who's this? and what's he doing in the Gasaraki forum?

[heart havok]

well, for christmas, my wonderful friend Liz bought me the first disc of Gasaraki.

i unfortunately haven't watched it yet, but i plan to tomorrow. {actually, i may just go watch it now before i go to bed}

eitherway... certainly, it sucks that it's on the first out of 8, especially with what i've heard of the series so far. but i'll definitely be back to post my comments and first impressions.

[Kizzim]

Ill be diligently waiting for your posts :) it will be good to get some new blood around here. Also, because its only the first dvd your probably going to be confused at the end and not sure if you want to watch any others. I suggest atleast buying/trying the second dvd also before you totally give up. The series is AMAZING.

[Drizzten]

I haven't gotten past the 5th volume, but it's a thick story. You're likely to hear comparisons to NGE, and I think that's fair to a point, but the plot and the themes branch in a different direction. Up to what I've seen, it's got more of a military/political lean with some really cool historical/spiritual moments.

We get a hero who isn't a total wuss. :up:

And the dub is excellent. :up:

[Kizzim]

breaths in the awesomness that is Gasaraki...

I was just pondering on dubs of movies ive heard, Gasaraki is probably the best ive ever heard, with the exception of maybe Lain? Evangelion did pretty good if you ask me, but alot of people dont think so.

And yes Yushiro is the best! unlike shouji (sp?) from evangelion who is timid and annoyingly announces that he doesnt want to pilot his eva, Yushiro takes it like a man and would rather put himself at risk for the greater good of the Gowa Corperation than let anyone else do it and maybe die. (The main pilots his friggin mech from a cord offa a 747, action and courage doesnt get any better than this)

[heart havok]

well, i watched it yesterday, and i am definitely going to continue buying the DVDs after i buy the Boogiepop Phantom Box this January.

the characters are definitely showing promise for dimention, and i definitely love the more strategical/political view that is fresh to anime {at this great extent}. it kinda' touches many of the political aspects that i disliked Gundam for NOT touching, which is definitely a plus. Gundam SAID it was there, but rarely SHOWED it. and from what i've got in the first four episodes alone, they are already SHOWing the political side rather than claiming it's there without many visuals.

on another bright side, i have studied many forms of Drama including the Japanese Kabuki and Noh theatre. so i was greatly pleased to see that they are incorperating Noh into the storyline and i am definitely interested in seeing how exactly it fits {further than the Experimenting that it shows Yushiro doing}.

another plus is the animation. certainly, the contrast in shading took a couple episodes to get over, but it's not as bad as the noses in Vision of Escaflowne, so i'm sure if i got over the noses, i can get over the bad shading. i just don't like how it makes the skin and clothing look like it's made out of rubber. haha... but none the less, i love the character designs, and definitely the realistic TA designs.

the dubs, i'm definitely disappointed with. lip syncronization isn't bad, and the chosen voices, i am greatly satasfied with... but as my house was very noisy at the time i was watching with dubs {i always watch Subs first if possible}, i watched with English Dubs and English Subtitles so that when the noise raised too much, i could still read what was going on. what disappointed me in it, however, was the fact that so much was changed from the original dialogue. and sometimes, even, i noticed they have one character saying a line that another character is originally saying {------- ADV}; which really bothers me about it. but nothing i'm going to ----- more than this paragraph about.

other things? it just has alot of promise. it's definitely not original {as most "Mecha" Anime isn't}, but it definitely DOES have many original ideas and perspectives as well as objectives for showing a non-original Anime... which, of course, makes it original. ^_~

as for 'confusing'.... i didn't find it confusing a single bit.
{though this is coming from the guy who has gone consecutively thru Serial Experiments Lain many times -almost continuously- analyzing it piece by piece.}


having only seen the first DVD, it would be ignorant for me to say i know what's going on. however, i can without a doubt say that i feel i've definitely followed along very easily and thouroughly, and that i've definitely a great taste for what's going on.

i ended the fourth episode feeling utter satasfaction and definitely wanting more.

and hell, if the story wasn't as good, i'd probably have to continue watching just so i could see more of Mihou[?] and see how elaborate her character gets deeper into the story ;)

[Liuokin]

I feel a bit stupid owning the first 5 DVD's (would have been 7 DVD's if the Science Fiction Bookstore in central stlhm would have had DVD6 in stock) and not watched it yet.. Me & Yalind are gonna watch it as soon as we get time..

