I am not a big anime fan. One would think that an individual as obsessed with JRPGs as myself would love anime, manga and all that jazz. Sorry, but there is only enough room for one obsession in my life. Still, when NIS America, one of my favorite game distributors, announced they were going to begin localizing anime, I was intrigued. They proved that they know their customers so I figured I would give it a shot. The fact that one of the series being localized was Persona related simply sweetened the deal.
Both sets come in identical packaging consisting of two thin dvd cases and a hardcover artbook/episode guide all crammed into a nicely designed box. It was a little challenging getting the second dvd case out after art book had been removed but this was fixed with the application of a smack to the closed end of the box.
I was surprised to see that each volume is the first half of each season, contrasting the old days when you got 1 dvd every 6 months and bloody dealt with it.
Let’s get to the spoiler-free review of each show:
Toradora!
I wasn’t sure what to think of this show. The images of school girls and small tigers were a bit off-putting at first. It wasn’t long into the series that I remembered Japan is capable of great character development and possibly more importantly, making unique characters.
The main character for instance, Ryoji, adores cooking and the challenge of cleaning, specifically mold. He is independent and takes care of his mother who is a hostess by night and sleeps all day. His father, who is out of the picture, was a yakuza whose genes caused Ryoji to be born with a rather serious expression, often being mistaken for a yankee. Despite this tough appearance, on the inside he is just as timid as any other Japanese high schooler; completely unable to confess his love for a classmate. This was all established in the first few episodes and really served as the foundation of Ryoji’s character. I could relate to this combination of normalcy (wait, so he doesn’t throw kunai?) and simple quirks which made Ryoji a believable yet interesting character.
The story is set in a portion of a semester of Japanese high school. This familiar setting has the potential to be boring and predictable. You have your culture fair, your summer trip, your seasonal uniforms — been there, done that! Somehow, Toradora keeps this feeling fresh and fun. I attribute this largely to the unique cast of characters and the many strange situations their conflicts create.
When it comes to the translation, it was pretty spot on from what I could tell. Some minor liberties were taken which really don’t effect anything important. Ami is given the nickname baka-chi by Taiga, which is short for baka-chihuahua, but this is translated as chi-chi. If you are buying anime and you don’t know what baka means then odds are pretty good you are a clueless soccer mom buying it for your spoiled son or daughter.
To end this summary I will say that Toradora is for the anime lover and surprisingly also for the non-anime lover. The cast of characters are enough to draw anyone in with issues that the viewer can relate to down to their core. There are some anime cliches but not enough to turn me off from the show.
Persona: Trinity Universe
I love the Persona video game series for a number of reasons — sadly, most of these qualities are lacking in its foreign-feeling anime spin-off.
The story is overly complex with enough unlovable characters interacting in ways you won’t understand or care about. This is combined with a number of irritating anime cliches (like the main character’s gender ambiguous younger brother) to further demolish the chances of people like me from being interested.
If you can pay attention long enough to gather up the jagged fragments of a story, you may be able to notice that the world of Persona: Trinity Universe is the same as that of Persona 3. Don’t be alarmed when your brain starts to reject your body like someone grafted on a baboon’s brain stem. The similarities basically end with the inclusion of apathy syndrome and a desperate cameo of a Persona 3 character. The persona design is awful — it looks like someone took any frame from [INSERT X DUMB ANIME WHERE A KID HAS TO PILOT A ROBOT] and overlayed it on a terrible high school drama.
Redeeming qualities? Well, there is one episode where the main character’s overly serious and characteristically self-sacrificing older brother behaves very unusually. I actually laughed out loud before getting some more tampons to shove up my nose to stop the hemorrhaging.
It was clear that there were ideas behind Persona: Trinity Universe, but the lack of cohesion with the beloved game series and the formulaic anime bullshit just resulted in a bit of a flop. I would only recommend this to serious Persona fans wanting more, which will really be less.
The Interlacing Issue
As some of you may be aware, a number of the DVDs released for both sets suffers from a lack of de-interlacing. I won’t get into the science behind it ’cause frankly I don’t understand it all. All you need to know is that there will be a “ghosting” effect where a previous frame will appear stuck behind the current scene:
Some people claim to not have the problem, and supposedly certain DVD players and cables and TVs, when combined under a full moon and sprayed with ambrosia, can play the DVDs normally. I wasn’t able to succeed in this manner and did experience the issue. It was not enough to make me stop watching, but definitely enough to make me question the price.
Luckily, NIS America has put a replacement program into effect where owners can upgrade to DVDs with de-interlacing. Definitely take advantage of this while you can.
Conclusions
It’s too bad that NISA’s first go at anime is marred by this mistake, but hopefully it won’t stop people from experiencing at least Toradora, the only one of the two shows I can recommend with a clear conscience. I am actually rather excited to snag the second volume and finish watching the show and hope others who may not be huge anime fans will give it a chance.
