Yes, it was all in Japanese. I understood enough that I had no trouble following all the plot points, and didn't get lost, not even once. I was proud of myself for that. My listening skills are my strongest Japanese skills, for what should be obvious reasons.
I'm up to episode 13 with Umineko No Naku Koroni, and I'm struggling with something... I'm wondering if it has to do with the translation, or more to the point, the connotation of the words in our different cultures.
Seriously, this has spoilers in it. Do not read it unless you're somewhat up to date with the series.
So, the crux of the game so far is that Beatrice is trying to get Batler to acknowledge her as a witch and to admit that she killed everyone with magic, right?
What is confusing to me is that she is visibly using magic in front of Balter all the time.
She is teleporting Batler around, causing time to stop, conjuring glowing red letters, and forcing the loop of events to play themselves out in different ways. So, these things happening should irrevocably cause him to acknowledge that she indeed has magic powers.
So... It can't simply be that the crux of all this is for Baltur to acknowledge her as a witch and that she commands magic. It's obvious that she does.
Is there somthing about the connotation of the word "acknowledge" that carries more weight in Japanese? Is it more that he has to bow down to her completely and surrender to her? I mean, he can't deny that she has powers...
Or is it simply that he knows she has magical powers, but he is denying that she has any true power to really kill people? This is the idea that seems right to me. In "Fools mate" he suggests that she is mostly illusionary, and that she needs everyone to believe in her to bring her to life.
The reality bending, and illusion verses reality of it all really isn't confusing to me. I've become almost attuned to this type of thinking due to watching so much David Lynch and shows like Paranoia Agent. I just can't get over the fact that the premise of the game seems to be flawed due to her obvious use of magic....
Help me out here guys.
I really do love this show, but that one thing is almost destracting to me when I'm watching it. It's like "No Beatrice, you are not a witch!!!" *teleport*
I'm pretty sure they've brought this up before:
Red text is, like Battler makes it out to be, a double-edged sword. It can erase any trace of Battler's arguments by undermining his foundations. Conversely, Battler can use guaranteed information to formulate a proper counterargument to attack Beatrice with.
Notably, though, the red text is a painfully difficult weapon favoring Beatrice, as since she is trying to have Battler acknowledge witches, all she needs to do is undermine each of his arguments per each game. Battler has to explain each of the episode arcs with conventional methods, all of which can easily be undermined by one single red statement.
Now, this brings us to another point (more pertinent if you've read the VN, but whatever):
It is often noted in the earlier episode arcs that Kinzo Ushiromiya has no real magical talent. Beatrice considers that when winning against insurmountable odds, that would "literally" take the power of magic (miracles or what have you). Kinzo manages to summon Beatrice and makes the contract for the ten tons of gold, despite the fact that he should never even have had a chance of succeeding. (I think she says in the VN that she answered on a whim, but witches are fickle creatures.)
Fastforward to October 4th and 5th, 1986. You might argue that Beatrice can simply win this contest by saying in red "Witches exist." However, this would remove any fun for Beatrice. As an Endless Witch, she lives on eternally. Hosting this "game" is a method of entertainment (you're acquainted with Bernkastel and Lambdadelta) for all of these witches. Furthermore, Beatrice must stand something to gain if she is willing to continuously keep Battler tied to their realm for an eternal struggle. If she were to make Battler admit his wrongs and lose immediately, there would be no risk involved for her, and therefore a weak (or none) payoff. By risking her side of the argument and giving Battler enough leeway to counterargue, she creates a greater risk (and therefore a greater reward should she win).
It becomes much harder starting in Episode (arc) 3 to doubt the existence of witches, but I'll let episode 14 do the talking (as I feel that it will have one of the best battle scenes in the entirety of the four arcs I've read).
I'm up to episode 13 with Umineko No Naku Koroni, and I'm struggling with something... I'm wondering if it has to do with the translation, or more to the point, the connotation of the words in our different cultures.
Seriously, this has spoilers in it. Do not read it unless you're somewhat up to date with the series.
So, the crux of the game so far is that Beatrice is trying to get Batler to acknowledge her as a witch and to admit that she killed everyone with magic, right?
What is confusing to me is that she is visibly using magic in front of Balter all the time.
She is teleporting Batler around, causing time to stop, conjuring glowing red letters, and forcing the loop of events to play themselves out in different ways. So, these things happening should irrevocably cause him to acknowledge that she indeed has magic powers.
So... It can't simply be that the crux of all this is for Baltur to acknowledge her as a witch and that she commands magic. It's obvious that she does.
Is there somthing about the connotation of the word "acknowledge" that carries more weight in Japanese? Is it more that he has to bow down to her completely and surrender to her? I mean, he can't deny that she has powers...
Or is it simply that he knows she has magical powers, but he is denying that she has any true power to really kill people? This is the idea that seems right to me. In "Fools mate" he suggests that she is mostly illusionary, and that she needs everyone to believe in her to bring her to life.
The reality bending, and illusion verses reality of it all really isn't confusing to me. I've become almost attuned to this type of thinking due to watching so much David Lynch and shows like Paranoia Agent. I just can't get over the fact that the premise of the game seems to be flawed due to her obvious use of magic....
Help me out here guys.
