Forum - View topicANNCast - My Pet Maughanster
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ss-hikaru
 Posts: 269 Location: Western Australia |
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First off, thank you thank you thank you Zac for your disclaimer. When Tim brought up Madoka I was internally cringing at the thought of the forums. I like Madoka (REALLY like it) but man people get so defensive about it.
I have never watched Evangelion (those two episodes my dad randomly borrowed for my brother and I from the library don't count because I had no idea what was going on). When the first movie came out I thought about giving it a go but my friends who have watched the original series told me not to bother. Then I read a review which mentioned the whole walkman-shuffling-between-two-tracks-thing and I realised that I probably wouldn't be able to appreciate the movies. So when Zac said it probably wasn't really for people who hadn't watched the original series I decided not to watch any of the movies. But then he compared it to the Golden Compass (I like the books, refused to see the movies) and I don't know anymoreeeee! Guess I'll wait and see what happens with the next movie/s before making a decision. Really liked Tim's explanation about how people don't value music as a product anymore. Because now that I think of it it's true. All those songs I asked my dad to download for me back in the Napster days are stuff I'll never listen to anymore. But nowadays I actually spend lots of money importing Japanese CDs, and it's because I value the contents, I listen to them all the time. Regarding anime though, I tend to use it as an advertisement for manga. But when I do like an anime I'll buy it, partially to rewatch and partially to lend it to other people. Btw, apologies for being a noob, but where do I go to find out who the guest for the next podcast is going to be? |
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Unholy_Nny
 Posts: 622 |
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I'm just gonna say, while people point at episode 3 of Madoka because of that one thing that happens at the end, I feel like the show doesn't actually pick up until sometime in the episodes 4 or 5 range. I don't see how spoiler[a character death] is that big of a deal, no matter how unexpected it was.
But, 90% of why I watch Madoka is the art and the only time I've been "wow"d by the story was episode 10. EDIT: And on the fighting/killing god thing, don't, like, half of all Japanese RPGs cover that topic? My conservative christian friend one time set his facebook status as something alone the lines of "Nothing is more powerful then God" and I replied with "Aside from a group of Japanese teenagers." Last edited by Unholy_Nny on Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:16 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
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Zac was saying that the series might end up with Shinji fighting God, or something that is supposed to represent the Abrahamic God. While I have never seen Golden Compass and only know the basics of the series I can safely say that the characters and plot share very little in common. |
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Frazmataz
 Posts: 103 Location: Sheffield, UK |
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Good discussion guys, thanks for that.
I was especially interested by Tim's ideas about what makes sci-fi appeal to the wider audience, as well as 'soap opera' elements, which leads me to wonder about his opinion of how the original series of Doctor Who compares to the modern remake: Perhaps the starkest difference between the two versions is that while the newer one is very much the 'post-Buffy' beast that Tim describes (except here it doesn't work because it's an approach wholly unsuited to the central concept of the show), the original Doctor Who fits his idea of 'good sci-fi' very well in dealing with such wide ranging contemporary issues as totalitarianism/nazism (the Daleks), fears about replacing our bodies slowly with artificial 'spare parts' (the Cybermen), environmentalism, consumerism/capitalism, etc. etc. I imagine some of these issues are a little out-dated now, but a lot of them aren't, and remain interesting. |
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Myaow
 Posts: 1068 |
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I hope this thread doesn't turn into MADOKA RAGE because I love Madoka and I don't want to see it dissolve into drama.
edit-
I see where you're coming from with this, but this isn't like something like Naruto where people say "watch the first 13 episodes and it gets better"; 3 episodes is less than an hour and a half and it's really not that much time to waste. If it turns out that after that you still don't like it, it's not like you wasted DAYS of your life as is often the case. I do stand by the first three episodes as good and worth watching in their own right, however. Though I just love magical girls (both the cutesy and the macabre kind) so my opinion probably isn't very enlightening. ^^ Last edited by Myaow on Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Had Zac not set the record straight as far as the content of Madoka Magica, then I think we would have seen some heavy nerd rage over it. However since they've only seen the first episode there's not much else to say. Either they take the plunge or they don't. Most of us who have seen further are enjoying it, and that's really all that matters. Plus it's on route to possibly sell even more copies than Bakemonogatari did, so SHAFT and all who worked on it are surely to be rewarded for their brilliance. I just hope the ending doesn't suck.
