×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
REVIEW: Burn the Witch #0.8 Anime OAV Review




Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 2127
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 12:49 pm Reply with quote
Balgo does suck, mainly because the horny boy anime thrope is stale and old and there is no reinvention of that third wheel here.

But everything else about Burn the Witch rules! I am definitely on board this train to London!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
InfiniteNothingness



Joined: 13 Apr 2017
Posts: 198
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:44 pm Reply with quote
Rarely do I see a shōnen that I'd like to see not just the boy MC have a reduced presence, but be removed entirely like a gross zit. I can and have worked with so many (even if I frequently find they'd be just as acceptable if they were girls), and Balgo is legitimately one of the worst and most nothing characters short of an equally vacuous, outright sex pest as opposed to insufferable horndog.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1009
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
In Western TV, it's not uncommon to have a pilot episode to pitch to potential producers, which eventually gets heavily reworked and changed before going to a whole series


A few anime have had that. The closest example is the Kimagure Orange Road pilot / Shônen Jump special.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4830
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 3:47 pm Reply with quote
John Thacker wrote:

A few anime have had that. The closest example is the Kimagure Orange Road pilot / Shônen Jump special.

Yeah, things like the Jump Festa specials sometimes serve as pilots for later adaptations. One Piece got an OVA by Production IG (and directed by Goro Taniguchi of all people) before Toei started on the series proper.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 2735
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 4:19 pm Reply with quote
I also have some reservations about Balgo, though if he gets a unique power/ability thus being able to do something useful and develops a bit less of a sleazy personality, things could be fixed. I do really like the setting and what we have seen of it so far (be it the dragons, dual London, magical creatures, fairytale dragons and magic) makes me want a lot more. Whether we will actually get that though....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
BlueBeast33



Joined: 09 Jul 2015
Posts: 155
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 5:28 pm Reply with quote
Always felt that it was a mistake for them to not animate this first, but I'm at least glad they finally got around to it. It is the weakest part of the story though for what's out at the moment, but the anime adaptation continues to do a fantastic job in my opinion. The fact that they're doing this now though does lead me to believe that we'll probably get more soon, or at least an announcement in the coming year.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gem-Bug



Joined: 10 Nov 2018
Posts: 1330
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:36 pm Reply with quote
Loose-Bleach connection aside, there's really nothing here that the Ancient Magus' Bride hasn't been doing better for over a decade now. Maybe we'll get more down the line, but I doubt it at this point.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
LastPage 3



Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 215
PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2023 8:43 pm Reply with quote
BlueBeast33 wrote:
Always felt that it was a mistake for them to not animate this first, but I'm at least glad they finally got around to it. It is the weakest part of the story though for what's out at the moment, but the anime adaptation continues to do a fantastic job in my opinion.


The reviewer really had it right when he called it a pilot episode though, especially when it comes to Balgo. It seemed like Kubo wholesale copied over Keigo from Bleach when he came up with this character. Even in the limited material we've gotten since then Kubo has expanded on his character a bit, which is good.

Quote:
The fact that they're doing this now though does lead me to believe that we'll probably get more soon, or at least an announcement in the coming year.


IIRC Kubo has actually said something to this effect.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
flamemasterelan



Joined: 17 Apr 2022
Posts: 497
PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 12:57 am Reply with quote
InfiniteNothingness wrote:
Rarely do I see a shōnen that I'd like to see not just the boy MC have a reduced presence, but be removed entirely like a gross zit.

I think I felt the same way about Heaven's Lost Property. I liked almost everyone in the cast, and there were a lot of really interesting concepts that I don't remember anymore because it's been at least a decade...but I hated the main character so much.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 2127
PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2023 6:41 pm Reply with quote
Gem-Bug wrote:
Loose-Bleach connection aside, there's really nothing here that the Ancient Magus' Bride hasn't been doing better for over a decade now. Maybe we'll get more down the line, but I doubt it at this point.


I'm an Magus Bride manga-reader, still need to pick up my reserved copy of the latest English volume, but I have to contradict your assertion.

While Magus Bride does share similarities - set in England/English magic/lore, female led, etc. but an action-comedy on par with Burn the Witch and it's assortment of bad-ass characters, it is not. The tone and pacing are completely different.

Magus Bride takes itself more seriously, a more realistic-grounded-fantasy with a slower deliberate pacing aimed at older-shoujo-audiences and with an unconventional relationship dynamic between it's female lead and the male creature who is her legal spouse/guardian.

Burn the Witch is closer to the traditional shonen action formula of bright outrageous characters, power levels/rankings, expansive cast, muscleheads and sexy chicks, explosive set-pieces etc.

Magus Bride takes it's time slowly fleshing out its characters and world whilst building towards an explosive climax, whereas Burn the Witch is the buddy-comedy where things are escalating episode after episode. In fact, one of the big climaxes involving a dragon in magus Bride at the end of its season happens by Episode 3 of the Burn the Witch OVA, and you know there are even crazier, zanier, bankai things to come.

