From: wbarnes@sura.net (Bill Barnes)
Subject: Re: Anime, and He May Not
Organization: SURAnet, College Park, MD, USA, NA, Earth, Milky Way
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 16:12:56 GMT

In article <18eilcINNjm4@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> bn981@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Ryan Mathews) writes:
>Also, 2 & 3 were possibly the worst written of all the series, partly
>because of the 30 min length, which required a quick-n-dirty plot.

I didn't think 2 was all that bad (but maybe that's just because I rather
liked the music to it, the "happy graveyard song" notwithstanding).  The
problem with 3 to me was the fact it felt like a rehash of the second
one - introduce KS friend, kill KS friend, run off and kick shit out of
Genom.  Overlooking the innate silliness of BGC to begin with, of course...

>>Variations on this include the whole of
>>Revenge Road, #7, and #6(I understand, although I never saw #6).
>Oh, I couldn't disagree more.  A throwaway character is character who is
>introduced for one specific purpose (usually in BGC to get killed), never
>developed, and then thrown away.  The characters in 4, 7, and 6 did an
>awful lot before they died.

4 and 7 I'll agree with you, the characters weren't throwaways.  6, though...
I never saw Anri as anything more than a pawn of the plot.  Maybe I'm
supposed to feel sympathy for her plight, but it felt too contrived to
me to be convincing.

>>The instance
>>that well and truly pissed me off about the series was that incredibly
>>manipulative scene at the end of #5, with the sappy "I don't wanna kill her -
>>Priss kill me please" dialog, and the endless abuse of splitscreen shots for
>>mindless choruses of "PRISSSSA".
>Okay, the ending was melodramatic and a bit cliched.

"A bit?"  Well, whatever...

>But the ride to the
>end was very good, with some interesting points raised about just what freedom
>really is.  I think #5 is by far and away the best of the series.

While 5 was one of my favorites (I've got a thing for vamps 8-), I
don't think it was because of their (IMHO) superficial treatment of
the subject of what freedom really is.  We know these people (i.e.
Anri and Sylvie) want to be free, both from Genom and their dependence
on blood, but we never go into real detail about it.  Although again,
there's only so much you can do in 45 minutes.

>IMHO, #1 was the worst of the lot in terms of story, and close to being
>worst in animation.  I only dislike #8 more because I feel it to be a
>complete betrayal of the concept behind the series.

There wasn't much plot to the first one, but the plot wasn't the
point.  It established the main characters and the relationships,
introduced the current environment/world situation - it basically
set the stage for the rest of the series.  It also had one of my
favorite kick-ass anime openings...B->

>#1 had a confusing plot.  I still don't know exactly who those Boomers
>were and what they planning.  Were they going to ransom Cythina back to
>Genom, or to the gov't, or were they just going to threaten to blow up
>the city.

I thought it was fairly obvious: the Boomers worked for Genom and snagged
Cynthia (the control for the laser satellites) and were going to give her
to Mason.  As for what they wanted her for, it's a twist on an old joke:
What do you do with the control to a 1000 laser satellites?  Anything
you damn well please.

What I wonder is where the Frederick came from!  His metal-absorbation
ability is probably an extension of the other Boomers' recuperative
powers (like the one who closed his wounds and pushed those bullets out
of his body ala T2), but to such an extreme...  Why did this ability never
show up again in someone else, I wonder?

>Cynthia is practically a throwaway character.

Given she really only appeared in the last five-ten minutes and could count
all her lines on one hand, I think that's safe to say.  8^>

>It was obvious
>(to me at least) that she was a Boomer, by her distant expression and
>ability to write detailed maps of Mega-Tokyo on the wall, and yet I'm
>supposed to be surprised.  (Yes, I know the map was supposed to be a clue,
>but I thought it was too good of one...)

Yes, but I thought they did a good job of not coming out and saying,
"She is a Boomer.  She controls the satellites."  The observant viewer
figures it out him/herself before they tell you from things like her
vacant look, her all-blue eyes (she had no irises), the map on the
wall with Nene's sketch, etc.  I thought it was a nice touch.  Same
thing with Sylia's flashback.  One of the things I like about BGC is
that they don't always feel a need to blatantly tell you what's going
on - if you pay attention, you'll figure it out, if not, well, your
loss.  This doesn't make BGC deep or intellectual, but at least it
doesn't insult your intelligence as bad as it could 8-).

>The reason for the Knight Sabers formation is hinted at almost in
>passing, as if they figure we won't really care.

I figured it was deliberately left in the dark, for otakus to theorize
and postulate to their hearts' content.  Besides, if they told you everything
in the first episode, why would you want to watch the later ones?  8-]
-- 
Bill "Whassamatter?!  Can't you take a joke?!" Barnes   wbarnes@sura.net
Disclaimer:  The author apologizes for any thought-provoking material he may
	     have accidentally included and promises not to do it again.
Datclaimer:  My employers wouldn't WANT to share some of my opinions.
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime