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Well, it appears that Negima's so bad, you ignore its' existence and say there's both it and nothing perishible this week. Otherwise, good column!

"A girl that might not even be there".

I can't help that you've really mixed up Air and Kanon there, cause as far as I can remember, there isn't a character in Kanon who is "not really there" (as in living), whereas in Air there is a character who "isn't there".

That sad, Air is my favorite Key game adaptation as well. The stories are much better supported, what with the Kanna backstory. Kanon always felt quite generic to me in that it always had Yuichi having some random backstory with the girl back when he was a little kid. It was pretty much that same plot-device the entire way through.

Granted, I still enjoyed Kanon, but it's the lower than Air and Clannad for me.

What kind of box do these two come in? Are they real, sturdy boxes or are they those ridiculous, paper thin excuses of a box like the Suzuka complete collection?

If it's the paper thin boxes then I might as well buy individual volumes and the art box because I am kind of picky about my boxes after the Suzuka complete collection and got ripped off by ADV and their Heavy Metal Collection and Chrno Crusade complete collection. The disks are stacked like cards inside those black, plastic boxes and it's annoying as hell.

That is so weird!

I just finished Kanon and watched the Air movie last week. I absolutely loved the ending of Kanon. Talk about waiting till the last 15 minutes ! I was literally jumping up and down at the end Embarassed

While I do prefer Air TV to the Air movie, I still liked a few things about the movie better. spoiler[Misuzu gets to kiss Yukito( A girl should get to experience that at least once before they die) and Yukito is there when she dies. ] It probably meant a great deal to her that he was there.

Megiddo wrote:

"A girl that might not even be there".

I can't help that you've really mixed up Air and Kanon there, cause as far as I can remember, there isn't a character in Kanon who is "not really there" (as in living),

spoiler[Tsukimiya Ayu.] He did say "might not", not "definitely not".

[EDIT: Spoiler tags added, since that is a pretty big revelation in the world of Kanon ~Zalis]

Sakagami Tomoyo wrote:

spoiler[Tsukimiya Ayu.] He did say "might not", not "definitely not".

Pssst. Bamboo is a she. Wink

I agree with all of the reviews except Nanoha A's.

Quote:

Apparently all you need is a magical computer in the shape of a magical ball or some kind of magical jewel.

Sure it's the device that does the actual magic, but Nanoha does control, calculations and gives the power for magic. She was born with huge potential and she did lots of training to control it (don't really remember if this was pointed out so well in the anime).

Quote:

Commanded by some sickly girl in a wheelchair, they are absorbing people's magic powers and storing them in some old magic book.

Commanded? Acting against her wishes is far from being commanded.

Quote:

The Good vs. Bad conflict is straight forward

So who was the bad guy? The bug in the in the book of darkness? Sure the Wolkenritters could have done what they wished in a more peaceful way, but you should not except too much from weapons that have spent several hunred years doing nothing but war.

Quote:

The characters are just your typical magical girl tropes, so that cancels out.

I think the characters were the best part of the of the show, but since I have read the manga and listened trough all of the sound stages, my impression might be quite different from those who have only seen the anime.

Great. I already got Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei volume 1 and 1 and 2 of the Higurashi manga. Now Air's going to be out. And Kanon. Gah! Stupid moe girls and their horrible lives!!!

lol... body pillows and the bottom falling out of the market of said body pillows... heaven forbid... Laughing

(might as well start it early... y'know this thread is going to derail into a "moe is bad" "no it's not" debate sooner or later... and this is a subject i'm honestly interested to know about)

this so called "moe trend"... a phrase i've never really understood... but then again, the only moe series i've watched have been the Key trilogy and the odd other good one that's popped up... i really can't understand the hatred of it.

i mean, yes, we all know who it's for in Japan. lonely 30 something guys who are perpetuating japan's low birth rate by falling in love with drawings of broken girls with "need a hug" personalities... that's obvious... and that's the Japanese all over... they take obsession to all new highs...

