Forum - View topicBest World-Building Tournament: Concluded!
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getchman
 He started itPosts: 9135 Location: New Hampshire |
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wow, low vote count this round
Group B-9 World of Magi, Magi vs. World of Beast Player Erin, Beast Player Erin I haven't seen either, but I have seen Moribito and that had some very impressive world building. As such I will trust that the author did the same for the world of Beast Player Erin. it gets my vote Group B-10 World of Chrono Crusade, Chrono Crusade vs. New Yogo Empire, Moribito – Guardian of the Spirit Dorcus just described why my vote is going to Moribito perfectly Group B-11 World of Madoka Magica, Puella Magi Madoka Magica vs. World of Inuyasha, Inuyasha Madoka Magica Group B-12 Bath House of the Gods, Spirited Away vs. Universe of the Four Gods, Fushigi Yugi Spirited Away Group B-13 Nausicaa’s Post-Apocalyptic Earth, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind vs. Alfheim Online, Sword Art Online Fairy Dance arc Nausicca Group B-14 World of One Piece, One Piece vs. Kingdom of Midland, Berserk One Piece Group B-15 Victorian England, Victorian Romance Emma vs. Saiunkoku, The Story of Saiunkoku Victorian England Group B-16 Setting of Blast of Tempest, Blast of Tempest vs. Amestris, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood[/quote] Amestris |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18462 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Round 2 Group B is now closed.
Only 13 votes in this round - what's up with that? It's one of our lowest vote totals ever for these tournaments. Anyway, the results: B-9: World of Beast Player Erin outplayed World of Magi, 9-4. B-10: New Yogo Empire trounced World of Chrono Crusade, 12-1. B-11: World of Madoka Magica goes all magical girl on World of Inuyasha, 9-4. B-12: Bath House of the Gods slammed Universe of the Four Gods, 11-2. B-13: Nausicaa's Post-Apocalyptic Earth unleashed its toxic forest on Alfheim Online, 11-2. B-14: World of One Piece sails by Kingdom of Midland, 9-4. B-15: Victorian England stormed back to upset Sauinkoku, 8-5. B-16: Amestris crushes Setting of Blast of Tempest, 12-1. The only match that was every close was B-15, where VE took the last five votes for a come-from-behind win. That was also the only upset of a seed, which makes the seeds 14-1-1 so far. Next round should be up momentarily if it isn't already. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18462 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Round 2 Group C is now closed.
Results can be found here. Seeds have fared extremely well so far. Will we see upsets this time? Group C-9 Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon Last edited by Key on Tue Nov 19, 2013 12:22 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Galap
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Didn’t really have time to get around voting last time. Oh well. This time though, there are many of my favorite series and favorite settings involved..
Group C-9 Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Future France Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Noein really excels at world building in two ways. The first is in the development of the small city of Hakodate. I have never before or since seen an animated work that so richly and deeply described a locale that I feel like I could actually find my way around there. The images of its docks, trolleys, warehouses, slopes, and cable car lines aren’t just discreet like in many shows. You see all of these places in relation to each other, and know how one space connects to another. Noein uniquely captures both the essence and the geometry of that city, so perfectly that it actually feels like I’ve been there, and upon seeing the DVD commentary which explores the city, it felt completely familiar. The second way is in the implications of macroscopic quantum coherence, from little things like the dragon knights being able to warp their positions like waves, and appearing to be made of homogenous material underneath the skin (evident of coherence in the matter that comprises them. Something like conjugated chemical bonds). To more sweeping stuff like the dingy underground of Lacrima and the eerily vacant pastoral idylls dotted with marble spires and statues of inhuman figures. Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Soul Society Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Humankind Empire Abh develops its world in different ways in each series, in one it focuses on the Abh culture, another the military and political situation (and unfortunately a cat. Seriously over the course of that series they probably spend at least an hour and a half talking about that stupid cat), and in another a prison planet is developed. It’s the same characters, and the events lead up to and trigger each other, but the mood, scale, and presentation are vastly different each time, which is interesting. The setting of Casshern Sins was certainly visually interesting. The story didn’t grab me, so I didn’t get that far into it however. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode As I’ve said before, most of the interesting stuff about the setting of BTM: Decode is in the details. One example I just thought of is that it’s implicitly revealed relatively late in the series that Chikira, one of the students in Tsutomu’s group of friends is an Altan. Nothing comes of this, and even Chikira may or may not even know this (his parents might not have told him, and they might have immigrated before he was born or when he was a baby). The reason it’s there is to show that alongside all the dramatic and interesting alien interactions that comprise the main plot, there are a lot of aliens on earth, and most of them lead mundane lives. Including things like that gives Birdy an attention to detail and realisticness that’s pretty unique to it. Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile The Setting of From the New World is built upon science fiction concepts that are truly novel, and set up for great thematic commentary on things like what a society should be, what intelligence should be. The fact that things are physically set up the way they are, and discovering the nature of the universe and its implications are the main thrust of FTNW. It’s the classical science fiction idea of asking, “what would happen if X were true”, and then investigate and chase down the implication pathways to build the world you think would exist if X were true. In this case, those concepts are poignant and completely original. I think one of the most interesting conceits of this show is that whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not, humanity is affecting the world. They are not responsible only for their active actions, but also their passive attitudes and subconscious notions and biases, which end up manifesting in their environment. It happens slowly, over time, and not in a predictable way, but it’s there, turning the gears of nature. As the author said, Saki tells her tale for her descendants to hear and reflect upon, but it’s also for us, in our society, to reflect upon as well. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Future Earth Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon Gargantia |
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zawa113
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C-9: Gold Crown Town
This town is pretty well a character in its own right, something that I think so very few of the candidates in this entire competition have going for them. Lots of weird things happen in town, but the very nature of the story means that no one notices that weird things are happening, which is pretty damn awesome. We see lots of the academy, because our characters are students there, but being a town that is literally part of a fantasy, the fact that it appears to be able to make episodic locals actually works in its favor for once. It seems like very few competitors, if any, have a completely locked town thing going on where the mysteries of the setting are a key part of what makes the series so awesome. C-10: Noein Multiverse I do like what Galap said about it feels like you could find your way around the town from the series alone. Never thought of it that way, but so very true. C-11: Ikebukuro C-12: Humankind Empire Abh C-13: Gunsmoke C-14: From the New World C-15: Solar System For a show that uses a lot of different planet settings, much like Firefly and Outlaw Star do, all three have this overall similar feel to them where, even if two planets are vastly different, they still feel like part of this whole. What we see of the places they go indicate these places had whole histories of their own completely thought out (I personally love when they go get the Betamax player in that ancient underground mall, just the idea that that must've once been a thriving place of business, now decrepit and in ruin, makes you interested about that planet). And of course, The Bebop itself is awesome. It might be a weakness that we don't really get to explore a lot of these places in depth, but I thinking each place having its own distinct feel and history means that a lot of thought was put into it and the characters react as if they're in a new place, not a carbon copy of an old one with a new name. C-16: Gargantia |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu Sorry Future France, I think you're a pretty awesome world with more to offer than flashy visuals but you can't compete with Gold Crown Town and awesome meta world inside it. Group C-10 The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Group C-11 Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun Group C-14 Prester, Last Exile These worlds both sound pretty incredible but the imagery mentioned in the guide for this one tips the balance. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop These are both shows I was underwhelmed with, which makes choosing between them perhaps more difficult than in C-9, where it was two settings I enjoyed. I'll give it to Bebop for now because it made a bit more of an impression on me. Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2267 |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Voting for Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu. The setting is a story within a story. The story is the setting. This versus a future world superimposed on early 1800's france. Princess Tutu is very well executed, but does it have enough to go very far in this tournament? I think its enough to get it past Gankutsuo. Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Voting for Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self. There was a free video at one time on iTunes that showed the creators of Noein visiting Hakodate on Hokkaido to get the details of the town right. While I appreciated that attention to detail, what I found more interesting was the settings of a devastated Lacryma, the otherworldly emptiness of Shangri-la and the mixing of quantum physics--which I won't even pretend to understand but which I still find fascinating. Three different places, but one world is not too shabby of an achievement.  
The devastated surface of Lacryma, Lacryma underground.  
