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Xenofan 29A
Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 378
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:47 am
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I was very disappointed, myself, that BVUSA released WoH in such an expensive manner. I love that movie, although I despise Manga's dub hack job, and would love to own a better standard-def release of it. Why do I have to pay $50 extra to get a disc for a player that may become extinct in a few years?
Ugh.
Anyway, as a Xenosaga fan, I must say that I hate Xenosaga: The Animation. You're right, a lot of the scenes are carbon-copied from the game, but the probem is that the awful animation and direction make them bland and uninteresting. The pacing is significantly changed, to the point where they're rushing through scenes just to get them out of the way more than for actual development, and the music...was nowhere near Mitsuda's brilliant London Philharmonic score. (And that's a massive understatement.) I would have said that Xenosaga The Animation was perishable, myself.
But it's your column, not mine. And I'm glad it's that way. Keep up the good work.
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Joe Mello
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2305
Location: Online Terminal
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:53 am
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Looks like somebody likes cute and fuzzy.
Have a kittyface :3
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Aromatic Grass
Joined: 31 Dec 2003
Posts: 2424
Location: Raleigh, NC
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:57 am
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I'm glad that AIR made the worthy section, good review. Although I haven't seen all of Slayers, I thought it was good. The rental shelf is fine with me. I don't really care for the other two, but I have always been curious about Honneamise. Too bad the DVD on the perishable list, but at least it was recommended as a must-watch.
Now, what I want besides the amazingly awesome goat is the huge Tachikoma plushie. Oh my goodness, I'm so envious.
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britannicamoore
Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:00 pm
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Dear God Slayer was one of the first anime seris i owned. I wish I had been able to order it when it was $15 on amazon but..i'll still get it soon.
Air is another show I'd like to pick up- I enjoyed the episode I saw on ADV.com.
Nice review..
and thelast thing I destroyed in a brust of anger and rage? An engine in a truck. ...hm.
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Cloe
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Joined: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 2728
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:13 pm
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The last thing I destroyed in a burst of anger: My car windshield, via my boyfriend's head. About... 3 years ago? Fall of '04. It's a long story. <3
It's such a shame about Honneamise. It's definitely a must-see classic and a film I'd love to own on Blu-ray... but I already own the old Manga DVD, so this new release is a waste. sigh...
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Xenofan 29A
Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 378
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:14 pm
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Cloe wrote: | It's such a shame about Honneamise. It's definitely a must-see classic and a film I'd love to own on Blu-ray... but I already own the old Manga DVD, so this new release is a waste. sigh... |
Well, you could console yourself with the fact that the Manga DVD has some of the worst authoring I've ever seen. I mean, if there's any film you want to be able to see in great picture quality, it's Wings of Honneamise.
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fxg97873
Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 211
Location: Houston, TX
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:40 pm
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Bamboo was my last hope for a positive review of Air TV from ANN.
SOOO Happy!
mk2000
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ANBUx3
Joined: 13 Oct 2006
Posts: 187
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:57 pm
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That Tachikoma is wearing a Naruto headband...with the One Piece jolly roger? Haven't seen that before.
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zrdb
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:59 pm
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First off-the re-release of Slayers by Funimation does have better video than the originial CPM release. It's not the best out there, but I'd say it's about 20% better than the originial. The thing that really pissed me off is the fact that the japanese track is stereo and the english dub is MONOPHONIC!?!?!?!?!
Air is one of my favorite "sad" series and I wasn't really looking foreward to listening to the english dub-but after having done so I was pleasently surprised. The dub and video are outstanding! It seems that ADV really listened to all the Air fanboys when doing the dub and pristine video-I can say the video is better here than on the originial R2 dvds as I own the 1st japanese disc. As for Wings-I watched it many years ago and thought it was good-but not exceptional. I rewatched a few days and must admit that I had to reaccess my opinion of it-it's worse than I remember it being. Guess I can chalk that one up my jaded anime palete.
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roujin
Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 139
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:10 pm
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Quote: | Air is based on one of those games where, if you play your cards right, you get to sleep with as many ladies as you want. But, like most of the successful game-based anime series out there, you can barely tell, which is nice. |
Gah! I have to completely disagree on this one. Maybe because I was conscious of the game's roots, I couldn't help but think of the more devious outcomes that the series could've taken. It's the same thing that happened with Kanon, I couldn't disconnect the games and the anime.
