Yep... you're definitely right about that... this anime is not complex and yet
you'll still be sticking to it as the story unfolds. At first, I thought it was
like that anime where they had super techniques used in fishing (because of
Gon's fishing rod)... but it turns out, it was more of a righteousness versus
evilness type of anime... so that turned out better than I had hoped. Overall, I
gotta say that your review pretty much sums it all. Nice one!
Kudos!!! A very well-written and objective review of Monster. As of this writing
however, you're favorite character is well... um... dismissed from the show, so
to speak. Hopefully, you had found a new character you like. Personally, I try
not to like any of them at all... because they might actually die before the
end. This series is kinda unpredictable in a lot of ways... and yet, I'm looking
forward to the ending I have in my mind. Although I know there's a big
possibility that I'll be depressed to see a different one.
Crovmon... you're right about the name... Kirika is the Japanese girl in Noir is
it not? I guess I was thrown off by the name Kurica... and thus got the name
Kirika... but there, I edited the post to reflect the name change.
This is just my comments on the review, please do not take it
personally.
First and foremost, I think we need to make clarifications on your story which
are the following:
(1) Akito is mostly annoyed at Yurika and Megumi. It MAY be true that Akito
probably has a suppressed feeling for Yurika at the start of the series, but for
Megumi, it's mostly a one-sided affair. He would most rather watch Gekiganger,
than to even notice the two of them.
(2) The 3 new pilots are actually part of Nadesico's manifest... and so are
their Aestivalis.
(3) They weren't sent into suicide missions as punishment for leaving the Earth
without permission. In fact, they really weren't punished at all... evidently
since the Nadesico is part of the Nergal company, and they have actually made
amends with the military. Punishing the Nadesico crew would be violation of
their military contracts. And in regards to the suicide missions, they were sent
as back-up to insignificant battles... hardly suicide.
That said, let's go the technical aspects... you shouldn't compare Nadesico
(1996) with Gundam Seed (2002) and Samurai Champloo (2004) as these are both
newer... unless you would be referring to the Nadesico Prince of Darkness Movie.
The technology used in Gundam Seeed and Samurai Champloo were expensive at that
time.
I would have to agree with you on the sound aspect of the dialogues... but then
again, maybe Akito and Yurika's voices were really supposed to be irritatingly
loud.
The musical score on the other hand is a different story. I actually have all
the OSTs for Nadesico, and I find them appropriate for the anime and they were
terrific. Having two different kinds of anime soundtrack (one for Nadesico, and
one for Gekiganger) on one anime is a blast. What better way to enhance the mood
of the series than to have Gekiganger 3 Theme music so appropriately tuned to
the 70s-80s mecha series? And the Nadesico music ain't so bad either.
I don't think originality should be a problem... after all Nadesico is a parody
of a lot of anime... from the 70's mecha (Voltes V, Mazinger-Z), to Macross
(Robotech), and even closely venturing to Evangelion. It's supposed to have a
lot of borrowed ideas twisted to make it more fun and enjoyable.
I think that it's in Yurika's character to be just overly dense about
relationships, and still be a tactical genius... so you're right about that.
Just a few comments... please don't take it personally.
First, you have provided a thorough review of the anime, and for that you are to
be congratulated. As you've mentioned before, apparently, you either love or
hate the series, and that there is no middle ground. That said, with your
review, you were apparently trying to hit some middle ground... eventhough it
kinda seemed you were really more on the negative... and that you were trying
your best not to cloud your objectivity.
Comparing Evangelion with newer animations in terms of technical aspects is a
definite no-no. That's like saying Macross, LoGH, and other classics had a LOT
of problems with their video rendering and sound quality (which obviously will
not be in 5.1 surround).
Comparing Evangelion with newer anime in terms of story and theme is barely
acceptable too. Take RahXephon (2002) for example... most reviews actually
compare it back to NGE as being a "evangelion done right" or
"evangelion with better ending" miniseries. But you'll never see NGE
reviews being compared to RahXephon... simply because it was made after nge...
which gave it the advantage of seeing Eva's downfall.
Personally, I think Eva's series ending was acceptable, but the End of
Evangelion movie kinda ruined everything. The series ending MAY be confusing and
MAY leave the viewers with a thousand burning questions, which D:R & EoE
barely tried to answer... but I think sometimes a cliffhanger ending can be a
positive thing. Take Cowboy Bebop for example... do we really know what happened
to Spike? You can say the same thing for NGE (minus the movies). You can create
your own fantastic ending if you want since you didn't see the alternate ending
provided by EoE.
Some people really do think Eva's deep... but it's really not. The theme is
simple... and the device employed to bring the theme to the viewers was
elaborate... which probably confused the hell out of them. If you really take in
everything that was said from the first episode... down to the last... you won't
have to repeat it just to get the idea. And you don't need religious information
too.
For the people who don't like using their brains while watching, then I suggest
Shounen-type animes. But then again, you can still watch Eva, just don't think.
Enjoy the few "mecha" fight scenes, and feel good about yourself
knowing that Shinji probably knows less about Eva... and that he's such a wimp
for using lines like "i mustn't run away!"... wait a minute... Ayato
Kamina and Akito Tenkawa said those words too!!! Must have something to do with
being pilots of giant robots.
