June 28, 2011
Angelic Layer Post Script
Well, two months after my first post on this, I finally finished Angelic Layer. It was not what I expected, which is to say it was exactly what it claimed to be. It's a sports anime for girls, with bit of interpersonal drama thrown in. Its not my personal cup of tea but the story telling is solid and it's got a lot of interesting points. It is definitely aimed at young girls and is unusual in that it does not look like it would be condescending or insulting to them.
I was a bit surprised because I expected something of a change in direction midway through (after the big tournament) but it continues in the same vein with still bigger tournaments. One reason for my thinking this was that Chobbits is allegedly set in the same universe as this series a few years later. Therefore, I was expecting some, development regards sentient machines. The credits promo art and episode eycatches seemed to hint at something along those lines with the dolls. However, this is not the case.
A couple of things really stand out in the show. One is the very high degree of sportsmanship exhibited by most of the participants. Also, most of the tournament opponents are very well realized charachters in their own right. They are presented as not simply obstacles to our heroine, but sympathetic human beings with their own lives and backstories. Misaki, the protagonist, is a like-able person in her own right and does not need to learn to be a good person, she is one (this is CLAMP not Shonen Jump).
All in all I liked it. It is an episode or two too long in order to fill out the 26 episode run, but in that regard it is a FAR less egregious offender than many. It is well above average.
If one has a daughter this is probably a very good show to acquire. With that in mind the dub is decent and Jessica Boone does a fine job in the lead. However the dub does have one peculiar failing that I hadn't seen in years...about midway through the show, the direction seems to have changed and there is suddenly an emphasis on matching
the
mouth move-
-ments
in the a-
-nima
-tion to the di-
-alog. It's understandable but occasionally distracting. The actors themselves, aside from this odd direction do do a pretty good job.
I have a few other thoughts but they involve spoilers.
I was a bit surprised because I expected something of a change in direction midway through (after the big tournament) but it continues in the same vein with still bigger tournaments. One reason for my thinking this was that Chobbits is allegedly set in the same universe as this series a few years later. Therefore, I was expecting some, development regards sentient machines. The credits promo art and episode eycatches seemed to hint at something along those lines with the dolls. However, this is not the case.
A couple of things really stand out in the show. One is the very high degree of sportsmanship exhibited by most of the participants. Also, most of the tournament opponents are very well realized charachters in their own right. They are presented as not simply obstacles to our heroine, but sympathetic human beings with their own lives and backstories. Misaki, the protagonist, is a like-able person in her own right and does not need to learn to be a good person, she is one (this is CLAMP not Shonen Jump).
All in all I liked it. It is an episode or two too long in order to fill out the 26 episode run, but in that regard it is a FAR less egregious offender than many. It is well above average.
If one has a daughter this is probably a very good show to acquire. With that in mind the dub is decent and Jessica Boone does a fine job in the lead. However the dub does have one peculiar failing that I hadn't seen in years...about midway through the show, the direction seems to have changed and there is suddenly an emphasis on matching
the
mouth move-
-ments
in the a-
-nima
-tion to the di-
-alog. It's understandable but occasionally distracting. The actors themselves, aside from this odd direction do do a pretty good job.
I have a few other thoughts but they involve spoilers.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:46 PM
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Post contains 420 words, total size 3 kb.
June 27, 2011
Tomorrow!
I really hope this release is successful. I'm actually pulling for ZOMBIE ADV Sentai Filmworks, but in a larger sense, I suspect that sales of this show (which given buzz and subject ought to be a runaway hit) are going to be very closely scrutinized with regards to the future viability of the R-1 Market. In other words, if this isn't a hit the viability of companies like Sentai, Funimation and the others might be dubious indeed.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
01:08 PM
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Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.
June 18, 2011
Important Upcoming Dates
June 28!
August 2!
September 27!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
09:06 PM
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Post contains 9 words, total size 1 kb.
June 04, 2011
44
Almost 40 years represented here.
Via Cdr Salamander of all places.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
02:14 AM
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Post contains 12 words, total size 1 kb.
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