With the 2nd season of Queen's Blade I figured now would be the perfect time for me to get something off my chest; unlike the vast majority of the anime blogosphere, I, Snark, openly and enthusiastically endorse Queen's Blade.
Now the general anime fandom has had a lot of fun deriding Queen's Blade. A particularly common complaint I've heard about the show is that the story and entire premise is ludicrously dumb. Well of course it is! It's softcore porn! What the hell did you expect!?
Of course, the greatest hypocrisy is when many of the same bloggers who lay the hate on Queen's Blade go on to sing praises over the likes of K-On, which was just as unflinchingly mindless. Apparently, substanceless moe is ok, but substanceless porn isn't. I'm sorry, but if I'm gonna watch something that's gonna shut my brain down, I'd rather watch the show that doesn't make me feel like a pedophile.
And another thing that's pissed me off about how the fandom has been treating Queen's Blade is how blatantly unfair its been judging the show. Apparently, Queen's Blade has to be anime's answer to Lord of the Rings for it to be deemed good.
Queen's Blade is softcore porn, and it should be judged as such. Instead, many bloggers have been judging it as if it were trying to be an epic fantasy like Berserk or Guin Saga, which is of course isn't, all in the search for cheap laughs. Such behaviour is monumentally stupid.
Let a show be judged for what it is; it's for the same reason I don't use the same criteria that I would when viewing Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, when watching My Sister's Hot Friend.
Edit:
As an aside, I must concede that deciding on a Queen by holding a fighting tournament is the worst system of government ever conceived.
Now the general anime fandom has had a lot of fun deriding Queen's Blade. A particularly common complaint I've heard about the show is that the story and entire premise is ludicrously dumb. Well of course it is! It's softcore porn! What the hell did you expect!?
Of course, the greatest hypocrisy is when many of the same bloggers who lay the hate on Queen's Blade go on to sing praises over the likes of K-On, which was just as unflinchingly mindless. Apparently, substanceless moe is ok, but substanceless porn isn't. I'm sorry, but if I'm gonna watch something that's gonna shut my brain down, I'd rather watch the show that doesn't make me feel like a pedophile.
And another thing that's pissed me off about how the fandom has been treating Queen's Blade is how blatantly unfair its been judging the show. Apparently, Queen's Blade has to be anime's answer to Lord of the Rings for it to be deemed good.
Queen's Blade is softcore porn, and it should be judged as such. Instead, many bloggers have been judging it as if it were trying to be an epic fantasy like Berserk or Guin Saga, which is of course isn't, all in the search for cheap laughs. Such behaviour is monumentally stupid.
Let a show be judged for what it is; it's for the same reason I don't use the same criteria that I would when viewing Rosencrantz and Guildernstern are Dead, when watching My Sister's Hot Friend.
Edit:
As an aside, I must concede that deciding on a Queen by holding a fighting tournament is the worst system of government ever conceived.
Posts
You're totally right. And the reason why I don't like the show is because I don't like the art one bit. If I did, and considering the good seiyuu cast in it, I'd be watching it..
ReplyDeleteI avoid watching Queen's Blade when I saw the massive tits advertisement for reason that I sometimes feel inferior when it comes to that fact0. Nothing against softcore porns :P
ReplyDeleteHm. I can't handle mindless moe either. I cut Negima! because the plotlessness got to me.
ReplyDeleteHeck, I couldn't even finish Hayate no Gotoku! Though I did get to episode 44 or so ;)
As for porn, hm. I like my porn more porn-like. Discipline, for instance. Though I didn't like Bible Black.
I don't like mindless. To be honest, I'd rather characters I love in a show I love have totally hot sex (that I'm prepared for), rather than have dumb cardboard characters have cardboard sex with no plot. Plot always adds. I'd rather have BOTH my soft-core porn and my plot, y'know? :D
I didn't watch it yet, but seriously, no Loli? What happened to Ymir?
