Forum - View topicREVIEW: Noein - to your other self DVD 1
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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Great review, pretty much agree on all counts. I kind of like the art style, although I can certainly see how some people might. The exaggerated angles and depths really seem to work well, it's consistent and it's well animated which keeps it from becoming a negative element. This series also has one of the better dubs to date I felt, usually I can narrow down one member of the cast who's a weak link but this time around I really haven't found anyone yet in the dubs cast that qualifies for that role.
The storyline is murky at this point, to say the least, I have to recognize that portion of the review as well. I really don't mind shows or anime that hide a lot of the information from the viewer, I actually kind of like it, but in Noein's case it seems to be hiding a lot of elements that even seem to be simple basic information necessary to view it. Between Noein and Ergo Proxy I think I've met my yearly quota for vague and mysterious series'. I'm sure explanations are around the corner and even by episode 5 there was a bit explained already, but there's obviously still so much more that needs to be fleshed out. This is definitely one of those series I'll need to rewatch a second time through once I've seen it all to truly grasp it. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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I'm interested in this series and I've heard good things about it (and the trailer I saw long ago looked pretty good), but between this and the the AoD review, I think I'll be waiting for a boxset where I can watch the whole thing in a short period of time. This doesn't sound like a good series to have to have to wait for new episodes for since its so confusing to begin with.
I can't really afford to get more single disc releases now anyway, but this seals the deal. But I'm glad to hear that Manga Entertainment did a pretty good job on the release though. It sounds like they don't have the video quality issues they used to have and those are some nice extras. I hope those extras make it to the eventual box set. |
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Whearn9999
Posts: 211 Location: Texas City TX |
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This was a blind purchase for me. There was something about the way this show was advertised that got me interested. Finding it at Suncoast for $15 was the clincher.
I haven't watched it yet, but I'm glad there is so much positive response so that when I do get around to it, I'll probably like it. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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This was a "had it sitting on the HD unwatched" buy for me, and like HitokiriShadow said, it's going to be difficult watching this in chunks, especially since it's on a three-month release schedule and won't be done until October 2007. (Is it morally wrong to watch fansubs if you're getting the DVDs anyway?) Luckily, the discs were rediculously cheap at Righstuf awhile back, such that the whole thing is only going to run me about $60 when all's said and done.
Noein has always been a series that I "wanted to like," and I'm willing to give it more than these first 5 episodes. For better or worse, it does look different from a lot of other stuff out there--some off-putting character designs, but the CG looked really well-done, and reminded me of Final Fantasy: Unlimited, inasmuch as FFU's designs were quite inventive and "out there" at times. It's definitely a series to watch while wide awake, because it's easy to get lulled into sleep and miss things. I can't say I was so impressed with the English dub; it was tolerable enough to check out for a few episodes, but it rubbed my purist fur the wrong way and just didn't seem as seasoned as dubs that ADV, Funimation, and Geneon are putting out these days. I don't remember there being a character named "HuhROOka" in the Japanese audio, at least. Still, I'll go back to it from time to time on future discs, especially if staying awake proves a challenge. Manga also fails it by not doing a separate signs/songs subtitle track, something that every other company aside from Viz has been doing for the last 3 or 4 years 
In general, I bought this to "give Manga a chance," since I don't have anything from them other than the Evangelion movies, and overall, it's a pretty good release and a pretty good choice of a series. I've never gotten too much from Manga Ent. because judging by the tastes of the reps they had at AKon, they're more into action/violence/sci-fi instead of drama/romance/cuteness. But, I don't have any qualms about putting Noein on my shelves. |
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halochief_90
 Posts: 466 Location: Canada |
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Am I the only one who didn't feel confused after volume one? I guess if I didn't read the back packaging I would be... Still, I'm glad, after some of the more negitive reviews, that it's not wrong for this to be my favorite anime in the last year.
