Dragonaut - The Resonance

[roastedpekingduck]

Uggh. I wondered why I even bothered to watch it as I'm not really a fan of Gonzo and already heard less than praising stuff about the episode. The first episode was choke full of cliches and inconsistent animation. I usually can tolerate trite elements, but the execution wasn't wonderful either. Gonzo usually starts out with a wonderfully animated first episode and drops off from there, but if in this case, the first episode already isn't looking too great, I'm going to wonder how things go from there. Anyhow, by all indications, Dragonaut is not a show for me at this point.

[Lego]

It reminded me of Rahxephon a lot. The first episode seemed interesting enough if it doesn't proceed to fall apart like oh so many Gonzo shows have. Mostly everything is cliche these days unless you get something like Sayonara Sensei. Still I'll bail on it if it turns into a Romeo x Juliet where the middle was unwatchable.

[HellKorn]

Omni stated on his blog that this was his favorite of the season so far based on the first episode.

I've arrived at two conclusions from this:

1) The fall season is really THAT bad.

2) I should stop looking at his blog.

I'm just really trying to figure out why Gonzo can't seem to pull it together. I mean, Gankutsuou and Last Exile showed that they can actually make some worthwhile shows, so why does it seem like they're solely manufacturing forgettable trash* year after year?

*In case of being labeled a snobby elitist who jumps on the Gonzo sucks bandwagon: I exaggerate here. Kind of.

[Westlo]

To be fair to Omni Dragonaut was one of the first new shows to air this season. He only blogged Da Capo II and Blue Drop before it. The School Days #1 ranking over Gurren Lagann was much more worse :\

Anyway I'll probably check this out when I'm un-throttled after the 15th of this month. Only shows I'm going to bother downloading at 6 kb/sec is Clannad and Gundam 00 along with Baccano (because it's so small!).

[BluWacky]

I'm just really trying to figure out why Gonzo can't seem to pull it together. I mean, Gankutsuou and Last Exile showed that they can actually make some worthwhile shows, so why does it seem like they're solely manufacturing forgettable trash* year after year?

The Gankutsuou and Last Exile staff haven't/don't really work on a lot of other Gonzo stuff. One of the chief writers on Gankutsuou has only worked on that and Red Garden (another of Gonzo's better written series), and Koichi Chigera presumably went straight from working on Last Exile to supervising Brave Story so didn't have a hand in much of Gonzo's TV stuff.

Plus, realistically, check out Jun Maekawa's credits (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=17488) - sure, he's done some pretty decent shows for younger audiences (Digimon 2 and Dr Rin in particular) but his only real attempt at doing an original show before Dragonaut was Sisters of Wellber, and that had squeaky naked fairies and a comedy talking tank; it's a bit unrealistic to expect even Alexander Dumas levels of writing here I think...

Anyway, I don't think Dragonaut is THAT awful. I mean, sure, it's not particularly good by any means, but by throwing in so much stuff there's got to be something that sticks. Even if it's the shit parts...

[LordGeo]

While not exactly one of the better first episodes, I'll still stay with this show for probably another 2 or 3 episodes.

I personally was annoyed at the lack of dragons in the first episode when the show seems to about them somewhat.

[Lego]

Out of place CG comedy tank was great!

Still the show has promise as one of those "turn your brain off and have fun" type of shows if Gonzo doesn't sabotage it halfway through.

Don't worry, once Gundam 00 and some of the other high profile titles air, we'll see the real slurping begin.

[HellKorn]

Koichi Chigera

Didn't he also direct Full Metal Panic!? (Dunno if having that amount of projects under your belt is enough to be considered a "regular.")

I see your point on Gonzo (Red Garden wasn't to my liking but even I could tell it was a step above their usual output), but it's really just gotten to the point that I've given up on them. Unless they're is a ludicrous amount of clamor for a show (that is NOT being done by fans who think that horribly contrived and clichéd writing is awesome -- I'm looking at you, Code Geass), I don't think I'm ever going to check out another Gonzo series again.

Barring some of the competent members (Mahiro Maeda) that frequent their works, of course.

[Suwako Moriya]

I recently finished watching the first episode. I'm not sure if I'd call it terrible per se. However it's just that for some reason I felt bored as I watched the episode. I also felt rather detached while watching the series. Which is probably not a good sign. It also doesn't help too many of the girls looked like they had implants. I'd say if this doesn't improve in the next few episodes, I'll drop it. Assuming I actually do watch past the first episode. I may ultimately decide to regulate this to "read about it" status at best and see if there is any indication of improvement.

