Forum - View topicShelf Life - Level Up
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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I like Level E a lot, but that sentai material was incredibly stale. Sentai parodies have been beaten into the ground over the last 20 years in anime; it'd be shocking if they managed to do something fresh or interesting with the idea, but they didn't. Yeah, it's based on an old manga, but that doesn't somehow restrict them from eliminating ideas in the source material that maybe wouldn't work so well now. Again, I really do enjoy the show, but it isn't flawless. Also: in my opinion, Phantom is so incredibly boring and slow it's unwatchable. Cool that so many of you seem to love it but good lord is that show a snooze. I don't know how anyone can stay awake during it. As someone pointed out, if it were boring BUT had something unique or original to it or had anything of value to say that would be another story, but "generic brainwashed super-assassin story but in slow-motion" doesn't cut it. |
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nightjuan
 Posts: 1473 |
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I must disagree about Char Aznable not being done to death but, to be completely fair, Gundam Unicorn actually does a lot more for the cause he represents than most of the other incarnations of said character. Which is clearly a good thing.
I would argue one of the best parts of Unicorn is, precisely, those lectures and conversations in general. They're better written than Tomino's, at the very least, even if the underlying ideas are similar enough. Not to mention that, yes, a new interpretation or two has been brought up from time to time. Other than that, it's mostly more of the same. We get some great production values, action sequences and characterization moments. This is still one of the better Gundam productions in years and, despite my own nitpicks, I don't have any issues dealing with the concept of Laplace's Box so far. If anything, I like that it gives the overall story a sense of direction and establishes a clear goal. I've heard about plenty of problems with the Blu-Ray live features so you're definitely not alone there, Erin. And not that it really makes any difference, but I had a lot less trouble getting through Phantom than Noir, of all things. Despite the actual subject matter not being particularly original in the grand scheme of things, I actually liked the elements taken from, say, The Professional as opposed to finding them a cause for concern. I suppose you could say I'm interested in stories about people fighting against their fate, so to speak, regardless of how transparent or hopeless it may be. In this case, the resulting type of atmosphere is, admittedly, something many will find boring, slow or oppressive but I felt that was appropriate enough for the content involved. If nothing else, I felt it was a welcome break from whatever else was airing at the time. For the record, I also didn't have a problem watching Shiki, another title that some found infuriatingly slow and impossible to get excited about. Granted, Phantom is probably the lesser show from a strictly critical perspective. Golgo 13 definitely represents the cool, silent and unemotional assassin, yes, but he's not exactly an unpredictable or original character either. More often than not, what makes him entertaining to watch is the variety of challenges he has to face, but there's little doubt he'll win and continue being exactly the same person. That formula can work for me too, mind you, but it also has its own limits. Such as, ironically enough, many leaps of logic. In the end, Blood- already pointed out that there's another review by Bamboo for those who would like a second opinion. Last edited by nightjuan on Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:05 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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@ Phantom Requiem
Ouch. To counter that argument I'd have to re-watch it, because it's been a while. I'd say I wasn't there for the plot, but rather for the characters. They were voiced by seiyu that really fit the mood, and I thought the art/designs were pretty good. The opening also had to be one of the best out there (okay not the animation sequence, but you get the point). So all for all I thought it was good because I got attached to the characters. Nothing like Gunslinger Girl, but at least here the girls are older, which is a plus in my book. It certainly went downhill on the latter half, but let's leave that for the next time it appears on Shelf Life. For now I'll just say that Bamboo and Carl's review were far more accurate and resonant with my tastes. This anime had everything to enter my top 10. But man, that second half. That latter half man. 
Last edited by egoist on Mon Mar 21, 2011 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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To characterize something as boring is a subjective call - to call something slow is somewhat less so. Phantom was definitely not heart-pounding, turbo-charged, adrenaline-rush action from start to finish, but it had a fair amount of pretty well-done fight scenes (normally at least one per episode) and plot points. As I said before, I can understand anybody who had problems with the series; it's a flawed show. What I have a harder time figuring out is why anybody would think its some super-stinky, egregious piece of garbage. It just seems more middle of the road than that in its execution. |
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zensunni
 Posts: 1293 |
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Thanks! I never knew that (or cared enough to look it up, to be honest.) |
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zensunni
Posts: 1293 |
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Well, parody is a humor style. When I commented that I didn't think the parody attempt in the color rangers arc worked and "It just doesn't bring the funny ... " I was commenting on the fact that I thought those episodes were not funny. To be perfectly clear, up to the 4th episode, I thought Level E was one of the best shows of the season and was suggesting it to friends who watch anime but don't necessarily keep up with the new season's shows as much as I do. I still think that the first 3 episodes are one of the finest pieces of comedy anime I have seen, and the 4th episode may even be funnier in a dark, twisted way. But the color rangers arc lost me and my son, who used to watch the Power Rangers. Even he didn't find the humor fresh or all that funny. I will probably watch the rest sometime in the future, but there are too many good new shows this season for me to spend time watching something that I don't really find that funny and has absolutely nothing else with which to redeem itself. |
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John Casey
 Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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Definitely not too popular. :<
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Not popular, but definitely controversial. Just look at this thread.
