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Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Due to what else? Godawful sales.

 

Don't expect any more episodes from the rest of the run.  Especially with MB turning themselves into a full on ecchi/hentai outfit.

 

 


To quote directly from editor Cheryl Klein's email, which can be seen here:
"Unfortunately, sales for the first two volumes of the series have not been what we hoped, so we do not have plans to publish another book at this time;

 
Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

[ Edited ]

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53033080

What you oh-so-conveniently cut off of the end of that quote:


Quote:

...but we are keeping a careful eye on the numbers, and we hope that the situation might change in the future.



But I guess that possibility wouldn't fit your little trolling agenda, would it?
Message Edited by Top_Gun on 01-28-2010 03:43 PM
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ben0119
Posts: 15,047
Registered: 07-16-2003
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53033080

Waaah no!  I was looking forward to picking those up and reading them! :smileysad: The first two books are cheap and so is the season box set, really.  That is a shame they won't continue publishing them in the U.S. anymore.

 

 

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Chagum12
Posts: 156
Registered: 05-16-2009
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

[ Edited ]

Reply to ben0119 - Message ID#: 53036645

Big surprise - Moribito isn't that popular.  Alas, this is more or less what I've been expecting from the beginning when I had to end up ordering the books through Kinokuniya because none of the major American chains carried it except by special order.

 

Of course, the pea-brains who trash Moribito because it doesn't suit their peurile interests are going to take this as evidence that it's not a magnificent story.  Popularity is the only measure of quality, right?  Let them gloat - they're just confirming their own ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity.  The Moribito anime remains, for me, the best anime TV series ever.  The books aren't on that level, but they're quite excellent and head and shoulders above most of the crap that passes for fantasy and YA lit these days. 

Message Edited by Chagum12 on 01-28-2010 05:05 PM
Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53035646

I'm just the messenger.  As for the comment, considering this was an e-mail inquiry, I don't think it would be wise to say "Your book is stupid and you're stupid for liking it and we're not putting any more money down that pit!"

 

The book discontinuation is another chapter in the saga of Moribito not being liked by anyone.

Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
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Chagum12
Posts: 156
Registered: 05-16-2009
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53038146


somedude248 wrote:

I'm just the messenger.  As for the comment, considering this was an e-mail inquiry, I don't think it would be wise to say "Your book is stupid and you're stupid for liking it and we're not putting any more money down that pit!"

 

The book discontinuation is another chapter in the saga of Moribito not being liked by anyone.


Not being liked by anyone?  Sure.  Except the posters at Animesuki (the most trafficed anime English-language anime message board) who voted it best adventure/fantasy of 2007.  Or Animenation, which called it one of the top ten series of the decade.  Or two different distributors who bought it, a TV netowrk that aired it, and a publishing house that took a risk translating it, all based on the amazing quality of the work.

 

Yes, I understand your frustration.  There's no bright shiny explosions, nothing to fap to, the women on the show are actually smart and you have to pay attention to what people are saying to follow the story.  I know that's too hard for some people, but you always have the option to change the channel.  I'm sure there's something good on MTV.

Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53038146


somedude248 wrote:

I'm just the messenger.  As for the comment, considering this was an e-mail inquiry, I don't think it would be wise to say "Your book is stupid and you're stupid for liking it and we're not putting any more money down that pit!"



Yes, the editor of the books isn't going to enjoy them herself, to the point where "I'm disappointed myself" is nothing more than a blatant lie. Oh, and being so helpful as to link to the Wikipedia article on the series to provide summaries for future problems was just continuing the illusion. Do you even read what you're posting?


somedude248 wrote:

The book discontinuation is another chapter in the saga of Moribito not being liked by anyone.



Funny, because I thought it was just another chapter in the saga of Japanese light novels of any variety not performing well in the least when released in the US. Or can you name me one other attempt at a light novel series release that's performed exceedingly well for the company releasing it? And I mean "attempt" literally, as several other light-novel series have had their release runs cut short due to lack of sales.
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Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

[ Edited ]

Reply to Chagum12 - Message ID#: 53039358

I appreciate being called an idiot because I don't like Moribito.  Thank you.  Makes me wonder what kind of person defines their intelligence by their willingness to stay home on a Saturday night to watch TV.

