HTF Anime Discussion Part VII - Page 98

Stacey_B · 04-09-2005, 09:36 PM

Just finished Scrapped Princess Vol 1. I'd say it's something of a cross between Chrono Crusade, Lodoss War and FMA.
The story seems serious in nature, the first disk isn't so serious but there isn't slapstick humor either. It uses the different cities they are traveling to as a means to introduce the major characters and provide some characterization, especially toward Pacifica. Toward the last episode the story turns much darker and seems begin getting more serious as the underlying story is better fleshed out.
Overall, I loved it...but I knew I would. If you are a fan of fantasy anime you owe it to yourself to pick this one up.

Plus, the figure is cool...lol.
I look forward to volume 2....unfortunate it's not out till June 28th!
The only problem I encountered was the voice actors! Not that they were bad but I recognized them way too well so I kept hearing Samauri Champloo, Mahoromatic and Please Teacher as I was watching it and my brain kept trying to come up with mixed dialoge to provide humor to mask the irriation I was getting. ("Vector must be behind this hiding of the samauri that smells of Sunflowers. We will find him, this a priority one!" hehe) I may consider watching the rest subbed...
Stacey

Woo Jae · 04-10-2005, 12:08 PM

Hmm well, not much went on this weekend but a massive house/apartment cleaning. And now, am at work to try to catch up here (work has been insanely busy).

That said I managed to watch and finish Nurse Witch Komugi-Chan. The extrememly petty, obnoxious, but cute heroine was pretty entertaining - and the episodic nature of the series was pretty fun as well. Good whacky fun - but only rates a C+ or B- (if I were to be generous).

Not much else went on, but I managed update DVD profiler, at least with my anime purchases. Also updated my manga spreadsheets as well. I'll update my signature here later with the actualy dvd count for at least the anime... movies, I am leaving for another weekend that's not so busy...

EDIT: Updated my signature - not surpisingly, over 60% of my dvd collection is anime....

JohnAD · 04-11-2005, 10:28 AM

All:

I got the first three disks of Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water watched over the weekend. An interesting premise, it's (loosely) based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Three disks in, there is still a lot of character introduction/development. There are a few anachronisms, but they fit in with the 'period sci-fi' feel.

John.

Woo Jae · 04-11-2005, 10:36 AM

Heh - JohnAD

It's gonna be a long but fun ride.

That said:

This Saturday I did get some stuff which I never listed.

Full Metal Alchemist 01 and 02
Gantz 03 - didn't even check to see that it was #3 >_>;;; Now I gotta find 01 and 02
Irresponsible Captain Tylor OVA 01
King of Bandits: Jing 03
Samurai Champloo 02

James_Kiang · 04-11-2005, 11:16 AM

Kong, you're doing it to me again... Now there's three more series I'm considering picking up. At least elfenlied appears to be a short one. According to animeondvd.com, they are going to release gankutsuou as The Count of Monte Cristo, though I don't recall a start date on that one. I don't think Samurai 7 has one yet either, so I hope I have some time before I have to make a final decision on those.

ChristopherDAC · 04-11-2005, 11:18 AM

I made some small updates to my Web site; if anybody has any comment on the thing, please tell me about it. The reason I'm doing this in the first place, if anybody cares, is that a while back I was looking for a print reference to anime video releases [intending to use the information on LDs specifically]. I found one book which was extremely incomplete and full of errors, and then I came across what claimed to be a guide book for all animation. Imagine my disgust when, in the introduction to that guide, the author dismissed the whole topic of Japanese animation with a single sentence! He said something about how there were "other references", but his implication seemed to be that anime was beneath the notice of "serious" film lovers. I mean, the statement was inaccurate to begin with, but the fact that there were available references to Disney films didn't stop him from including them!

Have I mentioned that Gall Force: Eternal Story is really a well-constructed movie, with excellent uses of storytelling techniques? It may seem like just another "girls-n-guns" anime, and I guess the style is dated, but really it's worth a look. If nothing else, the ARTMIC crew did some good exploration of the dynamics of life in a monosexual society [with different results than Cordwainer Smith's The Crime and the Glory of Commander Suzdal, but that's all to the good] and of the nature of man(?)kind's experience of conflict.

