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REVIEW: Shangri-La DVD

vashfanatic wrote:

So I don't have much to say about the review... save that the word "tranny" is rather pejorative, and you might not want to use it. I'm aware that the series itself isn't all that sensitive about transgender issues; do they use "tranny" in the translations, either subtitled or dub?

Both the subtitles and the dub use it very extensively in all kinds of variations, and it's almost exclusively used by Momoko in reference to herself and others of her type; other characters usually skirt around using the term. Given the sexual references that Momoko almost continuously throws out and the way she loves to impress her transgendered status on others, it doesn't feel out of line for her at all.

It's GONZO, it's more rare for their anime not to be a bust. I'm not even trying to be cynical for funny, they just have an abysmal track record, and the new Last Exile series, while better than some of their other recent series, still fails far short of the original. GONZO still needs better writing staff, as their animation have always been top notch and even their CG has improved dramatically.

features a brassy transsexual who overcomes and frightens off soldiers with wet, sloppy kisses...has the whip-using transsexual character (yeah, that's subtle!) make constant double-entendres and sex jokes

Mikuni's arc, contrarily, embodies the mysticism which underlies certain aspects of the series and has an uneasy relationship with the more scientific aspects.

Talking about more recent work? Because I really do like Peace Maker, even though that was a manga before hand, but the anime is still nice. Chrono Crusade is also nice, thought got rig of my singles and artbook to a friend because I outgrew it, but it's still a nicely done series, but again, manga first. but Kaze no Stigma and Blassreiter weren't all that great. Burst Angel was pretty bad, too. I guess it depends on the project. Why does Funimation keeps picking up Gonzo titles when most of them are bad?

But -- this show is crippled by all of it's unnecessary religion and mysticism. Or to quote Lum in episode 11 of Urusei Yatsura: "Like, we're science-fiction, you guys are a fairy tale!" The mix of Japanese magic and religion into an otherwise straight-up sci-fi dystopia does not work, and leads to the show's failure. Martin is far to kind when he says
Quote:
Mikuni's arc, contrarily, embodies the mysticism which underlies certain aspects of the series and has an uneasy relationship with the more scientific aspects.
It is not as much uneasy as it is completely clashing, like a plaid shirt with, well, everything. And the ending is just as preposterous as stated. Basically, this show is like the Republican party: mixing in religion with everything that it should not be mixed into.

Vata Raven wrote:

Talking about more recent work? Because I really do like Peace Maker, even though that was a manga before hand, but the anime is still nice. Chrono Crusade is also nice, thought got rig of my singles and artbook to a friend because I outgrew it, but it's still a nicely done series, but again, manga first. but Kaze no Stigma and Blassreiter weren't all that great. Burst Angel was pretty bad, too. I guess it depends on the project. Why does Funimation keeps picking up Gonzo titles when most of them are bad?

Swap Burst Angel with Linebarrels of Iron and I might be inclined to agree with you. It completely utterly and miraculously changed the source material to the point where the only similarities were character names, the bare bones minimum of the plot and the titular mecha.

Burst Angel, on the other hand, was pretty enjoyable. Characters were likable, plot was decent (not the greatest though) and some of the fights were enjoyable. Now, if only I could get that Season 2 that they teased during the OVA, if only to see Meg have a role reversal.

The mix of Japanese magic and religion into an otherwise straight-up sci-fi dystopia does not work, and leads to the show's failure.

And the show's treatment of the carbon market was very clever --- as science fiction, where the science involved is economics, Shangri-la was very good (better, in terms of economics, than Spice and Wolf).