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Shelf Life - Demon Days


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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:52 am Reply with quote
Now I know I'll definitely be saving my money on 'Claymore' even when they come out with the thinpak.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:16 am Reply with quote
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Why is there so much fanservice and nudity? Why is there a magical show on TV where the heroine just gets sexually dominated by villains every episode?

Because it was created by Bow Ditama in Comic Gum, although the manga is far less exaggerated. After all he started his career with adults-only manga (and he likes "liquid").

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Because this show is basically Dr. Phil, if he had porn stars sitting in his lap during the show.

Er, hopefully they wouldn't adapt the idea.
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britannicamoore



Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2618
Location: Out.
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:20 am Reply with quote
I'm looking forward to watching Kaze no Stigma dubbed. I watched a majority of the show fansubbed so I can't wait to see what an english va does with Kazuma.
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asimpson2006



Joined: 13 May 2008
Posts: 3151
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:25 am Reply with quote
Charger Girl Ju-den Chan has caught my interest so now I have to see it, when I get time.
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KanonAirHaruhiShuffle



Joined: 18 Jul 2008
Posts: 199
Location: California
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:11 am Reply with quote
britannicamoore wrote:
I'm looking forward to watching Kaze no Stigma dubbed. I watched a majority of the show fansubbed so I can't wait to see what an english va does with Kazuma.


Then just imagine Robert McCollum's voice
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bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 1243
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 7:34 am Reply with quote
pachy_boy wrote:
Now I know I'll definitely be saving my money on 'Claymore' even when they come out with the thinpak.

Yeah, wrap-party endings (everyone just shakes hands and wanders back to their lives) are annoying as hell. Was this volume shelf worthy on it's own, or more by association?
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I'll be at Otakon next weekend, so there won't be a Shelf Life next week

Such joy and sorrow, all in one line.
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:18 am Reply with quote
Great Kyo Kara Maoh review! Glad to know I'm not the only one who enjoyed the snarkiness of the dub. Smile
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nechronius



Joined: 23 Nov 2005
Posts: 275
Location: So Cal, USA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:28 am Reply with quote
Claymore's ending certainly does end on a rather awkward "is that it?" note, but it's certainly not worse than other animes based on ongoing mangas (Berserk comes to mind as being one of the worst offenders). The rather lackluster ending feels like they're hedging their bets that they can still continue where they left off in the near future, but in case they don't they still have ended it somewhat, even if it's an unsatisfying result.

I just finished watching DVD #6 of Claymore myself over the weekend and yea, I think in light of having read the manga the ending was even more of a bitter pill than I remembered during its TV broadcast. However overall the series was still great and I'm still holding out hope that they will eventually pick up the anime again after a small "reset" of some of the events in DVD #6.

Then again, the manga does feel like it's meandering somewhat directionless right now as well, much like this post. If I had to make a prediction I'd say that there's at least a year left to go before there's enough material for a full second season, and at the rate it's going it will probably need at least a third before things are brought to a close. So what are the odds this will happen? I'm betting that the odds are pretty bad. Quite unfortunate.
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wandering-dreamer



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 1733
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:30 am Reply with quote
Still need to see Claymore sometime and it sounds like the anime ends where I stopped reading the manga (by accident, I really need to get back to it someday).
And a question, do you choose which streams you watch each week or do you agree on a list with some higher up person?
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Goodpenguin



Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 457
Location: Hunt Valley, MD
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:43 am Reply with quote
Quote:
There really aren't enough fantasy shows about boys being whisked away to a new world. That's why Kyo kara Maoh! is so fun. It's cute and sassy, and it's utterly slashable, for all those fangirls (and boys?) who are into such things. Filled with bishonen, it takes the old formula of regular high school girls who are mysteriously transported to an alternate world/dimension and hailed as saviors and princesses—and replaces it with a snarky boy, who not only ends up ruling over a demon kingdom, but ends up betrothed to a dude, too.


At odd's with...

Quote:
This week's featured streaming anime is Charger Girl Ju-den Chan, a show that left me absolutely bewildered. It's sort of a cute show about helping people solve their personal problems—but it's also filled with boobs and bodily fluids and moaning. And camel toes. I was so torn about what I was supposed to get out of the show. How can I focus on the feel-good message of the series when all the girls are feeling good in other ways?


This isn't criticism, as people like what they like, but isn't one show being praised (in a way) as being worth-while because it hits all the usual 'gal fan-service' notes of vaguely homosexual pretty-boys gallantly doing their thing, and the other being knocked because it features.....the usual 'guy fan-service' notes of unexplained T&A?

