›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Judge Anime By Its Cover

MrPeriodMrPeriod
edited June 2013 in GeekNights

Judge Anime by its Cover
Anime Boston 2013

You wouldn't judge a book by its cover, but anime is a whole different ball game. What if we reviewed anime SOLELY by their covers? Would these reviews be accurate? If so, why? Anime, moreso than other works in other media, seem "truer" to their marketing material, and it is our hypothesis that one truly can "review" anime to a great degree soley by their covers.

Source Link
«13

Comments

  • chaosof99chaosof99
    I find your pronunciation of german words disturbing.
  • AxelAxel
    I definitely agree with this panel. I have lots of friends who would tell me otherwise, say you guys are making generalizations and have no proof, just assumptions. But those friends are dumb and also tend to like shitty things.
  • Dragonmaster LouDragonmaster Lou
    Well, one thing that was made clear during this panel is that the rule is not 100% accurate. However, it'll filter out 99% of the chaff from the wheat and you can just wait for internet/buddy/etc. buzz to find the 1% of the wheat that was inadvertently tossed out with the chaff.
  • AxelAxel
    I just know a lot of people who would say "No, you can never judge by it's cover. You can't say 'It's probably this.' You can't make assumptions." Which I think is wrong, it's our strongest reasoning tool. This looks like this because of this, and therefore I'm not interested.
  • PeguPegu
    What about Madoka? The cover looks like your typical school girl trash. image
  • AprecheApreche
    What about Madoka? The cover looks like your typical school girl trash. image
    It's the 1%. Ignore it until the Internet won't shut up about it. Then you realize you missed something, and you go and correct it. Problem solved.
  • AxelAxel
    Which Rym and Scott go over. If friends are like, "This show is great," you can trust them. I'm talking about a show where no one I know is talking about it or has seen it, but they say I'm not allowed to judge it by its cover. That's the only way for me to narrow what I watch, instead of just trying every new show.
  • RymRym
    What about Madoka?
    Obviously didn't watch panel. ;^)

  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    What about Madoka?
    Obviously didn't watch panel. ;^)

    None of us listen to the podcast anymore so why would we watch the panel before commenting?
  • PeguPegu
    edited June 2013
    What about Madoka?
    Obviously didn't watch panel. ;^)
    image
    Post edited by Pegu on
  • AxelAxel
    I thought it was a good panel. Even better than the usual lecture panels, the gimmick of "Judge all of the anime for one season based on picture and basic description" was funny.
  • PlugMyDuckPlugMyDuck
    I understand the argument that you should ignore an Anime until the Internet forces you to look again but what happens when the Internet is in love with a bad show?
  • AxelAxel
    Recognize people on the internet who are stupid.
  • NukerjsrNukerjsr
    I honestly think that this concept could work for any anime season picture. It was just really entertaining (And all those older anime references. Brother Dear Brother, anyone?) It just comes down to the fact that if people are talking about it positively after it's been around for a while? It's worth watching. I think it works for any medium.
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited June 2013
    I actually haven't been watching a lot of anime recently, thus the presentation was the first time I even heard of Uchouten Kazoku. First thing I thought was "Wait, is this a new show by Koji Kumeta?" Kumeta is the guy who made Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Katteni Kaizou and some other things. The show is however not based on something he wrote, but a novel by a different author. He did the character designs though.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • DromaroDromaro
    edited June 2013
    Obviously didn't watch panel. ;^)

    Clearly they've found a more efficient heuristic than spending an hour watching the lecture. Why watch when you can make a stab in the dark knowing you or Scott will simply tl;dr the panel if incorrect? Or ask a question addressed in the panel for the same?

    It would seem you and Scott need better heuristic for the "Make people watch our panels" game. ;-)
    I understand the argument that you should ignore an Anime until the Internet forces you to look again but what happens when the Internet is in love with a bad show?

    You cannot trust the mob alone. You need a trust network of people you know and share taste with to supplement this. This is how I have avoided so many shit movies over the years.
    Post edited by Dromaro on
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I like how some people keep calling stuff out from the audience, and you ignore them utterly.
  • RymRym
    I like how some people keep calling stuff out from the audience, and you ignore them utterly.
    I wish more speakers at anime conventions would learn that lesson... Half these things end up with a guy at the front half-talking-to someone in the audience mostly off-mic for minutes at a time.

