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Shelf Life - Sound and the Fury


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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 8:36 pm Reply with quote
Does anyone else think Kanata looks like a K On-styled Lain?

I think it's safe to say that Sound of the Sky is one of the best and most beautiful character-driven dramas I've seen since Haibane Renmei. Both series are similar in that they revolve around a group of girls, take place in their own unique worlds, and at first the story doesn't seem to lead anywhere in general, but when it does you're in for a big surprise. One of the chief differences of course is that instead of angel girls we get soldier girls. Also, Kanata and Rio have one of the genuinely strongest and most unique bonds I've seen between female characters. While the final TV episode had a good ending, the final final episode that summed up the two characters' relationship really hit it home for me. This is one series that deserves to be widely recognized and collected for the shelf.

I know Right Stuf had long stopped dubbing their shows, but I wished they made an exception with this one so I could show it to my family.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:33 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
I don't know how many times I have seen comments about this show saying things like "If they have spider tanks, why do they use bugles?" The concept of a civilization in collapse, where little of the advanced technology that they once possessed is still available, but some of it is still there and some extraordinarily brilliant individuals are able to still make sense of it and use it seems beyond some people.

Another really great story involving civilization collapse is the classic "Genesis of the Daleks" episode of Dr. Who. Prior to the invention of the daleks, the war on their home planet has been deadlocked for hundreds of years, and the episode opens with a similar old and new technology mix, and the Doctor explains why that's going on.

Growing up in the early '90s my brother and I only managed to collect a handful of Doctor Who episodes (on commercial VHS from a Suncoast in the next town and recording PBS broadcasts before it was canceled), and that was one of them, and it was one of the good ones, so we watched it many times.

the Rancorous wrote:
I like that show, but I actually found that particular moment to be one of the most contrived and rather cliche scenes I've seen in a long time. It brought my palm to my forehead quick and lowered my overall opinion of the show. spoiler[Here we have two clashing armies, entrenched, armed with rifles and machine guns, each side has their own artillery, and the genius strategy they come up with is to charge at eachother like a scene out of Braveheart, not a single one of them firing a single shot?]

Wasn't there some famous moment in World War I where soldiers in Europe stopped fighting on Christmas Day or something? (And then they played soccer?)

Weirdly, regarding "Amazing Grace," my husband kept going on about how they chose the song because it was a pacifist anthem written by a Quaker. When I started researching his claim, I couldn't confirm it, but it was a nice idea at the time.

Before the episode outlined above, I started to assume the battalion was all little girls because most of the men had died in the apocalyptic war. The show proved me wrong, but for half the series I thought it was extra sad that little girls were fighting because they were the last survivors.
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JiseiHakushaku



Joined: 28 Apr 2011
Posts: 19
Location: Kentucky, USA
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:30 am Reply with quote
I STILL need to grab Allison & Lillia! I really want to see that one. I've been considering grabbing Sound of the Sky, and this review definitely made me want to give it a shot.
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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:51 am Reply with quote
I wanted to like Sound of The Sky so badly (part of me is even tempted to get the dvd just to give it another shot) but it was ultimately too cutesy for me to watch.

And I don't normally have a problem with that- some of my favourite shows are so saccharine they should come with a health warning- my problem was that it was so obviously trying to be cute. I could practically hear the production committee saying "Hey otaku, you like K-On right? Look how cute this is! Buy our series DO IT DO IT NOW DEAR GOD PLEASE".

I've said this on the forum before, but I've always suspected that show was initially more serious before someone decided to moe it up in order to make it more likely to sell.
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Pippin4242



Joined: 01 Jan 2006
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:20 am Reply with quote
Penguin_Factory wrote:
I've said this on the forum before, but I've always suspected that show was initially more serious before someone decided to moe it up in order to make it more likely to sell.


Not especially, so far as I'm aware, but the degree to which the K-On-ified the character designs is extremely noticeable. Like a lot of the good stuff lately, Sora no Woto was adapted from a light novel series.

I think the K-On thing put a lot of people off, and it's a huge shame, because it's an incredible show. I'm a tetchy old feminist, so you'd think I'd hate anything that pandered like SnW constantly threatens to, but the writing and the animation were just so fantastic. I thought the fact that we never got the full backstory was pure genius.

- Pips
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:46 am Reply with quote
Pippin4242 wrote:
I thought the fact that we never got the full backstory was pure genius.


I kinda doubt whether they had any more backstory than what they showed in the series. For me, the series was nothing but a big waste of great music, fine animation and a potentially great setting, which they never cared to explore. And there is absolutely no excuse for the toilet episode.

Quote:
Like a lot of the good stuff lately, Sora no Woto was adapted from a light novel series.


I don't know where you got that from, but it's not true. It's an original anime (as all the Anime no Chikara series). It doesn't even have a novel adaption, only a manga.
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Moonsaber



Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 343
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 7:37 am Reply with quote
Pippin4242 wrote:
Penguin_Factory wrote:
I've said this on the forum before, but I've always suspected that show was initially more serious before someone decided to moe it up in order to make it more likely to sell.


Not especially, so far as I'm aware, but the degree to which the K-On-ified the character designs is extremely noticeable. Like a lot of the good stuff lately, Sora no Woto was adapted from a light novel series.

