Anime, the eternal Jettokōsutā

[Bartimaeus]

I'm trying to think of a single thing that I like that doesn't treat itself at least somewhat seriously. There are things that I like that very occasionally poke fun at themselves or are meta or are fourth wall-breaking or stuff along those lines, but something that does any of that frequently? Monty Python and the Holy Grail...Weird Al Yankovich...and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are about all I can think of across all of media (movies, television, music, video games, books...) that I enjoy, .

P.S. I also watched the second episode of the OVA, and it was decently enjoyable.

Spoiler

Polnareff did indeed turn out to be the big dumb, but they all survived. Well, except for the Dio minion blind dude that blew a hole through his own skull and then kept talking for literally like 2-3 more minutes after his own suicide. Bold creative decision there.

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card.

Currently watching an episode, very quick update.

It's episode 11 and the first real, laugh out loud moment:

Spoiler

 

Naoko, Chiharu, Sakura, Tomoyo, the mysterious transfer student of the season (tm), Shaoran and Yamazaki are sitting outside, eating. They're talking about sports, and Yamazaki tells them about badminton.

Everything he says is correct. Not a single lie. Chiaru goes "Wait... I can't find anything wrong here!" and starts berating Yamazaki for not telling lies.

 

Look guys, you apparently still can do it, now make everything else like that too and I can forgive you for the animation. Not so much for the 10 prior episodes of middling quality.

edit:

This one and the prior episode directly reference the events of the second Cardcaptor Sakura film, where one of the central elements is directly contradicted by even earlier Clear Card episodes. This is definitely deliberate. Something's going on, and that had better be part of the storyline, or else I'm going to be really disappointed. More than I already am.

Spoiler

In the movie, a theme park is built at a location where the mysterious transfer student now lives. The theme park is gone, obviously, and the previously demolished house is back. Right. Small difference huh, theme park vs. house.

 

21 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

What an unmitigated disaster. This must be how @majestic feels about Clear Card vs. the original Sakura, except more extreme because it's me.

That's probably right, but hard to judge. The drop in quality with Clear Card isn't this extreme, I think. For all intents and purposes, it is still Cardcaptor Sakura, the elements are all there, it's just the rather hard to quantify magical feeling that's gone. Ranma 1/2 seems to have turned into something completely different there.

Clear Card is like falling out of love. I... uhm... that's a strange way to put it, but accurate, but words fail me when I try to describe what's wrong with it.  

Clear Card is the Majora's Mask to the older anime's Ocarina of Time. It's not a bad game, has decent ideas, but compared to its sequel it just lacks that special something. Although, in retrospect, Majora's Mask was a pretty good game, it just had to live up to something impossible. Clear Card isn't as good as Majora's Mask was, but it too fails to live up, and that too was probably impossible to achieve.

Sometimes the stars just align right, don't they, and something is the perfect thing at the perfect time.

Also: Stop watching unmitigated disasters (yes, I am fully aware of the hypocrisy of that statement) and watch something better, or else I'm going to post unmarked Cardcaptor Sakura spoilers until you do.

Here's the first one:

Sakura really likes Yukito.

Edited June 30, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

5 minutes ago, majestic said:

Also: Stop watching unmitigated disasters (yes, I am fully aware of the hypocrisy of that statement) and watch something better, or else I'm going to post unmarked Cardcaptor Sakura spoilers until you do.

Yeah, I'm done with Ranma, preeetty sure. At least for the time being - maybe I'll return someday in the future after memories of what I particularly liked about the first season have faded a little and if I'm in the mood for some insane 80s shonen that I liked at one point, . So that just means I have...Cardcaptor Sakura, Cowbop Bebop, Cardcaptor Sakura, Future Boy Conan, Cardcaptor Sakura, One Punch Man, Cardcaptor Sakura, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura, Gunbuster, Cardcaptor Sakura, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Cardcaptor Sakura, Adventures of Gamba, Cardcaptor Sakura, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Cardcaptor Sakura, Heidi: Girl of the Alps, Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptor Sakura, Cardcaptor Sakura.

...

And now I will be starting Love Live! Wow, I really hate this - wish I had something better to watch!

[majestic]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

And now I will be starting Love Live! Wow, I really hate this - wish I had something better to watch!

Love Live! has so far turned out to be much less of a disaster than I thought. 

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Still need to finish that one too, but I'm not really in the mood for the sort of metaphor filled thematic exploration that's crammed into it right now. At least I think that's what's going on. It could also really only just be an anime about fighting sword duels over a woman in a duelling ring underneath an upside down castle, sitting atop an unsupported, almost endless spiral stairway, that sometimes features surfing elephants, exploding curry, boxing kangaroos and bowling balls.

You forgot Devilman Crybaby on your list, why?

edit:

My head's been pretty abuzz with all sorts of crap these days, so I'm perhaps finding Love Live! relaxing in its simplistic silliness as an added bonus over the heavier stuff that I've been watching recently (as much as I loved watching Violet Evergarden, it's not a fun distraction), and Clear Card really failed me there.

edit 2:

While Kill la Kill is pretty funny too, it's so over the top and over... overflowing with insanity that it's really stressful to watch. Everyone's always yelling, has motor mouth syndrome that makes the subtitles zip by, the story's a convoluted mess and it's at times giving JoJo's a run for its money in pure nonsensical bizareness, and that takes some doing.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

You forgot Devilman Crybaby on your list, why?

Unlike the others I listed, I don't yet have it. ...And also it might be a while before I do. I think it's on Netflix, but uh, I'm not sure if I'll watch it on there unless I like the first episode more than I expect to, .

This may shock you, but while I was posting on here, I was also watching...

