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So I just saw the latest episode of Kill la Kill and...

 

The combat went pretty much as I expected, this feels like the final bonding and character development episode before the grand battle, it was funny to see Ryuko struggle to call Satsuki sister and Satsuki simply solves it with one phrase about how they now all literally share their blood to solve it all.

 

I guess all that's left is for them to kill their mom and then deal with whatever Nui is building?

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So that Kill la Kill, huh. It was on my radar since I'd heard buzz that it suddenly got a lot better than people were expecting, and I discovered that it's one of the few anime series actually available for streaming here.

 

yeah

 

It's pretty fucking crazy. I'm late into it, and I skipped ahead to see that things get even crazier. There's a lot that bothers me about it, particularly at the front end - obviously the weird-ass fanservice, the insistence that all men are perverts, the way it can't decide whether its crowds are gender-balanced, all male, or 20% female, which is about the number we're trained to see as 'gender-neutral', the rape and incest in the back half - but it's decided it's skeevy so it might as well do something with it. And Jesus it just keeps building, doesn't it.

 

I would not have believed that a series that starts off with a ridiculous fascist high school would end in teenagers wearing just pouches fighting in a zombie leisure suit apocalypse.

 

Also bothering me, but it goes in the spoiler block: the way that the Elite Four's (and presumably Satsuki's) crimes against humanity are seemingly brushed over just because they didn't mean it. Satsuki's still imprisoned, but it doesn't feel like she really has time for an arc, and given what I saw when I skipped ahead, she's probably not getting any life lessons from Ryoku. I liked Ryoku. She was a thug, and it was kind of fun seeing a heroic teenage girl thug.

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It's pretty fucking crazy. I'm late into it, and I skipped ahead to see that things get even crazier. There's a lot that bothers me about it, particularly at the front end - obviously the weird-ass fanservice, the insistence that all men are perverts, the way it can't decide whether its crowds are gender-balanced, all male, or 20% female, which is about the number we're trained to see as 'gender-neutral', the rape and incest in the back half - but it's decided it's skeevy so it might as well do something with it. And Jesus it just keeps building, doesn't it.

 

I would not have believed that a series that starts off with a ridiculous fascist high school would end in teenagers wearing just pouches fighting in a zombie leisure suit apocalypse.

 

Also bothering me, but it goes in the spoiler block: the way that the Elite Four's (and presumably Satsuki's) crimes against humanity are seemingly brushed over just because they didn't mean it. Satsuki's still imprisoned, but it doesn't feel like she really has time for an arc, and given what I saw when I skipped ahead, she's probably not getting any life lessons from Ryoku. I liked Ryoku. She was a thug, and it was kind of fun seeing a heroic teenage girl thug.

 

Man, I agree with almost all of this. It seems like Trigger swings back and forth between being above the fray and in the thick of it, in terms of its artistic and tonal choices for this anime. I'm really not sure anymore that they're doing anything coherent with it, but they're certainly doing something.

 

For all of her ojou-sama trappings, Satsuki is really just a mashup of two very old shounen tropes, the bad-guy-who's-really-a-good-guy and the best-friend-who-looks-like-a-worst-enemy. There's an entire clan of these guys, the Uchiha, in Naruto, for instance. Accordingly, Satsuki doesn't really get an arc, besides deciding to cooperate with the protagonist like everyone knows she will, but after some small concession to make it somehow be on her own terms. As for Ryuuko, I liked her a lot through most of the show, specifically for all the rough edges you mention, but now I'm just bored of her inconsistent development. How many times has she fallen out with Senketsu, only for something terrible to happen? How many times has Mako, wonderful lovely amazing Mako, needed to give her the same (intentionally) vapid lecture on love and friendship? It doesn't feel like there's any change in outlook or attitude for Ryuuko from the beginning of the show, even with this most recent tip-of-the-hat to her "friends". Of course! Every shounen show, even if deconstruction or parody, needs fuck-yeah friendship. I know it's not the sort of genre where we get solid, interesting character arcs, but I'm a complainer, so waaah.