but has anyone ever met a "western" fan of the Key shows that has been that bad? like room plastered with Misuzu posters and figurines type bad...? honestly? if you do... well, weigh them, against the thousands of western moe fans who are just normal people... it's like the violent video games argument...

everyone's quick to jump on the moe bashing train, saying it's weird or what ever... but really... is wanting to connect on an emotional level with a character who's "broken"... really any worse than objectifying a character and fantasying over her boobs after they're flashed for the umpteenth time that episode.

they're both just drawings... they're not real people... why is one form of fan-service more acceptable than another?

i myself try to steer clear of serious shows that use nudity as a fan-service... to me... that's creepy... if you want to see T&A just watch hentai... (that's what i watch it for) don't destroy a story by having pointless upskirt shots or random wardrobe malfunctions for the sake of showing some skin... that's really what ruined FMP for me... they're trying to be serious, or poignant, but all the while, you can see up Koname's skirt... how am i sposed to take any of that show serious, when positioning Koname in such a way so the camera can be low enough to see her knickers takes a higher priority to anything else they're showing in the scene at the time...?

how is that not weird... ? is it just because "it's what they've always done"... ? how is that not weird, but moe is...? because moe is fan-service on an emotional level, rather than a physical one?

there have been some shocking examples of moe shows out there... and i spose, that's where the hatred stems from... a useless story stringing a bunch of airhead cute girls together, does not a good show make... even more so when it comes to moe, since it becomes fake... i'm the first to admit that... still, the hatred, is a genre wide thing... you mention the word "moe" to some people and instantly they think you're worse than Hitler... or at least the show is...

come on people, what's the deal... why all the hatred... what has the moe genre ever done to you... i know the haters are listening (not mentioning any names, you know who you are)... and i know the chances of this flaring up into a flame war are pretty high... but surely we can be civil... i promise to... i honestly want to know what's the go...

if it's just not your thing, well then move on and leave it be... why is moe treated like the second coming of Hitler by some people... yet which ever pointless fan-service ridden tripe is touted as a good show to watch by nearly all and sundry...?

rekishi wrote:

Very long post in a serious need of capital letters

That was a good post. Unlike many moe bashers believe, most moe fans are normal people. The people with no lives and body pillows are "moe" equilevant of what addicts that play more than 10 hours a day are to WoW.

Most of the people I saw in Akihabara looked like totally normal people. Only few people fit the otaku stereotype. *insert a joke about otakus not leaving their rooms*. I saw several couples even in otaku shops. A woman recommending a game to a guy who was with her is not what most people would expect to see in a shop selling used erogames.

rekishi wrote:

come on people, what's the deal... why all the hatred... what has the moe genre ever done to you... i know the haters are listening (not mentioning any names, you know who you are)... and i know the chances of this flaring up into a flame war are pretty high... but surely we can be civil... i promise to... i honestly want to know what's the go...

if it's just not your thing, well then move on and leave it be... why is moe treated like the second coming of Hitler by some people... yet which ever pointless fan-service ridden tripe is touted as a good show to watch by nearly all and sundry...?

Okay, I'll bite. Personally I don't hate moe for moe sake. True moe is what true moe does, and I can accept that, even though it's not what I would actively seek out in anime, or manga. What irks me is when loli is dressed as moe and sold as such. That marketing ploy just puts me right off the lot.

That's probably the least harsh review of anything Nanoha I've read on ANN to date.

Last edited by pachy_boy on Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:07 am; edited 1 time in total

The only thing I didn't care for about the Air movie was that every so often the visuals would stop at watercolor-like stills, for no real reason except maybe it was a cheap way to cut down on the animation. Other than that, and probably partly because I watched the series first, I found the movie very interesting and refreshing in its own way. It provided an alternative angle to the original story, and not only does Misuzu appear more mature (and not because the animation's not as moe-designed as in the series) but it was so surprising to see her actually fall in love with Yukito and try acting on it, and Yukito actually gets down to contemplating his feelings. I felt their relationship had some more heartfelt meaning to it in the movie. A year passes by since I've watched both the series and the movie. I pop the movie back in, and while it may be regarded as a kind of a strange story I think the beautiful movie still stands well on its own.

