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The Spring 2014 Anime Preview Guide


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grooven



Joined: 16 Aug 2006
Posts: 1424
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:05 am Reply with quote
KENZICHI wrote:
Zac wrote:
Trying to solve the issue where the table with the previews is showing up beneath the archives/forums links. We'll get it figured out.


It worked! Thank you!


Works now on my end too! Thanks Zac! Smile
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Dr. Cakey



Joined: 13 Dec 2013
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:39 am Reply with quote
Does Theron Martin give scores lower than 3?
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18135
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:13 am Reply with quote
Have you actually looked at any previous season's Preview Guide?
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stanislaus



Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Posts: 19
Location: Fargo, ND
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:35 am Reply with quote
I like the show-based format better than the reviewer-based format. It feels like the information I want is at my fingertips. I liked it last time, and I like it this time.
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 2:19 am Reply with quote
It makes me wonder if one of the reasons shows like WIXOSS were made because they're filling a gap not provided in similar shows found in mostly kid shows aimed at boys. Especially since those type of shows tend to favor more of a male-heavy cast (that show Majin Bone seems to be headed to that direction since it doesn't seem like there will be female-armored warriors to fight along side the guys as of yet), the producers thought, "hey wouldn't it be cool if we transplant that genre but give it to a more girl-heavy cast?" And thus give the otaku who probably grew up on those shounen shows an outlet to these type of bishoujo shows.

Now the rationale of whether WIXOSS should have this dark atmosphere ala Madoka remains to be seen.
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TD912



Joined: 28 Nov 2010
Posts: 274
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 3:19 am Reply with quote
Blade & Soul shows some promise, but it's gonna have to overcome a couple issues for it to be a "good" show. The animation quality varies a lot in this show. Some scenes are pretty fluid, but then there's others that are extremely stiff looking.

The story is off to a decent start. If Gonzo can at least keep the story quality where it is right now, or maybe improve on it a bit, without falling into the MMORPG trap and become a "slave to game mechanics" like Theron said, this story could actually turn out fairly decent.

I barely know anything about the game other than it's a MMORPG focused on martial arts, but I didn't feel lost watching this show at all. Knowing about the game might allow you to pick out some "bonus" details, but you don't really need to know that Alka is probably a Jin or whatever to enjoy this show.

Also, while there's some fanservice, it's always done in moderation. It's clear the story and action are the main focus of this show, not the fanservice, even if all the female characters have large chests.
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L'Imperatore



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:02 am Reply with quote
darkchibi07 wrote:

Now the rationale of whether WIXOSS should have this dark atmosphere ala Madoka remains to be seen.

Hmm, unfortunately, it appears that whenever an anime with all-female/female-heavy cast airs, it will be immediately compared with Madoka. Especially if the story's a bit dark and contains some fantasy element.
First that anime with Italian title last year, and now this...
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:55 am Reply with quote
L'Imperatore wrote:

Hmm, unfortunately, it appears that whenever an anime with all-female/female-heavy cast airs, it will be immediately compared with Madoka. Especially if the story's a bit dark and contains some fantasy element.
First that anime with Italian title last year, and now this...


Both shows directly lift from Madoka. That's why they're being compared. People aren't making things up or being unfair, the shows are obviously copying elements from that series, sometimes so blatantly and on a fundamental level that they wind up in "this feels like a pretty direct rip-off" territory.

When something is hugely successful and popular, there are many attempts to replicate that success. It isn't a crime or some kind of horrible atrocity for a show to ape another successful series, nor is it some kind of unfair cynical smear job to point out what the extremely obvious base influence is.
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Rederoin



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 1427
Location: Europa
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:01 am Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
L'Imperatore wrote:

Hmm, unfortunately, it appears that whenever an anime with all-female/female-heavy cast airs, it will be immediately compared with Madoka. Especially if the story's a bit dark and contains some fantasy element.
First that anime with Italian title last year, and now this...


Both shows directly lift from Madoka. That's why they're being compared. People aren't making things up or being unfair, the shows are obviously copying elements from that series, sometimes so blatantly and on a fundamental level that they wind up in "this feels like a pretty direct rip-off" territory.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou was in production before Madoka even aired, so how in the hell can it be anything close to a rip-off?
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Kikaioh



Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 1205
Location: Antarctica
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:03 am Reply with quote
rederoin wrote:
Zac wrote:
L'Imperatore wrote:

Hmm, unfortunately, it appears that whenever an anime with all-female/female-heavy cast airs, it will be immediately compared with Madoka. Especially if the story's a bit dark and contains some fantasy element.
First that anime with Italian title last year, and now this...


Both shows directly lift from Madoka. That's why they're being compared. People aren't making things up or being unfair, the shows are obviously copying elements from that series, sometimes so blatantly and on a fundamental level that they wind up in "this feels like a pretty direct rip-off" territory.

Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou was in production before Madoka even aired, so how in the hell can it be anything close to a rip-off?

According to Wikipedia, it looks like Madoka Magica came out in January 2011, while the first incarnation of Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou released in June 2013. Are you saying Daybreak Illusion was in production for more than two years before it actually released? That just seems like a long time.

In any case, I do agree with Zac in that the premise for WIXOSS first made me think of Madoka Magica. It might wind up being a different spin, but it certainly seems to be in the same vein. It's going to be hard to look at any show with a cast of little girls in fantastical but serious situations without thinking of Madoka Magica.
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Melanchthon



Joined: 02 Oct 2010
Posts: 550
Location: Northwest from Here
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:22 am Reply with quote
Blade and Soul

First of all, I'm going to voice a different opnion and say I liked the animation. I thought the action was nice, I liked how the noses were done, and of course I liked the skimpy, ridiculous, ahistoric and crazy sexist outfits. Of course, that applies only to the fight scenes – I did notice a lot of the village life scenes were flat and kinda weird looking, and the 3-D banners looked horrible. But besides that: The writing was terrible. The characters (so far) are barely developed stereotypes, and the plot of this episode made no sense. It was a case putting the cart before the ass (heh...heh...lol), the writers had a clear idea how the episode was suppose to end (Heroine gets her an annoying and self-righteous sidekick), and shoehorned a plot in that didn't follow logically. Salvor Hardin was fond of saying "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" and those townsfolk were pretty incompetent. Here is a non-inclusive list of the things that they could of done: Sell Out and move to Malibu Beach. Cut a deal with the Evil Empire (totally not a China allegory, by the way) to grow the crop and sell it to them. Cut a deal with the Evil Empire to grow the crop for them pro bono. Call in their liege lord and get his army (Small mountain villages generally aren't sovereign states). Swear fealty to another lord that will bring in an army. Go all Viet Cong on the invaders. Hire more than ONE mercenary (Seven sounds like a nice number). What did they do? Resort to violence immediately, kill two/thirds of the embassy, let the third escape and sit around doing nothing as if the Empire was utterly defeated. And there is also the logical inconsistency that if the Empire was will to bring in an army and lay waste to the village, why were they bothering with this payment scheme in the first place?

I think this has the potential to be an okay show, with subpar writing and above average fight scenes. The question is how much money they have to keep the action up. Too many fanservice/filler episodes and the show will sink. Best case scenario: 7/10. Worse case: 3/10. Most likely case: 5/10
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Sylpher3



Joined: 27 Jul 2013
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:31 am Reply with quote
I like this new format, much more transparent than the earlier one, but I have two complaints/tips:

First, perhaps form more polarized opinions. They’re much more useful to recommend shows or not (which is the primary objective of this guide, right?) than the safe grades in the middle and usually more interesting to read.

Second, maybe put one synopsis/recap of the episode on top while the reviewers only give their opinion, since almost every first paragraph of each write-up basically provides the same information and it isn’t very useful to read a summary five times.
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Mikeski



Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 608
Location: Minneapolis, MN
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:58 am Reply with quote
Sylpher3 wrote:
First, perhaps form more polarized opinions. They’re much more useful to recommend shows or not (which is the primary objective of this guide, right?) than the safe grades in the middle and usually more interesting to read.

So... the reviewers should lie? Confused

Review ratings "should" form a bell curve... lots of average shows, a few stinkers, a few blockbusters. Look at the user ratings on this site; out of 4448 shows rated on a 1-10 scale, 289 (6.5%) rate 8 or higher. Only 19 rate 4 or lower. Asking the reviewers to skew their results to large degrees actually removes information, by telling you that something that's really "a shade above 'meh'" is "omg second coming of Haruhi!"
Quote:
Second, maybe put one synopsis/recap of the episode on top while the reviewers only give their opinion, since almost every first paragraph of each write-up basically provides the same information and it isn’t very useful to read a summary five times.

Since they're the first paragraphs, it's easy to skip over them once you've read one. And some of them do differ enough. I like having more than one "this is what it is" to read, if only to have enough of Zac's caustic takedowns of everything. Cool
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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:21 am Reply with quote
I started laughing at how blatant WIXOSS was being with the Madoka aping when it turned out all of the Selectors have secret wishes *~except for our heroine~* because she's so ordinary she can't come up with one. Granted the wishes are something they're aspiring to rather than something they already did, but it still couldn't be more obvious where the idea is coming from.

Also on an unrelated note, Ruko's LRIG has the most annoying voice I've ever heard. I wanted to tear my own cochlea out of my head with a claw hammer. Jesus christ.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 10:57 am Reply with quote
The dress on that little girl in he banner image for this article really wouldn't do a good job of covering anything other than from that specific angle.
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