Forum - View topicKaze no Stigma.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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I guess I should share why I think Gonzo will do fine with this series... Firstly, let's look at the reasons how Gonzo screws things up: (1) They introduce a complicated plotline, can't finish it off properly, series falls apart. (2) They introduce a premise with potential, and it never goes anywhere, seeming fillerish and standalone the whole way through. Next, let's examine stuff Gonzo has done. I've marked series considered by many to be screwup #1 in bold, series considered by many to be screwup #2 in italics, and series that were generally considered fairly well handled in green. Stuff Gonzo has done (In no particular order; not a complete list) Chrono Crusade Bakuretsu Tenshi (Burst angel) Kiddy Grade Kaleido Star Basilisk Speed Grapher Last Exile Full Metal Panic! Welcome to the NHK! Pumpkin Scissors Hellsing Peacemaker Gantz Gankutsuou Solty Rei Generally speaking, the series that fall into the bold or italic categories (in other words, "screw ups") share the characteristics of having a complicated plot, hinted at toward the beginning. Meaning Gonzo has all these ideas for really good plotlines to make the series great, tease you with it, and in the end realize they can't go anywhere with it, meaning they either give up entirely (#2), or attempt to tie things up but fail badly (#1). The titles in green (I can't entirely speak for Basilisk) don't "feel" like a Gonzo series (after watching so many, it's rather easy to tell) and don't really hint toward something really complicated and exciting eventually. Kaze no Stigma shares common characteristics with the green series, in that it seems very different from your typical Gonzo series, and there's no hinting of something very complicated underneath (the area where Gonzo tends to screw up the most). Thus, I think this series will turn out alright. As will Romeo x Juliet. Bokurano...I can't be certain. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Episode 5 certainly steers the series in a very different direction. It had its ups and downs, with some of the best moments/aspects in the series thus far, and also some of the worst.
The Good - The misunderstandings! spoiler[Kazuma + woman, and love hotel!? I LOVED the part where Kazuma comes up to Ayano and essentially tells her off right in front of her friends in his usual nonchalant manner. Then Ayano realizes that she's in the middle of a love hotel district. Oh, that was great. ] - Kazuma for most of the episode. spoiler[He was his usual cynical sarcastic but-not-overly-so self with his completely and utter randomness and carefreeness. He dares to crack sexual jokes to Misao right in front of Ayano and everyone else, takes a "whatever" attitude most of the way, and is just his usual suave self most of the time.] - "What the hell is he!?" spoiler[Oh, the frustration when Misao hires these gunman and utterly fails to even lay a scratch on Kazuma. And then lunges toward him with fire but gets blocked off immediately and realizes how hopeless she is against him. I guess I can sympathise with her in some ways, but her frustration was nice to watch for some reason.] - Comedy relief. spoiler[Something not quite present in the earlier episodes, great for all purposes.] The Bad - Hypocrisy. spoiler[After Kazuma claimed that Misao's brother "had to die" because "he was weak" Ayano responded with something along the lines of "shouldn't you of all people, who has experienced being weak, understand?" in which I would definitely agree. This put me off and I'm not sure why Kazuma said this. Perhaps its a belief system formed by the accumulation of the abuse and frustration from the past and essentially a retaliation of his past grievances, perhaps he's not being truthful and he really doesn't actually think this way; I certainly hope it is at least one of the two, or a bit of both.] - The end. spoiler[After gleefully watching Misao get thrashed around, now we have to see her beat the crap out of Kazuma!? (Which I assume will happen at one point or another). Of course Kazuma will beat her eventually, but weak little Misao giving Kazuma a hard time!? Oh no, oh no no no no...] - The little brother. spoiler[Agh, he's annoying, and he seems to be a bit OVERLY fond of Kazuma...the series seems to strongly suggest, as of now, that he's homosexual...] - The bad camoflauge. spoiler[Comic relief is good, but come on Ayano...walking backpacks!? That just makes you even more suspicious, and it doesn't even cover your whole body...] Last edited by frentymon on Sun May 20, 2007 11:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Clodus
 Posts: 497 Location: Kansas |
