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Mikeski wrote:

... How a society that can make test-tube babies that aren't all exact genetic clones of the originals--starting from a genetic stock of five human males--can't seem to make any females is best not thought about, ...

But, where would they get the X chromosomes fro.... hey! wait a minute!

ah, happy you liked VanDread, Erin... and glad you kept the review without spoilers, because there is so much else to say...

so for those sitting on the fence about "but what if it's a harem, I hate those!"

One guy is central to the story. Does that make it a harem? So very many of the normal tropes we love or hate, are entirely turned on their heads for this show. The show telegraphs which is the 'right' girl, but all form relationships with him... but what KIND of relationships? Ah, now that's where it is rich. Son, Brother, Lover, Friend, curiosity, irritant?

But that isn't all, and not by a long shot. How do all these women relate to each other? How do they deal with these 3 guys? How do the guys and girls both deal with the layer upon layer of lie that they have known in their lives? What happens when they get back home?

This would be one of my vary favorite shows to wish that in 5 years or so, they remake. Tighten it up, explore some of the issues they shied away from, get modern blend of CG and character... and for heaven's sake, fix that second ep!!!!

Heh, plus? Erin's comment about Reavers... hee... d'ja ever see a B-grade sci-fi/horro show from around '90 called MoonTrap with Walter Koenig as the lead? Amusing Campy, and in a couple of places scary... not quite like reavers, but nobody you'd want to run into either...

erinfinnegan wrote:

I disagree with some harem examples on TVtrope.org. I don't think Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a harem show, or Haruhi Suzumiya. (Although I could see where they might be...) Code Geass? Really? I haven't watched the second season yet...

I also don't think mine is a black-and-white either-or iron clad definition. A show can be "a little harem-like" without being a harem show "all the way". I think Sister Princess is "harem all the way," but I'm not so sure about Ranma 1/2, although it has a lot of harem elements.

Generally speaking all of the girls in the harem are in love with the male lead. In Vandread all of the girls on the ship are not in love with Hibiki. Many of them are curious about males, but they have no concept of heterosexual love at all. The female-female child rearing on their home world seems to mimic traditional marriage, but Hibiki didn't have parents at all.

I can see how Geass may come off as him having a harem (C.C., Shirley, Kallen, Euphemia, and one could argue for that Kyoko-girl.) Considering how there is usually only two in "serious contention" at any time, and there is always the definite tinge in the back of your mind that he is only using them as pawns, you really have to think about it to see the possibility.

spoiler[Took a nice big quote to avoid defeating the spoiler tag purpose... but Hibiki DID have parents. They discovered the film of him as a baby from the old Colony Ship section in the second half. He is the final original elder.]

PetrifiedJello wrote:

The series isn't bad, but I'm not going to lie: if one isn't a fan of inter-dimensional sci-fi, there's not going to be an appreciation of the series. One needs to stay awake to follow along and it was tough to do with the boring delivery of the scientific evaluations used to control the Ghoul.

Oh well. Can't win 'em all, right?

Sadly.

PetrifiedJello wrote:

I almost forgot. This series may not be to Erin's liking regardless due to Kotoko-01. Anyone here really think Erin will enjoy the series with her in it? Especially with her outfit which isn't the same as the other girls?

Heck no, even before that reminder I'm not even sure she would make it until Kotoko is introduced without having to do it for a review.

Key wrote:

Which is kinda sad, since Divergence Eve actually gradually turns into a pretty solid sci fi horror series once you get past a truly horrible first episode.

So, when you say that, do you mean episode 1 or 2?

Say what you want about Divergence Eve-it's one of my favorite sci fi series-as is Vandred.

Thats shallow Erin, judging Divergence Eve based off a trailer?
I find Divergence Eve to be very underrated. Its a show you can't judge based off the cover. Believe it or not its not really heavy on fanservice, just girls with big boobs & small shirts which we always see in anime. Vandread had more heavy fanservice!
There are scenes in Divergence Eve where for example one of the girls bends over to grab papers on a desk with her ass near the captain and I thought they'd do a cheap fanservice shot but they didn't. Razz

For the most part they don't take advanage of scenes to give us fanservice like other shows do. The show is taken very seriously & has a complex story,I got over the character sexy designs & few fanservice scenes.

