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REVIEW: Lagrange - The Flower of Rin-ne Episodes 1-4


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AnimeFan617
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 12 Jan 2008
Posts: 70
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:12 am Reply with quote
Very well done review. Also, if you did not know already, "Sophie Roberts" is a pseudonym for the voice actress Michelle Ruff. If you want proof, check out her Wikipedia page. It's there. Apologies for any spoilers to you, Ms. Silverman.
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Divineking



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:53 am Reply with quote
Well it's nice to see more individual dub reviews. Curious how you saw this much of the dub though since it's only up to episode 2 on Neon Alley. I also agree the pacing for the first few episodes is a bit weird but it ultimately (and surprisingly) ends up being a fairly good show overall.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:48 am Reply with quote
Ok, I'm curious - what do chairs have to do with yuri?

I myself thought the chairs represented a placeholder where you sit - an empty chair means a person missing or absent. {Yeah, seeing they're school chairs, I'll go with "absent"}.

What I love the most about Lagrange is the locale - and the loving detail the backgrounds get. It's good animation, sure, but beautiful in composition.

Also, wan, I love the wan and I'm glad they kept it. It's supposed to be weird and off putting, that's part of the fun.
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SpacemanHardy



Joined: 03 Jan 2012
Posts: 2509
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 9:53 am Reply with quote
Rebecca wrote:
Sophie Roberts (in her second anime role)


Oh come on, now. Anyone with functioning ears should know that's really Michelle Ruff. It's about as painfully obvious as the difference between Steve Blum and "David Lucas". Laughing

Also, one thing that bugged me about the dub is the pronunciation of Madoka's name. The correct way to say it is "MAH-do-kah", not "ma-DOH-kah" like they do in the dub. Perhaps it doesn't bother some people, but personally after watching Madoka Magica where the name is pronounced correctly, it can be pretty irritating to hear it constantly mispronounced. Confused
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:53 am Reply with quote
One factual correction: Simoun isn't a mecha series, as the girls in it pilot airships, not giant robots. A much more appropriate third example would be Gunbuster.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
One factual correction: Simoun isn't a mecha series, as the girls in it pilot airships, not giant robots. A much more appropriate third example would be Gunbuster.


Or Strain, Iczer-1, Divergence Eve, Burst Angel, Blue Gender, Patlabor, Kannazuki no Miko, Idolmaster Xenoglossia, Nadesico, Gravion, Jinki:Extend, Kiddy Grade, Godannar or technically things like Bubblegum Crisis. Not all of them exclusively feature female pilots, but they play prominent roles. Females pilots aren't rare, at all, but I think Lagrange's overall tone and the personalities of the three leads sets it quite apart from the rest. It's mostly an upbeat show.
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Princess_Irene
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Joined: 16 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Divineking wrote:
Curious how you saw this much of the dub though since it's only up to episode 2 on Neon Alley.


Screener DVD. Very Happy I agree that after the first six or so episodes things even out in terms of the pacing; I wish I'd had the first 8 episodes to review.

SpacemanHardy wrote:
Oh come on, now. Anyone with functioning ears should know that's really Michelle Ruff.


I know, I just figured that she had a reason for using the pseudonym and since it didn't undermine the dub review, I thought I'd respect that. Perhaps not my most journalistic decision...

Thanks, Key, that would have been a better example. I don't know why I always mentally classify Simoun as mecha; perhaps its something in the way the plot plays out. But yes, Gunbuster would make more contextual sense.

Animegomaniac wrote:
Ok, I'm curious - what do chairs have to do with yuri?


Awesome question! I hadn't meant for them to sound related, actually; they were just two observations I had. But I bet I could come up with a way for them to be related if I thought about it...
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Sam Murai



Joined: 01 Dec 2006
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Some of the points and criticisms brought up in the review, such as Madoka's personality and even Lan's woof bit, eventually get addressed in the show at a later time. As for "Lagrange", I believe it is more of a reference to "Lagrange points", which are points in space where the gravitational pull between two bodies are balanced, which can allow something to orbit between the two in a constant pattern without being pulled toward one or the other (which you can kind of relate the series to). It was named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, a French mathematician who discovered them.