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thanks for the explanation, ill tuck that piece of info in my wallet for later talks. I've seen about a third of those series and ill have to rewatch them sometime to see if i see any differences since my memory blurs when watching many consecutive animes marathonlike. I certainly do hope they finish Kaze No Stigma well because its quickly becoming one of my 2007 favorites
episode 5 was pretty funny especially the spoiler[conversation with ayano's friends and kazuma poping up out of nowhere. Kirika, "why is she upset". Kazume, "she's always upset" haha the reaction from ayano was halarious. ]another funny thing, the OP when it says "blast of wind, in my eye" lmao that sounds a little painful and reminds me of when people go to get contacts for their first time. spoiler[It did bother me how casually kazuma was saying how misao's brother died because he was weak and why he died and how he was partly to blame. especially after all that and then all of a suddenly going on a date with her but then and saying you've changed and i guess i might be the one who changed you. It looks like theres going to be alot of action next episode, anxiously lookin forward to it and i hope misao isnt gonna be taken out of the picture which probably isnt gonna happen] I noticed they tend to repeat scenes when ayano brings out the Enraiha. sure it looks cool but just the first couple of times, its getting pretty annoying now. Kazuma is pretty much a stud. spoiler[In ep 1 and 4 getting high amounts of cash fairly quickly and that blond woman hangs on him while ayano seems to start liking him in her own way.] His cool attitude, how he calmfully handles situations and is powerful enough to back up his words. one of the traits i like about him is that he isnt too arrogant. the conversation in ep 2 when he was argueing with his dad is when i seriously started liking his character. |
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sizzlin_chiken
 Posts: 69 Location: MN |
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I don't know man. I kinda enjoyed the first few episodes I've seen.
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LuckySleven
 Posts: 426 Location: Refer to page 2 |
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Episode 5 was alright, I did crack a few smiles here and there. Had much more comical stuff this episode which seemed to break the ice from being boringly predictable.
Indeed, they should put some more action into it like in Shakugan no Shana. That sequence that Ayano pulls of reminds me of some other stuff... "It's morphin' time!" -Jason Instead it's "Materialize, Enraiha!", though they're going to save a lot of money with this. Just hope they put that money to good use... Though I think it's still too early to judge whether the series is good or just another Shana-wanna-be replacement show. So far I like what I'm seeing, at least it puts itself away from the whole "Spiritual" gerne like BLEACH or Shakugan no Shana. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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I don't understand; why do people insist that this show is some knockoff of Shana? It's NOTHING like Shana. I'll concede that Ayano looks a little bit like Shana, has a fire-sword, and materializes kind of in the same way, but the similarities end there. The very core of the show changes in the fact that Kazuma is absolutely NOTHING like Yuji; he can fight, he's stronger (both mentally and physically), he doesn't whine, etc. The series is much more action oriented, the plot is utterly dissimilar, the world has zero in common with Shana's, the martial arts theme (along with all the elements) completely breaks away from any remote possibility of the show resembling Shana, the cast archetypes are completely different, and most of all, Ayano isn't a loli! When I opened my latest issue of Comptiq back in March, I saw the spread for Kaze no Stigma and went "har har, it's Shana all over again!" But the moment you watch Kaze no Stigma, it's pretty apparent that it's absolutely NOTHING like Shana. Seriously, pick any two random shows from any two random genres. They probably have just about as much in common as KnS and Shana do. |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Done. 
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Treetastic
 Posts: 164 Location: Canada |
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I would have to agree that Kaze no Stigma is not really like Shana... at all. At the same time, though, I doubt that Ayano's character design was an accident. But hey, you never know. It's headed in a different direction, and from what the people on this thread have been saying, KnS is pretty good. I might follow it.
