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Shezy
Joined: 01 Mar 2002 Posts: 9 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2002 8:48 pm Post subject: Anime endings... |
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First of all, there are no spoilers here, but don't read any further if you don't want to hear my rant about the end of Alien 9 and RK: Seisouhen.
I just finished watching Alien 9 the other day. Cool show with just about everything I like in anime (in general): catchy intro, good art, interesting storyline, intriguing characters. I remember watching the first ep a while back and writing it off as a kiddie series, but I changed my opinion after watching the second ep.
So everythings cool, right? Well, then I saw the third ep... Now, I read on the newsgroup someone saying that there were only three eps. SO, I'm expecting the series to come to an end but then they go and do what they usually do at the end of an anime series. I won't say what it is (go and watch it) but it really got me pissed off. Why do they do that?! I don't want the series to end that way! Of course, at the end there was a preview for the next ep, so I'm kind of hopeful that this isn't the end. Anyone know for sure if this series continues?
The other ending that really bothered/depressed the hell out of me was that of the Rurouni Kenshin series. The Seisouhen OVA. I won't even touch on how the narative structure got in the way of the story. Now, I don't know what to say without spoiling anything, but let me just express my disappointment with the endings of anime in general. It seems that the ones that are the most interesting are the ones that end the most disappointingly. THAT'S NOT THE WAY I WANT TO REMEMBER THE CHARACTERS! Now, this isn't always the case. Argento Soma surprised me, and I fully expected Pretear to end another way. It seems, though, that if a series is a "serious" one, then it has to end sadly. <shakes his head> Anyone think me going on a anime strike will change anything?
Anywho. Just needed to get that off my chest. Hopefully RahXephon won't do what I think it will. But I know it will. In the end. |
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AlienBoy
Joined: 27 Feb 2002 Posts: 70 Location: Middle Management
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Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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Life is tragic. |
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Onakra
Joined: 19 Feb 2002 Posts: 89 Location: Geldrop, Netherlands
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Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2002 12:42 am Post subject: Anime endings... |
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Shezy wrote: |
Of course, at the end there was a preview for the next ep, so I'm kind of hopeful that this isn't the end. Anyone know for sure if this series continues?
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There are 4 eps for Alien 9. Ep 4 hasn't been subbed yet (as far as I know).
http://www.alien-nine.com/item/main.html
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EDIT: Ok, scratch that. ep 4 has been released by AnimeJunkies on the 20th according to http://envirosphere.com
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Onakra
Last edited by Onakra on Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:41 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Highspar
Joined: 18 Feb 2002 Posts: 27 Location: London, Canada
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Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:12 am Post subject: |
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I'm personally worried about Aquarian Age ending. I'm pretty sure everyone is going to die, but now that the main character has a clue, and has a goal, I want him and his gf to live. But, I'm quite prepared to watch everyone die in a bloody orgy of death. Ah red paint, the only colour sold in bulk. |
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Guest
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2002 12:26 pm Post subject: |
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"Life is tragic"...? No it ain't. You're just looking at it through the wrong eye.
There's one more ep in Alien 9?! Woohoo! Life is sweet.
Hmmm... I could go on another rant about anime *beginnings*... Aquarian Age, for example. I couldn't find a complete posting of the first ep so I decided to take a look at the second ep and make up my mind if it was worth my time. Dude. Nothing happened. It's only the second ep, and nothing happened. Now, there seems to be a following for this series, so I msut have missed something in another ep. But how can the *second* ep in a series be so boring, and the rest of the series be any better?! Infinite Ryvius (sp?) is the same way. This was a while ago, but I remember skimming through the first ep and thinking "BORING" (yes, I thought those words, and in capital letters too). But again, there's a following for it. Either they messed up with the *first* ep, or the series got better. <shrugs>
The ending I've liked the best so far? I know this'll sound hypocritical of me, but off the top of my head I've got to say Cowboy Bebop. It just fit. Everything was done perfectly. Favourite beginning? I think the start of Rourouni Kenshin (first OVA) was the best. Awesome, awesome, awesom. The whole thing with Shinta not being an appropriate name, about not introducing yourself to dead men... Gimme more o' that good stuff. Oh. And I thought the end of that first series was good, too. I know a lot of people won't agree with me there... |
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Shezy
Joined: 01 Mar 2002 Posts: 9 Location: Toronto
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2002 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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Whoops. Forgot to sign in before I posted the previous... post. Gomen. |
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AlienBoy
Joined: 27 Feb 2002 Posts: 70 Location: Middle Management
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2002 7:19 am Post subject: |
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All right, you caught me. Life isn't tragic. I was just in a hurry and didn't have much time. I heard a interesting quote the other day from a Tom Cruise movie of all places that made me think about this topic. He said, "Things always end sadly, otherwise they wouldn't end." That's still a little pessimistic, I know, but in the world of entertainment it is often the case. Shakespeare didn't become famous selling "happily ever after."
