Forum - View topicShelf Life - ACROSS the Universe
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nechronius
 Posts: 275 Location: So Cal, USA |
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Voices was his best work. Sadly the rest of his efforts feel like unkept promises. And that makes me a sad panda. Well that's one fellow's opinion anyway. I'll probably still get suckered in by his next movie and walk away feeling like there should have been more. I enjoyed Ga Rei Zero, but don't feel like it has much rewatchability (is that a word??). The first episode was pretty epic though. As for Excel Saga... like a twinkie? More like a bottle of corn syrup for me. Only taken in extremely small doses if you care to, but seriously why would you. Yea it didn't work for me despite a lot of its clever trappings. Last edited by nechronius on Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:13 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Since when did people routinely survive horrible injuries in Ga-Rei Zero without a scratch? I can think of two times when this didn't happen though; spoiler[Yomi's hands and vocal cords] and spoiler[Kagura's hand]. There's a magical solution to these, but it's not something everyone has access to, and there's a high price attached; spoiler[Yomi is basically living dead and Kagura's soul is chained to a ferocious monster.] Other than that, this series was pretty unforgiving about letting people live.
And I don't know it can be compared unfavorably to the emotionally vacant Blood the Last Vampire. |
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trilaan
 Posts: 1055 Location: Texas |
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I bought my dad Excel Saga for his birthday(he just turned 66) and he just loves it and thinks it's hilarious. I really enjoyed watching it with him previously, too.
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2261 |
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Its a prequel to a manga which is ok at first (I'd say the anime is better), but as it goes on it just keeps getting weaker and weaker. I think if someone really likes this show they will probably be disappointed by the manga. I kinda like Ga-Rei Zero and I would say its roughly on the same level as Canaan and Corpse Princess. They each have their weaknesses, but I think they also all have some good moments. They are not masterpieces, but they are still good shows that should satisfy anyone looking for an Action Girl fix. I liked the opening set-up of Ga-Rei and I especially liked when spoiler[butterfly boy was basically tempting Yomi in the hospital and that she succumbed to it.] I'm planning to rewatch this over the weekend. I originally saw Ga-Rei on Hulu (?) a while back and just got in the mail today the Limited Edition from RightStuf. Anybody else got it or the regular one, cause I'm kind of wondering what's so limited about it. |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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I agree with Shelf Life on Ga-Rei, though I think the column was too soft on it. The "action" in the first episode was ridiculous. Carving magic runes into the treads of motorcycle tires and doing a burn out to transfer the rubber (and symbols) to the road to form a "magic circle"?! A chick and a dude, both without helmets, riding on a motorcycle, with the dude standing up on the back of the moving bike, killing invisible demon dinosaur monsters with dual pistols as though he were in a John Woo movie?! Converting all the water in a water main into "holy water" by sticking a fancy fluorescent lightbulb into the water and running a current through it? Geez, someone tell the pastors & priests that they've been doing it wrong for millenia now!
 
Seriously, I thought that Ga Rei Zero was supposed to be a comedy at first. The show was so absurd that even Excel Saga was more plausible! Speaking of which,
 ), but even in Japanese is the character you've referenced not referred to as "The Great Will of the Macrocosm"? In the dub she certainly is referred to as such. Oh, I agree that Pedro & "Miss Will" are awesome (Rob Mungle FTW)!
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humantyphoon
 Posts: 27 |
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Shows like excel saga and sexy commando are amazing. Why so much hate? Whats wrong with liking and watching these brilliantly crafted shows?
Well, the subs are good. I never saw the dubs. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4450 |
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I have to agree with Erin's take on Ga-Rei: Zero. It was decently made in most respects, but never really did enough to make it memorable, aside from maybe the surprise in the first episode. Once I finished the show I was left with a feeling like, "Well, I've seen that, now. Time to move on." It definitely falls into the watch it once category.
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ljaesch
Posts: 299 Location: Enumclaw, WA |
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I seem to be quite the opposite in regards to Shinkai. I personally enjoy The Place Promised in Our Early Days, but I readily admit that I like that kind of drama storytelling. As for Voices of a Distant Star, I thought it was an OK work, but it just didn't grab me the same way that The Place Promised in Our Early Days did. It probably didn't help that I saw The Place Promised in Our Early Days before Voices of a Distant Star, so I more than likely had different expectations going into Voices than if it had been the other way around.