The only episodes to be a little heavy is episode 1 when Misaki is nude and episode 1 of Misaki Chronicles with the training scenes. The rest is pretty tame, maybe a scene where there's an explosion and the girls boobs jiggle(like in Gundam SEED).

Chris Beveridge (AnimeOnDVD/Mania)

Quote:

If you've written this series off as pure fanservice due to the big bazongas that you see on the cover, you've probably failed an Anime 101 test. Divergence Eve is one of the more interesting hard science fiction stories cloaked in fanservice that I've seen in quite some time. It's serious nature is so strong that it probably could have used some lighter moments but they would have felt extremely out of place. There's a fascinating story being told in here with some really neat concepts and visuals. Some of the CG meshing is for garbage at times, but once you get past those relatively few areas when taking the series as a whole, you're left with something that's much more than meets the eye. There's always a show out there that surprises us, but I can't think of many that surprised me more than Divergence Eve.

Chris Beveridge (AnimeOnDVD/Mania) on Season 2:

Quote:

Misaki Chronicles is a hugely satisfying series that you have to work to enjoy but the payoff is fantastic. If you've passed this over because of the big boobs, you've fell prey to the oldest cliché in the book by judging it by its covers and not its content.

[quote=PetrifiedJello]Hey now, don't try to get people convinced the CGI gets better. It doesn't. The CGI throughout the series is horrid. Unfortunately, its use is sporadic, so there's no comfortable level to get used to it. It truly is one of the most horrid uses of a computer I've ever seen. [/quote] I don't think Key was implying that the CG improved, only that the series itself improved.

So Season 4 of Dragon Ball is called Vandread, is it? Smile

(Check your formatting.) I think I may have to actually look at Dragon Ball sometime soon, but for some reason I haven't yet read anything about Vandread that makes it appeal to me.

Count me among those who ended up enjoying Divergence Eve. Well, as much as you can "enjoy" a hard science/cosmic horror show. But, yeah, those boobs are horrifically huge, and episode "2" features some pretty blatant service. If you can overlook that, and you like science fiction, you may well like Divergence Eve. (However, I recall the sequel being pretty terrible.) This is one of those shows, like Kurogane Communication, that have a great story but are undermined by their visual presentation, and could do with a re-do.

Oh, Gravion Zwei is actually quite enjoyable as well.

Count me in the crowd that thinks Divergence Eve is awful. Obviously, a fanservice guy like me had no problem with the character designs (that was one of the shows few pluses in my mind), but I found the story very confusing and most damning of all, I just didn't care about the characters. If it hadn't been for my, "I must watch the whole series because I own it on DVD" mindset, I would never have plowed through to the end. I also watched the Misaki Chronicles to the end (I had bought both sets at the same time) and actually found it better story-wise.

One doesn't buy a chunk of meat because of the cute packaging around it. Same goes for Divergence Eve and the likes there be.

Levon_r wrote:

Chris Beveridge (AnimeOnDVD/Mania) on Season 2:

Quote:

Misaki Chronicles is a hugely satisfying series that you have to work to enjoy but the payoff is fantastic. If you've passed this over because of the big boobs, you've fell prey to the oldest cliché in the book by judging it by its covers and not its content.

Speaking as someone who's been watching anime and knowing it was anime for about 18 years now, I'd like to take this time to impart some sage wisdom that many, in their youth, may not want to believe. But it's true.

The phrase "don't judge a book by its cover"? Yeah, do not apply that line of thinking to anime under any circumstances. ALWAYS JUDGE ANIME BY ITS COVER! You will be 99% accurate. The remaining 1% can simply be accounted for by way of fan feedback.

