Forum - View topicShelf Life - Miracle
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
bayoab
Posts: 831 |
|
|||
You could watch it for free and decide for yourself. |
||||
|
||||
|
configspace
Posts: 3717 |
|
|||
|
The final rating you gave Miracle Train just seems... dishonest. Almost superficial in fact -- as if you don't want to be caught watching it. Yes, someone can read the review and catch how you would consider it your guilty pleasure but you have a pretty black and white system, and don't "believe" in guilty pleasures, you have no choice but to give it a flushable rating.
The problem is that the rating would be no different from someone who completely hates the show, where as if you, on an emotional, non-intellectual gut level, actually enjoyed it. |
||||
|
||||
Etrien
 Posts: 525 Location: Tokyo, Japan |
|
|||
Funny, that sounds like a good thing to me. Although, now we have two completely different opinions on the same forum. Crap. |
||||
|
||||
pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
|
|||
As mentioned, taking into account the formats (column vs. review) and the reviewers, one with whom we have a lot of experience, the other not so much, I don't find them black and white at all. I come away from both with close to the same impression. Erin's is more harsh, but that could be partly because it's a column and more conversational. Also much shorter, needing to be more direct. She doesn't have much time to get across her strong dislike for the title. Theron's opinions very often align with mine, and also he's not overly negative or harsh in general (as in attacking the content or creators). So what he said about Blassreiter would make it quite clear I shouldn't spend money blindly on this show based on my experience with his observations. (That's considering I ignore scores, which are only interesting to me in aggregation, on sites like http://www.animecritic.com/_metareview/index.php where there is some statistical relevance) It's almost like they fill in the holes between each other's reviews. The minor contradictions are easily attributed to personal taste, and the difference in degree is their approach to reviewing in general. I like this idea of dual coverage, which I've noticed recently (an experiment?). |
||||
|
||||
asimpson2006
 Posts: 3151 Location: USA |
|
|||
It actually is a good thing to get several different view points on a certain object, show, movie, etc. This gives people two or more different ways to see an object, then make a decision on if they should rent/stream it, buy it, or forget it. It is the same thing in either magazine or newspaper articles that have two viewpoints on a certain subject. I seen the first episode of Blassreiter a few months ago and I didn't think it was that bad, but I wouldn't say it was a masterpiece either. This looks like this will be the first non OVA series that I will either stream or rent and watch it completely in either of these two forms. |
||||
|
||||
|
jdskeleven
Posts: 2 |
|
|||
|
Man, I love negative/scathing reviews. The fallout in the comments thread afterwards just makes them all the more entertaining.
(Oh, and I watched the first episode of Blassreiter when it was doing the fansub rounds. I thought it was godawful, so I'm not surprised the review here was negative.) |
||||
|
||||
MarzGurl
 Posts: 142 Location: San Antonio, Texas |
|
|||
|
Regarding the discussion of Miracle Train -
First, why does everybody use this image when they're bringing up the Miracle Train anime? - 
That's not the anime, those aren't even the same characters, and the image it came from identifies a completely different train line, not the Oedo line. A more accurate image to show when discussing the anime would be this. - 
Anyway, nitpicking aside, the reason why this is my guilty pleasure is NOT because of the men, but because of the TRAINS. After living in Japan, I admit, I think I became train otaku. Having said that, there is ZERO substance to this anime, and I keep telling myself I have no reason to watch it. The writing is pretty terrible, in personal opinion, the formula is the same every episode (aside from the ONE episode where they DIDN'T have a customer), and there is zero character development, because the characters even call themselves train stations, not people. Not to mention, the entire show is REALLY one big advertisement for using Tokyo's subway trains. They always say things like, "You can't bring in a bag this size! In fact, did you know that you can only bring in luggage that is XXcm by XXcm?" Or, "Shiodome, you're so young!" "Of course! After all, my station only first opened in 2002!" While the trivia is, uh... interesting, it gets incredibly in the way of whatever time and writing they could have spent on actually MAKING A STORY. They frequently go off to areas of Tokyo that are connected to the Oedo line's train stations, and then give you a big damned cultural and history lesson on the location (again, instead of actually developing their characters). And then suddenly, for no good reason, the girl they're helping in the episodes suddenly has all of her problems solved. Why? Because I guess she never knew anything about either the train system OR the city she lived in (which, actually, this is true of at least one of the girls they've helped thus far). Anyway, the author of this article is right. It really IS nothing more than guilty pleasure, because it's just generally NOT GOOD. If you're watching it, it's because A) You want to see hot guys doing little more than being hot. B) You're a train otaku. C) You want a shallow history/culture lesson on different sub-cities in Tokyo. That's really about it. Other than that, at least the opening theme song is catchy. |
||||
|
||||
Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23761 |
|
|||
I was vaguely aware that manga could be based on ridiculously narrow topics, but this must take the cake. |
||||
|
||||
|
belvadeer
|
|
|||
|
Dragon buttons hmmmm? Well well, could we by any chance be similar to yours truly when it comes to dragons in anime, dear Erin? Makes me wonder what dragon-related anime and manga you know about
I wrote a review of Boobanauts back on my DA account and I still stand by what I said. Dragon fans will not like it. Trust me...but I am curious to see what you say. I was curious about Blassreiter all this time, since it kept popping up on the ads here. That dachshund is so damn cute, reminds me of my now passed dachshie from a year ago. 
|
||||
jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
|
|||
|
Interesting review of Blassreiter. My opinion of it was a lot closer to Theron's than Erin's (I wrote up an ANN-style review of it as a tryout when Zac was looking for a new anime critic a couple weeks ago, and I gave it a B+ instead of a B, so yeah, we were pretty close), but I can't say I necessarily disagree with any of Erin's arguments.