Spoiler

...Otaku no Video! Sorry, completely unrelated Tomoyo image from one of my favorite tumblr artists that I felt like posting for no reason, . Pretty good, but boy, was *that* a depressing watch. Don't ever become a fan of something to the point that you don't remember how to interact with people who aren't into your weird subculture, kids - it's worse than drugs! Well, it's worse than a few drugs that don't immediately outright ruin your life - it's not worse than the ones that do, .

 

[majestic]

1 minute ago, Bartimaeus said:

Unlike the others I listed, I don't yet have it. ...And also it might be a while before I do. I think it's on Netflix, but uh, I'm not sure if I'll watch it on there unless I like the first episode more than I expect to, .

It is on Netflix for me, but that means preciously little with the sorry state video licensing is in. Although it did say Netflix Original, but Netflix slaps that on anything they have distribution rights for, even if they have nothing else to do with the project. Always been a pretty weird move.

By the way, speaking of things I have on Netflix but you probably don't, there's a new age ReBoot reboot on Netflix called The Guardian Code, which is part real TV show, part animation, and full out terrible. It's so bad I wonder if it will ever show up on Best of the Worst as an exception, with a TV show instead of a movie. They already made exceptions for Half in the Bag, so why not...

Bestest villain hacker ever too.

Tangent over.

5 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

...Otaku no Video! Sorry, completely unrelated Tomoyo image from one of my favorite tumblr artists that I felt like posting for no reason, . Pretty good, but boy, was *that* a depressing watch. Don't ever become a fan of something to the point that you don't remember how to interact with people who aren't into your weird subculture, kids - it's worse than drugs! Well, it's worse than a few drugs that don't immediately outright ruin your life - it's not worse than the ones that do, .

 

 

Spoiler

 

Why are you playing with my feelings like that?

Otaku no Video! is something I should really rewatch. We watched that back in school, together with an actual documentary about otakus. That was quite an experience.

Looks like Amazon sells Otaku and Otaku no Video! bundled together with a manga documentary. Huh, look at that. Bit pricey, so hard pass.

 

 

[Bartimaeus]

18 minutes ago, majestic said:

By the way, speaking of things I have on Netflix but you probably don't, there's a new age ReBoot reboot on Netflix called The Guardian Code, which is part real TV show, part animation, and full out terrible. It's so bad I wonder if it will ever show up on Best of the Worst as an exception, with a TV show instead of a movie. They already made exceptions for Half in the Bag, so why not...

Bestest villain hacker ever too.

Tangent over.

It's there, but it looks so abject and like something that I'd get one minute into before I closed my eyes and covered up my ears to try to prevent myself from seeing or hearing anything of it to avoid physical pain.

20 minutes ago, majestic said:

Why are you playing with my feelings like that?

What? I was just posting an unrelated Tomoyo! Maybe you don't like the art style? Shame!

...But for real, I'm PROBABLY ACTUALLY REALLY going to watch that movie tomorrow morning, especially considering I've been awake just about around the clock for a few days here while being unable to sleep. If nothing else, that makes for a good time for getting through some stuff like I've been doing, . Hopefully there won't be anything weird about jumping into it from there after being away from it for...three, four weeks now?

Spoiler

 

24 minutes ago, majestic said:

Looks like Amazon sells Otaku and Otaku no Video! bundled together with a manga documentary. Huh, look at that. Bit pricey, so hard pass.

That Otaku cover looks terrifying. ...If nothing else could be said for the subculture, while insane they may be, at least they aren't alone in their unhealthy devotion to something that matters not at all...or out there actually hurting people, a la football ultras and hooligans, .

 

[majestic]

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

It's there, but it looks so abject and like something that I'd get one minute into before I closed my eyes and covered up my ears to try to prevent myself from seeing or hearing anything of it to avoid physical pain.

Ah, pity, the Sourcerer is probably the single best hacking villain I've ever seen. Hammy beyond belief, utterly terrible actor and of course totally inaccurate.  

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

What? I was just posting an unrelated Tomoyo! Maybe you don't like the art style? Shame!

I did not say that. The drawing is pretty good. Sure looks better than Clear Card too!

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

...But for real, I'm PROBABLY ACTUALLY REALLY going to watch that movie tomorrow morning, especially considering I've been awake just about around the clock for a few days here while being unable to sleep. If nothing else, that makes for a good time for getting through some stuff like I've been doing, . Hopefully there won't be anything weird about jumping into it from there after being away from it for...three, four weeks now?

No, I don' think there'll be anything weird. Other than the film being a bit too like an anime film and not enough like Cardcaptor Sakura, but I've complained about that at length before. The villain of the movie is voiced by Rei from NGE, but I said that before.  

Insomnia sucks. Luckily, while I have major issues actually falling asleep (sometimes takes hours even though I'm dead tired), actual phases where I can't sleep at all are fairly rare. I barely ever sleep enough and often go for weeks with only 2 or 3 hours of sleep a day, but it's always at least a bit. Hope that'll clear up for you soon(ish). Seems to be a general trend with our forumites too, judging by the other thread about daily experiences.

10 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

That Otaku cover looks terrifying. ...If nothing else could be said for the subculture, while insane they may be, at least they aren't alone in their unhealthy devotion to something that matters not at all...or out there actually hurting people, a la football ultras and hooligans, .

Talking about otakus is not that easy. I don't remember much about the quality of the documentary, to be honest, only that the people interviewed were stranger than I was at the time, which was pretty impressive.  Nowadays I know that Japanese society as a whole is stuck in a place between insanely complex social norms, tradition and fast paced modern life, so counter-/subcultures have to be even more extreme (than ours), and kind of naturally end up being complete outliers in terms of human behaviour.

