Forum - View topicREVIEW: xxxHOLiC DVDs 1-2
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I'm pretty much echoing Goodpenguin here but... That's all well and good and I welcome this kind of stuff in a review. I think the problem was the presentation and context. Namely, there was none. It was kind of thrown out there with no evidence supporting it. Provide context (or "set the table") and it would, in my opinion, be fine. This isn't to say that no one would have a problem with it (see also Carl's Death Note review), but there wouldn't really be any good reason to object to its presence. But as I said, you're comments in this review had no context. Reviews should be accessible to people with no prior experience with the series. Presumably, people use these reviews to make purchasing decisions and as such should not be expected to already be familiar with the material. And in this case, the lines in contention are based at least partially off material not even present in the series itself. Again, I appreciate the "new direction" some recent reviews such as this one have taken and I hope they won't disappear because of the flak this review has taken. |
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RabbitRevolution
 Posts: 218 |
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I'm glad to hear from the reviewer, and definitely agree with HitokiriShadow and Goodpeguin. It certainly would be relevant to the review to include perhaps quotes from Ohkawa's statements and discuss whether or not xxxHolic is advocating Ohkawa's/CLAMP's personal ideology based on what she has said and what is in the anime. Without context, then it simply seems that the reviewer is looking at the series purely from her own ideological standpoint.
Last edited by RabbitRevolution on Sun Jun 22, 2008 2:10 am; edited 1 time in total |
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JackCox
 Posts: 386 |
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I have to personally say though I'm wondering just what in god's name the reviewer was thinking about the so-called political overtones in this. Maybe she read wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to deep into this show.
Personally I feel this is very much like Mushi-shi, just not as perfected and polished as it. The stories in some episodes for the most part I feel are based around the whole idea of Karma and the idea that past deeds will come back to haunt you, Notice the episode featuring the woman who just won't tell the truth, we all see what ends up happening to her. |
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Dargonxtc
 Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Really? It's good to know arrogance is still alive sarcasm. Needless to say I disagree. And I am talking accountable deniability here. If you are talking about someone standing on the precipice of the Grand Canyon, and describing what one sees, is one thing. But if you are on the same precipice, and see someone 500 yards downstream and try to describe what they see as if that is your own vantage point, that is entirely another. That is where reasonable objectivity flies out the window. The very point at which you lose your objective, and curtail it into something that in the grand scheme of things has nothing to do with anything. It doesn't mean you can't voice personal opinions. Hell no. But it means you lost your perspective on that cliff and your audience big time. Look. I know that sounds harsh, and I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I have already stated in this thread that I thought everything else in the review was mostly fine, and I was totally with you on many points. I stand by that. But you have to understand that what to you might seem as a minor screw up at the end, made me(and many others) lose focus and have to reevaluate everything you had to say heretofore. I will never be able to recommend this review to anyone. I am guessing I am not alone. But such a curveball. Maybe if you had about four more paragraphs leading into it. I want to say that I am speaking what I am with respect. Not anger, hate or any long-term lingering animosity towards you. I think a lot of what has come up has been resonable criticism, and I hope to read many more reviews from you in the future. I know it is good to switch things up a bit with the way things are done, after all Change is the key word this season, but it is also good to keep things in perspective as well. I think Zac has been extremely reasonable in his responses, and I apologize ahead of time to him if he just wanted this to stop. So I am sorry; just wanted to say this one more thing. I have been working nonstop and didn't have a chance to reply properly before and I am tired. Psycho: I found what you said to be somewhat insultive. Let's face it, this is not like many Answerman column's where we have a bunch of people register just so they can troll a thread telling Zac how much he sucks ass. I believe most of us are allowed to voice discontent. And I believe most of it was done in a respectful way, which is the best way. Hey. We all love the site. This is my favorite anime site, and probably my second or third over the ENTIRE internet. But I don't put that fact above never ever saying anything negative about them. 
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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As many have stated prior, I initially found Casey's closing political commentary quite misplaced -- perhaps even abrasive, and I say this as one with liberal leanings -- in the context of an XXXHolic review; however, following the response issued here regarding political ideologies held by certain member(s) of CLAMP, my opinion has changed considerably. In fact I would say my perspective on the manga (I don't watch the anime) has deepened somewhat. Admittedly, I had always found the concept of fate/hitsuzen slightly disconcerting in its pervasive presence throughout XXXHolic, but was willing to put aside such feelings for an otherwise appealing mystique, great art (I am not surprised to hear the series' visual aesthetic did not transfer well to animation), and enjoyable characters, not mentioning the crossover plot with Tsubasa. To be sure, Casey's revelation in regards to potential (distasteful) political subtexts within XXXHolic will not degrade my enjoyment of the series, but only expand it to another avenue of thought for me, I think. I would comment further, but I haven't read the interview she mentioned. Having said that, I still hesitate to associate Yuko with Oprah and Dr. Phil. I mean, Yuko's pretty chill. On the subject of of Ms. Clinkenbeard's performance as her though, I am glad to hear that it turned out so well; I had high hopes for such a performance. To reiterate Goodpenguin: context is all I ask for. I also welcome the odd opinionated tangent in a review as Zac has seen fit to encourage, but I just want to be aware of relevance to the subject matter. On another note, it is unfortunate to hear that the DVD transfer for XXXHolic was of subpar quality. Regardless of the fact that I had no plan to purchase this, I was hoping the anime would be treated well -- all the better to introduce more readers to the manga counterpart. I'm torn on the "sticker shock" comment. On one hand, I agree that thirty dollars is slightly above the average MSRP today, but on the other I am not certain it is worth mention. Either way I suppose it is a moot point, as many have remarked the DVDs can be bought at much lower prices at either TRSI or RACS. Anyway, I am still enjoying the alternative review style that Casey is providing to ANN. It is proving to be a good edition to the crew I think. Not that Key and Carl should stop writing as they do. Not in the least 
Personally, I would argue that truth must be contingent for coherent subjective judgment to occur, but I digress. I'll keep my first-year university student hat off, lest I make an ass of myself. Oh, and:
