The Tower of Druaga -the Aegis of URUK-

Well...to be honest, I had no idea about this ahead of time, and it certainly is a first.

Gonzo, the creators of The Tower of Druaga ~the Aegis of Uruk~, promised that they would upload the first episode of this series to both crunchyroll and YouTube...SUBBED.

As it turns out, they actually did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vgQ6WJ8zhQ&fmt=18
http://www.crunchyroll.com/media-317...a.html?hires=1


http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/8967/6372fv4.jpg

The Summer of "Anu": In a summer once every five years, demons in the mysterious Tower of Druaga lose their powers due to the magic spell cast by a god named "Anu". King Gilgamesh, ruler of the kingdom Uruk, uses the appearance of demons as an excuse to invade the tower and find out the construct's secrets. As 80 years passed, the Uruk army managed to fight back the demons and built a fortress city and safe haven on the very first floor of Druaga - Metz Kier. Thus begins the story of a warrior named Gil who, finding companions along the way, embarks on a quest for the fabled Blue Crystal Rod, a powerful artifact rumored to be in the highest floor of Druaga. However, other competitors, including the kingdom of Uruk itself, want the treasure, all for their own reasons.
[source: ANN]


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This is the fantasy series of the season. It was coming out with an MMO of the same premise, so we may see a bit of Ragnarok in this series, but I'm hoping it will turn out a little more like Scrapped Princess.

This episode was more of a comedy/parody like the first episode of Haruhi was, but it was pretty funny, and Gonzo's subs were not bad at all.

EDIT:

Impressive cast to boot:
Yui Horie
Akira Ishida (Slayers, Mai Hime, Gundam SEED)
Fumiko Orikasa (Code Geass, Scrapped Princess, Hellsing)
Minori Chihara (Minami-ke, Haruhi, Tenjou Tenge)
Yukana

and more.

Now the big question is, will any real groups thumb their nose at Gonzo's efforts and sub it with better typesetting, visual quality, and Karaoke.

As to the ep I only got through the first few minutes before the youtube full screen quality became too much to bear but it seemed interesting enough to watch. It was hard to figure out if I was supposed to take it seriously or not though since it felt more like I was watching someone play an RPG than I was watching an anime. I never caught catch Lodoss War or any of the other RPGish anime series so it's a bit weird.

OMG this stuff is FUNNY!

i just watched the tentacle scene, oh man! this is good... really good!

the expressions on their faces "WAIT NOT YET" *awwwww help me kiyaaa* "look closely"! *aaaWWWW* "ITS JUST GETTING GOOD!" *AAAAAAWWWW*

^^ oh man, *cough*

ok... i can breath again.
i don't even want to mention "the crimson knight: black knight" or was it dark knight ^^

is this series meant to be comedy btw? i thought its something more serious actually, but this is good too ^^
its like i m playing an RPG at the moment...
man i can't help it but this series is a bit like "they are my noble masters"


"we are the 3(!) knights of XXXXX" - " the blue knight" - "the silver knight - "the hyperknight - "the red knight"
*bling the three knights of XXXXX bling*

one cliché after another
parodies everywhere you look

well since i don't want to quote the anime i guess i'll wait for some more comments until i post again ^^
well however i don't think it will go on like this, its more something like Ragnarok:The animation?

edit: oops sry didn't read the first post till the end

well i'll keep watching this for sure. ok now i've got my first anime this spring..
i hope more will follow, because i pretty much knew alrdy that i m going to like this stuff.

I did like how they touched on nearly every fantasy story cliche in the book. But this episode was so out there. I'd like this series this way just fine, but I really have no idea what to make of this.

- The OP makes me think this will be like .hack

- A large part of it comes off totally nonsensical, and makes me want another Those Who Hunt Elves.

- The description makes it sound like this will be a relatively serious series, like the serious parts of Slayers. Or a slightly less serious Lodoss War.

I can't say I even thought about this series at all before now. Still, fantasy series are always fun. There's also Gonzo's little experiment. If Gonzo continues with this subbed streamed episodes, I'd love to support them in this effort. I hate watching anime on YouTube, have zero fondness for those who upload another group's work to YouTube so lazy viewers can avoid the sub channels and bittorrents, but the tiny screen doesn't really bother me.

By no means will I watch fansubs off YouTube. But here, Gonzo itself is releasing legitimate subtitles of their work.

The Region 1 anime industry is in trouble. It is a failing business model just like the Recording Industry. If this can lead to a new equilibrium between the Japanese Industry, fansubs, and the Region 1 Industry, I have to support them in this effort.

Lol, Tengen Toppa parody.

SONI........................IIIC!!!!!

LOL

That was an amazing first episode.

