Forum - View topicSimoun, totally underrated?
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5521 |
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I think one of the main faults the series made is how the first episode was TOTALLY not viewers friendly. And no, I don't think it's soley because of the "yuri-powered" aircraft (which by the way is the the most awesome concept ever created
 ). I think it's because the world and the atmosphere is really unique to point it's like being slammed on the head about the functionalities of the world; the pacing was pretty choppy and hard to get into. The plot summary here explains does explain what the world is like, and it is important that this gets understood:
anime#6287 So in short..... - Yes, everyone is born as a girl and gets to choose a sex by the time they get older. - And yes, EVERYONE (especially old geezers and middle-aged men) are voiced by female seiyuus which is in my opinion kinda of freaky! This could have been one of the most intriguing yet unique English dubs ever if Media Blasters ever bothered to go forth with it! But once you get used to the world's customs, Simoun ended up being a pretty solid series if you take it as a character driven series. And I have to say, with this many girls, I never thought I grew some attachment to almost all of them spoiler[(well, I don't know about that other girl who replaced Mamiina, but Limoune and Dominura are one my favorite pairs).] And now I felt a bit melancholic now that finished the whole series (I DO plan on buying the DVDs though) since it did the whole spoiler[epilogue of what the girls are doing right now since their group got disbanded, and they chose their sex. Of course the series didn't show what happened to Aeru and Nerviril in the end] And the music is to DIE for! Toshihiko Sahashi of Full Metal Panic and Gundam SEED fame brought in quite bit of classy tunes from the accordion music to bombastic orchestral music to solo piano pieces. While some accentuate some of the scene nicely, there were times where it seemed juxtaposed (like during some of the aerials battles, a form of an accordion dance music was played), but oddly enough it seemed to work within the context. I REALLY wish I gave it more attention when it first premiered (I believe I was watching Strawberry Panic at the time which really satisfied my yuri cravings in a guilty pleasure sort of way). It's definitely the characters and their interactions that made me want to watch more despite the fact that some of them decided to become a guy in the end. Last edited by darkchibi07 on Wed Aug 29, 2007 10:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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I've not seen it but from an outsiders perspective I don't think the show has gone unappreciated at all. The reason I say that is because of all the good comments that I have read about the series. I have the R1 volume 1 DVD marked for inclusion with my November pre-orders even without having watched a single episode because of all the good things, including your post now, that I have read about Simoun.
When it was first airing I ignored it simply because the premise sounded a little weak for the reasons that you mentioned so I never downloaded the fansubs. However since then I have heard more praise than criticism and I am looking forward to finally watching it. |
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darkchibi07
Posts: 5521 |
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Gah! Yeah unappreciated is the wrong word I used. It should be "underrated"!
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Nom_Anor
 Posts: 246 |
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A lot of the problem was the first five episodes were nothing but Nevirille angst. Because of this, a lot of people dropped the series before it got to anything good. The other issue was the dropping of the series by the first (and maybe second too, I really can't remember)group subbing it; it wasn't completed until well after the series had ended.
To be honest, I am glad but surprised the series was licensed; it doesn't seem worth the risk. I'm not complaining about the pricing structure either; I don't watch the dubs anyway. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I never got around to watching the fansubs (due to the slow and inconsistent releases, I decided to wait and it got licensed before I got around to it). But I've heard good things about it and I am going to be getting this when the next Media Blasters sale comes around, and by that time all of the volumes will probably be at least available for pre-order.
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Underrated? I found it to be flat out boring. After two episodes or so -- I simply found it to be rather... bland. And no, not even the lesbianism was enough to keep me watching.
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EVA fiend
 Posts: 314 Location: Somewhere in the UK. |
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I chose Strawberry Panic! over Simoun too. The former was a funny & rather ridiculous series, whereas I just couldn't get my head around the rather un-sympathetic characters in the latter. I stopped watching Simoun after 4 episodes, though I've been told by numerous online friends that the series gets much, much better in the second half of the show. I'll probably give the series another chance though now that it's been licenced.
Heh, I had the same experience too. The first few episodes were rather tedious to get through. |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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Same here, although I dropped it after the first episode. Yawn .... can you say boring?
Yup, me too. Strawberry Panic, while laughably bad at times, is still better than Simoun in my opinion. Panic manages to entertain, while Simoun makes for a great sleeping pill. |
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darkchibi07
Posts: 5521 |
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Hmm, maybe it was a good idea for Media Blaster to release the first 6 episodes onto the first DVD. The series picked around episode 8 that dealt with a spoiler[suicide bomber during peace talks.] Then there's that spoiler[hot, implied yuri incest scene in episode 12 between Alti and Kaimu!
 ]
Obviously you have wait until volumes 2 and 3 in order to get those scenes!
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Terrestrial_Cel
 Posts: 99 Location: SF Bay Area |
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I really enjoyed it, I will definitly pick up the R1 release. The 'gender process' was really interesting. I remember the scene when one of the girls finds out what gender she will ultimately be. When she finds out she will be male, she went on her knees and started crying (It's been a while sinse I've seen it...). It must have been a challenge for writers to think of individual reactions to the characters' transformations without making it stupid. Anyway.. those are my thoughts... Yeah, I hope it's R1 release will make it more popular here.
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