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The Fall 2012 Anime Preview Guide


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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:21 pm Reply with quote
a thought just occurred to me. is there a main heroine in Little Busters?
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Mad_Scientist
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:23 pm Reply with quote
The Coffee God wrote:
Mad_Scientist wrote:

I imagine it's just that no one got to it before it was pulled from The Anime Network's site. ANN will use fansubs, but not once a license has been announced, even if the license ends up in a weird limbo like this. A similar thing happened with Oriemo when it was leaked and pulled.


Chunibyo wasn't "pulled" from the TAN site, as none of the entries were put on the TAN site yet.
TLR Darkness was pulled.

However, seeing as how Chunibyo was a TBS license as well, it's almost certianly held up due to the TLR issue, along with the other 2 TBS licenses (Hidamari & Busou Shinki).


Weird, for some reason I thought the first episode had already streamed there. Oh well, my point with the official streams is in limbo, we likely won't see preview guide entries for those shows, sadly.
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getchman
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Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:27 pm Reply with quote
i have no interest in Darkness, so this doesn't bother me. I never made it through the first season of Tu love ru. i tried, really hard, but it just couldn't take any more. i had no idea where it was trying to go and it all just felt really stupid.
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wayne-kun



Joined: 07 Aug 2010
Posts: 88
Location: Kingston, Ontario.
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:46 pm Reply with quote
Tanteikingdomkey wrote:
an adaptation should not require you to read the source material period.


Yay! Winner!!!


Last edited by wayne-kun on Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:48 pm Reply with quote
getchman wrote:
a thought just occurred to me. is there a main heroine in Little Busters?

Yes. The only girl who is a part of the original Little Busters group. spoiler[Though really it's the entire group itself]
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:56 pm Reply with quote
AilisKnil wrote:
I wish I had a penny for every time one of the writers on this site informed us that they have not, in fact, experienced the source material of any anime ever, whether that source material be a visual novel, or light novel, or what have you.

For a website called "Anime News Network," I'd like to see opinions a bit more varied than, "well, I haven't read the visual novel but the show is boring" from just about everyone. I understand not being able to read every single visual novel for every anime adaptation; that's like asking the average guy to read every source novel of every film he wants to go see. The only way you'd have the time for that is if you dedicated every waking moment of your life to it. But for no one here to have read something as prominent as Little Busters? Speaks volumes about certain people's dedication to this hobby and the attitude of this site as a whole.


You know, that kind of bothers me too, speaking as the person in charge of the site's editorial content (meaning I manage the writers whose opinions are published here, in addition to my own).

Anime over time - at least it seems as though there are more shows like this now than ever before - has increasingly relied on the viewer already being completely familiar with an external source. When something is a straightforward manga adaptation, there's generally no barrier to entry for people who hadn't even heard of whatever manga the anime is based on. It's still just telling a story, and no additional context is needed; the manga told a story and now that story is being animated.

But as anime has branched out into light novels, and especially visual novels, the barrier for entry some fans seem to expect when it comes to enjoyment of some of these shows is considerably higher in terms of time commitment and interest. Fans of the VNs insist that the only people properly equipped to judge an anime adaptation of a VN is someone who is intimately familiar with the VN itself. They're saying you can't judge these shows simply as television shows, they're part of some larger context. You can't just review it as you would any other anime series, you have to have invested however much time in the VN is necessary to appreciate the show on any level.

I'm not sure I really agree with that line of thinking, but I do see where the fans are coming from. Obviously the (let's be honest - small but vocal) group of VN devotees will want their general attitude toward the anime represented in the preview guide, and they want someone who knows the franchise in the same level of detail and dedication that they have. I understand that. And I do wish we had someone on staff who devoured visual novels with as much aplomb as some of you seem to - but they're absolutely hideous time commitments and right now I don't think we have anyone who's really in to that scene. As the person in charge of diversifying opinion, I need to find someone who loves those games and can talk about them in context with the anime (and maybe review some of them too) while also meeting the professional standard I have for writers I'm going to pay.

