Forum - View topicANNCast - Jellyfish Princes
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tangytangerine
 Posts: 439 |
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Looks like I need to at least watch a few episodes of Princess Jellyfish after this. I passed on it when it came out. But that 12+ discussion definitely had me wondering what I missed.
Also it was mentioned that in the twitter time that Anime Network on Demand has stopped recycling old ADV stuff. Which is not true judging from the listing on my cable box. They're still putting Sakura Wars TV on there and they just wrapped up Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. So they're still doing it. But at least they offer entire series subtitled on demand through cable, unlike Funimation. |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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About Princess Jellyfish... I definitely felt the same way as you did, Zac, about the end in regards to just not being able to feel attached, about not really being able to relate to that degree of insecurity or that degree of, for lack of a better term, otakuness. When I watched the show I was acutely aware from the start that I was enjoying this show as an observer (I could tell after the first episode that it was a show written for women), looking for what makes them tick rather than what I had in common; for more broad truths rather than personal ones.
That said, I still enjoyed Princess Jellyfish for the same reasons ittoujuu did. I enjoyed the humor and I liked thinking about the commentary the show's content invites, and I appreciated the uncomfortable feeling of realism that I got from it--something I didn't stop to really articulate to myself, but I think you described very well, Zac. I'm glad a show like Princess Jellyfish exists, and I'm glad I watched it, even though it's not something I enjoyed or connected with enough to ever watch again.
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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I enjoyed Princess Jellyfish mostly for its humor (more mature and witty than most animes) and the character interactions. I never particularly felt related to the characters, but I found them to be very like-able. It was also funny how the series kind of has this message of "there are plenty of different types of geeks and freaks" (the car fanatic f.ex.), and how the crossdresser is actually the most normal (and functional?) member of the cast.
Plenty of Noitamina series are adaptions of josei / shojo mangas, i.e. aimed at a female audience (and most of them are as good or better than Princess Jellyfish), which doesn't mean they aren't enjoyable for other viewers, but they're definitely different from the usual geeky male- or teenager-oriented anime series. Of course, there are some other shojo animes as well (Chihayafuru f.ex.), but usually they don't sell very well (if they're not some kind of fanservice / reverse-harem show). Last edited by maaya on Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:39 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2544 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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I will agree that Initial D's character designs suck; I tried reading the first volume of the manga, and I just could never get used to how the characters look. I normally can accept rough drawings, but Shuichi Shigeno's character art is just too bad for me... His art of cars and stuff like that, though, is great. My friend actually watched a few episodes of Musashi no Ken a few months ago and did like what he saw, so that's how I was familiar with it before this podcast. But, hey, if Musashi no Ken leads to another Buried Treasure article from Justin then I say "Bring it on!" I've thought about watching Rebirth of Buddha, but hearing how silly it is makes me want to check it out even more now.
I remember hearing a lot of praise for Princess Jellyfish, and at AnimeNEXT last year I remember being in a panel that brought up the anime, and, if I remember correctly, the majority of the cheers for when it was brought up was female... But I guess I just didn't really think of it as "This show is probably meant for females, but it can be enjoyed by all". Jellyfish sounds more like the title I'd possibly be more willing to check out in manga form, if the manga would ever get licensed. V-Guy, if you want a good introduction to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, your best bet is probably the early-90s anime adaptation of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's 60-volume manga adaptation of the original novel. The anime has been fully fansubbed and it covers the first half of the manga, and it's focus is to be farily accurate to the story of the novel. It doesn't get really over-the-top like a lot of other Three Kingdoms titles and it doesn't change genders, like many Three Kingdoms titles do nowadays. In short, watching Yokoyama's Three Kingdoms doubles as a good history lesson. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Maybe it's because I have always viewed anime as an observer, not inserting myself into the main character, but I had absolutely no issue with Princess Jellyfish. True, I didn't completely understand the issues that Tsukimi (and Kuronosuke) went through, but that doesn't hinder my enjoyment. I merely observe the characters as they deal with whatever is happening. I never really approach a character with the mindset of putting myself in that character's shoes.
