#even *tesla* was handled poorly like holy shit

[riftclaw]

i feel like adding some thoughts to this actually-- i think stampede is vastly inferior to the manga. i should not have read the manga before i watched stampede. i have a LOT of thoughts about stampede that a lot of people i've discussed them with Do Not Like but here's a few

the plot is super rushed and the characters have no room to breathe. 98 was mostly "filler" but what people call "filler" is usually important character building arcs-- its why milly and meryl spend so much time travelling with vash as his story is slowly revealed in the manga. instead of that we get a subdued, nearly emotionless vash (there's no contrast to his depression so he's not even like. entertainingly depressed, just depressed), a wolfwood who's way too open about his past, and a meryl who is just... like. they invented a man to make her wrong all the time.

the voice direction is really dull in both languages which probably contributes to everyone feeling so out of character

we've rapid fire used up like 80% of the characters and plot points already with no room for them to have any emotional impact. we're using a bunch of them, great! except they're really watered down and flat, bc they're mostly just there for you to go "oh! it's this guy!!!". it isn't faithful and when you care about some of their arcs (livio) having it wasted the way it is feels kinda bad. yes they're going to bring livio back we all know this but also. do i want them to at this point.

a lot of important plot points were really mangled, like taking a lot of Rem's bonding moments w the twins and instead making them Vash and Luida ones, so we barely see Rem and the idea that she had much of an impact on Vash's psyche is honestly kind of laughable

they made knives as generically evil as 98 did but they don't have the excuse of running out of time as 98 appears to have done. they kinda shoehorn in the plant thing later on but it's clear stampede as a narrative is treating regular plants as something substantially lesser than the twins, so even knives is ok letting them become collateral damage

other knives thoughts but this post puts it into words more eloquently than i can

i actually like knives in the manga

vash esp has no agency in most of the series, and he barely even uses his gun so why are they even calling him "the stampede", he hasn't done anything to warrant it and even the humans know this bc knives was RIGHT THERE at jenora rock. even blowing up july is something someone else did to him (which wasn't the case in the manga)

speaking of jenora rock that was one of my absolute favourite parts of the manga and like, they clearly aren't going to do that so

the tomas

the plants themselves have lost all the angel themes that made the plants in the manga so iconic. they're just space elves. this also makes the twins' wings really out of place.

and like. it's not all bad. zazie and the bugs fucking rule. but i probably shouldn't have read the manga first bc i can't look at stampede and not find it wanting considering how much richer the plot in trimax is. and it sucks! bc trimax would be fantastic animated, the fight scenes especially would be incredible in motion, but. we're just. not getting trimax animated. we're getting something more generic w superficial trigun branding.

unless they REALLY blow season 2 out of the water (and i don't expect this at all considering season 1) it's definitely my least favourite adaptation of the two animes. 98 is far from perfect but at least it kept the balance of tragedy and comedy that makes vash hit so hard as a character. the entire point is that he's a muppet dumbass who cries over spilled milk while also being a supremely accomplished gunman. tristamp didn't make him either of these things.

OKAY so having now finished stampede (watching with a friend who was a big fan of the original for a long time) i have... Opinions. based off other conversations i've had, it seems like people who were fans of the original (especially the manga) are a lot less likely to enjoy stampede, but obviously my sample size is pretty small SO i'm gonna use the power of democracy

this question is NOT abt whether you liked stampede as like, a show in general, it's about whether you like it as an adaptation of trigun specifically.

[smoothshift]

Longtime muscle car guy and r/cars reader's thoughts on a weekend with a Tesla Model 3 via /r/cars

Longtime muscle car guy and r/cars reader's thoughts on a weekend with a Tesla Model 3

As a lifelong car guy, one of my foundational rules is that if someone offers me time behind the wheel of something I've never driven before, be it an econobox or an exotic, I take it. I may lend up liking it, I may not, but at least I can say I've driven it. It was with this mindset that I said "yes" when a friend offered to let me babysit his Tesla Model 3 while he was away for a weekend. As I find many of the critics on here seem to have never actually driven a Model 3 for an extended period, I thought I'd offer my longtime car guy thoughts. I'm also not looking to debate aspects of Tesla's cult, or Elon Musk as a person; this is about a car.

The car in question was a Rear Wheel Drive Model 3, with the (currently mandatory) premium upgrade package, upgraded battery, and Autopilot. First thing I noticed is that the Model 3, while not as pretty as the Model S, does look better in person than in photos, although that's not saying much. I poked the awkward fulcrum-based, different-for-the-sake-of-being-different door handle and got in. Seats were comfy, although the floor seemed higher than a normal car due to the batteries underneath, which made it tough to find a comfortable seating position.

I'll save the missives about no-dashboard-screen-only argument and just say that during the day, I got used to having to look over to get my speed without much issue. Climate controls were anchored to the bottom of the main screen such that I could safely adjust the temperature while driving, while other simple things were reserved for redlights. And while the blank slat in front of me was less offensive than expected during the day, the one thing I didn't get used to, at all, was having just a void of darkness in front of me during nighttime driving. Ironically, in a car that requires you to go into a touchscreen menu to open the glove box, that void in front of my eyes at night ended up being the one thing I couldn't get over.

But enough about that, let's talk about the actual driving. Since my buddy got this car, two faster trims (AWD and Performance) have been announced, but even in this "slow" (0-60 in the low 5's) single motor trim, holy shit, I get why people get fanatical about these cars. Imagine how your car would respond if kept in the lowest possible gear at all times; that's what driving this was like. It takes everything that's great about the best dual-clutch transmissions and takes the next step. Being able to slow down via regeneration and not move your foot is awesome in traffic. I get why people are scared to see internal combustion go away, but I am officially 100% over the "EVs spell the end of fun driving" trope.

The chassis is well balanced and well sorted around corners thanks to its low center of gravity, but the steering feels artificial even when set to "sport". Regardless, I felt perfectly confident tossing this car around back roads and long sweeping onramps, and had fun doing so. Fix the steering and pony up for the performance edition and this car would really be something to go canyon carving in.

I did mess with Autopilot some. Now erring on the side of safety, the system nags you literally every 60 seconds to give the steering wheel a gentle tug to prove your hands are still on it. Which leads me to ask, what's the point? Which is mentally easier, responding to countless prompts to prove you're there, or just doing the driving? I didn't keep the car long enough to know.

I did have it long enough to conclude that the "Tesla cars are falling apart on delivery" was not true for the example I was in. Panel gaps seemed fine (not sure if that's how it came or if he had it serviced to get them that way), and I detected no slack or rattles as the car clomped over the poorly maintained Philadelphia area highways.

So will I be buying one? I actually did have a deposit down from a few years ago "just in case". However a weekend with the car motivated me to cancel it. It's a good car and the Tesla fans won't be disappointed. Furthermore it makes me very optimistic for the future of EVs; it really was a fun car to drive. But I've been in $56,000 cars, and at the end of the day, and no matter how much I loved the powertrain, this did not feel like a $56,000 car. As the $35,000 version remains vaporware for now, I can't speak to if the base car would feel like a better value.

The car's biggest effect on me was that when I hear "lol the only people who buy Teslas are fanboys and tech nerds," I can immediately dismiss these people as ignorant. The Model 3 is a good car, and has the potential to make a lot of owners, fanboy or not, happy with their new vehicle.