I think that's her angle? |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Someone writing a negative review and fans losing their shit on the forums hardly requires a conspiracy theory to explain. It happens all the time. |
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amagee
 Posts: 333 Location: Orlando, FL |
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I say this coming from no professional anime background but I do quite a bit of reading on the subject and I have spoken with many, many people involved in the industry because I like to keep myself informed about things I enjoy. The above statement is absolutely incorrect. There is a significant difference between simply translating and translating for a media script. The people that are actually hired to do translations have to be able to do their own writing decently well. If you're not a reasonably good writer yourself, how are you going to properly translate something written by an artist? Also, these writers, skilled as they are, don't decide what the final product is. If they send a translated script and the American dubbing company doesn't like it, they have to change it. If you have a problem with the way that something is translated, don't think that some omnipotent translator made the decision and everyone had to go with it. That would be the producer or director's fault. Take up your beef with them. Additionally, I haven't seen but Unicorn Ep. 2 so I can't speak my opinion for the other two things, but this outpouring against the column writer is honestly kind of odd. Not the disagreements in general (certainly doesn't bother me), but rather the fact that people's disagreements are including such things as "Erin obviously doesn't understand anime". Indeed, she is so inexperienced with anime that she is working as a writer for one of THE major English anime news source... Just thinking that people should use decent arguments instead of running around like retarded badgers on PCP. |
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Henry Jones
 Posts: 97 Location: Nebraska |
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I don't know that Phantom is the right Bee Train assassin show for the MST3K treatment. Well, except for the final half where it because something completely different for a few episodes. El Cazador de la Bruja is a lot more unintentially hillarious. The way the main villain spends the critical times during the plot shacking up with his girlfriend, the way they make the character L.A. almost undefeatable in the first few episodes and make him absolutely worthless the rest of the series (And then they take the ruthless killer and try to make him sympathetic and then back to ruthless without blinking), and the constant stupid lines like, "Hello, White House? Can you put me through to someone important?"
I was okay with Phantom. It is the Bee Train assassin series that at least has a satisfying and fitting conclusion (Though the means to get there are a little sketchy at best), but by no means anything special. And those who said the composer did a better Yuki Kajiura score than Yuki Kajiura, no. Just no. But then again, I remember this being said a lot after the first two episodes before "UH! YEAH! PHANTOM! YEAH!" music cue got used..... |
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Sailor S
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And you could also say: Someone writing a positive review and detractors losing their shit on the forums hardly requires a conspiracy theory to explain. It happens all the time. Moral of the story is, you'll never please everyone, so don't bother trying to please anyone but yourself. |
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Jrittmayer
 Posts: 304 Location: New Jersey |
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Not to mention she gave Panty and Stocking a stream worthy 
Still, everyone has their own opinions, and I find it interesting to see why people DIDN'T like a show I liked and vice versa, its nice to compare viewpoints. Also, I love these heated discussions, they're fun to follow.
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John Casey
Posts: 1853 Location: In My Angry Center |
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I guess Erin is our very own Armond White... X3 That said, I suppose I'm kind of glad I didn't hit Phantom first, and someone else managed to snag it... Seeing as most people trash on it... 
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GWOtaku
 Posts: 678 |
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You like one iteration, it's a happy exception. You like more than that, and what we have is a trend. So yes: *ahem* One of us! One of us! I love how people are using Phantom and Casshern as ultimate measures of good taste. Mates, there are great shows with slow & methodical pacing.....but that kind of thing just isn't for everyone, and it's a deal breaker if one just doesn't see the substance there--taste differs, who knew?! I'm far from surprised to see the negative reactions I've seen for a "woe is me!" gunslinger series in the tradition of Noir.....done by Bee Train. I might try Phantom sometime, but I'm sure as hell in no hurry. Level E's on my to-watch list, if only for those three episodes. If it sucks for me immediately beyond that, I stop. I'm generally on board with the analysis for Gundam UC two. I think it deserves a ton of credit for making Full Frontal & the Zeon side respectable; Frontal's a dignified guy and Marida gets some helpful fleshing out too. Sauper might be there as the obligatory Zeon fanatic if anything, but aside from that characters on either side are humanized and come off as believable and real. You see where everybody's coming from. It's just well-written and balanced all around...this thing is shaping up to be Gundam at its best in more ways than one. |
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