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ANNCast - Dark Sols: Prepare to Crowdfund Edition


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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2246
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 4:39 pm Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:

Though of course, the same "put up or shut up" approach taken to the main release could be taken to additional costs of a UK release ... compute the costs, set a target, do the UK release if it hits the target. That's something to seriously consider in a year's time of the Anime Sols experiment works out.

That would add significant complexity to the website (separate "sub-goals" based on regional pledges) which is not something we're planning to launch with.
I could definitely see an Anime Sols UK/Australia offshoot site which is for those territories which could take shows that have already met their goals in the US/Canada and gather additional pledges for create PAL sets with all the appropriate local labeling. That's the kind of thing we would consider once we see the initial reaction and if there's enough feedback from those territories.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:15 pm Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
Though of course, the same "put up or shut up" approach taken to the main release could be taken to additional costs of a UK release ... compute the costs, set a target, do the UK release if it hits the target.


samuelp wrote:
That would add significant complexity to the website (separate "sub-goals" based on regional pledges) which is not something we're planning to launch with.


agila61 wrote:
That's something to seriously consider in a year's time if the Anime Sols experiment works out.


samuelp wrote:
I could definitely see an Anime Sols UK/Australia offshoot site which is for those territories which could take shows that have already met their goals in the US/Canada and gather additional pledges for create PAL sets with all the appropriate local labeling. That's the kind of thing we would consider once we see the initial reaction and if there's enough feedback from those territories.


Hey, that's kind of what I was suggesting, wasn't it, when saying its something to consider in a year's time if the Anime Sols experiment seems to be working out?
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brankoburcksen



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 126
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 7:18 pm Reply with quote
Zac, thank you for motivating me to finally see Evangelion 3.33. It was really worth it. I look forward to your spoiler filled discussion whenever that happens. I'm still absorbing everything I saw, and I definitely need to see it a few more times to get a handle on everything. I have to say my only major gripe at this point is having so many unanswered questions, but come on, what else were we expecting?

What left me confused for the longest time was not a lack of explanation in the third movie so much as not comprehending everyone's reaction to it. I think to call it mixed or polarized misses the point. None of the assessment about the movie seems to match up.

In one instance people criticize Misato and the rest of the former NERV team for not being open with Shinji whereas others put the blame on him for not having more curiosity about the new world in which he finds himself. I read more comments where viewers complained about a lack of development for most of the characters while some also praised the change in Asuka and Misato's personality. It seems like the overall assessment of the movie cancels out individual takes since no two opinions can agree on the strengths and weaknesses of the movie.

spoiler[The omission of Sakura Suzuhara when discussing how all the characters apart from Kaworu give Shinji the cold shoulder, even in spoiler reviews, baffles me. She's the first person he sees when he wakes up, and she treats him with kindness and respect. Her rise in status from significant off-screen motivation for one of Shinji's personal relationships to cameo appearance to only supporting character besides Kaworu warmed up to him, also feels like a contradiction when people say Kaworu is the only one whose nice to him.]

I am in aw of Hideaki Anno for putting us right back into TV Ending/Movie Ending debate. This time though he pulled another trick out of his sleeve.

Since I saw the original series, I've rolled my eyes at people's disappointment about the endings to The Sopranos and Lost. You want to see an ending worth getting upset about? See Neon Genesis Evangelion. It broke a cardinal rule about managing audience expectation. The beginning set up a science fiction/action adventure with serious and nuanced questions about identity and growing up. By the end, it turned into a psychological nightmare where any trace of a concrete resolution was left up to the viewer. I liken it to the climax of Star Wars: A New Hope, when the X-Wings attack the Death Star, turning into the last twenty minutes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. You establish what kind of story the audience can expect in the beginning, an action adventure, and follow through on that, but Anno did the opposite, turning the adventure into a psycho-drama.

With Evangelion 3.33 he pulls the same trick but in a different way. In managing audience expectation, when you near the climax, all the pieces have been put in place: characters' backstories and motivations are established, plot-lines converge, emotions intensify, and...but that doesn't happen here. In both the TV show and these new movies, Anno breaks basic rules of story structure: you don't promise Star Wars and then give them 2001 at the eleventh hour. The third movie is more subtle in breaking audience expectation though. Instead of stripping away the action, he presses the reset button.

The third movie, much like the third act of a story, is when you expect the elements that have been established to come together and head straight for a resolution. In Evangelion 3.33 though, we are introduced to a new world during the third act. A whole ensemble of new characters are added to the mix. Old ones get updated, fourteen year, backstories along with new motivations. All this now has to be filtered to Shinji, and by extension the audience, through this movie, and presumably the fourth, when we should be seeing everything come together for a resolution.

