(L) Simoun

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Simon

You know, I'm almost starting to think there's something going on between those two By my count this is their fourth collaboration - Windy Tales, Simoun, Code-E and now this one....

Thanks for the recommendation of Windy Tales. I'll take another look.

As for Nazuka Kaori (Yun), I think if he tried anything, she'd box his ears. Strangely for someone with that lovely tiny voice, she seems to be a big jock. She's had pics of herself out scuba diving and fishing, etc., in her blog. From her and others' blogs, she seems to be a very nice, strong person, with a lot of friends who have a lot of respect for her. She has done a good job as Cossette in Les Miserables, by the way, now coming up on its 49th episode.

Here are some pics of Nazuka Kaori 名塚佳織 from her blog over the last couple of months:

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Thanks for the recommendation of Windy Tales. I'll take another look.

Last I checked it wasn't very well seeded - someone needs to create a batch torrent IMO, because it deserves to be shared (even better it deserves to be licensed, but I don't fancy its chances). Despite the completely different stories and settings there are certain thematic similarities with Simoun, e.g. the question of what it means to grow up and leave childhood behind (given what I know of Japanese society I could venture a guess at why anime staff are interested in this, but that would be cheeky). And I may just be imagining things, but if I ever meet Nishimura-sensei I want to ask him if the echoes of WT ep13 in Simoun ep26 are intentional.

Originally Posted by Ri Maajon

I've been trying to figure out if one of my favourite music pieces is included in the two OSTs but I've listened to all the tracks and I don't think I can find it. Anyway, if someone else would be kind enough to confirm it for me, the music piece is in Episode 16 and starts around 20:17 all the way to the ED at 22:48.

My PC and Simoun R2s are far away, so unfortunately I can't answer this. But there are a couple of significant pieces that aren't on either OST - we're missing at least the Pilgrims' Song and a gentle melodic piano piece that shows up in a couple of important scenes. I have a suspicion you're referring to the latter, but someone else will have to confirm that.

[dahl_moon]

R1 Volume 1 here! Seeing episode 1 all over again gives me such goosebumps. I think I'm starting to get the idea of what Kaoru Chujo has been advocating; the contrast between the numerous pairs of cultures is very stark, and gives quite a bang. But alas, the other episodes will have to come after finals...

PS: Is it just me, or do the R1 discs seem a bit grainy? The name changes I got used to soon enough (minus Rodore), but for some reason the images seem, interlaced, like on television. Slight horizontal lines.

Misc notes:

• Volume 1 carries episode 1~6. I guess this means we'll miss quite a few covers.
• A logo that caught my eye: "Yuri Fan."
• The extras contained a seiyu talk between Aaeru and Nevilill's seiyu and a "seiyu contest vs Pairs." I had to blink a few times before being pleasantly surprised. Not exactly what I expected on a R1 disc.

[Futaba-chan]

Originally Posted by dahl_moon

• The extras contained a seiyu talk between Aaeru and Nevilill's seiyu and a "seiyu contest vs Pairs." I had to blink a few times before being pleasantly surprised. Not exactly what I expected on a R1 disc.

Those were the extras on the early R2 DVDs.

As for the translation, I thought that their episode 1 "dropped it in the middle of the Pacific" (sounded stilted), but that they got better as the volume wore on. There are a lot of places where they sacrificed context and meaning to make the words come out closer to the original Japanese... but in general, they succeeded at telling a coherent story that makes sense. Other than the mangled names (not their fault), I'm optimistic about how the rest of the series is going to come out.

If you enjoyed the fansub, please buy the R1 DVDs. If you never saw the fansub or the raws, do yourself a favour, and buy or rent the DVDs; you've missed a real treat.

And kudos to Media Blasters for actually licensing such a high quality series. I never expected the series to be picked up, and I'm glad that it did, and by someone who didn't Macekre it.

