Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2008-04-25]
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skyesage
 Posts: 97 |
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Dear Mr. Davis,
You seem to rather be inviting the wank. You whinge and whine about how much it sucks that Ed can't use alchemy uwah uwah but you really do miss the point. They are adapting from a manga, which you probably know, and they did a great job creating something that was very original from that base. The movie was awesome. Enhhhh it wasn't in Amestris. If the only reason you liked FMA was for the nifty magic tricks, you really are missing the point of the show. What is the point? Good question. But I think it really is trying to say something, and a thoughtful and well done anime is so hard to come by here... That said, I really do like the manga more. Personal opinion :/. ~Rowan |
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rti9
 Posts: 1241 |
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I prefer the other poster. One of the best films ever made. No chance of seeing the rest of the room? How about inviting the rest of the staff to post pictures of their "offices"? |
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Tofusensei
Posts: 365 |
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No way! The ending of Gilgamesh was amazing!
spoiler[All the shows in both Japan and America that have come before it that hinted at a "the entire world blows up and everyone's dead" ending but pull away at the last minute cowtow to the greatest ending in anime! A show where they are not afraid to actually blow up the world and kill everyone... Come on, that's badass!] It sounds like your mind has been brainwashed by Hollywood, sir. -Tofu |
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Myaow
 Posts: 1068 |
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I come on behalf of the underground organization of People Who Really, Really Like The Last Two Episodes of Evangelion, just so that before someone starts going "why doesn't anyone like the end of the EVA TV?" they'll know that we exist. Deep psychoanalytical angst trips FTW, people.
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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Do you feel any real sense of community among your fellow fans?
Certainly. Do you feel any real sense of community with your fellow fans? Not so much... |
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Anime World Order
 Posts: 390 Location: Florida |
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Judging from the responses sent in and this thread, I think it's safe to say that the negative stigma of the "Gainax ending" is richly deserved, and it's a grand mistake for others to follow their example. Between the short promotional OAVs of decades past, the output of Gainax, and pretty much anything written by Chiaki Konaka, the failure for anime in general to provide its viewers with an adequate resolution is an absolutely massive one.
How many of us have bought a series as it came out only for the last volume to leave you feeling terribly let down? When that happened, did it make you hesitant in buying the next big thing as it was coming out? Did it make you say to yourself "you know what? I'm going to wait until it's all out, then if people said it was good, I'll just get the box set"? Or perhaps "I'll watch the show first, then I'll decide if I liked it enough to buy it?" Lame endings in anime are a widespread epidemic, and I think there are enough people who've gotten burned that it's had an effect on their spending habits. Funny how you never hear that brought up in any of those anime industry panels.
This largely echoes my sentiments as well. Some might view it as a sign of the medium's maturing that the fandom has repositioned itself to a per-show basis, as is the case with television, film, and books. But the sum total of us all is still comparatively small compared to all of them, so it all ends up as niches within niches within a niche. Then again, being in your mid-20s effectively makes you twice the age of a great deal of "the anime community" anyway. |
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DRWii
 Posts: 638 |
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Its Shakespeare. Even if you do like his stuff, its kind of supposed to be a bummer at the end.
I've honestly tried to understand what qualifies as Superflat (and what the heck the term really means), but I just don't get it. I'd say its about as hard as finding a definiton of Post-modernism. |
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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Rather than list endings that are disappointing, I'll say that in general, endings of anime that outpace the manga they're based on are disappointing.
I'm pretty sure the entire purpose of Murder Princess was to watch a pretty girl kill ugly monsters. And lesbian undertones. The plot (and by extension the ending) was an afterthought.
I think that was sarcasm. |
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SalarymanJoe
 Posts: 468 Location: Atlanta, GA, USA |
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The column seemed to go by quickly this week... Probably just me, since I found the titles that the Answerfans were writing about and only read the Fullmetal Alchemist one.
