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ANIME AICN - Column Evolution

You all just go Fuckled by JuggFuckler	Jul 25th, 2006 07:57:34 AM
For real.
by clag_kent	Jul 25th, 2006 08:24:15 AM
second!
SECOND!!!!!! by clag_kent	Jul 25th, 2006 08:25:01 AM
LOL
Mako did more than anime by geekzapoppin	Jul 25th, 2006 08:45:57 AM
He starred on Broadway in PACIFIC OVERTURES and was also one of the coolest supporting characters of all time in the movie CONAN THE BARBARIAN.
CAN WE CHANGE THE POLL???? by BilboRing	Jul 25th, 2006 08:51:11 AM
Who would I rather blow first? I'd rather die first than even look at any of these bloated sacks naked. That should have been a choice. Can we change the poll to something less repulsive? Thanks.
Naruto by kbass	Jul 25th, 2006 08:56:25 AM
Not exactly my cup of tea...but it is fairly well done.
Wheres the Hentai? by Ricky Henderson	Jul 25th, 2006 09:06:29 AM
This column bores me.
anime has "rarely been interesting"? by newc0253	Jul 25th, 2006 09:16:11 AM
oof. not the most obvious way to get folks interested in anime but points for brutal self-honesty.
god my eyes are bleeding by blackthought	Jul 25th, 2006 10:09:28 AM

Hentai rules by The Atomic Worm	Jul 25th, 2006 10:15:57 AM

Indeed, a Hentai conversation will kill this column! by Ricky Henderson	Jul 25th, 2006 11:01:14 AM
I hope, I hope...
Dragonball Z by white owl	Jul 25th, 2006 11:06:25 AM
best.show.ever.
Anime is Crapimay by uberman	Jul 25th, 2006 11:35:27 AM
Truly, the lowest, worst concieved garbage ever done. Yuck.
This column needs more Hentai! by Ricky Henderson	Jul 25th, 2006 12:36:00 PM
I notice a sad lack of it!
Afro Samurai looks bad ass! by Johnno	Jul 25th, 2006 01:18:58 PM
Guess Gonzo might just make this one good all the way through huh? Though the animation style looks more like something Madhouse would do... But the site doesn't have the trailer they just send you to IGN, here's the link: http://media.tv.ign.com/media/ 843/843116/vids_1.html And anyway it's good to hear about another Black Lagoon, though I haven't even seen all of the first season, it's definately a series I'll be picking up a box set of! And speaking of anime as social commentary, would Gilgamesh fall into that category? Just got through it and boy that was one explosive ending! Never saw that coming... Though I'm guessing that there's a lot more to it than that, if anyone can tell me some interesting info about that, wikipedia doesn't seem to have much on it...
I like the new format by DigitalDong	Jul 25th, 2006 02:45:32 PM
And yeah...Hentai rulez!!
The manga reviews need more detail (I dont mean length) by crayotic	Jul 25th, 2006 06:16:58 PM
Is the original artwork preserved? How localized has it been made? Are their any edits? All important stuff which should be mentioned.. at least when the knowledge there anyhow. It's one thing to know if it's a good story. But it's another to know how dumbed down it's been. Also, hopefully the ROZEN MAIDEN manga will mean the anime series is close to being licenced.
Where's the John Carter news promised for Tues? by CrayonPie	Jul 25th, 2006 10:24:51 PM
Isnt Harry tangentally involved in this somehow? Is it dead? Who has cool news about John Carter and why cant I find it here? Post it Quint!
Black Lagoon owns you by v1cious	Jul 25th, 2006 10:36:58 PM
whoo! a second season of the best show no one is watching.