[HitokiriShadow]

It sounds like I made the right decision to ditch this after the first 30 seconds and skipping around here and there. What little I saw was dull and not exactly visually appealing. The fact that its Gonzo gives me little reason to continue. I'll read about it and see if it gets better at some point, but I doubt I'll bother with this one.

[Jadawin]

Yeah, certainly not the best first episode I've seen. And it's really hard to expect a good plot, when most of the female characters have ridiculous breast sizes.

I think it was funny, that you could hear Yuko Goto (aka Mikuru in Haruhi Suzumiya) in two roles. First as the main characters sister and later in a completely different role as big breasted white/blue haired beauty. Since I knew that she would be in the show, it was obvious that her "real" role wouldn't be another young/cute character.

[Lego]

It sounds like I made the right decision to ditch this after the first 30 seconds and skipping around here and there. What little I saw was dull and not exactly visually appealing. The fact that its Gonzo gives me little reason to continue. I'll read about it and see if it gets better at some point, but I doubt I'll bother with this one.

This will be my guilty pleasure series of the season. I'll check it out each week if nothing else for the character designs.

[Hayate Kurogane]

It sounds like I made the right decision to ditch this after the first 30 seconds and skipping around here and there. What little I saw was dull and not exactly visually appealing. The fact that its Gonzo gives me little reason to continue. I'll read about it and see if it gets better at some point, but I doubt I'll bother with this one.

This will be my guilty pleasure series of the season. I'll check it out each week if nothing else for the character designs.

It's Makoto Uno, right? You look at the progression of his style over the years, up to Witchblade being the most recent, and marvel at the growth rate. Perhaps he felt a bit put out that so many of the female characters in Stellvia were so young; can you imagine if the long-desired sequel ever did get made? :virgin: :sd:

[Lego]

Witchblade was worth watching just for the designs. Dragonaut looks a little hokey at the moment, but I can't look away. It really gives off the "Burst Angel" type of feel.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Witchblade was worth watching just for the designs. Dragonaut looks a little hokey at the moment, but I can't look away. It really gives off the "Burst Angel" type of feel.

You mean the promise of harmless, slightly hokey entertainment, but will ultimately only deliver kind of a sad letdown and a wish that it had a bit more vigor and polish? I admit to having my interest piqued by good promotional art, but I won't be picking up any of the R2s if the series apparently can't even be bothered to have consistent animation.

[Suwako Moriya]

It really gives off the "Burst Angel" type of feel.

Given that I felt Burst Angel was ultimately a waste of time. I have a feeling this statement won't motivate me in terms of watching Dragonaut.

[Lego]

As of episode one, I really don't see this as a serious, well written type of show. I could be proven wrong as I'm going by the first episode, but it looks like one of those "Guy is saved by mysterious girl who he'll team up with and fight random beings" type of deal. The designs are nice(thats my what, fourth time saying that?) but this will find a niche audience like Kiddy Grade did.

I wouldn't go in expecting FMA but I wouldn't come out thinking I just saw Cosplay Complex either.

[lorddream]

Yeah, certainly not the best first episode I've seen. And it's really hard to expect a good plot, when most of the female characters have ridiculous breast sizes.

That pretty much sums up my feelings. I doubt I'll bother to watch another episode.

[Senna]

Yeah, I thought the first episode was kind of disappointing, and it didn't offer me much hope for the rest of the series. Everything about it felt very generic, like I had seen it somewhere else before (but usually done better). Not that it can't get better, but ... I don't know how much more I can handle of the scary watermelon chest ladies :(

[pathos]

Hrm, I kind of liked it. Well, enough to keep with it for awhile. I will admit it had some very random animation though.

I think I'm destined to like shows most people consider crap. That makes me kind of sad, really.

[something]

This one seems to be about as well regarded as a case of herpes, but I guess I'll try it.

Episode 1:

