Forum - View topic(Shadow Star) Narutaru.
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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The manga is good - but in terms of shock value, it's even more horrific than the anime. I'm made of strong stuff, in this regard, but it even made me shudder once or twice. The manga, I'd rate 18-up. No exceptions. - abunai |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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Rent it? I don't think there's a place in my area that has it for rent. Plus, if it really is as disturbing as you all make it out to be, why only 15+?
I'm really interested in watching a dark series like this, but your suggestions are making me second guess myself. If it was so disturbing that it would scar me, why would anyone give it a rating so far below 18A? Spoilers don't matter to me anymore. I just want to know, specifically, what I am getting myself into. Nothing typed would scar me or frigten me, so please don't hesitate in letting me know what is so graphic and mature in this 15+ series. Thank you for all your help. Without your suggestions, I probably would have purchased it blindly without any real info. Now I actually have to make a mature decision about it once I gather all the info I can. EDIT: I have been looking through all screenshots I can find, and so far none of them are even close to disturbing. Maybe I'm not finding the right ones? Perhaps if anyone (if this site allows it, of course) could find a screenshot example if they fail to be able to describe the 'disturbing images'? And if I don't like it, it's my own fault and I can come to a more easy descision. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I don't know why the series was rated 15+ but it was a mistake.
Okay, you wanted spoilers? Here they are: There are two particular scenes, I think, that people remember: The extreme bullying 'beyond normal levels': spoiler[ one of Shiina's friends is bullied by three of her classmates to make her purposely do poorly in scool (I think that was the reason). At one point, they meet her at the school after dark and rape her with a test tube full of worms or something. ] Kids their age killing each other is bad enough. Kids their age thinking up this kind of thing and doing it is far, far worse. Then, there is the bullied girl's reaction to all this: spoiler[ The girl ends up having a Dragon of her own that acts on her will. First, the girl kills her parents. Then she kills one of the bullying girls in a VERY gruesome way. The monster kills one girls lover (or brother, or maybe both I couldn't tell) by lopping off the top half of his head right in front of the girl. Then it picks up the girl and pins her against the wall. It's finger turns into a large test tube shape and it shoves it up the girl and pumps her full of worms. You see the worms crawling under her skin and she vomits up some of them. The the monster kills her by extending a claw from its test tube finger while still inside her. The monster attacks the last girl (who actually didn't do much bullying and wanted the other girls to stop) during class. It breaks her arm and, if I recall correctly, then strangles her in front of all the other students.] After all that, the series ends with: spoiler[ Shiina's dragon killing her bullied friend turned murderess and Akira kills her parents for reasons I don't remember or may not have been told, and I think she killed herself afterwords ] And someone thought it would be a good idea to show this on a kid's channel. I've heard this show was actually cancelled, but I don't know if that's true or not. |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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Oh dear.
If that were really /shown/, I doubt it'd be allowed on public TV, let alone a Children's channel at some point or another. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding. Is this all /shown/? I doubt it. It'd be rated X if that was all shown on the screen. I hear everything's implied, but how do they get away with implying /this one/? Wow. That doesn't frighten me, it just kind of turns me off the series. Before I had decided I'd probably see it, and now it's kind of a 51% yes, 49% no. After that. Wow. ...So how would they go about 'implying' that? This is probably the last bit of info I need before making a decision. |
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Gauss
 Posts: 519 Location: Finland |
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First I would just like to point out that there were some mistakes in Hitokiri's spoilers. The bully did something else, then later planned (or perhaps just fantasized) of doing what was in the spoilers.
Anyway, the "guts and glory"-parts tend to be off screen, so in that sense the worst stuff is implied. It's far more effective at spooking viewers since it means the show doesn't descend into the silliness of splatter horror. What's really creepy is the thought processes of these kids when their restraints are lifted. It's sort of a study of what happens when you put a powerful weapon in the hands of kids. Weapons they can use with near impunity. And I'm not sure whether it's a case of power corrupts, or that those dragons have some insidious influence on them. The end result is in any case that the dragons are bonded with kids whose thought processes are often not quite normal. And kids can be very cruel... |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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So what do the bullies do? Nothing worse, I hope.