I really do love this show, but that one thing is almost destracting to me when I'm watching it. It's like "No Beatrice, you are not a witch!!!" *teleport*
Two words: Devil's Proof. Battler can't disprove the existence of magic, but he can still prove that it wasn't used in the murders. Or so they say.
Meanwhile, the Autumn 2009 preview is up on Random Curiosity, and that means it's time to pick up our ongoings.
Trapeze (because it has a mad doctor with a green Porsche. Who doesn't like mad doctors? Or green Porches, for that matter);
11eyes (One of the best visual novels of 2008 gets a 13-series anime? Great, but we'll see if it's as great);
To Aru Majutsu no Railgun (I still need to finish Index, but these series are pretty loosely connected, so I guess I can still watch it);
The Book of Bantorra (I really like the premise and the whole feeling of this one);
The Sacred Blacksmith (this could be good, but I'll wait for a couple of episodes to get released and make my opinion after that);
Darker than Black 2 (still haven't watched the first season, but my brother is gonna love it. Also, Russian girls and a flying squirrel).
Two words: Devil's Proof. Battler can't disprove the existence of magic, but he can still prove that it wasn't used in the murders. Or so they say.
That's what I'm thinking, I just wanted to talk about it, and question it, so that I could understand it better. I started out a little frustrated, and it helped me gain perspective while writing out my post. Now hearing other's thoughts, really brings it together.
In episode 5, he kindof suggests that she is more illusionary, and that she can't become truly real until everyone acknowledges her. So while she may have the power to pull his spirit around from place to place, or make flashy things appear, she can't really do anything.
So, since I asked for pictures of anime goodies, I guess I should get around to putting mine up, eh? I took some new pictures this evening, and I created a new photobucket album that has them all. There are 23 pictures, to be precise.
My car: I no longer have this car. I left it in America when I came to Japan, and it has since been sold by my parents. I got the window stickers from a guy who custom made them at one of my first anime conventions. I paid the extra for the custom plate.
DVD Binder:
Ah, now this is where everything is. When these pictures were taken, I only had one of these things. Now, I have three. Two are in America, and one is here in Japan with me. They contain, collectively, all of my regular DVDs and all of my burned DVDs. The one you're looking at here is a 304-count model by CaseIt, which you can check out here.
Phew! All that, and I have a big box of Japanese manga sitting here that was donated by my boss' son. It's mostly Detective Conan and Crayon Shin-chan, but there is some Hunter X Hunter and assorted other random stuff as well.
A very suspenseful series for sure and it felt similar to the first arc of Higurashi. I was hoping for a completely natural explanation this time, but apparently that's not going to be the case and we'll be re-visiting the shard theme once again. I'm also so happy Battler finally punched that annoying brat, Maria. I just want to slap that smirk off her face every time she starts talking in a creepy way. Speaking of Battler, he was introduced as a drooling idiot but I've grown to really like the man.
I'm not sure what to think of the epilogue, though. What the hell was that about, anyway? All the victims were alive in a sort of pocket plane, acting as if they had been in a play and everything was ok. Then Beatrice, Battler challenges her and everyone except him melt away as the magic (illusion?) breaks. What then? What happened to Battler? I'm not sure if I should be taking it as a part of the actual story or as an omake like Ayu Mayu Theater in KGNE.
You can think about it as an omake gone wrong. Everyone discusses the passed events happily, drinking tea and stuff, but because of Battler's disbelief, the omake magic is gone, and the true game begins.
Speaking of which, I'm finally reading the third chapter of the game. Bronove and his cookies are awesome, and I'm glad that Battler finally starts to use the rules of the game as he needs. The game is much more interesting when he doesn't act like Beato's punching bag, you know.
So, since I asked for pictures of anime goodies, I guess I should get around to putting mine up, eh? I took some new pictures this evening, and I created a new photobucket album that has them all. There are 23 pictures, to be precise.
My car:
I no longer have this car. I left it in America when I came to Japan, and it has since been sold by my parents. I got the window stickers from a guy who custom made them at one of my first anime conventions. I paid the extra for the custom plate.
DVD Binder:
Ah, now this is where everything is. When these pictures were taken, I only had one of these things. Now, I have three. Two are in America, and one is here in Japan with me. They contain, collectively, all of my regular DVDs and all of my burned DVDs. The one you're looking at here is a 304-count model by CaseIt, which you can check out here.
Phew! All that, and I have a big box of Japanese manga sitting here that was donated by my boss' son. It's mostly Detective Conan and Crayon Shin-chan, but there is some Hunter X Hunter and assorted other random stuff as well.
I'm curious where you got the P! sticker. I would love to get one for my car.
It's also cool as hell that your bosses son donated a bunch of manga to you.
Thanks! My boss' son was moving to Australia, I believe, and so he couldn't take it with him.
I think it's around 30 volumes of Detective Conan, and then a bunch of other random assorted stuff. Nothing really good (ie, nothing I had seen before / really wanted), but not bad for free stuff.
As for the stickers, I'm not really sure. As I said, I got them at an anime convention, and the guy selling them was an independent retailer who made them himself. You might be able to find something like that with Google, but I couldn't tell you the name of the place or anything. Sorry.
