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INTEREST: I.G Reveals Gargantia in the Verdurous Planet Anime's Story, Characters


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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:55 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
ikillchicken wrote:
I however find harems to be one of the most consistently awful things in anime. With an alarming frequency they result in terrible one note characters, a bloated cast that the show can't support, boring main characters, immensely trite ecchi antics, and boring storylines that prioritize slice of life tedium over actual action or drama. Of course, that is not to say all harems suffer from all these issues by any means or even that it is impossible to include a harem without it being a detriment. However, I feel perfectly justified in viewing a potential harem as a negative thing for reasons well beyond personal preference.


Which harem titles have you watched?


Not sure exactly. I'm pretty meticulous about most anime but I generally don't bother keeping track of shows like these since I rarely get through more than an episode or two and often when I watch one it is simply something I threw on for the hell of it because I was bored. Off the top of my head though...

-I've watched Fate/Stay Night which is a harem show I actually do like although I'd barely call it a harem given their rather wise choice to mostly just focus on Rin and Saber who are actually strong characters.
-I watched Steins;Gate which I actually liked in a lot of ways and yet it's greatest flaws definitely stem from it being a harem. (I think I watched some of Chaos;Head too but I'm not sure).
-I watched most of Bakemonogatari and while I can appreciate some of the things it did I definitely did not care for it overall.
-I did watch Love Hina way back in the day.
-I remember watching a bit of Sekirei, and some of Kampfer. I also watched Highschool of the Dead.
-I've definitely watched a number of ecchi shows that are essentially harems but without the male lead (essentially they're still harems for the viewer). Ikki Tousen, Freezing, etc. I'm not sure if you'd technically call that a harem but I find they share more or less the same problems.
-I definitely watched a bit of several of those mecha/harem shows that were popping up a lot a couple years ago like Linebarrels of Iron, Infinite Stratos or Asura Crying.
-I watched an episode of World God only Knows. I'm sure I watched one of the sis-con harems just for shits and giggles but I don't recall which one. I think I watched an episode of Kanokon or whatever it was called (the one Media Blasters has) too just for the hell of it.
-Generally, I don't watch pure harem shows although I can only imagine they're generally even worse given my experience with harems mixed into other genres.

Look, I'm not saying you can't disagree with me. You're free to like harems even though I don't. Hell, you're even free to think I'm flat out wrong about them. However, there are things that I avoid because I personally don't care for them and there are things I avoid because I actually find them to be downright bad. Harems in my opinion are definitely the latter.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:07 pm Reply with quote
@ ikc - well, there are harems I do like, but your criticisms of the genre definitely apply to some of the bad titles. The reason I asked the question in the first place was that you were very specific in your opinions, yet I had the impression you didn't really watch harems, so I was curious which titles you had seen.
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ikillchicken



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Posts: 7272
Location: Vancouver
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:39 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ ikc - well, there are harems I do like, but your criticisms of the genre definitely apply to some of the bad titles. The reason I asked the question in the first place was that you were very specific in your opinions, yet I had the impression you didn't really watch harems, so I was curious which titles you had seen.


Ah, I see. Sorry if I misinterpreted your motives then. You're certainly correct in a sense. I can only point to a few harem shows that I've actually finished and if I do check out a harem it is usually because it is also part action or mecha or something. I rarely if ever watch pure harem shows. There's generally enough of that mixed genre stuff in existence though that I have had a decent amount of experience watching harem shows even though they're not something I like.
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Sam Murai



Joined: 01 Dec 2006
Posts: 1051
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:57 pm Reply with quote
Not so sure about the concept (or that mouthful of a name), but darn if I don't find that staff tempting beyond words. Murata and Urobuchi on board as director and writer sounds mighty nice, but I'm perhaps most excited about seeing Naruko Hanaharu handling the character designs. I'm a big fan of his and his design work looks great here, too, so that ia likely the biggest selling point for me. And despite my reservations for the plot, Murata and the now super-busy Urobuchi coming up with it is very interesting, to say the least. I.G's doing a pretty good job at funneling talent for their upcoming anime (between this and Attack on Titan (though by an off-shoot))
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:46 pm Reply with quote
dragon695 wrote:

configspace wrote:
If there are any, I see most romance, love polygons, ero-romcom bits, etc. being a positive contribution in just about every show, working to enhance the characters and relationships.

I don't since it often comes off as cheap or forced.


Yep, Hollywood films can be notorious for that as well, shoehorning romance when it's not needed.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 2:48 am Reply with quote
configspace wrote:
I see most romance, love polygons, ero-romcom bits, etc. being a positive contribution in just about every show, working to enhance the characters and relationships.


I somehow doubt you would be making that statement if the above were applied to some bishounen reverse-harem or BL rom-com.
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MoonXArtemis



Joined: 11 Jul 2011
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 4:30 am Reply with quote
phia_one wrote:
tuxedocat wrote:
I'm gonna hold off on this one and read reviews. Looks too harem-ish.


I was really digging the concept... until I saw the Character section. I hope it isn't a harem show because I'm always up for some science fiction


I totally agree with you. When I saw the characters I was like o..no...
Frustration. Why must they keep adding the harem genre. The story could do well without it. Well I'll be waiting for news about this. If it is a harem it will be a big No-No for me.
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