 

 This is relevant news, if for no other reason than it confirms Moribito's failure in this country as total.

 


Yes, the editor of the books isn't going to enjoy them herself, to the point where "I'm disappointed myself" is nothing more than a blatant lie.

I didn't say that. I'm saying that since it was an interested customer, saying "this is never coming back, EVER," isn't exactly polite.  But the print run is confirmed cancelled by the editor.  That's all.

Message Edited by somedude248 on 01-28-2010 10:24 PM
Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53039486

The only failure I see here is wearing a green cowboy hat. Or do you somehow have access to Media Blasters' sales numbers to determine just how well the DVDs are selling for them? And putting that aside, since when did financial success determine the quality of a product?

Oh, and if you're going to make a simple point like that, try phrasing it properly the first time.
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Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53039921

No, if there's a failure here, it's Moribito.  It's actually addressed in the linked article.  If you can ignore the incredible pretentiousness and angry tone of the author, there are a lot of valid points.

 


 Am I surprised? No. I'm not in the least bit surprised.

When the first Moribito novel was debuting in English, a major concern shared by the publisher, the editor, and librarians was that publishing a Japanese novel relied too heavily on the existing otaku culture. I remember reading a rather enlightening exchange between a middle school teacher and Moribito's American editor. The teacher had showed Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit to one of the girls in her class who was really into manga, and she responded, "No one wants to read something like that". And when asked what girls these days liked to read, the student held up a terrifyingly pulp, shiny, and shoujo example.

 




I realize we need to be realistic. When you say a fair portion of young people nowadays are fascinated by Japanese culture, that is a gross misnomer. It has been proven time and again that when you actually present this intended audience with a piece of culture it is rejected or ignored. It's pop culture these kids are enamored with. They don't want your art or folklore. They want your self-absorbed self-inserts and impossible romantic interests. They don't want role models. They want escape

 

 





In the thread that I linked above, it didn't take long for the parents to start ragging on the Twilight books. I've never read the Twilight books, so I have no right to defend nor support them. All I know is that the publisher marketed the bejeezus out of SMeyer's series. But no one forced all those girls and women to read or buy them. Twilight owes its success completely to free will. If nothing else, it does say a lot about what the majority of literate females prefer in their reading material.

And it doesn't in any way equate to a middle-aged, mother figure. It doesn't resemble a woman who doesn't need a man. It doesn't bring to mind her spear-callused hands and travel-worn clothes. It doesn't want her sense of duty, independence, selflessness, and love. Balsa is unromantic. Balsa is a heroine. Balsa has no place in a girl's dreams.

 

 

I get the original plan for Moribito was an ambitious one.  Use the cartoon on Toonami to sell the books.  They didn't count on Toonami going belly up and the show failing miserably.  Don't think they counted on Media Blasters doing their damndest to remove themselves from the fiasco either.  (Queen's Blade anybody?)

 

 

Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53044612

I absolutely love (hate?) how, whenever you're pressed on backing up your statements about a show like Moribito with some form of hard evidence, you completely side-step said requests and just re-iterate your same old tired talking points. Just parroting the line "Moribito fails" over and over again, without ever once responding to being called out over it, does nothing but make you look like a fool. I repeat yet again: show me Media Blaster's sales numbers for the series. Show me a legitimate anime critic who has given the series a disparaging review. (Hint hint: you won't find one.) Show me a user-ratings-aggregation page that gives the series a far lower rating than these do. (Hint again: you won't find one of those either.) If you can, show me one piece of solid evidence that supports your absurd assertion that the show "fails" in any valid way. And until you can do that, kindly take your sad-sack trolling act somewhere where the rest of us don't have to read it.

And really, the quotes you linked are more a statement on Moribito's inherent quality than anything else. If young girls of today are more interested in reading about wooden Mary Sue characters who get into abusive relationships with sparkly wish-fulfillment vampires instead of legitimately strong female role models, we're all in a lot of trouble.
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Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53046327


Top_Gun wrote:
If you can, show me one piece of solid evidence that supports your absurd assertion that the show "fails" in any valid way.

