UK Anime Blu-ray & DVD Bargains

I missed it last time it was the DOTW so bought it when it was last rereleased. Got through the first disc but hit a wall with it. Shall I try again?
 
Lutga said:
People on MAL seem to mainly compare it to Serial Experiments Lain, GITS and Psycho Pass.
Click to expand...

See, I'll never get this.

Ergo Proxy is about as similar to those shows as Psycho Pass is to GITS: SAC (as lots of people claim.) That is to say... not very.

It's actually pretty unique, in my opinion. Sure, it's broadly an adventure / sci-fi show, but the tone and execution of it makes it memorable an distinct from other shows in its genre.
 
Nice. I didnt know there was UK release for ergon proxy. I was recently thinking about giving the series another try and import it from USA.

Last time i think i made it to the 11th episode before dropping it because there where things that rubbed me the wrong way. There was things like that on casshern sins too which was show that i gave up on but years later came back to. I'm really glad that i did because eventhough it was still mixed bag for me there still was things that made it pretty memorable.
 
HdE said:
Ergo Proxy is about as similar to those shows as Psycho Pass is to GITS: SAC (as lots of people claim.) That is to say... not very.
Click to expand...
Lain I would say is very much "something else", but Ergo Proxy, Psycho-Pass and GITS are all very much "cyberpunk detective" shows at heart. They're not "the same" but it's not crazy to make the comparison (well, it is, since Ergo Proxy is nowhere near as good as those shows, but that's another discussion entirely).
 
The critic part of my brain disagrees - partly because of one of my biggest peeves is when folks talking about anime (especially in a critical setting) INSIST on comparing two different shows. It's a massive critical fail in a review right off the bat. If I log into somebody's YouTube channel to see what they think of a show, I really don't care to hear about how I should watch Mushi-shi or Ghost In The Shell instead.

I mean you're correct in that 'cyberpunk detective show' broadly describes Psycho Pass and GITS: SAC. I think it's a bit off base when talking about Ergo Proxy, though. The problem I have is that folks who have been sold on Psycho Pass as being 'just like GITS' tend to come away disappointed, in my experience - in spite of the fact that Psycho Pass is a damned good , top tier quality show. The issue being that both of them have a different flavour and markedly distinct execution.

Following this line of logic, you could say that 'Young Guns' and 'Dances With Wolves' are comparable in that they're movies set in the Wild West and feature frontiersmen. But they're not alike.

(Which is good. Imagine if Dances With Wolves had a theme song by Bon Jovi. URRRRGH!)

Just my tuppence on something that personally irritates me.
 
I'd say that Ergo Proxy is a one-off. You can't really compare it to any other anime. I tend to think of it as cyberpunk but with added whimsy. If Terry Gilliam directed Blade Runner sort of thing...
 
On Amazon US:
Knights of Sidonia - Season 1: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD [Geo-lock US|1])
Discounted Price: $57.49 (42% off)

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions - Season 1: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD [Geo-lock US|1])
Discounted Price: $59.99 (54% off)

No Game No Life - Complete Series: Collector's Edition (Blu-ray/DVD [Geo-lock US|1])
Discounted Price: $84.99 (35% off)

Prices don't include Postage (about $8-12 I think) and pre-paid 20% VAT (or whether percentage depending on where you live).
 
HdE said:
I mean you're correct in that 'cyberpunk detective show' broadly describes Psycho Pass and GITS: SAC. I think it's a bit off base when talking about Ergo Proxy, though.
Click to expand...
Trying to be as blunt as possible without wanting to be insulting, I think you might just have a closer personal attachment to Ergo Proxy and don't want to think of it as anything except a unique snowflake because it tries to wear its braincells on its sleeves. I want to reword that as it reads harsher than I mean it, but it's nearly 4am. ^^;
 
ilmaestro said:
HdE said:
I mean you're correct in that 'cyberpunk detective show' broadly describes Psycho Pass and GITS: SAC. I think it's a bit off base when talking about Ergo Proxy, though.
Click to expand...
Trying to be as blunt as possible without wanting to be insulting, I think you might just have a closer personal attachment to Ergo Proxy and don't want to think of it as anything except a unique snowflake because it tries to wear its braincells on its sleeves. I want to reword that as it reads harsher than I mean it, but it's nearly 4am. ^^;
Click to expand...

Nah, that's cool. It's wrong, but it's cool. :p

I don't actually think Ergo Proxy is that unique a show - it's just more of a sci-fi adventure than a cop show, as some folks online keep saying it is. Things like that make we monder just how much attention people were paying, or how much of the show they've seen.

I think what's ultimately so interesting about anime is that there's no sure fire way to say that everybody will react to any given show the same way. The tone and execution of even the greatest shows rubs some folks the wrong way. So you just can't odds personal taste.
 
Maybe the issue is more about how literally someone takes a comparison and what aspects they tend to focus on. I wouldn't really say there's another show quite like Mushi-shi but I'd still tend to mention Kino's Journey when trying to talk about similar shows. Both have similar pacing and philosophical leanings but they can also be very different in experience. The fact that Mushi-shi isn't called "Ginko the Mushi-shi" (or something less terrible) while Kino's Journey does have the lead character in the title is probably relevant, for example (though I suppose you could argue that both Kino and Ginko are not quite "main" characters in some ways). Hmm, maybe I've picked a bad example.

To try another one (that did come up, now that I think about it), if someone said that Hidamari Sketch and Non Non Biyori are similar shows I probably wouldn't complain but at the same time I'm aware that there are quite a few significant differences. They could both be described as "cute girls doing cute things" but a genre/theme description will never really tell you the whole story (which is what watching things is for, I suppose).

I suppose another issue might be deciding what the "core theme" of a show is. Different people might latch on to different aspects. For example, I've heard Shirobako described as being about personalities in the anime industry, the anime making process, working life, the difficulties of working in a creative industry and erm... "cute girls doing cute things" (among others). All are probably true in one way or another and I don't think it's wrong to focus on your own preferred interpretation (possibly worth noting that I'm not a fan of the idea that the creator gets to decide how things "should" be interpreted either). Still, that can make it difficult to describe/recommend a show, especially if you're trying to do so by theme/genre.

Also possible (and probably relevant), I may just be rubbish at describing things.
 
ilmaestro said:
HdE said:
Ergo Proxy is about as similar to those shows as Psycho Pass is to GITS: SAC (as lots of people claim.) That is to say... not very.
Click to expand...
Lain I would say is very much "something else", but Ergo Proxy, Psycho-Pass and GITS are all very much "cyberpunk detective" shows at heart. They're not "the same" but it's not crazy to make the comparison (well, it is, since Ergo Proxy is nowhere near as good as those shows, but that's another discussion entirely).
Click to expand...
I dunno maestro, we were both being pretty big sticklers for what counted as "slice of life" in that thread recently, and while Ergo Proxy certainly begins as a cyberpunk detective show, I feel it morphs into something rather different (adventure? quest? drama?) and quite rapidly.

I like Ergo Proxy, but other people are welcome not to and I don't feel a great desire to defend its honour or anything. I just think the "detective" label seems a rather misleading description when trying to sell it (or not) to anyone who hasn't watched it.
 
Back
Top