What are you watching now?

[Deleted]

So... Kill La Kill ended.
That was a thing I guess... *sigh*
On a positive note, I get the distinct feeling that this show could be building up to an even better project by Trigger. They had like, no budget making this show so hopefully they'll be able to make something truly of Gurren Lagann calibre, or even better, one of these days. It feels like Kill La Kill should have been able to exceed TTGL with it's more unique visuals, characters, and ideas. Then it just decided to not do that.

SAMURAI FLAMENCO ENDED TODAY!!!! Man was this good. Samurai Flamenco had a fight in space a few episodes ago that was very similar to Kill la Kill's actual climax, but the final few episodes of Samurai Flamenco were actually dark, deeply personal, and truly masterful. Though I guess they forgot that this one guy was supposed to be a ghost who has been dead for several months. Bit of a major problem right there, but I guess it's all symbolism anyway, and with thematics and emotional resonance this strong I don't really care about potential plot holes.

I also saw Blood C- The Last Dark today. It has some of the most beautiful visuals I've ever seen in an anime, the movie itself was enjoyable but ultimately 'just fine.' They probably needed to expand on Fumito/Saya's relationship, the curfew thing, and the shrovetide more than the brand new characters (and apparently a crossover character from a show I've never seen) who never appeared in the original series and served no purpose. Oops. It was all still there, but it would have been so much stronger with more time and focus. The original series was a filthy little guilty pleasure and this is just a basic action film. Still better than Hollywood, though.

[Rikuseroth]

Restaurant Impossible.
One of my favorite shows.

[Deleted]

So I guess the spring anime series has officially begun. Most of the shows still have a ways yet, but there were three that I was interested in. Unfortunately Akuma no Riddle doesn't have subs yet, so here are my thoughts on the two shows whose episodes aired either yesterday or today:

Blade and Soul: Hey, it's like Queens Blade with less breasts! Yay! (Wait, what's the point of Queens Blade without excessive nudity? There was a little, but as it stands all I'm left with is a boring plot with boring characters. I cannot recommend this, I probably wont be watching more.)

Selector Infected WIXOSS: Hey, it's like Madoka Magica, but with yugi-oh! Yay! (This actually seems really good, my only worry is that this is going to be a very dry paint by numbers deconstruction anime using Madoka's template. Then again, the writer of Toradora crossed with the director of Steins;Gate really is a dream team if I ever heard one.)

EDIT: So Akuma no Riddle didn't particularly strike my fancy. It's usually the sort of thing that does... but this didn't. May be worth giving a try though, maybe its someone else's.

The irregular at Magic Highschool aired today and apparently it has already decided to be one of the spring's big releases, being based on what I believe to be a fairly popular light novel... or something. I thought it was actually decent, pretty watchable based on the first episode. It certainly wont push the envelope... in any way, shape, or form, I'm guessing, (I mean whoo look at those oh so subtle themes of discrimination based on weird arbitrary reasoning being tossed about...) but the protagonist is actually pretty nuanced and likeable, I like the animation and costume designs, and the music is pretty good. I mean LiSA is singing the opening (SAO and Fate/Zero opening) so that's already a plus right there.

[Deleted]

So a couple more shows started... lets go over them.

Captain Earth was kinda boring. It had one nice vocal track in the middle, and the main character seemed to have something interesting going for about a minute at the very start of the episode, but otherwise I'm going to give it a pass... not bad, just bland enough to the point that I doubt even Claxus would find very much about it noteworthy. It's about mechs in space and the main character's father was a good mech pilot, and apparently he can pilot a mech too. Because he's good at video games I guess?
But hey I've been wrong before so give it a try if you're interested...

Brynhildr in the Darkness also had a pretty good opening episode. Kinda seems to have a future prediction/future altering plot going on which is always nice. The best part about this show right now is definitely this opening music though.



Not everything has aired and I haven't (and wont) try anything but so far my top pick for this series is Selector infected WIXOSS... I'm not entirely sure if that's a good thing yet.
The next show I'm looking forward to is Mekaku city actors, even though I don't know what it's about.

[Indigo]

Well, skimming around certain places, I didn't find even one other opinion calling Captain Earth even remotely bland... Quite the opposite. Of course, that's something subjective, but I'm going to go with the majority in this case simply because it's a Bones anime with a red and white with green eyes mecha. It's kind of familiar.

I don't think I'll be disappointed... I hear it's a lot like Star Driver, but I'm also seeing a little bit of Eureka Seven. If the trailer's anything to go by, it also has a symphonic orchestral song that marks the anime's wonderful moments. You just lack the ability to enjoy some good old excitement, I think...

[Deleted]

Apr 7, 2014 21:38:29 GMT Indigo said:

Well, skimming around certain places, I didn't find even one other opinion calling Captain Earth even remotely bland... Quite the opposite. Of course, that's something subjective, but I'm going to go with the majority in this case simply because it's a Bones anime with a red and white with green eyes mecha. It's kind of familiar.

I don't think I'll be disappointed... I hear it's a lot like Star Driver, but I'm also seeing a little bit of Eureka Seven. If the trailer's anything to go by, it also has a symphonic orchestral song that marks the anime's wonderful moments. You just lack the ability to enjoy some good old excitement, I think...

Well, sure it's subjective, but the first episode didn't have much in the way of popcorn excitement. A lot of it was set up. The end of the episode has the main character piloting the mech, and I think he saves something crashing towards the earth if I recall correctly, but not a lot of it felt like a roller coaster. The set up itself just seemed generic, too, but maybe generic is merely a word I cling to when I simply happen to not like the plot. If you think you'll like it... you probably will, but I'll give it a pass.

[Deleted]

Ok I'm just going to keep going with spring 2014...

Daimidaler was a pleasant surprise. It's a mech show that seems to have been made by the same people behind Highschool DxD, and it shows. It's a whole lot of lowest common denominator trashy fun, and I mean that as a compliment. DxD had some serious aspirations in its plot that was boring compared to all the fan service, but Dimedaler fixes this by replacing plot with comedy, and it's a good change. I found myself chuckling at Dimedaler more than most other shows. It is all just stupid humour of course- the main villains are from a 'penguin empire' and the obvious visual gag with them is that they're human shaped but they have a gigantic 'front tail' on top of their perverted (and oddly very polite) personality. The best change for me however was with the protagonist- he's just as perverted as Issei but Issei himself was a character the audience was supposed to identify with. He has raging hormones and he's a lecherous pig, but he's a highschool student who hasn't had any luck with all of the cute girls! Just like YOU stereotypical male Otaku audience! In Diamedaler they've designed him to look like a scary delinquent, and he acts like he's cooler than he actually is, so his perverted moments come across as more pathetic which makes him a much better character to laugh at rather than be a wish fulfilment character. He's obviously going to develop a harem- but the show seems to be preparing to make fun of all of these standard tropes whilst also having gratuitous nudity and stupid jokes. Oh, and the 'Hi-ero' particles are a lot better than Issei's vague demon powers. Issei got stronger the more worked up he got about boobs for no adequately explained reason, but here there's a direct correlation between arousal and his ability to fight- literally, when he's not doing perverted things, the protagonist is really ineffectual to great comedic effect.

