Board 8 > Quinton and Leonhart in Different Houses: Happy New Ymir! [JZLF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

pyresword posted...

Yeah Gilgamesh is so much better in Fate/Zero, but I was never fully able to get over how much I don't care about him in Fate/Stay.

Yeah, I'd have probably not been able to get invested in him at all in F/SN if I'd watched that first because he's just so out of nowhere and has no real explanation or reason for being there without F/Z as a preamble, and he's just so completely broken that it feels unfair when he shows up and ganks everyone. I mean, I get that it's supposed to be unfair, but it doesn't work for a villain you really know nothing about.
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Hmm, maybe her role's reduced in the anime? I think in the UBW route in the VN Rin's screentime is actually pretty equal to Fate. Despite Fate route being Saber route I'd say she's at her worst there, and despite UBW being Rin/Archer I'd say both of them are at their worst there, lol. I loved Rin and Archer after just playing the Fate route.

HF might be my favorite route for Rin, but yeah, she's consistent greatness.
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I think UBW probably expanded her role more than F/SN reduced it. The entire first episode of UBW is a 45 minute episode all about Rin. Shiro's barely in it until the end.
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plus Rin is completely sidelined for the final battles in Fate, unlike in UBW
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Yeah, that part's originally the prologue to Fate. Kinda funny that they left it out of the Fate anime and put it in the UBW one.
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The prologue's before the routes split though, right?
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Yes. I assume basically everyone who plays the VN only reads it before the Fate route though.
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Better in Fate: Sakura, Ilya, Archer, Rider, Berserker

Better in UBW: Shiro, Rin, Saber, Gilgamesh, Lancer, Caster, Shinji, Kuzuki

I'll be honest -- this doesn't really compel me to prioritize the original in my queue!

LordoftheMorons posted...

I'll give this to Shiro

He is better than Shinji

...I'll take it.

pyresword posted...

Someday I will find someone besides me who likes Shinji. Some day.

He's mildly effective as a thorn and his voice acting is some of the strongest in UBW. I'll give him that much!
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Well. He's not one of my favorite characters in the series or anything to be fair. All I meant is that I'd put him in the group of "characters I like" as opposed to "characters I don't like" or "characters I don't care about".

Also for what it's worth, I think Saber is far and away at her best in the Fate route.
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Disagree there

Saber/Shiro brings out the worst in both of them
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Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin #3 - Dawn of Rebellion beated. And my, what an improvement it was! I have to tell you, my 1-2 JZLF comrades who even watch Gundam, I was really expecting these OVAs to go down as uniformly overrated in my playbook at this point. A 7.3 and a 7.4 aren't bad scores, but they aren't exactly stellar, either, and I figured this was one of those cases where Universal Century Gundam and I disconnect for one reason or another. (It happens sometimes.) But after what would be the anime season equivalent of ~6 average episodes, the anime season equivalent of #7-9 royally delivered.

There are several reasons for this qualitative uptick, but right off the bat I can point to Keith Silverstein being cast as academy cadet Char Aznable. Karen Strassman gave a valiant effort while Char was a bit younger and still going by the names of Casval and douard but Silverstein inhabits this role something fierce. He masterfully blends the notes of Steve Blum and Michael Kopsa from previous UC shows. He is Char.

Another helpful aspect here is Saylah's reduced role. It pains me to say that as I've always been a Saylah fan and her sorrow in the first installment was good. But, ironically, the second OVA, the titular "Artesia's Sorrow", gave her a raw deal with those over-the-top squeal festivals meant to mark the deaths of her mom and cat. Really it's just a much more serious mood here in Dawn of Rebellion all-around and the rivalry-turned-friendship of Char and Garma is as well-realized as Gundam fans surely must have hoped. What's more, there are several scenes that are objectively tense, stylish, and well-realized. Rather than allowing for a degree of leeway in-the-moment in order to enjoy highlight scenes to their fullest, as was the case with the first two OVAs, these scenes really hit me. Char screwing with Garma's head during the hike exercise but ending up giving him shelter; Char inciting the cadet crowd to force the admiral to pick up his glasses; Leno "catching" Char and giving him his signature mask; everything during the climactic battle. All great.

Ironically, if Leon were ever to watch this stuff for some reason these OVAs would do more to damage his perception of Char as a sympathetic figure than possibly anything in the original series itself. (Or Zeta for that matter, but I mean, in Zeta he's basically a good guy. Right? Riiight?) Along the path to revenge, the guy does plenty of questionable things, but I feel like Leno's murder is up there. Damn. I mean. I know, I know. There's always Garma. I guess maybe that outranks this. I suppose I'll find out (again) once I get there. Still, that was harsh. Thankfully, the franchise doesn't really ask its viewers to believe Char is an inherently good person -- there are lead protagonists in every other series he's in! -- but again, Zeta!