I think it's around 30 volumes of Detective Conan, and then a bunch of other random assorted stuff. Nothing really good (ie, nothing I had seen before / really wanted), but not bad for free stuff.
As for the stickers, I'm not really sure. As I said, I got them at an anime convention, and the guy selling them was an independent retailer who made them himself. You might be able to find something like that with Google, but I couldn't tell you the name of the place or anything. Sorry.
Nice. The Conan should prove to be nice bathroom reading, if anything. I subscribe to Shonen Jump for that exact purpose. It's never fantastic reading, but it's inexpensive light reading; perfect for a few minutes in the bathroom. Of course, I've always been a bathroom reader, but not everyone is. If I get a really good manga in the bathroom, I'll read through the whole thing much too quickly.
And about the sticker... reading is tech. I have no idea how I missed it.
I looked on google for a while, but found nothing. I still haven't found an exceptional JP import site though. Most of them carry a handfull of stickers, but that's about it.
I really do like this show, and it's not normally my cup of tea. I think it's possibly due to the fact that I'm a musician, and I've been in different bands before, so seeing the girls come together like that is cool. And the show has a genuine warmth to it that never feels forced or contrived to me. Like I said, I generally never watch this fare, but something about K-on is special.
I also really need to take the time to watch FMA:brotherhood. I loved the original so much that I've kindof been hesitant to dedicate myself to watching the new one.
Why are you assuming everything you saw is actually Magic?
Well, the murders could be explained as non-magical. However...
She is constantly teleporting Battler around
This is why I'm holding to the idea presented in episode 5 by Battler. She is magical, but more of a spirit that can't really influence much in the real world. She is having to rely on real people to help her break through into the real world.
The mirror on the island, and whatever old man Ushiromiya did, bound her to the island, and stripped her of almost all of her power to influence the real world.
Magic does exist, it's just a matter of how much she can actually do with it.
Edit:
Assuming all of this is non-supernatural; the only logical explanation that I see is that almost everyone is in on it, and the entire thing is an extravagant and complex stage set up to fool one person into revealing/discovering where the gold is, or to manipulate them to do something they would never normally do. Since Battler is the only (near) constant observer, it has to be him that they are trying to dupe. However, we still have to go back to the fact that he is being teleported around.
It's hard to fake teleporting, so I don't really get how it could be explained by real world phenomena.
Turn the chessboard over. There is a distinct anti-magic vs anti-fantasy theme in the show. Nothing is as it seems, this is in reference to Beatrice and all the other characters as well as the scenes you are seeing. You can choose to think everything you see as legit, or you can think it's an allegory of sorts. The whole point is once you accept Beatrice is a witch who controls everything, you've already lost. There is no proof magic was used in the murders, you can choose to accept magic but everything in the series can be explained without it. One of the key points of the show is to realize things aren't they as they seem and what's presented may not be the truth (hence the entire concept of the red text of truth)
Hmm, so the red text of truth is the one thing that we can count on to present perfect clarity and truth. Everything else could be illusionary or metaphor I guess. But, it's kindof a paradox, because "red text of truth" is magical in and of itself. You're using magic to prove non-magic.
Head asplode.
Oo! 14 is out now!
I'm heading out to a midnight release of Zen to pick up my box, but I'll watch it a bit later.
As far as Shounen fare goes, I really do enjoy Shippuden myself. I've been trying to marathon One piece from time to time though myself. When I had my oral surgery done, and was recovering and half awake, one piece was a good friend of mine.
" universe">Do not forget that all of the events are subjective. Unless all members are present and accounted for when witnessing event A or tragedy B, there is no guarantee such an event actually happens (Schrodinger's Cat, alluded to in episode 14).
As you recall (or maybe you don't), the first arc of Higurashi involves Keiichi moving into Hinamizawa and ultimately killing two girls due to paranoia. However, it is later revealed (final arc of season 1) when Keiichi seems to access these alternate timeline memories that it was merely a subjective issue: what he saw was not reality: there never was a needle in the rice ball, nor a syringe, nor any real threat. It was just the way he perceived things then.
There is no objectivity when you think about it this way unless everyone witnesses everything (which, regardless of where you are, is relatively unrealistic to impossible).
Now, it may seem quite evident that Beatrice is using magic to set everything up, but like Atobe mentions, flip the chessboard around. You can't just presume that all of this has a simple explanation. Until there is some veritable truth, some piece of evidence capable of establishing the existence of witches, two theories can exist simultaneously, being right or wrong (again, a reference to Schrodinger's Cat).
Well, they got to the Virgilia vs. Beatrice battle. Annotated to four minutes, skipping a couple of nice details, but at least they got to the first twilight. The biggest issue I've got now is time management. They need to stretch both arcs 3 and 4 into a 24/25 episode series, and it seems as though this arc might be done by ep 17 or 18 (bar rushing the twilights, since all the details are yet to come).
If I find the link, I'll post a YT vid of someone's rendition of the battle scene in ep 14. (I'm going to work followed by a Launch Party, so not immediately available.)
Whoah, nice discussion going here. May I step in, too? I've just finished reading chapter 3, so I'm in the talkative mood. I'll put it in spoiler tags just in case, but I don't think I have much to spoil for now.