I haven't had a chance to see 5 Centimeters Per Second yet, so I can't comment on it.
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I have to say that a large part of my love for Ga-Rei Zero comes from the superb performance of Kaori Mizuhara in her voicing Yomi. Just the mere act of calling Kagura on the phone and saying "Hello" brought a chill to me. She always had the perfect tone for every scene. Upon rewatching the show with the dub though, it's nowhere even close for me. So I can definitely understand your review for Ga Rei... although in the 2 times I watched the series through I do not recall any nipples
We also share the same views on Shinkai. Hoshi no Koe is by far my favorite work of his. I have high hopes for his new film that was released a few months ago. It'll definitely be great scenery porn if nothing else. |
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Lann
 Posts: 270 |
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Those who are thinking they hate the Excel Saga anime probably haven't seen any episodes in a good too many years, so go and watch a few episodes.
The manga is incredible. Its got storyline, and plenty of laughs. If Nabeshin wanted to adapt this into an anime, it would have to be seen as a reboot as there is no room for a Great Will, Pedro or Puchuu. Also, it would need to span well over 60-70 episodes, as there really is that much to tell. Its like a hidden gem that people either just dont know about, or give an instant pass too, relating it to the anime. Unfortunatally, a lot of the volumes are out of print, so good luck finding them. Even though im avoiding the Excel Saga forum due to series end spoilers, it is a great place to get an idea on how the manga differs. Now if only the Viz releases wernt one volume a year >.< Hopefully this will change as there are only 5 volumes left to release. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6873 Location: Kazune City |
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@Surrender Artist: Mike Kleinhenz, not David.
And from what I heard from ADR director Matt Greenfield at a con a few years ago, Jessica Calvello didn't actually injure her vocal cords. Calvello had already relocated to New York at the time, and had been flying down to Houston to work on Excel Saga. She got checked out by a doctor, and found that she was at risk of injuring her vocal cords if she continued on with the role. Since she was auditioning for a Broadway musical, the decision was made to replace her, in order to spare her voice from further/potential damage. So the "behind the scenes" story isn't quite as unfortunate as people would think. |
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purplepolecat
 Posts: 130 |
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I would give Excel Saga a Shelf Worthy, if only because you have to watch each episode multiple times to catch all the visual gags in the background.
I'm also a sucker for parodies, which is where Excel really shines. The idea of switching genre for every episode was genius. Too bad the vid notes annotation thing was taken out for the new release. I'll hang on to my ImPerfect Collection. |
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Actar
 Posts: 1074 Location: Singapore |
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Seriously, the range that Mizuhara Kaoru (not Kaori) is phenomenal. For fans of Lucky Star, she also voices the quirky Kusakakbe Misao. Blew my mind when I found out. (^.^;) Anyways, what made me sit up straight and take notice of Ga-Rei Zero was that it was able to distinguish itself pretty well from the run-of-the-mill action series with the sheer amount of emotional content. While the supernatural intrigue and action is there, at its heart, it's a story about the two main protagonists Yomi and Kagura. The Anime does a brilliant job of building up their relationship in a way that surprisingly not overdone and in-your-face. They do it so well that you really become really invested in their characters. By being able to create such a wonderful relationship, the show is able to make the inevitable even more heart-wrenching. There are bits of comedy that do well to off-set the seriousness of the main plot, but it ultimately serves to make the ending more poignant. In just 12 short episodes, it was able to tell a concise and succinct story with great emotional content. I love Anime that are able to achieve a lot in as few episodes as possible, another example being Eden of the East. |
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Raebo101
 Posts: 799 |
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Fixed for ya. : ) animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-07-03/excel-saga-manga-approaches-its-finale-after-15-years |
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nhat
Posts: 922 |
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I enjoyed Ga-Rei: Zero and didn't regret purchasing the series. It's 12 episodes and wraps up the series nicely at the end. The manga keeps going after that and the weird thing is that the manga isn't as good as Ga-Rei: Zero. Still average enjoyable though the manga.
Last edited by nhat on Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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