What I'm trying to say is- this is almost the exact same thing as Highschool DxD, right down to plot and characters if you replace demons and angels with mechs, but subtle changes make this even more enjoyable trash. Of course, those with a refined taste will probably hate it. I'm just that weird mesh of person who enjoys analysing Evangelion AND laughing at dumb innuendoes. Oh, and the opening is awesome.


No Game No Life was a head scratcher for me. I was looking forward to this one, and I don't think I can judge it yet. It's about a brother and a sister, NEETS who are better in video games than any person can reasonably hope to be in reality who are sucked into a weird... uh... I guess it's a bit like Log Horizon? Where it's a fantasy world much like an MMO without actually being an MMO. NGNL treats this 'game world' as kind of like an alternate dimension and I don't really get it... the pacing was really off. They spend the first episode in the real world talking about how urban legends are just a way for people to pretend that life doesn't suck, then they get sucked into the game world, given a ton of rules by some weird kid like god, then I guess they just acclimatise really quickly to it. Besides the rules and a vague backstory this world doesn't seem to have much of a mythology or a defined aesthetic- it's supposed to be a world obsessed with games (chess and poker were played in this episode) but it looks like a standard fantasy setting like every other anime about an MMO. The idea behind the world is that everything is decided by games of all types- rather than being like reality where there are no rules ('Life is just a crappy game'- directly quoted) per say, this is supposed to be a world where people acheive based on pure skill. A rule prohibits cheating but only if they are found out during the game- apparently it seems being discovered later means god (or 'Tet') doesn't care? And it also undermines the point of the world- if people are still capable of cheating without being struck down by the supposedly omnipotent Tet's divine judgement (or however he enforces these weird rules) then what's the appeal of the world? If people are capable of cheating anyway, THEN IT'S JUST LIKE REALITY!!! The main characters clearly hate the real world and the closing line is a stab at the type of hero who wants to return to the real world in fantasy stories- this leads me to believe that this could actually be leading up to a giant middle finger towards the actual NEETS of reality, but right now, the characters seem very arrogant and Mary Sue-ish. Although the male lead could end up being a Lelouch/Light hybrid since this show is going to be about standard games like poker being shot in a similar fashion to the actions scenes in the 300 movies. The sister already has weird, out of place panty shots and a character 'frankensteined' together from all the popular anime stereotypes- Rei's emotionless doll attitude combined with the little sister 'One-chan' schtick combined with Watamote's brand of shut-in moe, with the small body sizes and large, sunken in eyes.

Soo... the show is leaning precariously right now. I'm hoping it's going to lean towards deconstruction, and parts seemed poised to do so, but right now it's leaning in the other direction.


So Black Bullet exists I guess. I found the young girl's perverse affection for the protagonist fairly creepy, even though I should be used to it at this point. Possibly because she looks like she's about 8 years old and not-so-subtly wondering if he wants to have sex with her (and even giving him a peck in the cheek for no reason) in supposedly comedic segments. That's just icky, even for anime standards. Otherwise the plot is fairly basic fare that one of us may have eventually come up with in an RP... actually it seems fairly similar to Riku's usual output, but I don't know. I don't see much in the material- super powered humans as victims of discrimination was hastily thrown in an exposition dump that came at the end rather than the middle, and that's never a good sign since discrimination doesn't work when the discriminated are so obviously superior to the current human model, what with all the super powers and such. Stories about things such as racism work best when the minorities are discriminated against for completely arbitrary reasons. You know, like skin colour. The people who are the most physically fit, hansom, and intelligent usually end up crushing the world under their foot, not the other way around, no matter how much it might seem that way to the stereotypical nerd during their school years. Not that this really matters much- Black Bullet seems to use this as a way to inform the character rather than the world or the themes. The sole interesting thing that I've seen so far is the villain- although after his initial introduction near the beginning he's never mentioned. But he says he'll destroy the world and has that Joker-esc vibe so his motivations COULD be interesting- but I've probably wasted enough of my time as it is. Give it a shot- if it gets noticeably better in a few episodes time, tell me and I might pick it back up.

[Indigo]

It takes skill to cheat and win because of it without getting found out.

Daimidaler actually has a very classic appeal... The main character's design, the music, the mecha, it all seems like a 90s anime with today's production.

Unfortunately, it also is like today's typical fanservice animes where girls have no respect for themselves and it's so relatable for the main character's trait to be their pervertedness. It's really a shame... I actually may have seen it as one of my favorite animes because everything else about it has so much classic hit potential.

[Deleted]

Lets continue...

I saw the raw video of Knights of Sidonia, and by saw I mean skimmed. I probably wont be returning to it, the CGI made it look like a mediocre version of those final fantasy movies from a while back. I'm not sure if it was just the video quality, but there seemed to be less frames used in the animation, to the point that I would dare say that it moved like stock motion. (without the charm) I personally don't see this catching on, especially since it apparently didn't even make its way to crunchyroll.

Chaika- The Coffin Princess seemed pretty good. The first episode went through a lot of plot without really feeling rushed, nor did it really have exposition. The setting is standard fantasy with magic so world building doesn't really seem necessary, but plots were set up and I enjoy the visuals, music, and pacing. The titular character herself is also an oddball- obviously aiming for the lolicon audience, but her weird speech patterns, odd motivations and effectiveness in combat thanks to this really awesome weapon make her an above average character in my estimation, at least for now. Male protagonist seems slightly snarky and fun and gets to travel around with two attractive girls without it coming off like a harem in the least (on account of one being his older sister with zero incestuous undertones) so yeah I can recommend this first episode. I'm still not entirely sure what it's ABOUT in plot or themes yet, but whatever. A show isn't required to tip its hand early by law.

Soul Eater NOT feels like the strangest prequel one could imagine for any anime ever. For some reason I wasn't excited for this one... despite the fact that it's, you know, SOUL EATER! The first anime outside of yugi-oh and pokemon that I watched, that still remains one of my favourite shonen and outright favourite anime of all time for the awesomeness and nostalgia it gives me. But no I wasn't excited for Soul Eater NOT. I had no idea what this was going to be going in, but I'll tell you what it is- A yuri love triangle/harem that for some incomprehensible reason was set in the Soul Eater universe. It's a prequel, with precisely three new characters, some background characters, and millions of Soul Eater cameos that awkwardly walk in and say "HEY WE EXISTED!" and little else. Actually, Maka's kindness and awesomeness and fashion sense and fighting skills fkfiofdlks ALBARN FEELS DAMMIT GO AWAY! Seems to have influenced the main character towards the end of the episode, but that's about it.

