Forum - View topicShelf Life - Blass Radius
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Ghstmtrx
 Posts: 178 |
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Agree with the above 100%. There is a fine line between well written material and filler. I think it is horrible to judge an entire series based on filler material. Because the thing is, here they go looking for Cross, later they do it again, and if you did not know the first time was filler, it seems repetitive, when it originally was not. If nothing else, Erin, please either watch the first season or go read the manga to get caught up, that way you have a grasp of the actual story. Maybe then you will enjoy the 3rd season when it arrives. Because it is highly entertaining, even more so if you know what is going on. I guess you can count me as a huge fan of the series here in the US. --With Respect |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 598 |
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If you have the exact opposite tastes as me, these reviews should be very useful to you. You can reverse all my ratings to your tastes, Perishable = Shelf Worthy and so on. People who partially agree can't do that.
Yes, exactly.
It's not that rare - didn't I just review Baccano as Shelf Worthy? I've started tagging all my ratings in delicious to make a fast list: http://delicious.com/erinfinnegan/shelfworthy But I haven't tagged everything by rating yet. Here's the whole list: http://delicious.com/erinfinnegan/ann
I'm reviewing the titles that get mailed to me and any streaming series I think look interesting. Mainstream or not I'm almost reviewing all the titles that come out every month.
I watched the first half of season two, and the first two episodes of the show. We've discussed in the past in the forum how I'm human and not, say, a Time Lord. I only have so much time to watch things every week. Because I don't like D. Gray Man, I'm probably never going to watch season one unless I'm paid to do so.
I hope season three is good, if Funimation is going to keep sending out screeners. I understand what's going on because there's a lot of re-cap and flashbacks.
Maybe Soul Eater will be in my next batch of review copies, we'll see. Or I might rent it. I love Nana and it's Shelf Worthy.
It don't think it sold out. The girl front of us in line bought a ticket just after the doors opened. It rocked! |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4385 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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well it's 50/50 to me. I'd put this box set of D Gray man on shelf worthy & Blassreiter on rental shelf and Definately Case Closed on Perishable. |
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YotaruVegeta
 Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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I think that this will be the only review of Blassreiter which will ever cite Foucault's Pendulum!
Blassreiter was a mess. The titel character was bland and uninteresting, I didn't really care for the characters, and the ending is ridiculous! I hate shows that suddenly introduce fantastical elements without any indication that this world allows for it. That was one of my many problems with Shangri-la and its final act. |
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The Human Spider
Posts: 334 |
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I also liked the chase at the end--I found it really exciting. Though my favorite scene was when the detective boys captured one of the suspects. |
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Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
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Blassreiter part two is "a burning pile"? I strongly disagree.
The second half seems less focused than the first but I loved it nevertheless. Characters come and go and come again, interweaving their own stories into the plot of the series as a whole. I thought it actually did an unusually good job of telling its story, at least up until the conclusion. Each time I have doubts about the way the story is going it takes off in a new and unexpected direction, which allays my fears and leaves me thrilled. It's been so long since I've seen such a skillfully written show that I'd almost forgotten that it was even possible. Episode 23, the next-to-last one, was great from an action standpoint--it just didn't make sense. spoiler[I couldn't help feeling that the character of Shiho had been added just because somebody felt the series needed at least one Japanese hero or else it wouldn't be popular. His crusade against nuclear weapons ("I won't let Germany go the way of Japan!") was nonsense; when the entire human race is at risk, a little nuking makes perfect sense. In fact, why hadn't it been done earlier? A single warhead might have eradicated Xargin and the Amalgams with relatively little collateral damage. Actually, of course, I know why it wasn't tried: because that would have spoiled the excellent plot of the series. Blassreiter has done a good job of convincing me that the Amalgams are a genuine threat to be taken completely seriously--but that means any and all possible