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_V_



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 619
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 10:38 pm Reply with quote
Everything my Evangelion fansite - ReVolutionOfEvangelion.org - has produced on Live-Action Evangelion:

http://revolutionofevangelion.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page#Live-action_Evangelion

(stuff we've able to infer from scrutinizing scattered news reports, also I'm "the guy that runs the Evangelion panels at Anime Boston" and I had a good chat with ADV's David Williams about it at AB 2008 )

Also, this is the part of my Anime Boston 2009 "Evangelion franchise" panel where I spent *about 20 minutes* talking about "the journey of live-action Evangelion":

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oPF4qifKi4
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUHlFfhrHXs
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPmhbxsG6U8

At the time, I said that despite the naysayers, the project was actually inching its way forward - major Hollywood projects just take a really long time - and that the best days of Eva are not *behind* us...they are *ahead* of us!

As our website's frakking *logo* states, "Eva's in the theaters, all's right with the world!" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMNAMIzGm_w&featuret#t=3m29s
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:08 pm Reply with quote
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is really a masterpiece. The writing is excellent for the characters, the combat, and the storylines. It only gets better. Those first two episodes are a bit difficult, but necessary. I could go on for pages about how excellent it is and how well it approaches its themes. Its only real problem is that it destroyed my expectations for other anime. Nothing I've seen since seeing it has quite measured up.

An Evangelion live-action movie is something I desperately want to die before it reaches the theaters, but maybe we'll get lucky and nobody will even see it, like Dragon Ball: Evolution. I can only hope that they cast the right penguin as Pen Pen. (He's an erect-crested penguin.)
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hissatsu01



Joined: 08 May 2006
Posts: 963
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:14 pm Reply with quote
It was interesting to hear Justin and Zac's reactions to LoGH. Over 15 years after I first heard of it, I finally watched the whole thing at the beginning of last year over the course of a month. I rated it Masterpiece in the encyclopedia. There is just no other anime like it. I'd say that it could never be made now, but I don't even know it managed to get made when it did.

I dearly wish the tentative plans to release it here hadn't fizzled. The Japanese DVDs are over 2 grand. The first Blu-ray box set was released in December, with the remaining 3 to be released this year, but it's an upscale. The original film elements are evidently gone, or at least no where to be found. It's really rather depressing.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:48 pm Reply with quote
I love LoGH. Epic, in the classical sense of the word, not the Gurren Lagann or internet sense, is only way to describe it. The scale is enormous, the cast is enormous, the characters are amazing. When you have 100,000 spaceships fighting to Dvorak, it's just breathtaking. I didn't even really get into the show until around episodes 14 and 15, when it really takes off. So even at 8 episodes in, you're still not exposed to exactly all of the things this show has to offer.

The characters are never really hard to keep track of. Those titles that they flash for their names and ranks early they keep repeating until all the way into the fourth season. By then, you should know everyone's name by heart. If anything, I feel this anime really plays off more or less like a historical documentary. The narration and pacing of the show really sets the tone for that. And there are ever history lesson episodes that teach you of the origins of the Empire and the Free Planets Alliance. It's not an easy show to get through, but it's definitely one of the most rewarding experiences anime has to offer. And the episode count seems insignificant after a while; if anything, it's far too short. Just go through it an episode or two a night, maybe a few more at a time. Two-three months is a good amount of time to watch it in, I can't understand people who want to watch it within a week or so, you can't retain all of the scale this show offers.

In the end, I have very few shows to compare it to. Crest and Banner of the Stars comes closest in trying to portray the epic scale and vastness of the playing field, but it only ever follows Jinto and Lafiel's journey. Mostly the same goes for the Leiji Matsumoto works, unless you want to try to compile them into one massive supershow.

It is a shame that it will never get licensed, hell, it's hard for some people to get over the old character designs sometimes. Also, the BluRay set is destined to be coming out soon.
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dizzon



Joined: 22 Sep 2008
Posts: 338
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:35 am Reply with quote
I went into this podcast interested but maybe not as much as for other guests, in that I really didn't know much about Mr. Chou. Post podcast....this was unexpectedly(on my part) very informative and refreshingly candid. When it came to his opinions on the current state of the anime industry inside and outside of Japan whether it was the specific tastes of the domestic market, what would or wouldn't sell in NA or piracy he didn't pull any punches and gave his honest opinions without hesitation. All-in-all another gem of a podcast.

BTW, if I learned one thing from this podcast it was to never try and interrupt Mr. Chou when he's talking. Wink
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nightjuan



Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 1473
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:37 am Reply with quote
I think I've sung the praises of Legend of the Galactic Heroes fairly often in recent memory, perhaps annoying some in the process, so I'll just go ahead and nod....before shrugging over its being almost impossible to license.

If it helps and you've got the extra time, an alternative introduction would be to watch the two movies. One of them literally remakes the first couple of episodes (with a lot of extra scenes) and the other is a prequel about the first time Yang and Reinhard met in battle. Even if you've already gone past that point though, both are still recommended.

In any case, glad to know you're enjoying it. I'm always happy to see LOGH getting some of the credit it deserves.

I'll be back to comment on the rest of the podcast later.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:39 am Reply with quote
I'd like to go on record as saying please, do highlight some more older series that you feel are deserving of attention. Being for the most part utterly uninspired by a vast majority of offerings in the past few years, I'm thinking that instead of seeking the "next big thing"-- a mentality which is failing me lately-- I need to start looking back at older titles I've ignored due to age/preconceptions. Honestly, I've never heard anything but praise for LoGH from people whose opinions I respect (you guys, the AWO crew, the list goes on...) so I think it's time I find some torrents and finally check it out.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:51 am Reply with quote
RE: Galactic Heroes naysayers. Who the hell did you two talk to, because I've heard nothing but love for the series! Not that I could afford it, anyway, even if Tokuma didn't charge a ransom for it...

