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DFBTG
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 358
Location: Hell, MI(or that other one)
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 Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:13 pm |
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| I hope that I want have to wait too long to see a When They Cry boxset. Much as I like it, anything above $60 for a 26 episode series is a giant no-no for me. As for the second season, I don't care much for what happens to it. That was an absolute abomination in pacing compared to the first season. It would have been great if it were 13 episodes, tops, seeing as they only had 1-2 arcs to cover after the first season. Spreading that little amount of material over 24-26 episodes? No, just no. |
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Kyogissun
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 359
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:45 pm |
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| bglassbrook wrote: |
As to the collection, I hope you have the 4th Alien Nine book, I seem to recall it being one of the better ones (along with #3.) |
Amazing series, one of the first 'envelope pushers' I read/saw before getting into Higurashi. Amazingly violent, plenty of mind****ery and just a perfect way of handling a dosage of science fiction that I couldn't have enjoyed it more... And enough twists to keep me interested (Yuri's end-story incident didn't appeal that much, but the dramatic occurence towards Kumi midway through the manga and at the end of the anime just blew my mind.) if anyone can find a full boxset, you've gotta read it. Pure genius.
Yet, I still have not read or seen a copy of Emulators, which I'd love to read one day...
On the note of Higurashi, let's hope Koroni Kai is potentially in the radar of being snatched up for those of you who wish to check it out legitimately.
...And that Umineko gets a ****ing airdate announced soon. |
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pachy_boy
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 166
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 3:39 pm |
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| DFBTG wrote: | | I hope that I want have to wait too long to see a When They Cry boxset. Much as I like it, anything above $60 for a 26 episode series is a giant no-no for me. As for the second season, I don't care much for what happens to it. That was an absolute abomination in pacing compared to the first season. It would have been great if it were 13 episodes, tops, seeing as they only had 1-2 arcs to cover after the first season. Spreading that little amount of material over 24-26 episodes? No, just no. |
The second season is actually very captivating, intense, and exciting, so I can't agree on that. Maybe I'm overpraising this entire series, but I seriously believe Higurashi deserves to be on a 'uniquely brilliant' titles list along with Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, because there's just no other series like it.
When Funimation started rereleasing the single volumes, I waited until I had all 6 and started marathoning them. Then I was disappointed to find playback problems on the fourth disc, and my player is a Sony. All copies that my local Suncoast had were defective, and I don't know whether I should chance getting it off of Robert's Anime Corner Store or wherever. For this reason alone I may be selling back the single discs for the box set, assuming that the discs will be done differently and there won't be any playback problems |
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DFBTG
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 358
Location: Hell, MI(or that other one)
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:40 pm |
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| pachy_boy wrote: | The second season is actually very captivating, intense, and exciting, so I can't agree on that. Maybe I'm overpraising this entire series, but I seriously believe Higurashi deserves to be on a 'uniquely brilliant' titles list along with Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop, because there's just no other series like it.
When Funimation started rereleasing the single volumes, I waited until I had all 6 and started marathoning them. Then I was disappointed to find playback problems on the fourth disc, and my player is a Sony. All copies that my local Suncoast had were defective, and I don't know whether I should chance getting it off of Robert's Anime Corner Store or wherever. For this reason alone I may be selling back the single discs for the box set, assuming that the discs will be done differently and there won't be any playback problems |
I'll agree that that description fits the first season perfectly, but Kai was just so....boring. Only thing that kept me going was because by time I realized it wasn't picking up, it was half way through (and since I was watching it an episode a week, I figured, might as well keep going, because...), and I was curious as to if my conclusions from the first season were correct. Although I suppose wikipedia could have told me the latter. Not to mention I found some lines extremely "WTF" worthy. Like “With your skills, you could even join the SAS!” – “Sorry, I’d rather remain our school club leader.” Botched pacing aside, my other big complaint was it's near complete lack of atmosphere. That's one reason I liked the first one so much; the dark and menacing atmosphere during the more...violent parts. The second season is near completely missing those. Understandable, some may say because Kai is more of a suspense/thriller once the big mystery gets revealed and they're trying to stop it, but it's still hard to create atmosphere when the pacing blows. Like I said though, had it been 13 episodes, I would have loved it (chances are the pacing would have been closer to the same. The first season crammed six arcs into 26 episodes, so 13 should have been more than enough for 2 arcs). Though I will admit I did enjoy learning more about Takano. As is, though, they took too little material and spread over too long a span. If you enjoyed it, well, I wish I could have too.
