Forum - View topicShelf Life - Fool's Gold
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2 Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2480 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
|
|||||||
|
Ah, Total Eclipse. An object lesson in what Attack on Titan could have become if it gave in to otaku fanbait.
Read the Crunchyroll reviews or listen to the handful of podcasts that have watched this show and it seems like everyone bails out in the beach episodes, 5 and 6. And for good reason: a supposedly cool alien-invasion show shouldn't have beach episodes, especially not two of them, and especially not that early. Now add a hot springs episode, a recap, and a bunch of scenes throughout where all the capable female pilots and officers are all pining for the sturdy male protagonist. I totally can't blame anyone who give up on this show. But it's a pity, because it has some really solid parts. There's an arc right in the middle of the show, involving a field test on the Kamchatka penninsula that gets out of hand, that's really good: strong action, believable twists and double-crosses, great stuff. The last half dozen episodes have the same feel. But this is like half the show, and I hate giving out "power through the bad parts; it gets better" recommendations. The real catch is that this is a side-story to a franchise, Muv-Luv, that has almost no Western fan-base because it is totally unavailable here. Usually with visual novels, what stokes fan interest here is the anime adaptation (as with Steins;Gate, the Fate series, and everything by Key / Visual Art's). And that's a problem because there is no Muv-Luv anime, at least not of the stuff that matters (Extra, Unlmiited, and Alternative). The closest we get is the completely dissimilar Rumbling Hearts, to which Muv-Luv Extra is a sequel (and Unlimited/Alternative are alternate timelines), but it doesn't inform Total Eclipse in any way whatoever. If anything, it's almost impossible to be a fan of both. Still, my copy of this is on its way from Right Stuf. I was also pleased to find out the English voice actress for Yui is a big fan of Muv-Luv in general, and has pictures of her Nendoroid BETAs on her Tumblr. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3904 Location: CO |
|
|||||||
The big difference is that the first brother has let himself be completely consumed by the idea of being a frog, and being stuck as a frog. That's his way of sealing himself off in a well, and rejecting his tanuki-ness, and basically ostracizing himself from his own family. But the main character doesn't spend his life as a female teenager. He has the ability to transform into a female teenager, but it's not his "primary" human guise. If you want to tally up minutes, he spends probably 85% of the series as a teenage boy. He only transforms into a female for fun, sometimes under the excuse of giving his mentor a little fanservice (which he always gets chided for). He gets chided by his brother, as well, because he finds it ridiculous, and thinks Yasaburo is making a mockery of himself and their family. For Yasaburo, being a teenage girl is mischievous and fun. The two are vastly different, both in their role in the series, and in their role in showcasing the characters' personalities. Though, you seem to have been predisposed against liking a show about vermin and crows. But if you reduce all mystical animals to their real-life components, why bother watching any show about them. Who wants to see people collecting balls to summon a reptile, or watching a movie about a girl with a giant dog who gets mad at people for killing a mutant deer. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1529 Location: Sunny California |
|
|||||||
I agree - the size doesn't hurt the quality at all. I know I'm in the minority - I totally get why people would prefer standard sizes and understand and support the change. The new size is in no way a "deal breaker" for me. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Chrno2
 Posts: 6172 Location: USA |
|
|||||||
If there is one series that is deserving of 'Shelf Life' it's the OS, 'BGC'. On a side note I finally finished up many of the side stories to the series. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16963 |
|
|||||||
|
I somehow completely missed that Crisis kick starter. I would have supported it had I not missed it. I bought the remastered dvd set a few years ago. Have it proudly next to my 2040 dvd collection. I normally don't double dip with shows but this one is going to be an exception. Bubblegum Crisis was one of my favorite titles when I was getting bigger into anime. The music...the action... the badass babes. It had everything I wanted heh. I definitely next paycheck am buying one of those BluRay sets before they go extinct.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Mikeski
Posts: 608 Location: Minneapolis, MN |
|
|||||||
Apparently, a tanuki once bit his sister. He can't let it go. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Usagi-kun
 Posts: 877 Location: Nashville, TN |
|
|||||||
I can follow your train of thought until this point, where in fact I think you have made an error in quantifying specific identities as a universally governed method of thought. This is a natural error to make when you try to take an external impression from aloft, like an overseer of such phenomenon and adamantly separate from it. I would instead focus on the terminology of "xenomorph". Forget the "xeno", as it seems more sterile. The "morph" part is more important to the nature of identity and relates directly to this anime. Family life itself is chaotic, and all of these characters are in a state of metamorphosis, taken very literally, trying to find their own identities and their role in their universe. Love and loss create more conflict. It is certainly not something that may suit your tastes, as you have obviously stated, but its existence is still justifiable and although may seem wrong or disagreeable, still a state of mind is real enough to cause your adverse emotions. The nature of change itself is that it