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On the written criticism side of things, anyone else been following Anime News Network's Episode Review section? Any thoughts on the review team and their work? I like Nick Creamer, Hope Chapman, and Gabriella Ekens - they all have a good eye for detail and do fun, informative, and often educational work. Rose Bridges seems decent too, but I haven't followed up many of her columns or the shows she's assigned to. On the other hand, Theron Martin has a severely miscalibrated/nonexistent creepometer and a tendency to miss out on/ignore important elements of a show, while Lauren Orsini's writeups have all the depth of a puddle. Any thoughts from anyone else?
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Mar 7, 2015 16:39
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FlamingLiberal posted:RLM's Previously Recorded takes a look at the new release The Order 1886. It's nice, but it seems that people are just trying to top each other with the latest reviewer punching bag.
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Mar 7, 2015 17:32
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BravestOfTheLamps posted:It's nice, but it seems that people are just trying to top each other with the latest reviewer punching bag. So, business as usual? E: On a somewhat related note, Super Bunnyhop made a video about length in video games. TheMaestroso fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 17:48
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't The Order in development since 2010? And wasn't it even supposed to be released last year, only to be held back? I'm honestly wondering if something went wrong in development (bad team, unreasonable publisher, who knows?) that no one's talking about.
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Mar 7, 2015 18:19
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Marshal Radisic posted:Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't The Order in development since 2010? And wasn't it even supposed to be released last year, only to be held back? I'm honestly wondering if something went wrong in development (bad team, unreasonable publisher, who knows?) that no one's talking about. No, it's just a game developed by a team that primarily did PSP ports and one Wii HD re-release. And if development started in 2010, than a lot of that work was basically scrapped because the idea of current consoles didn't even exist then.
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Mar 7, 2015 18:22
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Darth Walrus posted:On the written criticism side of things, anyone else been following Anime News Network's Episode Review section? Any thoughts on the review team and their work? I like Nick Creamer, Hope Chapman, and Gabriella Ekens - they all have a good eye for detail and do fun, informative, and often educational work. Rose Bridges seems decent too, but I haven't followed up many of her columns or the shows she's assigned to. On the other hand, Theron Martin has a severely miscalibrated/nonexistent creepometer and a tendency to miss out on/ignore important elements of a show, while Lauren Orsini's writeups have all the depth of a puddle. Any thoughts from anyone else? I tried reading them but don't find them all that thought-provoking. I did an experiment where I watched a single episode of Cross Ange: Rondo of Angels and Dragons and read the reviews, and barely any of them talked about the show's properties beyond its bare story elements. While 'Rondo' is in the title, implying strong musical themes (in the episode they played the same happy song about the immortality of the royal family over a royal's death, and a massive battle), only one of the reviews even mentioned that the show had music. I don't recall even liking the show that much, but basic observations like this netted the accusation from one of the writers that I was a rape apologist. The episode-by-episode reviews don't really seem all that useful unless you want to know the entire plot of a show/episode before going into it, which might be your thing if you're more interested in stuff like animation, imagery, and other storytelling factors and want to get the plot out of the way so you can pay attention to everything else, but most people can process that stuff alongside the story. They occasionally really do offer some cool observations though so maybe worth your time? I dunno. Read them if you like them I guess, whatever.
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Mar 7, 2015 19:03
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Hbomberguy posted:I tried reading them but don't find them all that thought-provoking. I did an experiment where I watched a single episode of Cross Ange: Rondo of Angels and Dragons and read the reviews, and barely any of them talked about the show's properties beyond its bare story elements. While 'Rondo' is in the title, implying strong musical themes (in the episode they played the same happy song about the immortality of the royal family over a royal's death, and a massive battle), only one of the reviews even mentioned that the show had music. I don't recall even liking the show that much, but basic observations like this netted the accusation from one of the writers that I was a rape apologist. Cross Ange is currently getting Theron Martin writeups, because nobody else got past the first couple of episodes because hello aggressive in-your-face misogyny. You only write about stuff you find interesting, after all, and it's not uncommon for them to drop a series out of disgust or boredom after a few eps. Since Martin's a pretty shallow reviewer, that means CA gets shallow reviews. Ekens's writeups on Yuri Kuma Arashi are a bit closer to the high end of what the site offers.
