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REVIEW: Legends of the Dark King Sub.DVD


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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15304
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:01 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I'm fairly underwhelmed by Dark Kings, even by my low standards. But it's a good primer for people who've never heard of the main series.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:36 am Reply with quote
not that i'm saying this is good, but it sounds like Carl was already biased against this franchise from the get-go.

Last edited by v1cious on Tue Nov 03, 2009 12:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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giascle



Joined: 09 Sep 2008
Posts: 157
Location: Denver
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:24 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Hasn't the brains of a lobotomized paramecium.


oh wow
That is quite an analogy.
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B-503_MIA



Joined: 15 Dec 2008
Posts: 149
Location: Green Bay, WI
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:47 am Reply with quote
So Carl, I take it you didn't like it Wink

I've been watching the show on Anime Network on Demand (we're up to episode six) & I haven't hated it... Sure, it's bombastically over-the-top but having seen the original FotNS I was getting what I was expecting. Haibane Renmei it is not Wink But I can still get some enjoyment out of it. The "man-splosion" that Bamboo Dong tweeted about (from episode 3) is something to behold... I'll watch it to the end, I'm not expecting much but I will allow myself to be entertained (even if it's of the absurd, mindless variety).
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1555
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 6:32 am Reply with quote
I really like the concept of re-telling a story from the POV of the villain, but it should probably be saved for a franchise that's smart enough to do it justice.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:00 am Reply with quote
Quote:
in an era of aggressive mediocrity, to say that something is actively, nay painfully bad is actually a sort of backhanded compliment.


Oh, please check out Dragonaut, the series now adorning our webpage! You want "actively bad," go no further - though I laughed so hard through the whole thing it was hard to call it painful. If it was shorter, I might actually recommend it; at least this was only 13 episodes long.

v1cious wrote:
not that i'm saying this is good, but it sounds like Carl was already biased against this against franchise from the get-go.


Which is helpful for someone like me, who didn't really like (okay, hated) Fist of the North Star and was curious whether the spinoff was an improvement.
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Hardgear





PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:33 am Reply with quote
Yeah, FotNS is one of those things apparently. You are either a fan or you don't know how anyone can watch it, there really is no middle ground. I for one enjoy the series despite all its flaws, cheapness, and one-sided battles (really, it's just like DBZ except it doesnt even try to cover up its ridiculousness, and I personally prefer the quick 2-3 hit fights to ones lasting 40 episodes). And now that I know Dark King is basically the same old FotNS I think ima pick me up a copy Smile
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:32 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
Oh, please check out Dragonaut, the series now adorning our webpage! You want "actively bad," go no further - though I laughed so hard through the whole thing it was hard to call it painful. If it was shorter, I might actually recommend it; at least this was only 13 episodes long.


It's funny you mention Boobanauts. I finished watching that so long ago. I thought it was going to finally be the answer to my call for more dragon-centered anime, but boy was I let down. Granted the story was good, but most of the time, it was all about hideous D-cups that sag too far down the chest and camera panning of said hideous mammaries. It doesn't help they copped out and CGed the dragons either. For pete's sake, don't people draw dragons anymore? God, where's Ryukihei when I need him?
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jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:46 pm Reply with quote
...I cannot WAIT to see this show. Just for the horse fight alone! The Fist movie was what turned me into an anime fan, so it's nice to revisit its awesome over-the-top-ness every once in a while. My only worry is that 13 episodes of that much cheesy anime might be overkill.

belvadeer wrote:
For pete's sake, don't people draw dragons anymore? God, where's Ryukihei when I need him?


Oh, man, there's a name I haven't heard in ages. I remember searching for eons to find every issue of Stainless Steel Armadillo back in the day...
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Greg Aubry



Joined: 10 Feb 2006
Posts: 224
Location: Detroit, MI
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Like jgreen, I saw Streamline's Fist of the North Star movie pretty early on in my anime fandom and could at least appreciate its over-the-top craziness. Upon picking up the ADV 2-pack that had New Fist of the North Star and Neo-Tokyo, I realized that I just couldn't stomach the series. I got to a certain point in the second episode and just went "yeah, no. I'll pass." (I bought the thing solely for Neo-Tokyo, which I'd never gotten around to purchasing.)

Curious to see what Surat says when he eventually pops in here.
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Prede



Joined: 17 Sep 2009
Posts: 388
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 7:45 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
Quote:
in an era of aggressive mediocrity, to say that something is actively, nay painfully bad is actually a sort of backhanded compliment.


Oh, please check out Dragonaut, the series now adorning our webpage! You want "actively bad," go no further - though I laughed so hard through the whole thing it was hard to call it painful. If it was shorter, I might actually recommend it; at least this was only 13 episodes long.


