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Oh man, that sounds super frustrating. So is it like this from the outset or is there some kind of actual plot element that justifies that dynamic? I got the impression from SAC that Kusanagi had the utmost respect for Aramaki and I don't really recall her ever doubting any of the decisions he made.

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Oh man, that sounds super frustrating. So is it like this from the outset or is there some kind of actual plot element that justifies that dynamic? I got the impression from SAC that Kusanagi had the utmost respect for Aramaki and I don't really recall her ever doubting any of the decisions he made.

 

The justification is that Arise is equal parts reboot and prequel, so Aramaki supposedly hasn't earned Kusanagi's trust yet, but there have been so many scenes where Aramaki has either shown his trust in Kusanagi or proven to be right in holding her back that it feels silly. Over the course of the OVAs, he picks her by hand from an embattled command, pulls a ton of strings to get her assigned to his section, grants her the right to assemble her own fully autonomous team by whatever means she chooses, guards her from any political or personal fallout even in instances where she's deliberately disobeyed his orders, and is generally the boss that everyone lies awake at night dreaming about serving. Instead, Kusanagi constantly badmouths him to her team and to random civilians, calling him an "old ape" or "ape-face," and regularly undermines his command in ways that seem deliberately meant to be embarrassing or difficult for him to handle.

 

For instance, when circumstances (which Aramaki warned Kusanagi about and which Kusanagi ignored in favor of saying something disrespectful and dismissive to him) lead the team to be besieged in an American military base by ghost-hacked American soldiers, she berates Aramaki for not giving her license to kill immediately, and then berates him for taking too long when, several minutes later, he's called in several favors with American intelligence agencies to get permission for a Japanese internal security force to kill American soldiers on what is technically American soil. During the debriefing, she blames the entire mess on Aramaki's lack of foresight and starts to tell him how much she's looking forward to watching him get raked over the coals for his incompetence, before he asks her to change into military uniform to meet with the prime minister, who has heard about the version of the operation as covered up and reported by Aramaki and who wants to decorate Kusanagi as a hero in it. Kusanagi doesn't say a word of thanks and frowns the whole time instead. I was almost surprised that she didn't blow the cover-up just to spite her boss.

 

Overall, it makes Kusanagi look stupid and ungrateful, which is in keeping with the general (and generally unsuccessful) effort in Arise to show her as a younger, more impulsive, and less experienced operative, but I really don't see how any respect could grow organically from such a one-sided and toxic working relationship, right now.

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Wow. I mean I get wanting to show her as younger and less experienced but she is clearly already at a point where she has shown enough competence that Aramaki is willing to trust her and bring her on board to begin with. It seems like a major disconnect that she could be that competent but at the same time so dense and shortsighted.

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Wow. I mean I get wanting to show her as younger and less experienced but she is clearly already at a point where she has shown enough competence that Aramaki is willing to trust her and bring her on board to begin with. It seems like a major disconnect that she could be that competent but at the same time so dense and shortsighted.

 

There's a lot that's really clumsy in the writing of Arise. The writer is different from SAC and is generally less interested in building a complete picture of a future society wherein the police operate, instead focusing on specific themes of departmental infighting from a hyper-expanded bureaucracy and the potential of a highly interconnected network to have apocalyptic consequences when attacked. Those are interesting things, sure, but they only allow for one kind of story, and it's a story that can't help but be compared unfavorably to the Laughing Man and the Individual Eleven.

 

The character writing's also just weaker in the OVAs. Characters are constantly sniping at each other or proving themselves to each other as a way of structuring their interactions. There's not much in the way of actual relationships. I also just like the hyper-competent Kusanagi better as a character. A character who makes multiple mistakes but still gets her man at the end of the day could be a good time to watch, but it requires a writer talented enough to make her mistakes not look like the results of ignorance or pride, which Ubakata Tow has not been able to achieve thus far.

 

Who knows, maybe the movie next year will be the breakthrough?

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I watched the two episodes of Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Alternative Architecture that weren't just cut-down scenes from the OVAs. Honestly, for the most part, they were markedly better than the OVAs, which try to do the intense inter-departmental rivalries of Stand-Alone Complex but lack Kamiyama Kenji's command of the material, but they were also much worse in one respect: I really dislike how hard the Arise reboot is also pushing an intra-departmental rivalry between Kusanagi as expert and pratical leader of the unit and Aramaki as her superior and bureaucratic liaison.

