×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
REVIEW: Shuffle! DVD 2


Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
ManSlayer07



Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 214
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:58 pm Reply with quote
By now I would have expected the Shuffle! fanboys to have already responded to this review. Laughing Overall, I definitely do agree with this review. It's a show full of stupid and shallow characters that slowly transforms from a somewhat tolerable harem to a horrible and forgettable drama with no redeeming qualities. I really do hope that Carl reviews the final volumes though, those will be extremely harsh (the panties with the final volume won't help...).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
DPX



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:04 pm Reply with quote
*reads review*

BOOOO!!!!!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Veoryn87



Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 808
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:38 pm Reply with quote
I'll take these reviews as an indication that I made the right choice when I decided to stop watching this show after 4 episodes. Seriously, can the girls be any more airheaded? They're the main reason why I stopped.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 660
Location: Somerville, MA
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:41 pm Reply with quote
Regardless of the score, the review says exactly what Shuffle or harem fans want to hear: lots of bishoujo bimbos looking cute and doing silly things. Sure, they might like it more if the reviewer claimed to like those things, but it's not sugar-coated. If you like the idea of that, then go watch it. It's hard to deny that Shuffle is anything more than that at this point in the show (and its attempts to move beyond it end up feeling contrived).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address My Anime My Manga
driverstart



Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Posts: 214
Location: America
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:59 pm Reply with quote
It seems like they didn't really like the dub according to that C- they gave it. That dub is a lot better when you compare it to a lot of other animes (MAR comes to my mind).

I am a fan of the series, but I don't mind people giving the show a hard time. Everyone's tastes are different and who am I to force any series on someone? Anyhow, this series is getting better from what I saw on DVD 3 so I hope they give a full review on that DVD soon.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
the Rancorous



Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Posts: 2248
Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 4:26 pm Reply with quote
driverstart wrote:
Anyhow, this series is getting better from what I saw on DVD 3 so I hope they give a full review on that DVD soon.


I saw disc 3, and I honestly feel that people are getting "it gets better" confused with "it tries to take itself seriously." Disc 3 was the clencher for me to drop this series, but I'll wait for that review to pop up before I say any more. The Shelf-Life review fell for -er- I mean liked it, but I say Bleh! Mad

Speaking as someone who enjoys harem shows for their silly escapism, I can say that Shuffle! is, in every sense of the word, lame. The dialogue is so pathetic in its lack of wit that it generates more Rolling Eyes than anything else. That Keade-centric episode actually succeeded in stripping her character of any likeable qualities; it proves that she's a damn simbot with no personality. The show also shows how absent of wit it is with how it not only uses all the usual cliches, but it doesn't even try to make any of them stand out. Shuffle just... sucks. Razz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4565
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 6:57 pm Reply with quote
Are series like this actually marketed toward straight males? It utterly boggles my mind. From the sound of this review, I feel like I couldn't make it through three minutes without tearing my hair out and running screaming from the room. Are these things supposed to fulfill some twisted dominance fantasies of those people who are scared to death of strong, independent, realistic female characters like Motoko Kusanagi or Faye Valentine? I mean, I'm male, but I'm still almost offended on behalf of women.

Seriously, fandom as a whole. Needs moar GAR. Razz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Killtheshrew



Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:12 pm Reply with quote
How behind is this review, volume 4 is only around the corner.

I liked Shuffle it made me laugh and kept me entertained, I don't see why people can't let others enjoy what they enjoy and just let it be. If you don't like Harem animes your best bet is to not watch animes of this type, it is based on a Hentai PC game... what did you expect... Shakespeare?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4565
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:38 pm Reply with quote
No, but I have an equal amount of derision for said games. Razz I suppose I just find it rather irritating that so many people seem to be enamored with these utterly saccharine, sugar-coated, fluffy farces of "relationship" anime, when there are so many other series out there that actually portray romantic interactions in a realistic light. I guess I don't see the point of fawning over utterly one-dimensional stereotypes when there are actual developed characters out there going through the real ups and downs of a relationship; it's just so much more fulfilling to watch those play out.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 11:39 pm Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
No, but I have an equal amount of derision for said games. Razz I suppose I just find it rather irritating that so many people seem to be enamored with these utterly saccharine, sugar-coated, fluffy farces of "relationship" anime, when there are so many other series out there that actually portray romantic interactions in a realistic light.


