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#gundam witch nature
now go to see the new super hero serie
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now go to see the new super hero serie, because the secret identity has be reveal to everyone.
1. new super sentai power rangers.
serie name: company sentai founkaiger.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, comedy, children, educational, mecha, science fiction.
rated: tv-y7.
2. new gundam.
serie name: gundam witch nature.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, kaiju, fantasy, dark fantasy, drama, supernatural, supernatural fiction.
rated: tv-ma.
3. new ultraman.
serie name: ultrazerord.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, kaiju, fantasy, dark fantasy, drama, supernatual, supernatural fiction, kyodai hero.
rated: tv-ma.
4. new garo.
serie name: weregaro/were garo.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, kaiju, fantasy, drama, supernatual. supernatural fiction.
rated: tv-14.
5. new kamen rider.
serie name: kamen rider jear.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, comedy drama, battle royal sports.
rated: tv-14.
6. new metal hero.
serie name: space sheriff garidevan.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, mecha, drama science fiction.
rated: tv-14.
7. new battle spirits.
serie name: battle spirits refighter.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, mecha, kaiju, drama, battle royal sport.
rated: tv-pg.
8. new digimon.
serie name: digimon digital game.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, kaiju, comedy drama, fantasy, supernatual, supernatural fiction,
rated: tv-pg.
9. new tales of series.
serie name: tales of kai
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, drama, fantasy, supernatual, supernatural fiction, science fiction.
rated: tv-pg.
10. new machine robo gobots.
serie name: machine robo gobots go race.
genre: action, adventure, super hero, super hero fiction, mecha, comdey drama, science fiction.
rated: tv-pg.
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koetjingwarrd · 1 year
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You're my baby, say it to me...
#gundam witch from mercury#gwitch#wfm#sulemio#suletta mercury#miorine rembran#i bet on losing dogs as per gwitch current story progression aka ep17 do you see my vision...#i have particular mixed feelings on ep 17 most of which i feel that the story is done a bit sloppy i think it started around ep 16 or 15#i really need to get this out so i could study damn it !!#first of all with miorine with the one who's losing a lot by being complicit with prospera's quiet zero significantly trapping herself furt#er in the cycle of revenge and also losing the friends she has come to cherish and also... at the same time knowing hal truths of what real#ly happened prospera true plan. vanadis. aerial and suletta true nature. earth as a spacian battleground. and the whole lot#i feel like she's rushing thru her birthday to eject sul asap from prosperas plan and now whats done is done i feel like she underestimate#what conviction on how suletta values what family means to her. prospera lines where she wonders whether sul will give aerial up#easily is giving vibes that its possible for suletta to take drastic measures to get her family back. miorine grows up on a world that#is defined by strict rules but suletta does not... that is after she's starting to get over her heartbreak i think...#whats interesting about gwitch is that although it considered utena as one of its base material it mixes said materials with how gundam sto#ryline works while simultaneously keeping up with today's themes. so honestly... when this happened today im a bit pissed#another thing that even though on a surface level suletta plays the role of utena with miorine as anthy they are also anthy and utena#respectively. suletta and utena with their kind hearted and naive self with a sense of justice left behind the insidious plot of the school#anthy and miorine titled the bride who adored their respective partner up to the point of deception and betrayal for their own good#SULETTA AND ANTHY GOD THE WITCh. red motifs. i find it funny they both have siblings okay this is messed up. the character shrouded in myst#ery. SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS THE CHICK WHO IS YET TO HATCHH !!!! RAHHH#insert utena student council theme somewhere around here#and lastly utena and miorine. the “princess”that is ready to take on a world that is threatening her loved one. both are only child god no.#this is my personal feelings but i will find it heartbreaking that despite everthing suletta will runs to miorine no matter how much she#push her away... but i also want and find it interesting where despite loving and believing in her suletta will slowly will ALSO despise#her for letting them drift apart kind of like anthy and utena on the akio apocalypse arc....... do i want this to happen...? do i....? >yes#regardless augh what a heartwrenching lovely episode despite me knowing it will happen at some point during the show#im like the surprised pikachu meme with tears in my eyes
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retro-friki · 1 year
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Probably other people had pointed this out already, but I think that the version of the opening that was shown in episode 1 of G-Witch gives us a hint of what's going to happen at the end. After all, said opening video spelled out that Ericht and Suletta were 2 different characters.
Nearly at the end of the video we see a happy Eri sitting on Aerial's shoulder before vanishing.
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The next cut is Suletta walking away from Aerial.
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I think that Suletta will be fine at the end and she'll be able to find her own path. Probably Eri will sacrifice herself in the process.