How about the ratings for the show week in and week out?  How about the clearance sale type need to get rid of the DVD's?  (The boxset is on sale at WalMart for $30 and they still can't get moved.  My local Wal-Mart has not rid itself of one boxset while the Monster boxsets are compartively sold far more swiftly)  How about the big article I just linked saying the book series was discontinued due to low sales?

 

The article was interesting because it pointed out what everyone knew.  Moribito was destined to fail.  A very, very elaborate two-pronged approach from Scholastic and the now defunct Genon was going to be used to try and cross-promote, but Genon went belly up and Media Blasters picked up a completed series for practically nothing.  They got some bits of ad revenue off of CN thanks to the deal already in place, but decided that rather than invest in the bookseries, their finances were better spent on Queen's Blade and live action Bible Black apparently.  Meanwhile, Adult Swim aired the show all of one time, the show never making the Top 3 once, such as the week of 11/16/2008 where Bleach - 312,000
Moribito - 239,000.  The show will not be rerun.  Yeah, that's a commercial failure.  Commercially, the Moribito franchise has failed on every concievable level, on television, in home market, and in the book series it was trying to sell, this franchise has been a total flop.

 

Interestingly enough, Moribito the TV series was a flop in Japan as well.

 

As for the quotes, like I mentioned above, it seemed quite obvious that everyone KNEW Moribito was destined for failure.  Bookstores, librarians, educators, they all knew that Moribito even trying to ride the coattails of otakudom was a recipie for disaster.  The girl said it herself, no one wants to read something like that.  The story is not attractive, not to the middle school audience the books were targeting, and not to the adult audience the show was inexplicably targeting.  No one wanted to watch or read this and no one did.

 

I'm not going to descend into mindless name calling, which is the sole refuge that you seem to have in proving your intelligence.  My argument has been simple.  Moribito is boring.  Everyone seems to agree.  And being boring is bad for a block that was once a haven for adult animation.  Whatever happened to the ASA of yore, the Bebops, the Triguns.  Hell, the way things are descending, I wouldn't be surprised if the "New Anime" isn't a massive trolljob leading to a new season of Perfect Hair Forever.

Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
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BloodwerK
Posts: 13,858
Registered: 02-23-2008
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53053409


somedude248 wrote:

Top_Gun wrote:
If you can, show me one piece of solid evidence that supports your absurd assertion that the show "fails" in any valid way.

How about the ratings for the show week in and week out?  How about the clearance sale type need to get rid of the DVD's? How about the big article I just linked saying the book series was discontinued due to low sales?


looks like three pieces. not that i wanna get in the middle of all this, cause i don't care about morinito one way or the other, but my local walmart hasn't sold any copies either. and my son, who is fifteen, just said the show was a failure. lol...

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Noble10
Posts: 11,292
Registered: 02-14-2009
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Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53053409


somedude248 wrote: 

As for the quotes, like I mentioned above, it seemed quite obvious that everyone KNEW Moribito was destined for failure.  Bookstores, librarians, educators, they all knew that Moribito even trying to ride the coattails of otakudom was a recipie for disaster.  The girl said it herself, no one wants to read something like that.  The story is not attractive, not to the middle school audience the books were targeting, and not to the adult audience the show was inexplicably targeting.  No one wanted to watch or read this and no one did.

 


Hey now, I enjoyed it and so did some others here...

 

... but otherwise, I guess you have a point ("some others").

 

It's sad that it wasn't really appropriate for this time or demographic, since Moribito really does have a beautiful story.

 

But today's about "all flash, no substance". Moribito is "all substance, no flash"... normally that would be a good thing. :smileyvery-happy:

 

If it came out in the 1600s, I bet Moribito would've competed fairly with some of Shakespeare's work (to be fair though, I say this because I don't like ALL of Shakespeare's plays).

