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Hey, Answerman! [2006-04-06]


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HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:16 pm Reply with quote
Answerman wrote:
The "Ban Anime Now" petition is a hoax started by a bunch of bored IRC kids who have some bizarro persecution fantasy going on where everyone in the country hates them for enjoying Japanese cartoons.


I always felt it was just trying to rile up the people that had said persecution complex or make them look like the fools they are, rather than the creators have the persecution complex. But that's just how I read it.

I don't know when it was originally started, but perhaps it was just an April Fool's joke from a while back?

Anyway, I'm glad to see this column back. I hope everyone's withdrawal symptoms weren't too bad. Laughing
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minakichan





PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:23 pm Reply with quote
*blushes* OK, I asked the Gankutsuo question, though I was seriously afraid to because I though Zac would pull the whole purist-die thing...

-_- I was just CURIOUS... because I couldn't understand why the decision was made, seeing as it really made no difference in anything at all... I wasn't saying it was bad or good, just that I didn't understand where it came from. I ENJOYED it, OK? I loved the designs and the story and the characterization (particularly Albert's) and Comte in general...

;_____; cut me some slack...
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1stAgent



Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Posts: 36
Location: Wisconsin
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:27 pm Reply with quote
I love how the "F" was highlighted in the presidents list of stuff to do. I know it was just the auto-link thing getting over aggressive and linking to some obscure, unrelated manga, but it's fun to imagine it perceived as a subliminal message ("E" was noticeably absent as well, which kinda adds to the effect).

Anyone want to bet someone will get pissed off by it and provide a couple flake e-mails?
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:34 pm Reply with quote
minakichan wrote:
*blushes* OK, I asked the Gankutsuo question, though I was seriously afraid to because I though Zac would pull the whole purist-die thing...

-_- I was just CURIOUS... because I couldn't understand why the decision was made, seeing as it really made no difference in anything at all... I wasn't saying it was bad or good, just that I didn't understand where it came from. I ENJOYED it, OK? I loved the designs and the story and the characterization (particularly Albert's) and Comte in general...

;_____; cut me some slack...


For the record, my comments at the end there were not directed at you. I was editorializing based on comments I've seen about the same thing, albeit far less understanding and worthwhile than yours.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15571
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:39 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
it's classic literature, somehow it seems wrong to designate oneself as a "fan" of it


That's pretty elitist, considering it falls under the category of "literature" as much as Zorro or Crichton.

Quote:
You know, a whole lot of people seem to thrive on complaining about changes made to film and television adaptations of books and novels, and frankly, I don't see the point. Maybe it's because I'm so immersed in film as a medium, but in my mind, if it's a good book AND a good TV show or movie, then what's the problem?


My problem is when it becomes self-serving and cops out, as in the case of the Kubrick "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining", as well as the recent Cronenberg "A History of Violence".

Quote:
No, the adaptation of Alan Moore's V for Vendetta did not include every single panel of the original graphic novel, but it was still an excellent film that maintained the spirit of the book


No it didn't preserve the spirit, because it didn't provide a context for what was happening. And instead of an alternate reality of a totalitarian UK, we got a near-futuristic commentary of America's War on Terror in which the UK just happened to be a casualty. They should have hired the guy who did Jin Roh or the guy who did Dark City to direct and produce, not the Wachowskis and that no-name. So I could understand why Alan Moore was not amused.
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milcor1



Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 337
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:52 pm Reply with quote
"THINK, people. Think."

