Shangri-La DVD Disaster
- Categories: Anime, News
- Date: Dec 18, 2009 21:53 JST
- Tags: Bizarre, Comparison, DVD Extras, Fail, Moe, Production Controversy, Range Murata
Shangri-La, an anime whose DVDs sold so badly that the release of volume 7 and onwards was abruptly canceled, has recently attracted even more opprobrium for the bizarre happenings on its covers; the first four start off well enough, probably better than the anime deserves in the eyes of many:
However, after volume 4 a mysterious change comes over the covers and Range Murata‘s ravishing designs give way to something quite different…
Lost horizon indeed…
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The last ones are really by no means bad, they are drawn well. But ya they're not very appealing are they.
I think some of you guys are missing the point. Its not that its bad art, its that its inconsistent marketing design decisions. You cant establish a brand or line of goods with one art style then drastically change it in the duration of one release volume. Its bound to upset or outright turn off some people, even if it looks good.
It's not bad art (imo), but...it seems....I dunno..."do not want"...
This anime was SO VERY BAD and dissapointing, that nobody cares a sh*t.
Bad grammer:(
Maybe the Anime isn´t selling well because it was boring!?
Man this anime sucked balls. So disappointing.
Let me guess you like pedophile moe rape anime eh.
it was great masturbation fodder, that little red was just too fucking hawt. but the story was crap.
By chance these two last covers are intended for the USA Shity market?
That would explain why the "art" became a shit.
*cries*
It's a very good show, as it had a very strong, developed setting. Although I tend to like setting the most.
To be expected from a just okay anime... and it looks like japan agreed.
Shangri-la WASN'T THAT BAD.
The general sales of most anime DVDs nowdays are terrible as long as they do not show "yuri raep hentai etc" stuff.
There were worse things in the past.
I agree, the covers suddenly crash but the series need a chance, c'mon...
I like the last one, more to do with the hair color than the actual style though.
I love Murata's artwork. And I argue he's NOT overrated, "Perfection in simplicity" is not as easy as some would think.
I've never seen this Anime. Did Murata just do the covers? Or did he add character designs, etc.?
I like the new ones more. Range Murata is overrated.
what the hell happened with those last 2?
They probably just grabed some random pic and slapped it on the cover
Yes, Shangri-La has a lot of problems
- story, character design, development,
QUALITY, but for something GONZO pulled
off while on the verge of bankrupcy,
it is a good watch..
Why are they mad that David Bowie and Jolyne Kujo are on the covers?
The girls r perfect!!
Ah well, the anime was fun, pity it did badly. I guess the competition was too high with Bakemonogatari and K-ON (and even Endless fail).
... and last covers wtf? O_o
if you get 1080p upscale but good quality
will you go for 480p dvd quality?
Depends, e.g. having to choose between an Endless Fail BD and a good anime on DVD, I'd pick the latter any day.
That, and whether the DVD ver has corrections compared to the HD TV ver.
really don't see anything wrong with it, though the last 2 looks different then the 1st 4, maybe if there's screenshots to show the difference style of the content, i'll see if there's anything wrong
The art for both is gorgeous. The first ones are soft gentle, gentle, and adorably warm. The second is lovely blend of anime and realism, the roughness gives it an edgy look, I suppose trying to draw in a greater demographic. Though it also screams marketing suicide. If they'd stuck with the first style, they'd have otaku eating out of the palm of their hands. On the other hand, while this new style would probably be more popular with the mainstream, any potential newcomers would be confused out of their mind when they go to find volume 1 and see completely different art. No one's going to start on volume 5 after all.
Is the art style supposed to represent a change in mood for the series? I've only seen the opening for Shangri-la. Oddly enough, both cover arts look accurate to the style of the series, it really depends on which character you look at.
Shangri-La DVD has been hijacked by someone
Just like Twitter been hijacked by Iran Cyber Army
Never saw the series, that is quite a change in dvd covers, doesn't look like a character in any series I've seen.
Nice artwork btw...
Araki, get out of Murata's body!
What!? But why? Was it that bad?
Shangri-la not deserving the covers? Give me a break, man.
Passing aside cynicism like that is just stupid. Shangri-la probably was the last truly good Gonzo show and it's honestly all a huge shame.
Uugh.
1) There is nothing wrong with the last two.
2) It seems to be Momoko and Ryoko on those two pics.
its sad that so many ppl dont realise how great this anime is... rather they buy anime thats rather a dumb hentai then to be called anime. sad...
This anime really wasn't that good. I mean in the beginning, it had potential with the post-disaster Japan and political strife. And it was even fine with the tranny characters and "global-warming-crisis-turned-economic-tool" plot device. And then they started adding the occult shit and allusions to Gods and crap...which is where a potentially good story with unique characters got saddled with waay too many themes and genre types. It's like they tried to be Code Geass, Spice and Wolf and Rental Magica at the same time and figured they'd toss in Japanese creationismm mythology just for good measure. It would have been much better if they had adhered to the KISS rule.
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.
The anime had many, many subtle messages a lot more aplicable to reality than people think.
And all the global warming bullshit is in fact a lie to empower the nuclear industry, and to justify the future carbon tax over the nations.
Where's your "thereisnoglobalwarming" now?
Sure the anime was no amazing masterpiece but it wasn't that bad ether. It was just a nice series and i have no idea what the problem was with people.
I bet that if it wasn't the fact of Gonzo making it and had some other name even if it was exactly the same people would say a lot better words.
I have a very strange idea about the 2nd last cover. I think you are getting where am going with this.
Ditto 2
It wasn't bad, I enjoyed it too.
For the last cover, I think its Ryouko.
However I have no idea bout the 2nd last.
I watched the first episode when it aired. When I saw it was about "an under-age school girl saving the world with her boomerang", I dropped the shit for good.
Ditto, it was definitely one of the nicer series of its season - nothing amazing, but enjoyable and fun to watch. The plot was nothing special, but the characters had a bit more, well, character than most of the anime industry has bothered to produce in the past few years.
And Murata's designs were great.
it's sad that no one would understand what you said. sad...
realistic does'nt suit murata but any artist would want to grow out of the current (sigh...)
Ugly covers are ugly.
I'd say He got high on somethin.
murata can draw a lot of different styles, though his art-decoish loli-abundant one is obviously the most popular.
it rather looks like he's gotten tired of it himself. robot was cancelled too, and wani's own gelatin is just a bad substitute.
Tbh, those realistic arts aren't that bad... but to group them with the other delicious Murata lolis especially the one with the lollipop (NGHHHHHH).. it's nearly as equivalent as Yen Press' "new" Spice & Wolf cover..
Even Murata couldn't save Shangri-La. I hoped for something as enjoyable as Last Exile and I got Gonzo in its death throes puking up blood. I think the idea has potential but the execution was really sub par.