Akazora

By complete chance I found myself watching "Blue Valentine" on Valentine's Day and even though it's been over a month since I watched it, just thinking back to that movie fucks me up so bad..

Never watched Yu Yu Hakusho, but this song is such a jam

The bot invasion has been suppressed! Thanks for all your hard work as usual, Maurice!

Hmm, I don't know if I'd say I have any favorite parts, and the ones that stick out in my mind are too spoilery to share. But my favorite character by far is Yang Wen-li, honorable mentions going to Oskar von Reuenthal, Julian Minci, and Katerose von Kreutzer. I have favorable opinions of just about every character, and at the very least like all of them for their roll and the dynamic they brought to the series. Also, I'm aware of those OVAs and movies, but I was so burnt out from binging the whole of the series as it was, and with school coming up I decided to defer those for later. If I ever get an LoGH itch, I'll see if any of those OVAs or movies are worth checking out. There are two things about the anime that I didn't really like. The first is that the directing can be really flat sometimes. Things move at an almost robotic-like speed, which is nice since the plot is constantly moving forward, but at the same time I wish the anime would just slow down and make things more "dramatic" when it's appropriate to. I understand that with a limited musical score it's difficult to draw out certain tense moments, but sometimes it feels like scenes just transition to the next without any sense of artist storytelling. It's probably hard to imagine what I mean, but it's like having someone with a monotone voice read a poem. Obviously it's not good to have someone super over-the-top milk every line like it's the most emotionally riveting thing ever, as that would be unnecessarily cringey, but some artistic liberty in the delivery wouldn't hurt. The second thing I didn't like was that the narrator would strait-up spoil later scenes in the anime. The narrator tells the story from a future perspective, like a historian telling a "legend" from years gone by, which adds to the documentary-like aesthetic, but sometimes he insinuates things too obviously. It's good to weave foreshadowing into the narrative naturally, to give people "aha!" moments when they rewatch it, but to have the narrator say certain things so on-the-nose just detracts kills the mood. This seemed to be a problem more so in the later parts of the anime than the beginning. Hah, I don't believe I heard any portions from The Nutcracker, otherwise I would have surely remembered. The thing is, I don't actually think I've actually ever watched any anything that handles politics quite like LoGH, though I guess Game of Thrones comes sorta close? LoGH in the broadest sense is an exploration of the conflict between two entities, the authoritarian Galactic Empire and the democratic Free Planets Alliance. That backdrop may seem corny, but the show doesn't make a strawman out of either. Both sides are presented with their benefits and flaws, such as the corruptibility of democracy and the efficiency of central control, which sets it apart from other things I've watched. GoT is similar-ish, but doesn't put politics as a literary theme in the spotlight in the way that LoGH does. If you ever watch LoGH (since I believe you've already seen at least some of GoT), you'll know what I mean when I say they're similar but still markedly different in ways. I haven't watched Code Geass in years, so I only vaguely remember it. This was back during the days I watched anime almost exclusively for the cute anime girls, so my judgement of the show boils down to "it was fun I guess and Kallen is best girl." I can kinda see the similarities though. From what I remember, Lelouch in Code Geass is trying to change a corrupt authoritarian regime from the inside out, a regime that's at war with a rebel faction. That's similar to Reinhard von Lohengramm's aspirations in relation to the Galactic Empire, and the Free Planets Alliance that they are warring with just so happened to have been formed decades ago as a result of a rebellion. Both are also strongly motivated by their desire to protect/save their sister (younger in Lelouch's case, and older in Reinhard's) for one reason or another. Those are the only spoiler-free comparisons I can draw, but even then the execution and the overarching themes of the anime are drastically different. They just seem to share the skeleton of a premise, and that's ignoring all the Geass power stuff in Code Geass and the whole of the Free Planets Alliance perspective in LoGH. There were some violent, bloody scenes in the anime, but nothing gory or gratuitous. Nothing too graphic, and seeing as you've found your way on this forum, it's nothing I'd think would bother you. Those scenes were also few and far between, which is why people don't usually mention them when talking about LoGH. As for main character deaths, there are quite a few characters that would be considered important or even main that are offed during the show. I liked the arcs all pretty equally, and I don't think I have a favorite. All were pretty good in their own right, though the consensus is that the first is probably the weakest since it exists to set the scene, tone, and pacing for the rest of the show. It's not as high stakes as the other arcs, but it's not bad either. There are definitely moments spent for "slice-of-life"-like moments, but I don't know if they're as substantial as you're looking for. Like, there are never entire episodes devoted exclusively to the cast just chilling and being care-free. Every episode is mostly driven by politics and war, with a couple of scenes spent developing characters in more laid-back scenarios sprinkled in there for a brief change of pace. I feel like the current model of how anime is made makes it difficult to have long-running shows anymore. Aside from the shows that are already established long-runners, most new anime these days rarely get more than two-cour confirmed at a time, with the vast majority falling in the one-cour range. Maybe it was just like this back then too, and LoGH was a freak accident, but then again I'm no anime historian. I'm hoping the best for the show though, since I'd like to see their take on some of the later scenes, even if the character designs are really throwing me off right now. Also, thanks for the clarification on the whole Gundam The Origin and Mobile Suit Gundam situation, that's interesting to know! I'm not at all familiar with the Gundam series, so you'll have to forgive me for my ignorance.

