majestic

On a whim* I rewatched episode nine of Violet Evergarden. It's probably the bleakest the anime ever gets, but also the most hopeful. It also forgoes both the regular opening and ending credits to maximize content. I've tried to come up with posts for three times now, but I always end up deleting them. So, no spoilers here. Yet, maybe. *sigh* *Not exactly a whim, was clicking through clips on YouTube after all.

SG1's final episode is called "Unending" because that's what it was, an un-ending. It resolved nothing of the ongoing storylines. Atlantis' final episode was a hastily cobbled together mess of ideas that were supposed to be developed over a full season, not one episode. Universe was cancelled on a cliffhanger. Only SG1 got final straight to DVD films to deal with the storylines, and they were, while not bad, certainly not great. You'd have a point if SG1 ended with Season 7 or 8. But it didn't...

Cantina's having their usual summer menu, which is great. Today was tuna salad or pizza, so I went with the tuna salad. Can't eat a pepperoni pizza for lunch. I mean, I totally could, but not if I'm expected to be productive afterwards.

I figured you would be, but there's no clear cut answer. The first, say, 23 episodes are worth it, and after that point you might as well finish. It does get frustrating. "Occasionally". The OVA gives some more information that's been missing from the original series. The entire scope of the conflict becomes clear when you see the sheer amount of dead letters in this region alone. It might work better... or actually, it might mean more if you already know the characters more in-depth when you watch it after the series proper, but I think the information and interactions within are too important to not use the OVA as a bridge between the episodes where you'd otherwise have to fill in the gaps of the timeskip between 4 and 5 on your own. Not that this is impossible, it's just more... complete this way. Otherwise yes, this is "just" a 10 minutes longer episode.

Right, I forgot the part where he's actually bare chested: Yay. No, it's not. It's also really different from the weird that weirds in JoJo's. DIO gives Utena a pair of earrings and suddenly has a GIANT CARROT in his hand. I don't even WANT to know if that is supposed to mean what it maybe is supposed to mean. Now he holds the carrot to his head, like Chibi-Usa did with the horse. And there's an actual horse galloping around. Sure show!

The two are currently engaged in a photo shooting where DIO takes pictures of an almost gym god like Akio sprawled out with a bare chest on a tower of cars. Edit: Now he's eating a Rose. Presumably that Rose is Utena. Sure... really, why not. Want to take a guess? It's as good as mine, it is.

There's something I forgot to mention. It's not just DIO that is in Utena, but Mr. Screws-His-Sister is JoJo Junior from Stardust Crusaders. It's a bit weird when the two are talking to each other during their car rides.

You do have one for every episode, huh?

It's not that bad. I actually liked most of it. Closeups of Violet can get a little awkward at times. No. The last thing I watched was a never setting sun making fried camel. Been trying to get Utena done, and the rest of the week was worky hell. Hmhm. Developed from a discared SuperS script. I'm kinda glad that never happened, even though I can say that Utena is more enjoyable than SuperS. It would have been nice if it eased off of the Gainaxing at least when it was funny, but even Nanami episodes turned full weird near the end.

Yeah, just what I wanted to post too. At this point in time, Goldsman is just as much an instant no as Kurtzman is. Both of them together just means it will be terribad, instead of just terrible.

Let me know how that worked out for you. I'm kind of curious what you'll think going forward. Next episode (slight spoiler): Any thoughts on the animation so far?

That won't work (you'll see why), but it's okay. It was made after the main series anyway. edit: If you're watching on Netflix, it has both OVAs.

Initially, I watched the first nine episodes and then stopped for a while, only really picked up watching after you started. I always would have completed it of course, it's just that other things kept coming in between that I found more interesting to watch. Not counting Sailor Moon Crystal, of course, or reading some of the manga volumes (boy do I look forward to completing those). However, I actually would have recommended watching the series based on the first nine episodes. Sure there was some weirdness and some metaphor already, but oh dear, did that go places. I find myself agreeing on the language transcending the language barrier. You can hear how well the dialogue flows at times, regardless of not understanding much of it. The voice cast in general is also doing a fantastic job, and I actually like the soundtrack of Utena too. Maybe except for the jazzy pieces during the car rides. Kinda have to wonder now if the sole blame for Sailor Moon's serious mode episodes solely rests on the material they had to adapt. It sure played a big part, but is it really a coincidence that the best story arc of the show happened directly after Ikuhara left?

Yes, Ikuhara was series director for the first four seasons, then left to do Utena with his newly founded creative collective Be-Papas. Two of the writers from Utena, Yoji Enokido and Ryota Yamaguchi, were also writers on Sailor Moon. Yoji Enokido also worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion. edit: Sailor Moon is also the actual reason we're watching Revolutionary Girl Utena...

I couldn't find a decent The Test animated gif in the time I had left to post that, so I just went with the next best thing I found. SU seemed more appropriate since Ms. Sugar apparently really liked Revolutionary Girl Utena. I guess you can't argue tastes, I mean, there are individual episodes of this show that are a riot, individual ones that I thought were fantastic (most recently Jury removing the rose on her own), but overall the last batch of episode - I'm still missing a few, they'll be up next - catapulted this from Lynchian allegory into pretentious pseudo-intellectual wanking territory. That certainly changed my mind on wanting to watch more of Ikuhara's work. As much as I appreciated what he managed to make out of the Sailor Moon manga, it looks like it's not really a good idea to give him full creative reign. Funny how that goes. Maybe he should not aspire to collaborate with David Lynch, but say hello to George Lucas instead. Talk about the good old times when they came up with a collaborative smash hit only to squander it later. Hey, maybe we can give Jar Jar Abrams a Sailor Moon remake. Or an Utena sequel.

