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The Spring 2008 Anime Preview Guide


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Tempest
I Run this place.
ANN Publisher


Joined: 29 Dec 2001
Posts: 10419
Location: Do not message me for support.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:50 pm Reply with quote
This is the new talkback thread for the preview guide. We've split it since the 16+ existing pages were starting to get pretty daunting and discouraged new discussion about the new reviews.

Please post any new comments in this thread, and continue any existing topics of conversation in the old thread.

-t
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FanFicGuru



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:24 pm Reply with quote
So after watching the first episode of Geass R2, here is my initial reaction:

Director: So, how are we going to start off the second season of Code Geass?
Random Guy re-stocking towels: How about exactly the same way you started off the first season?
Director: BRILLIANT!

Seriously, I love Code Geass...but the first episode of R2 was almost EXACTLY the same as the first episode of season one. wtf?! However, I will keep it "Spoiler'd" for the sake of not pissing anyone off.

spoiler[
Seriously, minute to minute...start off with lelouch's *innocent* school-life, swap to him playing high stakes games with noblemen/rich barons, involved in a terrorist attack only to be surrounded by government lackies while being forced to watch the terrible murder of dozens of "Elevens". He "wishes he had power"...etc. etc. C.C dies, again *shock* then grants him the Geass powers (AKA forces him out of brainwashed state). Zero re-states his wish to destroy britannia, orders the soldiers to kill themselves. Gahhh. ]


I must say, however, the emperor is friggin' badass.

Oh well, here's hoping the formulaic plot stops there.
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shenlongmizuno



Joined: 03 Aug 2005
Posts: 49
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:28 pm Reply with quote
I'll give some constructive criticism, personally I thought this new format was a bit messy with each reviewer having their own page and the shows they reviewed randomly in it. A better layout imo would have been to have to have the shows listed in alphabetical order and the reviews under them. So like

Bus Gamer:
Carlos's preview

Blassreiter:
Carlos's preview
Casey's preview

As for the previews themselves.. personally I think there might be more to Kanokon then just the rather disturbing fanservice. There seems to be some sort of hidden conflict or tension between the fox spirits(?) and the humans and I want to see how that plays out.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:40 pm Reply with quote
shenlongmizuno wrote:
I'll give some constructive criticism, personally I thought this new format was a bit messy with each reviewer having their own page and the shows they reviewed randomly in it. A better layout imo would have been to have to have the shows listed in alphabetical order and the reviews under them. So like

Bus Gamer:
Carlos's preview

Blassreiter:
Carlos's preview
Casey's preview


This is a good suggestion; the only issue I can see is that by its very nature this format is based almost entirely on chronological order. The reviewers review the shows as they get their hands on them.

We could do it like this: listing all of the shows we intend on reviewing in alphabetical order on the index page and then as the reviews come in, the critic's name appears under the show title, and links directly to their review.

One of the reasons we're doing it the way we are now is that this feature is entirely new and experimental; I put no restrictions on what new titles the critics could review, only requesting that they do as many as they can, as soon after the show airs as possible. We'll probably use a more structured system in the future. I also wanted to spotlight the critics themselves, so people could pick and choose which critics they wanted to read; we've never had a "meet the critics" thing here on ANN, and it's good to know a particular critic's personality and style when deciding if you want to follow their reviews.

At any rate, this is ever-evolving. The Fall 2008 Anime Preview Guide will hopefully be a massive refinement and evolution of the concept; better organized but still up-to-the-hour, ever-updating brand new previews.
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FanFicGuru



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:45 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
shenlongmizuno wrote:
I'll give some constructive criticism, personally I thought this new format was a bit messy with each reviewer having their own page and the shows they reviewed randomly in it. A better layout imo would have been to have to have the shows listed in alphabetical order and the reviews under them. So like

Bus Gamer:
Carlos's preview

Blassreiter:
Carlos's preview
Casey's preview


This is a good suggestion; the only issue I can see is that by its very nature this format is based almost entirely on chronological order. The reviewers review the shows as they get their hands on them.

We could do it like this: listing all of the shows we intend on reviewing in alphabetical order on the index page and then as the reviews come in, the critic's name appears under the show title, and links directly to their review.

One of the reasons we're doing it the way we are now is that this feature is entirely new and experimental; I put no restrictions on what new titles the critics could review, only requesting that they do as many as they can, as soon after the show airs as possible. We'll probably use a more structured system in the future. I also wanted to spotlight the critics themselves, so people could pick and choose which critics they wanted to read; we've never had a "meet the critics" thing here on ANN, and it's good to know a particular critic's personality and style when deciding if you want to follow their reviews.

At any rate, this is ever-evolving. The Fall 2008 Anime Preview Guide will hopefully be a massive refinement and evolution of the concept; better organized but still up-to-the-hour, ever-updating brand new previews.


Sounds good. I'll be looking forward to it. Anime smile
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DonQuigleone



Joined: 31 May 2007
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Location: Dublin, Ireland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:52 pm Reply with quote
As a good compromise how about an option to list reviews chronologically or by name? Of course Zac's Idea of having each title and then the reviews under it works pretty well too....

Maybe Switching between 2 modes? Blog mode, similar in layout to, well, a blog, listing things by latest updates and comparison mode, where you have each title and then the reviews under them, for a more comprehensive structure . And an RSS feed could be put up for blog mode too
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Westlo



Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:00 pm Reply with quote
FanFicGuru wrote:
Seriously, I love Code Geass...but the first episode of R2 was almost EXACTLY the same as the first episode of season one. wtf?! .