Which series is better? Depends on your taste. These are practically different genres. It'd be like comparing Vinland Saga and Golden Kamui. Both are historical epics that involve fighting in the snow, and a large male-driven ensemble cast of fighting men and a mix of comical moments, and people searching for each other. But each is still very different. One has more intricate character studies, serious portrayals of war and violence and political machinations and tragedy, while the other is focused mainly on being a fun treasure-hunting/heist story. While there is some serious story, theme and political background in Golden Kamui, it doesn't dwell on it for too long and keeps moving along.

So audiences will have different expectations from Burn the Witch versus Ancient Magus Bride. The focus of the Ancient Magus Bride is Chise's maturity and her relationship with Elias and what it means to be human. The focus of Burn the Witch is about magical power fighting and dragon-killing and watching two polar-opposite characters team up to good-cop/bad-cop their way to victory, and just who is their unkempt supervisor and why is he so powerful? And who is going to play Aizen this time? And how far does the power-scale in this world work and who are we going to see fighting next?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
fathomlessblue



Joined: 28 Mar 2012
Posts: 391
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2024 8:07 pm Reply with quote
Seeing all the Magus Bride comparisons is pretty funny to me, because even with the completely different tone & focus, it doubles down on just how much effort Kore Yamazaki put into learning about UK mythology & customs, when you compare it to a title where grown adults ogle school uniforms, teens are singularly obsessed with looking at panties and friends squabble over name order & seniority. I mean there's writing what you know, but transferring weird sub-cultural fascinations to a country that generally doesn't care about them, makes for a somewhat unintentially uncanny experience.

Consider the number of years I spent as an anime fan, Burn the Witch is the first work by Tite Kubo I've ever encountered, & if this is at all representative of his output, he certainly has a talent for character & creature designs, but is woefully lacking when it comes to everything else. Between all the continuous 'as you know' dialogue and the absolute charisma-void that is Balgo, I don't think I'd trust him to write a compelling script. I suppose that does seem to track with everything I've heard about Bleach over the years.

Mostly the pilot just makes me wish for a dream scenario were Kubo was in charge of the art and a completely different team handled the writing. And now I'm imagining a version Burn the Witch made by the Lycoris Recoil staff. Ditch the scrub & the cheap, juvenile humour & focus on Ninny & Noel's slightly abrasive adventures. What could (& will never) be.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
oilers2007



Joined: 23 Sep 2022
Posts: 130
PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 2:13 am Reply with quote
fathomlessblue wrote:
Seeing all the Magus Bride comparisons is pretty funny to me, because even with the completely different tone & focus, it doubles down on just how much effort Kore Yamazaki put into learning about UK mythology & customs, when you compare it to a title where grown adults ogle school uniforms, teens are singularly obsessed with looking at panties and friends squabble over name order & seniority. I mean there's writing what you know, but transferring weird sub-cultural fascinations to a country that generally doesn't care about them, makes for a somewhat unintentially uncanny experience.


Do you think UK teenagers aren't horny or have schoolgirl fetishes? It sounds like your issue is more that is has fanservice than it not being authentic to UK culture.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
fathomlessblue



Joined: 28 Mar 2012
Posts: 391
Location: Manchester, UK
PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 9:56 am Reply with quote
oilers2007 wrote:
fathomlessblue wrote:
Seeing all the Magus Bride comparisons is pretty funny to me, because even with the completely different tone & focus, it doubles down on just how much effort Kore Yamazaki put into learning about UK mythology & customs, when you compare it to a title where grown adults ogle school uniforms, teens are singularly obsessed with looking at panties and friends squabble over name order & seniority. I mean there's writing what you know, but transferring weird sub-cultural fascinations to a country that generally doesn't care about them, makes for a somewhat unintentially uncanny experience.


Do you think UK teenagers aren't horny or have schoolgirl fetishes? It sounds like your issue is more that is has fanservice than it not being authentic to UK culture.


Horny, sure. Focused around schoolgirl fetishes... well naturally there are always some, but as a cultural fixation that adult strangers in the street to stop to stare at, not really no. Public obsession with school uniforms is a clear regional sub-cultural fixation filtered in via a long-standing anime tropes, so let's not act coy & pretend it's something otherwise.

Besides you conveniently skipped mentioning the rest of the comment talking about panty-shots, name order and senpai/kōhai relationships, which formed the wider part of my point about Kubo lazily slapping over generic 90/00's Japanese anime high school templates on to an entirely unrelated setting, oblivious (or perhaps uncaring) of whether it fits or not.

So no, my issue isn't that it has fanservice, but that the fanservice (if it can even be called that), like nearly every other aspect of the ova outside of the visual design, comes across as uninspired & barely considered. Here, having an obnoxious guy endlessly scream about wanting to see underwear isn't the premise to a joke; it is the joke. Come on now. Horny Go Nagai & Rumiko Takahashi comedies were running circles around Burn the Witch in terms of creativity in the 70/80's, let alone the thought & effort most current shows are bringing comparatively speaking.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group