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Best World-Building Tournament: Concluded!


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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18462
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:26 pm Reply with quote
For those who are new to our forum tournaments, we have been doing these periodically for several years. The focus of this one is on Best World-Building, which concerns the development of a series, movie, or franchise's setting. Should you choose to participate, some factors that you should consider for voting criteria include the following:

1) "World-building" is meant to be a generic rather than specific term. As such, it can refer to a city, a country, a continent, a world, a galaxy, or a multidimensional setting or computer game. It can even refer to a single building, ship, or school if that's where most of the story takes place.
2) Does the setting have characteristics that are distinctive to it? These can include, but are not limited to, geographical, astronomical, or structural features; geopolitical distribution; style of magic, technology, and/or spiritualism; races present; cultural aspects; architectural aspects; sociological or psychological mindset; religion; historical underpinnings; and tone.
3) Is the setting well-developed, does it explain itself adequately, and does it have a strong sense of internal logic within animated content? Only details from the animated content may be considered. Content from supporting omake is allowed to be considered.

Things that should not be considered including the overall quality of the title, the likability of its characters, and realism, except in the sense of logical consistency. Many of these are fantastic settings, after all.

Tournament Rules/Standards:
1. This is a single elimination tournament using a standard advancement bracket.
2. Advancement is determined by receiving a plurality of votes in a given match-up. In the event of a tie, all tying participants advance.
3. The field is divided into four lettered Groups, each representing one of the four major branches of the bracket.
4. Each voting phase will last exactly one week, beginning and ending at midnight Tuesday EST (i.e. GMT-4). No votes posted after the cut-off time will be accepted, even if an official end to the round hasn’t yet been announced.
5. Any registered forum member with posting privileges is allowed to vote, regardless of whether or not you’ve participated in any previous round, Group, or tournament. However, you must vote for all match-ups in a particular week for any of your votes to be counted.
6. For the first round at least one of your voting choices must be justified. Doing more than that is encouraged.
7. Key is the final arbiter of the tournament and Dorcas_Aurelia is the final arbiter of the accompanying minigame. (If you don’t already know what it is then it’s too late to get involved now.)

NOTE: Since this tournament is being run on an English-language site based in North America, official English spellings, title translations, and naming conventions will be observed in any case where it matters.

References
Since voters are not expected to know everyone going in, a Guide which briefly describes each character is being provided. These entries are linked to the names of the series and will contain a picture, other assorted details, and a link to a legal stream of the first episode in question if one is available. Use these as necessary to familiarize yourself with characters before voting.

Round Links
Round 1
Group 1A: see next post
Group 1B
Group 1C
Group 1D

Round 2
Group 2A
Group 2B
Group 2C
Group 2D

Round 3
Group 3A
Group 3B
Group 3C
Group 3D

Round 4
Groups 4A and 4B
Groups 4C and 4D (due to a system bug I cannot link to this post, but it's on p. 22)

Round 5
Group Finals

Round 6
Semifinals (due to a system bug I cannot currently link to this post, but it's on p. 26)

Round 7
Finals (see p. 27)


Last edited by Key on Sun Feb 16, 2014 10:05 pm; edited 18 times in total
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18462
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:33 pm Reply with quote
Round 1 Group A is now closed.

Results can be found here.

Time to finally get this party started! Here are the first pairings for Round 1.

Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise


Last edited by Key on Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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rheiders



Joined: 05 Jul 2011
Posts: 1137
Location: Colorful Colorado :)
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 1:34 am Reply with quote
Yay! Very Happy This should be a really interesting tournament; definitely looking forward to the later rounds.

Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
I haven't watched any of Slayers, but the weakness of TRC's anime adaptation hurts it for me here. Even in the manga, the "star system" idea isn't all that well-executed IMO. Some worlds are cooler than others, but the strings tying them together are weak at best.

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
I don't know that much about either of these, so I'm going with the one I've seen more of.

Group A-5
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise
I think the politics, particularly surrounding Area 11 (Japan), are pretty interesting. The show is outlandish and full of weird tonal shifts, but I think the world it creates matches this weird tone well.

