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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:22 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
How do you know when you've crossed that line?

I think the line is where you like most of what you watch. For example, I've seen a lot of Shonen Jump anime, but I wouldn't call myself a Shonen Jump fan because I don't really like a majority of the titles I've seen.
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John Casey



Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 1853
Location: In My Angry Center
PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:41 pm Reply with quote
I kind of knew Erin would hate Phantom, despite my never having watched it before, and only knowing snippets of the plot.

Is that a bad sign?
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:44 pm Reply with quote
I kind of knew that she would completely botch any sort of synopsis for it if that's any indication. spoiler[Zwei doesn't betray Inferno from what I recall. His loyalty is to Claudia, and she takes over Inferno after Scythe's departure].
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CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:45 pm Reply with quote
Just a quick question from the cheap seats: what's the difference between a "perishable" and "flushable" rating? Scatology aside, it sounds like what one would do with the other.

When I see/encounter shows like Phantom (or similar) I immediately jump to the conclusion: what was Funi thinking by going to the expense of a dub (especially when this type of anime's been done to death by likes of Bee Train before; and are dubbed)?

You think they've gone mad. But you know these aren't people to waste money (at least I hope) by licensing an anime that won't sell. They're goal is to see a return on their investment. Which leads me to think that an audience *might* actually exist for it, and for some reason, that boggles my mind a bit--like you said, it isn't anything we haven't seen or seen done much better before (props for the John Woo and Professional shout out).

I guess for the new fan it's something they haven't seen before. But for the grizzled -and perhaps cynical/jaded/worldly- vet it's very old hat.

Whatever. To each their own.
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_Emi_



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Location: Langjökull
PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 11:52 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
In Gundam Unicorn, the Earth Forces are fighting the Neo Zeon forces for something called Laplace's Box. No one knows what is in this box, but somehow the world economy can be swayed by the contents.

Laplace's Demon, I'm guessing, which would sway more than just the world economy.

CareyGrant wrote:
Just a quick question from the cheap seats: what's the difference between a "perishable" and "flushable" rating? Scatology aside, it sounds like what one would do with the other.

Perishable is for physical releases and flushable for streaming titles.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:06 am Reply with quote
What I like about Full Frontal's talk with Banagher is that it does mention more than just vague ideals, but specific examples of what's been going on in space. Full Frontal is a lot more willing to apply his beliefs to real situations than some Gundam villains. He's also a lot more willing to accept criticism, as well.

Angelo's raging was actually kind of annoying, because he seems like that typical, "You don't deserve to be in his presence!" kind of character that blindly obeys everything his commander tells him and obsesses over him. That ascended fanboyism seems almost like commentary on fans of Zeon or Char Aznable in real life. Kind of like it's intended as a jab to us obsessive fans. But I could be reading too much into it.

The English dub is quite good for Unicorn, which is a plus since the subtitles can be difficult to see at times on the Blu-Ray. It's bad enough when Funimation does that, but Bandai should know better.
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John Casey



Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 1853
Location: In My Angry Center
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:12 am Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
I kind of knew that she would completely botch any sort of synopsis for it if that's any indication. spoiler[Zwei doesn't betray Inferno from what I recall. His loyalty is to Claudia, and she takes over Inferno after Scythe's departure].

I never really read into either Bamboo's or Erin's reviews too much, but from what you indicate, Erin's reviews aren't terribly popular...
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bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 1243
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:47 am Reply with quote
CareyGrant wrote:
You think they've gone mad. But you know these aren't people to waste money (at least I hope) by licensing an anime that won't sell. They're goal is to see a return on their investment. Which leads me to think that an audience *might* actually exist for it, and for some reason, that boggles my mind a bit--like you said, it isn't anything we haven't seen or seen done much better before (props for the John Woo and Professional shout out).

Or it was the anchor to something they actually wanted. Only watching how fast it progresses through the different release levels will tell for sure.
Quote:
I don't know if you know this, but bad guys drink alcohol all the time. How else could you tell how bad they are?

They smoke or have mirror-universe-hair.
Quote:
How do you know when you've crossed that line?