In general though, yes, football ultras are the dregs of society once they turn from being utterly devoted to harmful, which invariably seems to happen. As for being devoted to things that don't really matter, who am I to judge? Live and let live, as long as they're not harming anyone else it's all good, as far as I'm concerned.  

 

[Bartimaeus]

Cardcaptor Sakura!

Spoiler

Sort of: I got even less sleep than I expected at only about an hour and a half, so my brain's complete mush and I don't really want to want to try to watch anything new right now. However, I don't have a good memory of the first few episodes, especially because I was switching rapidly between English and Japanese to try to decide what I wanted, so I decided now was a good time to re-watch the first couple of episodes - see where it all started!

Tomoyo said that she got a camcorder and was going to start recording Sakura, to which Sakura said "you should record something more interesting than me"...to which Tomoyo's reply was "there's nothing more interesting or adorable than you!" before walking off while singing "la la la" to herself. She sure is, Sakura...she sure is.

Was there ever an explanation thus far of why the Clow Card deck is in Sakura's basement? I almost feel like I remember hearing something about some kind of family line that loosely explained it, but I don't remember the specifics anymore.

Oh wow, I honestly didn't remember that Sakura was the one that caused all of the Clow Cards to escape - I kind of misremembered them as already being long gone before she arrived! That makes more sense as to why they hadn't been causing massive problems for everyone and everything up until she came along.

Kero inducting Sakura into being a magical girl with talk of making a "contract" with the Key of the Seal is kind of creepy and Madoka-esque.

The pivotal moment...where Tomoyo became even more obsessed than she already was!

Tomoyo literally has an entire van just full of costumes all raring to go for Sakura... Yes, indeed, it's so very easy to remember why I love this show, .

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

Was there ever an explanation thus far of why the Clow Card deck is in Sakura's basement?

 

 

Spoiler

 

There is one in the manga (somewhat at the end), but it was quietly and rightfully (in my opinion) dropped from the anime. So, spoiler that won't come up:

Spoiler

Sakura's father is related to Clow Reed, or otherwise a reincarnation of him. 

However, even withou that it makes sense, that seems to be her father's private study, and as an archeologist, he does have a lot of old books lying around. In the episode where Sakura trashes her father's laptop at the University you can see a book named CLEAR CARD too.

 

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

I almost feel like I remember hearing something about some kind of family line that loosely explained it, but I don't remember the specifics anymore.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Shaoran is directly related to Clow Reed in some manner, that's why his family has magical abilities. Except Meilin, because she's always the buttmonkey. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Kero inducting Sakura into being a magical girl with talk of making a "contract" with the Key of the Seal is kind of creepy and Madoka-esque.

I'll just kind of leave that one out of the spoiler tags. I think I've said that before - Cardcaptor Sakura is the clearest origin point of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. While CCS doesn't have a magical girl team and Sakura doesn't fight witches (or monsters, or evil energy beings, that one comes from Sailor Moon), the subversion of Sakura's life motto zettai daijoubu da yo! - which means something like "everything will definitely be all right!" - is, I think, the clearest goal for Madoka.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Spoiler

Sort of: I got even less sleep than I expected at only about an hour and a half, so my brain's complete mush

 

 

Spoiler

 

Man, I hope that will... get better soon. 

 

 

Good to know you still like the show though.  

Edited July 1, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

There I was, shilling Violet Evergarden on a different forum because hey, why not, and I browsed a bit through IMDB reviews.

There's a bunch of user reviews that Mike and Jay would have a field day with, if they were into animation and reading user reviews, because they were written by the sort of retards that they loved to complain about in their earlier Half in the Bag episodes.

The sort of people who think The Empire Strikes Back is the most boringest of the Star Wars movies.

Can't believe how many of the reviewers complained about the lack of exposition about her backstory. What happened to her parents, why was she in the military, why was she allowed to join the military in the first place (now that's a weird one, does that person think child soldiers are recruited?), how come she's such a good soldier?

What happened to Vader, why does he need a suit? How did the Republic fall to the Empire? Why does the Death Star have an unprotected exhaust port? What were the Clone Wars, where, when and how did Han get the Falcon from Lando, what happened between the two? How did the Emperor and Vader kill all the Jedi?

Hey guys, do you think Star Wars got any better by having these questions answered? Do you believe that Darth Maul became even more badass by officially surving being cut in half by Obi-Wan? If so, please do humanity a favor and make sure you don't procreate.

None of these details are necessary for the anime to work, and what explanation there was in the source material wasn't great, so it was dropped, with nothing of value lost. Geez.

Yeah, sorry, rant over. Pain's making me a bit cranky there. xD

Edited July 1, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

20 hours ago, majestic said:

My head's been pretty abuzz with all sorts of crap these days, so I'm perhaps finding Love Live! relaxing in its simplistic silliness as an added bonus over the heavier stuff that I've been watching recently (as much as I loved watching Violet Evergarden, it's not a fun distraction), and Clear Card really failed me there.

Part of why it's easier for me to start a new series I have no investment on as opposed to continuing Sakura - my brain is the bad right now, and it's difficult to give it the attention it needs/deserves.

17 minutes ago, majestic said:

Can't believe how many of the reviewers complained about the lack of exposition about her backstory. What happened to her parents, why was she in the military, why was she allowed to join the military in the first place (now that's a weird one, does that person think child soldiers are recruited?), how come she's such a good soldier?

As I always say, if you don't have a consistent, logical, and interesting explanation for something, it's almost always better to never answer it. And why bother explain such incredibly irrelevant details about such terrible nothings when you could be focusing on actual characters, plots, and themes instead?

Yep, just like that - you super duper got it, Star Wars.

8 hours ago, majestic said:

Insomnia sucks. Luckily, while I have major issues actually falling asleep (sometimes takes hours even though I'm dead tired), actual phases where I can't sleep at all are fairly rare. I barely ever sleep enough and often go for weeks with only 2 or 3 hours of sleep a day, but it's always at least a bit. Hope that'll clear up for you soon(ish). Seems to be a general trend with our forumites too, judging by the other thread about daily experiences.

I get that as well, makes it utterly futile to try to sleep before I know my body/brain is ready to. But not only do I have severe difficulties falling asleep, once I get into a "cycle" of not sleeping well, I can't stay asleep either. That's what's currently happening right now - taking a couple of hours to fall asleep, then waking up after only being asleep for 1-3 hours and not being able to go back to sleep. Between chronic pain and chronic sleeping problems (and by the way, the former has a definite tendency of making the latter worse, although thankfully it's not quite as bad as it used to be), I'm probably gonna get dementia so young!

Edited July 1, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[Amentep]

There's a weird trend I've noticed amid modern entertainment watchers that seems to insist that every important event must be detailed or else nothing makes sense.

It first stuck me when J. J. Abrams said he could never get into Star Trek because he couldn't understand why Kirk, Spock and Bones were friends (lolwut?) and thus why the Star Trek reboot 'fixed' that by showing their first meeting (or something to that effect). And I was like...when did that ever matter to any of the stories they told?  Its like saying you can't understand Casablanca without the details of Rick and Ilsa's previous relationship and break-up.

That said, I don't think Star Wars was made worse by revealing the answers to lingering questions so much as hurt by answering them in poorly conceived ways.  You could have set up Anakin's injuries and even Obi-Wan 'winning' without making Anakin look like a dweeb whose petulant anger blinds him to the fact that he's stupidly endangering himself.

I also think this is why everyone seems to think a tv show or a movie needs to be an origin story of some kind, whether its the start of a friendship, and antagonism, or whatever.  Don't get it.

[Bartimaeus]

19 minutes ago, Amentep said:

It first stuck me when J. J. Abrams said he could never get into Star Trek because he couldn't understand why Kirk, Spock and Bones were friends (lolwut?) and thus why the Star Trek reboot 'fixed' that by showing their first meeting (or something to that effect).

It's unbelievable that THEY let this guy run both Star Trek and Star Wars straight into the ground directly into the abyss. Isn't just the fact that they obviously have worked together for a while and have used their individual strengths to make it through thick and thin good enough of an explanation for why some people could easily be friends despite their differences? Gosh...what a freaking hack fraud.

19 minutes ago, Amentep said:

That said, I don't think Star Wars was made worse by revealing the answers to lingering questions so much as hurt by answering them in poorly conceived ways.  You could have set up Anakin's injuries and even Obi-Wan 'winning' without making Anakin look like a dweeb whose petulant anger blinds him to the fact that he's stupidly endangering himself.

Those are bigger details than probably the kind of absolute garbage majestic and I are thinking of - more like the utter insanity such as the "woodoo hide" crap I linked in the image. Or any other completely inane details at the same level of stuff you'd find in RedLetterMedia's "TOP TEN THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT DARTH VADER'S SUIT!". Who writes this crap?

19 minutes ago, Amentep said:

I also think this is why everyone seems to think a tv show or a movie needs to be an origin story of some kind, whether its the start of a friendship, and antagonism, or whatever.  Don't get it.

Man, is that what that is? It's perfectly okay to have characters that already have established history and friendships and such while letting the viewer figure out the dynamics through context clues and clearer explanations when necessary...

Edited July 1, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

  

13 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Part of why it's easier for me to start a new series I have no investment on as opposed to continuing Sakura - my brain is the bad right now, and it's difficult to give it the attention it needs/deserves.

That's fine, really. Just don't try to watch Revolutionary Girl Utena like that, that won't work.

15 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

As I always say, if you don't have a consistent, logical, and interesting explanation for something, it's almost always better to never answer it. And why bother explain such incredibly irrelevant details about such terrible nothings when you could be focusing on actual characters, plots, and themes instead?

Overall I tend to agree. The absolutely worst one was in Madoka so far, what with teenage girls violating the laws of thermodynamics. Really?

There's the other half of the less than stellar reviews that say they wanted a plot in the anime and didn't get one. That's criticism I can understand, because watching a character piece through short stories isn't for everyone.

17 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yep, just like that - you super duper got it, Star Wars.

Hey, why was that not in the video about the 10 things I did not know about Darh Vader's suit? Or was it and I don't remember?

19 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I get that as well, makes it utterly futile to try to sleep before I know my body/brain is ready to. But not only do I have severe difficulties falling asleep, once I get into a "cycle" of not sleeping well, I can't stay asleep either. That's what's currently happening right now - taking a couple of hours to fall asleep, then waking up after only being asleep for 1-3 hours and not being able to go back to sleep. Between chronic pain and chronic sleeping problems (and by the way, the former has a definite tendency of making the latter worse, although thankfully it's not quite as bad as it used to be), I'm probably gonna get dementia so young!

I get that too, sometimes. Fall asleep, then a sudden jolt of adrenaline (that's what it feels like, no idea if that is what happens) rips me out of it and that was that for a few hours, at least. That's how my 4 am posts here on the board come to be.

My lack of being able to fall asleep easily "luckily" isn't caused by chronic pain, unless you count tinnitus as pain (it sure is chronic, though... yeah...). It's not something I really ever talk about in real life because I've noticed people react extremely horrified. I never knew life any differently, that ringing in my ears was kind of always there, so it originated at some point in my early childhood. It's not a mild one either, and  when it is really, really quiet  - like say, when trying to fall asleep - then it feels like a freight train running through my ears.

