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Post by Ghost Bear on Jul 28, 2009 3:50:20 GMT -5
Wow... That's some perseverence you've shown. I'd never watch past 2-3 episodes of a show if it wasn't good. 30 seems... excessive.
I'm not actually into anime or manga, and am only passing through this thread out of idle curiosity. You may now proceed to ignore me.
-GB
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Post by Samildanach on Jul 28, 2009 10:01:06 GMT -5
Haha, I suppose that's true. I hadn't thought of myself as persevering. Basically, it was a combination of boredom and stubbornness (because someone recommended One Piece to me and I really wanted to like it). The thing is, because the series is over 400 episodes (and counting), the first thirty or so episodes are the equivalent of the first couple of episodes of a normal series. It takes the main character, Luffy, quite a long time just to assemble the core group of characters.
Something I'm increasingly noticing about One Piece is its continuity. You can be watching an episode somewhere in the 80s, and suddenly someone you saw in passing in episode 10 will become relevant. Everything remotely out of the ordinary will become important sooner or later, and anyone who isn't killed will make a comeback eventually.
Nothing is ever wasted or forgotten, and that's quite a feat.
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Post by Samildanach on Aug 12, 2009 11:41:21 GMT -5
I now have: Paranoia Agent Ayakashi: Japanese Horror Chaos;HEAdI'm not sure which will be first. The Chaos;HEAd (no, those aren't typos) review claims it's quite bad, but the premise intrigues me - and it wouldn't be the first time I've enjoyed something the reviewers on THEM Anime don't like (see Gantz and Divergence Eve). I've found I often like things they give three stars, and dislike things they give five stars.
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Post by Samildanach on Apr 24, 2010 21:11:13 GMT -5
Science fiction comedy time! I've just completed the Irresponsible Captain Tylor TV series. A review suggested it would appeal to anyone who likes science fiction yet is able to laugh at it. I'm not sure I'd go that far, since the science fiction elements of this are pretty lazy, but it was quite entertaining. Actually, it's just occurred to me that the main character is kind of a more plausible take on the Kirk model of starship captain.
The series is about a young man called Justy Ueki Tylor who joins the space military in hopes of an easy life and manages, through pretty much blind luck, to get a rapid promotion to command of a starship. The ship itself is a junk heap, and the crew are all misfits and degenerates. Obvious comedy set-up.
Captain Tylor himself is, as I said, a bit Kirk-like in that he, like Kirk, tends to go for really outrageous, bold actions that rely on good luck and surprise. Unlike Kirk, however, everyone thinks Tylor is a reckless imbecile who scrapes through on undeserved good fortune. The plausibility of him being in charge of a starship is questionable, but I think his peers' opinion of him is more convincing than the hero worship ladled upon Kirk. It's left to the viewer to decide whether Tylor is just a lucky idiot, or a brilliant military tactician who, Columbo-like, passes himself off as a goofball for reasons of his own.
It's pretty weak at the start, but hits its stride after a few episodes. It trails off towards the end too, as some events prove anti-climactic and we get regular appearances by the most annoying character in the series, the enemy empress.
All in all, a solid series and I'm glad I watched it, but it was let down somewhat by a weak beginning and end. Oh, I should note that the visuals were good for an early '90s series. It doesn't look present day, but it doesn't look its age either.
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Post by Doomy on Apr 25, 2010 4:33:02 GMT -5
From your description it sounds a lot like a Japanimation version of the sitcom Hyperdrive from a few years back?
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Post by Samildanach on Apr 25, 2010 6:24:57 GMT -5
I can see a resemblance. I was never very taken with Hyperdrive though. It always seemed like it wanted to be Red Dwarf.
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Post by Samildanach on Feb 1, 2011 18:39:24 GMT -5
Several years after watching the TV series, I've finally got round to checking out the Cowboy Bebop feature film. Bebop is a common gateway series, and I think that as result it enjoys more praise than it really deserves. It's a decent enough series, but lacks the spark to make it great. I find it a little characterless in places, too.
The film is basically a long episode, so it sticks pretty closely to my description. On the bright side, it surprised me a little. I expected it to be about Spike, since he is more or less the main character of the series, but the others get their share of screen time too. In particular we see quite a lot of Faye, which is nice. Despite her Miss Fanservice overtones, I like Faye as a character and a person (that is, I appreciate her role in the cast and also find her a likeable personality) and tend to feel she was under-used in the main series.
Overall, if I were rating it, it would be a solid 7/10. Nothing special, but an enjoyable enough use of 93 minutes.
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Post by Shadow Crow on Feb 2, 2011 7:22:42 GMT -5
Up to one year and a half ago I was not so intrigued about One Piece but one of my friend told me it was great, then I began watching it in streaming and totally got caught in the story, specially during the Arlong Park episodes and the beginning of the journey in the Grand Line.
I'm currently on episode 202 out of 486 (still running) and started collecting the manga (volume 30 to buy today out of 58).
I'm also happy with the fact that my comic store has a complete series of the First Edition available and that the italian publication is quite on par with Japan (I think there is no more of 62 volume in Japan).
Every episode I can confirm that this is a great series and the news that Oda has already planned how it should end make me hope in a final faithful to the spirit of the story.
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Post by Samildanach on Feb 3, 2011 6:36:09 GMT -5
Up to one year and a half ago I was not so intrigued about One Piece but one of my friend told me it was great, then I began watching it in streaming and totally got caught in the story, specially during the Arlong Park episodes and the beginning of the journey in the Grand Line. Arlong Park remains one of the best story arcs in the entire series. It's powerful and moving, and Nami's voice acting is remarkable. Very few voice over actors produce that sort of emotion. Hell, even some normal/on-screen actors can't manage it. (I'm talking about the Japanese version here; I don't watch the English dub. When someone speaking a foreign language conveys more emotion than someone speaking your own language, that's quite impressive)
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Post by Samildanach on Jul 17, 2011 13:37:06 GMT -5
I hadn't watched much anime in a while but I have quite a lot lying around that I've never got round to, so I decided to start getting through it.
First was Mononoke, a spin-off from the final story arc of Ayakashi: Japanese Classic Horror. A pretty good series and certainly different to other things, but it took an effort of will for me to get through it. I appreciate its willingness to delve into disturbing implications, and its arty, abstract visual style is quite pleasant in its own way, but there are some problems. For a start, each arc follows much the same pattern: something mysterious happens, the medicine seller turns up and diagnoses it, and resolves the situation by getting people to reveal their secret misdeeds. It's very rare to feel the medicine seller is actually being challenged in any way. It can also be hard to follow sometimes, and I'm not sure I understood the resolution to a single one of the arcs.
Next came the first series of Gundam 00. I felt like watching some mecha for some reason. It's a type of anime I don't have much experience of, but I keep wanting to make an effort with Gundam because my first Gundam experience (War in the Pocket) really impressed me and actually provoked an emotional reaction. It turns out that Gundam 00 is one of the many 'alternate universe' versions of Gundam, and to be honest there's no reason for it to be a Gundam series at all. The Gundam mobile suits in this series were central to the plot, but they could just easily have been an original design instead. It seems clear that the Gundam name and model was slapped on this to whip up an audience. Having said that, it's a good series. The last few episodes trail off a bit as they resort to "Aha! We will defeat you with some technology that no one's mentioned before!" but for most of the series it's a nice exercise in moral ambiguity and political manoeuvring. There's a second series but I've told it's disappointing. I plan to watch it, but I think I need a mecha break before plunging into another 25 episodes.
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