[quote=dragoon]
Once you decide, if you can post it on the Princess Nine thread and group like you did with this one, that’d be great. Thanks. :)[/quote]
Will do.
I’ll decide on it during our SAK break Wed/Thurs and come back with an answer on Fri.
Finished up DVD 4 (ep. 19-24)
Which finishes off the first season
First, I just have to say, Claudia Black’s voice is awesome!
That deep robust voice with that accent is just all kinds of impressive.
On to the rest…
Oh…my…god!
These last set of episodes were so intense!
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Taking out pretty much all the comedy present in the previous episodes, these last 6 episodes, deal with the inherent problems in the creation of the Mark II Heart and the dark side of Kurumi because of the heart.
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In Nakahito’s refusal to destroy Kurumi himself, Mikhail (who we met in the last two episodes of DVD 3) awakens to her true form by stealing a kiss from Nakahito so she can deal with Kurumi herself. We find out, she is also a steel angel and in possession of both, an angel heart and a Mark II.
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The battle that ensues, drives Kurumi to seal away her good side within herself, allowing her dark side free reign, with no control over who she hurts or destroys.
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Many things are tried, to either slow down the demonic progression or stop this dark Kurumi absolutely, including all the steel angels agreeing to give up their lives to supply power to the Academy for Kurumi’s destruction. But in the end, it is left up to little Nakahito, both as a mystic and as a person who loves Kurumi, to save the day.
Now that we’ve gotten through Season 1, I can fully see why you suggested this to me with such zeal and fervency. It’s definitely well worth it, even if Season 2 is slightly disappointing.
Glad you enjoyed it. I had a feeling there was a good chance you would, not only because the original creator of UFO Ultramaiden which I know you like a lot, and this were the same. But certainly there are a lot of artistic similarities between the two. I love the art styles in both series with the character designs.
Speaking of Kaishaku, the original creator of UFO Ultramaiden and Steel Angel Kurumi… Sentai and ADV’s re-issue of Geneon’s Destiny of the Shrine Maiden is also from the same creator. I have not seen that one yet, but I’m quite looking forward to it! ADV’s acquisition and higher up people sure like Kaishaku’s works don’t then? Hopefully that comes on VOD and the Online Player at the same time (if it does) and we can have a group discussion on it.
I too really enjoyed the performance of Claudia Black, and to paraphrase her from the final extra where it shows her in the recording booth… her performance definitely was not “pants.” You watched that extra right? I wish there were more ADV extras of stuff at the ADV studios. My goal is to have every ADV title with videos from the ADV studios.
I kind of wish they didn’t tone down her Australian accent though as I think she sounds naturally awesome, but accents can be sometimes met with rejection by the fans… so I can understand why they had to do what they did to make it more accessible. Still, the end result was cool. I’m not really into Sci-Fi TV shows, but Steven Foster getting an actress of her status for a role was most welcome. I kind of wish they were able to get her for one of the English characters in the England Arc of Le Chevalier D’Eon… I think she could have pulled off an english accent very nicely.
As for the finale, you pretty much covered my feelings… I’m a…
sucker for happy endings done right, and this one does it right with a lot of warmth and charm. I just loved the last episode from beginning to end, with how the angels were willing to sacrifice themselves for their duty and Kurumi was saved and the whole extra-extended credits roll.
Wow, take a couple weeks off of the forums during vacation and look at what you miss…
Anyway, I think it’s great that people are getting together and viewing series as a group again. I really enjoyed it last time (L’Chevalier D’Eon). I wish I could have gotten in on this viewing, but I’ve never seen it before and it looks like I am waaay behind the schedule, so I don’t know if I would be able to catch up. If you guys get a schedule together for watching other shows, please post it so that I can join the group.
To stay on topic, reading the reviews that everyone has posted has now confirmed that I need to bring this series to the top of my “to watch” list. Seems like everyone is giving it high praise. I’ll have to add my opinions after I watch it
tweety we’re doing Princess Nine next week, and after that (undetermined exact date) probably Air Gear and then Kaleido Star - if you wanna join in any one of those.
[quote=dragoon]
tweety we’re doing Princess Nine next week, and after that (undetermined exact date) probably Air Gear and then Kaleido Star - if you wanna join in any one of those.[/quote]
All of those series sound cool. I’ll keep my eyes open for it.
Moving right along, those Season 1 episodes are going to be hard to match.
In these OVA episodes, we find the group (Nakahito, Kurumi, Saki, and Karinka) basically living normal lives all together under the same roof.
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They were pretty much pointless fluff episodes following their happy existance after the end of season 1, while still being rather fun.
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The last episode was especially entertaining, when all the steel angels from the Academy (which we see, is still being repaired) showed up on the groups doorstep wanting a kiss from Nakahito come hell or high water.
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Nadeshiko sets up a competition for the steel angels without fighting, and who ever wins, wins Nakahito. In the end, Kurumi actually loses to Koganei (who was pretending to be a steel angel to be in the competition) because she didn’t want to hurt Nakahito. Koganei admits defeat because of this, and Kurumi wins Nakahito (like it could be any other way) -lol-
Yeah, Season 1 is without a doubt the crown jewel… Given the creator… it really does remind me of UFO Ultramaiden where as it progresses, while still good… the creator seems to have run out of ideas and wants to try to do something new in order not to just keep doing the same thing over and over… but in doing something new, what made the originals so good were transformed or jettisoned. Still enjoyable as far as I’m concerned, but… different.