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Mar 7, 2015 19:10
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Misogyny is fascinating.
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Mar 7, 2015 19:20
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Good news everyone! CA is producing a new show! It's the game show! ... Wait, no, it's just Rob & Doug sitting on a couch talking about reviews NC's already done. :|
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Mar 7, 2015 21:36
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Hey, maybe Doug should try reviewing anime then, as a new show. Because his Sailor Moon video was so well done, or his Porco Rosso Disneycember where he didn't understand that Porco was a goddamn pig.
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Mar 7, 2015 22:01
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They were doing that show for weeks already, it's not new.
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Mar 7, 2015 22:21
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Are they seriously talking about a new show? Don't they already have like two shows outside of the game show that they haven't even produced yet? Also new Baywatching: http://phelous.com/2015/03/07/obscurus-lupa/baywatching/baywatching-money-honey/ Mitch becomes an action star!
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Mar 7, 2015 22:22
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Mraagvpeine posted:They were doing that show for weeks already, it's not new. It's only showing up on the Twitter feed now, because social media is hard apparently.
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Mar 7, 2015 22:37
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Miss Wallace posted:Are they seriously talking about a new show? Don't they already have like two shows outside of the game show that they haven't even produced yet? Yesss, I needed more Eddie Emasculation to make this day complete. edit: Goddammit Eddie, get a new tongue, tofu and eel are perfectly delicious foods! Compendium fucked around with this message at 22:55 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 22:52
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Did Eddie's face suddenly transform or is he no longer played by BILLY WARLOCK? Or do I need my eyes checked? Haha, they put Mitch in a Tommy Wiseau wig.
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Mar 7, 2015 23:35
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Arcsquad12 posted:Hey, maybe Doug should try reviewing anime then, as a new show. Because his Sailor Moon video was so well done, or his Porco Rosso Disneycember where he didn't understand that Porco was a goddamn pig. I never watched the Sailor Moon review he did, but I thought that the response to the episode was pretty negative, and people said he didn't get the show. What was the issue he had with it?
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Mar 7, 2015 23:36
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Max Wilco posted:I never watched the Sailor Moon review he did, but I thought that the response to the episode was pretty negative, and people said he didn't get the show. What was the issue he had with it? From what I remembered (I clicked out of that episode REAL FAST) the approach he made the NC character take was pretty immature and lacked some vital context towards the show which is why there were people who said he "didn't get it." For instance, there was this whole bit making a joke out of the transformation scenes which was... really tasteless. edit: Basically, I didn't get the impression that much research went into "reviewing" Sailor Moon since all he was basing it on was the old dub. Compendium fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Mar 7, 2015 |
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Mar 7, 2015 23:45
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Darth Walrus posted:On the written criticism side of things, anyone else been following Anime News Network's Episode Review section? Any thoughts on the review team and their work? I like Nick Creamer, Hope Chapman, and Gabriella Ekens - they all have a good eye for detail and do fun, informative, and often educational work. Rose Bridges seems decent too, but I haven't followed up many of her columns or the shows she's assigned to. On the other hand, Theron Martin has a severely miscalibrated/nonexistent creepometer and a tendency to miss out on/ignore important elements of a show, while Lauren Orsini's writeups have all the depth of a puddle. Any thoughts from anyone else? Since I'm assistant editor on this feature, thought I would put up an organized list of all the reviewers on the project and the shows they've covered since we launched last fall, if anyone's hungering for an organized list of detailed freshly-airing anime review content. I've organized them by reviewer first, since personal voice is everything, and everyone's review style and tastes are different. The feature is also good for finding new airing shows worth checking out, since we have links to all the legal streaming pages for the shows covered. So you can do a watch-along-read-along thing if you find a reviewer (or show) you really like! We work really hard on these reviews and they seem to be doing well for ANN.  * denotes shows still currently airing Amy McNulty Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!* Gugure! Kokkuri-san Kamisama Kiss 2* Magimoji Rurumo Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun Naruto Shippuden* Wolf Girl and Black Prince Gabriella Ekens DRAMAtical Murder Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works GARO THE ANIMATION* Maria the Virgin Witch* Sailor Moon Crystal* (handed off to Rebecca Silverman at episode 14) Terror in Resonance World Trigger (show's still running, but review coverage discontinued because it SUCKED THAT BAD) Yurikuma Arashi* Hope Chapman (yours truly) Durarara!!