What is the worth of Gungrave?
It is made of excellence and deserves to be on our Enlightenment list.
25.0%
3
It is too unremarkable to be on on either of our lists.
16.7%
2
It is vastly overrated and deserves to be on our Relations list.
8.3%
1
I have not watched this series because zombie shooters like Resident Evil scare me!
50.0%
6
12 votes
| Gungrave is now up for vote. Decide if it will sweep the enemies of Enlightenment or if it will become Bob Poundmax in the Relations. RULES: 1. You can only vote for a title if you've finished watching/reading it. You must’ve read or watched at least 60% of the published content for unfinished titles. There might be exceptions for very long finished titles – they are decided on a case by case basis, but usually amount to more than half of the published content. 2. Write your vote at the very top of your comment. 3. Below your vote, give a substantial explanation to back it up. It doesn't have to be lengthy; it just needs to cover the points you want to make. 4. If you have only read/watched the adaption/source material of the respective nominee, please state so in your post. 5. It will take a minimum of 5 votes for either Enlightenment or Relations to make it into any of the lists as an anime (3 votes for manga). If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 6. The votes for Enlightenment will have to outnumber the votes for Unremarkable and Relations for it to be included in our list; the same goes for Relations. If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. 7. Behave yourself. We accept discussions and debate, not flaming and incoherent fanboy/fangirl behavior. 8. The fate of the poll will lie in the hands of the officers if it turns out that there are more first time voters than regulars or the series cannot be gauged by both voting and discussions. This polling process will last 7 days. BEGIN!!!!!!!! |
Ducat_RevelSep 2, 2013 2:23 AM
| 2_Steps_Ahead asked me to post his vote for him. Here it is. Option 1 While watching anime from some time even if nothing then I came to realise that most of the time anime medium can't turn a good idea in a good story.Even when they starts good or great they quickly went down the generic drain by focusing more on how to sell value rather than actual quality.Gungrave is opposite.Its basic idea sounds terrible but its one of those stories which turned out not only better than expected but better than most of the anime. Watching the first episode I thought; oh man, not another a-cool-man-who can't be defeated- defeating-zombies-anime.It looked very similar to Hellsing and devil may cry to me.In 1st ep A dead guy awakens by some girl screaming and then he starts shooting some orgmen.He ends up destroying them,Looks bad.Not only you were thrown between a story where you don't know anything,it also looks terrible with its contents.It was a game adaptation,a girl needs to be saved and our hero is a dead guy with a fancy name BEYOND THE GRAVE.How bad can it get? And ep 2 reaction Wow all the zombies,need to be saved cliche #1536,screaming,shootings were gone.Instead, we open two decades in the past, with human characters and a really well done story focusing on Brandon Heat and his childhood friend Harry MacDowel, two orphaned neighborhood street toughs who rise from the ranks of the street gangs to eventually join the powerful Millennion mafia group after all of their friends are slaughtered by a mafia hitman. 1st ARC Simply the strongest part of this show and one of best arc in anime I have seen.Strength of this show is that it gives all of its characters a tremendous depth by building up their story on a slow pace. It creates a certain emotional involvement with the characters and their fortune-misfortune.Director could've just chosen to tell this story in far less episodes and focus more on the action than on the dramatic sequences, but that would most likely end up being lackluster characterization.As it is now, it's perfect for my taste. 2nd ARC Now thats where most of this show criticism comes from about how this is a game adaptation and follow monster of the week plot where superiors are same as final level boss in game.Yes these ep are bad but not all that bad that many made it like.All monster ep are not that useless either,for example Ep 23 Its not that it doesn't have some other downhills.For instance while comparing with berserk its characters lacks the complexity and higher level of ambition and it somehow lacks the humor you should expect in a series focusing on character dynamics.Not that it was that necessary but Good humor can contrast relationships even better.Dialoges while not out of the palace they were nothing that exceptional either.However I loved the silent style of brandon and how he lets his action speaks for him. I really adored this impressive story about friendship, deceit, love and loyalty. It may contain some cliches, but that doesn't withhold it from being a very powerful piece of anime. |
| Option 2 I'm in between Option 1 and 2 right now. This show really shines when its not about shooting the undead. When it comes to the syndicate, to the code of iron, to brotherhood and kinship, it's amazing. Brandon Heat also makes for a wonderful MC since he speaks better with actions and knows that. He rarely says a word, and that stoic laconic nature of his is really effective. I also loved Bear and Bunji. They're bonds to the theme of the story really comes through by the end. The problem is Bob, Lee, Mika, and all they stand for. The second half's focus. There was a clear shift in focus in the second half. It went from being a genuinely good gangster story, to a campy zombie shooter. I know Gungrave was originally a game, but come one! This really hurt the show. The animation of the show was also rather poor. Odd, seeing it's a Madhouse anime. That just doesn't make sense to me. While faulty, I think the strengths of this show outweigh its glaring faults. It's just that, it's a tricky vote. I'll have to be swayed. Edit: I decided to vote Option 2. While this anime has some genuinely strong points, the second half of the show ruined most of it. Mika is an annoying and bland female character, and the entire "Superior" element of the show was too glaring to overlook metamorphius' edit: Just in case someone is wondering why I edited this post, it's because Ducat asked me to edit his vote since he can't access MAL atm. |
metamorphiusAug 31, 2013 10:04 PM
| Option 1 Before I forget to add my two cents... (Though, ATM I don't have much time to write an essay.) Gungrave is a fantastic show, if you can tolerate/ignore the retarded porcelain-zombies, the Kubo-styled monsters (which having a name "superior" in this show), and that annoying thing whose name is Mika. Everything else, however, is top-tier, especially the directing, which is one of the best I have ever seen in any anime series with a great symbolism as a supplement. (That elevator scene is unforgettable!) The characters are also strong points of the show. They are mostly three (or at least two) dimensional, have their own developments and the relation between Harry and Brandon are also superb. Best of the rest would have been the catchy OST and the great voice acting (Hamada Kenji urgently needs an award!). So, enlightenment is my final answer. |
