Forum - View topicShelf Life - Bringing the Heat
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Prede
 Posts: 388 |
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It was an outright terrible ending. I don't care if it's Gonzo's fault, or the source materials fault. It's pretty bad...I mean come on. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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:blink: Yeah, I have to join the undoubted throng saying that i the ending of the anime followed that of the book, then it would likely have had me crying and loving it. Would you please clarify why you think having the characters find a means, no matter how odd, to build a foundation for a functional life to be "the worst middle finger of an ending they've ever given fans"? (Personally I give that honor to the abomination that is the ending of Chrono Crusade, wherein every sacrifice and struggle of the entire series is rendered meaningless because apparently God is a giant dick.) |
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Prede
Posts: 388 |
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spoiler[ Well after they intorduce the idea of some type of Romantic relationship somehow developing between Sato and Misaki about half way through the series, they then quickly forget about it or put it in the background of all the crazy things happening (despite the problems both of these characters clearly have, it's nice to think they could help each other out, and end up in a relationship). They make you think that the series will return to this toward the end of the show, and it will end with them both helping each other out, Sato getting better, and them dateing. Since it doesn't return to this at all, it just feels like bad writing. Why even bother with it?
You keep thinking they'll bring up the romance again at the end, but no after all the drama on the cliff, and everything that's said and done, we go back to almost square one. Only this time they promise to kill themselves if the other does. Ok... So what the hell is that? I sort of approve of where it ends up, although I would have been happier with a little more progression there. But damn we really needed those two to go out, or hell at least kiss each other or something. But no nothing. And with everything else going back to normal, it just gives a completely empty feeling to it all. It's like a giant let down at the end of everything. How can they do that? It's such a good series and such a big letdown at the end. And I'm not the only person on the planet who thinks the ending is pretty bad ( examples). Ok so I exaggerated that it's the worst ending ever, and a giant middle finger. But it really makes me mad. There are some parts to it I liked. But really it's very disapointing, coming from a series with so much promise and potentional. ] Don't get me wrong. This was a great series so many reasons. For example I liked the drama and the dark comedy sprinkled throughout was wonderful. I was impressed that they weren't afraid to go anywhere, even to places other series never treaded. They had guts when they made this one. That got lots of respect from me. Plus it's not at all a stupid series, very smart, and it touches on some great issues and has some wonderful themes. The characters were great, and I liked how spoiler[ Misaki continues to be a mystery up until the very end. I thought that was very intersting. Your never quite sure what is up with her]. It felt like a very different type of show, and it was very sad at times. This show had a real heart. You can tell a lot of work was put into it, and the creators cared a lot about it. Any show that can impact me emotionally I consider to have good storytelling, and this is not an exception. It just didn't pay off in the end. But then again life doesn't pay off in the end either. Is that what they are saying? Sigh... I would never, never, never hold the rather poor ending of the series against it. It's still an excellent series, and the bad ending doesn't hurt my raiting of it, I never let bad endings do that. But damn I'm not happy about it. Not at all satisfying. Anyway I hear the manga has a better ending then both the novel and the anime. I should take a look at that. Last edited by Prede on Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:12 am; edited 5 times in total |
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Almaz
Posts: 134 |
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The thing I find troubling about the new shelf life is the shows "value" is now in its price. The way you (Erin) wrote the review on like Heat Guy J sounded like it was shelf worthy. However, it is too expensive. If shows keep getting rental rating , more people will be justified in taking the cheaper route. In a way, all titles are shelf worthy if you watch the fansubs. I understand that ANN does NOT condone fansubs; however, the column is making quite a few titles (which sound shelf worthy) rentals. Other titles in previous articles are the same way. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Well, from what you say, the real problem is the lead-up to the ending, not the ending itself. If the anime really does gives you the impression that the male and female lead are going to wind up a hunky-dory romantic pairing with all the conventional trappings (and I have not seen it so I do not know) then it departs greatly from the book, where they're two messed up co-dependents and the ending, spoiler[with their bizarre pledge to each other], makes perfect sense. I have a feeling some viewers are going to critique your interpretation of their relationship, but if that is the way you saw it, I can see how the ending might be upsetting. Bear in mind, though, that given how screwed up these two were, I personally believe any conventional happy ending would have been the real middle finger, not the one that was given. (Again, basing this on the book, I cannot attest to the anime, of which I watched only one episode of and did not like very much because of some of the changes they made.) |
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21stcenturydigitalboy
 Posts: 103 Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia |
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Like Vashfanatic said, I think your dislike of the ending is entirely due to your perception of the series. You were never supposed to think there'd be a romance between Satou and Misaki. NHK is a 'real' story. It may flight into Satou's fantasies, but anything beyond a fantasy on the part of that relationship would betray the entire meaning of NHK. The whole point is to get rid of those insane, flighty fantasies, and rejoin the real world, wherein Misaki is about 16 years old, mentally unstable beyond reason, and does not in any way need a psycho like Satou with her. EDIT: Fixed spoiler in quote ~Zalis |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 598 |
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I think you're supposed to think they might have a relationship, and there's a great tension there that keeps you going through the series. However, I'm glad they don't get together just yet since she is only 16 and they both have such serious issues. NHK has one of Noah's most favorite endings ever, because it's economic. Satou can only be a hikikomori because he's being financially supported by his parents. spoiler[When the support dries up he's forced to get a job rather than starve to death.] I found the ending pretty satisfying, and I liked the anime more than the novel. Although I did like the novel. |
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Posts: 598 |
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I was on the fence about it. Noah argued heavily that it should be Shelf Worthy, and because I was watching the thinkpack I thought it might cost about $30. When I found out it was more than that, I switched it to Rental.