I've said this before, but I couldn't get through Kanon because of the main guy in this show, whose personality always changes depending on the girl he's with. Whether he's being a kind big brother or he has a sadistic mean streak, it always depends where he is *always* the big brother, or when he has a 'man of the house' power over the girls (it's just one of those things that reminds you this was based on a dating sim for otaku guys who may or may not feel threatened by real-life girls). For that reason I like Yukito better, because he doesn't try to be better than any of the girls around him.

Despite its notoriety, I was really surprised with how much I enjoyed Negima. It may have helped that I watched it dubbed, and Funimation's dub for this one was definitely cleverly well done and funny. And the ending of the story touched me in a way that truly surprised me, almost the same way Fruits Basket did. And the 'second season,' which is technically just a re-imagining of the series, was just as entertaining but in its own way. If you've ever seen Moonphase, you'd know that the 2nd Negima series was done by the same studio due to its animation style, atmosphere and bizarreness. I honestly can't say which series I prefer out of the two, because I find entertaining qualities in both of them, but I'm speaking solely for myself.

Dear Bamboo,

Call me old fashioned, but I'm the type of person who will discredit an entire article if even one sentence is inaccurate. Imagine my surprise as I spent my time reading your article, only to have it dismissed at the end with your Negima review.

I would like to take this time to clarify and remind you there are two separate and distinct versions of the Negima series. The box art you chose was from the first, but your commentary covered the second.

An amateur mistake. Please correct this immediately.

Note to the readers: the original Negima! has a single exclamation mark (!) while the reworked re-release is cast as Negima!?. In addition, the original contains all episodes while the re-release is sold in money grabbing two-part box sets.

Even within anime circles, these two series can be reviewed against each other. Even the creator of the original said he wasn't happy it didn't follow the original manga. I suppose that's why the re-release was made. Given the reviews of the re-release, it's a series I won't be buying.

Since I've not seen the re-release, I'll just use the first series as a reference.

The "blowing off of clothing" only happens a few times, and is done within a few episodes of each other. This is in conjunction with other mistakes Negi makes when first meeting Asuna. Given all the mistakes, it's clear the rest of the series is set to work on fixing the awkward relationship between Negi and Asuna with the help of the rest of the class.

I must profess I don't understand the whole "moe" attribute assigned to this, or any other series. However, the original contains no boobs, and I don't recall but one "panty shot" (which seemed out of character for the entire show, truthfully).

However, the article consists of using the incorrect Negima! title when trashing the series.

Yes, the second version is most definitely based on fan service, which is why I won't buy it. From what I gather, the second version takes more away from the first that it really is just a pile of crap.

Thus, I can understand your remark about the journey, which doesn't appear to be the same as the first version.

While this series won't win any awards, the first version is very lighthearted and "cute" as far as the mini-stories that make up this journey. It didn't need underwear shots or excessive "moe" to keep viewers watching. The story lines did that all on their own.

Having just finished Love Hina, I can't see how in the hell you can compare these series.

Getting through the "journey" of Love Hina was more tedious than that of Negima, especially when 24 episodes dealt with a wimpy, pansy male lead who often ruins the show than enhances it, made moreso when the 5 girls don't seem to have any interest in the lead whatsoever. A complete 180 degree turn from Negima. Luckily, Motoko helped save this series (fan service viewers: don't expect much from this series until you hit the bonus show), but not by much.

So, Bamboo, the next time you want to spring clean, please don a protective mask and wear eye protection because it appears you got too much dust in your eyes with this review.
Smile

Bamboo wrote:

I have a pile of ~~moe~~ anime DVDs sitting in my apartment. And basically, it's all Funimation's fault. Back in the day, all this ~~moe~~ DVD anime used to be spread across a few companies, but now it's all coming out of one shipping center, in tidy little thinpaks.

FTFY

The anime new releases shelf is looking pretty shabby these days indeed...

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