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Lord Geo
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2559
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
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 Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 1:21 pm
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| Quote: | | Gunbuster, titled Aim for the Top!! in Japanese (which will also be getting its own first-ever official English release in a couple of months!) |
Likely just a case of accidental wording, but Discotek's release of Gunbuster is far from the "first-ever", as Bandai Visual USA released it on DVD back in the 00s, and it was one of U.S. Renditions' very first releases on VHS back in the early 90s (it's where "Side-Kick Wave" came from). I imagine Caitlin simply forgot a word, as "first-ever official English dub release" would make perfect sense.
Beyond that nitpick, though, a great review. I'll definitely have to grab Aim for the Ace at some point, likely alongside the movie that's also coming out soon.
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AQuin1904
Joined: 13 Nov 2021
Posts: 266
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:33 pm
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| Lord Geo wrote: | | it's where "Side-Kick Wave" came from |
Wasn't that Dangaioh (which I thought they released either first or at the same time), as a misread of "pyschic"?
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Lord Geo
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2559
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 2:44 pm
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| AQuin1904 wrote: |
| Lord Geo wrote: | | it's where "Side-Kick Wave" came from |
Wasn't that Dangaioh (which I thought they released either first or at the same time), as a misread of "pyschic"? |
Ah, yes it was! They both came out at the same time, so I confused them. Whoops!
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OtomeGay
Joined: 14 Oct 2021
Posts: 118
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:04 pm
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Guess I'll be picking this one up in the future! It's always nice to see a classic shojo get picked up for distribution, thank you Discotek!
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Covnam
Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3672
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 3:19 pm
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Enjoyed the review. Hopefully you can do the movie too for a comparison 
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Shay Guy
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2131
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 4:36 pm
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| Quote: | | Some viewers may also be put off by some of the characters' attitudes and expectations. I'm unsure if “rest” is in Hiromi's vocabulary, and she and her teammates frequently risk serious career injuries for the sake of a high school team. Munakata asks Hiromi to make sacrifices in her personal life that no modern high school coach would dream of… or maybe they would. I was like the least athletic person in the world at my high school. Regardless of realism, some may struggle with the sense that Hiromi is giving too much of herself to tennis, leading to a level of obsession that isn't healthy. |
To the extent that this differs from modern anime, I'd call it a difference of degree rather than kind -- the idealization of "hard work" as the ultimate virtue, trumping all else, still seems to me to be a cornerstone of Manga Morality today. Which includes pushing yourself to your limits and beyond, of course, almost regardless of what it's for. Deku gets scolded for breaking his bones, but I don't think readers would root for him as much if he weren't willing to. Bakugo doesn't really have to confront or make amends for his history of petty cruelty, because he has the One Virtue: hard work and an unquenchable determination. (KnY struck me as especially weird, because Tanjiro has to prove an unfailing commitment to hard work, no matter how fruitless, before anyone tells him what he's even supposed to be doing to improve in the first place.)
Mind you, I've seen it more in shonen manga, but I suppose that reflects my experience -- and I know just enough about AFTA to know that it's one of the most prominent of the rare exceptions to your long-running observations about "stories that get told about boys, but not girls". (As for shoujo series I've actually read recently… I guess Queen's Quality might be one that enshrines the One Virtue, though not to the Seiya-esque "keep pushing no matter how brutally it means getting maimed" extreme.)
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ZelosZoidberg
Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 639
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 4:49 pm
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So I know the movie isn't officially out yet (at least this side of the world) but what's the difference between it and the TV series? Is it like the Tomorrow's Joe movies were it condenses the TV show but with better animation or is it a different beast altogether? Should I wait for the movie and if I like it get the TV series?
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Joined: 06 Jul 2015
Posts: 606
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 4:53 pm
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| Shay Guy wrote: | |
To the extent that this differs from modern anime, I'd call it a difference of degree rather than kind -- the idealization of "hard work" as the ultimate virtue, trumping all else, still seems to me to be a cornerstone of Manga Morality today. Which includes pushing yourself to your limits and beyond, of course, almost regardless of what it's for. Deku gets scolded for breaking his bones, but I don't think readers would root for him as much if he weren't willing to. Bakugo doesn't really have to confront or make amends for his history of petty cruelty, because he has the One Virtue: hard work and an unquenchable determination. (KnY struck me as especially weird, because Tanjiro has to prove an unfailing commitment to hard work, no matter how fruitless, before anyone tells him what he's even supposed to be doing to improve in the first place.)
