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Charles Solomon

Famous animation critic

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A man with a totally undeserved reputation as a "respectable" animation critic. 9%

Dec 29, 2012

by RabidChihuahua
posted in WHAT CAN I SAY?

Exclusive to the Lunch Network

Rating:

-4

Warning: This review contains potential spoilers for various anime titles critiqued by Charles Solomon. These were included for the sake of being able to elaborate on why I think Solomon's opinions are false.

I've only known about animation critic Charles Solomon for only a few years, but after finding out about him, most of his opinions on animation (anime especially) has rubbed me the wrong way. At first, I thought it was just disagreements in tastes and opinions. However, after doing some deeper analysis of his editorial reviews on Amazon for various anime, I've come to realize that his opinions and reasoning for them are a joke. I'll be posting his editorial Amazon reviews so I can easily elaborate on my points.

Here's his editorial review for Doomed Megalopolis.

“The four-part OAV Doomed Megalopolis (1991) is more notable for its misogynistic violence than for its coherent storytelling or skillful animation. In 1908 the ghost-demon-sorcerer Kato tries to resurrect Masakado, a historical figure who has become the unofficial guardian deity of Tokyo, by offering Yukari as a human sacrifice. Masakado rejects Kato's offering, but the evil sorcerer keeps trying, tormenting Yukari and her daughter, Yukiko (whose father is Yukari's brother Tatsumi). Kato causes the devastating 1923 Tokyo earthquake at the end of episode 2, after which the plot simply collapses. Violent imagery--collapsing buildings, the repeated rape and torture of Yukari--alternate with stretches of leaden dialogue, long Morris-the-Explainer scenes, and pretentious narration. The animation is crude at best: the characters change appearance from scene to scene, and the artists try unsuccessfully to draw the human figure from weird angles. The most striking feature of this jejune gorefest is designer Masayuki's flamboyantly bizarre use of color. (Rated 17 and older, but unsuitable for viewers under 18: graphic violence, violence against women, rape, incest, nudity, grotesque imagery, profanity, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon”

Link to original review (always a good thing to cite sources):

http://www.amazon.com/Doomed-Megalopolis-Special-Edition-Shintar%C3%B4/dp/B0000APVFZ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

First of all, he says “repeated rape and torture of Yukari.” I'm wondering if he even watched this anime, because last time I checked, Kato only tried to magically-impregnate Yukari in the beginning of OVA 2, and an off-screen scene where Tatsumiya commits incest upon Yukari. The way Solomon worded this, he acted as if there was a gang of vicious men waiting to rape Yukari at least twice in each OVA. He also says this is loaded with “misogynistic violence.” I'm not saying this is a good thing, but Japan, compared to the United States, is a pretty misogynistic culture (especially during the time Doomed Megalopolis took place). In relation to the animation, yes, it's a little crude, but it was a low-budget title. Rintaro and the folks at Madhouse didn't have the vast resources that Disney or Warner Bros. had, so he should take that into consideration. For a low-budget anime, I think the animators did a good job with what resources they had at their disposal. Solomon even says that the plot collapses after OVA 2. He can't be more wrong, since everything came together almost perfectly.

What I find funny is that Solomon seemed so angry about DM having misogynistic content, now look at his editorial review for Akira.

“After Tokyo was destroyed in a mysterious blast in 1988, the elaborate city of Neo-Tokyo was built on its ruins. By 2019, Neo-Tokyo has been divided between a powerful and wealthy upper class and the violent punks and motorcycle gangs who haunt its slums. When the members of one gang attempt to strike back at the arrogant lords of the city, they unleash a wider and more destructive conflict than they anticipated. Neo-Tokyo is destroyed in another conflagration, but a new city will arise on its ruins, like a phoenix from its ashes.

It's not always easy to tell the thuggish characters in Akira apart, but the emphasis is on expertly cut motorcycle chases and violent gun battles, rather than nuanced performances. The striking, dystopic designs reflect the influence of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, an interesting example of cultural cross-pollination. Akira defines anime for many Americans and is the object of an extremely loyal cult following. Uninitiated viewers may find the two-hour length of this animated epic a bit daunting and choose to watch it in sections. --Charles Solomon”

Link to original review:

http://www.amazon.com/Akira-Blu-ray-Mitsuo-I...ef=cm_cr_pr_product_top

As you can see, he has a far more favorable review of Akira than Doomed Megalopolis, and he willfully ignores the fact that Akira has its moments of blatant misogyny, and I would even say that these are even worse than those featured in DM.