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fortune-maiden · 1 year
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MIORINE WHYYYYYYY T_T
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sukimas · 1 year
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anyway what with schwarzette and all my overall theory for the rough timeline of the show and what's happened in the past and will happen in the future is this:
-prologue happens -eri and prospera escape to mercury -eri dies of space sickness, her body gets preserved in some way -prospera, distraught, saves her biological data in the lfrith -prospera goes about starting to plot her revenge -encounters notrette/delling- they do not know who she is at first -notrette realizes who she is but tells her she doesn't support delling's plans and she's sorry about all this -prospera doesn't believe her initially, but eventually breaks down and tells her about what happened to her daughter -notrette expresses sympathy, tells her about her genetics research, offers to try and clone eri -eri is cloned successfully at least once, but during this process, notrette realizes that eri was very special (in terms of being a perfect interface candidate with the gund format) -notrette decides (with or without prospera's permission? probably with) to edit her own child to have similar traits (remember, miorine is younger than suletta, significantly) -this gets us miorine and her weirdness- like eri, she's a "newtype" as i'll be calling it until we get a proper term. suletta is also probably a newtype as an eri clone. -per lfrith's AI still being around after eri leaves the aerial this past episode, suletta is a normal kid and not lfrith ai. (sad, that was a fun theory.) this means all of her weird traits are exclusive suletta things- except we see similar in miorine. -anyway, sometime after this, notrette dies. we have no idea if this was accidental or on purpose- possibly on purpose even with prospera's collaboration with her (see garma.) since miorine wasn't allowed to attend the funeral, there is probably something strange either with the body or with how miorine can interface with data (dead people in the data storm?) -cradle planet happens -miorine's miserable -s1 and s2 (so far) happen -eri gets transferred into prospera's helmet -prospera finds some way to get legal ownership of the company after miorine becomes president (though she evidently wants to do so through suletta and miorine getting married, idk how that'll happen after this past episode, so i assume she'll use different means) -since miorine is a "newtype", if she dies, she likely can be sent into the data storm. -prospera likely intends to kill miorine in some way (after getting the presidency, and after delling wakes up) and then stick her consciousness in a robot to "i have no mouth and i must scream" her. remember, prospera is not aware that gundam-girls can move autonomously. prospera also likely intends to kill delling after this. -even if she was, though, eri can still control other gundams through quiet zero, so presumably prospera has even thought of that aspect. -i imagine that eri does NOT want to go along with this, since she likes miorine, but can't stop prospera from doing what she's doing since she's currently a hat. -i expect that she decides to pop into a gundam that suletta is piloting and give her the rundown at least- maybe she wants confirmation that listening to mom is right, and expects suletta to give it to her. -together, the two of them find a way to un-robot miorine (possibly through newtype bullshit magic, eri's new home is suletta's body, being her "other half" just like aerial was) or at minimum make an android body for the wife. -roll credits until season 2 where we get giant earth/space conflict.
-i have no idea what's gonna happen to guel or suletta in the intervening time between this episode and miobot, don't ask. although i do think with the Rejects Basement we saw this episode with norea, elan, and nika that's where suletta ends up next episode, at least. what with the title "our empty selves."
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hesitationss · 1 year
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the way i was able to buy not one but two aerial gundams for low end pricing bcuz bandai decided G witch was not going to be so popular bcuz it was about a woman who also has darker skin (for anime) is so fucking funny to me like the last time GUNDAM was good/had high impact was IBO. wow it's almost as tho the original anti-war themes and the high desperation of children feeling hopeless fighting adult war in metaphors for nuclear arms resonate w audiences? almost like heavy criticisms of capitalism and war are also emotionally evocative? and making G Witch start out at a school to make it enjoyable for a broader audience made it EVEN MORE universally appealing, and showing the protagonists fight for each other and love each other despite war only added to it. like OFC it would be popular but bandai rly said hmm idk if we can make money off of this and gave it the span of 1 traditional season, and rushed the hell out of the ending, didn't produce much merch design for fans and went full homophobe despite all the creators and seiyu's talking about suletta and miorne's love and *canonical* marriage to eachother?
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daisukoth · 1 month
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Sad news today: the Iida Zoo has just announced that unfortunately Ryu, the albino tanuki who has appeared in some Gundam Witch memes, has passed away from natural causes a week ago.
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image source: @KYuriel
I thought it would be appropriate to finally make a post telling a bit about him
Ryu-kun was a male tanuki from the Iida Zoo, his age is unknown, but he was taken in as a rescue in 2017, and so he has been 7 years in Iida Zoo, the average lifespan for a wild tanuki. He lived with 2 other tanuki in his enclosure, 2 sisters: Poko-chan and Marupoko-chan. There are a lot of pics of Ryu bonding with the sisters. Some images, like the previous one, have trended and become memes. Poko-chan(dark mask) is a tomboy, and liked to fight Ryu-kun at first. While Marupoko-chan(faded mask) is more sweet, and likes to follow her sister around. The sisters were both very affectionate with him
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Poko-chan, Ryu-kun and Marupoko-chan first image source, second image source, third image source
Hopefully they will not suffer too much from grief.. Tanuki have quite strong bonds...
