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vashfanatic wrote:

As for Durarara!, my only problem with the three-part release is that, well, I really only want to own the first half of the series. The second half was good, but it didn't have the re-watch value of the first half, for me at least.

I think that you're probably thinking about the first 2/3rds and that you didn't enjoy the last third as much, which in this case is great for you then.

I just want to point out to anyone that is interested, that the animated Durarara!! series is based on the first 3 novels of the Durarara!! light novel series - of which there are 9 in total.

A number of people seem to not like how things wrap up in the end of the animated series but things wrap up that way because the series isn't over.

Also, the girl from the second episode apparently shows up later in the series in a much more involved role.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a season 2 sometime later this year.

asimpson2006 wrote:

What makes Stage 2 more shelf worthy than Stage 1 (both at stage worthy IMO) is there is a lot more character development especially Takumi, Itsuki, and Natsumi. Takumi because
spoiler[he starts to care more about cars and what makes them work, especially with the end of the Second Stage he says that he wants to learn more about engines]

Natsumi's change spoiler[realizing that her subsidized dating thing is not a good idea and stops doing it, then gets a regular part time job] is also good for her and shows that spoiler[she's willing to give up something for the one she loves.]
.

This story arc was better covered in Third Stage and the manga, in which she semispoiler[ gets a job at the same gas station as Takumi and the gang.]

Still, Third Stage was by far and away the best part of the Initial D story arc, and it's animation blows even fourth-stage out of the water because of it's cinematic budget.

The ironic thing about Initial D's characters being so ugly (to be fair, the manga designs look a lot better. They didn't translate to anime well, especially in first stage) is that Shigeno's character designs from Baribari Densetsu (80's motorcycle racing manga) were downright adorable, especially the girls.

erinfinnegan wrote:

I should mention that the Durarara fandom was almost all girls reading/drawing slash doujin about the boy characters. The K-On section was in the extra-porn-ridden super-scary section so I didn't investigate it closely.

To be honest, that's pretty much exactly what I expected from both of the fandoms. Rolling Eyes

Quote:

I watched Durarara!! streaming the first time, and I ought to confess at this point that my internet speed is somewhat slow. I found the clarity of the DVD picture striking. I watch streaming shows on an aging Mac Mini (a PowerPC G4 with 512 MB SDRAM – wait, that's all!? I ought to buy more RAM!) hooked up to my TV. Consequently, I often pick the lowest quality option on Hulu, youtube, or Crunchyroll so shows will load without lagging. As you may have noticed, I strongly prefer watching things on DVD because the picture quality is so much better. Plus it's easy to loan DVDs to friends with lower tech set-ups.

I feel your pain, I think. I'm not sure how comparable those Mac specs are to a Pentium 4 PC (WinXP til' '14, oh yeah!) with 512MB DDR RAM. Granted, I did purchase more RAM in an attempt to upgrade it... but despite my best intentions and prior research, the damn thing wasn't physically compatible.

utawoutau wrote:

vashfanatic wrote:

As for Durarara!, my only problem with the three-part release is that, well, I really only want to own the first half of the series. The second half was good, but it didn't have the re-watch value of the first half, for me at least.

I think that you're probably thinking about the first 2/3rds and that you didn't enjoy the last third as much, which in this case is great for you then.

Um, no, I said the first half, I meant the first half. I do not necessarily mind the Slasher arc, but I really, really liked the wrapped-up feel at episode 12. The whole series felt like two seasons that just ran back to back, with 1-12 being the first. I liked 1-12. I want 1-12. I am not an idiot who cannot count, don't tell me what I mean. Evil or Very Mad

erinfinnegan wrote:

Hardgear wrote:

While I believe there should be a subtitle track that is word-for-word what is on the dub for those few who watch it dubbed with the subs on, I have no problem with dubbing companies changing the script for the purposes of making it more accessible/understandable to local viewers.

In an ideal world it'd be nice to have a closed caption track of the dub in addition to the subtitles. I mean, I'm not the one funding these productions, so... what's weird is that sometimes anime DOES get closed captions. My brother's friends work at a closed captioning facility and have worked on anime titles before. Those tracks don't make it to the DVD, though.

Wait, closed captions are produced beforehand? I always assumed that they were synthesized on the fly as the words were being spoken, due to the frequent misuse of homonyms and the incredible delay that builds as the segment goes on that I've seen in closed captions. Of course, now that I think about it, I almost exclusively watch closed captions on live CNN shows while eating my McFood...

To Do: Watch a pre-recorded show with captions on.

Too bad the just released Durarara!! episode 25 won't be in the Aniplex release. I quite enjoyed it. And who know that Izaya had spoiler[such cute twin sisters! Pity they didn't appear in the broadcast run.]

