A Certain Scientific Railgun S1E12

Below is an interesting comment I read (posted by Christopher Russell). I am reposting it here in order to read through it again later and possibly discuss as I continue watching the Toaru series. 

“ Regardless of the morality of the matter, Harumi broke the law. Furthermore, without tacit consent (all the Level Upper users were unaware of the side effects and therefore lacked details necessary to make an informed decision), she put 10,000 people into a coma to use for her own ends. This is the definition of Machiavellianism - "The ends justify the means." Yes, the government is corrupt. Yes, they repeatedly denied her petitions for a legal solution to the matter. No one is claiming that this isn't a far from an ideal situation. However, one cannot simply use the lives of others - without their express permission - to accomplish their own goals, no matter how noble. This is why people that riot at protests are jailed; why vigilante justice is frowned upon. A positive aspiration becomes tainted by the dark methods with which it may be achieved. In short, if tomorrow everyone started acting on their consciousnesses without any inhibitions on what was or wasn't morally proper ('fair play,' so to speak), then the world would be as big a mess as this fictional incident was.

As to your second point, the writing both is and isn't ambiguous about the perspective of the girls. In my opinion, Misaka is very much like me. She sympathizes with the loss and suffering Harumi has experienced, but also understands that her methods are too dangerous to be allowed to go unchecked. A person can go, "But the children!" There were a dozen or so of them; Harumi endangered 10,000 lives to get them back. "But she knew what she was doing! They were perfectly safe!" First, as I said before, using the Level Upper without knowing the side effects - knowing the entire purpose behind it - does not qualify as legal consent. Second, Harumi had no way to fact check her results. There was no precedent for what she was attempting. Therefore it was simple blind luck that her experiment succeeded. In fact, what she was doing wasn't all that different from the overloading experiment. By forcing people's brainwaves to change and increasing their powers in the process, I'm genuinely surprised they didn't end up like her students. If you want to call anything sloppy writing, it's the fact that the show empathizes with her methods yet decries the original experiment when both are quite similar.

But let's press on. Her experiment does succeed, whether by blind luck or exceedingly meticulous planning - it matters not. Then this giant fetus monster is born, fed by the unfulfilled wishes of the 10,000 people linked to its network. While it was alive, they were shown to be writhing in pain, straining against their bonds even while comatose to escape the torment. What if the recovery program hadn't worked? It was equally untested. It could have failed. Like the children, would they have ever woken up? Is it right to condemn 10,000 innocents to save a dozen innocents? To Harumi, yes, because they were children she cherished; the 10,000 were of considerably less import to her. Given what we've witnessed of her character, I don't believe she'd hesitate to inflict actual harm on strangers to save her students. Perhaps some will still excuse that as well; after all, we humans are terribly prone to assign different values to things based on our familiarity with them.

So the recovery program succeeds! Yet there's still a giant monster rampaging around, one created by another unintended consequence of Harumi's ill thought through endeavor. And it's headed straight for the nuclear plant! Suddenly the lives in the balance expand from a mere 10,000 to 100,000 or more. "But Harumi couldn't have known things would get this bad!" That's probably a true statement. However, she engaged in single loop thinking. "I want to save the kids, therefore I will place 10,000 people into what I hope is a harmless coma and sync their brainwaves to simulate the computational power of a supercomputer." Great! But she's messing with esper powers - things that don't follow logical rules and can be weaponized on a military scale. The fact that she didn't foresee any potential pitfalls with her plan is incomprehensible. Or perhaps she did and, as I've asserted is possible, didn't care.

So yes, the girls are conflicted. Yes, the show expects us to work that out for ourselves (even though all the signs are there). And yet I believe that they're still smart enough to realize that Harumi - in her legitimate desperation - chose a poorly conceptualized path to reach her goal; one that risked the lives of far more people than it was likely to save. That is why they allow her arrest. Yet I expect they'll make some effort to help her in the future using...safer means.” 

Steins;Gate Thoughts

Confession time! (Spoilers for Steins;Gate ahead) 

I watched episode 20 - 22 last night and I think people were disappointed with my reaction (not in a mean way! just... I know it wasn't what they expected). I just wanted to take a moment to explain why (I thought about it a bit and came to a conclusion). I really love SG, because of the MC and the story - both are so different from any other MC and story that I have watched or read. Everything from visual choices to character expression was very unique and the mystery as to what was going on and what was going to happen really absorbed me. 

The only thing that (kind of) was weird to me was that everyone was in love with the MC, similar to the basic "harem storyline" I've seen in other anime. Well, Feyris, Rukako and Kurisu were in love, but he also had even oddly forced scenes (e.g. kiss) with Moeka. It didn't bother me that much though, because that was never the focus. 

The best emotional scenes came from Okabe and his desire to save his childhood friend, Mayuri. I guess that's why I didn't get invested in any of the "possible ships" (e.g. Okabe X Rukako or Okabe X Kurisu), because i was so enthralled with the story of time travel and undoing their mistakes and who is SERN and what about the people turning into green blobs and how does this world lines stuff work... I thought it brought up so many interesting themes and ethical dilemmas like, what if people could time travel? What kind of repercussions could it have on our world and on our humanity (as individuals)? Can we handle such responsibility? Wouldn't it be unfair for someone to travel back in time and fix their mistakes and through doing that literally change time and space and other people's lives... Like, should something like that even be allowed? Just because we CAN do certain things as human beings, doesn't always mean we should... I don't want to go too deeply into all the interesting thoughts it brings up in terms of ethics and other complexities... 

