Anime - coasting on emotion rollers

[Bartimaeus]

Oh come on, Minako would make way more sense if you're gonna have someone get mind controlled - the only time she ever has strong will about anything are strange, bizarre obsessions/fixations. ...But I guess I remember you saying that Minako is way different from the anime version, and instead plays more of a generic leader role that sort of fills in for Usagi when Usagi doesn't know what to do or how to lead?

Edited April 17, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

14 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Oh come on, Minako would make way more sense if you're gonna have someone get mind controlled - the only time she ever has strong will about anything are strange, bizarre obsessions/fixations. ...But I guess I remember you saying that Minako is way different from the anime version, and instead plays more of a generic leader role that sort of fills in for Usagi when Usagi doesn't know what to do or how to lead?

Minako is technically... two different characters in the manga. In the first arc she's this dead serious leader type that's been fighting evil for a long time. She takes charge and helps everyone remember their past lives and get their act together and even gets to pull out the Master Sword LEGENDARY SACRED SWORD from its resting place on the moon (you'd think it would take Makoto to pull a sword from a stone, huh, but no, we're doing the Excalibur thing).

And once Metalia is out of the way she increasingly becomes a goofball because her Sailor V persona starts bleeding into Sailor Moon. It's the sort of thing that happens when you're under a lot of pressure to deliver and are working on both your regular normal series and the sequel at the same time.

You can see that in the anime as well. In the first season when she has her backstory episode and asks Usagi to help her possessed friend that stole her love from her Usagi even wonders about how much more mature Minako already is, compared to them.

Look at this...

Just take care not to watch it until the end because that goes all the way to Sailor Stars. It's pretty obvious where the first season ends and the second one starts. The Sailor Stars episode you haven't seen yet starts at 15:29.

Makoto falls under Dark!Endymion's spell and tells him all about the secret underground control bunker in the arcade's basement, a couple of issues after falling for Dark!Motoki's lovespiel to drain her energy.

[Bartimaeus]

good lord, no wonder I didn't have a strong impression of Minako prior to R, who the hell is this girl and what has she done with my Minako

[majestic]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Madoka 10-12:
 

  Hide contents

 

Bartimaeus, you shouldn't be here, this is the end of the show.

  Hide contents

 

I wouldn't call it an unhappy ending, even though it was sad for Homura. Madoka seemed satisfied, but so do many who sacrifice themselves voluntarily.

I'm not sure I understood everything. Kyubey said the gems still get dark, but what happens them? Do the girls die or do they revert to normal humans?

Anyway, after all the suffering of the characters, this looks pretty good. Luckily Madoka can see the future too, because otherwise I would have the impression that Kyubey's species would try to find another way to exploit suffering. His logic about farm animals and people benefitting from sacrifices in the past probably make some pretty good arguments in philosophical discussions. But that doesn't make it any less wrong.

The fact they don't have emotions kind of attenuates it, but maybe a better wish for Madoka would be that his species never appeared in the universe or at least never got any of these sadistic ideas.

I liked this anime and thanks @majestic and @ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP for not spoiling how dark it got. This was a nice surprise. Although I didn't enjoy the characters suffering, watching only nice stories with happy endings would get boring fast.

Speaking of it, images like the one below are definitely false advertisment:

The only time they were all together, iirc, was when Homura tried to warn them and they didn't believe her and broke the team.

 

 

 

Heavy ending spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica ahead:
 

Spoiler

 

They were all together in the first timeline, if I remember correctly. Before Homura made her wish - before everything went to hell.

What happens at the end is that Madoka becomes an actual god. She rewrites the rules for magical girls, and so they no longer fight witches that once were magical girls, but instead monsters. They can still die or run out of energy while doing so, but whenever that happens she guides them to a happier afterlife. Sayaka remains dead beause she has suffered enough already. Madoka shows her what happens with Kyosuke whom she loves and who wants Hitomi anyway, and then they leave.

It's the best possible ending that still retains Kyubey and his people saving the universe.

