Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

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Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

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Postby Vulkurt » Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:56 am

I am always on the lookout for anything that Gainax does. When I first saw the title for this a while ago, and read some blurb in Newtype or some other magazine, I was disappointed, because the premiss sounded boring.

It has been playing on the Anime Network, and I've been able to catch most of the episodes. I really enjoy it. I haven't seen the ending yet, but I found the revelation of Sasshi and Arumi's real reason for not being able to return to their world because of Sasshi's unconscious mind blocking his grandfather's possible death to be intriguing. The show is a little more "silly" than other Gainax offerings, but engaging. I was wondering if anyone else is watching/has watched the show and what they think. Try not to spoil the ending for me. :wink:
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Postby RubberSoul » Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:48 am

I own the whole series and I have to say that I enjoy it very much. My favorite episode is the 3rd episode. I love the Evangelion references. I think that the ending was directed by Hideaki Anno.
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Postby Vulkurt » Fri Jul 02, 2004 2:43 pm

RubberSoul wrote:I own the whole series and I have to say that I enjoy it very much. My favorite episode is the 3rd episode. I love the Evangelion references. I think that the ending was directed by Hideaki Anno.


Really? Is his name in the credits? Just got the box set off eBay. Will definatley check that out. Thanks. :D
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Postby RubberSoul » Sun Jul 04, 2004 3:28 am

Vulkurt wrote:
RubberSoul wrote:I own the whole series and I have to say that I enjoy it very much. My favorite episode is the 3rd episode. I love the Evangelion references. I think that the ending was directed by Hideaki Anno.


Really? Is his name in the credits? Just got the box set off eBay. Will definatley check that out. Thanks. :D


I checked the credits for last episode. He apparently worked on the Storyboards, and he was Director of Mecha Animation. I guess I was wrong. :?
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Postby Vulkurt » Sun Jul 04, 2004 8:52 am

RubberSoul wrote:
Vulkurt wrote:
RubberSoul wrote:I own the whole series and I have to say that I enjoy it very much. My favorite episode is the 3rd episode. I love the Evangelion references. I think that the ending was directed by Hideaki Anno.


Really? Is his name in the credits? Just got the box set off eBay. Will definatley check that out. Thanks. :D


I checked the credits for last episode. He apparently worked on the Storyboards, and he was Director of Mecha Animation. I guess I was wrong. :?


Hey, I prefer a sprinkling of Anno to no Anno at all. Thanks again for pointing that out! :D
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Postby Asuka Loves Toji » Sun Jul 04, 2004 12:18 pm

could this mean anno is working his way back into working on anime full time :D?
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Postby utero2001 » Thu Jul 08, 2004 11:50 am

I was'nt impressed with Abenobashi at all.

A few episodes were really good and offered a lot. Nameley the first episode, and the family backtrack episodes

Other than that it felt like they were still in love with themselves for FLCL.

gainax needs to stop making nice looking animes and get back making damn good ones with proper stories

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Postby Phaze » Thu Jul 08, 2004 9:22 pm

The cool thing about Magical Shopping District Abenobashi, is that the final episode ties into the first! I just found that hilarious for some reason, it's like a neverending continuum of madness. :lol:
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Postby Vulkurt » Fri Jul 09, 2004 8:50 am

Phaze wrote:The cool thing about Magical Shopping District Abenobashi, is that the final episode ties into the first! I just found that hilarious for some reason, it's like a neverending continuum of madness. :lol:


OK, spoiler alert.
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I finally saw the ending yesterday, and I must admit, I was HIGHLY disappointed. To me, the show was really working on something important: the notion that there is no escaping reality. First, Sasshi tried to escape by making worlds that he thought Arumi would like. But, she always wanted to go home because the worlds Sasshi created were his versions of what he thought she'd like, not actual things she would like (what was touching about this was Sasshi's continued fervor to try to make her happy). Then, when Sasshi knew that Grandpa Masa would be dead once they returned to Abenobashi, he tried to create an original world where Masa would be fine upon their return. But, none of these positions were realistic. Finally, Sasshi's father and Arumi's persistence of going home made Sasshi face up to reality. It was a perfect coming-of-age realization moment for Sasshi.

Then, Sasshi sees that Arumi is crying, and cannot bear to see her sad. So, he calls upon Eutus to take him to where he is an adult, for an adult would have the capacity to remedy the situation, whereas Sasshi, in his child form, simply cannot understand (at least he knows this much about himself). So, the older version of Sasshi remedies things in a real deus ex machina move by the series' creators, we get whisked back to Abenobashi, Grandpa is ok, and Papa doesn't get the position in Hokkaido, meaning that Sasshi and Arumi will remain together as friends.

:shock:

WTF?

So, basically, Arumi's life goals of seeing the world get squelched, and Sasshi essentially learns nothing other than he can bulk the system. A man dumb enough to go out onto a shakey scaffolding to shoo off a cat does not meet his end, and life can be manipulated at a whim if you are an Onmyou Mystic. This is quite the f*** you to the audience. It would be silly of me to say that this series should have been more realistic, given the premiss, but it just didn't seem that consistent to me, and that angered me. It seemed a sugar-coated, happy ending (for Sasshi, at least).

Thoughts?
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Postby utero2001 » Fri Jul 09, 2004 11:04 am

Thoughts?

thats GAINAX :wink:

It did have the smell of WTF about it.

I don't like the serires because its too episodic. One world today, a totally differant world tommorow.