- Mmm, Jin is going into space for something or other. And his sister is Goto Yuko! God I love her. If nothing else, Dragonaut has that.
- ...Uhhh, or not. No wonder I couldn't find her on the character page.
- Well at least she's playing a second role, Makina. Oh and Hirano Aya is... ::checks character page:: Garnet, some large breasted pink haired woman. Actually, hell, they have all five leads o_O Itsuki, Haruhi, Kyon, Mikuru, and Yuki's seiyuu are all in this.
- So Jin is alone, doesn't get along with the relatives he's living with. Nasty rumors are circulating about why only he survived, even two years later. A paparazzi type is pestering him for info. And now some mysterious hot chick seems to be watching him.
- Mmm, there's Goto Yuko's other role, with her *other* Mikuru voice, so to speak. She's in a car with another woman who sounds familiar... turns out it's Sawashiro Miyuki, who does Shinku, though that's not quite the voice I'm hearing. Anyways.. They're driving Kazuki around and it sounds like they're about to rape him :sd:
- Instead he's just getting nekkid and doing some "resonance" test with a weird glowing ball, while pretty much every character we've met so far watches.
- o_O That's a new voice for Hirano Aya... And a new body as well :sd:
- Random lady gets attacked by large, strange dude. Jin overhears and approaches to find out what happened... and large beast man is eating the woman o_O
- Beast dude then goes after Jin, who is eventually thrown out of a high rise building, only to be saved by pink hair (Toa), in something reminiscent of when he survived the shuttle explosion. Toa fends off the baddie, and escapes with Jin. Then we meet what I guess is one of the Dragonauts, Jaqueline. (And she's hot).
- Jin wakes up and is greeted by Toa, and the episode ends.

Huh, wow. Well, I thought this episode was actually rather good, and I'm sort of surprised at this being more or less branded the garbage of the season. Sure it's kinda scattershot and all, but it certainly wasn't anything close to "bad". It's got a lot of potentially bothersome elements, sure. All the silly huge breasted characters, the dumb looking baddie, and of course some people tend to fear the name Gonzo, but... well, I'll be watching more.

[pi8you]

I'm with you here, the first episode showed a lot of promise. While I went into it expecting lots of space action, it doesn't look like we'll be getting much of that(at least not in the first half?), with monster-of-the-every-other-week for now. Still, the episode had a really smooth flow to it, and that's fairly important to me. Animation was alright, a bit odd in places, but I thought the fight at the end was pretty solid. As to the character design, could turn it into another Divergence Eve on that alone- solid stuff buried under a mountain of fanservice, but that's fine by me, I'll enjoy that aspect or tune it out. Final verdict, this looks to be the first Fall show I'll be following(not counting my automatics- YUA, Genshiken, Ghost Hound), and while it may follow Gonzo Tradition, I think it'll be enjoyable for the better part of it.

[Scaramanga]

Huh, wow. Well, I thought this episode was actually rather good, and I'm sort of surprised at this being more or less branded the garbage of the season.
Yeah, I'm with disarm here on this as well; I enjoyed this first episode very much, and though it has lots of potential.

Sure it's kinda scattershot and all, but it certainly wasn't anything close to "bad". It's got a lot of potentially bothersome elements, sure. All the silly huge breasted characters, the dumb looking baddie
The boobs, while not really my favourite thing, didn't bother me at all. I think there was far worse stuff in Gonzo's other stuff like Witchblade and the Gravions. I dunno, most of the stuff people have been grousing about seems pretty minor to me.

and of course some people tend to fear the name Gonzo
Sometimes I think people just like to dislike things that are popular.

[guyver83]

A friend of mine describe GONZO as kick ass 1st ep.. so so med and shitty ending. I disagree on it on most pts but I'm with disarm as I enjoyed the 1st ep and it got me wanting to see how it pans out.

[Hayate Kurogane]

The boobs, while not really my favourite thing, didn't bother me at all. I think there was far worse stuff in Gonzo's other stuff like Witchblade and the Gravions. I dunno, most of the stuff people have been grousing about seems pretty minor to me.

The two shows you mention by name share Makoto Uno as character designer with Dragonaut. Intentional? Or perhaps a sign that he is, for better or worse, becoming "that guy what draws big boobs good" to a growing number of people? :sd:

[Scaramanga]

The boobs, while not really my favourite thing, didn't bother me at all. I think there was far worse stuff in Gonzo's other stuff like Witchblade and the Gravions. I dunno, most of the stuff people have been grousing about seems pretty minor to me.
The two shows you mention by name share Makoto Uno as character designer with Dragonaut. Intentional? Or perhaps a sign that he is, for better or worse, becoming "that guy what draws big boobs good" to a growing number of people? :sd:
I'd guess the latter. I just mentioned those two shows because those were the first 2 Gonzo shows I could think of where the boobs were nearly a character unto themselves. I never really got that vibe from this show (admittedly, it may be too early for that.)

[pathos]

Huh, wow. Well, I thought this episode was actually rather good, and I'm sort of surprised at this being more or less branded the garbage of the season. Sure it's kinda scattershot and all, but it certainly wasn't anything close to "bad". It's got a lot of potentially bothersome elements, sure. All the silly huge breasted characters, the dumb looking baddie, and of course some people tend to fear the name Gonzo, but... well, I'll be watching more.