 

Likewise, if Shakespeare lived and produced his plays today, it probably would've met the same fate as Moribito, crushed under the "almighty" foot of Twilight. :smileyvery-happy: 

 

No work (I'm aware of anyway) has been truly universally despised. Rather, it's success is dependent on it's success on a large enough portion of people. Unfortunately, Top_Gun, Chagum12, ben0119, myself and maybe Metatronda (since he's the HELPeR) do not make up a large enough group (okay, in all seriousness, it's a larger group than that:smileytongue:). When you say no one wanted to watch this, what you mean is "not enough people". Never make such broad generalizations concerning the public (because nothing that refers to the public is ever 100% or 0%). Otherwise, I'll have to agree with you about it being a financial failure. :smileysad:

 

Anyways... that's my two cents... or ten bucks, whatever you choose to see in it. :smileywink:

"I watch the world. The sun shines. Stars twinkle. Plants grow. Animals feel. And humans have souls. I watch the soul. The soul can hear the voice of God. Taste its sweet fragrance. Savor its words. Touch its outstretched fingertips. I watch the world. I watch the soul. I realize that the light guides my footsteps."


NX

Kei Pirate
somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Noble10 - Message ID#: 53054021


Noble10 wrote: Otherwise, I'll have to agree with you about it being a financial failure. :smileysad:\

 

Anyways... that's my two cents... or ten bucks, whatever you choose to see in it. :smileywink:


That's all I'm saying.  Besides lamenting the affect on the block and what the time could have been used for.

Death to ASA in 2011! Put the dying dog called anime out of its misery.
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ben0119
Posts: 15,047
Registered: 07-16-2003
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53053409

Even if the series is a commercial flop that doesn't make it bad.  Enough of us enjoyed it and appreciate and thank Adult Swim for airing it.  That is what counts to me.  I liked it.  You didn't?  Big deal.  Nothing wrong with not liking it... we are all entitled to our opinions, but you don't have to keep beating a dead horse about a series that is off the air and probably won't even be ran again.  Anyway, I know I will probably be picking up that box set at some point.  Thirty dollars is a good deal.

 

Although, I have to disagree with the columnist you quoted that a woman like Balsa doesn't belong in girls' dreams.  That is pretty insulting I think to assume that of the girls and sad, if true.  I'd sooner read about a character like Balsa than that Twilight schlock.  

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Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
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Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53053409


somedude248 wrote:

Top_Gun wrote:
If you can, show me one piece of solid evidence that supports your absurd assertion that the show "fails" in any valid way.

How about the ratings for the show week in and week out?  How about the clearance sale type need to get rid of the DVD's?  (The boxset is on sale at WalMart for $30 and they still can't get moved.  My local Wal-Mart has not rid itself of one boxset while the Monster boxsets are compartively sold far more swiftly)  How about the big article I just linked saying the book series was discontinued due to low sales?



You want to talk ratings? Tell me, how could any show, regardless of its sales potential, possibly hope to garner any sort of ratings presence when its premiere run was twice interrupted after only ten episodes, one instance of which was in the death hour of 5:30 in the morning, and then delayed again several months? And even when it did air in its entirety, it did so at 2:30 in the morning, in a position where it was essentially guaranteed to never show up in the weekly top 3 ratings. We have absolutely no idea whatsoever how Moribito performed on a weekly basis compared with the series that aired directly before and after it, and presumably no one does other than the people at Williams Street and Nielsen Media. To call Moribito a "failure" just on that point would be to label just about anything that's aired on Saturdays over the past three or so years an equal "failure," as nothing outside of Bleach has been able to maintain consistent top 3 ratings over that period of time.

As for the DVD sets, again, unless you're John Sirabella, the president of Media Blasters, you have no data on how the DVDs have sold as a whole, nor why the series is being marketed and sold as it is. Nor does the shelf at one particular Wal-Mart for one version of the series release constitute widespread sales data. (Also, what sort of average Wal-Mart shopper is going to go after a series like Moribito in the first place?) I've already mentioned why the article you linked says nothing about Moribito specifically, as it seems as though more than half of every attempted Japanese light-novel series release in the US has been cut short due to low sales.


