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Shelf Life - Vlad to the Bone


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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1294
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:29 pm Reply with quote
I totally agree with your assessment of Aria. I think I finished the series, but I frankly don't remember one way or the other.

I was curious enough about it to check out the light novels to see if it was "faithful" to them or possibly a case of bad adaptation and decided that either the translation I was reading was really, really bad or that the anime was, if anything, a slight improvement over the source material. It was really not interesting.
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Levitz9



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 1022
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:53 pm Reply with quote
Okay, I went "Vavavavava-Vlad! Vavavavava-Vlad!" when I read the title to this week's column. Where's my punctuating guitar solo?


I'm not surprised at Aria's review. Even when I saw the ads on ANN's homepage, the show seemed so underwhelming and uninspired. As the years go by, it's getting easier and easier to tell an anime by its cover...
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1256
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 3:54 pm Reply with quote
ANNBamboo wrote:
Speaking of Vlad the Impaler, which by the way, would be a great nickname for a dude's junk
It took a lot of willpower to not burst out laughing in the middle of the office when I read this.
zensunni wrote:
I was curious enough about it to check out the light novels to see if it was "faithful" to them or possibly a case of bad adaptation and decided that either the translation I was reading was really, really bad or that the anime was, if anything, a slight improvement over the source material. It was really not interesting.
I did the same thing, with the same results.
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Yupa



Joined: 04 Dec 2011
Posts: 77
Location: The Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:13 pm Reply with quote
Hellsing Ultimate volumes V-VIII: I like that Funimation includes an artbox for both this volume and the first one, but why didn't they make room for three blu-ray cases? After all, you'd expect them to also license episodes 9 and 10 in the near future... Or will they release those with a bigger artbox?
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DmonHiro





PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:19 pm Reply with quote
In Aria's defense.......................... Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral
I've got nothing....
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 4:51 pm Reply with quote
I don't blame Japanese cinema, television, and literature to run rampant with Sengoku era stories. You've got decades of fighting and hundreds of characters, all of which change the direction and future for the entirety of the island Empire. Afterwards, you have nearly three centuries of relative peace, the most significant shake-up is when white men come a-knocking needing coaling stations to fuel their Asian trade.
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Crisha
Moderator


Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:20 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Gentlemen, I like war. Gentlemen, I like war.

Gentlemen, I love war.

I like genocide, I like blitzkrieg, I like aggressive war, I like defensive war, I like sieges, I like breakthroughs, I like withdrawing, I like cleaning up, I like retreating.

In moors, on highways, in trenches, in plains, on tundra, in desert, on sea, in sky, in mud, in marshes. I love every aspect of war that takes place on this earth.

I like blowing away the enemy with the thunderous roar of a line of guns going off all at once. When an enemy is shot to pieces after being thrown high into the air, my heart dances. I like crushing the enemy tank with the 88mm on our tanks. When I mowed down the enemy who fled screaming from the burning tank with a MG, my heart leapt.

I like it when the infantry plow through the enemy's lines with their bayonets all in line. I remember being moved when seeing new recruits, filled with panic, stabbing an already dead enemy again and again.

Seeing an escapee being strung from a lamp post in the street is unendurably exciting. Seeing a captive be thrown down with a piercing shriek as my own hand fell was spectacular.

When the pitiful resistance came bravely with their small firearms, and we destroyed them and a good chunk of the city with the 4.8 ton bomb, I was at my height.

I like it when we are destroyed with the morning dew. It is a sad thing when the town one is supposed to protect is trampled, and the women and children violated and killed.

I like being squashed and destroyed by England and America's amount of material resources. Being followed by English and American forces and having to crawl around on the ground like a pesky insect is the ultimate disgrace.

Gentlemen, I desire a war that is like hell.

Gentlemen, my companions in the battalion, who follow me...

Gentlemen what do you desire? Do you desire war as well? Do you desire a war of no mercy? Do you desire a conflict that stretches the limits of iron, wind, lighting and fire to the limit, one that will destroy all the crows on this planet?

Very well then. I shall give you war.

I'm gonna make a lullaby of that some day and sing my kids to sleep with it.

Oh wait, I'm not interested in the significant other/offspring thing.

Okay, then I'll just make a heavy metal song version and use it as my alarm clock in the morning to put me in the proper mood. Twisted Evil
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 3904
Location: CO
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:29 pm Reply with quote
Yupa wrote:
Hellsing Ultimate volumes V-VIII: I like that Funimation includes an artbox for both this volume and the first one, but why didn't they make room for three blu-ray cases? After all, you'd expect them to also license episodes 9 and 10 in the near future... Or will they release those with a bigger artbox?