Wow. Someone with no knowledge of Galaxy Angel reading this would get the impression that it's some dark, roundabout social commentary about mind games, double-crossing and villainy.  There really aren't that many similarities mentioned. Perhaps if the person had discussed the bits that were similar instead of putting them in context of the entire episode... whatever. Still a good article.
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Vuwazy
Posts: 208 |
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I'm hoping it does too. I know one anime I watched (also done by the same studio, Gonzo) that drove me nuts in Saikano/She The Ultimate Weapon. As the episodes went on I got annoyed by how it was carrying its momentum. Therefor ending up frustrated. Now with Kaze No Stigma at hand here, I can see it going either way. The bad things mentioned here by people is what could ruin it for me. The good thing I find in this show is that it isn't spending so long on a plot point as I thought it would be. But that's okay. It has more to offer than it seems and the action is good. As for how successful it can be compared to other animes from the very same studio, based on what I seen of this show it is starting off in a good way. The potential is there and it can get better. There is one anime from the same studio I liked a lot (one of the above in green) that started off in a good way too which I think I made a thread on some time ago. But anyway, here is hoping that things can keep turning up. Kazuma is a cool guy. Now maybe it's just me but he sort of reminds of Train Heartnet from Black Cat. Another anime done by studio Gonzo. I was thinking of a couple things. spoiler[Both characters are this cool guy with that confidence in them. Both left a group that they had an association with and seems to like getting payed a good amount of cash.] |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Episode 7 went exactly the way I wanted it to.
spoiler[Misao overconfident and declares victory too early, can't control her power and gets betrayed by Tenshi-san, Tenshi-san says "hahaha Kazuma I tricked her to get at you I will defeat you muahaha", Kazuma says "Oh no you don't", Kazuma teams up with Ayano and Ren to defeat Tenshi-san, Tenshi-san dies while going "You are so strong how could you", Misao apologizes and atones for her sins somehow. I guess it's good in the sense that I wanted it to pan out pretty much in this manner and it did, but thus far the series has been awfully predictable unless it's the start of a new arc. ] |
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sizzlin_chiken
Posts: 69 Location: MN |
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frenty moon where did you find ep 7?
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Jedi General
 Posts: 2485 Location: Tucson, AZ |
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Hey all, I just watched the first episode last night. Definitely not the amongst the greatest of first episodes. I found myself quite bored for most of it (the series is seeming a bit too generic), but I think I'll continue. It is showing some potential, to say the least. The end of the episode was enough to make me want to see more of the plot line and I'd love to see more of Ayano (and friends).
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Eh, Episode 8 was okay.
spoiler[Besides the rather stunning Sakura scene and the fairy who was kind of cute in her Ayano resemblance and funny faces, the episode was only mildly interesting. I understand that it's some sort of happy silly filler in-between arcs, but this kind of thing has been done before and it's entirely possible to make a silly fun filler episode more funny, entertaining, and enjoyable than the way it was done, but since overall it should have no bearing on the plot whatsoever, I'm not all that concerned.] But this seems to mark the pivotal point. It will either be, from this point on, stand-alone arcs for the rest of the series or the main plotline. I sincerely hope it's the latter. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Oh, how I loved Episode 10 (9 too).
spoiler[Kazuma's soon going to do what many of us only fantasize about...that is, beat the living hell out of those annoying pompous weird neighbors you just can't stand, under a convenient pretext of work/job/someone-else-told-me-to-do-it. Plus I wonder what he's going to say to Ren the next time he sees him...] |
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LuckySleven
Posts: 426 Location: Refer to page 2 |
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Well I'm caught up with the series.
I really like episode 10 with spoiler[Kazuma's mischievous laughter. Ren really got some air time this episode as well as the previous episode. Thought Ren would be gay for his brother seeing as how he said in his head during episode 9: "If I were a girl, I'd go for a strong and tough guy... Right, some one like Nii-sama. A man's man." I bursted out laughing at his comment; I wondered why he would think of such a thing when he was arm and arm with a cute girl. But there is another side of him which I prefer.] What I liked about episode 9 was the beginning. 
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