measures to exterminate them are justifiable. Also, why did Sasha take down the last two planes, when the outcome had already been decided? I couldn't help feeling that this episode seemed like a cheap shot to villianize the US (which couldn't possibly have been aware of the Isis Project, and was only trying to save the world), and kind of cheapens the series as a whole. Still, I was prepared to forgive practically any mistake which this awesome show could make.] I was certain that the final episode would be as powerful as the ones which had concluded the various arcs, and would brilliantly tie everything together, but that didn't exactly happen. In fact, it dawns on me that the second half of Blassreiter was almost a different series from the first; the ending leaves it semi-confusing and not as well thought out. The show had a satisfactory conclusion, but I was expecting a fantastic one. spoiler[There was no single distinct moment at which you realize that against all odds victory has been achieved. It was more of a "Is this that Isis thing?" sort of conclusion. Joseph taking the Isis capsule then beginning a one-hour battle marathon was absurd; shouldn't he have swallowed it something like 55 minutes before he confronted Xargin? The ending seemed very hokey and childish--sort of a they-lived-happily-ever-after conclusion--even if they're dead. And a certain character would've died soon anyway, so don't feel bad about this person getting killed? I did like the continuation of the theme of protecting the oppressed in the postscript, though. The conclusion of the series as a whole was nowhere near as good as that of the first or second plot arcs.] The gritty, deadly serious tone of the series is discarded in favor of a dumbed-down ending. Some reading I've done on other websites suggests that Blassreiter is another example of an anime based on an incomplete manga, which would explain a good deal about why the ending didn't seem to be up to par with the remainder of the show. I would love to know how it was supposed to end by the mangaka. Still, I loved Blassreiter as a whole. This was a show which pushed all the right buttons, so to speak. Not a brilliant treatise on philosophy or ethics (though there is some), but definitely a brilliant action adventure series. And the characters were remarkably well developed (Hermann and Elea were my favorites)--definitely one of the strong points of the series. Amanda is remarkably intelligent and capable for a female anime character, but also displays realistic angst when she sees what happens to Malek. Xargin's motivations were difficult to understand, but I couldn't help feeling sorry for even that green-haired bitch Beatrice at the end. The suicide scene in the second half was poignant because I did care about that particular character. This was a show which took off in an unexpected direction, and kept moving so fast that I never had time to lose interest (or question whether it really made sense). I was continually astonished at how skillfully Blassreiter revved up the excitement, even during the second half. So utterly many shows cannot do so that I can't help wondering, how is it possible to do something like that? To give you yet another hint of how much I liked Blassreiter, afterwards I did something which hasn't happened for a long time: I began rewatching it rightaway. Damn, this show is so ----ing cool--it's a brilliant detctive story in which the clues fall into place one by one (at least during the first half). The XAT ("Xenogenesis Assault Team") members are extremely professional, which is a nice change from the supernaturally skilled fighters who are usually pitted against paranormal opponents. They are only human, not superheroes, yet manage to make a dent in the Amalgams anyhow, using nothing more than their brains and combat skills. Even the second time around this series is great fun; for one thing, all sorts of cryptic lines make sense in retrospect. I did some searching on the 'net for other reviews (there weren't all that many since this was released direct to the internet), and the impression I got was that lots of people scoffed at Blassreiter right from the start, because they hated Gonzo-style CG animation and assumed the show would rely on it at the expense of everything else. But among those who kept going, a common comment was that this is a very underrated show, and I agree wholeheartedly. Even as I rewatch episodes, I'm repeatedly awed at the skill with which the story is told and how intrigued I become as a result. It's a pity that episode one put so many people off. Rewatchability is a basic requirement for me to recommend buying anything, and I think Blassreiter is definitely worth watching numerous times--I know I will. P.S: I don't recall the term "Templars" being used; wasn't that organization known as "Zwolf" (twelve)? |
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YotaruVegeta
Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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Here is rule #1 when trying to defend something you think deserves higher praise: Don't write a book-length explanation about it! Even if someone would come to agree with you, make it a paragraph or so. Jeez!
