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REVIEW: Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin DVD 2


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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 8:40 am Reply with quote
Hey Theron, this is kind of a general question:
I know you watch a number of series in fansubs before they are released and this is one of them. How does that affect your job as a reviewer? Does watching something through a second time give you greater appreciation? Do you begin taking notes for reviews while you watch things in fansubs, or do you wait until you see the final release? Are there any series you wait on so that you can watch them "fresh" on DVD for the first time? I'm genuinely interested in how that all works out. Smile
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:24 pm Reply with quote
Not bad. I did Queen's Blade for an ecchi series. TBH, I was expecting to like To Love Ru and HATE this show.

Funny how it became vice versa...

Though, what really made me appreciate the overall show spoiler[in terms of characters was this season's ending, and how some of this season's villains became more... anti-hero-ish in the 2nd season.]

But good review.
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garfield15



Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 1515
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:26 pm Reply with quote
Is this actually worth watching?
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 8360
Location: IL
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:33 pm Reply with quote
Depends if you're willing to watch a show for boobs alone.
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Monster in a box



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 671
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:42 pm Reply with quote
So you're saying, dub-Nanael = bad, dub annoying-staff-thing-that-was-the-most-annoying-part-of-the-show = good. You know what...I'm on the internet, and we're talking about Queen's Blade, so I'd be better off just not saying anything at all.

If you review the third one, you'd better say something about how awful Ymir's laugh is, because that was the single worst moment in the dub.
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bravetailor



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:12 pm Reply with quote
ROFL. It's interesting to see how much softer (just a little, mind you) the reviews have become for this show in general since it gained a "cult" fanbase (though some of these fans no doubt just supported it out of a sheer compulsion to celebrate something infamous)
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18138
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:18 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
Hey Theron, this is kind of a general question:
I know you watch a number of series in fansubs before they are released and this is one of them. How does that affect your job as a reviewer? Does watching something through a second time give you greater appreciation? Do you begin taking notes for reviews while you watch things in fansubs, or do you wait until you see the final release? Are there any series you wait on so that you can watch them "fresh" on DVD for the first time? I'm genuinely interested in how that all works out. Smile


I usually don't take notes when watching fansubs (except for Preview Guide entries), as it's so hard to predict what will and won't get licensed and whether or not I'll actually get to review the title. For me, the main advantage to having watched a series through in fansubs before reviewing a DVD/BR release of it is that I can cast first-half or early-volume releases within the context of the series as a whole - and that can definitely make a difference with some titles. With dubbed series, the other advantage is that I don't have to go back through and rewatch enough of it subbed to get a feel for how the dubs compare.

And bravetailor: My opinion of this series gradually went up over the course of the series as I was originally watching it. While it's never a great series, it is one which gradually gets better as the series goes along. (Except for Cattleya. Gods, I hated her.)
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BalmungHHQ



Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 390
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:59 pm Reply with quote
I wanna just jump in to say that I thought that Michele Knots did a great job as Airi in the dub of this. Smile
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:12 pm Reply with quote
You won't review hentai/yaoi, yet you review Queen's Blade while openly admitting that the main point of the show is fanservice? Seems a little paradoxical, ANN.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:15 pm Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
You won't review hentai/yaoi, yet you review Queen's Blade while openly admitting that the main point of the show is fanservice? Seems a little paradoxical, ANN.


No, not at all.

Queen's Blade is ecchi, a'la Ikki Tousen or Master of Martial Hearts. Fanservice-heavy shows are nothing new and we've been reviewing them for years.

If you can't tell the difference between a fanservice-heavy series and straight-up porn, that's on you, not us.
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John Casey



Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 1853
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:25 pm Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:
You won't review hentai/yaoi, yet you review Queen's Blade while openly admitting that the main point of the show is fanservice? Seems a little paradoxical, ANN.

Queen's Blade is juuuust a tiny lil smidgen away from being hentai. A dab. A pinch. Dab. Snip. Pinch.
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:49 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:

No, not at all.

Queen's Blade is ecchi, a'la Ikki Tousen or Master of Martial Hearts. Fanservice-heavy shows are nothing new and we've been reviewing them for years.

If you can't tell the difference between a fanservice-heavy series and straight-up porn, that's on you, not us.


I'd argue that while there is an obvious difference between hentai and ecchi, the ultimate goal of both, especially in this case, is the same. Unlike most ecchi, which typically present other plot elements (fighting, in the cases you cited), reading this review leads me to believe that Queen's Blade doesn't do anything except strive to titillate its audience, as does most hentai. Much of the review described the appeal of the characters, which is what brought the comparison to mind, as that is something you would expect to see in a hentai review.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:58 pm Reply with quote
Raneth wrote:

I'd argue that while there is an obvious difference between hentai and ecchi, the ultimate goal of both, especially in this case, is the same. Unlike most ecchi, which typically present other plot elements (fighting, in the cases you cited), reading this review leads me to believe that Queen's Blade doesn't do anything except strive to titillate its audience, as does most hentai. Much of the review described the appeal of the characters, which is what brought the comparison to mind, as that is something you would expect to see in a hentai review.


To be perfectly honest, Queen's Blade is *right* on the edge of what I'll accept reviews for on this site. It's sold on the shelf in major retailers next to all the other anime and the content could easily be described as hard R, rather than X-rated.

The show has the usual "this isn't porn" pretense that hangs over it - same as Ikki Tousen - that somehow it's not *really* just about breasts - it's about some tournament or something and has a real story, something Theron has certainly argued for. So long as that pretense exists and the content isn't straight-up porn, I'm OK running a review of it.
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Raneth



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 271
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:16 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:


To be perfectly honest, Queen's Blade is *right* on the edge of what I'll accept reviews for on this site. It's sold on the shelf in major retailers next to all the other anime and the content could easily be described as hard R, rather than X-rated.

The show has the usual "this isn't porn" pretense that hangs over it - same as Ikki Tousen - that somehow it's not *really* just about breasts - it's about some tournament or something and has a real story, something Theron has certainly argued for. So long as that pretense exists and the content isn't straight-up porn, I'm OK running a review of it.


That's good to hear. I still must admit that reading the review left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Using female character's attractiveness-including the "full figured Egyptian look" line, which I wouldn't call very classy-as a measure of a show's quality was kind of offputting and diverged frighteningly from the typical tone of the site.
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garfield15



Joined: 06 Apr 2009
Posts: 1515
PostPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:18 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
Raneth wrote:

I'd argue that while there is an obvious difference between hentai and ecchi, the ultimate goal of both, especially in this case, is the same. Unlike most ecchi, which typically present other plot elements (fighting, in the cases you cited), reading this review leads me to believe that Queen's Blade doesn't do anything except strive to titillate its audience, as does most hentai. Much of the review described the appeal of the characters, which is what brought the comparison to mind, as that is something you would expect to see in a hentai review.


To be perfectly honest, Queen's Blade is *right* on the edge of what I'll accept reviews for on this site. It's sold on the shelf in major retailers next to all the other anime and the content could easily be described as hard R, rather than X-rated.

The show has the usual "this isn't porn" pretense that hangs over it - same as Ikki Tousen - that somehow it's not *really* just about breasts - it's about some tournament or something and has a real story, something Theron has certainly argued for. So long as that pretense exists and the content isn't straight-up porn, I'm OK running a review of it.

I'm sorry, this is OT, but whenever you read Zac's posts, does anyone else read them in Skeletor's voice? It's like I can't see that av and read his posts and not wonder what it would sound like in Skeletor's voice.
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