First, ep. 14 probably makes that obvious, but showing some magic going on is not enough for Beatrice to win (it would be too easy for her, too). None of the murders were comitted in a way that leaves any trace of magic. The corpses are burnt, gouged by stakes, strangulated, but not turned into frogs or candies. Divine towers and stone giants are summoned in a duel of Beatrice and Virgilia, but all of that ridiculous magic didn't leave a single trace in the garden. So, you should only believe the result, and not the claims of how did this all happen. Think of Schrodinger's Cat.
I will quote a nice way to put it that I heard recently. Beatrice and Battler are the two storytellers who try to tell the story from the opposite angles. While they both agree that the murders did happen, they can't agree on the way they occured, and argue about it in the middle of the story. That actually applies to the anime, too. You may think about the time freezes as the moments when both Battler and Beatrice stop telling the story and start arguing instead. It's just presented in a cute, entertaining way to spice things up.
The difficulty of the game also depends on the "strategy" you use. If you find it too difficult not to believe in witches because of the meta-world or the red truth, perhaps you should just ignore it and think about the murders themselves. Trust me, it will be much more interesting for you that way.
And that shotgun is actually a saw-off shotgun. I don't remember it being mentioned in the anime, but it's put in the tips section in the VN. I'll quote it later if you want.
Oh, and I just love the VN visuals, if only for the facial expressions.
If I find the link, I'll post a YT vid of someone's rendition of the battle scene in ep 14. (I'm going to work followed by a Launch Party, so not immediately available.)
Edit: So they covered mostly everything thats been released in Manga in one episode, so that by episode three we start in all new content... i can dig that.
Also someone needs to get those animations of Natsuro and Sakura and make a Caramelldansen video, the meme is old but my god it fits so well.
Things i will be looking for this season:
Queens Blade
Kampfer
Seiken no Blacksmith - The Sacred Blacksmith (the synopsis makes me think of Thousand Arms and anything that makes me think of that game deserves a chance)
Sora no Otoshimono (Big Breasted Angels? SOLD!)
IM going to try and catch the first season of Darker than black
Fairy Tail (Naruto but with MAGIC :o!)
KIDDY GiRL-AND (the art just appeals to me... kinda moe :D)
It is time to check on the new season again, right?
Well, it looks quite mediocre. Currently, I picked 3 series to watch, and 1 to archive for watching later:
Railgun (at least the first ep wasn't bad, and the "system test" scene I just loved)
Sacred Blacksmith (has potential, at least)
Tegami Bachi (at least giving it a try).
Also, Darker than Black - but only after watching first season, which won't probably happen soon.
So, 3 ongoings + continuing Umineko... not much. Still, that means more free time for older goodies...
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Hmm... I was only checking series that already started, but now, looking at your list, Atobe, I'd say I'll check Kimi ni Todoke, Kobato and 11Eyes, in addition to what I already listed.
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Thanks for talking it out with me everyone, it's been fun and helpfull.
Ep. 14, with the reference for Schrodinger's cat, really helped me to grasp the nature of whats going on. For now, it's basically two worlds overlapping. There is a reality where Beatrice is doing all of this with magic, and also there is a reality where there is no magic. Thats the whole idea of Schrodinger's cat; the cat is both alive and dead, at the same time. But when the box is opened, one will find that either the cat is dead or alive. So, we have to wait till the end, to see what happens when the box is opened.
This perspective definatly makes the series more enjoyable for me. It's a bit of a mind bender to accept two conflicting realities, but it's a fun one.
I'm looking forward to seeing how she figured out where the gold is too.
Regarding the new shows:
The only ones I've seen so far are Railgun and Sacred Blacksmith.
I really enjoyed Railgun, and have a good feeling about it.
Blacksmith could be fun, and the art style is nice.
I hope they don't do that long "charge up" blacksmith scene in every episode.
"Fold! Fold! Fold! Fold! Fold!" etc. It will get very tired.
Geez, I'm in serious danger of falling behind again. I still have some backlog from the previous season remaining that I have to watch before I can dive into the new shows. Oh well, Aoi Hana is short so I sould be done with that soon and even though I just started on Bakemonogatari, luckily it's only 12 episodes. I wonder if I should watch Tears to Tiara as well. I've had its first episode just collecting dust for quite some time now.
Anime can be stressful at times...
Don't worry; you're not the only one. I haven't even scoped out Fall 09 for what I want to watch (but I owe that more to the fact that I've run out of room for my anime files). I have to prioritize keeping scholarships over watching anime (and if you don't, there's something wrong).
I've been thinking this over, and I decided to try to watch the last season of Inuyasha for nostalga.
I don't expect great things from it, but it was honestly the first anime series I ever watched, and I suppose it's responsible for drawing my attention to the genre. FLCL is the one that made me fall in love with anime, but I feel Inuyasha is at least partially responsible.
Speaking of which, what was everyone's first exposure to anime?
The first thing I remember watching was probably Ninja Scroll. I also watched some Ranma 1/2 at about this same time, but I never followed the series, so it really doesn't count in my mind.
Right, with most of my (first) exams out of the way...
