GONZO: Studio discussion, speculation, and whatnot.

[SeedFreedom]

Originally Posted by Nemuru

This is where my personal interest would conflict with the above as someone who's seen both. In honesty I believed you're missing the point or the anime isn't providing you with what you want rather you're trying to make something of the series which it isn't aiming for. Again individual preference might contribute to your personal taste but looking at a series as whole and what the majority feels would be a better indication. The only trouble would be going through various forums and reading different review, reading one persons review is not a fair indication of any series. (Something that bothers me outright when people make such claim)

That's only my opinion on those two shows. Its one review and i don't expect anyone to take that as the be all and end all judgment on the anime. I was just trying to state not everyone has the same opinion on the show hence the lower, or high sales than expected. In regards to ToD itself, i knew from the beginning it was not going to be a laughfest show like the first episode. I was merely hoping for a few episodes within the series to emulate the first one. Even comparing it to other adventure/fighting shows, i found the plot weak and overall boring. But again, only my opinion.

[Nemuru]

Originally Posted by SeedFreedom

That's only my opinion on those two shows. Its one review and i don't expect anyone to take that as the be all and end all judgment on the anime. I was just trying to state not everyone has the same opinion on the show hence the lower, or high sales than expected. In regards to ToD itself, i knew from the beginning it was not going to be a laughfest show like the first episode. I was merely hoping for a few episodes within the series to emulate the first one. Even comparing it to other adventure/fighting shows, i found the plot weak and overall boring. But again, only my opinion.

There isn't need to dwell further into this but I'm curious which adventure type anime you use for comparison. As for fighting anime, doesn't seem to be the correct genre its shounen but not your typical shounen series.

Maybe it's me being forceful because ToD is an enjoyable series to me other of the same genre includes Rune Soldier, Outlaw Star, Slayer, Detatoko Princess, El Hazard. So in essence did series of the same genre wow in the first several episodes? Or was the fascination towards the climax of the anime?

Weak plot? Played the original game? Sometimes the anime can only be as good as the source material. Again opinion differs and the timeline consisting how much a viewer has seen of a given series which we based our opinion on differ so I won’t dwell further into it.

[cyth]

Originally Posted by Nemuru

I haven't been following much of the world news since Obama won the election but what has Japan done which serve as a model in these desperate times?

Their situation isn't a result of a cheap magic trick. If you look at their GDP growth, discount rates, the way Nikkei had been fluctuating, you'll see that a stable market is a result of quickly interchangeable inflationary and deflationary periods. In other words, as a result of their stubborn and old-fashioned business practices, and keeping interest rates low, ironic as it may be, they managed to keep inflation under control, whereas the U.S. and some European countries are committing an inflationary holocaust which will ultimately lead to their currencies' collapse if they don't do something drastic.

As for the real question I don't believe Gonzo direction in producing more Otaku related anime after 2005 is a failing decision, if anything it is correct decision although hiring the wrong director couple with using low budget isn't going to produce good anime. A lot of people are wishing for another Last Exile or Gankutsuou but for that to work gonzo needs a larger budget for those project and significantly sales are dependent on which side is larger the abundance of otaku or the Japanese household which bought said DVD.
I should point to Afro samurai, being Gonzo biggest budgeted anime it still shows what the studio is capable of but the lack of Japanese audio could be seen as a deterrence to the general subtitle watcher.

Sure, not many people are willing to buy bad anime, but what caused such a fast slump in business performance was because they wanted to break free of being mere contractors in the now domineering anime production committee systems in which animation production companies have been losing ground. This is also the reason why we've seen an increase in anime productions, because the piece of the pie each involved company gets is getting smaller (primarily because advertisers and TV broadcasters have raised their influence). GDH/Gonzo tried to change that when their international market revenue stream dried up. Couple that with poorly received anime properties, and this is what you get.

[MrTerrorist]

Spoiler for Oh how desperate Gonzo is:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/12/08/gonzo-plans-ero-anime-to-avert-bankruptcy
Never expected for them to go this low.

[lubczyk]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Spoiler for Oh how desperate Gonzo is:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/12/08/gonzo-plans-ero-anime-to-avert-bankruptcy
Never expected for them to go this low.

Ugh!!! Knowing Gonzo, it'd probably involve some utterly disgusting fetishes - Remember Speed Grapher? I enjoyed the anime, but I'm pretty sure it could have made a disgusting hentai.

Seriously, is the gutter where a company has to turn to make a buck?

[Green²]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Spoiler for Oh how desperate Gonzo is:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/12/08/gonzo-plans-ero-anime-to-avert-bankruptcy
Never expected for them to go this low.

Strike Witches OVA 2 here we come!