Light Spoilers may follow so quit reading if that's not your thing.
In the case of the new Kenshin OAV, I don't think it could have ended differently. It's painful to watch, but I don't think I would have wanted to see it any other way. The troubles plagueing the characters in the new OAV give them a much more human feel. During the TV series and to some degree the first OAV, the audience was shown Kenshin the legend. I'll admit, that's a very cool thing, but seeing the characters on a much more real and human level creates a better bond with the audience. I'm not afraid to admit that by the end of the OAV, I was bawling like a little schoolgirl. |
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teki Guest
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2002 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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Well there is the "Everyone DIES!" type ending and there is the "Everyone dies!... but they're really alive after all!" ending which is even worse. Like Pretear.
Alien 9 is like completely evil without taking itself too seriously, I love it. |
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oblio
Joined: 20 Feb 2002 Posts: 106 Location: Detroix, MI
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2002 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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Frankly, after Eva, and Kare Kano, I've become extremely desensitized to stupid endings.
The biggest casualty of "gainex's revenge" is that I don't recommend series to people until I've watched the entire thing. |
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xo Site Admin
Joined: 09 Feb 2002 Posts: 466 Location: Los Angeles [comcast]
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2002 2:40 am Post subject: |
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oblio wrote: |
Frankly, after Eva, and Kare Kano, I've become extremely desensitized to stupid endings.
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Funny you mention Kare Kano as I just finished watching (like less than an hour ago!).
Spoiler wrote: |
I was very much enjoying the series and I started getting anxious about how the series was going to end. It seemed to take some weird excursions towards the end (#24 and it's odd review segments yet again, #25 with the side story about Kano's stalker) that made me wonder how they were going to wrap it all up in just one episode.
#26 was a total challenge with all the text and I'll have to re-watch in slo-mo or something. Still, once I understood how it was going to end, I sort of relaxed. And as I think about it, I'm growing content with the "ending". My take is that the show is about relationships and Miyazawa-Arima's relationship wasn't ending. I forget the exact quote by Yukino noted they will always be changing with each other and will always grow that way.
In that context, I accept the "non-ending". It's made even more palatable to me because of the fade-out of that relationship and fade-in of the Tonami-Sakura one, sort of re-emphasizing that relationships are continuously being born.
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Now Eva, I totally agree. I thought that show bit (heresy, I know).
-xo (Hmm, now why did writing the above make me feel like I was high school again?) |
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oblio
Joined: 20 Feb 2002 Posts: 106 Location: Detroix, MI
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2002 8:46 am Post subject: |
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I should probably mention that I don't have too big of an issue with the "stupid endings" thing. I mean, these people are artists, and I'm... well... not. Just because I don't enjoy a show doesn't mean that the show doesn't have value.
It's also fairly hypocritical of me to claim to enjoy anime due to "the lack of hollywood cheeze", yet at the same time decry some anime for their atypical endings.
Still, sometimes those endings have just a little too much gravitas to be taken seriously... you're analysis of Kare Kano was good, and probably spot on, but after the twenty five other episodes, it just felt like a kludge. Maybe a failure of direction and production rather than script and story, but to me, a failure nonetheless.
But again, I'm sure I'm not being fair. If it was a Coen brothers movie, I would be making excuses for it. :) |
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AlienBoy
Joined: 27 Feb 2002 Posts: 70 Location: Middle Management
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2002 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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oblio wrote: |
But again, I'm sure I'm not being fair. If it was a Coen brothers movie, I would be making excuses for it. :)
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But then, there wouldn't be a need for excuses. When would the issue ever come up? Maybe they'll get bored and purposefully try to make a bad movie one day, but until then...