... To lighten up a little more, a fun fact about their relationship: the tanuki humping him in this meme that has been going around-
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image source
Is Poko-chan, one of the female tanuki living with him. This behavior seems to have been a habit of hers lol. She was not actually his mate at the time of the pics either, lol. although they seem to have become mates in 2023.
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image source 1, image source 2
Anyways, i wanna end this post raising awareness about Iida Zoo's 70th anniversary crowdfunding campaign. They're facing various issues in the Zoo, and need money to improve the animals' environment. The campaign is gonna last until September 30th, and their target is 1,000,000 yen. Please help them out if possible.
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gremoria411 · 6 months
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How to get into Gundam
Because fuck it, I was gonna do one of these sooner or later anyway.
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So you want to know what this Gundam thing’s about, maybe you like the mecha design, maybe you caught part of an episode one time and want to catch up, or maybe you saw a nice piece of Chamuro fanart and want to go to the source.
But there’s so many shows and timelines that it can be quite daunting on first look, so this guide is intended to give a rough overview.
I would however like to stress two four things beforehand however:
This guide is not intended as “The One True Way” or anything. There’s no harm it coming into it a different way, and these are only my own opinions.
There’s nothing stopping you from just watching one show and leaving it there. You don’t have to watch every single show going, even I’ve only seen most of these, not all. Gundam typically has variations on similar themes - it’s very nice watching multiple shows because they complement one another, but it’s not necessarily required.
I am very much an insider looking out here, so let me know if there’s any details I’ve missed.
I’m not gonna recommend these on a “if you like X, then watch Y basis”, mostly because I don’t personally find genre recommendations helpful, so I’d recommend picking based on promotional material (vibes, if you will).
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I’ll be using this chart, supplied by the excellent@l-crimson-l, to illustrate everything.
Gundam as a whole can principally be divided into three sections: Universal Century (or UC), the Alternate Universes (AU’s) and the Build Series.
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The AU’s are below the light blue line, near the bottom of the Chart, the Build Series is within the bright green line at the top-right corner of the chart and UC is the big line in the middle. We’ll talk about each of them individually.
The AU’s
The Alternate Universes were conceived as a way to get away from the continuity-heavy nature of Universal Century and provide an easy jumping-on point for new fans. The AU’s are standalone and require no prior knowledge, and are thus an excellent place to start. Honestly, I’d recommend quickly searching some promotional materials (like posters) and just going with the one you find most appealing based on that. They are (in production order):
Mobile Fighter G Gundam (1994)
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (1995)
After War Gundam X (1996)
Turn A Gundam (1999)
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (2002)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2007)
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011)
Gundam: Reconguista in G (2014)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans (2015)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (2022)
There’s side series and movies and other things besides, but these are the mainline shows, if you will. I have specific notes on a few of them:
Witch From Mercury - It’s of a shorter length than is usual for mainline shows, so consequently it’s a much smaller time investment than the others.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam - While undeniably rad as hell, I would recommend watching another AU first. G Gundam differs from its stablemates in a few key areas, and I find it helps to have a contrast to fully appreciate those differences.
Gundam AGE - is probably the only one I wouldn’t recommend. I didn’t like the art style and the technical explanations just got on my nerves, so I stopped watching.
Turn A and G-Reconguista are technically part of UC as well, but it’s not really crucial information so don’t feel like you have to watch UC first (I’m only including this detail for completionism).
I’ve found all the AU’s I’ve seen to be pretty good, so I’d say that which one you start with really just comes down to personal taste.
The Build Series
Is just kind of doing its own thing. The Build series is basically Buy Our Toys: the series. It’s got a far lighter tone, and I’ve had cause to compare it to pokemon prior. It’s also chock full of references and in-jokes to the other series.
Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try are the ones I’d recommend - they’ve got actual stakes and the fight scenes are really good.
Build Divers and Build Divers Re:rise I can’t recommend - I just find Build Divers aggressively boring. Build Divers Re:Rise is just okay - neither standout good or particularly bad. Its main flaw is that it’s a sequel to Build Divers.
The OVA’s are pretty much bad across the board - I’d particularly recommend avoiding Gundam Build Metaverse.
Universal Century
Universal Century is the big main timeline of Gundam, and is the timeline the original Mobile Suit Gundam from 1979 takes place in. There’s a tendency among certain fans to place UC as the one-above-all of Gundam, but I wouldn’t really go that far. It’s all pretty good, but I wouldnt really say one timeline is better than another (save personal preference, anyway).
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Because UC is so big, it can be subdivided a couple times. The primary division is “Mainline” UC versus everything else. Basically there’s four-five shows in Universal Century from which everything else flows. As long as you know roughly what happens in these shows, then you can watch basically anything else in UC and have a good idea of what’s going on. These are (in order):
Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) - sometimes called Mobile Suit Gundam 0079.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)
With Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010) as a nominal fifth (honestly I feel like you could argue either way).
