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Shelf Life - Corpse Bride


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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 3904
Location: CO
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:12 pm Reply with quote
Hardgear wrote:

Western shows on the other hand seem to all be of the "let's keep making more until our ratings drop and management tells us we are cancelled, and hope we are given enough notice to throw together a decent ending" variety (with a few exceptions, like Avatar, which was planned for 3 20-ish episode seasons from the start, and it shows). Then to make sure people keep coming back for more, they like to end seasons on cliffhangers... Which means a lot of shows end on cliffhangers cause they were cancelled between seasons. Or they have a Quantum Leap ending, where at the end of just another routine episode they tack on some text to the effect of "oh by the way, show's over!"...


This is, unfortunately, semi-true. The way that Western TV shows are contracted, you never really know in advance whether you will be given enough time to really let a storyline carry out. That's why so many long-running TV don't have overarching story arcs beyond a few few episodes. Why start something really grand and complicated if you might get canceled? I remember hearing Chris Carter gripe at a Paley Conference panel about how they had a lot of ideas for the X-Files, but were always afraid of leaving viewers hanging in the event of cancellation, so they ended up with a handful of impotent ideas.

I think the notable exception on TV right now is Mad Men, because Weiner's been pretty much given free range on how he wants his stories and characters to progress without fear of getting axed midway.

Anime benefits in that the studio says, "Okay, we are going to make X number of episodes, and that's that."

Of course, the downside is that because anime is often based on a pre-existing (and oftentimes unfinished) work, once they reach the end of the current manga run, they're left wondering, "Well... now what?" And I think ultimately that's why a lot of anime series fizzle off at the end.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23669
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:32 pm Reply with quote
the Rancorous wrote:
It's not that it was inconclusive, it's that it threw in a fake-out in the last minute plus the fact that the next episode is a completely unnecessary prequel of two characters who have been out of the game since early on in the series. They had a whole extra episode to work with the spoiler[showdown between Makina and the last two Seven Stars] AKA: what should be the most climatic part of the series, but they just pushed that part aside for something that was no longer relevant to the plot. If that's what they were going to do, then why did they even bother with that 'final confrontation' scene? I don't see how that wouldn't bother someone who greatly enjoyed the series from the start (Me).
I'll go ahead and declare this since they're both in this Shelf Life review: My Bride is a Mermaid had a much more satisfying ending than Corpse Princess Razz .


First, I should explain that when I watched Corpse Princess, I wasn't aware of the "final" prequel episode. So for me the ending as spoiler[the battle was joined was the ending. Emotionally, I felt the Seven Stars conflict was over. In my own mind, I had no doubt that Maka and Ouri working as a team would prevail in the clean-up. I didn't need to actually see it. For me, the arc of the whole series was whether Maka would accept Ouri as her Contractor. She did - that's all I needed to know. Again, I don't need to be spoon-fed every last detail. I thought it was cool the animators had the confidence to end where they did (not talking about the final prequel episode). It's something that I appreciate about anime - the willingness to take a creative risk rather than play it safe. The safe route would have been to show the battle and then Maka and Ouri walking off into the sunset, I guess. Whee, never seen THAT before except for one billion times.]
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toyNN



Joined: 18 Jun 2010
Posts: 252
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:40 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
Shikabane Hime... I loved the horror, I hated the humor. For me personally, I prefer black, dry humor in a series that features tons of gore and death. The wacky fanservice-based humor felt really jarring. I also never recovered in the second half from the spoiler[death of Keisei]. Part of this is because the actor for Ouri in the Japanese was so incredibly wooden. Did this get a dub? If so, I assume whoever played him was a massive improvement.


I'm definitely a Shikabane Hime fan - one of my fav shows. But I definitely agree here. If they had just trusted and kept that the dark-intensity of the show all the time it would have been better. The humor I think did work up until the spoiler - after that it should have just remained dark. The mentioned "wacky fanservice" stuff just didn't fit - hence some of the complaints of the show being uneven. But those are small parts of the over all show and just seem to be there to give some relief from the dark.

Also for me I felt the music was superior. Angela doing 3 great songs for it (OP, 2 ED) and 2 of the most amazing sound tracks (Aka and Kuro) that I've heard.

Anyway I'm biased but would recommend the show to anyone - give the first few eps a try (Hulu/Funi)
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:37 pm Reply with quote
Hardgear wrote:
Parsifal24 wrote:
I mean by episode four spoiler[Keisei dies]


That was actually episode 12. Maybe Funimation didn't REALLY have the whole thing up at the time?


Oh I thought it was episode four it's been a while since I've seen it.
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Wooga



Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 916
Location: Tucson
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:49 pm Reply with quote
the Rancorous wrote:
Okay, this is bothering me; it's Corpse Princess, NOT Corpse Bride.