I have no idea how to describe this, it's the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Bones seems to have copied the kind of animation styles and character designs of something you might see from Kyoto animation, constructed a comedy harem plot, and stapled it to a shonen series. The result is something completely different in tone to Soul Eater- if I were a more rabid type of fan I may even call this sacrilegious. For example to fit the tone of the show the returning Soul Eater characters look a lot softer and adorable to fit the moe style, which makes some sense considering they're slightly younger... but the dissonance is just so weird.

All that said... I actually enjoyed this first episode. I guess. I mean this IS Soul Eater, but the cameos (despite mostly featuring one of my all time favourite characters) honestly felt like the worst part of the episode. But the protagonist is actually believable, it does a slightly better job than the original show did at showing the anxieties of actually attending an institution like the DWMA (where all the characters are basically already amazing- here the protagonist is a weapon whois barely able to transform until the end of the episode) and whilst the cameos felt really stiff and awkward, seeing the locations and setting in a different light was actually refreshing- those huge stairs tiring her out, seeing different rooms of the academy, and of course the laughing sun- that stuff felt great. On top of that the final fight scene this episode was actually pretty hilarious for a reason that I dare not spoil. The harem thing was also smartly integrated, using the weapon/meister relationship dynamic to as great effect as it possibly could. As such the show actually works as decent world building, as we never got to see much of what it was like to actually study at the DWMA what with all the assignments and enemies.

The worst part were the other two characters- the protagonist was fine, nice to watch who even had short lived Shinji Ikari moments of self doubt as she saw what the academy was like, but the two girls vying for her affection seem absolutely awful right now- a ditzy moe blob and a snooty tsundere with no depth to speak of. I'm guessing that on top of the comedy there will be relationship dynamics, so maybe it will be fixed, but when the show literally places them alongside the cast of Soul Eater- let me stress- SOUL EATER- they seem even worse, not to mention they themselves don't have a huge amount of screen time to really prove why they were so much better to begin with, even if they're not necessarily doing anything to prove that since they pretty much only get enough screen time for the viewer to admire and remember them before they can do anything interesting...

So... I'm spluttering out a sort of recommendation here?

[Deleted]

So M3 aired today, it's the last of the anime I've been looking forward to this spring as it looks to be a grimdark mech show, that also happens to be anime original (it has a manga starting a few weeks after the initial episode) which is always nice. Unfortunately, at time of this writing it is still raw, so... I'll talk about something else I guess.

I didn't talk about Mekkaku City Actors because I had been flooding this thread too much. Also I was waiting for M3 to air, so I could talk about two shows in one post.

The first two episodes of the show have aired and... it's not very good. Possibly because the anime is the adaption of a manga which was an adaption of a light novel which was itself a adaption of a small series of vocaloid songs. That's simply insane...
SHAFT did the animation and compared to their other shows such as Madoka Magica and even last season's Nisekoi, the animation looks really cheap and uninteresting despite the weird symbolism being used (an agency guy being represented by a teddy bear for no reason/classmates being represented by old tape recorders) and the plot is also fairly dull. The first episode centres around a NEET and his eccentric, verbally abusive female AI... ok... there was also a robbery at an electronics store.
Second episode focuses on an idol with almost no references to the previous episode. She doesn't get good grades. And she's sick of the attention despite the fact that she willingly took an idol job. I think she took it willingly anyway, she had a backstory which should have been good but I was really unsure as to why she took a job as an idol... anyway, the show is just a boring void as far as I'm concerned. I don't have much to say about it.

Ok so I just saw M3 on Daisuki. It had a really good opening song and possibly the best closing song this season. The animation was also really great, it had good environments (especially what little is seen of the lightless realm) and strong, unique character designs. The CG on the mechs and the monsters seemed to have a poor frame rate though and as such looked very out of place, which is a bit of a shame. The admonitions were especially hard to see, as they have mostly black skin and the camera didn't focus on them enough, and they were only seen during nigh time sequences.
Other than that... I think this first episode was a bit too rushed. I didn't fully comprehend the premise until the episode ended. I realised that it was pretty much a mechs vs monsters from an alternate universe thing though, with a weird curse thing on the side. It also had a twist at the end of the episode that I'm glad they decided to reveal now rather than later, because it's the sort of thing most shows would like to reveal in the middle of the series. That said, the show wasn't wholly grimdark. It had a lot of quiet moments with people just talking casually to provide the necessary levity, without it having to necessarily explode into full on comedy scenes.

I think the biggest problem right now is the characters. There are too many, and they weren't properly introduced as far as I'm concerned. Which is a shame, since they seem believable and likeable, and they have very memorable designs. Just not very memorable names. The one that stood out to me the most was one that seemed to be a character type rarely seen in media. A shy, cute, and reserved girl who secretly harbours dark thoughts and resentment. I know at least one girl similar to her in real life, and the personality is effectively compared through her design.

So yeah, I'm rooting for M3.

My top picks for the season are, in order of favourite to least favourite-

1) WIXOSS
2) Brynhildr (episode 3 really seems to be hammering in some heavy amounts of suffering)
3) M3
4) No Game No life
5) Chaika
6) Daimidaler
7) Soul Eater NOT

I'm dropping the rest. Well, I might give Mekaku City Actors one last chance. If I hear positive things about others I've missed, or if shows I've dropped get good, then I'll probably add to the list. It feels like there's been a couple of good slice of life shows that I've neglected to try (aside from SE NOT)

Oh, and I've also started watching Log Horizon. I'm around 10 episodes in. I know it's decently popular, but I do wish this had exploded instead of SAO. Similar premise, but better in just about every way. I especially like how it's more about strategy, politics, and economy. As opposed to hitting things really hard with the power of will adolescent power fantasies, getting a harem, and reenacting super mario bros.

[Deleted]

Sora... if you know so damn much about real tactics, about morale, about commanding troops, winning wars, politics, wooing women, assessing situations immediately, and just being all around perfect... why the heck aren't you emperor of the universe by now? Seriously, he's in a world of games but I just saw a potentially great game of chess to decide the fate of a nation get butchered and turned into a sexist, stupid shonen battle that even highschool DxD would be ashamed of. Without, you know, the nudity. I am utterly speechless. Comedy is fine but... you had a great game of rock paper scissors in episode 2. It was serious. It was smart. It was engaging Then you had some decently serviceable comedy afterwards, not during, the game which poked fun at the absurdity of your characters. That was fine. That was subversive, funny, and it didn't take anything away from the actual game.

