Method to Madness Podcast – Queen’s Blade
Episode 37: “Check Box!”
Queen’s Blade
Run Time: 42min 51sec
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Yes, Queen’s Blade… It’s a show that we’ve treated like dental surgery. We’ve always been told that we should do it. We know it’s going to suck. We procrastinate and reschedule, but we both know that sooner or later, we’re going to have to do it. And now that we’ve done it, we’re ready to put it behind us and never ever think about it again.
Of course, misery does love company. “The Business” and I were thankful to spread out some of ours with M, who was in town to join us for Animazement.
I'm supposed to be turned on, but I'm really just confused.
In the Method to Madness podcast, I’m joined with my good friend Kevin “The Business” Gray to discuss great anime and video games that you should be watching as well as ones you should feel ashamed you are watching.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
great podcast, hooray for ‘M’
unfortunately I want to wast my life watching this anime~!! funny, pls keep it up~!!
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Your words… They pierce my heart like a dull blade. ;__;
But thanks for the praise!
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June 8th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
So, from what I have heard, there actually is an engaging story to queen’s blade… that they jettisoned long before making it into an anime.
Apparently, the series started as a series of light novels back in the 70s or sometime thereabouts, and over time, degenerated into the boobies boobies boobies trash it is today.
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June 8th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
Guys. Guys! You know, it’s not like anyone twisted your arm into watching this. You could’ve easily quit after episode 1. I’m mostly playing devil’s advocate here so please don’t mistake me for a QB fanboy as I commented elsewhere that this show is undeniably trashy. That being said, you guys were thinking waaaaaaaay too hard about this show.
Analyzing QB critically is like trying to write a serious review about a porno or pokemon; you’re missing the point. Within the first few minutes it is immediately obvious that QB is not “like” softcore porn, it is the softcore porn of anime. So all the quizzing about “why are there boobies?” and “why the panty shots?” is like wondering why people are having sex in a porno, so it’s kind of silly.
What did you think you were watching?? The storyline for QB is just a cheap excuse to string along the occasional fight but mostly just to flash T/A and get clothes to disappear. Did no one inform you of this? I was very surprised by just how surprised you guys sounded. It’s like listening to someone complain about all the yappin’ and cryin’ in a chick flick.
Anyway, my main point was that yes, QB is trash, but I’d have to disagree with you about the animation. It’s very colorful and clean and sharp and a lil too shiny. I generally liked the character design and things like hitting Risty with that lightning strike I thought were actually cool, although rare. Also the character designer of QB is the same designer of Ikkitousen which is what Kevin might’ve been referencing. It seems weird that you complain about QB without mentioning Ikki because if you thought this storyline was bad have you even seen the one for Ikki? That is just a clusterfuck of nonsense, confusion and butchering of classic Chinese lore.
So by comparison QB’s plot is refreshingly “coherent” so to speak. Or at least it is for the first half leading up to the tournament before it just turns into the cliche “inconsequential fighting then the main character wins.”
I also noticed you kept blaming Funimation for QB when Funimation is not the distributor, it’s Media Blasters, who are known for peddling low grade stuff like this (Ikkitousen 2 and 3, Mouse, Eiken and other less well known garbage). That being said, I believe AWO mentioned that stuff like Ikkitousen, and presumably QB, actually DO make them money so this stuff actually is selling, even here, in America.
Queen’s Blade is unashamedly puerile, perverted, fanservice fetish laden wank material, but it delivers exactly what its demographic desires, which is partially why it succeeds. So again, just like the plot in porn is an excuse to get people to bone, the same can be said here, and so it seems out of place to be so serious about how bad the rest of it is. QB was never meant to be avant garde or the next Miyazaki. For what it was I’ve seen much worse. This is kind of why I had a hard time watching Tenjho Tenge, because it was also fanservice laden trash but pretended like it wasn’t.