Also, I'm somewhat annoyed by the fact I can't watch porn with my door open, kinda annoying ;)
Amen brother. Queen's Blade fans unite!!! I love the first episode of the new season. Highlight has to be Nanael taking a bath in what looks to be *piss*. Not that I'm a fan of golden showers, but you have to admit that's amusing
ReplyDeleteShows like this and Kanokon for example are to be watched for the sole intention of _______.
ReplyDeleteYessss. I for one, fully endorse Queen's Blade, and will begin reviewing the episodes as soon as I get my shit together.
ReplyDeleteK-On sucked.
Heheh, I have to admit Queen's Blade is indeed on my "To Watch" list xD
ReplyDeleteQB is in my Watch list too. What better show with female gladiators. ^^
ReplyDeleteWell I've always tried to judge "Queen's Blade" fairly, and I think my episode reviews of it were all quite objective (didn't even put any explicit images in them).
ReplyDeleteBut I had hoped it would have been more like say "Koihime Musou" or "Strike Witches". Naughty, ecchi but more by its humor and teasing, implicit imagery, not as explicit as it is now.
As a most suprising fact I approve of QB too.
ReplyDeleteSure it would have been nice if they would have added some more plot but seriously what do you expect from a series based on an ecchi battle book series?
I prefer this kind of series any time over one that tries to rape me with its moe tendrils
Quick, name a fanservice anime with a better plot than Queen's Blade's. Can't do it? Neither can I.
ReplyDeleteHaven't watched it yet. Tell me the interesting parts only. :)
ReplyDeleteBaka-Raptor, Mai-HiME.
ReplyDeleteThat actually was easy.
I, Wolfheinrich, also approve of Queen's Blade; not because of it's heavy emphasis on fan service, or being softcore porn, or because of their great character design. Season 1 as we know it deal primarily with characters introduction, and Reina's quest to become a full fledged warrior, she sucked big time in the beginning but at no point was she acting helpless and wait for someone to pamper her (may be a bit naive but that's acceptable). The story is simple but it did what it was suppose to do, while giving us ample of fan service. It's very consistent with what it is trying to accomplish. On the other hand, shows in the likes of K-On!, at least in my mind, exploit the audiences' desire to feel superior, or give them a sense of superiority over the helplessness of the characters in the show. I don't need to watch an anime to make myself feel good about myself, I have ample of self-esteem to begin with. When I choose to watch an anime, it has to be able to inspire me in one way or another.
ReplyDeleteQueen's Blade > K-On! nuff said.
Of course you endorse it, why in gods name wouldn't you?! Your a guy! And there are exploding boob fights fer crying out loud... boobs all over the place.
ReplyDelete@Guy: Mai Hime is an anime with some fanservice. It does not rise to the level of being a fanservice anime.
ReplyDeleteWow, I WAS expecting anime's answer to the Lord of the Rings. Very disappointed. =P
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Judge Queen's Blade in the right category is the only the way to look at it fairly and realize its merits. Given that, I still don't like the series, because the proportions of the women are too curvaceous and exaggerated. Therefore, it doesn't meet up to my expectations in terms of a softcore ecchi anime.
ReplyDeletehaha i always thought queen's blade was jsut a legit hentai...:/ lol
ReplyDeletebtw about the whole using a tournament to decide a government thing. it makes perfect sense! how do you think chuck norris became president of the world. he just beat down every person who challenged him. except bruce lee, who died anyways. so chuck norris was second in line!^_^ haha it's not a democracy, it's a chucktatorship! lol
@ Kritik
ReplyDeleteYou've got a point there; it gets ludicrously obvious that each character was designed by a different person when they stand next to each other =P
@ Kluxorious
A fair point; I'd imagine I'd feel the same way if I watched an anime about half naked dudes with 14 inch dicks who shoot acidic semen at each other.
@ Guy
Meh, story gets in the way of porn. All the time spent working on story would be better spent on porn!
And yeah, Ymirs in it, but barely. And unless I've blanked it out of my mind, I don't remember ever seeing her naked...
@ Acesan
Oh god...you're right!
