Forum - View topicREVIEW: Ai Yori Aoshi DVD Brick Set
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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Ai yori aoshi was one of the earlier anime I got into back in mid-2004. While some of the harem antics of the secondary girls got annoying (as in "If I wanted to see this, I could just watch Love Hina again"), but like Key says, the Aoi/Kaoru story is good enough to carry the series. ~Enishi~ did have "filler syndrome", and after reading through volume 13 of the manga, I'd say they ended ~Enishi~ the way they did out of a desperation to find something with conflict and a sense of closure. In fact, the anime tweaks things a bit because in the manga spoiler[Tina's parents don't try to force her to go back to the US, they just discuss what she'll do after graduating] at that point in the story. I think my favorite of the secondary girls was Tina, though....aside from the blond hair, blue eyes, and nice figure, I liked her free-spirited, carefree attitude on life, even if she was the embodiment of American crassness and indelicacy--in essence, the "anti-Aoi." |
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Ichigo77
 Posts: 389 Location: California |
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By brick set does it mean all the single volumes together like of you bought the Samurai Champloo or Girls Bravo box set or is it some new kind of box set?
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Jeikobu
 Posts: 154 |
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This is most likely my favorite series of all time. It's so sad that it didn't get a third series. But I guess I can always get the whole story from the manga, if nothing else. ^^
I'm glad this has a review, maybe more people will notice it and check it out. It deserves a lot more attention and appreciation. It's a beautiful romance series, and very close to my heart for special reasons. My only objection is the large amount of fanservice in the show and in the art (why do so many art shots (both for the anime and the manga) of Aoi make her look so showy and immodest when her character is just the opposite? I'm hard pressed to find wall scrolls for this anime that don't look sleezy. I know it's to sell the show (unfortunately sleezy sex sells), but I wish they'd be true to the character's personalities. But anyway...). Still, this will always be one of my most loved anime and certainly one of the closest to my heart. ^^ One other note: while this really comes down mostly to opinion, I can't begin to understand putting the sub and dub on the same level (they both received "B+"). I have very little exposure to the dub, and I have watched the entire series subbed, so I can't compare them well, but from I've heard from other people, they don't sound like they're nearly on the same level. Plus, I heard a little of Michelle Ruff's Aoi in the Geneon trailer, and to say the least I really didn't like it, without any offense intended to Ruff the person. Although, in all fairness, I would never be able to accept even a different Japanese VA voicing Aoi. As I see it, no other VA will ever be able to match Kawasumi Ayako-san's amazing performance. But anyway, just my thoughts. I hope I didn't offend anyone. |
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Nermal
 Posts: 223 Location: I was made to hit in America |
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It's all the single volumes shrinkwrapped together (at least that's how mine came from TRSI); there is no collector's box. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16963 |
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I always loved Tina myself and thought she was part of the glue that kept the group together. her outgoing and carefree attitude was also just a way for her to hide her own insecurities and emotions. She always put everyone else first and never tried to not let her doubt and worries trouble others. I always admired that about her. Plus her humor helped balance the shows more serious relationship drama. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18458 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Um, I think you missed the part about how it was a "surprise smash hit on both sides of the Pacific." It was quite popular at the time it came out (way moreso than expected), and a lot of people who have been around here for a while have seen it.
You don't want to read the manga, then, which is much more blatant about its fan service and doesn't filter it like the anime does. (Every single female character in the series, except Aoi's mother but including Chika's friends, appears with defined frontal nudity at some point in the manga, and on average there are several such scenes per volume. Aoi gets as much of such treatment as any of the other ladies.)