There are a couple of issues here. Is it my job as a critic to sell anime? Is it Roger Ebert's job to sell movie tickets? Second, not all fansubs are "Shelf Worthy". I only have a limited amount of hard drive space before I have to buy more drives or burn more discs. I'm way more likely to stream titles nowadays, because shows that I'm only going to watch once aren't worth the drive space. Even if I burn them onto discs, those discs have to be stored somewhere, like in a binder on my shelf. Why waste storage capacity on something I'll never watch again or that I don't want to share with friends? I think something like Mr. Ajikko is worth the shelf space, but a lot of other shows are not. If I find a fansub is Shelf Worthy I'll buy the DVDs when they come out. Otherwise, legit streams or rental DVDs are just fine. There are more legal "cheaper routes" nowadays! The home media market is really changing. It's not my duty to save the DVD market. I just happen to be a DVD reviewer at the moment. The editors of this site chose me for this column, and I'm basing my ratings on my own shelves, because this is an opinion column. A lot of people who read this column buy a lot more anime than I do. When you read my reviews, you should be able to tell if something is worthy of your personal shelves or not. Chances are your apartment/house is larger than mine. Last edited by erinfinnegan on Wed Nov 11, 2009 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I think you mean Roger Ebert. And I'm guessing the studios do think his job is to sell tickets. Look at those movie advertisements for weaker films that include little positive blurbs from obscure critics in some smaller city or on promotional TV shows like Entertainment Tonight. I'm just glad people like Ebert, and you Erin, have the strength of character to express your opinions regardless of what the producers might want to hear. As for the fansub issue, I interpreted Almaz's comment in a different way from you, though the comment was obscure enough that it's hard to know what he/she meant. I thought it was another version of the "if you watch fansubs, you need to buy the DVDs" line of argument. Keep up the good work, Erin. For the record, I agree with your opinion about the harassment of Mikuru (and the computer club president for that matter) in Haruhi. I always felt uncomfortable when Haruhi was stripping off Mikuru's clothes or grabbing at her breasts and thought these displays of fanservice detracted from the show. And don't feel hesitant to toss shows into that "perishable" bin either. |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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I'm sure it would and the "Brazilian" is most likely a requirement. I was going to link to a pasties site, but thought better of it.
Somehow, the definition of "sex object" doesn't seem to apply to her, but I digress and will simply retain my disagreement.
The girls would pull out their guns, and shoot the innocent victim being held at knife point. Don't you remember this scene? 
I'm not trying to persuade you to change your opinion of the Perishable title you gave it, but in reading your opinion, it didn't come off as to deserve it. You basically gave it kudos for not doing what other series did, which why I found the rating surprising. I saw the title first, then read the opinion piece. It's as though your opinion didn't correspond with the rating you bestowed upon it. I'm pretty sure I know why you lost brain cells, as it's not a series that expects one to think, but it was just surprising not to see this included in what I perceived as positives. That's all. Oh, and I finished reading the others and must address the comment you made about selling anime... you just did.
I'm putting Heat Guy J on my "Future Anime To Buy" list. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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Wait, she's 16 in the anime?!? Maybe I need to go back and re-read it, but I'm pretty sure she was 18 in the book...
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
Posts: 598 |
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*facepalm* Fixed!
Ebert works for a newspaper, not a movie studio. I'm writing for this website, not for Funimation. The position of a reviewer is more like a public advocate, not a DVD advocate. If I'm doing a good job, people will know how they want to spend their hard-earned money, whether it's on a Netflix subscription or a box set of Tokyo Majin. I think in general you (yuna49) and I are on the same page. I'm being a bit harsh, but I want to make this point for the other readers. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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She was still in high school. She's 16. The only thing I didn't like about NHK's ending was Satou's mindset. spoiler[ "I don't want you to kill yourself so I'll go and try to kill myself!" ] Granted, it's like that in all three mediums, but I just can't ever come to see how he could reach such a conclusion, unless he was literally mentally retarded, which is possible. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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I remembered her being a high school drop out going back to get the Japanese equivalent of a GED... it's been about a year, I'll go back and check it again.
Extensive drug use can do that. Or was that changed in the anime as well? |
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Xagor
Posts: 192 |
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From what I can recall the drug taking was removed from the anime version, and it was implied all the hallucinations etc were just brought on by him being unhinged or whatever...
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