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REVIEW: Baldr Force DVD




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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2370
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:29 pm Reply with quote
I loved the heads exploding in this OAV; kinda like Scanners. But that virtual rape scene made me cringe to no end. Thinking about it makes me shake.
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Great Rumbler



Joined: 03 Oct 2006
Posts: 334
Location: Oklahoma
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 1:58 am Reply with quote
You're right about the show being way too rushed. There were several points that could have been touched on in more detail that where either given short shrift or completely forgotten.

One point that bothered me the most is the scene where the main character is not allowed to dive because he already spent too much time on the net. When things go bad he eventually goes in anyway, despite protests from the others, but he suffers no ill effects and this plot point is never mentioned again.

All that aside, I didn't really care for Baldr Force. It felt very average and didn't do enough to distinguish itself from other such series.

Also, am I alone in feeling shades of End of Evangelion in episode 4?
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Jedi General



Joined: 27 Nov 2006
Posts: 2485
Location: Tucson, AZ
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 4:55 pm Reply with quote
prime_pm wrote:
But that virtual rape scene made me cringe to no end. Thinking about it makes me shake.


You're telling me. That scene killed this OAV for me. Not only did I not see it coming, it was absolutely unnecessary. Plus, as stated in the review, the victim recovers far too quickly for the scene, making it unbelievable.

Great Rumbler wrote:
All that aside, I didn't really care for Baldr Force. It felt very average and didn't do enough to distinguish itself from other such series.

Also, am I alone in feeling shades of End of Evangelion in episode 4?

I didn't care for this OAV much at all. This series didn't feel original, and the ugly mecha designs really turned me off. Ultimately a very forgettable series, save for that rape scene. *shudder*

You're not alone in regards to episode 4. I also felt massive End of Evangelion vibes while watching the finale.
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Gewürtztraminer



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 1028
Location: Texas - Its like whole other country.
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:56 pm Reply with quote
I thought it was ok, a solid rental.

If nothing else, the 4 episodes made me go online for more backstory. I wanted to know more about the world, and have the characters fleshed out a bit more. In that sense, the OVA succeeded in making me curious enough to seek this information.

At the same time, it also pointed out how poor of a job was done. I think this could have easily been 8 to 10 episodes. But as I found out, it was a game adaptation, t the makers were thinking everyone already knows the situation and the characters, let just show them the heads exploding, the bizarre virtual rape, and the creepy young girl in the wild interweb with some virtual mech fights. Way too many Whats? How? Whys?

I lucked out and received my disc from Netflix on the day of release. I will say I have purchased much worse before, and I would only buy this on some deep discount sale where the amount pushed me to a free shipping tier. This is what rental is good for.

By the way, when will ANN be getting any more banner adds for Rent Anime? I want to also open an account with them, but have been waiting for an add to come up, so ANN can get something from my decision.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:53 pm Reply with quote
Do they ever make longer TV series out of OVAs any more, like in the mid-'90's?

Quote:
what the English script calls “Leviathan,” the subtitles much more clumsily try to call “Revaia-san.”

What an embarrassment!
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JKTrix



Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:34 am Reply with quote
Not that it excuses the brevity of the show, but this is an anime supplement to a 2004 video game. BALDR FORCE/BALDR FORCE EXE was a bishoujo/eroge/2D action game that originally came out for the PC. As an 'eroge', the game featured some adult scenes though they were removed in the Dreamcast and PS2 versions. So seeing its franchise roots as an eroge, you can see where some of the character designs and situations (rape) originate.

You can see some gameplay videos of the game (not the ero part Razz) on Youtube.
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2370
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:21 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I wiki'ed some of that up before I got it from Netflix too.

It had been awhile since seeing such a short OAV. I remember when there were anime releases only 2-4 episodes altogether, and you would be lucky if you even got an epilogue. Shows like Ayane's High Kick were only given two pilot episodes before being yanked, kinda like Clerks the animated series, Ruin Explorers at least ended with a quick finale, and the creators of Dragon Half were arrested for narcotics after the first two episodes. Ever since FLCL, though, it became more common for shows to have at least 6 episodes before ending.

It's not too different from American television though. Fox took Drive off the air after everyone figured out they're all just sitting inside fake cars talking in a sound studio. In fact, just about every station has a list of at least ten pilots being yanked during a single season (somewhere on the website, it's been awhile). In the end, it's all about which show's more popular than the other against how much it'll cost to make. Or, in Chappelle and Titus' cases, personal differences.
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_Emi_



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Location: Langjökull
PostPosted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 11:39 am Reply with quote
Quote:
This interpretation is understandable, given how “th” sounds tend to meld into “s” sounds in many other languages, but it's clearly not right given the context.

Considering they were able to figure out it was supposed to be Leviathan, as evidenced by the dub, I don't see it as understandable. I find it to be really sloppy. It's kind of annoying that we get animation based on the games but not the games themselves. One can only hope someone will pick up where Hirameki left off and do a better job at it.
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Strephon



Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 1:55 pm Reply with quote
_Emi_ wrote:
Quote:
This interpretation is understandable, given how “th” sounds tend to meld into “s” sounds in many other languages, but it's clearly not right given the context.

Considering they were able to figure out it was supposed to be Leviathan, as evidenced by the dub, I don't see it as understandable. I find it to be really sloppy.


It wouldn't surprise me at all if "Revaia-san" was the spelling forced on the translator by the Japanese rights-holders as part of the approval process.
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