First appearing on the scenes on December 22, 2003, and getting dubbed in 2006 by ADV Films (R.I.P.), Comic Party Revolution has a bit of a interesting history to it. The show was originally released on two separate DvDs as OVAs. They were later edited and extended to form the first four episodes of the show. From there, the show expanded once again into the standard 13 episodes, and was aired from April 4, 2005 to June 27, 2005. As for the story, some time has passed since the events of Comic Party. Kazuki, Mizuki, and many of the characters from the previous show, are now in college. Kazuki is now a much more confident comic writer, and while Mizuki still had some aversion to otaku and their hobbies, she's taken up the hobby of cosplay. In doing so, she's become friends with Reiko, the cosplay fan from Comic Party. In addition to the cast from Comic Party, 3 new characters show up to add to the fun: Suburu Mikage, a shrine maiden with a sense of justice, but has poor drawing skills and isn't always bright, Asahi Sakurai, the lovely & talented voice actress and idol, and Yuuzo Tachikawa, the big, strong, and mostly silent brother to Ikumi Tachikawa from Comic Party. With these 3 new characters, more laughs and hijinks are sure to follow.
This review is going to be a bit different than my Comic Party review I did earlier this week. Most of what I covered in the Comic Party can be applied here, but there are a few things that Comic Party Revolution differs from it's older sibling.
For starters, and on a more positive note, are the 3 new characters. Suburu, who was in the Comic Party game but not the anime, is a bubbly, cheerful girl. She's very kind and caring, and has a strong sense of what's right and wrong, but often gets ahead of herself, and often blunders things up, but in a hilarious way that still manages to have things out. Asahi, who was in the Comic Party game but briefly mentioned in the anime, is shy around strangers & psycho fans (of which there are many), but around friends, she's more relaxed and calm. As for Ikumi's brother Yuuzo, the only thing I can say about him is that he's a lot like Mori from Ouran High School Host Club: large, built like a tank, mostly silent, and a little slow when it comes to thinking. These three characters add a bit more spice to the already established flavor that the original cast provided, and are sure to get reactions out of people.
On a second positive note, the story structure of Comic Party Revolution is very different than it's predecessor. Instead of one main story concentrating on Kazuki, the show is made into a bunch of little stories, focusing on all of the characters. This allows a viewer to essentially pick up the show at just about any point, with perhaps the exception of the last two episodes at the very end. However, this lack of story structure can also bite the viewer back, but more on that in a little bit.
Third, there isn't a single amount of Americanization. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, then take a quick look back at the Comic Party review I did. Suffice it to say, the core & spirit of the show have stayed the same.
Fourth, just like Comic Party, Comic Party Revolution is also readily available. On Amazon, you can find the Funimation re-released complete series for just $17.50. Oddly enough, the complete series was released a year earlier, and it was a bit cheaper. $12.44, to be exact. Regardless of the version, used copies go a bit cheaper, with the 2009 version going for as little as $9.95, and the 2010 edition going for $12.47. If you decide for some reason to go for the individual ADV Films (R.I.P.) DvDs of Comic Party Revolution, then you're going to have moderate success. New editions range anywhere from $2.24 to $13.19, and used copies go from $1.13 to $8.98. Despite it availability, it also isn't readily available, but more on that in a little bit.
Now, onto the negative points, and this is where Comic Party Revolution differs a little from it predecessor.
For starters, the story's structure. While I did say that it's lack of story structure is a blessing, it also means that it can make things confusing for the viewer. With things presented in a haphazard manner, it can getting a little tough figuring out where certain things are. On top of that, if you haven't watched Comic Party, then you may be lost on a few things, possibly confusing yourself a little more.
Secondly, there are a lack of minisodes in Comic Party Revolution. If you read my Comic Party review, you may recall the 4 minisodes I talked about, each of which shows a nice sidestory. However, I'm giving the original animators the benefit of the doubt, considering that the show was worked on by 2 studios, not one.
Third and final, is the availability. Despite me saying that the complete collection released under Funimation is readily available, if you're looking for the original ADV Films (R.I.P.) releases, then you may run into a bit of trouble. As I'm putting this down, there are only 2 original ADV Films (R.I.P.) collections of the show on Amazon. One goes for $44.95, and the other is just a single cent higher. Luckily, there are 8 used copies of the collection, with the first going for $12.93, and the last one going for a whopping $75 (God only knows why).
Comic Party Revolution gets a 7 out of 10. It has all the pluses of Comic Party, plus it has 3 new characters, it's looser story structure is easier to watch, it wasn't Americanized, and the Funimation editions and some of the ADV Films (R.I.P.) editions are readily available. However, it's lack of a stable story structure, lack of minisodes, and lack of availability for certain copies weighs the show down a little bit more than Comic Party.
Before I sign off for the night, there's one little observation I'd like to make, and you may know what I'm talking about. If you watched Comic Party, and then watched Comic Party Revolution, you may have noticed that the voice actors for each show, despite sounding similar, are actually different. This is because ADV Films (R.I.P.) used their own voices actors, and not the voice actors from The Right Stuf International. It was because of this change of voice actors that there wasn't anything changed in the dub.
Until next time, stay Otaku!
No comments:
Post a Comment