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REVIEW: Medaka Box Episodes 1-6 Streaming


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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:08 pm Reply with quote
While I personally haven't been "bored" with it so far, I'd agree it's a disappointment. I have to wonder if this is a fault with the source material or if something went wrong in the transition to the anime.
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JoePianist



Joined: 24 Jun 2011
Posts: 37
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:17 pm Reply with quote
GAINAX seems to lapse into periods of producing mediocre to so-so anime series in-between extravagant and risky projects (Evangelion, Diebuster, Gurren Lagann, Panty and Stockings---to name a few). Hopefully, GAINAX is working on their next big hit during this period.
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RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Posts: 4210
Location: Towson, Maryland
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:18 pm Reply with quote
DRWii wrote:
While I personally haven't been "bored" with it so far, I'd agree it's a disappointment. I have to wonder if this is a fault with the source material or if something went wrong in the transition to the anime.


Medaka Boxs manga sucked up to this point, and it almost got cancelled... until it changed genre, and became one of the more popular Jump mangas afterwards. Sadly, I'm not sure we'll get to the genre shift before the anime ends since its only 12 episodes.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:23 pm Reply with quote
RyanSaotome wrote:
Medaka Boxs manga sucked up to this point, and it almost got cancelled... until it changed genre, and became one of the more popular Jump mangas afterwards.

It sells more than Magico, STARS, and that one about mirrors. That's hardly 'one of the more popular Jump manga'.

Frankly, I'm happy that Medaka Box has shown that people buy Bake/Nisemonogatari for SHAFT and Shinbo, not for Nisioisin. This is one of the season's biggest flops in terms of current pre-order estimates.
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:30 pm Reply with quote
RyanSaotome wrote:
Sadly, I'm not sure we'll get to the genre shift before the anime ends since its only 12 episodes.

If sells well enough, they could make another season. Not that Shouji Saeki has earned my trust as a director.
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:38 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Frankly, I'm happy that Medaka Box has shown that people buy Bake/Nisemonogatari for SHAFT and Shinbo, not for Nisioisin.

"Katanagatari" was good too, though. And one of my favorite episodes of "xxxHOLiC" was based a short story of his. But I'm pretty sure those are the only other works of his that have been animated, so maybe we've already gotten the best of the bunch. Confused
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gwern



Joined: 05 Nov 2009
Posts: 67
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:42 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
Considering he directed FLCL, I'd say he has earned my trust as a director.


He was director on 2 episodes, and they all bear the huge stamp of Tsurumaki anyway.

---

I wonder if this is just a dip in Gainax or something more permanent? A lot of key people have left in the past few years (starting, most obviously, with Anno to Khara).

You have to go back to Gurren Lagann - which was the cause for Anno's split since he wanted to do Rebuild first - in 2007 to find something fans really liked by Gainax. Corpse Princess, Hanamaru Kindergarten, The Mystic Archives of Dantalian, and now Medaka Box were all non-entities; Panty & Stocking was OK, but had no ambitions beyond being a novelty.

5 years (and counting) is a pretty long gap. There weren't five year gaps between Gunbuster, Otaku no Video, Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances, FLCL, Diebuster, and Gurren Lagann.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
Posts: 1298
PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 11:57 pm Reply with quote
Even though Medaka Box is pretty much my favorite JUMP manga right now I have to agree with this review.

You know even recently I;ve seen people on forums acting like Medaka Box was amazing pre genre shift and that becoming spoiler[a battle manga/parody] killed it, but seeing these earlier chapters animated just makes me realized how much the shift really saved the series.

Sadly it probably won't be enough to save the anime but if at the very least the rumors of it being split cour are true there is some hope.
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DRWii



Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 642
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:01 am Reply with quote
gwern wrote:
I wonder if this is just a dip in Gainax or something more permanent? A lot of key people have left in the past few years (starting, most obviously, with Anno to Khara).
...
5 years (and counting) is a pretty long gap. There weren't five year gaps between Gunbuster, Otaku no Video, Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances, FLCL, Diebuster, and Gurren Lagann.

Anno and others leaving probably have had an effect, but it could also simply be that they're focusing more on making money/staying in business than on passion projects. Although that alone doesn't mean everything they make suddenly becomes crap (I liked "Dantalian" and "Panty & Stocking," myself).
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mewpudding101
Industry Insider


Joined: 07 Apr 2009
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Location: Tokyo, Japan
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:03 am Reply with quote
Agreed on this review 100 percent. I can't believe Nisioisin wrote this crap (that should be a slogan on a t-shirt (copyright!)). I tried to keep going, I really did, I thought it might get better, and with all the crap this season, it's been hard to continue anything. I had to stop after episode 4 because I felt that my life was fluttering away. Very boring. Next!
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the Rancorous



Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 2248
Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:03 am Reply with quote
Wow. I only watched the 1st episode, and that was 23 minutes of my life I'll never get back. Looks like I shouldn't take it any further. This show really felt like the boring version of Ookami-san. Not that Okami-san was anything special, but it at least entertained. I mean, it's only been less than a week since I watched the 1st episode of Medaka box, I can barely recollect much of anything that happened. Upotte!! had a much longer lasting effect on me for crying out loud. Confused
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CrowLia



Joined: 24 Feb 2012
Posts: 5528
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:23 am Reply with quote
I agree with this review 100% I was looking forward to this show due to its pedigree (I should've learned from Blood-C that pedigree means nothing), but it's been a great disappointment. I'm kind of forcing myself to watch it because of this genre-shift everyone talks about. I hated the 60-ish KHR Daily-life chapters, but now its one of my favorite manga, so I'm willing to give Medaka a chance. I hope it becomes more than this :S
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:36 am Reply with quote
When will fans learn that "it's Gainax, it must be good" is a terrible line of thinking. Unless it's original, it tends to either be terrible (He Is My Master, Melody of Oblivion, This Ugly), or just mediocre or easily forgettable (Hanamaru, Corpse Princess, Abenobashi). They're a studio like any other, and they too churn out a bunch of less than stellar shows, just like Madhouse. You can easily tell that their hearts aren't in this because these shows help pay the bills, I doubt they proactively choose to do things like this. Of course, in this case it's really easy to blame the source material, but I hope that mood swinging genre shift comes soon to make this series more interesting, but there's not much time left to save this season. In the end, it doesn't matter, Trigger and Khara are Gainax now.

Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Fri May 18, 2012 12:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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RyanSaotome



Joined: 29 Mar 2011
Posts: 4210
Location: Towson, Maryland
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 12:43 am Reply with quote
Gainax is general is pretty much done.. most of their talent during their glory days is gone. Panty and Stocking might be the last "True" Gainax show we've seen.
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nottimkai



Joined: 05 Jan 2009
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:29 am Reply with quote
I ... Disagree!

I almost didn't watch this show because it didn't seem to go over well in the preview guide, and I am usually right there when a show gets a universal 'meh' on ANN. I watched an episode this afternoon because I just hadn't had enough after "Kids on the Slope", and only stopped after episode 4 because I had obligations. I am going to watch another episode before I go to bed.

Maybe I'm just coming out of a burnout period and can find good things in anime again. That is possible. But I can't agree that this show is Boring.

I fear that the Gainax connection is tainting people's opinions.

My own perspective is probably tainted because I cheated and read some scanlations of the newest chapters (100+ further along than the show) when I heard about this anime, and there is some really interesting stuff there. Watching the starting point of the show, I am just thrilled thinking about how the plot is going to get to that point.

SO! While I disagree with this review, it is well written. And that is something at least.
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