What's really interesting about the antagonist (because is he really a villain?) of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is that everything he does just makes you hate him more, while all the while he isn't actually wrong, right?

Also...

 

How did you like the soundtrack by the way?

Edited April 17, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

[majestic]

I watched the first five minutes of the first Puella Magi Magica Madoka film. Assuming it stays like that, it's a prettier version of the TV anime insofar as exactly the same things seem to be happening. Except the movie having movie level animation quality and dropping the opening dream sequence of Madoka.

Movie:

TV:

Seems like there's barely any reason to watch both, but I'm guessing there are some more differences. The third film in the trilogy is entirely new material.

Needless to say both versions look gorgeous, but the level of detail in the film sure beats the made for TV anime. The runtime of the anime and the first two films is also really similar (~4 hours, very worth the watch, I'd say).

Edited April 17, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, InsaneCommander said:

Madoka 10-12:
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Bartimaeus, you shouldn't be here, this is the end of the show.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I wouldn't call it an unhappy ending, even though it was sad for Homura. Madoka seemed satisfied, but so do many who sacrifice themselves voluntarily.

I'm not sure I understood everything. Kyubey said the gems still get dark, but what happens them? Do the girls die or do they revert to normal humans?

Anyway, after all the suffering of the characters, this looks pretty good. Luckily Madoka can see the future too, because otherwise I would have the impression that Kyubey's species would try to find another way to exploit suffering. His logic about farm animals and people benefitting from sacrifices in the past probably make some pretty good arguments in philosophical discussions. But that doesn't make it any less wrong.

The fact they don't have emotions kind of attenuates it, but maybe a better wish for Madoka would be that his species never appeared in the universe or at least never got any of these sadistic ideas.

I liked this anime and thanks @majestic and @ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP for not spoiling how dark it got. This was a nice surprise. Although I didn't enjoy the characters suffering, watching only nice stories with happy endings would get boring fast.

Speaking of it, images like the one below are definitely false advertisment:

The only time they were all together, iirc, was when Homura tried to warn them and they didn't believe her and broke the team.

 

 

 

It's one major fakeout that completely goes against first impressions from what the trailers, images, or the opening suggest it's going to be. More importantly it is a very good show that I'd highly recommend.

Human nature hasn't changed and negative stuff manifests as Wraiths which are harvested at less yield but happier endings for the magical girls than witches were. Madoka is a god now and comes to see off magic girls to their afterlife. The Incubators are still doing the same job.

Supah Sekrit Spoilers about the movie sequel, which I think has a bit weaker ending.

In the movie Homura ends up becoming the Devil and takes away Madoka's godhood. She then rewrites reality to where the Incubators take all the damage from humanity's curses. This allows all the girls (except Homura) to go back to their normal lives with no memory, though Madoka remembers something and almost goes back to being a god. Homura is still depressed and Kyubey lies batterd and unmoving with black pupils.

 

So what's next to watch?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

I watched the first five minutes of the first Puella Magi Magica Madoka film. Assuming it stays like that, it's a prettier version of the TV anime insofar as exactly the same things seem to be happening. Except the movie having movie level animation quality and dropping the opening dream sequence of Madoka.

Movie:

TV:

Seems like there's barely any reason to watch both, but I'm guessing there are some more differences. The third film in the trilogy is entirely new material.

Needless to say both versions look gorgeous, but the level of detail in the film sure beats the made for TV anime. The runtime of the anime and the first two films is also really similar (~4 hours, very worth the watch, I'd say).

The first two movies are the anime series, if you've already seen it you can skip them.

[majestic]

19 minutes ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

The first two movies are the anime series, if you've already seen it you can skip them.

No, I can't, because brain, but I appreciate the information.

Didn't you say you wouldn't watch the films though?

As for what's next, how about some 80ies bad movie action schlock. You could try MD Geist.  

(well that's mostly a joke).

@BartimaeusShould you choose to watch Madoka Magica after Sailor Moon (or in between), it's probably better to take the movie trilogy. It looks a good deal better than the TV anime, and the audio quality is better too.

