Forum - View topicINTEREST: Yoshiyuki Tomino Admits Story Problems in Gundam Reconguista
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captainbanana
Posts: 191 |
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By the end of G-Reco spoiler[I had no idea who was even fighting and why they were doing it. The main antagonist gets pushed off a cliff with little fanfare and dies, and friends seem to be fighting friends for absolutely no reason. Tomino had a complex web of factions going and no ability to properly explain any of them.]
It really was a mess. |
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Cptn_Taylor
Posts: 925 |
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This is simply not true. While Tomino is well known for his Gundam series, his work especially in the seventies and eighties spans so much more than Gundam. And a lot of it is decent, as in it is written in a good way. That is understandable by the viewer. Not easy, but not contradictory and understandable. This is the failing point of Gundam G no Reconguista. Watching it is like reading a novel that is lacking 3 pages out of 4. There were production problems with G reco, and while we may never ever know the full details behind the fu-ck-up-ed production it's good to see Tomino apologise kind of.
Again it's time to call bullshit on this. Gundam since the start of the XXIst century has been going on strong. Seed and Seed Destiny were 2 of the the most successful Gundam series ever. On broacast Japanese tv and in dvd/blu-ray sales. Notwithstanding what some disgruntled UC taliban fans may think. AGE was a mess but the powers that be took the ball and ran with it with Gundam Build Fighters that targets the same demographics and has been going strong ever since (again notwithstanding what some disgruntled UC taliban fans may think). And of course the ovas of Gundam Unicorn and Origin sold/are selling well. So the Gundam franchise as a whole doesn't have a lot of problems. I simply think most of the problems that afflicted Gundam G no Reconguista go back to Tomino himself. I don't think Bandai in any way restrained him, he was left to do what he wanted. And he f-u-c-k-e-d it up. The characters are enjoyable but their motivations are non existant. Aida for instance as a character disappears way before midseason never to have a role again. This is not how you write a series. Animation wise it wasn't bad. Certainly going for the old look but man Tomino should look at Knights of Sidonia to get inspiration about how to choreograph modern combat scenes. It was a missed opportunity but hey I hope Bandai never ever gives the man another Gundam project. He should have stopped with Turn A Gundam. He is simply not on the same wavelength as the rest of the industry and it hurts the series he develops. |
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FenixFiesta
Posts: 2581 |
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The audience has to be captivated no later than the second episode, (though a season should judged for overall tone by the sixth).
To compare, if you didn't know already I thought Aldnoah Zero was a narrative train wreck, that said it was an entertaining train wreck, the issue with the starting episodes of Rec G is that I felt indifferent to the goings on even though it is supposed to be something of a pirate hi-jacking occurring. That is the issue, while a cliché the concept of "high risk scenario" works, a good chunk of "dramatic" action based series start of with the equivalent of a social atrocity or at least a character tragedy, in comparison this series starts off with what amounts to a stage coach robbery, sure peoples lives are being threatened but it doesn't feel like some sort of grand adventure starting. |
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firedragon54738
 Posts: 3113 Location: wisconsin |
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Well the story was good but by the end I had no idea who was the ememy was It just seem like with every episode seemed to skip a whole bunch
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H. Guderian
Posts: 1255 |
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I stuck on for 8-9. Still no idea what's going on. Again it's time to call bullshit on this. Gundam since the start of the XXIst century has been going on strong. Seed and Seed Destiny were 2 of the the most successful Gundam series ever. On broacast Japanese tv and in dvd/blu-ray sales. [quote=Cptn_Tylor] Again it's time to call bullshit on this. Gundam since the start of the XXIst century has been going on strong. Seed and Seed Destiny were 2 of the the most successful Gundam series ever. On broacast Japanese tv and in dvd/blu-ray sales. [/quote] They sold well yes. But Destiny's writing was pretty bad. Popular and selling well doesn't always mean the story is 'the best.' I also defend AGE for some of the neat things it did, but I must admit ti was overall poorly written. I don't think this boils down to UC/AU Gundams, as you'll find nary a soul defending the first half of Double Zeta or Igloo. Wing. I rewatched Wing a few months back. The writing in that gets weird too. X had a psychic dolphin and Victory...I don't think I'll ever rewatch Victory. Victory is UC. While I can safely say 00 was not greatly written, I loooved the final gauntlet of fights near the end of the second season. All those episodes had me quite satisfied. Overall, Captain, you're correct. Gundam is still alive and kicking quite well. I think what people are complaining about is that the first shows in the franchise were made famous because they were interesting --settings-- from which stories came forth. In many modern Gundams it became more about the suits and the pilots. It is the same problem the Star Wars prequels had where instead of focusing on giving us a interesting setting they went and gave us things they knew we already liked (Light Sabers and Darth Vader and Yoda) and tried to string them together. Hideaki Anno wrote an article on this in the back of Gundam:The Origin's first volume. Last edited by H. Guderian on Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:30 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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AiddonValentine
Posts: 2232 |
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Which is why I say "proper" installments i.e. those that are new tv series and not related to previous iterations like Origin which is an adaptation of the manga adaptation of the original series. It just amazes me at how there has been nigh-on a decade of the main franchise being so incredibly weak. Destiny admittedly had problems beyond its control at times, but clearly its time past since the plans for a movie never materialized beyond a fleeting dream thus dashing any chance of that series beyond the new Universal Century, 00 was a mess in its second half and more remembered for its mech design than story and characters, people outright hated AGE, and now we have Recon in which it seems Tomino has gone to pasture as a director. Ten years and nothing besides Build Fighters has really lit the world on fire. Sure, some OVAs have been good but those can only do so much. I don't know WHAT they need to do with the franchise exactly, but they need to do SOMETHING because there's only so long you can do artistic mediocrity before people get sick of it and won't even support the merchandise. |
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Lynx Amali
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Eh. I dug it. It did have pacing issues early on but those did ultimately get fixed as the show on. I'd say the main issue was the episode count and the fact that the original pitch was not a Gundam show. I kind of wish it wasn't too. I'm not a big fan of Tomino's Gundam outside of 0079 (and the novel) and F91 (which had story issues too!) Tomino does do better with the full 49/52 episodes runs than he does with the super compressed runtimes.