Toradora and Persona DVD Reviews
I am not a big anime fan. One would think that an individual as obsessed with JRPGs as myself would love anime, manga and all that jazz. Sorry, but there is only enough room for one obsession in my life. Still, when NIS America, one of my favorite game distributors, announced they were going to begin localizing anime, I was intrigued. They proved that they know their customers so I figured I would give it a shot. The fact that one of the series being localized was Persona related simply sweetened the deal.
Both sets come in identical packaging consisting of two thin dvd cases and a hardcover artbook/episode guide all crammed into a nicely designed box. It was a little challenging getting the second dvd case out after art book had been removed but this was fixed with the application of a smack to the closed end of the box.
I was surprised to see that each volume is the first half of each season, contrasting the old days when you got 1 dvd every 6 months and bloody dealt with it.
Let’s get to the spoiler-free review of each show:
Toradora!
I wasn’t sure what to think of this show. The images of school girls and small tigers were a bit off-putting at first. It wasn’t long into the series that I remembered Japan is capable of great character development and possibly more importantly, making unique characters.
The main character for instance, Ryoji, adores cooking and the challenge of cleaning, specifically mold. He is independent and takes care of his mother who is a hostess by night and sleeps all day. His father, who is out of the picture, was a yakuza whose genes caused Ryoji to be born with a rather serious expression, often being mistaken for a yankee. Despite this tough appearance, on the inside he is just as timid as any other Japanese high schooler; completely unable to confess his love for a classmate. This was all established in the first few episodes and really served as the foundation of Ryoji’s character. I could relate to this combination of normalcy (wait, so he doesn’t throw kunai?) and simple quirks which made Ryoji a believable yet interesting character.
The story is set in a portion of a semester of Japanese high school. This familiar setting has the potential to be boring and predictable. You have your culture fair, your summer trip, your seasonal uniforms — been there, done that! Somehow, Toradora keeps this feeling fresh and fun. I attribute this largely to the unique cast of characters and the many strange situations their conflicts create.
When it comes to the translation, it was pretty spot on from what I could tell. Some minor liberties were taken which really don’t effect anything important. Ami is given the nickname baka-chi by Taiga, which is short for baka-chihuahua, but this is translated as chi-chi. If you are buying anime and you don’t know what baka means then odds are pretty good you are a clueless soccer mom buying it for your spoiled son or daughter.
To end this summary I will say that Toradora is for the anime lover and surprisingly also for the non-anime lover. The cast of characters are enough to draw anyone in with issues that the viewer can relate to down to their core. There are some anime cliches but not enough to turn me off from the show.
Persona: Trinity Universe
I love the Persona video game series for a number of reasons — sadly, most of these qualities are lacking in its foreign-feeling anime spin-off.
The story is overly complex with enough unlovable characters interacting in ways you won’t understand or care about. This is combined with a number of irritating anime cliches (like the main character’s gender ambiguous younger brother) to further demolish the chances of people like me from being interested.
If you can pay attention long enough to gather up the jagged fragments of a story, you may be able to notice that the world of Persona: Trinity Universe is the same as that of Persona 3. Don’t be alarmed when your brain starts to reject your body like someone grafted on a baboon’s brain stem. The similarities basically end with the inclusion of apathy syndrome and a desperate cameo of a Persona 3 character. The persona design is awful — it looks like someone took any frame from [INSERT X DUMB ANIME WHERE A KID HAS TO PILOT A ROBOT] and overlayed it on a terrible high school drama.
Redeeming qualities? Well, there is one episode where the main character’s overly serious and characteristically self-sacrificing older brother behaves very unusually. I actually laughed out loud before getting some more tampons to shove up my nose to stop the hemorrhaging.
It was clear that there were ideas behind Persona: Trinity Universe, but the lack of cohesion with the beloved game series and the formulaic anime bullshit just resulted in a bit of a flop. I would only recommend this to serious Persona fans wanting more, which will really be less.
The Interlacing Issue
As some of you may be aware, a number of the DVDs released for both sets suffers from a lack of de-interlacing. I won’t get into the science behind it ’cause frankly I don’t understand it all. All you need to know is that there will be a “ghosting” effect where a previous frame will appear stuck behind the current scene:
Some people claim to not have the problem, and supposedly certain DVD players and cables and TVs, when combined under a full moon and sprayed with ambrosia, can play the DVDs normally. I wasn’t able to succeed in this manner and did experience the issue. It was not enough to make me stop watching, but definitely enough to make me question the price.
Luckily, NIS America has put a replacement program into effect where owners can upgrade to DVDs with de-interlacing. Definitely take advantage of this while you can.
Conclusions
It’s too bad that NISA’s first go at anime is marred by this mistake, but hopefully it won’t stop people from experiencing at least Toradora, the only one of the two shows I can recommend with a clear conscience. I am actually rather excited to snag the second volume and finish watching the show and hope others who may not be huge anime fans will give it a chance.
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