I could not disagree more with the site review. This anime was my first introduction to the Disgaea franchise – I was aware of there were video games, but I didn’t know anything about the story or the characters. But I liked the anime so much I instantly went out and bought the first and third games and fully intend to get the Disgaea 2 and Disgaea Infinite soon and the fourth one when it comes out in 2011.

In terms of where it rates on the comedy scale its no School Rumble, Excel Saga, Full Metal Panic Fumofu or Ouran High School Club, it’s more akin to Slayers. Like Slayers it will not have you laughing out loud, but it is light hearted amusing way to waste a few hours. I would in no way compare it to Superman 64 as the original review did (that game was simply unplayable).

The anime does indeed only follow the outline of the first game missing out many of the story arcs. The secondary characters that do appear such as the Hoggmeister and Maderas are essentially reduced to enemy of the day and don’t join the quest, and the Earth Defender Trio and Mid-Boss are only given recurring cameos that don’t quite fit their in-game sub-plots. Strangely Sardia who is a minor boss who appears for one battle in the game is given an entire episode as enemy of the day all to herself and the Maharl episode is not based on any part of the game at all. In this respect I agree with the site review, the secondary characters could and should have been given much more airtime and certain episodes could have made much better use of their running length in actually portraying the arcs of the game. Particularly irksome is that for a game all about battles and given the fight scenes shown in the intro there are actually very few fights in the show, and when they do appear they tend to be either short, poorly executed or emphasis more on comedy. While it was never possible to fit all 60 + hours and a LOT of end game content into 12 episodes, a much better job of it could have been done and I can see why Disgaea purists would be alienated (although considering it could have turned into a mess like Blue Dragon, which completely ignores the plot of the games entirely, it could have been much worse). Indeed the series could have benefited from 26 episodes to better pace itself and incorporate more fully the game’s story arcs as well as a better budget (the animation quality although bright and colourful does look poor when compared to many other modern series) However, that aside as someone who met the anime before the games and had no expectations I really enjoyed it.

Of note the I agree with the review that it would have been nicer to finish on the ‘good ending’, as opposed to the ‘normal ending’ they went with (albeit watered down), however the latter did allow for one last laugh at the end of the credits. Lets face it, the game has 15 odd endings and everyone has their favourite (I’m sure someone out there wished they went with the ‘Etna ending’ where she kills everyone and takes over the Netherworld, or the ‘Flonne Tragedy ending’ where Laharl kills Flonne… I’m rather glad they didn’t and I swear I will never unlock these endings again).

The character designs at least remain loyal to the game although, although the low budget has meant they don’t look as detailed as the Trailer and from scene to scene limb and head proportions do change. The characters personalities also remain similar although I notice Flonne is far more optimistic and carefree in the anime and less prone to angry outbursts about negative comments about her chest size and lamenting over the world’s sorrows which she does frequently in the game. My main complaint about the characters would actually be that the secondary characters aren’t given enough time to evolve, and that the main characters, although their character progression is the same as that of the game, it isn’t nearly as well executed.

Over all the game has better humour, more complete plot, superior characterisation, however the anime for all its flaws did make me laugh, and was enough to convince me to buy the games. All in all I enjoyed it and would say it’s a 7/10 (its no Ghost the Shell, Code Geass or Full Metal Panic, but its fun), although I can fully understand why those who played the game first would be less than happy with the finished product. I would recommend giving the show a shot, but I would also highly recommend getting the games too.

@Talon
That's all well and good for you but I have to review this as someone who's looking at an anime that was very poorly done as an adaptation of the game. If you think something that was rushed as that was makes for a good adaptation then hurrah for you but I'm calling it where I sees it and this thing was awful.

I was charitable in giving this a 2 out of 10. I Rated it 20%, that's not a pass. And the only reason it didn't get a 1 was because of the dub and when a JAPANESE CARTOON has to rely on the English dub to save it then you know there's problems.

I can understand where you are coming from, your coming from the point of someone who has just seen an anime do half-hearted attempt at translating of a game you love. I was the same when the Resident Evil movie came out, it had nothing in common with the games so I hated (LOATHED!!!!!!) it. But after a year or two I looked at it on its own worth (mentally blocking out the name Resident Evil) and felt it was not that bad a movie so long as I did not compare it to the game. I agree, and said as much, that this anime does a poor attempt at translating the game be it the humour, plot, or characters. So I think you are being harsh when you accuse me of thinking rushed adaptations are good, since I did criticise many of the shows flaws.

However, as you admit yourself you are “looking at an anime that was very poorly done as an adaptation of the game� ie you are comparing the anime to the game and not judging it on its own merit. The game was so good that yes, when compared to the game the anime is rubbish, but I myself am not judging it against the game, I’m judging it on how it compared to other the other anime DVDs on my shelf and how I feel it compares to them (its actual competition), not the game (its source material).

