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I personally never saw Peorth that much of an addition to the story either. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that, every other AMG fan I've talked to loves her :/ (even though most of them were men)

I think fans just like her cause she's the new girl....and because she's in her underwear all the time :/ so they keep bringing her back even if she's pointless.

Pretty much agree with you, but I'll give the story a C-, in hopes that this is indeed the start of new direction of the series.

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It's almost a surefire sign of diminishing creative returns: all of a sudden, a major new character shows up in hopes of rejuvenating a flagging series.

Am I the only one who immediately thought "It's the Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show!" Wink

If it's one thing that remains consistant, it's the continued criticism among ANN Reviewers toward the Ah! My Goddess anime and manga series.

While it's been debated that during the earlier course of the manga series, that Mr. Fujishima had attempted to create a vast supporting cast of characters, this was around the time when anime shows like Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Love Hina and many others that supported such a large cast. Even his previous series, You're Under Arrest, had a large cast of colorful characters.

Since fans of the series, up to Volume 11, had only been introduced to Belldandy, Urd and Skuld as Goddesses, it was a nice change to see Mr. Fujishima to introduce a new goddess into the series. Over the course of the series, he has also introduced many characters that have been introduced as support for Heaven.

The problem is that, at times, Fujishima seems to run out of ideas at different periods in the manga, but also manages to come back with better storyarcs ... and has attempted to inject fresh ideas into the series. This has happened with many American superhero comics as well.

All in all, the main point, is that ANN seems to be overly harsh in regards to the Ah! My Goddess series.

I'm just glad that Mr. Fujishima (and the legions of fans who continue to support this manga series) hasn't been influenced by horrid reviews like this. After all, the manga series has just celebrated its 20th Anniversary of publishing. No other manga series has lasted this long, with the sole exception of some manga that have been published since the 1930's and 1040's.

I think One Piece is another manga series that has lasted longer and if there is one manga series that deserves horrible reviews, it has to be that manga.

[quote="Colonel Wolfe"]. After all, the manga series has just celebrated its 20th Anniversary of publishing. No other manga series has lasted this long, with the sole exception of some manga that have been published since the 1930's and 1940's.
quote]

actually there are a few manga from the 70s and 80s that are still running too, like "Glass no Kamen" from 1976 and "Patalliro!" from 1979 and others. so Ah My Goddess isn't the only one to make it to 20 years (not that I'm saying it isn't an accomplishment, but your argument is a little mis-informed)

kawaiibunny3 wrote:

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

. After all, the manga series has just celebrated its 20th Anniversary of publishing. No other manga series has lasted this long, with the sole exception of some manga that have been published since the 1930's and 1940's.

actually there are a few manga from the 70s and 80s that are still running too, like "Glass no Kamen" from 1976 and "Patalliro!" from 1979 and others. so Ah My Goddess isn't the only one to make it to 20 years (not that I'm saying it isn't an accomplishment, but your argument is a little mis-informed)

Don't forget Golgo 13! Started in 1968 and still running.

But Colonel Wolfe meant lasting that long in America...right?

Sort of. As far as publishing in the United States, Oh My Goddess is the longest running manga series to ever get published. In Japan, Oh My Goddess is just one of many manga series that have published for such a long period of time.

The one thing that I have found insulting that ANN Reviewers rarely have anything positive to say about Kousuke Fujishima's manga series.

First, his artwork happens to be some of the most gorgeous artwork that has ever been produced in the comics/manga world and continues to improve with each passing chapter.

Secondly, they're judging the manga series by the translation. While Dark Horse has done an excellent job, the manga series continues to be translated in such a way that can be understood by American fans. The reason I say this is because I've been fortunate to compare an original and authentic translation, complete with the original honorifics of the original dialogue, compared to the English version. (This isn't the main point).

Finally, ANN fails to give the series the honor it deserves. Even Dark Horse fails to give it its due as well. For a manga series that has been published for over 20 years (in Japan) and for a manga series that continues to be the longest running manga series (in the United States) for the past 15 years, here in the United States, this is not even acknowledged.

The kicker is that the manga series, as published original in Kodansha's 'Afternoon' magazine, is poised to publish the 250th chapter of the manga series, which is a feat for itself. If the series was as stagnant as ANN Reviews would lead yoou to believe then this series would never have lasted for as long as it has.

Last edited by Moomintroll on Thu May 14, 2009 10:30 am; edited 1 time in total

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

First, his artwork happens to be some of the most gorgeous artwork that has ever been produced in the comics/manga world

The "gorgeousness" of the art is entirely subjective...but on a purely technical level, there are plenty of artists working to a higher standard.

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Secondly, they're judging the manga series by the translation. [...] The reason I say this is because I've been fortunate to compare an original and authentic translation, complete with the original honorifics of the original dialogue, compared to the English version.

It isn't the Japanese edition being reviewed. It isn't the scanlation being reviewed. It's the Dark Horse edition being reviewed.

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While Dark Horse has done an excellent job, the manga series continues to be translated in such a way that can be understood by American fans.

