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Shelf Life - False Hopes


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partially



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 702
Location: Oz
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:41 pm Reply with quote
Hate Half-Moon but recommend The Fault in Our Stars? Might avoid it then because I found The Fault in Our Stars appallingly bad. Pretty much for similar reasons to why you hated Half-Moon. I will add though that these stories are usually resounding cheap trite. Obviously a lot of people have a different opinion, and usually I can see why people have a different opinion, but in these cases not. Stories about illness invariably devolve into essentially glorifying the illness and the people dying. Turning tragic circumstances into a carnival. To write well about illness you have to be a very good writer. And you know what, there is a reason why you don't see very good writers writing about illness usually. It is the hardest subject to tackle by far, without it being maudlin money-grabbing trite.

And while John Green wasn't perhaps aiming for it, at least for me far too much of his work is focused on maudlin trite. Alternatively from what you describe of Half-Moon that is exactly what it sounds like.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:46 pm Reply with quote
Except that in Hantsuki, Rika spoiler[does not die]
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Basroil



Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 69
Location: North Carolina
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 8:44 pm Reply with quote
Chalk me up as another person surprised by the perishable rating for HanSuki considering how popular and highly rated it is.

Oh, and I see Matt R. to be another owner of the Miami Guns anime. I think that might be four of us now. Very Happy
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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1000
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 9:06 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, Kuroko annoyed the hell out of me in Railgun as well. It's funny, I can actually tolerate her, and even sometimes like her, when she's interacting with characters other than Misaka, and I rather enjoyed her flashback episodes. But as soon as she and Misaka are onscreen together, I prepare to groan. Loudly. And since over half of her screentime is being god-awful, I tend to groan often. I quite like the crazy lesbian characters, but Kuroko is too grating and goes way too overboard for me to find her endearing.

Thank god for her largely reduced role in Railgun S, which focuses almost exclusively on Misaka (for the first story arc, anyway). Which is great because she's a vastly superior and infinitely more likable character.

I'm waiting for a third season of Railgun so that Misaki Shokuhou can get the proper screentime. The Queen of Tokiwadai deserves nothing less. Cool
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CrownKlown



Joined: 05 May 2011
Posts: 1762
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:39 pm Reply with quote
Personally I love both Railgun and Index. I prefer if I have to pick Index, because I am more interested in the story building and magic vs science theme, but I like the more slice of life feel of Rail gun as well.

Count me as the fifth person who has Miami guns, although I think I am missing one volume.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 2930
Location: Email for assistance only
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:29 pm Reply with quote
I haven't watched Half Moon since it first came out, but didn't the boyfriend spoiler[ cheat] on the girlfriend at one point? Am I remembering wrong? I still have this overwhelming impression he did and never told her, thus being a huge jerk.
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myskaros



Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 598
Location: J-Novel Club
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 11:45 pm Reply with quote
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings wrote:
I'm waiting for a third season of Railgun so that Misaki Shokuhou can get the proper screentime. The Queen of Tokiwadai deserves nothing less. Cool

Yeah, it was almost a slap in the face that she had her intro scene moved up in the timeline only to not actually get more than a side mention at the very end. Anime hyper

The Daihaseisai arc could actually probably fill an entire 24-episode season, too, maybe with some creative shuffling and unnecessary cameos from Index characters. It's a really long arc in the manga for sure.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 12:34 am Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:

Except that in Hantsuki, Rika spoiler[does not die]


Well, she spoiler[doesn't die in The Fault in our Stars neither]. Wink
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Stiles



Joined: 21 Oct 2014
Posts: 105
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 1:04 am Reply with quote
Makes me sad that people dislike Kuroko to the extent that they do. Considering some of the questionable pandering we see in various other anime, I think Kuroko is somewhat tame in her curiously aggressive antics toward everybody's favorite Electromaster.

The problem with Railgun is simply that it's a bit too far removed from Index. The review is correct in that there is a curious lack of action in a universe that should see a bit more. It's also important to remember that season one Railgun takes place very early in Index's continuity, so there really isn't going to be anything that big going on.

S1 Railgun just has a bit too much filler that isn't really relevant. I don't begrudge anybody who enjoys the "cute girls doing cute things" genre, but that isn't really what Railgun is about. One would only need to read the manga version of the Sisters arc and the following arc, the second day of the Daihaseisai, to understand that.

I think anybody who was put off by Railgun S would do well to cash out now, especially if they find themselves not liking Index either. The reason for that is simple: Railgun is the side story and Index is the parent story, the main storyline. Railgun only gets darker and more serious from here on, to keep in line with what has been laid down by Index.

That's not a knock on anybody's personal taste, but I think some people need to realize that season 1 Railgun is woefully misrepresented as what some might perceive to be a genre a bit far removed from what the Index universe has put forth.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Posts: 3017
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 1:04 am Reply with quote
Shirai Kuroko makes everything worse. The only time she's even moderately tolerable is during the 8th light novel. She was barely a character before that book, and thankfully, she's almost never been important since then.

