Forum - View topicHow was Angelic Layer ?
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
joshuafer
 Posts: 262 |
|
|||
|
I am considering buying this thinpak, and was just wondering, anyone got any opinions they would like to share on it ? No spoliers though, please.
|
||||
|
||||
CrazyCanuck
 Posts: 104 Location: Canada |
|
|||
|
Are you asking for information about the program itself or the thinpack specifically?
If you want to know about the program then I will tell you it is a light-hearted, predominently shojo, tournament show. My wife and I enjoyed it a lot. If a bunch of grade school kids fighting with what we called 'combat Barbies' isn't your thing then this probably isn't the show for you. If you meant did I recommend the thinpack, then I say it's no worse then any of the other ADV thinpacks. The video quality is reasonable and the extras from the original disks are NOT included. The extras were amusing but unnecessary so you won't be missing much. I hope that helps. |
||||
|
||||
P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
|
|||
|
No way can I pass up making a comment in a thread about Angelic Layer. Although I may be a bit biased I truly think the show is worth checking out and if you are considering on buying one or all DVD's of it you're definitely better off buying the whole series and the thinpak is the most economical way to go.
But as for the series itself, Angelic Layer is my 2nd most favorite anime of all time and only 1 of 2 martial arts anime that I like better than Hunter X Hunter. Misaki Suzuhara is the main character and just has such a friendly, enthusiastic and smart disposition. She is definitely one of the highlights of the show for me. But here are the other highlights that if you are curious about this show you might or might not apreciate it for: Great comedy - all the characters are masterfully depicted for a wide range of comic relief, slapstick and funny situations. Excellent animation - can't go wrong with the creativity of CLAMP and studio [edit] oops I meant BONES. Awesome fight scenes - even though it's dolls fighting there are alot of interesting and realistic moves throughout the show. Sad and emotional scenes - nope no spoilers but I will say some of my favorite tear-jerking scenes in anime are in the later episodes of this show. Last edited by P€|\||§_|\/|ast@ on Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
|
Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6902 Location: Kazune City |
|
|||
Second, the show itself: curiously, it's technically a shounen anime (serialized in a shounen magazine and deals with fighting tournaments and an "I want to be strong" midset), but much of the time, the focus is on the characters and their relationships (friends/family/romantic). You'd be hard-pressed to find a show that's more cute, heart-warming, innocent, and touching than Angelic Layer. I'm also biased because I like cute/dramatic anime, but AL does boast CLAMP character designs, BONES animation, gorgeous background art, numerous creative fights and Angels, a great soundtrack that enhances all the various moods, and excellent voice acting on both audio tracks. The Japanese audio cast is practically an all-star lineup, and for an older ADV release, the English VAs do a very good job.
 I won't spoil anything either, but I will say that if you wind up crying over AL, you'll feel refreshed afterwards--it's not SaiKano slit-your-wrists-level depressing.
And with Rightstuf running an ADV sale these days, you can probably get the thinpack for under $30, which is a great price to pay for a great anime. |
||||
|
||||
deepon05
 Posts: 113 |
|
|||
|
This series looks alright to me but there were some nagging issues that bothered me. It seemed like a feminine version of MegaMan NT Warrior and Pokemon. Don't get me wrong, Angelic Layer is much better than those two but the fact that the person uses a doll to fight instead of fighting themselves. What was cool though was the fact that they used a method of telekinesis through the helmets to actually fight instead of shouting instructions. The story itself is alright and the plots have their moments. If this wasn't geared towards more female fans, I would like it more. But since I'm a dude, it really isn't my thing. Maybe in the near future I'll give this series a second chance.
|
||||
|
||||
|
P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
|
|||
|
You don't have to be a non-dude to love Angelic Layer. Like Zalis said it is a shounen series even though the central character is a girl and there's lots of innocent romance from a girl's pov. Plus the show doesn't have much fanservice so it can be a little misleading. The reason I think Angelic Layer can appeal to men just as much as women is because of the fighting aspect, plus there are more and more romantic anime these days that are aimed at men/boys, such as Ichigo 100%, Honey & Clover and Boys Be...
|
||||
|
||||
selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
|
|||
|
I honestly had no idea it was serialized as a shounen series, though it only surprises me a little considering the amount of action there is. To be most accurate then: it's a shounen done in the style and mannerisms of a shoujo show (outisde the ring anyway, inside the ring is where the shounen 'tsuyoku naritai!' aspect comes out quite strongly
)
|
||||
|
||||
v1cious
 Posts: 6232 Location: Houston, TX |
|
|||
|
i finished the dub version the other day, and i just was not into it. for being a shounen series, there sure is a lot of filler. i mean the stuff about spoiler[her mother] was interesting, but other than that the rest was really boring. it also didn't help that the dub voice acting is absolutely atrocious.
