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Shelf Life - All Thinking Men


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Ah, I see some Yugioh 5d products in the photo. Nice. Glad to know there are still fans of the franchise especially with the current Yugioh V that is airing.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:49 pm Reply with quote
I definitely wanna see Short Peace, but I can bet it didn't do too hot in Japan among normals or otaku.
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1197
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:00 am Reply with quote
I didn't think Red Data Girl was worth the time investment, but damn, it is pretty.

Can't wait to get Short Peace on BD.
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insert name here



Joined: 27 Jul 2011
Posts: 84
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:17 am Reply with quote
Gambo should get his own series.

That is all.
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 1:08 am Reply with quote
Man, I really wanted to like Mekaku City Actors, but the funky pacing made me tired of following and trying to piece together the events. It's a real shame considering I feel there's something special within all this style. If only they could iron out those pacing kinks, the series could have been a lot more engaging and thus more popular here in the U.S.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:13 am Reply with quote
walw: It'll probably make up for any disappointing box office with its Oscar nomination.
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Ali07



Joined: 01 Jun 2014
Posts: 3333
Location: Victoria, Australia
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:34 am Reply with quote
Ah, RDG. Such a nice looking work with some good story...but no pay off. Seems like they adapted 4 of 6 novels and will just be leaving it there. Sad.
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EnigmaticSky



Joined: 06 Aug 2011
Posts: 750
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 8:36 am Reply with quote
I have been meaning to watch Mekkaku City Actors. I will watch just about anything directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. The only really disappointing series that I have seen from him would be Dance in the Vampire Bund. I also didn't enjoy Madoka very much (I get it, it's dark, but at least make me care about the characters), but it was at least well directed.

I wish that I would have picked up Short Peace during the Sentai sale. I had plans for roommates for an apartment fall through, so I'm going to be getting a place by myself. Had to save up for rent... Still wish I could have gotten it. Didn't it win an oscar for best short or something?

Those shelves aren't half bad. I feel for anybody in a country that barely gets any anime releases. Also I would have loved to see some of those Yugioh cards displayed.
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jymmy



Joined: 11 Nov 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:09 am Reply with quote
EnigmaticSky wrote:
I will watch just about anything directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. The only really disappointing series that I have seen from him would be Dance in the Vampire Bund. I also didn't enjoy Madoka very much (I get it, it's dark, but at least make me care about the characters), but it was at least well directed.

That's interesting. I've seen a few of Shinbo's anime, but I'd definitely rate Dance in the Vampire Bund as one of the better projects he's worked on that I've seen. I'd put Madoka and Monogatari above it, but below it I'd place Le Portrait de Petit Cossette, Tsukuyomi: MoonPhase, Nanoha S1, Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, those episodes each I watched of Nisekoi, Mekakucity Actors and Negima!?, and, way down the bottom, The SoulTaker.
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zensunni



Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 1291
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 10:10 am Reply with quote
Ali07 wrote:
Ah, RDG. Such a nice looking work with some good story...but no pay off. Seems like they adapted 4 of 6 novels and will just be leaving it there. Sad.

According to one of my on-line friends who has read the novels, they did 5 of 6, but they really skimped on both the 4th and 5th novels.

As for the review, I think Bamboo hit the nail in the head to a large extent, however, I personally would put it on the Buy shelf. I find the series eminently re-watchable. The beauty of the backgrounds and the fluid character animation, and the wonderful complexity of the story make it one of my favorites.

I totally agree with Bamboo's assessment that it is not a show for people who like to have their stories spoon-fed to them. It is a challenging story, presented in a way that gives you all of the clues you need to follow it, but makes you work for it. That is something I absolutely loved about it. Each time a new piece of the puzzle comes into place, making sense of some bit of an earlier episode that left me wondering what the heck it was about, it endeared itself to me even more.