Mind you, I've seen it more in shonen manga, but I suppose that reflects my experience -- and I know just enough about AFTA to know that it's one of the most prominent of the rare exceptions to your long-running observations about "stories that get told about boys, but not girls". (As for shoujo series I've actually read recently… I guess Queen's Quality might be one that enshrines the One Virtue, though not to the Seiya-esque "keep pushing no matter how brutally it means getting maimed" extreme.) |
That's all fair; I think the realistic setting and stakes make it feel more jarring. It's one thing if you can't be with the one you love because you have to pour all your energy into saving the world; being told to break up with your boyfriend so he doesn't distract you from high school tennis is an entirely different thing.
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whiskeyii
Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2247
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Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2023 9:22 pm
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| ZelosZoidberg wrote: | | So I know the movie isn't officially out yet (at least this side of the world) but what's the difference between it and the TV series? Is it like the Tomorrow's Joe movies were it condenses the TV show but with better animation or is it a different beast altogether? Should I wait for the movie and if I like it get the TV series? |
A bit of both, really. Where the TV series focus mostly on Hiromi and her growth overall, the movie dedicates a lot more time to Hiromi’s relationship with her coach. So where the TV series is primarily a coming-of-age sports story with slice of life elements, the movie is much more melodramatic in look and tone, and definitely feels much closer to Dear Brother—a very all Dezaki, all the time kind of experience.
EDIT: As for what Hiromi is asked to give up, this strikes me as more of a genre convention of shoujo at the time more than anything else. Pretty much everything I’ve read that’s retained any sort of staying power from that time period—Glass Mask, Swan—has at least one moment where someone makes a callback to the movie The Red Shoes and faces a similar choice.
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The Cleaner
Joined: 08 May 2017
Posts: 7
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:49 am
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I'm glad that Aim for the Ace is getting a western release. As I own all the region 2 dvd's of this series, I try to watch this series at least once per year, as I simply adore this series.
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Retrosofa
Joined: 05 Oct 2021
Posts: 28
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:56 pm
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| ZelosZoidberg wrote: | | So I know the movie isn't officially out yet (at least this side of the world) but what's the difference between it and the TV series? Is it like the Tomorrow's Joe movies were it condenses the TV show but with better animation or is it a different beast altogether? Should I wait for the movie and if I like it get the TV series? |
Story wise, it's more or less a condensed version of the TV series but it has all new animation. There are a lot of notable differences though, especially with the ending.
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ZelosZoidberg
Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 639
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 1:15 pm
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| Retrosofa wrote: |
| ZelosZoidberg wrote: | | So I know the movie isn't officially out yet (at least this side of the world) but what's the difference between it and the TV series? Is it like the Tomorrow's Joe movies were it condenses the TV show but with better animation or is it a different beast altogether? Should I wait for the movie and if I like it get the TV series? |
Story wise, it's more or less a condensed version of the TV series but it has all new animation. There are a lot of notable differences though, especially with the ending. |
Would you say it's a better ending?
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Shay Guy
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2131
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:27 pm
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| all-tsun-and-no-dere wrote: | | That's all fair; I think the realistic setting and stakes make it feel more jarring. It's one thing if you can't be with the one you love because you have to pour all your energy into saving the world; being told to break up with your boyfriend so he doesn't distract you from high school tennis is an entirely different thing. |
True, though I have seen the general "love is a distraction from the really important thing, high school sports" notion elsewhere -- it's what motivates the rejection in Fumiko's Confession, and the current Blue Box arc is driven in large part by an accusation that Chinatsu spending time with Taiki means she's not working hard enough at basketball.
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Retrosofa
Joined: 05 Oct 2021
Posts: 28
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Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2023 4:52 pm
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| ZelosZoidberg wrote: | | Would you say it's a better ending? |
I haven't seen the film in years but the TV series has a typical "welp, we got canceled" ending. It's not bad per-se but it's definitely abrupt.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave
Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 514
Location: Poland
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:02 pm
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| Shay Guy wrote: | |
True, though I have seen the general "love is a distraction from the really important thing, high school sports" notion elsewhere -- it's what motivates the rejection in Fumiko's Confession, and the current Blue Box arc is driven in large part by an accusation that Chinatsu spending time with Taiki means she's not working hard enough at basketball. |
That's actually what made me dislike the Blue Box a bit - Deku is one thing, poor boy almost had kids his age and younger die on him, and while it's not supposed to be normal thing, it's understandable that he'd have strong feelings, including trauma, regarding that, and why he'd train like crazy, High School sport club is nothing like that.. Also it's not like the girl from Blue Box was shown as correct there - she just had her own mental mess to deal with.
All that "no, you can't have boyfriend or free time for yourself or any rest, you have too train for high school sport club" is just dumb - made me drop Hanebado (which was full of horrible people anyway) and that wall climbing anime where one girl was angry that other girl looked at wall climbing in a gamer way, which was "unserious".
"Mou Ippon" from current season is generally far better series in that regard, because it barely have that stuff. It's just teenagers being normal teenager.
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