I have been making SVCDs of some of my LDs to send to my sister so she can get acquainted with my "new arrivals", and have an idea of what she wants to watch when she gets home. Talk about an unrewarding task! More than ever, I can't understand bootleggers. You couldn't pay me to do this kind of thing, and the results are totally unsuitable for prolonged viewing.

Kong Chang · 04-11-2005, 03:59 PM

Stacey:

I can't believe Bandai got the rights to the limited edition figurines that came with Scrapped Princess. The R2s never got a box but a lot of figurines instead. So don't expect a box either for R1.

As for Kiminozo, definitely worth getting. ^^

I am glad you liked Scrapped Princess. Wait until you get the major cliffhanger episodes. You will be on a postal rampage to get the next episode. LoL. Trust me...the cliffhangers will make you go nuts waiting.

Rob:

I got the R2s for my friend, the limited edition versions. I wanted to buy them but I was already closing in at $500 a month on R2s and buying those would have made it closer to $550 a month ><;;. So I opted out and asked my friend if I could use his to um *cough cough cough*. ^^;;

James Kiang:

Ugh, why did they change the name? The should leave it as is or translate it as "King of the Underworld Caverns" (that is what "gankutsuou" means). But yeah, you should look into both of them. Everytime I watch Gankutsuou I am so memorized and hypnotized by the style and the storyline is intriguing because I love the story of The Count of Monte Cristo.

And Samurai 7 has one of the best adaptations of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. Plus it has a catchy intro tune sung by Aikawa Nanase (Avex/Cutting Edge) jpop/jrock singer. One thing you have to do is forgive episode 7...great story but the studio lent to another studio to do the animation and it is piss poor quality.../sigh.

Eric F:

It is unfortunate that Please Save My Earth was only an OVA because it is hard to make a story from a 22 volume manga series into an OVA series. They really need to give this a full 26-39 episode series. Did you watch the movie for it?

All:

Forgot to mention some other recommendations in the woodwork to be released in the states soon:

Besisdes Princess Tutu which all of you MUST BUY regardless that it is presented by the evil corporation, ADV, please also consider Stellvia of the Universe (uchuu no suteruvia). This series is also another sleeper hit that really is a joyous romp about a girl's dream to become a pilot for the Stellvia space port to protect the earth from the second wave radiation blast. Great intro song (kinda addictive too), and great characters.

Another recommendation, along the lines of Azumanga Daioh is the series called sensei no ojikan (Teacher's Hours) which, much like AzuDai, is the humor look of high school life. However, the main character is the teacher who is very short (like Chiyo-chan) and there is an equal number of female and male students (4 or 5 on each side). Quite hilarious and great characters too. Intro and outro songs are catchy as hell (sooooo addictive). If you like humorous series, you should also look into this one if it ever comes over.

Woo Jae · 04-11-2005, 04:43 PM

Kong

I got the soundtrack for Stellvia at Otakon 2004, and attended the concert by Angela. Awesome stuff. I am behind on the series (have only upto disc 2, haven't watched), but will remedy that... well when funds are available - gotta refurnish the bronx place since relatives are coming en masse in June -_-* .

Heard mixed reviews on SenOji, but still am happy this kind of stuff makes it here to the US. (More stuff the better. More choices for fans and collectors.)

Alanna · 04-11-2005, 05:58 PM

Stacey: After all your talk about Scrapped Princess I got all psyched and ordered it...shame on you! It sounds really awesome and I'm looking forward to it. With only one DVD of Wolf's Rain left i needed something to collect and this fits the bill.

I doubt I will finish getting the last DVDs of Galaxy Angel and Hack:LOTT though. Will try to rent or borrow but .... I dunno. I enjoyed GA but it wasn't great or anything I doubt I will watch it too many more times, and there were too many elements in Hack:LOTT that annoyed the poo out of me...