[bluesilo]

After watching the first 6 eps from media blasters, I had to finish the series with simoun-fans and it was a great series. i mean sure it wasn't as sexual as a male yuri fan such as myself would want, but I enjoyed the series on another level and I guess thats what makes it popular. I plan on trying to buy the releases during the next TSRI media blasters sale to show my support as I do to all shows that I complete. (Shows that I start and never finish I suppose weren't my favorites to begin with so I don't want them)

Anyways...long post short ending....Great Series!

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Futaba-chan

Those were the extras on the early R2 DVDs.

Yeah, there's a full list of them here. I hope they translate Tsukkomi Eizō from Vol 8.

As for the translation, I thought that their episode 1 "dropped it in the middle of the Pacific" (sounded stilted), but that they got better as the volume wore on.

I notice the anti-piracy warning on the back cover starts with "This disc has been professionally translated". I don't think I've ever seen that before - presumably it's aimed at the bootleggers, not at quashing rumours that they just lifted the fansub

[Kaoru Chujo]

Aizawa Michiru, the middle-schooler who played Furoe, has finally got another role: in a moe space OVA called Amuri in Star Ocean. The first ep comes out on 21 December.

I liked Furoe, but others didn't, partly because of the harsh voice, I think. So it will be interesting to see if Aizawa-san has a different style of voice for this new role.

[atosaki]

Grumpy Ojii-san has uploaded his review-video on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjkCcl46UOQ

It's good to see more and more people getting know about simoun. God bless you, MB

[LionsMane]

Originally Posted by atosaki

Grumpy Ojii-san has uploaded his review-video on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjkCcl46UOQ

It's good to see more and more people getting know about simoun. God bless you, MB

Lol, who is this guy?

I just recieved my volume 1 and suprisingly there was two discs in it. Packaging mistake! I have an extra DVD of vol. 1 now.

Anyway I quite enjoyed watching the first six episodes again! I have yet to check out the special features but I'll get to those soon enough.

I really don't have any complaints--mostly just me being nitpicky(like those tacky yellow subtitles)

Can't wait for volume two!

[Liingo]

Originally Posted by atosaki

Grumpy Ojii-san has uploaded his review-video on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rjkCcl46UOQ

It's good to see more and more people getting know about simoun. God bless you, MB

Never heard of the guy before now, but he's given a thumbs up to Simoun so he can't be that bad

Now to just wait for the release here in Australia... Or failing that, importing from the US once the series is all done.

[Westlo]

Just wow at Sahashi Toshihiko's score for this show, he will never top this.

[dauthik]

a rather random thought:

Does anyone NOT like Aaeru x Neviril? Because I was thinking about it, and how it was definitely one of the most developed relationships I've seen. And I was like, how can anyone not like them? But maybe some people don't.

Feel free to extend this to other legitimate pairings that you don't like, because I ended up liking all of them, except for possibly Kaimu x Alti, although IMO they never developed into something more after going to the Spring.

[changeup]

For girl x girl, no way to top Aer (well, I still think this spelling is more fitting) x Neviril. However, for boy x girl, I like Floef x Aer better. Floef is just too sweet a guy... hope he can find a nice girl.

Originally Posted by dauthik

a rather random thought:

Does anyone NOT like Aaeru x Neviril? Because I was thinking about it, and how it was definitely one of the most developed relationships I've seen. And I was like, how can anyone not like them? But maybe some people don't.

Feel free to extend this to other legitimate pairings that you don't like, because I ended up liking all of them, except for possibly Kaimu x Alti, although IMO they never developed into something more after going to the Spring.

[Otomefan]

Simoun for me was an anime I lost interest in quickly. Its a good concept, I will certainly give it that. However I became extremely lost early on, and at the end of the series still had no idea what had occurred.

[Fweakin]

Originally Posted by dauthik

a rather random thought:

Does anyone NOT like Aaeru x Neviril? Because I was thinking about it, and how it was definitely one of the most developed relationships I've seen. And I was like, how can anyone not like them? But maybe some people don't.

