2012-06-26, 11:02 | Link #1301 | ||
ANEGO Worshiper
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: By the vending machine, drinking tea.
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I personally loved the series and believe it to be quite good (plot, animation, acting, music and so on) far above the level of mediocre. There are, as with everything, good and bad bits of the series but the good seem to greatly outweigh the bad. Though I do not put it at the same level as the manga due to the missing arcs (which help us connect to the characters far more) and some other changes made (Teiichi for example differs a bit from manga in terms of personality at crucial times), I also understand that the fact that they only had 12 episodes to work with, making it impossible to add the extra arcs and some changes are needed to make it work. Quote:
Some people like to rewatch things and relive the emotions they felt back at the start. Sure it won't have the same as the first time you watch it but at times it's damn close. |
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2012-06-26, 11:07 | Link #1302 | |
今宵の虎徹は血に飢えている
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Many many times. The same way I rewatch all my favorite stuff
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2012-06-26, 11:51 | Link #1303 |
from head to heel
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Age: 41
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Well, I can understand some of the criticisms with regard to the ending of the series and its story structure. I see the view where critics are coming from, but at the same time while those points are there, I can't help but be quite impressed and satisfied with the overall product.
Like I mentioned before, the stellar art direction in particular is a big plus for me. Visuals are a complementary clash of light and dark colours, high contrast and overlooming shadows to set mood and tone. The music fits well into each scene, and the voice acting carries just enough weight for every situation. I guess I haven't watched enough ghost-themed anime, and perhaps there are other examples out there that are similar to this show, but I believe the direction they took for this story in particular—with its blend of horror, drama and comedy—was the right choice all around. As for the arguments with regard to the ending, I for one expected a bittersweet ending from the very beginning. Never mind the happy carefree moments in the show, or the romance and drama between characters. Never mind even, if the goal of the characters isn't to exorcise the school of its various mysteries and resident ghost. The main heroine is a ghost, and all past stories that are of a similar bent typically and predictably conclude in such a fashion. It was simply the 'right' way to end the story as if it already wrote itself. With that said, I wouldn't say that I immediately reacted positively to the ending. For sure, I also wondered if I had been cheated of the ending I thought this story should have had, but just as relentlessflame has said, the show itself has been a story of challenges to the seemingly problematic relationship between the main characters. The fact that Yuuko is a ghost is simply one of them. The latter episodes focus on this heavily, from pursuing her shattered memories to resolving her past, and finally the questionable reversal of her fate in the very end. And I like it. It's simply one of those things where the payoff in the end sealed the series for me. I don't see it as a betrayal of my expectations of a romantic ghost story, but rather as a fitting conclusion to an entertaining one. And in the end, that's what matters to me the most. On another note, what's with Kirie making those overdramatic poses? Is there something I'm missing here...? Like a joke or something? |
2012-06-26, 12:01 | Link #1304 | |
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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Of course, it's not like I just sit there with the same thing on loop either -- I don't have very much time to watch anime as it is. But I'd rather take that limited time focusing on things I enjoy, rather than just trying to get in as many new experiences as possible. (I only generally watch a few anime each season, and they're all favourites. If I don't love it, I just won't get around to watching it.) I'm not trying to say that the latter approach is wrong by any means... but it just isn't my way. I would also be remiss if I didn't point out that you've spent a lot more time discussing the episode here on this forum than it would have taken you to rewatch it.
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2012-06-26, 14:18 | Link #1305 | |
Anxious bookseller
Author
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Shibuya Psychic Research
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I'm half and half on the ending. 11 was really good, I was glad Yuuko finally made peace with Shadow!Yuuko. The events in 12 I saw coming and really would have prefered it if Yuuko has just disappeared. I knew once Niiya walked into the Club room she'd be back. Not saying it wasnt done well, again the animation and visual display in this anime has been great, I just didn't like it.
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2012-06-26, 17:33 | Link #1306 | ||||
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: In the middle of nowhere
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So why are you being so vocally against the anime's ending when you claim you don't find it to be an issue? You're contradicting yourself. Quote:
And seriously, Teiichi ending up with Kirie or another girl that looks like Yuuko in the future has to be one of the worst ends. Why? Because it utterly cheapens his relationship with Yuuko and likes her only at face value. Teiichi loves Yuuko for everything who she is. Quote:
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And as relentlessflame has also stated that we watch the same scenes over again because we like to re-experience those moments we enjoy and cherish. Is that so hard to comprehend? Last edited by bumbayker; 2012-06-26 at 17:45. |
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2012-06-26, 19:01 | Link #1307 | |
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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Personally, I think a bittersweet ending could actually have worked just fine (and I have liked a number of romance anime with those sorts of endings, even though they can be a bit hard to rewatch), but I think that both a) they would have had to have foreshadowed the disappearance end-goal earlier in the story (and not just based on the assumption that it's obvious), and b) they would have had to change a lot of Episode 12 (and maybe earlier episodes) so that there's a clearer bridge to Teiichi's future without Yuuko. Yuuko's disappearance would have to have been an end-result that Teiichi clearly anticipated (and dreaded), rather than a "this is so sudden" twist. Then they could face the end together and really not have any regrets because they had more time to mentally prepare. For people who say they should have cut to black before the credits (or equivalent)... I can't help but think that would have rung a bit hollow when you consider the story on the whole. Perhaps it's ironic that Teiichi had never really thought of Yuuko's condition as "fatal" because she was already dead. But of course, he's still in Middle School, so I'm not sure it's fair to really expect him to think about the inevitability of death... even in a ghost story. Strange how that works.
