Forum - View topicShelf Life - Gasaraki
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Most of the mecha show actually have some form of magic in them. From the newtype stuff in gundam to the geass from code geass passing by escaflowne being magic powered and having Hitomi read the future and stuff. Actually purely grounded in reality show like Patlabor are the exception (and even there there's often few supernatural episode). |
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CoreSignal
 Posts: 727 Location: California, USA |
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I pretty much agree with Paul on Gasaraki. The show has some interesting ideas, social commentary on Japan and it's military, and very realistic mecha battles but the overall execution is a little too slow and dry. I also thought the supernatural elements felt out of place most of the time and the whole spoiler[aliens] thing kinda ruined the ending for me. Gasaraki might've worked better as a straight-up military mecha thriller. The mecha designs stand out though, as they're very realistic and practical, and lots of attention to detail. With the exception of Flag, I don't think seen a more plausible mecha design.
I also liked how Takahashi incorporated Noh drama into the themes of the story although it does get weird at times. Doing a Noh performance in a middle of a battle comes off as a little wacky. That said, I still think that Gasaraki is one of Ryousuke Takahashi's better shows. If you're a mecha fan, I think it's worth watching at least once just to see one of the "realest" Real Robot shows of all time. I still have my old ADV dvds, but I'll probably pick up this set sometime in the future.
It's a stretch but with the resurgence of Gundam in the US, I'm hoping Discotek or some other publishers start taking an interest in Takahashi's mecha shows. I think it's criminal that VOTOMs is still out of print and I imagine you could get some crossover appeal with the Gundam crowd along with Dougram, Layzner, Flag, etc. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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@Coresignal
The other reason I would look towards Discotek to get things like that is they have released really long and old series with a niche market before, like Mazinger Z (the old one), that's even longer than Dougram. But they also released Giant Gorg on DVD, there's no way that had a large built in fan base that could justify something like Fist of the North Star or Lupin the III or something. Naturally, I still bought Giant Gorg because 80s mecha are my anime besties, I'm just really curious how well they're doing. I mean, how well could some of their series be doing? Was there really good demand for Pilot Candidate? At least Mad Bull 34 was advertised as classic so bad it's good (and it was the first time the show was on DVD), so that one probably did ok, but did anyone besides me, Mike Toole, and five other people on here buy Locke the Superman? I guess more popular things like Chi's Sweet Home and Yowamushi Pedal and Samurai Pizza Cats must be helping them out a lot maybe? I also hope people are buying Dai-Guard, speaking of good mecha series, I had the old version so I didn't, but I hope other people did. And I also hope their experiment with the AnimeSols corpse with Dororo has gone well too. But I do plan to be at their Otakon industry panel, so we shall see then. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18209 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I'm going to limit this list to shows in which magic or other supernatural powers are actually involved in operating the mecha. Off the top of my head: Visions of Escaflowne, Maze: The Mega-Burst Space, Broken Blade, Rayearth, Utawarerumono, Nobunaga the Fool, Aura Battler Dunbine, Lord of Lords Ryu Knight. There are many others where it's borderline as to whether or not magic is actually involved and some cases that come up on a "fantasy and mecha" search that I'm not sure about. |
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LadyKuzunoha
 Posts: 91 Location: United States |
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I recall enjoying Gasaraki quite a bit when I first watched it. The mecha designs caught my eye from the very beginning and at the time, I had no real complaints about the execution with regards to plot, etc. It's been many years, though, so who can say whether I'd still have nice things to say about it if I rewatched it. The OP and ED themes definitely still hold up for me, though.
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4088 |
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I have no opinion on Gasaraki. This is weird because 1) I usually have an opinion on everything and 2) I have this exact set and have watched most of it. I still have the last disk so it's in my "to view" pile, I'm just not looking all that hard for it. In fact, I think I even have stuff I've already seen on top of it.
I like the closer, I love the closer. In fact, there's many times I watched an episode just to get to it. I wish that was the story for the series as the setting, the characters and the emotion expressed in that 1 minute 20 seconds easily trumps the other 400 minutes. It's by no means a terrible show, it's just horribly unengaging. |
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TheAncientOne
 Posts: 1872 Location: USA (mid-south) |
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At the moment, Nozomi only has the first 2 episodes available on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrrh84y760v-Lz8VBYoKXRoc_Bph4vVGy Fortunately, I remembered I viewed most of it via the Manga Entertainment app on my Roku, and it turns out they still appear to have all the episodes: http://www.manga.com/titles/gasaraki |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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In addition to the shows that Key mentioned the various Sakura Wars anime have mecha that are powered by spirit energy.
The original ADV singles of Gasaraki, with the art box, are in my backlog. The mecha action and characters are the main reasons why I want to watch it, the political aspect is the main reason why I have not been able to motivate myself to try it. |
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Ziko577
Posts: 136 |
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I watched the entire series online in a few days myself and by the end of it, it was a bit of a letdown as all that buildup led to nothing practically. The only thing about this show I liked was the very Japanese soundtrack which was well done. Beyond that, I find it hard to recommend something like this due to its difficult to follow storyline, lackluster mech designs, and the weird Japanese mystic elements to it. The latter alone could stand out as its own anime as the Kugai are awesome beasts in their own right. You see one of these, and well say you prayers because you won't make it. |
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Stampeed Valkyrie
 Posts: 830 Location: PA |
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I have the original ADV release of this series..I probably haven't sat back down and watched it since its initial release.. What like 16 years ago? This show along with Rahxephon, and I believe BGC 2040 were shows that ADV were really trying to push.. Unfortunately Gasaraki aside from the music as mentioned previously left no desire for me to rewatch again once I was done with it.. I agree that this should sit in the Rental category, but I can't say its good enough to recommend either.
I didn't really find the story deep or cerebral, but more dull and methodical.. It really was not what I was looking for at the time.. Maybe time will be kind to it. I was really surprised to see Nozomi jump on this title as for how it fared with ADVs attempt to release it in the US. Maybe I will go back and rewatch it again.. then again maybe not. |
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GDMaid Man
Posts: 71 |
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[quote="Heishi"]
I liked Gasaarki, but honestly at times it got pretty slow. The art and the realistic designs were what really attracted me to it, that and the inclusion of Noh. I remember hearing at the time that the financial backers of the show weren't too happy that there wasn't a bunch of different mecha that they could make models and toys of. For the songs, I think the ED may be a better stand alone song, but with the graphics of the opening and as setting the tone for the show the OP has been one of my favorite pieces. |
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9849 Location: Virginia |
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I'm going to have to state a different opinion. I got out Gasraki this evening and watched the first five episodes. I found the closing to be excellent as Key said. However, I found the opening song almost painful to listen to and the opening animation nothing special. It is just the typical selection of scenes from the show, designed to create interest without giving away plot points.
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belvadeer
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Gasaraki's cover art has had me curious as to who the third being is with the two main leads.
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nargun
Posts: 925 |
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IIRC it's the Noh mask the male lead wears. |
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belvadeer
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Aw really? Dang, and here I thought that was a being they'd meet since the story has some mystical elements to it. |
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