But I mean seriously... why provide ten pledges and 'agree' to them before every match when everything that's going to happen will be a loophole anyway. The pledges, now that I think about it, actively encourage the stupidest of games to be played because the challenged party sets the rules of play. Again, episode 2 used this smartly. Sora altered the rules of rock paper scissors and gave himself a handicap. He explained all the rules, and Steph lost because of Sora's mind games and specific word choices, without breaking any of the rules he had given in the game. Sora's opponent in this episode sets out a game of chess, and tells him and Shiro that the only changed rules are that they have to use voice commands to move the units, because they have 'a will of their own'. Apparently this translates to the fact that they're not playing chess, they're playing warcraft, and they simply weren't told all of the rules. Was the judge in on this? Did he know they weren't playing chess? Surely to have a fair game he should know all the rules. Surely Sora and Shrio should be told all the rules. Tet you moron, you left something so basic out of the pledges you idiot. How did he become god with such infinite stupidity? If you're caught cheating then you lose immediately. In that case, when her first move is moving a pawn forward 3 spaces in front of everyone, she's lost. But oh no, she 'set the rules of the engagement' and the judge doesn't even appear on screen let alone raise a concern for the rest of the episode. So that means Shiro could have moved however she wanted to? But didn't. In fact when she tried later on, occasionally the chess pieces lost the will to fight. Chess pieces. Because they have a will of their own? Are they human? Animated golems? What are they?

You know so of course Sora goes from Lelouch to Issei faster than a lights switch being switched, takes over the game, and just yells at the pieces that they can bang all the women they want if they win. And be free of taxes. I'm dead serious, that actually happens. Then Sora lectures his opponent, who actually wants to become Queen with her nations best interests in mind (even if they are submissive) as opposed to an outsider, on the nature of leadership. This scene can be played comedically all you like but the messages implicit here are some of the most disgusting things I've ever heard... yes, fighting wars is all about sex and shirking all responsibilities. That's what life is all about! Condescending your enemies, slaughtering them, turning all of your women into sex slaves, and then sitting back and letting a significant portion of the population do absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy for the rest of your nations sure to be short lived days. But oh no, 'oppression is bad, she was using magic to manipulate the troops (which makes no sense, she created the rules in the first place so why would she need magic to manipulate the troops?)

I implore anyone reading this to watch the episode... it is ungodly horrendous. It's trying to be comedic and not take itself seriously, but when Sora and Shiro's alleged awesomeness is taken completely at face value and we're expected to route for them (Sora in particular, because aside from a few gentle moments Shiro has less personality than Rei Ayanami) them.

I don't mind the argument that passion wins wars. I wouldn't mind it in literally every other context. But in a world that's been specifically designed by an all powerful being to appeal to people who value intelligence, skill, and clear parameters for success and failure because reality is too obtuse, as opposed to reality where wars are decided by millions of different variables from strategy, morale, negotiation, economy, politics, compromise, etc... (again, because life is more obtuse in figuring out success and failure) then it results in quite possibly one of the worst episodes I've ever seen in an anime.

Something like highschool DxD may be more sexist on the surface and is more blatant with it's pandering intentions, but it doesn't have political messages. Issei is pathetic, the weakest character in the series for much of it. Viewers may envy his position, but at the same time besides 'willpower' I remember no point where it's said that his beliefs should be admired. The enemy have no beliefs outside of being stereotypical badguys- there is no intentional agenda besides breasts. The whole thing is a gigantic joke. NGNL wasn't intentionally spreading horrible messages, but it was arguing against a political fight in a one on one (or, two on one, whatever) battle where that figure lost, leaving the heroes as the only view that the viewer has left to route for, leaving us only with the presumably unintentional, well meaning, and not taken seriously messages that are flat out disgusting. Episode 3 was treated as a joke, but it was a giant joke in the middle of a series with serious elements and themes. Heck, the first half of the episode was serious, and actually pretty good. Maybe the rest of the series will be good.

But this chess game? I didn't much care for it. Enjoy it's absurdity. Imma gonna watch Kaiji.

[Rikuseroth]

Gabriel Iglesias is, I think my favorite comedian.

[Deleted]

Kaiji. It's a psychological anime about gambling, money, and society. I don't think I've ever watched something and sat quite so tensely on the edge of the proverbial seat before.

[Indigo]

Also a psychological anime about tengus.

Well, about that time me and Al said we needed to have an anime/story about the two of us as protagonist/antagonist...

This comes pretty close, I think. Valvrave the Liberator is neither shonen nor seinen! Aside from how amazing this OP is, the anime revolves a good natured hero who pilots a mecha, and the cold-hearted antagonistic mastermind (and assassin) who (kind of like Lelouch) comes up with crazy plans that turn tides. It doesn't take long in the anime though before they end up actually being an protganist/antagonist team.

Finally got around to season 2. To be honest, this may be one of the most revolutionary animes out there... It might not go down in history as such and is not very well received, but... It's insane how many original ideas this anime has. The plot's completely unpredictable. Yes, there's a lot of 'stupid' moments in it, what people call 'bad writing,' but seriously, everything in this anime is out out left field. The mecha designs are fairly original with their weapons and features and how they fit into the story. A giant robot's heat levels going to 666 and shining gold and committing seppuku to unleash a golden stream slash? A sword cooler on the wrist (heat is a big thing about the Valvraves) so that it slits a sword across its wrist to cool it down? These are just small details...

Anyway, I could go on so much on original ideas. A show about space vampires piloting giant robots and several underlying 'dracula/reaper' themes? A school becoming a country floating in space? A speech about the hero being sugar which tastes good with coffee which is the antagonist, so they'll work together to make a good blend? So much to say about it but I don't want to spoil everything.

There's also plenty of despair... Lots of despair. In fact, Valvrave has some very dark scenes. And many hopeful scenes that are cruelly demolished time and time again.

For what it's worth, it was made by the same writer as Code Geass, and it does show. I find a lot of people dislike it because of all its craziness or 'bad writing', and the rest of the world calls it a guilty pleasure for some reason. I don't think it's a coincidence, though. It's just plain entertaining and completely unpredictable, no matter how it goes about it. Its infamous 'guilty pleasure' status is the result of how much it breaks from the norm while still being very enjoyable.

tl;dr anime about me and Al

[Deleted]

Over the years I've come to realise that Code Geass was also a show that was 99% entertainment and 1% Lelouch making funny faces. Basically, I can't remember it having any thematics or any real political opinions. It was just entertaining characters fighting for dominance of the world and occasionally screwing things up. (oh and then the great ending)
It's unpredictable and original but empty... like some kind of really elaborately designed pitcher that belongs in an art museum, but doesn't actually have any water for me to drink from.

