Forum - View topicPile of Shame - Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Story
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Sleverin
 Posts: 153 |
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From what i remember reading from an interview with...well, I can't currently recall the name, but she was an artist in Japan. Anyways, she stated that the Japanese culture is heavily steeped in symbolism and iconography. Out of that, things like Jungian works could definitely be a big influence (as it is in Persona) in a place like Japan, especially since he worked extensively with the occult and how it related to the whole of human history. |
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Joe Carpenter
 Posts: 503 |
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Japan has strange ideas about monotheism too it seems, almost every JRPG involves you killing God in one way or another, do they find monotheism creepy?
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Area88
 Posts: 374 |
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I have to completely disagree with the review. Digital Devil is one of the best OVA's but also one of the most under-rated and misunderstood. I'm guessing the people that don't get this are the kind of fans that either prefer shows that spoon feed them or dislike the fantasy genre generally. I grew up on movies like Never Ending Story and that was a difficult movie to comprehend as a kid.
The whole point of Digital Devil is to be mysterious and to jump around from environment to environment. It showcases the gorgeous backdrops and scenery, which are really stunning, almost Gainax standard in detail but obviously much darker in tone. The designs cannot be over stated enough, I especially loved the wolf, I forget it's name, that comes to help them. Wait now, I remember, Ceberus. The story is very dark, like Guyver Out of Control or Evangelion dark. It's also deliberately ambigous as the viewer is not supposed to know everything at once, the viewer must work things out for him or herself and repeated viewings are encouraged. Did I only watch Evangelion once? Of course not. I feel Justin 'may' (operative word) have written this review because of other unfavourable reviews or opinions, but I think a reviewer must go against the wind and form his own judgements and beliefs to get the most of out such an artistic medium. I openly love shows that most people look down on. These include Violence Jack, MD Geist (original), Dirty Pair of Nolandia, Kimagure Orange Jump Special, just to name a few. I loved the whole direction the director took with this. It's clearly supposed to be an artistic piece, as well as a great story. It's also emotional as well, I defintly felt really sad at certain points and griping edge of my seat at other points. It's also a story that I think about a lot and gives me nothing but warm and fuzzy memories. I've watched this particular OVA at least 5 times and I will watch it again to appreciate it at another, hopefully more evolved stage of my life, since perspectives change with age. Like for instance, I now appreciate and understand the deep material in Evangelion almost entirely my mid twenties, compared to where I was in my late teens. The OVA can pretty much be split into 3 arcs. The first third is the dark school setting with some sci fi thrown in with computer programming. The second jumps straight to fantasy where one of the characters is now all alone and must figure out what to do in a new world. The third and last arc is a reunion type which is edgy and very heartwarming but also throws in a neat little twist since life does occur all the time in cycles i.e. boom and reccession. Digital Devil is one of the few titles, I will happily defend over and over again. How many OVA's have mixed HORROR, FANTASY and SCI FI together? I learnt so much from this, and is on eof the few benchmarks I wish anime companies would go back and use. At least the videogames are still keeping the name alive. If I were Japanese, I would truly be honoured to be associated with a franchise like this. Personal Rating: A+ |
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Nilrem
 Posts: 142 |
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I vaguely remember this, I think it was on the UK Sci-fi channel in the late 90's and early 00's (I'm sure I recorded it at one point), alongside the likes of Gunbuster, Project AKO and a heavily edited Adventure Duo (Adventure Kid).
Whilst I can't remember much about it, I do remember it being rather disjointed not quite my "cup of tea", and one of the few UK (non pokement type) Anime DVD's of the early 2000's that I never did pick up, despite it being released as a double feature with something else . |
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