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neocloud9
Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:47 am
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Wow, I kind of just wanna cannonball into that bed of plushies.
*squoooooooooosh*
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Big Hed
Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:07 am
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Congratulations on the first year Erin! I remember that first column...
I'm delighted to see that positive review of Shikabane Hime on the eve of receiving it. I got a kick out of the HOTD comparison; I do remember watching the first couple episodes back in 08, and they certainly weren't as liberal with fanservice.
Quote: | I just hope Gainax didn't run out of money on this show like they did on Kare Kano. |
*shudders* I hope not.
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Hardgear
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:28 am
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Big Hed wrote: |
Quote: | I just hope Gainax didn't run out of money on this show like they did on Kare Kano. |
*shudders* I hope not. |
It didn't look like they did, but I have to give a couple of warnings to y'all either way:
1) I don't care what the episode count says, the main show itself is only 24 episodes. The last episode in the first set is obviously a recap/term-teaching moneysaving episode. The last episode in the second set is a prequel episode showing the past of one of the more tragic characters, and while it is not a money saver and is a good episode on its own, it leads to....
2) The series didn't have a "real" ending. The main crisis was averted, but basically all other plot threads were left hanging. I think they tried for one of those "infer your own ending" type endings, as it definitely was not setting up for a sequel. The problem goes back to the 2nd half of #1 though.... They could have ended things concretely in episode 26, but after episode 25 leaves you hanging in the middle of a fight (k, more of a beatdown) scene you start the next episode, thinking you gonna get an ending, only to see a stand-alone prequel episode. Then it's done. I loved the series as a whole, but this is one huge gripe I have with this show.
I dont THINK I am spoiling anything, but if anyone says otherwise I can spoiler tag this.
Last edited by Hardgear on Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:33 am; edited 1 time in total
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Parsifal24
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:33 am
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I watched Corpse Bride subbed on Funimation I wish I haven't it's a good series but almost too unrelentingly dark I mean by episode four Keisei diesand the end of the series at least for me gave the impression that Ouri's campaign against the seven stars was ultimately pointless, It also has the distinction of being one of the series along with Saiyuki that turned me off to Anime for a long time.
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Hardgear
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:35 am
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Parsifal24 wrote: | I mean by episode four Keisei dies |
That was actually episode 12. Maybe Funimation didn't REALLY have the whole thing up at the time?
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Shenl742
Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1524
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:40 am
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Hardgear wrote: |
Big Hed wrote: |
Quote: | I just hope Gainax didn't run out of money on this show like they did on Kare Kano. |
*shudders* I hope not. |
It didn't look like they did, but I have to give a couple of warnings to y'all either way:
1) I don't care what the episode count says, the main show itself is only 24 episodes. The last episode in the first set is obviously a recap/term-teaching moneysaving episode. The last episode in the second set is a prequel episode showing the past of one of the more tragic characters, and while it is not a money saver and is a good episode on its own, it leads to....
2) The series didn't have a "real" ending. The main crisis was averted, but basically all other plot threads were left hanging. I think they tried for one of those "infer your own ending" type endings, as it definitely was not setting up for a sequel. The problem goes back to the 2nd half of #1 though.... They could have ended things concretely in episode 26, but after episode 25 leaves you hanging in the middle of a fight (k, more of a beatdown) scene you start the next episode, thinking you gonna get an ending, only to see a stand-alone prequel episode. Then it's done. I loved the series as a whole, but this is one huge gripe I have with this show.
I don't THINK I am spoiling anything, but if anyone says otherwise I can spoiler tag this. |
And because of this, my interest in the series drops to zero.
[quote=Parsifal24]It also has the distinction of being one of the series along with Saiyuki that turned me off to Anime for a long time.[/quote]
Considering all the awful crap I watch on purpose, I'm actually kind of curious how something can be considered awful enough to turn you off the whole medium, since as far as I'm concerned, there's a generous surplus of "good stuff" that can counter it.[/quote]
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Ushee
Joined: 30 May 2008
Posts: 11
Location: New York
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:31 am
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I have to agree. I loved the series, except for the gripes mentioned above.
To me it almost felt like a giant smack in the face.
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vashfanatic
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3492
Location: Back stateside
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:46 am
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Shikabane Hime... I loved the horror, I hated the humor. For me personally, I prefer black, dry humor in a series that features tons of gore and death. The wacky fanservice-based humor felt really jarring. I also never recovered in the second half from the death of Keisei. Part of this is because the actor for Ouri in the Japanese was so incredibly wooden. Did this get a dub? If so, I assume whoever played him was a massive improvement.
But you know, even if I dropped it, I didn't hate it, and would say you should check it out to see whether these issues bug you or not. Erin's right that the highs are really high; when this is good it's really good. The lows just left a worse impression on me than they did for her.
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redcar
Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 172
Location: Texas
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:47 am
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Congrats on a first successful year Erin!
