majestic

Nah, that was Gandalf on his own in the book. The film has Frodo figuring it out.

Curious, everyone else who I know watched Attack on Titan pretty much raved about it. I guess that puts it in a bit of a backburner now. Not that I wouldn't have enough else to watch. Speaking of watching something else. On a whim I started Violet Evergarden, and ended up binging the 13 episodes. There's a special and one of two movies on Netflix too, which I plan on watching soon. Netflix recommended that when it came out, I just kind of avoided it. For... reasons (for those who have followed this thread for a while, that should become clear when I talk about it, for everyone else... well, sucks to be you ). I'd link the trailer, but it is terrible. It's on Netflix anyway for everyone who wants to watch it. The English dub also seems to be a bit on the bad side, but that might just be my first impression. Say hello to the titular character, Violet: I'm a shot from the closing credits, which were never - not ever, not ONCE - skipped by this viewer. This is a first, he does add. Well... Violet is a low functioning autist incapable of expressing, dealing with or understanding any sort of emotion. One of these things is a joke that obviously refers to @Bartimaeus' reaction to Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the others are pretty much what the show is about. The anime is set in a world with the technological development level of our late 19th to early 20th century, with the primary exception being Violet's anachronistic mechanical replacement limbs*, having lost both her arms in the final battle of a conflict similar to WW1. They're a metaphor more than a plot point, or rather, when they do become a plot point they're directly related to Violet's development as a character and human. As such, it's okay to accept that she has fully working replacement limbs for some reason while others limp about or need crutches to deal with their injuries. Found as an almost feral orphan, with a penchant for violence, Violet was raised and trained as a child solider by the army and assigned to Major Gilbert Bougainvillea, the first person to treat her as human, not a weapon to be unleashed on the enemy. Years later, both being severely wounded in the battle that ended the war, Major Bougainvillea tells her to live and be free, that she's more than a tool for him, and that he loves her. Words that are completely meaningless for Violet, who not only doesn't understand what love is, but also has known nothing but following the orders of others. Violet wakes up in a hospital. The war is over, and Major Bougainvillea reported as missing in action. Lt. Colonel Hodgins arrives and offers her a job at his newly founded postal company in an effort to help with his friend's final wish for Violet. He does not tell her about the Major being missing in action. Being both physically and emotionally marred by years of war, she now struggles with being integrated into society. Honest to the point of being hurtfully blunt, incapable of reading or expressing emotions and lacking any subtlety, she eventually takes up a job as Auto Memory Doll (which in the Japanese original is called Automatic Note Doll, which sounds slightly less ridiculous, the German translation is AKORA, which translates as autonomous correspondence assistant, which is the best of the bunch, in my opinion), a sort of ghost- or copywriter people most often, but not exclusively, commission to write letters, either because they are illiterate or lack the eloquence to truly express what they feel. Little by little, Violet, through having to express emotions of and for others in letters, learns to reconnect with her lost humanity and come to terms with the horrors of war and the scars they have left. For the most part, even though Violet is the main character, what makes this unique is that her story is told mostly through the lens of her clients, their reactions to her, their observations and interactions and the way she's trying to fulfill their wishes. More often than not, people truly liken her to the doll in her job description. In her most hapless of moments, Violet sometimes pulls on her cheecks to simulate a smile that she otherwise can't do. It ends up being what this thread was called for the longest of whiles, an emotional roller coster. Her first commission is a disaster where she completely misunderstands what her client wants from her (a client who wants a loveletter written in which she's playing hard to get, and Violent ends up writing "I have no true feelings for you, and you're not sincere enough in your efforts." to him - a very literal interpretation of what the client told Violet to write). The absolute highlight of the anime is an episode where Violet visits a family where she's been booked for a week to write several letters for... Her mechanical arms mirror her character growth. They're cumbersome and need ajustment at first. They're a visual metaphor for the wounds she sustained, and eventually culminate in being used to well and truly put the war behind her (and, by extension, the nations involved). The soundtrack is fantastic, especially the song of the closing credits. I guess the copyright holders are going hard after clips from the show, because the closing credits aren't available on YouTube to show them. This is the song: The animation is really good for the most part. There are some parts that look a bit, well, uncanny, especially when the camera pans over landscapes, and some of the movements feel wrong. There's a bit of what I mean in the opening credits: Still, for anime made in 2018, this is positively gorgeous. What else can I say? It very quickly earned the distinction of getting a thumbs up on Netflix too. Well done (for the record, Madoka did not get one - really)! Also, don't expect much action or fast pacing. There is some action, of course, particularily in the flashbacks to the war and the show's finale, but most of the time the pacing is on the slower side. It gives itself and the watcher enough time to breathe in and process what's happening. *Contrary to what you might think from the trailer, or other people might think, Violet is not a robot. She's a human with mechanical limbs, even if her character arc is really similar to robots or androids learning what emotions are.

