Forum - View topicREVIEW: Texhnolyze DVD
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Raikuro
Posts: 347 |
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Lain Haibane Renmei Texhnolyze NieA_7 |
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DmonHiro
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This confuses me. I understand wanting to watch a show that makes you think, but why would ANYONE watch a show that makes them feel awful?
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danilo07
Posts: 1580 |
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When we live in a relatively good times like this,people occasionally want to feel like a piece of shit. |
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DmonHiro
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That can't be true. I'm living a fairly good life, why on Earth would I EVER want to feel like a piece of shit? It makes no sense. |
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supercreep
Posts: 526 |
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It's more complicated than simply saying that people want to feel like shit. It's more akin to wanting to explore a theme, an emotion, that one doesn't usually experience. At least that's how I feel about it.
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Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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I agree Texhnolyze is the kind of show one wants to experience once, but never want to ever again afterwards. Sort of like The Godfather movies. Grave of the Fire Flies is another.
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Bonham
Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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ABe actually jokes about having to do character designs for so many "old men" in their disc interview (which I'm glad Funimation was able to include on this release). An important point of reference might be Shigurui, which Hiroshi Hamasaki also directed. I know that tends to be more divisive and can understand why, but the anime seems to be a critique of a violent, patriarchal society taken to its logical and horrifying extremes. The male characters there are just as destructive, and they also ultimately bring upon their own downfall as many characters do in Texhnolyze. If you wanna have any feminist reading into those shows, it seems like those kind of male-dominated societies are only destined to fall. (The worlds in Lain, NieA_7 and Haibane are more female-oriented, and more sustainable.)
Even though Funimation didn't rescue it, NieA_7 is the other ABe-related series. It seems to be the black sheep of the four, but if you enjoy the others -- or at least Haibane -- you'll probably get something out of it. Edit: There's still some copies available on Amazon at relatively sane prices.
Aside from this (it's obvious that other people here, including Carl, find the ideas coherent and not "half-formed" in Texhnolyze, Haibane Renmei and other series, and there are people who find it "entertaining," or "interesting," or "compelling," or whatever word people care to describe being sucked into the show and liking it), you say that the visuals are "ugly as sin." I know this is subjective and all, but how are the colors, compositions, character designs and architectural designs "ugly as sin"? I'm now half-expecting someone to tell me that Roger Deakins, Sven Nykvist and Christopher Doyle are all hacks...
This definitely jibes more with the final scene of the series. In addition to what you said about Ichise and Ran, I think he also didn't want to repeat with happened with his mother. She was abandoned after Ichise's father spoiler[was framed and killed.] Yet she was still able to help Ichise as Ran did in episode five. It's pretty clear he wants to return that favor, and resist what seems to be unfolding around him (after all, he's been fighting back his entire life).
Exactly. It's not as though people only watch, read and listen to things that make them happy. A lot of people have watched Grave of the Fireflies, despite knowing its premise. There's even those who have watched it more than once! And plenty of people like to watch and read tragedies. Or listen to sad music. I mean, hell, The Wire is probably the most-acclaimed television series of all time, and with only a few exceptions, that show is as bleak and dark as they come. Yep people love it and rewatch it over and over again. Escapism isn't always about consuming things that are easy to take in. Sometimes it provides a catharsis that the audience needs. Last edited by Bonham on Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:26 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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danilo07
Posts: 1580 |
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I think of it like a reality stimulation,you are able to feel these awful emotions whilst still not really having them.That makes people appreciate their happiness a lot more. |
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Chagen46
Posts: 4377 |
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Danilo didn't really explain it well, I'd say it's about watching an intellectually stimulating work that simply happens to be incredibly depressing and nihilistic. |
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Yanqui U.X.O.
Posts: 2 |
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I think that's a good point and well-said. Ichise may have become a part of the Organo, but only because he respected Onishi. He was never really one of them and clearly didn't fit in or benefit from being a part of it at all (aside from meeting Toyama). Every group ideology in the show fails: the ego-driven Organo, the anarchistic Racan, the collectivism of the Union, and the fatalism of Gabe. The show argues in favor of finding your own way of living and a meaning to life, even if that meaning is something as simple as wanting to help and protect another person. The relationship between Ichise and Ran is driven purely by mutual care, sympathy, and understanding, and the show certainly seems to approve of a meaning derived from those kind of qualities than any other philosophy it presents. Like you said, if the show really wanted to be nihilistic, all it needed to do was simply end with spoiler[Ichise laying down and dying alone and miserable. Roll credits. Instead, it also included the burial sequence, the music, the presence of the flower,etc, all of it resulting in a huge emotional catharsis that had been building for almost the entire series]. The incredibly beautiful, serene, and tragic nature of it goes against the 'pure bleakness and nothingness' that the review tried to sell so hard. While they're not as actively depressing, I found Jin-Roh and even Cat Soup to be far more nihilistic works than Texhnolyze. |
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Keichitsu0305
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All three American licensed Abe TV series.
ABe actually jokes about having to do character designs for so many "old men" in their disc interview (which I'm glad Funimation was able to include on this release). An important point of reference might be Shigurui, which Hiroshi Hamasaki also directed. I know that tends to be more divisive[...] but the anime seems to be a critique of a violent, patriarchal society taken to its logical and horrifying extremes. The male characters there are just as destructive, and they also ultimately bring upon their own downfall as many characters do in Texhnolyze. If you wanna have any feminist reading into those shows, it seems like those kind of male-dominated societies are only destined to fall. (The worlds in Lain, NieA_7 and Haibane are more female-oriented, and more sustainable.)[/quote] Actually, I've been planning to start Shigurui (I'm actually studying East Asian History so Japan's coming up next) and I think that's great example of destruction and, perhaps, self-hatred? So far, Texhnolyze seems hell-bent to destroy itself from the inside out. Like some form of disease cause by it's own mistreatment which goes back to the idea of the "body". If the mind or soul isn't in check, the body will react violently sort of like a person who enjoys taking power but doesn't consider the consequences or the well-being of its own people. But, you actually voiced most of the reasons why I found this particularly interesting so thank you for the reply. |
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SoandSo
Posts: 204 |
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lol Never change, Carl. |
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JackCox
Posts: 386 |
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One of the greatest endings to any anime series I have seen.
spoiler[Ichise's Death is the best thing that could have happened to him.] |
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Suena
Posts: 289 |
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Watched it once, loved it.
Tried to watch it again and....just......couldn't.........make............it..... |
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Exaar
Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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Great review. I love this series, although as stated, even though I own the original 2004 Geneon release, it's hard to come up with the motivation to watch it a second time.
For me it falls into that same soul-crushingly depressing category as Saikano. Seen it once, acknowledge how powerful it is, never touch it again for fear of your soul being sucked into the television. Texhnolyze definitely wins for being the most intellectually stimulating and believable, in a horrible sort of way, series in this category though. |
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