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unready wrote:

So when you say Die Hard and The Expendables qualifies, I'm going to assume you're going for sarcasm.

No! I wasn't going for sarcasm. If the question is, "Is Erin being naive or sarcastic?" the answer is usually that I'm an idiot.

eyeresist wrote:

Ian K wrote:

When the show was broadcast on air, all of the scenes of the man holding a weapon were omitted, which confused the heck out of fansub watchers trying to figure out why everyone was so scared of the guy and a SWAT team creeping up outside.

So clearly there is some resistance to the airing of certain forms of school-related violence.

I think in Japan they are less concerned with not offending people, and more concerned with not promoting copycat behaviour.

Though by my logic, it means guns have become a lot more available in Japan over the last decade. Dunno if that's so.

Not as far as I know. Japan's weapon laws are much tougher than weapon laws in the U.S.. What Sousuke's teacher says when she pulls the gun out of his bag is something about how it's an airsoft gun, or a detailed model toy. Military otaku in Japan collect very detailed, realistic plastic guns. It is so far outside of the teacher's reality that a kid would bring a gun to school that she doesn't even consider it a possibility (plus it's a joke).

I think in America we have (maybe local?) laws about how realistic toy guns can look. They're supposed to have orange tips, or be completely orange.

Otaking09 wrote:

Maybe, but, really, why review FMA: BH twice?!

They sent me the BDs and then the DVDs. I think Bamboo had to review a bunch of things twice as they got re-packaged and re-released.

Last edited by Shichimi on Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:19 pm; edited 1 time in total

Shenl742: Don't you think that's pushing things a bit? In the UK, there was a massive fuss kicked up over a film because it had similarities to the infamous (in the UK at least) Madeleine McCann case. Abductions happen the world over, so what are creators to do? Not talk about it at all? Very silly, IMO.

FMP was one of those shows that passed me by, but reading this has got me wanting to check it out. It sounds like fairly solid entertainment.

Quote:

I once polled my friends about the following situation: What if Golgo was hired to assassinate Lupin the 3rd, but Black Jack was hired to save him?

Correct answer: Goemon chops G13's bullet in half and Jigen headshots him with his combat magnum. Black Jack finds some orphans with a rare form of cancer to save or something. Sorry but not even G13 can take Lupin.

Shichimi wrote:

Shenl742: Don't you think that's pushing things a bit? In the UK, there was a massive fuss kicked up over a film because it had similarities to the infamous (in the UK at least) Madeleine McCann case. Abductions happen the world over, so what are creators to do? Not talk about it at all? Very silly, IMO.

FMP was one of those shows that passed me by, but reading this has got me wanting to check it out. It sounds like fairly solid entertainment.

Should they not talk about? No.

Should they make gags about it that could hit a little too close for home? Maybe not...

I'm not saying they 100% can't, I'm just saying it's a tough balancing act with numerous factors, and for that one scene, FMP stung a bit in my eyes, cultural differances irregardless

I mean, if there was where junior-terrorists invaded the school, Sasuke kicked their ass, and it was treated fairly seriously, I'd more or less be fine with it.

But when a show uses "wow, it's really easy to smuggle guns into this school" as a joke, it's going to leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

And no logic nor force on this earth can change that for me, and I think I have every right to feel that way, in my heart.

"For years I've insisted that the only Full Metal Panic! series worth owning is Fumoffu, but this set made me think twice."
I wouldn't say I agree to that degree, but I definitely liked Fumoffu more than the first season.

"In almost every episode, Golgo sleeps with a different chick before a job." Not a big deal, but I've been watching Golgo on TAN and I'd say you're exaggerating just a bit. I was actually surprised at how few times he was with a woman in the show considering how he is portrayed in the opening and ending.

In regards to the FMA:B review, I would have liked to know how the two sets compare, since the content is the same (at least in regards to the show itself if not extras). Otherwise I don't really see why you'd bother to review them separately. So... how do they compare? Is it worth it to go for the blu-ray over the dvd set?

Sheni, you have the right to your opinion but you're forgetting this story is set in a Japanese school where they've never had school shootings and the teacher would never believe it was an actual gun. So the Japanese audience for whom this was originally intended (and I imagine the only audience the creators had in mind) would not find it offensive.

neocloud9 wrote:

Quote:

I stand by my Second Raid review, Second Raid felt like a weaker re-hash of the same story from the first season.

Wow, really? Second Raid was much more dramatically effective for me. It just felt so...emotionally visceral, compared to the first season.

TSR is my favorite FMP! series. The emotions are very intense at times, and it was after watching Kaname in a mid- to late-series episode that FMP!TSR shot up to a higher spot on my favorite series list. It's too bad that Funi didn't do a very good job on parts of the TSR BDs. ;_;

Quote:

Fumoffu's in a league of its own, for obvious reasons. <3

TSR was the first part of FMP! that I purchased. After having watched the fansubs, I was thrilled when I'd heard about its R1 licensing. I had previously borrowed the discs for the original series from a friend, but didn't feel that they were worth buying until TRSI did one of their ADV super-discount/clearance sales that had the discs at about $5 each. It might have been the same sale going on when I picked up the Fumoffu! discs (/me goes and checks; yeah, FMP! & FMP!F! ordered from TRSI on 1 Mar 07, during a 25DVDs/$100 sale). Unfortunately, once I'd seen the content, I realized that I wouldn't take them even if someone were giving them to me. I felt that F! was terrible, and _completely_ failed me if its goal was to cause laughter...

