(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

I found an anime review website that I love. Why? BEcause with the exception of Tenchi Muyo (they say ok, I say embarassingly sucky), Spirited Away (they say pretty good, I say fantastic), and Gundam Wing (they hated it, I adored it), the reviews almost exactly fit my own ratings for many series.... Witch Hunter Robin, Trigun, Ranman 1/2, Sailor Moon, Macross Plus, Dragon Ball Z, Blue Seed, and especially Cowboy Bebop and Escaflowne. How can I not love an anime review site that rates The Vision of Escaflowne as tied for third place for best anime ever and says it "should very well be considered the best anime of the entire decade" ? And then goes on to describe exactly why the Escaflowne movie is such a wrecking ball of a disappointment. On another page basically rates DBZ as crap, while giving it its due consideration for being entertaining enough to suck you in against your better judgement, and keep you in for longer than it deserves? Or another page that perfectly, perfectly captures why I love Trigun so much. ... Or another review that explains exactly why I am justified in completley and utterly hating the movie X/1999. Which I did. Oh, did I hate that movie. I still consider that to be one of the most tragic and unfair losses of an hour of my lifespan that I would really, really like back please. I've read about 30+ of their reviews so far, and except for the 3 mentioned above I almost completely agree with their ratings.

While I don't agree with all their ratings, most of the reviews feel like they pulled my viewer opinion words right out of my brain, so it's leading me to take their reviews for that I I haven't seen yet at some value, or at least consideration. Anyway, the site is here:

http://www.animeacademy.com/library/esca/esca.html

((conveniently linke dot their Esca review. For the other anime reviews, look to the left under the "Library" header))

....

::takes a moment to reread entry, and reflect back on the number 30+::

Huh. You know, I've seen or been exposed to a lot of anime. I mean, there's so many more reviews I want to read for series I've seen, double that number above.

And yet, I always feel like every other otaku in the room has seen 5 times as much as me and I am seriously lagging behind.

Weird.

----

EDIT WARNING: Comments below include evil bad murderous spoilers for Trigun.

Comments

AtS talk

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Why is Angel different?

You know, this is like the worst time to ask me that. I watched a lot of season 4, though not all of it, and at that time it felt like it had a different tone to me than Buffy did. It was not darker, or more adult, but it was more...sultry. More glitzy. More noir-ish and expensive, and the people were more "cool" than the characters of Buffy, whose flaws were more open, and who were more expressive in general. Angel has the feeling of a family formed by lonely outcasts, who care for each other deeply too, but who also are more likely to betray each other (memory wiping is only the beginning...) Whereas Buffy has the feeling to me of a family brought together by shared experiences, and shared loves, and shared losses. They are more firecely devoted to keeping their family together, to holding tightly to that family and never letting go, than the Angel crew are, who desire that family feeling but who keep letting it slip away despite their best intentions.

I think people who say Angel is the adult show to the teen Buffy show are being snobbish. I forgive them because some of them are on my friends list and I like them, but it's still a snobbish outlook, and unfounded in my perspective. By the time AtS had started BtVS had left high school, and had started on the adult half of the show, so the two were on a level.

But, I haven't seen any new episodes since Harm's Way, and I missed most of the big finish of season 4 except for the very final episode 4.22, I'm hardly the person to ask about what AtS is like these days. Also, my viewings of the first two seasons are few and numbered low. So... probably not the person with the most all-encomapassing view of AtS that you could ask.

Re: AtS talk

[blackholedebris.livejournal.com]

Yes! Thank you. This really helped. These are things I knew all along, but not consciously. The flaws of the characters on Buffy are more open. You reminded me of how Wesley didn't let on for the longest time about his father issues. And how Gun is very much an Angel character as opposed to a Buffy one. Also, everyone on Buffy never really bothers trying to hide their issues, while it's always a bigger revelation in regards to each other on Angel.

Whereas Buffy has the feeling to me of a family brought together by shared experiences, and shared loves, and shared losses. They are more firecely devoted to keeping their family together, to holding tightly to that family and never letting go, than the Angel crew are, who desire that family feeling but who keep letting it slip away despite their best intentions.

This really spoke to me as the truth, and helped ease some of the frustration I'd been feeling. It's now clearer to me why Faith seems to slide more easily into cannon on Angel than Buffy, despite the fact that she was on Buffy at the end of the show. Taking into account what you said, Andrew's being allowed to stay with the Scoobies makes more sense to me now. He'd gone through the experiences with the rest and he became part of the group. And the way he sortof bonded with Xander at the end over respect for Anya's sacrifice.

I guess in a way, the characters on Angel are more neurotic. Possibly more jaded.

I think people who say Angel is the adult show to the teen Buffy show are being snobbish. I forgive them because some of them are on my friends list and I like them, but it's still a snobbish outlook, and unfounded in my perspective. By the time AtS had started BtVS had left high school, and had started on the adult half of the show, so the two were on a level.

I'm glad you think so, too, because I had always felt the same but I thought I was alone.

Re: AtS talk

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you think so, too, because I had always felt the same but I thought I was alone.

You're not alone-- there are other people who also don't agree that Buffy is the kiddy version.

It's now clearer to me why Faith seems to slide more easily into cannon on Angel than Buffy, despite the fact that she was on Buffy at the end of the show.

