Comment by tinco
13 years ago
Although it went a bit off the rails, I wouldn't say it was poorly done. As an anime compared to others it stands amongst the best in my opinion.
I agree though it is always a pity when something has the potential to be perfect, and some directorial decision is made to make a big dent in it (see almost every book to movie adaption).
> As an anime compared to others it stands amongst the best in my opinion.
Well, my opinion may have been tainted by having read the manga first and expecting too much faithfulness to it out of the anime adaptation - a rather common problem. And on the whole, it's definitely one of the better anime in recent years. Unfortunately, there has been a strong trend these days to go for the moé/fanservice crap, likely in an attempt to drive DVD/Bluray sales among the hardcore otaku in the face of declining mainstream viewers and ad revenues. I think I lost my patience somewhere around when Highschool of the Dead came out.
Nowadays I watch a lot more K-dramas, which have rapidly picked up in cinematography and acting over the last few years - they are definitely in a Golden Era right now, and the internet makes it so easy to rapidly obtain them, no matter where you are living. The K-drama fansubbing community is absolutely amazing, and it has been a TON of fun learning Korean through Japanese and seeing the similarities (and differences) between the languages.
But there's so much good anime from back in the day that doesn't get enough attention. Legend of the Galactic Heroes particularly stands out in my mind as a wonderful OVA (though it is quite atypical among OVAs, at 110 episodes). The use of a space opera setting as a backdrop for political commentary was very poignantly done. I've been meaning to read the novels the series is based on, but as science fiction novels are wont to do, they will no doubt be chock full of vocabulary that will probably require me to break out my Japanese-English dictionary.
Yeah if you're a drama fan I can imagine the past few years have not seen a good trend in Anime lately :P
I'm more of an action adventure kind of guy, there's not many good new stuff in that genre either as far as I'm aware. The most recent one I really enjoyed was Steins;Gate which is really quite brilliant!
Also I'm jealous you're able to read Japanese, I've not had the discipline to really learn it yet.
> I'm more of an action adventure kind of guy, there's not many good new stuff in that genre either as far as I'm aware.
Take a look at Gaksital (2012). I've not had a chance to watch it yet, but it's got action and is apparently quite good.
Another excellent action K-drama is City Hunter (2011), which is actually based on a late 80s/early 90s anime series, and has a corresponding anime as well that was first released in 1987. City Hunter was probably one of the first K-dramas where the production values and special effects really struck me in the face. Things have only continued to improve since then. Unfortunately, most J-drama producers haven't opted to continually increase production values in the same manner (and the Japanese wonder why K-dramas are so popular in Japan).
Another good K-drama in the last year (which I've seen) was Ghost, which (while it has some action) is more about crime and computers/hacking, but since you're on HN, you might like it. It had a surprisingly realistic portrayal of computers/hacking - not your usual CSI crap. Plus, the lead actress, Lee Yeon Hee, while still rather young/inexperienced in terms of acting, is one of the most beautiful (in a uniquely understated way) I've seen in K-dramaland in quite a while.
I certainly enjoy melodramas as well though, especially the makjang dramas[0] that Korea is famous for. Nice Guy (2012) is a thrilling example of this, and one of the best K-dramas overall from last year. And if you're interested in historical dramas, I hear Arang and the Magistrate is quite nice.
Dramabeans[1] is a good (and surprisingly professional) blog for keeping abreast of K-drama news in general. They have good year-end roundups[2] that allow you to quickly spot the good shows.
> The most recent one I really enjoyed was Steins;Gate which is really quite brilliant!
Yes, Steins;Gate has been a notable exception - I've been meaning to play the visual novel the anime is based on, but that would require me to boot into Windows :/
> Also I'm jealous you're able to read Japanese, I've not had the discipline to really learn it yet.
Learning how to read/write Japanese is all about making it fun. I used the standard RtK/Anki approach, but what really motivated me was using a brush instead of a normal pencil/pen. It really improves your handwriting and makes practicing a lot more fun. Once you've got all the jouyou kanji down, it's just a matter of picking up jukugo in context, which is inherently a lot more fun, if you can find interesting stuff to read and make Anki flashcards out of. I started out with lines from dramas (there are Japanese subtitles available on D-Addicts[3]), and then moved onto websites, before going to actual novels.
0: http://belectricground.com/2011/04/11/korean-language-and-cu...
1: http://www.dramabeans.com/
2: http://www.dramabeans.com/tag/year-in-review/
3: http://d-addicts.com/forum/subtitles.php
Have you seen the late J-dramas like 'kasefu no mita' or 'doctor X'? I find those to be pretty good entertainment, however I don't know K-dramas. What I like a lot about Japanese media is, they don't tend to stretch their stories out just for a quick buck. Series with massive success like kasefu don't get sequels if their story is done.
> Have you seen the late J-dramas like 'kasefu no mita' or 'doctor X'?
I've heard of both, but haven't seen either. I've been meaning to, but as I mentioned before[0], part of the reason I was watching J-dramas was for Japanese reading/writing practice, so my dorama watching has dropped off after passing that phase of my studies. Hopefully I'll have some time to watch them this year, as they seem decent enough.
> I find those to be pretty good entertainment, however I don't know K-dramas. What I like a lot about Japanese media is, they don't tend to stretch their stories out just for a quick buck. Series with massive success like kasefu don't get sequels if their story is done.
The same policy exists for K-dramas. Very few get sequels, and those that do have generally turned out quite well, such as 2011's Vampire Prosecutor[1]. Sequels seem to be more popular on (the recently created) Korean cable networks, but even then they're not the stretched-out 5- or 6-year sagas you regularly see on American TV.
In any case, I would highly recommend checking out K-dramas - I mentioned a few good ones in another comment[0]. The production values, cinematography, set design, and acting are generally far better than they are for J-dramas. I find the actresses significantly more attractive as well, which never hurts ;)
0: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Vampire_Prosecutor