The rest of the shows are:
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989 Three-Episode OVA)
Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991 Movie)
Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991 Thirteen-episode OVA)
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1999 Twelve-episode OVA)
G-Saviour (2000 Live Action Movie) - nobody ever talks about or acknowledges this one, it’s just here for completionism.
Mobile Suit Gundam MS Igloo (2004-2009 Three OVA’s with three Episodes each)
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2015 Six-Episode OVA, adapted from the Manga of the same name)
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (2015 Eight-Episode Series, adapted from the Manga of the same name)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight Axis (2017 episode, adapted from a light novel of the same name. Later rereleased as Gundam Twilight Axis Red Trace, with additional footage)
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative (2018 sequel movie to Gundam Unicorn)
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway (2021 ongoing movie series, very much adapted from the novel Hathaway’s Flash)
Most of the other series relate to events in the aforementioned “mainline” shows in some way, but a lot of the sidestories set during the One Year War require very little introduction (Thunderbolt, 0080 and 08th MS Team). Similarly, works set in “Late UC” (F91 and Victory Gundam) carry on from the other series thematically but don’t have any plot connections, so they can all be watched without any background knowledge of the rest of the Universal Century.
Compilation Movies
Just a quick note here - many of the Gundam series have compilation movies, where either a whole series or part of one are compressed down into a movie. While each movie compares differently, they usually boil down to this: Compilation Movies usually have worse pacing, but really nice animation.
One of the great things about Gundam is that different shows offer variations on themes, so seeing how different characters react to similar situations, or how different settings change their approaches can make it incredibly rewarding.
I haven’t seen enough of SD Gundam to make any sort of recommendations there, and Manga is something I might touch on another day.
EDIT: Oh hey also: You can watch a good chunk of these on YouTube, for free, officially. The Official Gundam.Info YouTube channel rotates the series shown on its channel periodically. I think it’s got F91 and SEED on there currently? But it’s had Wing, 00 and Witch From Mercury before. Also all of the Build Fighters series are there.
So yeah, that’s a thing.
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wereblossoms · 2 years
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Gundam: The Witch from Mercury + the words of Meti-ten-Ryo, swordmaster (Kill Six Billion Demons)
Quotes and links to sources below the cut.
‘Behold! The awesome fires of God. The limitless power of pure creation itself. Look carefully! Observe how it is used for the same purpose a man might use an especially sharp rock.’ - Meti-ten-Ryo, King of Swords 6:57
‘If you wanted the rat to live, you should have been prepared to strike down your classmate on the spot - with every last ounce of your might.’ - Meti-ten-Ryo, King of Swords 6:58
‘A swordsman is at his most natural state when he thinks of nothing at all. Thoughtlessness is the natural state of things, and thinking is probably the biggest mistake of amateurs. By completely disavowing use of that pesky organ in your skull all that is left is the hard and old nerves in the body that think about deep and consequential things such as survival. They know exactly what to do, and they are smarter than you. You become a completely naturalistic and comfortable animal, who’s only motivation is the killing impulse.’ - Meti-ten-Ryo, King of Swords 10:158
‘To train with the sword, first master sweeping. When you have mastered sweeping, you must master the way of drawing water. Once you have learned how to draw water, you must split wood. Once you have split wood, you must learn the arts of finding the fine herbs in the forest, the arts of writing, the arts of paper making, and poetry writing. You must become familiar with the awl and the pen in equal measure. When you have mastered all these things you must master building a house. Once your house is built, you have no further need for a sword, since it is an ugly piece of metal and its adherents idiots.’ - Meti’s Sword Manual: Mastering the Sword [5], Kill Six Billion Demons 4:80
‘I hope that by reading this manual, you will be thoroughly encouraged to become a farmer.’ - Meti’s Sword Manual: Argument [10], Kill Six Billion Demons 4:78
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adracat · 1 year
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Schwarzette: The Goat in The Room
With the mystery of Aerial solved and Pharact sidelined by the plot, we can't help but wonder about the remaining and newest gundam. Who will pilot, and why does it look like a weird goat person with horns and hooves?
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The first thing that comes to mind is the tales of witches and ritualistic goat sacrifice. Ominous but I don't quiite think that's the intended message. If we peer deeper into witchcraft, mysticism, and the animal itself, a diffent pattern is revealed.
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The goat was one of man's first domesticated creatures and is oft associated with mysticism, nature, and myth. But it's also a deeply motherly animal, hyper vigilant and caring to their young. Studies have shown, goat mother's do not forget their children. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2012.0986
Goat milk itself is easier to digest than cow milk for children. It's common to find stories of adopted children nursed by goats. Like the story of Amalthea and Zeus--
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The goat is a wild and motherly creature, and was only demonized later as servants of devils/demons for their cloven hooves/horns. Naturally, the animal was linked to witches because of this. Yet witches are wild and inherently symbols of feminine power themselves.