Chalk it up to personal preference, then. I've always liked the dub on this one, even in preference to the original Japanese performances. If it's a consensus that the dub is clearly worse on this one, well then, it wouldn't be the first time I've bucked common opinion on such a thing. |
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Calculusman
 Posts: 309 Location: Virginia |
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So it sounds like that, if I already own it, I basically gain nothing by getting this (ie, its not a thinpack, right?) As for the dubs, I'm pretty tolerant of dubs, but this is one show that I just cannot listen to the dub. I think out of all the major characters, Mayu is the only dub that I found even tolerable. Karou maybe but Aoi and Tina, probably my two favorite characters, I just couldn't stand despite the talent behind their voices. I kind of agree with the reviewer in a way, though, I like this series despite itself. There really isn't a lot that, on the surface, would make this series all that good, yet I still like it. |
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Ichigo77
Posts: 389 Location: California |
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So basically they just took all the single volumes and wrapped them together? That might not be the actual thing because when I ordered the Love Hina anime legends movie box set from TRSI they sent me the orginal movie box set of the single dvds together. As for the dub I have dvd1 and I didn't mind the dub, but I always like dubs. I will say though I don't like how Tina has a hick accent but hearing the Japanese voice actor try to do an American accent is a bit wierd. For Aoi I didn't mind her voice but I can see why some people wouldn't like it since in the US we don't really have those innocent type of girls. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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A lot of Geneon's recent collections have just been shrinkwraps of the singles, like with Human Crossing and Strawberry Eggs. So it's not a collection stripped of extras like ADV's thinpacks, but it isn't a true boxed set...I doubted that they would've risked pissing off the collecting types by re-issuing the 1st-season artbox that hasn't been available since 2003 or 2004.
After all, the Love Hina collection isn't from Geneon, it's from Bandai, and Bandai do small alpha-case type bricks for their collections.
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bonbonsrus
 Posts: 1537 Location: Michigan, USA |
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I have to agree with the sub and dub being about the same, I may even go so far to say this is one I actually prefer in English dubbed over the sub in this series. I thought all the VA's did an excellent job hitting the right tones to express their character's emotions. Zallis said that the secondary characters could get annoying, and compared it to Love Hina, and I can see that, however Love Hina completely failed for me, and I really liked the characters and romance in Ai Yori Aoishi. I usually skip Enishi, watching once was enough, yet the first show is good for multiple viewings. My favorite secondary character was Chika-chan. |
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Jeikobu
Posts: 154 |
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Actually, Tina's different way of talking was because she's from the Hakata area, and the dialect is different there. Unless you're talking about her trying to speak English with her thick Japanese accent. In that case, I can understand how that would sound unusual, although because of their strong accent it's tough for Japanese to pronounce English. Yeah, that's the big thing with Aoi. Her English voice seemed to greatly lack the innocence and gentleness that her Japanese voice portrayed. Kawasumi-san brought out the caring and loving character of Aoi. I just wish the dub were truer to it. But then, I don't have to watch it, do I?  
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Nermal
Posts: 223 Location: I was made to hit in America |
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Right. So if you never bought them in the first place and you don't mind going box-less, then this is a pretty good bargain. Here's mine: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/RedShnapper2000/DSC01621.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/RedShnapper2000/DSC01620.jpg |
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Asako
 Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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I had to work tonight, and I saw it instock at Best Buy. It does look like it's all the individual dvds without a box or figures, etc.
But if anyone wants to get it there it's $49.99, $10 less than MSRP 
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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I was one of the unfortunate schmucks who missed out on buying the original individual DVD's when they were released, so this brick (which I bought at Best Buy yesterday) is a Godsend with all of the extras. If this had been an ADV thinpak, we'd have missed out on Santa Aoi!
Needless to say, I hope Geneon does this with many more of their popular titles that've been MIA for a while. Fushigi Yugi, for instance, would be a good brick. |
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bglassbrook
 Posts: 1243 Location: Gaithersburg, MD |
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But nothing stopping them from making a new one that would hold all eight discs. What really got me was the phrasing "brick set" (or "in one package" as on Geneon's site.) I expected an annoying single box that is impossible to open, has poorly designed leaflets/holders, or best-case a real box. If all they are going to do is stick a rubberband (or its shrinkwrap equivalent) around the singles, call it what it is ... a bundle. |
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