Words of wisdom right there.
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Zalis116
Moderator


Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6900
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:01 pm Reply with quote
AnswerMan wrote:
H. Writing poorly-written, unfiltered comments by himself on a fake, obscure internet petition about banning Japanese cartoons

What was your answer? Here's a tip: THE ANSWER IS NOT H.
[...] Besides, I may not hold our President's intelligence in very high esteem, but I'm going to assume he can at least use proper punctuation and grammar, none of which can be found in that stupid "quote".
I don't know, have you heard his speeches? I wouldn't put improper grammar and punctuation beyond him. (In fact, that quote actually seems a bit higher-level than typical Bush fare Laughing ) Though aside from writing quibbles, one obviously fake part is the "My fellow Americans, I am working to pass a law to ban..." Obviously, this impersonator is unaware that Congress makes and passes the laws; that's something that Bush would at least be aware of, given his difficulties in foisting his agenda on the nation.[/quote]
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scortia



Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 174
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 9:11 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Yes, the series' director - Mahiro Maeda, one of the few working directors in anime today actually willing to take so many artistic challenges - took a lot of liberties in his version of the tale, but Gankutsuou is hardly an 'adaptation' of the original work. It's more of a re-imagining, like Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes (minus all the suck)


Ah, thanks for the good laugh! Anime smile

Yeah... Gankutsuou... I think it's a perfect 'reimagining' of a book. It took the major themes... kept some just the same and altered others... then of course Mahiro Maeda changed the storyline just enough so that those of us who read the tremendous novel will still be left guessing in each episode. For instance, Eugenie isn't a standoffish lesbian in the anime so her fate is up in the air. ;p

But yeah. I think personally that many of the changes also come from the anime coming from a different time, location, and medium. The novel is an Adventure-Romance novel... The qualifications for a Romance novel of that time are different from what one expects from an anime in this day and age. This is not to say the classical themes do not endure time and distance... but the Count being blue and a bit beyond human is something that is normal for anime but not so much for a book of its time.
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Kagemusha



Joined: 20 Feb 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:38 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
My problem is when it becomes self-serving and cops out, as in the case of the Kubrick "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining", as well as the recent Cronenberg "A History of Violence".

I can understand the criticism about ACO. I actually just wrote a paper on how the ambiguous ending does more justice to the story than if Burgess had got his way (not that the book isn't great), which I won't go into. But "A History of Violence"? I know you like say things just for the sake of starting arguments, but are you saying what I think your saying? Yes, Cronenberg altered the story to fit his trademarks and overall views, but the payoff was exellent, much, MUCH better than if he had done a straight adaptation of the mediocre graphic novel (though I could see it turning into a funny parody if they'd done the ridiculous dialouge word for word). In any case, none of those films "cop out".
Quote:
No it didn't preserve the spirit, because it didn't provide a context for what was happening.

I'll second that. Decent action film, but really falls flat in its attempts to modernize the story and make some profound statement. Really floundered on the side characters as well, which is one of (if not the) most important elements of the original and what it said about fascism. I really can't blame Moore for being a bitter old bastard, after the films and being skrewed over (repeatedly) by DC.
I do like Gankutsuo though. Perhapse it's slightly (just slightly) overated, but overall it's a superb show. I have the view of adaptations should be diffrent than the original, and reguardless on how it compares to the novel, it's a great watch without any gimmicks you might think they'd throw in.
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DrForester



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:56 pm Reply with quote
In response to Gankutsuou...

First off, if you have not read the book, then you really dont know it. The movie done several years ago was cut in nearly every way possible (Not surprising sice the souce material is roughly the size of all 3 Lord of the Rings novels). But the worst part was the movies ending. Albert was NOT the Count's son. I dont know what hacked up Hollywood writer thought that crap up.

The anime, up until the last 3rd of the series, is actually pretty accurate to the book. The writing staff goes in their own direction in the last half, using a big scene from the book and having the exact opposite outcome from that scene.

spoiler[Later in the seires, Albert challenges the Count to a duel. In the book, Albert's mother begs the count to let albet live, and he agrees, in the anime, the count tells her that Edmond truely is dead, and he will prove it when he kills her son. I wont tell you the result of either, but tha tbig change changes everything ]

In the novel several characters compare the counts apperance to a vampire, so the design of him like a vampire in the anime is not at all a big change.

In fact, in the anime, only 4 characters are significantly changed from their book countparts. The rest of the characters are true to their novel counterparts.