Its a pun. Like every other column. (my Bride is aMermaid + corpse princess)

Also, wow, theres a little too much bootlegs on that shelf there Razz
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elumbra



Joined: 18 Oct 2010
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:12 pm Reply with quote
Wooga wrote:
Also, wow, theres a little too much bootlegs on that shelf there Razz


You can blame anyone for having bootlegs, anime just costs way too much. Thus the reason i only own about 4 or 5 series.

On another note, i am completely envious of your manga collection. I worked at a book store for about a year and a half and gave most of my money back to the store buying manga so i have a pretty impressive collection, but yours is crazy.
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Wooga



Joined: 22 Jun 2007
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Location: Tucson
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:33 pm Reply with quote
elumbra wrote:
Wooga wrote:
Also, wow, theres a little too much bootlegs on that shelf there Razz


You can blame anyone for having bootlegs, anime just costs way too much.


There is no reason to have bootlegs. If you cant afford an anime series, just download it for free instead of supporting some shitty chinese bootlegging ring. srsly
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sakura urameshi



Joined: 28 Feb 2006
Posts: 4
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:20 pm Reply with quote
When I had bought the anime at that time I didn't realize they where bootlegs...
I had ordered it off this site(can't even remember which one it was now,it was also my first time buying anime online)and when they came I was thinking that they looked kind of funny..but I still didn't think to much of it(My younger naive days of anime buying) and got some more DVD"s from them.Then A friend told me they where bootleg and I was like what??She showed me how to tell if an item was bootleg and now I know and have never made that mistake again.
I have been replacing the bootlegs with the licensed releases it is slow going ,but it is one of my goals.

So it's not that I couldn't afford to by the licensed releases or that I was supporting bootlegging it was just at the time I didn't know any better, till it was to late and I had quit a few bootlegs setting there.

Oh and the Inuyasha boxes are not bootleg they are single discs that I put together in the DVD boxes that can hold 12 discs to save some room.
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DangerMouse



Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Posts: 3980
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:23 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
Big Hed wrote:
vashfanatic wrote:
Part of this is because the actor for Ouri in the Japanese was so incredibly wooden. Did this get a dub? If so, I assume whoever played him was a massive improvement.


Yes, and Ouri was played by Aaron Dismuke Erin mentioned. My assumption going in is that that's going to be a good thing, only being familiar with him from (duh) FMA.

Yeah, I admit, I sometimes skim portions of Erin's reviews. Her writing style is getting better, but I find myself more intrigued by her off-topic discussions, if that doesn't seem too strange.

And yeah, Aaron Dimsuke was fantastic in the FMA dub (a soothing dead-on contrasted with the grate of a certain 40-year old not even trying to sound pubescent) and if he's as good an actor as an adult, then he'll be far better than the Japanese Ouri (it was his first role).


I think he's doing a fine job and gives him a good likeable voice even if he's still not nearly the most distinctive character in the show (big surprise lol), Ouri's not exactly the pinnacle of variety of emotions IMO so I don't really understand the complaint, that's Ouri.
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Wrathful



Joined: 08 Mar 2010
Posts: 372
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:40 pm Reply with quote
I'm way behind with these animes but I guess the only thing that interests me is Corpse Princess. Sounds like another one of the better ones to watch.

And I love the news Bryan Massey is getting another role. He was fantastic as Russo. He has that distinct voice most people would recognise. Shame that I wouldn't probably watch 'My bride is Mermaid' you can guess it's going to be a cliche just by looking at the title.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4410
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:58 pm Reply with quote
I couldn't make up my mind about whether I wanted Corpse Princess or not recently. When I watched the streams, sometimes I was really into it, and other times I had more of a "meh" reaction. Ultimately, I couldn't tell if the reason I was considering a purchase was because I really wanted the show, or if it was because it's been a while since there was anything that I felt like buying. I'm still not sure about it.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
Posts: 5344
Location: Philly
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:46 am Reply with quote
Wooga wrote:
the Rancorous wrote:
Okay, this is bothering me; it's Corpse Princess, NOT Corpse Bride.


Its a pun. Like every other column. (my Bride is aMermaid + corpse princess)

3 people in this thread have referred to the show, Shikabane Hime, (not the column) as Corpse Bride.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:58 am Reply with quote
Not to be confused with My Bride is a Corpse Mermaid, of course...
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gartholamundi



Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 316
Location: Gainesville, FL
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 11:55 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Not to be confused with My Bride is a Corpse Mermaid, of course...


that awesome sequel to My Semi-Aquatic Undead Summer Romance
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PBsallad



Joined: 19 Dec 2009
Posts: 338
Location: Phoenix
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:17 pm Reply with quote
I liked Corpse Princess when it was simulcasted on Hulu. Sadly I don't have the funds to buy part one, let alone one and two. I'm glad to hear that the dub has turned out good. I love the cast and the voice director.
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