Now why do I think this is significant?
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Because GWitch is deliberately associating goats and motherhood. Ep19 sees Suletta, following the rebirth imagery in 18 and her mother's abandonment, regain strength from Tycho's milk. Tycho the goat is her Amalthea. Since it's doubtful Prospera weaned her as a baby, this might be the first time she's drank from a living creature's teat.
Let's return to Schwarzette, a powerful name and stature but one that sounds unmistakably feminine. Then link its goat coloring and design, this is blatantly a witch's mobile suit but also a motherly one. When we remember Notrette, a mother with a similar sounding name and a direct call to the Giantess Nott from norse myth (yet another mother personifying night) the tie is strengthened. The halo surrounding its head is another interesting visual cue, bringing to mind martydom/angelic protection.
*Another point, the Schwarzette horns are explicitly that of a female. The steep incline, lack of curve, and wide gap indicate this.
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I can't help but think this read is intended considering we might see Suletta pilot Schwarzette to reach Miorine.
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After all, goat mothers do not forget their children.
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Five underappreciated anime that I would recommend!
1. Canaan (2009)
This is, from what I understand, an adaptation of a side-story chapter for the visual novel series 428: Shibuya Scramble, guest-written by Nasu Kinoko and guest-illustrated by Takeuchi Takashi. That is to say, the Type-Moon guys — the creators of Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, and the now-legendary Fate/Stay Night. However, Canaan doesn’t take place in the Type-Moon shared universe(s), since it’s for another company’s property.
That being said, the anime adaptation is quite comprehensible on its own terms, likely due to the adaptation being written by the prolific and highly skilled screenwriter Okada Mari (Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season, Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Maquia). Her writing imbues the narrative with enough emotional intensity to make up for the occasionally-convoluted nature of the plot, and the backstories of the characters are hinted at just enough so that the viewer can understand their relevance, without taking up too much precious screen time. It can be a little hard to follow at points, but I ended up understanding it decently well anyway.
The production values are very high indeed, due to the anime being produced by P.A. Works, and directed by Andoh Masahiro (Sword of the Stranger, Hanasaku Iroha, O Maidens In Your Savage Season). The action animation is consistently stunning, the characters are beautifully expressive, and the overall look of the show is fantastic.
And the voice acting is an absolute treat, with the lead role of Canaan herself taken by Sawashiro Miyuki, the antagonist role of Alphard taken by Sakamoto Maaya, and Nanjou Yoshino in the role of Oosawa Maria, the POV character for a lot of the story. The supporting voice cast is packed with talent too — Hamada Kenji, Tanaka Rie, Nakata Jouji, Tomatsu Haruka, Hirata Hiroaki, Noto Mamiko, and even Ootsuka Akio in a minor role!
The premise is sort of a science fiction type of thing, but set in the (quasi-)contemporary location of 2000s China, where outside of the sci-fi conceit, the setting is largely realistic. The tone and mood is mostly that of an action thriller, with some nail-biting suspense here and there, but there are some beautifully soft and tender moments as well — often involving Canaan and Maria. Yes, folks, this has yuri in it, although it’s (strongly) subtextual.
Anyway, I would recommend this to people who love Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, and probably also Cowboy Bebop.
2. Tetsuwan Birdy OVAs (1996)
This is distinct from the later adaptation of the original Tetsuwan Birdy (Birdy the Mighty) manga, called Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, which came out in the late 2000s — this one came out in 1996 and was produced by Studio Madhouse in their prime.
The main characters are Senkawa Tsutomu (voiced by Iwanaga Tetsuya), a hapless teenager who gets accidentally killed(!) by an alien spaceship on his way to school one day, and Birdy Cephon Altirra (voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono), a human-looking alien and an intergalactic government agent who saves Tsutomu by merging her body with his. Effectively, they become two people in one body, which can shift between the forms of Birdy and Tsutomu…. except Birdy still needs to deal with all the rogue aliens who threaten the safety of the galaxy, while Tsutomu needs to study for his high school entrance exams. From what I’ve been told, the premise is fairly reminiscent of Ultraman and other classic tokusatsu series.
It’s four tight episodes of classic ‘90s OVA goodness, with a fun and slightly silly sci-fi concept that is nonetheless wrung for some surprisingly effective drama at times. The main thrust of it, though, is action comedy — and it definitely delivers on that front. The fight scenes are superbly animated, including some early-career work from now-legendary animator Suzuki Norimitsu, and the character designs by Takahashi Kumiko (Witch Hunter Robin, Snow White with the Red Hair, Cardcaptor Sakura) are amazingly expressive. Birdy’s striking asymmetrical design is a particular favourite of mine. The direction by Kawajiri Yoshiaki (Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D) is solid, and the writing is quite serviceable despite the brevity and premise.
