Forum - View topicREVIEW: Blassreiter DVD part 2
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Otaking09
 Posts: 637 |
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Man, man oh man!
Will the constant berating of Speed Grapher NEVER end?!?!?! Seriously, there is only so much one can insult about fault... I said it once, and I'll say it again: Speed Grapher is not that bad!!! Good review otherwise. Key usually issues out soft-heartened points, compared to Carl who is noticeably critical in his (not that there is anything wrong with that...) Gonzo forever! |
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Anime World Order
 Posts: 390 Location: Florida |
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I just want to point out that the cover image of Blassreiter Part 2 is not in fact, the incredibly sexy tanned busty blonde (who is not the main character of the show and doesn't really look like that in the show anyway). That image is now on the back cover instead. Rather, it is this somewhat androgynous shirtless dude holding a particularly phallic sword. Clearly FUNimation called an audible when they realized what the REAL anime demographics are nowadays!
You're right. Speed Grapher is so uniquely bad, it's AWESOME. I'm not usually a Gonzo fan because the level of bad they specialize in is this bland, disappointing kind. Not Speed Grapher! Speed Grapher is completely insane and doesn't even realize that it's insane, which is why it's so grand. It wasn't directed by him, but you might say that in that sense Speed Grapher is very much like the collective directorial efforts of Blassreiter director Ichiro Itano himself. As I noted in both my reviews of other Ichiro Itano-directed disasterpieces Angel Cop and Violence Jack Itano is perhaps the most talented awful director working in anime. As an animation director he's among the best there is (Macross. 'Nuff said.), but put the man in charge of the show and you'll probably end up with a particularly noteworthy trainwreck. I doubt that Blassreiter quite reaches that level due to the fact that it's a TV series and not an OAV. The true demented loons of anime such as Ichiro Itano and Koichi Ohata need the free reign of the now-defunct OAV market to truly let their badness shine through. When confined to TV limitations, their works tend to end up being "so-so" at best. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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I'd give the title of "uniquely bad" to Dragonaut, which clearly believed it was going to be the next awesome title to save GONZO from its downward spiral into mediocrity. Rather than just being a fluffy piece about dragon-riders, it pours on uncompelling angst, ludicrous fanservice, and a pathetic attempt at a Gainax ending. All of Speed Grapher's bizarre pervert-of-the-week format doesn't top the laugh-out-loud MST3K-worthy nonsense of Dragonaut. That said, it was the bizarreness of Speed Grapher that kept me watching it. It was one of those "what crack were they smoking when they came up with this idea?" series. But Otaking09, you gotta let it rest. They don't like it, you're not going to convince them to change their minds. That said (again), given how much Theron ripped on this in his review, I was surprised he eventually gave it a B. More evidence that you should ignore the grades and just read the reviews. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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Mm, what I understood from it was that it was somewhat frustrating to see a series that could ascend to a top-tier series, but which didn't because of the writing. If you read the review clearly, you should notice that many things were praised, including the bullets sounding like bullets. They did a good job, and I agree with the rating and review, but I undoubtedly liked the first half more, given that the drama was done so well there, in comparison to the second half, while the second half simply suffered from a flood of characters, thus having no space for drama whatsoever during the final episodes. Regardless, I really liked the ending because spoiler[Gerd] actually made his last appearance there too. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I finished this up via Netflix today.
I got a little tired of every good deed being punished 3x. And any joy at retribution was repaid by despair and suffering 4x. Thoroughly depressing until the last couple of episodes when.... it all changed. I consider myself a pretty open slate when it comes to anime buying. But this and many other recent Funimation releases have me asking why? Why was something brought over and dubbed that has so little rewatch potential? Don't get me wrong, first view was entertaining enough, but another viewing? Will not happen. |
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Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
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I also think that the first half of the series was better than the second. I loved the way that clues as to what was really going on were skillfully dispensed to the viewer, which firmly held my attention. The ends of the first and second plot arcs both awed me with their emotional power. The second arc ended especially well, because it left me saying to myself that these sorts of original and unexpected developments weren't supposed to happen in (generic) action anime. In contrast, it seemed to me that the second half paid distinctly less attention to the characters and went largely for high tech action instead. And the conclusion was kind of corny, which left me wondering if the manga had been complete when the series was made. But all things considered, Blassreiter remains one of my all-time favorites. As soon as I finished watching it I immediately started over.
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here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1529 Location: Sunny California |
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I really like Texhnolyze. I agree that it is dreary, but it's actually one of my favorite series. For those of you who have watched Blassreiter, is it like Texhnolyze? I couldn't tell from the review if the only thing it had in common with Texhnolyze is the fact that it is depressing. |
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egoist
Posts: 7762 |
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Hmm, neither were depressing for me. If you read the review carefully you should get every piece of information you could actually want, and if it's not there then that's because it's not part of the anime. Well, to make it short, Blassreiter awards the characters' good deeds with having them killed, or having their beloveds killed, or simply getting them through enormous pain. It gets a little religious, but the anime is focused on characters' arc, so it's not like Tex, where it's always around the protagonist.
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