Guys, I’m actually buying an anime DVD this month. I don’t remember the last time that happened! I guess it was when I bought Welcome to the NHK and ended up being so annoyed by its awfulness that I haven’t seen anime since. Three years, I believe. That is quite a while. But someone recently messaged me on Twitter to inform me that this guy is coming to DVD in a couple of weeks:
Apparently the episodes are patterned closely after the manga, and have no terribly rendered CG helicopters. So that’s good. Of course, the real cherry (Grace) on this sundae of snipe is that a season of anime is 26 episodes long, so the series is being released in two sets of… 13 episodes. Of course.
I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment here, but I guess three years is about long enough for the bitter taste of anime’s inevitable wretchedness to fade away.
A few evenings ago me and some friends played through the first five levels of The Mafat Conspiracy. That is to say, I played the levels, and they tried to make sense out of the brilliantly inscrutable story. Like the Orient Express going from Venice to Kabul. Or Golgo 13’s way with women.
I’m curious if kitsch-hunters will find similar joy in the new anime.
I enjoyed what I saw of the new Golgo 13 anime, which wasn’t much because it aired at 1:30 in the damned morning – probably to protect the children from all that shooting and screwing Golgo does. Can’t say it replaced his original animated movie on my list of Favorite Golgo 13 Stuff, but it was pretty cool.
At any rate, an indistinct bone.
Xam’d is okay, but I don’t know if it’s recommend-worthy. The story is a little too vague and symbolic.
Not sure what’s so bad about NHK. It’s not like it’s idiosyncratic of anime in general or anything either. The original novel stands on its own pretty well.
I have to say Golgo 13 can’t hold NHK’s jock strap in terms of literary richness. If you thought NHK was bad because it didn’t do introversion as masterfully as Dostoevsky would, you’re going to staple your ballsack to the ceiling with Golgo 13, not in the same league.
But I guess that if you only bought the first volume of NHK, you get the first episode which can realistically be conceived as awful but it serves its purpose when I look back on the series. You would only get 4 “legit” episodes after that, maybe not enough to get rid of the bitter taste of the first episode.
Guys, the new Golgo 13 anime is pretty much just like the old manga, only moving and in color. It’s not for everyone, but Jeremy knows exactly what he’s in for.
I am wondering how a TV series (even a late night one) can be as depraved as the Manga/Movies, since those are 90% rape and headshots.
Well you pretty much missed the mark on what I didn’t like about the NHK anime by about… 100%.
I totally loved the anime version of NHK.
It was probably just the soundtrack, though. That thing was banging.
Thought you might like this, though I can’t quite claim to know just what is going on. (That’s the best sort of Andore Jr. entry, of course.)
http://www.andorejr.com/post/save-our-cherry-grace-room
Between 1998 and 2005, I bought quite a few anime series on VHS and DVD. Sure, I ended up with a few stinkers, but I found some genuine classics. By being selective, I managed to defy Sturgeon’s Law.
But since then, I’ve become much more selective (I purchased Toradora, and I’m seriously considering the new Fist of the North Star TV discs). There’s a few reasons why my interest dropped — and no, it’s not because I was one of the bratty fans who watched all the fansubs on Youtube. Instead, I had to focus on car payments, and I got a little burnt out by the “been there, done that” shows. I took a break from fandom, and focused on the translated comics and games that I really liked.
parish: Actually, this show’s about 50 eps. So you have the choice of getting it now, or hoping the company will release it in two box-sets of 26 eps or one massive mega-box set down the road. Depends on how much of a Golgo-phile you really are. Buying it now, though, means you encourage the company to buy more shows like it over crap like Strike Witches.
feit: Kids don’t really care about a series like Golgo, anyway, unless you count that unofficial “cameo” in the YuGiOh manga.
And the NHK novel is just emo porn, much like Evangelion.
dork: If you have to buy Fist anything, get the movie. I’m just wondering if the Koei game’s worth it.
Got a good laugh at that picture. The Man With the Custom M-16 and the Indistinct Bone.
I never would have pegged you as a Golgo 13 fan, Parish. It seems so unapologetically violent and mysogynistic – traits you seem to detest in games.
Granted I’ve never seen nor read the anime/manga. Just what I have gathered on the subject.
The thing about Golgo 13 is that it’s charmingly archaic — it’s so inherently dated that you tend to shrug off its offensive qualities as a generational thing. Like when your friend’s grandfather makes a casual, racist comment. And, I think, discussion of its darker side tends to be exaggerated for effect.
Also, my appreciation of the series is 40% irony, 40% admiration for its adherence to format and ritual, and 20% NES nostalgia.
The fansub was really good for NHK, I can’t vouch for the official version. You should check out the light novel it’s all based on, it’s available in English.
Ah, that makes sense. I tend to like similar things for the same sorts of reasons.
I was just curious.
Ah, yes, the 3 vital pieces of profile information: Nane, Adress, and Bone.
Cool … older anime stuff seems to get cast by the wayside awfully easy unless it’s one of those twice-a-decade solid gold classics. Need the occasional revival to show people where it all came from :D
Though maybe a few less carryings-on of Dragonball, Robotech and Gundam would’ve been nice.
Now who’s for a fresh series of Project A-OK? XD