If freight trains made highly annoying blaring sounds at a frequency between 6 and 8 kilohertz.

Funny, I never knew that wasn't "normal" until a friend of our family said his daughter got tinnitus from going to a concert, and he's super concerned now because she's really not taking it well, and that he hopes it will get better with treatment. Everyone else reacted so horrified that I never mentioned it (yeah, I don't need people worrying about me).

It's not an issue during the day, it just phases out while concentrating on work, or playing, or listening to anything. It's there, but drowned out. The problem is that any of the things I could do to fall asleep more easily by turning on something that generates more soothing sounds to focus on has side effects.

I can't fall asleep next to a running TV because the light flashes keep me awake even through closed eyes - actually any sort of non-natural light even when it is not flashing is a huge issue, sun shining through the windows isn't, because that's unfocused and even. My current TV has a blue LED light signalling it's in standby, I taped over it the moment I saw that (now that my Switch dock is there, I removed the duct tape).

Sometimes my stupid Kindle paperwhite turns itself on to auto-update in the middle of the night, that actually wakes me up when it happens, so I started putting it display down someplace where I can't see it.

I can't use headphones for anything because they keep me awake by being uncomfortable. I can't use music because it stops at some point and then THAT wakes me up (without fail, end of album - wakey wakey), and that includes the few seconds it would take to listen to a record on repeat.

Technically I guess I could try a MP3 playlist that's a couple of hours long or repeats itself without any appreciable breaks, but I can't keep on blasting music over speakers through the entire night.

And that... isn't even touching the issues I have winding down mentally, but this post is already too long and too whiny. Plus I think I talked about that before.

Now that sounds really bad, but it's mostly okay. I have shutters on my windows that block out all outside light sources (street lights, annoying neighbors getting up in the middle of the night for no reason, etc.), and all I need to do is focus a bit on something in my head to fall asleep, provided I'm tired enough. It only becomes a problem when something doesn't work the way it should. This week, for instance, was heavy on issues both work related and private, so focussing at night and winding down was hard.

Tonight though is going to be really bad, because that pain in my arm just isn't stopping. Sigh.

5 minutes ago, Amentep said:

It first stuck me when J. J. Abrams said he could never get into Star Trek because he couldn't understand why Kirk, Spock and Bones were friends (lolwut?) and thus why the Star Trek reboot 'fixed' that by showing their first meeting (or something to that effect).

That... that... I... what?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On 6/30/2021 at 9:28 AM, Bartimaeus said:

I'm trying to think of a single thing that I like that doesn't treat itself at least somewhat seriously. There are things that I like that very occasionally poke fun at themselves or are meta or are fourth wall-breaking or stuff along those lines, but something that does any of that frequently? Monty Python and the Holy Grail...Weird Al Yankovich...and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are about all I can think of across all of media (movies, television, music, video games, books...) that I enjoy, .

P.S. I also watched the second episode of the OVA, and it was decently enjoyable.

  Reveal hidden contents

Polnareff did indeed turn out to be the big dumb, but they all survived. Well, except for the Dio minion blind dude that blew a hole through his own skull and then kept talking for literally like 2-3 more minutes after his own suicide. Bold creative decision there.

 

Well you thought of 3 things so there's that.

46 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

It's unbelievable that THEY let this guy run both Star Trek and Star Wars straight into the ground directly into the abyss.

I think someone had a moneky's paw and they wished that boring midbudget Oscar bait movies would go away. Their wish was granted by giving us JJ's Star Trek, the SW sequels, Marvel movies, DC movies, and all the other IP mining movies instead. Such is fate I suppose.

[Amentep]

Can't find the exact interview with Abrams' quote (I did find a few where he talked about not liking Star Trek, but not that quote) and now I just don't call which magazine or newspaper I read it in.

[Bartimaeus]

43 minutes ago, majestic said:

Hey, why was that not in the video about the 10 things I did not know about Darh Vader's suit? Or was it and I don't remember?

It was, actually:

@Sleeping problems: Have you tried like...a fan or equivalent or something? Preferably something a little larger so that its hum is more deep or at least neutral compared to high-pitched small ones?

[majestic]

20 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

@Sleeping problems: Have you tried like...a fan or equivalent or something? Preferably something a little larger so that its hum is more deep or at least neutral compared to high-pitched small ones?

I did, actually. I can sleep with a larger fan running (that's like a lifeline in summer, sometimes ), but it's not any better or worse. It takes my mind off the ringing (or rather, blots it out), but... I just end up focusing on the fan noise. White noise is sort of one of these things that are supposed to help, and they do, but they just shift the issue from one to the other for me. Or rather, replace one noise with the other.

Most of the time things work out okay, I've been dealing with that for over 30 years now. In the past few months I've begun to "write" forum posts in my head to fall asleep (sometimes that's fanfiction rather than forums posts, but that's okay too, not like anyone can read it). I guess people count sheep but I can't really do that, no images of sheep in my mind after all (speaking of aphantasia, I've thought about that for a while, at least it explains why I was never bothered by someone else's vision being different than mine when it comes to book adaptations as TV show or film - can't really be disappointed by how some else's mental image looks with one myself, hmm?).

I might try music again. There's a chance that age dulled by ability to wake up from the music stopping to play. The advantage of music is it doesn't just drown out the noise, it's also something interesting enough to focus on.

Guess I'll go see where my Blackmore's Night CDs are. Listening to Candice sing is really soothing. Plus that's much less likely to get the neighbors annoyed than something like Nanowar of Steel.

I actually really, really, REALLY like this cover. Really!

Might not do much for you, but Mr. Obsessed With Vocals here loves this.

 

Spoiler

I honestly have no idea how you manage to sleep at all with the constant nerve pain, let alone decently. I imagine that being much worse.