Anyway, Brains Base did an absolutely wonderful job with Princess Jellyfish. I'm overjoyed that FUNimation brought it over so I can own it. That said, I think you're wrong on Tatami Galaxy Zac. But at least there is a distributor already dedicated to bringing out Yuasa's work, so I'll just give Siren Visual my money instead of FUNimation or Sentai. |
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agila61
 Posts: 3213 Location: NE Ohio |
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In the end I loved Jellyfish Princess, but I did fall behind it around three to five episodes in, as I normally do simulcasts that aren't on Crunchyroll ...
... but when I I caught up near the end of the run it was in one or two episodes batches a couple of times a week. |
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jenthehen
 Posts: 835 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio |
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I've only listened through the B Gata H K / Yamada's First Time discussion, so I'm going to comment on that
I guess Yamada just wasn't your type of humor, Zach. Personally, I found it laugh-out-loud funny ... I rarely laugh out loud at anime, but I was for every episode (especially the dub). The visual gags and inappropriate humor just cracked me up. I just really appreciated that it was basically a sex comedy for FEMALES. I could really relate to Yamada, because I was almost exactly like her (less exaggerated, of course) in Jr. High / early High School - obsessed with getting guys / hooking up / sex, but totally clueless and curious and nervous and inexperienced. And the guys just didn't seem to "get it" and I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't pick up on my signals and "make the move." So a lot of the inner monologues just cracked me up. So overall, the show was a real treat for me ... but I could see why that exact plot and comedy isn't for everyone, and why it definitely wouldn't be accessible for your standard otaku. |
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jsieczkar
Posts: 139 |
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You can add me to the the list of males who liked Princess Jellyfish and bought it, 4 more days till delivery. I never thought and still don't think that the show is aimed at older women, but aimed at older people in general. The themes in the show are universal you don't have to be a female to be introverted, nerdy, or any other theme from the show. I liken the show to Bartender which is supposedly for adult males but the show is really for all adults. Both shows I think fall victim to the need to categorize everything into nice neat labels.
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ljaesch
Posts: 299 Location: Enumclaw, WA |
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Yamada: Between what I've read in other threads and what I heard in this podcast, I will definitely need to find a way to watch more than the first episode. I'll have to keep an eye open to see if my local library system ever purchases this release.
Daft Punk's Discovery: I agree with Zac that this is a fantastic album. At some point, my husband and I will need to purchase our own copy of this CD, instead of borrowing our 14-year-old daughter's copy.
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Sceleris
Posts: 43 Location: Sweden |
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I never did like the Yamada's First Time anime particularly much when it aired. I felt that Yamada was kind of unlikeable, that the comedy was pretty bad, and that the show was surprisingly tame for its supposed subject matter.
The original manga, however, I really did enjoy. For starters, it was less cliche, at least in some details: the rich girl lives in a large house and not a castle, and her secret room is a room, not a safe protected with iris recognition and so on. The Sex God made an entrance much later in the series and, thankfully, takes up much less space. Going on, Yamada's tsundere streak was also a little milder (not having to hear Yukari Tamura's voice helps a lot), and since the original is a four panel strip comic it had much snappier jokes -- and many, many more non-graphic punchlines about masturbation, a staple of any normal teenager's life. Especially Yamada's -- I mean, I don't remember her, uh, "patting the poodle" during class in the anime... But seriously, the sexual bluntness really makes it a funny and slightly unique manga, and even kind of sweet. |
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050795
 Posts: 230 |
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Not saying that you have to be a nerdy female otaku to enjoy/understand/relate to every message in Princess Jellyfish, but there are some that aspects that are aimed directly at women and the fact that you didn't pick up on it proves it. |
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DRWii
 Posts: 636 |
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I liked "Princess Jellyfish" myself, but then again I don't really tend to think about whether I can relate to the characters unless they really jump out at me. Now that I think about it, I guess I can relate somewhat to the characters because I consider myself an something of an otaku and lack a sense of confidence, and I also value feminine beauty (regardless of gender) so Kuranosuke is a rather likable character to me.