Honestly, the Index and Railgun anime are the worst parts of the franchise. They completely eliminate all the tactical elements of the battles - the fight scenes have been reduced to Touma saying something righteous, and then punching a woman in the face. They've also made very little attempt to imitate how insane magical powers look in the novels ("In the next instant, Kamijou Touma saw a dimension being severed for the first time in his life" will always be one of my favorite sentences Kazuma Kamachi has ever written).

The good news is, the official English versions of the light novels have been simply incredible. Anyone who liked the concept of A Certain Scientific Railgun, but wasn't crazy about how the show turned out, should definitely pick up Book 15 when Yen Press releases it. That volume is noticeably better than 1-14, and it shifts the story away from Touma, Index, and Railgun, over to the franchise's best all-female fighting unit.
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kevinx59



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 959
Location: In sunny California
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 3:39 am Reply with quote
I liked Railgun. I prefer the slice of life antics of season 1 but I had no issues with the fighting or season 2 (well, except for the fight against ITEM. It dragged on a little too long for my taste. Still, its way better and briefer than most shonen fights, so that's good). I've seen some of Index and its OK, but I just can't get into it like I can with Railgun. I just prefer Misaka and the gang to Touma and Index. That, and the Index series can get too talky during the fight scenes. And wow, I am also kind of surprised at the bad review of Looking up at the Half Moon. I've never seen it, but I usually hear people talk highly of it and see positive ratings. Nisekoi's Shaft so no watch for me.

Also, those shelves kind of remind me of my shelves. Not exactly in terms of actual series, but just in the variety of overall content ( anime, ps2, wii, ps3, gamecube, psp, ds games, and the mix of different live action and non-Japanese animated series).
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Godaistudios



Joined: 12 Jun 2003
Posts: 2075
Location: Albuquerque, NM (the land of entrapment)
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:13 am Reply with quote
kevinx59 wrote:
I am also kind of surprised at the bad review of Looking up at the Half Moon. I've never seen it, but I usually hear people talk highly of it and see positive ratings. Nisekoi's Shaft so no watch for me.


I was surprised as well about Half-Moon being rated as perishable, especially given the rating it has in the Encyclopedia.

I have two things to say on this...

“a woman's pain is all about her boyfriend” really feels like there was no attempt to understand the situation as it was, so I think the characters were really misunderstood. It completely misses the mark on the characters motivations, I think.

As far as talking about other melodramas, all of the titles mentioned by name - Angel Beats, Clannad, Little Busters, even The Fault in Our Stars - all came out well after Half Moon did. It may well be that because of hindsight, it falls short because it isn't as fresh, new, or polished in watching it after being exposed to all these other series, especially since the animation has been improved since then. When I watch a series and rate it, I try to avoid comparing it to things that came out after and judge it based on when it came out so that I can give it a fair shake. I'm not saying it's wrong to review it the way it was done though, because most people who would pick up Half-Moon have seen all the new stuff as well, but it makes me thing that's part of the reasoning?

As far as Nisekoi goes - What's the deal with Shaft that bugs you? Did the CEO run over your dog or something? It's odd to see a studio get lambasted - but I will say that the adaptation of the manga is pretty spot on - and maintains all the little touches the mangaka had put in there, so it feels faithfully animated as opposed to the studio doing its own thing.
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OH&S



Joined: 15 Jul 2013
Posts: 306
Location: Sydney, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 4:55 am Reply with quote
Rather surprised that the first season of Railgun was pushed down to rent worthy.

But I enjoyed this the least out of the 4 Raildex anime seasons due to the huge amounts of slice of life and filler that were added. I remember completely zoning out in the second half until I forcibly watched the Poltergeist Arc (which was okay).

For all of its slice-of-life faults, its was well animated and was able to tell a complete story in the end as well give a good strong focus to the characters.

My problem with it is that it presented the source material as something that it wasn't. Anyone who has read both the Index Light novels and the Railgun manga can tell you that the manga is completely dyed in the colours of its parent story. (Ironically, there's more slice of life in the Index light novels than in the Railgun manga.) Incidently, the most interesting parts in the manga are when Touma shows up (shows how much I care about the main cast Rolling Eyes )
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:08 am Reply with quote
octopodpie wrote:
I haven't watched Half Moon since it first came out, but didn't the boyfriend spoiler[ cheat] on the girlfriend at one point? Am I remembering wrong? I still have this overwhelming impression he did and never told her, thus being a huge jerk.

If I remember correctly, you're right and something happens before things get too far. But, would've been followed through with otherwise.

That scene, for me, threw things completely off...so much so, that my rating of the series plummeted. I remember it feeling extremely out of place.
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Usagi-kun



Joined: 03 Jul 2013
Posts: 877
Location: Nashville, TN
PostPosted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 9:58 am Reply with quote
Yay for Miami Guns, and also Harvey Birdman AAL*.


(*Not anime, but still awesome.)
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