Last edited by v1cious on Sat Nov 25, 2006 2:11 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||
|
||||
LydiaDianne
 Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
|||
I didn't know that it was in a shounen magazine either. Wow! The things you learn. v1cious wrote:
I have to disagree with you there, I love almost all of the English voice acting done on this series. The only voice that really bothers me ( and that's just a little bit) is Misaki's. Andy McAvin...can't think of anyone else who would be able to carry off Icchan's voice. That was beyond perfect casting. Angelic Layer is a terrific anime. I like it much better than the manga because of Misaki's Mother's storyline. The Mother's storyline in the manga was stupid. |
||||
|
||||
Kouji
 Posts: 978 |
|
|||
|
Angelic Layer isn't my all-time favorite CLAMP series, but it is one of their better series and one I can confidently recommend, especially if you love CLAMP and shounen tournament anime. The series is much more character driven than Pokemon was and nearly all the characters get their chances to shine. Misaki is a sweet girl who's always considerate of others but not painfully sweet and she even has moments where she breaks down because she can't be happy go lucky all the time unlike a lot of anime heroines seem to be. Tamayo's obsession with karate chopping Kotaro is hilarious. Kotaro is a sweet guy who's always looking out for Misaki but sometimes he can be pretty dense when it comes to girls' feelings but he always tries to fix any mistakes he makes and Icchan and Ogata's antics are just hilarious. I love everyone else in the show too and it's difficult to choose a favorite character. I love the cute love triangles and the romantic relationships in this show all feel very natural and believable.
I also enjoyed how the anime version actually explains why Angelic Layer was started and I do agree that the anime is a lot less cheesier than the manga. The manga version was just incredibly cheesy, even for my tastes, and I usually try to be as forgiving as I can with regards to cheesiness in children's series. And Shoko is played by my favorite Japanese VA, Mitsuishi Kotono-san in the anime! This is just a really great show and the thinpack boxset is so cheap. For a long time, I avoided watching the anime version because I was very disappointed in the Angelic Layer manga, but I got the thinpack DVD boxset for Christmas last year and while Angelic Layer still isn't my favorite CLAMP series, I still loved it a lot and I'm so glad I watched the anime, after all. Do try to watch this series if you can, even if you didn't like the manga or normally don't watch tournament-style anime, because it really is a wonderful anime no matter what gender or age you are. |
||||
|
||||
frostedsaiyan
 Posts: 637 Location: Maryland |
|
|||
|
I bought the thinpack about a year ago and it was a great decision. It 's a bit predictable from the beginning but that didn't matter to me at all. The scenes will keep you wondering what happens next and it actually made me very emotional at the end of the series. It's a great series that anime fans should at least give a chance. I would suggest buying it if you like this kind of anime. One of my favorite series.
|
||||
|
||||
|
joshuafer
Posts: 262 |
|
|||
|
I decided to order it through rightstuf, cause of the sale they had going on. Thanks for all the posts and such. Also just wanted to say the term combat barbies made me chuckle.
|
||||
|
||||
|
LydiaDianne
Posts: 5634 Location: Southern California |
|
|||
Good! I hope that you enjoy the series!
It's always the little things that help you decide isn't it?
|
||||
|
||||
TestamentSaki
 Posts: 1012 |
|
|||
|
I have't finished watching the series (watched until chapter17 years ago), but it's one of the very few shoujo series I enjoyed. And of course, Enomoto Atsuko-sama's role as Misaki was a winner in myopinion (so much better than her role as Sanae in Captain Tsuabsa ROAD to 2002)
|
||||
|
||||
peko
 Posts: 25 Location: Sweden |
|
|||
|
I must say though that I found Enomoto's performance dropped considerably about halfway through the series(can't remember the exact point but I suddenly noticed how whiny and adult-doing-a-kid's-voice-and-not-doing-very-well she sounded). After that she got on my nerves quite a bit. :S
Loved the show as a whole though. Icchan was the main USP to me. 
|
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group