Overall, I wouldn’t say it’s much of an intellectual watch, but if you just want a fun action-comedy ride with an extremely charismatic female protagonist and stunning animation quality, Tetsuwan Birdy is likely to be your jam. I’d recommend it to people who enjoy classic tokusatsu series, the original ‘90s Sailor Moon anime, and the less-depressing parts of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
3. Noir (2001)
This anime series is perhaps not as underappreciated as the others on this list, but I do still feel that not enough people have seen it. It was made by the studio Bee Train, and it’s the first entry in their so-called “Girls with Guns” trilogy (which isn’t actually a coherent trilogy, since they’re three different stories). The series was made right at the end of the cel-anime era, before the transition to digital colouring and compositing, so the masters were shot on film, but it was also made at the beginning of the slow transition to widescreen TV broadcasts, so it’s one of the very rare cel anime that’s in 16:9. This allows for a beautifully detailed look that, IMO, serves to offset the occasionally-limited animation and the frequent re-use of footage.
The premise is basically “secret assassins in France are caught up in weird intrigue and conspiracies”; as such, there’s a lot of very fun gunplay and kickass fight scenes, but also a lot of suspense and mystery. The writing is a little bit slipshod at times, but it ends up holding together, and the characters and (especially) the fantastically moody vibe make the show worth watching.
The characters are imbued with a lot of life and colour, both by their extremely attractive designs and by their voice actors’ wonderful performances. Mireille Bouquet, a young Corsican assassin and one of the two protagonists, is voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono; Yuumura Kirika, the other main protagonist who is a Japanese schoolgirl who has seemingly lost all her memories (but not her exceptional assassin skills), is voiced by Kuwashima Houko; and the mysterious Chloe, who shows up partway through the show, is voiced by Hisakawa Aya. There are definite yuri vibes between Mireille and Kirika, but as with Canaan, it’s all subtextual.
The main draw of the show, though, is its phenomenal soundtrack, courtesy of Kajiura Yuki (.hack//Sign, Kara no Kyoukai, Fate/Zero, Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer) in her very first anime scoring gig. It’s at times propulsive, at times dark and moody, at times beautifully serene, at times melancholy and nostalgic — and it’s utterly memorable.
I would recommend Noir to anyone who likes Canaan, Witch Hunter Robin, Ghost in the Shell, or anyone who just wishes that James Bond were a woman.
4. Flip Flappers (2016)
This anime was produced at Studio 3Hz and directed by Oshiyama Kiyotaka, in a dazzling yet underappreciated directorial debut that was presaged by his impressive animation work on Dennou Coil, Space Dandy, A Letter to Momo, The Secret World of Arietty, and The Wind Rises. Owing to this extremely solid animation background, Oshiyama was able to recruit a lot of prime animation talent for Flip Flappers, and it definitely shows in the stunning sakuga of the wild action sequences that pepper the show’s narrative.
While the fantastic animation is a key draw of this show, the sheer creativity in the worldbuilding, conceptual, and visual design spheres also contribute to its inimitably psychedelic look and feel. The landscapes of the worlds contained in Pure Illusion — the dream-realm that the protagonists enter each episode at the behest of a mysterious scientific organisation — and of the “real” world are whimsical, storybook-like, and slightly “off” in a slightly unsettling but compelling way.
The dreamlike atmosphere pervades the narrative as well — very little about the mechanics of the world is specified out loud, relying heavily on symbolism and visual storytelling to do the heavy lifting for the audience’s understanding. This might be a turn-off for audiences who prefer to have things spelled out for them clearly, but the point of this story is not always to make perfect logical sense, but rather to work on an emotional and metaphorical level. And work, it certainly does.
The episodic structure involving the various worlds of Pure Illusion explores the concept of the Umwelt (the individual sensory “world” of a person or organism), as well as some Jungian concepts and archetypes, in order to express the strange and sometimes-scary developmental stage of adolescence. The characters of Cocona (voiced by Takahashi Minami) and Papika (voiced by Ichimichi Mao) undergo a metaphorical and literal puberty, a coming-of-age similar in some ways to that experienced by the protagonist of FLCL, but with significantly more yuri. In fact, this show has the most outright yuri of any of the anime on this list. But that isn’t very strange for what is essentially a psychedelic magical-girl show: lots of magical-girl anime seem to include homoerotic vibes in some form or another, from Sailor Moon to Nanoha to Madoka.
There are some minor flaws in the storytelling towards the end, IMO, but overall it’s a wonderfully impactful emotional journey to watch Flip Flappers. Plus, the OP and ED are both extraordinarily catchy tunes that I’ve found myself humming on many an occasion.
I’d recommend this anime to anyone who loves weird magical-girl stuff, weird yuri, and/or amazing action animation.