As for the other two shows, I don't have any interest in Golgo, and felt that watching the original FMA series was enough time spent on the franchise.

Last edited by Shenl742 on Mon Nov 08, 2010 10:56 pm; edited 2 times in total

rinmackie wrote:

Sheni, you have the right to your opinion but you're forgetting this story is set in a Japanese school where they've never had school shootings and the teacher would never believe it was an actual gun. So the Japanese audience for whom this was originally intended (and I imagine the only audience the creators had in mind) would not find it offensive.

I know that! That's fine! For them!

For me: it still makes me uncomfortable! Should I be feeling less uncomfortable? Should I not be feeling uncomfortable at all since it's an anime? Should I be 30% less uncomfortable because it's set in Japan?

Am I making everyone ELSE in this thread uncomfortable by being uncomfortable with it?

Maybe I should just drop it. I'm really draggin this thread down. Sorry everyone.

I usually never cared, but those are some great looking shelves. I like that, good stuff.

OH, I gotta pick up Golgo 13. Thanks Erin.

I'm just going to point out that every time I see the phrase "high concept" I don't think of Die Hard or Snakes on a Plane but rather of The Seventh Seal or Breathless. (why yes, I picked one Bergman and one Godard film at random, why?) See, they deal with "concepts", right, and at an abstract or "high" level and...oh never mind.

Also, with respect to Golgo 13 and its cookie-cutter stories: repetition is a time-honored narrative device. Of course, usually, the repetition is going somewhere thematically, so let's just say that Golgo 13 is an incisive glimpse into the meaningless banality of men's fantasies.

Regarding the gun issue - as a lot of people have noted, the scene in FMP isnt really being insensitive. Keep in mind that it is practically impossible to see or touch a real gun here in Japan. Due to this, when the odd issue of gun related violence rears its head (there was a shooting at a sports club last year, from memory) its really seen as something out of the ordinary (aforementioned incident was initially pegged as having being done by a foreigner by the media because the thought of a Japanese shooting someone is so foreign).
Schools have NEVER had metal detectors or screenings for guns. There have never been any cases of school shootings (bullying and suicides, yes, but thats another topic). Ultra realistic airsoft guns can be purchased at your local hobby shop - so in short, the teachers reaction was very much based in reality. The thought of it being a real gun is not a possibility that would enter most teachers train of thought in such a situation.
As for scenes (or lack of) in more recent anime - thats more indicitive of how conservative the media here has become towards violence over the past decade. Blood is cut from a lot of anime (even DBZ, sigh) and Samurai dramas dont have a drop of blood in them at all anymore. As a friend sadly pointed out recently, the original Fist of the North Star would not be allowed on free to air tv if it were made today. Sad but true.

Shenl742 wrote:

I don't think saying "oh, they're just foriegn" gives them a total pass or should make me feel completly unoffended.

It kind of does give them a total pass though, doesn't it? I feel like the ultra-sensitive, everything is offensive attitude is really a dumb issue exclusive to America although lately I have seen it's ugliness creeping out to the rest of the world. Why should they be worried about offending people from another country about an incident that they probably didn't even know about? If this is the way it's going to be then they should probably just stop releasing things outside of Japan at all because who knows what dumb thing the crazy Americans might find offensive this time. Personally I think it is very selfish to even suggest that they should remove things from their shows because it might be considered "poor taste" in another country. Who made us the moral police? Are we so elite that we can now decide what is and what isn't offensive?

The same thing happens with 9/11. Yes it was horrible and no we shouldn't forget it. We shouldn't expect the rest of the world to mourn like crazy for us either because it didn't happen there. Look at certain war torn countries in the middle east where every day there is a new bombing that kills dozens of innocent people. It's this typical elitist attitude I hear from so many people in America (my own country by the way) that makes me sick.

Shenl742 wrote:

rinmackie wrote:

Sheni, you have the right to your opinion but you're forgetting this story is set in a Japanese school where they've never had school shootings and the teacher would never believe it was an actual gun. So the Japanese audience for whom this was originally intended (and I imagine the only audience the creators had in mind) would not find it offensive.

I know that! That's fine! For them!

For me: it still makes me uncomfortable! Should I be feeling less uncomfortable? Should I not be feeling uncomfortable at all since it's an anime? Should I be 30% less uncomfortable because it's set in Japan?

Am I making everyone ELSE in this thread uncomfortable by being uncomfortable with it?

Maybe I should just drop it. I'm really draggin this thread down. Sorry everyone.

Wow, I kinda feel bad about it now (this discussion, not the gun scene itself) but I have to kinda agree with ledbetter though. But yeah, let's drop it.

Shenl742 wrote:

rinmackie wrote:

So the Japanese audience for whom this was originally intended (and I imagine the only audience the creators had in mind) would not find it offensive.

I know that! That's fine! For them!

For me: it still makes me uncomfortable! Should I be feeling less uncomfortable? Should I not be feeling uncomfortable at all since it's an anime? Should I be 30% less uncomfortable because it's set in Japan?

Hey Shen,
I think the issue people are having is that you are saying (or implying) "I am offended"="This is offensive". But they're not the same thing. If South Park had Cartman go about in a long coat and plan to massacre his school, that would be offensive, because the South Park people know what that would mean. But that reference doesn't have the same meaning in Japan. For them, the US is a strange foreign country far away, and it's natural that they don't react to US events in the same way you do (if they even hear about them at all).

The Golgo 13 figure staring out a window in his underwear? I thought everyone had one of those.

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