Forum - View topicMnemosyne - Mnemosyne no Musume-tachi.
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Well, I don't hold grudes especially against fellow Black Lagoon and Monster fans.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program. I'm pretty sure there were others watching this series that haven't reported in yet. |
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Chilipop
 Posts: 4 Location: Toronto |
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Reporting in!
I did manage to watch all of Mnemosyne the other day, and I have to say that when I watched the first episode when it came out, it took a lot of willpower to continue through the end. Honestly, Mnemosyne had more gratuitous sex and violence than I am usually used to, so it did take me a moment to get over it and continue. I'm one of those people that make sure to watch the first few episodes or so before I decide if I'll watch more of it. In this case, since it's only 6 episodes, I made sure to watch the first one at least. Once I got over the initial shock, I found the series to be quite good...the first 2 episodes and the finale at least. The premise is really interesting, and I like the idea of the portrayal of passing generations. I especially like Rin. Mimi is a typical moe kind of girl, but she does have some interesting character development. That's nothing on Rin, though- she's dorky normally but kickass when the situation calls for it, and she's not some dragonball z infallible character either. Plus I have to add, I really like their dog. Their dog is cool. So cool. 
It's really funny though- I recommended this to my friends, and when they first saw the episode, they were like 'Chilipop what the hell, how twisted are you!?' until they too finished the first episode and were like, 'hm, not so bad...it's actually pretty good!' Kruszer, I take it you're not much of a fan of either Black Lagoon or Monster? |
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Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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While the storyline managed to rescue itself somewhat in the end, ultimately this anime was really just a delivery system for gratuitous sex and violence, not to mention combinations of the two. I like a good old brainless gore-fest as much as the next gal (at least, the next gal who likes that sort of thing), but parts of it had me going oh, come on. A big part of the reason I kept up with the series was Ishida Akira's awesome bishounen evilness - Apos was probably the best nutso-messed up-sweetheart I've ever seen after Asakura Hao, and from me that's quite a compliment.
The future was really cool, though. And I too loved the dog. Oh yeah, and when spoiler[Rin was all excited about being a mom] at the end, that was cute. I guess if you just accept the fact that plot is really not the purpose of this anime, it was pretty good. At least, it accomplished what it set out to do and did so in fine style. |
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ShadowTrader
 Posts: 231 Location: NJ |
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Haha I was going "oh, come on" too, and I'm a male who usually does not mind brainless gore fests. I'm still surprised at the positive comments though. You are entitled to like some parts like the dog and Rin becoming a mom, because I believe those to be some of only down to earth elements and more sane elements of the anime. But the lack of good criticism besides the sex and violence is a sign that more people liked it than hated it. My original post still stands, and I'm glad to see that Murasakisuishou is of a similar opinion but I disagree in that the "storyline managed to rescue itself somewhat in the end" because I believe it did not manage that feat at all. Up to the very last moment they were still showing unnecessary nudity not to mention the ending itself felt fabricated, which just further reinforced the belief in mind, as you said that it was "just a delivery system for gratuitous sex and violence." |
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Kruszer
Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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On the contrary actually, I'd rate them among my all time top 10 favorite anime. Monster taking the #1 position and Black Lagoon the #5 spot. (Rounding it out the others would be Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Planetes, Haibane Renmei, Elfen Lied, Rumbling Hearts, Kurenai, Ergo Proxy and then the Higurashi no Naku Koroni franchise.) Last edited by Kruszer on Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:07 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Murasakisuishou
Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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The thing is, you just don't judge something like this on the same level as you would an anime that was in it for the story and not just the babes and violence. If I were to hold this anime up to the standards to which I would hold, say, the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex franchise, another series where kickass female violence is one of the selling points, I'd say that Mnemosyne was terrible by comparison because the story was weak and contrived and the characters flat and lifeless. I enjoy SAC not only for Motoko's ass-kickery and lesbian overtones but also for a deep, well developed, fast-paced storyline and beautifully fleshed out characters, and it's obvious that the anime was created to appeal to both the part of me that enjoys a bit of fanservice in my action and the part of me that likes to think. Mnemosyne is totally different - from the first five minutes it's obvious that the plot is second-rung to the fanservice and violence. For what it was supposed to be (basically softcore pornography) it was pretty good, and I don't think any of us were expecting it to pull itself together as well as it did at the end (again, as well as it did for what it was). Subjectivity is the key here. In the broad scheme of anime, Mnemosyne is pretty silly and not something I'd recommend to very many people. However, as far as intentionally fanservicey, so-bad-they're-tolerable titles go it was not a complete waste. |
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ShadowTrader
Posts: 231 Location: NJ |
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Ah there's the difference. Just like Kruszer you rate anime completely different from me. I rate anime based on how it compares to every single other one I've seen, basically a ranking system from 1-120. I don't know who is the normal one but I doubt its any of us.
