What are you Watching?

[greg]

Sitting down and watching Dallos. I simply refuse to believe this OVA is really as bad as its rep among fans says it is.

Dallos has some fans on this forum. I can't remember who the are or if they still post here, it's been mentioned a lot.

This past weekend, I stayed at the in-laws' place in the mountains of Nagano-ken. I enjoyed the spring weather, got sunburned a little (I burn easily), and celebrated my daughter's birthday over the weekend. I also finished watching Yamato 2199 while I was there, and I started watching Nadesico. I remember getting frustrated with the show years ago when I first saw it, but that was close to 10 years ago. Last year, I bought the Nozomi re-release on a whim and decided to give it another shot.

The name of the show is a nice pun on Space Battleship Yamato, since "Yamato Nadeshiko" is the name of the idealized, fictional ultimate domestic housewife, much like "Donna Reed" in the USA. So instead of Space Battleship Yamato, you get Space Battleship Nadeshiko (Nadesico).

[Kame-Sen'nin]

Sitting down and watching Dallos. I simply refuse to believe this OVA is really as bad as its rep among fans says it is.

Dallos has some fans on this forum. I can't remember who the are or if they still post here, it's been mentioned a lot.

Count me among the fans of Dallos. While it isn't the greatest OVA ever created, it is worth watching. I particularly enjoy the ominous opening music.

I wasn't aware that Dallos had such a negative reputation. While it certainly has its flaws, I believe that the overall charm and nostalgia outweigh the negative aspects.

[llj]

Today, Dallos doesn't have much of a reputation, but I remember during the 90s, it became common to read anime publications and early anime webzines referring to Dallos as being terrible. Basically along the lines of "It may be the first OVA but it absolutely sucks. Now, Megazone 23 on the other hand..."

[llj]

Finished the original Cobra TV series. Pure pulpy sci-fi, just the way I like 'em. Next up is Nozomi's Cat's Eye

[greg]

No way! Nozomi has released Cat's Eye too? If it was mentioned in the "classic anime released on DVD" thread, I either missed it or forgot it.

[llj]

No way! Nozomi has released Cat's Eye too? If it was mentioned in the "classic anime released on DVD" thread, I either missed it or forgot it.

Yup, it's on page 31 of the DVD/BD thread and yep, you basically said the same thing there too.

[greg]

Ha! Must be Alzheimers kicking in. Too many tofu and soy products in my life.

[SteveH]

Mini review: Gatchaman OAV released by Sentai Filmworks

Much to my surprise, as I never saw this listed in any of the publicity, Sentai aka Section 23 aka ADV made the bold move to release their version of the 1994 Gatchaman OAV as a separate stand-alone DVD and not just an inclusion with their new big-a** box set.

So, worth the double dip, because I'm guessing many got the original release from Urban Vision, that's the question.

Yeah. It has an all new translation and subtitles (the biggest flaw in the Urban Vision release. Sheesh.), it has a new dub using what I assume is the same crowd as they dubbed the Gatchaman TV series with.

One thing I have to point out. It comes in one of the new 'eco-friendly' DVD cases, the kind that just cuts a ton of plastic out of the front and back under the guise of being more landfill friendly. Complete bunk, of course. it's a way to shave a few pennies from the cost of making the DVD case while keeping the profit margin up. AND IT'S CRAP because it offers almost zero protection to the disc! One would be wise to find a 'full plastic' case and swap out the paper jacket. Bah.

Of course, it's the Gatchaman OAV. Same too short plot, same completely insane and jarring CGI thing for Sosai X, blah blah. I still don't understand why Gatchaman, such a key, major license in Tatsunoko's library, got such a low rent push. It was like some odd countdown for the Tatsunoko Super Hero titles. Tekkaman Blade got a year-long run, Casshan got a 4-episode OAV, Gatchaman 3 and Hariken (Hurricane) Polimar, the unloved red-headed child of the bunch, a sad 2 episodes. I don't have a clue what was going on, other than Tatsunoko seems to have completely forgotten how to sell their products.

But it's all out now. Media Blasters, Discotek, Sentai, you've got your Tatsunoko retro-remake tip all out there. Go buy them.

[greg]

OK, so I finished episode 4 of Martian Successor Nadescico. I am remembering the problems I had with this show the first time I watched it 10 years ago.

1. The show seems to assume that the viewer thinks the characters and their various idiosyncracies are cool, without really giving us the time to absorb it and to reach that conclusion on our own. To put what I mean into perspective, imagine that it's almost as if from the very first episode of Star Trek, Bones keeps saying, "He's dead, Jim!" as though it was a popular trope, even before it becomes a popular trope. It's like the one girl who keeps saying, "bakabaka." Okay, let her keep saying that, fine. Then after several episodes, call attention to it. But no, it's like the show focuses way too much attention to it from the very beginning, as if handholding the viewer and pointing out how great and funny and unique it is. Can't the show just let me pick up on it first?

2. How in earth did this airheaded girl become captain of the ship? Just because she's the admiral's daughter? She displays no aptitute for being a captain. Did she merely pass the elbow test?

3. The show throws stuff at you and doesn't follow up with it. This is what irked me about Evangelion. So at the end of the third episode, Gai is murdered on the ship. Maybe I was watching the show too close before bedtime, but the whole next episode is about Akito mourning his death and the suddenly, three quirky new female pilots come along and oh boy, wacky hijinx abound! So during all the time Akito is moping about his friend getting killed, I don't remember anyone saying anything about, "Well gee, apparently we have a murderer on the loose inside this ship. We need to find out who killed Gai! We need to lock this ship down and start an investigation."

This is why I am not an Evangelion fan. That show was always like, "Hey, here's something weird all the sudden. What? You don't get it? Well F you! On to the next thing!" Contrast this with the TV show Twin Peaks, which throws weird crap all the time at the viewer, yet it still focuses on the mystery of it, so you need to pay attention to see how it comes together. No, Eva just blurts out stuff seemingly at random and quickly forgets about it. It's been a while, but I seem to remember Nadescico doing the same thing.

I'll just stick with it and keep watching... The show is still better than most anime on TV these days anyway...

[ParaParaJMo]

Gai was the reason why i loved that show. He brings out the inner child in me. And I loved Seki Tomokazu playing him as well.