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Tico and Friends
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Animation - 7.5 |
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Sound - 8.0 |
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Story - 7.0 |
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Character - 7.5 |
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Value - 7.0 |
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Enjoyment - 8.0 |
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Average - 7.5 |
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petran79 |
(2008-04-15 06:58:00) 2008-04-09 17:55:06 |
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| Average |
6.7 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Another childhood favourite for many, at a time when TV still used to broadcast some quality series. Now this title was popular in Europe, Asia and Latin America but since it was never broadcasted in the States it had to remain neglected.
One of the titles which had I seen as a teenager I would have found as one of the best ever.
But at this age, and having watched the other Meisaku series and some better adventure series, I have to deduce some points. But still the title is very good and worth remaining in the minds and hearts of many grown ups that were children or teenagers some years ago.
Now to the anime. Who would have expected it.....to feature an orca as mascot! I give it to the producers. Tico is the best animal to appeal in an animated series. She actually is what saves the series, as this becomes apparent after episode 23.
As a child I had seen a classic film about a killer whale who seeks revenge for the death of his spouse and cub by a whale hunter. At that time I marvelled at that strange animal with the huge white eyes, since I couldnt imagine his eyes were a little below the white spots. This animal turned instantly my favourite, long before "Free Willy" was screened.
So I can really imagine the effect the series must have had on younger viewers since at some moments I felt also affected and I agree that episode 23 is one of the most tragic I had watched.
But not only this. The initial episodes show actually some seals getting massacred and in the last episodes the massacre extends to whales, sea elephants and seagulls. And all those cruel scenes in a cartoon aimed at children!
I wondered, is this really a Meisaku series? Have they strayed that much from depicting the daily life or at least following a book as in "The Bushbabies" if it is about adventure? Because Tico was the only Meisaku not to have been based on a book. Though influences from Future Boy Conan (based on the novel "The Incredivle Tide") are apparent, especially in the end.
But one feels that they abandoned the formula that made the Meisaku stand above the rest and being some of the best series for both children and adults.
The great directors like Isao Takahata, Hiroshi Saito, Fumio Kurokawa, Yoshio Kuroda and Kozo Kuzuha helped in defining the Meisaku series. But here the series doesnt remind at all of the older series.
The series was produced at a time when ratings began to be more urgent for the producers. The characters to a large extent in the previous meisaku were resembling real life characters. The crisis started with the reducing of the number of episodes from 50 to 43 in 1988 and a great intervention in the novels plot.
Prince Cedie omits or hardly devotes episodes to the crucial chapters of the novel. Peter Pan's second arc never featured in the book. The next series manage to hold some quality despite the number of episodes reduced to 39, but it is clear that something is missing and they could have been much better since they were based on such great novels.
Βut here everything is so arbitrary that it hardly deserves to be called a Meisaku. In the adventure genre there are better alternatives. Indeed they should have made Tico in 1978 and Conan in 1994 and I am sure it would have been much better for both.
As it is now, the series is mediocre with just a few very good episodes. The first 5 episodes, then episodes in the middle, ep 23 and the last 6 episodes have a very good quality and pace. But the rest consist of fillers, which had they been used in the other Meisaku series as padding episodes and by the directors above, would have fared much better. But here they kill the series.
Some moments, especially when the orca and later her offspring were involved, were very funny and cute. I have to admit the producers paid more attention to the character of the whale than of the humans. The scene where Tico gives birth shows how much they cared for the animal. I'll never forgive them tearing the hearts of children apart in episode 23. Many moments have that manipulating sentimentality that forces the viewers sentiment, ere the character is fully developed. This was not so frequent as in the previous series.
Also I didnt know there existed a photo company by the name of "Ticon" (you can imagine which is the real one). Hillarious!
But overall the series is full of cliches that will appeal to the younger viewers but they very seldom reach the magic of the classic meisaku series. A pity.