Edited April 17, 2021 by majestic

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

Didn't you say you wouldn't watch the films though?

My fiance changed my mind. Tho only the last one, because it was the only new thing.

And that was a question for IC, currently I'm going through Steven Universe. Last Castlevania drops next month, so will go to that next.

Edited April 17, 2021 by ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP

[majestic]

2 minutes ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

Last Castlevania drops next month, so will go to that next.

In the spirit of the thread: Sugooooooooooooiiiiiiiii. I had no idea that was coming out next month.

I always thought I was the only one here who liked Castlevania. The third season I found to be a bit weaker than the second (and a lot weirder).

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

9 minutes ago, majestic said:

In the spirit of the thread: Sugooooooooooooiiiiiiiii. I had no idea that was coming out next month.

I always thought I was the only one here who liked Castlevania. The third season I found to be a bit weaker than the second (and a lot weirder).

I like it. I liked S3, it is hard to top ****ing Dracula in ****ing Castlevania (even with the stone mask from JoJo showing up), but I thought it was good for what it was. Like S1 tho, it did feel a bit too much like sequel bait and not enough like it's own thing.

Oh yeah, have you met the cyborg in JoJo yet?

 

[majestic]

1 minute ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

Oh yeah, have you met the cyborg in JoJo yet?

Nah. I've started too many things now and had too much going on at work, and checking out the Madoka movies made everything worse because...

14 minutes ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

My fiance changed my mind. Tho only the last one, because it was the only new thing.

I originally only planend to check out the beginning of the first film and then go do something else (manga, Steven Univere Future, JoJo's or... work, I really should stop procrastinating) but I'm completely hooked again. The surrealist pieces look amazing.

Spoiler

Mami just showed up. Her summoning up a thousand muskets NEVER gets old. Too bad she'll be kinda gone in fourty minutes or so.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 minute ago, majestic said:

The surrealist pieces look amazing.

Wait till you hit rebellion. I ended up watching most of it without subtitles but you can tell what's going on without them for the most part.

You're only a few episodes out till the Cyborg shows up. He fires a machine gun with pelvic thrusts.

[majestic]

2 minutes ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

You're only a few episodes out till the Cyborg shows up. He fires a machine gun with pelvic thrusts.

Wait. So I was right, yes?

Spoiler

That HAS to be von Stroheim, and he's not dead.

 

[Bartimaeus]

Madoka Magica is probably what I'll watch after finishing Sailor Moon since all y'all watched it and it's pretty short, but I'll be on at least a little bit of a break in between. I have totally exhausted my TV watching abilities over the past 5-6 months, in between rewatching the first three seasons of SU, piles of Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, Evangelion, Hilda, OK K.O., Infinity Train, and some odds and ends of other shows. There was once upon a time that I had only ever watched exactly two shows all the way through - I'm still adjusting, .

Edited April 17, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

3 minutes ago, majestic said:

Wait. So I was right, yes?

  Reveal hidden contents

That HAS to be von Stroheim, and he's not dead.

 

You were. von Stroheim comes back as a Cyborg Nazi.

[majestic]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Madoka Magica is probably what I'll watch after finishing Sailor Moon since all y'all watched it and it's pretty short, but I'll be on at least a little bit of a break in between. I have totally exhausted my TV watching abilities over the past 5-6 months, in between rewatching the first three seasons of SU, piles of Sailor Moon, Speed Racer, Evangelion, Hilda, O.K. K.O., Infinity Train, and some odds and ends of other shows. There was once upon a time that I had only ever watched exactly two shows all the way through - I'm still adjusting, .

To be honest I'm looking forward to being done with everything I've started watching. Then I'll just... finish my Lord of the Rings re-read (it's a different translation, so "re"-read is a bit of a stretch). I'll also probably try not to get entangled in watching 6 shows at once, or only if they have weekly releases and are currently running. Still haven't caught up on a lot of things I wanted to watch last year, like Westworld, Agents of SHIELD, and some other stuff. Sigh.

