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REVIEW: Grave of the Fireflies DVD


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TheGroovyMule



Joined: 14 Jul 2010
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:16 am Reply with quote
I used to think Requiem for a Dream was sad, till I watched this.

And like Requiem for a Dream, I agree, can be incredibly hard to watch, which just means the audience has a deep connection with the characters.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:28 am Reply with quote
Review hit the nail on the head when it said 'few will want to watch this more than once, but all should watch it at least once.'
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:35 am Reply with quote
I've seen a consistent opinion that the impact of the anime is lessened when you consider that it's all caused by the selfish pride of the boy. Not to say that the sadness disappears, but it's instead overcome by anger. Really, this movie doesn't make me sad anymore, it's makes me rage. And yeah, it look me about three separate viewings to watch my first time, but it's much much easier with subsequent views.

Barefoot Gen definitely delivers harder on that shock value.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:50 am Reply with quote
One of the past reviews said Setsuko's English performance sounded like an old lady on valium and that's an A- dub. The game looks rigged.
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1255
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 12:55 am Reply with quote
ArsenicSteel wrote:
One of the past reviews said Setsuko's English performance sounded like an old lady on valium and that's an A- dub. The game looks rigged.
It's an overall rating for the dubbed version, not a rating of the quality of the dub itself. The fact that the dub score is lower than the subbed version means that the dub is sufficiently bad to damage the presentation.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:08 am Reply with quote
Quote:
It's an overall rating for the dubbed version, not a rating of the quality of the dub itself.


That's some fancy doublespeak there.

Quote:
The fact that the dub score is lower than the subbed version means that the dub is sufficiently bad to damage the presentation.

An A- sufficiently damages the presentation, right. What I paraphrased about Setsuko's performances ruins the dub. However the grade itself looks like lip service in order to be able to say the dub got a good rating or was equivalent enough to the original despite all the nasty things that was said about it.
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:14 am Reply with quote
I have not actually seen this yet but I heard a number of great things about the movie:

Quote:
Roger Ebert considers it to be one of the most powerful war movies ever made and, in 2000, included it on his Great Movies list.

Quote:

This movie is ranked #112 on IMDb's top 250 movies. The full aggregation of reviews by Rotten Tomatoes polls at 96% "Fresh" with 23 reviews counted. Rotten Tomatoes consensus states "An achingly sad anti-war film, Grave of the Fireflies is one of Studio Ghibli's most profoundly beautiful, haunting works".


Quote:
Grave of the Fireflies made Time Out's, with help from Terry Gilliam, top 50 animated film list, where it was ranked at #12 on the list.

Quote:

It was also ranked at #10 in Time Out magazine's "The 50 greatest World War II movies" list.


Hmm, so based on its themes and story, would this be one of the movies that will trigger tears into a viewer's eyes similar to Key's works like Clannad: Afterstory, Air, etc?
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Ingraman



Joined: 07 Feb 2005
Posts: 1077
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:24 am Reply with quote
Theron Martin wrote:
The “remastered” status doesn't seem to mean much, as there has not been a clear upgrade in visual quality compared to the 2002 release

If this post has accurate screencaptures, then I can't agree at all. Are you saying that they're incorrectly captured? The CPM and ADV releases look terrible in both color and detail. If it's an accurate comparison, then the only reason why I won't buy the new not-ADV release will be because I'm waiting for a Blu-ray version.

Shouldn't it also be mentioned that for an authentic viewing experience, that My Neighbor Totoro should be watched afterwards?
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 1255
Location: Iowa, USA
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:34 am Reply with quote
ArsenicSteel wrote:
Quote:
It's an overall rating for the dubbed version, not a rating of the quality of the dub itself.