:cry: :cry: :cry:

I'm not alone anymore. I was feeling kind of lonely there for a bit

[HellKorn]

and of course some people tend to fear the name Gonzo
Sometimes I think people just like to dislike things that are popular.

I love Evangelion, Haruhi, anything headed by Shinichiro Watanabe, anything headed by Satoshi Kon, majority of Ghibli films, Hellsing (the manga), the second and third Full Metal Panic! series, Ghost in the Shell franchise sans Innocence, et cetera.

I dislike Gonzo because they are a mediocre anime studio, both in their actual production (outside of a few exceptions, their animation is mediocre) and story elements. They seem content to throw together whatever their fanbase will like and also create haphazard manga adaptions that do nothing different from their original and end incomplete. They seem to be totally focused on earning money without even a shred of artistic merit and effort put into it.

If the above makes me some elitist snob, then so be it, but Gonzo's reputation of churning out mediocrity is far from unfounded.

[Lego]

So they're like the FOX of anime studios?

[something]

Episode 2:

- Damnit Toa is hot.
- Flashback 20 years,and there's.... stuff going on.
- Back at present, Jin wakes up in a large room, furnished only with a bed. He's alone. And nekkid. And Jaqueline isn't terribly impressed with his assets >_____>
- He's hauled before the dude in charge, and rather more quickly than I expected, is told the truth of what happened that day when the shuttle exploded, Dragons, Thanatos and all.
- Things move fast. Jin demands they announce the truth of what happened and clear his father's name, but they instead ask him to join the Dragonauts. He refuses, and as he's storming out, Kazuki comes in.
- Jin is going to be kept under the care (or surveillance really) of the ISDA for now. Kazuki urges him to become a Dragonaut as well. And the lady driving the car is hot.
- Jin acts just as they anticipated - they're using him to get a hold of the "Album", Toa. He runs off to meet her, and they shadow him.
- After some running around, Toa is surrounded by ISDA Dragonauts and Jin finds himself staring down the barrel of Kazuki's (really shaky) gun. But as Kazuki is pleading with him to become a Dragonaut, some dude who I'm pretty sure hasn't done a damn thing yet starts to freak out and tries to shoot Jin.
- Toa saves him at the last second, and takes the hit, but heals almost instantly. As she's escaping with him, she finds time to tell him he isn't alone, and then kiss him right on the mouth. I'd call him a lucky bastard if his life wasn't a piece of shit otherwise.
- And geh, I anticipated it, but shitty cg is still shitty. Why, whyyyy is it so hard to just animate it normally? I do not understand. Or at least try and do it well if you're going to do it, or as well as it can ever be handled. Oh well, it's just one issue of many to keep in mind whne I evaluate if I want to keep watching. It's a negative mark, but there are enough positives for me for now. Like Toa. God damn Toa. Mmmm~
- Anyways, looks like the dude controls the beast man thing that tried to kill Jin. The controller snaps, the ugly cg dragon is summoned, and then it, uh, eats him. So much for that guy.
- The dragon is going berserk without its master, and heads towards civilian areas. It goes after Jin, but Toa steps up to protect him. And turns into a dragon herself.
- And it's done so crappily I may just stop watching the show here and now. I have a certain limit for what I can tolerate with this stuff, and this surpasses it. Fuckers, stop being so goddamned lazy with this shitty 3dcg. HATE. Toa just went from HOT to ANTIHOT.

Blah. I'll give it one more episode to see how prevalent this stuff is going to become. If it's going to do this every time they fight, I am not going to be okay with it at all. The pacing also could have been significantly better in this episode. It really could have been two parts, if you ask me.

[untoldsorrow]

Toa is hot :virgin: . Just had to add that in after reading that summary.

[Shiroi Hane]

It really gives off the "Burst Angel" type of feel.
Funny, I kept feeling I was watching Stellvia - not knowing the studio responsible before watching it I was expecting it to be Xebec.

I'll watch at least one more episode, for Aya's sake if nothing else, but bear in mind that not even Aya could convince me to watch Eyeshield 21 and she came in too late to rescue Death Note (although I'll probably finish it when the DVDs are available).

[something]

Funny, I kept feeling I was watching Stellvia - not knowing the studio responsible before watching it I was expecting it to be Xebec.
...Really? o_O What specific connections did you make to Stellvia?

[Hayate Kurogane]

Funny, I kept feeling I was watching Stellvia - not knowing the studio responsible before watching it I was expecting it to be Xebec.
...Really? o_O What specific connections did you make to Stellvia?

Character designs (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=482)?

Sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record in this thread, but I can't help it if my one contributed bit of information helps answer a lot of stuff. :sd:

[something]

Character designs (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=482)? Sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record in this thread, but I can't help it if my one contributed bit of information helps answer a lot of stuff. :sd:
Maybe, but even if they share a designer I feel like the work that's resulted from it is very different. Stellvia's and Dragonaut's designs are not very similar.

Edit: for most of the characters anyway. The ISDA guy in episode two looks a bit like Stellvia adult males, and perhaps some of the males in general have a resemblance, but I don't so much pay attention to them :sd: Besides that, I think the designer turned out different looking work.

[DiGiKerot]

Huh, wow. Well, I thought this episode was actually rather good, and I'm sort of surprised at this being more or less branded the garbage of the season. Sure it's kinda scattershot and all, but it certainly wasn't anything close to "bad".

Most the people who are branding it as the garbage of the season are probably those like myself who haven't bothered to watch the actual show yet. They really didn't do themselves many favours with the promotional trailer they put out for this show - it really did make the show look awful.

I have to say I'm kind of surprised with the positive reactions to it I'm now hearing from quite a few sources, but that just means I might actually give it a look when I find the time rather than just write it off :sd:

[something]

Most the people who are branding it as the garbage of the season are probably those like myself who haven't bothered to watch the actual show yet.
Well, episode two was a few steps backwards, so you might not be missing anything after all. :sd: Pacing issues, hideous 3dcg... but it's still got Toa, so I'll watch at least one more episode.

[Shiroi Hane]

You can't say you don't see at least some similarity?

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shirobane/Stellanaut?authkey=oJ3crLHT36M

[something]

You can't say you don't see at least some similarity?
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shirobane/Stellanaut?authkey=oJ3crLHT36M
::sees males in your comparison pics::
::points to last part of post you responded to::

Anyways, was it just the designs you meant? Because pretty much nothing else is similar, except that, like, space is involved :sd:

[pathos]

Well, episode two was a few steps backwards, so you might not be missing anything after all. :sd: Pacing issues, hideous 3dcg... but it's still got Toa, so I'll watch at least one more episode.


Yup, Toa is hot. Story's ok, and I didn't notice the pacing problem issue myself.

I can not deny a severe lack of decent animation for a good chunk of the episode though.

I wont stop watching it because of the animation, but I will say it will drop my enjoyment a few notches if it continues (which I assume it will)

[Shiroi Hane]

::sees males in your comparison pics::
::points to last part of post you responded to::

Anyways, was it just the designs you meant? Because pretty much nothing else is similar, except that, like, space is involved :sd:
I don't remember there being a second part to your post - maybe I read it before you edited? It took me a fair while to get the caps as my computer was giving my gyp.
I spotted the similarity within seconds, before I know anything about the plot (and I still know next to nothing about the plot after watching the whole episode)

[Scaramanga]

I dislike Gonzo because they are a mediocre anime studio, both in their actual production (outside of a few exceptions, their animation is mediocre) and story elements.
You're going to tell me you thought Samurai 7, SaiKano, Gankutsuo, Basilisk, Hellsing, Last Exile, Trinity Blood, Red Garden, Full Metal Panic! and Speed Grapher were mediocre shows? Or are those some of your "exceptions".

If the above makes me some elitist snob, then so be it, but Gonzo's reputation of churning out mediocrity is far from unfounded.
Opinions aside, I don't think turning out a few overdone shows (that mind you WERE popular) really is an indicator as to whether this show will be bad or not (or ANY show they do.) Hell, name most ANY studio and I can name good and bad shows they've done. I think this sort of bad rep that people seem to perpetrate about Gonzo is pretty unfounded.

Still enjoying the show after ep 2. I agree with Disarm though, that the CG is pretty terrible, but it hasn't really detracted from the story so far, so I'm probably going to stick with it. Who knows, maybe Gonzo spent all their CG budget on Blue Drop?

[HellKorn]

This'll be a doozy... Sorry for the (off-topic) long post.

You're going to tell me you thought Samurai 7, SaiKano, Gankutsuo, Basilisk, Hellsing, Last Exile, Trinity Blood, Red Garden, Full Metal Panic! and Speed Grapher were mediocre shows? Or are those some of your "exceptions".

Samurai 7 is an attempt to cash in on Kurosawa's name. I couldn't care less about the mecha, but the shallow characters and tedious pacing and unimaginative direction leave much to be desired.

Saikano is good because of the original material, not because Gonzo came up with a worthwhile screenplay. Even then, it has some problems compared to the manga. (And no, I'm not one of those "MANGA IS ALWAYS BETTER" idiots.)

Gankutusou is excellent. Melodramatic at times, but that's part of the appeal. "One of those exceptions."