I agree, and I'm glad you pointed that out. Faith is never going to be part of Buffy's family, even though she's like an honory stepcousin who reluctantly gets invited to the reunions because she's a relative. But she does blend very well with the Angel group, because they're all as jaded as she is, and they all have just as many secrets to hide.

Re: AtS talk

[blackholedebris.livejournal.com]

Faith is never going to be part of Buffy's family, even though she's like an honory stepcousin who reluctantly gets invited to the reunions because she's a relative. But she does blend very well with the Angel group, because they're all as jaded as she is, and they all have just as many secrets to hide.

This is so true. It was uncomfortable for me to watch when Faith returned to Buffy in S7, but it was thrilling to watch her during Angel's previous season, before she crossed over into Buffy territory. Especially her interactions with Connor and Wesley. It was like Connor had finally found someone he could connect with on a primal level, and it disappointing that their time got cut so short. Likewise with Wesley. It was great how Faith immediately picked up on the New Wesley when he met her at the jail. How much darker and bitter and tougher he'd become. And "hotter", too, as she said. :) Faith relates to those who have fallen.

There's no way she would've ever truly felt at home with the Buffy crew. I doubt she'd have stayed for long. But I'm sure she'd like to visit from time to time, just to rattle everyone a little, and check things out.

Re: AtS talk

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

It was great how Faith immediately picked up on the New Wesley when he met her at the jail. How much darker and bitter and tougher he'd become. And "hotter", too, as she said. :) Faith relates to those who have fallen.

I am both a Faith/Conner shipper and a Faith/Wesley shipper. The first is impossible but so cute with his little crush, and the latter is unlikely given that she tortured him and all, but has heightened sexiness because of said torturous history.

Robin's a nice guy, and probably better for Faith than anyone else on either show... but I can't help but feel she'd get bored with him. I can't imagine her getting bored with Wesley. ... which is odd, because old Wesley was definitley a person you _could_ get bored with.

Re: AtS talk

[blackholedebris.livejournal.com]

Another Faith/Connor shipper! Me, too. It's so hard to find anyone who even likes Connor. I know he had a lot of problems (understatement), but I always felt for him. All the characters on the show always treated him like the most unrelatable thing ever. Although Gun's attempts to be friends with the kid were cute; it was disappointing yet understandable that Connor never let his guard down. The moment where I especially felt for Connor was when he revealed that he'd known what Jasmine was the whole time, but that he'd thought for once the world wouldn't be full of hate and ugliness. Not that I thought Jasmine should've been kept around, but Connor's dejectedness and hopelessness moved me.

Yeah, Faith/Connor's not exactly a long-term thing, but I think sexually there was definitely a certain vibe on both sides. Not necessarily a healthy one...Heh.

Faith/Wesley is definitely something I wanted to see happen. Very heavy on the sexiness. Not only that, I think they would've actually had a chance at working on other levels. I missed the ep where she tortured him, and also where he apparently knocked her around, but that doesn't change my view. The reason why I like the idea of them together is because they don't have anything really to prove to each other. They both know they can be useful in a given situation, neither of them is a saint, but they both keep trying to make up for their past mistakes...I think they have potential for great back-and-forth dialogue (and other things)in fics. I know there's a few F/W fics out there, but I haven't yet gotten around to reading any. There's certain aspects of F/W that are similar to why I liked Wes/Lilah. I know a lot of people hated those two together but I loved it. They dragged out aspects in each other that they would've otherwise kept buried. I like the whole kinetic energy between those kind of relationships. It's why Angel/Buffy and Willow/Oz is so terribly boring to me, and why I enjoyed Spike/Buffy (excluding the attempted rape scene) and Xander/Cordelia. Oh, and Wes/Fred makes me shudder.

Robin: I think he's got some very unhealthy Oedipal complex and it shows in his thing with slayers. I know you could say Spike has a thing for slayers, but I think the only reason Robin showed any interest in Buffy (how wrong would those two have been together?) and Faith was because they were slayers, and he never got over his issues with his mother. I found Robin/Faith very, very anti-sexy. I found it creepy. Hell, I found Robin creepy. The only time I enjoyed watching Robin onscreen was during his confrontation with Spike. I found Spike's putting Robin in his place sexy. Far as I know you're not a slash fan, but...::shrugs::

Faith would definitely have gotten bored with Robin. It is funny that the old Wes would've been an entirely different story, and thus, a completely different discussion. I think Wes's bout with Lilah prepped him for anything Faith could throw at him.

By the way, I haven't been ignoring your other Trigun replies, it's just that my own replies involve having so much to say back, that I have to take a break in between to respond, not to mention I'm always behind my other emails. I just didn't want you to think I was rude; I do intend to reply. I'm sorry if this comment has gotten too long. I might be getting carried away.

Re: AtS talk

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about taking too long in a reply! I always make long replies to things. I encourage other people to do the same. And take your time, I'm in no rush, and I'm not going to get annoyed if you decide you don't want to say anything to something I said.

Re: AtS talk

[blackholedebris.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I like discussing the Jossverse and anime with you. Today I caught a couple episodes of an anime I'd never seen before on MTV2: Heat Guy J. It seemed kinda interesting. Nice cinematic feel. I recognized the voice of the guy who does Jet's voice. The odd thing is I could've sworn the voice-actor was doing two characters' voices, with one slightly modified.