That was 100% my reaction to the first episode too.

'S pretty slim as far as reasons go. If you want to unwedge that you'd need to make some space below your post in an edit, type something in there and then use these weird quote and spoiler box handles to drag & drop them around. I always take great pains to avoid wedging them together, for that you need to put at least one empty line between the old block and the text you want to turn into a block, then highlight everything and delete the additional break the software only creates if it doesn't find a quote or spoiler block to latch on to. It's driving me nuts. Absolutely can't stand that. It looks bad and makes people skim over the block. Or not notice it at all. One Piece has like as many episodes as The Bold and the Beautiful. That would be a major project, is that worth getting into? Pirates being all nice instead of, uhm, actual pirates aside.

Watched a mixed bunch of stuff today, but it was mostly work. As was yesterday. Right, also had a really weird dream about an old apartment a friend of mine rented years ago. It was converted into a small inn and the guests kept walking over the place where I was usually sleeping when I stayed over night. Kept complaining about it too. It was also my workplace, and all the computers had small 14" CRT screens and weird glyphs on their keyboards. It was also a bit of a workshop, and there was a lot of complaining by people. I complained a lot too. Even yelled at everyone for messing things up. I have dreams like that every now and then. People I know go and change things in weird ways, and I'll just yell at them for it, but they don't budge, so I keep yelling until it becomes frustrating enough to finally wake up. Once dreamed my brother gave my appartment to four friends of his, because he has a spare key and could. It's been pretty crickety-chirping in here, you guys all busy with basketball? There's one thing that still works in Clear Card the way it did in the old anime: Tomoyo's singing. ❤️ Still doesn't feel right, and it can't all be the looks. Maybe after 70 episodes and 2 movies, perhaps the setup of the show has finally worn out? It's strange. Hoe?

I had an Atari 2600 clone that came with like 200 pre-installed, most likely pirated games. I was three or four at that point, so it was "the game with the cactus" and "the game with the jungle" and "that game with the shooting cars" that I liked to play. In other words, Outlaw, Pitfall and the tank duel of Combat. No idea where the thing has gotten to. The joysticks died regularily, and it was eventually replaced by a Sega Master System. My parents probably threw it out.

Because... that's what I'm sort of watching right now. Shiny mutants and weird giraffe people. Some more observations about Clear Card: Yamazaki is still hilarious, but Chiharu just called his lies lazy. She's not impressed. There's a new, mysterious transfer student. Again (that's one for every arc now, two in the first, if you count Meilin). Hoooooooooooooooe! The subtitles for this are too literal. Sakura is put out by Toya saying that she slept with her belly uncovered. If you don't know that Christopher Lambert* supposedly steals your belly button at night when you do that or turns you into a frog, well, you're definitely not getting that. Hoooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Hoooooooooooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Sakura sees trees moving outside the classroom. Tomoyo gets her out of class by pretending she's sick, then whips out a new costume and her camcorder, and says: "I thought this might happen, so I brought everything!" This isn't so bad this time, except for the looks. I... yeah. It looks the way it does, I'll stop complaining. Maybe I'll get used to it. Also, @Bartimaeus yes, there are only 22 episodes, but apparently it's not even complete. I guess I'll see when I get to it. I hope it's as "incomplete" as the Sakura card arc was, because that still worked out well enough even if the storyline wasn't entirely finished (one very obvious thing remained, and was partially solved by the second movie), and not "incomplete" in the "ends at a cliffhanger with no continuation in sight" way. *MOOOOOORTAL KOMBAAAAAAAAT! Joke explanation spoiler:

Because it was awesome? I mean, where else do you get computer virus asylums, dark code and wifi-less internet? 😄 edit: I liked the original and OCD, is actually the real answer.

Is that... is that a picture of the Sourcerer? Because in that case, nobody stands a chance. He's hacking the planet with Dark Code and has this: The NOVA X3 is a computer that can connect to the internet without wifi! (yes, actual dialogue and names from the show...)