Wings of Rean (the OVAs, not the original novel which was actually really decent) and King Gainer had those issues too. Also; I wouldn't really use Yaraon as a source without double checking. They do have a tendency to make stuff up in my experience.
Nah. G-Reco has story issues but it isn't a sequel that outright teases things spoiler[The End] and does nothing with said teases, nor does it have a literal Retcon Gun. Did I mention character derailment? Because AO's so bloody guilty of that. Last edited by Lynx Amali on Fri Apr 24, 2015 5:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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*reads the article*
*thinks of Shirobako's Jiggly Jiggly Heaven* |
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residentgrigo
 Posts: 2442 Location: Germany |
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I have given it a "so-so" in the end which seems fair but it is a pleasant enough watch regardless as it has that certain 80s vibe that is mostly gone now. His F91 and ZZ (shudder) are way worse.
The anime is further better then WAY too many other Sunrise product of the last 10 years but that is not a positive. Reco´s leads were pleasant and it looked and sounded realy nice but the story was incomprehensible. It´s nice to see the Kill-em-All admit defeat but i will disagree that the show got more comprehensible as it went along. The opposite took place and i didn´t get the ending even after going to reddit´s Gundam board. On to The Origin and 00 S.1/2 are good too. Build Fighters is an ok kidZ show but i am too "old" i guess. Sunrise please get help as i did like you once but the one thing they excel today are top of the line manga remakes. Kidou Senshi Z Gundam Define could even get a perfect score by me if it sticks to the original ending and Kidou Senshi Gundam Gyakushuu no Char - Beltorchika Children is better than the movie. @Lynx Amali What is wrong with Z (10/10) and V (9/10)? |
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thekingsdinner
 Posts: 1076 Location: Geertruidenberg, Netherlands |
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I love the fact that Tomino admits the flaws of Reconguista. i will that, personally, I loved Reconguista, but not for the story which was indeed too hard to follow. I enjoyed it for the spectacular animation, beautiful art and great mecha designs and battles.
Besides the story I think some of the characters could've been handled somewhat better, but I don't have too much of a problem with that. I like Reconguista, I really do, but the flaws exist and I agree with Tomino's thoughts. |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2404 |
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While I personally would agree with you, that is definitely not true. Destiny was a huge hit. While 00 didn't do as well and I don't know about S2 specifically, on the whole it was very well received. AGE and now this are the only ones you mentioned that finished weak. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13578 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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A story can be really messed up if a creator/director/producer/writer admits that it's not exactly the way they wanted it.
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2404 |
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Going to have to disagree. The writing didn't suit my tastes (though I do like SEED) and it sounds like it didn't suit yours either. However, something that is objectively pretty bad does not do that well. Which brings me to my second point on 'the best'. That is just semantics. Best according to what criteria? Best in the eyes of some literary elitists? Probably not. Best in terms of its ability to appeal to the audience? Certainly up there. And I'd argue that the former which you seem to be supporting is completely worthless as you shouldn't be giving another person the final decision on liking something. |
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Angel'sArcanum
 Posts: 303 Location: Toronto, Ontario |
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You're kidding right? Badly written stuff sells well all the time, there's no absolute correlation between quality of writing and sales. Ever heard of a little thing called 50 Shades of Grey? As for writing quality, when the previous person said "the best" it was more of an expression or generalization, and he wasn't outright saying anything in particular was THE BEST of anything, so you don't have to waste your breath giving the whole 'subjectivity/semantics' regurgitated spiel; 9 times out of 10 you don't need to remind people about that, people should know full and well opinion is opinion and outsiders shouldn't take it in as anything more. A lot of people hated Destiny and even Seed's writing (myself included), but Destiny apparently sold really well in Japan, and those aren't opinions, they're just general facts. Lots of people still do like Seed still and such, it's their business. |
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Ziko577
Posts: 136 |
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Me too! I liked both seasons though S2 was way more crazier at times. I do plan on watching the OVAs as well. I know damn well they're throwing the "buy these Gunplas" at you and all with the advertising. Hell, Gunpla Builders did that too as well. But the plots are far more engaging than G-Reco's. |
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