Comments for Claiming Ground

Comment on A rather excessive analysis of the Fairy Tail manga by coburn

coburn — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:49:32 +0000

There’s a reasonable chance, considering my preferences, that I’ll come to see the anime as preferable as and when it appears. Still, despite some weakspots this was great fun to read. The magaka gets over the constraints of space by ignoring the limits of logic and just expressing his imagination. I’m not sure how thoroughly that feeling will translate to the screen.

Personally the art doesn’t bother me at all, though I can see it being a big turn-off for some. Certainly it does the series no favours to be so widely thought of as a clone. Anyway, the story suits the style well. I wrote the post over time, often updating it after reading a few chapters. So I don’t know quite how long it took overall, but roughly, ages.

Comment on A rather excessive analysis of the Fairy Tail manga by bateszi

bateszi — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:12:10 +0000

Like you said, I think it’s fairly inevitable that Fairy Tail will end up as anime, so I’ve not moved to read the manga yet (though Volume 1 was sent to me by a friend). Even still, after reading this post, I’m really tempted to start on it, and I’ve noticed how it seems to be building up an impressive fanbase of manga readers. Also, I remember reading that Hiro Mashima actually worked as an assistant to Eiichiro Oda on One Piece, so that probably explains why his drawing style is so similar to Oda’s, and it’s not like that’s a bad thing anyway, I really love how One Piece is drawn. Finally, this was an epic post, 2027 words, I wonder how long it took to write?

Comment on a system of boxes by coburn

coburn — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:33:11 +0000

Much better than a boxfort. I could knit all the certificates together to make a giant case, then crawl inside of it naked and live inside of my collection. In reality I think it matters that you have to see the box every time you decide to watch the series - it makes it part of the experience of watching.

Comment on a system of boxes by bakaraptor

bakaraptor — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:18:08 +0000

Maybe they should send all digital purchasers an official ownership certificate with a scratch ‘n sniff hologram or something. That’ll keep ‘em happy…

Comment on Mushishi, episode 17 by coburn

coburn — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:22:06 +0000

I’m not really sure how many Mushishi episodes I’ll end up posting on, but I don’t think I’ll even try to sum up the whole thing without rewatching it in its entirety first.

I don’t know if my favourite stories will have changed by the time I get round to it. In anticipation I’ve started getting hold of the DVDs, and am glad that (especially the first two volumes) got reasonably pricing (FLCL in mind). And yeah, it’s all completely classic.

Comment on Mushishi, episode 17 by concretebadger

concretebadger — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:22:48 +0000

I’m absolutely overjoyed that we’re seeing a DVD release of Mushishi, possibly my all-time favourite anime show. Now I’m rewatching it, I read the blog posts I wrote while following it on fansub to see if my thoughts and feelings changed in the intervening months/years. I think you can write and write about every episode and still have something new and worthwhile to say about it - the series is beautifully simple yet endlessly complex at the same time.

Cheers for a great post - it reminds me once again why Mushishi is one of the true greats. I look forward to your thoughts on the other episodes!

Comment on Soul Eater: ways to be a hero by coburn

coburn — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:02:08 +0000

The impression I got, especially early on in the series, was that Black Star was putting people off with his goofy arrogance and general loudmouthed strongman stylings. A lot of the people who dropped the show seemed to find him irritating. Maybe if I’d been more engaged with the manga fans I’d have found that those more familiar with the story liked him more.

Personally I find it easier to sympathise with less bonkers characters - but am beginning to notice that he’s in most of my favourite bits. Eps 2,9,11+12 in particular need Black Star in order to deliver their considerable levels of win - so I’m getting to like him more and more.

!”£$%^&*()_+P{}@>\?

Comment on Soul Eater: ways to be a hero by Troy

Troy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:25:02 +0000

Black Star is Widely loathed? Are you kidding me? Black Star is my favorite character.

健全なる”魂”は健全なる精神と健全なる肉体に宿る。

Comment on in praise of widescreen entertainment by a system of boxes « Claiming Ground

a system of boxes « Claiming Ground — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:57:29 +0000

[...] just getting ordered down to the shop, we’re getting optional style. Back when I spoke of widescreen entertainment (back when I tried to be above linking to myself) I didn’t just mean the size of the screen. [...]

Comment on Human scum pt.2: personalisation and Bleach (spoilers) by Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: Fateful Philosophy « The Animanachronism

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: Fateful Philosophy « The Animanachronism — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:18:13 +0000

[...] are - probably for the same reasons that make them so emotive - often very reductive: ‘The personal is handsome and potent. The system has a beard.‘ This is (I think) why philosophers are prone to drawing examples from the Narrative Arts for [...]