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Post by phanax on Nov 16, 2004 9:20:56 GMT
Ok I'll admit I'm really starting to like this series but I really didn't expect it to get so dark! Has any-one else found it growing on them like this?
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Post by Kitty on Nov 16, 2004 11:15:48 GMT
Nope, I loved it at the start and I still love it
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 16, 2004 11:32:58 GMT
likewise, i was hooked from the off, mainly due to the artwork, the style of which i adore (biiiig shoujo fan here as you may have already guessed), but about ep 8 or so and the backstory about hatori's relationship, that's when i really felt that it was something special. the darkness i assume u mean is the whole thing with akito? i think he's wonderfully malevolent; he's captured perfectly not to condone him or say that i like him, but the series wouldn't be the same without his presence. and i love how tohru is always able to keep down her emotions for those around her but sometimes they do get the better of her. momiji! *sniffs* for something that could so easily have been a ranma knock-off, i was really impressed with the way it went about telling the story. the characters too, i find, are so well created it's hard not to get attached to them. yup, even the legend that is ayame
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Post by phanax on Nov 16, 2004 12:17:11 GMT
I mean I don't usually go in for things which seema bit soppy, I only really watched for the comic value, particurly the amusing dirty old man bits "He sells all sorts of uniforms"..."He helps make fantasies come true" etc but I slowly warmed to the characters and now things are really developing I can see there's a lot more depth to it than I gave it credit for Alas my innability with names confounds me here, but the way the "rat" one carries off an air of quiet authority, but is still so haunted by the events of his (Sorry it still seems weird reffering to her as him) past. And the way the main character deals with the death of her mother, ee gad is there no innosence in this world, does nobody not get hurt?
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 16, 2004 13:27:31 GMT
remember hatori's words..."the house of sohma is dark, and shady, and cursed". i really like how the actuality of turning into zodiac animals is made very "realistic", ie, a mother hugging her son for the first time is hardly going to be thrilled that it transforms. it's not an amusing problem that calls for "wacky" scenarios as i feared it might be before i saw any of it. the balance in fruits basket between the emotional character development and the comedy is perfectly done i think tohru's relationship with her mother is done so delicately as well...i remember seeing the first ep and she says something like "since my mother died this year i've been living in a tent"...i thought it was quite a flippant way to talk about such a thing. but the more you see of tohru, and how she copes with the death of her mother, it's obvious that she's not taking it as well as she'd like everyone to think she is, and that it does remain at the forefront of her mind. i don't know, but the scenes that reinforce that always touch me. particularly the new years eve ep where tohru stays behind at the house, and when kyo and yuki return, she's sitting at the table bringing in new years with her mother the only way she can, with tears in her eyes. call me a sap, but i had a wee cry at that bit *ends furuba rant* (trust me, don't get me started)
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Post by phanax on Nov 17, 2004 10:19:35 GMT
I'm not sure quite what it is, but something about the innosence and apparent lack of depth towards the start sort of lulled me into a false sense of security, it's hard to pinpoint but somewhere I developed a real empathy for some of the characters, and that really is the key thing, you need empathy for something like this if it's going to work
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 17, 2004 11:14:59 GMT
yeah, it has that in common with oh my goddess! once i started reading it, it took me a while to realise just how much i had begun to feel for the characters. Urd is the best character ever!
furuba works that way as well; it slowly grows on u until u can't let go of it, if u weren't already hooked at the off. with a show that focuses on characters so much, that level of feeling towards them is vital.
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Post by Admin on Nov 17, 2004 19:56:09 GMT
I was pretty much hooked from the get go (2 years ago! Jeez does time fly). Watching it again is really great, its like every episode gives you something to think about (in a nice, warm fuzzy way).
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 18, 2004 9:50:08 GMT
yeah, it's certainly one of the best feel good animes out there!
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Post by phanax on Nov 18, 2004 13:24:37 GMT
and I really rekon the reason it works is while it's occasionally quite naive it has real darkness to it aswell, whatever happiness or goodness there is in a story is only relative to how dark it gets, you need these two unrconcileable opposites working together or the whole thing just doesn't work
just like the underlying meaning of the old japanese symbol (sadly ruined in most peoples sights by it's use by the nazis) but it symbolises the unity of opposites fundamental to the universe (again, I've been thinking a lot letaly
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 18, 2004 14:09:12 GMT
which symbol?
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Post by phanax on Nov 18, 2004 16:28:43 GMT
The swastika, though I'm not sure if that's its original name
I only know about this because it forms part of the manji in shorinji kempo (I don't mean the words shorinji kempo, but the thing hung up at the front of the dojo, altogether it reads "Dharma" and has the signature of Kaisso (So Doshin)
the cross section repressents how all things have an exact opposite to whioch they are intrinsically linked, the trailing lines represent the idea that all things are constantly in motion. also (though I can't varify this) it's rumoured that if you get to the point of realy understanding this symbol it becomes a circle, but I'm dubious on that point
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 18, 2004 18:09:46 GMT
hmm...i don't know about kempo, but the nazi swastika is based on the greek symbol that dates back to around 1000BC (found in Troy as well), and was used to represent eternity (the circular wheel motion like u said) and good luck. an image here showing artemis (a goddess; something deathless. this vase dates to around 700BC i would reckon - the geometric patterns give that much away) quite clearly shows the symbol... www.reformation.org/large-swastika-lady.jpgwhilst the swastika is a fairly simple symbol, and is represented in every major culture and every single country, the nazi one was based on hitler's image of recreating the classical past (he based his regime on his perverse idealisations of rome, sparta, and homer); germany is one of the most influential countries in classics and archaeology, and so when hitler tried to carry on the legacy of the ancients, the greek swastika (called the gammadion in greek) was, as far as he was concerned, the perfect image, as it linked his regime to the age of homeric, perfect, heroes. it's a shame how an image that the greeks certainly, and the world in general i presume, viewed as representing eternity and luck has become so debased by the hatred it now implies due to its association with a horrific, inexcusable regime, that one cannot look at it like that anymore. BUMP this topic before it offends anyone.
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Post by phanax on Nov 19, 2004 15:34:04 GMT
so any-way, how many episodes is there left of this wonderful series incidentally does any-one know if there are any plans for it's release on DVD (I'm thinking of my little sisters birthday)
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Post by marshall_banana on Nov 20, 2004 14:03:46 GMT
there are 26 episodes to the series, but the manga goes beyond these 26.
it's already completely out on dvd in the uk, so no-one has any excuse not to own it (unless you don't like it of course), particularly since you get about 6 to 7 episodes per dvd!
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