Studio Gonzo : Good or Bad ?

What do you think when you see Gonzo in the credits?

  • This is going to be one good show !

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • Oh dear! Switch off now.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • This could go either way

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    1
C

Corra

Dandy Guy, in Space
Studio Gonzo seems to divide opinion amongst fans. It seems to break down into 3 camps...

1)Gonzo is a mark of quality. Good animation and cool plots.

2) flashy style over substance. The quality of the show drops thoughout the series, and the plots run out of steam very quickly.

3) Mixed bag, like all studios it produces good and bad.


I can't decide if I am 2 or 3 on this. A number of Gonzo shows I have seen just fizzle out at the end, but that is a problem that a lot of anime has.

Any thoughts on this?
 
I'm #3. Because Gonzo shows are such a mixed bag I don't really pay much attention to whether they're involved and pick out the shows I want to watch for the premise or designs or voice cast.

They've released some very disappointing things, but not enough for me to run in fear. And I have fond memories of several of their works.

R
 
My opinion is "flashy style over substance that I will usually love anyway". The number of shows they've made that I've enjoyed is just way too high for me to say much bad about them, so I voted for #1.

That said, I expect #2 to be winning by the next time I check the forum.
 
Gonzo... the mere mention of the name strikes fear into my heart.

At least that's how I used to feel. Today I'm somewhere between #2 & #3 myself. In more recent years I think they've been less flashy but more consistent with their visuals. Witchblade, Blassreiter, Tower of Druaga, and Red Garden never blew me at any point but they also never looked as shoddy as Hellsing, Gantz, Saikano, and Full Metal Panic sometimes do.

Gonzo are definitely a mixed bag in terms of plotting. The only shows of theirs I love unconditionally are Gankutsuou, Basilisk, and Welcome to the N.H.K., all of which kept me interested throughout and have good, conclusive endings (also quality control issues, but I am a forgiving person). Oh, and if Ichiro Itano is involved (Gantz, Blassreiter) you may as well just stop watching half-way through. It's better that way.
 
When they are good, they are great, outstanding, amazing.

When they are bad, they are atrocious, awful, dismal

When they are average, they are meh.

I've seen examples of all three from them.

If they do have a trademark that I despise, it's the Gonzo ending, the ones they pull from their backsides in their usual sci-fi action milieu. The ones where they throw all the characters introduced over the series at the screen in an explosion of eye-candy, in the hope that no one will notice the lack of plot...

See Trinity Blood, Black Cat, Shangri-La, Blassreiter for examples.

Then they give me something like Samurai 7 or Welcome to the NHK, and I'll bear their children.
 
I like some of the stuff they've done, they ruined Gantz and Bokurano but they got great openings, still not enough to redeem the butchery.
 
Three. What I've seen I've generally liked. Not top-tier stuff, but good enough to gain some form of enjoyment from.

What I haven't watched however, I haven't watched precisely because I've heard so many negative things about them - I'd rather concentrate on watching things I think I'll enjoy.
 
After quickly going through the list of their stuff (I don't tend to notice animation studios, outside of obvious series) at the moment I have to go for the third option.

Series break down for me into:

Crap: Hellsing (well the last half anyway)

Enjoyed: FMP, Witchblade, Rosario vampire 2, Shangri la (again if I recall correctly Shangri la also started to run out of steam)

The 'Meh': Saikano, Burst Angel, Rosario vampire 1, Saki

Kiddy grade I'm not sure about, it wasn't great, yet not quite meh

However I do also have quite a few things to watch on DVD: Chrono crusade, Gad guard, Gantz, Speed grapher and Welcome to the nhk

Not bad enough to be considered no.2, but not amazing enough to be option no.1 either :)
 
They have a number of shows I really like, including some of my favourites - I never understood the amount of vehement hate they seemed to generate from some quarters.
Things did go downhill a lot towards the end (LOL Dragonaut/Glass Fleet) and, due to the sheer volume of output, there were always some rum items anyway (and consistency issues; LOL inflatable breasts)
 
Gankutsuou is easily the best thing Gonzo has ever done. ****, it's one of the best things any studio has ever done.

Strike Witches is actually one of Gonzo's better looking shows. Those flight/fight sequences are quite something.
 
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