I also enjoyed the whole conspiracy tone that surrounded the overarching story. In episode one so many questions are brought up (who killed Kurisu, why does she say Okabe wanted to tell her something 15 minutes ago when they had just met, why did all the people disappear for a while) and throughout the story more questions get raised about SERN Suzuha and wow just so much great mystery! I loved it and it often had my mind reeling. 

Like I said, there was hints at romance with quite a few characters throughout the story, but it wasn't compelling to me because (from my perspective) the focus was time manipulation, mystery, conspiracies, Okabe's psychology (going through Mayuri's death over and over and over and over!)... It was thrilling. It was dramatic.

And then there was a love confession. 

It was like Okabe's psyche had not suffered any damage from what he had been to until now. Him and Kurisu had their moment and then he went back. 

Everything before and after the confession I find riveting. We know now that he passed the 1%!!!! And suddenly Suzuha calls him asking him to help her prevent WWIII!? I am so excited for the last couple of episodes. I can't wait to see what happens. 

So yeah... Everything to me is brilliant. The anime really does most things well. I just think the romance wasn't done so well. I'm a big fan of romance - anime & manga. The moment of confession is HUGE in anime and I've seen some pretty amazing confessions that really had me shocked, laughing and even crying. This, in my opinion, was very lacklustre. Especially compared to other emotional moments in this very anime. 

A patron commented the following: "Steins;Gate is originally a game, specifically a visual novel (a really long one), and of course they cut some things here and there. That scene in the game has more content and Okarin's monologue about his feelings for Kurisu is longer. He even explains why he never calls Kurisu by her name and the anime doesn't show it. So probably that extra "development content" would make you feel more attached to that scene."

I can say with almost 100% certainty that had I played the game/visual novel,  I would have enjoyed the romance aspect a lot more. I would have been able to focus not only on the main story, and get attached to the individual characters, but I believe I also would have been more invested in the interpersonal relationships between the characters, and (probably) especially Okabe X Kurisu. 

In the episode 21 discussion I talked about how I used to read books and completely immersed myself in the content. I would read lines and make notes and highlight important sentences and research things and... well, you get what I mean? I'm not saying it would be necessary for me to do this to enjoy the story, I'm just saying this story had the potential for that kind of complete immersion. The anime is great, but I feel if I had read this in light novel format (if it had one) or if I had played the game/visual novel, I would have been spellbound by every part of the story. 

Like I said, I already think it's brilliant. It's just that the romance aspect of it, for me, was underdeveloped and therefore, underwhelming (FOR ME!!). 

I'm writing this post in response to people's response to my reaction (haha). After watching last night, I felt confused by my own underwhelm and I just wanted to give it some more thought. I know some of you feel very differently about the confession and I'm really glad your experience was what it was!! 

I can see the anime ending on a 9/10 for me - I don't remember when I last scored it, but I definitely think it's 90% average score on anilist is well deserved! I will wait until I finish the last 2 episodes before I score it, but like I said, I definitely think it deserves a 9. 

Favorite One Piece Arcs (so far)

EAST BLUE SAGA

Romance Dawn (1)

Meeting Luffy. Meeting Zoro. Meeting Coby. Morgan VS Luffy. 

Orange Town (11)

Luffy's past. Meeting Buggy. Mohji VS Luffy. Zoro VS Cabaji. Buggy VS Luffy. 

Syrup Village (5)

Meeting Usopp & Kaya. Meeting Jango. Battle on the slope. Kuro VS Luffy. Meeting Gaimon. 

Baratie (4) 

Zoro's past. Meeting Sanji & Zeff the Red Leg. Meeting Gin and Don Krieg. Learning about All Blue (Sanji's past). Zoro VS Mihawk. Luffy VS Krieg. Inner Spear. 

Arlong Park (6) 

Nami's past. Meeting Arlong and his crew. Meeting Nojiko and Gen (and Bellemere). Usopp VS Chew lol. Zoro VS Hatchi. Sanji VS Kuroobi. Destroying Arlong Park (Luffy VS Arlong). Nami joins the crew. 

Buggy Side Story (13)

Loguetown (8)

The Town of the Beginning and the End. The man who smiles at the execution platform. Meeting Smoker. 

ALABASTA SAGA

Reverse Mountain (9)

Meeting Laboon and Crocus. Luffy's Promise. 

Whiskey Peak (7)

A pirate loving town? Zoro VS Baroque Works. Zoro VS Luffy. Meeting Princess Vivi Nefertari. 

Koby and Helmeppo (12)

Little Garden Arc (10)

Meeting Dorry and Brogy. Battling Mr 3, Mr 5, Miss Valentine and Miss Goldenweek. 