If Abenobashi has actually been simply set in its own time without having to change worlds (imagine like the first episode), I think I would of liked it more, but the dramatic changes from one place to the next just got boring after a while

*spoiler" and learning how everything is done from that lame guy they are chasing for ages just lets the series down. i have'nt watched it for 6 months at least but i remember that this part towards the end of the series really did'nt impress

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Postby Phaze » Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:44 pm

Vulkurt wrote: the notion that there is no escaping reality.

Which kinda reinforces my point.
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Magical shopping arcade rocks!

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Postby Olin of Xephon » Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:06 am

I reall really really, REALLY, don't want to sound mean utero2001, but there is life after Evangelion.
As i've said on the Rahxephon board, I Love the show. I think it's my favorite anime of all time, and certainly the one that keeps me thikning to this day, but there are a couple of shows that have been made in the past six years that kick some major ass!

Abenobashi is one of them. Let's have gainax poke fun at themselves and the entire anime industry somebody said. Excellent results.
Like with FLCL, you need a since of humour to enjoy this show, but that doesn't make it any less engaging then the rest of Gainax's work.
Yeah, I know that's a blanket statement, it really depends on your personal tastes, but Abenobashi is funny! Everybody can like funny right?

gainax needs to stop making nice looking animes and get back making damn good ones with proper stories


HOLD UP! What is your definition of a "proper story"? Because, I haen't seen a Gainax anime yet without a good story. The word "proper" conjures up bad images of dry old novels like WAR and PEACE or MOBY DICK.
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Postby Timesplitter 01 » Sun Aug 08, 2004 6:13 pm

I have seen a advertisement for and it looks good
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Postby Vulkurt » Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:26 am

Timesplitter 01 wrote:I have seen a advertisement for and it looks good


Don't get me wrong, I love the show (see avatar). I just found the ending to be disappointing.
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Postby KaworuNagisa17 » Mon Aug 09, 2004 8:39 pm

I agree about the ending sucking....ok, it didn't pursay 'suck' but was really disappointing.

I did enjoy the wackiness of it and despite it being FLCL-ish (and honestly FLCL is a brainfart that'll be lucky to get over 3 viewings w/ me), it clicked and worked.

They DID have something going for them and in the final ep, they choked. I just knew right after Sasshi jumped himself & Arumi away from his father in the parking lot. THAT was the time for them to return. Arumi would cry for Masa-ji-san, Sasshi will have grown up a lil, etc. But no. The ending became woefully contrived..
That's just about the only way I'll not give a series fair praise, which is if the ending was blah. See "Seed, Gundam", eh?

Bad points about the ending:
Sasshi basically being a huge brat and bending time just to keep Arumi w/ him.
Mune-mune in the real world. um, hello? how's that possible??
Sasshi being the legendary Onmyou mystic. wtf????
Is Gendo Ikari gonna have to choke a bitch??

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Postby Vulkurt » Wed Aug 11, 2004 9:15 am

KaworuNagisa17 wrote:I agree about the ending sucking....ok, it didn't pursay 'suck' but was really disappointing.

I did enjoy the wackiness of it and despite it being FLCL-ish (and honestly FLCL is a brainfart that'll be lucky to get over 3 viewings w/ me), it clicked and worked.

They DID have something going for them and in the final ep, they choked. I just knew right after Sasshi jumped himself & Arumi away from his father in the parking lot. THAT was the time for them to return. Arumi would cry for Masa-ji-san, Sasshi will have grown up a lil, etc. But no. The ending became woefully contrived..
That's just about the only way I'll not give a series fair praise, which is if the ending was blah. See "Seed, Gundam", eh?

Bad points about the ending:
Sasshi basically being a huge brat and bending time just to keep Arumi w/ him.
Mune-mune in the real world. um, hello? how's that possible??
Sasshi being the legendary Onmyou mystic. wtf????


There are many Onmyou mystics. I learned that at the Otakon philosophy/religion panel. So he is not the mystic, but a mystic.

While it was "wacky," I wouldn't put it on the same level as FLCL. I get irritated when people try to pawn off MSAA as a FLCL leftover, riding the wave of that show's success.

But yes, the deus ex machina ending to the show really undercut my appreciation for what I thought was developing into a thoughtful, intriguing show.
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Postby Karma Burn » Wed Sep 01, 2004 3:35 pm

I flipped through the first manga...

It was almost soft-core porn and easily one of the dirtiest, most innuendo filled manga I've ever read...
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Postby Vulkurt » Sun Sep 05, 2004 5:24 pm

Karma Burn wrote:I flipped through the first manga...

It was almost soft-core porn and easily one of the dirtiest, most innuendo filled manga I've ever read...


Hrm, never seen the manga, but the series is not overtly pornographic...
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Postby thewayneiac » Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:12 pm

SPOILERS!!!


Vulkurt wrote:I finally saw the ending yesterday, and I must admit, I was HIGHLY disappointed. To me, the show was really working on something important: the notion that there is no escaping reality.


Then, Sasshi sees that Arumi is crying, and cannot bear to see her sad. So, he calls upon Eutus to take him to where he is an adult, for an adult would have the capacity to remedy the situation, whereas Sasshi, in his child form, simply cannot understand (at least he knows this much about himself). So, the older version of Sasshi remedies things in a real deus ex machina move by the series' creators, we get whisked back to Abenobashi, Grandpa is ok, and Papa doesn't get the position in Hokkaido, meaning that Sasshi and Arumi will remain together as friends.


I would probably agree with this objection if it were applied to most other shows, but I can't agree in this instance because they don't come from the real world in the first place. Eutus created their world in a failed attempt to help Masa and Mune Mune live happily ever after. So it pretty much doesn't matter if you fine tune it a little more.
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