I really like the Gantz manga, but the anime has horrendous pacing. I felt like they could've gone through the content much, much faster than they did. were talking DBZ levels of drawn out.

I agree with you Erin that the anime is well written, but i think that mostly comes from the manga, which is, at times, impressive. spoiler[That scene on the train platform with the bum in the beginning is a textbook pyschological example of apathy.]

vashfanatic wrote:

Um, no, I said the first half, I meant the first half. I do not necessarily mind the Slasher arc, but I really, really liked the wrapped-up feel at episode 12. The whole series felt like two seasons that just ran back to back, with 1-12 being the first. I liked 1-12. I want 1-12. I am not an idiot who cannot count, don't tell me what I mean. Evil or Very Mad

My apologies.

Blood- wrote:

Too bad the just released Durarara!! episode 25 won't be in the Aniplex release.

What? Why?

Well, that's an assumption on my part. I think episode 25 just came out recently, whereas I assume Aniplex's R1 release of Durarara!! has already been fully dubbed (even though Parts 2 & 3 haven't been released yet). I could be totally wrong, but I think it has come out too late to be part of the release.

Blood- wrote:

Well, that's an assumption on my part. I think episode 25 just came out recently, whereas I assume Aniplex's R1 release of Durarara!! has already been fully dubbed (even though Parts 2 & 3 haven't been released yet). I could be totally wrong, but I think it has come out too late to be part of the release.

They say as a bonus for part 3, ep 25 will be included http://www.durararausa.com/dvd/

JuicyB wrote:

Blood- wrote:

Quote:

Sure, it has high production values, a compelling plot and thoughtful themes, but I reserve Shelf Worthy for titles that I would recommend to anyone. I could never recommend Gantz to coworkers.

I find this criterion questionable. I understand assessing a show's rewatch value when determining whether something is worth buying versus renting - that makes sense. But throwing in the consideration of whether you would loan out a series to "anyone" - which presumably includes non-anime fans, or people who are just casual anime fans, doesn't scan for me. Can you not imagine a situation where you come across a title that you know you would re-watch enough to make it Shelfworthy under normal circumstances, yet it has some element that would make you hesitate to loan it to "anyone"? To not buy something just because you wouldn't be comfortable loaning it out to "anyone" seems, well...dopey.

Yeah, I read that and thought it was pretty bizarre, to say the least. So a series isn't worth owning unless it has complete universal appeal? Then in that case I suppose American Idol would be infinitely more shelf-worthy than Gantz, Berserk, Evangelion, even Cowboy Bebop or any other great anime series since it would be easier to recommend to the average joe.

I actually agree with Erin's criteria to a certain degree. Remember, there is a ratings system involved in this column, it is not just a column about what Erin herself or any other specific person likes to watch. When you have a ratings system, you should try to reserve the highest rating for titles that achieve something more than just cult popularity among a select group of individuals. I like including as a factor the idea that you can loan an anime to a person who is not a fan of the genre, and the person will find something special in it and either be moved by it or at least respect it. I enjoy watching some shows that I wouldn't show to people who aren't into anime, but I wouldn't necessarily give them the highest rating possible. I do think that should generally be reserved for titles that have something more powerful and potentially universal to them.

@ DarkRoseFairy - yay! very happy to have my assumption proven wrong.

@ChibiKangaroo - if Erin's reviews gave numerical values instead of recommendations on what to buy, or to rent or to ignore, I would have less of an issue with using "can I lend this title to anyone?" as a criterion. As I already pointed out, such a criterion opens up the possibility of a title that has personal re-watch value, but because there is some element that doesn't make it a candidate for universal loaning, it gets downgraded from buyable to rental-able.

As it happens, Erin responded by putting that criterion in more context and - if I understand her correctly - if she did come across a title that she felt had a re-watch value for her, she would give it a shelfworthy rating even if she knew it wouldn't be an appropriate loaner for just "anyone."

You guys are totally missing out on criticizing me for my Initial D review.

Failing having re-watch value for me, there are some titles I just want to have to loan to people. "People" in this context could mean anyone; friends, coworkers, anime n00bs, or seasoned anime veterans who haven't seen the title in question yet. It's more like "Can I think of someone - anyone - who I might loan this to?"

I gave Initial D Second Stage a Rental Shelf, even though I recently discovered one friend that I plan to loan it to. I suppose by "loan" in this instance (the show has zero re-watch value for me) I hope that he will "forget" to return it, freeing up valuable shelf space in my minuscule apartment. In fact, lately I've been more and more disappointed when friends remember to return stuff.

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