×2* Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc* Lord Marksman and Vanadis Mushishi: The Next Chapter Psycho-Pass 2 Rail Wars! Tokyo Ghoul Tokyo Ghoul √A* Lauren Orsini Bakumatsu Rock DENKI-GAI Free! Eternal Summer Gundam Build Fighters Try* Kuroko's Basketball season 3* Nobunaga Concerto Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road* Nick Creamer Barakamon Log Horizon 2* Parasyte -the maxim-* The Rolling Girls* Shōnen Hollywood - Holly Stage for 49 Sword Art Online II Paul Jensen Assassination Classroom* Bladedance of Elementalers Chaika - The Coffin Princess AVENGING BATTLE Gourmet Girl Graffiti* Invaders of the Rokujyōma!? KanColle* Sabegebu! - Survival Game Club! Terraformars When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Rebecca Silverman Blue Spring Ride Celestial Method The Fruit of Grisaia The Idol M@ster Cinderella Girls* Locodol Love Stage!! Sailor Moon Crystal* (picked up from Gabriella Ekens at episode 14) The Testament of Sister New Devil* Yona of the Dawn* Rose Bridges Black Butler: Book of Circus Rage of Bahamut Genesis Shirobako* Yatterman Night* Your lie in April* Theron Martin Akame ga KILL! (picked up at episode 11 from temporary reviewer Matt Packard) Aldnoah.Zero* CROSS ANGE Rondo of Angel and Dragon* Hanayamata Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend* Tokyo ESP Trinity Seven Yuki Yuna is a Hero Zac Bertschy Death Parade* There Is Too Much Anime. But we do what we can! 
Jay O fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 00:03
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Miss Wallace posted:Are they seriously talking about a new show? Don't they already have like two shows outside of the game show that they haven't even produced yet? I love these Baywatching videos, but I do miss the funny photoshops that the season 1 vids had. I now remember where I have seen Capt. Thorpe., the time he worked with James Bond and the Master Ninja to fight terrorists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkgWJWTuu3Y&t=4210s
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Mar 8, 2015 00:04
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wins.
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Was looking back through some of the older streaming reviews and found a treasure. Somehow I forgot how completely bugfuck insane Dramatical Murder was. Rest in pieces, you weird stillborn girl-porn anime. (I feel like I should clarify that the first paragraph of that review is 120% irony. Gabriella is the furthest thing from a fujoshi that I know, but she enjoys poking fun at the stuff and its extremely horny audience.) Jay O fucked around with this message at 00:47 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 00:44
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So as an avid anime-watcher and critic, what shows would you recommend to follow along with these reviews?
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Mar 8, 2015 00:51
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The Vosgian Beast posted:So as an avid anime-watcher and critic, what shows would you recommend to follow along with these reviews? Hmmmm. The ten best quality anime on that list above, just in my personal opinion, are... Barakamon (comedy/character drama) Death Parade (sci fi serial drama) Fate/stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (action/fantasy) (2nd season airing this spring) Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (action/INSANITY) (2nd season currently airing) Maria the Virgin Witch (fantasy/character drama) Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (comedy) Mushishi: The Next Chapter (fantasy serial drama) (start watching with season 1 tho, this is season 2) Shirobako (office dramedy about how anime is actually made, painfully accurate and honest while being lighthearted) Tokyo Ghoul (horror/character drama) (2nd season currently airing) Yurikuma Arashi (postmodern surrealist fantasy about LGBT issues, specifically the L part, but also broad human nature poo poo and stuff) So, check out one of those, I guess! Those are all consistently good. There's other good stuff beyond those ten too, but I'd say those are the most top-notch in terms of artistry, storytelling, or accessibility, those achieve the best balance and keep the entertainment level the highest. Jay O fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 01:10
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Compendium posted:For instance, there was this whole bit making a joke out of the transformation scenes which was... really tasteless. There was also that part where he suddenly goes on about the consent laws of Japan and how the law only covers penis in vagina intercourse and not non piv and its was just really loving weird. Child sex exploitation is horrible, but is your review of a 90's anime really the place to talk about it? EDIT: Oh and it is jarring when he goes on about that then says Sabrina is slutty several times through the review. Leal fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 01:27
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The thing about the age of consent being thirteen in Japan isn't even true, that's only the national minimum, the details are handled by indavidual regions who all set it to a reasonable level.Leal posted:EDIT: Oh and it is jarring when he goes on about that then says Sabrina is slutty several times through the review. Ughhh he's so loving scummy.