Zac: "Never gonna be legally available".

Never say never. Crunchyroll makes all things possible now.

"punchline"

You still have Battle Angel.

Joe: "subbing Nausicaa"

I probably saw that version, back when I was afraid Di$ney was gonna rape and bury the library. Fortunately, I was only half right. Wink

"turned on to Kawajiri"

Too bad you're in the minority. Crying or Very sad

"nervousness because of the money being spent on [The Animatrix]"

Man, there's no way the thing was even remotely as costly as the sequels.

"emotional cord"

That's about right. That's partly why I didn't get into the Matrix.

"nicest gentleman"

Yeah, he's definitely a guy you'd like to have a beer with.

Oh, and I definitely agree with you that we need to expand the market for anime, rather than just relaying on certain fan-bases to bail it out. If anything, that's why the market is so bad on both sides of the Pacific in the first place.

penguin: Um, people saw DB:E, just not legally. Wink
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:50 am Reply with quote
I'm happy to hear you guys recommend LotGH. I've only gotten a bit of the way through it but it is quite excellent. Did you guys watch the prequel first though? I did and I found that I didn't encounter the same problems as you with the first couple episodes and I think it was probably because I'd already been introduced to the characters by the movie. I agree with your BSG comparison as well.

By the way, I think it's fantastic that you're talking about old stuff. I've never seen any of the new stuff yet when you talk about it.

Yeah, it's a shame with producers. I'm sure there are plenty of guys out there who do work their butts off and have a real meaningful impact on production. But then there's the rest who seem to be just a bunch of hangers on and executives with no real notable impact. Because of this I usually just ignore em all.

I like the second Matrix. In my view it's not until the third that things fall apart. I don't know about that feature you mentioned but I always thought the Animatrix had so little in common with other anime that people wouldn't have even realized what it was and just thought it was American animation.

I think that maybe anime is seen as less cool nowadays because anime these days really is less cool. I'm not even making a quality judgment here. It just seems like stuff that gets put out now, even the more mainstream stuff, just is not the kind of thing likely to be perceived as cool.

It's a real shame to see people letting Speed Racer and Dragon Ball color their view of anime adaptations. It's hardly surprising that these failed/sucked. Something vaguely intelligent or serious could be an entirely different story. Just look at comic books. It's definitely going to require a big hit to get it going though. Unless anyone is actually going to give it a real chance with a decent production staff and a reasonable budget it won't work.
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GloriousMaximus



Joined: 11 Nov 2009
Posts: 138
Location: North America
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:11 am Reply with quote
I had been thinking about trying to watch LOGH, but now it's definitely on my list, probably will follow the user's suggestions and watch the first two movies before the series. And I agree with poonk, feel free to highlight older stuff. I love Justin's Buried Treasures so please, more older stuff. Old does not bad, don't know why some people seem to assume that.

Really interesting podcast. I'll admit I'm a bit skeptical about the live-action Eva movie, but hey, if there's still hope then what else is there to say. My friends are huge fans of the whole Appleseed thing, so it was really interesting to hear what Chou had to say about Ex Machina.

Keep up the great work! Looking forward to next week!
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CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:15 pm Reply with quote
The Moe-trix!?

I nearly wet myself from laughing so hard! Nice one, Zac!

LOGH, eh? Sounds interesting. I'll have to give that a peek.

AND FINALLY, Mr. Chou gets it! When the cool (and very profitable in the West) shows that appeal to a broad Western audience dry up, so does the interest (and the money). And all that's left is the very core audience, which can't support the growth of the industry by themselves, especially during a recession.

I wish more fans could understand the simple and obvious business points and observations he made (and other industry people have made). This guy gets it.

Great guest!

I was kinda surprised regarding the lack of cross-over between anime and games. I'm a huge gamer, and I don't play JRPG's (not since the classic Final Fantasy for the NES and SNES). But when a great game costs the same as an anime series (or less), and is more mainstream popular/cool, that's what people spend their money on.

And you can rage all you want about not caring if anime is cool or not, or whether it becomes more mainstream or "cool", but it is sales and revenue that pay the bills, people. If your customer base isn't growing or is showing diminishing returns, you're industry has problems, especially domestically.
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braves



Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:10 pm Reply with quote
Is it just me or is this episode not on iTunes yet? The iTunes page doesn't have last week's show either, which is strange because I downloaded it from there last time.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:50 pm Reply with quote
I'd love to start watching LotGH... if I didn't already have 110 episodes of other stuff I need to get through...

... Halo Legends soon to be one of those things. Just a few more weeks and I'll have that disc... And I definitely agree that it has a lot of crossover potential. Most of my friends are into both Halo and anime.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 5:23 pm Reply with quote
braves wrote:
Is it just me or is this episode not on iTunes yet? The iTunes page doesn't have last week's show either, which is strange because I downloaded it from there last time.


That's weird, my feed is working just fine. Weirdly there are two listings for the show on iTunes; make sure you're subscribed to the one that has a bunch of ratings and reviews. The other one doesn't update properly, I don't think. Need to figure out how to get that one removed.
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braves



Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Posts: 2309
Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas)
PostPosted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 6:17 pm Reply with quote
^Okay, I subscribed to that listing and iTunes downloaded this latest show; problem solved. Thank you.
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