 

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

It was, actually:

Well, I guess I'll need to rewatch the entire thing then. Silly me, how could I forget that.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

Might not do much for you, but Mr. Obsessed With Vocals here loves this.

I wish there was like...some sort of AI system that could analyze vocalists for timbre, tones, inflections, accents, etc., and be able to come up with other vocalists you like depending on what ones you already know you like. A number of people have recommended so many different artists to me over the years, and only exactly one have I ever genuinely liked...though there have been a number of "yeah, I guess they're okay"s - i.e. tolerable but not something I'd probably deliberately choose to listen to. It is the crappiest feeling having someone take the time and thought to think of you and what they think you like and dislike in order to determine a recommendation only to hear the vocalist and and be all "I'm so sorry, but I just can't listen to this".

That's all to say that that lady is sadly not even one of those "they're ok" situations - I hate her voice and I am sorry, . When you like Malon the midi instrument from Ocarina of Time better than 99% of actual vocalists, you know you have some pretty serious brain problem situations. I wish I was more knowledgeable about voices so that I could like...more accurately understand and break down their different components and determine the exact parts of them that are causing me to either like or dislike them. That'd be very helpful...but at the same time, actually trying to gain the knowledge and experience to do that would probably drive me utterly mad in the process, .

Music doesn't really work for me for relaxing - even music that I like that is supposed to be soothing and relaxing hypes me up instead, so that's just a total lost cause. As for nerve pain...yeah, it can be difficult. Like I said, it's better than it used to be, but there are still nights where I know that it's going to be one of THOSE days, and I'm better off served by not trying to sleep at all until I'm so brain-dead that I'll fall asleep within a minute or two of sitting or laying down. Sometimes, I really wish there were more like 25 or 26 hours in a day so I could just do that every day...sadly, I'm pretty sure that would do a number on everyone else!

5 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Well you thought of 3 things so there's that.

Yeah, but to be fair, I read Hitchhiker's when I was in 5th 6th grade (upon reflection, I realized it must've been a little bit older, because I was into Harry Turtledove stuff when I was in 5th grade and I'm pretty sure I didn't read Hitchhiker's that same year but rather the year after) and I first watched Holy Grail when I was literally about 6 or 7 (my mom was real good with those totally age-appropriate movies ...), so really only Weird Al stands out as something of an exception as something I liked and got into when I was a bit older, .

Edited July 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

55 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, but to be fair, I read Hitchhiker's when I was in 5th 6th grade (upon reflection, I realized it must've been a little bit older, because I was into Harry Turtledove stuff when I was in 5th grade and I'm pretty sure I didn't read Hitchhiker's that same year but rather the year after) and I first watched Holy Grail when I was literally about 6 or 7 (my mom was real good with those totally age-appropriate movies ...), so really only Weird Al stands out as something of an exception as something I liked and got into when I was a bit older, .

But it still is 3.

Honestly I started watching JoJo because it is a huge meme and stuck with it because it turned out to be a good show. Other shows that have the same components annoy the **** out of me, but there's something about JoJo that is just fun in ways like AoT or 7 Deadly Sins (which is really dull, don't watch Majestic!) just aren't. 

And while I can't talk much about magical girls and whatever Majestic got sucked into (hate)watching, I can sure talk about insomnia. The only thing that consistently helps is something that is illegal outside of medical usage where I'm living so I frequently get to function on very little sleep in a job that is physically exhausting (doubly so in the summer). There's something weird with my body where I kind of spring into a hyper-awake mode a bit before midnight. I have no explanations for it but it's been there for years and seems to happen regardless of how tired I was, diet, afternoon naps, or whatever. It's annoying as **** to feel like you're about to doze off before suddenly feeling wide awake and unable to calm down.

[majestic]

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I wish there was like...some sort of AI system that could analyze vocalists for timbre, tones, inflections, accents, etc., and be able to come up with other vocalists you like depending on what ones you already know you like. A number of people have recommended so many different artists to me over the years, and only exactly one have I ever genuinely liked...though there have been a number of "yeah, I guess they're okay"s - i.e. tolerable but not something I'd probably deliberately choose to listen to. It is the crappiest feeling having someone take the time and thought to think of you and what they think you like and dislike in order to determine a recommendation only to hear the vocalist and and be all "I'm so sorry, but I just can't listen to this".

Good, at least now I know that you not liking my awesome Eurodance Sailor Moon stuff makes you feel bad.  

Haha. No, in all seriousness, I don't think I can recommend anything to you that I would think you'd like. Everything I listen to usually has the same or at least a very similar vocal style (with the groups often having clasically trained singers), with only very rare exceptions. 

I'll post more on this later, but for now the shot yesterday seems to have knocked me out something fierce... 

[Bartimaeus]

Got about two minutes into the Sakura movie, realized I have the wrong subtitles that are overly literal that I didn't really like the writing of, . I could just deal, but I've waited this long, I can wait until I can fix it tomorrow. So I'm going to just watch another Jojo's or two instead. Sorry majestic, .

18 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

Honestly I started watching JoJo because it is a huge meme and stuck with it because it turned out to be a good show. Other shows that have the same components annoy the **** out of me, but there's something about JoJo that is just fun in ways like AoT or 7 Deadly Sins (which is really dull, don't watch Majestic!) just aren't. 

That's fair. Wish I could love it, wish I could love a great many deal of things actually, but we all have our tastes and sensibilities that make certain things more or less likely to work than others...

