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Shelf Life - Germ Theory


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Shichimi



Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 349
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:30 am Reply with quote
I haven't watched the second season yet, but what I enjoyed most about S1 was its skilful transition from being almost a parody into something more serious and substantial. Having said that, spoiler[I personally didn't feel that Ahmey was developed enough as a character to make the viewer really care about her death. Rather, it was moving to see the other character's reactions to it, especially Coopa's.]

Quote:
Later episodes turn more serious; one level of the tower-above-the-tower is a land of the dead, where they reunite with old party members and nearly forget the mission.


Uh... you may want to consider omitting this part of the review, it's a bit spoilery.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:58 am Reply with quote
Quote:
In happier news, a belated congratulations to blogger Ogiue Maniax, who is going to the Netherlands to get a doctorate degree in Sci-Fi manga. How cool is that? He's running a couple of Otakon panels if you want to meet him before he leaves.


The Netherlands? Where does it say he's going to the Netherlands?
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:24 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Did I mention the show is also sexy? Maya rocks a pair of thigh high socks and chunky mod shoes, kicking ass and taking names. She's frighteningly free with her punches. This is a character I can really get behind. As long as she doesn't break down into some huge softy crybaby by the end of the series ...


Might have to be prepared for that. With the exception of Major Kusanagi, that just happens to most tough female characters in Anime.

Only seen the first episode so far, but for the first J-drama I've ever watched, I'm definitely enjoying Moyashimon. Except for Druaga, I'll definitely check out the other series.
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Shuichi



Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 123
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:48 am Reply with quote
Are those German mangas from Ranma and Yu-Gi-Oh!? Very Happy
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wandering-dreamer



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 1733
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:54 am Reply with quote
Yes, someone who agrees with me on Black Butler II ! I felt, during the first season, that the standalone episodes were weaker then the arc episodes and even those really varied in strength. Hoping that some of the later manga arcs show up since I really liked those (like the circus arc) but, well, after the first season end I'm still not sure what the heck they're going to do here.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:44 am Reply with quote
Shichimi wrote:
Quote:
Later episodes turn more serious; one level of the tower-above-the-tower is ...

Uh... you may want to consider omitting this part of the review, it's a bit spoilery.

I don't say which characters they meet there. Also the characters that they meet are definitely dead, so I don't think it's too spoiler-y about that dungeon level. It reminds me of the field of poppies in Wizard of Oz.

Tamaria wrote:
The Netherlands? Where does it say he's going to the Netherlands?

Woops, he only says Europe. Well, I happen to know he's going to be living in the Netherlands.
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Keyl



Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Posts: 144
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:45 am Reply with quote
wandering-dreamer wrote:
Yes, someone who agrees with me on Black Butler II ! I felt, during the first season, that the standalone episodes were weaker then the arc episodes and even those really varied in strength. Hoping that some of the later manga arcs show up since I really liked those (like the circus arc) but, well, after the first season end I'm still not sure what the heck they're going to do here.


everything about season 1 of kuroshitsuji was weak but then again, the first episode of season 2 was quite intriguing indeed.
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Anime World Order



Joined: 05 May 2006
Posts: 389
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:21 am Reply with quote
ErinF wrote:
Anime reviewer Daryl Surat often complains that Gonzo shows don't end well, that the first few episodes are great and then Gonzo's series go downhill. I think Druaga comes to a satisfying, climactic conclusion.


Guilty as charged. Personally, I think Druaga was beyond even the Gonzo curve, as it only required one episode before it went downhill. Not even 3-4 episodes like usual! The rest of the series didn't live up to episode one for me, nor could it; that style of humor is only good for about 1-2 episodes before it wears thin. Like most Gonzo projects, I think it would've worked better as a short OAV than as a 24 episode TV series.

Kuroshitsuji is a little too "neo-shonen" for even me. All of the most dedicated fans of this series I have ever encountered, both online and in real life, have been girls. I personally don't know any guys that would say they "love" the series or would consider it a favorite. Yet somehow it's marketed as a shonen title. Are there also tons of guys watching it and reading it in addition to all of the ladies, the way there is for other high-profile shonen properties like Naruto? If you were to do a Black Butler panel at a convention, would there be a ton of guys present that were NOT there primarily at a lady friend's behest? I strongly suspect that Kuroshitsuji leans so far toward the "appeal to girls" side of the neo-shonen equation that guys actually don't bother watching it at all, much like Gensomaden Saiyuki which was serialized in the same Square-Enix manga anthology (G-Fantasy, I believe).
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:39 am Reply with quote
Anime World Order wrote:
Kuroshitsuji... Yet somehow it's marketed as a shonen title.

What?! Seriously? Maybe I've been unaware of the marketing campaign outside of Aniplex(?) showing the trailer at cons last year, but that seems crazy. As far as I'm concerned, the covers of that manga series are like PlayGirl magazine (only less gay).

