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REVIEW: Level E BD+DVD


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誤称



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 549
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
dtm42 wrote:
So what if the series isn't what it portrayed itself to be? You going to mark PMMM down because it too had a game-changing twist in the third episode?

PMMM maintained its storyline and focus on the same cast through and after its twist. This one doesn't. It transitions into being more of an anthology than a unified ongoing plot or series of gags featuring the same core cast. That's what bothered me the most, because the series gives no clue that it's going to go that route before that point.


Exactly, it started off doing one thing and doing it passably well and then all of a sudden out of the blue, it changed into something else. Something I personally consider horrible. My distaste for this series can't adequately be put into words suitable for civilized company, however, so I'll bow out now.

And honestly, dtm pulls out the fact that I like Sword Art Online at every opportunity he can to try to discredit me despite the fact that just because I like one series he personally does not like does not have any relevance to the subject at hand, its an obvious strawman.
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getchman
He started it



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9134
Location: New Hampshire
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:17 pm Reply with quote
by the end of the show, my favorite character was Princess Luna for successfully pulling off one of the best Xanatos Gambits I've ever seen.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5501
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:28 pm Reply with quote
As usual, this is another solid review by Mr. Martin. The reviewer gave a very good explanation of what the series is about. I was excited about seeing a B grade for story, but anime composed of vignettes does not do it for me.

Theron Martin wrote:
Level E is generally a light, breezy affair, one which does not require viewers to think much


And this is one of the big concerns I have with several FUNi recent releases. Relaxed shows are okay, but I want a stories than can also make me think and engage me. I want to see more series like Steins;Gates and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from FUNi.

P.S. How did SAO found its way into this conversation. It shows you the popularity of SAO (not greatness; SAO is still an uneven series, Decent at best).


Last edited by Angel M Cazares on Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:30 pm Reply with quote
Key, sure, Level E wasn't what people thought it was, but how is that a bad thing? And sure, it didn't drop hints, but does a surprise twist have to? It just seems to me like you're marking the show down for not being what you wanted it to be rather than because the twist wasn't - in your eyes - executed well enough.

誤称 wrote:
Exactly, it started off doing one thing and doing it passably well and then all of a sudden out of the blue, it changed into something else. Something I personally consider horrible.


So a series being very funny, clever and entertaining is considered horrible by you?

Whatever.

angelmcazares wrote:
And this is one of the big concerns I have with several FUNi recent releases. Relaxed shows are okay, but I want a stories than can also make me think and engage him. I want to see more series like Steins;Gates and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from FUNi.


With all the twists and trolling and the great character writing, I think it's safe to say that Level E is not a brainless series. Also, not every show has to be heavy on getting the audiences to think. A clever Comedy now and then is surely fine, even for you.

angelmcazares wrote:
P.S. How did SAO found its way into this conversation. It shows you the popularity of SAO (not greatness; SAO is still an uneven series, Decent at best).


Yeah, the thread isn't that long. It isn't too hard to scan down the first page and see where it was first mentioned.


Last edited by dtm42 on Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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誤称



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 549
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:37 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:


誤称 wrote:
Exactly, it started off doing one thing and doing it passably well and then all of a sudden out of the blue, it changed into something else. Something I personally consider horrible.


So a series being very funny, clever and entertaining is considered horrible by you?

Whatever.


Apparently "whatever" is "respond to every post I make trying to slur me for no apparent reason or for tangential reasons." I hope you're enjoying yourself or, are you mad bro? I didn't like your pet show. I'm not sure why you're taking it so personally.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:47 pm Reply with quote
^
No, you're doing more than saying that you didn't like it. You're actively mocking it but have to make stuff up to do so, because you are light on legitimate criticisms. I don't care how much you didn't like the fourth episode but it wasn't crap. The show isn't a trainwreck; it's clear that your hostility towards it is just a hatchet job.

Then of course you get shirty and say stuff like:

誤称 wrote:
It doesn't surprise me that both people who respond to me are namenumbers. A lack of creativity is a common feature.


Yep, still continuing the ad hominem attacks I see. Pathetic.
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Maidenoftheredhand



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 2634
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 12:50 pm Reply with quote
angelmcazares wrote:

And this is one of the big concerns I have with several FUNi recent releases. Relaxed shows are okay, but I want a stories than can also make me think and engage me. I want to see more series like Steins;Gates and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood from FUNi.


Funimation has released far worse than Level E. At least it is not a boob and action show.

Anyways I expect we will see releases of Psycho Pass (which I will definitely buy barring the ending doesn't ruin it) and Kamisama Kiss (which I probably will not buy).

I definitely would like Funi to have more variety in their releases but then the really niche type of series is just not their thing (with some exceptions).
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18435
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:04 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
Key, sure, Level E wasn't what people thought it was, but how is that a bad thing? And sure, it didn't drop hints, but does a surprise twist have to? It just seems to me like you're marking the show down for not being what you wanted it to be rather than because the twist wasn't - in your eyes - executed well enough.

Surprise twists in plot are one thing, and generally welcomed; surprise twists in format are another, and usually aren't.

Quote:
誤称 wrote:
Exactly, it started off doing one thing and doing it passably well and then all of a sudden out of the blue, it changed into something else. Something I personally consider horrible.


So a series being very funny, clever and entertaining is considered horrible by you?

Clearly he doesn't consider it to be those things, so your comment here is disingenuous.

Quote:
Yeah, the thread isn't that long. It isn't too hard to scan down the first page and see where it [SAO] was first mentioned.