I've thought about mailing my Sailor Moon manga PDFs to my Kindle so I can read somewhere else than on my PC. If that looks halfway acceptable that would be something. Since they're mostly uncolored nothing much would be lost in the process. Hm.

  

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

good lord, no wonder I didn't have a strong impression of Minako prior to R, who the hell is this girl and what has she done with my Minako

Could make a case that R+ Minako is her default mode, and the first season and talking about her past helped her move on and get back to how she was supposed to be. In that case helping Minako move on was one of the nicest things Usagi ever did for her. Hmmm. That's probably not how that was intended, but it works for me.

 

Edited April 17, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

Not that I'm watching anything that's in the process of coming out right now anyways, but I've completely and utterly sworn off anything that is doing weekly releases at this point - waiting until the season is done before starting it. I've learned that lesson too many times, as it literally markedly decreases my enjoyment of anything I try to watch that way. Need to be able to watch stuff at my own pace without getting annoyed by cliffhangers and more filler-ish episodes that wouldn't be annoying while watching in a group of episodes, but very much are when it's just a single episode a week.

Speaking of Sailor Moon .PDFs, I also want to try Codename Sailor V at some point, particularly since I already have the .CBRs for them. Hoping Sailor V doesn't fail me where Sailor Moon did.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

SU

They built a fence and Steven doesn't go to school. Which makes a lot of sense. And now they fight an evil gem with Garnet recreating an iconic fight. And now Steven's spit is coming up dry.

 

Pearl is having a nervous breakdown over symmetry lmao

Edited April 18, 2021 by ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP

[majestic]

6 hours ago, ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP said:

SU

They built a fence and Steven doesn't go to school. Which makes a lot of sense. And now they fight an evil gem with Garnet recreating an iconic fight. And now Steven's spit is coming up dry.

  Reveal hidden contents

Pearl is having a nervous breakdown over symmetry lmao

SPOILZ

Spoiler

So what did you think of Lapis?

 

[majestic]

9 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Not that I'm watching anything that's in the process of coming out right now anyways, but I've completely and utterly sworn off anything that is doing weekly releases at this point - waiting until the season is done before starting it. I've learned that lesson too many times, as it literally markedly decreases my enjoyment of anything I try to watch that way. Need to be able to watch stuff at my own pace without getting annoyed by cliffhangers and more filler-ish episodes that wouldn't be annoying while watching in a group of episodes, but very much are when it's just a single episode a week.

Speaking of Sailor Moon .PDFs, I also want to try Codename Sailor V at some point, particularly since I already have the .CBRs for them. Hoping Sailor V doesn't fail me where Sailor Moon did.

I can imagine Sailor V being a better read than the Sailor Moon manga, if only simply because it features wacky Minako hijinks.

When it comes to weekly releases that's one part nostalgia for me, because that's the only thing we had for a while. It conjures up memories of a time when we'd gather the family to watch a TV show in the evening, then talk about it in school, and one part having external pacing. I specifically mentioned not doing anything new until I'm done with everything I started (which as for right now is NGE, Steven Universe, more Sailor Moon, JoJo's bizarre adventure, Cardcaptor Sakura, Revolutionary Girl Utena and a handful of live action TV that I used to follow but had no time for during crunch time last year) unless it's weekly releases because that way the additional time investment on my end limits ifself. 

Because it there's something I'm really bad at it's setting limits or goals for myself. If those don't come in from the outside, well... I either go on uncontrollable binges (hello watching three seasons of Steven Universe over the Easter weekend) or simply don't continue at all, even if I like or even love something. That and the fact that our government keeps on extending the school lockdowns and my nephew has started living here, because there's no way his parents can go through what he needs to learn with him - and with nothing else to do, the only time I can get to the TV is... when he's asleep.

I have my own Usagi/Rei relationship with my brother, and he's the Usagi in it when it comes to school.