Which of the two, uh, 'test tube' scenes is this from?: http://www.animeacademy.com/pictures/revpics/narutaru-3.jpg That doesn't appear frightening. I saw another screenshot where something, well, a lot worse was happening, but it was all sihouetted. I'm really losing my confidence in watching this, but again, it looks so interesting. And I read a review that says Narutaru has no blood to speak of. Why the 15+ rating? Perhaps it's the under-age events that occur here. Perhaps that's why. I'm not going to even bother posting the shaddowed screenshot, because I can't find it, but if that's really the worst that happens, I think I'd be able to handle it. I mean, look at this preview... http://www.centralparkmedia.com/shadowstar/trailer.html Side note: If it doesn't show any of this mature content, making it silhouetted, is it the idea that disturbs you all? --- EDIT: I have a sollution to this. I'm probably going to purchase the /first volume/ with the first four episodes on it. The disturbing 'test tube' moments aren't until later on, so if I'm drawn in by the first volume, I might try to complete it. If not, I'll just wait until I'm 16-18 so I'll be able to handle it without question. The last question I have for you all, is that should I heed any warnings for the first four episodes? Does anything 'mature' worthy happen in there? I hear the first two episodes are remotely light, especially the first, so you can skip a 'summary of content' on that one. Thank you all for your help. I'm so glad I didn't rush into buying it just yet. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Allow me to correct parts of the spoiler.
spoiler[Shiina's friend, Hiroko "Hiro-chan" Kaizuka, was an honor student who always kept a good grade, but she has no friend besides Shiina, and her rich parents care more about her grades than her life. She was bullied by four delinquent girls (twice were shown): in the daytime, they forced her to drink a beaker of water with earthworms floating inside. To their surprise, Hiroko drank it without much discomfort, so they decided to teach her another lesson after school. Not surprisingly, Hiroko vomitted everything out only after they left. At night, the four called Hiroko out to the campus and tried to rape her with a test tube. Fortunately, a boy Hiroko likes (I forgot his name) passed by and stopped them (but didn't know how awful the bullying was). Being assulted in front of the person she had a crush on, Hiroko's mind collapsed.]
spoiler[Hiroko returned home with physical and mental scars, yet all her father asked was "The cram school called and told us you went AWOL. Where the heck were you?! Your grade went down recently; must because of that girl Shiina!" Without listening to her, Hiroko's father made such a conclusion on his own and called Shiina's father, warning him that he wouldn't tolerate those "bad influence" from Shiina. Witnessing her father taking away her last friend, Hiroko was about to erupt.]
spoiler[Then she killed the first bullying girl in an alley. Basically Hiroko teared the girl's body into pieces with her dragon. Police came in to investigate this mysterious murder case; a rookie detective threw up at the scene, and a veteran said he has never seen a corpse like this in his decades-long career. Note that nothing graphical was shown. Then,]
spoiler[The leader of the four was about to have sex with her elder brother (yes, incest, that's right). Hiroko's dragon broke the wall, killed her brother as described above, and held the girl against the wall with unimaginable strength. First, there were earthworms growing out from its forearm. The dragon shoved those worms down her throat. Then...well, see above.]
spoiler[Before that, the third bullying girl, who tried to flee when she saw Hiroko's dragon, was grabbed and tossed out of the window. Third floor. The fourth (and last) girl, who always thought they went overboard and was the first to confess to the teacher about their bullying, had one arm broken and one leg amputated by the dragon, but was still alive (barely), probably because she apologized while being held in mid-air.]