As for your DVD problem, I'm not sure how much Robert's Anime Corner Store is selling it for, but if you wait a while rightstuf will probably have a Geneon sale were you can get it 40% off. I think it'd be cheaper to do that rather than sell all of your singles and get the boxset. Well, I suppose it really depends on how much the boxset will go for and how much you can get for your singles. |
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504NOSON2
Joined: 28 Jul 2008
Posts: 114
Location: Body:Santa Barbara, CA ~ Heart:New Orleans, LA
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 7:24 pm |
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"sculpted-poufs used to denote hair" lol. Ah, man. This chick is crazy.
Anyway, I remember MAPS. Back in like 2000/2001-ish, I would go in my local Blockbuster to buy the latest DBZ VHS months before they showed the episodes on CN, and there I saw it. Nice and mostly unnoticed in the rental section(along with Ninja Scroll and Alien from the darkness). So, I asked my mom to let me rent it(I was 13 or 14 then)and she said... No! But, one day I came back with my friend and his sister and she rented it for me. Safe to say it sucked, but, back then ALL anime was of excellent quality to me.  |
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irishninja
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 272
Location: Seattle-ish
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:27 pm |
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| Labbes wrote: | | irishninja wrote: | | ...stuff stuff stuff... |
If you didn't like Nanoha S1 because of the fanservice and inconsistent look and you love mahou shoujo, chances are high you will like the second season. Pacing improves a lot as well, since there are no episodes where nothing happens.
I still find A's forgettable, but I can't exactly explain why ^^ |
Thanks Labbes! That pretty much echoes what I've heard from those who originally recommended the show to me. Since that's pretty much the consensus view I will probably move it up in my purchase queue now.  |
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pachy_boy
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 166
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 9:51 pm |
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| DFBTG wrote: | | I'll agree that that description fits the first season perfectly, but Kai was just so....boring. Only thing that kept me going was because by time I realized it wasn't picking up, it was half way through (and since I was watching it an episode a week, I figured, might as well keep going, because...), and I was curious as to if my conclusions from the first season were correct. Although I suppose wikipedia could have told me the latter. Not to mention I found some lines extremely "WTF" worthy. Like “With your skills, you could even join the SAS!” – “Sorry, I’d rather remain our school club leader.” Botched pacing aside, my other big complaint was it's near complete lack of atmosphere. That's one reason I liked the first one so much; the dark and menacing atmosphere during the more...violent parts. The second season is near completely missing those. Understandable, some may say because Kai is more of a suspense/thriller once the big mystery gets revealed and they're trying to stop it, but it's still hard to create atmosphere when the pacing blows. Like I said though, had it been 13 episodes, I would have loved it (chances are the pacing would have been closer to the same. The first season crammed six arcs into 26 episodes, so 13 should have been more than enough for 2 arcs). Though I will admit I did enjoy learning more about Takano. As is, though, they took too little material and spread over too long a span. If you enjoyed it, well, I wish I could have too. |
I guess it depends on what your tastes/expecations are. As for myself, I wasn't really expecting anything when I started the second season. What I got was a big surprise in story revelations. It was a different atmosphere altogether, but I found it refreshing, because it would've gotten run of the mill if it followed the same exact formula of the first season. It really should expand beyond itself to show that it's more than just a series about girls turning psychotic. And after all the arcs, I was really glued to my seat and rooting for the characters, but I'm speaking solely for myself.