QFT. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16935 |
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I never said people had to agree with her nor couldn't dissent now did I? The same going for ANN as a whole. Heck I have spoken out a few times about issues at ANN or with staffers before that I have had. And yes, that's a vast understatement heh. I just have an issue with the people giving the review, and more importantly the reviewer, crap because they more or less simply don't agree with it. Disagreeing constructively and just mindlessly complaining are two different things IMO so let me get that straight. Those simply complaining because she made a political reference in the review, but not actually criticizing the show or her take on the show itself, are not IMO being constructive. Nor are the ones demanding ANN somehow do a second review (please pay attention to this next part closely) simply because this one simply didn't agree with them. Those are the few I say are just looking for the proverbial hand job as they want a review that tells them what they wanna hear. And as I said before for those that feel that way go talk to wall as it will always agree with you and never argue with you. I don't expect you or most, or maybe anyone, to agree with me. It's just my own personal opinions here and if no one feels the same, no offense here but, I won't loose any sleep over it. I'm entitled to my opinions as much as anyone else here of a different mind set. I do agree though with you there have been far worse threads here in the talkback section. Most are also at Zac's expense unfortunately. At least more so then any other staffer that's for sure. |
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Uthred
Posts: 79 |
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Hardly the most glaring issue in the review but Im unsure how useful comparison's between the manga and the anime actually are. While one is usually an adptation of the other (in either direction) reviewers (and often internet fandom at large) often fail to account for the different demands and strengths of each medium. Instead falling back to gross comparisons that fall a little short of making useful points.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Not even considering the soon to be defunct BVUSA I suppose the reason why I made a big deal about it is because I just got Funimation's School Rumble OAV (MSRP $20) which was only 50 minutes long. A couple of months ago BE released the Gundam Seed Final DVD (MSRP $25) which was also under 50 minutes. I was a bit disappointed at the dollar per minute release of both these titles. I still haven't gotten around to buying the Galaxy Angel S 25 minute DVD which goes for $19. xxxHolic is actually twice as long as these and definitely not twice the price and runs the standard DVD price for almost all new releases from Bandai, Funimation or ADV. I will agree that you can find most DVDs for far less than MSRP and bought volumes 1-3 of xxxHolic for $16.19 each from TRSI. In regards to the DVD's actual content I really enjoyed the scene where the bat is finally used. I'm pretty sure that that line is quoting Goemon Ishikawa and really wish that these DVDs had liner notes to point out in jokes like this. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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While I don't necessarily agree with this, I have to say that I like reviews being subjective, though only when the same group of reviewers is looking at the same thing. There is not a single title out there that everyone is going to like, so I think letting a reviewer show their own personal tastes is beneficial to the reader, because it lets them decide whether their tastes are similar to the reviewers or not. I've actually found myself recently paying more attention to who the review for a particular title is here at ANN, because I want to get an idea of what they like and whether I like the same thing. There are definitely reviewers I agree with most of the time (Carlo is the main one I've seen here, with the exception of Vampire Knight which I quite enjoy and he...doesn't so much ) and there are also some people whose negative reviews get me to watch something more than their positive ones would.
The downside to this system of course is that you do have to read multiple reviews in order to get an idea of what one person likes (and you need to have seen some of the series in question yourself to know if you agree). But for me personally, I like it better this time. If I want a description of what happens, I'll go to Wikipedia. (I do agree however that having more context for the political statements would be nice, because it's interesting to think about. I personally really didn't pay attention to the comments there until this thread blew up about them). |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Indeed, a show like XXXHolic would really benefit from liner notes, I think. As I said, I haven't watched the anime, but the translator's notes for the manga have always been useful to me. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 4426 |
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I'll have to side with you on this as well. Given this new information, the last paragraph makes much more sense in terms of placing it in the review. I wouldn't have had a problem with it, or at least as much of one, if Ohkawa's political stance and how it influences her work had been brought up beforehand. Unfortunately, it wasn't and so it really took me by surprise and seemed out of place. And since many of us didn't know about these interviews, I would say a quick extra sentence or two would be all that it would take to get everyone up to speed. So essentially, the political commentary is welcome if it can be put into context. |
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drvoke
Posts: 1 |
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Hi. Oden is a hot-pot soup you share with good friends on a cold winter evening, not a "fish cake"(???).
edit: And the fansubs always included translation notes for the culturally impaired. |
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I actually order oden from a restaurant near my house fairly often. When I was a kid I would only eat the konyaku, carrots and eggs, and leave the seafood for my parents. I would even pick out my kamaboko from my ramen. Oden is one of those things that I'm used to seeing translated as stew since it doesn't have a one word ENglish equivalent. I'm still a bit surprised when Ramune is translated as Lemon Aid (Black Cat and a few other shows) since many fans have drank, or at least know what Lamune is. |
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egoist
 Posts: 7762 |
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I posted before reading the reply from everyone and i gotta say, man things really went in the wrong direction here. If you ask me, you're all acting like me when i was in my age of picking up fights (well not everyone of course). I think i got the wrong idea here, was this discussion about the reviewer or about the anime dvd? So many intellectual posts about such a simple thing.
Now i ask you: When you're solving a 2+2 equation, how many blank pages do you use? Not to forget to write about the anime, for who is interested in it i really recommend it. It's not perfect, just like she says on her review. It was made by inperfect beings after all. |
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Dargonxtc
Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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egoist:
Your first post was better. And just an FYI. Most of the people that replied, have been reading ANN reviews for a while now. |
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