Sadly we can't watch it at her place atm.. They got a PS2 for christmas, but it's still region-restricted and all my Gasaraki DVD's are Region 1 (USA).

But I guess we'll settle for Mononoke & SiN till I get the PS2 fixed =)

I'll post here later also after having watched the first 5 DVD's.

[Kizzim]

Originally posted by heart havok

the dubs, i'm definitely disappointed with. lip syncronization isn't bad, and the chosen voices, i am greatly satasfied with... but as my house was very noisy at the time i was watching with dubs {i always watch Subs first if possible}, i watched with English Dubs and English Subtitles so that when the noise raised too much, i could still read what was going on. what disappointed me in it, however, was the fact that so much was changed from the original dialogue. and sometimes, even, i noticed they have one character saying a line that another character is originally saying {------- ADV}; which really bothers me about it. but nothing i'm going to ----- more than this paragraph about.


There is always going to be problems with dubbing and subtitling I think. Personally I didnt notice much mis-matched lip syncronization (less than I saw in the new akira). Ive yet to watch the subtitling at all through the series just because i was VERY IMPRESSED at the voice overs but ill slap on the subtitling next time i watch to catch those mistakes. The problem with subtitling and dubbing is this: the english subtitling is suppose to go with what the japanese version is saying, this is obviously different because the way stuff translates is different, its never going to be perfect.

[heart havok]

of course subs and dubs are never going to be perfect. i was just saying it's the worst when it comes to changing things in that department.

as, from the anime i've seen, i'd never seen an Anime have the wrong character saying a line just because it matched his mouth better. that's fuckered.

[heart havok]

alright, i now own discs 1-3... i've watched eps 1-8.

i must say...

the political aspect can seem to pace the episodes a bit slow, but if you're in the mood for the details, then it's really awsome that they're getting that deep into the politics. and hell, i love how much of Miharu we get in the second disc. as for the pacing, it's not that bad, but by episode 7, i was thinking that if it didn't have some sort of change by the third disc, i was going to hold off on Gasaraki and concentrate on collecting a different series first.

but then i watched episode 8.

i had heard that the story really picks up with the third disc... but while watching episode 8 i was thinking "maybe they meant after the third disc".. that is.... until i got to the end of that episode........




holy ----! that was the perfect thing i needed to get hooked!!! sure, it was a good anime before, but i was just waiting for some kind of twist to pull me in, and that, i was certainly not expecting!!! i actually turned to my brother eyeswide {as he turned to me just the same} we both said "what the ----?" and then i screamed to the television "---- yeah!"

and Fuyutsuki claims the series only gets better from here. hell yeah.

yeah.

yeah.

okay, i'm done.

[heart havok]

i just bought the 4th disc yesterday. watched the first two eps on it.

i am enjoying it.. don't get me wrong.

but please... tell me it gets better.

i'm not finding it confusing at all. and sure, it's having some nice twists... and i'm certainly enjoying the fact that i have no idea what to expect from the rest of it. but please tell me it gets better.

[heart havok]

::shrug::

oh well, no one's replied... so i'll just keep hoping it does get better.

eitherway, i've ordered the Boogiepop Phantom BOX, and with my nExt two paychecks, i'm saving all my money so that i can get the last four discs of Gasaraki by the end of February {if the eigth is out by then} all at the same time. because come March, i'm preordering FLCL >=)

oh well.. i'll comment in about a month then. adieu.