2009-11-10, 04:09 | Link #821 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: United States
Age: 39
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Wow, this show must habe bombed insanely hard
It seems like the last 6 DVDs of the series, both regular and limited edition seem to have been canceled, and there will only be a box set of the last 13 eps in 2010... |
2009-11-10, 08:27 | Link #823 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: you know that's a great question.....
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Wow, I hadn't realized that Shangri-La was THAT badly recieved. I must admit that looking back on it I don't think it was one of the best anime of all time or my favorite anime of all time (but the middle of the story was really good) so this is surprising. Maybe it can also be contributed to the high DVD prices in Japan? From what I've heard, the prices are so high that you really need to commit to a show to go out and buy the DVDs so if a show isn't completely and totally awesome your going to have a hard time breaking even.
Do you have a news article you can link to for proof? Kinda hoping you misread it actually....
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2009-11-10, 08:42 | Link #824 | |
I desire Tomorrow!
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: As far away from reality as possible
Age: 42
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Are GONZO's financial problems catching up or something?
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2009-11-10, 12:33 | Link #825 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: you know that's a great question.....
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Never mind, found the article on ANN, link.
@npal: No, I think it's more that almost no one liked Shangri-La rather than Gonzo troubles. Shame because the graphics were getting really good, in some parts you couldn't even see the difference between 2D and 3D art.
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2009-11-10, 17:51 | Link #827 | |
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Join Date: Jul 2009
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There's also a growing disparity between a hit show and a flop. Media transition (DVD to BD) is likely a factor, but the attitudes of consumers are probably changing too. People are picky about what they pay for and as AnimeAnimeJapan theorizes, fans are singling out certain titles as "certificate" purchases (basically a show of unity and a symbol of their participation in a product's word of mouth hype). The example they raise is Kara no Kyoukai, but you can apply the line of thinking to some MASSIVE TV hits this year. These titles are selling way better than they would've sold a few years ago, and that's because buying rationale has changed. Content and franchise name alone can't create hits (mind you, the latter still helps a lot, but it only gets a show so far and it doesn't necessarily guarantee a hit), so producers have to rethink how they make and market anime. |
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2009-11-10, 23:48 | Link #829 |
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: you know that's a great question.....
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Of course this announcement comes out the same day the Kurokami BD controversy does so it's pretty obvious that the Japanese just don't know how to make DVD money off of shows that aren't sure-fire hits. Come to the box set side, we'll give you monies!
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2009-11-18, 02:52 | Link #830 | |
Senior and Demented
Join Date: May 2006
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Insanity and boomerangs...
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Shangri-La... It was sometimes beautifully, breathtakingly, animated and sometimes cobbled together. Range Murata's characters shone as brightly as they ever have, and some of the mechanical work felt perfectly and unexpectedly strange as if they had truly come from a dimly perceived future. Yet other characters and designs stood out as starkly generic and sadly expected. The world of Shangri-La - Atlas, the carbon economy, and the post-apocalyptic Tokyo - sometimes felt awesome, prophetic and compelling. Sometimes felt ridiculous and pathetically thin. Kuniko vacillated from cute, eager and ass-kicking, to irrational, immature and implausible. I desperately wanted to love her as a post-Evangelion Nausicaa, but in the end I just couldn't connect. The rest of the cast was refreshingly diverse in backgrounds, characterizations, and motivations. A spectrum encompassing believable adults, some flawed and some noble, and teens who were more than symbols of youthful optimisim. Yet their rich and plausible setups were often betrayed by unpredictable lapses - like Kuniko's boyfriend deciding that he needs to shoot her to save his mom, and then two seconds later changes his mind (after actually pulling the trigger!) just by having Kuniko assure him that actually she will save the world and mommy. Karin was always awesome. Cute, cruel, capricious, yet frightened and needy. Beautifully designed, charmingly acted and developed, nearly fatally flawed. Karin = love. The plot twisted and turned so wildly you desperately wanted it to make more sense, and you forgave it when it didn't. Each episode kept you on the edge of your seat, and while the insanity swerved from brilliant to ridiculous and back again you couldn't wait for the next show's revelations, no matter how absurd. A flawed epic, crushed under the weight of it's ambitions. Technically and budget wise, story and source material, characters and their development - none of these quite lived up to their promise or their creator's expectations. Yet the glimmer of possibility made it worthwhile even as it failed it's grander expectations. I think we've witnessed the birth of a cult classic. Remembered with fondness and frustration by the few who saw it the first time, destined to be rediscovered by the most die hard who will struggle with the same captivation and disappointment. Like many other ambitious footnotes in the history of fiction, I predict the seeds of Shangri-la will find a new life in the future work of some ambitious creator. Some yet unknown Anno, Miyazaki, or Tsurumaki to be will craft an incredibly rich dystopian future, that is also stunningly beautiful and achingly plausible, with a complex symphony of characters drawn together towards their destined apotheosis. I look forward to it. Until then, we'll always have boomerangs.
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Last edited by rocket; 2009-11-18 at 23:17. Reason: making it more worthy of the later compliment... |
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2009-11-18, 23:26 | Link #833 | |
Senior and Demented
Join Date: May 2006
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That said, if you enjoyed my musings on this show you might like checking out my blog or my Visual Novel. (^_^)
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2009-11-21, 14:53 | Link #834 | ||
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Join Date: Oct 2006
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2009-12-19, 21:27 | Link #837 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
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I guess I can kind of understand why Shangri-La wasn't very well accepted.
At the same time, it is one of my favorite series. The characters were so alive, even if some of them (Kuniko) were so 'perfect' that sometimes it hurt. To make up for it though, Karin and Sayoko were incredible characters who I fell in love with instantly. I only wish it had been a 26 episode series, the last bit felt a bit rushed and like it should have run longer. There was a lot of promise here, and while it fell short seeing what it could have been is still amazing. I think for those of this that loved it, it will probably be remembered as better than it actually was. It's like the barely-there plot of Etrian Odyssey (a huge game love of mine) was stretched into a full show, giving me a world that felt familiar but was still deeper than my first glimpse of it. It could have been much better, but it still counts as one of my favorite anime so far. |
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gonzo, science fiction |
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