@machine I was deadass going to post that exact same Conan trap picture only to find that you already did it... .. .. :thonking: -- Blend-S is the new meme-flavored anime of the season isn't it?

The latter. If your "friend" is looking for an inoffensively enjoyable movie to watch on a slow Saturday night, I'd recommend it.

I liked it quite a lot! I wouldn't say it exceeded my expectations, but my expectations were pretty high going into it so the fact that I walked away satisfied and not feeling like I was fooled by anime elitists into investing 110 episodes of my life into something I wasn't enjoying is actually quite impressive. LoGH has an interesting style. It's kinda how I'd always imagined a factually accurate anime about some historical time period to be. There's a massive cast of characters and a huge focus on politics, and a narrator that often sets up the scenes and covers necessary backstory. It's definitely the best portrayal of political conflict and of political systems I've seen in an anime ever, so if you're tired of the "adults are hilariously incompetent and just so happen to be running the government in an overtly evil way" trope you're in for a treat. Though I wouldn't say the exploration of moral and political themes is super deep or complex, at the very least it doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewers. Also, I like how they handle the space fights. Most other shows have the main characters be soldiers or warriors in an army, and most of the war scenes boil down to two armies charging at each other, the hero fighting through fodder to build up hype, the hero confronting his destined rival or the big baddie, the two having an isolated one-on-one fight in the midst of the general fighting, and the result of their fight resulting in the end of the battle. In LoGH the main characters are commanders of giant space fleets, so conflict involves outmaneuvering the opponent, flanking, tactical retreats, positioning, managing supplies and resources, reorganizing the fleet's formation, deception, and dealing with battles of attrition. This allows for interesting dynamics, as characters on either side of the conflict can be resoundingly defeated but still escape with their lives, whereas a character surviving a one-on-one duel to the supposed death often has the effect of seemingly like cheap writing if handled poorly. Also, you won't be getting any flashy action scenes, but flashy action scenes can be found in tons of other anime, so I'd say it's a fair exchange. The music is almost exclusively a bunch of classical music that you've probably heard before. I'm guessing this was originally meant to save on costs, but it ended up giving the anime an interesting atmosphere. And of course, the animation and art style is typical of 1980s shows from that time period, which might turn off some modern day viewers. You seem to have a penchant for that aesthetic so I don't think you'd mind. If you're willing to invest the time, it definitely gets my approval. 110 episodes may seem daunting at first, but it's separated into four main arcs, each defined by their own opening and ending themes (I believe the length of each arc is 26 episodes, 26 episodes, 34 episodes, and 24 episodes, in that order). It may be more digestible if you conceptualize it that way. And also, they're making a remake, which you may have heard of. The first season will be 12 episodes, while the "second season" will be 12 episodes released as 3 movies (4 episodes each movie), which should cover the same material as the first arc of the original series. If it's successful I guess they'll make more. While it's too early to judge, I am a bit put off by the character designs. I guess it's understandable that they've modernized the designs for the current year, but I also don't see why they couldn't just neaten up the designs from the original, like Sunrise did with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin? On the other hand, the CGI space fleets actually look sick as fuck, so that's good. At the end of the day, the visuals aren't really what make LoGH amazing, so as long as they stay true to the narrative and world building it'll probably be a decent substitute for the original. I've rambled on long enough, so uhhh... tl;dr yea was prett gud I guess -- edit: @machine The Kase-san anime project confirmed to be an OVA, which is neat!

Some of the readings I have to do for an econ class are actually pretty engaging, no joke. They cover practical and historical examples of concepts, especially as they relate to current issues, and it's a lot better than just reading about theory. Too bad my professor just boils down the lectures to theory anyway so it kinda defeats the purpose.....

New Kase-san anime project in the works for next year. It could just be another music video, but maybe it's a full series?