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
tsuritama's a fun show with a fun little world, but the emphasis there is more on character interactions and interesting art design. Paradigm City, from what little I've seen of The Big O, is a pretty interesting city with a heavy film noir tone and a lot of intrigue.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse

Group A-8
Macross Universe, Macross franchise
Don't know either, going with the one I know just slightly more about.
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Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:42 am Reply with quote
Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

World of Slayers
While the world of Slayers may have some shortcomings, it is far more interesting than all the words from TRC. In CLAMP Universe all that is interesting is the fact that one can see characters from other CLAMP's works. And even that is only mildly interesting at best, because of weak execution.

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

1648 Testament Era Japan
I have never seen anything interesting in the world of Naruto. From what I have seen, I saw more than 100 episodes years ago, it focuses more on Naruto's struggle to be the best than developing the world and as a result the world-building is of very little importance, so I am voting for the other world, giving it the benefit of a doubt.

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

Tuskuru

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

France

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Holy Brittanian Empire

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama

World of tsuritama Here, I am voting for the familiar to me wackiness of tsuritama's world.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan

World of Arslan is a good choice. The old OVA definitely doesn't have enough time to explore the world fully, but what is shown is interesting enough. I hope that it will get a proper adaptation in the future, now that Arakawa is involved in making manga version of the novels.

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise

World of Angel’s Egg
I suppose it's not going to win against Macross, but for me the world of Angel’s Egg was intriguing and beautiful, even if slightly scary. And the attention to small details that it received made it captivating, in spite of the limited time.
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2267
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:45 am Reply with quote
Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Voting for CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Ah, Slayers. Its been a long time since I've seen Slayers and if I saw it again I'm afraid my fun fuzzy nostalgic memories would take a hit. I remember feeling like I was watching a D&D adventuring party except funnier. What with fireballs and fire arrows being tossed this way and that and the sheer amount of destruction, lol...oh, wait that happened in our gaming sessions way back when too. I haven't seen every episode or sequel of slayers, still what I vaguely recall the world felt a little thin at times and was more concerned with comedy. I never saw all of Tsubasa either, my memories are a little vague on it too and I'm not a Clamp fan, but I think I'm going to vote for it for all the connections to the Clamp universe. Tsubasa Pic

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere
Voting for Shinobi World, Naruto franchise. One of the reasons I didn't last too long watching Horizon was the clumsy info dumps. I'm not a big fan of Naruto (especially filler episodes), but it has world building and its clear. The way that Ninja are organized in teams, to the breakdown of beginners to veterans, the different categories of powers, how each nation is influenced by its geography and its politics, it has prophecies, legends, monuments, historical sites, etc. All of this is world building and its relevant to the story.

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono
Voting for Future Tokyo, Chobits.

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?
Voting for France, The Rose of Versailles

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise
Voting for Island of Claymore, Claymore. Its been a long time since I've seen Code Geass, but it still just feels that the world building in Claymore is more involved with the daily lives of the characters. The world is overrun with yoma and it effects all the characters, who they are and how they respond to the world. Children, most of them orphans, are taken at a young age and raised to become half monsters to fight greater monstrosities. Their destinies are often tragic. They are often not thanked by the people they protect. Normal people need the Claymores to protect them from the yoma, but they also fear them and distrust them. Every time one of them walks into a town there are whispers behind their backs. Townspeople struggle and debate whether to call a Claymore in. The Claymores also have a set of rules and codes with how they interact with the population, each other and the monsters they face. Things like black cards, how they organize hunts and why women warriors are used to fight are all related to the world building. I think the world building in Claymore is more intertwined with the characters and the story. At the fountain of the Twin Goddesses

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama
Voting for Paradigm City, The Big O.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan.
Voting for Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse. I have not seen either one of these but the description of lands of eternal night, eternal twilight, and eternal light sounded fascinating.

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise
Voting for Macross Universe, Macross franchise. I haven't seen Angel's Egg but I'm interested. However, I recall reading a review once that said there is almost no dialogue. It sounds almost surrealistic and I think I prefer the more tangible universe of Macross with its diverse races and technologies.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4159
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:47 am Reply with quote
Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

World of Slayers over Tsubasa. As paper thin their world is, it's still miles better than the mess that is the Tsubasa anime which never fully fleshed out the manga's world/Clamp travelling theme. They all kind of felt the same due to budget and creative restraints.

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Naruto over 1648 Testament Era Japan; If you need outside resources to understand the setting then something went wrong. Not a problem with Naruto.