Never saw Basilisk, but I read the manga which the anime is based on. It's nothing but a pseudo-ninja freak-fest with some interesting fights and a modern attempt at the Romeo x Juliet story. Purely style over substance, but not in an entertaining way.

Gonzo's Hellsing lost the appeal of the original manga. It takes itself seriously with some moronic villain designs and another Gonzo non-ending. It has good music, but that's it. Also doesn't help that the characters were off-model the majority of the time.

Last Exile is very good. Bit uneven at times, but definitely worthwhile. "One of those exceptions.

Trinity Blood is just Trigun meets Hellsing, as clichéd as that sounds. Another style over substance series that lacks the energy needed to carry itself with an utterly laughable script. Never finished it, but it evidently has another Gonzo non-ending.

Red Garden is decent, actually, even if the animation budget was low. Never really had the urge to go past the first few episodes.

Full Metal Panic! never decided if it wanted to be a comedy, drama, or B-grade action flick. Throw in some clichéd situations and it's wholly unremarkable, particularly compared to the energy of Fumoffu and commanding direction and writing of The Second Raid.

Speed Grapher I never watched, but hearsay tells that it has mediocre animation, sex and violence thrown together to appear "mature," monster-of-the-week formula with little attraction otherwise, et cetera.

Opinions aside, I don't think turning out a few overdone shows (that mind you WERE popular) really is an indicator as to whether this show will be bad or not (or ANY show they do.)

Popularity does not equate to a show's worth. And when clichéd elements are mixed in just to appeal to the fanbase, I think it's a pretty good indicator on whether it's worth my time or not.

Hell, name most ANY studio and I can name good and bad shows they've done. I think this sort of bad rep that people seem to perpetrate about Gonzo is pretty unfounded.

Every anime studio has their share of stinkers. But the output ratio of good:bad is nowhere near Gonzo's level.

Also, like I mentioned earlier, I cannot even respect Gonzo for their earnestness behind their products. Even though I don't go for those types of shows, I do see some effort behind Kyoto Animation's Air and Kanon. I rarely ever get that impression with Gonzo.

[Lego]

Red Garden was amazingly well done for the little attention that it got. It really stepped out of the box and did something different. In contrast, Speed Grapher was a total disaster. Gonzo gets its reputation from things like Welcome to the NHK where they left HORRIBLE animation go even on the DVD releases. This goes up with Gainax not knowing how to write decent endings. The only studios that I've seen people go nuts over is Kyo Ani, Bones, and Madhouse.

[LordGeo]

Gonzo gets its reputation from things like Welcome to the NHK where they left HORRIBLE animation go even on the DVD releases. This goes up with Gainax not knowing how to write decent endings. The only studios that I've seen people go nuts over is Kyo Ani, Bones, and Madhouse.

And yet, just about every, if not every, Gonzo anime has been licensed for R1 release. It's almost the same with Gainax and Bones. Can anyone really explain why? Is it just because of the pretty animation? Or because one or two big sellers make the companies feel that they can get money out of a title because of company recognition? I'll have to admit that Gonzo, Gainax, and Bones are some of the few anime companies that are actually kind of well known. And yet these are three companies people like to complain about (Bones maybe not quite as much, but still...)

KyoAni is a new company, but already pretty much all of their stuff, with the exception of Lucky Star, has been licensed already. Since they're new, they don't have too many titles, so there's not much to complain about right now.

Madhouse, on the other hand, has a number of non-R1-licensed animes. Maybe it's because they do a lot of potential hard-to-sell animes, like Akagi, Kaiji, Monster, etc. Yet this is a company I hear only a little complaints about.

[HellKorn]

This goes up with Gainax not knowing how to write decent endings.

I'd rather have controversial endings that remain thematically consistent than pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Gonzo's reputation has been around prior to their lackluster attempt at Welcome to the N.H.K., as far as I can recall.

As far as why the majority of their titles are licensed versus, say, Madhouse: they sell. They have more appeal, the elements their anime have are more popular.

[Hayate Kurogane]

Full Metal Panic! never decided if it wanted to be a comedy, drama, or B-grade action flick. Throw in some clichéd situations and it's wholly unremarkable, particularly compared to the energy of Fumoffu and commanding direction and writing of The Second Raid.

Aside from the fact that it adds in several episodes that are original to the anime version, Gonzo's first season of FMP! stays as accurate to the original novels as Fumoffu and TSR do. I don't think there's anything lacking necessarily in the direction, writing, etc., but rather just that the first several FMP! novels just weren't as good as later ones.