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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Great ANNCast, the Eva discussion was great, and the stuff about the Asuka/Tohji reversal was fascinating [that part of the movie shocked me in the theatre- I love how fun and unafraid to stun these movies are].
I think the calm discussion about filesharing and how attempts to adapt to it work/don'twork touched on how much of it doesn't have an answer- hope someone finds it, and hope more people switch to using the legit free offerings so they can become more feasible. It's a pretty depressing situation in general, so glad you guys didn't dwell on it too long. Like the unoffical talk with Ed too- the talk about the Noitamina block's future is a good point- I hope they find a way to keep the line going. While I'm a fan of fantasy anime [and want to check out Fractale on dvd], it does seem that it's ventured into less popular fare in terms of general audiences. [also wow, Neighbourhood Stories- wonder if anyone'll ever give that a chance here... surprised it never made it's way here in any form] Personally looking forward to the superhero onslaught, though I'm a bit Marvel fan, so getting 3 Marvel movies in one summer is sort of awesome. Not sure what to make of the Green Lantern movies quite yet [they look pretty CGI heavy], though will probably check it out. If it bites, at least there's Wonder Woman on NBC to look forward to in the fall 
Though wow, loads of sequels this summe that's for certain. I think Thor is probably the only non-sequel of the tentpoles, and even then there was a Thor/Hulk TV movie in the 80's, and it's part of the Avengers franchise [Smurfs had an animated theatrical film in the 80's too, albeit a dub of an earlier french release]. Don't think we'll be escaping from them for a good while either- Marvel has 3 movies lined up for next summer [Ghost Rider/Avengers/SpidermanRemake], and a ton in development- the X-men franchise alone as X-men 4 and 5, The Wolverine and Deadpool in assorted stages of development, along with the possibility of an X-men First Class trilogy. That's 11 X-men movies (12 if you count the forgotten Generation X TV movie- if the 1990 Captain America movie can find it's way to bluray I imagine we'll see that again at some point, along with a wider release of the dvd of the Hasselhoff Nick Fury tv movie) [also, if The Wolverine gets made and is a hit, I imagine we'll see another Wolverine movie at some point] |
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kiddtic
 Posts: 309 Location: Kitwe, Zambia |
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Oh boy when Tim started talkin bout Madoka I was woah dude dont go there seriously, then Zac saved the day haha I was literally rollin on my bed laughing coz i was kinda raging in my head too. I truly believe Madoka will be the series that shatters all stereotypes on how moe cant deliver a solid story. I WAS not a fan of that dreadful character design and I love Moe! But after ep 3 regardless of what anyone says I was hooked for good. I Think noitamA has been and still is solid, wandering son was amazing so shocking subject matter that i could take seriously for once because there was no fanservice or silly jokes about it. It got me thinking and asking questions everytime I watched it. To quote sam1 smart on twitter "Horou musuko & the world wins if an honest discussion is brought up on the subject because of watching the show."
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TimMaughan
 Posts: 32 |
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Skyline? NOOO! I was talking about District 9! To be fair I've not seen Skyline, and am in no hurry to...
And good afternoon to you too sir! PRO-TIP: You may want to look up the meaning of the word misogynistic prior to using it again.
My first experience of Dr Who was during the Tom Baker era, so yeah - back then it did all those things you describe, looked at issues and was quite dark and serious overall. Was also still the era when new British science fiction authors (Douglas Adams for example) were writing the scripts. Most Who since then hasn't lived up to my expectations as a result. I WILL be giving Modoka more of a watch, don't fret I don't think its particularly unusual though for someone of my age to be turned off by watching teenage girl drama - which did make up the majority of the first episode - is it?
Also, if anyone is interested in a more detailed, less ranty version of my analyis of piracy should check out the post on my blog: http://timmaughanbooks.com/2011/03/29/the-elephant-in-the-room/ Thanks for listening guys, and all your comments! |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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Well, Madoka's first episodes were supposed to fool people. Of course they intended it the opposite way, i.e. getting people that love cutie moe magical girl shows a la Pretty Cure to like the show and expect exactly that "healing" kind of anime - and then shock them by destroying that fluffy world.