I think the above have given enough detail about Solomon's inconsistencies in his critiques, but it's also worth mentioning that his stance on bad tonal shifts are as consistent as a bad game of Russian roulette. He's rightfully given flack to lesser popular titles like Burn Up Excess for their bad tonal shifts while praising fan-favorite anime titles like Trigun, despite the fact that Trigun has a ton of bad tonal shifts as well. It's too clear that most of the time, Solomon makes up shitty excuses to praise bad anime that's heavily-praised by fans.

NONSENSICAL GARBAGE

It's worth noting that sometimes, he's lying right out of his ass about things a 12 year-old would know isn't true. For example, he even said the following about the content in Ghost in the Shell:

“The minor nudity, profanity, and considerable violence would earn Ghost in the Shell at least a PG rating.”

Link to editorial review:

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Shell-Atsuko-Tan...ords=ghost+in+the+shell

I first saw Ghost in the Shell when I was 14, and even being an impulsive kid driven by hormones at that time, I knew that Ghost in the Shell is NOT “at least” PG material, this is strictly R-rated stuff if it were to get a rating from the MPAA (as of writing this, it doesn't have an MPAA rating).

While the following may be a totally subjective point, I still feel like mentioning it. Solomon called Rocko's Modern Life “rock bottom” and “a tasteless attempt to capture the Ren and Stimpy audience.”

Link to comments:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocko's_Modern_Life

My response is that while Solomon didn't have to love the show, he should have been able to see the “under the rug” adult innuendo and reserved use of “gross” content, hardly anything I'd consider “rock bottom” since crap that's “rock bottom” requires no effort to make, while the content in Rocko had a ton of effort put into it.

AMBIGUOUS OPINIONS

Sometimes, Solomon makes it unnecessarily difficult to determine whether or not he likes something. This is extremely annoying right here. Here's his editorial review for the first season boxed set for Batman: The Animated Series:

“Warner Brothers' Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) remains a striking, stylized program that helped to revitalize the familiar comic book hero. Drawing on such diverse influences as Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, the Fleischers' Superman cartoons of the early '40s, and contemporary Japanese animation, the filmmakers stress interesting designs and cinematography. The Caped Crusader prowls a sinister, Art Deco-styled world of tall verticals, sharp angles, silhouettes, searchlights, and grid-like shadows cast by window frames. Its visual pizzazz eclipses Filmation's pallid kidvid, The Batman/Superman Hour (CBS, 1968), which ran off and on in various incarnations through 1981. Many of the same artists worked on the Batman animated features (e.g., Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Batman Beyond--The Movie (1999)), which display similar strengths and weaknesses.

Ironically, Batman: The Animated Series looks better in stills than it does in motion. The artists fail to stylize the movements of the characters to match the dramatic settings, as Genndy Tartakovsky and his crew did in Samurai Jack. Batman uses sophisticated computers to combat the well-known villains--the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman--as well as some less celebrated baddies: Manbat, Clayface, The Mad Hatter. The bad guys cram a lot of plotting and scheming into each 22-minute episode, but the violence is kept to a broadcast standards minimum.

The Dark Knight's First Knight easily ranks as the most interesting of the extras. Producers Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski recount the genesis of the series, and show their mini-pilot, which is more violent and more fully animated. If the complete episodes had matched the pilot, the series would have been much more exciting. (Unrated, suitable for ages 8 and older: violence, mild grotesque imagery) --Charles Solomon”

Link to editorial review:

http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Animated-Comics...man+the+animated+series

I'm guessing from his criticisms of the show, that he finds it disappointing, but it would have been more satisfying if he was far more clear about his opinion of the show.

GOOD THINGS

As much as I hate to say it, sometimes Solomon does get it right in terms of reviewing animation. He's rightfully smashed Elfen Lied while praising Paprika. I'm not singing praise to Solomon for the fact that I agree with him on said titles, but for the fact that he's smashed EL and praised Paprika for most of the right reasons, such as dismissing Elfen Lied as a tasteless mixture of gratuitous gore, treacly sentimentality, and fan-service nudity.