As far as my take on endings (in general, not just about Kenshin), I think that wrapping any piece of work up is the hardest thing to do. How many times have you gone to a movie and thought, "It was really good right up until the ending." How many times have you written a brilliant essay and then choked in the closing? How many of you listen to the first 6 tracks on most audio CDs and then think the rest pretty much suck?
As a general rule, I don't let endings bother me too much any more. If I enjoy a series and then it's ending tanks, I just think back to the good times (cheesy or what?). I do think that the biggest problem plaguing most series these days is rushed endings. I don't know if it's poor planning or what, but too many series wait too long to start wrapping things up.
-AlienBoy
P.S. On a side note, I'm about to sit down and watch the last disc of Key. So far, it's held my interest enough to get me to buy all three discs (it also probably helped that 180-210 minutes of action are on each disc). It seemed like they started towards the ending early so I'm hoping they'll pull it off without sucking. |
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xo Site Admin
Joined: 09 Feb 2002 Posts: 466 Location: Los Angeles [comcast]
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Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2002 12:02 am Post subject: |
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Something I've been mulling over is the relationship between the anime and manga. In Karekano's case, I read somewhere that the anime ended with the manga vol 8 and that the manga went further. Understanding this, I'm even more lenient on the ending, knowing they producers had this to deal with.
This also brings to mind another analogous series: Love Hina which also ended when the manga continued. Lot of people hated that ending for similar reasons, I'd guess (didn't tie up loose ends, no closure) but I kinda liked it. Unfortunately, in my opinion, they kept going and with each special and OAV episode I've watched, I've grown increasingly disappointed and am starting to wish they left it alone.
One more example along the lines of the manga-anime relationship: Fushigi Yuugi. I liked the main series quite a bit and the ending was nice. A little open ended but tied up most loose ends. The manga went on, though, and I guess this (and perhaps demands of fans/promise of financial success) prompted the OAV series. These were a total disaster, in my opinion. Utterly confusing, plot jumping all over the place, characters popping in and out. I kinda wish I never watched.
I'm not sure what my point is. I'd be interested to hear some counter examples where OAV/sequels came out afterward that didn't suck.
Oh, and don't quote me on the facts above, I may have them all wrong. Please feel free to correct me if I did.
-xo |
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AlienBoy
Joined: 27 Feb 2002 Posts: 70 Location: Middle Management
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Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2002 9:19 am Post subject: |
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I personally thought that the new Kenshin OAV did a great job animating the last part of the manga and then finishing the series off. After the Kyoto arc of the TV series, the story had to diverge from the then unwritten final books of the manga. Alot of people hate the later episodes. The new OAV was basically a fanservice (not THAT kind of fanservice) to everyone who was mad.
It seems like just about every series out there has to end up diverging from the manga at some point. The only alternative is to pull a Berserk and just leave everyone hanging. Anyone heard anything about if they'll ever animate anything from this again? The manga is still very popular in Japan right now. In one of the stores I went into they had a sign on the opened "preview before you buy" volume one of the manga that read something along the lines of, "Feel free to look through this book." Under that was written, "WARNING: May cause severe addiction!"
Looking through my collection I can't really think of anything else. The Cowboy Bebop movie that came out afterwards didn't suck, but I don't know if that was based on the manga. Movies don't really count either, I guess, because they're not always extentions of the story. |
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chrono
Joined: 05 Apr 2002 Posts: 2 Location: leene's quare 1000 AD
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Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2002 2:27 pm Post subject: |
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i'm a happy ending freak, so i really hate those sad endings. or those with no real endings. here's some of my rants but might be spoilers in some animes.
spoiler wrote: |
x 1999 - the girl gets killed in the end... not like what many ppl would expect...
mahoromatic and candidate for goddess - ended midway of the series?
i my me strawberry eggs - ending just makes us wonder those "what ifs"
boys be - the real ending was just 3 minutes?
initial D - i kinda looked forward to a reconciliation between the girl and takumi... and a success in the racing world...
rurouni kenshin - it's so, so, so sad to see the lead character dies. which i would often see in true to life movies...
sakura diaries - was that an ending?
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