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

Utawaremono, a cool transition from fantasy to ... believable not fantasy over the Chobits anime, which could never decided if Chii was alive or not, which was its theme. Kind of missing the point for using androids/people relations as metaphor for interpersonal relationships or something.

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

Little Garden over France as historical settings are always a little suspect to me. Who gets to claim credit for creating the story, for example? It's only a bit more than historical fan fiction.

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Holy Britannian Empire over Claymore as that one was little more than big girls with bigger swords fighting the Evil Dead. It would take time to explain the first one.

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama

Paradigm City over "fish city", easy.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan

Amberground over World of Arslan, because whatever faults of the plot are, it's an amazingly exact world and I have to respect that.

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise

Macross Universe. Just because.
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Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 6:16 am Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Little Garden over France as historical settings are always a little suspect to me. Who gets to claim credit for creating the story, for example? It's only a bit more than historical fan fiction.

Well, yes, but still it's not like it's easy to make a historical setting, especially if the writer is detached so much from that place and time. Ikeda had definitely done research and as a result she got right the mood for that period, so even if she used artistic license, it's clear that she had read a great deal about it.

One-Eye wrote:

I haven't seen Angel's Egg but I'm interested. However, I recall reading a review once that said there is almost no dialogue.

Yes, in this film Oshii relies more heavily on visuals than in any other, but it looks awesome and is worth watching.
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jl07045



Joined: 30 Aug 2011
Posts: 1527
Location: Riga, Latvia
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:02 am Reply with quote
A-1
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Based on the descriptions, i'm going to vote for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, because of the sheer diversity the premise of visiting different already established fantasy settings presents.

A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise

This is more of a vote against Horizon, because I thought the whole backstory, included the setting was one big cluster****. This is not the only world where the author tries to unite many different mythologies and histories in a single narrative, but at least the anime did a very bad job of laying out the context of that world which left a lot of viewers disoriented. So while the world itself was quite interesting, the worldbuilding was badly done imo.

[EDIT: Watch language. - Key]

A-3
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

I've heard enough about both shows and have seen neither, though I've read the Utawarerumono vn. So I'll go with that.

A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles

I'm not familiar with the other show. I think I only saw the first episode, but in either case I have a great respect for authors who can flesh out a historical setting. There is a lot of info available and you have to know how to stress the right things to make the setting interesting. I think sometimes it's harder than to create a new world. Rose of Versailles did a good job at that.

A-5
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

For me and I think many others Lelouch was the greatest success of that show. And worldbuilding was an important part of his success. The environment shaped and engaged him, allowed him to achieve the things he did and in the end helped to create a memorable character.

A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O

Unlike Big O, I've seen Tsuritama, but wasn't particularly impressed by its worldbuilding. The world of Big O sounds cyberpunk, so it may be hit or miss for me, but the description sold the world quite well.

A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse

Voting for the one that has received more votes at the moment.

A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg

I feel quite bad about voting against my favourite anime franchise, but as I see it, the setting is quite ordinary for sci-fi. The "let's make song not war" message often feels silly for the rather gritty sci-fi world. Angel's Egg however relies mainly on the surreal atmosphere and if it works (it did for me) then the movie works as well.
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18462
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:11 am Reply with quote
Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

I'm a little ambivalent about this match-up, as people familiar with TRC aren't voting for it, but I was wholly unimpressed with what little distinctive world-building Slayers showed in the parts of it that I have seen, so Tsubasa it is. The concept of characters traveling through a multiverse inherently makes it sound a little more interesting.

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Fully agreed with previous comments against Horizon and in favor of Shinobi World. I'm not disputing that Horizon has an interesting concept or distinct world-building, but it's much too hard, and takes much too long, to make sense of it. Not so with Naruto's setting.

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

Although I think Chobits' setting deserves to be here, it's a weak competitor. Tuskuru is a much more developed and involved setting with some great architecture and insanely unique naming conventions. (I have to wonder how much the dub actors practiced to get those names pronounced correctly.)

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

I'm not automatically classifying historical settings as weaker - there are a couple which come up later on that I will be voting for, after all - but from what little I saw of Problem Children, Little Garden is an amusingly inventive setting that's pretty well thought-out.