I mean seriously 2 out 10? Now like yourself I’ve seen hundreds of series of the last few decades and I’ve seen some stinkers, we all know the ones - MD Geist, Genocyber, Violence Jack, Armageddon, Blue Gender, Gasaraki, Cardcaptors (not CCS, its awful dub), Sprite Between two worlds, Voltage Fighter, Ninja Resurrection, Sword of Truth, Monster City, Dark Myth etc etc we could be here all day – they are all 2/10s if not 1/10s, but this show was nowhere near their level. At its worst Disgaea is an average 5/10, but I personally thought it was slightly better than that, mainly because I found the competing personality’s between Flonne and Etna rather amusing.

In the this is an issue of taste, I notice you mention you liked Yu Yu Hakushou, while I personally though that was a poor show, and while I enjoyed Sailor Moon I though the whole monster of the day got very old very fast (season 3 though was fantastic). So its quite possible for two people to watch a show and come away with two opposite impressions of it, however I do think, as I said above, that anyone who went in expecting it to reach the quality of the game will be jaded because it is not as good as the game. However, equally I do not believe it should be given a bad rating simply on the basis that it was not as good as it source material. While it is preferable for a show to be loyal to its source material, deviating isn’t always a negative, look at Negima!? which pretty much dumped its source material in the bin, but it was a much better show than the largely faithful to the manga (until episode 17 or thereabouts) original Negima series. Now Disgaea was no Negima!? (it wasn't as funny or as well animated) but Negima!? was not blasted for being a poor adaptation which it was, yet it was a really good anime.

In the end it is a matter of a taste, but I don’t think the show should be blasted just because it could not match the quality of its source material. That is why for me at least Disgaea my not be a great adaptation of its source material, but it is an above-average anime.

I must admit when I posted I didn’t realise I would be required to make multiple additional posts to defend my position, I assumed it would be like Play or Amazon where you post a review, other people post reviews, but you aren’t constantly questioned on what you had to say like in a forum. But to answer your new points:

1. Jennifer & Gordon do indeed turn up in episode 1, but this should not – I feel - equate to a low mark. Yes, it’s altering from the flow of the game storyline, but this doesn’t make it a bad anime. Again, as mentioned you are judging it (and you admit as much) entirely on how word-for-word close to the game it is, I am judged it based on its own merits. Of note Flonne is the first character we see in the show and I was disappointed to find she doesn’t turn up until about 3 hours into the game since I thought she was the funniest character – so congrats on the anime for that.

2. You complain about the anime ending deviating from the game, but that is the normal ending from the game and it is what most players of the game would get on their first go. I didn’t, I got the mid-boss ending on my first go, and then levelled-up a bit and eventually got the good ending because I made sure not to kill any allies on the second cycle, but if you weren’t as careful and did kill an ally or two then the ending you get would be the normal ending, ie the one the anime followed, and Larhal did in the anime ending exactly what he did in the normal ending of the game (he did not run away from his problems, rather he…. can’t say because it’s a spoiler...., something he would never have done at the start of the show). I agree unlike in the game mid-boss does not turn up to explain what the ending all meant, and the anime does assume you will understand what happened to Laharl and Flonne. Since you already completed the game you knew, and although I had not played the game at that point I still got it – so I don’t see what was so unexplained or confusing about the way the show ended.
As I said originally, it would have been nice to go with the Good Ending particularly since Disgaea 2 establishes the good ending as the cannon ending, however they did not. Lets remember Hellsing OVA also had an rushed ending which left plot holes open, but most people agree that despite that the show was really good (of note, Hellsing is a better anime than Disgaea)

3. In relation to your comment that as an anime fan you could not sleep at night to give it above 5/10, I assure you I have been an anime fan for 18 years and have seen hundreds of series (I have no interest in counting out how many but since I order around 5 series boxed sets from the US each month it’s a substantial number). I am fully willing to accept that you might have been watching anime for longer than me and seen far more series than me (I'm not really interest in comparing figures), however I believe I have seen enough to not have my status as an anime fan called into question just because I – on personal tastes - thought that when comparing the series to all the other stuff I’ve seen it stood out from the bog standard titles I’ve collected over the years.
Seriously if you are just going to call into question the opinion of anyone who has a different view or taste in show from the site review then why even allow the public to comment on the site in the first place? As I’ve said before, can’t we just agree this is an issue of different tastes or how strong we feel about the anime needed to stay loyal to its game source and leave it at that?

4. As for your final comment about warning people off giving the show a try, I hope they do give a try. Sure people should take note of what this site’s staff think (that’s the whole point of a review site), but in the end they should make up their own mind. I personally, as someone who bought the show prior to seeing your review and with no prior knowledge if the game, simply think you have misrepresented it and posted my thoughts ie not fantastic, but enjoyable. I was not looking to antagonise you as I clearly somehow have and I certainly do not want to fight over who is the biggest anime or Disgaea fan, I simply thought your view was overly bias and hoped to add the view of someone who though the opposite. I hope more people give the title a shot and come to their own conclusions.