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Mar 8, 2015 01:54
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Dunno if I ever brought this up, but one of the things I've wanted to say for many many many years is that the "TGWTG people are playing a character" thing is complete and utter horseshit and always has been. It's not even about acting, or them claiming to be actors, which is ludicrous in and of itself. It's that the excuse has been used to deflect so much transparent garbage that TGWTG personalities have said, it's hilarious to me. It was used to deflect the Mara Wilson thing, which is completely heinous, because that was harassment of an actual person, and Doug's focus probably shouldn't have been on "no but you can't be upset at what I said about you, that wasn't really me," as if THAT was the real problem. It's not a loving character. It's not anything that complex, it's just Doug, Noah, whoever, etc., sharing their opinions, sometimes in a significantly more heightened fashion than normal (and sometimes not, Doug genuinely sounds like Critic in person a lot too,) and occasionally making self-deprecatory or morbidly offensive jokes about the material. In lieu of, you know, actual criticism. Their focus is on entertainment, but their opinions are very much their own, and that means their personas are pretty chained to their actual selves as well. Every time someone asked me what separated the "character of JesuOtaku" from me, I groaned inwardly hard enough to split the earth in half. Ugggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh. The only glaring example I can think of where a TGWTG person is playing a character that truly is different from who they are on a major level is Brad's Cinema Snob. That said, the fake opinions and fake personality he plays for comedy there are so laced with facetious irony that you can tell immediately that he's just horsing around, doesn't genuinely believe the "snobby opinions" that he gives on things, and you can tell what his real opinions are underneath the joke. So that's a character, but it's also a character you're meant to see through immediately and be able to tell how he really feels about the media which is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of "lol look at this bullshit." Ah~ that feels better. Jay O fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 02:05
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Jay O posted:The only glaring example I can think of where a TGWTG person is playing a character that truly is different from who they are on a major level is Brad's Cinema Snob. That said, the fake opinions and fake personality he plays for comedy there are so laced with facetious irony that you can tell immediately that he's just horsing around, doesn't genuinely believe the "snobby opinions" that he gives on things, and you can tell what his real opinions are underneath the joke. So that's a character, but it's also a character you're meant to see through immediately and be able to tell how he really feels about the media which is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of "lol look at this bullshit." drat. And here I thought he actually dances that way in front of his cats. The illusion is broken.
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Mar 8, 2015 02:16
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Jay O posted:The only glaring example I can think of where a TGWTG person is playing a character that truly is different from who they are on a major level is Brad's Cinema Snob. That said, the fake opinions and fake personality he plays for comedy there are so laced with facetious irony that you can tell immediately that he's just horsing around, doesn't genuinely believe the "snobby opinions" that he gives on things, and you can tell what his real opinions are underneath the joke. So that's a character, but it's also a character you're meant to see through immediately and be able to tell how he really feels about the media which is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of "lol look at this bullshit." Jay O posted:(and sometimes not, Doug genuinely sounds like Critic in person a lot too,) drat, that's hilarious. I'm glad I know this now.
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Mar 8, 2015 02:23
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So all the poo poo Doug says about how the Critic is nothing like him is bullshit. Good to know.
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Mar 8, 2015 02:26
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WickedHate posted:Like The Colbert Report! Pretty much! I like Brad, he's a swell dude. Unlike many TGWTG bros, he does not take himself seriously. Self-aware, chill guy.
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Mar 8, 2015 02:27
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Jay O posted:Pretty much! I like Brad, he's a swell dude. I agree so much, he comes off as such a nice person, happy you've confirmed that.