The premise of the show is that people are chosen to be Kampfers, elite warriors who must do battle with each other. The stipulations are that once chosen, you cannot opt out of being it, and that you are transformed into a girl when battling. Apparently, there are three different types of Kampfer: magic-users, gun-users, and sword-users (whoo for rock-paper-scissors relationship?). Kampfers wear bracelets as a sign of their forced contract. Kampfers that wear the same color bracelet are on the same side.
The first episode pretty much runs down the basics and feels a cross between a romantic comedy and an action. The show does not hesitate to make as much innuendo as possible given a situation; similarly, they like breaking the fourth wall in respect to seiyuu.
I'll keep an eye on this for now, but I'm not totally won over.
3/5
This is a side-story to the show To Aru Majutsu no Index. I was relatively indifferent towards the progress of Index, as it really had no need for Index to play a part in that show (she really didn't come up that often).
It'll be a bit difficult to get into it if you haven't watched Index, but there's enough to make it worth watching (and from what I hear, it should be better than Index strictly on the manga side). If you've seen Index, you probably should watch this; it isn't half bad.
4/5
Have you been looking for a show that loves breaking the fourth wall? Do you need something with gratuitous amounts of references? Then try Seitokai no Ichizon!
Right, I got tired of continuing the Powerthirst reference. Anyway, the show's basically a slice-of-life anime: examining the inner workings of a student council (hah, I love lack of originality). Most of the cast are new seiyuus, and since it's Studio DEEN, they'll be borrowing the need to make 07th Expansion jokes whenever possible. That, or whatever's the most popular thing to make fun of/reference to.
It reminds me of Hayate in the sense that I'm neither wowed nor bored.
3/5
Our protagonist is allergic to cats. The girl he likes loves cats. You can probably figure out what happens next, right?
Well, no. Or maybe. Depends on what kind of foresight you have. Anyway, the protagonist comes home one day, sees a can on the ground, and kicks it up into a garbage receptacle. Unfortunately, the kick goes off a bit and careens into a small shrine nearby, beheading a stone cat statue. This results in a curse on our poor fellow, who can now hear the thoughts of cats. Furthermore, if he doesn't do 100 good deeds, he'll be transformed into a cat.
With such a contrived plot, you have to laugh just a little bit. A comedy with a touch of romance. I'll see how it develops, as the protagonist's misfortune is on part with Touma from Index.
3.5/5
You probably will only be watching this show if you watched season 1. The given premise is that the top girl of a school is secretly an otaku, and our hapless male protagonist finds out by accident. From there, they bond and form a relationship akin to a generic romantic comedy. That's just about all you need to know, really.
If anything, the set-ups for this season will probably be contrived and generic like S1. A series to watch only if you enjoyed the first, I guess.
2.5/5
Kobato is an alien girl who comes to Earth on a mission. No, it's not to make first contact--look at her ears. She's come to fulfill her dream of going to some place (untold to us), and in order to do that, she must collect the broken hearts of humans. The drawback? She can't fall in love with those hearts she's collected/fixed.
Common sense does not click with this girl or show. It seems to be a lighthearted comedy, so take that as you will. I'm not particularly enthused, but her little dog/rabbit/thing familiar/companion is humorous. Guess I'll give the second episode a shot.
2.5/5
The female protagonist resembles the girl from the Ring, and is aptly nicknamed by her classmates (Sadako). She's really shy (fitting how her seiyuu is Mamiko Noto), but has been striving to become more open and friendly with her class, despite their warped perception of her. Inspired by our male lead (and love interest), she begins to become more firm with her relations in class, as well as the lead himself (implied that he's got a thing for her).
Seems like a romance (with a very minor touch of comedy) to me, and I do think decently of I.G., so I'll probably follow it a bit.
3/5
Watched the first episode of Seitokai no Ichizon and absolutely loved it. Not sure where the plot is going, if anywhere, but the characters are all likeable and funny, especially Ken. The harem/eroge stuff were great and the pettanko scene was just lulz.
Probably my favorite so far; while just about everything this season is more or less generic, Seitokai no Ichizon is at the very least a very good shot at its respective genre. It's pretty heavy on references (I enjoyed the pokes at DB the most^^ ), but that's really a smaller problem than most people make it out to be. It's like Excel Saga; sure, there's a pile of stuff that a lot of people won't understand, but on the surface it's still a good comedy that's more or less readily accessible to the less informed.
So far, Sacred Blacksmith, Natsu no Arashi 2 (*yawn*), Queen's Blade 2 (still too much T&A), and Sora no Otoshimono (*creepy*) are on my drop list. Nyan Koi is pretty close too ( I hate cats =\ , especially talking ones).
I'm still up for some more Asura Cryin' (not entirely sure why O.o), Kampfer (If mostly to find out why Kampfers have to be female; aside from the obvious grab at ratings), and Book of Bantorra.
This is a side-story to the show To Aru Majutsu no Index. I was relatively indifferent towards the progress of Index, as it really had no need for Index to play a part in that show (she really didn't come up that often).
I see this all over the place and it puzzles me. Index had her arc, and then it focused on Toma. It's not that she was unecessary; she just became a secondary character later in the show. Focusing on Misaka and Kuroko (read: lolis/tweens with the whole unrequited lesbo crush thing) is kinda creepy on some level though ._."