Evangelion, Samurai Flamenco, and Kaiji (just to name a few of the ones I've seen recently) happen to be exquisite pitchers filled with pristine water. That's the sort of thing that will be revolutionary because they're entertaining and insightful. But, I get ahead of myself. Only Eva made any waves in that list. (Then again Eva's water kind of smashed its own pitcher by the end, nearly drowning the viewer)

These days the anime popular enough to be deemed revolutionary are shows like SAO, AoT, and this season's Unusual in Magic Highschool is popular enough (though not as popular as SAO or AoT so far) are dull power fantasies... of course, AoT was the most popular out of those 3 because it's a zombie apocalypse in everything but name, and the west eats up zombies because they hate each other, that and other cynical reasoning... And of course the only female character of note (besides a one note joke character only remembered for a fond love of potatoes) is a strong, quiet woman capable of killing many titans at once... who also happens to only show any emotion or form decisions in regards to the whims of the male lead, and only decides to be a soldier because she follows him wherever he goes and basically only exists to get angry over Eren's not-death, and be the perfect waifu in all other respects. Also to sell figures, bed pillows, and other merchandise.
And of course, the world is constantly intense. Not sad, not happy, not despairing, not interesting or complex... just intense. All major events are intense and nothing else. All children grow up in intense environments. Every moment that isn't intense is just a buildup to future intensity. Intensity devoid of positive emotion and negative emotions viewed only through the muddled lens of intensity would still rule over AoT's world even if the Titans left it.

Basically, I despise AoT. But I've gone on enough, I was supposed to be talking about Valvrave...

So I might give the show a shot, I probably need some strong, light entertainment.

But to me, good as it might be, I'd probably only be able to give it half marks in my book. I trust that it's aced all the answers in the entertainment section of the test, but I'm willing to bet that it forgot to revise thematics and just went to sleep until the exam was finished... I imagine this is why most of the other examiners would write the whole paper off as a failure.

[Indigo]

Not sure what qualifies to you as good anymore, then, if you're even shunning Code Geass now. Feels like you hardly like anything anymore. It's anime, it's entertaining. What else do you need? A ride of emotions, lessons, action, some psychological aspects, masquerades... Political opinions? That's why the whole thing took place. People fighting for dominance and screwing up was probably less than half of it.

Is Gurren Lagann revolutionary? It probably is, and there was nothing insightful about it. Themes about never giving up and doing the impossible was all the psychology it offered, with the second half adding politics to it, which was pretty screwed up. But it was entertaining, while hardly being much more than an action anime. It was just original and good at entertaining, and didn't need any deep layers of thematics or insight.

How was Dangan Ronpa, about a typical villain bear forcing students into a genocide story that's the same from start to finish, so much better than something like Code Geass? Because they said 'despair' more than 'the' and 'and' combined? The only water to drink there was guessing who killed who, and near the end, finding the mastermind from a small cast of characters. Of course, I liked it, I'm not saying it's bad, but you may need to rethink something here.

[Deleted]

I've just told you what I think is good, and I listed a measly 3 examples of some of the ones I'm currently interested in. I like a lot of things. I probably couldn't name all of the stuff I like, let alone just anime, off the top of my head. Put simply, I just don't like everything you like. I also don't hate everything that you like. Love and hate are two very polarising opposites, I don't think I've ever watched anything that I fully love or fully hate. It would be impossible for a show to get literally everything 100% correct or 100% wrong in my perspective. I can also feel many other emotions from a show besides 'I find this entertaining and I like it' and 'I find this boring and I don't like it'. I might feel disgusted by a show- but is that a good thing or a bad thing? Maybe the show wants me to feel disgusted. Maybe the show wanted me to respond positively to what I'm feeling disgusted by. In other words weather or not a single emotion is a good or a bad thing depends on context. How I view the context depends upon what kind of person I am- if I'm feeling something different to the creator's intention, then that is a sign that a show cannot be 'entertaining' or 'boring' 'good' or 'bad' based upon arbitrary criteria for what makes a story good. People, narrative, and emotions are infinitely more complex than a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

I never said anything about Gurren Lagann or Dangan Ronpa in relation to Code Geass. (nor did I 'shun' Code Geass- I think the show is great and I have many fond memories of it when I was just starting to watch anime.) Thematically, however, it is very lacking, because the part that draws interest doesn't have anything to say about people or society. The part that draws interest is the unpredictable plot and larger than life characters. The closest it gets to a thematic element is when Lelouch refuses to allow the emperor to kill god and fuse all of humanity into one mind. In other words, it's an argument against real world issues. Collectivism and the technological singularity and all that jazz. But even giving the show that much credit in it's thematics is a stretch for me.
But it doesn't matter. I used the analogy of an exam written by code geass/valvrave (which I know nothing about, so I wont say anything about it until I've seen it) only getting half marks, acing the story part and failing thematics. I was explaining why some people might thusly see Valvrave/Code geass as poorly written shows. It was my attempt at explaining their perspective. For me, however, reading over the half of the exam that answered the story questions, the answers were so good that I feel inclined to give the show a pass regardless of what the rest of the exam board might think. Code Geass does what it does best in my eyes, it doesn't need more does it want thematics. I can live with it only getting 'half marks' which I admit is a very reductionist view, as lots of things go into making a show good. Characters, visuals, music, writing, voice acting etc...

Moving on to Gurren Lagann, it's story is very simple. I've already written an essay on this, but I'll try to bring across why I love Gurren Lagann so much once more. It's story is simple, and it can be argued that the characters lack a certain amount of depth. They yell a lot. They're determined, they yell a lot etc...
As far as I'm concerned however, the writing is solid and energetic. The structure is masterful. The visuals are stunning, as is the music. Gurren Lagann also has very, very strong and overt thematics. They're not particularly deep or thought provoking, but they're there and they're strong. Gurren Lagann is about evolution, about the positives of moving forward despite the sacrifices that it may entail such as deaths of loved ones and the universe itself. The anti-spirals reached a certain point and came to the conclusion that evolution spells death, so they decided to remain rigedly in one place and prevent anyone from moving past them. The visuals in this instance is a strong point. Drills represent humanity, slowly drilling through that impossible brick wall that is their enemy, they move on regardless of the pressures placed upon them. They drill despite the seemingly endless amount of rock they have to go through, despite the risk of cave ins and other accidents, and despite the fact that once they've drilled through it all, it will mean the possible destruction of the wall, and thus the crumbling foundation of reality. The objects in Gurren Lagann from the mechs to the drills represents the characters and their motivations. Everything is narratively, thematically, visually, and structurally cohesive- most importantly, you can live your life by GL's morals. A person can remember the show and find motivation to move forward when they might think they can't move forward and decide to rest on their current achievements- much like an anti-spiral.
Code Geass on the other hand? I don't think there's any powerful moments that you can really say taught you something. I'm sure some people did, but most people didn't, and I doubt the show intended to teach anything. A plot twist happens 'wow, that was unexpected!' Shirley dies 'wow, it's tough being Lelouch! I can't emphasise with him, because I'm not a royal price with the ability to make anyone obey my commands, but I can certainly see how from a certain perspective, his life is hard!'
Compare this with Simon. Everyone has lost a loved one, everyone has been afraid of living up to expectations, everyone has been afraid of moving forward, everyone has learned to mature, everyone has learned to have loved and lost, and everyone will eventually grow old regardless of the achievements they make in their lives. Simon can be sympathised with without being a bland audience surrogate. We learn new things alongside him, or appreciate his growth as we ourselves remember learning how to mature, how to overcome loss, depression, and love, and move forward.