Drum Island Arc (3) 

Chopper's past. Doctorine and Hiluluk. Hiluluk's Cherry Blossoms and Inherited Will.  7 level transformation. Mountain bear and freakish giant rabbits! lol

Alabasta Arc (2) 

Meeting Ace. Luffy VS Vivi. Luffy VS Crocodile (many times). Zoro VS Mr 1 (shishi sonson). Usopp & Chopper VS Mr 4 and MissMerrychristmas. Meeting Robin. EPISODE 126. 

DR STONE; Episode 3

My first impression of episode 3 was easily 10/10! It got me so worked up (because the story is so good), and I really love the story and characters so much. A few people did, however, make me realise that Tsukasa figuring out their plan so quickly seems... Unrealistic? But I thought about it and came to the following conclusion: 

The fact that Tsukasa immediately knew what nitric acid was tells me he's a really smart person... like, i can kind of understand how he figured things out so quickly, because he's smart, too (although not AS SMART as Senku, and certainly not as scientifically experienced - I hope that makes sense)... That's literally what makes Tsukasa such a dangerous enemy, he's not only strong, but he's smart too. As scientifically accurate as the anime is in terms of "what stuff is made of and how things work", I think it'll still need to exaggerate some things, like how quickly he figures out their plan, or exaggerated facial expressions or defeating a lion in one punch, because the anime still needs to go overboard with certain aspects to keep its target market interested. 

As far as I am aware, it's a story that's published in Shonen Jump, so it's competing against stories like My Hero Academia, Dragon Ball Super, Black Clover etc. It makes up for lack of "superpowers and action elements" with it's fast-paced development (at least so far) and exaggerated aspects such as what makes each character unique (Senku being a super genius, Tsukasa being super smart and even Taiju-kun is extremely... well, he has a lot of extreme qualities 😅).

I think just because the anime sets itself up as being very "scientific" with a lot of interesting facts and going out of its way to explain the processes behind many natural phenomena in the world, doesn't mean we should expect it to be entirely realistic. It's still an adventure/sci-fi anime, after all. 

I didn't notice this as much while watching the first time, but while editing I'm really noticing how beautiful the scenes are when they arrive at the giant Buddha statue, and the music accompanying Yuzu's speech about waking up in this strange world, but she realises it really is Japan... and about being sad when she thought about her mom and dad... ahhhh, this episode really had it all.

When Yuzu is crying, Senku looks really serious at first, but then he does this "lighthearted laugh" and says that there's nothing to worry about, they'll defeat Tsukasa and save humanity... He really wanted to put them at ease. He's such a good boy uwu !! I also love how when Taiju was talking about how it was like the Buddha statue was making it easy for them to find it, Senku just explains the most likely scientific reason why there were no plants growing around the statue! hahhhahah! 

Watch my reaction & listen to my full review/discussion after watching the episode here: https://youtu.be/2bbKDalqrdA

After blu_regards (one of my patrons) listened to my review, he commented the following: 

"Let me just start by saying that I don't like to comment, and don't usually comment, like... ever. But I felt I needed to after listening to your discussion to let you know how much I appreciate your view regarding Tsukasa's ideology. As a big fan of the manga, was very excited when I heard that it got an anime. Naturally, i wanted to see what others generally thought about it, so I searched for a few reactors. And the thing is, when I read the manga, it didn't even cross my mind for a second that what Tsukasa wants to do, was anyway ok (when I read the manga, this was quite a bit after this point so I had no idea if there was similar reactions to the manga), so I didn't expect to see this reaction. And I found it very disheartening to see how many people, not just reactors agreed or sympathized with Tsukasa. Anyway, I wanted to let you know its encouraging to hear you so passionately condemn Tsukasa's ideology. Another thing (I don't comment often so might as well make it a long one, lol) normally I half listen your review/discussion while I work on something else. And if I pick up on something interesting or like for One Piece, if there is something I want to hear your thoughts on, I'll focus my full attention. But for this discussion I pretty much paid attention to the whole thing and I picked up on somethings that reminded me of Jordan Peterson. I don't know if you've heard of him, but I'm a big admirer of him. He's a Jungian, which I know you've talked about before.  I got reminded of him because he talks about a lot of the stuff you brought up, such as oppression and being a good person. I would recommend watching some of his videos, but fair warning, he's considered "controversial" despite the fact that he's just trying to help people."

Here is the video he was referring to: https://youtu.be/-XvI6Y5Yq8o 

also, I referred to a video by Longbeachgriffy in my discussion, because I was talking about things and rambling in a way, trying to make my thought process cohesive. People often take my words out of context though, so I thought about this video https://youtu.be/iZ1dgmoihoM 

Best Anime in Each Genre

TOP 5 COMEDY

Grand Blue

Konosuba

Food Wars

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord

Danmachi

Honorable mention: Haikyu!!