I'm never going to be able to look at Nanael the same way ever again >_<
@ Anon
Appreciating the fine arts? I agree.
@ Glo
High five for tastes ( . .)/\(. . )
@ Anon_Object
Well, move it from 'to watch' to 'watching'!
@ Phossil
Whats better? A show with horny female gladiators.
@ Smithy
Teasing!? THE STRIKE WITCHES DIDN'T EVEN WEAR FUCKING PANTS! O.o
@ Blowfish
Honestly, I prefer stuff like this to be as light on plot as possible; a story just distracts from the porn
@ Baka-Raptor
Gao Gai Gar!
...what? I can't be the only one who gets aroused by ChoRyuJin.
@ Anna
Interesting parts? A girl walks down a hall then BOOM! Tentacle rape!
@ Wolfheinrich
To be fair, a show where women fight naked, piss themselves and lactate on each other isn't exactly empowering either =P
@ Meimi
Exactly! And that's what worries me! Guys should be all over this shit! Instead, most of them fawn over pedophilic moe crap! ANIME IS DESTROYING MASCULINITY!
@ Reltair
You want anime's answer to Lord of the Rings? Butt Attack Punisher Girl Gotaman; a story so ahead of its time, it won't be till we're all dead before society comes to appreciate its storytelling genius.
@ Yi
Well, I think there might be more realistically proportioned women...they just stand round in the background, and don't do or say anything...but they're there! And that's what matters!
@ Domo
Well, it pretty much is hentai as it is; there was fucking tentacle rape in this episode!
"As an aside, I must concede that deciding on a Queen by holding a fighting tournament is the worst system of government ever conceived."
ReplyDeleteI liked this entry, but I wish it was about this instead.
The tentacle thing made me laugh damn hard.
ReplyDeleteI agree how many people disliked Queen's Blade because they've expected it as something else. In fact it is one of the more open (?} softporn series out there recently.
While I personally avoid porn-related stuff I definitely wouldn't condemn QB at all; it's a series with its own proper category all right while people put it in the wrong ones mistakenly. Sure I do end up with some moe-related stuff like Shana (but mate the anime's hopeless), my general interest really can't be driven by them despite it being the mainstream stuff as of lately, and definitely not when they are pure and extracted... - I mean, how did you even manage to watch through the whole K-On! ?!
If I go for mindless stuff then war and military would probably be more of my taste, since that's the earliest interest and one of the oldest for me. Man I do feel that my interest has broadened a bit too much in these two years...
@Snark
ReplyDeleteThe witches did wear pants, their pants just happened to be panties. XD
The only complaint I have about watching the series is that the boobies are wayyyyy too huge. If it was toned downed, I would have loved the series. I'm pretty nazi when it comes to dis-proportional bodies.
ReplyDelete@Snark, I thought we have already established that QB is not an just an anime but softcore p0rn? Therefore, it's excused from the system of measurement I use for general purpose Anime. But I must insist that QB has more to offer than just softcore p0rn, it has a story it is trying to tell and it's telling it in it's own way. Almost every QB girls going to participate in the tourement has their own reason to be there, to be that's good enough story. And in contray to popular believe, I AM interested in how the story develop.
ReplyDeleteI hear a lot of people complain about how QB girls fight nekkid, if you are a fighter/warrior and your clothes got torn up during the fight, what are you going to worry about first? Your life or your exposed body? If I was a QB warrior, I would keep fighting as if nothing ever happened! There people are warriors remember, they shouldn't give a damn about part of their body being exposed.
And allow me make one more comparison between QB and K-On!
Sycthe wielding witch maid >>>>> Guitar playing high school girl any day of the week; twice on Monday.
Let me place my 2 cents on this and get right down to the reality of the show . . . BOOBIES and even more BOOBIES and exploding BOOBIES, nuff said! - thank you (taking bow) thank you (taking bow)
ReplyDeleteNow we return to your regularly scheduled blog
ACK - I kill me!