FINAL WORD

If you're scanning the internet for opinions to determine whether or not to watch certain anime titles, take Charles Solomon's opinions with a HUGE grain of salt. In fact, I think he's like the animation equivalent to the horribly irrelevant, inconsistent, and wrongfully acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert (who is another kettle of fish).

I can't wait for the day that Solomon's status as the “wise critic of animation” crumbles.

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stormtamer February 11

Okay, so you all know I'm a Gundam girl (see avi of Gundam Cherudim from Gundam 00), so here is a snippet of Solomon's commentary on Gundam Wing. Oddly, he sort of praises the anime, but at the same time trashes it and the fans.

The uninitiated may have trouble following the plot: strange revelations abound (e.g., Relena discovers Zechs is her long-lost brother) and characters disappear for a dozen or more episodes, only to return when a deus ex machina is needed. But Gundam fans aren't interested in tightly woven story lines or credible character arcs, and Gundam Wing delivers plenty of battles between the splendidly designed robots. It's a classic confrontation between good guys with invincible weapons and soulless bad guys who can't hit the broad side of a robot. (Rated 13 and older: occasional profanity, robot vs. robot violence) --Charles Solomon

First of all, I'm not sure what is confusing about a character finding out she has a brother she never knew about. This is explained in a perfectly understandable manner in the series. It's not like they just drop you into something that's a perpetual head scratcher. Secondly, is he serious? We aren't interested in a tight story and character arcs? Wow, just...I don't even. I guess he is so self absorbed that he has no idea there are many of us that analyze the hell out of our favorite characters.

He also says the story is convoluted, which it is not. In fact, it's paced so that there's little left to question. And oh wait! He refers to Heero as "sullen," Duo as "happy go lucky," a term that I have an immense loathing for, because his character is so much more complex than that.

I'd have to agree that it seems like he doesn't actually watch the shows he so enthusiastically pans, or seems indifferent about. If he did, he'd know why GW has such a reputation among veteran anime fans like myself. I'm not saying it's perfect, but he just furthers the stereotype that "Gundam is just about fighting robots, and the fans are weird and shallow."

I write fan fiction at Fanfiction.net, and I have actually had more than one person echo what I just said above. Thanks for all your help, Charlie. If he can misrepresent GW like this, I don't want to think about what he'd do to Gundam 00. I mean, even I have a ton of issues with it, so the thought is kinda frightening.

And huh, as far as the movie goes (Endless Waltz), he doesn't even make an effort to actually review it at all, but rather does a brief run down of the story as if he were copying it off the DVD box.

RabidChihuahua February 11

Thank you for commenting, Steph.

Even though I never watched any of the Gundam shows, you raise some perfect points about Charlie's bullshit in reviewing GW. You're right about his personality, he's so self-absorbed that he willingly overlooks the facts just to paint such broad strokes over fans of certain anime.

I wish I could find Charlie's email address so that I can confront him on the sheer logical fallacies in his reviews.

stormtamer February 11

Oh trust me, I've tried. I think the closest I found was an address at some paper he writes op/eds or whatever for, concerning animation in general. If I recall, he has a thing for Disney titles. I guess I might not have an issue with him as much if he didn't comment on individual characters, as well as fan bases. The way I see it, a true critic considers all angles before forming an opinion and then sharing it with the world. And apparently he doesn't know that mecha and robots are not one in the same. Okay, enough ranting from me.

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woopak_the_thrill January 02

hah. reviewing a critic! Very entertaining read. Honestly, I have not heard of this guy, but then again, I have never relied on so-called professionals anyway. Ditto on your comments about Ebert.

RabidChihuahua January 02

Be glad you haven't really heard of Solomon, since I find most of his reviews uninformed and therefore, unreliable. I might review Ebert in the near future.

