dub IS lacking. You merely state that it is. And that it must be so, because that is what you declare. Can you make a case? Because you managed to explain your opinion of pretty much everything else in this review, but the dub track just gets completely glossed over with a "there's no way the dub could be as good. End of discussion." How are the performances in any way inferior? Would the stylistic difference impact my enjoyment of the show in any way or change the experience significantly? How badly is the script harmed through leaning more towards transliterations rather than translations? If I were torn between which track to watch on this disc, this review would have done nothing to help me decide. Given that this is a review, that isn't a particularly good sign. |
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Fencedude5609
Posts: 5088 |
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Considering its the second half of the series, I don't really see that as a big problem. If you liked the dub on the first half, you can keep watching, and if you didn't, well, why change now? |
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WallNotifyer
Posts: 20 |
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For all I know, the dub could have severely declined in quality. Or the sub could be so great that I simply need to listen to the sub track in order to have a quality reviewing experience. In fact, the review comes close to leaning in that direction, without really providing any support for that. Now, to be fair, the dub is given a B+. But when you use phrases like "K-ON!! is English-dubbing kryptonite" and "The brutal truth is that no pool of English voice talent is capable of matching Japan's for depth and fetishistic variety of female talent." for instance, that makes me think "Hey, maybe the sub and the seiyuu ARE that much better! So, why are they that much better?" I don't get an answer to that question. It's just brushed over. |
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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From what I read Carl just said that the English voices are much more subdued, which they are. If a person doesn't like Yui's chipmunk-level squeaks then they can listen to the dub. And as far as the "brutal truth", that is absolutely true. The English VA pool in North America cannot even be compared to the seiyuu pool in Japan. Though that says absolutely nothing on whether someone will like one over the other. That's merely a matter of personal preference.
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WallNotifyer
Posts: 20 |
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Overall, fair enough. I kind of wish the comparison had been elaborated on, but it isn't important enough to be key.
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14889 |
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Too bad they don't have prom; that would've been something............
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jymmy
 Posts: 1244 |
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This was a convincing elaboration on exactly why the reviewer enjoyed this series, but I felt it didn't give the series' flaws enough - or, indeed, any - consideration. It read like hyperbole. I know that at this stage of the game, readers will be familiar with whether or not they will like K-On!, but it's still nice to see an even-handed approach, whether you're a casual reader, one interested in critical opinions on popular anime titles or even a fan of the show (of course, for some types of fan this might not apply, but that's beside the point). |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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Why do you behave like such an impossible-to-please nitpick? Do we publish anything that you approve of or is it going to just be this crappy needling and passive-aggressive "you aren't doing it the way I would so that means you're shit" stuff? |
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Fencedude5609
Posts: 5088 |
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Flaws such as...? I'm actually curious, within its genre, K-On!! is about the pinnacle. What flaws, considering the kind of show it is and what it set out to accomplish, would you have liked addressed? |
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