JunchiAug 30, 2013 12:48 AM
Use your brain before using your keyboard!  |
Ducat_Revel said: While its undeniable and I agree with your points(apart animation one because I never know why should I care about fluid animation in character driven show) but its also true that this is one of those anime which is terrible by its contents. It has 1.Undead hero 2.Save the girl 3.Zombies blah blah(It could have been an another hellsing or Devil may cry) Ok ,Tell me how many times you have seen 1.An anime being better than its premise and outweighing its terrible contents with its handling, and how many times you have seen 2.An anime butchering its initial contents and premise and not being able to finish well (which this one was able to do with its well crafted ending despite getting out of track in 2nd half). Also anyone who thinks its just rock them up and shoot them up - Elevator scene. |
| Option 2 - It is too unremarkable to be on on either of our lists. While not an inherently bad show, I really don't find this series to be impressive in any manner. All the things that people typically cite as great about the show, the characters, plot, action, the revenge, I found totally underwhelming, and all of it can be found way better elsewhere. For the record I went into this show is very high expectations. The first half is mainly a goofy take at a gangster story. I don't have very much to even say about it, as I can't think of a single thing that stood out. The characters are pretty bland, the rise to power part is driven with by the books cliches, the character names are ridiculous and make anything hard to take seriously (this wouldn't be an issue if the first half didn't try to make me take it so seriously). The main character is probably the most interesting character, which says a lot about how memorable the rest of the cast is going to be. I'm always a fan of the silent but gets shit done protagonists, but Brandon Heat is some strange hybrid of a silent but gets shit done type but also gets walked all over like a floor mat protagonist. I don't want to get overly spoilerish, but even his final "revenge" feels pathetic and hardly successful. I could not get behind him. He never developed as a character and really is just kind of a loser. The rest of the cast ranges from completely forgettable aside from how laughable and silly they are, to decent (Bear). For the most part the characters are very simple and predictable. You can pretty much guess what is going to happen episode by episode, situation by situation. The second half is a joke and the show's greatest flaw. If the first half is silly, the second half is a clown show, literally. I was expecting things to finally get a bit more grim after revenge mode kicked in, but instead the writers turn to mindless shooting fests where the main character fights perilous enemies such as a gigantic fat guy that turns into a killer blimp and shoots lard while laughing maniacally. I know I'm harping on how it lacks the atmosphere I was expecting, and in fairness it is based on a video game, but I feel like the show has a reputation for being this great gritty revenge story, and it's just not. I don't have much else to say about the second half because I think most already agree it is the weakness of the show, it's just plain meh by action standards (even Sunabozu has more interesting gun driven action sequences). As I mentioned before I found the ending to be very underwhelming too, which doesn't help. If it was supposed to be some profound poetic tragedy, the writers failed in creating that mood. The art and music, much like the rest of the show for me, were forgettable. I can't remember a single track from the entire series aside from the ending song (which I really like to this day). I looked up the composer just now and he seems to be well regarded, but I just can't remember any music from the show whatsoever. The art was kind of lacking too which is very strange for a shorter Madhouse series of this era. It's certainly not like a huge flaw or anything as it's still quality Madhouse, but for example compare it to Monster, which came years before and is three times as long. It looks way better. I guess that's enough. I don't want to sound like I'm driving it into the ground as I don't hate this anime, but it is certainly not any enlightening experience, and is heavily flawed. |
| Option 1 The series is a video game to anime adaptation done exceptionally well. The series knows how to build it's world up without boring the viewer, has an exceptionally well-developed cast of characters and, as other people have said, takes advantage of an uninteresting setting and uses it to it's advantage by setting up an interesting plot. Ultimately, this series falls at the monster of the week part of it's story-line, but these are minor gripes to an otherwise exceptional show. Hence my vote to Option 1. |
| "The more inexperienced you are, the more you want to show off." - Oreki, Hyouka |
| With 3 votes for Enlightenment and 2 votes for Unremarkable, I draw this poll to an end. Thank you for voting. |
| Isn't not getting enough votes means poll is INVALID rather than unremarkable? |
| If I am not mistaken, it's invalid only if it gets less than 5 votes in total. This poll escaped that by a hair. |
 |
metamorphius said: If I am not mistaken, it's invalid only if it gets less than 5 votes in total. This poll escaped that by a hair. I am confused.Score here is 3-2 in favor of option 1.How its unremarkable then? |
2_Steps_Ahead said: I am confused.Score here is 3-2 in favor of option 1.How its unremarkable then? The rules say: It will take a minimum of 5 votes for either Enlightenment or Relations to make it into any of the lists as an anime (3 votes for manga). If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. I know it may seem a bit confusing, but basically, a poll needs 5 votes total to be VALID, but at least 5 votes for either option 1 or 3 to be added to either the Enlightenment of Relations list. |
|
metamorphius said: 2_Steps_Ahead said: I am confused.Score here is 3-2 in favor of option 1.How its unremarkable then? The rules say: It will take a minimum of 5 votes for either Enlightenment or Relations to make it into any of the lists as an anime (3 votes for manga). If it fails to reach that, it will be deemed Unremarkable. I know it may seem a bit confusing, but basically, a poll needs 5 votes total to be VALID, but at least 5 votes for either option 1 or 3 to be added to either the Enlightenment of Relations list. Ok. |
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