Jun 19 2011 03:21 AM Going to re-revive this, just cause I just dug up BD rip subs.
Not sure I remember how the TV edit looked, but BD looked amazingly crisp, if a bit bland at times. Means that either fansub encoders for the TV edits sucked, or that BD version got a major upgrade.
I think Kit give the series a lot less credit than it deserves. It did lack significantly on the character development side (though the end-series drama made up for that), but the alternate-history stuff was a total feast for any China/history geek, even if it was at times to the show's detriment (drove the focus away from the cast, thus destroying any emotional link the viewer might have had). As a snapshot of alternate history, I think the show did an amazing job setting a standard that any other show will find difficult to beat.
I also disagree on the show going downhill from ep. 1. In fact, it improved considerably about 1/3 of the way through, once it finally stopped trying to look like generic super-power action (see ep. 1), and finally got serious. In fact, the show would've probably done better if it never introduced any superpowers at all, except for the prophet as a key figure in the story.
Quite easy to bash on an unexperienced seiyuu (Yukina), I guess, though it didn't bother me all that much. One could argue that the change in voice was used to show the character development and maturation throughout the series.
The last few episodes were anything but generic shounen, and though I agree that because the show failed at building strong emotional attachment to the cast,
Natsume's death felt a bit out of place, though id did help set a more serious tone for the ending. The other deaths were completely justified by the plot, and given the story and the setting, I'm not quite sure what else was expected to happen. I guess the show could drop the bomb and go with the "Nippon Ichi, Banzai!" ending, but I doubt that'd go through very well
Overall, the review focuses on negatives so much that it fails to mention the positives. Some I mentioned below, but one big one you missed is the amazing soundtrack that blends modern and classical pieces very well, and overall sounds well above the average standard for anime today.
I also think the anime should get major props for actually trying to do foreign languages on a scale few others did. A number of major characters had distinct authentic voices without any accent in their supposed native languages, and though there were probably as many voices that had that done poorly (most of those grunts/random strangers), I have never seen an anime make such an effort to be authentic. (As a side note, the quality of foreign voices did deteriorate toward the end of the series). I particularly suggest rewatching ep. 6 meeting scene as a show-case of this effort; note how every representative speaks English with an accent appropriate for his country (except Indians who are somehow accent-less). This carries consistently throughout the series. Also, at least it was completely devoid of the gratuitous Engrish that's so common in anime.
As for Winter Sonata (though I didn't watch it so I can't comment in detail), I'd like to remind you that it was a joint project with the original live-action team, and thus the comparison isn't really appropriate. The show doesn't really fall into the same category as most Japanese anime.
