Forum - View topicREVIEW: The Sacred Blacksmith DVD
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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I watched the first episode of this here at ANN because I've liked MANGLOBE's other work, and hey, it was free. It was a pretty good first episode, and I was looking forward to it.
And then the second episode opened with Cecily's breastplate falling apart and a "don't look at my boobs!" moment. It wasn't even the lame cliche aspect of it; it was that apparently she wasn't wearing anything under the breastplate. Straight metal on skin. Sorry to disillusion anyone's fantasies, but I don't think you'd want to see a girl topless if she'd been wearing a breastplate (especially one as....form-fitting... as Cecily's) all day right up against her skin. So yeah, that killed it for me. I admit that's one of the weirdest things to ever make me lose interest in a show, but I just thought it might make an amusing anecdote. |
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SonicRenegade84
 Posts: 630 Location: Atlantis! |
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I guess i'll have to check it out for myself. If all you can think about is a breastplate, i'd hate to hear about the story. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14758 |
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It depends on the constitution and lotion of the boob................................................ |
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DarkRoseFairy
Posts: 271 Location: Alberta, Canada |
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Had order this about a week ago and has been ship. I hadn't plan on buying this but since there was a funi sale on TSRI, have nice packaging and extras, also seem like a interesting and short show, I brought it. I didn't preorder, so I didn't get the towel but I didn't care for it(I would had just given it to my brother anyway); the artbook and the box is way more important. After reading this review, I looking more forward in watching this show.
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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Gosh, I wish this had a BD release.
Anyways, this is pretty spot on review. I liked the show, though I'll be the first to admit that it's not gonna knock your socks. It's what I'd call "good enough", in that it's not a waste of time, but you could definitely get by renting it (unless you're a collector and want the box). However, a second season is very, very welcome. There's still a lot that was left untouched (Evadne, Siegfried, Charlotte and the Gang) that I think would be quite interesting if expanded on. I do feel like being nitpicky, though:
I don't think Cecily ever became a better -at least not leaps better- swordsman as much as we're being showed how powerful Aria is. Take for example her first fight against Doris: When Doris creates that crater and Cecily falls through, she thinks she's done until Aria propels herself back up. This surprises her and later on makes her feel bad for not being able to use Aria properly. In her second fight, she is more impressive, at least until you remember she's using hit and run tactics in a building only she's familiar with and facing emotionality unstable individuals. So, while Cecily certainly does become more competent and brave, I think most of her success comes from Aria being so powerful, which makes Cecily look better.
Those totally need to be switched. I didn't hate the ED at all (I listened to it most of the time...for some reason), but the OP was very, very good; at least better then the ED. Sure, the scenes in it were misleading (especially the part with Francessca), but it was very nice. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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The story was fine (pretty typical RPG stuff, and it's entirely possible it could've gotten even better as it went along), it was just like my brain went, okay, my brain has clearly decided it's going to nitpick the realism on this one instead of being engaged in it. One of those subjective things. The animation was very nice, though. |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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Nah, I think the series just got worse. All in all I consider it average at best, with some parts really bad (especially annoying side characters, and very weak, boring ending). It appears that the manga is much better though. F.ex., Cecily is a much stronger character, that doesn't need to be saved all the time by the "hero". In the anime she's really an incredibly weak fighter >< |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18179 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Pictures of her in the bonus artwork (and, really, her basic armored character design) made it clear to me that she was wearing that black cloth body suit under her armor, too. They just chose to ignore that for sake of fan service expediency. Thus, what you should be set with is inconsistency on detail rather than lack of realism.
Let's do be absolutely clear, though, that the manga is just an alternate version of the story (which came out at about the same time) rather than the original version. The anime was adapted directly from the original novels. |
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2092 |
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Yeah, I'm up to episode 4 (really awesome artbox BTW, both this and Black Butler's artboxes are great! Looking forward to when my order of Ga-Rei Zero, Chrome Shelled Regios, and Rosario+Vampire get here!), and Cecily's incompetence is starting to get old (though she was better in the last episode), so even if it's rushed an improvement in skill would definitely be welcome. I mean, in episode 2, she doesn't even really help, Luke says, "give us cover while we forge a sword!", and she simply stands there.......
I can tolerate Luke's attitude right now since Cecily isn't very helpful right now, but if later when she improves and he's still acting like she's a pest then I will start to get irritated by him, so we'll see. Aria and Lisa are good so far. Personally, I'm fine with the fanservice moments themselves (I definitely hope we get another Aria/Cecily snuggling scene  ), but I wish Cecily's armor was more normal-looking, it's just an unnecessary distraction IMHO.
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_Emi_
 Posts: 498 Location: Langjökull |
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Cecily is a skilled fighter in the novels also. Her poor fighting skills are original to the anime. It annoys me that they changed this, although her courage and determination offsets this somewhat. I get the feeling that when she does improve in skill, that the sudden jump is not going to bother me.
Yeah. Cecily's armor is nothing but pure fanservice, simply there to draw attention to her breasts, as it offers no protection. |
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5466 |
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It may be just me, but did anyone smicker on how Monica Rial's Lisa said "boobs" in the early episodes?
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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I think Cecily *does* get better as the series progresses. Yes, Aria's power is a big help, but she has to learn how to properly utilize Aria's powers, and this is something she does indeed do. Where the first time agianst Charlette's bodyguards, she ends up getting beaten, the 2nd time she takes them out without a great deal of trouble; and not only because they were unstable, but also because she had become more skilled at using Aria.
Notice how often you see Cecily training. Almost every episode she is shown to be engaged in some sort of training. Part of what made her seem so weak in the beginning as her lack of self-confidence, but that goes away as the series progresses. I'm not saying that Cecily becomes a grade A swordswoman by the end of the series, but IMO she's definitely a lot better, and she certainly surprised Seigfried as well as that bodyguard chick of his. |
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mewpudding101
Industry Insider
 Posts: 2206 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
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I think this received a pretty fair rating, but that Blake Sheppard guy? He kept yelling and yelling. Luke doesn't yell most of the time. So it was awkward. I got the DVD set, and it is number 5 on my top 5 anime. It definitely needs a second season. I couldn't wait for the next episode to come out when it was airing.
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enurtsol
Posts: 14758 |
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It's obviously not a defensive but rather an offensive weapon to distract her opponents! 
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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It was supposed to be a comparison between adaptions and in this case, major differences between both. But, based on what others have said already, it wouldn't surprise me, if the manga was closer to the novels. I've heard quite a few people complaining how the anime ruined her character. In the anime you really wonder where all her confidence comes from. Luke feels like -the- main character in the anime. But actually, while he might be the title character, Cecily is supposed to be the "main of mains". She always comes first in the character listings (also in the anime ending credits, btw). Just copying from wikipedia:
Last edited by maaya on Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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