is constantly evolving, reaching its ever newer conclusions, and almost entirely based on both dreams and machinations of its advent. A strong sense of self does not create the definition, it is actually the reason the changes, and thus, the evolving story in this anime occur. As humans in the real world age, they undergo their own metamorphosis and change too with experience and heartache; some live, some die, there is never an absolute, beyond universal polarities and broader definitions like "good" or "bad". The self is in motion at all times, and that is what makes life itself so entertaining and precious. I do not fault you on your assessment, but it seems entirely unfair to assume that one show can arguably define anime in its categorizations, create a racist stasis of existence because of contrary actions, or prove detrimental beyond your lack of enjoyment. I personally like it because it IS imperfect, full of beautifully flawed perspectives, but constantly seeking a more normal stability despite its characters often intentions otherwise. That is far more entertaining to watch. Family life makes for some the weakest comedies and the strongest tragedies, and the blood and tears of so many composers will never fully understand it, unless it is experienced as both successful and failed triumphs and hardships. Descartes' "cogito ergo sum" expresses both the loneliness of that identity and the optimism of the identity one achieves through that realization. And that is all I have to say about that. I love the new NISA boxes. The old ones are too difficult to display and the smaller size definitely does not minimize the impact of the features. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Covnam
 Posts: 3817 |
|
|||||||
|
I haven't picked up any of NISA's recent releases so I was unaware of the change in form factor. I didn't mind the larger releases (once I got enough of them that it wasn't odd seeing them) but I can definitely appreciate them going to a normal size form factor. Good to know that the production on the contents doesn't suffer.
The Eccentric Family piqued my interest when I saw commercials airing for it while I was in Japan, but it somehow slipped by. I'll have to watch an ep or two and see if this is worth picking up. Although, usually NISA's titles are worth picking up, even if it's a blind buy. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
EnigmaticSky
 Posts: 750 |
|
|||||||
|
I was thinking of picking up the Eccentric Family, but I like others still miss their old giant boxes. I have a pretty good sized shelf, and being able to display them really makes them special. Seriously, it's beautiful to have Katanagatari standing tall and proud on the top. It's no more cumbersome than many books. Regardless the EF set is quite nice, so I may blind-buy it.
Also Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 is on Netflix. Any thoughts on how it compares to the original? |
||||||||
|
||||||||
agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
|
|||||||
Lessee ... she quite often interacts with the intelligent, talking male animal in his metamorphized guise as a teenage boy, so when she kisses him in his guise as a teenage girl, I expect you are expected to take it as teasing him.
At no level are you supposed to be sickened by that ... if you are sickened by that, its on you.
Irrespective of whether that's the selling point or not, it's the heart of the story about a family of shape shifting raccoon dogs making their way in a world where they have to hide the fact of their intelligence and shape shifting abilities from the human world and have to use their wits to navigate their relations with the far more powerful tenguki. The poignancy of the story is enhanced by the fact that tanuki in the real world are faced with pressures from the human world, including pressure from human pets, human introduced competitors (including actual common raccoons), and hunting for meat and fur.
Actually, no ... they are the only representatives of genus Nyctereutes, and a basal form of the Canids. So they are only really vermin to a cranky old coot that insists that the dog kept by the family next door is vermin. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2302 Location: In front of my computer |
|
|||||||
|
Yay, my shelves! ^^ Thanks for the compliments everyone!
I do hope that no one else has to experience a shelf breaking in the middle of the night like I did, though. It's not a fun experience. XP Actually, since these pictures were taken, I had to do another shelf rearrange as the shelves you see the books are have also started to sag and risk breaking from all of the weight on them. I'm hoping that will be remedied in March when my husband, roommates, and I move into a new apartment, since the goal is to fit all of my anime and manga into our bedroom. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
GDMaid Man
Posts: 71 |
|
|||||||
|
I have the old Animeigo dvd set of BGC, I wonder if it's worth $60 to get the new BDs.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
gridsleep
|
|
|||||||
Wow. So...Ratatouille, The Secret of NIMH, and The Tale of Despereaux are also off your viewing list? I guess I shouldn't even mention Twilight of the Cockroaches. Or Antz, A Bug's Life, or Fly Me To the Moon. I'm just surprised no one has brought up any comparison with Pom Poko. I thought that would be inevitable. |
||||||||
tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
|
|||||||
In some ways, I wish I wasn't so entertained by his rant, ... but I was. I guess it's the magic of the internet. You can be entertained by .. this person .... without the "needing-to-call-the-police-to-get-this-individual-away-from-you" factor. 
-My copy of The Eccentric Family is currently on the way to me. I thought it was brilliant. I'm interested to see the new format for NISA's premium boxes. I'm a little surprised to hear about the new size, since my recent purchase of Fuse: Memoirs of a Huntress, was the same large premium box size as the earlier releases. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group