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

By far the toughest choice this week for me. While I'm a huge Claymore fan and think it has a solid enough world design to win against most of the other competitors this week, its narrower and more personal focus hurts it against the more expansive Holy Brittanian Empire. Outside of what's going on with the Claymores and yoma, we never really get much of a sense of what that world's about, and ambiance only goes so far. (Some of the background details that come out later in the manga would have helped here, sadly.)

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama

Not even a thought process here. Paradigm City is a fascinating and beautifully-executed concept - and no, there is nothing remotely "cyberpunk" about it, despite its description. This is one that I think was highly underrated on the vote totals, partly because it came up late.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan

Have not seen more than episode of either. The description of Amberground sounds more intriguing.

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise

Angel's Egg may be a great artistic experiment, but the Macross Universe has a definite signature identity in all its forms: that problems even on the level of wars can be influenced by music. This is also the franchise that introduced the concepts of virtual idols and capital ship-sized mecha, and I think it was the first anime franchise to use the concept of a regular functioning city inside a massive spaceship. So there's a lot of distinctiveness and innovation here in addition to well-developed settings.
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Galap
Moderator


Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 2354
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:37 am Reply with quote
Alright, game time started!

A1: World of Slayers


A2: Shinobi World

This was actually kind of a tough one for me, actually because I kind of think that both of them are pretty weak. I have limited knowledge of both shows, only having seen an episode or two from each. Both to me seem to lean too far to the "random crap for the sake of itself" side of things, but ultimately I think Naruto takes itself a little more seriously than Horizon, and therefore is more cohesive.

A3: Tsukuru

I've seen some chobits, and I thought the girl computer thing was kind of dumb, or at least the way it was executed. I haven't seen Utawarerumono, but I like the fact that it references Ainu culture, since I think it's cool and I haven't seen too much of that.

A4: France

I'll probably catch some flak for this, but as a general statement I don't really think that stuff that's played for laughs can really be good worldbuilding.

A5: Holy Brittanian Empire

Controversially, I'm voting on this one from the context of Akito the Exiled alone. Just the first part of that shows the Europian society with all of its culture, triumphs, issues, and failings better than the series ever did. It paints the alternate world as a living, breathing place, and conveys the mood of a society in distress in a way that’s almost unparalleled.

A6: Paradigm city

A7: World of Arislan

I haven’t seen Tegami Bachi, but Arislan’s exquisite animation and exploration of the setting’s historical and political aspects makes it a winner for me.

A8: Macross

This one was really hard for me. I haven’t seen macross more than in passing, but I love Angel’s Egg. I’m not sure what the world development is really like in macross (I’m not sure if it’s a joke or not really), but Angel’s Egg was all metaphorical and symbolic: it didn’t seem that the setting, beautiful and mysterious as it may be, was operating on the level of it being a supposed reality, an actual world. Not much was really explained either, so while the setting was interesting, it wasn’t really developed in that kind of way.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:36 pm Reply with quote
Group A-1
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles

This setting shows how you to world-build within a historical setting. Historical settings, events, and characters are interwoven into a world that still manages to be unique to this particular story.

Group A-5
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O

This guide entry has raised my interest in this series for the first time, even though it's from a genre I do not usually watch.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse

Group A-8
Macross Universe, Macross franchise
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Furudanuki



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1874
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 4:51 pm Reply with quote
There's only one series in this batch that I haven't seen at all, so deciding these wasn't too difficult.

Group A-1

World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
As presented in the anime, neither of these worlds are what I'd consider strong. Slayers is less headache inducing.

Group A-2

Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
I've heard that Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere really has a rich and smartly-realized setting. So why didn't they use that one in the anime instead of the muddle I remember watching?

Group A-3

Tuskuru, Utawarerumono
Even if I hadn't nominated this one I'd still think that Tuskuru ought to win hands down.

Group A-4

France, The Rose of Versailles
Little Garden might be a contender if the anime had another cour or two under its belt.

Group A-5

Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Group A-6

Paradigm City, The Big O

Group A-7

Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse

Group A-8

Macross Universe, Macross franchise
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rosebrook11



Joined: 20 Mar 2011
Posts: 1181
PostPosted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:22 pm Reply with quote
Group A-1
World of Slayers, Slayers franchise
vs.
CLAMP Universe, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles

I always found the execution in the Tsubasa anime to be pretty wonky. I think the concepts are pretty great, but I found those to be better executed in the manga. The World of Slayers certaintly isn't the most original setting, but I do think it deserves the win over Tsubasa, which has major shortcomings in its execution. The world of Slayers in general has a better and clearer depiction of the world it wants to show.