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2012-06-26, 19:58 | Link #1309 |
Princess or Plunderer?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: the Philippines
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Although I have been epically spoiled by the discussion here, (Don't worry, I jumped straight to the sharks yesterday and I just started downloading the finale a few minutes ago.) I think the last episode reminds me, alongside with the overall plot of the series, with another that just seems to share a similar story: GOSICK, my very first favorite anime series.
Spoiler for thoughts on Gosick:
I don't know why it's preferred to have bittersweet endings in stories like this as opposed to happy ones like in Tasogare Otome x Amnesia.
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2012-06-26, 23:05 | Link #1310 |
User of the "Fast Draw"
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I agree that a bittersweet ending probably would have worked just fine. But sometimes I really do get sick of all the bittersweet stuff out there and having a full out positive ending isn't bad at all. And really it can make sense for me. After all the crap that Yuuko had to go through getting a happier conclusion is something I can get behind. Maybe it helped that I fell behind and watched the last few episodes in a row so that tragedy hit me right away and made me want something better to happen.
It was one heck of a ride. Really I think if a series is going to go their own way with the story then do it well and I think they managed that here.
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2012-06-26, 23:26 | Link #1311 |
残念美人
Join Date: Oct 2004
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Yuko almost killed Teichi, and they almost happily ever after. ^_^
I agree that a living couple is better than a dead couple. It's still better than staying apart even the love is mutual. The anime is not for having the regret for the rest of life scenario.
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2012-06-27, 01:50 | Link #1312 | ||||||
Awakened One
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Northern Italy
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2012-06-27, 01:55 | Link #1313 | |
Princess or Plunderer?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: the Philippines
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I mean, yes, it is true that a ghost and a living person cannot have an affair or is doomed to be separated, but can't we avoid that scenario for this series? I mean, it's cliched already. Can't we give Silver Link. praise for actually pulling off an unrealistic but relieving ending to their love story?
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2012-06-27, 03:37 | Link #1314 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
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Rewatch episode 2 since Yuuko's comments about shadow Yuuko choosing Teiichi was bothering me. In the scenes were Teichi has flashbacks, you do indeed see a black hand touching Teichi. This should be shadow Yuuko.
Not sure if anyone else has pointed this out... |
2012-06-27, 04:05 | Link #1315 | ||
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 41
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I think a key point the show was making here was that her disappearance wasn't entirely an inevitability. It was a possibility that Yuuko had chosen to embrace, and had resolved herself to (see again the conversation at the pool). Is her choosing to embrace "death", despite leaving a loved one behind, the right thing to do or not? Is it because she really wanted to rest in peace, or because she had (selfishly? well, without consulting him) decided that he would be better off moving on and falling in love with a "real girl" instead? I think you could really argue that all of Episode 12 was just Yuuko's selfishness the whole way through, but, by the same token, perhaps you might forgive her that selfishness since she had been troubled for so many years. Death may be an inevitability, but that doesn't apply if you're already dead.
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2012-06-27, 04:21 | Link #1316 | |
Princess or Plunderer?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: the Philippines
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JokerD: Destiny or not, it was shown even in the original manga that Shadow Yuuko was also the reason why Teiichi ended up in this story. It was heavily implied that Shadow Yuuko is already interested in Teiichi, although of course the reason might be different in the manga.
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2012-06-27, 04:30 | Link #1317 |
We're Back
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Redgrave City
Age: 35
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Here's an idea ; Yuuko isn't exactly a 'traditional' ghost since the beginning- she doesn't float or goes through solid objects, she wears physical clothes and eats real food... Heck, I recall some people even speculated that she's actually a human that nobody noticed when this show first started.
For all we know Teiichi and Yuuko could make little ghost babies That's right- let that thought sink in...
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2012-06-27, 04:42 | Link #1318 |
ANEGO Worshiper
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: By the vending machine, drinking tea.
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Well...it is true that Yuuko is far from the conventional ghost type. Even the way people perceive her changes from person to person according to their expectations of what is before them.
I dunno about little ghost babies but having a relationship with such an unconventional ghost seems much easier than with a normal one. |
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horror, romance, shounen, slice-of-unlife, supernatural |
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