That said, I did think this was one of those shows that really amped up the drama and just got better and better as it went along. The last episode in particular left me with that feeling of "Holy sh*t, what's going to happen next? Man, I gotta get the next set right now!!!", which is pretty rare for me.
As Theron mentioned in his review, the dub takes a lot of liberties but is pretty damn good. It's a lot punchier, and adds to the "awesomely bad action movie" vibe.
I don't think you understand the purpose of a review. It's supposed to give you an impression of what the show is about and how good it is at accomplishing what it tries to accomplish. You're not supposed to just take the reviewers "I did/did not like this" as a "you should/should not buy this," but rather to use their description and opinion to judge if it sounds like something you will or won't like. I've read plenty of negative reviews that have made me think "Wow, I need to see that!" I personally LIKE getting more than one opinion on things...it helps give me a fuller impression of what I'm getting into. |
||||
|
||||
|
erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist
 Posts: 598 |
|
|||
Yikes, that wasn't clear? I LOVE Bartender. My husband and I watch it together. I even bought the whiskey volume of the manga, because lately I've been getting into really good whiskey. (Going to whiskey meet-ups, tastings, etc.) The CG is mostly in the opening - the liquor bottles are all in CG with photo-realistic labels that seem like product placement. |
||||
|
||||
vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
|
|||
|
In terms of the two reviews on Blassreiter, I've always found Theron Martin to be more forgiving of a series' faults. I read his review, and find it to say many of the same things that Erin said here, only he finds more positives as well.
I know it's not always fair to judge a series on its first episode, but I watched it back when it first streamed on Crunchyroll and boy did I hate it. There just wasn't anything new in it. The animation was gorgeous, though the CG did not blend well at all. I believe I concluded that it "would make for good AMVs" and otherwise decided to ignore it. Besides, there was just a lot else to watch that season; this was before I'd forsworn most fansubs (long story behind that), and there were five other series that were ten times better than it. I'm willing to bet, though, that it's better than Dragonaut (though perhaps not as risible). I think that's another "price" that you don't often consider; namely, given the limited amount of time I have to watch anything right now, is this really worth spending up to 12 hours of my life on? Anyway, I love that you're specific on why you give things the ratings you do and the criterion you consider. I'm one of those people for whom a "good dub" isn't much of a selling point, mostly because my standard for one is so ridiculously high (dubfectionist that I am). But since you're so thorough in your review, I can always score it again in my head when you're done. |
||||
|
||||
|
_Earthwyrm_
|
|
|||
Naw, it wasn't too clear to me either. After I'd read it, I was thinkin' "So, does she like Bartender or not then?" In all fairness though, I also recall the CG pretty clearly every time I reflect on the show so it's definitely fair to comment on it (on the basis that anything I agree with is fair game). It's always one of the first things that I think about, because it was pretty blatant, and I don't think it really matched the tone of the show too well - though I have some theories on why they decided to roll with it anyway. For clarification, I love the show too.
'Dubfectionist'. I like that one. 
|
||||
|
jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
|
|||
I've been known to judge shows by the first episode, too, but this is one where you really can't do it. The first episode is almost NOTHING like the rest of the show: the whole motorcyle racing angle is only present in the first episode, and Gerd, who after the first episode seems like the star of the show, is really only present for the first story arc or so. This isn't a case of "It gets good at episode 20!" so much as "It gets good at episode 2!" Given the availability of free streams, I'd say at least give the 2nd ep a shot before writing off the show entirely.
Nice!
|
||||
|
||||
|
vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
|
|||
You'd never heard the term before? It basically means you only watch a dub on the rare occasion that you think the dub is as good or better than the original Japanese. For me, that means there are maybe a dozen dubs or so that I don't mind watching. In other words, subtitles are my first choice, but I'm willing to watch some English dubs... if subtitles aren't an option. I've yet to find a dub I consider better overall than the Japanese, though there are individual roles where I like the English voice actor better (like Minnie Driver as Lady Eboshi) - and there are some choices in Japanese dubs that make me go "what the hell were they thinking casting this person?" So I'm not so much in the "dubs are evil" camp so much as the "subtitles are preferable."
All righty then, maybe if I have the time. It wasn't the biker angle that was idiotic to me so much as the "people are becoming monsters and only someone with monstrous power can stop them!" thing which has been done to death. Add to that lousy CG plus no likable characters... well, as I said, I had five other series that I wanted to watch more (4 of which actually turned out pretty good, or even awesome).[/url] |
||||
|
||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group