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Dessa
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:36 am
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Chris is my favorite character, followed by Shannon. I really like what we saw of Forsyth, too.
Episodes 21-24
You know, the ships that attack the temple kinda look like Daleks, from the front.
I did really like all of the scenes with the siblings, showing how much they truly love and care about one another.
Regarding Pacifica and Forsyth's survivals... I think it's more survival and less resurrection. We never saw Forsyth die, and it was explicitly stated that Pacifica's powers were released at the moment of death. "Moment of death" and "at", not after. Given that the entire world was basically put into stasis at that moment, I think what happened was the system removed Pacifica's body, frozen in time at the exact moment of death. Which meant that while she spoke with Mauser, she was neither alive nor dead. Given her discussion with Mauser, the heavy emphasis on choice, and the whole thing about wanting to be with siblings, as well as how readily Zephyr, who had less power than Mauser, could heal Shannon, it seems obvious that Mauser used her power to heal Pacifica's body, which was in between life and death, allowing her to stay on the "life" side. Given the aforementioned emphasis on siblings, it only makes sense that Forsyth was brought back as well, to give the twins the chance to get to know each other that they never got before.
I also liked the scene with Cz's earring. I'd been noticing that Pacifica was still wearing the single earring, even after losing her memories and being Pamela.
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louis6578
Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1876
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:41 am
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What did you guys think of the production side? Animation, music, voice acting, etc? I thought it was all okay, though the VAs were the standout of the whole thing.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18455
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:59 am
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Agent355 wrote: |
Ep 24: Just because they live in a VR world. . . |
Is this something which is specified or strongly implied in the novels? Because there is not a shred of evidence of it in the anime series.
And while I'll agree that Prince Forsythe surviving was a bit of a stretch, I think it's even more of a stretch to say that a reset button was pushed. That definitely wasn't what happened, as the whole story clearly takes place in the same continuum.
I have seen this series through multiple times and so can probably clarify on anything that anyone might be unclear about.
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Dessa
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:29 am
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Key wrote: |
Agent355 wrote: |
Ep 24: Just because they live in a VR world. . . |
Is this something which is specified or strongly implied in the novels? Because there is not a shred of evidence of it in the anime series.
And while I'll agree that Prince Forsythe surviving was a bit of a stretch, I think it's even more of a stretch to say that a reset button was pushed. That definitely wasn't what happened, as the whole story clearly takes place in the same continuum. |
I think that the ending made it pretty clear that it wasn't a reset, which is what the Peacemaker's were trying for, but simply OPENING up the rest of the world, so that humanity could once again spread out across it.
And I also never thought that it was a VR world. It was a world controlled by technology, yes, but it was still a physical piece of the physical world, and everyone in it was physically there.
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louis6578
Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1876
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 1:13 am
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One thing that I loved was that Pacifica was supposed to be the one who would end the world. And she does. By destroying the cage that trapped humanity for centuries, she destroys their perception of the world and creates a new world full of possibilities for them. Gotta admit, it's clever.
So, this anime was never popular over here for some reason. I only found out about it by complete chance. Is there any reason that there's no word about this on the internet?
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18455
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 2:30 pm
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The series is 12 years old now and is entirely self-contained, so there were no expansions to the franchise made or even possible. Its last rerelease in the States was 2007. Hence it would be a little unusual for it to actually still be popular at this point.
That doesn't mean it wasn't ever popular, though. It does have over 2,700 ratings in our Encyclopedia and was involved in the early fringe of the torrent-based digital distribution of fansubs. That probably contributed greatly to it being a pretty well-known title at the time (its first few episodes got a lot of play in convention viewing rooms as it was airing in Japan, which is how I first discovered it) and almost certainly played a big part in it not languishing in obscurity.
And yeah, while the story structure may not be entirely original, it nonetheless puts some clever and even innovative twists on things. The concept of the heroine being the pariah, and how she was able to be her cheery, freely friend-making self despite that, was what grabbed and firmly kept my attention, and it didn't hurt that Pacifica is, in my view, one of the best characters that the 2000s produced. (She was my Character of the Year pick the year the DVDs were first coming out.)
For those watching for the first time, did you pick up on the pervasive gun naming convention?
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louis6578
Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1876
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:24 pm
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Me personally? I just watched GR Arkada's review of it. I don't take his word as the gospel (his Ghost Hound review says "this is the gem on the shelf next to your K-Ons and your One Pieces, implying that if you like One Piece, you have poor taste. He says that the Death Note movies are better than the anime, and he loves Clannad to death while I see too many flaws with it, especially season one). While I don't necessarily think "Oh, he liked it so I probably will too," I did think it sounded interesting. Plus, I like to watch shows that he loves unconditionally just so I can speak with some authority when I say "it's not that good."
Thankfully, Scrapped Princess was great! It's a shame I can't buy it though.
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Dessa
Joined: 14 Jul 2004
Posts: 4438
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 9:55 pm
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Off topic, but... the live action Death Note movies are better than the anime. The anime was crap.
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louis6578
Joined: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 1876
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Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:09 pm
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Dessa wrote: | Off topic, but... the live action Death Note movies are better than the anime. The anime was crap. |
Alright, I won't bash on your opinion or claim that I'm right and everyone who disagrees with me is wrong. We're all entitled to our beliefs. However, when you're an anime reviewer, if you want some credibility, you should explain your stance. Don't just say "these are better. Moving on..." because it makes you seem biased without purpose.
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Agent355
Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
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Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 1:35 am
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Overall impressions of the series:
Scifi Elements: the scifi aspects are one of the most clever parts of the series. It's explained in a way that makes sense to the viewers while still leaving the characters in the dark. I did get the impression that they are living in a virtual reality world, but it seems like it was just a piece of earth set aside for human use with some computerized elements. However, their ceiling and borders *did* block out the sun and the rest of the world, and within those borders they were able to use "magic" which looked to me like VR computer programs. Everybody was real and actually living, but the way the world was controlled through "magic" seemed to me like it was partially a VR landscape.
Characters: Three cheers for normal sibling relationships without a hint of incest! All the characters were well done, although Raquel really needed more screentime. Pacifica was a bit of a brat at the beginning, but she struggled with her role in a relatable way, and I feel that giving her combat skills would have made her less relatable. Most of the characters had a chance to struggle with their roles, especially Shannon, Leo, Zephiris and Chris, which was an illustration of the overall theme of the show.
Themes: The main theme of the series was personal choice. Choice vs. Upbringing (Elfitine rebelling against Reynard, Leo going against what he was taught about chivalry and his religion, Chris deciding to defect from the army and taking his whole squad with him), choice vs programming (Zephiris and Cz), and choice vs destiny (Shannon, after discovering the Guardian gene, Pacifica). At the end Even Mauser gives Pacifica the choice to release humankind from their cage. One thing I found especially interesting were the characters that did not choose correctly, at least from our perspective. Natalie, for example, chooses to impede the humans at every turn. Cz also chooses not to side with those who cared for her in child form (unless I missed a last minute heel turn from her, but all I got from her death scene was Shannon's regret). Prince Forsythe chose what he felt was best for his people, and by killing himself as well, we see how empathic his decision was
Religion was also a theme cleverly weaved into the story. By making the religious beliefs of the world misinterpretations of actual events, they managed to respect the religious people (for the most part) and sill criticize religious beliefs nd the damage believers can justif using those beliefs
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