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Forum - View topicPile of Shame - Mermaid's Scar
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9897 Location: Virginia |
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I never saw this one, but it was previewed on the first Ranma 1/2 tape which was one of the first anime I saw. The preview was so horrific that I was never tempted to buy the show. Of course on tape you couldn't just click through it.
I still have some of the VHS tapes of other Rumic World OAVs. |
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aoi yuuki fanboy
 Posts: 51 |
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It really is a shame not to have seen this
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treatment
Posts: 149 |
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I still have this vhs (and the japanese version with Kikuko Inoue) and still enjoy it since it is still pretty good. It's a good companion to the much excellent Mermaid Forest ova.
The only thing that sucks is that the character and animation on Scar was just weird and bizarre and very weak compared to the (ahem) much excellent Mermaid Forest ova. 
The english-dub from Ocean Group was typical very early early 90's, so the quality was on par with the other early dubbed japanimations. It kinda have some bizarre charm to it, actually. As such, it's kind of misleading to put this on Pile of Shame, but I reckon this is because the US only ever had the english-dubbed version and not the better original japanese-vocals. Plus, the character designs were just that bizarro. I think the 2003 remake of Scar in the TV-version was just very much better in terms of character designs, animation, and a very much excellent english-vocals version from New Generation. I still wish that all the old original Rumic World ovas of the 90's (from both VIZ and CPM) can be rescued and put out on dual-language or just english-subbed DVD or Blu-Ray. Those were really excellent stuff. |
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2168 |
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"Shame" does not reflect on the quality of the anime! The premise of the Pile of Shame series, as detailed in the inaugural column, is that Mr. Sevakis is working through his personal "pile of shame" -- the stacks of "I swear I'll get around to it someday" in a hoarder's anime collection -- and telling of what he finds. 
Given the nature of such a pile, quality is highly variable. This makes it easy to forget the above, since occasionally it feels like "shame" is being applied to the title being discussed. I've forgotten the premise myself on occasion. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I have the manga, it's good stuff. I honestly prefer Rumiko Takahashi's short stories to her longer works, it's a shame that someone so talented at the short story format keeps making these things that never end because they're too popular to end. Mermaid Saga is like a series of shorter related works, each short arc stands on its own.
I've not seen this OVA or any of the Mermaid anime, maybe if Viz rescued Geneon's Mermaid TV, that would be nice. |
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DmonHiro
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Edit: Joke's on me. No, I do not have it. Seems like someone played a little trick on me a few years back.
Quick question to Justin, if he's reading: Since only VHS and LD were released in Japan, yet you mention bookleg DVDs, does that mean someone ripped the VHS/LD and sold it on a DVD? Also, does that not count as a fansub? |
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Blanchimont
 Posts: 3486 Location: Finland |
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It has been fansubbed for quite a while now. Furthermore, all the ones that we usually associate with the classical Rumiko Takahashi OVAs (Fire Tripper, Maris the Chojo, Mermaid Forest, Mermaid's Scar) have been released/re-released on fansubs with encodes made from DVDs, except for One Pound Gospel, whose later fansub encode was from LD. But I agree, it would be nice if they all got a legitimate release. Unfortunately, it's been frighteningly silent on that note, so I wouldn't dismiss your guess that Takahashi might be embarrassed about them. Which she really doesn't need to be, honestly... Maybe some company could open a Kickstarter campaign to license these. I have fond memories of some of them, especially Fire Tripper (Can't even remember how many times I re-watched that tape, before retiring it for the subtitled version, and because the VHS-player broke. Though in hindsight that OVA was quite the romantic fluff, but charming nonetheless...). So I'd certainly pitch for one, if only to get a nice box of them on the shelf ...
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4829 |
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This short was so creepy! Yeah, I totally remember that horrific preview on the Ranma tape. But my curiosity got the better of me (it wasn't creepy enough to frighten me) and I liked Takahashi so I checked it out.
Not a bad OVA. I think a longer series based on the manga would be good. |
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Myaow
 Posts: 1068 |
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I haven't seen this version! It sounds like it rocks!
My favorite thing about the Mermaid saga is how, when the fanfic guys on rec.arts.anime back in the day tried to write stories that crossed over ALL of Takahashi's works, things would get really messed up really quickly. Lum falls in the Spring of Drowned Pig and moves into Maison Ikkoku and then THEY ALL START KILLING AND EATING EACH OTHER! (This was pre-Inuyasha.) |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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As others have mentioned, there is indeed a fansubbed version. Great for those who don't want to have to deal with the English dub.
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doomydoomdoom
 Posts: 278 Location: Michigan, USA |
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Ah yes, Mermaid Saga. I've only read the manga, and the one remaining volume in my possession happens to be 3, which contains Mermaid's Scar. I'll have to check this OVA out, sounds good.
I wouldn't hesitate to call the Saga Takahashi's greatest work, with Maison Ikkoku trailing not far behind. It's interesting just how different it is from her other series; it truly shows her versatility. It's relentlessly grim, no cutesy characters, nor over the top side-splitting hijinks. In fact, there's almost no humor, except for some black comedy (one chapter begins with Yuta and Mana's mangled corpses lying there after getting hit by a car or something...but of course then they "wake up"), which I've never seen from her before. Tons of blood and gruesome murder/fighting. There's a shot of a little girl eating a dog's heart (?), and the dog's still-twitching corpse with the guts hanging out, which she planned to feed to a mermaid. So yeah, those are reasons why I love it so much. Of course, IMO, Takahashi would later perfectly marry the darkness of Mermaid Saga and the silliness of Ranma with Inuyasha. I know what everyone thinks of Inuyasha cause of the run-into-ground dub STILL on TV after all these years (isn't it?), and the excruciatingly long time it took her to end it, but still... And ROFL @ the Takahashi crossover fic. Brilliant. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I'll give this one a watch since I've already seen the Mermaid Forest OVA.
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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This story was also adapted in the Mermaid Forest TV series.
I really like one turn at the end of the story spoiler[where Masato is defeated when the immortal woman he wants to force to be his companion just promises to hunt him down and murder him over and over again if he won't leave her and her current companion alone. This she says while she's tied up and physically helpless and the other guy's efforts have all failed.] |
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GATSU
Posts: 15399 |
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Blanchimont: Hypothetically, Anime Sols should be able to crowdfund the Rumik World OAVs, but apparently won't.
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unready
 Posts: 401 Location: Illinois, USA |
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... which is Mana and Yuta. As far as "defang"ing the violence, there's still plenty of blood and death in the TV series. But as mermaid stories go, I describe it to people as: It's just like Disney's The Little Mermaid, if at the end Ariel mates with Eric, then kills him to feed to their newborn children. |
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