Floating Islands in Shangri-la, A Shangri-la Ship. Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Voting for Ikebukuro, Durarara!!. Urban legends come to life. A headless rider, a man of fearsome strength, people disappearing in the night, cursed items and possessed people. This supernatural quality added to the mundane made it distinct, but it also felt natural and not out of place. Whereas after a certain point I found Bleach to get ridiculous in trying to explain things like Ichigo's transformations and growth. Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Voting for Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode Voting for Gunsmoke, Trigun. Sorry Birdy, I like you lots but only about 4 episodes out of 25 take place off planet. Your setting is mostly Japan. At least Gunsmoke is another world. Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile Voting for Prester, Last Exile. The Grand Stream, Exile, the early almost ritualized combat amongst ships, cool looking battle ships, scarce resources all made for an extremely interesting setting. Story wise it could have been a little better told, but the setting was both cool and interesting. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Voting for Solar System, Cowboy Bebop Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon "Roanupur, You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, we must be cautious." -Kenobi to Luke   
Entrance to the harbor with defaced Buddha statue, The night life of Roanapur, Noose on the overland bridge entry to Roanupur. Gargantia had a pretty good first episode, but I feel that the show was hurt by only having a single season and I never felt we got as deep as possible into the cultures. The development of the setting stayed at the surface level for me and was just good enough. Roanupur has drugs, prostitution, gun running, kidnappings, corrupt police, child slavery, cartels, triads, Russian maffia, Black Ops intelligence forces and more. Its a corrupt environment that only the quick witted, or the hardest can survive for very long in. I think its telling that the giant Buddha statue at the harbor's entrance, which is a symbol for peace and balance in living, should be defaced as Roanupur is the opposite of that. So yea, Voting for Roanapur, Black Lagoon. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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Mini-game results (early this week... or not last minute, anyway).
Rosebrook continues to dominate, have only missed 2 picks in total so far. Although Saiunkoku's loss to Victorian England was a bit of an upset, it was the weakest seed so far, having been picked 9 to 5 over England. Last edited by Dorcas_Aurelia on Wed Nov 20, 2013 1:35 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I think you uploaded the wrong file, Dorcas_Aurelia. I don't see the Round 2 Group B results in there
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rheiders
 Posts: 1137 Location: Colorful Colorado :) |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu This was actually kind of hard for me because I don't necessarily think Princess Tutu's world-building is one of its strengths (I think it confused some details and explained others very poorly), but the idea of a story within a story, its importance within the show, and the general whimsy of Gold Crown Town is enough for me to vote for it in this round. Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self The Wired just doesn't seem all that interesting to me, whereas the write-up and arguments for Noein make it sound very intriguing. I'll definitely need to get around to watching it at some point... Group C-11 Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise Voting for the one I haven't seen here on the strength of the write-up and arguments. Visually, Casshern's world is endlessly fascinating. I could stare at it all day. But while it creates a nice bleak atmosphere, at its core it's just another post-apocalyptic wasteland. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun Group C-14 Prester, Last Exile The story may have been somewhat lacking, but the world was the reason I kept coming back to Last Exile, and I believe it's the biggest reason people still remember the show. It's gorgeous to look at, for one thing, perhaps the one time Gonzo's reliance on CG really paid off for them. The steampunk influences are really neat, with a lot of really cool aircraft designs and costumes. I especially like the outlandish costume designs for the Guild members, which take traditional marks of nobility so far as to slip into the uncanny valley. The complex politics of the world formed the core of the entire show. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet Going with the one I've seen. |
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Ghost_Wheel
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Lots of strong candidates tonight, including a few of my favorites, 2 of which I nominated.
C-9: Future France C-10: Noein Multiverse My nomination and other posters have spoken volumes about this one, and the one thing I'll add is how Noein handles the exposition of its scientific concepts. It's very fluid at explaining concepts which are often very difficult to explain to someone who isn't in science. This is because it uses the medium to it's fullest extent, creating a world in which quantum properties on a macro level seem natural, and the characters which haven't studied the science behind their own physical makeup still convey it through their actions and their natural intuition. There's something really special about that; being able to convey in its purest form the intuition behind quantum mechanics to the point where the viewer's don't feel like information is being shoved down their throat. They live in the quantum world with the characters C-11: Soul Soceity C-12: Ruined World C-13: Setting of BTM Decode Trigun is a great show, but as a drifter, I don't really rate its worldbuilding as highly as I would other things. In a drifter, your worldbuilding is done by episodically going through the world and learning more about it through the interactions you have with varied locales and people. With Trigun I thought a lot of the drifter elements were more geared towards developing Vash, his reputation, and the characters in his troupe. It had a ton of camp value and