So yeah. Great action, real character strength, an absolute minimum of anime cheeseball, nice production values (seriously, did the hike exercise look like the spitting image of MGS: Ground Zeroes to anybody else? Just me?). Dawn of Rebellion has it all. It even has an Amuro cameo after the credits that feels less forced than the last one. (I wonder if we're shifting perspective in OVA #4? If so, what the heck could Amuro bring to the table so soon? I guess insight into what his father's doing.)

8.9 for this outing. No one is more surprised than I!
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http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/star-trek-deep-space-nine-best-episodes-ranked.html

mm, happy 25th anniversary, my first ever "wow, storytelling and characterization is important" life experience
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SaveEstelle posted...

I'll be honest -- this doesn't really compel me to prioritize the original in my queue!

I mean you complained they didn't get enough content in UBW and now you seem to be okay with this...!
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LeonhartFour posted...

SaveEstelle posted...

I'll be honest -- this doesn't really compel me to prioritize the original in my queue!

I mean you complained they didn't get enough content in UBW and now you seem to be okay with this...!

Sakura aside, none of those characters left pretty much any sort of mark on me at all, whereas the characters listed as worse start out with my top 4!
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Well I do think that is by design in some cases. I don't remember Sakura, Ilya, or Rider doing much in UBW, but they have pretty important roles in one or both of the other two routes.
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Mainly I was just uh-ohing at all my favorites being "worse" somehow!
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I mean I could've put Rin in the pretty much the same category. Her role is slightly smaller, but that's about it. I didn't like this route's romance, but maybe you will!

also surprisingly you might find yourself liking those characters more once they've had some dedicated plot
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ya go my Titans

can't believe they actually came back and won that game
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Professor Layton and the Unwound Future beated! That was an unexpectedly poignant ending with a twist I wouldn't have expected from a Layton game. Definitely the best one of the three so far.

Unwound Future > Curious Village > Diabolical Box

I'll pick up the next one whenever it's actually affordable, so I guess my next handheld adventure will be the Psycho-Pass VN.
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Wow, you weren't kidding about those Layton prices
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I just checked and The Last Spectre is cheaper used now than when I looked the other day, but they're for only the cartridge, and that's a no go for me. I need the case.
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Yeah, I never buy caseless games either.
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Looks like there's nothing cheap on ebay either

I once got lucky there and got three of the kirby games I was looking for for CIB for 15 bucks total (which was around what it cost to get each of them caseless on amazon).
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Toonami's schedule right now looks nice overall imo
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it's got Cowboy Bebop at least
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The heck is Outlaw Star (2017)
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I would guess it's the 2017 version of Outlaw Star but I can't be positive
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I think it's a 20 minute special or something
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All right, I started this Psycho-Pass VN. I've only played a little bit of it. Apparently, there are two characters you can choose to play as, and they're new characters who aren't in the show, as far as I can tell. I'll be curious to see if the two routes overlap or if they're mutually exclusive.

also good news is that it's pretty clear this game has to take place during season 1
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Okay, it looks like both new characters are here now, so there is some overlap between their stories. One character is an Inspector, and one is an Enforcer. I chose the Enforcer, although I didn't realize it when I picked him. Should be fun!
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maybe this is considered OLD already since it is a full 2.5 weeks old but I just saw this video for the first time so I'm posting it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8kp3b5h2DY
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Pretty cool episode of Discovery tonight I thought. Wonder what happened to Hoshi though. They don't even mention the original Enterprise for whatever reason.
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Watched a couple episodes of Gankutsuou. It's interesting that they actually had the duel here because in the book they call it off at the last second, but I suppose that would've been boring here! Also, we get introduced to Danglars, and he looks every bit as sketchy as I would've imagined. Eugenie has been pretty great so far, too. Being voiced by Michelle Ruff certainly helps, but yeah, she's an interesting character.
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also STAY TUNED to see what anime I have chosen to watch next

will report in with the results
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I was a bit disappointed with what they did with Eugenie, honestly. Liked her somewhat more in the book.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

I was a bit disappointed with what they did with Eugenie, honestly. Liked her somewhat more in the book.

Yeah, it's a different take than in the book, where she's a bit colder and doesn't really care that much that her parents are terrible people. Plus, she actually seems to have a real relationship with Albert here as opposed to a strictly arranged marriage, although both of them still don't seem totally sold on the idea. I don't really mind the change here though.
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Pretty cool episode of Discovery tonight I thought. Wonder what happened to Hoshi though. They don't even mention the original Enterprise for whatever reason.

Hoshi would be like 90 at this point! But also if memory serves the litverse has her reign not last all the way until TOS but a.) I might be misremembering and b.) obviously they're not truly beholden to that stuff anyway. Also, I can't recall because it's been forever since I watched TOS: who is the emperor in the TOS episode? Is it stated? ...is it Kirk? It might be that they won't say who it is because it's a TOS person.

When you say the original Enterprise, do you mean the TOS one? Or the NX-01? I thought it was fantastic that they sorta tie this in with the ENT Mirror Universe two-parter.