At the risk of being called a Geasstard again even though I'm just pointing out the obvious you do realize that Code Geass R2 airs 5pm Sunday as opposed to 2am Friday like Season 1 did? Not only does this season have to keep it's core audience from S1 but it has to introduce new viewers to it. Casual anime fans who don't stay up to 2:30am with school the next day...

You don't have to like the mimicking of the first episode but realize why they did it, continuing straight from 25 would equal ratings suicide and R2's first episode rating wasn't flash hot in the first place with a 3%. I've seen 10 first episodes this season and I rank 5 shows as better than Geass when it comes to the first episode. And that number will probably increase after I see Kaiba, Library War, Real Drive, Nabari etc.
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DonQuigleone



Joined: 31 May 2007
Posts: 154
Location: Dublin, Ireland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:17 pm Reply with quote
I agree on Geass, but it is setting things up well. You don't get the feeling that it's a great first episode, but that the rest will fizzle out.How did Geass manage to claw it's way out of the post midnight timeslot anyway?
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Westlo



Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:31 pm Reply with quote
DonQuigleone wrote:
I agree on Geass, but it is setting things up well. You don't get the feeling that it's a great first episode, but that the rest will fizzle out.How did Geass manage to claw it's way out of the post midnight timeslot anyway?


6th highest sales on dvd by avg for a tv series according to a clip circulating on youtube.

#10 Martian Successor Nadesico 37897 units
#9 Dragon Ball Z 40065 units
#8 Cowboy Bebop 40212 units
#7 Suzumiya Haruhi 41307 units
#6 Code Geass 44657 units
#5 Zeta Gundam 54994 units
#4 Gundam Seed 58563 units
#3 Gundam Seed Destiny 69247 units
#2 Mobile Suit Gundam 80928 units
#1 Neon Genesis Evangelion 173458

SEED Destiny, SEED, Geass and Haruhi are correct figures since they're the same as what's listed on the Oricon charts.
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nx6



Joined: 17 Mar 2008
Posts: 62
Location: Midwest U.S.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:39 pm Reply with quote
Westlo wrote:

You don't have to like the mimicking of the first episode but realize why they did it, continuing straight from 25 would equal ratings suicide and R2's first episode rating wasn't flash hot in the first place with a 3%.

Continuing straight from ep 25 would have been sucide? I can't agree with that. I big chunk of the audience for R2 was season 1 fans waiting for the conclusion to multiple cliffhanger plotlines from ep 25. I liked the first R2 episode, but overall I'm annoyed at being left off with no info about what happened at the standoff, how C.C. survived, where's Nunaly ect.
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FanFicGuru



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 159
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:41 pm Reply with quote
Westlo wrote:
FanFicGuru wrote:
Seriously, I love Code Geass...but the first episode of R2 was almost EXACTLY the same as the first episode of season one. wtf?! .


At the risk of being called a Geasstard again even though I'm just pointing out the obvious you do realize that Code Geass R2 airs 5pm Sunday as opposed to 2am Friday like Season 1 did? Not only does this season have to keep it's core audience from S1 but it has to introduce new viewers to it. Casual anime fans who don't stay up to 2:30am with school the next day...

You don't have to like the mimicking of the first episode but realize why they did it, continuing straight from 25 would equal ratings suicide and R2's first episode rating wasn't flash hot in the first place with a 3%. I've seen 10 first episodes this season and I rank 5 shows as better than Geass when it comes to the first episode. And that number will probably increase after I see Kaiba, Library War, Real Drive, Nabari etc.


I didn't realize it was 2AM friday with the first season...

What you're saying makes sense. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Still, even having to re-introduce the story to new viewers, I feel they could've done it a bit better than simply re-hashing the first episode of last season. Meh, no big deal really...I'm sure it will still be awesome.

Thanks again for explaining the situation.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:02 pm Reply with quote
While agree with people saying that a direct continuation of episode 25 would have been preferable, what Sunrise did to kick of R2 was actually pretty smart. A recap without being a recap, with some very shiny action scenes. Not to mention, the imitation of last season's debut by R2's debut could actually be part of a decision to display themes of recurring tragedies within history (although I admit, that is a little cheesy).

Regardless, though, you just know there's going to be an influx of revelations regarding what happened last season. I haven't lost hope for the series retaining all the tension it had built up yet.

By the way, anybody think spoiler[Euphimeria will be returning to the cast this season? I know that would require a serious jump/contrivance in the plot, but I found her inclusion in the EP sequence somewhat telling.]
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sabriyahm



Joined: 24 May 2005
Posts: 291
Location: Georgia
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:04 pm Reply with quote
Yeah Theron! Someone showed Special A some love. Special A is the first fansub I have ever watched BEFORE reading an ANN preview. I have always wondered why people came on the forum to vigerously defend the shows they like. I can sort of understand the impulse now.
Hmm Validation is good...
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crilix



Joined: 16 Nov 2005
Posts: 208
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:11 pm Reply with quote
Casey, can I ask one question? Where did you get that Blassreiter screenshot from? It doesn't look like it was taken from one of GONZO's legal downloadable versions.
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Furudanuki



Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1874
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:22 pm Reply with quote
sabriyahm wrote:
Yeah Theron! Someone showed Special A some love.

I will be watching Special A for one single reason - listening to Yuko Goto voice an assertive and kickass character. Very Happy I am quite fond of many of her earlier roles where she plays the gentle and sweet type (Kaede, Nanami, Mikuru, etc.), but I know she will be having a lot of fun with this one since Hikari is much closer to Gotouza-sama's own personality. Anything else in the way of enjoyment that this anime brings to the table will simply be icing on the cake for me.
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