Feel free to extend this to other legitimate pairings that you don't like, because I ended up liking all of them, except for possibly Kaimu x Alti, although IMO they never developed into something more after going to the Spring.

I think the series would have been relatively hard to like if you didn't have much love for Aaeru x Neviril, considering the time spent on their relationship.

I didn't really feel the Kaimu x Alti pairing either, or Kaimu x Parietta, but I thought Alti x Parietta could have been interesting. I enjoyed when they shared the screen. They were always very honest with one another.

[changeup]

Originally Posted by Otomefan

Simoun for me was an anime I lost interest in quickly. Its a good concept, I will certainly give it that. However I became extremely lost early on, and at the end of the series still had no idea what had occurred.

I guess part of the problem is that from a narratological point of view, the focalization of this series is mainly external. We saw a lot and heard a lot of conversations, but very little about how each one was thinking was shown. Even when it was shown, typically only a sentence or two, and most of the time very equivocal. Therefore, you need to make a lot of speculations of the meanings and circumstances about what they said and what they did, and this is not always an easy task. Personally, when first time I went throught this anime, I had a lot of difficulty understanding what's going on in a lot of occasions. However, after watching it several times, upon noticing a lot of details I had previously ignored, everything started to fall in place.

Simoun is a terrific piece of anime. It is quite unlike a lot of fast-food series that you watch them you enjoy them and that's all. Simoun is certainly worth going over several times, and your efforts on it will be rewarded.

[Matrim]

Simoun for me was an anime I lost interest in quickly. Its a good concept, I will certainly give it that. However I became extremely lost early on, and at the end of the series still had no idea what had occurred.

I am kind of curious as to how and why did you reach the end of the series if you got extremely lost early on. I got totally lost after watching Texnolyze and I just stopped watching it. Apart from the first episode I don't think Simoun was difficult to follow but my perspective might be skewed by reading so much comments abotu the episodes in this thread.

I actually love Aaeru and Neviril as separate characters but I am not that fond of their love affair, I like it but not as much as the characters (I hope that made some sense ). I really liked Rodoreamon x Mamiina, though.

Simoun is a terrific piece of anime. It is quite unlike a lot of fast-food series that you watch them you enjoy them and that's all. Simoun is certainly worth going over several times, and your efforts on it will be rewarded.

Yes, it's a great series for rewatching.

[Veritas]

Originally Posted by dauthik

a rather random thought:

Does anyone NOT like Aaeru x Neviril? Because I was thinking about it, and how it was definitely one of the most developed relationships I've seen. And I was like, how can anyone not like them? But maybe some people don't.

I don't like the pairing, because I don't like Aaeru. Developed relationships are all well and good, but Aaeru never rang true to me as a character. She felt like a plot device.

[somerandomperson]

Hi, this my first time posting here, I don't usually post in forums but this siries was just sooo good.

But what I really wanted to say is this: Simoun desrves a second season, or at the very least an movie length OVA. My reasons are:

1. Aaeru.
She is such an amazing character. Her past, however, doesn't get much screentime. How did she become a Sibylla? From the flashbacks it seems that she wasn't a member of the "Simoun Academy" that Neviril and co. seem to be in. If she was a volunteer, does that mean that she was thought by her grandfather? Plus her personality is fascinating. She is so strong, but death seems to break her strong image. This wasn't fully explored. Most people with her personality would go berserk than fall apart when they see a close friend's death(Mamiina). How did she develop that personality?

2.Amuria

Spoiler for spoilerish:

Prety much what happened to her. I don't have much to say about her since she disappears in the first episode. Plus I am curious as what will happen when Aaeru and Neviri finally meet her. I have a feeling that the first thing she will do is run and kiss Neviril

l

I have some more I'm out of time sorry
I really love this series!

[dauthik]

Originally Posted by Veritas

I don't like the pairing, because I don't like Aaeru. Developed relationships are all well and good, but Aaeru never rang true to me as a character. She felt like a plot device.

Did you like the series then? Because Aaeru was kind of a huge part of it.