02.06
Evening, all!
Now we at AR realize that some of you don’t know what exactly the Ludovico Trials are and what led to its creation. And because of these issues, here are some basic answers for those wondering what the hell is going on.
What does “Ludovico” mean?
It comes from the Ludivico Technique, a fictional drug-assisted therapy featured in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, in which the main character Alex DeLarge was subjected to utterly horrific footage of rape and murder in order to be released from prison.
Which shows are you guys doing?
As you can see from the preceding article, Foggle is handling the show Kiba. Ensatsu-Ken has been given the scorned OVA series Ninja Resurrection and Boku No Pico. SNES Chalmers is going through the deranged little show known as School Days. Avaitor is agonizing over seeing Saturday Supercade. Desensitized is currently finding out what exactly went wrong with Ren & Stimpy. And as for myself, I shall be watching Clannad.
Why are you doing this?
Boredom.
And why these shows in particular?
Foggle hates most shonen shows like Naruto and Bleach. But since those series are over 200 episodes, we decided to give him the just as bad, but more compact Kiba to watch.
Ninja Resurrection is right there alongside Genocyber and Angel Cop when it comes to abhorrent OVAs, with the most grating feature being that it was marketed as a sequel to the relatively good Ninja Scroll.
While regarded as one of the most enjoyable shows on Nickelodeon, Ren & Stimpy was also the victim of a prima donna creator who couldn’t get his work in on time. And with his friction between executives destabilizing the quality of the show, it eventually led to its downfall and resurrection as the godawful Adult Party Cartoon.
Avaitor doesn’t like it when Nintendo and Animation collide.
School Days is notable for two things. 1. NICE BOAT. And 2. Having an insufferable protagonist utterly win at life, only to fail in the most disturbingly stupid way possible. It’s highly questionable interpretation of the average teenager’s mindset, as well as schizophrenic shifts in mood, make it perfect for ripe rant bait. And with SNES Chalmers being a relative outsider to anime, we found it even better to see how the show was viewed from one who hasn’t seen any of its contemporaries.
As for Clannad, it contains moe, paper-thin characterization, angst for the sake of angst, dangos, and plotlines right out of a Nicholas Sparks book. In other words, the perfect combination to make me cry for mercy.
Are you going to feature any other shows?
Possibly. We’re still too early in to even consider it, though.
Do you guys hate Anime/Western Animation/Franco-Belgian Cinema/Etc?
No. We may hate a lot of anime, but that doesn’t mean we hate anime in general. Personally, we just find it foolish to denounce an entire nation’s worth of animation. Honestly, every country and continent has its pros and cons when it comes to cartoons… except Antarctica. Fucking penguins can’t draw for shit.
So this is basically just the Agony Booth but with cartoons?
Yeah, pretty much. Though don’t expect any in-depth recaps of each episode. That would lead to months of work and hours of rewatches that we simply don’t have the stomach to do. While it would be a bit interesting to do an 8000-word article on the mental state of Kotonoha or a 20000-word analysis on the latest Yogi Bear film, we figure that the usual 1000-word review will be just as good while saving your time and ours.
If you have any more questions, just post them below and we’ll answer them here for all you inquisitive minds.
Enjoy the madness!
Originally posted on Thursday, January 13, 2011.