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REVIEW: Speed Grapher DVD 2




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Reikijenosaido



Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Perhaps someone else should be reviewing this series.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:46 pm Reply with quote
Reikijenosaido wrote:
Perhaps someone else should be reviewing this series.


Why do you say that?
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Advent_Nebula



Joined: 04 Jul 2004
Posts: 932
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:06 pm Reply with quote
Key summed up this volume rather nicely, and I do agree, Bob and the transvestites do sound better in the dub rather that the orgional Japanese. As the series dose go on, the more the viewer will feel more pain for Kagura. You can't help but feel sorry for her.
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Reikijenosaido



Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:52 pm Reply with quote
He seems to be dismissing this show as mere cheese when it's trying (and succeeding) to comment on humanities greed and the price we pay for it. The adult themes are not just there to act as fanservice but rather to illustrate how low we can sink for what we desire.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:18 pm Reply with quote
Reikijenosaido wrote:
He seems to be dismissing this show as mere cheese when it's trying (and succeeding) to comment on humanities greed and the price we pay for it. The adult themes are not just there to act as fanservice but rather to illustrate how low we can sink for what we desire.


That's your opinion. You're suggesting that we get "someone else" to review the title who shares your opinion on the show.

It is not the responsibility of the critic to agree with your personal take on the series.

I agree with Theron's summation of the show; the themes you're talking about are very heavy-handed and obvious in the series, and yes, it does come across as campy.
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indrik



Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 365
Location: yonder
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 4:43 pm Reply with quote
I agree almost completely with the reviewer.

It absolutely has pretenses of being "mature" and "adult" but seems to think that that means "showing naughty bits". It would do better to cut out the nakedness and spend more time on the character study, and maybe invest in the backstory a little more heavily. Let me think a while, I could come up with at least a half a dozen more "adult" anime without any nudity at all. Gantz has recently done the whole sex/violence/social commentary thing on a much more sophisticated level. The commentary here is beaten over our heads like a Victorian satire, about as subtle as Gilbert and Sullivan without having to try to puzzle through the patter songs. A little ham with our cheese.

I started to care a little bit in the episode in the clinic, and with Kagura's whole... thingy, and then the lumbering hulk of a lack of in-betweening Doc Oc clone lumbered past. No Swedish Bikini Team will save us this time. The animation and often even the art are disappointingly bad coming from a studio like Gonzo where we know how much more they can do. It reminds me way too much of Witch Hunter Robin. I could forgive the bad animation in the action sequences if I had more to go on in the non-action sequences; there are certainly plenty of series with sub-par animation out there that manage to pull off that balance. Anything decent produced before what.... say, 1992, probably. "Sub-par" becomes very relative and subjective in that context, though, even more than it was before.

It was better than the first volume. I liked that Saiga had to puzzle through the camera thing, and that we were given some solid reasons to view Kagura as a sympathetic character, beyond just coming out of a bizarre situation. (Like her wardrobe... har.)

I was going to complain about the singing, but that seemed esoteric and picky and I bet nobody else noticed anyway. It's hell, I tell you.

I will probably rent volume three before I buy it. Funimation is doing a nice job on packaging and hiring voice talent, I think, and I really want to support that. Maybe I'll bail on this and check out Trinity Blood instead.
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sabriyahm



Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 292
Location: Georgia
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:12 pm Reply with quote
Reikijenosaido wrote:
He seems to be dismissing this show as mere cheese when it's trying (and succeeding) to comment on humanities greed and the price we pay for it. The adult themes are not just there to act as fanservice but rather to illustrate how low we can sink for what we desire.


That my be your opinion but this is the second reviewer for Speed Grapher. Neither reviewer has been singing the shows praises. The problem may be with the show and not the reviewer.