 

Also, if I were ten years younger and a lot more shameless, Mikisugi cosplay would be the right thing at the right time for the summer con season. How could I ever sneak past the staff with just the tactical vest and belt, though?

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I've watched a couple of Desert Punk episodes after finally buying the thinpack reprint last week. Man, I don't think there's a show that encompasses more of the reasons why I hate and why I love anime.

  • It's a long-form post-apocalyptic anime with several inventive twists, it has a main character who's not likable but still interesting, it has a different and unpredictable dramatic arc, and it's genuinely funny at times, to the point that it surprises regularly.
  • But the art swings between adequate and stitched-together key-frames, there is one pure fan-service character who ruins every scene she's in, whenever the writers don't have good jokes they just have the main character perv out, and the ending is abrupt, if still good.

The fact that it's not all good and not all bad, not even along lines of taste, means I can never show it or recommend it to anyone. It's just going to sit on my shelf now like a dirty secret. Anime!

 

I've been thinking of re-watching that series since one of my favourite books of all time is The Stars My Destination (itself a Sci-Fi re imagining of Monte Cristo).

 

What classes as a "Literary Work" for this purpose btw?

If plays like Romeo & Juliet count, does ballet/opera also qualify(in which case I'd suggest Princess Tutu/Swan Lake as a great adaptation)?

 

In terms of plain (non literary) adaptations there's also a ton of stuff from more modern novels which could be thrown into the mix.

 

I never responded to this post! I guess I mean "literary" in the sense of a written work with no preferred visual mode (so, not a play and definitely not a manga, that would qualify ninety percent of all anime made in the past five years). I haven't seen Princess Tutu but it's so very high on my list, after I finished slogging through the 2012 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Is there much from modern novels in anime? I'm sure I'm just blanking on obvious ones, because all I can think about is Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei's obsession with Murakami and Dazai, which is really just confined to references.

 

Also, I have been totally transfixed by this .gif from Robot Girls Z, to the point of wanting to watch its "season" of three episodes, even though I don't know the franchises at all. It just looks like it applies to so much of my life right now...

6LymO.gif

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I never responded to this post! I guess I mean "literary" in the sense of a written work with no preferred visual mode (so, not a play and definitely not a manga, that would qualify ninety percent of all anime made in the past five years). I haven't seen Princess Tutu but it's so very high on my list, after I finished slogging through the 2012 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Is there much from modern novels in anime? I'm sure I'm just blanking on obvious ones, because all I can think about is Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei's obsession with Murakami and Dazai, which is really just confined to references..

I think (obviously in some ways) there are more anime adaptations of books by Japanese Authors than of western ones, I mean I didn't realise until this got me looking into it that both Paprika and The Girl Who Leapt Though Time were both adaptations of books written by the same author, or that Grave of the Fireflies was based on a novel and I'd say all of those are stronger than Gankutsuou,.

Additionally as soon as we turn our attention to the Japan's own book market it hard to ignore the strength and depth of adaptations of Light Novels that can be found in anime. However a lot depends on where we classify the "Light Novel", because whether or not they pass your test of "not having a preferred visual mode" can vary hugely.

But if I force myself to purely consider western adaptations that fit your criteria its admittedly a lot harder to think of anything, and while Howl's Moving Castle springs to mind immediately for me I know not everyone is fond of that one (not to mention its a film and not a series).

The below would probably sum up where I stand on it in the end

Proposition: Gankutsuou is the most successful anime adaptation for television of a western literary work.

which is a far less dramatic statement I'll admit, but still impressive.

On the series itself.

After re-watching Gankutsuou I'm pretty convinced it owe's at least part of its visual design to the Stars My Destination, although I'm doing a bit of a double check to make sure by listening to a audio book of the original Monte Christo. But so far it seems the markings on the counts face, and the design of the space docks are clear lifts from it.

Also did they ever give any explanation to why when they thought someone was about to be lethally poisoned they didn't just phone them or call the police/ambulance? or for that matter any explanation at all of why society had devolved to this once again aristocratic situation?