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by lubczyk

Ugh!!! Knowing Gonzo, it'd probably involve some utterly disgusting fetishes - Remember Speed Grapher? I enjoyed the anime, but I'm pretty sure it could have made a disgusting hentai.

Seriously, is the gutter where a company has to turn to make a buck?

Hey, don't disparage the gutter. A lot of people like the gutter.

[lubczyk]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

Hey, don't disparage the gutter. A lot of people like the gutter.

You'd change your mind if you were ever to witness the horror of Blassreiter.

[einhorn303]

Originally Posted by lubczyk

You'd change your mind if you were ever to witness the horror of Blassreiter.

I didn´t watch Blassreiter because it used to much CGI. I´d take exploitive fanservice over crappy cgi ANY day of the week (And I did...I watched Strike Witches).

[bayoab]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Spoiler for Oh how desperate Gonzo is:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2008/12/08/gonzo-plans-ero-anime-to-avert-bankruptcy
Never expected for them to go this low.

Because a random picture that looks like it came from mixi makes a story factual. (Like I care either way whether its true or not. Just pointing out that this is completely unsourced, even by jp standards.)

[Quarkboy]

Yeah, I have serious doubts this is for real.

For one thing, it'd be nearly impossible to make an actual hentai anime that's profitable for a studio of Gonzo's size... The whole reason ero-anime exist is because they are made cheap, and sell high.

Gonzo isn't set up to make 1-2 episodes of something for very little money. They are set up to make 13 episode series. The cost overhead for them to start a project has to be far far higher than one of the established ero-companies, and even those have been losing money recently like crazy.

If Gonzo wants to pander to something they should look elsewhere than hentai, I mean, ero-anime.

[lubczyk]

On the other hand, maybe we could get closure on some of Gonzo's existing IPs?

Hibiki and Dita finally consummating their relationship in Vandread as well as closure in Seto no Hanayome, Rosario to Vampire, et cetera.

More shows like Please Teacher would be nice (ie where the couple actually make out in the end.)

[einhorn303]

But what if they totally revolutionized the field of ero anime? Like, making a 13-episode epic that has stunning production values, and qualities never before seen in ero anime?

Gonzo have already proven to be a company ready to try new things, far more so than other more conservative Japanese studios.

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Yeah, I have serious doubts this is for real.

For one thing, it'd be nearly impossible to make an actual hentai anime that's profitable for a studio of Gonzo's size... The whole reason ero-anime exist is because they are made cheap, and sell high.

Gonzo isn't set up to make 1-2 episodes of something for very little money. They are set up to make 13 episode series. The cost overhead for them to start a project has to be far far higher than one of the established ero-companies, and even those have been losing money recently like crazy.

If Gonzo wants to pander to something they should look elsewhere than hentai, I mean, ero-anime.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by einhorn303

But what if they totally revolutionized the field of ero anime? Like, making a 13-episode epic that has stunning production values, and qualities never before seen in ero anime?

Gonzo have already proven to be a company ready to try new things, far more so than other more conservative Japanese studios.

Uh, Gonzo is a Japanese company undergoing restructuring and in serious financial turmoil.
And you think they are going to fund, themselves, a giant experiment into a format for ero-anime that has never even been tried before? I bet all those people who were ready to try new things are now fired anyway...

They'd go bankrupt before they finished episode 1.

[karasuma]

I feel sorry for Gonzo... I actually like quite a number of their work.

==========================================
12 *8,720 12,318 *3 ストライクウィッチーズ 1 / Strike Witches 1 LE
*8 *9,764 11,906 **2 ヴァンドレッド 1 / Vandread 1
16 *6,601 *6,601 **1 ラストエグザイル 1 / Last Exile 1 LE
*7 *6,124 *8,029 **2 ヴァンドレッド the second stage 1 / Vandread II 1
35 *5,092 *6,606 **2 ロザリオとバンパイア 1 / Rosario+Vampire
20 *3,423 *7,403 **2 ゲートキーパーズ 1 / Gatekeepers 1
19 *5,667 *6,992 **2 キディ・グレイド 1 / Kiddy Grade 1
17 *4,528 *6,376 **2 HELLSING 1
24 *4,568 *5,990 **2 最終兵器彼女 1 / Saishuuheiki Kanojo 1
21 *3,390 *5,558 **2 フルメタル・パニック! 1 / Full Metal Panic 1
29 *4,332 *4,332 **1 クロノクルセイド 1 / Chronocrusade 1
90 *3,998 *3,998 **1 BLACK CAT 1
52 *3,821 *3,821 **1 瀬戸の花嫁 1 / Seto no Hanayome 1
57 *2,759 *3,773 **2 ドルアーガの塔 ～the Aegis of URUK～ 1 / Druaga 1
53 *3,538 *3,538 **1 ウィッチブレイド 1 / Witchblade 1
50 *3,074 *3,074 **1 超重神グラヴィオンツヴァイ 1 / Gravion Zwei 1
64 *2,732 *2,732 **1 巌窟王 1 / Gankutsuou 1
67 *2,722 *2,722 **1 GANTZ 1
74 *1,978 *1,978 **1 風のスティグマ 1 / Kaze no Stigma 1
94 *1,802 *1,802 **1 ガドガード 1 / Gad Guard 1
84 *1,668 *1,668 **1 超重神グラヴィオン 1 / Gravion 1
64 *1,542 *1,542 **1 SAMURAI7 1
31 *1,508 *1,508 **1 SAMURAI GIRL Real Bout High School 1
73 *1,374 *1,374 **1 月面兎兵器ミーナ 1 / Getsumento Heiki Mina
79 *1,278 *1,278 **1 ブラスレイター 1 / Blassreiter 1

