Forum - View topicShelf Life - Apples and Oranges
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TheRoyalFamily
 Posts: 62 |
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Hey, here's something different about GG!
I really like the series, but I have always had one major complaint about it, and it relates to the sci-fi aspect of it. This is obviously near-future stuff. They still drive normal cars, have normal guns, etc. But we are to believe that Italy - ITALY of all countries - is at the forefront of cybernetics! And not just at the front, but WAY out in front. (Well, to be honest cybernetics may not be the right word; bio-mechanical engineering may be more appropriate.) And not just our Italy - this Italy is so swamped with corruption, political in-fighting, and terrorism that they feel the need to spend a butt-ton of money on this project. How could such a program come to be, especially when the agency itself doesn't really seem to approve; almost as if this was one guy's pet project (this seems to be the most likely). I know, thinking about anime too seriously. That, and somehow they were supposed to armor the skull so that spoiler[the only one-shot kill is through the eye.] Did these guys use the same device to make these girls as the Canadians did for Weapon X? Hrmm...maybe GG is in the Marvel Universe? 
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INS Division 6
 Subscriber Posts: 91 Location: Philadelphia Area, PA |
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Racing School?, Sure.
http://www.bondurant.com/?gclid=CNaKupLo8KECFRBx5QodEQgZKw Check it out Erin, no credits though. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Well, the politics shown in Gunslinger Girl are actually pretty close to actual Italian politics, at least from what I've read. The Padanians in the North desire to seceed from Italy and to be independent.
Granted, I don't think it's quite as bad terrorism-wise as depicted in Gunslinger Girl, but I'm sure if things continue to stir in Padania it could turn that way... |
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Olivine
 Posts: 197 Location: Sol 3 |
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About Dengeki Daiou...people might want to check out the magazine's official mascot. (sort of nsfw) http://daioh.dengeki.com/thismonth/index.html blue haired girl under the picture of the magazine. I couldn't find a better picture of her on the site, but rest assured that her costume doesn't cover all that much. Although, she's generally the most loli-ish thing in the magazine (the occasional big poster withstanding). The serialized manga pretty much runs the genre gamut. |
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Bored_Ming
 Posts: 242 Location: The Edge of ...... |
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Is this replacing Heat Guy J on AnnCast?? 
I will disagree with Erin about GG being loli. My def of GG would be moe with gun porn. I've given up on trying to figure out blanket definitions for a lot of anime labels. There are shades of grey depending on your personal background and anime knowledge. So I won't go into a rage or bash Erin for having a different opinion than me. I just take the info then process it and move on. There will be other things that we will agree on in the future. Heck, last week I liked Erin's positive review of Bantorra. I assume she's the same person, unless the Darnkess from Alan Wake has taken her. |
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Ranma824
 Posts: 456 |
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It sounds like they look more at a person's reaction to a show; then the anime themselves. (But we all know shows are made in specific ways)
I can agree with that; but the girls in GG aren't being sexualized in any way. But maybe for fun, somebody should go to each major anime forum and start a "Gunslinger Girl is Lolicon" thread. See what kind of reaction you get from every community. |
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Fallen Wings
 Posts: 160 Location: Australia |
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Ah. Nope. GG, to me, is a pathetic case of morality. The scene where spoiler[the boy is killed] is not chilling the slightest. The part where he is in the wrong place at the wrong time has happened in every anime when BAM! Innocent victim in middle of fight, dead. That is not creepy. The part where she doesn't know what she is doing? Pffft. She does know what she is doing. Clearly she is pulling a trigger which in the end is going to kill him. Perhaps you should have said, "Doesn't realize about the human emotions towards others" might have put it better. Then again I have seen that done before ... just not really with small little girls with handlers (lolicon LOLS!)