I kind of thought that was weird also. I'm not really sure why they went this route.
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Thatguy3331



Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1799
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:34 pm Reply with quote
Recently when I recived one of my anime DVDs in the mail, I noticed a post card like advertisement for aira. Never mind the wirdness that I would get an ad card from funi when I ordered a bandai product (still need to get gurren before its too late) I realized that this was probably meant to be like those FMA postcards that you'd get when you get the FMA brotherhood parts (do the collections have those?) What did I do next after thinking of that? I threw it in the garbage. I haven't seen aria but I've heard absolutely nothing to justify me seeing it... all the post card did was make me wish Index or even Railgun had that sort of treatment...

I suppose I'll have to find a way to get into hellsing since its so bloody go- *SHOT SHOT SHOT SHOT SHOT*
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PrecisionCrab



Joined: 02 Nov 2012
Posts: 215
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 5:48 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
But, it also comes with an episode of Hellsing: Dawn, a prequel to the series that follows Walter as a young boy. It's subtitled-only, but it's a nice addition, and I'm astonished that Funimation didn't make a bigger fuss about including it as an extra.

Hey, Funimation? No.
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eyeresist



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 995
Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney)
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 8:04 pm Reply with quote
"hapless groin"

zensunni wrote:
[Aria] I was curious enough about it to check out the light novels to see if it was "faithful" to them or possibly a case of bad adaptation and decided that either the translation I was reading was really, really bad or that the anime was, if anything, a slight improvement over the source material. It was really not interesting.

Thanks for taking one for the team Smile
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2664
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 8:38 pm Reply with quote
PrecisionCrab wrote:
Quote:
But, it also comes with an episode of Hellsing: Dawn, a prequel to the series that follows Walter as a young boy. It's subtitled-only, but it's a nice addition, and I'm astonished that Funimation didn't make a bigger fuss about including it as an extra.

Hey, Funimation? No.


FUNimation is starting to leave some extras sub-only for some shows. Vandread's recap specials weren't dubbed when they finally came over, nor was Kaleido Star's Phoenix OVA when FUNi license rescued the show.
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PrecisionCrab



Joined: 02 Nov 2012
Posts: 215
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 9:23 pm Reply with quote
Good for them.

I ain't buying their shit if they're gonna half-ass it - on top of releasing unnecessary chip board boxes that completely ruin consistency, and don't even have space for the entire series....
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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 2350
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 9:27 pm Reply with quote
eyeresist wrote:
"hapless groin"

zensunni wrote:
[Aria] I was curious enough about it to check out the light novels to see if it was "faithful" to them or possibly a case of bad adaptation and decided that either the translation I was reading was really, really bad or that the anime was, if anything, a slight improvement over the source material. It was really not interesting.

Thanks for taking one for the team Smile

Good to hear that from someone who disliked the anime. I just heard from people that it was a bad adaptation. good to know that is false
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jymmy



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 10:12 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
What would happen in the sequel? Cleopatra?

You've researched the light novels, haven't you?
Tanteikingdomkey wrote:
eyeresist wrote:
"hapless groin"
zensunni wrote:
[Aria] I was curious enough about it to check out the light novels to see if it was "faithful" to them or possibly a case of bad adaptation and decided that either the translation I was reading was really, really bad or that the anime was, if anything, a slight improvement over the source material. It was really not interesting.

Thanks for taking one for the team Smile

Good to hear that from someone who disliked the anime. I just heard from people that it was a bad adaptation. good to know that is false

It was more or less a straight adaptation, yeah. The volumes that weren't adapted are slightly less terrible, which is due to more of the series' only actual strength: the over-the-top action concepts. In three volumes and twelve episodes, the best moment was Reki sniping the bomb out from under the bus from a helicopter. There's more stuff like that later on. Volume 7 is basically a single fight scene wrapped in some exposition. The characters remain as bland and clichéd as ever, though,
Funnily enough, the worst thing about the series is the main character. The review got her spot on: she's annoying, bland and totally unoriginal (being voiced by Rie Kugiyama can hardly help this view, though she sounds appropriately like more of an whiny brat that Shana or Taiga (compare Shana's hard-edged competence to Taiga's near-growl to Aria's idiotic blabbering; even within her tsundere characters, Kugiyama has some impressive range).
Reki, easily the best (or maybe just my favourite) character, is an unoriginal emotionless girl, though her emotional development in her book (which was superior due to Aria's almost total absense) was far better-done than Aria's irredeemable crappy tsundere characterisation.
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