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Murasakisuishou
Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
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I don't think that anyone can have a 'normal' rating system - people rate based on what feels right to them, and if comparing your anime to everything else you've seen is your thing, then it's your thing. I only gave Mnemosyne a 'Decent' rating personally; I had kind of hoped for a *bit* more plot, since I'm not all that into completely pointless violence, but my enjoyment of the art and animation definitely factored in there and pushed the rating up a bit. Rating systems will vary from person to person, so I'd just mark it as whatever you think is appropriate and not sweat it too much if someone comes at the rating from a different angle. |
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ShadowTrader
Posts: 231 Location: NJ |
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Its hard not to "sweat it too much" when a lot of the stuff that is recreated or seasoned twice is based on popularity. Fans with different tastes that go against the mainstream opinion often find themselves having to wait ages before production studios stop focusing on the mainstream and create something closer to their specifications. Ratings can also get skewed by celebrity endorsements or hyped attention which often creates barrier against criticism which leads to illegitimate second seasons, remakes, or rip-offs. When instead creators should be striving to always create something better and not be motivated by fatter profit margins if they go more mainstream. But sadly, money is the only true language of the world, and no matter who declares themselves a die hard artist with the pure goal of creation for the sake of art, they will still have to eat and pay the bills.
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Dorcas_Aurelia
 Posts: 5344 Location: Philly |
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So I finally got the last two episodes, and I was glad to see that they weren't quite as bad as episode 4, although the spoiler[amnesia] and spoiler[Rin's doppelganger] made episode 5 pretty lame. Overall, I remain massively disappointed with the show. Most of the sex was irrelevant to anything that was happening, and the violence was only infrequently accompanied by outrageous fight scenes. The plot was only ever vaguely cohesive, even within a given episode. The first four episodes pretty much only exist to justify Mishio's presence in the final two. Also, the mystery elements of the plot were only able to exist as such due to obfuscation of basic facts. That, combined with the frequency with which new characters are introduced makes it difficult to understand what's going on even in retrospect.
Apos wasn't a particularly interesting villain due to the obvious logical gaps in the evil plot and unexplainable unnecessary actions (random, immortals had to be killed why?). Laura's apparent hatred of Rin goes deeper than simply working for Apos, and then spoiler[while it's understandable she'd turn on Apos after being betrayed, she was acting downright friendly with Rin at the end.] There's no justification for that kind of drastic change in characterization. I ended up finding the final two episodes a lot more humorous than I had expected. A shame the series hadn't tried that sooner; the comic relief would have helped balance the mishmash melodrama. |
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ShadowTrader
Posts: 231 Location: NJ |
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I'm glad to see you rated it as weak. Your critique was very accurate and I felt the same way. I also agree with you that by the end I was laughing too, it was just so random that I couldn't help but laugh and ask WTF, what the hell am I watching? As for comic relief I didn't feel it was even decent enough to mention, nor was it a redeeming quality of the last episodes, overall weak is a good rating for it and a good way to describe it.
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