Oh well. Again just to be clear, I’m not saying you’re wrong or hating on you for disliking QB, but settle down guys, it’s not that serious or the end of anime as we know it. People have always been invested in porn since the dawn of man, anime is no exception.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 8th, 2010 at 11:51 pm
This inspires me. The podcast’s new tagline:
We get animated about cartoons (dammit)!
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Maur Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
lol, that’s a pretty good tagline. You better copyright it before the internet steals it.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I would be floored if someone didn’t already have that tagline. Like…50 years ago.
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M Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 9:12 am
It’s less that we’re blindsided by what we were watching, but more lamenting about licensing choices. Kevin and Sean don’t review anime like this because we’re expecting it to be wonderful.
They talk about such anime like Strike Witch’s and Queen’s Blade because the QUESTION is “given a(boobs), b(no plot), and c(ass), WHY is this getting licensed? What does this mean about 1)Japanese animation, 2)American audiences, and 3)Licensing companies.”
Plus, this is a form of entertainment, and as Sean has said “we just want to talk about things like YOU do with your friends.” We try not to be pretentious and just give our gut reaction to what we’re seeing, and how that relates to our feelings about licensing.
I’ll agree with you about the animation, and I did like the music, but that’s about it. The direction, especially direction of the fights, was absolutely HORRENDOUS. But I suppose, picking over animation quality or direction quality is pointless because it’s just a bad anime. Right? So why are we talking about it? ;)
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Maur Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Oh no, I get that, and I respect that you at least try to explain WHY you dislike something instead of just thoughtless hating. It’s just that I know you guys already had the answers to your own questions so I was mystified by the process. You mentioned later that, yes, this stuff does pad funding for other better works. So there was never any mystery to why this stuff gets made. When all else fails: sex sells. This stuff is always getting made, it’s just getting more attention because not much good is around to distract from it.
The other thing that I think makes shows like QB and Ikkitousen stand out is that this kind of stuff that has usually stayed in the realm of Hentai is crossing over to TV which creates an interesting fusion. You see more lewd, sexual content than is usually on TV, but less creepy rape/tentacle stuff than is usually in hentai.
I still think the first initial fights were, if nothing else, creative, but yeah, overall bad show and towards the end the fights started getting progressively more boring and uninspired.
I guess I was just wondering why you guys were giving something with no depth so much thought. Shows like this are better for making fun of their myriad flaws rather than listing them off and analyzing them, don’t you think?
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June 8th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
I disagree, the review was great and entertaining
I would want a review to be like ‘eh we know it’s bad whatever’
I want to hear ppl excited either way
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June 9th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I see someone mentioned that Funimation didn’t bring over QB. You also gave Funi credit for Dirty Pair when RightStuf is the company that is bringing that over.
Media Blasters has mentioned that things like QB bring in the cash that enables them to bring over some ‘good’ stuff.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Consider our faces red… We dropped the ball on QB’s distributor. I think we’re just used to assuming Funimation’s licensed a title, just because the odds of that are in our favor.
Worse, I totally flubbed Dirty Pair! Especially since I made special mention of it in that podcast’s show notes!
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June 9th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
I still hold out hope that they’re doing shows like these to make money and therefore put their efforts into something more redeemable…right? RIGHT?
Thinking more about the female fanbase, I do think that we’re a pretty slim margin of consideration, and I suppose it’s licensing company’s rights to invest in things that will make them money. From a profit and marketing standpoint it makes sense. Horrible, horrible sense.
But there is ONE thing female fans can do that we’re damn good at. ORGANIZING AND PETITIONING. And I KNOW you ladies like Mononoke. I spoke to at least 4-5 artists at Animazement who loved the show. So let’s get that shit done!
Oh also, this is a smaller note, but not all Seinen is non-pornographic or violent. I forgot about GANTZ, which is seinen and extremely violent/pretty sexual. But I tell ya, the more shows in this category that I watch, the more I think I’ve found my niche.
Thanks for the comments, guys!
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June 9th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Ill I gotta say is, if a hot girl can pull of cosplay on that show and do it right, its justified to me.