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voilodion December 31, 2012

He also thought the Jubei Yagyu of NINJA RESURRECTION was the same Jubei Kibagami of NINJA SCROLL, even though the characters look completely different and the stories have nothing to do with each other. I'm also annoyed with his "jejune gorefest" comment in his DM review since the images of killing and death in DM are nowhere near the level of "classic titles" like AKIRA and NINJA SCROLL. He also excuses the unanswered questions of AKIRA with the excuse that such a thing is common in anime. But at the beginning of his DM review, the first thing he knocks it for is its lack of "coherent storytelling."

RabidChihuahua December 31, 2012

Thank you for the additional info on Solomon's stupidity, man. Now that you mention the stuff you said, I'm wondering of Solomon really watches these anime titles he's supposed to review, or if he just reads detailed plot summaries and bases his opinions on those?

voilodion December 31, 2012

Its possible. It definitely seems like that in his DM review since he gives the latter two episodes absolutely no attention, and everything he says could just as easily be applied to only the first two episodes. Reading his general AKIRA review again, I realize that it is really rather sparse. The first paragraph is nothing but a plot synopsis and in the second paragraph, only about two sentences are devoted to any kind of critical analysis. Then he just says "its a classic", gives a suggestion and that's it. And those two sentences only focus on the visual elements--he doesn't discuss anything about the characters, audio, etc. Makes you wonder if he's actually afraid to criticize it for fear of suffering the wrath of its loyal fanbase. I wonder if that's why his opinion on BATMAN:TAS is purposefully ambiguous.

RabidChihuahua December 31, 2012

That makes total sense. Solomon does seem to word his opinions to try to not enrage the enormous fanbases of popular anime. I loathe critics like this because aside from the bad and inconsistent reasoning, it ultimately shows that they have no desire to be honest when they know their negative opinions won't be popular. Critics should never care about popularity in their opinions, only theirs as long as the opinions are honest and informed.

voilodion2012 January 01

Sorry, switched accounts. Exactly. Although sometimes they do go against the popular stance. For example, Solomon's ELFEN LIED review. However, unless the critic is Armond White, these moments are few and far between (and I sometimes wonder if they do it intentionally to thwart THEIR critics!).

In the case of BATMAN: TAS, Solomon was dealing with an old series that was monumentally popular and had already been critically acclaimed several times over. So even if he had desperately wanted to give it a totally negative review, there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make him look like a cranky deviant.

We also to remember that one of the reasons people like Charles Solomon and Ebert are highly praised is because they WRITE really professionally. This can be a problem as, even in cases where they're completely ignorant about what they're discussing, people will trust them anyways because they can craft an argument that sounds elegant. This is how Ebert could impress so many of his readers with his GOJIRA review even though it was full of inaccuracies. I remember after Ebert's review was published, some people were even posting it on IMDB as a substitute for their own opinions (!?). So yeah, presentation is a major factor in the argument process and it probably one of the major reasons people like Solomon can stay in power (metaphorically speaking).

BTW, here's Solomon's NINJA RESURRECTION review:

The first installment in this new OAV series brings back the character of Jubei Yagyu, but not the artists or story line from the popular 1993 feature Ninja Scroll. A baroque mixture of samurai adventures, historic figures (Jubei and Shiro were real people), pseudo-Christian millenialism, and standard anime action, Resurrection is set at the close of the civil wars that led to the unification of Japan in the 17th century. Tokisada Shiro Amakusa is regarded as the Son of God by a group of Christians rebelling against the newly established Tokugawa Shogunate. Jubei tries to negotiate Shiro's surrender to end the rebellion, but fails. The resulting slaughter of Shiro's followers sets in motion a complicated plot involving a prophecy that if the new Savior is rejected, he will be reborn as Satan. Resurrection is exceedingly gory, even by anime standards: heads are split open, a violent rape ends in a bloodbath, a disemboweled warrior fights with his intestines flailing like tentacles, crows pick at cadavers. At a time when Hollywood films and TV shows are being blamed for youth violence in America, viewers may wonder why such bloody entertainments haven't produced real-life violence in Japan. --Charles Solomon

Actually, aside from misleadingly implying that the character of Jubei is the same one in NINJA SCROLL, this is fairly accurate. His final words are actually prophetic since the Miyazaki murders occurred around the same time NINJA RESURRECTION was released.

