Forum - View topicNEWS: Funimation Adds Shangri-La TV Anime Series
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TD912
 Posts: 274 |
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People seem to forget that Crunchyroll has a nice library of old shows in addition to their new simulcasted shows. They still have Shangri-La available for streaming.
Speaking of which, I still haven't watched Shangri-La, so I might just watch the stream on CR.
They had a partnership, and licensed mostly everything from GONZO up until Saki and Shangri-La, which was when the whole recession hit and when GONZO went bankrupt. Even with a great production staff, if the studio doesn't have enough time and money the show might not turn out that great. I've heard mixed opinions about the Shangri-La, but I'm betting Gonzo was having production/management/budget issues similar to Saki at the time. It might have affected not just the show's visuals, but also the pacing and story if they had to hastily add semi-filler content to buy time. I unfortunately saw this happening a bit with Last Exile: Fam with the unfinished OP and two recap episodes and some filler scenes (awkward rotating CGI vanships?) about 3/4 the way in. It seems like Gonzo's still struggling a bit. And now I'm wondering... Does this mean Funimation might actually license Saki...? |
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firedragon54738
 Posts: 3113 Location: wisconsin |
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About time some one gets this this one was underrated
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Well that's a pretty weird choice. I mean, it's good to see Funimation picking up older shows but this one seems to have been forgotten for a reason. It wasn't popular or well received by fans even when it was new.
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Melanchthon
 Posts: 550 Location: Northwest from Here |
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Add this to my list of thing I wasn't ever expecting to read. Shangri-La is 2/3rds of a good show, and 1/3rd needlessly messianic. To be honest, I'm conflicted over whether to buy it. I mean, I liked the show, I liked the loli heroine, but I don't know if I liked well enough to buy it. I certainly wasn't asking for a release of this.
The thing I liked best was how unique the perspective was from. It was like they assembled the plot from a collection of rants on Free Republic. I expect shows from Japan to be all super pro-environmental, like how in Tokyo Mew Mew where they fight to...wait, what was Tokyo Mew Mew about? Anyway, it is a weird choice, because of it's political message. I don't know how many American anime fans share that political view. I do, but then again I'm prone to quoting Nwabudike Morgan. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1457 |
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As drama, it was a bit overwrought at times, but I decided to overlook those problems, and just enjoy the spectacle.
The show's strength lay in its characters and their interactions, at least among the protagonists. The development of the main villain was a bit heavy-handed, but some of the other characters received a fairly deft touch. As comedy, it had some great moments --- especially anything involving Neo-Akihabara. There's a lot of times where the series is joking with the audience (but not in an annoying fourth-wall-violating way). The broadcast version had a great, tongue-in-cheek approach to fan-service, with a miniskirted heroine prone to cartwheels, the series was completely devoid of panty-shots. 
"Polka dots". It's treatment of economics (and the economics of carbon-trading in a post-icecap world) was a little blithered, but at least they tried. Anime has yet to produce a science-fiction series where the science is economics, but this is probably one of the better ones. I did quite like the market-manipulating prodigy and her teddy-bear, especially later, in Akihabara. I've wondered how closely the series adhered to the novel. |
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2034 |
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You don't have to worry about that. It's pretty much guaranteed FUNi will put this on DVD and likely Blu-ray, in addition to producing an English dub.
Tokyo Mew Mew was about saving endangered species. It was a unique concept, and it's actually one of my fave series. |
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Zhou-BR
Posts: 1459 |
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Like I said in the Blood-C movie thread, every year I end up enjoying at least one show that's despised by pretty much everyone else. In 2009, that show was Shangri-La. Inconsistent animation and artwork aside, its ambitious plot really grabbed me, and I thought the convoluted stock market stuff made more sense than last year's [C].
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Sam Murai
 Posts: 1051 |
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Never thought I would see this get licensed before Saki, much less at all. FUNimation has taken their sweet time getting this GONZO series (probably with good reason), but Saki's still not licensed yet? That's very surprising, given how much more marketable it is compared to Shangri-La (mahjong terminology be darned, as the characters themselves are enough of a selling point, plus it isn't too terribly daunting for newbies, not to mention the popularity of the solitare version). I guess Shangri-La makes more sense with the presence of the Last Exile sequel (as someone previously pointed out) and the current economy.
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Dagon123
Posts: 194 |
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Ok um...
Merger's been done bro, lol They've been perpetuating this crap to make it look like its not their fault (which it always is), and if you do your homework, AND even ask the voice actors, they all say the same thing "FUNimation sits on there titles for upwards of 6 months for absolutely no reason" Why? "It takes a long time to dub" No it doesn't you're just so used to the lowest standard, you don't know or expect any better, Hell it took them 13 months to give FLCL a new DVD menu and upscale it. Instead of announcing and hyping right when it comes out, why not do it the way Sentai does, and hype it or announce an older property when PRE-ORDERS go up? Because that just makes too much damn sense And before you patronize me that "They are a company = They NEVER lie" Why don't you just step back and look at the shady BS they've pulled and said (Badlands Rumble anyone?) I'd sooner trust a box-jellyfish with my life, lol |
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BluWacky
Posts: 16 Location: Oxford, England |
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Does [C] not count from last year? Anyway, I thought Shangri-La was massively disappointing - it was bad GONZO in full force, taking a potentially interesting premise and then throwing LOL ANIMU portrayals into it (perhaps they were in the original novel, I don't know). Irritating genki loli protagonist, the usual offensively stereotypical transvestites, and disappointingly limited animation. |
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dm
Subscriber Posts: 1457 |
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Well, okay, and I might as well throw in Spice and Wolf, too. I think Shangri-la comes as close as C to actually making sense, in terms of economics (except maybe for using graphite reserves to manipulate the carbon market, which Shangri-la does at one point). And I actually liked the "LOL ANIMU portrayals" (I assume you mean the three otaku shopkeepers) --- they made sense in terms of the place and the story. |
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Joe anime
 Posts: 259 Location: Brooklyn,NY |
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Just because the merger is done,doesn't mean everything is gonna go through without problems.FUNI needs the materials and Geneon has them,so they have to wait for Geneon to send them.that's how it works. |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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I ended up enjoying Shangri-La as a lovable mess of a show, and was happy it was available streaming, but probably wouldn't rewatch it, so probably wouldn't buy it.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 24103 |
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I really thought I'd be the only person at ANN who would be happy about this. Show didn't seem to attract a lot of admirers. Anyway, I'm jazzed. It's gonna look supah-luverly on BD, fer sure.
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njprogfan
Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1212 Location: A River Named Toms |
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I enjoyed it, but it was a chore to get through. I loved the ED "Hajimari no asa ni hikari are" one of my all time favorites.
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