But of course they were also risking to never get those viewers that don't like standard magical girl series interested in the series. Well, they're the minority anyway it seems xD Imho, if you do not know the author Gen Urobuchi, the main hint was Kajiura doing the music. She usually does music for more mature, dark shows (not necessarily good ones though), not for cute series. And of course, the Ending song Magia, which is one of her most "heavy" songs so far. No way that show wasn't going to turn out darker. |
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ss-hikaru
Posts: 269 Location: Western Australia |
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I know. But the fact that the story might be about humans trying to overthrow god using EVA's and God creating Angels to stay in power makes the whole thing way more interesting. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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I guess the problem for me with PMMM is that even if it is deconstructing the genre, that's not something I want to see because it's deconstructing a genre I don't know and don't care about.
I've generally heard the same, that the Marvel anime is not good. I was ready to forget them. Maybe I'll give em a chance though given Tim's recommendation. I like Tiffany Grant's Asuka voice. She sounds Canadian to me. I don't know why. Yeah, I think that's the conclusion I've come to with anime. The biggest problem comes down to the lack of talent in the industry. Certainly there are many other problems but the most fundamental one is that. Especially since that problem exacerbates all the other problems. I find it extremely disturbing that noitaminA isn't doing so hot. I've almost literally only been interested in noitaminA shows for like...the last two and a half years. You've got to go back to 2008 before there was really more than a couple non-noitamiA shows a year that I was into watching. |
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Myaow
Posts: 1068 |
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That's great! By the way, I meant to say this earlier, but the cool stop-motion-y landscapes and creatures throughout the series were designed by Gekidan Inu Curry, a two-man animation team inspired by Russian animators like Yuriy Norshteyn and Fyodor Khitruk. You can see more of their awesome work in the music video for Maaya Sakamoto's "Universe" (which is SO GORGEOUS) and one of the Gurren Lagann Parallel Works 2 music videos. I really like their work in Episodes 2 and 3 of Madoka, myself. Their imagery is just breathtaking sometimes. |
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Hypeathon
Posts: 1176 |
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I'll admit I avoided Magical Girl Madoka at first partly because it was a magical girl show that would likely revolve around young girls with magical powers and also because shows from Studio Shaft tend to be hit and miss for me. There's also the fact that I've grown tired of watching shows because anime fans say it's great without thoroughly explaining about the show past the first couple of episodes, then I watch it and not only do I not like it, but I get stumped as to what fans of a show see in it. So when the winter season started, I wasn't as eager to watch much of any shows at first without knowing enough about them to be interested.
Now I did get around to watching all 10 episodes one night when I was sick after one of my friends kept bugging me about it and I thought it was a really good show. That being said, I do understand where Zac and Justin are coming from about Madoka based on the overall feel of the first couple of episodes. I think the problem is that while it's a magical girl show with a dark twist, the fact it's being intentionally misleading instead of being straightfoward with its dark twist, it's going to be hard for people who were never big fans of the magical girl genre to get into it now. And outside of young girls or otaku, magical girl shows don't seem to openly target an audience that may be too old to care for a cast of young female girls. And speaking of targetting an audience, I believe the problem with the Noitamina ratings this past winter is that the shows Wandering Son and Fractale probably don't target the audience that watches the Noitamina block. I'm assuming that young adults in least their early 20's that are not limited to otaku watch the Noitamina block and most of the shows that have premiered seem to feature main characters and stories that interest the general young adult audience. With Fractale whether or not the story and plot interests people, the main characters are a young teen male, a young teen girl and a kid that speaks in the 3rd person as a way of being cute. And while Wandering Son takes the subject of cross-dressing more seriously than other shows that ever touch on, it's from the perspective of kids that haven't started puberty just yet. So that may be a factor to the lower ratings in that Noitamina viewers weren't as interested in the premiering shows this time around. |
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Shenl742
Posts: 1524 |
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Wait, wasn't it confirmed in the "Classified Info" that the Angels (and by extension spoiler[humanity] are actually spoiler[aliens]. So "God" doesn't really play too much into NGE at all. If anything the religous reference s aren't "Biblical" so much as "Arthur C. Clarkian" (it's rather obvious that he was a big influence on the show). Course I guess it depends if you want to consider that canon or not.... |
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