[SinsI]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Gonzo isn't set up to make 1-2 episodes of something for very little money. They are set up to make 13 episode series. The cost overhead for them to start a project has to be far far higher than one of the established ero-companies, and even those have been losing money recently like crazy.

Is it really that hard or costly to make an official hentai OVA for some of their TV series? I'm talking about one or two more episodes, without starting from scratch.
Things like Dragonaut are practically begging for it - and it would have been a great improvement to the story!

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by SinsI

Things like Dragonaut are practically begging for it - and it would have been a great improvement to the story!

Lol! Yeah, perhaps if Dragonaut was hentai I would have understood the reason that it existed. I'm not sure that would have improved the "story", but at least it would make sense since it had just the right story to use as an excuse for sex. Lots of sex. Only it didn't have the sex.

Suddenly it makes sense why Toa was always being captured and "experimented on" by various people. Yeah....

[einhorn303]

An official R-18 Strike Witches anime would be incredibly awesome...

[jbbond]

somebody already photoshoped what's to come for strike witches.

Spoiler for Gonzo's potential new season of Strike Witches:

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/01/02/gonzo%E2%80%99s-last-hope-%E2%80%93-no-pantsu-ero-witches/

Looks like that's what we might see in the future(maybe?, hopefully?)

[mandarb916]

Originally Posted by karasuma

I feel sorry for Gonzo... I actually like quite a number of their work.

==========================================
12 *8,720 12,318 *3 ストライクウィッチーズ 1 / Strike Witches 1 LE
*8 *9,764 11,906 **2 ヴァンドレッド 1 / Vandread 1
16 *6,601 *6,601 **1 ラストエグザイル 1 / Last Exile 1 LE
*7 *6,124 *8,029 **2 ヴァンドレッド the second stage 1 / Vandread II 1
35 *5,092 *6,606 **2 ロザリオとバンパイア 1 / Rosario+Vampire
20 *3,423 *7,403 **2 ゲートキーパーズ 1 / Gatekeepers 1
19 *5,667 *6,992 **2 キディ・グレイド 1 / Kiddy Grade 1
17 *4,528 *6,376 **2 HELLSING 1
24 *4,568 *5,990 **2 最終兵器彼女 1 / Saishuuheiki Kanojo 1
21 *3,390 *5,558 **2 フルメタル・パニック! 1 / Full Metal Panic 1
29 *4,332 *4,332 **1 クロノクルセイド 1 / Chronocrusade 1
90 *3,998 *3,998 **1 BLACK CAT 1
52 *3,821 *3,821 **1 瀬戸の花嫁 1 / Seto no Hanayome 1
57 *2,759 *3,773 **2 ドルアーガの塔 ～the Aegis of URUK～ 1 / Druaga 1
53 *3,538 *3,538 **1 ウィッチブレイド 1 / Witchblade 1
50 *3,074 *3,074 **1 超重神グラヴィオンツヴァイ 1 / Gravion Zwei 1
64 *2,732 *2,732 **1 巌窟王 1 / Gankutsuou 1
67 *2,722 *2,722 **1 GANTZ 1
74 *1,978 *1,978 **1 風のスティグマ 1 / Kaze no Stigma 1
94 *1,802 *1,802 **1 ガドガード 1 / Gad Guard 1
84 *1,668 *1,668 **1 超重神グラヴィオン 1 / Gravion 1
64 *1,542 *1,542 **1 SAMURAI7 1
31 *1,508 *1,508 **1 SAMURAI GIRL Real Bout High School 1
73 *1,374 *1,374 **1 月面兎兵器ミーナ 1 / Getsumento Heiki Mina
79 *1,278 *1,278 **1 ブラスレイター 1 / Blassreiter 1

no Kaleido Star info? it's like the last best series they produced...