Why is Brigadoon not more popular?

Sep 21, 2008 4:43 PM

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Sep 2008

123

Now someone said in a review that the Brigadoon anime was silly and perverted, and so far I've only read the manga so I can't say more, but it seems like there would be more fans of it.

Only 40-something people have read the manga on here I believe. And I know it's short, but there are 1 volume series that have more readers :/

Any ideas peoples?

Mar 15, 2009 6:42 AM

KenShiRo-Sama

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Nov 2008

640

I have started the anime version, and I really can't understand why this series are not more popular. The opening is one of the best.

Aug 28, 2009 2:04 AM

ChillWinterheart

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Aug 2009

216

Homicide said:
Now someone said in a review that the Brigadoon anime was silly and perverted, and so far I've only read the manga so I can't say more, but it seems like there would be more fans of it.

Only 40-something people have read the manga on here I believe. And I know it's short, but there are 1 volume series that have more readers :/

Any ideas peoples?

About the perverted part, well.... in some countries they may frown upon the big age gap between the two heroes [I mean, Marin looks so young for Melan that I've read someone call the series pedophilic. =_=] But in Japan I know pairings like that are not uncommon, so anyway...

And although there's a lot of stuff there that only kids would appreciate [like the submaton color episode], overall it's not an anime series for general patronage. There's absolutely nothing about sex but there's a lot of casual nudity, and the aliens bleed purple blood, tons of it. =_=

But hey, I wouldn't have Brigadoon any other way. ^_^

Mar 26, 2011 9:33 PM

Mouse2010

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Jan 2011

Don't know if this club is still active, but what the heck!

My guess is that Brigadoon is such an odd mixture of things that it's hard to find an audience for it. The art makes it look like it's for kids, but it has some really dark plot twists and bloody battle scenes, so if I were recommending it, I could only recommend it to an older audience (I mean older teens rather than young kids), and older viewers might be turned off by the goofy parts.

Re the claims that it's "perverted:" I don't agree with that, but I can sort of see where those reviews are coming from. I think what bothered me more than the romantic relationship between Melan and Marin (because heck, he's a robot, not a human, and it seemed kind of like puppy love for both of them) was the way in which Marin was casually depicted in the nude. I get that the nudity was plot-relevant some of the time, and it wasn't really that sexual. Still, that makes it hard to recommend, because even if it wasn't INTENDED as lolicon fanservice, it sure looks like it.

Mar 28, 2011 4:29 AM

domn

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Mar 2011

Unfortunately, Brigadoon's North American release came at a bad time. During the years it was released in North America (2003-2004), there was a shift beginning in the watching habits of anime fans of the time. The anime bubble of the early 2000's was starting to go down the path of bursting at this time as more anime fans were switching to online viewing/downloading of series from fan subbed groups. I highly doubt its release was well advertised, which is compounded by the fact that it was only shown on an on demand channel on TV. It just didn't have the necessary exposure to take off, not with the hundreds of other series being brought over to North America courtesy of the anime bubble drowning it out.

Doubly unfortunate is that at the time of Brigadoon's Japanese release (2000-2001), the English online anime community was nothing like as strong and centralized as it is today. So no speed subbing of virtually every series in a season, and no huge communities of people to talk and discuss the currently airing series.

Brigadoon is also an odd piece. Its combination of themes and art style, while unique can easily turn off a viewer not willing to give it a chance. And what I consider to be Brigadoon's strongest point - its ability to take your preconceptions of it and smash them to pieces - is also its weakest. Many people, upon reading the generic description for Brigadoon and seeing the art will expect a kiddy comedy with maybe a few twists. When this is violently changed early in the show, they can easily be turned off. This is not the show they were expecting or hoping to watch, they'll go find something else. And thus they never tell anyone about the show, and it languishes in obscurity.

I think though that if Brigadoon were released today, it would be quite popular online. Just getting a large number of people to try it simply because it is part of the new season of anime would be enough. Take for example the large popularity of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Also an anime original, it is a deconstruction of the magical girl genre, with its unexpected event hook in episode 3. People watch to that point simply because it is a currently airing series. Then, once a certain critical number of people are caught by the hook, the series is able to spread itself by word of mouth/keyboard. While Brigadoon doesn't have nearly as strong an individual hook as Madoka, it does have a good one in episode 2 with more in subsequent episodes. Certainly enough to keep people watching. Alas, we are definitely under that critical threshold number.

To appreciate Brigadoon for what it is though, I think it helps to have seen a number of previous series. With no preconceptions to break, it may come across as a good series, but it probably won't be a great one. The twists and tragedy really hit you the hardest when you have that sense of "But that just DOESN'T happen in this genre!". And that makes you empathize with Marin more, which is really necessary for the final episode to leave the proper impact. Personally, I'd prefer someone to think of this as a great series to continue its spread. So I'd really only be able to recommend this to teens/adults, who have seen a number of anime and are maybe looking for something different.

May 10, 2011 1:41 PM

Vla

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Jul 2010

105

I think this anime just needed more PR, but got very poor promotion, therefore many people still don't know about Brigadoon.

Nov 7, 2012 10:34 PM

plutomutt

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Mar 2010

146

I'm pretty sure it's because it's not easy enough to classify for most people. I've talked to a lot of anime fans who are only into a certain anime genre, so when they see one thats hard to categorize and could easily be bad they pass it up.

I only wish Brigadoon was more popular for the selfish reason that I really REALLY want there to be more merchandise for it that I can buy. Other then that I'm satisfied feeling like I have it all to myself, it's my special secret little anime, I don't expect others to understand it's greatness. :p

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