I must admit after my last post I just avoided this website for a week because I knew you would just continue insulting me and I wanted to avoid it, but I wanted to check release dates and I just had to return for one last look, and yep I was right about the insults.

Okay, for the last time I hope, I’ll answer your points,

1. You say "by you hoisting the word Bias like I'm a witch for defending my review�, yet you completely miss that that this is what YOU are doing. You posted a review, I posted a comment that disagreed with it. Now I have posted dozens of comments in anime sites before, and sure in many the site reviewer comments on my comment etc but this is the first time the site staff replied with the level of hostility in tone I have received from you. Clearly I have somehow offending you but I am at a loss as to how I managed this by simply stating I thought you were being too harsh on the show and I thought it was not that bad. From questioning my taste in shows in your second post to your insinuation that I am not an anime fan in your fourth post, you have been incredibility condescending and antagonistic in your comments and I do not see why you have to be so hostile. And now in your sixth post you are accusing me of wasting your time, dude I never asked you to come back over and over an comment on my posts. Basically you have insulted me at every opportunity no matter how curtious I have tried to be, while I have frequently tried to try to point out this is an issue of taste and asked can we agree to disagree? I’ve looked at your profile and its says you are 23, not a teenager I initially assumed – so given that we are both adults I will ask again can we please have some level of mutual adult respect here?
As for saying you are bias, that was never meant to be an insult - you admitted in your second post you would have given this anime a 1 if it did not have the exact voice actors you wanted. Dude, that is incredibly bias. I went back and watched the show again during the week, and while, as stated before, I agree the plot is not as well told as the game and the animation is average, I see nothing that warrants a 2 rating. So yes, if you are admitting you would have given this show a 1 if it did not use the actors you wanted them to use, and you are criticising the show for not word-for-word following the game, I assume you are bias and not even giving the show a chance on its own merit. Now ultimately how you run your site is up to you, but I simply feel that a reviewer should be more objective, you say reviews are always bias, well yes I have tried to say many times taste will be an issue, but at the same time I do feel reviewers should attempt to try and consider all audiences when writing not just their own tastes. Certainly I do not believe a reviewer should insult members of the public who disagree with them when its the reviewer who has opted to have a comments section for site visitors to post their thoughts – like I said before, if why have a comments box if you admit you don’t want people like me who disagree with you, I quote, wasting your time?


2. In relation to your comment on e-peen now I admit I needed to google it to find out you were making reference to the size of my well… you know, something that is not best mentioned on a site frequented by children, but I could get that it was something akin to measuring ego from the rest of your statement. Clearly you are missing the point and once again choosing to insult me. I stated quite clearly I was not interested in debating who had the most anime or who watched the most anime, frankly I do not care if you have watching anime for 5 years or 60, and I am sure you do not care if I have 5 DVDs or 5000. The sole reason I raised how much anime I own and watched it because YOU choose to raise the issue of who is the bigger anime fan: you stated, “To give it a 7 would suggests that it has obtained a passing grade of above 50% and I can not, as someone who is a fan of Disgaea or even a fan of anime in general, do so and still sleep at night.� Now maybe you were just trying to be flowery and you did not meant it literary, but that certainly reads like you are saying anyone who does not give this anime a 2 is not an anime fan and has no right to an opinion. Hence why I mentioned my collection, to point out that I am an anime fan and I do have a right to an opinion whether it agrees with you or not.


3. Lastly, you said “it doesn't give you cart-Blanche right to editorialise what score I can give a series�. Once again, if Anime Uk News does not want visitors editing the Average Rating THEN WHY ALLOW US TO COMMENT? Seriously, you have at the top of the page a rate this anime vote button and you have a comments box which also asks us to rate it. You even have under your signature, 'ConanThe3rd scored this with 2/10. Disagree?’ Anyone reading your site reviews, including me, would naturally assume you guys welcomed us to add our thoughts even if we did not agree with you. I apologise entirely for not realising its a rhetorical question and you do not actually mean for people who disagree with you to post, change the score you have given the show and, I quote, waste your time. But surely your site should take some blame here though for laying so many pitfalls in my way to lead me to believe you want visitor feedback? If you do not want feedback, then why not remove all the voting buttons, or say at the end of your review simply state that opposing comments are not welcome. Anyway do not worry, I assure you after this experience I will never go near the comments box again, so you will never have to worry about me disagreeing with you or mistakenly editing your rating by using the publicly available voting buttons again.

"Anyway do not worry, I assure you after this experience I will never go near the comments box again, so you will never have to worry about me disagreeing with you or mistakenly editing your rating by using the publicly available voting buttons again."
I encourage you not to do so.
This last week has been considerably crazy for me, so I've overlooked this exchange entirely. While anyone could used it to exchange their ideas, the comment section is not the forums.
Also, while I believe everyone is entitled to an opinion, I also believe conan went overboard here and I apologize to you in the name of Anime UK News staff.