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Fronzel
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:10 pm
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Evangelion gave us a deconstruction of the mecha genre with a weakling lead, and I was looking forward to this series doing the same with a injust lead, but I guess they dropped the ball. What a shame.
Who is it that likes generic harem comedy in everything?
Last edited by Fronzel on Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:24 pm; edited 2 times in total
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nightjuan
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:19 pm
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You know it's not going to be easy to get along with this kind of protagonist when both Light and Lelouch came off as more sympathetic in their respective series, especially early on, regardless of everything else. On a purely conceptual level the idea itself isn't bad at all, but the execution really came off as more annoying than intriguing. In the end, I didn't even try to stay around for the more lighthearted parts of the series and thus can't honestly hope to comment on them either way.
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Takeyo
Joined: 25 Mar 2008
Posts: 736
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Posted: Sun Feb 21, 2010 11:28 pm
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Now, see, I could barely stand Lelouch even the best of times and avoided Death Note on just the impression I got of Light. Linebarrels can kiss its spot on my Netflix queue goodbye. Thanks for the heads up, Carl!
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John Casey
Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 1853
Location: In My Angry Center
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 12:14 am
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Takeyo wrote: | Now, see, I could barely stand Lelouch even the best of times and avoided Death Note on just the impression I got of Light. Linebarrels can kiss its spot on my Netflix queue goodbye. Thanks for the heads up, Carl! |
=.=
Well that's something new...
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:03 am
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I will throw out the obligatory "It does get better later on" comment. Now, granted, it doesn't get a *lot* better, but I thought it wasn't a horrible series -- in other words, I found it to be watchable, but I'm glad I didn't buy it.
I also found the fact that Linebarrel actually killed Kouichi to be a somewhat interesting twist.
But this is yet another series I've seen recently that had a lot more potential than it ultimately displayed. Too bad.
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nightmaregenie
Joined: 13 Aug 2007
Posts: 167
Location: Palmy, NZ - student central
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 1:57 am
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Haven't seen the series myself but Hisashi Hirai + Ali Project is a lethal enough combination for me to stay well away from it On that note, I'm glad it failed at developing the potentially interesting "messed up main character" setup into a good story, or else I'll feel obliged to check it out.
Last edited by nightmaregenie on Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:26 am; edited 1 time in total
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CareyGrant
Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:14 am
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Wow... A "C" for this "gem?" Overly generous much? Watching this should count towards community service. I wish I could un-watch it.
My Question: What Exec green-lit this at Funimation? And how do they still have their job?
This is one of the worst anime I've seen brought to the US in some time. I feel sorry for the good people at Funimation (those not involved in securing the title) who's job it was to salvage -or try to at least- this massive floater in the bowl.
Although, I'm happy the VA's, writers, directors and techs got the work and the paycheck. I'd not want this on my resume.
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dtm42
Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 2:19 am
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nightjuan wrote: | On a purely conceptual level the idea itself isn't bad at all, but the execution really came off as more annoying than intriguing. |
It does sound like something I would like. A Mecha show where the lead character isn't some goody two-shoes, and in fact is just as bad as his enemies. How very refreshing. I've been sort of pondering if I should watch this for a while now, however I've heard some bad things about it that have given me pause. If the execution is really that bad, then maybe I'll just stay away permanently. Still, it might be nice to watch the first couple of episodes, just to see what they did before making it a generic Harem show.
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Wyvern
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1600
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:33 am
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It's a really neat concept, the idea of a mecha show with a totally amoral lead. But they completely screw the pooch on this one, turning an intriguing premise into something totally irritating. Frankly, it seems like the show was too busy trying to imitate Code Geass and its amoral lead, that they forgot to make the show interesting enough to make the most of its hook.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:37 am
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Kouichi isn't amoral. He really does want to be a "Hero of Justice". The problem is that his vision of how such a hero actually does things and how such a hero should act is... uh... off. He really does want to protect the town, but, he also wants to be recognized for it, and he doesn't think about the consequences of his actions, only of making himself look good. He's not amoral so much as clueless and emotionally immature.
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Mad_Scientist
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 3013
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 3:40 am
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dtm42 wrote: |
nightjuan wrote: | On a purely conceptual level the idea itself isn't bad at all, but the execution really came off as more annoying than intriguing. |
It does sound like something I would like. A Mecha show where the lead character isn't some goody two-shoes, and in fact is just as bad as his enemies. How very refreshing. I've been sort of pondering if I should watch this for a while now, however I've heard some bad things about it that have given me pause. If the execution is really that bad, then maybe I'll just stay away permanently. Still, it might be nice to watch the first couple of episodes, just to see what they did before making it a generic Harem show. |
Well, I believe the entire series (subbed) is available on crunchyroll and on funimation's website, and the first 10 or so episodes (dubbed) is available on funimation's website.
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Taiyz
Joined: 16 Aug 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Canada
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:15 am
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I think that the series handled character development in the most awkward (and repetitive) way possible, but after the characters were developed I didn't feel any more of that awkwardness, and found the characters quite likable. For whatever reason I also didn't mind the blatant harem comedy, and in some cases even enjoyed it because of my attachment to the characters (I guess since it isn't based in that genre, they were able to get past my defenses,) so I was able to enjoy the show for its best qualities.
I'm not going complain about the review (although I obviously disagree with some points,) but I will say that I'm a bit disheartened by all the people smugly saying "oh I guess they dropped the ball" or that they're removing it from their Netflix queue or whatever. I don't think this take on the "unjust lead" concept can be universally considered good or bad, and as was previously mentioned in this thread, I think it was different in that you aren't immediately sympathetic with the lead. Since you can stream a couple episodes even without Netflix, I really recommend that you give it a chance; if you can't stand it, fine, the first couple episodes are kinda same-y and I'm not gonna pull the "it gets better" card, but I think this take on the genre will resonate with some people that would normally dismiss it.
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote: | I also found the fact that Linebarrel actually killed Kouichi to be a somewhat interesting twist. |
I don't recall this plot point ever actually becoming relevant later during the series...Which I'm honestly grateful for, because it's a silly gimmick and didn't add much to Busou Renkin (anybody feel free to name other series' that pre-date Busou Renkin with this plot device if it matters to you, but I can't call any up at the moment.)
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:26 am
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Taiyz,
I was going to add that I wished they'd done more with that twist than they did. But I suppose you're right and they figured that it was too silly a gimmick to carry forward.
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Finny-chan
Joined: 18 Dec 2008
Posts: 448
Location: West Virginia, U.S.A
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 5:07 am
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I thought the first couple episodes were tolerable at best then after that it went way downhill Gonzo didn't even stick to the manga at all. This "gem" is not worth my money in my opinion.
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FlyingFox
Joined: 25 Jul 2009
Posts: 58
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Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:02 am
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nightjuan wrote: | You know it's not going to be easy to get along with this kind of protagonist when both Light and Lelouch came off as more sympathetic in their respective series. |
You found Light to be a sympathetic character? HAH
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