Because this break with story structure is not as tangible onscreen as the TV Ending where people can put their frustration on the abstract animation sequences, this results in people's criticism faulting one character's behavior (Shinji) or many (Misato and the rest) and whatever hang up someone can find with the logistics of the story rather than pointing the blame at the fact that the filmmakers betrayed our initial expectations. Of course, this was not done to give the middle finger to the audience.

In some respects, it may be the opposite reason for why Anno broke story expectation in the TV Ending. That time, they had budget, censorship and production problems relegating the surreal conclusion. Even with the first Rebuild film, Anno was surprised at how well it did. All the way back in 2006, when they began developing the new movies, I think the last thing anyone hoped was for Evangelion 1.0 to make over $16 million. Add to that the fact Evangelion 2.0 earned $40 million, and you have to think no one, especially Anno, imagined Evangelion would be this popular.

This is a story he has lived with for close to twenty years, and he's never been able to let it go. The fact these new movies have done so well, beyond any of his expectations, must have been a very moving experience for him. With the preview for the third movie already attached to Evangelion 2.22, seeing how far it went in no small way forces the ones who made it to think long and hard about where they are going with this story, what they hoped to accomplish, not to mention the future of their careers and studio. The more than expected success of the new movies gave them the opportunity to either follow threw with what they already planned, or dare to do something no one ever tried before, much like the circumstances of the first series allowed them to do.

This is nothing more than my pure speculation, but I think it is possible when the credits finish at the end of the fourth movie, we will see a preview for either another set of movies or a whole new TV series to continue where Rebuild left off. That's what I believe may be the justification for resetting the story in the third film. I can't be sure of many things when it comes to this franchise, but my take away from this film is that Evangelion 4.0 Will (Not) Be The End of Evangelion.
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Quark



Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Posts: 710
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 9:13 pm Reply with quote
brankoburcksen wrote:

In one instance people criticize Misato and the rest of the former NERV team for not being open with Shinji whereas others put the blame on him for not having more curiosity about the new world in which he finds himself. I read more comments where viewers complained about a lack of development for most of the characters while some also praised the change in Asuka and Misato's personality. It seems like the overall assessment of the movie cancels out individual takes since no two opinions can agree on the strengths and weaknesses of the movie.

spoiler[The omission of Sakura Suzuhara when discussing how all the characters apart from Kaworu give Shinji the cold shoulder, even in spoiler reviews, baffles me. She's the first person he sees when he wakes up, and she treats him with kindness and respect. Her rise in status from significant off-screen motivation for one of Shinji's personal relationships to cameo appearance to only supporting character besides Kaworu warmed up to him, also feels like a contradiction when people say Kaworu is the only one whose nice to him.]


I re-watched the first part of the movie today and the people spoiler[talking about how cold everyone was to Shinji and how they didn't explain anything to him seemed to miss something. When they first brought Shinji out, the crew was preparing to go into battle station - not the best time to start answering questions. They did start explaining some things - the time jump, the fact that they don't know what happened to Rei, where Unit 01 was, the collar, the fact that his synch ratio was in the toilet, but an emergency came up and Misato and Ritsuko were too busy dealing with it to pay attention to him. That's when Rei showed up and Misato did try to prevent him from leaving by telling him that the Rei he knows is gone, not to get into an Eva, and that Wille is trying to protect him. Shinji didn't listen and just left. The fact that Misato was hesitating to detonate the collar as Rei took him away is a pretty strong indication that she still cares for him, she's simply dealing with her anger over what happened.
As for Asuka, she says flat out that she had been grieving for him. Last I checked, she doesn't deal with her feelings well, and has always been especially hard on Shinji. The fact that he started Third Impact and then disappeared for 14 years? Yeah, she's gonna be pissed.
Oh, and yeah, Sakura was really nice to him, especially considering the fact that Toji most likely died in the Third Impact.
Were people expecting some kind of joyous reunion with hugging and crying? Cause that's so not Eva.]
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:49 pm Reply with quote
brankoburcksen wrote:
spoiler[She's the first person he sees when he wakes up, and she treats him with kindness and respect. Her rise in status from significant off-screen motivation for one of Shinji's personal relationships to cameo appearance to only supporting character besides Kaworu warmed up to him, also feels like a contradiction when people say Kaworu is the only one whose nice to him.]

After re-watching the film, I'm not so sure she's as nice as she seems.
spoiler[A) When Shinji complains about the DSS choker, she has a noticeably less "bright" look on her face and says there's "no way we're taking it off"
B) When Shinji says he'll pilot Unit 1, we see a close-up of her clenching her fist
C) Most noticeably, when Shinji is about to leave and she tells him not to pilot an Eva, she has a more stern look on her face and uses her natural dialect rather than the more "standard" Japanese she was using up to that point.
I figure this either means she's as distrusting as the others seem to be and is just trying to put up with it, or she's sincerely trying to be nice/understanding towards him but still harbors some negative feelings (there is the implication that Toji died as a result of Near-Third Impact).]