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Mar 8, 2015 02:34
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Peanut Butter Gamer did a video on bad licensed video games that was pretty enjoyable. He's pretty likable also and is generally chill. It also doesn't take the easy cop out by naming ET & Superman 64 as the worst licensed video games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-DgiD9ZWVw
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Mar 8, 2015 02:55
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Leal posted:There was also that part where he suddenly goes on about the consent laws of Japan and how the law only covers penis in vagina intercourse and not non piv and its was just really loving weird. Child sex exploitation is horrible, but is your review of a 90's anime really the place to talk about it? Jay O posted:Pretty much! I like Brad, he's a swell dude. Whenever people talk about Brad, it makes me wanna meet him and say hi. His reviews have always made me laugh considering the insane material he sits through, especially the Endless Love one. Also seconding the watch Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works anime. I wouldn't necessarily go in for deep plot because it's hilariously pretentious and shoddy (I love it regardless), but second season next month is airing and I am so ready for the action. 
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Mar 8, 2015 03:06
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I hate to break it to you but no-one of any level of intelligence ever thought they were just characters being played by actors. Actually no I hate to break this to you: Even if it is a character it doesn't make it better in the slightest - because even then, you're still making a performance you think people will find funny or entertaining. That's why it's so much more fun to treat TGWTG critics not as critics but as long-running series in themselves. Watch Spoony chronologically. Holy poo poo. It's like a Todd Solondz movie, but a real person. Oh my god.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:13
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Hbomberguy posted:I hate to break it to you but no-one of any level of intelligence ever thought they were just characters being played by actors. Oooooooh yes they did! Plenty of perfectly normal, usually rational people that got involved in the TGWTG fandom, including some perfectly intelligent producers themselves, bought into that stuff hard. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. Also I find your "misogyny is ~fascinating~ and watching the gradual devolution of an actual clinically depressed person is beard-strokingly interesting" above-it-all-smelling-my-farts faux-intellectual thing really lame, and so does everyone else, so you can reel back the tryhard by about three notches. I promise you no one will mind.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:21
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I'm afraid to ask, but what was the thing with Mara Wilson? I know she did some videos with Lindsay Ellis that seemed to go pretty well, and it seem like maybe Wilson was trying to make herself into a youtube video person.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:23
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Spoony never seemed like a truly bad guy to me, just someone who has a lot to deal with and doesn't always deal with it in the best ways.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:23
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Jack Gladney posted:I'm afraid to ask, but what was the thing with Mara Wilson? I know she did some videos with Lindsay Ellis that seemed to go pretty well, and it seem like maybe Wilson was trying to make herself into a youtube video person. The Critic made some jokes about hating Mara Wilson in some of his videos and his fans went overboard and made her life poo poo. His way of apologising is letting her get one up on him in one of his reviews but he never actually came out and said to his fans "holy poo poo guys, I have no problem with Mara Wilson as a person so could you leave her alone?" That seems to be a common reoccurring situation, Doug doesn't call his fans out on their poo poo. Mara Wilson isn't even trying to be a youtube person, she works for Publicolor and is a writer on the side. Testekill fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 03:27
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@Jack Generic events: Doug insulted her acting in his reviews, his fanboys harassed her with his ~gospel~, she got rightfully angry, a load of people then bombarded her with "it's just a character!" and she apologized. And then Doug put her in his "Simple Wish" review as schooling him at the end. Or what testekill said.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:28
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Compendium posted:
Thats what happens when 2 characters from the 90's share an S and have a talking cat, woops. Also I always thought the "Its a character!" thing was nothing more then a backpedaling excuse whenever they say something that would anger people. Good to know I thought right.
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Mar 8, 2015 03:29
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Jay O posted:I find your "misogyny is ~fascinating~ and watching the gradual devolution of an actual clinically depressed person is beard-strokingly interesting" above-it-all-smelling-my-farts faux-intellectual thing really lame, and so does everyone else, so you can reel back the tryhard by about three notches. I promise you no one will mind. e: While none of these questions are rhetorical, let's pretend that they are and move on with our lives. I can tell this would lead somewhere unproductive. Hbomberguy fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Mar 8, 2015 |
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Mar 8, 2015 03:32
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