I look forward to this column all week(s) by meersan	Jul 26th, 2006 01:07:01 AM
I like the "what works" format. AICN makes a better forum for reviews than distributor and licensing updates, anyway. Even if I don't always agree with ScottG's opinions, he backs them up ably. A smattering of typos and maybe slightly overwritten, but plenty of meat. Rozen Maiden: I wonder if the manga will be worth a try. The anime suffered from a lack of appealing characters such that I failed to get past the first few episodes. The lead was grouchy, perhaps troubled, but unsympathetic. His sister showed no backbone to enable anyone to root for her, and the aristocratic doll was more an incarnation of Lenin crossed with Queen Elizabeth II than something I'd want in my own home. Bleach is a natural follow-on from Naruto, though it's hard to say why. Same genre/audience, I guess. ("If you like ninja, you'll love shinigami!") Bleach seems to suffer more from shounen-disease, where the protagonist swells in power and ability without much in the way of emotional grounding. Fights in Naruto are often (1) clever, with the use of ninja skills such as substitution and clones, and (2) layered, with a psychological element that may be simplistic but is usually satisfying. As a series it taught me something about storytelling, so I have to respect it for that much. ** It's exciting to see channels like IFC running slightly more adult series like Basilisk. I'd be happy to see someone do a run of Monster, which as far as I know has not been licensed. I'm not sure if the New Line deal interferes, or perhaps the number of episodes makes it uninteresting. For Basilisk I assume IFC is running a dubbed version... but they are hardly strangers to subtitles.
Hey Scott, if you're looking for something interesting. by Johnno	Jul 26th, 2006 03:16:50 AM
Check out something called 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya' if you haven't, I don't know if it's licensed or anything, but it's certainly a breath of fresh air in anime, as far as high school fantasy comedies go... Also 'Genkishiken' is also a noteworthy title as an anime, have yet to get into the manga it's based on which is still ongoing.
Naruto by veritasses	Jul 26th, 2006 02:28:47 PM
Before I offer my opinion on Naruto, I should say that I'm basing my opinion on the Japanese releases of the manga (up to volume 32 and parts of 33) and the Japanese anime series up until about June 2006 so my thoughts may not necessarily mesh with the American release. Also worth noting is that the main story doesn't really get going until roughly after the Chuunin Exam story. Since the world of Naruto exists in it's own fantasy world with it's own rules and ideas, everything up to that point is probably best considered as necessary exposition (though the categorization as exposition is just my opinion). It's perhaps unnaturally long exposition but the Naruto universe is deep and vast and requires explaining in order for things to flow smoothly. The long exposition might also be explained by Kishimoto's newness as a struggling author trying to give birth to a new series. Fortunately, I think it all pays off and the theories he introduces to explain the ninjutsu give the world an appreciated sense of logic and depth. Naruto (the manga, and to a lesser extent the anime) - in my opinion - ranks up there as one of the best stories of any genre. It doesn't settle for being a simple one dimensional action/adventure story but instead takes a far more ambitious route and brings front and center all the themes that make stories great: love, revenge, honor, humor, courage, growth, youth, tragedy, friendship, ambition, betrayal, tenacity, mystery intrigue, bravery, loyalty, sacrifice, family, myths and legends etc. More often then not, these themes are conveyed indirectly through the character's actions/motivations or subtly in a single frame. It also has a huge number of characters that are all multi-dimensional and unique in their own way with their own backstory and their own motivations and they all have relationships with one another that are as involved as any story I've seen with a cast this large. The character Naruto himself is perhaps the ultimate protagonist that writers dream about creating. He's the deeply flawed hero who grew up alone, vulnerable, shunned and ridiculed by everyone. But he struggles on and overcomes overwhelming odds so that he can one day become the next leader of the village and gain the one thing he always wanted but never had, which is the love and respect of others... a worthy path for a hero to take in order to make a great story. That in itself would be enough to make a good manga but Kishimoto creates a whole family of other protagonists who are no less richly developed. And the main antagonists (Orochimaru, Itachi, the Akatsuki Group and two others which I won't mention since they spoil it to those watching the series outside Japan) are worthy adverseries themsleves that from almost their first introduction foreshadow several great confrontations/battles in the end. Yet despite the genre, Naruto isn't so much about ninjas or action. The fighting (for the most part) happens as a necessary and natural consequence to the story (they are ninjas after all) and at times, serves as a satisfying punctuation point to the end of an episode, but I don't believe action is not central to Naruto's success. At it's core, Naruto is perhaps about the bonds of friendship and all the issues and highs and lows that being a friend entails. And this too, we can already see is going to be a central theme in the conclusion. Every reader of the manga waits in eager anticipation for the conclusion in a way that is perhaps only matched by Star Wars fans waiting for the battle between Luke and Vadar/The Emperor which speaks to the strength of Kishimoto's writing. Interestingly though, even though the manga has been out for several years and appears to be capable of easily going on for several more the fans aren't getting all that upset about just how far off the conclusion is because the build up of story leading up to it is wholly satisfying. And somehow, Kishimoto manages to hide all this complexity and juggle all of it so that it's all smooth and seemless to the reader while still keeping the manga fresh. This is quite an accomplishment that few authors of any genre can match. I don't think he's as accomplished technically as a manga artist but he is more then adequate to convey the story in his mind. On the other hand, the anime - again, in my opinion - is both good and bad for several reasons. Any manga with action benefits from seeing that action animated and Naruto is no different. And by giving a wider visual range over the printed page, the anime brings some clarity to Kishimoto's sometimes muddled manga panels. In addition, the voice acting (Japanese version) is superb and the music, while sometimes repetitive, adds to underscore the emotional elements of each story. While there are some flaws to the anime, the greatest flaw (or more accurately, tragedy) comes from the apparent desire of the producers to milk Naruto's popularity for all it's worth. This includes the absurd number of flashbacks and reminders used most notably during (minor spoiler) the Konoha battle with Orochimaru just so that the producers can stretch a single episode into two or more episodes. But the greatest offense comes from the decision the producers made to "take a hiatus" from the track the manga took to create "filler episodes" that do nothing to move the story or the characters forward. If it were a short hiatus or an occasional break then there wouldn't be any complaints. But I believe there have been nothing but filler episodes for over a year (over 60+ episodes) _straight_. This is the equivalent of watching a season of "24" and right when it starts to get interesting, they suddenly take a break from the main story and just show Jack Bauer making breakfast and washing his car and doing other daily chores. To the fans, this is beyond frustrating and bordering on criminal. Since the story arc in the manga has gone well past the point where the anime parted ways, we can only assume this was done because of greed. Sadly, because of this, the anime loses some of it's appeal and thus can't match the greatness of the manga. This is a tragedy that will hopefully be remedied soon. Re: New Format. I like it. It's ambitious. Sort of a full magazine in a single web page column. As a suggestion, instead of just having images of covers, it might be interesting and helpful to occaisionally (and if appropriate) have images shown in context to what you're describing. It wouldn't work in every case but since you do a deep review, a visual aid can sometimes help to show a point. Sometimes it'd be nice to be able to click on the image to see a larger version too. Since your columns are very long, a line or two in the headers of the Quick Cuts indicating the manga genre (horror, shonen, sports, etc) and your "rating" of the work you highlight might be helpful to those of us doing a quick browse through your column the first time through. The Quick Cuts might also benefit from the "episode breakdown/question-answer" type format used in some of the reviews under the Coaxial section of AICN (eg: http://www.aintitcool.com/disp lay.cgi?id=20575) . Also, I wouldn't mind seeing more "behind the scenes" type of stuff of things in production with storyboards, story notes, artist interviews etc
Nardletoe by meersan	Jul 27th, 2006 12:54:38 AM
Some points in response to veritasses' excellent post. Naruto "filler" episodes, those that depart from the manga storyline. The last anime episode that corresponded to the manga was episode 135. At the corresponding point in the manga, the storyline immediately jumps forward two years in time. I wonder if there is reluctance on the part of the producers to change the anime series so drastically, with the characters aging 2 years, different character design and so on. I'm not familiar with how this was handled in Dragon Ball. At any rate, the anime is now on episode 196 (in Japan) and fans have endured well over a year of lower quality "filler" stories that have essentially no story continuity with the manga series. Patience is wearing thin for many fans, who are eager to see some actual character growth and consequences to plot points--this used to be the series' strong point. Naruto themes. Like a lot of shounen series, big themes in Naruto are friendship, betrayal, courage, destiny and so on. Each character in Naruto has a unique viewpoint on these themes, and when fights occur it usually has some bearing on who wins and why. I'd never seen this done so consistently in a series before outside something like like the Star Wars OT, where big fights between Jedi always had a philosophical aspect as well (veritasses' mention of fan anticipation was very apt). ** Naruto as a hero. I actually consider Naruto one of the weaker characters in the series, if only because there are several more interesting ones. He has appealing qualities but he functions more as a trickster protagonist. He inspires change in the other characters and thumbs his nose at authority, but he doesn't actually grow all that much. A quibble, I guess. Naruto 1-135, despite its flaws, is my #1 ranked anime series. If you could not tell.
Ok by Hige-sama	Jul 31st, 2006 07:00:40 AM
Why is a guy who doesn't find anime interesting writing an anime column?

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