As a collective whole, we as anime fans really need only look at roughly ONE promotional image for a given title before determining if we are going to completely avoid the show in question. Don't believe me? Stop and think about how every new season, people post chart collages of every upcoming title. That, the title, and maybe one sentence is all most of us need, and you know something? It rarely does us wrong at this point.

Levon_r wrote:

Thats shallow Erin, judging Divergence Eve based off a trailer?

Oh, I don't know... over the years I've gotten pretty good at judging films by their trailers. Plus that internship at Miramax during college really opened my eyes (it was in the trailer/publicity department).

Granted, soemtimes trailers can be tragically wrong, as was the case with the trailer for Fight Club. Anime trailers can be a different animal.

Mohawk52 wrote:

One doesn't buy a chunk of meat because of the cute packaging around it. Same goes for Divergence Eve and the likes there be.

What about those bags of rice with bishounen on them?

I guarentee that if I tried to tell you very important news wearing a very silly hat, you probably wouldn't be able to pay attention to what I was saying. Likewise, I might be so distracted watching Divergence Eve that I couldn't pay attention to the plot.

eyeresist wrote:

So Season 4 of Dragon Ball is called Vandread, is it? Smile

(Check your formatting.)

I don't see what you're talking about... did it get fixed?

erinfinnegan wrote:

eyeresist wrote:

So Season 4 of Dragon Ball is called Vandread, is it? Smile

(Check your formatting.)

I don't see what you're talking about... did it get fixed?

Nope - up at the top you've got

Shelf Worthy
Dragon Ball Season 4 Vandread - Ultimate Collection
Rental Shelf
One Piece Season 2 Voyage 7
Perishable
None this week.

Anime World Order wrote:

The phrase "don't judge a book by its cover"? Yeah, do not apply that line of thinking to anime under any circumstances. ALWAYS JUDGE ANIME BY ITS COVER! You will be 99% accurate. The remaining 1% can simply be accounted for by way of fan feedback.

This is quite possible the WORST anime advise I've ever heard. Pass judgment on 1 image, stick with what you like; and ignore everything else (cause there's only a 1% chance you'll be wrong Rolling Eyes

)

Thank god Chris still has enthusiasm when reviewing anime.

Ranma824 wrote:

Anime World Order wrote:

The phrase "don't judge a book by its cover"? Yeah, do not apply that line of thinking to anime under any circumstances. ALWAYS JUDGE ANIME BY ITS COVER! You will be 99% accurate. The remaining 1% can simply be accounted for by way of fan feedback.

This is quite possible the WORST anime advise I've ever heard. Pass judgment on 1 image, stick with what you like; and ignore everything else (cause there's only a 1% chance you'll be wrong Rolling Eyes

)

I think Daryl is right on this one, except I'd give it a 5%. I was surprised by Heat Guy J and Skull Man, and some other titles.

Also I think we live in an age when you CAN judge a book by its cover. Graphic design and marketing are pretty advanced nowdays.

I once bought a crappily bound xeroxed comic with a shitty cover at an independent comics covention. It was one of the worst covers and worse bindings at the con, but I thought "That looks like something I would like." My snap judgement was right - that comic was awesome! (Since then it has been reprinted with a better cover.) It was "Catfight" by M.K. Reed.

erinfinnegan wrote:

I once bought a crappily bound xeroxed comic with a shitty cover at an independent comics convention. It was one of the worst covers and worse bindings at the con, but I thought "That looks like something I would like." My snap judgment was right - that comic was awesome! (Since then it has been reprinted with a better cover.) It was "Catfight" by M.K. Reed.

But see, you actually tried it!

No matter what the cover/art looks like - if you have the time - actually try it out. I bet you could find a show you like in a genre you dislike. Don't fall into the "the show must be like "this", look at the art!"

And since I'm directly commenting to you: Haven't tried Vandred past an episode yet; I enjoyed both Geneshaft and DivEve, and have STILL yet to try Tylor. (really need to fit it into my budget at some point)

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