- Pips


Pippin4242: Not sure where you got the Light Novel tidbit, but So Ra No Wo To is an original work, and was not based on anything. I believe there is a manga adaption, but it is based on the anime, and not the other way around.

In my experience, the best works tend to be original, though there is really no quick rule of thumb.

Thank you zensunni for fully putting into words what I was thinking. As someone else said in this thread, it just seems to be beyond some people that such a mix of much older than we have now, and much more advanced could exist. Episode 13 (final OAV) details spoiler[some of what is happening in the world.. like the oceans dieing off. It gives hope too.] The character design and the cuteness never bothered me much, it accents instead. The show is often bittersweet. As for the famous 'Pee' episode, everyone always seems to focus solely on that part and forgets that well over half of the episode is not even focused on Kanata.

Addressing the PenguinFactory comment that it was "Moe'd up", well.. maybe a little, but I think they just went with current conventional design. I believe a lot of it was original intent, and they wanted to show innocence.. even though certainly some members of the unit truly have lost theirs. I think it works, very well, unfortunately with the target audience, they didn't get what they expect.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 8:32 am Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
That's too bad about Allison and Lillia. I was in total agreement with you about part one, so I suspect I'd share your opinion here too. That ending of part one SO irritated me... Evil or Very Mad Anyone want to spoiler tag enlighten me about how the ending of part one is invalidated by part two, though?

I'd be curious to know what you think of Uta no Princesama, Erin. Much to my chagrin, after watching two episodes for the preview, I've gone back every Saturday for more...although possibly for the joint purposes of reading the comments during the ending theme and waiting for lasers to shoot out of the heroine's soulless yellow and green eyes.


That's exactly why I watch it too! Laughing It's so bad, I can't help going back for more... Car crash anime at its finest.
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gothung



Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Posts: 70
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:53 am Reply with quote
Sora no Woto had a lot of facepalm moments (ex: throwing your loaded firearms up in the air in celebration?), but they were fairly minor, and overall I think the show's positives outweighed the negatives.

Even if you could see the predictable parts coming (ie: Rio's sudden character development, their tank, the ending, etc), it still managed to be entertaining, so let's all forgive the little nitpicks and move along.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:11 am Reply with quote
st_owly wrote:

That's exactly why I watch it too! Laughing It's so bad, I can't help going back for more... Car crash anime at its finest.


Yay, I'm not alone! Or rather, my youngest sister and I aren't alone. Smile She calls it our "weekly dose of fabulous."

Thanks, AnimeMaine, for filling me in!
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omoikane



Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Posts: 494
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:36 am Reply with quote
Erin subtly made a note about this, but...

NOZOMI, WHERE IS MY SORANOWOTO BLU RAY???

Shelf-worthy for me, enough to double dip (I have the DVD set). I guess when I visit japan or something I can try to pick up the Japanese set, but com'on! Get on with the times! This show is not only thoughtful but also drop dead gorgeous, and it deserves better than just a DVD release.
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 3151
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:45 am Reply with quote
I should check out Sound of the Sky since it seems right up my alley and plus that everyone is talking about how good it is.

I see very different opinions of Allison and Lillia all over the internet here and other anime sites. I might have to check it out now.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:35 pm Reply with quote
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote:
That DBZ link you included was outstanding, Erin, especially after Vegeta showed up and schooled Yamcha. Too funny. Smile

Although I'd found that site independently, the group also pointed me in their direction (because I keep having to review DBZ). I think that particular video is the funniest one they've done, and definitely the only one I'd recommend to people as a must-watch.

Princess_Irene wrote:
I'd be curious to know what you think of Uta no Princesama, Erin.

Oh! Maybe I should. I haven't watched anything besides a single Madd on niconico yet. I just hope it's better than Miracle Train.

Moonsaber wrote:
Addressing the PenguinFactory comment that it was "Moe'd up", well.. maybe a little, but I think they just went with current conventional design. I believe a lot of it was original intent, and they wanted to show innocence.. even though certainly some members of the unit truly have lost theirs.

Honestly this did fall to the back of my review box because of the character design... that said, I wonder what the show would look like if it was remade in 10 years? (Or if it had been made in the 1970s?) Or if it got a live action adaptation?
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Princess_Irene
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Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 1:48 pm Reply with quote
erinfinnegan wrote:

Oh! Maybe I should. I haven't watched anything besides a single Madd on niconico yet. I just hope it's better than Miracle Train.


Well...I don't know about better... Wink The animation is prettier, even if it does look sort of like they let a 3 year old choose the colors.
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the Rancorous



Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 2248
Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys
PostPosted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 2:26 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
A bunch of stuff.

The fact that you had to go so far out of your way to justify that silly scenario just makes it seem even more contrived. It all felt like someone was calling a show, making sure everything was in place for Kanata's "big performance." Also, spoiler[the soldiers were in rock-throwing distance of eachother, how could they not be in firing range? Plus, the whole "song-playing stops the battle" was just pure cheese.] But you're right, I guess I just don't get how people can be so forgiving of such a scene.

erinfinnegan wrote:
Wasn't there some famous moment in World War I where soldiers in Europe stopped fighting on Christmas Day or something? (And then they played soccer?)

I've heard something about that, too, but I've never really looked it up. Don't see how it's relevant to my comment, though.
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