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More complaining about Cindy Robinson's voice acting again? Sigh...

And did you just compare Mona Marshall's voice acting to one of the many pathetic AS shows? Blech...what an insipid comparison.

belvadeer wrote:

More complaining about Cindy Robinson's voice acting again? Sigh...

And did you just compare Mona Marshall's voice acting to one of the many pathetic AS shows? Blech...what an insipid comparison.

I liked Cindy's voice work in Moribito, too. Granted, she didn't show a huge emotional range, but there was something firmly strong and maternal about it that really fit the Balsa character, imo.

Moribito is the must-have, must-watch series of the past few years- if you want it cheap, grab that econobox now! There's few characters in anime as awesome as Balsa, and everyonelse manages to be very charming on their own. Although the deluxe/regular edition packaging is very pretty, and well worth the price if you're a collector. I have the dvd 2-pack sets, which come in cardstock sleeves, and look quite spiffy.

I've been meaning to get Gintama- Sentai's price bump put me off it for a little while, but I'll probably end up getting the first 2 sets when I get the chance. It looks like an irreverent, silly show, and I liked the first vol I read of the manga.

Moribito is one of the best series I saw in the previous decade, and I absolutely want to add it to my collection. My problem is, where is the middle ground here in terms of packaging? Either you get the ritzy, expensive boxset with their "no one else uses this case format" DVD jewel case boxes, or the ghetto hack-stack of a Wal-Mart issue spindle box. For $20 I don't suppose I could grouse, but honestly, I'd pay $30-40 to have the series in some slimline plastic cases in a nice, sturdy box.

vashfanatic wrote:

The best anime, shows like Moribito, still invest in the arc (even if they could stand to be a few episodes shorter for pacing purposes) rather than the database. They may not do as well in the short run financially, but in the long run they won't be forgotten and the generic series will.

Totally agreed. Almost all my favorite series subscribe to the "grand narrative" school of thought rather than the "otaku checklist." When I look over the shows I liked from the last decade, many of my favorites were original productions that put emphasis on story and character building, or at least were good adaptations with a stronger point to be made. I'm not saying "you've gotta have a theme," but I think a theme is something that naturally arises from having a well-told story - the creator(s) are making a statement about something, and it'll come through. Series designed with the "grand narrative" philosophy also tend to be less likely to have "non-ending" endings, either because the "otaku database" shows are just adapting a manga until they hit a 13 episode quota, or because there was never a significant enough story in the first place for there to be anything to give closure to.

Time will separate the wheat from the chaff, and I hope series like Moribito will be enjoyed by people long after this age's more disposable-minded content.

Erin Finnegan wrote:

Rental Magica gets bonus points for paying close attention to the details of magic systems. Honami harvests mistletoe under the full moon using a golden sickle. That sort of attention to the small detail really sells the show. The writers did their homework on different types of magic.

Yeah, I remember this getting a mention in Newtype USA; the show has a 'magic consultant' by the name of Kiyomune Miwa. Apparently he's acted as a consultant for lots of game and novel projects, where the creators want to ensure a degree of authenticity.

I have to confess that magical systems interest me a lot*, and the fact that there was research done to keep things grounded in some level of reality (for want of a better word) is enough to pique my interest.

*Of course I realize they're all errant nonsense. I'm not mental! Razz

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Moribito now and I agree that it's an absolutely fantastic show. In fact, it's one of the best shows I've seen from the last few years.

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I was super-happy when this Moribito set appeared for $20.99 on sale at Right Stuf. Apparently it started off as a Walmart exclusive.

Ug, yeah. Don't get me going on that nonsense. I've been waiting for well over a year to see Moribito because of Media Blasters bullshit. Here we have a fantastic show that has relatively high mainstream appeal and even aired on TV. Naturally, they release it across 8 bloody singles disks and take ages to put out a cheap collection. When they do finally, they make it Walmart exclusive. That's...good for people who were able to get it at Walmart but not so much for the rest of us.

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The ending is spectacular. In the final desperate fight, Balsa seems like Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (also from Production I.G)

Also from the same director. He really seems to have a knack for strong, adult female characters.

Moonsaber wrote:

To me, Moribito manages to express a lot of the same themes without feeling like an environmentalist guilt-trip.

