Comments on: Glass Mask Review - 45/100

by: Gei

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:03:17 +0100

THE DRAMA IS BETTER. ESPECIALLY THAT PEDO。。。。。。。。。。

by: Maya's faithful fan

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:38:26 +0000

Actually I think you really need to see the 2005 version. When I were saw the TV show, I was so impressed by Maya’s ardor on melodrama, and Maya and purple rose man’s love story. This amine is my most favorite anime ever!!

by: Uber_cast

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:36:09 +0000

I am so sorry this is the first impression of glass mask you had to see, but in reality both the manga and the 2005 TV series are very well done. If you are not really into older shojo then stay away from the manga, but if you want to read one of the highest ranked shojo series in Japan then I would certainly recommend this. I guess I am lucky because the first thing from glass mask I ever saw was the 2005 series, which is very good. Don’t let this one bad show ruin the whole thing for you ^_^.

by: jeanny

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:40:57 +0100

Could anyone tell me where to download the Glass mask series. I have been watch the manga long time ago. I havent seen the anime yet.. thx.

by: killbethy

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:01:08 +0100

Actually, this show is very reviewed very well as is the manga. It is one of the few shows to get outstanding ratings (the 2005 version) on almost all anime review sites.

I know I’m a bit late in responding to this…

But for fans of the show and manga, it has been announced that the manga-ka (the author of the manga) will begin continuing the story where it left off (after volume 42 or so I believe) in the September 2008 issue of Hana to Yume. The story isn’t finished!

by: Tess

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:52:01 +0100

I’ve read about 16 volumes of the manga, and saw the 2005 series which was very good and a lot closer to the manga. In the case of the manga I feel there are some ridiculous parts… however I feel they adapted the 2005 series very will by subtracting most mistakes of the original and not being as.. “bad” as the 1984 version. It’s actually amazing how different they are in quality…

by: Paj

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:46:42 +0100

I read the manga first before I dipped into the 1984 anime series. . .and I can understand why people were dis-satisfied. .. but the 2005 version made it up. I would suggest you watch the 2005 re-make. But again since the manga never got completed; I don’t think the ending for any of the Glass mask anime series will be satisfactory enough. The drama that was made had to wrap it up with their own version. But i heard that Vol. 42 will be complete at the end of July. . .Not sure if the manga-ka will continue and finish it off. . .

But my high rating is because of the manga and the 2005 sries. .. the 1984 version left too many plot holes and the seiyuus were not to my liking.

by: Archer

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:41:59 +0100

when i entered today on the blog and saw the this review i thought you watched Rose of Versailles but only for a second,probably because both are anime from around the same period and have similar old-shoujo art ….. guess Rose of Versailles sound more exciting and you choose the old anime that sound not so exciting :) (as u said)

by: psgels

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:47:56 +0100

Hashihime: I can see your point. Acting with emotion can indeed be a beautiful thing, but my problem with this is that it can be taken way too far, and the characters act way too emotional for the situations they’re in. This is what I noticed in Glass Mask, hence why I called it melodrama.

edit: sorry, I didn’t read your second post. Sorry about the misunderstanding, but my beef is indeed with the original series aired in 1984. They indeed probably remade it because of the dissatisfaction of the first season, especially since it seems to have 51 episodes.

by: hashihime

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:40:37 +0100

Whoops! I’m sorry! You were reviewing the 1980s version, which I haven’t seen. Have you seen the great 2005 version, with Kobayashi Sanae and Yajima Akiko? Apologies for my mistake. That’s the show I rate so highly. Perhaps it got remade because of dissatisfaction with the first version. It has been subbed up to around halfway, but only raw and Chinese-subbed versions are around for the rest.

by: hashihime

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:36:35 +0100

Thanks for the review, but I disagree with just about everything you wrote. I’m sorry you couldn’t accept this show’s style, which is firmly based in the manga. I just hate it when people pull out the words “emo” or “melodrama” to denigrate shows with actual emotion in them. In my opinion, Kobayashi Sanae was outstanding in this anime. I rate this show either an 8 or a 9.

by: Sapphire

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 21:34:17 +0100

I’m a fan of old (specially 80’s) shoujo series, so Glass Mask is on my “must see” list. A friend of mine recommended it because I really enjoyed The Rose of Versailles and Georgie and he said that Glass Mask had the same “vibe”. But after reading your review, I’m not so sure.

Anyway, there is a 2005 version of Glass Mask and I heard it’s better.

by: Wyrdwad

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:11:49 +0100

I still don’t know why you disliked the first half of NHK ni Youkoso so much… I was hooked on that show from episode one, and felt that the first and second halves were equally good, featuring outstanding character development from start to finish, and wonderful pacing. In fact, some of my favorite episodes are from the first half, like Sato going to the game designer school, or Sato discovering internet porn. (:

-Tom

by: psgels

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:58:27 +0100

There isn’t really a trend. I just have a big list of shows I still need to see, and randomly pick some of the ones that sound the least exciting.

by: Joline

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:22:15 +0100

By the way, psgels, I’m surprised you picked up such an old shoujo series. How do you decide which series to watch? There doesn’t seem to be a particular trend.

by: Joline

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:18:47 +0100

I haven’t seen the anime, but I follow the manga scanlations. I think the story is typical of old-school shoujo series (like Candy Candy or Oniisama E). So you can blame the melodrama on the fact that it’s an old series.

Although the story is totally unrealistic, I still think it’s a fun read (or watch). And in defense of the overacting, someone once asked the movie critic Roger Ebert why Japanese actors overact in Seven Samurai. Ebert said that it’s because Japanese film has roots in Kabuki theater, where overacting is a large element. So different countries, different styles I guess.

by: psgels

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:41:03 +0100

Denizen: I watched the first episode after a certain someone wrongly labelled the first episode of “Glass no Kantai” as “Glass Mask”, and that first episode interested me, though things went downhill very fast afterwards.

Endz: that indeed sounds totally different from what I have seen. During the stairs-scene, the creators made no attempt to focus at the main character of that play, and she just runs away crying and disappears, and the creators made it seem like she was jealous of Maya’s talent instead, portraying Maya as some kind of Mary Sue at the same time. Let alone the ridiculously overblown way of which the directors of that movie decided to film her acting.

by: Endz

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:28:48 +0100

Have you read the manga?

I haven’t watched the anime. The low rating of this manga masterpiece gave me interested in clicking the link from animenano.

The manga was very inspiring. Is the anime really that bad?

*Manga Spoilers*

Like for example in that walking down the stairs as a disabled person. The focus of that story isn’t how wonderful she acted as a disabled person walking down the stairs. It is how the main character of that play realizes how “light” she has been taking on about acting. While the main character(forgot her name but the main character of the manga and not the play this time) endlessly seriously tried to play the extra role no matter how insignificant it was. It was very inspiring…

*/end manga spoiler*

From what you were ranting about. It seems really different from the manga. In the manga when she just got her first boyfriend. She was exploring and wonder those new feelings. Nothing was really “sudden”.

by: Denizen

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:08:05 +0100

“The second half is just NOW worth it, because of that God-awful first half.”
Just a small mistake you may not have noticed :)

Anyways, what was it that suddenly got you watching this show? If it wasn’t a good show then how could you have possibly picked it out from somewhere.