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Shelf Life - All Thinking Men


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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 3904
Location: CO
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:15 pm Reply with quote
invalidname wrote:
Pardon my being that guy, but I'd really like to see ANN standardize on the spelling Mekakucity Actors, rather than "Mekaku City":
  • This is how the title is spelled on the show's official streaming sites (Crunchyroll, Hulu, Daisuki, Aniplex Channel)
  • There is no place called "Mekaku City" in the anime or the Kagerou Project as a whole. It is a pun on mekakushi, the Japanese word for "blindfold".


Actually, I'll look into this. We've been typing Mekakucity in our articles, and I know I did so in my column, but the green links are automatically changing it, despite the main Encyclopedia title being "Mekakucity Actors."

Edit: I discovered the culprit; the default green link is for some reason Mekaku City Actors, but I've at least changed it for this column. I deleted the other name from the Encyc, so hopefully that will change things.

Thanks for pointing this out. I didn't check to see if anything was changed.
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Jayhosh



Joined: 24 May 2013
Posts: 972
Location: Millmont, Pennsylvania
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:39 pm Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
I definitely wanna see Short Peace, but I can bet it didn't do too hot in Japan among normals or otaku.


I don't really care how it performed among everyone else. What matters is that I want to watch it, and that's exactly what I'm going to do when my copy arrives.
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Student no.0



Joined: 02 Apr 2014
Posts: 170
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:51 pm Reply with quote
Not sure if I'd recommend MCA to anyone, except those who found the Black Rock Shooter tv series enjoyable. If certainly did have its own charm until episode 9 IMO. I do agree though that 2-cour might fleshed it out even more to give proper emphasis to the characters' back stories. Then again, I wish that for a lot of series already (examples: Angel Beats, Brynhildr in the Darkness, Black Bullet, etc.).
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:21 am Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
Ali07 wrote:
Ah, RDG. Such a nice looking work with some good story...but no pay off. Seems like they adapted 4 of 6 novels and will just be leaving it there. Sad.

According to one of my on-line friends who has read the novels, they did 5 of 6, but they really skimped on both the 4th and 5th novels.

Oh, really? Then the novels seem to have a disappointing ending, unless the anime didn't have the novels' ending. Laughing

zensunni wrote:
As for the review, I think Bamboo hit the nail in the head to a large extent, however, I personally would put it on the Buy shelf. I find the series eminently re-watchable. The beauty of the backgrounds and the fluid character animation, and the wonderful complexity of the story make it one of my favorites.
-Snip-
The only problem I have with the show is the incompleteness. With a two cour run, the series would have been spectacular, or even with a three to six part OVA ending, similar to the way Kokoro Connect continued its story (without finishing it either, I might add...).

See, you're only problem with the show is the same as mine. And, it is the reason why I wouldn't rewatch RDG, so it wouldn't be a buy for me.

I'd never buy an anime where I enjoyed the journey, but was left unsatisfied when the destination is reached. I know that I wouldn't rewatch any show/movie if the ending felt as flat as RDG's did for me.

As for Kokoro Connect, it is incomplete. I own it. And, the place where they ended the anime was a good sign off point.

RDG ended at a point where the characters are just coming to grips with everything. They kind of know what they need to do, but we're never going to see their goals reached...unless RDG somehow gets a 2nd season.

But, if you're right about all the novels being covered within the 12 episodes...then that is the only ending we'd be getting that is based on the source material.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2442
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:34 am Reply with quote
ANN_Bamboo wrote:
Edit: I discovered the culprit; the default green link is for some reason Mekaku City Actors, but I've at least changed it for this column. I deleted the other name from the Encyc, so hopefully that will change things.

Thanks for the fix, and for the review. I came out of Mekakucity Actors not really satisfied by the show itself, but deeply interested in the broader Kagerou Project. I also got more into it after seeing a panel on Kagerou at JAFAX last month.