18 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

And while I can't talk much about magical girls and whatever Majestic got sucked into (hate)watching, I can sure talk about insomnia. The only thing that consistently helps is something that is illegal outside of medical usage where I'm living so I frequently get to function on very little sleep in a job that is physically exhausting (doubly so in the summer). There's something weird with my body where I kind of spring into a hyper-awake mode a bit before midnight. I have no explanations for it but it's been there for years and seems to happen regardless of how tired I was, diet, afternoon naps, or whatever. It's annoying as **** to feel like you're about to doze off before suddenly feeling wide awake and unable to calm down.

Yeah, I get that hyper-awake thing as well. It's such a "funny" thing to be able to be exhausted all day to the point where I could fall asleep just about anywhere if only I could sit or lay down for a moment...then actually getting through the day (or at least most of it), deciding it's time to go to bed, and then realizing I can't because my sleepometer is completely off and now I'm going to be wide awake for at least the next few hours. Rinse and repeat the next day, and the next day... Once in a blue moon, I'll be hit with a sudden wave of fatigue and sleepiness at an actually appropriate time and I will literally just drop everything I'm doing or was supposed to do and immediately go to sleep right then and there just to be able to take advantage of it. It's a good life.

10 hours ago, majestic said:

Good, at least now I know that you not liking my awesome Eurodance Sailor Moon stuff makes you feel bad.  

Haha. No, in all seriousness, I don't think I can recommend anything to you that I would think you'd like. Everything I listen to usually has the same or at least a very similar vocal style (with the groups often having clasically trained singers), with only very rare exceptions. 

I'll post more on this later, but for now the shot yesterday seems to have knocked me out something fierce... 

Get well soon; should hopefully wear off by whatever's your tomorrow.

Funnily, one of the very few things I like in abundance from just the genre/style seems to be a lot of 80s and early/mid-90s j-pop. It's like literally the only thing I can think of where I can listen to other people's playlists of random stuff and be like "yeah, I like most of this". And that's not a new development - I've known that for a number of years, and I've never understood why that of all things, especially seeing as it's not like I ever listened to anything Japanese growing up. Something about the types of voices used during that era combined with mostly fun, pleasant, easy-listening instrumentals...

Someone who knows their stuff about voices should do a real quick analysis of my favorite vocalists so I can better understand what I like, .

Edited July 2, 2021 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

I watched two more episodes of Love Live! because I thought that would be an easy and actually somewhat fun watch while I'm not feeling that great, and the show pretty much turned upside down. What a bizarre turn of events one episode from the end of the first season.

In the past few episodes, Kotori was seen getting a letter and feeling down. If you've seen even a modikum of these shows then you immediately know that Kotori is doing an Ami, she's going to study abroad. Or at least, she's going to appear to be leaving and then come back at the last minute, right? Like Ami in Sailor Moon R. Usagi (Honoka, in this case) will be a bit annoyed, but eventually turn out to be supportive. At least... that's how it is supposed to go.
 

Spoiler

 

Honoka pushes herself too hard for a live performance at a school festival where a survey will be held to see if the school will get enough applications for next year to stay open. She's also pushing everyone to their limits, and Kotori never finds the time to tell her about whatever it is that she's going to do. She tries, but Honoka is too consumed with everything else. Instead, Kotori tells Umi first, and Umi also doesn't tell Honoka.

Right, also, the titular Love Live! is a casting contest for amateur j-pop girl groups - right, there's something else, there was a one second shot of Honoka's father, so men actually exist in this world.  Anyway, There's a ranking of amateur groups decided by popular vote, and the top 20 are invited. µ's is sitting at rank 19 before the school festival, barely qualifying and in danger of being kicked off the list at any time.

Honoka... ends up getting a cold, ignores it, goes for a run to the temple stairs, ends up with a fever, still performs at the festival, falls down and sprains her ankle. She's out for a few days, recovering. In the meantime, the school's principal (and Kotori's mother, who keeps urging her to tell Honoka sooner than later) talks to the other group members and they collectively decide to withdraw from Love Live! without consulting Honoka first.

She doesn't take the news very well, but is cheered up by the school's decision to admit new members. They might not go to this Love Live!, but at least they saved the school. Honoka and the others decide to still keep making shows and apply for the next Love Live!, should one happen. Just as Honoka's spirits are back up a bit, Umi decides that it's time for Kotori to tell them about her leaving to study abroad.

Honoka gets understandably angry about what she feels is a breach of trust, not only having to hear it from Umi but also not being the first one Kotori told (they are childhood best friends), and they have a major fight which causes Kotori to tell her that she wanted to ask for her advice but couldn't because she injured herself, then runs off and so far at least, does not come back to school. Honoka messages an apology to Kotori, who is seen crying.

The other girls decide to have one last live show with Kotori to see her off, but Honoka instead mopes around and wants to take the blame for everything (but mostly, and most importantly, about not noticing that something bothered her best friend). Honoka says she quits, and leaves. Umi runs after her, grabs her, and slaps her, then tells her that she's a horrible person.

 

End of episode.

Well that's more depressing drama than I thought I would get here.

I'm pretty sure that Honoka will make up with her friends and keep Kotori from leaving, because how else are you going to have a second season, but meh. I was watching this for my occasional happy silly fix, not for serious dramatic character pieces.

Edited July 2, 2021 by majestic

[majestic]

22 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

That's all to say that that lady is sadly not even one of those "they're ok" situations - I hate her voice and I am sorry, . When you like Malon the midi instrument from Ocarina of Time better than 99% of actual vocalists, you know you have some pretty serious brain problem situations. I wish I was more knowledgeable about voices so that I could like...more accurately understand and break down their different components and determine the exact parts of them that are causing me to either like or dislike them. That'd be very helpful...but at the same time, actually trying to gain the knowledge and experience to do that would probably drive me utterly mad in the process, .

No need to be sorry, partially I get that. That's my default reaction to rap. Actual discomfort. So I know the feeling - just not with Candice. She's great.