That's some fancy doublespeak there.
I guess if you ignore the fact that it's a completely different concept?
Quote:
An A- sufficiently damages the presentation, right.
You're putting the effect before the cause here, which makes me wonder if you understood what I said at all. You seem to want to make this a rating of the dub's voice acting rather than a rating of the movie with the dub as a part of the grade.
Quote:
What I paraphrased about Setsuko's performances ruins the dub. However the grade itself looks like lip service in order to be able to say the dub got a good rating or was equivalent enough to the original despite all the nasty things that was said about it.
What you paraphrased about Setsuko overall damages the dub. One bad performance doesn't mean a dub automatically deserves to be terrible to begin with.
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GhostShell



Joined: 25 Jan 2011
Posts: 1009
Location: Richmond, B.C., Canada
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 1:55 am Reply with quote
I've never seen the film, but it has been on my "must watch" list for quite some time. With this re-release, now might be the time to pick it up. I found the background information provided in the review to be very interesting, though my initial viewing experience may now be tainted by the knowledge.
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ArsenicSteel



Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 2370
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:08 am Reply with quote
Quote:
You seem to want to make this a rating of the dub's voice acting rather than a rating of the movie with the dub as a part of the grade.

I fail to see what difference it would make. Either way the score given looks inflated.

Quote:

One bad performance doesn't mean a dub automatically deserves to be terrible to begin with.

If you ignore the size and importance of the role then sure I could glance over that performance but I am not going ignore something that meaningful for this film. The dub doesn't deserve that grade. There's nothing automatic about it. I reached that conclusion after hearing the whole thing.

Quote:

You're putting the effect before the cause here, which makes me wonder if you understood what I said at all.

I've read how the reviewers want their columns and grading system to be perceived in other threads, there's nothing new for me to understand from your repeating other posts. The grade looks high regardless of how it was figured out.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:24 am Reply with quote
Being depressing isn't automatically a negative. If a work has a point to its depressing tone - and Grave of the Fireflies most certainly does - then that shouldn't be held against it. If however a work is merely depressing for its own sake then that can be seen as a strike against it.

Grave of the Fireflies is one of Anime's great films. I've only ever watched it once, but I can remember it vividly. Yes it made me uncomfortable, yes it made me cry, but that's kind of part of why it is just so powerful and moving and monumental.
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HyugaHinata



Joined: 25 Jun 2005
Posts: 3505
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:50 am Reply with quote
GotF is a brilliant film. The only issue I had with it was spoiler[how difficult it was to sympathise with Seita. He fed himself before his sister, and held on to his pride rather than work for his aunt.]
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jl07045



Joined: 30 Aug 2011
Posts: 1527
Location: Riga, Latvia
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:03 am Reply with quote
ArsenicSteel wrote:
If you ignore the size and importance of the role then sure I could glance over that performance but I am not going ignore something that meaningful for this film. The dub doesn't deserve that grade. There's nothing automatic about it. I reached that conclusion after hearing the whole thing.


I've seen this in the review threads over and over again. That grade tells how much Theron enjoyed the movie dubbed. The voice acting might significantly damage the experience for you so you would have given a lower score, but your whole argument rests on the assumption that he's lying (to himself or us) about what he finds pleasurable.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Mon Mar 05, 2012 3:04 am Reply with quote
HyugaHinata wrote:
GotF is a brilliant film. The only issue I had with it was spoiler[how difficult it was to sympathise with Seita. He fed himself before his sister, and held on to his pride rather than work for his aunt.]


spoiler[He was a young kid, he made stupid mistakes and the author never forgave himself for what happened to his sister. The fact that Seita dies is to me a clue that the author wishes he had died, that or an acknowledgement that he deserved to die for his actions.]

spoiler[Although I do partially blame Seita for what happened (remember that Japan's leaders bear responsibility for causing the mess in the first place), I do not hold his actions against the movie. Far from it in fact. We are shown real human weaknesses and real human mistakes in a young boy, and the movie's final tragedy is driven because of his pride.]

spoiler[In other words, if he had done the correct thing and gone back to their aunt, the movie would not have been anywhere near as moving as it was.]
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