Still don't get the hate for this series. One day someone will have to go over why Dragonaut is so "bad" step by step, point by point. Maybe that's because I've only seen the first episode on Funimation On Demand, or maybe because my tastes are very different then everyone elses. But I just don't get it. Unless it drastically changes and goes down the tube real fast, this can't be that bad of a show. Despite all the hate for this, I actually enjoyed the first episode a lot. It's nothing amazing or groundbraking or anything, but it's a cool show, with an interesting setting. My problems with it have to do with it being a big-boob-a-thon and the terrible CGI, but both can be overlooked as long as the story is there. So far it's there...Really the way people treat this, you'd think it be like MD Geist or something. Hell even that has more love then this seems to be getting, although I can't grasp why... Razz

As for Legends of the Dark King, that was an interesting review to say the least. Never checked out the original Fist of the North Star , and I don't really think it would fit my tastes anyway, so I'm sure this won't either. I know the franchise never went over well with the critics, but didn't expect this to get these kind of grades. Neo-ADV needs to use some of these quotes on the DVD's, because they sure raised my eyebrow and made me pay attention lol. Anytime words like these are used, you make someone interested in the show, even if its really really bad Razz .


Last edited by Prede on Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:03 am; edited 1 time in total
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Jong Wu



Joined: 07 Oct 2006
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:01 pm Reply with quote
Wellll, speaking as a longtime Fist of the North Star fan, myself, I can honestly say that this series is nothing short of godawful, and really(unlike what Carl here would lead you to believe) isn't much like the original series at all, in style or in production value.

Hell, just about the only thing linking it to the original aside from the constant exploding baddies are the character names.

As for all the really nasty remarks I see thrown around, keep in mind, the original Fist of the North Star was a weekly animated television show for pre-pubescent Japanese boys. From the early 1980s, no less. It's not exactly high art. Never has been, nor was it ever intended to be, yet despite that fact that most of the critics out there who have tackled the franchise in some form or another can't help but to try to hold it to some ridiculously high standard. It's kids television, for Christ's sakes. Not exactly art house theatre material.

Fist of the North Star, whether you love it or you just can't stand it, has always been an over-the-top(and totally shonen) exercise in overblown melodramatics and unrepentantly graphic violence. It's pure shonen fantasy, and you either appreciate it for what it is, or you don't. I can totally understand if this sort of bombastic storytelling just isn't somebody's cup of tea, and I really respect that. But they shouldn't try to look at it like it's something it's not or else, you know, natural disasters and stuff.

...Yep.

/butthurt soapbox
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15304
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:08 am Reply with quote
vash: Speaking of which, I still don't get why that ANN mascot was considered risque, but a girl's big booty in tight bicycle shorts is just fine. Rolling Eyes

Greg: If it helps, the tv show has the violence from the manga toned down.

Prede: Actually, Chris Beveridge just recently flip-flopped on the movie, and gave it a friggin' B+.

Jong:
Quote:
isn't much like the original series at all, in style or in production value.


Well, it is out-sourced to S. Korea...

But yeah, I love people who hate Fist, but then take pretentious bs like Kite and Elfen Lied seriously.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:17 am Reply with quote
Prede wrote:
One day someone will have to go over why Dragonaut is so "bad" step by step, point by point. Maybe that's because I've only seen the first episode on Funimation On Demand, or maybe because my tastes are very different then everyone elses. But I just don't get it. Unless it drastically changes and goes down the tube real fast, this can't be that bad of a show. Despite all the hate for this, I actually enjoyed the first episode a lot.


I actually liked the first episode too. But it does go down hill - big time. If I go back to my livejournal, I think it was around episode 4 that I realized this was only getting worse as it went along. But like I said, it's bad in a hilarious way, not a painful way. I laughed so hard through it, that if you'd told me it was intended as a comedy, I'd consider it brilliant. But GONZO's so desperately tried to work a deep, meaningful story out of it, throwing in loopy twists, making characters switch side every other episode. I can't bring myself to hate it, but it is really rather awful. It had a decent premise, but once you get past that it's a giant honking mess. And the boobs only get bigger and more plentiful! Laughing
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_Emi_



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Location: Langjökull
PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Jong Wu wrote:
Fist of the North Star, whether you love it or you just can't stand it, has always been an over-the-top(and totally shonen) exercise in overblown melodramatics and unrepentantly graphic violence. It's pure shonen fantasy, and you either appreciate it for what it is, or you don't.

I've only seen the first episode (disappointed they didn't subtitle the opening song) and can tell from just that episode that it is everything you said. I'm going to love this show. I'm buying the show whenever Discotek releases it. I am not, however, going to love Kenshiro's annoying sidekick. Someone please tell he gets a bridge dropped on him or at least gets put on a bus. You say this isn't good but what about New Fist of the North Star?

I need to track down those revoltechs of Kenshiro and his brothers, especially the one with Raoh and his horse. My figure collection needs more GAR.
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