Forum - View topicRIGHT TURN ONLY!! - The Melancholy of Kanji Sasahara
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Peter Ahlstrom
Posts: 72 Location: Los Angeles |
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Pichi Pichi Pitch rules. So there.
[EDIT: Fine, I'll add more, though I didn't expect any response, so I wouldn't call it a troll--if anything, the review was a troll. I disagree that this series is in any way a parody. It's meant to be taken seriously by fans of magical girl series aimed at Nakayoshi readers--tween and pretween girls. I cannot explain how I happen to be a fan of such series, since I am obviously not in this demographic. This manga succeeds far greater at what it sets out to do than your average manga. The anime lasted a year and a half, and the manga was on the cover of Nakayoshi month after month. Each series must be considered in the light of its intended market and how well it speaks to that market. Just because the reviewer is not a fan of such series does not mean it should get a D. ] Last edited by Peter Ahlstrom on Tue May 02, 2006 7:21 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Kamon
 Posts: 71 Location: Procrastinating |
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You sure showed him.
Man, I really, really dig Genshiken. I should buy more of it. |
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Jadress
 Posts: 807 Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy! |
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Yes, as do I. I didn't realize a new volume was out again- I can't wait to blow my $10!! |
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kanami
Posts: 26 Location: Mexico City |
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Well, yeah, but... Isn't IT the point of Genshiken??? To show the reader the life of a normal japanese otaku. This manga is actually aimed to japanese readers, so I believe they most likely feel connected with it, since it's very very common that university anime clubs in Japan create their own doujinshis-- I would even think it's a good guide for comiket newbies or a normal guy that just wants to know what's the deal with that stuff. I don't think you can judge this part of the manga from our point of view, since doujinshi is more a japanese thing. Anaway, I agree with most of the review. (err... sorry for my really strange english... i'm for mexico so... hehehe) |
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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If that's all you have to say, then by all means just don't say anything. One-line trolling simply isn't allowed around here. 
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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The titles of manga just get stranger and stranger and stranger...Moon Boy?! Mmmm that's a new one.
I've actually wanted to start Genshiken for some time now, but I've made myself wait until the manga draws to a close. Obviously if it goes on any longer I'l have to screw that approach, but with a bi-annual release, I want to make sure nothing's going to happen. If it were serialized in Weekly Jump, there'd be no danger of anything happening to the magazine. |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I think you're being a little too cautious. The series is probably going to run a while longer, and Del Rey is doing quite well. People get skittish because of ADV Manga, but their approach to it was... questionable, to say the least. You're not risking anything by picking Genshiken up now. |
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GoodLuckSaturday
 Posts: 567 Location: Indiana |
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Even as a fan of the series, I think the review was dead on (although I have to disgaree with the last line). I mean, I love it, for reasons I can't comprehend, but it's clear D material (I may have given it a C-, D+ on personal taste tipping). It does have something to it that pulls people in, whether they be little girls or clearly out of demographic people like myself, and apparently you, so it's not a clear waste. It's a series I'd recommend as an equivilent to ice cream brainfreeze, not a general recommendation. -- Regarding the import of the month, I really would like to read more Ai Yazawa series. I can only hope someone is willing to bring this, and her other stories, to English someday. |
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Peter Ahlstrom
Posts: 72 Location: Los Angeles |
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Is there any kind of clear definition anywhere which clearly delineates what A, B, C, D, and F are supposed to mean in a manga review?
D means, to me, something next to failure. Pichi Pichi Pitch is extremely successful at doing what it intends to do. Thus it's far away from failure. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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So your saying that if a series is popular it automatically negates any negative opinions expressed? Seriously, your not doing much to help your case. The reviewer gave good reasons why this series deserves a D; you've said it rules because it's popular in Japan. Which opinion are people going to beleive? |
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GATSU
Posts: 15578 |
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Wasn't that the plot for Aquamarine? 
He's just repressed.
Newsflash. That's how people looked in the 80's. =p
That's actually how I feel about the first book in the Maison Ikkoku re-release edition.
Just read the doujinshi on the net if you're lookin' for that. 
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Peter Ahlstrom
Posts: 72 Location: Los Angeles |
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Well, I would tend to think the opinion of tons of Japanese people in its target demographic would trump the opinion of a single American reviewer out of that demographic, yes. As for the reasons given:
I already said it's not a parody in any way. And he doesn't give any evidence for this or the second claim, unless you count the following...
No, not really. It makes perfect sense for a magical girl mermaid's power to be associate with singing, and pearls as the object connected with that power are as good as any other undersea object. As for the microphone issue, any attack on this concept could be more believably directed at the obvious accessory-marketing motivation behind it--a magical microphone is in itself not ridiculous.
There's no evidence that that's any kind of parody. Looks more like a homage to me.
So what? This is, as he says, usual. It's what people are used to. But anyway, the manga does not follow a strict one-villain-per-chapter structure--sometimes the villains last more than one chapter. Actually, they tend to come back and try again later. The manga, being much shorter, does a better job of avoiding the cliche than the anime, which adds a whole lot of villain-of-the-week filler.
It's about singing mermaids. How "serious" do you expect it to be?
But just because it's not completely focused on weighty moral issues doesn't mean it's meant as a joke either. It's just supposed to be entertaining to its target audience. But anyway, the series does have less light issues such as the piano teacher's connection with the orange mermaid, Kaito's connection with Gackto, etc. And there's romance involved as well--but this review didn't even mention Lucia's love interest beyond the back cover copy.
Fine advice to someone who seems to like as few manga as this reviewer based on past reviews, but there is no discussion of or sign of any comprehension of what market this series is intended to reach. |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10461 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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I'm just going to comment on this one item. The opinions of American readers / reviewers are much more important than those of "Japanese people in its target demographic." Why? Because when the manga was translated into English and published by an American company, its target demographic changed. It is now being marketed to North American manga fans. Our readers are mostly North Americans. Our reviewer is North American (albeit of foreign decent, but then most North Americans are). Our reviewer is a fairly typical North American manga fan. As such, he is more like the manga's new target demographic than the people who make up its Japanese target demographic. We review manga for North American readers. While a North American fan can be expected to have certain Japan-o-centric leanings, his (or her) tastes, by and large, are more North American than Japanese. The result, is that something can be a hit with Japanese readers, and in the eyes of American readers, totally suck. And vice versa. Over the past 14 years, we've already seen a slew of shows that were mega-hits in Japan and did poorly here, and others that were milding in Japan and became mega-hits in North America. Still, opinions within a demographic are going to differ, just because one "average" North American manga fan likes or dislikes something, it doesn't mean that someone else will. Take any manga that "everyone" hates, and it has a few readers who think its great.
A = Excellent B = Better than average / Very good C = Average / Good D = Under average / not so good F = Fail / Bad I expect the average of all the reviews by any reviewer to fall somewhere in the "C" range. If they fall higher it means the reviewer is either too lenient or happens to be getting all the good material. -t |
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astra
Posts: 131 |
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Wait, whaaaat? Kagen no Tsuki is by Ai Yazawa? Yeah, I suck at reading kanji. But the art is so different from her other manga. I would never have guessed it. Yeah, I bought a bunch of this series at Bookoff for a dollar when I was still getting the hang of Japanese and I guess I just didn't read them well enough. I also wasn't a fan of Yazawa back then. I need to check them out again
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Nobuyuki
Posts: 536 |
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"Pastiche" does not equal "parody". pastiche - a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work parody - 1a. A literary or artistic work that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect or ridicule |
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