At any rate, just my personal comments. No offense intended... if ever someone
felt offended.
Yep... you're definitely right about that... this anime is not complex and yet you'll still be sticking to it as the story unfolds. At first, I thought it was like that anime where they had super techniques used in fishing (because of Gon's fishing rod)... but it turns out, it was more of a righteousness versus evilness type of anime... so that turned out better than I had hoped. Overall, I gotta say that your review pretty much sums it all. Nice one!
Kudos!!! A very well-written and objective review of Monster. As of this writing however, you're favorite character is well... um... dismissed from the show, so to speak. Hopefully, you had found a new character you like. Personally, I try not to like any of them at all... because they might actually die before the end. This series is kinda unpredictable in a lot of ways... and yet, I'm looking forward to the ending I have in my mind. Although I know there's a big possibility that I'll be depressed to see a different one.
Crovmon... you're right about the name... Kirika is the Japanese girl in Noir is it not? I guess I was thrown off by the name Kurica... and thus got the name Kirika... but there, I edited the post to reflect the name change.
This is just my comments on the review, please do not take it personally.
First and foremost, I think we need to make clarifications on your story which are the following:
(1) Akito is mostly annoyed at Yurika and Megumi. It MAY be true that Akito probably has a suppressed feeling for Yurika at the start of the series, but for Megumi, it's mostly a one-sided affair. He would most rather watch Gekiganger, than to even notice the two of them.
(2) The 3 new pilots are actually part of Nadesico's manifest... and so are their Aestivalis.
(3) They weren't sent into suicide missions as punishment for leaving the Earth without permission. In fact, they really weren't punished at all... evidently since the Nadesico is part of the Nergal company, and they have actually made amends with the military. Punishing the Nadesico crew would be violation of their military contracts. And in regards to the suicide missions, they were sent as back-up to insignificant battles... hardly suicide.
That said, let's go the technical aspects... you shouldn't compare Nadesico (1996) with Gundam Seed (2002) and Samurai Champloo (2004) as these are both newer... unless you would be referring to the Nadesico Prince of Darkness Movie. The technology used in Gundam Seeed and Samurai Champloo were expensive at that time.
I would have to agree with you on the sound aspect of the dialogues... but then again, maybe Akito and Yurika's voices were really supposed to be irritatingly loud.
The musical score on the other hand is a different story. I actually have all the OSTs for Nadesico, and I find them appropriate for the anime and they were terrific. Having two different kinds of anime soundtrack (one for Nadesico, and one for Gekiganger) on one anime is a blast. What better way to enhance the mood of the series than to have Gekiganger 3 Theme music so appropriately tuned to the 70s-80s mecha series? And the Nadesico music ain't so bad either.
I don't think originality should be a problem... after all Nadesico is a parody of a lot of anime... from the 70's mecha (Voltes V, Mazinger-Z), to Macross (Robotech), and even closely venturing to Evangelion. It's supposed to have a lot of borrowed ideas twisted to make it more fun and enjoyable.
I think that it's in Yurika's character to be just overly dense about relationships, and still be a tactical genius... so you're right about that.
Just a few comments... please don't take it personally.
First, you have provided a thorough review of the anime, and for that you are to be congratulated. As you've mentioned before, apparently, you either love or hate the series, and that there is no middle ground. That said, with your review, you were apparently trying to hit some middle ground... eventhough it kinda seemed you were really more on the negative... and that you were trying your best not to cloud your objectivity.
Comparing Evangelion with newer animations in terms of technical aspects is a definite no-no. That's like saying Macross, LoGH, and other classics had a LOT of problems with their video rendering and sound quality (which obviously will not be in 5.1 surround).
Comparing Evangelion with newer anime in terms of story and theme is barely acceptable too. Take RahXephon (2002) for example... most reviews actually compare it back to NGE as being a "evangelion done right" or "evangelion with better ending" miniseries. But you'll never see NGE reviews being compared to RahXephon... simply because it was made after nge... which gave it the advantage of seeing Eva's downfall.
Personally, I think Eva's series ending was acceptable, but the End of Evangelion movie kinda ruined everything. The series ending MAY be confusing and MAY leave the viewers with a thousand burning questions, which D:R & EoE barely tried to answer... but I think sometimes a cliffhanger ending can be a positive thing. Take Cowboy Bebop for example... do we really know what happened to Spike? You can say the same thing for NGE (minus the movies). You can create your own fantastic ending if you want since you didn't see the alternate ending provided by EoE.
Some people really do think Eva's deep... but it's really not. The theme is simple... and the device employed to bring the theme to the viewers was elaborate... which probably confused the hell out of them. If you really take in everything that was said from the first episode... down to the last... you won't have to repeat it just to get the idea. And you don't need religious information too.
For the people who don't like using their brains while watching, then I suggest Shounen-type animes. But then again, you can still watch Eva, just don't think. Enjoy the few "mecha" fight scenes, and feel good about yourself knowing that Shinji probably knows less about Eva... and that he's such a wimp for using lines like "i mustn't run away!"... wait a minute... Ayato Kamina and Akito Tenkawa said those words too!!! Must have something to do with being pilots of giant robots.
At any rate, just my personal comments. No offense intended... if ever someone felt offended.