However I wouldnt write this series completely off. First it shows chidren to appreciate the marine environment.
Then the series never remains static. An alternative title is "Tico of the Seven Seas" so they travel all over the world in search for the glowing whale. Whereas most of the previous series remained rather static, here there is variety.
Also the only Meisaku series to take place in Japan in a couple of episodes.
Considering also Japan's saddening state about whale hunting I think the Japanese executives of that respected industry would look at the series with disgust. I do not think you'll find many anime series touching that issue, since most usually blame the Americans.
So credit to the producers.
The OP and ED were very good. I also saw the German OP and I have to say I liked it more than the Japanese.
Animation is of high quality and the animal kingdom and the whales are very convincing.
Music is of high standards, fitting the atmosphere and the whale's screech is also very funny.
Characters and story are clicheed, considering we're talking about the Meisaku which had high character standards. Though I think only Megumi Hayashibara does a decent job as Nanami but the rest are as clicheed as it can get.
Now why doesnt any European fansub group translate that series and when it is released on DVD you can drop it. Why let the viewers hunt for VHS dubbed rips of low quality. Because the TV broadcasters seem to have the series forgotten.
If you like for better alternatives, from what I've seen I'd recommend Future Boy Conan, the first 22 episodes of Nadia, Mysterious Cities of Gold, Spartakus and the relatively recent gem Secret of the Cerulean Sand.
As for animation about whales, there is the excellent short film by Koji Yamamura made for Green Peace and titled "The Whale". There is also the very good Australian production titled "Dott and the Whale".
If you think this is sentimental and kids stuff, there is the live-action film "Drawing Restraint 9" and you could give it a look if you like literally "slic(ing)e of life" movies.
Now anime is aimed at youngsters and teenagers. Tico was aimed at teenagers and children. Every generation of teenagers had her own share of anime on TV. Some were good, others not so good. Now with the fansubs teenagers especially can omitt the TV experience and watch whatever they want on their computer. I dont know though if this is good for sentimental value. In 10 years I dont think a teenager will remember a series watched on a computer, with the same fervour the adults and teenagers today remembered Tico.
From the current bunch of series on TV, what can one watch as a child to have fond memories of a cartoon having something to teach? Those cartoons are getting rarer and rarer since now there is the fear of leaving scars on the youngsters thanks to the tremendous effect of audio and video (advertisements have all the liberties to be manipulating of course).
I was never fond of fansubs not because they are copyright infringing (as if I'd care) but because they give you the feeling you own everything. So people now expect a lot from anime while with TV series you could set a limit.
And one becomes very spoiled or totally delved in downloading fansubs without seeking to spent the time with something else. Same goes for being forced to buy the latest DVDs. Waiting on TV one week for the next episode of a series was more healthy.
In this respect Tico should have been much higher on my list, if it werent for the fansubs.
I think I'll rewatch Heidi instead of the newer Meisaku series.
This is my last review here so I thank all those who with their writing and reasoning skills helped me get better.After I managed to track down and put in an order the anime I had seen things became much easier.
If watching anime surpasses the normal viewers limit and reaches the otaku limit, it is the right time to stop or else there is no ending.
I hope I've helped as much as I could.
Initially I though the new series were good but finally I realized that they were mediocre and I am just for old shit which needs at least 15 years to be labelled as good or classic.
I leave the task of labelling the new titles as classics to the younger generation
Happy viewing.
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De Baer |
(2005-02-17 14:08:27) 2003-07-15 13:06:32 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Erinnert an Free Willy (womöglich haben sich die Produzenten auch an diesem film kräftigst bedient) und scheint zu Beginn auch nicht sonderlich interessant. Doch die Story wird sehr spannend und teilweise so tragisch und grausam das man diesen Anime sogar Kindern vorenthalten sollte. Mir hat dieser Anime sehr viel Spaß gemacht auch wenn es mal wieder ewig her ist ^_^
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