The article was interesting because it pointed out what everyone knew.  Moribito was destined to fail.  A very, very elaborate two-pronged approach from Scholastic and the now defunct Genon was going to be used to try and cross-promote, but Genon went belly up and Media Blasters picked up a completed series for practically nothing.  They got some bits of ad revenue off of CN thanks to the deal already in place, but decided that rather than invest in the bookseries, their finances were better spent on Queen's Blade and live action Bible Black apparently.  Meanwhile, Adult Swim aired the show all of one time, the show never making the Top 3 once, such as the week of 11/16/2008 where Bleach - 312,000
Moribito - 239,000.  The show will not be rerun.  Yeah, that's a commercial failure.  Commercially, the Moribito franchise has failed on every concievable level, on television, in home market, and in the book series it was trying to sell, this franchise has been a total flop.



We all know and acknowledge the difficulties Moribito faced in getting off the ground; they're no secret to anyone. But again, what you cite as evidence does not back your assertions, as I noted above. Likewise, you have no evidence whatsoever that Moribito will never be rerun on the block, as shows that didn't even make the top 3 in ratings once (despite having far better circumstances attached to them than Moribito did) have been re-aired in the past. And why would Media Blasters invest in the book series in any sense when they have no stakes in the manga/novel industry in the first place? Their current show choices have nothing to do with the books' success or failure.


Interestingly enough, Moribito the TV series was a flop in Japan as well.



And? (I'd like to see evidence here, too.) Success of a particular series in Japan often has no correlation with its comparative success in the US, as several series which flopped there have done very well over here. In any case, the author of the Moribito series was at least successful enough in Japan to have a 50-episode children's series made out of one of her other works.


As for the quotes, like I mentioned above, it seemed quite obvious that everyone KNEW Moribito was destined for failure.  Bookstores, librarians, educators, they all knew that Moribito even trying to ride the coattails of otakudom was a recipie for disaster.  The girl said it herself, no one wants to read something like that.  The story is not attractive, not to the middle school audience the books were targeting, and not to the adult audience the show was inexplicably targeting.  No one wanted to watch or read this and no one did.

I don't know who this nebulous "everyone" whom you're referring to is, but I doubt enough people in those professions knew much about Moribito in the first place to make those statements (and even if they did, they certainly wouldn't have any concern with the "coattails of otaku-dom"). The quote about "no one wanting to read something like that" was a lament about the fact that young girls would rather read vile trash like Twilight than something with actual literary merit and a legitimate role-model; it was a comment on Moribito's quality more than anything else. As for the "no one," see below.


I'm not going to descend into mindless name calling, which is the sole refuge that you seem to have in proving your intelligence.  My argument has been simple.  Moribito is boring.  Everyone seems to agree.  And being boring is bad for a block that was once a haven for adult animation.  Whatever happened to the ASA of yore, the Bebops, the Triguns.  Hell, the way things are descending, I wouldn't be surprised if the "New Anime" isn't a massive trolljob leading to a new season of Perfect Hair Forever.

Um...excuse me? "Mindless name-calling"? Who's been the one doing absolutely nothing but repeating the same tired trolling shtick since the moment this show folder opened? And here you go again, imposing your own personal opinion on the viewing audience as a whole. No, "everyone" did not think Moribito was boring. I did not. Most of the other posters in this thread did not. The people who posted in the episode discussions did not. The people commenting on the original article you linked who loved the books to death obviously did not. The anime critics who gave the series incredibly high marks likewise did not. So where is this "everyone," anyway?

Let me ask you this one more time, as directly as I can: why are you even in this folder? Why do you keep repeating yourself? Do you hope to accomplish anything? Or do you just get off to people getting flustered by your inane repetitions of falsehood? You know for a fact that very few people in here are going to agree with any part of your opinion, and even more so that the majority of people in here have little to no respect for what you're trying to say. Your icon suggests the "caliber" of entertainment you're accustomed to, so why not go wax poetic about Family Guy over in its folder? It'd surely be a far better use of your time, would it not? I'm genuinely curious as to what your motivation could possibly be.

And no offense, Bloodwerk, but I'm not about to take the words of an uninformed teenager as gospel truth.
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Noble10
Posts: 11,292
Registered: 02-14-2009
0

Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to ben0119 - Message ID#: 53054279


ben0119 wrote: 

Although, I have to disagree with the columnist you quoted that a woman like Balsa doesn't belong in girls' dreams.  That is pretty insulting I think to assume that of the girls and sad, if true.  I'd sooner read about a character like Balsa than that Twilight schlock.  