TOP 5 DRAMA

Nana

Violet Evergarden

Angel Beats

The Promised Neverland

Dororo

Honorable mention: Death Note

TOP 5 ROMANCE

Fruits Bakset

Darling in the FranXX

Bunny Girl Senpai

Ouran High School Host Club

Blue Spring Ride

Honorable mention: Kimi ni Todoke 

TOP 5 ACTION

Attack on Titan

Drifters

My Hero Academia

One Punch Man 

Bleach

Honorable mention: Princess Principal

TOP 5 ADVENTURE

One Piece

Re:ZERO

The Rising of the Shield Hero

Eureka Seven

Fairy Tail

TOP 5 SLICE OF LIFE

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku

Dagashi Kashi 

Lucky Star

Paradise Kiss 

Toradora

Honorable mention: 12~sai

TOP 5 PSYCHOLOGICAL

Boogiepop and Others

Elfen Lied

Tokyo Ghoul

Kakegurui

Future Diary

Honorable mention: Angels of Death

Favourite Anime Couples/Ships

Yui X Hinata (Angel Beats) 

Mai X Sakuta (Bunny Girl Senpai)

Anemone X Dominic (Eureka Seven)

Sawako X Kazehaya (Kimi ni Todoke)

Lucy X Natsu (Fairy Tail) 

Futaba X Kou (Ao Haru Ride) 

Emilia X Subaru (Re:ZERO)

Zero Two X Hiro (Darling in the FranXX)

Aiz and Bell (Danmachi) 

Saitama X Tatsumaki (One Punch Man)

XXX

Raphtalia X Naofumi (The Rising of the Shield Hero)

Tohru X Kyo (Fruits Basket)

Alice X Ryou (Food Wars)

Touka X Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul)

Nino X Fuutarou (Quintessential Quintuplets) 

Miaka X Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi)

Ichigo X Shirogane (Tokyo Mew Mew)

Miina and Maiku (Onegai Twins)

ULTIMATE FAVOURITE CHARACTER LIST

This list includes all my favourite characters from every anime I have ever watched. These are my personal favourites - characters that really standout to me for various reasons. Some characters that I love are not included, because even though I love them in the anime, they don't necessarily stand out to me outside of that anime. Hope that makes sense :) 

Tamaki Suoh (High School Host Club)

Anemone (Eureka Seven)

Nino Nakano (Quintessential Quintuplets) 

Eren Jaeger (Attack on Titan)

Mikasa Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

Zoro Roronoa (One Piece) 

Yuno Gasai (Mirai Nikki)

Sakuta Azusagawa (Bunny Girl Senpai)

Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) 

Aqua (Konosuba) 

Zero Two (Darling in the FranXX)

Naofumi Iwatani (The Rising for the Shield Hero) 

Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)

Katsuki Bakugou (My Hero Academia) 

Emilia (Re:ZERO)

Bell Cranel (Danmachi)

Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece) 

Kuranosuke (Princess Jellyfish) 

Senkuu (Dr. Stone) 

Ken Kaneki (Tokyo Ghoul) 

Hyakkimaru (Dororo) 

Juvia Lockser (Fairy Tail)

Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer)

Dororo (Dororo) 

Tatsumaki (One Punch Man) 

Subaru (Re:ZERO)

Dominic (Eureka Seven)

Armin Arlert (Attack on Titan)

Rem (Re:ZERO)

Alice Nakiri (Food Wars)

Yui (Angel Beats!) 

Azusa Hamaoka (Grand Blue Dreaming)

Hatsune Miku

Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan) 

Erwin Smith (Attack on Titan)

Hestia (Danmachi)

Ryou (Food Wars)

Jean Kirschtein (Attack on Titan) 

Haru Yoshida (My Little Monster)

Pharoah Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh!) 

Ami (Toradora) 

Zenitsu Agatsuma (Demon Slayer) 

Yoichi Nasu no Suketaka (Drifters)

Toyohisa Shimazu (Drifters)

Nobunaga Oda (Drifters)

Hideki Hinata (Angel Beats!)

Milim (Slime Datta!)

Mei Hatsume (MHA)

Ichigo Momomiya (Tokyo Mew Mew) 

Itsuki Nakano (Quintessential Quintuplets)

Saitama (One Punch Man) 

Diablo (How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord)

Saya (Dagashi Kashi) 

Yukihira Souma (Food Wars) 

Nel Tu (Bleach) 

Kiyoharu Hyoudou (Ballroom e Youkoso)

Nuriko (Fushigi Yuugi) 

Tobio Kageyama (Haikyu!!) 

Shouyou Hinata (Haikyu!!)

Ryuunosuke Tanaka (Haikyu!!)

Ray Beams (Eureka Seven) 

Saki (Zombieland SAGA) 

Koushi Sugawara (Haikyu!!)

Futaba (Ao Haru Ride)

Kagami (Lucky Star)

Misa (Death Note) 

ATTACK ON TITAN SEASON 3 FINALE [thoughts/theories]

Below is text that I DID NOT WRITE. I got permission from the person who shared these thoughts/theories, so that I can share it here, because I think it’s very interesting and I don’t want to forget what they said + I’d like to do some more research on some of these concepts later. 

I edited some of the text (also with permission) and added a few links to some words for reference.

ZAGRASH: “Through time, all cultures had a reference for the "sacred fluid". In modern times we often talk about the concept of DNA and we all know what that means. In Attack on Titan, it’s SPINAL FLUID. 