It's a male fantasy: if real doesn't reflect fantasy, then make fantasy reflect real. Gals should just get with the programme. Laughing

Top Gun wrote:

I guess I don't see the point of fawning over utterly one-dimensional stereotypes when there are actual developed characters out there going through the real ups and downs of a relationship; it's just so much more fulfilling to watch those play out.


Too much effort. Razz
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar


Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 16935
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 12:04 am Reply with quote
Veoryn87 wrote:
I'll take these reviews as an indication that I made the right choice when I decided to stop watching this show after 4 episodes. Seriously, can the girls be any more airheaded? They're the main reason why I stopped.


Before giving up completely you might want to read Bamboo's current Shelf Life column in which she reviews dvd 3 of the series. According to her the show does finally get better. I would have rated this volume a bit higher then Carlo but not that much. Only a C probably. But like I said, check out Bamboo's review of disc 3 before giving up entirely. I'd add more but I haven't watched vol 3 myself yet so I can't verify anything she mentions.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Veoryn87



Joined: 14 Nov 2006
Posts: 808
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 12:55 am Reply with quote
Psycho 101 wrote:
Veoryn87 wrote:
I'll take these reviews as an indication that I made the right choice when I decided to stop watching this show after 4 episodes. Seriously, can the girls be any more airheaded? They're the main reason why I stopped.


Before giving up completely you might want to read Bamboo's current Shelf Life column in which she reviews dvd 3 of the series. According to her the show does finally get better. I would have rated this volume a bit higher then Carlo but not that much. Only a C probably. But like I said, check out Bamboo's review of disc 3 before giving up entirely. I'd add more but I haven't watched vol 3 myself yet so I can't verify anything she mentions.


I'm aware of Bamboo's review. Another reason why I stopped it was because of the slow downloading times. It took all day to download one episode of a series that I wasn't liking when I could have spent 30 minutes to two hours downloading the newest episode of a series that I actually wanted to watch.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 924
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:14 am Reply with quote
Top Gun wrote:
Are series like this actually marketed toward straight males? It utterly boggles my mind. From the sound of this review, I feel like I couldn't make it through three minutes without tearing my hair out and running screaming from the room. Are these things supposed to fulfill some twisted dominance fantasies of those people who are scared to death of strong, independent, realistic female characters like Motoko Kusanagi or Faye Valentine? I mean, I'm male, but I'm still almost offended on behalf of women.


Not quite. It's not a dominance fantasy, it's a difficulty/unwillingness to deal with complexity/ambiguity/uncertainty.

Or, basically, difficulty dealing with people-who-are-not-you.

Some shows try and stretch/teach people "this is how you deal with others" [I first noticed this with Narue no Sekai; Rozen Maiden's not quite as good an example but it's something most people have at least heard of], but others just dive into fantasy lands where the other is rendered transparent and thus non-threatening, and Shuffle's probably the worst example of this I've ever seen.

Seriously, try sketching out the relationship map; the only significant relationships are with whatshisname, you know, the lead guy. The characters basically don't intereact with each other [except in minor background/setting ways] except mediated through whatshisname and about whatshisname; characters don't change, they merely reveal new aspects.

If you're after conventional character-development--driven narrative, Shuffle explicitly rejects that. No wonder it's no fun.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Monsieur Pink



Joined: 23 Jan 2008
Posts: 141
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 12:58 pm Reply with quote
the Rancorous wrote:
I saw disc 3, and I honestly feel that people are getting "it gets better" confused with "it tries to take itself seriously." [...] Shuffle just... sucks. Razz


Top Gun wrote:
Seriously, fandom as a whole. Needs moar GAR. Razz


nargun wrote:
Stuff


All quoted for the truth, thank you gentlemen, I thought I was the only one! Wink

About the review; I can't believe that Carlo Santos thought there were "good spots of comedy", I never laughed or even smiled at any of the show attempts at being funny, God, it was so freaking unbearable!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Joichiro Nishi



Joined: 21 Jul 2007
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 1:11 pm Reply with quote
Nobody watch this kind of shows for laughs, their audience only wants fanservice. The writers know it, the director knows it, even the audience know it. Something is very wrong in the otaku fandom.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group