I watched it with bad quality and first episode exploding boobs, so I got turned off. Who knows, it could be the underdog of the times.
ReplyDeletewow... so much stuff to read... >.>
ReplyDeleteTentacles, there always doing it for me^^. fuwk I still want Mirim to appear in an anime
ReplyDeleteI watched the whole first series in one sitting after falling behind. 'nuff said.
ReplyDeleteRawr!!! Rips off shirt in Kenshiro-like manner.
ReplyDeleteK-On > QB!
Rawr!! Lol..
Honestly... Isn't Cathelya a bad enough of a reason to hate QB?
*Goes to closet to look for new shirt* :p
@blur
ReplyDeleteYou are quoting Kenshiro - the man among men along side with K-On! the blob among moe? The Fist of North Star is a legendary epic story with over 25 years worth of history and you are using Kenshiro in the name of some moeblob junk?
Kenshiro is the savior of men and should be saving us from the vicious moeblob invasion. I can't wait to see Kenshiro using Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken on the moeblobs.
Cattleya is a turn off, however, K-On! is just that much worst.
@Wolfheinrich
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see you disapprove of "K-ON!" in such a way since many of your points to defend "Queen's Blade" that often gets a bad rep hold truth in them.
The same is true for "K-ON!" you know, it's a solid series with tons of good things, certainly it being an upbeat, positive message slice of life series. Sure it has moe but better in a style and package like in "K-ON!" than other series like harem comedies.
Hm. That's a unique way to look at QB. I was a bit critical of it before, but you've open'd my eyes in that sense, mm.
ReplyDeleteSo does that one carefully chosen picture mean that your favorite is also Menace?
@Smithy,
ReplyDeletePerhaps it was a bit excessive for me to use the Kenshiro card, but at the same time I feel betrayed by the anime community in general because the overwhelming acceptance of a show that lacked quality, and quality here is defined as having a good story; quality in the animation-such as characters that are drawn properly, not half way distorted; and serve as an inspiration to young kids and young adult.
My problem with K-On! is two folded: K-On! is a dangerous show because of the setting it took place (a common highschool), they protraited senseless, mindless and weakless behavior and rebranded them as "Moe". It may be fine for fully grown adult to watch it and just laugh it off, but what happens to the little kids that has no clue on how they are suppose to conduct themselves as they grow up? Let it be known that I already have a problem with young lads these day that lacked self-reliance, courage and sense of righteousness.
The other problem, is to have a show that lacked a real story and content to achieve commerical success. If a show like K-On! can achieve widespread commerical success, what point is there to write an actual story that actually requires work? They can just outscource the whole thing to China (*Note* I can make fun of the Chinese because I AM a Chinese).
@Everyone concerned. Lol! I kind of lost track of who said what and am too lazy to read again. -.-"
ReplyDeleteDon't you guys get it? It's not about hating/loving one anime cause it's too Moe or too Gar. We need a good balance of everything! (Or at least some of us do...)
If you told me to watch Kenshiro-like anime every single day. I'd die of boredom.
If you told me to watch K-On-like anime every single day. I'd also die of boredom.
But I honestly and truly enjoy both animes!
Animes are animes because of it's (hmm.. what's the word for it... can anyone help me here?) "without shape". And that's a part of what makes animes enjoyable.
That being said, it's ok for someone to hate K-On or certain animes. Cause it just implies that it's not to your taste. It doesn't imply it sucked. It's just meant for a specific target. *Aaaand that's the cue for the word pedo to get thrown around*
I however loves K-on! cause it's light, funny, relaxing.
Rule of thumb (for me at least) is to never compare an anime to real life situation. Lol. As if Higurashi does wonders for kids at school. What about movies? I forgot the name, but it was about a bunch of high school kids killing each other and the last one standing survives.
Remember how Power Rangers were once dished and all that crap cause some kids gang up on another?
O.M.G. Did I just say Power Rangers? Fark.. I need a life. In my defense, I never EVER watched a single episode of it. I do however, read the news every now and then. :p
It's Tv! If we were really making sure it's good for the kids.