5. Claymore (2007)
An adaptation of the manga by Yagi Norihiro, this anime is considered by many to simply be “basic”, or at least simply “inferior to the manga”. Now. I haven’t read the original Claymore manga (yet! I plan to eventually), but I found this anime to be compelling nonetheless. And if it really is the case that the manga is better, then I definitely look forward to diving in.
Having been produced by Studio Madhouse in the mid-2000s, it’s unsurprising that the vast majority of this anime was outsourced to Korean animation studio DR Movie, a longtime powerhouse subcontractor for both Japanese and American animation alike. That said, the direction of Tanaka Hiroyuki (director of a portion of Hellsing Ultimate and frequent close collaborator of Attack on Titan director Araki Tetsurou) remains sharp, compensating for the sometimes-limited animation with good storyboarding and a strong sense of mood and atmosphere.
Another aspect of Claymore which helps make up for the occasional visual shortcomings is the soundtrack by Takumi Masanori. The compositions are a mix of harder rock and electronic elements with a strong orchestral backbone, as befits a dark-fantasy setting and mood — the faster pieces are edgy and propulsive, very appropriate for the bloody action scenes, and the calmer pieces have a melancholic beauty to them that sticks in one’s memory. I wish the soundtrack were on Spotify, but alas, it is not.
The other sonic element that helps this anime out immensely is its absolutely STACKED voice cast. The main character, Clare, is voiced by Kuwashima Houko, in a fantastic yet understated performance. The other main character, Raki, is voiced by the less-well-known Takagi Motoki, but nearly all the other roles — including many bit parts — are filled with industry legends. Teresa is voiced by Park Romi, Miria is voiced by Inoue Kikuko, Irene is voiced by Takayama Minami, Rubel is voiced by Hirata Hiroaki, Priscilla is voiced by Hisakawa Aya, Ophelia is voiced by Shinohara Emi, and Jean (whom I cannot help but ship with Clare: there’s so much homoerotic tension there!) is voiced by none other than Mitsuishi Kotono. Yes, they got three of the original Sailor Senshi VAs — and I don’t know why that’s funny to me, but it is. And all of the voice actors deliver killer performances.
The premise of the show, before I completely forget to explain it, is that of a dark fantasy world where demons called youma ravage human settlements, with only the titular Claymores to protect humanity. They are a guild of platinum-haired and silver-eyed warrior women who possess superhuman fighting abilities, due to the fact that they’ve been fused with youma essence, and wield the massive broadswords that give them their name. Basically, (s)he who fights monsters must become (partly) a monster to do so.
I’ve heard the vibe of Claymore compared to manga like Berserk, and I don’t know how true that is (not having read the latter for myself), but there’s certainly a lot of bleakness and monstrosity in this fantasy tale. However, the Claymore manga was published in none other than Weekly Shounen Jump, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that the story remains resolutely forward-looking, the protagonists’ arcs focussing on the power of grit, determination, true friendship and loyalty, and protection of the weak and downtrodden. It’s never cynical or sarcastic — always straightforward and sincere despite the frequent darkness of the story.
The writing is consistently solid, even through the controversial anime-original ending (the manga continues long past the point where the anime cut things off), so I’m not sure who to point to for that: Yagi Norihiro for writing the original material, or Kobayashi Yuuko (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Attack on Titan s1-3, Kakegurui, Casshern Sins) for adapting it cleanly for the screen? Either way, it made me want to read the manga to experience more of these compelling characters and their travails.
I would recommend this anime to those who enjoy Kill La Kill or RWBY, or just to those who enjoy powerful women hacking at monsters with massive weapons and making lots of blood spray out.
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witch nature gundam aka witch nature sphindam
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the princess or the queen or the empress become witch nature gundam aka witch nature sphindam.
animal nickname: lady.
gundam name: witch nature gundam aka witch nature sphindam.
gundam show: gundam witch nature.
gundam apparance color: white snow ice frost flower plant tree oragnic metallic scale skin body, white rabbit ear antnna, white fur hair, white torn leaf flower neck frill, white butterfly angel wings, white/blue/aqua cyan horn wing cheek, white/blue/aqua cyan sd gundam eyes, blue/aqua cyan hand claws, blue/aqua cyan feet claws, blue/aqua cyan unicorn deer dragon horn, blue/aqua cyan leaf shaped tail spike, blue/aqua cyan scale skin belly, white/blue/aqua cyan gundam helmet, white/blue/aqua cyan collar necklace, white/blue/aqua cyan saddle chest, white/blue/aqua cyan tail ring.
model based: sphindam, gundam, witch, magician, wizard, druid, princess, queen, empress, mother nature.
personality: she is a nice peaceful ruler queen dragon who keep the nature safe from the danger, she see her specie are getting hunting by hunters or kaijus are like, she use the light ice magic power to protect her specie of nature, that is why she want to make peace with others.
weapons: light ice plant sword, light ice plant shield, light ice plant spear, light ice plant shuriken, light ice plant kunai, light ice plant rose web whip tentacles, light ice plant dragoon, light ice plant beam orb chest, light ice plant hand claws, light ice plant feet claws, light ice plant horns.