Group A-2
Shinobi World, Naruto franchise
vs.
1648 Testament Era Japan, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

Shinobi World. Horizon seems to be a big mess and I'm very fond of the ways that Naruto develops the differrent ninja nations and their villages. I haven't watched the show in a while, but I remember feeling like I understood the world even when new information and characters were coming in.

Group A-3
Future Tokyo, Chobits
vs.
Tuskuru, Utawarerumono

I'm a HUGE fan of Chobits, but the series stregnth isn't it the world building itself, but rather with the series overall message and the relationship between humans and tecnhology. I do believe that it has some interesting world building by having the protagonist learn about Persecoms just as the viewer does, but the amazing setting of Tsukuru completely overshadows it.

Group A-4
France, The Rose of Versailles
vs.
Little Garden, Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren’t They?

I've only seen three episodes of Rose of Versailles, but the little bit that I did see impressed me with the accuracy of it's depiction of France. Problem Children looks fun and all, but I don't think it's worlbuilding measures up of the shere accuracy of Rose of Versailles. Also, I watched those first three episodes with a History major who kept pointing out how amazing the depiction of France was.

Group A-5
Island of Claymore, Claymore
vs.
Holy Brittanian Empire, Code Geass franchise

Holy Brittanian Empire

Group A-6
Paradigm City, The Big O
vs.
World of tsuritama, tsuritama

I supported Tsuritama during nominations, but I can't vote for it here. Most of what makes that series memorable for me is with the relationships between the characters rather than the worldbuilidng itself. So I vote for Paradigm City since the few clips I've seen of The Big O impressed me.

Group A-7
Amberground, Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee/Reverse
vs.
World of Arslan, Heroic Legend of Arslan

The little bit I saw of Tegami Bachi a couple of years ago and I remember the setting being absolutely gorgeous. So [Amberground gets my vote.

Group A-8
World of Angel’s Egg, Angel’s Egg
vs.
Macross Universe, Macross franchise

Macross Haven't seen much of the franchise at all (3 episodes of Macross Frontier) but I remember being impressed with setting and it seems that people who acually have seen Angel's Egg think that it is a weaker competitor.
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Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:40 am Reply with quote
rosebrook11 wrote:
Macross Haven't seen much of the franchise at all (3 episodes of Macross Frontier) but I remember being impressed with setting and it seems that people who acually have seen Angel's Egg think that it is a weaker competitor.

Well, jl07045 seems to be the only one who is familiar with both and still voted for Angel's Egg.

As for me, I am not familiar with Macross, but I do realise it is far more popular than Angel's Egg. That's why I think it has a very slim chance to win against Macross.

But never mind, I just hope that perhaps someone will get interested in Angel's Egg and watch it.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 7:13 am Reply with quote
Aylinn wrote:

Well, yes, but still it's not like it's easy to make a historical setting, especially if the writer is detached so much from that place and time. Ikeda had definitely done research and as a result she got right the mood for that period, so even if she used artistic license, it's clear that she had read a great deal about it.


So we should credit her source material then? As I said, "Suspect".

It's easy to make a historical setting, especially if your audience is even further removed from the subject than you are {See, well, any movie}. Its believability depends on how gullible the audience is.

Next thing you know, some guy's going to try to retell the French Revolution from the standpoint of the English, "A Tale of Two Countries" or something. Different setting, same setting? Hey, look, you still have the Bastille, it's got to be the same. At least Dickens was closer to the time period. And country.

Conversely, how about allegory? Relegate the same situation into your own tale, don't use historical figures as character shorthand, turn the whole thing from "historical fiction", a phrase that easily turns my stomach, to outright fiction, AKA, "lies". After all, history itself is a bit of a fiction except just right after it happened.

"Got the mood right"? I was unaware you lived in France in the late 18th century. You think she got the mood right, even if she's biased towards the Royals when most of the French probably weren't, but we don't rightfully know. Not fully as most commoners, the "unwashed masses", don't write histories.

So it's a highly idealized, romanticized setting of a tormented time yet claimed to be the real deal by fans of the show. Still rates "Suspect".
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