Spoiler

And I really don't want to talk about the woman that whelped my nephew. We have a saying in German "Wo die Liebe hinfällt, da wächst kein Gras mehr", literally "where love drops the weeds stop growing" - while Gras means grass it's also generally a term for all sorts of green growth that's virtually everywhere and takes extraordinary measures to keep away from a patch of land.

No sense in complaining about it, anyway. It is what it is. Bah.

They're also the romantic version of Rei and Usagi. The only time they're not fighting with each other is when they have something external to fight with.

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

4 hours ago, majestic said:

SPOILZ

  Reveal hidden contents

So what did you think of Lapis?

 

 

I'm not sure, I knew something was up when I saw the cracked gem on the mirror but wasn't expecting a humanoid gem. There hasn't been enough shown of the character to really form an opinion on, but so far I like the VA's performance and thought her motives made sense.

I watched a bunch last night and laughed at the Ronaldo snake people conspiracy episode and Pearl's attempt to build a spaceship.

Edited April 18, 2021 by ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP

[Bartimaeus]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

When it comes to weekly releases that's one part nostalgia for me, because that's the only thing we had for a while. It conjures up memories of a time when we'd gather the family to watch a TV show in the evening, then talk about it in school, and one part having external pacing. I specifically mentioned not doing anything new until I'm done with everything I started (which as for right now is NGE, Steven Universe, more Sailor Moon, JoJo's bizarre adventure, Cardcaptor Sakura, Revolutionary Girl Utena and a handful of live action TV that I used to follow but had no time for during crunch time last year) unless it's weekly releases because that way the additional time investment on my end limits ifself. 

The whole "talk about it with others" is the main reason I used to do it, but I'm also saying screw it to that, it's not worth it to me at this point, .

Speaking of Usagi and Rei, I was watching the intro for Sailor Stars, and there's that part where they all hold hands together and go to spinnyworld - but the first two hands actually properly grab each other, while the last three more just stick their hands on top of the other two...which made me curious as to whom the first two were, since it was a little difficult to follow. Well, I slowed it down, and what do you know, it's Usagi and Rei! Don't that figure?

I watched the baseball and plane episodes, which were pretty good, but I didn't have much to say about them - well, except for Minako and Rei tying up the announcer and hijacking the game, because of course they did, . That, and I felt a little bad for Lead Crow, who is like the very definition of anime tsundere, but very obviously had a soft spot for her "rival" (or should I say "cousin"?). I was very right that they would be no match for Nezzy.

Episode 23:

Spoiler

"But can you believe that the Three Lights were actually girls?" Well yes, Minako, yes I can, since their actors are pretty clearly girls. ...Maybe that's just a Japanese boy band thing, though. But also, I'm...not sure that they are 'actually' girls. You saw them in their swimsuits without their shirts on...and you also saw them in their Sailor "uniforms" - seems pretty clear that they're physically girls sometimes, and that they're physically boys the other times.

Holy crap, Luna and Artemis actually exist. It feels like ages since we've seen them, particularly in anything but a like silly one line or two context. ...Oh, they only got like two lines, that figures.

"If someone from school sees me in this weird get-up, then my life is over." Okay, wait a second here, Rei - do you mean your other Sailor Guardians...or anyone else from school? Because I'm pretty sure while the other four would find it funny, that's as far as it would go. Oh, wait, no, she can't, because she's at a different school, I forgot about that again.

lmao at poor Rei getting saddled with Usagi/Seiya's problems - I remember that video where Usagi came here to see her, but didn't realize Seiya would be as well. This show is such a meme sometimes. And nobody ever recognizes each other's faces or voices - everyone's half-deaf and half-blind, I guess.

They didn't even hit, confuse, or distract the monster before Usagi melted it. This is advanced "the minions don't matter anymore".

 

[Bartimaeus]

@ArtistFormerlyKnownasKP

THE TRUTH that you NEED to know about the gem called Lapis Lazuli...

Spoiler

Only continue if you have Level 8 clearance!

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 18, 2021 by Bartimaeus