One of the things I love about The Stars My Destination is that it's own world of super rich dynasties and high society was all a believable reaction to a few very specific and carefully explained technological leaps forward, there's no such sense in Gankutsuou. Society seems to be the way it is because that's what's required for them to transpose the plot.

Edit: I may have stayed up till now (03:00 gmt) just to watch the Kill la Kill finale, I do not regret this since it delivered pretty much everything you could want from it.

ending with Ruyko & Mako going on a date :D, ok not sort of date, but still it's great to see a heroine who's reason to fight & reward for fighting is her friends. Tbh it's the probably the most unambiguously satisfying happy ending to a series for a long time

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I've started watching Toriko which I enjoyed a bit until I realized it was one of those "ongoing/neverending" shonen action shows...

 

Also, it sucks to watch a show about people bragging how delicious their fictional food is, I just realized I ate a box of crackers out of pure "food jealously" if that makes any sense. 

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There's nothing wrong with ongoing shonen shows! One Piece is my favourite anime, and even though I've stopped watching it weekly, and just read the manga, I still occasionally load up the most recent episode to see how far they got.

 

Likewise JoJo is a manga that's been going on for 25 years, and the anime is fantastic! And season 2 starts soon! Too soon! I am so excited.

 

I liked Toriko, but my friend had a big problem with it. His argument is 'So there are these super rare animals. Instead of looking after them and making sure that they don't go extinct, they just kill them and eat them. Good job protecting the ecosystem bud'

 

 

Also, it sucks to watch a show about people bragging how delicious their fictional food is, I just realized I ate a box of crackers out of pure "food jealously" if that makes any sense. 

 

I totally understand. Yakitate japan made me feel the same way ._.

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Yeah the ecosystem stuff was weird, in one episode Toriko is like "Don't worry, I'm only taking one to preserve the ecosystem", in another he's causing mass genocide... At least he doesn't kill what he won't eat?

 

Also One Piece is the one show I want to get back into, it was on normal TV back in the day, but it stopped and knowing I have so much to catch up to is too much. It would be easier to watch every episode of Doctor Who ever made! D:

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I'm pretty sure it's impossible to watch every episode of Doctor Who ever made, as the first episodes were recorded over due to the BBC not having any reels. I believe there are about 4 or 5 episodes from the early seasons which have been found in various archives.

 

Just read the manga. It's faster, although you do miss the best fillers. Like the chopper man episode.

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I'm pretty sure it's impossible to watch every episode of Doctor Who ever made, as the first episodes were recorded over due to the BBC not having any reels. I believe there are about 4 or 5 episodes from the early seasons which have been found in various archives.

It is. I discovered this when I watched the old DW episodes. I think some more episodes were recently found in some vaults somewhere? Also the audio exists for some of those episodes, so people have stitched together a bunch of stills to sort of put context to the words. It doesn't work that well.

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Considering we're only getting a few episodes of Doctor Who a year you can see why it would easier to catch up to than something that's on WEEKLY Shonen Jump. XP

 

I think the stopped airing around Chopper's appearence, which is still "just" 80 episodes in, but since it was ages ago I'm sure it would a good idea to just pick off from there.

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It's not that it's harder to catch up on Doctor Who, it's that it's literally impossible to see all of the episodes, because some of the older ones were literally destroyed. It was a joke.

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You know what I mean, regardless of the lost episodes, it's still easier to catch up to than something like One Piece. Doctor Who started in 1963 and has about 700 episodes, One Piece started in 1997 and it has nearly 700 episodes too!

 

All I'm saying is that one is producing content at a faster rate than the other show, so it's obviously easier to catch up to the show that produces less shows over time.

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There are 637 episodes of one piece, and 800 episodes of Doctor Who.

 

Now I'm not saying you're wrong, but bear in mind that Doctor Who is a BBC production, so will run for the whole 30 mins, as the BBC doesn't have mid-show ads, whilst One Piece is around 20-mins. You will spend more time watching all of Doctor Who than you would One Piece. Even If the production of Doctor Who slows down, it will still take over 3 years for One Piece to catch up to Doctor Who, at a rate of one episode per week.