You'd have preferred them to translate it in such a way that it couldn't be understood by American fans?

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If the series was as stagnant as ANN Reviews would lead yoou to believe then this series would never have lasted for as long as it has.

By that measure, Garfield is an excellent title and should be honoured by all. I mean, it's been going for over 30 years so it must be great, right?

The review is of an individual volume, not the series as a whole - even if it were of the entire series, longevity does not automatically equate to quality.

Edit: syntax error.

Well, to put it simply, yes. Most reviews review an anime series by their subtitled version, not by their English dubbed or translated audio track.

This type of review needs to be conducted in regards to manga releases as well.

Why?

Because the reviewers aren't reviewing the manga but are actually reviewing the translation of the manga. You simply cannot judge Japanese anime with one criteria and then judge Japanese manga with another set of criteria. It needs to remain consistant.

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

Well, to put it simply, yes. Most reviews review an anime series by their subtitled version, not by their English dubbed or translated audio track.

This type of review needs to be conducted in regards to manga releases as well.

Why?

Because the reviewers aren't reviewing the manga but are actually reviewing the translation of the manga. You simply cannot judge Japanese anime with one criteria and then judge Japanese manga with another set of criteria. It needs to remain consistant.

Yes you can. Anime DVDs come with subtitles, manga do not (although I heard dual-language manga existed). Essentially, you say that ANN should illegally download material for reviewing purposes... that's rather silly, isn't it?
Also, I am not under the impression that most ANN reviewers speak Japanese, so the matter of translation is rarely brought up. Instead, they focus on voice work etc. and how the script "feels".
I don't think the story of this manga can change a lot if you translate it differently, but of course, you might convince me of it.

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

Well, to put it simply, yes. Most reviews review an anime series by their subtitled version, not by their English dubbed or translated audio track.

This type of review needs to be conducted in regards to manga releases as well.

Why?

Because the reviewers aren't reviewing the manga but are actually reviewing the translation of the manga. You simply cannot judge Japanese anime with one criteria and then judge Japanese manga with another set of criteria. It needs to remain consistant.

Eh? How are an anime's subtitles any less a translation of the original Japanese than the text of a US-released manga?

You aren't making any sense. At all.

In any case, it really isn't reasonable, logical or sane to expect an English language website serving an English language user base to review English language editions of manga using the text from a different edition, in a different language from a different publisher.

That wouldn't be much help to people thinking of buying the US edition, would it now?

Simple, an English translation of a manga series is the same as an Engish dubbed version of an anime series. I just think that when it comes certain manga genres, that ANN's reviews are biased toward certain types of manga and that the reviews are unbalanced.

I'm not talking about the actual written review, but the way that reviews are conducted.

What makes is sad is that reviews on the AMG manga series has been consistantly negative. You would think that ANN would assign a particular genre (seinen, as AMG is) to a reviewer who isn't biased against seinen, or romantic comedies, as AMG is.

Christ on a crutch why do some people get their poo stained panties in such a fuss over reviews? I guess we're all supposed to love everything they do and agree with their opinions right? People can have a different opinion then you ya know. It really is possible. I do think Carlo made some good points about the volume but I do feel it was graded lower then it should have been personally. That's his choice though and it doesn't stop me from enjoying the series any less. Nor anyone else either. If ya don't like the review then DON'T BLOODY READ ANY FROM THAT PERSON. Look how simple that is? Or go find one you do like that will allow you to sleep at night better and not freak out. Plus he's not grading the entire series, he's grading ONE SINGLE VOLUME within it. Big difference. Plus in terms of the series this volume is rather old and this is a review of the re-print of this volume to begin with.

Colonel Wolfe wrote:

Simple, an English translation of a manga series is the same as an Engish dubbed version of an anime series.

I want a logical argument for this, because I'm not seeing it. You're just stating that "A = C" without any reasoning as to why.

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I just think that when it comes certain manga genres, that ANN's reviews are biased toward certain types of manga and that the reviews are unbalanced.

Uh, because all of the reviewers here are as forgiving as Casey is to yaoi titles and Theron and Bamboo are to certain moe-inducing titles?

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What makes is sad is that reviews on the AMG manga series has been consistantly negative. You would think that ANN would assign a particular genre (seinen, as AMG is) to a reviewer who isn't biased against seinen, or romantic comedies, as AMG is.

You mean Berserk, Parasyte, Solanin, Pluto, et cetera aren't seinen, and Love*Com and High School Debut aren't romantic comedies?

Also, seinen isn't a genre -- it's a demographic, as shonen, shojo and josei are.

Wolfe: Regardless of what you or I think of the volume, you do know you're talking about Carl Horn, right? The guy who's been in the translation business for decades. So comparing his take on the manga to a FUNi dub is a real insult. DH could just slap the old "gaijin-friendly" script they used for the original AMG collections, but they went to the trouble of getting Carl to re-check the stuff to make it as authentic to the Japanese script as possible.

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