Speed Grapher I never watched, but hearsay tells that it has mediocre animation, sex and violence thrown together to appear "mature," monster-of-the-week formula with little attraction otherwise, et cetera.

I was actually pretty surprised to find a solid, albeit unnecessarily weird at times, story in Speed Grapher. Unfortunately, the show ultimately comes up short because the animation is, for the most part, pretty bad, and because the staff seemed to lack the gumption (or inspiration, perhaps) to go for the dark and sinister atmosphere that Speed Grapher's story demanded. Akiyuki Shinbo and his usual cohorts, plus a decent budget, could've made Speed Grapher a completely bad-ass show. Unfortunately, what we actually have is a show that I don't regret buying, but that I find very difficult to recommend.

[Hayate Kurogane]

And yet, just about every, if not every, Gonzo anime has been licensed for R1 release. It's almost the same with Gainax and Bones. Can anyone really explain why? Is it just because of the pretty animation? Or because one or two big sellers make the companies feel that they can get money out of a title because of company recognition?

Partially due to company recognition (whether real or perceived), but also due to licensability and the way the company is run. Gonzo has become a company that's very proactive about creating saleable works and getting them out there.

Look at how their output has increased since they started producing whole anime titles in 1998. Look at their willingness to outsource animation to Korea (which, aside from the knee-jerk "oh, that sucks" reaction, is helping them do better as a business and is helping them develop business relationships). Look at the range of their projects, from things like Afro Samurai to the Linkin Park "Breaking the Habit" music video to mecha design for live-action movies to a variety of subcontracted processing and post production on other animation titles and even things like finishing work on the cover art for the Macross: DYRL R2 DVD.

It's also worth noting that Gonzo has, for some time, been actively presenting their works for licensing as package deals, which implies discounted costs and other benefits for the studios who may pick up those packages. It's why suddenly FUNimation seemed to have become "the Gonzo company" a couple of years ago. It's why at present the only Gonzo series FUNimation has in progress is Witchblade (with no new Gonzo series yet announced for the forseeable future, excepting the one-shot Burst Angel OVA) and why instead we see ADV with Red Garden, Welcome to the N.H.K., and Pumpkin Scissors. It's a reason that says a lot about why Gonzo shows for some time have not fallen by the wayside when it comes to R1 licensing.

[Fencedude]

This goes up with Gainax not knowing how to write decent endings.

The "GAINAX" ending is one of the most pervasive, nearly baseless myths I've seen in the general anime community. Gainax's endings are no better or worse, on average, than any other studios. They just tend to be more high profile, for whatever reason.

The only studios that I've seen people go nuts over is Kyo Ani, Bones, and Madhouse.

Madhouse is consistently HEAVILY over-rated. They aren't HORRIBLE, but people have some weird assumption that EVERYTHING they make is going to be gold, while they have pretty much the same "Great to Crap" ratio as everyone else. And recently have this weird, intense desire to futz around with perfectly fine stories when adapting a manga. (see Claymore for a great example of this in action)

[LordGeo]

Madhouse is consistently HEAVILY over-rated. They aren't HORRIBLE, but people have some weird assumption that EVERYTHING they make is going to be gold, while they have pretty much the same "Great to Crap" ratio as everyone else. And recently have this weird, intense desire to futz around with perfectly fine stories when adapting a manga. (see Claymore for a great example of this in action)

While I have not seen too many Madhouse shows, what I HAVE seen is pretty good, like Dragon Drive, Akagi, Gungrave, and the Record of Lodoss War OVA. I have seen pretty lousy Madhouse animes also though, like Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. But yeah, every company has both good and bad stuff. I think people praise Madhouse due to the fact that they do a lot of the untraditional stuff, like Master Keaton, Monster, Akagi, and Kaiji, and aside from Kaiji (since it's new), all have gotten high marks.

As for Claymore, the anime DID cover just about everything that was in the manga before the hiatus came due to Monthly Jump's cancellation. Maybe they felt it was better to give the anime some sort of conclusion, no matter how horrible, than to leave it without any sort of ending. That and maybe ratings weren't good enough to make Madhouse consider possible doing an OVA continuation.

[Scaramanga]

Wow, I never really intended to start this sort of a Gonzo firestorm with my comments. I'm sorry HellKorn finds Gonzo shows so subpar, but honestly, some fluff shows aside (and even those CAN be enjoyable in their own right) I think Gonzo makes some pretty solid shows.

Can... can we go back to talking about Dragonaut again guys?