Blame! Less generic but not nearly as fun as its movie adaptation.

Blame! I came for the sci-fi dystopia action flick by Polygon Pictures, stayed for the robo waifus. Also made me binge the manga so that's something.

Is this where we shitpost? Please be gentle with me.

Uhhhhhh soo, I hadn't realized you had posted this at all... until just today......... oops........ In order to keep my response as brief as possible, I'll just post an off-the-cuff reply. It'll prevent me from overthinking the conversation and will likely reduce the number of tangents I go off on. I admittedly overstepped my argument last time. From what he said, consent cannot be assumed and I was wrong to have suggested otherwise. But similarly, neither can coercion. We don't have any way of knowing what transpired during the events he was referring to in those tapes; it could have been consensual or it could have been coercive, and even then the line between what is legally allowed and what is not isn't entirely clear. If we view things through simplistic lens, in a merely sexual/physical sense, then perhaps things aren't too complicated. But sex is not merely physical, it is also emotional. Physical acts, whether they be acts of advancement such as kissing, groping, etc. or acts of repel-ment such as pushing (in the "away" direction), refusal, etc. are intricately linked to emotional and mental processes. Trying to land a sexual partner is a game, simply put, in which both sides enter the ring with a certain mindset and attempt to change the opposing player's mindset through emotional and physical appeal. And in this game, sometimes there is a disconnect between the mental and the physical. For example, occasionally men and women (who are generally above average in physical appearance) play hard to get in order to leverage the game in their favor. Perhaps a woman would be fine with having sex with a certain man, but only under certain circumstances. So when does her consent manifest? Let's say she'd only be willing once the man has demonstrated a sufficient amount of loyalty to her (taking time out of his schedule, being on time to dates, etc). At the beginning of the game, if the man attempted to have sex with her it would not be consensual, obviously. But through repeated interactions, mental games, sacrifices and compromises from both parties (and yes, physical and emotional manipulations that may be interpreted as "coercion" by certain people) a mutual agreement is eventually reached: either "yes" or "no." By the end of the game, things are consensual. Of course, this leaves a lot to interpretation, especially since people don't keep journals of their true intentions that clash with their public persona. And heck, sometimes people don't even know what they want. If two people have sex when they both believe they're consenting, but then one of them regrets the decision later (certainly reasonable, especially since no one is ever 100% certain about anything, ever) what should be done about that? The malicious thing to do would be to accuse the other person of rape, which is something women more often than men can rely on as a backup plan for obvious reasons. Anyway, this is getting way off topic. To put it shortly, consent is a moving, difficult-to-pinpoint target and coercion is far from self-evident. Since I'm rushing this, if you would like me to expand on this I'd be happy to, but for now this should be enough. Of course, I say that but I also recognize that state laws have done their best to stabilize these two concepts, and since I'm no law student and am in no place to criticize, I can only assume that they are satisfactory. But at the same time, this issue with Trump and the tapes is not a legal one. There is not enough evidence to draw any conclusions. Could it have been consensual? Yes. Could it have been coercive? Yes. Because I believe in innocence until guilt is proven, I will defend Trump as far as that goes. I understand the concern though, insofar as he uses pretty extreme language ("I don't even wait" and "you can do anything"), especially coming from a man of his social stature. But that's merely just another facet of the "game" I mentioned earlier. Physical attractiveness gives people a massive advantage, but social standing does as well. And with that advantage, some people are given an edge in the "game" of love (or sex, or relationships, or whatever, I'm making these terms interchangeable at this point since they aren't significantly independent of each other). They're free to wield that advantage however they'd like so long as they don't do anything illegal, even if that means being borderline coercive. Because at what point does strategy morph into manipulation morph into coercion? When is one's consent established as a result of genuine emotions and not determined by calculated manipulations of the heart? That's the million dollar question, and there's no answer to it. Does it suck that things are like this? Yeah, that's fair to say, I know as someone who doesn't view himself as particularly physically blessed I sometimes think so too. Is it troubling that people like Trump are able to use their status to push the envelope? Sure, but as a guy I also find it troubling that females (both anonymous catfishers and ones legitimately so) are worshiped, given free stuff, and interacted with more reverence than males are online. I'm not going to get particularly upset about either, especially since there is only so much that can be done. I'm a fan of free market concepts and of all the places a free market has established itself, nowhere else has it been established more successfully than in the realm of dating/relationships/sex. There are hardly any government or authoritarian forces restricting the market, and thank goodness. I doubt anyone would be particularly happy if the government forced people, by law, to enter relationships with certain individuals, identified by some factor such as