I haven't ordered the DVDs yet, partially because I am still pissed that it isn't offered on BluRay and partially because my Funimation subscription is paying for my right to re-watch it as much as I want, in HD, when I would only get standard DVD resolution if I bought it. But it will eventually grace my shelves... (Another reason is that my shelves currently don't exist due to a flood in our basement last year... I have to limit what I buy until I have a new "place for my stuff", as George Carlin would say. My wife would call it the other word for "stuff"... Not enough room for my $#!% right now. LOL)

The only problem I have with the show is the incompleteness. With a two cour run, the series would have been spectacular, or even with a three to six part OVA ending, similar to the way Kokoro Connect continued its story (without finishing it either, I might add...). But that is part of the way the business runs. The creative team has to deal with the time they were given and tell what story they can in that time frame. It is sad that they weren't given enough time and even sadder that the sales figures will never warrant a continuation, when the story could be completed nicely in a 1 and a half hour movie or a set of OVAs. It is a shame, but it doesn't diminish my appreciation for the story told. They chose a reasonable ending point, with Izumiko and Miyuki coming to a sort of understanding that they have to work together to achieve what they want and Izumiko accepting herself for who she is.

However, when I finished re-watching the series a few weeks ago, I practically had a fit about the injustice of the story being left unfinished. I wouldn't have that strong of an emotional reaction if the story that is there wasn't powerful! I thoroughly realize that I am in the minority in my view of RDG... I'm not sure why I love it so much when others seem to think it is not worthwhile, but I do.

Oh, and my daughter, who was 11 years-old at the time the series aired, had no trouble following the plot and enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. So it isn't like it is that hard to follow! (Granted, I do believe she is some sort of genius, but parental bias may be involved, and that is mostly when it comes to math... LOL!)
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kevinx59



Joined: 27 Jan 2012
Posts: 959
Location: In sunny California
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Ohh Short Peace. I've wanted to see that movie ever since I saw the first Japanese trailer. Unfortunately the dub screening was full at AX. I've seen Gambo and it was brutal and beautifully animated. I really want Sentai's release. Red Data Girl looks pretty (and Mel Kishida's character designs are beautiful) but I probably won't be watching it. Mekaku is Shaft so instant skip for me.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:58 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
I totally agree with Bamboo's assessment that it is not a show for people who like to have their stories spoon-fed to them. It is a challenging story, presented in a way that gives you all of the clues you need to follow it, but makes you work for it.


I absolutely disagree with the notion that Red Data Girl gives you all the clues. There was a lot of pieces that needed to be filled in. Not only that, the clues we did get were all jumbled and presented atypically. Either give me some of the clues but make them easy enough to understand, or give me all of the clues and make them harder to decipher. Don't do both. Don't give me a rushed story that only has a few clues which are nonsensically presented.

The whole story just fell apart after the first few episodes, especially when it came to what the hell was up with (and going on in) the school. The novels may indeed be better, but the anime was a very poor adaptation.
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invalidname
Contributor



Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 2434
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Pardon my being that guy, but I'd really like to see ANN standardize on the spelling Mekakucity Actors, rather than "Mekaku City":
  • This is how the title is spelled on the show's official streaming sites (Crunchyroll, Hulu, Daisuki, Aniplex Channel)
  • There is no place called "Mekaku City" in the anime or the Kagerou Project as a whole. It is a pun on mekakushi, the Japanese word for "blindfold".
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sniper_samurai



Joined: 28 Feb 2010
Posts: 77
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:53 pm Reply with quote
Good to see Short Peace released in the US, the UK version of it comes on a hybrid PS3 disc with the 5th part of the compilation, the game Ranko Tsukigime's Longest Day directed by Suda51.
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 924
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:04 pm Reply with quote
zensunni wrote:
It is a challenging story, presented in a way that gives you all of the clues you need to follow it, but makes you work for it.


See, I don't think it worked in this particular case. Mystery, yes, but there's some serious issues with the pacing of information-release in the tail end of the series... now that I think about it, it shows all the signs of being cut short pretty late in the production cycle, production staff scrambling for an ending. 26 eps would be about normal pacing for a six-novel series.

[also, why did noone licence Good Witch of the West? Never understood that.]
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