I watched Corpse Princess subbed sometime back on Funimation's video site. It had an interesting premise, but the two leads just didn't do it for me. I dunno, it just felt like the male lead was a cardboard cutout and the female lead was unsympathetic as a character (i.e. an insufferable female dog). Perhaps the dub would help things a bit...?
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Hardgear
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:55 am
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Ushee wrote: | To me it almost felt like a giant smack in the face. |
Yeah, thats definitely true....
The journey was damn awesome, but then someone went and built an invisible wall for you to smack face-first into right as your destination comes into view...
I was mad at first, then I remembered the Gainax logo on the box... Then my anger became just irritation, as I was glad the series got even as much closure as it did.
Also, yes vashfanatic the series has a dub. I didn't have any complaints about it, but I grew up watching DBZ being talked over by a translator (like watching a UN meeting) so my standards are likely much lower than most people in that regard.
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Big Hed
Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:57 am
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vashfanatic wrote: | Part of this is because the actor for Ouri in the Japanese was so incredibly wooden. Did this get a dub? If so, I assume whoever played him was a massive improvement. |
Yes, and Ouri was played by Aaron Dismuke Erin mentioned. My assumption going in is that that's going to be a good thing, only being familiar with him from (duh) FMA.
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Chrno2
Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6172
Location: USA
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:09 am
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Glad to see that 'Corpse Bride' is shelf worthy. I'll say it is. I enjoyed it quite a bit and then some. I didn't realize that the ending was sort of thrown until I had gotten 75% of the way to the end. I was hoping that if it did run for this long they'd have some resolution laid out that would be pretty tragic, 'cause I doubt we can bring these poor souls back. Then again I've never read any of the manga chapters either. So I wouldn't know how close or off they were.
Definitely enjoyed the Gainax hyperbole and yes, lots of booty. Thing is Makina skirt is soooooo short. I was like how the hell could she jump around and that thing not rise up. The answer to quote a friend, "it's magic."
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Otaking09
Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:00 am
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Hmm.... I'm on the fence on trying out Corpse Bride.
If it has a Gainax ending. Then... that just means that we should let sleeping dogs lie(die?)?
I might try out the series because Shou Aikawa wrote it, and I was quite pleased with Oh! Edo Rocket's writing.
But if it isn't consistant... hmm.
Erin's description really got me interested, and then these guys say it's "worth the ride".
Huh. I guess I'm back to square one!
As for My Bride is a Mermaid, yeah I'm not really interested in it now. If it's just... funny for being funny, then...
Good week Erin!
It's ironic, one of my favorite Shelf Life's was the one you did on School Rumble! Which was... a year ago? Ironic.
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Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24006
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:13 am
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I had no problem with the ending of Corpse Bride. It resolved the main conflict of the entire series (as far as I'm concerned) and did leave the door open for a sequel, I believe. This is Anime Land, folks, we often don't get the neatly wrapped up packages that I guess so many Western viewers seem to crave.
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Hardgear
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Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:40 am
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Blood- wrote: | This is Anime Land, folks, we often don't get the neatly wrapped up packages that I guess so many Western viewers seem to crave. |
I don't know if this is just due to the types of shows (Western and anime) that I choose to watch, but a BY FAR larger percentage of the anime I watch have neatly wrapped up endings than western shows, which is actually one of the reasons I like anime better.
The way I always viewed it is that, with the exception of long-running Shonen shows and the like, most anime are made with 12, 13, 24, or 26 episodes on average planned for, with the potential for a sequel/second season. So they usually pace themselves to those limits and wrap up the problems for the current season, so that it can stand alone in case they are not called back to make more, but they leave enough mysteries that they can then make another season or sequel if they are called back. Even if they keep getting called back for more, each chunk is a fairly stand-alone set of episodes (Ghost in the Shell anyone? Pun intended of course!).
Western shows on the other hand seem to all be of the "let's keep making more until our ratings drop and management tells us we are cancelled, and hope we are given enough notice to throw together a decent ending" variety (with a few exceptions, like Avatar, which was planned for 3 20-ish episode seasons from the start, and it shows). Then to make sure people keep coming back for more, they like to end seasons on cliffhangers... Which means a lot of shows end on cliffhangers cause they were cancelled between seasons. Or they have a Quantum Leap ending, where at the end of just another routine episode they tack on some text to the effect of "oh by the way, show's over!"...
So I for one am more used to "real" endings from anime than from Western shows.
But, back on topic, what annoyed me about Corpse Princess was where/how they decided to end it. All other loose ends aside, if they AT LEAST finished the fight episode 25 ended in the middle of, or even ended before the fight started, with Makina deciding her new (un)life's purpose, I would have been fine with it. It annoyed me because they practically started another plot thread, which looked like it was going to carry on and be finished in the 26th episode, just to cut off right there and end it with a prequel episode.
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