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Shelf Life - Antiques Rogueshow

I liked Ciel a lot as a character. His ruthlessness and unwavering dedication to a single goal is kind of refreshing in this world of wishy-washy, unsure of themselves male protagonists that seem to populate a large amount of anime these days.

The character that I really hated was the spoiler[other boy with a demon butler that they introduced in the second season.] Yes, I realize that he is meant to be a disliked character, but there were a few things that really turned me off to that character beyond the usual "he's evil" consideration.

First of all, it appears like the character is depicted in a way that seems like an attempt to be "pretty," but yet he's kind of disgusting - maybe that's intentional, and if so ok, but if it was just an attempt to create a slick fetishy character, it really doesn't work.
Also, too much of his antics seem to be just in bad taste. Villains can be tastefully evil, and I think that often makes them more compelling characters.

That being said, I have found some enjoyment in watching the second season.

Quote:

Mages who start with Meteor Swarm in round one (as a warning shot) and scale up from there, a world where 99.99% of the population is unaware of the dangers around them (and unable to affect them if they were), powerful magic items left over from lost civilizations of Olden Days, main characters shrugging off attacks that level the buildings behind them... but a modern setting and Clarke's-Law-in-reverse magitek? I'd still call that "high fantasy". (Your choice of the My-Hime or Nanoha franchises.)

I choose My-HiME as I actually saw it. So I ask: How is My-HiME high fantasy? It takes place on Earth entirely. The basic tenet of High Fantasy is that it has to take place by and large in a separate "fantasy land". See Wikipedia

Also, the Highly Advanced Materializing Equipment wasn't magical by any means, it was (extremely soft) science. [...]grant their ability to create matter "out of photons". Nanomachines, and particularly photons, aren't magic. No magic, no alternate world = no high fantasy.

I won't take this any further.

Should that "as Guin" be "in Guin Saga"? Blake Shepard wasn't Guin, as I know that you are "in the know" about Guin's VA being David "Golgo 13" Wald. Speaking of which, would it be fair to blame Guin Saga for the delay in Golgo 13 part 3?

Anyway, the (leading the witness) point of my original question was, if you define "high fantasy" as a tolkienesque world with tolkienesque magic, all your high-fantasy stories will be kinda tolkien-y.

Some typical characteristics of high fantasy include fantastical elements such as elves, fairies, dwarves, dragons, demons, magic or sorcery, wizards or magicians, invented languages, quests, coming-of-age themes, and multi-volume narratives.

Anyway, the only thing earth-like I recall about the HiME world is a single moon/star, and nothing but humans for sentient life.

If it's science, it follows E=mc^2.

I tried hard this week not to judge one way or another whether Antique Bakery is yaoi.

Wait a minute, does Erin really think Guin Saga is more aimed at women, or was she just trying to get it to fit the "theme" of this week? I haven't seen it yet, but it seems to be more of a seinen series.

Though as a guy, I loved Black Butler right from the start. I admit, the staff was kind of lame, but Sebastian is such a badass it didn't really bother me. The story only gets better as it goes on, though I've heard Season 2 falls apart, so I may just stick to Season 1 (still need to order Part 2) and the manga.

IIRC, Zac and Justin enjoyed Gunslinger Girl, at least Season 1. Is anyone REALLY going to try to argue that those two are lolicon fans? I love Gunslinger Girl for the record (only S1 though, have not seen S2), but if anyone said that automatically made me a lolicon fan, I'd try not to slap them (this isn't aimed at Erin but more the discussion at hand).

ChibiKangaroo wrote:

I liked Ciel a lot as a character. His ruthlessness and unwavering dedication to a single goal is kind of refreshing in this world of wishy-washy, unsure of themselves male protagonists that seem to populate a large amount of anime these days. The character that I really hated was the spoiler[other boy with a demon butler that they introduced in the second season.] Yes, I realize that he is meant to be a disliked character, but there were a few things that really turned me off to that character beyond the usual "he's evil" consideration. First of all, it appears like the character is depicted in a way that seems like an attempt to be "pretty," but yet he's kind of disgusting - maybe that's intentional, and if so ok, but if it was just an attempt to create a slick fetishy character, it really doesn't work. Also, too much of his antics seem to be just in bad taste. Villains can be tastefully evil, and I think that often makes them more compelling characters. That being said, I have found some enjoyment in watching the second season.

Just to make sure, you did watch all the way to the end of the season, right? Because Alois DOES end up being vindicated to an extent. Honestly, I loved Alois, and he has a pretty sizable fanbase-- he's so very crazy that he's fun to watch. And while I absolutely hate Claude, it's the good kind of hatred-- I mean, a character that I love to hate. That's what you want in a villain!
So I guess what I'm saying is, you and I don't see eye to eye at all on the second season

Anyway though, since the review is for the latter half of the first season, personally I think it's a lot weaker than the first half-- in fact one of my favorite episodes was the one-off ep featuring the little princes. The plot ended up so mangled that I almost didn't want to watch it ._. The characters are all still compelling though.

Also I may be the only person-- and probably the only fujoshi, for sure-- who actually likes Lizzy. If she didn't have such a horrible grating voice she'd be perfectly adorable!