really great storytelling, but at the end of the day, I thought the worldbuilding could have been stronger. A lot of the technology and the history that was hinted at was cool, but it wasn't the main focus and it wasn't developed as much as I'd like it to have been. Vash was the main focus. I'd still probably pick it over a weak candidate though, but we're up against... Bidy's setting. True, we don't spend much time off planet, but the social structure on Earth is an extension of the complicated extraterrestrial social structure. The factions of aliens are large, unique in motivation, and asymmetrical in the type of influence and interactions they have with each other in space or on Earth. What really grabs me is the authenticity of the whole thing. The aliens behave how you'd expect intelligent beings to behave around each other given the technology and circumstances. They form groups that make sense based on ideologies that would be important to them. While the worldbuilding is more subtle in this one, there is definitely something more to see every time you watch it. C-14 Setting of From the New World: There are many strong candidates in this block and in this tournament, but this is the one I would want to win the whole thing. That really speaks to the merits of this show here. The new society is so developed, so immersive, and so rich, that you are ensconced in it from the moment you start watching. The social structure is watertight, the visual imagery is striking and entrancing, the Power is conceptually interesting, rooted in scientific concepts, and shapes the society to an immeasurable degree. This is something whose worldbuilding is masterful enough to earn my heartiest endorsement. C-15: Solar System This one is also a drifter, but unlike Trigun, I think it did a better job developing the world. Every random situation was a product of some interesting technology, drug, or cultural oddity, that once explored, left you with an impression of a specific area of this new world. Not the strongest of candidate in this thread, but definitely enough for me to push it here. C-16: Gargantia |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self Group C-11 Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Group C-12 Ruined World, Casshern Sins I have seen both, and was not overly impressed by either. But if I do remember a thing, it was Casshern's beautiful/ugly desolate landscapes, abandoned and mysterious ruins/structures of unknown origin and purpose. It is pretty hard to dress it in words. Very raw, dark, cold, scary, but at the same time surprisingly giving shelter to the remaining few inhabitants of this world. 
Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun Group C-14 Prester, Last Exile I have not finished From the New World, but I thought, perhaps due to the sotry telling, that there were certain elements to it that were not coherent enough or in one way or another did not work for me. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop Much as I love both, Cowboy Bebop will get my vote here as it manages to show more in more detail, even taking half of the episodes to make it even. Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet |
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Errinundra
Moderator
 Posts: 6587 Location: Melbourne, Oz |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo: Princess Tutu's world is deliberately limited to one town that morphs according to Drosselmeyer's plot requirements. It's very clever and nicely suits the twists in the second half of the series but always seemed too artificial, which I suspect was an intended effect. The universe of Future France is more expansive, contains more threads of activity and is, for a setting as opposed to story, more creative. In terms of atmosphere I think it narrowly edges Tutu's world. Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Ruined World, Casshern Sins: While I think the Abh Empire is more complex as a setting, the franchise's strengths lie mostly in its endearing & eccentric characters along with the headlong rush of its storytelling. Where Casshern Sins stands out is its unforgettable atmosphere of decay, loss & hopelessness. It's almost the reverse of the Tutu/Gankutsuou match above. Here the more limited vision is the better through its effectiveness. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode: Vote against the inanities of Trigun. Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile Prester, Last Exile Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There because, while Bebop is largely about style, personality and its music, most everything is superficial upon further consideration. This includes the setting which is largely decorative compared with the pivotal role that the future setting in NTHT plays. I don't mean to overstate the limitations of Bebop. The world is coherent and cleverly constructed but, in the end, it's a backdrop that lacks the overpowering atmosphere and purpose of its rival here. Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet: Voting against the one I know because I think it's only middling good. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4159 |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Gold Crown Town over Future France. One series uses imagination and energy to overcome a claustrophobic stock European setting while the other relies on cheap animation tricks to cry out "We're special!" Have you even wondered why no other series tried such tricks to garnish attention? I haven't but I am asking. Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Noein Multiverse over The Wired. When you use CGI's "other worldliness" to your advantage in creating another world, that's pretty good. But then you top that with a completely pastoral setting to put a dream quality on the apocalyptic zone, well, that's a winner. Pity about the character designs... Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! I liked how the plot lines pulled out in Durarara!! but I don't see how it works as its own setting; While watching the show, I couldn't keep myself from pointing out where I've seen those streets and intersections in real life and previous animes and as for color settings such as characters, the main character is stolen from Celtic legend and another has random super strength and another is cursed from a, borrowed? readapted?, Japanese story/myth/thing. Did I forget to mention the three main characters are "ordinary high school students" who also happen to be... Yeah. It's a mess. On the other hand, I couldn't watch Bleach because I hated the setting. From the start, "He died, why is he still in school?! And why is the Death-god-whatever in his class now!?" Damn WSJ series... Ikebukuro over "Soul Society" in the memory of Kanon which is the same combination work of Real Japan with fantasy, only not as cool apparently. Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Humankind Empire Abh over the Ruined World. You can say "genetically modified humans" all you want, they're Sci-Fi elves. But I'll take Sci-Fi elves over "robots as humans but not done by paranoid Philip K Dick so it's not ambiguous so it doesn't really matter" settings. It's more common in anime that you might think. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode In the Trigun movie, they explain the point, use and importance of those giant light bulb things. I'm sold; Gunsmoke over Birdy. Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile Prester over The setting of From the New World. Hey, remember how From the New World started in the present day with all those kids using TKE to destroy the world? I want to see that show. While Last Exile is one of the few decent examples of anime steampunk {like cyberpunk, only interesting as it's immune to technological advances} and it was exactly the world I wanted to see from its introduction; "Oh, this is the point where the shounen boy hero becomes the ace pilot." No. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Future Earth over the Solar System because the majority of shows take place in the solar system, you have to be more exact than that; "Future Earth?" Got it, post apocalypse it is. Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon Gargantia over Roanapur as I still haven't gotten an explanation for the Italians. And wasn't Roberta working for a South American plantation owner? OK, Chinese triads, Russian ex-patriots, Japanese businessmen/yakuza {I guess?}, a church run by nuns who run guns and drugs but are infiltrated by a member of the CIA who helps them run guns and drugs, okay but I draw the line at the mafia. I forgot the Neo-Nazis. The Mafia and Neo-Nazis and Yakuza? Was the author trying to restage WWII? It's only one city; Are they buying guns and drugs from each other, for each other, not to use against one another? It's a power struggle that's implied to be completely in stasis but shows no signs of why that would be? Stupid series. But stupid in a cool way, I'll grant it that. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18462 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Group C-9
Gold Crown Town, Princess Tutu vs. Future France, Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo Going for Gold Crown Town, although I think this is a closer case than what the final vote total is going to reflect. GCT gets the win for the interesting mechanics under which the town operates vs. the stylish mix of old-school and high tech seen in Gankutsuo. (And no, I'm not talking about the art gimmicks here.) Group C-10 Noein Multiverse, Noein – to your other self vs. The Wired, Serial Experiments Lain Lain has one of the most interesting visual looks of any anime series, and the mixing of real and virtual in it is used to superb effect, but the Noein Multiverse's complicated structure of parallel universes and how they cross over is an even more involved effort, and that gets the nod here. Group C-11 Soul Society, Bleach franchise vs. Ikebukuro, Durarara!! Although seeing Ikebukuro dressed up with the presence of color gangs and supernatural entities is interesting, it distinguishes the series in a character development and plot-building sense rather than a world-building sense. Thus I must stay with Soul Society. Group C-12 Humankind Empire Abh, Crest/Banner of the Stars franchise vs. Ruined World, Casshern Sins Seen both, and while the Ruined World has a leg to stand on, this one shouldn't be seriously debatable. Not all world-building is about the way a series looks, and when one steps outside of that then Humnkind Empire Abh trumps nearly every other setting in this tournament, including its opponent here. This is one of the most meticulously-crafted sci fi settings you will ever encounter in anime, down even to details like child-rearing practices, prevailing racial attitudes, and an original language which is used in spoken form in opening narration and on a few occasions throughout the series. It also constructs an elaborate hierarchy of internal power, takes a different approach to rulership, and explores cultural differences between worlds. The concept of the capital of Lakfakalle being a city only in a general sense (it's actually a vast collection of space stations is also, to my knowledge, unique among anime settings, as is the nature of combat in the series' equivalent of hyperspace. Group C-13 Gunsmoke, Trigun vs. Setting of BTM: Decode, Birdy the Mighty: Decode Based on Ghost_Wheel's arguments, Setting of BTM: Decode. Group C-14 Setting of From the New World, From the New World vs. Prester, Last Exile Tough choice here, as both are unique, fully-realized settings. I am giving the edge to FTNW because of the total cultural reimagining it does, the greater sense of history it establishes, the psychological manipulations involved, and the existence of things like Impure Cats and Ogres. Group C-15 Solar System, Cowboy Bebop vs. Future Earth, Now and Then, Here and There Don't see either of these as a strong choice. Going with Solar System primarily on the strength of a greater sense of history. Group C-16 Gargantia, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet vs. Roanapur, Black Lagoon Gargantia is a neat setting - no question about it - but people are underrating what Roanupur does in a world-building sense. It allows for all manner of violent and villainous activity to take place, and all sorts of shady groups to interact, in a way that makes logical sense. It goes to great lengths to describe the nature of how things get done in Roanupur and the twisted psychology and complex power structure which rules there. And that, I feel, equals or trumps anything that Gargantia can offer. |
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