It also would be helpful to remember that everyone doesn't feel exactly the same as you about everything. But that may be too much to ask.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
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Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:34 pm Reply with quote
yeah i agree with the review. this point in the series is pretty much "monster of the week" stuff. cool monsters though. hopefully reviews turn around with the next volume.
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Zalis116
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:25 am Reply with quote
I definitely am respecting Monica Rial a heck of a lot more after watching the first two discs of Nanaka 6/17 (not that I disliked her before), but Speed Grapher still earns an "ignore" from me, especially after the content of this review. Don't let the "I've seen the fansubs, I know all" viewers get you down Key, though I know you won't pay them much heed in the first place.
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joel_s95387



Joined: 29 Jun 2005
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Location: California... The Village Hidden In The Porn
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:42 am Reply with quote
Zalis116 wrote:
I definitely am respecting Monica Rial a heck of a lot more after watching the first two discs of Nanaka 6/17 (not that I disliked her before), but Speed Grapher still earns an "ignore" from me, especially after the content of this review. Don't let the "I've seen the fansubs, I know all" viewers get you down Key, though I know you won't pay them much heed in the first place.


I was thinking of picking up this series, but after the reviews, I think I can wait for a box set or something cheaper than the original releases. The monster of the week is actually attracting me more to the series. Today being the first day of school, I don't have time, or attention span, to follow a really long story. But "Monster-of-the-week" sounds like it would be something entertaining to watch between classes.

What pushes me away most though is the concept of blowing stuff up with a camera.... Laughing can't even type that with a straight face.
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:51 pm Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:
yeah i agree with the review. this point in the series is pretty much "monster of the week" stuff. cool monsters though. hopefully reviews turn around with the next volume.


I have the same thoughts so far with this series, but even still I enjoy the Monster of the week on this show much more then the anime. At least this Monster of the week try to depict how are greeds and selfish desire and cost us so dearly.

Reikijenosaido wrote:
Perhaps someone else should be reviewing this series.


I don't know if I missed something but what with all the negative attitude with whomever is reviewing this series. Zac had lots of people arguing about his review also, but his review was fair just like Keys. I haven't seen the DVD release of these volumes, but I remember the discussion I had when this show was being released, and I had the same complain about the show that Keys pointed out. But still I can't wait to get my volume 2, (suppose to come today Very Happy) I'm still enjoying this series my second time throught it.
Till next time,

Delta Kiral
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Reikijenosaido



Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:34 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
That's your opinion. You're suggesting that we get "someone else" to review the title who shares your opinion on the show.

It is not the responsibility of the critic to agree with your personal take on the series.

I agree with Theron's summation of the show; the themes you're talking about are very heavy-handed and obvious in the series, and yes, it does come across as campy.



Fair enough, Although I don't believe that this show is too far fetched (aside from the euphorics). People will do horrible things to get what they want. Perhaps not as publicly as what we see in this series, but it happens every day nonetheless. As you said though, that's just my opinion.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:51 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
The English dub for this volume establishes that Monica Rial can not only sing but sing pretty well. Her seiyuu counterpart in the role of Kagura definitely has a better and more polished singing voice, but Ms. Rial stays even because she lacks a foreign accent– and “Amazing Grace” clamors for a strong, purely American voice like few other songs do.
I know a lovely lady in our church choir who would beg to differ. And just what is a "purely American voice" anyway, if not an irony in terms? if Ms. Rial can sing it as angelic as our choir soloist, who has a heavy Irish accent, I will at least rent this title just to hear Ms.Rial sing "Amazing Grace" which afterall is an original English hymn. The closest rendition I've ever heard to being even remotely equal in terms of beauty and emotion to our soloists' performance is by the folk singer Judy Collins.
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TornadoTatsumaki



Joined: 01 Feb 2008
Posts: 145
Location: Mission Bend,Texas
PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:48 pm Reply with quote
After watching the fansubs and about two of the IFC episodes, i've concluded that "Speed Grapher" is a erotic thriller anime that basically resembles the imfamous Bruce Willis live-action thriller "The Color Of Night" much like night Speed Grapher is fraught with bizzare and twisted sex and psycosis and goes into some territory most anime that's not hentai would never enter.

Granted, where as the Color of Night was weighed down by bad acting,schizophernia, terrible sex scenes, and some of the lamest diolouge ever to grace a mystery thriller, SG is more on the line of shock value with more stlylized violence, disturbing sex, and meldrama. I have to say that speed Grapher is a guilty pleasure though it's not for everyone especially not for me.
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