Though two episodes in, the dub has been pretty good, thus far. Buckland seems like a great cast with how on-nose her performance of Madoka has been, though I'm a little on the fence with Lan's even more reserved and deeper register (no real fault of Robert's, who is doing well in that regard). The one thing that has irked me about the dub has been the pronunciation of Madoka (an extra-inflective "Muh-doh-ka" instead of just phonetically), which sounds too forced, like a few other names.

Personally, I really liked the quirks (including the "perfect" sign, something cute in a refreshing way) and the symbolism in the series, particularly with the chairs (which I never picked up on until midway). As for the mecha, I never really saw them as being "phallic". Given that Nissan designed them, I think they were going for that smooth futuristic look that most modern mecha (and concept car) designs tend to lean towards.
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lilly_938



Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 55
PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:55 pm Reply with quote
So any news yet of when it's going to be released?
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getchman
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Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:58 pm Reply with quote
lilly_938 wrote:
So any news yet of when it's going to be released?


nope
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:14 pm Reply with quote
Dang it, Sam Murai stole my thunder about Legrange Points. Oh well.

I might end up watching this one once more episodes have been released and I can get a better handle on whether it'll be worth investing my time in over the long haul. Certainly I'm more inclined to watch it now as a result of the review. Good job.
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walw6pK4Alo



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:13 pm Reply with quote
The entirety of Gundam references that Sides exist in the lagrange points, Zeon being in L2. But, no space colonies in this show.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



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PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:53 pm Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
The entirety of Gundam references that Sides exist in the lagrange points, Zeon being in L2. But, no space colonies in this show.

I have a feeling it refers more to political gravity than the physical kind.
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MeggieMay



Joined: 08 Jun 2004
Posts: 607
PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:07 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
SpacemanHardy wrote:
Oh come on, now. Anyone with functioning ears should know that's really Michelle Ruff.


I know, I just figured that she had a reason for using the pseudonym and since it didn't undermine the dub review, I thought I'd respect that. Perhaps not my most journalistic decision...


The only thing I think you should have done different here was not emphases that this was the voice actresses second credited roll. That might have made it not come off as quite the "what the eh?!" when reading it. As for not mentioning who the VA probably is, I think you did the right thing. If "Sophie Roberts" is Ruff then she's using the name for a reason and it should be respected. I was thinking the reason might be because Lagrange has strong etchi overtones and the VA we think it is has kids now, IIRC but I'm totally speculating.

However, after seeing the other credit is as Yuri in Nura: Rise of the Yoki Clan, I'm a tad confused. While it could just be a Union issue going on here, I actually thought Yuri was being voiced by Wendee Lee! (those credits are almost impossible to read on Neon Alley). Is "Sophie Roberts" a catch all of some sort or did I have a simple miss hear, here? Then again, there is always a chance (though I think it's slim) that "Sophie Roberts" is really a new person? It may seem improbable to some but then again a lot of people use to think Micah Solusod and Johnny Young Bosch were the same person. In other words, fans can get it wrong some times and a whole lot of us are going to be eating crow if this isn't Ruff (then again if it's her and this is a Union issue we need to pipe down about it, IMO - she could get into some real problems if someone makes a fuss over it Sad )
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Lynx Amali





PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:43 pm Reply with quote
MeggieMay wrote:
I was thinking the reason might be because Lagrange has strong etchi overtones and the VA we think it is has kids now, IIRC but I'm totally speculating.



Wah... Shocked
We watched the same show, right?
I don't recall Lagrange having any sort of any ecchi overtones. Yuri, yes, in the first season.

Then again, Ruff did voice Chikane in Kannazuki no Miko (oppostite of Stephanie Sheh as Himeko) and that was a very yuri-centric show.

Anyway; so far, it's been interesting. I like the dub, from what I've seen. Like everybody else has mentioned, my only (and rather minor) issue is some of the name pronunciation. Hopefully, it'll get better.
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