Well, you're of course entitled to your own opinion. However, I have to say that I think you misunderstood what Princess Mononoke is trying to say if it came across that way. There's a lot of subtlety behind the pro-environmentalist message and it's far from a one sided guilt trip.

ittoujuu wrote:

Moribito is one of the best series I saw in the previous decade, and I absolutely want to add it to my collection. My problem is, where is the middle ground here in terms of packaging? Either you get the ritzy, expensive boxset with their "no one else uses this case format" DVD jewel case boxes, or the ghetto hack-stack of a Wal-Mart issue spindle box. For $20 I don't suppose I could grouse, but honestly, I'd pay $30-40 to have the series in some slimline plastic cases in a nice, sturdy box.

You could get the two set packs and the last set also comes with the nice fancy box. However, judging by the princes on TRSI, getting all four packs would be about $84, getting the discounted full set (also with the fancy box) would be $78, and this Walmart pack is $20 ($35 if you add in the fancy box which can be bought on it's own, that's the solution that Erin linked to). You could probably find the packs cheaper but the complete set is already over $40 under it's MSRP, Media Blasters is just charging a heck of a lot for a 26 episode series without a ton of extras.

Burn in hell Moribito.

(Sorry, I'm obligated to point that out whenever its mentioned, but it is such a stupid ovverrated piece of tripe)

Seems like slim pickings this week, at least in quantity.

vashfanatic wrote:

Generic #757858 wrote:

IIRC, Mignola himself was pretty heavily involved in the production of the movies and personally approved everything. So Del Toro's not the only one to blame for that stupid subplot

Oh, I know, but I imagine he approved it because he was told it was necessary to get the movie to sell.

That's probably true. Even superhero anime always have a love story.

@Beatdigga: Wow, really? I've seen nothing but high praise for this series whenever people have brought it up. It's always nice to have a counterpoint, so could you explain what didn't appeal to you?

Or is it simply a case of Moribito not being objectively bad, but not living up to all the hype surrounding it? I've been in the same position with Haruhi (main character needs a slap) and Death Note (for me, spoiler[the show never recovers from L's demise, and the introduction of Near and Mello felt like a mistake]).

I haven't heard what Rental Magica is about until today. The name of the series lead me to believe all sorts of silly things.

The length of Gintama definitely scared me off. I only watched a couple episodes.

I have started watching Shiki (about a week ago) and I'm sucked into it. You'll probably figure out the cause of the "mysterious illness" in 3 episodes. Hell, maybe even 2.

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I will absolutely read the first Moribito novel now

I've had the opportunity to read the first two Moribito novels. Scholastic did an absolutely beautiful job on both of them, with lovely cream paper, dark blue text and borders for Novel 1 and dark green for Novel 2.

The stories are thinner than the anime - you'll probably appreciate the slow-down in the anime more when you read the book and realize that without it, the story feels kind of thin. (The book also doesn't have my favorite scene, but that's all right. I have the anime.)

The second book was predictable and beautiful and did everything it needed to do. I sobbed my way through it as it took us where we needed to be taken but...damn. The third book does not appear to be published in English, but it's on my to-buy list the next time I visit Japan! It should be within my ability to read, since it's a YA novel series.

I gladly donated the novels to my local library when I was done, or I'd lend them to you, Erin.

Moribito is, IMHO, the best anime I have ever watched. In every way, story, character, and animation. I even like the music. Itoshii Hito still makes me smile. The books were slightly less perfect, but still worth reading. Especially Volume 2.

Cheers,

Erica

Shichimi wrote:

@Beatdigga: Wow, really? I've seen nothing but high praise for this series whenever people have brought it up. It's always nice to have a counterpoint, so could you explain what didn't appeal to you?

Or is it simply a case of Moribito not being objectively bad, but not living up to all the hype surrounding it? I've been in the same position with Haruhi (main character needs a slap) and Death Note (for me, spoiler[the show never recovers from L's demise, and the introduction of Near and Mello felt like a mistake]).

The show was utterly sleep inducing. It took forever to get going and tried to use its setting and admittedly unique lead (in that she's an older female with different responsibilities than the younger girls in anime) to distract people from the fact that extremely little happened. I can appreciate a setup, but do something or else it's just boring.

I read a couple pages of the Moribito novel in the library. Wish I had my card at that moment. It reads as well as the anime looks.

I NEVER get the "nothing happened" criticism of entertainment. BTW, PLOT DEVELOPMENT is what's happening.

There is some excellent fighting going on in Moribito. It's some of the best crafted combat I have seen in an anime in a long time. No silly shortcuts: just action orchestrated as if real people acted it out.

Very dull, santized action that appears once in a blue moon.

You need to move the plot forward. The animated equivalent of watching the grass grow doesn't do that.

Here, I'll sum up Moribito in song form.

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