Forum - View topicShelf Life - The Ru-ins
|
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gecko Moria
 Posts: 18 |
|
|||||||
|
To Love'Ru should have been dubbed........ I would have got that in a second.....
Nice collection but how can you have One Piece/Dragonball Z/Bleach and not Naruto? The collection of popular Mainstream Anime is incomplete. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Daemonblue
 Posts: 701 |
|
|||||||
|
My only complaint about this review is that it doesn't go into the completely over-the-top mahjong matches that are the prefectural tournament, nor that the season ended the way it did because of how relatively short the manga is (the matches were kinda drawn out compared to the manga) which is possibly why it seems to not point at a second season (there's not enough content out for another full season without going into filler at the time).
That said it's a good watch to pass the time, and while I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, it's not a complete waste either. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Rebot
Posts: 3 Location: Europe |
|
|||||||
Kurokami The Animation is on Crunchyroll with a english dub |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Animehermit
 Posts: 964 Location: The Argama |
|
|||||||
|
In before 10 pages of people complaining about some phrase or word Erin used incorrectly or some other such nonsense.
anyway, great article, as always Erin. Keep up the good work! i rather like your informal approach to reviews, which is what makes the article fun to read. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
|
|||||||
|
If you want some over-the-top Mahjong action in Saki in just one episode I suggest watching Episode 19 which is the last battle of the team prefectural tournament.
Anyway, this show is basically a gender-switched Hikaru no Go pumped full of moe. Hikaru no Go also never explained the rules of Go (other than a live-action segment at the end of some episodes). Just like in HnG, I learned the basic terminology of mahjong and rudimentary rules after watching the series. I love it for the exaggerated Mahjong action and the bonds between characters, not only Kiyosumi High School but also the 3 other main schools involved in the tournament are all delved into a bit. I look forward to season 2 for the nationals in a few years or so when the manga is further along. EDIT: Also, no mention of Mikan being 12 in To-LOVE Ru and having some rather indecent fanservice? Guess I'm baffled once again by ya. Naked little girls is less "wank-material" than little girls in swimsuits? Last edited by Megiddo on Mon Jan 18, 2010 1:53 pm; edited 3 times in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
ArthurFrDent
 Posts: 466 |
|
|||||||
|
Hmm, interesting stuff about ToLoveRu... I've been highly amused about it, though there are times when they start down a tangent, and it doesn't go anywhere. Definitely the ep with the Amazons had some potential, and it just sort of ended.
Erin's comment about the opener and close was interesting to me. I've never thought about it as a money saver, just if it hits me right or not. I like the opening song... and ya' can't go wrong with girls in bikini's, and the changing textrues throughout add some visual interest. But, once I have seen one intro, I just skip them anyway. Certainly I have been burned enough by Op, and Ep that promise something that is never actually in the show, so maybe I give them less gravity anyway. The second ending is much better than the first IMHO, but I dunno that Erin will care to get that far. One amusing side note in characters is Zastin, Lala's uncle/bodyguard. He of the deathmetal armor. It amuses me that he isn't actually invincible and gets defeated a couple of times... I guess I look at it as being trashy fun with a little bit of heart thrown in. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
kyokun703
 Posts: 2505 Location: Orgrimmar |
|
|||||||
|
I was really disappointed that Saki turned out to be a yuri fanservice anime, because I agree with Erin: when it focused on the game, I really enjoyed it, because it was fun and ridiculous. When it went to the fanservice, I didn't enjoy it all. Maybe I'll watch the episode 19 that someone mentioned above for the over the top preliminary games.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
|
|||||||
|
Well, if you want to watch more, from episodes 9-19 is practically all Mahjong other than I think one episode of backstory.
Last edited by Megiddo on Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||
|
||||||||
loka
 Posts: 373 Location: Pittsburgh, PA |
|
|||||||
|
I won't defend To-Love-Ru as a series, but its opening is better than most. Just last season we had a bunch of shitty openings like Kimi Ni Todoke. Haruka's Secret 2 had a nice opening and Darker than Black 2 at least didn't recycle animation for most it, but the rest were certainly not better than the To-Love-Ru opening.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Showsni
 Posts: 641 |
|
|||||||
|
Yeah, there is a fair amount of nearly yuri fanservice, but the majority of the programme is the mahjong matches, so don't be put off. I really enjoyed Saki; enough to go away and read up how to play mahjong! It's like a cross between Rummy and Poker...
It looks like the anime overshot the manga by quite a bit as is, so any potential second series is going to be quite far off. Still, I really hope that it materialises in the end. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4630 Location: Gainesville, FL |
|
|||||||
I think it's the cutaway circles that are so bothersome in the first ending. If they were used better way it would be better, like nudity bubbles- I think that's the term- strategically placed cutouts that make you think the person in the picture is naked until the cut-out is removed to show they're merely showing the skin and covering up the clothes. In episode 26 they bring back the first ending without the cutouts, and even though it's just a series of sexy Lala pictures, it's preferable to the distracting original. As for Saki, yeah I have to agree with the general opinion here, the ridiculously over the top Mah-jong tournament shows are the real meant of the show. The matches had me both tensed up and laughing at the same time. Not to sayThe yuri overtones and fan service aren't important to the show, they're the potatoes I guess you could say. Also, it might be best not to know too much about mahjong rules to appreciate it. I'm a novice and can play simple game and just with that level of knowledge I understand the "strategy" used by the players is complete bull. They win because they are impossibly lucky. I think the key to Saki's final two team games was spoiler[pulling exactly the right tile from the wall 2-4 times in a row and those were the only tiles that would have allowed her to win.] If you really understand how ridiculously improbable these games are you may just lose interest. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 598 |
|
|||||||
I ended up learning the rules of Go from someone else after the fact as well. I'll probably learn mahjong eventually too.
It would be like, if you're a doctor and you read/watched Black Jack.
To-Love-Ru does not pretend to be much more than wank material. I mean, it's a comedy, but it is blatantly erotic. I said in the review that I would explain what I mean by "blatant" some other time, and as I mentioned in the forums last week I'll talk about that one Gunslinger Girl episode again later, probably on my livejournal. I didn't realized Mikan was 12. She seemed older than that. I liked her character; sometimes the sister character can be pretty lame, but Mikan seemed cool. Also I only saw the first half of the series, so if she's naked all the time in the second half, maybe I'll change my mind.
My complaint is that there is a lack of animation in To Love-Ru's opening. Only the camera is animated, and there are some effects. Kimi Ni Todoke has animation in the opening. I hadn't seen the Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 2 opening or the Darker Than Black 2 opening before just this minute on youtube, but they also have plenty of animation. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
|
|||||||
|
If you looking for another game-based anime, you might want to check out the show about my little, mute, donut-eating friend over to the left there - Shion no Ou. The murder mystery was a bit silly, but the Shougi games and Shion herself made it all worthwhile.
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2654 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
|
|||||||
Ah, but will you learn Chinese mahjong or Jewish mahjong? 
This has been my favorite of your columns so far, Erin. I very much enjoyed the descriptions of Saki and To-Love-Ru -you made me laugh about two series that I had previously had zero interest in. I admit that I still have no desire to watch them (though maybe Saki could get my 97-year-old grandma into anime...?), but I really enjoyed reading about them. Man, I hope I haven't been inflating grades as I go. I've only been teaching five years...time to check... 
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Annf
Posts: 578 |
|
|||||||
Shhhhh. We strategically positioned Strike Witches to distract all lolicon debate so other shows can slip past the radar. Don't go blowing it now. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group