And Gurren Lagann is a show with simplistic thematics. This is why I think it is infinitely better than the recent Kill la Kill- I wonder why you didn't like it when you seemed to like Gurren Lagann? It was just as loud and hotblooded. If anything, Kill la Kill had a more unpredictable plot, and even more wacky and unpredictable characters. The main villains get much more screen time than the anti-spirals. Which villian do you think is stronger? Which protagonists left a greater impact? Which did you prefer? I doubt very much that you're shallow enough to dislike Kill la Kill on the grounds that is was girls in skimpy clothes fighting as opposed to mecha. Surely in all other respects, the shows have basically the same appeal. Nope, not in my opinion. Kill la Kill quite possibly has more entertainment value, especially if you take into consideration the larger amount of female flesh shown on screen, but I feel as though it's thematics are muddled, and the characters rarely move beyond their initial appeal. Kill la Kill can't decide if it's episodic or one continuous narrative. It sets up the idea of fighting the two star club heads early on, then quickly hand waves them away in favour of something completely different before it settles. The visuals are very kinetic and comedic given Triggers lower than average budget, but the symbolism never seems to come together in any meaningful way, at least not as strongly and as overtly as GL anyway. Ryuko says it herself 'incomprehensible.'
I would find it very difficult to learn something from Kill La Kill.

Dangan Ronpa finds strength in many different areas. It's soundtrack brilliantly sets the mood. The character designs are unique and distinctive, as is the environment design. Everything is stylised without losing it's mood- the sound and music forms together to create a claustrophobic and intimidating setting for the story. The story is also good, it's unpredictable of course, and most importantly the player is an active participant in the solving process. This is probably why the anime is a fairly weak adaption in my opinion, it doesn't allow the viewer to absorb enough detail to allow them to solve the mystery on their own.
However, the characters are what really make DR great- all of them are important and active participants in the story by mere virtue of existing and even if they're not a murderer/culprit they all play an important part in the cases and the plot. Their personality is sold by their designs, the quality of their written dialogue, and how they tie into the story, and of course the structure of the story effectively using 'differences in kind' ie when there's a noticeable change to the game mechanics/narrative (the chapter layout of set up/freetime/investigation/trial and back to free time again). Much like Gurren Lagann, all of these elements are tightly knit together. Heck, it might form together even better than Gurren Lagann. This is also why Madoka Magica is one of my favourite shows. Every aspect of an anime comes together to create a tight, emotional, and powerful story with no extraneous elements. Nothing that needs to be excised, and nothing that needs to be added. Of course, Rebellion leaves a definitive sequel hook so it remains to be seen if a second season or 4th movie will keep up the tradition of Madoka as a whole being a tight plot, but the original series will always be great to me.

Thematics tend to exist divorced from the plot. It's those moments when a show is all to aware that an actual person is watching- for the most overt example I can think of, during much of Kaiji the narrator will basically start explaining the symbolism of the current game at hand to the viewer outright- the narrator is an unseen voice that exists outside of the plot, and he isn't even a participating character. He's more like the author himself. The segments talking about society and stuff are not story elements- they exist outside the plot. Characters, too, namely the sadistic villains have very biting and very 'true' things to say about society. I'd post a link but... it would just be better to watch Kaiji. It's gut wrenching. The second gamble specifically, and the game of e card that follows, are the best examples. The thematics are so rich that somewhere around 6 episodes can be spent playing one card game- for example, the first 9 or so episodes of the show take place over a span of little over 4 hours.

But what about Dangan Ronpa's thematics? I can easily say that I find them lacking compared to some of my other favourite... stuff. However each of the characters do go through basic arcs, on top of just being entertaining. Most of these arcs exist for the purposes of the mystery, however they do change over the course of the narrative, and not every character is has an arc that is directly involved with any of the trials or even the overall story that comes together in the last trial. They change not only due to the misery monokuma puts them through, but through their interactions with each other, and Naegi specifically. Aoi, for example, learns how to deal with the loss of Sakura during the 4th trial. In dangan ronpa 2, there's also Komaeda. He speaks a lot of valid arguments about the situation they're in, and he views it from the perspective of narrative. In narrative, it is necessary for a character (protagonist) to overcome an obstacle in order to grow as a person and achieve their goal. Look up 'the hero with a thousand faces' sometime and the 'heroes journey' narrative structure. Without this structure, there exists only text. Stuff. Not narrative. Komaeda applies this logic to his current, ostensively real situation. The other characters don't understand his perspective, however- it's literally a matter of life and death and he's treating the deaths and despair that only work in a narrative sense as stepping stones that lead towards a greater hope. In other words, his attitude is a deconstruction, juxtaposing how narrative works as opposed to how reality works, and that one cannot be applied to the other. Komaeda can't separate fiction from reality, and comes across as deranged as a result. However, he still has interesting things to say about narrative itself, even if they're not particularly groundbreaking. They're just small little observations that build on top of each other. Monobear and Junko do this too, making them slightly more interesting than merely just entertaining. Of course, when Naegi and Hinata win in the end, the ultimate messages of hope and positivity in the face of despair becomes clear.

