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[series:958#628] | ||||||
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(Nine episodes watched): A neat show which definitely has a unique style to it--that's generally a good sign. It opens with a curious jazz/ragtime OP song (in Japanese), and episode one takes place in New York City. An occasional technique is employing split screens to show two or more images simultaneously. This seems to be an intelligent show, about outwitting opponents rather than shooting them or throwing punches. The plots can get kind of confusingly complex at times, at least I thought. At other times they may be a little simplistic and guessing the solution to the particular mystery is no challenge. For instance, when the head of the Rembrandt research team mentioned early on an incident in which a curator at the Met had overturned one of their judgements, I immediately knew where this one was going. For some reason episode nine ("Invitation to El Dorado", or something like that) cast off all pretenses of plausibility and was completely absurd--I couldn't help both laughing at it and praying that this was an anomaly. The principal characters seem like interesting people I could get to like. Fujita is calm, confident and debonair--he has an undeniable charm to him. Mitamura is a intelligent woman who considers Fujita a disgrace to the world of fine art and wants him put out of business, but won't sacrifice her morals to do so. Sara is an orphaned Arab girl who serves as Fujita's assistant, and thinks of him as a sort of foster parent/boyfriend. Her facial expressions when Fujita refuses to treat her as an adult are great. Character designs are nicely done--you could probably shave these people's heads and still tell who's who. Gallery Fake is quite educational, too! You learn a lot about fine art (I appreciate the fansubbers inclusion of their own notes at the start of episode two). As far as I can tell, Gallery Fake is only available as a fansub, and only episodes 1-12 so far. With 37 episodes total, it must have been fairly popular in Japan. Though not a high priority. I would gladly download and watch any additional episodes which became available. I often think of this as a sort of fine art version of Detective Conan. My favorite line (so far): "He gives off a worse vibe than you do" --Sara Last updated Tuesday, January 15 2008. Created Monday, June 26 2006. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.aniplex.co.jp/galleryfake |
