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Forum - View topicREVIEW: Neo Angelique Abyss Sub.DVD
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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I hate it when stories use the names of mythological beings without actually being respectful towards the source material. Arcadia as a name of a place is alright, since it is an actual region of Greece. However, Nyx was not "a wealthy gentleman" but the Goddess of the Primordial Night. Thanatos, who was her son (well, one of them), was the personified God of Death, not a race of monsters (in fact he was a somewhat sympathetic being).
And don't get me started on all the shows which blatantly bastardise the Nordic mythology. Geez, doesn't anyone nowadays have any respect for the great pantheons of the ancients? Last edited by dtm42 on Sat Mar 13, 2010 3:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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SoandSo
 Posts: 204 |
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Nice review. I thought this was gonna really tear into this show, given the not-so-original-sounding plot synopsis, the fact it's based on a game with *shudders* dating-game elements and kinda "well...if you like pretty stuff..." headline, but it was a nice surprise.
Angelique sounds like one of those codependent "I need everyone to like me" types, something I don't see a whole lot of as a protagonist, not in anything I've seen lately. Normally, I'd dread the possibility of finding her intensely annoying, but since character development seems to be a strong suit for this series, it could make for some juicy drama and development for her later down the line. And while I typically like less plot and character info in reviews, the in-depth exploration of its' intruging themes(the generic shounen/shoujo heroic posturing of how you'll protect everyone no matter what? That's easy to say when you've nothing left to lose, ain't it?) really piqued my interest where I may have passed on it otherwise. I'll have to give this show a shot. Great review.
Eh. Yeah, it's kind of silly and lazy, but at least the Thanatos thing seems to fit.  I dunno, sooo much other fiction does it, and often much, much, much more obnoxiously(see Book of Bantorra or Darksiders) than it really doesn't bother me here.
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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That's what I thought too. I was so surprised when I saw the grade I actually bothered to read the review, ha hah. But seriously, that plot synopsis doesn't impress me one little bit. Neither does the title. So it's a good thing we have reviewers I guess, because if I saw that on the shelf my eyes would pass right over it, and I would never give it a chance.
I can think of (early) Yoko Nakajima from The Twelve Kingdoms, and that's about it. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I guess Rebecca will be reviewing Otome-game anime adaptations then?
I guess for the fujoshi this show is targeted towards, A-B grades suffice. I watched a few episodes and was repelled, though I'm certainly not in the target audience. |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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I only took a quick look at the review in order to avoid spoilers - can you watch this series without knowing anything about the games and other adaptions? (and are those any good?)
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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The story is selfcontained, so you don't have to see the previous version, and as a TV series, it has time to adapt the entire story, so you don't have to have played the video game. Sentai also dropped in some omake anime with the Chibi episodes. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I just finished this via rental earlier this week.
I had pretty low expectations, but by the second episode I was surprised at my level of enjoyment. Most reverse harems shows I find watchable, mainly because more time is given to fleshing out the lead female. Think of Ouran, Haruka, Fruits Basket. This show is no exception but not quite as good as those. Two things the review did not mention: 1. This is the first Sentai subtitling effort where I did not spot a single subtitle problem with grammar, spelling or punctuation. I am not saying there are none, but I did not see any. Which is the way subtitles should be. 2. As Paploo mentioned, very rare for a Sentai release, there are actual Extras besides clean open and close. The short chibi omakes are pretty decent (though not as good as the Don't tell Mother Maria omakes in Maria Watches Over Us) |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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I'd have to say that the more serious tones made it something I'd sort of recommend... mostly picked it up since I'd liked Pretear, hadn't picked up any shojo in awhile (checking my list, out of the past 100 discs, it was this, Here is Greenwood and a volume of Saiunkoku I haven't watched yet) and was interested in sampling Sentai's wares now that their CDN prices dropped a bit (also got Blue Drop, though still need to watch that).
And the final episode's twist was pretty fun, not as fun as Pretear's, but still pretty good. The more stupid elements just give it a bit of humour [these people waste almost as much time with tea as Glass Fleet], and Angelique's an interesting character. I also like the funny jab at Lynn Minmay [put some glasses and a hat on, and no one will notice it's you! lol!]. Very very far from high art mind you, but has it's moments. If you have a low-tolerance level for cheesy dialogue, you'll probably want to stay away though. And the monster designs are pretty horrible for the most part (though sometimes to the point of being funny- I swear one of the types of Thanatos looks like ovaries from a biology textbook. The cylinder shaped monsters didn't help either). Having it all in one lowpriced box makes it a little easier to recommend, though you either have to be a fan of this sort of material, or one of those people who'll watch any sort of anime to like it. Am curious what I'll check out from Sentai next [guessing I'll get Eyesheild 21, though I imagine their June solicits will have some interesting new title..... might wait on reviews for Living for the Day After Tommorrow]. They seem to have found a good way to release titles that aren't exactly chartburners. |
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neocloud9
 Posts: 1178 Location: Atlanta, GA |
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I enjoyed this show way more than I expected to, Angelique was a gorgeous protagonist... Something you don't often see in shojo-skewed anime! It was refreshing, having a girl you actually believed all these hot guys would fall in love with, rather than just because she was the only female around for miles.
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here-and-faraway
 Posts: 1529 Location: Sunny California |
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Sounds interesting. I'll have to check it out.
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Zade
Posts: 79 |
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"It's hard to take an anime series (or anything, for that matter) seriously when it's based on a video game, especially considering that the vast majority of them are lackluster at best"
... Did you just insult all of video games? |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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That, and they made the wise decision of keeping most of the relationships platonic, and focusing in on one as potentially romantic but keeping it sort of platonic too. Trying to put in elements of all the plotlines of games with dating sims elements is something I've found can make anime versions less appealing [I've noticed that mostly amoung adaptions of stuff with female harems, and it applies to manga-based stuff too- once everyone starts doting on Kaoru in Ai Yori Aoshi, it gets confusing storywise, though that's not the worst culprit]. Given how few of these games are ever translated, it works better to flesh out the main character and avoid making them a cipher. This show goes the Sakura Wars anime route of the exploring the characters, and shuffling the dating sim aspects to the sidelines. Add in that some games depend more on gameplay style then storylines [a generic story can be forgiveable if gameplay is unique], which is hard to translate into a movie/anime. Last edited by Paploo on Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:35 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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I think he's talking more about how hard it is to adapt video games into an anime. Video games rely on stuff like multiple story paths/outcomes (all of which have fans to please) and extended stretches of puzzlesolving or beating stuff up that doesn't exactly lend itself well to anime adaptions. Do they create a new ending? Ignore the story and just make a sidestory OVA? Adapt one ending/outcome while angering fans of another? Add in story elements to flesh stuff out beyond just beating characters up? Mind you, Video Games will never stop being anime fodder, as it's stuff that sells, and people like seeing their fave characters in lush, fullmotion video. Some games adaptions end up being better then others, but it's something more difficult to adapt then manga which'll usually have a more linear storyline. also- haven't played the game yet, but what I've seen of Bayonetta makes me think there should be an anime adaption ASAP. It looks so sleek and sexy designwise, and the superpowered hair concept is pretty original. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3495 Location: Back stateside |
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Then I strongly discourage you from watching Heroic Age. 
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Raneth
Posts: 271 |
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I remember watching this show and loving it when it first came out. I'll have to grab this DVD (And the subsequent season 2 release on March 30th).
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