My only bone to pick with this episode is that it was really, really exposition-heavy until about 75% of the way in, which, hey, I get why, but it could have maybe been handled with a bit more finesse. Otherwise it was pretty great!
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More Discovery-speak:

The Tyler theory I've been aboard with since episode 4 is spelled out so completely in that scene with L'Rell, lololol. Everybody at my viewing party was like WELP. Also, everybody gasped at Culber's death. After Trek kind of blew the lid off of something you might not want to click on concerning the rest of the season, Mac: Cruz, Culber's actor, will be back at least. I'm thinking maybe he shows up to Stamets repeatedly in kind of a trippy mycillial connectivity sort of way. It would be very "TV" with a Star Trek twist.

Tilly was amazing this week. She brought the house down every scene she was in from you-know-when on.

LeonhartFour posted...

also STAY TUNED to see what anime I have chosen to watch next

will report in with the results

hype
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And the winner is...Tsuredure Children! I can only assume "Tsuredure" is Japanese for "blushing" because there was always at least one person blushing onscreen at any given time. I was kind of expecting a full show, but these are mostly a compilation of quick vignettes. It was pretty good though. I was laughing a lot watching it. The student council president/smoking girl one and the one with the little sister trying to get in the way of the girl pursuing her brother were my favorites.
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Also, I read the latest ReLIFE chapter, and holy crap, that was such an emotional gut punch. I wasn't ready for that, and it really got to me.

Man.
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Did you finish Tzurezure Children?

SaveEstelle posted...

When you say the original Enterprise, do you mean the TOS one? Or the NX-01? I thought it was fantastic that they sorta tie this in with the ENT Mirror Universe two-parter.

NX-01. Just seemed like they should've mentioned their trip there.

Also, I think it's pretty much guaranteed that we're going to see the Mirror Discovery crew, so anyone dead from earlier in the show could show up again.
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Well, the NX-01 crew never actually went there. The "In a Mirror, Darkly" episodes are told entirely from the perspectives of their Mirror Universe crew!

And I have a theory we'll see, in addition to the Mirror Discovery crew, Mirror Georgiou. Oh, and I guess we won't be seeing Burnham and Lorca, is what they want us to think, but lol, no, we will.
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Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin 4 - Eve of Destiny beated. Definitely not as good as 3, but still decent. I'd say it's a 7.5, so a little bit better than the first two. This one had a lot of political push-forwarding to tackle and it did it alright but was forced to do it with whatever characters like Tem Ray. When Tem Ray has to take the lead for a while you know you're in for a bit of a snooze.

Some oddly scattershot pacing and Dozle being back to the nonsensical bumbler he was in Part 1 didn't help matters. (I guess maybe I forgot that that cadet marries him or something? But that scene was just... embarrassing.)

There's plenty here to like though. Seeing the origins (heh) of Char and Lalah was nice and it was cool to check in with Amuro and "meet" Fraw. We're so close to the start of the original series now so it felt like the right time. And hey, we "met" Kai, too! He's such a delinquent. Who from the original hero gang have we not yet met? We've got Amuro, Sayla, Fraw, Kai, and Mirai. I guess we're missing Bright, Hayato, and Ryu.

The best part of this chapter was the battle on the moon. The action was slick and the CG-ified mobile suits worked really smoothly. Getting to see the historic first ever mobile suit battle was grand stuff to anybody who grew up watching old UC fare. Ramba really doesn't have control over the Black Stars, though, does he? What a buncha jerks.
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LeonhartFour posted...

maybe this is considered OLD already since it is a full 2.5 weeks old but I just saw this video for the first time so I'm posting it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8kp3b5h2DY

I don't know when it started but I think the meme is still current! Here's an Ace Attorney one released yesterday. There are typos but still, I appreciated the idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-QtsAf9xyU
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Did you finish Tzurezure Children?

No, I only watched a couple episodes since it was late.
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also I've been avoiding these SMFFFC reruns that GMUN's bot has been doing, but I see that the finals of the SMFFFCI rerun is Celes/Vivi

war never changes
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yeah I had the same comment when I saw the top 5

oh hey here's 5 characters with multiple wins between then, all of whom have made top 5 at least once, how exciting

I guess Cecil got booted at least
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I figured since this wasn't an "official" contest people would have some fun with it but I guess not
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Oh hey, the Tsuredure Children manga's first six volumes have been localized, so I might check these out if I like the show enough. I feel like the format of this show would work better as a manga.
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So I'm doing this AncestryDNA thing, or to be more precise, I'm in that 6-8 week waiting period while you wait for them to analyze my results. It was actually my mom's idea, but I'd thought about doing it before because I don't really know anything about my family history or heritage, especially on my dad's side since he was adopted. I claim Irish heritage because of my last name, but I'm not actually related by blood to my paternal grandfather, so who knows if I actually have any Irish in me at all. Maybe I've just been a fraud my whole life! I could guess I probably have some Dutch in me based on my mom's maiden name, but that's about it.

Has anyone else done this stuff before? It seems pretty interesting and I'm actually kind of excited to see what the results are.

man this is why I rarely talk about myself because the whole time I'm typing all this I keep wondering why anybody would care about any of this stuff
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