 

And on top of that, you'll have to put up with Steven Moffat's awful writing.

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This is one of those insane overanalyzations of one off jokes that does no one any good. Let's make it last even longer!

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This is one of those insane overanalyzations of one off jokes that does no one any good. Let's make it last even longer!

 

I am glad that we are talking about two different shows, both of which I have tried to start and quit in the end because I am no longer the kind of person who can sustain interest in a middling show over hundreds of episodes!

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Middling! You wound me.

 

And only you, dear Twig.

 

In all seriousness (okay, maybe half seriousness) I enjoyed Doctor Who for three seasons but got bored because there were never any rules laid out, and I liked One Piece enough for a few dozen episodes but get shounen burnout so easily in my old age. I mean, I'm starting to get it from KILL la KILL, and that just ended!

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I totally understand that burnout. It's why I like JoJo so much. Each arc is just a completely different set of characters and places, and in some cases completely different genres. Like the change from Hamon to Stands, and then the insane jump to horse racing.

 

Some shonen is really good though. I love the imagination that's in One Piece. Sure some arcs can really drag out, but damn it I am so attached to the strawhats. I have weeped a tear at a fair few points in that anime/manga like no other anime can. More than Clannad ever did (Although I hear the real tear jerker is After Story).

 

On that note Hunter x Hunter is getting darn good again. I'm liking this arc.

 

 

This is one of those insane overanalyzations of one off jokes that does no one any good. Let's make it last even longer!

 

Sorry :getmecoat

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I totally understand that burnout. It's why I like JoJo so much. Each arc is just a completely different set of characters and places, and in some cases completely different genres. Like the change from Hamon to Stands, and then the insane jump to horse racing.

 

Some shonen is really good though. I love the imagination that's in One Piece. Sure some arcs can really drag out, but damn it I am so attached to the strawhats. I have weeped a tear at a fair few points in that anime/manga like no other anime can. More than Clannad ever did (Although I hear the real tear jerker is After Story).

 

My problem really was that, last year, I pushed myself through Rurouni Kenshin. The Kyoto arc made it worth it, but just barely, and the rest of the show is shockingly garbage. The schoolyard rhythm of all shounen anime, with the "my scissors cut your paper" and the "my paper's made out of diamond and breaks your scissors", is just something I have no patience for anymore. No one ever grows as a character. Even Jojo is still a naive dipshit at the end of his first adventure.

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I might give it a go since it's on Crunchyroll and Kill la Kill just just ended, speaking of which...

 

Welp, an anime just made me cry over the death of a piece of clothing.

I don't know about you guys, but I LOVED how the show ended. It's practically perfect! <3

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Even Jojo is still a naive dipshit at the end of his first adventure.

 

Which one? I'm assuming the second JoJo, Joseph? He does grow, especially in the 3rd arc onwards. He's the longest-living JoJo, and seeing him in arc 4 was heart-breaking.

 

But I totally understand what you mean. Naruto and Bleach are the worst for that. I would arge in One Piece's favour, but I'm pretty sure nobody here cares, and Luffy's growth happens about about 550-odd episodes in. :/

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One Piece is like my favorite thing.

Also JoJo is insanely long lasting not just in terms of quantity but also in terms of time passed. I'm not sure is entirely fair to judge character growth in that series based on one arc. Which is awkward because it's also entirely fair to dismiss Jojo precisely because it's so long winded.

Also also the last bit of rurouni kenshin really is just completely fucking godawful. I would've recommended against ever touching that series, personally. I had fond memories of it but ugh no never again.

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Osamu Tezuka's desk drawer, locked since 1989 with a missing key, was finally opened by his daughter today.

 

Contents: a half-eaten piece of chocolate, a handwritten essay about Katsuhiro Otomo, several sketches never seen until now, and ...furry porn.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say the last part was probably a set of concept sketches for one of his erotic works that became more common late in his career, but the article phrases it like it was his personal wank material. Booooo.

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