But still...he doesn't mention that the anime is incomplete (which was the biggest problem for a lot of viewers).

RabidChihuahua January 02

Sorry for answering your comment so late.

That does make sense, since "professional" delivery of ignorance will look better to the average person than less professional delivery of informed opinions.

In a way, it makes me wish I had professional writing skills because I truly think if I did (coupled with my mostly informed opinions on anime), that I could have potential to dethrone the likes of Solomon.

With the whole copying of Ebert's "professional" reviews, I've noticed quite a few no-name Amazon users copying and pasting Ebert's reviews for movies like North and Batman Returns. This has also made me hate Amazon more since they don't really do much to curb review plagiarism.

Madpenguin January 03

Solomon is someone I been familiar with but I kicked him to the side years ago. There were plenty of his reviews that I read back in like 06 at one point, and I left wondering did we see the same anime. His take on Akira echoes many of the sheep-ish claims dished out by blind followers of the anime. Not exactly a DM fan, but I noticed awhile ago the free pass he gave to Akira for numerous elements he slammed DM for. What I find ironic, is that there are plenty of people who did the same thing. It makes you wonder how many people out there truly do get what they watch, if all they saw in DM was mindless violence and hentai elements.

RabidChihuahua January 03

Well said, man. I think your findings are helping to confirm my suspicions that Solomon doesn't really watch the anime he's supposed to critique, but either just skims through them or reads detailed plot summaries and then reviews them.

voilodion2012 January 03

"It makes you wonder how many people out there truly do get what they watch, if all they saw in DM was mindless violence and hentai elements."

LOL! Excellent point Madpenguin...I've always thought the same thing.

For the record, my favorite version of DM has always been the live action film (TOKYO: THE LAST MEGALOPOLIS), which is a far less violent and sexual affair than the anime. You'd think because of that, the live action film would get more respect in North America, right? WRONG. It's actually gotten WORSE reception than the anime with the main complaint about this adaptation being that it's too "confusing" and "boring". Whatever the case, it just goes to show you that it's really the story and foreign references that alienate Americans; not so much the racy stuff. Of course I highly doubt many anime fans would admit this.

On that note, here's a negative review of DM from IMDB that I actually like:

"Doomed Megalopolis is considered one of the classic anime (like Akira or Wicked City) that got fairly wide distribution in North America and introduced many people to anime.

Unfortunately, while it contains plenty of interesting (and some disturbing) imagery, the story is frequently confusing and you can easily get lost. Apparently it is based on an original 10 volume novel by Aramata that would be hard to follow for anyone not well versed in Japanese history and religion. The director even mentions in an interview that the viewer should read the novel to understand many of the parts that are not well explained in this 4 episode series.

It was my wife's first viewing of some of the more disturbing type of creatures (a slug with a male organ for a head for example) that appear in some anime, but I think she could have done without.

Not particularly recommended. "

I totally agree with all this guy's points, but here's what I wanted to focus on:

"...it is based on an original 10 volume novel by Aramata that would be hard to follow for anyone not well versed in Japanese history and religion..the viewer should read the novel to understand many of the parts that are not well explained..."

Main problem(s) summed up right there. It took one random bloke on IMDB to point out something so glaringly obvious that a majority of the anime community or even their best critics fail or refuse to acknowledge. I think that's pretty sad.

RabidChihuahua January 03

Thank you for posting this, Alex. I thought I'd never see the day where someone posted a negative review for DM that actually has merit. Whoever posted that, should email it to Charles Solomon to show him how wrong he is with his awful editorial review on Amazon.

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Charles Solomon is like the Roger Ebert of animation, his opinions are held to really high regard, yet sometimes, he has the stupidest reasons for liking or hating certain animated titles, and not to mention that his reasoning for rating certain titles is inconsistent (such as scolding Burn Up Excess for its tonal whiplash, yet praises Trigun, which also suffers from that detestable aspect). Take his reviews with a HUGE grain of salt, as there's quite a few animated titles that he hates (for bad … more

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About the reviewer

David Kozak (RabidChihuahua)
Ranked #16

I'm a morbid cynic who thinks very, very differently from most other people. Chances are, if the majority says X is the greatest in its category, I'll disagree with that notion, because I tend … more