Nothing looks as bad as early Crystal. Nothing. Convinced yet? That's Usagi seeing Rei for the first time, by the way. I don't really want to say anything that praises Sailor Moon Eternal, but the overall package of the films looked a good deal better than I thought it would. It also had a movie budget, so that comparison is a bit lame and unfair, but there are moments in Eternal that looked almost good. Never the character models, but the backgrounds were, at times, really good. I'm not sure why that was, but maybe they actually really painted some of the backgrounds with real colors and then only added the scanned and computer-colored character models on a separate layer. But that is just speculation. It could also have been a pre-rendered backgrounds with a really good filter effect. The problem with Cardcaptor Sakura - Clear Card isn't only in the way it looks in stills. There are scenes that look almost fine, and then there are scenes that strike way too far into the uncanny valley that they feel wrong, particularily when you see something that's been clearly brushed up by pure CGI in post production, like a lot of the special effects when Sakura captures one of the Clear cards, or when her magic circle appears. Some scenes also suffer from what looks like way too high contrast or brightness. It feels soft and washed out. Well, no, it looks like that too. The entire anime looks a little like others would design their dream scenes so you know you're seeing a dream. Or a flashback. It's a combination of everything together that makes this hard to watch - doubly worse when you directly contrast it with the second movie. You can watch the first three or so card captures in this compilation video. They're spoiler free insofar as they're only the sealing animations. The second one has a short scene where you can see Sakura and Tomoyo. Just stay away from everything else you can find and you should be good. I haven't watched the entire video, so I don't know if something spoilerish comes up later. Just... stop after the first three. The obvious CGI elements aside, I don't know if Clear Card was traditionally animated in the modern sense, i.e. having the animation drawn on paper and then scanned, colored and compiled digitally (like, say, Steven Universe) which curiously enough seems to yield much better results in more cartoonish animation, or if the look and feel is the result of something else. There's one other problem so far, one that's not with the animation. The storytelling hasn't been nearly as good as it was in the earlier anime in the four episodes I've watched so far. It's not just a case of this being different or Sakura being obviously a little older and much more experienced in dealing with weird magical situations. If the second arc and the first movie were already not as well integrated into the world aas the Clow cards, this ups that further. It's somehow a little like... Sailor Stars so far, where you have the characters doing things, and then suddenly you get 2 minutes of magic action where she seals a Clear card. Or somtimes two in one episode. That one highlighed the problem even more. The first card was causing rain, which isn't entirely original, we already had Rain. It starts raining at school, which is fine, then Tomoyo and Sakura deal with the new water card on their way home. The second card in that episode happens after Sakura's cheerleading practice, she ties a shoelace, suddenly eveveryone's gone, then she captures the card. Done. In the episode before that, the card is an otherwise completely unrelated event that just happens in Sakura's room. It's not bad by any means, but it's nowhere as good as the orginal was in combining everything. It looks worse, occasionally dips into the uncanny valley and is less well written so far. That just adds to the overall not so great impression. The character interactions and the fun is still there. It's still funny to see Sakura jump up in the middle of the class and yell hooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!? when she sees what Naoko doodled in her textbook, only to be admonished by her teacher for it. Her faceplanting from what Tomoyo says or does is still fun. It's just that... the magic is gone. Which is something Sailor Stars preserved, even though overall the animation looked much different and it was less good than S. That's my attempt at explaining that. Don't try to google anything Clear Card, by the way. Lots of spoilers. LOTS of spoilers.

CCS Clear Card. Quick notes: It still looks bad. No, really, it looks bad. It's trying to do something with modern animation. It really looks bad. I can't get over myself with the aforementioned points. The whacky continuity between this and the old anime seems to be intentional. Chiharu forgot something and it was quite obviously highlighted that she was the only one who didn't remember one of the plays they made in episode 42 (a great episode, by the way). Also, this looks so bad.

There's also a 10 minutes Kero special that was made for the second film. It's pretty great too. 👍

It takes place in the winter holidays between 35 and 36. So you, uhm, kinda missed that already, but you haven't missed anything of note. I don't want to say anything of value, because the film is good, but nothing of value for the anime itself, at least.

Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie 2 - The Sealed Card This is going to be a short(ish) post, because the nature of the film doesn't allow to post about any spoilers at all without potentially ruining @Bartimaeus' watching of the show with even cryptic references or the barest of vague hints. This is, by the way, a good thing, because everything I complained about from the first movie is gone. It's 80 minutes long, has almost an hour of fun character stuff before things become serious, doesn't try to stand on its own, i.e. watching this without having seen the entire run of Cardcaptor Sakura is pointless and is more like an extended, movie version finale to the show taking place a class later, so I'm guessing a year, give or take. The last time we see Sakura in the anime, she's in class 5-2, in the film, she's in 6-2. Her class is preparing for a festival in Tomoeda when... what a coincidence, some characters come to visit and mysterious things begin happening again... As always, there's one thing to criticize. Perhaps more, but one thing that stands out a bit. The film is about one final Clow card. One that was sealed away by Clow Reed, based on a concept that barely showed up in the anime before, and a card that Kero doesn't know about. It's not bad, but after spending the first arc of the show collecting all Clow cards, finding one extra that nobody knew of beforehand seems a tad, well, no way around it: The basic premise of the film is nothing but a massive ass pull. But that doesn't really matter, in the end. It's an ass pull in the service of greatness. It's also looking damned good, but maybe that's just because I watched two more episodes of Clear Card before. Also, one last thing that I can say without revealing too much: Meiling and Tomoyo are great when they're scheming together. There should have been more of that. Like all the time.