 

For some reason, Ubakata Tow tries to convey the tension between civil and military authorities, a popular theme in Japanese sci-fi, almost entirely through Kusanagi perpetually sniping at Aramaki whenever they're speaking to each other. I know fictional works where a competent subordinate's dislike and mistrust of their desk-bound superior is the main element driving character development, but that dislike and mistrust has to be justified at some point, lest the subordinate appear to hold grudges and have poor judgment that undermine their supposed competency. Kusanagi supposedly hates Aramaki because he's not military (which means nothing to me as the viewer when I see her repeatedly flaunt the chain of command anyway) and because he doesn't always assign her how she'd assign herself (she literally claims to be the world expert at any operation that Aramaki is planning and then insults him if he relies on actual experts), but neither of these are justified, because Aramaki's judgment always proves to be correct, especially insofar as the leeway that he should be giving to Kusanagi. Kusanagi just comes off as hotheaded, petulant, and a poor judge of talent, both others' and her own. These are not traits that I'm particularly interested in seeing in the protagonist of a procedural.

 

It's just really frustrating to me, because whatever your complaints about Ghost in the Shell: SAC, it had its character relationships down pat. The working relationship there between Aramaki and Kusanagi was a joy to watch, because of the respect and trust that underpinned it and allowed it to function effectively, and to replace that with a Kusanagi who hates Aramaki for no reason even though he typically turns out to be right in the end is a huge step down.

 

I have seen 3 episodes of the OVA on netflix and Kusanagi feels just lot more flawed.

 

Some of it which I like, but like you said, it could also come off as non sensical because previous iteration of this character was so perfect (not as in characterization was perfect but I mean character was meant to be this uber commando-hacker-leader).

 

In fact, I would apply that to the whole cast.  OVA episode 2 pretty much has Kusanagi handing out major asswhopping to the whole team which contrasts with their formidable competency that's been built up in all other GitS.  Saito especially is a mere shadow of his former self as this super unreliable treacherous half assing asshole.  On the flipside, side effect of this toning down cyborg efficiency made Togusa lot more sensible as a legitimate team member in episode 3 because before he felt little bit like sentimentalism of the show surrounded by these uber cyborg commandos.

 

But again, I felt strong appeal of Ghost in the Shell was that these were characters who pulled through tough situations by sheer competency so I feel your frustration with the new direction... like, I never felt that GitS relied on Deus Ex Machina (the irony given that game Deus Ex has some thematic synergy with this series lol) that so many anime does to pull the good guys out of bad situation.  Instead, they do work.  Work.  Work.  and bam case is solved by them doing tedious work very very well.

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This is some crazy good dissection of the JoJo OP holy shit.

 

 

big spoilers tho

 

edit: GODDAMN that dio moment is so fucking good

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Awesome! That's my friend Geoff's channel! He quit his games journalism job to go full time into doing his own thing and obviously it's growing. He does some really incredible break downs.

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This is some crazy good dissection of the JoJo OP holy shit.

 

 

big spoilers tho

 

edit: GODDAMN that dio moment is so fucking good

 

that was really good. I do prefer the 1st opening more though. But only because the first opening song isn't rubbish :3

 

I checked out the first episode of Rokka, and it was alright? Didn't really do anything for me. But it didn't offend me either. I also clearly don't care about her attire because I thought it was pretty cool? I liked the Mayan theme too. I'll wait till episode 2 at least.

 

I also just finished binge watching all there is of Food Wars! Shougeki no Souma. Man it's really good. It's a cooking anime whereby a guy goes to a super-tough food school. It's excellent. The charachters are really great, and they are fully rounded too. I really like how some of the charachters develop in ways I really wasn't expecting. It's also really funny. The only slightly awkward bit is the orgasmic reactions literally everyone has when they eat food, which then naturally turns them naked (albeit shonen naked, so they don't show any bits) and they then experience some food-related vision that's always quite funny. My personal favourite was one where a lass gets sucked into a honey whirlpool. If you've seen Yakitate Japan! It's very similar, but the jokes are less weird word puns, and the story is better.