Well... that particular part might be true.

 

The columnist also mentioned how girls aren't looking for role models, but for escape. I agree with this, and I think that it explains the point you brought up as well.

 

Balsa is... well... kinda real. I mean, obviously I'm aware that water spirits, egg-eating demons and parallel magic worlds aren't exactly grounded in reality. :smileytongue: But Balsa herself is someone you can imagine becoming. A strong, caring female; something that exists today and in the past, not only in past and present fiction, but also reality. We've had that kind of woman actually existing in the world and will (hopefully) continue to have that kind of woman existing in the world. By no means am I saying that Balsa is not a good character (note the "hopefully" in the previous sentence). I'm simply saying that she's based on a realistic character type, even though the world around her isn't realistic.

 

Now... I haven't actually read Twilight, keep that in mind. But, many girls in my class won't shut up about it, so I think I understand a lot of the story because of that. :smileyvery-happy: A girl (I think her name was Belle) falls in love with a vampire... and from what I hear, it only gets weirder when different mythical creatures get involved. Not only is the world around the girl fictional, but the girl's own experiences (like... I dunno... the vampire romance) are fictional, making her entirely fictional.

 

The fact that Belle is more popular than Balsa supports the columnist's theory that girls want escape (Belle) and not role models (Balsa). Plus, Twilight apparently has more "hawt maynz", which is likely a factor as well. :smileytongue:

 

Lastly... let me remind you that Word of Noble > Word of God > Word of everyone else, so what I said above is instantly true and you should believe me. :smileyvery-happy:

"I watch the world. The sun shines. Stars twinkle. Plants grow. Animals feel. And humans have souls. I watch the soul. The soul can hear the voice of God. Taste its sweet fragrance. Savor its words. Touch its outstretched fingertips. I watch the world. I watch the soul. I realize that the light guides my footsteps."


NX

Midnight Runner
BloodwerK
Posts: 13,858
Registered: 02-23-2008
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53054622


Top_Gun wrote:
And no offense, Bloodwerk, but I'm not about to take the words of an uninformed teenager as gospel truth.

none taken. but he is a decent judge of anime, since he's grown up watching it. example: ghost in the shell is one of his faves...

Midnight Runner
ben0119
Posts: 15,047
Registered: 07-16-2003
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Noble10 - Message ID#: 53054796


Noble10 wrote:

ben0119 wrote: 

Although, I have to disagree with the columnist you quoted that a woman like Balsa doesn't belong in girls' dreams.  That is pretty insulting I think to assume that of the girls and sad, if true.  I'd sooner read about a character like Balsa than that Twilight schlock.  


Well... that particular part might be true.

 

The columnist also mentioned how girls aren't looking for role models, but for escape. I agree with this, and I think that it explains the point you brought up as well.

 

Balsa is... well... kinda real. I mean, obviously I'm aware that water spirits, egg-eating demons and parallel magic worlds aren't exactly grounded in reality. :smileytongue: But Balsa herself is someone you can imagine becoming. A strong, caring female; something that exists today and in the past, not only in past and present fiction, but also reality. We've had that kind of woman actually existing in the world and will (hopefully) continue to have that kind of woman existing in the world. By no means am I saying that Balsa is not a good character (note the "hopefully" in the previous sentence). I'm simply saying that she's based on a realistic character type, even though the world around her isn't realistic.

 

Now... I haven't actually read Twilight, keep that in mind. But, many girls in my class won't shut up about it, so I think I understand a lot of the story because of that. :smileyvery-happy: A girl (I think her name was Belle) falls in love with a vampire... and from what I hear, it only gets weirder when different mythical creatures get involved. Not only is the world around the girl fictional, but the girl's own experiences (like... I dunno... the vampire romance) are fictional, making her entirely fictional.

