Saber Marionette Whats the best SM J, Again, JtoX

Best Writing:
http://www.mangatoanime.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1092

Best Animation:
http://www.mangatoanime.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1089

Overall, I did enjoy the original Saber Marionette J series the most.

J Again had some shining moments to it, but was not stellar. It's also the only series that doesn't "wimp out" at the end.

J to X was very filler for the first third of it. I blame this on the fact that the previous two series jump into their story from the get-go, and J to X lags in the beginning - more for character development aspect than anything. As a result, it's not very gripping to begin with, but sticking with it will yield a superb remaining 2/3 of storyline. If I hadn't been waiting so long for it, and obsessing, it might have been as emotionally entertaining as the first series.

Edit: Forgot the last digit on the animation link. Fixed now. Sorry for those who clicked it and ended up looking at Venus 5 :dizzy2:

 

OMG... SMJ2X IS DA BEST... pay close atenttion to baka... he is no baka when it comes to SMJ

 

By "wimping out", I'm referring to the endings.

Spoiler: SMJ and J Again

In SMJ, the biggest emotional moment was when the three decided to sacrifice themselves to save everyone else. We had that tear-filled scene where all three say goodbye to Otaru and he's shot out in an escape pod. They were willing to give up their lives to save evryone else.

That was how it should have ended. In the ultimate proof of love, the three saved everyone by giving themselves to the Mesopotamia. Emotionally gutwrenching? Completely.

Instead, though, SMJ "wimped out". Mesopotamia felt their emotional turmoil and released them, sending the three back to Otaru. SMJ ends as if nothing ever happened.

In J Again, they pull the same trick, though this time with Marine. J Again does what SMJ couldn't do, and ends up with Marine sacrificing herself to save those she loved.

 

I've currently written 15, and am in process of the 16th. Have about 10 more planned.

"Saber Marionette J version Matt"

Heh, just kidding. I'll let you try and figure that one out yourself.

Nope, I don't make any J to X references. I planned and started writing before seeing any of J to X. Interestingly enough, after watching the series I had to go back and change some of what I planned because J to X actually went and did it...

Bingo. Between J and J Again.

Actually, I always thought number 7 was the first big giveaway. The fact that Faust is still with the Saber dolls, and hasn't sent them to Japoness, I mean.

Wow. I guess I hadn't made that clear enough...hmm, I'd recommend reading them in order, but it's your call after all.

Brian Tuvera did a manga version of this one. It's superb, if you haven't seen it yet: http://www.geocities.com/b_tuvs/mng-03.htm

Yeah, it has an echo-like quality, doesn't it? The difference, really, is how Dawn's purpose was different than Marine.

Spoiler: J vs M

Dawn is actually a marionette named "Destruction". She was built with a similar purpose to "Death", and was actually used as a powerful time-bomb in an attempt to destroy Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry. However, she was not fully primed when Death sent her out, and as a result she hadn't fully developed her systems. Dawn only realized near the end of her time what her true purpose was, and having befriended Lime she did her best to get away before detonation.

He wasn't, and some viewers even believed it to be a dream of his. The sequence does play out as if it could be all in his mind.

Note the beginning of J Again when Otaru wakes up. "It wasn't a dream".

 

Glad you're enjoying both J to X and my fanfic.

Yes, you've gotten used to the spoiler tags very quickly.

Episode 3 of J vs M was very fun to write. Of course it was prior to J to X and I wanted to see a differed personality of Bloodberry. I never did go back and fix the few problem scenes I had arranged, but I think it still turned out alright.

The funniest line I found in J to X episode three was, "Does that mean he gets his wish now?"

 

Ooh...you ended up with the Hong Kong subs. Err..."lucky" you.

Back before Bandai Entertainment finally released official DVDs of J to X, us non-japanese fans were limited to what was fansubbed (1-10 uncommon, 11-15 rare), and the release you bought for anything further...

However, (and every HK J to X watcher say it with me now), the HK SUBS ARE PURE CRAP!

It's evident enough from the fact that they can't even get the character names straight. "Huxang" for Hanagata. "Lam" and "Amy" for Lime. "Cranberry" for Cherry. And my personal favorite, "Little Red" for Bloodberry. ^^

But it's all we had...

I can see you haven't fully understood what's going on and being said in episode 19 between Akashi and Otaru.

Back in episode 6, when Akashi met Bloodberry and Cherry, he had no idea Otaru also had Cherry and Lime. This conjured a very different image of Otaru in Akashi's eyes. He couldn't believe back then how Otaru could have hurt her in any way, being as special as she was. Still, he returned her, knocking Otaru off his feet "for Bloodberry's feelings".

Then, in episode 19, he sees the wanted poster of Otaru and all three marionettes, and he can't believe it. No wonder Bloodberry had hurt feelings! She was loving a guy who split his feelings three ways.

That's the "13" or "113" in the subtitles - it's supposed to read "1/3", in sync with the episode's title, "1/3 of Sorrow".

In Akashi's speech, he delivers an ultimatum to Otaru.

"You can have Bloodberry back, but only if your promise to forget the other two. Bloodberry is more than just a third of a person, and she deserves to be loved as a whole. I won't allow you to hurt her again."

A shattered Otaru, at long last finding the whereabouts of one of his missing loved ones, can't argue back. What Akashi says rings true...


I find this an interesting tie-in to the earlier, 16th episode, "Birds without Wings". The memorable scene there is when the shopkeer explains the legend of the one-eyed, one-winged bird, and how it cannot do much of anything on its own. However, when the two birds come together, they become whole and can fly.

Otaru comments to Hanagata how he and the girls are the same. He's a wingless bird, and without them, he isn't whole.

The scene ends with Hanagata commenting, "It's strange, though. There isn't such a thing as a bird with four wings..."


Tie these together and you can see where the story points. These are the more emotional points of J to X, and probably the best crafted of that series...

As for the ending, I won't spoil you... ^_^

 

Oh, they're bad...I begged an online friend to rip 16-26 (since he had them and I was desperate to see them). You hit entire scenes where the characters speak nonsense. Watching the Bandai release afterwards was almost like an entirely new story for some parts. ^^

 

That was episode 16. And yes, that's what he says.

First Hanagata thinks to himself for a bit, along the lines of: With the marionettes gone, there's nothing standing between mine and Otaru's love. But being the man that I am, I would rather win him fairly.

Then he volunteers his help to Otaru before that sudden thought pops into his head and he voices it aloud.

 

The ending seems to have 2 very different takes on viewers.

They either love it or hate it. I haven't seen anyone to date offer a "it was ok".

I personally follow your lead -> I rejected the ending, mainly because I couldn't stand how the characters changed so differently from how I'd become used to seeing them. The second half of J to X really warps their image as we'd seen it up until then.

In a way, that's its way of mold-breaking. SMJ carries some anime cliches, but J to X blows them all away.

It took about a month before I decided the ending was fine. I hated it with a passion for the first week, at least. I realized it was less the fault of the writing than it was of my personal dislike to change.

Oh, and that last bit of text says "GOOD LUCK TO EVERYBODY".