The skinship sceen had my skin crawling -__-"
Speaking of which, what was everyone's first exposure to anime?
Some giant robot fansubs on VHS tapes my cousin let my brothers and I borrow around 1990. Can't for the life of me remember the titles (one was something about a bunny girl piloting a Gundam-ish robot, and the other was kinda power-rangers+Macross) O_o
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Notably, though, the red text is a painfully difficult weapon favoring Beatrice, as since she is trying to have Battler acknowledge witches, all she needs to do is undermine each of his arguments per each game. Battler has to explain each of the episode arcs with conventional methods, all of which can easily be undermined by one single red statement.
Now, this brings us to another point (more pertinent if you've read the VN, but whatever):
Fastforward to October 4th and 5th, 1986. You might argue that Beatrice can simply win this contest by saying in red "Witches exist." However, this would remove any fun for Beatrice. As an Endless Witch, she lives on eternally. Hosting this "game" is a method of entertainment (you're acquainted with Bernkastel and Lambdadelta) for all of these witches. Furthermore, Beatrice must stand something to gain if she is willing to continuously keep Battler tied to their realm for an eternal struggle. If she were to make Battler admit his wrongs and lose immediately, there would be no risk involved for her, and therefore a weak (or none) payoff. By risking her side of the argument and giving Battler enough leeway to counterargue, she creates a greater risk (and therefore a greater reward should she win).
It becomes much harder starting in Episode (arc) 3 to doubt the existence of witches, but I'll let episode 14 do the talking (as I feel that it will have one of the best battle scenes in the entirety of the four arcs I've read).
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
Two words: Devil's Proof. Battler can't disprove the existence of magic, but he can still prove that it wasn't used in the murders. Or so they say.
Meanwhile, the Autumn 2009 preview is up on Random Curiosity, and that means it's time to pick up our ongoings.
Trapeze (because it has a mad doctor with a green Porsche. Who doesn't like mad doctors? Or green Porches, for that matter);
11eyes (One of the best visual novels of 2008 gets a 13-series anime? Great, but we'll see if it's as great);
To Aru Majutsu no Railgun (I still need to finish Index, but these series are pretty loosely connected, so I guess I can still watch it);
The Book of Bantorra (I really like the premise and the whole feeling of this one);
The Sacred Blacksmith (this could be good, but I'll wait for a couple of episodes to get released and make my opinion after that);
Darker than Black 2 (still haven't watched the first season, but my brother is gonna love it. Also, Russian girls and a flying squirrel).
Pretty good season, if you ask me.
That's what I'm thinking, I just wanted to talk about it, and question it, so that I could understand it better. I started out a little frustrated, and it helped me gain perspective while writing out my post. Now hearing other's thoughts, really brings it together.
Really loving this show.
I'm not sure, but it's still in theaters here. It was one of the movies playing when I went to the theater and saw Summer Wars.
This is the photobucket album.
I'll go over most of it here.
My car:
I no longer have this car. I left it in America when I came to Japan, and it has since been sold by my parents. I got the window stickers from a guy who custom made them at one of my first anime conventions. I paid the extra for the custom plate.
Car - Plate and Bumper
Car - Panda Z
Car - P!
My Room (in America):
Lots of stuff here. Not pictured is a framed portrait of Lain from Serial Experiments Lain.
Room - Nana Wallscroll
Room - R.O.D / GunGrave Wallscroll
Room - Chobits Wallscroll
Room - Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Framed Poster 1
Room - Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Framed Poster 2
DVD Boxes:
This is the full list of all my DVD purchases.
These are all purchases I made, but the DVDs are elsewhere. They are just for display.
DVD Boxes 1
DVD Boxes 2
DVD Boxes 3
DVD Binder:
Ah, now this is where everything is. When these pictures were taken, I only had one of these things. Now, I have three. Two are in America, and one is here in Japan with me. They contain, collectively, all of my regular DVDs and all of my burned DVDs. The one you're looking at here is a 304-count model by CaseIt, which you can check out here.
DVD Binder - Outside
DVD Binder - Inside Left (Burned DVDs)
DVD Binder - Inside Right (Regular DVDs)
DVD Binder - Sakura Wars
Figures and Etc:
All of this is stuff that I have bought since coming to Japan.
Horo, Core Drill, Sleeves (5 kinds), Berserk / Phoenix / E's Otherwise
Mugs (2)
Keychains and Pins
Yotsuba Figure
Lucky Star Cup
Ranma 1/2 Buttons
Phew! All that, and I have a big box of Japanese manga sitting here that was donated by my boss' son. It's mostly Detective Conan and Crayon Shin-chan, but there is some Hunter X Hunter and assorted other random stuff as well.
*huggles Horo*
You can think about it as an omake gone wrong. Everyone discusses the passed events happily, drinking tea and stuff, but because of Battler's disbelief, the omake magic is gone, and the true game begins.
Speaking of which, I'm finally reading the third chapter of the game. Bronove and his cookies are awesome, and I'm glad that Battler finally starts to use the rules of the game as he needs. The game is much more interesting when he doesn't act like Beato's punching bag, you know.
I'm curious where you got the P! sticker. I would love to get one for my car.
It's also cool as hell that your bosses son donated a bunch of manga to you.