 

The fact that Belle is more popular than Balsa supports the columnist's theory that girls want escape (Belle) and not role models (Balsa). Plus, Twilight apparently has more "hawt maynz", which is likely a factor as well. :smileytongue:

 

Lastly... let me remind you that Word of Noble > Word of God > Word of everyone else, so what I said above is instantly true and you should believe me. :smileyvery-happy:


Heh, maybe there is some truth to it, but I would hope it isn't across the board!  I mean, women have more sense than that right!  My friend's wife said she read those books... presumably, in school, which was years ago, and she said they **meep**... and... they're still popular?!  Then again, look at the Lifetime Network.  Aside from reruns of Golden Girls, it's usually something about some woman getting beaten with a rusty rod. :smileyvery-happy:
Yes, Balsa is a real woman I guess you could say.  I never really thought about it.  Yeah, she is... a heroine you can really get behind.  In more ways than one. :smileywink: :smileytongue:
Umm Bloodwerk... really?  He likes GitS but not Moribito?  That's funny.  I would figure both series would have "too much talking" for him.  But yeah, Top Gun pretty much said what I was thinking...
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somedude248
Posts: 5,391
Registered: 04-24-2006
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53054622

Why did I post this?  Because it was relevant to the franchise.  Carry on though, in your fantasy world where people are clamoring for more Moribito and the book series wasn't cancelled.
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Dark_Cloud_Overhead
Posts: 18,504
Registered: 04-24-2004
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53033080

Heh, I didn't even know they had ever even released the second volume, though that's mainly because Right Stuf has never put it up for sale on their site, so I guess at least I wasn't alone in not knowing about it having been published already.  Given that they're not carrying it though, doesn't at all surprise me to hear the sales for it have been bad.  Now that I've found it on Amazon anyway, that's at least one more sale for it that's gonna be coming from me at least. :smileyhappy:

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Clyde
Top_Gun
Posts: 7,686
Registered: 08-28-2005
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to somedude248 - Message ID#: 53059162


somedude248 wrote:
Why did I post this?  Because it was relevant to the franchise.  Carry on though, in your fantasy world where people are clamoring for more Moribito and the book series wasn't cancelled.

Uh-huh, yeah, that's me. Because I've totally suggested that I believe in "fantasies" in this thread.

And you know what my question meant. What pleasure do you gain from consistently being shouted down by fans of the series every time you re-iterate your negative opinion of it (and even worse, treat your own opinion as universal fact)? It's not just here, too...I've seen you leave a few very troll-ish comments on ANN articles about the series, including one where you utterly ignored the fact that the reviewer had given the volumes in question an overall grade of 'A'. You have some bizarre obsession with ensuring that every single person in every forum you post in knows of your intense dislike of this series, and I'm utterly baffled as to why it's anywhere near that important to you. You've made your point infinitely clear to us; we get it. Isn't it about time to just drop the subject?
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Crau
Posts: 1,780
Registered: 05-05-2009
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to Top_Gun - Message ID#: 53060004

You, kind sirs and/or madams, use too many words!

I think what I read was something about stuff about nobody liking Moribito but nobody not really being nobody because nobody never refers to all of the population when used in today's regular speech and as such there were indeed some people that did enjoy Moribito (right here) and then the reiteration of the fact that "nobody" likes the series and the backfire that there were still many people that liked the show as well as some more stuff about how financial failure and popularity do not in truth equal out to quality and that people on these boards tend to think that Twilight, though very successful and popular, does not match the quality of a story like Moribito and that the average teenage girl wants teh glowy vampires and whatnot rather than the totally pwn role model that is Balsa and that fact factors into the fact of the fact that Twilight is more popular than Moribito, which is a fact, and some other things I probably forgot when writing this stupid run-on sentence.

Wow, this post was pointless. You should all prolly just skip over reading it...as I say that at the very end of the post...

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Martinman
Posts: 12,000
Registered: 04-15-2008
0

Re: Publication of Moribito books cancelled

Reply to ben0119 - Message ID#: 53055990


ben0119 wrote:
Umm Bloodwerk... really?  He likes GitS but not Moribito?  That's funny.  I would figure both series would have "too much talking" for him.

I would count GitS in my top 20, maybe even top 10 of all time, and I only moderatly enjoyed Moribito.  By that I mean I enjoyed it, but I really don't want to watch it again any time soon.

Angel will not fall all for you, you stupid heretic.