As for the discs again, RACS wrote back to me saying the fourth volume was problematic because it was something Geneon released while shutting down, and Funimation officially took over for the 5th and 6th volumes. Considering that, I think I may be better off getting the box set; I feel rich enough for it. |
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DFBTG
Joined: 02 Sep 2007
Posts: 358
Location: Hell, MI(or that other one)
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| Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:27 pm |
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| pachy_boy wrote: | I guess it depends on what your tastes/expecations are. As for myself, I wasn't really expecting anything when I started the second season. What I got was a big surprise in story revelations. It was a different atmosphere altogether, but I found it refreshing, because it would've gotten run of the mill if it followed the same exact formula of the first season. It really should expand beyond itself to show that it's more than just a series about girls turning psychotic. And after all the arcs, I was really glued to my seat and rooting for the characters, but I'm speaking solely for myself.
As for the discs again, RACS wrote back to me saying the fourth volume was problematic because it was something Geneon released while shutting down, and Funimation officially took over for the 5th and 6th volumes. Considering that, I think I may be better off getting the box set; I feel rich enough for it. |
Well, that about sums it up really; too each their own. And I will admit I probably did have high expectations for it (after seeing the first season, I found it hard not to), so that would be a heavy factor in my enjoyment of it. Alas though, currently it's not even licensed so I suppose it doesn't matter too much whether I enjoyed it not.
As for the disc, well, that blows. But hey, chances are it'll take up less space owning the boxset than all the singles. Then again, I only own one series from Funimation, so I don't know how they really do boxsets. |
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Dragynstorm
Joined: 05 Jun 2007
Posts: 75
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:08 am |
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| Whoa, I am super jealous of that Berserk collection. Those are some gorgeous figures. |
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TheTheory
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Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 580
Location: Central PA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:38 am |
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I loved the fact that that collection contained a DVD of MAPS right after it was just totally panned in the body of the aricle. Also, feels like he was following a lot of the same sales I had been, as our collections have got quite a bit of TRSI-overlap. In (mostly) good ways.
The description for MAPS sounds hilarious. Too bad its not....
(In other news, just ordered When They Cry v. 6... can't wait) |
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pparker
Subscriber
Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 1043
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:43 am |
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LOL and LOL. Shelf Life is always my favorite ANN read. I laugh out loud almost every time, but Bamboo is classic this week. Even when I disagree, I have to laugh.
When They Cry (Higurashi), the entire two seasons, is definitely in my top 5 anime of all time, out of some 150 that I've watched. The structure is brilliant, the pacing perfect, and otherwise just so unique. It's funny, revolting, touching, infuriating (in a good way, against someone in the show), unpredictable, with a freshly presented philosophical theme and a wonderful cast of original characters. I've been through it twice, and I have to hold myself back from watching it again so I can savor it for years.
When I started it, I knew nothing, which turned out to be the best for me. Also, since I knew a second series was coming out, I waited and marathoned the two seasons all at once for the first viewing, just because that's what I do. Yes, the second season is different. But as mentioned by others, season one is the "problems" arcs and season two is the "solutions" arcs, matching the games in the series. No matter. It's just great anime.
Nanoha... yes, I'm one of those that launched nukes at Carl for his review, and I take back none of it, simply because of the review style. No, Nanoha is not Card Captor Sakura by any stretch. But when you put all three seasons together, it's definitely a decent show. I would agree that A's is the best, but all are not bad. The fact that they were willing to "grow up" the main characters in StrikerS is pretty gutsy, though I'm sure the yuri vibe doesn't hurt |
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Zeiram
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Posts: 314
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:45 pm |
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I need to see maps.
Even if I'm beating a dead horse, saying something has been done before in itself has been done before. Review the series on its own merits, not in comparison to others. Would you like it if I reviewed your review by comparing it to other reviews? Its silly as is half of your review on Nanoha. Just like the one before.
Nanoha is what it is and I have a lot to like and not like about it. People watch magical girl shows because they like the genre, faulting it for being a part of a genre is like saying star wars is bad because it has space ships. I don't speak about slow dialogue, I had no problems with it. I liked the music, too. You want to make fun of it? Just say it's a loliconified Gundam Wing. Nanoha is Wing Gundam and Fate is Death Scythe. There, it is derivative of Gundam like most anime. The movie coming this spring might fix a lot of these issues you pointed out, but so far it looks to be copying Gundam Wing even further. That's enough from me. |
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