Well… no its not, nevermind.
Ill listen to this podcast in a bit.
And hey, Media Blasters gave us Rurouni Kenshin, if I have to give them credit on something.
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M Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
HELLS YEAH, Kenshin! They did a good job of subbing it as well; they even included historical notes on the DVD’s (and I’ll ignore that some of the DVD menu’s never seemed to work on my computer).
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ZeonicFreak Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 2:23 am
Ok i heard the podcast and now im back.
The “Ninja Scroll” guy is Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who has done nothing but great works such as Neo Tokyo, Goku Midnight Eye, Cyber City Oedo 808, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Highlander: The Search for Vengence just to name a few. AWO got me into his stuff and thank god I did. So far the only Kawajiri I have on DVD is Cyber City Oedo the Final Collection, I got it for 5 bucks, ITS SO WORTH IT!!! If you wanna check into any of his stuff, do it, download, buy from Japan, just do it.
Another thing, WTF, WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO GOLGO 13? I was at Suncoast in Cary before the con and the guy there told me that the TV series is coming to the states. I want some Golgo 13 Dammit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjXtatucdgg
That is how i feel. My thoughts exactly.
I did find a Golgo 13 comic that is about 20 years old in some flea market near where I live, and they had adds for the NES game on the back and Im pretty sure had tips in beating levels. Thats just plain cool.
I loved Kenshin when it came on Toonami ages ago. I knew about the series a year or so before it aired on tv, and Toonami didnt do a bad job of it either. They even added swearing and Saito cigarette instead of the “censorship toothpick” trick from time to time. Ive still got my copies that I taped when it first came on ( I finished the second ark from a buddy of mine in High School who had the rest on DVD and borrowed/copied to my VHS tapes). Ive only got like 2 dvds i was able to find here and there. As for the OVA, ive seen them. One of them was the way I understood “one of the ways” Kenshin died when he goes to china to meet with Sanoske, the other was pretty much before the series began when he was fighting in the the revolution. Then there was the movie which was… eh, at best. But Media Blasters didnt do a bad job on Kenshin so props to them on that one thing, and only that for now.
Well, ill never watch Queens Blade so whatever. I am hoping that Bandai will look into releasing Gundam Unicorn stateside sometime, like Gundam X, Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam. Well, i wont bother holding my breath for that.
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ZeonicFreak Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 2:25 am
Actually I have another Kawajiri DVD, Demon City Shinjuki. Forgot to add that in my early reply.
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
The “Ninja Scroll” guy is Yoshiaki Kawajiri, who has done nothing but great works such as Neo Tokyo, Goku Midnight Eye, Cyber City Oedo 808, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Highlander: The Search for Vengence just to name a few.
Well…”good” depends on who you ask and in what context. Some, I refer to as “deliciously terrible”.
I’ve put the Highlander anime up on the list to do soon. It’s about as good as any other Highlander movie. I’ve also been on a Highlander kick thanks to a brilliant video review of Highlander II by Spoony.
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ZeonicFreak Reply:
June 11th, 2010 at 12:05 am
Good meaning you asking me in “my” context. Or just me being sarcastic.
Yea, it is “deliciously terrible”, but i still liked it. His anime is basicly, you know what your getting yourself into but then again you dont. You watch it, and think “WTF, that was awesome” but in the context of “its awesome if you dont put any thought into it”. Then when you tell people about it, when you describe the best moments or the ones you remember the most, you and the person you telling this too are going “WTF” at the same time, At points, i just stop talking and go “Wow… that really did happen”.
Thats what I think about with Goku Midnight Eye.
Gah, I forgot about Wicked City too, i should be smacking myself for not mentioning that.
I actually own Highlander 2. I do like it in a way, despite how bad it is.
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June 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
what was ‘M’s funny Strike Witch story?
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The Grey Ghost Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
I think it was the one she told later about seeing it in Best Buy right next to QB.
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M Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Yeah, the Best Buy incident. Funny in relative terms, mostly. ^^;
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