I especially enjoyed that final episode OVA as well. It’s essentially what most OVAs tend to be that follow a season, just getting further fun little storylines but for the most part the story has essentially ended… And with this ends this whole chapter of the Kurumi storyline… Season 2 marks the beginning of a complete shift.
Did you watch the extras, there were some humorous anecdotes in the OVA commentaries. FYI to access the 2nd (Kelly Manison and Hilary Haag) and 3rd (Steven Foster and Kira Vincent Davis) you have to change the audio to channel 3. Only the first one (Monica Rial and Kira V) plays automatically. My favorite was the last episode’s extra with Foster and KVD… some humorous anecdotes indeed.
[quote=dragoon]
Yeah, Season 1 is without a doubt the crown jewel… Given the creator… it really does remind me of UFO Ultramaiden where as it progresses, while still good… the creator seems to have run out of ideas and wants to try to do something new in order not to just keep doing the same thing over and over… but in doing something new, what made the originals so good were transformed or jettisoned. Still enjoyable as far as I’m concerned, but… different.
I especially enjoyed that final episode OVA as well. It’s essentially what most OVAs tend to be that follow a season, just getting further fun little storylines but for the most part the story has essentially ended… And with this ends this whole chapter of the Kurumi storyline… Season 2 marks the beginning of a complete shift.[/quote]
Speaking of UFO Ultramaiden comparisons, I sware that ED song for the OVAs is the same song little Val sings in UFO S2 for the karaoke contest. If it’s not exactly the same, it’s so similar that it seems rehashed. It’s probably just that they both start out with “Suki-Suki-Suki-” and both get annoying after the first few seconds.
I did indeed watch the extras (I’m not about to miss KVD commentaries & interview stuff). Speaking of which, it’s probably just my DVD player (it’s fairly old and cheap) but when I first started the DVD, I was going through the extras, and I started the commentaries just to check them, then went back to the main screen to start the episodes, and it started the commentaries again from the main screen instead of the actual episode. So I had to eject and restart it, and it started fine. Also, all the commentaries played consecutively, I didn’t have to switch audio channels or anything.
Forgot to mention the reason I asked if you saw it above… The extras on this final dvd apparently caused a big stir and problem, like some of Steven Foster’s older productions used to do… They used to be very militant back in those days, and in my view helped marginalize dubbing to where it is today in some ways where the bandwagon thinking of anything purely Japanese and untouched is automatically superior all the time by default, without any sort of intellectual basis. -_-
We have DVD player oddities! For mine when go back to the main screen to start the episodes it plays the shows normally (audio channel 1). I always had an issue with the last bit where after the first commentary show when it moves to the next one, it resets back to (audio channel 1 and I have to manually change it to 3 (2 is the JP), I guess it’s my DVD player.
Please…please…FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE!..tell me they explain all the inconsistancies in the next 6 episodes???
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How was Kurumi shut off when she didn’t have a shut down fail-safe to begin with??
(I assume the other two didn’t either since all three were created by Dr. Ayanokouji)
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Why & how were they sealed away in statues, and who did it??
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Why do all the steel angels have Mark II hearts without killing them??
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And to go along with that last one…
Their memories of, and feeling for, each other weren’t destroyed either, yet no memories of their previous masters??**
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And, while we’re on the subject of inconsistancies, we can assume Nako is a descendant of some sort of Onmyou mystic, sinse she and her mother live at the temple, but how in the world was Uruka able to awaken Saki Mark II without an Onmyou bloodline??
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Overall though, if I negate my absolute hatred for inconsistancies, SAK 2 doesn’t seem too bad so far, but definitely a far cry from the first season.
[quote=TheCoffeeGod]
Finished up DVD 6 (SAK 2 ep. 1-6)
Gear change is a “nice” way of putting it.
Please…please…FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE!..tell me they explain all the inconsistancies in the next 6 episodes???
* How was Kurumi shut off when she didn’t have a shut down fail-safe to begin with??
(I assume the other two didn’t either since all three were created by Dr. Ayanokouji)
*
Why & how were they sealed away in statues, and who did it??
*
Why do all the steel angels have Mark II hearts without killing them??
*
And to go along with that last one…
Their memories of, and feeling for, each other weren’t destroyed either, yet no memories of their previous masters??
*
And, while we’re on the subject of inconsistancies, we can assume Nako is a descendant of some sort of Onmyou mystic, sinse she and her mother live at the temple, but how in the world was Uruka able to awaken Saki Mark II without an Onmyou bloodline??
*
Overall though, if I negate my absolute hatred for inconsistancies, SAK 2 doesn’t seem too bad so far, but definitely a far cry from the first season.[/quote]
Do not read to after the second disc of season 2.
From what I remember “No not really” the show takes this odd turn in the second season. None of it is ever really to much explained. Basically the second season is fluff with a underlined almost hidden message. Best part of this is the Project A-Ko homage that happens between Uruka and her Dad imo.
