Quote:
Originally Posted by relentlessflame
Well, I guess I can add a few thoughts to this. First, personally, I tend to think that all shows are about the journey, because what I "get out" of anime is much more than can ever be summarized or expressed as opinion. In other words, to me at least, there's a lot more to watching anime (or watching/reading any story) than opinion polls, plot summaries, forum discussions, blog posts, and highlight reels. That's not "anime" -- that's not "experiencing" a story unfolding. Kanon's no exception, whether you're talking about the game, or either anime adaptation.
But, secondly, and changing gears completely, everyone forms first impressions based on superficial factors -- it's hard-wired into our human DNA. And sometimes we have no motivation to look beyond our first impression, and just stick with that gut feel no matter what. That's fine. But you can't pretend or argue that a superficial impression is the same as knowing and understanding something deeply. You can't pass it off as being equivalent in any way. If so, then, as I said above, you're not really "experiencing" the story any more deeply than as a summary and an opinion. That's what talking about anime is about, but that's not what anime (or any form of storytelling) is about.
Anyway, this is why I have a hard time coming up with some sort of a numerical score for a show, this one included. In the end, for me, it just comes down to a simple question: would I want to experience that story again? For this show, the answer is a definite yes. That's why I just can't imagine how someone could form a comprehensive opinion and defend it without ever having seen the show. A story is so much more than the sum of its parts.
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I've read straight hard text on the story as its presented in the anime and the game so all I've yet to do is experience it in animated form with voice acting. Simply being animated is enough to warrant a 5/5 for me and the voice acting will never be better than 3/5 with Sugita Tomakazu being in it as he simply does not work for me (Even in Super Robot Wars as Bullet Luckfield his voice stood out and had me yelling at the game "What the hell is this!?", that was before I even knew who he was). There's really little left to look at for me. I know the plot, I know the characters, I know how it progresses, all I need to do is see it in animated form spending hours in front of a screen seeing what I already know. I also am completely unaffected by any emotion a show may invoke in others, so it all comes down to the fact of how it plays out in fact (which again I already know), I think thats where the gap in understanding is. My method of reviewing anime doesn't factor in anything beyond "Plot, Character, Themes, How do they go together and how is it presented". And yes I fully admit its my loss because I would like to feel moved by something more than once every couple years, I just can't for various reasons.
Yes I am a very different breed than most anime fans, but I don't think its that I like to argue as much as my ideologies tend to clash by default and seem abrasive, arrogant and insulting to the average viewer who has never seen anything like it before. In that sense I will always be the subject of outrage among some people, but I've done nothing more than give my two cents and attach a meaningless number to it with no intention of arguing so that accusation is unfair I think. I like to think though at the end of it all, like the politicians of old who liked to address their opinion by day in the forums and receive fair rebuttal and reply, we can all find common ground over constructive discussion in these threads.
To finalize it, even if I spend my whole time looking at the screen as the bar on my media player goes from left to right, the result will invariably be the same. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I feel it would just be redundant. And that's really that from me, FatPianoBoy has it perfectly down on where I stand.
This isn't meant to be a thread hijack as some will no doubt call it, but if people ask the questions or bring up the subject, I'll provide the answers I can everytime for all to see.
Just as an aside if you ever want to talk about politics of any kind with me, don't hesitate for a second to send me a PM about any political topic.
Now everybody can cast their vote again without worry I hope.