I wish it was more like Emma, with actual Victorian details and less supernatural anything-goes nonsense.
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sepherest





PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:49 am Reply with quote
erinfinnegan wrote:
Anime World Order wrote:
Kuroshitsuji... Yet somehow it's marketed as a shonen title.

What?! Seriously? Maybe I've been unaware of the marketing campaign outside of Aniplex(?) showing the trailer at cons last year, but that seems crazy. As far as I'm concerned, the covers of that manga series are like PlayGirl magazine (only less gay).

I wish it was more like Emma, with actual Victorian details and less supernatural anything-goes nonsense.


It is indeed shonen, the manga runs in a shonen magazine, one of Square Enix's if I'm right. I think I mentioned this on here before but there are magazines that have series made to specifically target female readers and fujoshi in order to make more money. It started a while ago, with stuff like To Terra and some sports titles such as Prince of Tennis. And right now Kuroshitsuji and Katekyo Hitman Reborn are probably the most obvious ones.

Anyway, it's cool to finally see a review that has a similar opinion to my own on Kuroshitsuji. Sure it looks beautiful, but there are quite a few innacuracies to the Victorian era and the plot of it is mediocre. The first episode of season two got my hopes up but once the second episode came out it seems like it's just going to be like the first season again.

Also if anyone is looking for series around that time I'd suggest looking into older shojo series by mangaka like Hagio Moto and Keiko Takemiya. Kaori Yuki too but her stuff is more like Kuroshitsuji.
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:06 am Reply with quote
Sepherest wrote:
It is indeed shonen, the manga runs in a shonen magazine, one of Square Enix's if I'm right. I think I mentioned this on here before but there are magazines that have series made to specifically target female readers and fujoshi in order to make more money. It started a while ago, with stuff like To Terra and some sports titles such as Prince of Tennis. And right now Kuroshitsuji and Katekyo Hitman Reborn are probably the most obvious ones.

That's not exactly news to Daryl and I, but it's probably a shock to some American otaku-types (Death Note was for girls?! etc.).

When I was in Japan in 2009, Black Butler standees and special displays were all over the girl sections of book stores. It was clearly being marketed to women in Japan. I spent a lot of time on "Otome Road" on that trip and saw ads for it everywhere. I was interested if Daryl had noticed some specific marketing in America aimed at boys.

I don't really consider "the magazine it ran in" as marketing. I think of marketing as advertisements outside of that magazine, in-store displays, TV ads, posters in bookstores, and whatever else (giveaways like bookmarks?).
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RadicaLElly



Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 194
Location: Coral Springs, FL
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:47 am Reply with quote
Quote:
The Professor's introductory moment with a walrus corpse is disappointingly skipped over


It was?

(Also, pretty sure it's a seal, not a walrus)
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erinfinnegan
ANN Columnist


Joined: 31 Jan 2005
Posts: 598
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:37 pm Reply with quote
It was?

(Also, pretty sure it's a seal, not a walrus)[/quote]
Well, he still sucks the guts out of a bird - but it was rolled into the sake spoilage scene. It was better when they came across him digging up a corpse in the woods.
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larinon



Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Posts: 992
Location: Midland, TX
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 12:57 pm Reply with quote
One of my favorite scenes in the Moyashimon anime was when Sawaki used the can of Surströmming as a grenade in the restaurant to help Hasegawa escape her father. While it was used in sort of the same manner in the TV drama, it didn't have quite the same flair, nor was it as funny. Still, as you state in the review, they're covering the material very quickly initially, so I'm hoping we'll get to some different material in the drama that was not in the anime.

I also saw some comparisons between Ghost Hound and Shiki (so far). I was already convinced I was going to watch the series after I saw it was originally created by Fuyumi Ono (Ghost Hunt, Twelve Kingdoms), but after two episodes I'm thoroughly enthralled.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:24 pm Reply with quote
I only saw the first episode of Black Butler l, and the comedic characters immediately put me off. I'd check out the manga if I could find it in the library, as it looks better than the anime, but nothing can convince me that this was made for boys. It's shojo in a shonen magazine, really Very Happy

Moyasimon---I love, love, love the manga. It's much funnier, more educational and more interesting than I ever would've given it credit for. The first episode of the drama was a mixed-up, overacted mess (if I weren't familiar with the original, I would have no clue who those sake breweres were. They were introduced and forced into the plot so fast!) The lead is played by a model? That might explain it! Maybe things even out in ep 2?

Shiki-written by Fuyumi Ono?! Why didn't anybody mention that before? Definate watch!

Occult Academy sounds awesome! Many kick-@$$ anime girls remain kick-@$$ throughout--Yoko from 12 Kingdoms, Balsa from Moribito, just about every gal in FMA: Brotherhood come to mind. I'm looking foward to a new one to root for!
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