Forum - View topicREVIEW: Under the Dog
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 1175 |
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The biggest problem I have with Under the Dog, is they could of just taken up the offer from a publisher, this was advertised as something "too risky", and while it certainly does stand out, it is not something that you are unlikely to see airing late at night. I feel like I've been deceived, I know the trailers advertised it as an action show, but the way they talked about it, it seemed like a highly driven si-fi similar to GITS. There have been other shows made recently which are far more risky than Under the Dog, the puppet show Thunderbolt Fantasy, Mob Psycho 100, both of which probably only got made due to the success of the authors previews works. There is also Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū and Osomatsu, which while I may be wrong, seems kind of risky. And Concrete Revolutio definitely takes the cake for most risky show in the last year. And even though it is a good, or at least decent show, it isn't even the best from this year, 91 Days is a better action show. | ||||||
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Fronzel
Posts: 1786 |
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Way more interested in a second Sword of the Stranger than Schoolgirls Shoot Guns 9-billion. | ||||||
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 1175 |
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Z-Raid
Posts: 111 |
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I watched the OVA and it was... ok. The action scenes were cool and well-animated but outside of that it doesn't really have much going on. Hana and her parents' death barely registered as a blip to me as well as the US army and the whole Pandora deal. Clearly all the effort was put into creating cool action scenes so the plot and the characters don't bring anything new to the table.
But nonetheless I was decently entertained while I watched the entire thing so it wasn't a complete waste of time. |
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relyat08
Posts: 1679 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I really liked this. I don't think it stands on its own very well, but it was a completely functional and competent production. Great action, great music, solid story. I found it quite interesting. I hope there is more.
I also had no idea that there was even a slight possibility for more Sword of the Stranger, it didn't set the world on fire when it was released the first time, and it was a pretty complete story, so I'm not sure where they would go with that. I'm 100% for Masahiro Ando getting more work that is tailored to his skills though. I like Hanasaku Iroha quite a lot, and the fact that he directed it, along with Snow White, shows just how versatile he really is, but he shines brightest when he has a big budget and lots of action. That is the single thing that I wanted to see from this OVA, and I got it. I want to see him direct a full TV series with this level of action. More UTD would be great, but if that's a no-go, please, at least give him another action oriented series! Last edited by relyat08 on Fri Aug 05, 2016 10:41 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kpk
Posts: 431 |
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Under the Dog is such a dumb name. What is that even mean? | ||||||
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7263 Location: Vancouver |
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My favorite part was the shocking twist ending where (spoiler) the protagonist realized that the dog was under them the whole time. | ||||||
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luisedgarf
Posts: 272 Location: Guadalajara, Mexico |
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Maybe you don't want to know that. |
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relyat08
Posts: 1679 Location: Northern Virginia |
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This was all explained in the Kickstarter 2 years ago: n•der the dog ˈəndər T͟Hə dôg phrase 1. when one is in a situation so disagreeable that they would wish to rather be "under the dog," a place of dishonor, misery, and filth, in order to escape their current state of affairs noun 1. (underdog) a competitor thought to have little chance of winning a fight or contest 2. one born under the sign of the dog (Canis Major - Sirius) embodying loyalty, speed, the hunt, and watchfulness From Ishii-san: “If your parents, family, or classmates are taken hostage and if you die, your family will die too. If you fail, your family will die. If you run away, your family will die. In such a situation where you are driven into a corner [...] and must kill [your] fellow compatriots.” What would you do? How would you live out your life? Your death? “[...] if you have only the choice of dying, how will you die, how can that death help the world that you have left behind?” This is what it is to be “Under the Dog.” |
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CoreSignal
Posts: 682 Location: California, USA |
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I really enjoyed Under the Dog. For a one-shot action OVA, it's a good watch. I don't really get all the hate for the story. It's standard stuff but there's not much you can do in 28 mins. As for Anthea not being the main character, it says right on the KS page that Hana is lead for the OVA. I was actually impressed with the lean storytelling. There's no heavy info-dumping, flashbacks, or long exposition to bog down the pacing. I also like how Hana's character was handled in a similarly lean and subtle way without dragging the pacing down. And I liked the twist at the end as well. The important thing is that action was good. Ando is a great action director and UTD has really good action scenes with great choreography and animation. The shootout on the stairs and Anthea taking on the beast-thing were my favorites.
It wasn't just about being too risky, it was also about being able to "own" their show/IP. As it says on their Kickstarter page, they own all the rights and control to Under the Dog. Their KS success will make a great sales pitch if they ever decide to go for funding from a production committee. As a couple people have said, UTD is a perfect fit for Netflix and with them getting into the anime market now, I can totally see Netflix helping to fund a whole series. Perhaps not a bad thing.
Yeah, Ando really has an eye for action. While not a full-on action show, Canaan had some great action scenes as well. In any case, the thought of Ando doing a sci-fi action series with a big budget sounds awesome, so more UTD please! |
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relyat08
Posts: 1679 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Entirely agreed with all of this. I was really surprised by much of the negative feedback after I watched it and really enjoyed it myself. I wrote a similar post to yours on Facebook in response to someone else who didn't like it. I thought the pacing and the direction was very well handled. The way they packed nearly every scene with important information, while keeping overt exposition to a minimum and keeping the focus on the action was great. I loved the introduction to Hana's character as well, and was surprised that people didn't care for her at all. I am also entirely on board with the decision to make this a prequel of sorts. It's pretty clear that the main series is going to be led by Anthea, and this was a perfect introduction to her character. Using Hana's story to introduce us to the world, to the Flowers and Pandora, and to Anthea was very clever. It allowed for a more satisfying and action packed scenario that introduced all of the major aspects of the story quite well, while never getting bogged down in exposition and talking heads. I really don't understand much of the hate for this. I think peoples' expectations were just a little ridiculous, to be honest. |
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 1175 |
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I could see Netflix funding the dub for the completed series, but not for the series. They will most likely go back to one of the people who offered them money before. I don't have a problem with that, nor with them wanting to own the IP, though I'm sure there would be other ways to own the IP since Trigger seem to own their IPs. I'm just annoyed that they promoted this as some far out there show that the industry was not going to touch. When it really isn't, I understand bending the truth as "Action Show with Highschool Girls" would not of go down well with the audience they were after, but at least something close. |
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Chipp12
Posts: 268 |
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Here's an explanation from the original creator:
BTW that song was used for the additional 8 minute part listing all the Kickstarter contributors. |
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relyat08
Posts: 1679 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Ah yeah, I was fishing for that update, but figured the campaign explanation would be sufficient.
They never "bent the truth" whatsoever. The original scenario was spelled out very clearly in the Kickstarter on Day 1. They had multiple updates and posts about it. There were even comments complaining about it being about High School girls on the Kickstarter page. Which were addressed. Anyone who feels like they were lied to somehow, wasn't paying any attention to this project at all. |
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 1175 |
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The sad thing is that I would of been perfectly fine with that, I like action shows and enjoyed this. But no it was sold as some big protest, it was supposed to be meaningful and be really different to other Anime out there. But no, I could of just re-watched Jormungand and got the same thing. They oversold the value of this show so much. |
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