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It literally looks like she's got some rope bondage shit going on all over her breasts though. D:

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NISA finally gave in, two years after the initial release, and has announced non-ridiculous "premium" versions of Daily Lives of High School Boys and the first two seasons of Working!!. It doesn't matter that I can't afford them right now, I am still hyped up to the stratosphere, and if they let slip about a non-premium version of Uchoten Kazoku anytime soon, I might just reach orbit.

 

d7N87gm.gif

 

Hyped!

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That's awesome news! It looks like the difference is only like $10 though.

 

It's not even available over here. So count yourself lucky I guess?

 

Uchoten Kazoku would be a great showcase anime.

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That's awesome news! It looks like the difference is only like $10 though.

 

It's more about saving a little money and a lot of space on my shelf. Premium editions, even "nice" ones from Aniplex, always have these huge but flimsy art-boxes with a bunch of pointless booklets and pack-ins that I really hate. Give me a nice lite-box blu-ray case that I can put on my shelf alongside all my other anime, please!

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Also, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan closed out with a post-credits "Endless Eight" goof from nowhere. What a careless end to a fairly dumb show.

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I posted "Staple Stable," the OP for Bakemonogatari, as a joke in the "Stable of Staples" thread, but it's actually stuck in my head now. Part of its appeal is probably a really strong bassline, but part of it is Shinbou's mastery of striking and slightly disconcerting imagery in the visuals. For most of the ninety seconds, you're invited to think that it's just massive staplers running through a maze of urban infrastructure that is almost Anno-like in its complexity, and then a brief shot in the last twenty seconds has Senjougahara emerge, a titan in such a mundane setting, before it's all quickly sealed up with staples again.

 

 

Maybe I'm just entranced by larger-than-life animation superimposed on urban photography. One of Shinbou's previous works, the Zan: Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Bangaichi OVAs, has a double-length OP the final third of which is rough-drawn characters taking over a typical Japanese cityscape, and it's a perfect encapsulation about the way that the show's worldview gradually begins to gnaw at the edges of its media presentation and spill over into the real world.

 

 

Clearly I'm missing my now-defunct blog series where a friend and I reviewed anime OPs. Oh well, the one that Twig posted above is better, anyway. Still, while I'm on my jag here and while I'm looking at the laser-farting headless schoolgirls of the above OP, I do think that Shinbou will never be as upsetting or transgressive as he was at various points in Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, and therefore, with the codification and commodification of a lot of his thematic fixations in the production values of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, he's probably reached his artistic high-water mark. That bums me out, when it feels like a creator's ceased to grow...

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Those are my favourite OPs from those shows. Zetsubou-sensei had some darn cool OPs and EDs. God, I loved that show. Should do a re-watch soon. 

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I too really recommend The Heroic Legend of Arslan, it is very good. From what I know it is based in novel (or a series of), so that why the anime might have gone behind the manga. There is even a old snes game about (I remember reading about on Hardcore Gamer 101) and there is a musou planned.

 

One of my favorite animes is Sousei no Aquarion (Genesis of Aquarion), now I am midway on the Aquarion Evol, for a while in the first chapter I was worried that it misses some of the "gravitas" of original series, but it have been slowly back in the tracks (despite some weird stuff around) and I am enjoying it. I Wonder how Aquarion Logos will be.

 

The OP for Jojo Stardust Crusaders 2 (end of the world) is amazing, also I found I am enjoying this season more that the other ones.

 

Now on the new animes this season -  Watched Rokku, I liked it and surely I will watched the second ep. I don´t know why, but I did found the protagonist very like the main character on Star Driver, not that this is a problem. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is great, loved everything on the first episode.

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I recently finished the Disappearance Of Yuki Nagato and it's the perfect example of what I look for in a show, just like with Steven Universe it has "dumb precious babies" that make the dramatic parts more dramatic... And boy did the drama hit me hard with this one... T_T

 

I have no idea if I've watched the Disappearance of Haruhi, I find Haruhi a bit annoying, should I bother watching it?

 

Also, has anybody watched PreCure? A lot of people I know like it, but the show is a bit stale with only two main characters, does anybody know if the newer season just have a different and better cast?

 

It's really hard to find "precious babies" shows, but there has to be something in this style out there, right?

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I recently finished the Disappearance Of Yuki Nagato and it's the perfect example of what I look for in a show, just like with Steven Universe it has "dumb precious babies" that make the dramatic parts more dramatic... And boy did the drama hit me hard with this one... T_T

 

I have no idea if I've watched the Disappearance of Haruhi, I find Haruhi a bit annoying, should I bother watching it?

