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REVIEW: The Book of Bantorra DVD Collection 1


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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 3:21 am Reply with quote
This sounds suspiciously similar to "The Librarian" series of TV movies....
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 4:09 am Reply with quote
From the sounds of it, the visuals certainly justify a Blu-ray release, so it's a shame Sentai doesn't have one available. Other than that, this review really, really makes me want to buy this.
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GhostShell



Joined: 25 Jan 2011
Posts: 1009
Location: Richmond, B.C., Canada
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 5:19 am Reply with quote
Polycell wrote:
From the sounds of it, the visuals certainly justify a Blu-ray release, so it's a shame Sentai doesn't have one available. Other than that, this review really, really makes me want to buy this.


Agreed. The first thing that caught my attention was the case cover art. I was tempted to buy Collection 1 when I had it in my hand, but decided to put it back on the shelf pending further research (including whether a Blu-ray version would be coming out). After delving more into what this series was about, and seeing how it contained a lot of story elements that I like, I realised soon after that I should have trusted my initial instincts. I'll pick it up the next time my favourite anime store has a sale (which is usually at least once a month). I suspect the series is pretty popular, as there were quite a few on the shelf when I first spotted it, and I know they've had to re-order to restock the shelf at lease once.
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Fencedude5609



Joined: 09 Nov 2006
Posts: 5088
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 5:29 am Reply with quote
This show is significantly better than it really had any right to be.
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Soundmonkey44



Joined: 25 May 2010
Posts: 1243
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:15 am Reply with quote
I've actually been interested in checking this series out, and this review just makes me want to do so more for some reason.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:23 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Granted, these issues may be resolved by the second half of the series, but the first half fails to lay any apparent groundwork.

The first arc involving Colio and the witch was just beautiful and despite seeming separate, all of the arcs and stories tie together towards the end and the later half resolves most of the story with many twists and turns and betrayals, albeit perhaps in a confusing and slightly unsatisfying way.

Quote:
Except for Hamyuts' penchant for wearing her shirt open to show off her ample cleavage, fan service is limited to just a couple of scenes, but graphic content is sufficient to justify the 17+ age rating.

It's interesting to see how Sentai like everyone else uses their own criteria. Unlike Funimation, fanservice or nudity alone doesn't warrant TV-M for Sentai (and MB) it seems. Infinite Stratos and Motto ToLoveRu (with its "totally uncensored" description on the case) are TV-14. I would have thought Bantorra would've been TV-14 as well given how something like Shigofumi was also TV-14

Polycell wrote:
From the sounds of it, the visuals certainly justify a Blu-ray release, so it's a shame Sentai doesn't have one available. Other than that, this review really, really makes me want to buy this.

Yeah I'm disappointed it didn't get a bluray release, but given how it has a dub, maybe Sentai will release a bluray version later... For non-Japanese settings, I definitely like to hear the dub, but I'm not sure about getting it then having to double-dip later if Sentai does decide on a BD
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:53 am Reply with quote
Are you sure Funimation isn't just tossing out higher ratings as a marketing device?
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Kit-Tsukasa



Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 930
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:18 am Reply with quote
This series ended up being quite interesting in the end. It started off really sloppy and a big mess all around but once it got its footing together, it actually had a nice premise and story...though I won't say too much about that finale though.
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Mr Sinister



Joined: 02 Jan 2006
Posts: 157
Location: NY
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 6:01 pm Reply with quote
I have mixed feelings about this show. I liked it, and wanted to like it, and then I forget which episode maybe in the mid to late teens, spoiler[Hamyuts killed Volken because.... ?? She's too lazy to explain her real motives to him??] From then on I really just couldn't root for anyone anymore, making the show painful to watch.

Before that though, so more relevant to this review... I still had mixed feelings. I liked the characters a lot and I respected that they could make me care about new characters every arc. But at the same time, I got tired of constantly going through that loop and eventually I became desensitized to anyone new.


Last edited by Mr Sinister on Wed May 30, 2012 3:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:34 pm Reply with quote
There is a Boom of Bantorra contest currently ongoing on Anime Network. Originally the contest stated you could win either the DVD or Bluray, which was later changed to just DVD. However, when asked a TAN representative allegedly said there would be one later.

This show did have a bluray release in Japan, so I would suspect that it's something they were forced to delay.
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TnKtRk



Joined: 17 Mar 2011
Posts: 183
PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 8:19 pm Reply with quote
If this show does get a BD release later, it'll probably show up a year from now when they release a complete collection, sorta what they did with Guin Saga.
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:22 am Reply with quote
Mr Sinister wrote:
I have mixed feelings about this show. I liked it, and wanted to like it, and then I forget which episode maybe in the mid to late teens, spoiler[Hamyuts killed Volken because.... ?? She's too lazy to explain her real motives to him??] From then on I really just couldn't root for anyone anymore, making the show painful to watch.

It's been a while so I've forgotten the details but that scene was actually quite awesome, in terms of the directing spoiler[being suddenly struck]and the tragic bittersweetness of it. As to why, spoiler[obviously, he came too close to the truth; remember, Hamyuts took no pleasure in killing him and treated his "book" very specially]

Quote:
Before that though, so more relevant to this review... I still had mixed feelings. I liked the characters a lot and I respected that they could make me care about new characters every arc. But at the same time, I got tired of constantly going through that loop and eventually I became desensitized anyone new.

I think not making it black/white and not having characters to easily root for, and making the protagonists who are in on the "secret" to be tragic antiheroes, who in the end spoiler[did become heroes in finally rebelling against the system within the tree] was intentional
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maaya



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 976
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:26 am Reply with quote
For me Bantorra turned out to be one of the best series these last years and in general is one of the best fantasy animes imho.

configspace wrote:
Mr Sinister wrote:
I have mixed feelings about this show. I liked it, and wanted to like it, and then I forget which episode maybe in the mid to late teens, From then on I really just couldn't root for anyone anymore, making the show painful to watch.

It's been a while so I've forgotten the details but that scene was actually quite awesome


I too was impressed by this scene. It was horrible, but impressive, because it was intense and very unexpected. The second part of the series has plenty of these scenes, like Noloty's arc, that made me think "no, they wouldn't dare to .... omg!!". Which really set the series apart from the average anime series for me. I didn't always like what happened, but I believe the viewer is not supposed to.
Not to mention that fact, that everything, every storyline came together in the end and the series does have an actual ending, that while it may not appeal to everyone at least doesn't feel like they made it up in the last 5 minutes before the deadline, which is another difference from many other animes.

configspace wrote:
I think not making it black/white and not having characters to easily root for, and making the protagonists who are in on the "secret" to be tragic antiheroes was intentional


absolutely. and they did it well. I hated Hamyuts and still found her character memorable.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:51 pm Reply with quote
Fencedude5609 wrote:
This show is significantly better than it really had any right to be.


I definitely agree with it. I'm glad it's getting up and dubbed. Hopefully it will get more attention. It has a good mix of elements from story, to characters, to insanium grade action.
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KariOhki



Joined: 15 Feb 2005
Posts: 57
PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 5:14 pm Reply with quote
Bantorra is an amazing series, with its biggest flaw being that the story takes forever to get going and come together. That point isn't in the first half of the series either, though Colio's arc and Mokkania's arc make up for that.

The dub is also very well done, considering the mess of terminology they had to wade through.
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