Thanks! My boss' son was moving to Australia, I believe, and so he couldn't take it with him.
I think it's around 30 volumes of Detective Conan, and then a bunch of other random assorted stuff. Nothing really good (ie, nothing I had seen before / really wanted), but not bad for free stuff.
As for the stickers, I'm not really sure. As I said, I got them at an anime convention, and the guy selling them was an independent retailer who made them himself. You might be able to find something like that with Google, but I couldn't tell you the name of the place or anything. Sorry.
Nice. The Conan should prove to be nice bathroom reading, if anything. I subscribe to Shonen Jump for that exact purpose. It's never fantastic reading, but it's inexpensive light reading; perfect for a few minutes in the bathroom. Of course, I've always been a bathroom reader, but not everyone is. If I get a really good manga in the bathroom, I'll read through the whole thing much too quickly.
And about the sticker... reading is tech. I have no idea how I missed it.
I looked on google for a while, but found nothing. I still haven't found an exceptional JP import site though. Most of them carry a handfull of stickers, but that's about it.
I really do like this show, and it's not normally my cup of tea. I think it's possibly due to the fact that I'm a musician, and I've been in different bands before, so seeing the girls come together like that is cool. And the show has a genuine warmth to it that never feels forced or contrived to me. Like I said, I generally never watch this fare, but something about K-on is special.
I also really need to take the time to watch FMA:brotherhood. I loved the original so much that I've kindof been hesitant to dedicate myself to watching the new one.
Well, the murders could be explained as non-magical. However...
This is why I'm holding to the idea presented in episode 5 by Battler. She is magical, but more of a spirit that can't really influence much in the real world. She is having to rely on real people to help her break through into the real world.
The mirror on the island, and whatever old man Ushiromiya did, bound her to the island, and stripped her of almost all of her power to influence the real world.
Magic does exist, it's just a matter of how much she can actually do with it.
Edit:
It's hard to fake teleporting, so I don't really get how it could be explained by real world phenomena.
Can't wait for 14 to come out.
Head asplode.
Oo! 14 is out now!
I'm heading out to a midnight release of Zen to pick up my box, but I'll watch it a bit later.
There is no objectivity when you think about it this way unless everyone witnesses everything (which, regardless of where you are, is relatively unrealistic to impossible).
Now, it may seem quite evident that Beatrice is using magic to set everything up, but like Atobe mentions, flip the chessboard around. You can't just presume that all of this has a simple explanation. Until there is some veritable truth, some piece of evidence capable of establishing the existence of witches, two theories can exist simultaneously, being right or wrong (again, a reference to Schrodinger's Cat).
If I find the link, I'll post a YT vid of someone's rendition of the battle scene in ep 14. (I'm going to work followed by a Launch Party, so not immediately available.)
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
I will quote a nice way to put it that I heard recently. Beatrice and Battler are the two storytellers who try to tell the story from the opposite angles. While they both agree that the murders did happen, they can't agree on the way they occured, and argue about it in the middle of the story. That actually applies to the anime, too. You may think about the time freezes as the moments when both Battler and Beatrice stop telling the story and start arguing instead. It's just presented in a cute, entertaining way to spice things up.
The difficulty of the game also depends on the "strategy" you use. If you find it too difficult not to believe in witches because of the meta-world or the red truth, perhaps you should just ignore it and think about the murders themselves. Trust me, it will be much more interesting for you that way.
And that shotgun is actually a saw-off shotgun. I don't remember it being mentioned in the anime, but it's put in the tips section in the VN. I'll quote it later if you want.
Oh, and I just love the VN visuals, if only for the facial expressions.
EDIT:
Here you go.
Oh Yeah! Oh Yeah!
Edit:
So they covered mostly everything thats been released in Manga in one episode, so that by episode three we start in all new content... i can dig that.
Also someone needs to get those animations of Natsuro and Sakura and make a Caramelldansen video, the meme is old but my god it fits so well.
Things i will be looking for this season:
Queens Blade
Kampfer
Seiken no Blacksmith - The Sacred Blacksmith (the synopsis makes me think of Thousand Arms and anything that makes me think of that game deserves a chance)
Sora no Otoshimono (Big Breasted Angels? SOLD!)
IM going to try and catch the first season of Darker than black
Fairy Tail (Naruto but with MAGIC :o!)
KIDDY GiRL-AND (the art just appeals to me... kinda moe :D)
Well, it looks quite mediocre. Currently, I picked 3 series to watch, and 1 to archive for watching later:
Railgun (at least the first ep wasn't bad, and the "system test" scene I just loved)
Sacred Blacksmith (has potential, at least)
Tegami Bachi (at least giving it a try).
Also, Darker than Black - but only after watching first season, which won't probably happen soon.
So, 3 ongoings + continuing Umineko... not much. Still, that means more free time for older goodies...
Sig by awesome Mr.Stuff of High~Light Studios, avatar by not-so-awesome me.
Sig by awesome Mr.Stuff of High~Light Studios, avatar by not-so-awesome me.
Thanks for talking it out with me everyone, it's been fun and helpfull.