 

Also, has anybody watched PreCure? A lot of people I know like it, but the show is a bit stale with only two main characters, does anybody know if the newer season just have a different and better cast?

 

It's really hard to find "precious babies" shows, but there has to be something in this style out there, right?

 

I have only watched Suite Precure, which I enjoyed it a lot. Keep in mind that Precure is overall much more light, positive and happy that other mahou shoujo animes, which is not a bad think at all,  I really liked this more positive tone. Each season is a different cast, often start with two and three or more or less might join in.

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Just listened to entire OST of The End of Evangelion again.  Why did I subject myself to this emotional whirlwind~

 

The entire thing is great, but the penultimate track, "Expansion of Blockade," is a great seven-minute compression of everything artful that Sagisu Shirou is doing with the music for Evangelion. It revisits many of the show's main themes, weaving them into a completely new melody, and with absolutely sumptuous orchestration.

 

 

I recently finished the Disappearance Of Yuki Nagato and it's the perfect example of what I look for in a show, just like with Steven Universe it has "dumb precious babies" that make the dramatic parts more dramatic... And boy did the drama hit me hard with this one... T_T

 

I have no idea if I've watched the Disappearance of Haruhi, I find Haruhi a bit annoying, should I bother watching it?

 

I think the drama's on par between the two sides of the franchise, but I think the pacing and the characters are much different. Coming from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I find the characters in the spinoff frustratingly defanged, but it sounds like that's part of the "dumb precious babies" appeal for you. I think Haruhi, like a lot of latter-day KyoAni stuff, has its darling and quiet moments, but there's more of an edge and an urgency there than in, say, K-On!!, which is all just harmless cuddly "fun."

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The entire thing is great, but the penultimate track, "Expansion of Blockade," is a great seven-minute compression of everything artful that Sagisu Shirou is doing with the music for Evangelion. It revisits many of the show's main themes, weaving them into a completely new melody, and with absolutely sumptuous orchestration.

 

 

That's the one that got me started on the whole OST.  Every time I hear that track, I feel like I have forgotten/lost something significant and not sure if I should be happy about it or sad about it.  It also makes me feel that something has definitively ended.

 

Then the track after that one just makes me sad.

 

Then the track 7 omg... it traumatized my tween mind that had such a dork waifu crush on Asuka.  It wasn't til I watched FLCL that I fully recovered what that accompanying scene did to my mind.  Then FLCL did something else so : /

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Well, I'm glad I decided to watch the Haruhi stuff from the beginning, because I had forgotten everything about that show.

 

Woah, the "other Nagato" is just Nagato from the original show? I guess that makes more sense now.

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Evangelion inhabits this weird space in my life. I was in a really bad place when I first watched it, but it was the thing I escaped into. I have basically an encyclopedic knowledge of it, so a lot of the series means things to me that it doesn't mean to other people. This has led to many weird conversations about the series.

When I used to feel bummed (by used to, I mean still sometimes), I would listen to either the End of Eva soundtrack or the S6 soundtrack for the series. The music means a lot to me, and a song like that one brings a lot of weird emotions out in me.

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I'm checking out Rokka. Seems fine enough for what it is. I don't really see much generic power story stuff so its going well enough. edit: the names (Flamie Speedraw!), female character designs (Flamie again), and the artfully posed upskirt bumshot are gnawing at me. See funnily enough my partner and I loved Kill La Kill because it took all the typical anime bullshit and turned it up to twelve (well loved things that didn't include the creepy mother daughter relationship and scenes). But some crap gets old suuper fast -just like half of the boss cut-scenes in MGSIV.

 

I'm interested in picking up that Iranian set anime, sounds like fun.

 

In other news I am so hyped for the new Berserk manga issues that are supposed to be coming out monthly it's my favourite story so I'm keeeeeen.

 

Also I might finally finish off my rewatch of Vampire Knight which is this gooey high school melodrama with vampires anime that for some reason I fell in love with when I was much younger. I guess it just hit me at the right time crossing over from a toxic as fuck boys school culture to somewhere that let me be myself including indulging in media obviously made for young girls and queers. I think it still reasonably holds up. The main character is a super Mary Sue that everyone loves with almost no explanation until her manifest destiny pops up (hitting all the cliches) but it's still fun enough for me not to care.

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