I also really don't like the "this isn't meant for you, it's meant for (insert broad general demographic like sex/gender here)," because I think a work of fiction should just be what it is going to be and whoever is going to like it will like it. About the only broad demographic I'm okay with considering in the creation process is age ("is this for a younger audience or an older audience").
I think the difference is that Tsukimi's lack of self-worth is partly based on how she isn't a "princess," and I think he just finds that a bit too simplistic to be compelling as Shinji or Sato (again, I think; I don't speak for Zac). |
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Surrender Artist
 Posts: 3264 Location: Pennsylvania, USA |
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Zac and Justin just talking about what they've been watching and answering questions make for nice interludes between more programmed episodes.
The encyclopedia page for Rebirth of Buddha gives no indication of an English dub for it, but that's not surprising given the obscurity of the film. I'm surprised that Justin even found such a thing. I never expected to like weekly streaming video, but damn it all If don't relish eagerly awaiting each new episode of I Bet A Lot of People Are Sick of Hearing About It Space Pirates. I haven't followed any other series so far, although I keep claiming that I will cram a few down my media gullet one of these days, except for Black Rock Shooter, but only because the way that is being offered doesn't offer much of a choice. What Zac talked about was an amusing coincidence for me as I'll probably watch Yamada's First Time: B Gata H Kei and Princess Jellyfish close together in a month or so. (I have both, their times just haven't come) I was sold on Princess Jellyfish by its trailer and how very different from even what's uncommon in anime it seemed. Zac's experience with the series made it more intriguing to me. The source manga is josei, so I know who it was aimed at, but I think that I'll find it very engrossing regardless. What I'm not sure about is whether I will empathize with it in some way like the target audience would or find it interesting in some almost 'anthropological' way. It's definitely a surprise that Princess Jellyfish was animated. I bought it just to feebly support the chance of more like it coming to be. That feeble effort was given what is surely fleeting, hopeless vindication by something that Chris Bevins said at the Katsucon panel for the series:
I don't consider it realistic to hope for that, but it was an intriguing statement. The funny thing about Yamada's First Time: B Gata H Kei is that it might make a better companion piece to Princess Jellyfish than one would expect. My first instinct when I learned about it was to dismiss it as some tedious, tawdry male fantasy. I retrospect, I think that I overrated to imagination and empathy of otaku in presuming that, but my mind changed when I noticed several women seemingly liking a series that I would have expect them to respond to with nothing more enthusiastic than a quiet sigh of resignation. It's not a statistically robust and comprehensive survey (I can name three data, at best), but it was unexpected enough to make me curious. Last edited by Surrender Artist on Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:49 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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shukero
 Posts: 493 Location: Michigan |
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I may just be speaking out of my ass here, but What I think Zac liked about Eva is probably the same things I liked about it; those were the scifi aspects, and the story. Believe me when I say no one hates how un-progessive shinji was more than I; since I use to be like him in many ways, which I have over come since. But the way the story is told, the art, and the way that anime makes you think is what I absolutely love about it.
I have yet to try this as well. Unfortunately the only thing "around" me is cedar point; and that's unfortunate becuase by "around" I mean about 4-5 hours away xD |
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Yorozuya
Posts: 332 |
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Yeah, I'm the marathon type too. Which is why I normally only keep up with one simulcast or so a season and then go back to the things I liked later.
About Princess Jellyfish. I didn't even know what it was about until I heard this pod cast but if it's about female insecurity and is something that us girls are supposed to be able to relate to then I'm all for it. I did a quick amazon search and google search though and I can't see anywhere it's legal in the UK so I might have to wait a while :] Also, I know this is a little patronising but I find it adorable when Americans say 'British' accent! I'm pretty sure most of the people in that show are using 'English' accents. I know that outside of the UK 'British' and 'English' are sort of synonymous but it still tickles me every time I hear it 
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I'd rather have a good trailer than a good tagline anyway, but I rarely saw a Funimation tagline that didn't make me go "Aw...no." Bought the Viridian box of Rumbling Hearts several months back and the tagline they thought worked best for that was, apparently, "Betrayal is a Bitch." Which, if you've seen the show...no. 
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