spoiler[Shiina realized the dragon was controlled by Hiroko and rushed to Hiroko's home with Hoshimaro (Shiina's cute little dragon). Hiroko awaited with her parents' corpses and wanted to befriend Shiina again after "obstacles" were removed. Shiina hesitated (who wouldn't?), and Hiroko wanted her to make up her mind fast by kidnapping Shiina's father (another "obstacle" in her eyes). With the help of Hoshimaro, Shiina strangled Hiroko (reluctantly) in order to save her father. To be more exact, Hoshimaro strangled Hiroko even when Shiina told it to stop, but the reason behind Hoshimaro's action will only be explained much later in the manga. Akira killed his father because she was affected (or, brainwashed) by Naozumi Sudou, a boy with a dragon.] |
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HitokiriShadow
Posts: 6251 |
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Thank you for the clarifications. It has been a while since I saw the series and I wasn't sure on all the details. I knew there was some things missing. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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It's been a while since I saw this, but based on memory, I have a slight clarification to this spoiler: spoiler[The plan was not only to insert the test tube inside her, but to tramp on her belly while it was still inside her, thus breaking it and lacerating her insides - a potentially fatal or permanently mutilating assault. The plan was the ringleader's and she told the other girls it was only a threat, implying she wasn't going to carry it out. However, her own plan was clearly to go through with it. Hiroko was not only exposed to a rape situation, but to an actual threat of mutilation and possible death. She was pretty disturbed to begin with... under the circumstances, I don't think it is at all surprising that her mind snapped.] Back to my initial remark: This is not for people without a certain degree of maturity. The anime is for adults or very mature teenagers. The manga is adults-only, as it is considerably more graphic. - abunai |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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I don't really mind hearing that, as I tell myself it's not real. But I just don't want to see too much. The part I'm especially worried about is the confrontation. I don't want to see that.
Either way, I think I will be purchasing the first volume, episodes 1-4, for a try-out. (I originally typed 'for a test', but you all know why I changed it...) But as I said before, could any of you please warn me of any gruesome events in here? Don't go into too much detail, but could someone please provide me with something like this?: eg. In episode four, there will be a shadowed indication that someone is being hacked up. Or something like that. Again, thank you all. |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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You know... I'm beginning to suspect an ulterior motive, here. Are you sure you're not just deriving vicarious pleasure from this conversation?
- abunai |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Thanks for the follow-up. Yup, that was her original plan, and she received it later. |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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...Oh dear lord. NO, abunai. I'm actually being overly cautious. I'm very worried about being scarred, and I want to know the worst of what will happen so I won't be shocked and scarred. I'm /fourteen/, and I think these events you guys are describing are disgusting. They actually creep me out. But on the other hand, the series looks so interesting if you ignore those factors. I'm just being cautious.
Either way, I'll probably go volume one and leave it at that. As long as nothing too disturbing is in there. And that was my question. Maybe I'll just leave the whole series alone. That proof enough for you? o.o That accusation alone is probably the creepiest of all. Edit: Maybe I'll go with 'Serial Experiments Lain' (I hope I remembered that title correctly) instead. That looks interesting, and appropriate. I haven't looked into it as much, though. To anyone who knows about it, is that series worth the try? |
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abunai
Old Regular
Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Siilent...
There is a lot of anime out there that is good and won't leave your impressionable young mind scarred. Why risk seeing an anime that everyone is telling you is uncomfortable even for adults, when there's no lack of other entertainment of equal or better quality? My advice is to go and watch the other stuff for a year or two, then go back to Narutaru at a later date, when you're better equipped to deal with it. - abunai |
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Siilent
Posts: 184 Location: Canada |
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Abunai, I'll take that advice. I've got to be mature enough to accept the fact that Narutaru isn't for me, yet, let alone be mature enough to stomach it now.
I've really only seen, oh, 5 anime series that I really like, two which I really obsessed over. And I know there's got to be more out there that I'd obsess over as well. I just can't find it. If I'd read the outline for 'Fruits Basket' before downloading it (all who are against downloading- I purchased the series), I'd have never tried it. But it's still one of my two favourites. Hoping 'Lain' doesn't have any disturbing content in it (which I assume it doesn't, even though they both score the same rating of 'teenagers' on this site), I'll look into it further. I really need to learn to open my mind to titles that I don't think I'd like. There's more behind them than at first glance, I think. Maybe Lain will be worthwhile. I'm sure Narutaru is a good series, but I need to accept that it's not for me just yet. And I think I have. |
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