That said, the preview guide is simply this: seasoned anime fans who are also writers, giving their initial impression of a new show. There is no warning in front of Little Busters! that says "do not watch this show unless you've played the popular game it's based on. It is not intended for any audience other than one already familiar with the entire story". In fact, that'd be a really silly thing for any television show to insist upon its audience - the idea is still to tell a coherent story with a beginning, middle, and end, no? These are still stories told using a basic narrative structure and character composition. There isn't anything particularly difficult to figure out about them, and people who have not played the fan-translated visual novel will still be curious about the new shows, coming at it from the perspective of an anime fan who enjoys watching anime (but might not personally partake of light novels or visual novels). Outside of the relatively insular online otaku culture (at least, the segment that keeps up with and regularly plays visual novels), this is how most people are approaching the material, and largely our critics represent that viewpoint. It's kind of what you look for in a TV critic; having a mountain of knowledge about the source material a TV show is based on isn't really a requirement for the job. You're supposed to critique the show based on its own stand-alone merits.

Do our critics already know exactly where the story is going in a visual novel adaptation? Nope. They're experiencing it fresh for the first time. They're going to come at the show from the angle of "someone watching a TV show", not "someone watching an adaptation of a story they already know front-and-back and are here to judge the TV show based on its faithfulness to the novel". The latter view is also very valid, and right now when it comes to VN adaptations, we don't have someone who represents that view. Again, I should fix that. But even that person will eventually come across an adaptation of a VN they haven't played and will just judge the show based on its own merits and nothing else... then what? Is his dedication to the hobby suddenly suspect? Are they not a valid fan because they're not spending all of their free time making sure they've played 40+ hours of a video game before attempting to understand or enjoy an anime series?

I do wish I had a writer who was deeply involved in the visual novel subculture side of anime fandom. Right now I don't, but maybe by the next preview guide, I'll have someone who can give that particular group of fandom the perspective they're asking me to provide them.


Last edited by Zac on Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Lynx Amali





PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Tanteikingdomkey wrote:

an adaptation should not require you to read the source material period.


Welcome to the wonderful world of adaptions!
You DO lose out on things when you adapt something into another format. It happens with every peace of media transferred to another format.

And sometimes, adaptions do take, how do you say, creative liberties.

Great example would be 2008's Linebarrels of Iron (completely discards the original manga's plot in the very first episode) or the Demonbane anime (god, that was a terrible show despite the last episode being pretty awesome.)
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irishninja



Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 344
Location: Seattle-ish
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:19 pm Reply with quote
Excellent post, Zac, and well said.

I've tried VNs but they aren't my thing, and I would be interested in seeing someone who was really into them talk about them in a somewhat detatched, professional manner.

Good luck in your search! Smile
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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:44 pm Reply with quote
how exactly does one go about finding reviewers for this site? especially for visual novels.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:47 pm Reply with quote
getchman wrote:
how exactly does one go about finding reviewers for this site? especially for visual novels.


Same as you would hire writers for any publication. You collect resumes and writing samples from prospective freelancers and hire one based on merit and ability.

To wit I've already had 3 people email me to ask about writing from the perspective of a VN fan.
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getchman
Space Cowboy



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
Posts: 9117
Location: Bedford, NH
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:52 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
getchman wrote:
how exactly does one go about finding reviewers for this site? especially for visual novels.


Same as you would hire writers for any publication. You collect resumes and writing samples from prospective freelancers and hire one based on merit and ability.

To wit I've already had 3 people email me to ask about writing from the perspective of a VN fan.


figured as much, just wanted to know for sure. Monster popped into my head, with an emphasis on Visual Novel expertise or something
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superdry



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 1309
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:55 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:

That said, the preview guide is simply this: seasoned anime fans who are also writers, giving their initial impression of a new show.


It seems like some times people forget the fact that this is a preview guide after all. Looking into the source material (if feasible) would work out better when doing a full review of an adapted show; not quick impressions.
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dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 7:55 pm Reply with quote
I wonder if Zac's seen the Pet show? Laughing
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Cecilthedarkknight_234



Joined: 02 Apr 2011
Posts: 3819
Location: Louisville, KY
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:11 pm Reply with quote
dragon695 wrote:
I wonder if Zac's seen the Pet show? Laughing


are you wanting zac to put his liver through more torture?? Aye... I've seen some sh** before but this one takes the cake.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Actually, and this will sound strange coming from me, but "the Pet show" isn't as bad as the title and premise made it out to be. Of course, I've only seen the first episode, so I concede it could get worse later. And of course, it isn't difficult for the show to exceed the atrociously low expectations that everyone had for it. It's like you finished a a marathon in twenty hours when everyone expected you to run it in twenty-four; just because you did better than expected doesn't mean you actually did well.

To sum up, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is still a bad show, no doubt about that. But it's not as goddamn awful as I thought it would be.
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