If you look at Now and then, here and there they train children to kill all grown ups then take other young children to train and then kill grown ups ... that is a far more creepy. These children are not wiped of memories. No they remember. They remember everything but they are chipped at over and over again until they become killing machines. And then they repeat the cycle. Um no. Shu was a simple character. By the end of it spoiler[if he wasn't holding a wooden sword he would have killed the evil guy. He ends up meeting the guy and instead of doing that "lets not hurt people" thing he bashes the Sh*t out of him.] - or did you miss that jump from innocent boy to killer? If you say that isn't a change you obviously weren't paying attention to the story. Tabool turns into a spoiler[insane bastard who thinks he can take over Hellywood (the fortress), and shoots the one person who has stuck by him. Turning him into the exact image of the insane dictator.] Sara Ringwalt spoiler[ Is mistaken by Hamdo as the girl he is looking for and is then used as a sex object]. And Hamdo himself spoiler[a psychotic freak who develops a servere case of paranoia and tries to kill the one person who is loyal to him. Not only that but he sits back and hurts himself, others, creates child armies and set smalls girl off to get raped plus MUCH MUCH more!] Gunslinger girl did not cover more interesting territory and your example has been use in other anime before time over time. I'm sorry but if you believe that GG is more in depth then NTHT which questions about war on children and how corrupt they can become in a more realistic manner then ... I'm sorry. I really am. Because you logic is just screwing with me. By the way, I laugh at anyone who thinks that the girls have personality. Like Erin said, "Character traits like "enjoying books" are not the same as full characterization." Yep. They do not have a personality that is fleshed out and their develop (if any) gets wiped so. All bare in that department. Anyway that is my response though I know you are going to argue back. But meh. I have seen, imo, the shallowness of the story and characters of gunslinger girl and I know which show I prefer to burn and which one I prefer to watch. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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Not to worry. After reading your points, it is painfully obvious trying to, uh, "argue" with you would be a colossal waste of time. Your laughable contention that Shu goes from innocent boy to "killer" gives me a pretty good indication of your analytical prowess.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18187 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Fallen Wings was overstating things by saying that Shu goes from an innocent boy to a "killer" (and I generally don't agree on that point), but to say that he doesn't change over the course of the series is also overstating things. At some points later in the series - especially when spoiler[Sarah confronts his optimistic comments and slams them for how they failed her] - he does come to question his convictions, which is something he didn't do early on. That he is able to deal with that and move on is one of the reasons Shu was one of the finalists in the Best Hero/Heroine tourney. I do agree with him on what he said about GG, however. While I did overcome my initial gut reaction to the series to find it compelling, finding the girls deep, developed, or involving was never part of the equation. The way they interact with their handlers is ultimately far more important (and developed) than their spartan individual identities. |
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter Posts: 23769 |
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@Key - from what I remember, Shu had the good sense to look somewhat embarrassed by his profusive, "it will all work out in the end!" spiel given Sarah's horrific experience, but I didn't see any real evidence that he ever came to question his almost pathological optimism in any kind of meaningful way. Can you cite an example that dramatizes this "change" in Shu? I confess part of my antipathy to him as a character is almost certainly due to the English dub which I didn't feel was very strong. Having to say names like "La La Ru" and "Hellywood" certainly didn't help. I have a feeling I would have been better off to watch the sub.
I think part of Shu's appeal to some people is that he basically always does the right thing from start to finish without being troubled by any kind of self-doubt or introspection. He's the sunny, plucky good-doer. I just don't find that kind of situation terribly interesting. |
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outlaw55
Posts: 52 |
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Umino
 Posts: 43 |
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I didn't make it on Shelf-Life again
 ...
Was my e-mail even received? D: |
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Fallen Wings
Posts: 160 Location: Australia |
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Don't worry. Your severe lack of understand of morality makes it pathetic to "argue" with you either. Nor your analytical skills which leave- ... argh. I'm a bastard. Sorry for insulting you. I was just incredibly immature and I'm a douche. I feel like crap down because I insulted you. Sorry. *Really is sincere* But I will admit. I did over exaggerate with the whole killer thing (I went back and re-watch the scene ... it wasn't as bad as I thought it was). Why yes, he wasn't what we would call a "killer". He did indeed went around attacking people which he wouldn't have done before. And for that, I'm sorry.
What I enjoyed most about the journey wasn't really Shu. He was kinda ... there. I must admit that his personality was quite annoying with the whole positive thing. Like "we can make this" and "we can try", but think about it. If Shu DIDN'T try then the story would have gotten nowhere. Plus, if he was mopping around on screen all the time then the depressing series would become even more depressing. While the optimism is annoying - but have to understand that he is a child. As a child what do we know about wars, situations? The only thing that Shu could do was be positive. If he wasn't positive then he would not be able to handle the situation. You're taking a small boy from a happy life and placing him in a middle of a battlefield. Is he going to go "Woe is me" or is he going to try and figure out the mess. And if that is being positive than be it. You change more lives being positive than you do negative, which is probably one of the points it was trying to get across. Nah. I just re-read the GG manga and I really don't like it. The characters, none the less, story seemed shallow and just ... done elsewhere and better. And with the comments of the handlers, yes there is a relationship with the handlers. That was the only part which really rung true. The relationship is the only grounding that these girls have. Without this relationship they have no one else and I must admit is a sad idea. That aspect I can understand the appeal of the morality issue. But the story is too much on the girls and not enough on the overall picture. I think that if it was played/ relied less on the girls then I might have enjoyed the series more. But as it is? Nah. It really isn't worth it. But it isn't a horrid series. Just an incredibly bland one, imho. |
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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You reread 12 volumes of manga already?
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Fallen Wings
Posts: 160 Location: Australia |
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If I remember correctly there wasn't 12 volumes released. |
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