I love the Project A-Ko homage, it certainly has a lot of similarities between this season and that series.
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There were a couple of fun moments though, like with Saki talking about boosting U-chan’s top in the 6th episode. But the Uruka and her dad moments are probably some of the better aspects of the series too.
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I also love Nako’s mom and that Allison Keith is playing the role.
I personally still enjoyed Season 2 though, due to the above mentions, and it’s still fun to see the cast of favorites and dub VAs that I enjoyed from the first season.
But as I warned you before, season 2 ultimately is just a nice little fluff series where the opportunity is there for them to bring back a cast of favorites… and like other series of this nature, it’s often a far cry from the first seasons. In this case they took out a lot of what was great in season 1 and turned it into more of a slice of life type comedy, and with the so many types of series that have come since then… this one doesn’t stand up as well when watching this so many years after the release when so many of these types of series have been released.
Kaishaku’s sequels tend to weaken as they go along in my opinion.
The unlicensed Zero even takes it a step beyond, heh.
Now mind you, I actually generally like fluff series and mindless fun stuff. But if you’re going to make it, (and especially if you’re going to build on an already established concept) at least stick with the basic reasons and rules you started with. It’s all about consistancy.
UFO Ultramaiden may have been mostly fluffy, but at least they were consistant with it.
Anyways…
Hmm…what can I say?
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It would have taken one episode to explain the whys and hows of the situation, yet, they choose to FUBAR the entire concept in favor of just bringing the characters back for fans.
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Though it’s seriously dificult for me to step away from my personal feelings regarding consistancy, it’s not impossible.
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As mentioned, SAK 2 is basically a fluff series, and as such, it wasn’t too bad of one, though like dragoon said, it really doesn’t stand up to the many other fluff type shows that have come after it.
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However, even though they drew connections to the first season and OVA, it wasn’t enough for me to consider it an actual sequel. I’d say it falls more into the lines of a spinoff series than a sequel.
Overall, I’m glad I bought it and got to watch it all the way through, though SAK 2 is probably never going to get another viewing, at least not for a very, very long time.
Personally i’d almost recommend watching season 2 first and then 1 just so you don’t find yourself hyped over season 1 and then getting your hopes up that season 2 will be just as good if not better. I could go on and on about the first season and the episodes just fly by you one after the other and although I enjoy the slice of life genre I wasn’t really pleased too much with the setup of season 2, if season 1 hadn’t existed I wouldn’t of been as bothered by it, season 1 is definately a work of art.
The best parts of the season 2 were as PP pointed out. Those homage moments and the commedy between the daughter and father were almost show-stealing.
As far as the consistency that didn’t bother me in this case, since the creator and producers intentionally wanted to do that for various reasons… the Zero OAV is even more drastic of a shift.
Perhaps because I didn’t expect too much that I wasn’t disappointed in Season 2 as some others were. Ultimately it was still fun to see these fun characters again, inspite of some of the flaws.
Now that the viewing is over, it’ll be a nice change of gear to move to something more heart-felt and serious with our Princess Nine viewing…
[quote=dragoon]
The best parts of the season 2 were as PP pointed out. Those homage moments and the commedy between the daughter and father were almost show-stealing.
As far as the consistency that didn’t bother me in this case, since the creator and producers intentionally wanted to do that for various reasons… the Zero OAV is even more drastic of a shift.
Perhaps because I didn’t expect too much that I wasn’t disappointed in Season 2 as some others were. Ultimately it was still fun to see these fun characters again, in spite of some of the flaws.[/quote]
The comedy was fun, but as I have not seen the other, the homage part is over my head.
In the end, it was a fun show if I step away from analyzing it (really hard for me to do naturally), and it’s always nice to see fun characters make a come back. I just wish they would have been consistant about it, or at least pawned SAK 2 off as a spinoff rather than a sequal.
Well A-Ko was good for its day but it’s veerrrrrrrrry drawn out and as that series goes along gets more and more useless in my view. But it’s still a series worth seeing for many historical reasons - but I don’t think you’re missing out too much, either way.
Yeah I definitely see where you’re coming from in that regard, don’t get me wrong. I think the word you used, spin-off is a better characterization of it than “Season” 2.
Also per the above I think you probably won’t enjoy the Zero OAV at all lol. It’s even weaker in my view. But when I saw it many years ago… I still enjoyed it myself, cause anything Kurumi related is something I’d like to see. But it does continue to take away the best elements that made Season 1 so awesome… in favor of doing something new, which is a mixed bag to some. So yeah, I can see why ADV never licensed it, and probably should not bother wasting money on it lol. In an ideal world though, if money and time was irrelevant, I’d personally still like to have everything as part of the collection - just to have it all and accessible as an option.
It’s a shame though that the sequels couldn’t be as great as Season 1, which as far as I’m concerned is timelessly fun.
Hopefully that comes on VOD and the Online Player at the same time (if it does) and we can have a group discussion on it.
You watched that extra right? I wish there were more ADV extras of stuff at the ADV studios. My goal is to have every ADV title with videos from the ADV studios.