No mention of a songstress means you forgot the first OVA, right? Except Iris, of course... but you'll get bits and pieces of them through Violet working, but they do provide a stable backdrop for her to come back to. They're also mostly characters developed purely for the anime, the company was expanded a good deal to provide a backdrop for the first episodes that weren't adaptations from the light novel but almost entirely original content. Getting to know them takes a while - more than her clients, because they're co-workes, not people Violet interacts with for longer stretches of time during her visits with clients. Luculia has the best name Engrish in the history of Japanese. Rukuria Mōrubara is a far cry from Luculia Marlborough after all. Hey, you're forgetting all those war flashback scenes that show how much of an awesome badass Violet was...

Works perfectly well indeed, just substitue not blaming herself for it with blaming herself for it because she might have done something to invite it happening, or couldn't resist. That sadly happens enough in real life too.

Perfectly possible, yes. It's so open to interpretation that there's no real clear cut answer. edit: I also haven't seen all of the anime yet, so maybe something later clears it up. I don't think there will be something that clears it up, but eh, sure.

I wonder if she left the bread out.

Utena talks for what feels like minutes about making luch, and wonders if she could combine salmon, asparagus and some eggs with mayonnaise to make a sandwich, and I'm sitting here wondering if that's supposed to mean something. Yeah, @Bartimaeus was right. It's about time this ends.

Beats me too. I don't remember flying as blind as this in any TV show before.

I'm not sure yet and there's one more episode in the Othori arc, but it kind of looks like this round of duels really is an attempt by the characters to free themselves of their defining... problems and desires, in one way or the other. Maybe that's also why Toga is always saying his line about the soul not having given up yet. Who knows for sure though. For all I know the next episode might just throw it all over. There is Saionji who fights for Anthy one last time (presumably), and only creates a stronger bond between Anthy and Utena in the process, but also is now free of being entangled in the studen council and Toga's aspirations, realizing that he never was a friend to him. Miki and Kozue get to resolve part of their problems trying to recapture the past and getting away from it respectively. With their father remarrying, they're prodded into action, but Miki still seems to want Anthy. Kozue at least seems to have dealt with her issues of abandonment (induced by their partens divorce). Saves a few birds in the process too. Ruko, Shiori and Jury, well, I have no real idea what Ruko's deal was. He left as quickly as he showed up, but there's a case to be made that his actions freed Jury and Shiori of their unhealthy obsession with each other, and surpassing the other in the case of Shiori. Jury gets bonus points for freeing herself, more or less, by stopping the duel on her own free will, instead of being forced to. Toga and Nanami have a manipulated falling out, and Nanami realizes that she doesn't want Toga like that. Also... barf. What a set of episodes. She needs to come to terms with not being special, but she's free of her Toga obsession. She fights the duel to prove that she's nothing like Anthy. Doesn't win, but also not necessary. The win was the realization in itself. The question that remains is whether or not they'll make something off their freedom. Jury probably does, Kozue was never really part of it anyway, as was Shiori or Ruko. I'm guessing Nanami is done too. Not so sure about Miki and Saionji. Saionji has been curiously absent since the first episode of the arc, however that doesn't mean much. He repeatedly said he has no life outside of the Othori Academy. That leaves Utena, obviously. That'll be something for her when she realizes that Akio is her prince (at this point, who else could it be) and that he's reaaaaaaaaaaaally into his sister. If that really is his sister, only Ikuhara knows what Anthy is really supposed to be. Hmmm. Next up is apparently a Shadowplay clip show. Yay! edit: I'll just leave all the spoilers unmarked, it's not like anyone else is watching this AND it doesn't matter. Nothing of what I wrote there is actually in the show itself, that's just impressions you get from it. Or not, depending. Might as well be something else entirely for someone else. It's baffling.

Hoping Bill Gates really put sterilization agents into the Covid vaccines, or maybe open a Soylent Green factory or two.

I guess the nutritional advice is based on the idea of helping the patient lose weight, which is the fastest way to get insulin resistance down (along with a more active lifestyle). Whole grain keeps your hunger in check for longer than less complex sources of carbohydrates, and filling your plate 1/4 with it is most likely a severe drop in carbs for most (at least somewhat overweight) type 2 patients. The suggestion to go one quarter whole grain, one quarter lean meat and the rest vegetables really is there to do two things: Lose weight, and reduce the amount of lipids in your blood. On average, it's sound advice, but suggesting as much to someone without weight problems seems a bit... uninspired, to put it mildly.

I'm not Hurlshot, but... Allergies... also to wheat and peanuts, I think. Perfectly certain on the wheat, less so on the peanuts (vs. actual nuts, and all). Soy farming isn't that great for the environment, and eating too much of it can cause hormonal problems. Well, actually, it's more like farmers illegally burning down wood to farm soy beans that's causing the problems, but they'd also do that for animal farming. It just puts a real damper into the going vegan to save the planet spin.