I agree the cast is very well chosen, likewise, I too think the character designs and art feel very unique. The review does seem to be a little "spoilerific," but if people are confused up till now then so be it. |
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mufurc
 Posts: 612 |
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How typical of me to notice a month later that ANN already reviewed Noein DVD 1....
Anyway. So, the name is officially "La'cryma", eh? What the hell?! Did the translators base their work on fansubs? Or did the Japanese insist on this, like they did with "Neon Genesis Evangelion"? 'Cos... really..... *facepalm* It's Lacrima, for goodness' sake! Lacrima means "tears" in Latin. The show even makes an allusion to this, by naming the episode that introduces the dimension "Dimension of tears". (Besides, there's a reason behind naming one dimension "tears" and another "Shangri-la"...) La'cryma on the other hand comes from La'cryma Christi, a JRock band that intentionally misspelled the word "lacrima" to make their name more visual kei-ish. Googling "ラクリマ" results in sites that transliterate it as "La'cryma" because they refer to the band! I mean, goodness gracious, is it too much to ask from a translator to recognize the phrase "lacrima Christi" even if it's misspelled? Mistranslations like this annoy the hell out of me. Especially if they're the result of ignorance or done on purpose (see "Rakuen" in Wolf's Rain... it's Paradise, dammit, it's important that it's not just some place called "Rakuen" but Paradise itself). |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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In most cases main name translations are provided by the studio that produced the anime to the licensors, believe it or not they don't usually just grab the title and tell the studio's "see ya". The studios are still involved in the US production process as consultants so while you might have a case to make there's still really no telling who's to blame or even if the name wasn't intentionally changed to a variant of the word to make it more like a name and not just a complete rip of the latin word since in the literary community taking direct latin words is actually often frowned upon.
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mufurc
Posts: 612 |
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I know that production studios usually provide translations, that's why I wondered if the transliteration was their great idea.
Anyway, the problem is, in this case it's kind of important that it's not just a made-up word, that it has a meaning (like how "Rakuen" comes across in Wolf's Rain, where the translation pretty much misses the whole point). Sure, calling the dimension of Karasu and Co. "Lacrima" isn't the subtlest symbolism liek evar, but it is a nice touch, and as I wrote, the show even makes an allusion to the meaning of the word (episode six, "Dimension of Tears"). And the fact that the spelling "La'cryma" is pretty much a direct rip-off of the name of a rock band just adds insult to injury... (And as for taking latin words being frowned upon - that may be so, but Noein doesn't have much to do with the "literary community". It's a fantasy cartoon, albeit a really great one.) |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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True, but criticisms tend to easily leap mediums. At any rate, if they knew enough about the word to name that dimension based on that and allude to it then it seems likely that the alternate spelling is intentional. After all, they'd have had to know the word to base anything off of it.
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mufurc
Posts: 612 |
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The problem is, the fansub had the exact same transliteration, and I'm pretty sure they got that by googling "ラクリマ" and finding tons of La'cryma Christi websites (without realizing that it was a case of misspelling the phrase "lacrima Christi"). I, too, happen to know a few things about anime translations, and this wouldn't be the first time that an anime translator just googles words they don't recognize and use the first result they come across without pursuing the matter further. Ah well, it may actually be the production studio's idea, and at any rate, it can't be changed by now. It's just irritating. :/ (Btw, what does the literary community think about using Greek words?  If anyone wanted to criticize Noein for using a Latin word, they could also criticize it for using a Greek word as its title... a philosophical term, actually, used in the wrong sense by the creators. )
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WesW
 Posts: 144 |
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I watched the first couple of episodes, and was very impressed with the backgrounds. I don't remember ever seeing rooms as finely detailed, outside of a movie, and the first scene of the classroom, where there were multiple children moving and talking at the same time, stood out as well.
Also, look closely and you will see a white van pass by in a foreground shot with the word "Satelight" on the side. I thought that was pretty sly for an anime. |
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