The fact that Kagerou Project is a song cycle with conflicting narratives — does Ayano spoiler[commit suicide to gain red-eye powers for herself, to keep Kenjirou from collecting the snakes, or does she live?] — makes it worth asking whether a linear narrative adaptation like an anime series could ever really "work". With the songs and videos, you can sort of juggle the disparate timelines and outcomes, picking and choosing what you want to believe at any one time. For the series, Shinbo had to commit to something, and like you say, the pieces don't really come together until late in the series, and even then it's kind of a muddle.

Also, it'll be really interesting to see if Aniplex USA has any plans for this show beyond streaming. I would figure not, but they're actually doing discs for Silver Spoon, so you never know.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:08 am Reply with quote
Ali07 wrote:
zensunni wrote:
Ali07 wrote:
Ah, RDG. Such a nice looking work with some good story...but no pay off. Seems like they adapted 4 of 6 novels and will just be leaving it there. Sad.

According to one of my on-line friends who has read the novels, they did 5 of 6, but they really skimped on both the 4th and 5th novels.

Oh, really? Then the novels seem to have a disappointing ending, unless the anime didn't have the novels' ending. Laughing

zensunni wrote:
As for the review, I think Bamboo hit the nail in the head to a large extent, however, I personally would put it on the Buy shelf. I find the series eminently re-watchable. The beauty of the backgrounds and the fluid character animation, and the wonderful complexity of the story make it one of my favorites.
-Snip-
The only problem I have with the show is the incompleteness. With a two cour run, the series would have been spectacular, or even with a three to six part OVA ending, similar to the way Kokoro Connect continued its story (without finishing it either, I might add...).

See, you're only problem with the show is the same as mine. And, it is the reason why I wouldn't rewatch RDG, so it wouldn't be a buy for me.

I'd never buy an anime where I enjoyed the journey, but was left unsatisfied when the destination is reached. I know that I wouldn't rewatch any show/movie if the ending felt as flat as RDG's did for me.

As for Kokoro Connect, it is incomplete. I own it. And, the place where they ended the anime was a good sign off point.

RDG ended at a point where the characters are just coming to grips with everything. They kind of know what they need to do, but we're never going to see their goals reached...unless RDG somehow gets a 2nd season.

But, if you're right about all the novels being covered within the 12 episodes...then that is the only ending we'd be getting that is based on the source material.

No, all the novels were NOT covered. 5 of 6 were covered, the 4th and 5th were covered too quickly.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:00 pm Reply with quote
Mekaku City Actors The magic of vocaloid does it again. Chalk another one up for Hatsune Miku.
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Student no.0



Joined: 02 Apr 2014
Posts: 170
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:09 pm Reply with quote
Mohawk52 wrote:
Mekaku City Actors The magic of vocaloid does it again. Chalk another one up for Hatsune Miku.


I thought Black Rock Shooter tv series (the OVA was cool) would be just one instance for me, but MCA pretty much has me locked into super-caution mode for anime adptions based off of vocaloid songs from now on. I just hope the next Vocaloid song adaption goes better, at least in terms of pacing and story.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:08 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
No, all the novels were NOT covered. 5 of 6 were covered, the 4th and 5th were covered too quickly.

Laughing What a way to misread your original post!

Last edited by Ali07 on Fri Jul 18, 2014 3:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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bobob101



Joined: 28 Jun 2013
Posts: 201
PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:07 pm Reply with quote
Mohawk52 wrote:
Mekaku City Actors The magic of vocaloid does it again. Chalk another one up for Hatsune Miku.


Well, the original Mekakucity music videos were half Miku half IA. Give IA here credit, she is amazing.

I discovered the music of Jin almost a year before the show was out. So I was super pumped to see this adaptation. While I had a lot of enjoyment for really the first 9/10 episodes, those last two were just too rushed for me to really enjoy the series. I do feel like the explanation on all the "snakes" wasn't done well, and made it a little too difficult for someone unfamiliar with the material will be confused. The thing I hated was how the Outer Science part of the story was one minute of Black Konoha rampaging, then Ayano and Shintaro saving the day. If they stretched the ending out for like 2 more episodes, this show would have been a winner for me. Just watching the first half of this series is what I sadly advise.
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