At least, that's what I got out of it.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 10:59 pm Reply with quote
My major complaint with 3.0 was: too much red.
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taster of pork



Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 596
Location: My House
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 12:52 am Reply with quote
Anime Sol's next project should be Legend of the Galactic Heroes. That would be prefect for them.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 1:28 am Reply with quote
taster of pork wrote:
Anime Sol's next project should be Legend of the Galactic Heroes. That would be prefect for them.


The main OVA would be too rich for their blood, for now. How about the Seven Cities Story OVA, it's also based on a Tanaka work and never been licensed to my knowledge. It serves as an excellent introduction to that world, but you gotta go get the books to see the rest. If not that, how about the LoGH prequel films? All three are out on BD now, but a DVD can't be that hard to come by? When the estimate of Western LoGH fandom was conducted years upon years ago, it was a fraction as large as its current state, and I would hazard a guess the bulk of the fans are older and more likely to have incomes than most other anime. It'd be great to see someone at least try.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8499
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 3:17 am Reply with quote
Well, I'm sure not paying over 1000 bucks for LoGH like some group was trying for years ago. Four sets, 26 episodes each, each set 40 dollars, then we'll talk. They probably wouldn't bother dubbing it (though Ocean did a couple of episodes as a test, I think), so that should lower the price somewhat. I love LoGH, but it's a 30 year old show, so if they think I'm paying thousands of dollars for it, they'd be crazy.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 9:16 am Reply with quote
samuelp wrote:
agila61 wrote:

Though of course, the same "put up or shut up" approach taken to the main release could be taken to additional costs of a UK release ... compute the costs, set a target, do the UK release if it hits the target. That's something to seriously consider in a year's time of the Anime Sols experiment works out.

That would add significant complexity to the website (separate "sub-goals" based on regional pledges) which is not something we're planning to launch with.
I could definitely see an Anime Sols UK/Australia offshoot site which is for those territories which could take shows that have already met their goals in the US/Canada and gather additional pledges for create PAL sets with all the appropriate local labeling. That's the kind of thing we would consider once we see the initial reaction and if there's enough feedback from those territories.
Yeah, that'll happen, I'm sure. Sure reading WSJ On my tablet right now...

I'm sorry but this is not good enough. I'm putting up and you're telling me to shut up.
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BarCho66



Joined: 28 Feb 2012
Posts: 63
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 9:33 am Reply with quote
CrowLia wrote:
So... I take it I'm the only person who isn't bothered by Titan's "cheap" animation? Yeah, they use a shitload of stills, but the artstyle is pretty cool and fitting, and the story and characters are interesting enough for me not to care about the studio cutting corners to save money -and my eye is not half as trained as everyone else's seems to be, since the only "cheap" thing I've noticed is the overuse of stills.


[EDIT: Insult removed. There's no call for name-calling. - Key] If the show was done in cheap CGI then you would defend it regardless.
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
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Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:44 am Reply with quote
Conan-san wrote:
I'm sorry but this is not good enough. I'm putting up and you're telling me to shut up.

Gotta walk before you run. This is just a demand that the real world instantly reorganize itself to comply with your wishes, when in the real world innovation is risky and takes time to prove itself.
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
Posts: 5528
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 10:53 am Reply with quote
BarCho66 wrote:
CrowLia wrote:
So... I take it I'm the only person who isn't bothered by Titan's "cheap" animation? Yeah, they use a shitload of stills, but the artstyle is pretty cool and fitting, and the story and characters are interesting enough for me not to care about the studio cutting corners to save money -and my eye is not half as trained as everyone else's seems to be, since the only "cheap" thing I've noticed is the overuse of stills.


You're a fantard. If the show was done in cheap CGI then you would defend it regardless.


Uhhh... no. I hate cheap CGI from the bottom of my heart -the Berserk movie was awful in that aspect- and I can see when a show is cheaply animated (I'm looking at you, Trigun), but just because its technical merits are not SAO level does not automatically mean it's not a good show (again, looking at you Trigun)
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clawfinger



Joined: 05 Feb 2013
Posts: 38
Location: Illinois
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Good podcast. I'm interested in checking out the Anime Sols site once it launches. I really like the badge or token idea for supporters.
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ConanSan



Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 1818
PostPosted: Mon May 06, 2013 3:23 pm Reply with quote
agila61 wrote:
Conan-san wrote:
I'm sorry but this is not good enough. I'm putting up and you're telling me to shut up.

Gotta walk before you run. This is just a demand that the real world instantly reorganize itself to comply with your wishes, when in the real world innovation is risky and takes time to prove itself.
OK then, if Anime Sols wants to pull the same bunkum that 90% of internet endeavors in regards to anime, locking out potential customers, then they're free to do so.

They, however, also waive the right to complain to selfsame when they don't succeed or areas locked out of this otherwise fine idea are rife with non legitimate methods of proliferation.
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