I can understand people not liking fanservice in any form, and conversely I can understand people liking fanservice I find off-putting, but theres a trend of cherry-picking fanservice an individual likes while somewhat high-hatting fanservice one doesn't. Now maybe 'Charger Girl Ju-den Chan' features some of the more creepy loli/moe/subservient material of late, and that's a horse of a different color in terms of reason(s) to criticize it (I haven't seen the shhow, but the review didn't paint it that way.) But if it's just straight up throw-away T&A of 'Benny Hill'- ish taste, how is that, in a *critical sense* able to be judged better or worse than a throw-away show about androgynous fantasy-lads? Outside of technical/production aspects, aren't both shows relatively the same basic entertainment vehicle for different audiences?
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21stcenturydigitalboy



Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 103
Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:03 am Reply with quote
You're throwing away the show after one episode? Ouch. Not that I'd think it's your thing anyway, but still, ouch. I thought the first episode was pretty good for a fanservice show. The comedic timing was good, the voice acting was superb, and the main girl is cute and full of energy and fun. Plus the show breaks the fourth wall and references Cutie Honey enough times to show that it fully knows what kind of show it is.

I liked it.
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The Human Spider



Joined: 19 Jan 2007
Posts: 334
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:34 am Reply with quote
asimpson2006 wrote:
Charger Girl Ju-den Chan has caught my interest so now I have to see it, when I get time.


The review really got me interested in the show--that's what I like about the "Shelf Life" reviews: they're written in such a way that I can usually tell whether or not I'd probably like a show, regardless of whether it's totally trashed or praised as a masterpiece. The description of the transformation sequences reminded me of JUNGLE DE IKOU, where the transformation sequence for one of the girls apparantly involves some sort of fluid dripping from her crotch.
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Charred Knight



Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3085
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:02 am Reply with quote
I think that may have been the first review of Ju-den chan where I got the feeling that the person actually watched the show, instead of stopping it at the first sign of fanservice.

Way to many times did people see only the nudity and not the story which is actually pretty good. The reviewer is also right about how the series would be a lot better without the hardcore fanservice, and just keeping in the light fanservice, physical comedy, and Charger girl story, and it would be considered a good magical girl series for otaku.

Plug and Arresta do have a great character dynamic, and it would be interesting to see that instead of you know someone peeing.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:38 am Reply with quote
Goodpenguin wrote:
This isn't criticism, as people like what they like, but isn't one show being praised (in a way) as being worth-while because it hits all the usual 'gal fan-service' notes of vaguely homosexual pretty-boys gallantly doing their thing, and the other being knocked because it features.....the usual 'guy fan-service' notes of unexplained T&A?


Actually, if you continue reading her review, she says that if it were just a fanservice series, she wouldn't mind it as much. It's the weird and disturbing contrast between the feel-good help-others message and the exploitative sexual content. Kyo Kara Maoh!'s comical BL overtones fit the over parody-feeling of the series. Usually you have a girl who falls into a magic world, finds she's some holy princess sent to fight evil demons, with a bunch of hot guys. In KKM!, a boy gets flushed down a toilet into another world where he's the king of demons and has to fight humans - but he still has lots of hot guys around him (much to his dismay). It fits as an overall part of having fun with the genre cliches. Bamboo is just arguing that with Charger Girls, the two elements do not fit. Read the reviews over again and you'll see what I mean.

Quote:
Claymore's ending certainly does end on a rather awkward "is that it?" note, but it's certainly not worse than other animes based on ongoing mangas (Berserk comes to mind as being one of the worst offenders). The rather lackluster ending feels like they're hedging their bets that they can still continue where they left off in the near future, but in case they don't they still have ended it somewhat, even if it's an unsatisfying result.


Yeah, they had to end it somewhere. And to end it on the real ending in the manga right before spoiler[the time skip], leaving you thinking that spoiler[all the main characters were dead], people would have been even more pissed. That said, I remember writing a brief comment in my lj after finishing this bitching at Raki for spoiler[not letting Clare kill Priscilla]. Seriously, wtf dude?

Quote:
Then again, the manga does feel like it's meandering somewhat directionless right now as well, much like this post. If I had to make a prediction I'd say that there's at least a year left to go before there's enough material for a full second season, and at the rate it's going it will probably need at least a third before things are brought to a close. So what are the odds this will happen? I'm betting that the odds are pretty bad. Quite unfortunate.


Yup. At this point I'm not reading it. Ever since the characters split up, there are just too many threads running at once and not enough direction to the series. Plus the weird new back story that sort of appeared out of nowhere (there were hints, but they were awfully vague) left me unimpressed. A shame, really.
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:39 am Reply with quote
Goodpenguin wrote:
This isn't criticism, as people like what they like, but isn't one show being praised (in a way) as being worth-while because it hits all the usual 'gal fan-service' notes of vaguely homosexual pretty-boys gallantly doing their thing, and the other being knocked because it features...the usual 'guy fan-service' notes of unexplained T&A?


Normally, I'd agree with you about the double-standards inherent in reviewing any fanservice-driven show, but not so much in this case.

Ju-Den seems to encompass (like you suggested) some of the more "creepy" fanservice: humiliating stuff like urination, etc.

Whereas the fanservice in Kyo Kara Maoh is more of the "here's a fantasy-comedy where all the main characters just happen to be gorgeous men" variety.

So Bamboo's review still seems pretty legit from where I'm sitting.

EDIT: Ah, vashfanatic beat me to it. And did a much better job of summing it up, to boot. Never mind~


Last edited by neocloud9 on Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:42 am; edited 1 time in total
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