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Shelf Life - TO For One


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Penguin_Factory



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 732
Location: Ireland
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:33 am Reply with quote
I had never even heard of TO before reading this column, but now it's on my radar Smile
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:33 am Reply with quote
Oh no, my condolences Bamboo. That must have been terrible news to take. Sad

If you don't mind my asking, what did he pass away from?
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 4:45 am Reply with quote
Dude, there's so many better whiskies out there than Bell's! Nice shelves though Smile
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Akawoa



Joined: 15 Dec 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:14 am Reply with quote
A feminist rant on shelf life... nothing new here ! Confused
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:27 am Reply with quote
Quote:
How is it that in zombie shows, people are still confused by them? Have the characters themselves never seen a zombie movie? Even in Highschool of the Dead, the basketball-breasted school nurse idly comments in the dub, “This reminds me of that George Romero film I saw…” I'm not sure that's the exact quote, but she definitely referenced Romero. Which means that she should be aware enough of what zombies are to know that 1) hit them in the head 2) if your friend gets bitten by a zombie, don't wait for him to wake up. And 3) for goodness sake, don't make a bunch of noise (refer to “don't be a total dumb-ass”).


YES! EXACTLY! I am so relieved that I'm not alone in this thinking! I'd so far as add that even if the people of today haven't seen a zombie movie before, they generally know what happens in them, and even 5-year-olds know how to bring down a zombie. Alas, High School of the Dead has to still follow that traditional formula where the characters have to learn through trial and error for about 10-20 minutes, the survivors group together, and they always eventually board up within a building stronghold at some point spoiler[although in this case the series stops just before they reach that mall].

Quote:
Some of you Debbie Downers out there might cry foul and say, “That's unrealistic! They're just kids!”


Age obviously means nothing when it comes to standing to fight to survive.

Despite its unhealthy focus on boobs (Zac's review perfectly captures my feelings on it, and good god all that ridiculously excessive bouncing just defies logic), I still enjoyed this as a fun series. And TO was a definite surprise as well.


Last edited by pachy_boy on Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:07 am Reply with quote
People should watch Zombieland just to prepare for the apocalypse. (And by that time, those wonderful boobs would be reality by then.) Memorize the rules to heart! Laughing
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Yttrbio
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Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3649
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:45 am Reply with quote
Even if they had watched a bunch of zombie movies and knew the rules for killing fictional monsters, why would they assume those rules applied to the real ones they were seeing? I don't think that, in a life-or-death situation, "I saw this work in a movie" is the best way to make decisions. But then again, they do seem to make a lot of bad decisions, so maybe they would try to apply movie logic to their reality. Or do they know they're in some kind of show and, upon seeing the zombies, say "Aha! We're in a zombie apocalypse movie! Now that we know the genre we live in, we can learn from the tropes!"? Things can get pretty meta.

Not that it really matters. If you're trying to logically explain something in a zombie show like this, you've probably missed the point. Boobs and death!
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prime_pm



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 2333
Location: Your Mother's Bedroom
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 8:17 am Reply with quote
You know, Franken Fran tackled this subject awhile back (or recent, I don't care). Zombies start showing up biting everyone, turning them into zombies. Everyone knows immediately that they need to be shot in the head to be killed.

The twist: Fran discovers that it's actually a rare disease that gives the appearance of a zombie, disabling their simplest brain functions enough that they can't talk but get hungry after awhile. And it can actually be treated given some time. Will anybody listen? Nope. Movies have taught us that zombies = shoot in head.

An interesting depiction of media desensitization. Wish they'd animate that. But then again, most of it is pretty guro.
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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:12 am Reply with quote
I got the To postcard in my Rightstuf box and saw the promo on a Funimation DVD, but had no desire to watch it because it looked very, very dull. That said, I've found a lot of gems thanks to your reviews, so I'll give To a chance.

Quote:
I guess it's fitting that a fan of superhero comics would himself be so heroic, both to the people around him, and in the support that he gave others. I'm not asking that anyone donate money. I ask only that the next time you feel cynical about the world around you, to remember that there are heroes all around us, who do nice things simply because they can.


Beautiful words.
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bravetailor



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 817
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:43 am Reply with quote
Akawoa wrote:
A feminist rant on shelf life... nothing new here ! Confused


Reviewers must be politically and socially sensitive. This is why I would not make a good columnist. Laughing
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CareyGrant



Joined: 18 Nov 2009
Posts: 453
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:49 am Reply with quote
*Sigh* What I wouldn't give for some more GitS TV. I'd be more than OK with another well-written series for a more mature, intelligent audience, especially if it had little to nothing to do with high schools or teens of the same age (or robots, or harems, or robot harems, or vampires, or [insert anime trope]...), or wasn't neck-deep up it's own bum with PhD. level philosophy or existentialism.

I'll grant you this: I appreciate the anime teen hawtie as much as the next man (or woman--equal opportunity), but I'm a bit burnt out on that over-sampled demographic.
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:35 pm Reply with quote
Yttrbio wrote:
Even if they had watched a bunch of zombie movies and knew the rules for killing fictional monsters, why would they assume those rules applied to the real ones they were seeing? I don't think that, in a life-or-death situation, "I saw this work in a movie" is the best way to make decisions. But then again, they do seem to make a lot of bad decisions, so maybe they would try to apply movie logic to their reality. Or do they know they're in some kind of show and, upon seeing the zombies, say "Aha! We're in a zombie apocalypse movie! Now that we know the genre we live in, we can learn from the tropes!"? Things can get pretty meta.


You're right in that High School of the Dead is a silly albeit fun series so it hardly matters that much, but regardless I believe the point is this--if a zombie apocalypse happened right here in the real world for me, I wouldn't necessarily assume that I myself was magickally in a movie. But I've seen zombie movies, so I already know that to fight the living dead all I have to do is bash or shoot them in the heads. What all else could there be to do, as far as any reasonable logic goes?
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 3904
Location: CO
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 12:46 pm Reply with quote
Akawoa wrote:
A feminist rant on shelf life... nothing new here ! Confused


Wait... where?
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Shenl742



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1524
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:02 pm Reply with quote
SakechanBD wrote:
Akawoa wrote:
A feminist rant on shelf life... nothing new here ! Confused


Wait... where?


Disliking interdimensional breasts counts as a femnist rant to him I guess?
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GWOtaku



Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Posts: 678
PostPosted: Mon Jun 27, 2011 1:29 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Plus it's worth mentioning that, despite what the creators might have wanted, the fanservice is kind of gross.


I'm pretty comfy believing that this was the goal. The creator is a self-admitted breast fanatic. Everything about the content in this show is excessive. It wasn't messed up, HSotD unironically revels in this stuff. I think Deb Aoki had it right when she said it goes beyond pandering and is just annoying & distracting. In general I think people are way too nice about HSotD. The accurate descriptions of it in the column would leave me A-OK with saying it's a flat out stupid show, inevitable protests about being "prudish" and such be damned (and inane complaints about "feminist rants", incidentally...). Which is not to say I protest a rental rating...it's certainly not wrong to say it has no lasting value.

I'm digging this review of TO, which leaves me with a very good idea of what to expect from it. Not for everyone I guess, but that sounds like my kind of show even if it's a bit too slow and lacking in action to really take huge advantage of the fact that it's a cartoon.

Ghost in the Shell is awesome. Ghost in the Shell on Blu-Ray is also awesome. Seeing Stand Alone Complex condensed way down? Not so great. The series is great and I can't see myself relying on a compilation to miss out on so much smart, well-told content.
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