Beppo, the man-maid was in the novel; His character never went back to paris, and was never seen after he tricked Albert and got him kidnaped.

Eugenie, Albert's fiance does not wish to marry anyone, she hated both Albert and Andrea. She is revealed in the book to be a lesbian.

Franz, Albert's friend plays little role in the book. He is not even in Paris until later in the novel. Him and Albert are friends, but not very close.

And lastly, the Count himself for the very different road he goes down later in the anime from his novel counterpart.

In the end, i still enjoyed Gankutsuou very much despite later changes. I enjoyed the anime's appraoch of showing the events through Albert's point of view. I do wish they had stayed a bit more true to the book in the ending, but they played it off very well (And I can't really blame them, the book was originaly written as a monthly serial, and by the end it was obvious Dumas was pretty sick of it and the story wraps up very very fast and rushed).
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Pop-Art Samurai



Joined: 29 Nov 2004
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 10:58 pm Reply with quote
It's strange, after having read V for Vendetta I think I actually appreciated the film, not more, but differently, given that I knew what the Wachowski Bros. had to chop out to make it a regular feature length film. And it still worked overall.

Quote:
Decent action film, but really falls flat in its attempts to modernize the story and make some profound statement.


It's not really an action film. It has a few nifty action scenes but it's really a drama, and I think that is what makes it worthwhile.

But this is really neither here nor there...
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Goodspeed



Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 48
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:35 pm Reply with quote
Regarding the ban anime petition, I've seen it and I'll let you in on a secret. If you hover your cursor over the link with the author's e-mail address, you'll learn it has the word "neko" in it.

Now, of course most of us realize is Japanese for cat. So answer me this question: If Japan is such an evil place and everything it produces is full of darkness and threatens the world as we know it, why would the author have a Japanese word in their e-mail address?

That said, I totally freaked out the first time I saw the petition. But that was a while ago.
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Dachande



Joined: 21 Nov 2003
Posts: 89
Location: Savannah, Ga
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:39 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
So I could understand why Alan Moore was not amused.


People still take what he has to say seriously? Wow, you really do learn something new everyday. Seriously though anyone who listens to this guy needs to be locked up in a rubber room. He turns simple mistakes and blows them way out of proportion. He even worships the Roman snake-deity Glycon, need I say more than that?

Aslo I wouldn't be asking the guy who directed Dark City to be doing any adaptation of a book after what he did to I Robot
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1598
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:43 pm Reply with quote
I have nothing relevant to add, but I have to say that that is the best cute kitty picture ever, and that's saying alot.

You know the part in Evangelion where they cut off all the power in Tokyo-3 so they can divert it to Shinji's gun so he can FIRE MEGAZORD DINO-CANNON NOW!!!, and Pen-Pen's watching from the balcony as the lights go out? It's like that, with two kitties. Um, and the lights aren't out.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15571
PostPosted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:59 pm Reply with quote
Kagemusha:
Quote:
I actually just wrote a paper on how the ambiguous ending does more justice to the story than if Burgess had got his way


I'm not sure how Alex refusing to learn from his experience has anything to do with the point of the story.

Quote:
But "A History of Violence"? I know you like say things just for the sake of starting arguments, but are you saying what I think your saying? Yes, Cronenberg altered the story to fit his trademarks and overall views, but the payoff was exellent,


Only if you want a blatant social commentary on Columbine , rather than a Sopranos-style drama.

Quote:
much, MUCH better than if he had done a straight adaptation of the mediocre graphic novel


Yes, nothing's better than spoiler[your wife hating you for murder and then she suddenly succumbing to you raping her].

Pop-art:
Quote:
It's not really an action film. It has a few nifty action scenes but it's really a drama,


More like a music video.

Dachande:
Quote:
Aslo I wouldn't be asking the guy who directed Dark City to be doing any adaptation of a book after what he did to I Robot


He did a better job capturing the essence of Asimov's work than the Wachowskis did with V.
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