Saves me the remaining half of the series. Thanks.
Seriously though, I watched about 13 eps in anime club last semester, and it's been hard forcing myself to go back because it feels kind of stale and cliche. Maybe it wouldn't feel cliche when it first came out, but it does now.
Last edited by Syk3 at 2:17:38 PM EDT on July 28, 2009.
I think the thing with Escaflowne is that the beginning is good, the middle begins the "WTF?" trend, and the end sort of redeems itself... but also not really. It redeems itself in terms of some purpose returning to the plot. I don't think your mind will have changed about the romance by the time you reach the end, though.
Madman With a Box (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
I never did finish Escaflowne (gotta fix that sometime). I knew about the Isaac Newton thing though, but I thought it was merely a hint and not stated explicitly that it was him.
I honestly do not know at this point. Don't think I've ever watched a series that split me so much -- I mean, Utena is probably more batcrap insane, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the insanity in that series, just because all the themes resonated with me and everything the creators did struck me as intentionally ballsy and hilarious. (The Utena people really knew how to troll fans and get away with it.)
With Escaflowne, though ... the fact that I think nearly all the romance is garbage (and it takes up a good chunk of time), and that I cannot stand a good portion of the characters, really hurts it. I can stomach a LOT of "WTF?!?!?!?!?!" when everything else is at least engaging and entertaining, but it's pretty much just Dilandau (who isn't even in these past two episodes), Dryden (minimal screen time), Folken (who has basically made only vague proclamations for a while now), the battles and the music at this point. Maybe you can add the promise of the series derailing even further to that as well.
When thinking about it, the situation with this series reminds me a lot of Code Geass: The first season (corresponding with the first half of Escaflowne), insane as it is, you can actually sort of see what the creators are going for and follow the plot line. R2 (corresponding with what I've seen of Escaflowne's second half), while entertaining, is also an utter trainwreck. But Escaflowne might be more of a trainwreck than R2, somehow, because that series collapses mainly in the final 4-6 episodes, whereas Escaflowne still has eight (eight!!!!!!) episodes left, which astounds me.
EDIT: I must also mention that I am a huge Lost fan, so I am capable of taking in a lot of crazy.
Last edited by Shinmaru at 1:38:16 PM EDT on July 26, 2009.
I've been trying to deal with this crap for ten years now, and I still don't know what they thought they were accomplishing. I suspect Kazuki Akane just has a thing for physics.
I had much the same reaction (as you may or may not have noted in my own rant!post). Destiny machines, wut? GRAVITY GUIDES DESTINY? HO'CRAP, GET ME OFF THIS PLANEEEEEET!
This might be a stupid question (actually, yeah, it probably is), but beyond the initial "WTF???" what do you think of the series? I mean, was it enjoyable enough that the WTF was tolerable, or was it pretty much just "WAIT, WUT? SERIOUSLY? LIKE... SERIOUSLY?"
Vagrant AI (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
You know what's funny? I didn't even realize that Dornkirk was Isaac Newton until someone (specifically James) told me indirectly through an article. Very crackish indeed.
But yeah, you got your wish, man. :P Told ya you would see, heh.
Syk3
Wandering Otaku (Senior Otaku) | Posted 07/28/09 | Reply
Saves me the remaining half of the series. Thanks.
Seriously though, I watched about 13 eps in anime club last semester, and it's been hard forcing myself to go back because it feels kind of stale and cliche. Maybe it wouldn't feel cliche when it first came out, but it does now.
Last edited by Syk3 at 2:17:38 PM EDT on July 28, 2009.
Ducky
Imaginary Duck (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
@Shinmaru:
I think the thing with Escaflowne is that the beginning is good, the middle begins the "WTF?" trend, and the end sort of redeems itself... but also not really. It redeems itself in terms of some purpose returning to the plot. I don't think your mind will have changed about the romance by the time you reach the end, though.
Shinmaru
Baron of Terribad (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
@TimeChaser:
It isn't explicitly stated, but if you watch it, you know he is Isaac Newton. There is just no denying it.
Love thy Evangelion.
TimeChaser
Madman With a Box (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
I never did finish Escaflowne (gotta fix that sometime). I knew about the Isaac Newton thing though, but I thought it was merely a hint and not stated explicitly that it was him.
Bazinga!
Shinmaru
Baron of Terribad (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
@bellpickle:
The funny thing is, I thought he looked like George Washington at one point, which really would not have been any crazier than the reality.
Love thy Evangelion.
Shinmaru
Baron of Terribad (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
@Ducky:
I honestly do not know at this point. Don't think I've ever watched a series that split me so much -- I mean, Utena is probably more batcrap insane, but I thoroughly enjoyed all the insanity in that series, just because all the themes resonated with me and everything the creators did struck me as intentionally ballsy and hilarious. (The Utena people really knew how to troll fans and get away with it.)
With Escaflowne, though ... the fact that I think nearly all the romance is garbage (and it takes up a good chunk of time), and that I cannot stand a good portion of the characters, really hurts it. I can stomach a LOT of "WTF?!?!?!?!?!" when everything else is at least engaging and entertaining, but it's pretty much just Dilandau (who isn't even in these past two episodes), Dryden (minimal screen time), Folken (who has basically made only vague proclamations for a while now), the battles and the music at this point. Maybe you can add the promise of the series derailing even further to that as well.
When thinking about it, the situation with this series reminds me a lot of Code Geass: The first season (corresponding with the first half of Escaflowne), insane as it is, you can actually sort of see what the creators are going for and follow the plot line. R2 (corresponding with what I've seen of Escaflowne's second half), while entertaining, is also an utter trainwreck. But Escaflowne might be more of a trainwreck than R2, somehow, because that series collapses mainly in the final 4-6 episodes, whereas Escaflowne still has eight (eight!!!!!!) episodes left, which astounds me.
EDIT: I must also mention that I am a huge Lost fan, so I am capable of taking in a lot of crazy.
Last edited by Shinmaru at 1:38:16 PM EDT on July 26, 2009.
Love thy Evangelion.
bellpickle
Pickle of the Year (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
AHH I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO GET TO THIS PART. BEST PLOT TWIST EVAR!!!! IT'S JUST SO FUCKING FUNNY.
AND THERE'S EVEN MORE TO COME.
Fasteriskhead
Otakuite++ | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
I've been trying to deal with this crap for ten years now, and I still don't know what they thought they were accomplishing. I suspect Kazuki Akane just has a thing for physics.
Ducky
Imaginary Duck (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
XDD
I had much the same reaction (as you may or may not have noted in my own rant!post). Destiny machines, wut? GRAVITY GUIDES DESTINY? HO'CRAP, GET ME OFF THIS PLANEEEEEET!
This might be a stupid question (actually, yeah, it probably is), but beyond the initial "WTF???" what do you think of the series? I mean, was it enjoyable enough that the WTF was tolerable, or was it pretty much just "WAIT, WUT? SERIOUSLY? LIKE... SERIOUSLY?"
Pleiades Rising
Otaku Idol (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
Reading this was so fantastically odd when you're listening to music with insane laughter and dialog in it.
Kastom needs to watch this, I think.
Miss Anonymous
Vagrant AI (Otaku Eternal) | Posted 07/26/09 | Reply
You know what's funny? I didn't even realize that Dornkirk was Isaac Newton until someone (specifically James) told me indirectly through an article. Very crackish indeed.
But yeah, you got your wish, man. :P Told ya you would see, heh.