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Richard J.
Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:11 pm
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Bamboo wrote: | Now, I'm the kind of person who keeps all my books in pristine condition, and never even marks in my textbooks. After my anger abated, I started at the tattered remnants of my book, realized what I had done, and burst into tears. |
As someone who also treats books almost as if they were some form of sacred scroll, I can imagine how bad that must have been. I get extremely mad at myself and more than a little depressed when I just bend the corner of a book.
The last time I destroyed something in a fit of rage and regretted it? If I posted about that, I'd just depress everyone.
A great column as always. Looking forward to the next one with an eagerness that far surpasses my interests in my own education. (Sadly, I find every day spent in a classroom both depressing and utterly pointless. Maybe I should have gone into the ministry after all.)
I'm hoping to see Air on my birthday, but for now, I must satisfy myself with this good review. Ever since I saw the first episode on one of those delightful Newtype USA preview discs (I've lost so much money due to those) I've been preparing to get this series. My cash flow is finally back to normal and after the birthday, I'll hopefully be flush with slips of green paper that can be redeemed for anime/manga/PVCs/and other items of joy and happiness.
Lukily, I have no interest in any of the other items in the column this time around, so I can happily ignore Bandai Visual's continued crusade of idiocy that spits upon the fans of The Wings of Honneamise, Funimation's cheap but surely very profitable for them release of Slayers, and the lamtentably not-as-good-as-the-game Xenosaga.
A note to the shelf owner: For heaven's sake, finish Love Hina! Great ending to an awesome, if somewhat perverted, manga.
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Xenofan 29A
Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 378
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:21 pm
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roujin wrote: |
Quote: | Air is based on one of those games where, if you play your cards right, you get to sleep with as many ladies as you want. But, like most of the successful game-based anime series out there, you can barely tell, which is nice. |
Gah! I have to completely disagree on this one. Maybe because I was conscious of the game's roots, I couldn't help but think of the more devious outcomes that the series could've taken. It's the same thing that happened with Kanon, I couldn't disconnect the games and the anime. |
With the episode I saw, I couldn't help but think of it as a visual novel adaptation because of all those visual novel-style shots. It annoyed me, frankly, and stunk of lazy direction.
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icepick314
Joined: 23 Aug 2004
Posts: 486
Location: Back in the Good Ol' US of A
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:37 pm
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another company to boycott after CMX...
BV sure isn't good at releasing products in US...their price is turn off and the video/audio quality isn't all that high according to few of the reviews despite HD releases...
so what are the anime fans paying extras for? where are the high quality releases promised by BV? i have yet to see any that are worth the purchase...and i was looking forward to Galaxy Angel Rune...
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18432
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:12 pm
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I hope Bamboo's more positive outlook on Air satisfies those who were grousing about my take on it a couple of weeks ago.
The comments on Slayers sound right. Although I only ever saw a few episodes of it, I agree with the sentiment: certainly entertaining for its time, but it doesn't stand up well to the better recent fantasy series.
The rating of Wings of Honneamise initially shocked me, until Bamboo made it clear that she was mostly referring to its marketing by BV. As much as I'd love to own that one, the cost is just too prohibitive and offering it only in a combo package is ridiculous. Why not offer the Blu-Ray/HD disks and the regular disk separately? It would certainly sell better that way, since Blu-Ray and HD players aren't that common yet. (I know of no one lacking a game console who owns either, and I have several friends who could well afford them.) The movie itself is one of those grand films that should be in every anime fan's collection, so I hope BVUSA will eventually come to their senses and release the regular disk separately.
But given how they handled Gunbuster and Gunbuster 2, I doubt it will happen.
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Strephon
Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 177
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:16 pm
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I'll definitely be buying the Slayers set, regardless of possible quality issues, as part of my ongoing plan to Replace My VHS. (My local independent video store, which still has an entire wall devoted to anime, sold most of its VHS for space reasons a couple of years ago, and as a result I own, in addition to things I genuinely want, a variety of bizarrely random titles.) Slayers and Slayers Next are taking up almost an entire shelf on my VHS rack by themselves, so I'll be happy to make the room.
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