The latter part is in the lyrics, yes. A bit hidden, but in there. I haven't watched the video, so maybe it is about bullying. Just saying the lyrics aren't.

That dub sure is something. Not sure what, but it's... something.

Sure, they're star-crossed lovers from a different time and magically attracted to each other, so that makes everything okay, even slaps and some major douchewaffling, right? You're right, there are boundaries that Tomoyo doesn't cross, and in fact, Sakura agreed to be filmed. She might occassionally faceplant when Tomoyo reveales the extent of her obsession, but that's about it.

Indeed, more CCS!

Maybe, but that's sort of what I meant. I have never seen a full show, only a number of clips on YouTube, and those are probably hand picked and contain a laugh or two. Unless it was about evangelicals believing Trump to be the reincarnation of King Cyrus the Great. That was hilarious from start to finish, but those jokes practically wrote themselves anyway.

I don't know, as someone not from the US Bill Maher is fairly hilarious.

Going by the lyrics its about someone who has to sit next to a crying child on a plane. There's some humor in it (I hate all children unless they're mine), but unless the video is about bullying I don't see how it would be. It's a humorous take on parents that don't bother to engage with their children (in this case, on flights) and people who complain about children making noise all the while not being better themselves. Par for the course as far as Till Lindemann lyrics go. Not ever really going to be a fan of his singing though, but that's me.

CCS talk:

Cardcaptor Sakura The Movie 2 - The Sealed Card. Still watching, but that intro just pulled an amazing bait & switch, so I had to post:

Yes, but outside of Icewind Dale 2 that never changes, except for single class sorcerers. Mostly because you can't make those in any other way. Depending on the version of the games you play, they might break the game. Sorcerers in IWD Enhanced Edition are definitely making the game a lot less of a hassle - that that's a good thing with all the combat in it. That doesn't mean the other classes are useless*, but there just isn't any situation in Baldur's Gate or its sequel where a multi or dual classed version of clerics, druids, thieves or mages** aren't better at virtually everything, from having more hit points, to being able to actually, you know, hit things, hit things more than once in a round, have better equipment options and a whole host of other things, and that's before going really crazy with the min-maxing possibilities. Occassionally you'll run into someone who will tell you stories of single class thieves (often swashbucklers) who supposedly are way more overpowered, but that's... people not knowing how HLAs are assigned in Baldur's Gate 2, and they mistakenly believe that they're acquired significantly faster or more often with single class thieves. Never mind the fact that Fighter/Thief combinations can take Assassination more than once (that one is fixed by various mods and the EE, I think - not 100% sure on the EE though). Then you have the other people who will tell you that single class assassins are the way to go because they can one-shot everything not immune to poison, which is quite correct, but that is a specialty use that's... well, pretty specialty***. It's biggest advantage is the rapid application of the poison dot, which causes the enemy AI to spaz out, rendering the enemy completely hapless until it dies. It's a one shot kill CC ability, but not good enough to waste a full party slot on. *What that really means is that these games are all viable to play with any combination you'd like to try. They're just a good deal easier if you just disregard the idea of having single class thieves and clerics, and act accordingly. **Mages are a slightly different story, particularily for Baldur's Gate because of the lower level cap. In IWD they're the most expendable party slot and can have their role filled by a bard which also enables some interesting interaction in Easthaven, they level much quicker and you won't be wanting for spell slots because a) there's a distinct lack of scrolls in the game and b) they can also cast up to level 8 spells in IWD, unlike the level 6 cap in BG. That's exactly what makes the inclusion of sorcerers in the Enhanced Edition so powerful. The game wasn't designed with being able to cast fireballs at every enemy horde you see the moment you unlocked your first level 3 spell slot. ***Also often people who install the "improved" THAC0 tables from various mods, giving their thieves the ability to actually hit enemies in Throne of Bhaal, which they otherwise simply wouldn't. Thief THAC0 sucks. The only reason swashbucklers can keep up is because they receive massive bonuses over the course of the game, but that's a bit silly when you think of the levels involved. You need to reach level 40 with your Swashbuckler to perform similarily to your level 20 fighter in combat, but that fighter at level 20 will still have more attacks per round, will still have better THAC0 and most likely some similar armor class, which is really the only thing the Swashbuckler has going for it. Technically, at level 40, with the best gear available and the cheesiest setup, you could make an invincible Swashbuckler. It's not very likely that you'll even reach level 40 unless you know what you're doing and it is much easier to achieve similar results with a fighter/mage tank with prebuffing, at lower levels... decent class for easily soloing the game though. Not very interesting to play, but really interesting to set up at least.