It's been a while since I've watched Code Geass, so it's very possible that there were some smaller moments that had thematic depth. But there was nothing huge or memorable in terms of thematics for me, mostly just unexpected moments. When you've been through traumatic event after traumatic event leaving you in deep depression, are you supposed to become bitter and isolated, take over the world, then allow your best friend to kill you for the sake of relieving the world's stress, creating an effective scapegoat for them to project all of their old problems onto? No, I don't believe the show says anything to that effect. It's just what Lelouch does. He's not an inspirational figure, he's an entertaining figure. That's enough for the plot, it's even enough for me to agree that the show's great... it's enough to make me optimistic of Valvrave being of similar quality, a show that I'll really enjoy. Once I've finished this post, in fact, I'm going to go watch it. But that doesn't mean I think, or have to think, that Code Geass is perfect, and not lacking in some areas. Every show lacks. You think to yourself how you would have done this or that... but ultimately the flawed product is still going to be superior to your ideal version of that product. Because it's very likely that that product would only appeal to you and your clones. Hence, nowadays, I try my best to analyse a shows strengths and what I think it wants to do rather than what I would want it to do. If it fails in that regard (Attack on Titan's inability to make me care about it's character's misery because I have no inclination to believe that they will begin to feel any emotions anywhere close to happy, complete, or enlightened, even if they beat the titans), or starts to do other things that I dislike (Mikasa being presented as an ostensibly strong, independent female character when all she does is act subservient to Eren's whims serving as perfect sexist waifu bait that certainly does nothing to help improve male attitudes towards women) then I'll criticise it and call it 'bad.' Since surprisingly few anime and other media tend to fall for this trap, at least among the stuff I've watched, I actually tend to like and love more things I watch than I hate. I have more shows that I merely feel apathetic towards than I outright loathe. For the record, I also don't hate people who like Attack on Titan or SAO or whatever, they're fine in my own ways and many kind, interesting, wonderful people enjoy shows I hate I'm sure. There's just a lot of stuff in them that bug me and turn me off. Although with SAO, that was more in retrospect than anything else.

Code Geass, and any other product is basically purpose precisely because the only people who created it were the original creators. It would have been ruined if everybody on Earth had collaborated in some pointless attempt to turn it into the 'absolute narrative' and if, say, I were to take the show and change it in ways that I feel appeal to me, or even ways that I believe appeal to an even wider audience, then the original show would have lost a lot of it's charm. Of course, fanfiction is all non-cannon and doesn't affect the source material in the slightest.

I do tend to rank shows however, so shows at the top of my personal subjective list tend to be shows with strong thematics (or shocking, unpredictable plots if they happen to be really good but mostly thematics) that make me emote and think.

Shows like Kaiji analysing the true nature of haves and have nots.

Shows like Samurai Flamenco exploring the nature of fictional inspirational figures and the different lenses by which they are viewed. Amusing. Boring, ridiculous, infinitely continuing, the true nature of evil and a perfect statement pointing out the absurdity of 'grimdark' super heroes such as Batman, and how heroes are a force of power rather than a force of innately good or bad.

Shows like Penguindrum exploring the concepts of love and family, guilt inherited from parent to child and a struggle against the inevitable, the types of sacrifices that must be made and the struggles of reaching outside oneself to protect what you love.

Shows like Shiki exploring the morality of murder, self preservation, sin, discrimination, individuality in collectivist society, and that haunting line, "god is silent for everyone."

Shows like Madoka Magica exploring the concept of hope in a rational system where the most efficient and reliable way to keep all life in the universe from dying is to victimise and toy with the emotions of the innocent. An endless cycle where the universe always takes away what you love due to some kind of cruel, arbitrary xanatos gambit, and how self sacrifice only makes things better, it doesn't fix all the problems. On top of that, it still victimises and toys with the emotions of at least one person- the person who loves you the most. What's most important? The world's happiness or your own? After all, you sacrificed yourself to 'fix' a perfect system that victimised yourself and other people just like yourself. This means that you've merely isolated the misery and victimisation to a single person, who happens to be the person who loves you the most, and wishes for you only to be happy. Is that selfless or selfish?

And of course, there's Neon Genesis Evangelion- a show as broken as its characters, deeply afraid of itself and of others. Evangelion is loneliness incarnate. It personifies everything that it means to be a human being, and more specifically, one scared of human interaction. It's about a boy afraid not of the version of himself as he perceives it in his own head, but of all the other versions of himself that exist inside the minds of others. It's about pain. It's about the miserable existence of someone who lives only for a singular role, as defined by others, that he is too cowardly to run away from despite the fact that he absolutely despises what he puts through. He puts up with it for external praise rather than self generated pride, and this breaks him. For a show where everyone is a broken individual wishing to heal their own psychological pain, presented so earnestly, realistically, and in many ways optimistically... nothing short of a break down of the very foundation of narrative, reality, and the apocalypse seems fitting to portray their emotions. If one wants to see what despair looks like... if one wants to see what coming out of despair looks like... if one wants to see what revolution looks like, then they watch Eva. I find it unlikely that anyone who watches the show and The End of Evangelion movie the whole way through wont have strong opinions about it.

So... that enough thinking for you?

[Indigo]

To tell you the truth, I tried to read all of that but I have no idea what point you're trying to make with any of it and ended up skimming a lot. From what I gathered, nearly everything you mentioned exclusively has pessimistic or realist views, and anything that doesn't apparently is not 'enough. ' Gurren Lagann may be the exception, although even then you seem very fond of the anti-spiral views and how even the uplifting themes lead to destruction and reality. Can't say much for Kill la Kill but you also seemed fond of how much the villains get screen time. You can call me shallow for the reasons I didn't like it, but I could say the same about you disliking Busou Renkin because it's a shonen, after all, it has the sames themes as Gurren Lagann.

You called Code Geass 99% entertainment as if it was a bad thing, calling it empty and that it offers nothing. That just sounded to me like you didn't really like it anymore. Well, from what I've heard (and seen some of), Sword Art Online's Asuna exists only to be the perfect waifu (probably not a coincidence she's #1 in top waifu polls), and I know you didn't exceptionally like that anime, but you thought it was alright. Though that same waifu reason is a big part of why you dislike Attack on Titan from what I understood. Just a contradiction I saw.

I already know why you like most of what you listed, and again, it's all riled with pessimism and realism, which seems pretty biased. Not that that's a bad thing, but it seems whatever lacks those themes are lacking to you.

Still, I don't really know how to respond to all that. To respond to your last line... Yes, that's more than enough thinking for me, because that was a lot more of a thought process than something to respond to.

I'm also going to pick up this sarcastic comparison bit to respond to because I feel it was rather blatantly biased. Note, if anyone else is reading this for some reason there are some spoilers past this point:

A plot twist happens 'wow, that was unexpected!' Shirley dies 'wow, it's tough being Lelouch! I can't emphasise with him, because I'm not a royal price with the ability to make anyone obey my commands, but I can certainly see how from a certain perspective, his life is hard!'
Compare this with Simon. Everyone has lost a loved one, everyone has been afraid of living up to expectations, everyone has been afraid of moving forward, everyone has learned to mature, everyone has learned to have loved and lost, and everyone will eventually grow old regardless of the achievements they make in their lives. Simon can be sympathised with without being a bland audience surrogate. We learn new things alongside him, or appreciate his growth as we ourselves remember learning how to mature, how to overcome loss, depression, and love, and move forward.