  • RymRym
    Aaand, the first person to take umbrage with our judgement expresses his dissatisfaction.

    "3 minutes in and they are already wrong, horribly wrong on GSG."

    GSG, I assume, is Gunslinger Girls, which is thinly veiled moe fetish porn coupled with unveiled gun fetish porn.
  • ApsupApsup
    Someone getting mad because of that panel? Biggest non-surprise of the century.
  • CremlianCremlian
    There might be something more to Gunslinger girls but it's impossible to get past the moe fetish porn with guns aspect....which is the fatal flaw of the show.
  • RymRym
    There might be something more to Gunslinger girls but it's impossible to get past the moe fetish porn with guns aspect....which is the fatal flaw of the show.
    Did you watch it?

    One episode is all about one of the girls having cramps because she's on her period.

    There are multiple scenes where the killing machine girl almost kills herself due to being a moe blob, and her older male "instructor" has to rush over, save, and then admonish her for being so careless.

    I watched the entire show. I can not unsee what was seen.
  • CremlianCremlian
    How did you watch the whole show? Are you some sort of screwed up person :-p
  • AprecheApreche
    How did you watch the whole show? Are you some sort of screwed up person :-p
    I think he is excused because it was during his IBM sabbatical in the woods and no Internet.
  • RymRym
    How did you watch the whole show? Are you some sort of screwed up person :-p
    I watched it after I'd already exhausted other such awful shows as R.O.D. TV and a good chunk of Brother Dear Brother...

    No Internet, not even a phone line.

  • ChurbaChurba
    edited June 2013
    There are multiple scenes where the killing machine girl almost kills herself due to being a moe blob, and her older male "instructor" has to rush over, save, and then admonish her for being so careless.
    I remember catching that one on TV, and you're quite wrong about that.

    What actually happens is the moeblob with the SIG 550 who conveniently barely shows up before that commits suicide, and more primary moeblob with the P90 from all the cover art figures out what happened later, and is demonstrating for her handler and the agency wonks, which they mistake for a suicide attempt - an impression that is quickly corrected - and then she explains how Sig550 Moeblob was almost pathologically obsessed with her handler handler, and then killed her handler and herself because her handler didn't love her enough. And then it's strongly implied that all the moeblobs are more than a little like that.

    So, yeah, it's actually kinda worse when you think about it.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • CremlianCremlian
    edited June 2013
    What I was saying, is there might be a story to tell about children being trained as assassins that was both tasteful and interesting, but the show never gets around to it or it's so covered up in the other BS.

    Kinda like to my disappointment, Sword Art Online. Apparently after a really strong start to the show it ends up being a "perfect girlfriend show" which doesn't look into the effects of being in a murder video game and instead the characters decide it's better to play house in a virtual world.......... Not to mention the awesome fighting female character goes from being a total badass to cooking dinner...
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • RymRym
    That's not the scene I was thinking of, actually.

    But yeah, that scene is kinda worse.
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited June 2013
    That's not the scene I was thinking of, actually.

    But yeah, that scene is kinda worse.
    I probably didn't catch that episode. I never watched the whole series, I only ever caught bits and pieces over time - enough to have a roughly complete picture of the series, but I've only seen maybe five episodes total across the two series.

    There was a scene in the manga from one moeblob's initial training, where she's looking down the barrel of her jammed SIG Sauer, is that the one? The Anime has a bunch of stuff that the manga doesn't, and that's the only one I can think of like that. Frankly, that's not too unrealistic of a reaction to someone doing that, and it does have a purpose - it's foreshadowing the whole suicide method thing. Note how they're a lot less concerned about them getting shot in any other part of the body.

    Edit - Though, I will note, I found it interesting how every time the moeblobs were cute, treated as human beings, or otherwise not treated as ruthless, amoral cyborg death machines, the show and the manga are real quick to correct that impression. And every relationship that's shown between the handlers and the blobs that exceeds the carefully regulated boundaries of handler and talent relationships is explicitly wrong, unhealthy, the worst idea, and basically always ends in tears. And by tears, I mean tragedy and death. Not the first story to go with that - I mean, Lolita showed it long before this was ever a thing - but it's the only moeblob show I can think of that goes there.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    I'm getting old man syndrome. I'm starting to judge everything by its cover. I ain't got time for that shit. It gets super eerie when I can identify mental illnesses by writing style and eye contact.
Sign In or Register to comment.