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REVIEW: Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk DVD


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Nebs



Joined: 19 Jul 2003
Posts: 384
Location: University of Illinois
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:24 am Reply with quote
I'm usually a dub fan, & while I look forward to checking out Funi's dub, having Kenn play the lead role of Jil in the Japanese version is actually the main reason I'm picking up this title. ^^
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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:36 am Reply with quote
Wow, this looks like it may really be worth checking out. It takes a helluva good presentation to interest me in fantasy anime, not because I don't like the genre, but just because there's so much of it out there.

What say you, fellow forum-goers? Worth the money?
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:11 am Reply with quote
neocloud9 wrote:
Wow, this looks like it may really be worth checking out. It takes a helluva good presentation to interest me in fantasy anime, not because I don't like the genre, but just because there's so much of it out there.

What say you, fellow forum-goers? Worth the money?


If I were you, I'd give it a rental first. It takes a very big mood shift in its second season, and you might not like it.

That said, I did enjoy watching this when it was streamed a year or two ago. It's not a "must own" for me, but I would definitely say I liked it. I sort of oscillate back and forth on what rating I should give it. It's not a brilliant series, but it was definitely a step in the right direction for GONZO in the wake of Dragonaut: downplay the fan service, play up the characters and plot, and keep your tongue in cheek throughout most of it. It's that final point that falls by the wayside a little in the second half. Whether that's an improvement or not will be up to you to decide.
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kpk



Joined: 05 Apr 2009
Posts: 484
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:06 pm Reply with quote
This show has one of the worst use of CG in a 2D environment i have ever seen (Druaga itself looks terrible! and the fight against him looks visually like it out of place Confused)
But the rest of the show is decent, i guess.
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malvarez1



Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 1658
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:25 pm Reply with quote
I need to check this out.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 12:36 pm Reply with quote
kpk wrote:
This show has one of the worst use of CG in a 2D environment i have ever seen (Druaga itself looks terrible! and the fight against him looks visually like it out of place Confused)


Yeah, I have to agree, I was surprised that Carl called it "a magnificent example of Gonzo's CG at its most majestic." I thought it was just plain awful. Part of that, though, comes from how great the 2D environment really is. The mediocre CG is all the more glaring because it's against some of the best 2D animation you can get.
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 4:42 pm Reply with quote
This is probably the only review where I accepted the fact the story deserves "C+"...

And this is also, my most favorite review that Carl has written in a while. No joke. Infinite kudos!

Sure, Druaga isn't groundbreaking in both substance or approach, but it, like Carl said: Takes an unlikely source and turns into something that no one would expect and MORE! Much more!

Gonzo is one of my absoulte-favorite studio's because they are the master of adaptions EVER...
Be it a famous novel, a film classic, a manga, a video game, Gonzo can do it! Not flawlessly, but they can do it!

As always, I luv the dub! Monica is one of my VAs, and Chuck sure has been in a lot of stuff recently... Sgt. Frog, Soul Eater, and now this! He must have a craving for comedy and wacky style!

Overall, I'm glad Carl did such a great job! Mind you, I haven't seen the ending, but the music, art, humor, and dub impressed me enough to put this and Sword of Uruk on my Amazon wish list!
Let's climb the Tower! Oops need some more coins... Very Happy
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egoist



Joined: 20 Jun 2008
Posts: 7762
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 5:22 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
kpk wrote:
This show has one of the worst use of CG in a 2D environment i have ever seen (Druaga itself looks terrible! and the fight against him looks visually like it out of place Confused)


Yeah, I have to agree, I was surprised that Carl called it "a magnificent example of Gonzo's CG at its most majestic." I thought it was just plain awful. Part of that, though, comes from how great the 2D environment really is. The mediocre CG is all the more glaring because it's against some of the best 2D animation you can get.