Also, something I've always wanted to know, and maybe I'm just dense, but can someone point to specific places where the animation in Dragonaut (not the CG, I'll admit that even looks pretty crappy right now) is bad or off-model? Maybe I'm too busy enjoying the show to notice these details, but I never seem to see them (or honestly in too many other shows - the first Negima series aside.)

[Westlo]

Well I just watched 1-3 of Dragonaut today and while I doubt it will ever be anything better than a 6-7/10, I'll probably continue watching unless it becomes utter crap. Toa being hot has nothing to do with it *whistles*

Anyway episode 3 contained a shit load of CG dragons.. I'm hoping for the majority of the series while it takes place on earth they mainly fight in their human forms.

Tao was ugly for the majority of this episode :( bring back hot Tao! Also Kazuki's scream of JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 was just hilarious, this guy is probably going to make Suzuki from Geass look awesome in comparison.

Nachina, professor and Aya's pink haired characters tits are just too big, imo they should be the same size as the Witchblade lead at least... still massive but not looking (as) stupid

[HitokiriShadow]

A brief summary of episode 1. (http://www.yuribou.net/blog/?p=284)

[Fencedude]

...all of a sudden I miss Friedrich and Voltaire.

[jigoku panda]

at least they arent J cups then all youll see are the boobs but it doesnt help they zoom in on them when they talk :sigh:

[Ingraman]

I ended up laughing much of the way through the episode. The plot points seemed to be a bit too recycled, the CG was painful to watch, some of the character designs are still bad, flight-suits and their wheels(?!), and a lot of the dialogue hurt to read. Hmm... Maybe that's it; _all_ of the above is the fault of those who should not be subbing this show. ^_^;

Gio doesn't listen. Hahahahahaha... ^_^;;

How long can I handle something this bad, or will it turn around soon?

[Ingraman]

...all of a sudden I miss Friedrich and Voltaire.


That's one way to put it...

[Lego]

Don't forget the lead dragon looking like a certain Pokemon.

[Ingraman]

Don't forget the lead dragon looking like a certain Pokemon.

Heh... I never watched Pokemon, so that didn't occur to me. Since you mentioned it, I am now remembering something (artwork, screencaps, whatever) that I've seen out there for Pokemon. Heh... ^_^;;

[Fencedude]

Yeah. Gio and Jin go to the moon. Kazuki meets a mysterious woman.

*yawns*

[something]

I was debating if I should bump this just to say how much I disliked the episode, but no point breaking my posting streak now, posting something about every non-DVD (but often about those too) episode of anime I've watched in... probably the past year?

-----------------

Perhaps against my better judgment, I'm giving this another chance. But I'll say right here and now, I'm only doing it for Toa and Jaqueline.

Episode 3:

- ...they just had the recap the scene that made me lose all faith in this show, didn't they? It feels like a bad pokemon videogame or something =( Argh, I want to stop watching right now and pretend I never saw it... but Toa deserves at least one last episode.
- This really is pokemon stadium the anime. Toa looks like a friggin evolved Mewtwo or whatever it's called.
- So Toa subdues the one dragon and starts carrying it off and the other ISDA dragonauts get permission to... become dragons. Two was bad enough, now threre's more -_-
- Ahahaaha, some of the dragonauts turn into dragon mecha things, and the other members... ride them XD Howling Star and other bishie, as well as Machina and other cute girl... but not even two chicks holding hands and getting their faces real close together is going to make up for this crap... actually, maybe it's worse because it goes from "oh god hot" to "oh god no" in mere seconds.
- And now, naked dude! Kazuki's dragon dude has awakened. Ahahaah and it totally bitchslaps Kazuki down when he asks when Gio was born XD

Blaaaargh I skipped half of the 2nd part of the show. Someone needs to revoke Gonzo's license to do 3dcg YESTERDAY.

Dragonaut is DROPPED. Hard. Not even Toa, Jaqueline, and the implied yuri pair can begin to save it. What a shame, because episode 1 was pretty good.

If only there were hot Machina x short hair or Toa x Jaqueline fanart so that *something* worthwhile could come from the show.

[Westlo]

I think these two pics sum up Dragonaut pretty well.

http://randomc.animeblogger.net/image/Dragonaut/Dragonaut%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2026.jpg (NSFW??)
http://randomc.animeblogger.net/image/Dragonaut/Dragonaut%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2031.jpg

I haven't even bothered to dl/watch 4 yet and after looking at this blog for 5 I probably won't.

Consider Dragonaut dropped, it's too crappy to even watch as a "I'm watching this because it's so crap" show.

[Lego]

Dah hahahaha at #2. You know this is the one show besides Godannar and Witchblade where I'm more interested in the character designs then the actual show. #1 looks like a big breasted Urd.