Studying singing techniques to understand what you like about them (or hate, as it were) might be a little extreme indeed. It would probably also take more time than just trying artists.

22 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Music doesn't really work for me for relaxing - even music that I like that is supposed to be soothing and relaxing hypes me up instead, so that's just a total lost cause. As for nerve pain...yeah, it can be difficult. Like I said, it's better than it used to be, but there are still nights where I know that it's going to be one of THOSE days, and I'm better off served by not trying to sleep at all until I'm so brain-dead that I'll fall asleep within a minute or two of sitting or laying down. Sometimes, I really wish there were more like 25 or 26 hours in a day so I could just do that every day...sadly, I'm pretty sure that would do a number on everyone else!

If you really live the million years you've set as a goal for yourself, you might start seeing it. Earth's rotation is slowing down after all, so the days will be getting longer. Not sure if a million years will be enough to add two hours though. Too lazy to check how long it would actually take.

I can't really gauge if I can fall asleep or not based on any factors. Obviously I know when I am tired enough to try, but knowing if I can actuallly doze off or if I just start tossing and turning around for a while before giving up and doing something else for a while, nah. I do set myself a limit of half an hour or so, if that doesn't work, I get up and do something else.

There are obviously things I know will make any attempt pointless. Knowing that the next day holds social situations that I'm unfamiliar with, for instance, is a great indicator for not getting any sleep, but that's different and related to being nervous.

Part of the issue is this never ending assault on my senses. It's not just the sound from the tinnitus, I also... like I mentioned once, see things when I close my eyes. It looks a bit like this animated gif, except the color is a really dark shade of blue. Almost black, but still very distinct:

Visual noise! Yay!

However, almost any type of music helps me fall asleep. I can actually fall asleep to the heaviest of metal stuff. Actually it's easiest with that, because that's my go-to musical genre that I barely ever deviate from, even if this thread might indicate otherwise - those really are just exceptions.

Assuming I like the vocals, obviously.

22 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Holy Grail

Monthy Python films are, by all means, something I should enjoy and find funny, but I mostly don't. Their TV show has a couple of laughs, but even then nothing like it feels like it should be. *shrug*

21 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

And while I can't talk much about magical girls and whatever Majestic got sucked into (hate)watching, I can sure talk about insomnia.

I'm not hate-watching anything at the moment. Love Live! turned out to be a mostly fun, if silly, anime with a bit too much fanservice and a lot of singing that I thought I would hate, but kind of like.

21 hours ago, KP the meanie zucchini said:

I have no explanations for it but it's been there for years and seems to happen regardless of how tired I was, diet, afternoon naps, or whatever. It's annoying as **** to feel like you're about to doze off before suddenly feeling wide awake and unable to calm down.

I usually only get that after falling asleep and being jolted out of it by something. That cues an adrenaline rush and an ability to fall back asleep. It's often accompanied by a feeling of falling down, or falling over - both of which are impossible lying in the middle of the bed. It also causes my legs to move in an attempt to keep my balance, which by all means should not work - sleep should relax muscles, after all. Might have something to do with dreaming, might not... dunno. There are times when I have to push through being tired because I'm at work or somewhere else, and that will cause being tired to go away for a while, but that's not entirely the same, I think.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Yeah, I get that hyper-awake thing as well. It's such a "funny" thing to be able to be exhausted all day to the point where I could fall asleep just about anywhere if only I could sit or lay down for a moment...then actually getting through the day (or at least most of it), deciding it's time to go to bed, and then realizing I can't because my sleepometer is completely off and now I'm going to be wide awake for at least the next few hours. Rinse and repeat the next day, and the next day... Once in a blue moon, I'll be hit with a sudden wave of fatigue and sleepiness at an actually appropriate time and I will literally just drop everything I'm doing or was supposed to do and immediately go to sleep right then and there just to be able to take advantage of it. It's a good life.

One of the better things that happened with being forced into working from home was that I could act on being tired enough to try and sleep. I'd just get up, set myself as away from keyboard and sleep for an hour. It lead to a sleeping pattern of sleeping five or six hours from somewhen past midnight to 8 am and then one or two hours mostly around 4 pm. In the long run, that did a number on my ability to concentrate during the day though.

It's a good thing we returned to the office. External structure to my days is a good thing. Ah, silly character flaws.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Get well soon; should hopefully wear off by whatever's your tomorrow.

Thanks, I already slept the headache off, now all that's left is being a little queasy and the mild fever. I fully plan on stuffing my face with something unhealthy tomorrow to celebrate being back to normal. Hopefully sleeping through the afternoon doesn't mess up my sleeping habits any more than they already are.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Funnily, one of the very few things I like in abundance from just the genre/style seems to be a lot of 80s and early/mid-90s j-pop. It's like literally the only thing I can think of where I can listen to other people's playlists of random stuff and be like "yeah, I like most of this". And that's not a new development - I've known that for a number of years, and I've never understood why that of all things, especially seeing as it's not like I ever listened to anything Japanese growing up. Something about the types of voices used during that era combined with mostly fun, pleasant, easy-listening instrumentals...

When it comes to regular pop music, if I had to pick an era, it would be 80ies too - plus 90ies Eurodance trash, but that's me. I don't think I'm familiar with any 80ies j-pop though. Or j-pop in general, beyond the songs that sometimes come up in anime.

I did like the Madoka soundtrack though. A lot. More than most, actually.

2 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Someone who knows their stuff about voices should do a real quick analysis of my favorite vocalists so I can better understand what I like, .

Sorry, can't really help you there. I have problems explaining why I like certain vocalists and hate others even if they're similar.

Edited July 2, 2021 by majestic