Forum - View topicREVIEW: Kasimasi Sub. DVD 3
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18456 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I agree with this review so completely that Carl's words could almost be my own.
After so flawlessly handling episodes 10-12 (especially the painfully beautiful climatic episode), episode 13 felt like such a cop-out. It actually wasn't bad, but certainly spoiled the great mojo the series had going up until that point. Even with it, this is still probably the year's best romantic series. And since Carl didn't mention it, I would add that these last few episodes stray decidedly from the manga, which is currently going in a completely different direction. This approach is done so well that I can't complain about it, however. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I think this will be the popular opinion here. I too hated the Christmas episode, although I was also less impressed with volume 3 as a whole. I think part of my disappointment was due to the higher expectations I placed in the series. Somehow the drama came across as a bit light for my taste and reminded me of the equally disappointing To Heart in it's simplicity.
The other thing that bothered me with the series is the odd use of science fiction. I think the series might have been a stronger series without the underused aliens and more focus on the facial recognition issue. Then again I felt similarly in regards to both Onegai series so it might just be me. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6900 Location: Kazune City |
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My opinion on the last ep will be unpopular then, as I'm apparently one of the few who liked how things turned out. Maybe it was because the fansub releases of the last TV episode and the OVA were months apart, and when the OVA came out I was so overjoyed to see more Kashimashi that I overlooked the flaws. But even when rewatching it on DVD last month, I felt the OVA made sense, since spoiler[in episode 12 Yasuna makes the decision to be independent, and 13 concerns itself with Hazumu winning back the heart of her true love, Tomari.] But even the "stop at #12" method makes for a pretty good series -- Kashimashi's strength is taking a rather silly premise and spinning an emotionally deep story out of it. (As opposed to series like Maburaho which take a reasonably interesting premise and squander it.) I especially liked some of the music, like the string track that comes up at a lot of the dramatic moments. Melodramatic it might be, but that's usually not a negative for me.
And like Randall, I wouldn't have minded less of the aliens...sure, they're fine for the gender-change setup, but we didn't need all their crazy antics. Plus, eliminating the aliens might have drastically cut Namiko-sensei's screentime -- she had zero purpose for the plot, after all. Although Jan-puu was cute enough; on rewatching I couldn't listen to her without expecting to hear "That's so mean, Ranpha!" or "I've baked a cake for everyone!" 
It seems like Kashimashi was relatively successful for MB under the sub-only business model, so hopefully they can continue that success with other Yuri Fan titles like Strawberry Panic, Otoboku, and Simoun. (And ideally Touka Gettan too -- please MB, save me from lousy fansubs!) |
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Goodspeed
 Posts: 48 |
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I actually liked the Christmas episode. Probably because to me, spoiler[Hazumu seemed a better fit with Tomari.] (not everyone reading the review or this thread has seen the series, so spoiler tags are needed for information that might ruin the ending, such as...which girl she winds up with. ~Zalis)
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MokonaModoki
 Posts: 437 Location: Austin, Texas |
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This isn't really a comment on the review per se, but I wanted to point out that it is slightly jarring to encounter both the Hepburn and Kunreisiki romanizations of tltles (without explanation) within a single article (whether a review or encyclopedia entry). This is especially true when the review's tltle for the DVD conflicts with the title as shown in the cover art for the DVD itself, and switching from Kunreisiki spelling in the title to Hepburn within the text just makes it look like an error.
It's not as if I can't figure out what is actually being discussed (but to be honest I did spend a second wondering if Kasimasi was actually Kashimashi before I clicked through to the review). In this case I am presuming that consistency is being maintained with a Kunreisiki system encyclopedia entry created prior to the anime being licensed and romanized to Kashimashi for its release (?). I was under the impression that ANN tries to stick to Hepburn and it just makes me burn far too many cycles wondering what causes the disconnect when it happens. It's a trivial complaint I know (so please don't hit me), but a little explanatory note when it happens would be a nice thing. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18456 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I can't say for certain, since I don't have anything to do with maintaining the Encyclopedia, but I'm sure that's exactly what happened. Translated titles, character names, and info put in when a title is first announced in Japan don't always get updated when a title gets an official English-language license and translation. Further complicating this particular case is the display of "Kasimasi" prominently in the series title displayed during the opener, while "Kashimashi" is given in the subtitles at the same time. |
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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All flaws aside; personally I loved the Christmas OVA episode. This is because spoiler[Hazumu and Tomari ended up together.]
By the end of the TV series I was rooting for spoiler[Tomari] (although I had been wavering back and forth throughout the series), and so the ending was bittersweet for me. Fortunately the OVA fixed all that. |
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clsnwbrdr616
 Posts: 22 |
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Those are my thoughts too. I was rooting for her from the beginning and was disappointed by 12. I desperately waited for 13 and while it did have its obvious flaws it definitely made my day.  Now I'm just waiting for the last volumes of the manga to find out what happens in that story line.
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minakichan
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So I guess that I'd be in the minority by saying that the series as a whole was rather disappointing?
Really, I think the only appeal of Kashimashi was cute girls in love with each other, and pretty pastel colors. Most of the romance parts just left me rolling my eyes-- predictable scenarios, ridiculous plot devices (the entire character of Yasuna, anyone?) and TOTALLY cliche and overused lines. And Hazumu's indecisiveness is just pathetic. Yeah, I'm happy that Hazumu ended up with the right girl-- FINALLY, after the countless instances that I just wanted to smash my head into the ground. But I can't see why this series is considered especially heartwarming or novel at all, aside from the fact that it's one of the few yuri series that has made it onto the shelves here. Cheesy triangular preteen love angst. It doesn't work well in het; there's no reason to think that adding girls making out would make it any better (unless that's what you live for). |
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