In literature from all over the place and time you can find the idea of human intelligence evolving by 1.) standing up 2.) a fluid going up the spine and out of that, human intelligence evolves. The spinal fluid/DNA is the key of living and the functions of the body/mind. This fluid is also known as Semen or Christos (Cerebrospinal Fluid). 

In the East, the  "Chakra, lingam, Vīrya, mádhu" are often used. The term SACRED comes from SECRET and that from SECRETION = the fluid of "god" or the "Christos". Almost all ancient, "secret" teachings are about the raising the "fluid/chakras" to be enlightened, which means to use your full potential (intelligence, not intellect), instead of trying to just survive (like animals). In the BBC video Isayama talks about this - karma. 

In older cultures the words milk or honey are used to describe the fluid. From that perspective, the word "milky way" becomes a completely new meaning. The world tree in norse mythology represent the human body, but also the universe (split in 9 worlds). Our ancestors understood that forms repeat in the cosmos because of the fluid intelligence. Look at this picture of the god Ganesh (Hindu) https://st6.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2804902303?profile=original 

The garden Eden is the paradise in the bible (think of the Island of Paradis, and ONIGASHIMA, also based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%B6rdlingen). 

In the garden eden the snake gives Eve (root race of humans, similar to YMIR in Attack on Titan) an apple from the tree of wisdom (the tree represents the universe/the collective). Today this is known as the original "sin". Why? 

This is the effect of evolution natural hierarchy:  

Bee -> pollinate Plant (semen) -> Fruits (Sugar and Red, naturally addicting. The plant creates a fruit for its own survival (the red fruit distracts predators and will make them addicted to the sugar = they will not eat the plant in the future). But I don't want to go deeper into biology now...

It’s a question about how we use our intelligence - to use this gift (the intelligence that Adam and Eve received) to evolve the world or to do bad things (war, hierarchy, stay animalistic = satanism = devil). 

In Attack on Titan, we have a reference of this, the pact with the devil: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/shingekinokyojin/images/8/8a/Ymir_Fritz_makes_a_deal_with_the_Devil.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180405155408 

We don’t see snakes in Isayama’s story, but we do see Titans. Snake: a reference for the human spine with low intelligence, while the eagle is high intelligence = in the sky, not on the ground). Eagles can be found on many places, like national flags. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Caduceus.svg/1200px-Caduceus.svg.png symbol for medicine, literally everywhere. 

Shiva also always has a snake around his head. https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mythology/images/4/4d/Shiva.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130330050033 

Whatever happens in the story, I think this is the core idea of the connection between the subjects of Ymir, the milky way references, spinal fluid, the pact with the devil reference and the flowers and bees, and also all the dreams.” [END] 

I asked Zagrash about why he referred to “karma” (since it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in the BBC video). He replied with: “The part I'm Talking about is from 0:46 to "I think it came from the experience of growing up on a farm. As a child I remember thinking all living creatures must get nutrition from other living creatures. We might call it cruel, but it is actually the norm". For me that is the perfect definition of Karma.” 

FAVOURITE ANIME LIST

This list includes all my favourite anime, in order. Not ranked using my scores, just my personal favourites. I did, however, only included anime with an 8 or higher score on my Anilist. I rounded up the scores for this list. E.g. if something was a 9.6 I made it a 10 on here. If it was a 9.4 I made it a 9.  

Dororo (10/10)

Attack on Titan (10/10) 

Re:ZERO (10/10) 

Ouran High School Host Club (9/10)

Welcome to the Ballroom (10/10)

Violet Evergarden (10/10)

Bleach (8/10)

Eureka Seven (8/10)

The Rising of the Shield Hero (10/10)

One Piece (10/10)

Fairy Tail (8/10) 

Darling in the FranXX (9/10)

Nana (10/10)

Kimetsu no Yaiba (9/10)

Fruits Basket (9/10)

Paradise Kiss (9/10)

Lucky Star (9/10)

KONOSUBA (8/10)

Saga of Tanya the Evil (9/10)

The Promised Neverland (9/10)

Food Wars (8/10)

Kakegurui (8/10)

Boogiepop and Others (9/10)

Tokyo Ghoul (9/10)

Death Note (8/10)

My Hero Academia (8/10)

Danmachi (9/10)

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai (9/10)

The Quintessential Quintuplets (9/10)

Onegai Twins (8/10)

Yu-Gi-Oh! (8/10)

One Punch Man (8/10)

Angel Beats (9/10)

Angels of Death (8/10)

Elfen Lied (8/10)

The Future Diary (8/10)

Princess Principal (9/10)

Drifters (9/10)

Blue Spring Ride (9/10)

Samurai Champloo (8/10)

Death Parade (9/10)

Toradora (8/10)

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord (8/10)

A Certain Magical Index (8/10)

Dagashi Kashi (8/10)

Little Witch Academia (8/10)

Anohana (8/10)

MOVIES

Your Name (10/10)

A Silent Voice (10/10)

Spirited Away (10/10)

Howl's Moving Castle (9/10

ATTACK ON TITAN (Notes) | Animaechan

This video was shared with me by Bambam (on my Discord). I thought it was interesting and shared it in the AOT chat. Zagrash responded with the following information:

"Ymir represents the beginning of everything (universe). He represents the mass and the land (female aspect) and the cow audhumbla has the milk (eternal semen, male) that ymir drinks. the other gods killed ymir and out of it they created all races and all places that exist, the NINE WORLDS (= the titans) . they all are part of the world tree ygdrasil (meaning the horse in the wind or the leaf in the wind). My ancestors told me that if you look in the sky at night, you can see ygdrasil and the nine worlds (the milky way / the thing that connecs everything,, as shown in the latest episode). The gods conflict killed ymir and in the process created everything, including the wars of the races in the nordic edda. that is the symbolical SIN in the norse mythology, that will sooner or later will lead to ragnarök, the end of people/world."