Let me start by rephrasing your quotes to shine light on their flipside. 'Wow, the anti-spirals were secretly trying to preserve humanity, that was unexpected!' Kamina dies, 'wow, it's tough being Simon! I can't emphasize with him because I'm not a digger with the ability to pilot a will-power fueled giant robot, but I can certainly see how from a certain perspective, his life is hard!' Yeah, being a prince who pilots a robot (which are a norm in his world) is about as equally far-fetched as being a digger who found a giant robot (which is technically normal in his world but not really in his life). Why is Simon more relatable, because he's not a prince? Lelouch has his share of relating with viewers, with lost loved ones, family struggles, and a desire for power. He also eventually learns the true gravity of having power like his, and especially, the price of lies, and the results of his masquerade. Simon's not the only one who had to move forward. It's a lot easier to say that when there's a time-skip, though.

But again, I'm not really sure what I'm arguing against as a whole, here.

Put simply, I just don't like everything you like. I also don't hate everything that you like. Love and hate are two very polarising opposites, I don't think I've ever watched anything that I fully love or fully hate.

I think this sums up both of us pretty well. It's just you seem to dismiss what's not your cup of tea as not giving pristine water or something.

[Deleted]

You can't just skim read my post and assume that I'm giving out a pessimistic opinion. You've missed my point entirely. So let me spell it out for you:

I am not a pessimist. I do not like what I like because they are pessimistic. I have never enjoyed a fully pessimistic show, they're boring. I am finally sick to death of being your villain, and I love Code Geass. Just because I criticise something does not mean to say I hate it. Just because I compliment something does not mean to say that I love it. Also I was criticising Kill La Kill, saying why Gurren Lagann is better in my mind despite the fact that they look identical at first glance. I think SAO is awful, and it is a guilty pleasure because I had fond memories of watching it as it was airing before I knew I didn't like it. But I think AoT is worse. I think SAO is better because it understands tone.

Finally, I absolutely, positively do not give a monkey about the modern day fantasy of 'objectivity'. I believe in 'fairness' and trying to be as fair as I can but I will never strive for 'objectivity' and will thus always remain 'subjective' and 'biased', hence I do not mind if I have a blatant preference for Gurren Lagann over Code Geass, nor do I mind such a bias in any other opinion.

Lelouch is a person who simply cannot occur in real life. No one can be in his specific set of circumstances with his specific set of powers and disadvantages. Very few people are born with the responsibility of a price. Most people are born with no responsibility, and have to earn it. Most princes are not exiled. Most princes are merely princes, not criminal and tactical geniuses with heaps of charisma. Most people don't take on the identity of super villain-like figure when they decide to incite rebellion. Most people are not leaders of rebellions. Most princes are not leaders of rebellions. I have never heard of a prince forming a rebellion against his own country in real life.

Simon and Shinji are people who appear in real life, cowards with a very specific, simpler, and more human psychology. Shinji was specifically designed by Anno to represent his own struggles, and the struggles of many others with similar problems. No one can pilot a giant robot, but through the use of metaphor, Shinji still becomes one of the more human and down to earth characters in anime. Watch it if you don't believe me, look out for the signs. The EVA unit 1 comes to represent more than a cool robot. It comes to represent a job, or an anime, or a video game, an escape from reality. Shinji only pilots it for the praise others give him when he pilots it, even though it always ends horribly, because he cannot generate a sense of his own self worth. That's jus the tip of the iceberg. Kamina's death is also far different to Shirley's death. They have similar circumstances, but Kamina's death has greater weight thanks to his earlier characterisation. Shirley existed to make Lelouch sad, and her death was just another weight on Lelouches mind, because so many other horrible things happened. Simon's arc after his death is specifically about overcoming Kamina's death. Lelouch's story isn't about dealing with loss.

Lelouch's Geass is a wish- what is this wish? Power. Lelouch uses, abuses, and manipulates this power and eventually conquers the world, alienating and losing loved ones in the process. His power brought him nothing, and he has to sacrifice his life in the end anyway. This cautionary tale about the pursuit of power, alongside the god thing, is about the extent of the thematics I can find in Code Geass. They're very weak. This does not make the show bad. No show similar to Code Geass is inherently bad because of this opinion. I haven't said that... ever... over the course of these posts.

[Indigo]

Well, I'm just confused because you're one of those people who call animes terrible and still enjoy them. When you explain things it's more understandable, but you can't just comment on something negatively and expect people to believe you still love it without any other context. Earlier you said that every show is lacking. In some respects that may be true. Now I never said you were pessimistic, but you can't deny everything you mentioned has a lot more negative or realism themes than other things out there... Like you know, Busou Renkin. You're very fond of the 'opposing side,' so it's no surprise you didn't like it. I'd bet you wouldn't like Gurren Lagann as much if the second half didn't suddenly rationalize all the bad things the villains were doing.

The thing is, whether every show is flawed or not, I don't question it. I don't wish or think about how I would have done it, there's no 'flawed version' for me. Everything is only as it is. I take what I can get and that's all. I don't think about what the anime wanted to do because the anime already did what it wanted to do.

It's also not very fair to expect me to read that entire essay of your mind. I told you I tried, but how long it is aside, there's so much to take from it (or not to), more of a ramble, that I just skimmed through. I say that, but I still did see most of it.

I already said being biased is fine, so no need for that monkey business about objectivity. But with that said, I'm not seeing your fairness. Shinji... Sure, he's relatable, can't say much more about this. Giant robots representing more than eye candy? Nothing new for mecha anime. About the two deaths you mentioned... You were the one who told me that it's fine if a character exists only to die and cause sadness. But you're right, Lelouch's story is more than about loss. Now where I really see the lack of fairness is where you say Lelouch is a character that can't happen in real life, because... Why do we watch anime again?

Most people aren't born as digger slaves. Most people aren't born underground. Most diggers don't find a robot right under their noses. Most people can't defy logic. Most 'lowly' people don't create the first civilization on Earth, as the leader of the world. Never heard of the vice president causing a riot against the president and acceptably sending him to be killed. Never heard of a digger who became the pilot of a robot that creates drills from willpower and becomes the size of the universe.

I'm not seeing why you criticize Lelouch for being surreal when that's... Basically what Gurren Lagann is about. Does every story need to be about someone who starts as a loser like Simon and Shinji, and that makes them more relatable and possible in real life?

But, well, it's a sad day when you declare you're sick of being my villain. Guess we're just not the sugar and coffee we used to be, talking with our fists on Blazblue.