Dang, when I saw the name of this show, I was thinking "WOW! A Show about the Tower of Druaga" in the game "Tales of Destiny" Circa 1997. Sadly, that is not the case. :(

Lol I just checked it out, Hilarious!!! :)

Loved the Tengen Toppa parody. :)

I really liked the appearance of Black Knight: The Crimson Knight. Now where have I seen something that looks like that before....hmmm...

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6573/msgms132ec7.jpg

My favorite part was the "If you want to be leader, you'll have to fight me first" / "I don't want to fight, but you'll have to fight me first!" / "Well which one is it?!"

That...or the tentacle rape scene. Points out the exact reason why heroes completely capable of freeing their voluptuous female companion wait so long...every time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryllharu

The Region 1 anime industry is in trouble. It is a failing business model just like the Recording Industry. If this can lead to a new equilibrium between the Japanese Industry, fansubs, and the Region 1 Industry, I have to support them in this effort.

---

I read an article about how the anime industry in Japan is not balanced at all and how they charge R2 as if they would steal money to R2 in order to balance for R1 losses...
Plus they come up with utterly silly rules for R2, shows delayed for years, and so on...

It seems that this show was an attempt to try something else, try a new business model. Let's hope it's engouh.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ryllharu

I really liked the appearance of Black Knight: The Crimson Knight. Now where have I seen something that looks like that before....hmmm...

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6573/msgms132ec7.jpg

My favorite part was the "If you want to be leader, you'll have to fight me first" / "I don't want to fight, but you'll have to fight me first!" / "Well which one is it?!"

That...or the tentacle rape scene. Points out the exact reason why heroes completely capable of freeing their voluptuous female companion wait so long...every time.

---

Highlight of the episode for me was when they were rushing up the stairs and those glob monsters were chasing them. Jil says something that makes no sense and knocks Neeba out, leaving him to feed the monsters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Board of Command

Highlight of the episode for me was when they were rushing up the stairs and those glob monsters were chasing them. Jil says something that makes no sense and knocks Neeba out, leaving him to feed the monsters.

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*neeba has been left behind* (god i love that ^^)

yap that was truely funny..

because it was really nonsense!
"keep moving, i'll remain here"

and jil said "no, this is my fight from now on!" knocks him out and keeps moving... because of that neeba had to die for sure because he couldn't even defend himself ^^

and yes the black knight also remindet me of a zaku when i first saw him.
what i enjoyed also was the "and you know what? i m going to get married after this" and everyone who said that died instantly ^^

rofl a pretty good parody ep. Loved the tentacle scene haha.

I hope the actual series is more serious though...i want a good fantasy series to follow and the premise seems really good.

When's it coming out?

correct me if i m wrong but i think every week from now on

(well 04/2008 is a sure thing) so i think it started now.. or will in the next two weeks.

Wow a Mazin-Tengen-Kaizer-Getter-Evangelion-Shine-Attack!!! Holy crap!

Seriously though I laughed my ass off through that entire ep. Especially that Roper part. Best part for me.

Druaga no To​ - The Aegis of Uruk - 01​ (1280x720 H.264) - [Nova-Furukawa]

Sorry Gonzo, but 720p > Youtube

Didn't Gonzo say that they didn't want people subbing their animes? I could've sworn they were warning fansubbers last year threatining them with legal action and such. Guess not. Also funny enough i found this article. For those who are interested. Personally I think this is dumb..

From Animenation:
Gonzo has formally announced plans to institute a trial “open-pricing model” through the Crunchyroll website for the distribution of its Tower of Druaga -The Aegis of URUK- and BLASSREITER anime television series. Tower of Druaga and BLASSREITER will be released internationally online via YouTube, Bost TV, and Crunchyroll on the same day episodes are broadcast on Japanese television. Crunchyroll will offer downloadable high video quality episodes, and downloaders will be urged to pay whatever amount they consider fair in exchange for the downloads. “By allowing the users to determine the value of the product and make their voices be heard, GDH derives valuable feedback directly from consumers.”

“Crunchyroll aims to offer to its community a legal alternative to illegal file-sharing and downloading,” despite the fact that the site continues to support illegal file-sharing.

The Tower of Druaga will premier on April 4th. BLASSREITER is scheduled to premier on April 5th.

Maybe they'll send a C&D to the non-existent webpage of Furukawa. It's pretty hard to stop irc and torrent dump distribution.

How good are the Furukawa subs?

i had only the smallest interest in this show

and then I saw what Gonzo is doing with releasing subs soon after the Japanese airing.

that kind of progressive marketing tactic has earned this series my support. can't say i'll stay away from better quality resolution though... unless Gonzo's translations are that much more reliable.