physical attractiveness, age, or social standing, predicated on some lawmaker's arbitrary notion of "fairness." Love is rough, but codifying restrictions on how you're allowed to feel is just distopian. Anyway, after two fat paragraphs about that, it's clear that there is not much left to say about this topic, at least on my side. We've both at least come to an agreement on the facts of the matter, which is a miracle in and of itself. At this point, we're both just arguing how to interpret the facts and debating each other over how problematic or how dismissible this whole fiasco is. I can't even think of anything more to say that would add to the conversation about the Trump tapes themselves that has not already been said, which is why I'm finding myself discussing the broader philosophical aspect of the issue far more than any of the political parts. And as a postscript, I'll admit that it wasn't the best idea to link to /r/The_Donald as a source, though I still stand by the validity of the research done in that thread. Regardless, to address your point about the rhetoric, I'm still not convinced. For one, all that is selective information. The most glaring is that survey by the HRC as evidence of a post-election bullying and harassment spike among young people. If you check the full report, you'll find that the the 50,000+ respondents were solicited through their social media sites and the social media of their "partner organizations" (among which is the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance totally not biased at all). It should be pretty obvious that the only people who would bother to follow the social media accounts of HRC are liberals (and pretty hardcore ones at all). But to prove it, according to the demographics section of the report, 64% identified as female, 27% identified as male, and 8% identified as another gender. Not only that, but only 45% of respondents identified as heterosexual, while the rest were either bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, queer, asexual, or something else. I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a peer reviewed source to realize that this sample size is nowhere near representative of the average American youth, not even in the slightest. This alone should have been enough to disqualify this report as biased, but to make matters worse the report doesn't even list, verbatim, every single question asked and pads many of its pages with self-reported stories of individuals. This survey serves no purpose outside of pushing an agenda. If you had surveyed individuals from /r/The_Donald, you would have gotten equally skewed demographics and likely an equally alarming number of harassment reports, except the victims would have been conservatives and the perpetrators would have been liberals. The entire ABC article is just selectively listing one-off examples of incidents at schools, and quoting people denouncing those incidents. Has there been an uptick since before the election? I don't know, and no one knows because no legitimate surveys have been taken allowing for a comparison. Though I have a hard time taking the ADL seriously ever since their Pepe the Frog fiasco, I don't find anything glaringly wrong with their reporting on the rise of anti-Semitism at least. However, I'm a bit skeptical of how much of a "rise" they claim to report, and of course reports of hate crimes are not the same as actual cases of verified hate crimes (since "reported" hate crimes can and have been found to be hoaxes). And I'm not quite sure I agree with you about politicians and leaders having more pull than celebrities. The absolutely insane amount of loyalty that people have for their favorite authors, movies stars, singers, bands, television personalities, etc. shouldn't be overlooked. I'm fairly certain the average kid cares far less about politics than pop culture and dank memes. But I'll admit that some politicians have somehow entered celebrity status (Obama, Trudeau, JFK, Reagan, and of course, Trump) which is also something to consider. And this past election was as much as a cultural revolution/upheaval as it was a political one, so there's that too. Okay but yeah I really should cut this short now. Feel free to respond if you'd like, but don't force yourself to do anything too rash (like rewrite the whole thing after somehow losing all of it how did that even happen??) -- EDIT: OOPS I forgot to post a dank maymay, forgive me.

I interchangeably have these three songs stuck in my head... SASAGEYO, SASAGEYO! SHINZOU WO SASAGEYO! OHH OH OHHH OHHHH OHH OH OHHH OHHHH OH OHHHHHH OHHHHHHHH! I didn't order any whistles...

I watched Kimi no Na wa in theaters back in April, and just saw Koe no Katachi earlier today. They're both really really really good, and I'd recommend them both. 2016 was one helluva year for anime movies.

I'm in the middle of playing Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (somewhere early on in the Third Act), and I quite like it. There are some things about it I like better than Awakening and Fates, and other things I'm not so happy with, but of the three I can't choose a favorite or least favorite. They're all fantastic games and very different in their own rights, and their pros and cons relatively balance each other out. Also, Breath of the Wild is dope as heck and I play it occasionally whenever I feel like shrine hunting (I'm not using a guide and have only 18 left to locate).

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I remembering seeing that back when it was first announced and got some NTR vibes from the summary, which is why I've avoided it. I'm surprised its rating on MAL is as high as it is, but then again I've found myself disagreeing a lot of the time with MAL scores. Since you're watching it, let me know if it's worth checking out. -- Also, ACCA's opening is fantastic. It's not even particularly well animated (lots of stills), but the style and music are addictive.