Here is my number one reason why I HATED the end of Blassreiter:spoiler[ The protagonist, Blue, or whatever his name is, gets a Deus Ex Machina where he suddenly gets the power from the spirits of dead characters to save the day.] Say it with me people. LAME. WRITING. I was kinda off board with Blassreiter when the main character wasn't Gerd. He would have been better than Joseph, who was bland. I will make no excuse for watching it. I watched it because I was interested in how it would turn out, and it really fell to pieces at the end. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23856 |
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No. If you understand anything about ANN's board culture, then you should know it encourages detailed (and hopefully intelligent) discussion. If your attention span doesn't permit you to read anything longer than a paragraph - that's fine. Nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to read. But have a little respect for anybody who bothers to take the time to explain themselves. There are plenty of other sites filled with "i rilly lieked it!" type posts; let's not make ANN one of them. |
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YotaruVegeta
Posts: 1061 Location: New York |
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I believe that you can get your point across with less explaination. I have a decent attention span, but if others have a higher attention span than I do doesn't mean they want to read paragraph after paragraph. Are you saying there is no limit?
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23856 |
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Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying: nobody should be pressured to restrict the length of their posts to fit somebody else's notion of what the "right" amount of text is. Obviously I'm just a regular user here so my opinion carries absolutely no official weight, but I'd be willing to bet that if an admin/mod reads this, he or she would back up that sentiment.
As I said before, each of us here decides how much or little of a post we choose to read. But anybody lecturing a poster on the length of a post is going against the spirit of this board, as I've come to understand it. |
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Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
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The reason I wrote so much about Blassreiter in the first place (before transferring some of it here) was because I enjoyed the show so much. Shows which are uninteresting don't cause thoughts to spring to mind (except stuff like 'this sucks'), which can later be included in a review. So, for me at least, the amount of constructive criticism I write about an anime is proportional to the enjoyment I get out of it.
The thought occured to me that the two 'spoiler' paragraphs which go into so much detail about problems with the conclusion might defeat the purpose of my argument, i.e, that Blassreiter isn't as bad as Erin feels, and might best be omitted. But I decided that they also verified that I had paid close attention to the show and wasn't just blindly claiming that it deserved a ten-out-of-ten on every scale of quality. I admit that the show has problems, especially the ending, but the fact that I both recognize those flaws and still highly recommend the show seems more convincing to me than if I had merely praised it obsessively without making any mention of the problems (which would imply that it was virtually perfect, which it isn't). Spending some time pointing out faults demands even more time pointing out virtues so that the final impression is that the show did more things right than wrong (which I'm certain it did). In general I felt that the more detail I went into the more convincing my argument would be, and the more interesting. Speaking of Gerd Frentzen, a number of other websites mentioned that people didn't like episode one because they jumped top the conclusion that this would be just another 'guy gets superhuman powers and becomes a vigilante' show, while nothing could be farther from the truth. spoiler[(I thought Gerd's death was absolutely fantastic in terms of poignancy)]. Anyway, If you are interested in an alternate take on Blassreiter part 2, go ahead and read, and if you're not, don't. It's as simple as that. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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"Self rule #1" you mean, my good sir? Criticizing someone who wrote a "text" to defend a series to have you come tell him that he's wrong by doing that; not only that, but you also say that the show is lame without giving a proper explanation(you're such a nice and exemplary person). Also, that's not exactly Deus Ex Machina since the characters did appear before within the storyline, and spoiler[they didn't help defeat the villain at all, if you really watched the show you should know what exactly did, and what defeated him was mentioned before in the story.] So, tell us, where's the deus ex machina now? |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Posts: 598 |
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The best part was how they passed off car keys to show this visually - so lame!! I'm glad you agree with my opinion of this show but at the same time I feel bad that you watched the whole thing.
They totally used the term Templars in the dub and the subs. They also called the organization "Zwolf" but there was a point where they explained that Zwolf has always been around under other names, including the Knights Templar. |
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egoist
Posts: 7762 |
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I'm quite sure those were bike keys since bikes are the show's theme.
That's hardly agreeing with your opinion. He's merely bashing the show; that just coincided with your review. |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Posts: 598 |
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Yes, bike keys. Motorcycle keys --- of the soul! 
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