Ep. 14, with the reference for Schrodinger's cat, really helped me to grasp the nature of whats going on. For now, it's basically two worlds overlapping. There is a reality where Beatrice is doing all of this with magic, and also there is a reality where there is no magic. Thats the whole idea of Schrodinger's cat; the cat is both alive and dead, at the same time. But when the box is opened, one will find that either the cat is dead or alive. So, we have to wait till the end, to see what happens when the box is opened.
This perspective definatly makes the series more enjoyable for me. It's a bit of a mind bender to accept two conflicting realities, but it's a fun one.
I'm looking forward to seeing how she figured out where the gold is too.
Regarding the new shows:
The only ones I've seen so far are Railgun and Sacred Blacksmith.
I really enjoyed Railgun, and have a good feeling about it.
Blacksmith could be fun, and the art style is nice.
"Fold! Fold! Fold! Fold! Fold!" etc. It will get very tired.
Don't worry; you're not the only one. I haven't even scoped out Fall 09 for what I want to watch (but I owe that more to the fact that I've run out of room for my anime files). I have to prioritize keeping scholarships over watching anime (and if you don't, there's something wrong).
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
I don't expect great things from it, but it was honestly the first anime series I ever watched, and I suppose it's responsible for drawing my attention to the genre. FLCL is the one that made me fall in love with anime, but I feel Inuyasha is at least partially responsible.
Speaking of which, what was everyone's first exposure to anime?
The first thing I remember watching was probably Ninja Scroll. I also watched some Ranma 1/2 at about this same time, but I never followed the series, so it really doesn't count in my mind.
The first episode pretty much runs down the basics and feels a cross between a romantic comedy and an action. The show does not hesitate to make as much innuendo as possible given a situation; similarly, they like breaking the fourth wall in respect to seiyuu.
I'll keep an eye on this for now, but I'm not totally won over.
3/5
It'll be a bit difficult to get into it if you haven't watched Index, but there's enough to make it worth watching (and from what I hear, it should be better than Index strictly on the manga side). If you've seen Index, you probably should watch this; it isn't half bad.
4/5
Right, I got tired of continuing the Powerthirst reference. Anyway, the show's basically a slice-of-life anime: examining the inner workings of a student council (hah, I love lack of originality). Most of the cast are new seiyuus, and since it's Studio DEEN, they'll be borrowing the need to make 07th Expansion jokes whenever possible. That, or whatever's the most popular thing to make fun of/reference to.
It reminds me of Hayate in the sense that I'm neither wowed nor bored.
3/5
Well, no. Or maybe. Depends on what kind of foresight you have. Anyway, the protagonist comes home one day, sees a can on the ground, and kicks it up into a garbage receptacle. Unfortunately, the kick goes off a bit and careens into a small shrine nearby, beheading a stone cat statue. This results in a curse on our poor fellow, who can now hear the thoughts of cats. Furthermore, if he doesn't do 100 good deeds, he'll be transformed into a cat.
With such a contrived plot, you have to laugh just a little bit. A comedy with a touch of romance. I'll see how it develops, as the protagonist's misfortune is on part with Touma from Index.
3.5/5
If anything, the set-ups for this season will probably be contrived and generic like S1. A series to watch only if you enjoyed the first, I guess.
2.5/5
Common sense does not click with this girl or show. It seems to be a lighthearted comedy, so take that as you will. I'm not particularly enthused, but her little dog/rabbit/thing familiar/companion is humorous. Guess I'll give the second episode a shot.
2.5/5
Seems like a romance (with a very minor touch of comedy) to me, and I do think decently of I.G., so I'll probably follow it a bit.
3/5
[GTC] Gatecrash Patch for MWS (249/249)
Probably my favorite so far; while just about everything this season is more or less generic, Seitokai no Ichizon is at the very least a very good shot at its respective genre. It's pretty heavy on references (I enjoyed the pokes at DB the most^^ ), but that's really a smaller problem than most people make it out to be. It's like Excel Saga; sure, there's a pile of stuff that a lot of people won't understand, but on the surface it's still a good comedy that's more or less readily accessible to the less informed.
So far, Sacred Blacksmith, Natsu no Arashi 2 (*yawn*), Queen's Blade 2 (still too much T&A), and Sora no Otoshimono (*creepy*) are on my drop list. Nyan Koi is pretty close too ( I hate cats =\ , especially talking ones).
I'm still up for some more Asura Cryin' (not entirely sure why O.o), Kampfer (If mostly to find out why Kampfers have to be female; aside from the obvious grab at ratings), and Book of Bantorra.
This is a side-story to the show To Aru Majutsu no Index. I was relatively indifferent towards the progress of Index, as it really had no need for Index to play a part in that show (she really didn't come up that often).
I see this all over the place and it puzzles me. Index had her arc, and then it focused on Toma. It's not that she was unecessary; she just became a secondary character later in the show. Focusing on Misaka and Kuroko (read: lolis/tweens with the whole unrequited lesbo crush thing) is kinda creepy on some level though ._."
The skinship sceen had my skin crawling -__-"
Some giant robot fansubs on VHS tapes my cousin let my brothers and I borrow around 1990. Can't for the life of me remember the titles (one was something about a bunny girl piloting a Gundam-ish robot, and the other was kinda power-rangers+Macross) O_o