If you watch Glass Fleet you'll understand what he means.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
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Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 6:28 pm Reply with quote
egoist wrote:
vashfanatic wrote:
kpk wrote:
This show has one of the worst use of CG in a 2D environment i have ever seen (Druaga itself looks terrible! and the fight against him looks visually like it out of place Confused)


Yeah, I have to agree, I was surprised that Carl called it "a magnificent example of Gonzo's CG at its most majestic." I thought it was just plain awful. Part of that, though, comes from how great the 2D environment really is. The mediocre CG is all the more glaring because it's against some of the best 2D animation you can get.

If you watch Glass Fleet you'll understand what he means.


Why? Is the CG in Glass Fleet just that bad or just that good? Because the Druaga animation really did look like something from the 90s.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5823
Location: Virginia, United States
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:21 pm Reply with quote
I think the Tower of Druaga is the best anime based on a RPG since Record of Lodoss War.

I was actually interested in the characters and I wanted to see what comes next. Though the first season didn't answer very many questions, and raised lots more in the last five minutes. Lots more....

The CG of Druaga didn't bother me, and one can say that this was Druaga the final boss monster, so Druaga needed to be different.

Though I thought Druaga shouldn't have been unintelligent or at least have given the appearance of lacking intelligence. Perhaps the monster wasn't really Druaga. After all this is the Tower of Druaga, one would think the creator of the Tower would at least talk to his trapped guests.

An enjoyable first season despite my questions, hopefully the second season will be released and be just as good.
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:03 pm Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
egoist wrote:
vashfanatic wrote:
kpk wrote:
This show has one of the worst use of CG in a 2D environment i have ever seen (Druaga itself looks terrible! and the fight against him looks visually like it out of place Confused)


Yeah, I have to agree, I was surprised that Carl called it "a magnificent example of Gonzo's CG at its most majestic." I thought it was just plain awful. Part of that, though, comes from how great the 2D environment really is. The mediocre CG is all the more glaring because it's against some of the best 2D animation you can get.

If you watch Glass Fleet you'll understand what he means.


Why? Is the CG in Glass Fleet just that bad or just that good? Because the Druaga animation really did look like something from the 90s.


Dragonaut had worse integration, but the CG of Druaga was still noticeable when used. I wish GONZO would get off this CG high-horse, it tends to look awful pretty much most of the time. As for a show with decent integration of CG into regular animation, Rideback achieved the look without looking too out of place.
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MetatronM



Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 281
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:08 am Reply with quote
Gonzo's CG is always awful. I've never understood why they're so insistent on using it, as it always looks like absolute garbage.


Druaga's high point is decidedly episode 1, though. It's really all downhill after that. Not that it becomes "bad" or anything, it's just a really memorable and terrific episode 1 followed by a really average series that tries to salvage itself and make an identity for itself by being tongue-in-cheek about its dependance on standard RPG tropes, archetypes, and in-jokes.
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Big Hed



Joined: 04 May 2006
Posts: 1607
Location: Melbourne, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:52 am Reply with quote
neocloud9 wrote:
What say you, fellow forum-goers? Worth the money?


Worth my money. An unpretentious story with solid pacing from start to finish, and fun characters (season two included). The show does also look great, as Carl noted, especially given the budget constraints undoubtedly placed on it (I tend to think Druaga himself was a middling work of CG). This is a very easy show to watch and like, if you are just looking for something to sit down and take a load off with.

Oh, and the two episode 1s are hilarious.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:04 am Reply with quote
MetatronM wrote:
Druaga's high point is decidedly episode 1, though. It's really all downhill after that.

Aah! I having Futakoi Alternative flashbacks!
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:41 pm Reply with quote
walw6pK4Alo wrote:
Dragonaut had worse integration, but the CG of Druaga was still noticeable when used.


I'll give you that, hands down. And at least there was just the one scene with Druaga rather than episode after episode of lousily animated space dragons (the dragon in this series was pretty cool).

Quote:
I wish GONZO would get off this CG high-horse, it tends to look awful pretty much most of the time.


They used to be cutting edge, but they've fallen behind.

Quote:
As for a show with decent integration of CG into regular animation, Rideback achieved the look without looking too out of place.


Rideback was AMAZING with its CG! It was so smoothly integrated with the 2D art, it needs to be licensed just so reviewers can have it there as a standard by which to measure all CG.
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