Your viewing journal

the english dub of Evangelion has to be the worst i've seen! at least Ai Yori Aoshi was bearable (apart from Wendy Lee playing Tina Foster, god that was awful!!!)

the anime gets better though, especially towards the end, when some sort of plot actually develops
 
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/59LOH24uQNA&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/59LOH24uQNA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Watch from around seven minutes to see drama.

I've rewatched 1-13 of S&W in one sitting (using KAA's awesome marathon thing) and the OVA. I've now also watched 1-4 of S&WII. I'm hooked. I haven't a clue what the hell is going on in terms of trading (Lawrence is going to spend 500 coins on stones he's going to devalue to stop a guy buying an increasingly unstable Horo from him...or something) but, like with the first series, the LxH relationship makes everything else watchable.

The Horo drama in episodes three and four is actually making me angry, despite me knowing it's all going to work out in the end. Getting an emotional reaction means it's doing something right.
 
Lupus said:
Kaede said:
Started watching Neon Genesis Evangelion (I'm on the second disc) and I'm up to the part where Asuka has just been introduced and fights off the underwater angel by sinking two boats into it.

Have to say I'm far from impressed with it. The premise is simply ridiculous and seems to play second fiddle to the whiny teenage problem stories. The 'Carry On' style comedy just isn't funny and the directors keep finding excuses to shoehorn in shots of the girls in various states of undress. It's actually cringingly bad in places. And I've gone straight to the subs as the dubbed version sounded like Pokemon or something. Eurgh.
Click to expand...

Question!

Although all good and mostly true (I enjoyed the dub, but found the Japanese version better, a rare thing for me) why did you have an avatar of Mari if you've never seen it before? Well... unless you've seen it before, but from your impressions it seems you never have.

Oh and...

Fanservice, thy name is Evangelion.

EDIT: Your avatar is awesome btw.
Click to expand...

Haha! No this is my first watch of Eva. I was just tired of my Lupin avatar and wanted something different. As I just got the box set I typed in Evangelion in google and got that pic. :?

Anyway, I'm gonna stick with it till the end seeing as I've spent the cash, but I really don't think this is my kinda thing. The teen drama aspect of the show is just too painful to watch. :x
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When They Cry 6-10

I didn't enjoy the second disc nearly as much as the first. The conclusion to the "Cotton Drifting" arc was so bad that I barely paid attention during the laughable final episode, while the "Curse Killing" arc centres on the most intolerably cute character in the series. Nii nii? Ugh. How am I supposed to feel sympathy towards such shallow, artificial characters? The whole child abuse angle is so calculated and unsubtle that I almost feel offended.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
fabricatedlunatic said:
How am I supposed to feel sympathy towards such shallow, artificial characters? The whole child abuse angle is so calculated and unsubtle that I almost feel offended.
Click to expand...
So... care to define where, in your opinion, Higurashi misses the mark in terms of character development? Isn't it more disturbing that Satako's abuse is so overt and that no-one does / can do anything about it (including the fact that Satoko is too scared to stand up for herself) which is sadly a realistic portrait in many ways. It never struck me as calculated... part of Higurashi's style is to reveal things which you didn't know before, but then when you look back previous arcs make more sense.

Rather than being disappointed, this was where the series really grabbed me - Suddenly the characters' stories started to seep through and began to obscure aspects I was less inclined towards, like the moe-moe character designs.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
All I can say is that the characters don't feel "real" to me. If they did, I'd be able to become more invested in what happens to them. Instead they seem like cute dolls with the usual otaku-bait personality quirks that I loathe so much.

The main problem I have with the abuse, aside from not caring about the characters, is Satoko's uncle and the way he behaves in front of complete strangers. He may as well have been wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with I AM A CHILD ABUSER HEAR ME ROAR
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I feel as though the "cute doll" thing was subverted completely by the horror though. No one (well... very few people) would want a cute submissive little thing to turn round and hack them to death, or to suffer in the way Satoko does. It certainly isn't done in a way that could be the least bit titilating. I cared about Satoko throughout that arc and I'm pretty sure I didn't fall for the "nii-nii" melodrama - I did find what was happening to her truly horrible.

I see your point WRT Satoko's uncle, but there are many cases of real life child abuse where it is blatantly obvious but no-one does a thing. I think the creators were even drawing people's attention to this by the fact that even the teacher couldn't do anything about it if Satoko wasn't willing to admit the truth.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Erin episodes 1-4 on crunchyroll

I like this series so far. Since it is so family-friendly it is great to relax to.
The characters are drawn in a nice simple art style and the backgrounds look like something from a fairy tail book.

I wonder how long it will end up being.
 
fabricatedlunatic said:
I AM A CHILD ABUSER HEAR ME ROAR
Click to expand...
I can only think on Baby P now. Also no it's not uncommon to hear how some abusers / rapers are only arrested after bragging about what they did.
Because of that, I don't think that's so OTT as you do.

OT.
Caugth up with naruto shipuuden, bleach TV series and movies.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ayase said:
It certainly isn't done in a way that could be the least bit titilating.
Click to expand...
Not titillating, no, but the mere presence of cute lolis gives away a lot about the audience the original games were designed to attract. There are people on forums I visit who literally don't watch anime that doesn't meet their "cute girl quota", and they like When They Cry... even though they usually avoid violent anime.

I cared about Satoko throughout that arc and I'm pretty sure I didn't fall for the "nii-nii" melodrama - I did find what was happening to her truly horrible.
Click to expand...
Hey, that's fair enough; how you feel about characters is, after all, completely subjective. It's just that there are certain things in anime (and other mediums) that push my buttons, and When They Cry has a few too many of them.
 
arguingontheinternet-special-olympics.jpg


case closed, stop bickering!
 
I think the discussion has been quite amicable, even if the subject matter makes it sound heavy.

I'm on the very last arc of the When They Cry set now and I've really enjoyed the ride. In my case I strongly dislike overtly moe characters so I think I know where fabricatedlunatic is coming from; the playing to the audience is quite obvious and Rika's obnoxious cuteness grates. I also dislike Satoko. The rest are fairly standard visual novel characters and slightly less cloyingly "adorable".

However, in this case the moe aspects haven't turned me off. The story is quite off kilter and feels unfulfilling at first; rest assured that a few of those loose ends which make it feel hollow do get picked up again later even in series one. There's probably some element of twisted enjoyment in it too, seeing the usually annoying simpering type of characters having their own dark sides and personalities after all. Even if they're not very nice personalities.

I actually completely ignored the series for a very long time because my impression of it was very much along the same lines fabricatedlunatic has mentioned; it took advertisements for the Umineko games in Japan with their creepy atmosphere, better designs and lovely music to convince me to give the earlier series a look as I waited for the Umineko anime to be made and released in R1 (fingers crossed). I've been cautious throughout because of my initial misgivings so I've gone into the show with very low expectations and thoroughly enjoyed it after all.

Shame the sequels are still in limbo. I'm going to have to grab the soundtracks on my next trip.

R
 
Back
Top