By you, and needlessly so. This title has no relevance to SAO whatsoever.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:23 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Surprise twists in plot are one thing, and generally welcomed; surprise twists in format are another, and usually aren't.


And why aren't surprise twists in format considered good? Who says they aren't? Point me to an authoritative book on scriptwriting that says format twists should never be attempted under any circumstances.

A format twist is just a trope, same as any other. It's how it's used that matters most. Why don't you look at how well the twist was executed instead of complaining that it even existed in the first place.

Key wrote:
Clearly he doesn't consider it to be those things, so your comment here is disingenuous.


I've got no problem with him not liking the twist, but to call it horrible when it was actually executed brilliantly and had many people in stitches is excessive.

Key wrote:
By you, and needlessly so. This title has no relevance to SAO whatsoever.


I can't blame you for excising that huge-arse discussion thread from your mind, but I can assure you that mentioning it was relevant. I didn't bring it up for kicks.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:41 pm Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
I've got no problem with him not liking the twist, but to call it horrible when it was actually executed brilliantly and had many people in stitches is excessive.

Do you really want to go there? I can definitely pick out other series where you've made similarly extreme negative comments about content that is widely-considered to be a quality (not just entertaining) effort. I'd rather not get into that, though. What's so difficult about accepting that people sometimes have a radically alternative - but still legitimate - viewpoint to yours on qualitative merits?

Quote:
I can't blame you for excising that huge-arse discussion thread from your mind, but I can assure you that mentioning it was relevant. I didn't bring it up for kicks.

How is it relevant?
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 1:58 pm Reply with quote
誤称 wrote:
I'm sorry but Togashi is no Mel Brooks.


I think it all comes down to what kind of humor appeals to each person. Everyone has different life experiences, so humor is very subjective. I'm a big Togashi fan, and I guess the things I find funny are the same things that he does, which is probably why I enjoyed Level E. The show is basically a mish-mash of little sketches made up of stuff he wanted to poke fun at. So it worked for me.

Mel Brooks humor, OTOH, has always been very uneven for me. My husband thinks he's hilarious, I don't. My husband didn't seem all that interested in Level E either. Despite this, somehow, we maintain harmony.

Maybe it's because we don't live out our lives as if we are on the internet. When the other person is enjoying something, we don't come out and say "That show you are enjoying is a stinking pile of crap! You like it, Really!?!"

...that would probably result in one of us feeling angry with the other, since it can be easily construed as a personal attack.

just sayin'... Anime smallmouth + sweatdrop

(personally, I don't understand why people waste their time disparaging a show they didn't like and even dropped after a few episodes. The only reason I could see is a burning desire to antagonize the show's fans. Why?)
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 2:31 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
Do you really want to go there?


Yes, actually. But not here.

Key wrote:
What's so difficult about accepting that people sometimes have a radically alternative - but still legitimate - viewpoint to yours on qualitative merits?


That's an unreasonably loaded question. I don't think that his viewpoint is legitimate. Oh sure, if he doesn't like the twist then he doesn't like it, I've got no problem with that. I've never insisted that people have to like what I like. But he can't then extrapolate it out and say that the show is objectively bad just because he didn't like it. It doesn't work like that; objectivity relies on far more than personal feeling. I haven't seen him produce one legitimate reason why the show was in his words "a stinking pile of crap" except for that it was meandering, which is hardly a fatality.

Key wrote:
How is it relevant?


Short answer is that he was so rabid at defending Sword Art Online, and yet now he's busy attacking a far superior show. I get that people have differing tastes - different strokes for different folks - but he went beyond taste and instead talked about objective quality in both the Sword Art Online discussion thread where he very forcefully defended the show and now in this thread whilst trashing Level E.

Long answer is essentially the short answer, but with additional commentary about his tastes that you might not find to be very cute.
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Ian K



Joined: 18 Dec 2008
Posts: 250
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:22 pm Reply with quote
COUGH COUGH EXCUSE ME GENTLEMEN

Can anyone give me a comparison of Crunchyroll's translation with Funi's? I enjoyed Level E when I saw it on CrunchyR, but didn't find it consistently funny.

However, I know that the Crunchyroll way of doing business makes it hard to release well-crafted subs, which is especially hard on comedies. This was especially noticeable for me in Gintama, which I really enjoyed when fansubbed, but bored me on Crunchyroll.

So, does Funimation's translation make Level E more enjoyable?
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:27 pm Reply with quote
Ian K wrote:
COUGH COUGH EXCUSE ME GENTLEMEN

Can anyone give me a comparison of Crunchyroll's translation with Funi's? I enjoyed Level E when I saw it on CrunchyR, but didn't find it consistently funny.

However, I know that the Crunchyroll way of doing business makes it hard to release well-crafted subs, which is especially hard on comedies. This was especially noticeable for me in Gintama, which I really enjoyed when fansubbed, but bored me on Crunchyroll.

So, does Funimation's translation make Level E more enjoyable?


How could anyone do what you are asking? What you find funny is totally subjective... Anime dazed
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Ian K



Joined: 18 Dec 2008
Posts: 250
PostPosted: Wed Feb 13, 2013 3:31 pm Reply with quote
Quality in general is subjective. That doesn't stop us from seeking out critical reviews - at least, it doesn't stop me.

I'm just wondering if anyone feels like the translations are significantly different from each other, and maybe if they think one works better than the other. That doesn't guarantee that I will like it, but it might make it worth revisiting.
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