My response: "Oh fuck."

It doesn't seem like the anime is heading for a happy ending. Although who expected it to have a happy ending? Like Eren told Annie, "You can't hope for a horror story with a happy ending!"

Attack on Titan Episode 58 | Animaechan (notes)

The concept of "collective unconscious" came up for me in this episode. A reference for those who haven't heard of that: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-collective-unconscious-2671571 OR here is a very good video: https://youtu.be/j0KzUS0b_uc 

Also "source energy" as an interpretation of God (here are a few resources that explore my beliefs on this): 

- (Esther Hicks) https://youtu.be/Gcj9ZgU5mV4

- (Spirit Science) https://youtu.be/1HvQcUEMV-I

I may have said this wrong during the video, but I think the books they got in the basement contained a lot of information, which the scouts learned from (about the outside world). This is what spurred Eren's memories (I think). I wrongly made it sound like Eren's memories were only reflecting the information they received in the books, but in the episode we find out he knows things he hasn't told them, so obviously he remembers more than the information the books revealed to them. 

This quote really stood out to me a lot: 

"We must push forward until the price of our actions is paid. Even in death and after death." - Eren Kruger 

I have been loving the little Eren X Mikasa moments this season... there hasn't been a lot, and they've been subtle... But I believe they are there, and I've been so happy with them... <3 

Here is the tweet/quote from Armin I talked about in the video (I forgot to edit in the screenshots in the video!!!): https://twitter.com/fijikokoi/status/1140540079569592320

Lastly, in light of my LAST reaction video (or more so the discussion after the video). At the bottom of this post, there are a few links to resources for anyone who is interesting to gain a better understanding of what has been going on in South Africa for the last couple of years. 

I keep bringing this up, because, as I mentioned in the video, Shingeki no Kyojin touches on a lot of similar themes (reflecting real life situations) and actually warns us against "history repeating itself". Like Eren Kruger said, mistakes are being made over and over... I just don't want that happening in South Africa. I believe the world can be so much better than it is right now, if we learned from past mistakes and changed the way we think about "others". Identifying ourselves is one thing, but if we see strength in our differences instead of fearing or hating our differences, we can work together to make the world a better place. We could take care of each other, instead of struggling just to scrape by. We NEED our differences to grow as a community, nationally and internationally. But to do that, we can't look back and expect today's generation to "pay" for the wrongs of past generations. We may be sitting with the aftermath of their mistakes, but the only way to "fix" them is to work together. To do this we need to forgive each other, understand each other, stop playing the blame game and seeking constant revenge... this only perpetuates the cycle of pain and suffering! Just like what has been happening in Shingeki no Kyojin... 

- https://youtu.be/a_bDc7FfItk (VERY informative!)

- https://youtu.be/mDTFXrjl2Lc (A funny video about our ex-president, but remember, this guy was running our country for almost 10 years)

I'm trying to find good information on Zimbabwe, but since I'm not from there, I don't really know where to look. I just know that a lot of people are saying South Africa will end up like Zimbabwe if things keep going the way it has. Many white farmers in Zimbabwe were forced to leave their land under Robert Mugabe, they feared for their lives, because farm murders became more and more prominent, just like what's happening in South Africa at the  moment. There was also a lot of corruption going on there, just like what's been happening for many years in South Africa. Granted, corruption happens pretty much everywhere. But it literally ran Zimbabwe into the ground and (as I've mentioned) it looks like the same patterns are repeating in S.A. 

It got so bad (in Zim), that the country is currently in turmoil. Their currency has been scrapped, because it's not worth anything anymore... I'm telling you all of this, because I think it's only fair of me to share as much information as I can, since AOT is literally warning us of these kinds of mistakes/dangers and in a way showing us WHAT NOT TO DO. Maybe in future episodes, we will see some solutions too, depending on how the characters deal with everything that has been happening up to this point in the story. 

"The sam history... The same mistakes... Over and over..." - Eren Kruger

ATTACK ON TITAN (Season 3) Episode 57

I am about to start editing my reaction highlights for episode 57 of Attack on Titan. As I edit, I'll make notes of any thoughts that come up for me, any unanswered questions or things I want to keep in mind going forward. 

Grisha/the people behind the walls are all known as Eldians. 

Ymir Frits was the woman who made a contract with a Devil to gain the powers of the titans. 

I referred to this origin story as being a "religious" story, but that's not what I meant. I just meant it's like religious stories in that it tells a tale that sounds "unbelievable". Like how a woman made a contract with a Devil (e.g. like Adam and Eve were tricked by a snake/giant lizard). 