@SaveOurAnime: While a noble venture, I think it suffers from "too little, too late" and bringing nothing new to the table. Like Zac, I think it will be pretty ineffective. I guess I can give them a "good on" for trying to do something they feel strongly about but I think its a lost cause. Hopefully they'll never turn into the farce that Save Our Sailors (now showing my Internet age) became. Offended fans: I really can't add anything more - Zac's 100% right on this. Your favorite show isn't some sacred cow, neither is mine. There's people who will respectfully criticize and others who lambaste without reason just as there are others who will do the opposite. Discuss and analyze the respective criticisms and don't feed the trolls. Home Office: It's a nice set-up, though, I think it's a little less glamouous than a home office for someone who is primarily home-based. I've been currently trying to figure out what I want to do with my home office (I've got time, not buying a house for another couple years) and I'm debating what anime stuff might go there, or be left out at all. I have joked that I was going to have a multi-picture-holding frame with pictures of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Yuri Andropov, Markus Wolf and Vladimir Putin on my wall, with the typical girlfriend/wife/family pictures on my desk. Scheming Bunnies: Probably a Cadbury shortage at Easter next year... Answerfans: I skipped all but one of the responses for the "Bad Ending" question, mostly because I've not seen an anime that I think had a truly bad ending, or, at least, worth writing an essay about negatively. The FMA one caught my attention because the only other ending I was familiar with, KareKano, I've already heard numerous complaints about. This week's question is one that piqued my interest a bit though. I think it's hard to say that one feels a sense of community amongst anime fans in general; I really don't. There's a variety of reasons for this - some are more casual about it, different tastes in genre or perception in the role that fandom plays into the entirety of one's life. There are anime forums, like ANN and AnimeNation (I'm much more active on the second), where I feel there is a sense of community as there are at least posters with whom I look forward to reading their posts and at most, I am considered one of the more notable "personalities". These are the closest thing to an "anime fan community" I think there is now, especially with the purpose of anime clubs on the demise. Sure, I've got real-life friends I've met through school who are anime fans but we went to school for a different purpose than meeting other fans; its just a hobby we have in common. In all, I'd argue that there isn't a "community of anime fans", like it was in the days of yore (or, Fandom In The Before-Times). Technology and access to material have rendered much of the necessities of those times, like having to find people at conventions with a VCR so you could watch your tapes, obsolete. Because it's grown to be monstrous now comparitively, there are sub-communities or almost a tribal or clan-level hierarchies and it really doesn't go beyond those levels of immediate circles. I think this is especially true at anime conventions today, where it used to be about meeting new fans who were sharing the same interest, there are cordial and some more in-depth exchanges but nothing like trading contact information and really keeping in touch. We can all talk about "the community" as if it were this monolithic establishment (I know I'm guilty of it), but I think we're kidding ourselves with wishful thinking at that point. It's comforting to think that I could fly to say, Anime North in Toronto, chat and make contacts with fans there and continue those friendships after I return to Atlanta. Or Anime Expo. Or Otakon*. Or, have people come to Atlanta and do likewise. But now, "getting in" requires more than just liking Japanese cartoons and mixing well with personalities; you have to like the right cartoons or use the right Internet meme or have some other tertiary interest. If there is a monolithic anime fan community, then its got so many factions that its unity is completely obscured. You know, that ended up being longer than I expected and I still don't think I've fully expressed enough to answer the question... looks like I have an e-mail to write. *This is in no way an indication of how people actually are, merely throwing examples out there. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Someone needs to watch spoiler[Space Runaway Ideon went there and beyond: Tomino decided to destroy the entire universe. And it came over two decades before the Gilgamesh anime. Though I believe Gilgamesh was based on a manga from the 70s or 80s, so depending on when it actually was, the manga may have preceded Ideon.]
I really need to rewatch the anime, but I still don't remember Matthew even appearing in the anime. Maybe they did explain a little bit of how it happened. Still, my issue with the epilogue is more the portrayal of Suguru and the complete shaft of almost all of the side characters. I didn't know the anime ended first though.
Yeah, that was definitely sarcasm. I'm believe he's satirizing the complaint against the Mahoromatic ending, though it could apply to FMA to a lesser degree as well. |
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Goodpenguin
Posts: 457 Location: Hunt Valley, MD |
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It's been awhile since I watched that series, but I thought it was a bad turn, and something that creeps up quite a bit in anime. The easiest analogy I can quickly give is you can make a pastry that's sweet, and you can make a pastry that's savory, but if I hand you a tart that's got strawberries and lemon-cream topped with hot-banana peppers and garlic your probably not going to be amused. Flavors can go in many directions, but they all have to blend cohesively and make sense to the taste-buds. That's the issue with shows like 'Mahoromatic', there's no 'organic' consistency. Of course stories don't always have to stay on one emotional setting, but at the same time the changes/currents have to realistically be 'woven' into the setting. Shows like 'Mahoromatic' give the viewer pure comedy/light-heartedness through every fiber and build certain expectations, then almost schizophrenically change in tone and direction. If you wish to be very literal, yes, things in life certainly change emotionally, but works of fiction are crafted, and people build expectations from what story threads they are given. Some shows (like a Cowboy Bebop) mix humor with pathos consistently in it's story threads; the viewer may be sad, but their not surprised by an ending. A 'Mahoromatic', to double back on my analogy, gives the viewer strawberries, and then pours on vinegar. There two fine ingredients, but that's not how you use them. Asian culture plays a role in that kind of 180 degree story-telling, but also in large part it's simply bad writing. I think folks who spend a lot of time with anime probably get used to, and even expect, very break-neck shifts in tone, but on a whole I believe it's a weakness of the medium. |
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aluria
 Posts: 367 Location: New Westminster, B.C., Canada |
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Glad to know someone else was disappointed with the ending to Kare Kano.
I think the only ending I went WTF to was InuYasha with the whole spoiler["we'll defeat him someday just not in time for the viewers to see because apparently 160 odd episodes isn't enough".] |
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Tyrenol
Posts: 398 Location: Northern California |
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Giving the honorless anime "fan" an excuse to remain honorless and not buy the anime titles they like. What a neat idea, Answerman. In fact, that idea is so great that it worked well in Europe. "Essentially NO market in anime whatsoever." I'm surprised. Really. The lack of backbone here and there... I wasn't paying attention and nearly broke my left arm. It was painful as hell. I wonder if you'd feel the same pain after saying that. |
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Gilles Poitras
Posts: 477 Location: Oakland California |
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A clean orderly workspace.
Gads makes my collection of piles of books, papers and coffee cup look shameful in comparison. |
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irishninja
 Posts: 344 Location: Seattle-ish |
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Those rabbits in their little huddle there? I count 13. That's a 15-yard penalty.
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