Let's see, there's blood and sword slashing in Bleach. Bad for kids!
Oh Naruto had scenes where the third Hokage got stabbed. For 3 episodes. In slow-mo. Which was EPIC by the way. Banned!
Higurashi.. Lol. Do I even need to say? Banned!
Well get my point?
Lol! Just thought of something funny. Eden of the East encourages kids to walk around baring their Johnnies. :p
And in case you guys are wondering. No, I didn't spend a whole afternoon on this reply. I just typed as things pop in this tiny head of mine. I did however, spent longer than usual on this post as I was also googling for a Yaoi anime I'm trying to recap (for another comment)at the same time. Lol. Only got 1 pair of eyes.
Lol. Forgot to mention. I still don't approve of Queen's Blade. Cathelya scares the crap out of me!
ReplyDeleteI did however, finish the series. And am gonna watch season 2. Like what everyone has mentioned, it does have boobs after all. -.-"
at times like this, I thank god for giving me a set of decent oppai and a vajayjay instead of a dick XD
ReplyDelete@blur,
ReplyDeleteIn 99 out of 100 cases, I would have agreed that relating an anime to a real life circusmstance is a dumb idea, however, K-On! sells on the "Slice of Life" appeal and therefore, your rule of thumb does not apply.
In contray to your believe, I am not saying K-On! should be banned, conversely, if they were to redefinite Yui as mentally retarded, and reformat the show to illustrate her struggle to become a normal person, I would have given the show another look.
@Wolfheinrich
ReplyDeleteNo doubt this is because "K-ON!" is a slice of life anime which usually aren't story driven.
Take "Aria" for example, arguably among the best manga and anime but most often misunderstood or under-appreciated by those not familiar with slice of life as they fault it for lacking a story. But such series aren't about the story, they're about the journey, the characters, the atmosphere, the joy,...
"Sketchbook ~full color'S~" is another good example, terrific series, sublime, but hardly any real story.
It's not because a series doesn't have a story where they need to save the universe that it's a bad series you know. Quite the contrary! What do you think happens to kids who watch series like Gundam or Queen's Blade and think everything is about saving the world and drawing blood to do it?
@Smithy,
ReplyDeleteI have never been really drawn to "Slice of Life" style of manga. The only thing closest to slice of life for me is Dilbert comic strip, which I carry a link in my own blog.
I have learned over the years that projecting my own version of common sense onto another person is a bad idea, but I still make that mistake from time to time.
Am I saying that I denounce everything that didn't have a story behind it? Quite the contrary, I believe people should the freedom to choose as they please as long as they bear the responsibility the come with their choices. Am I denouncing "Moe" & "Cute things" in general? Quite the contrary, but I believe "Moe" can be achieved without the senseless, mindless and silliness as it was often portraited in K-On! And I prefer "Moe" to be served as a dessert, not as a main dish. Let it be known that one of my all time favorite anime is "Legend of Galactic Heros".
Even if I believe K-On! is a bad series, all I have to do is to not watch it right? But my greater problem with the show do not lies with the existence of it, but the overwhelming acceptance of it, there is talk about a live action adaptation of it, the merchandises, and this and that. If there weren't so many praising being sung over this show, I would have kept my mouth shut and minded my own business.
Lol@Klux's ice breaker. Thanks.. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd with everyone having said a piece of their mind. It's time to pass the beer around... :p
KamPai!!
Finding a new queen by fighting may not be intelligent, but it would be much more fun than having to vote. ;-)
ReplyDeleteNice to see, that you share my thoughts about these disgusting pedophile animes. I hope Queen's Blade increases it's distance to them, cause the angels, the by elves raised girl and the one with the axe seem to be kids in the age of 12 or something. That makes me question the whole series... I don't even want to see their boobs (cause they don't have any in that age).
you forgot substanceless SOFTCORE porn.. and no, we dont particually care for substanceless softcore porn, just the normal full featured substanceless porn.
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