Ymir died and her spirit was split into the Nine Titans - this I don't understand, how was her spirit split into nine physical titans? Could there be some other explanation, like her nine closest friends/family ate her to obtain her power? 

These Nine Titans formed the Eldian Empire (so they were intelligent somehow). They saw other races as inferior and began to oppress them (including the Marleyens). "They stole lands and fortunes and forced other races to bear their children to increase their numbers" - so the children that were born from this, were they also considered "pureblood"? Is this the same blood that runs through Historia's veins? 

Ymir (the character we know) also came from somewhere inside the walls, so was her name given to her by the cult that (essentially) abducted her?

80 years ago (from before Grisha learned about all this) there was a Great Titan War and the Marleyens won. Or did the Eldian King forfeit and leave many of his people behind? Why? Dina said it was because he refused to fight. "And so, these wretched days we live, all began when the king turned away from conflict". 

When Grisha was older, he learned about the truth of his sister's death, and about a different history (or the same history told from a different perspective). He joined the patriots. From their perspective, Ymir made the continent a better place. 

Dina Fritz looks a lot like Armin in my opinion. 

So at the same time that the patriots were planning to overthrow the Marleyens, the Marleyens were planning something similar using Eldian people (to get that power from the people behind the walls). "Though Marley leads the world using the power of the seven titans, the end of their dominance is nigh." Marley wanted to get at the massive cache of fossil fuel underneath the Paradis - but the Eldian king left that warning - which is why the Marley wanted Eldians to fight for them (the ones left on "their" continent). 

The Marley and Patriots had the same goal: to infiltrate the walls and recover the founding titan (the power Krista/Historia now has). 

I find it... interesting? Ironic? how Grice turns on Grisha after their plan went to shit. As if it was Grisha's fault that things didn't work out. Grisha was, after all, a normal person just like them. They were the ones who put their trust in him. 

At first I was confused about how they had this "titan juice" to turn the Eldians into pure titans - but now while editing I remembered that they have 7 titans/titan powers so they just extract the spinal fluid from them. 

I wonder what triggered these memories (why did Eren remember them now and not earlier? did meeting his half brother force the memories to the surface?).  

Lastly, I realise that we don't know yet who is telling the "right" history or who's perspective is more accurate. Did the Nine Titans really oppress people? Or was that just the history Marleyens taught Eldians? Did the founding titan really change the world for the better/improve the continent like the patriots believed? Isn't that usually how "colonisers" see themselves and their actions, even when what they are doing for improvement is at the expense of others? At this point, what happened back then is not as important as what is happening right now. Punishing an entire group of people, for the sins of past generations is wrong, whether the distinction is made because of them being a different race, religion or gender. That is the most important thing to remember here. 

At least, in my opinion. 

Edit: After watching my full reaction, one of my very first patrons, Spencer, tweeted this https://twitter.com/fijikokoi/status/1140540079569592320

When I read Armin's words again, I got goosebumps... Especially in light of the thoughts that came up for me about labeling in this episode. It's not like it came up for me just today, these are things I've thought about for a long time for various reasons and learned about through many personal experiences. Of course, I still have a lot to learn, especially about how to express my thoughts properly and less emotionally charged. But that's why I'm so grateful an anime like Attack on Titan exists. To say the things I don't always know how to put in words and to help us see the actual implications of our beliefs/systematic labeling of others. 

Shared with me on Discord by Lalisa: "To add to what you were saying about the Marley people being blinded to the humanity of Eldians, I think it's not just their history of being oppressed by them that's fuelling that, but also because of the fact that Eldians can turn into literal man-eating monsters as well. For someone like Gross (psycho asshole), it's hard to feel remorse for monsters in human skin (IIRC, he literally says that in the manga but in the anime, the wording was changed up). Fear of the unknown or anything really can really blind people. In this case, it also makes Marley repeat the cycle and become the oppressor."

Shared with me on Twitter by @angelkuhnpost: "Fun Fact: Isayama specifically requested for the Sergeant Gross talking scene to make it look like Gross is talking to us, the audience. Basically, as he’s talking about how fun it is to see people getting eaten by titans, he’s breaking the fourth wall by telling us that we’re the same as well, as we’re watching this series. It’s a great meta commentary on the fascination that we as people have towards violence. Never would I have imagined that we would see a fat Nazi calling us out, through the screen for watching this show. Isayama is a genius."

another one:"Fun fact: Isayama requested that Gross look at YOU, the viewer, when he was monologuing. Gross was accusing you of also enjoying watching people getting eaten by Titans.

You just got called out by a fat Nazi in a Japanese anime."someone else also noticed that Gross is breaking the 4th wall while standing on the 4th wall lol. That's not my note but I find it very interesting - Ángel 

ONE PIECE Episode 46 - 49

I watched episode 48 an 49 and uploaded that for Patrons. Then went back and watched episode 46 and 47 in my own time. 

Loguetown, the place where Gold Roger was born, is called "The Town of the Beginning and the End". That could be interpreted as the town where he was born and where he died, but it's also the beginning of Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Sanji and Nami's journey (they are officially nakama now and are all off to the Grand Line together). Could this also be where their journey will come to an end? In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if One Piece was actually in Loguetown all along. 