Correcting people of their interpretations is a symptom, but the surest sign is when you declare a favorite/preferred timeline/universe or otherwise rank them. Since the latter would be a natural tendancy for anyone who has seen as many as you, which would be further aggravated by your critical/reviewer job, chances are you are long past saving.
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JackCox



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 386
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 12:56 am Reply with quote
Frankly I just think Erin doesn't get it. Phantom just like Casshern Sins is not for people who are hyper active, they are slow-moving shows and your completely wrong on this. This is where I turn to when I have to get away from the Moe Virus that has infected most anime today.
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:05 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Frankly I just think Erin doesn't get it. Phantom just like Casshern Sins is not for people who are hyper active, they are slow-moving shows and your completely wrong on this. This is where I turn to when I have to get away from the Moe Virus that has infected most anime today.


My exact thoughts. I can only conclude that Erin hasn't(or has?) seen a title(s) that make experiences like C. Sins and Phantom obsolete.
A "you watch one, you've seen them all" kind of thing.
Aside from being a breath of fresh(or murky?) air from those moe clones, you get to see anime do an about-face.

I mean, we all have our preferences, but being unable to see the beauty in the "actions" rather than the overall direction is only scratching the surface.
Although, to be honest, I prefer Casshern over Phantom. Had a better ending(in my book), slightly more likable characters, better romance, and had a stronger point.

And yes, I look forward to Unicorn as well. It just might be the only Universal Century Gundam I'll like(not counting the OVAs and Victory. Haven't seen V yet).
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JuicyB



Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 278
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:06 am Reply with quote
"Level E liberally mixes ugly realistic characters with normal-looking folks for no discernable reason"

Heh, you'd probably die if you saw anything by Leiji Matsumoto Razz
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Mikuru



Joined: 08 Nov 2007
Posts: 124
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:30 am Reply with quote
I thought the whole point Level E is that the prince is a lovable troll?...
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eyeresist



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 995
Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney)
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:41 am Reply with quote
JackCox wrote:
Frankly I just think Erin doesn't get it. Phantom just like Casshern Sins is not for people who are hyper active, they are slow-moving shows and your completely wrong on this.

Just because a show is slow, that doesn't mean it's intelligent. Witness the oeuvre of Bee Train, for instance. But plenty of naive people get sucked in by shows that appeal to undergraduate intellectual vanity, to the extent that it's practically an anime genre in itself!

How to do it: Just take your cookie-cutter standard anime, slow the plotting to one third speed, make the colour palette gloomy and/or grainy, have characters speak pretentious platitudes in halting monotones, and have an "ambiguous" (i.e. nonsensical) and "existential" (i.e. meaningless) ending. Presto - instant masterpiece. I mean, if you like this as a style, just say so, but don't insist it's because you're just so much smarter and more sensitive than everybody else.


Anyway. "Full Frontal". That must count as Engrish, right?
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ninjaclown



Joined: 17 Dec 2008
Posts: 199
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:41 am Reply with quote
Quote:
unfunny Men in Black film

Sad
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vermilionone



Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Posts: 45
PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:01 am Reply with quote
My old anime club tried to collectively play the Phantom DVD game when it came back waaay in the early 200x's. I still don't entirely comprehend how doing absolutely nothing for more than 45 minutes could leave emotional scars... yet here I am. I wouldn't expect much better from a derivative work.

As far as the "not a Gundam fan..." comment goes... Isn't that ultimately a statement made to denigrate people who do like Gundam's way of approaching its subject matter? In reality it's "I'm not a Gundam fan, so my opinion carries more value" in most of the forms it's used, isn't it? You could stop saying that when you're willing to allow that Gundam has many tropes associated with the franchise and some people like them, and some people don't connect with them very well. When you no longer feel the need to distance yourself from those dirty Gundam fans, then you don't need to use the statement. It's such a weird one to make, I don't see people preambling science fiction discussions with "I'm not a Star Trek fan but..." I guess I do see "I'm not a superhero comic book fan but..." and usually that comes right before a stunningly snobby statement.

I could be entirely wrong, but I've never considered it to be a particularly functional statement. Now, if you're looking for the moment where you could say "I'm a Gundam fan", which is an entirely different matter, I'd say it's probably when you've decided that you either want to go back and watch the series you've missed, or you're happily looking forward to a new series premiering.

Edit:
Regarding the "botched" synopsis talk (and I'll admit beforehand that I only skimmed her review of Phantom, given my previous experience with the franchise): Sometimes, to prevent spoilers in a review, a reviewer must muddle details. Having a bunch of spoilers boxes in the review is just sort of unprofessional. Ultimately a review is for the benefit of a reader who hasn't seen the work being reviewed. At least giving a vague sense of what's going on without any concrete details would let a reader who hasn't seen the work touch base with the reviewers feelings.
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