Before his death, Gold Roger said "it's in THAT place". He never specifically said his treasure is at the Grand Line. THAT place could be the bar named after him - the bar Luffy walked into, as fate would have it. I don't know much about Gold Roger's history yet or what kind of person he was/beliefs he had (although I can make assumptions based on the little I've seen today), so this is just my guess after watching these 4 episodes. 

Gold Roger, the Pirate King, what did TREASURE really mean to him!? Was he like Buggy, who only saw treasure as gold and jewels, or was he more like Luffy (his hat from Shanks is referred to as his treasure)? I guess only time will tell.

Looking forward to watching more!!! 

ATTACK ON TITAN S3 Part 2 E7

I'll just be making a few notes here as I edit my reaction video. I want to focus on editing though, so the notes may be short. 

- At first I wasn't sure about that dream Armin had, but I remembered that the memories get transferred to the person who "claims" the titan powers by eating the previous shifter. I wonder how much of Bertholdt's memories Armin will be able to recall. Eren didn't remember things consciously, it was more like he unconsciously understood some things about how to use his titan. So maybe Armin might not know much either and will only get short flashes of certain memories like Eren used to get/still gets? 

- the moment Eren runs to Armin and hugs him is so fvcking precious uwu 

- in the reaction, I asked "how must that feel though?" when thinking about how Armin must feel after being chosen over Erwin. I'd like to share a message sent to me by Ángel Kuhn (a patron). He sent this to me after Armin's death, BEFORE we knew he was still clinging to life. Even though Armin ended up being saved, I still think this is a brilliant way to look at his character: 

"Armin is my favorite character of ANY show for one reason. The way Isayama explores his psychology is absolutely masterful. [...] Armin is the kind of depressive person with “learned helplessness”, a really complex matter in psychology. [He has] lot of suicidal thoughts during previous seasons. [He is] emotionally ultra-dependent, with a really low self-esteem - someone struggles a lot during the whole series to gain confidence and accepting himself, even in this last arc. The saddest thing here is that when he finally overcomes his learned helplessness and [attains] the self-acceptance that he was looking for (subconsciously) during his entire life, he used that confidence and courage to sacrifice himself and save humanity. In my opinion, Armin has the saddest character development that I’ve ever seen in any show. That’s why his death was so devastating to me. His death was extremely cruel, not just because of the burning, but mainly because of how his character was written since the beginning. Armin is a highly multidimensional character that I never expected to find in a shonen."

I think this is a beautiful way to look at Armin's character development and I want to point out that the fact that he was saved does not take anything "away" from his growth (at all!). Armin was (essentially) burned alive. He was literally scorched. Could this be symbolic of his transformation? Not only as a titan, but as a character. He's starting to (or will entirely in the coming seasons, I believe) let go of the uncertain, self-depreciating person he used to be. He has big shoes to fill, and I strongly believe he will fill them and lead the other characters to many victories in the future. Will they come at a cost? In war, most victories do. But I for one am looking forward to see Armin, who has risen from the ashes of his old self, lead his friends into a better world. 

- in one of the flashbacks Eren has of looking at the trap door to the basement, his mother has really short hair. So that had to be quite a long time ago, probably before Mikasa even started living with them. 

- a link to my tweet about what I thought could be in the basement, tweeted a couple of days before the episode aired: https://twitter.com/animaechan/status/1136654997427347462

- curious about whether any foreshadowing or hints are given in the flashbacks we see of their town and when they were kids, as Eren and Mikasa is walking towards back to their old home... Even if there were, there's no way an anime only watcher would know, until we rewatch the series at a later point... in one scene you see their shadows pass by a single, white flower. I would like to know what kind of flower this is and the symbolic meaning attached to it. any theories? 

- in another flashback, they see Hannes, and he points to Eren's mom, walking in another direction, her back towards them... Here she has very long hair and is steadily walking back to their home, when they start running after her. the scenes keep switching from the present, to various memories. I think it's beautifully done. 

"Maybe I will [show you what's in the basement], when you discover the thing that is most important to you." - Grisha to young Eren

I feel like this quote contrasts beautifully with Kenny's final words to Levi - about everyone being a slave to something. Being a slave to something obviously sets a very negative tone. But this way of saying a similar thing "when you discover the thing that is most important to you", is so hopeful. I can't help but think, maybe not everyone has to be a slave to something. When you can find something or someone that you sincerely love with all of your heart, maybe instead of it enslaving you - maybe that love sets you free, or leads you to the truth... about the meaning of life. Why are we here on this earth? Forced to live in this cruel, yet beautiful world? Is it to be slaves of something or someone? Or are we here to discover what is important to each of us, as individuals? 

- the airship was invented in 1852 (in our world). 

Attack on Titan Manga (Volume 2 Chapter 6)

How could you not grow to love this person fiercely? The one who came to save you. The one who made you feel warm.

(I don’t mean romantic love was inevitable. But a fierce love was always going to develop from what they went through together, especially considering she was adopted by the Yeager’s thereafter).