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pencil-peach · 8 months
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G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 22
Welcome back to Part 23 of my Episode by Episode analysis of G Witch and its onscreen text. We're on Episode 22: The Woven Path.
<< If you forgot, Episode 21 will remind you of What You Can Do Now Or you can go to the Masterpost.
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It's the dawn of a New World.
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After Quiet Zero decimates the League's second attack, we get this brief display of it's current system report.
TEXT: (Lefthand side) - Link Strength with Aerial currently
(Middle) System Report -Permet Inversion Reactor STATUS:
Permet fluctuation reduced to [???]
Topological heat exchange catalyst replenished
Permet inversion reactor output decreased to 61%
Permet field stabilization in progress
(Righthand side) - Link Strength with Gundnodes currently
Lots of Permet based terms here that we might never fully understand...like what is "Permet inversion..?" Ahhh...I wanna know...
I wonder what the story is of the other staff members operating Quiet Zero are. Were they Shin Sei employees? I personally believe they were surviving members of Vanadis who were off base when the incident occurred like Bel, and who sympathized with Prospera's aims.
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It's sweet of Guel to check up on Miorine, but I think even he knows he can't do anything for her now. She needs her wife....
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The news report Rouji presents is from PNB, and the headline is:
Massive data storm, large number of GUND-type MS detected around mysterious Quiet Zero - Assembly League fleet devastated, evacuation warnings issued over wide area. - Suspicions that mastermind may be Benerit Group insider or [renegade?] "witch."
It seems that nobody is aware of who's really behind Quiet Zero, and a "witch" being behind it is merely speculative. That would explain why Shaddiq was able to take the blame for the crime in the Epilogue.
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The bench where Suletta and 5lan have their talk (Left) is the same bench where El4n was supposed to meet her for their second date (Right).
We also learn in this scene that Suletta's wish list was actually just a bunch of stuff her mom suggested for her to do, and she just decided to go along with it for some reason. Even the things she "wanted" to do weren't wholly things she decided to do for herself.
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Another thing that's interesting is that in this scene, wind is blowing. Asticassia is a closed environment, so there's no natural wind. It has to be produced by a strong force. In this scene, the wind begins blowing when Suletta affirms that she wants to stop Prospera and Eri, so I like to imagine that the strength of Suletta's will is what's causing the wind to blow.
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I've already made a post discussing Guel and Suletta's final duel at length, but in brief, I think it's clear that at this point, Guel's duel with Suletta isn't about Miorine at all. I think it's about proving to himself whether he was truly a match for Suletta.
Guel and Suletta are rivals, in that they have the most onscreen duels with each other, and Guel's main motivation throughout the series is catching up with her.
But despite that, not a single one of their duels was ever fought evenly. One of them always had an unfair advantage, or there was some kind of outside interference on the outcome. And so, especially after the outcome of their last duel, Guel still isn't truly sure if he's caught up with her strength yet. And so this duel is the only one fought on perfectly even ground. No outside help, no interference. Just a pure one on one fight, to truly prove which of them is stronger.
And if you want to know why they chose fencing of all things, it's a reference to Char Aznable and Ray Amuro's fencing duel from the original Mobile Suit Gundam (Left).
On the whole, I can understand why some people might not like this duel (it's very out of left field) but personally, I like it, and I think it's an important conclusion to their rivalry, which was established in the first episode. I think it's just another victim of the absolute lack of time the series had to properly wrap up all its threads.
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Suletta and Miorine's second heart to heart share some parallels/inversions to their first, so I will chronicle them here. (The first one is that their first heart to heart was in Episode 11, and their second is in Episode 22. Hehehoo !)
Firstly, the most obvious inversion is which of the girls is in pain. In Episode 11, it was Suletta, and now, it's Miorine.
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Both girls believe, for one reason or another, that they've made a terrible mistake, and have receded into themselves as a result. Suletta believed that she was mistaken about her place in her friends lives, and should never have come to the school. Miorine blames herself for the tragedies at Quinharbor and Quiet Zero, and believes all of the choices she's made up till then were wrong.
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In both cases, the other girl shares something personal about herself, and tells her that it's only because they met each other that that they don't have to keep running anymore.
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At the end of their first heart to heart, Miorine refused to let Suletta see her cry, but at the end of their second, Miorine reveals herself to her fully messy and vulnerable, a sign of her complete trust in Suletta.
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Their first heart to heart began with Suletta opening the door for Miorine, while their second ended with Miorine opening it for Suletta.
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In the end, it's not violence that allows Suletta to rescue Miorine. It's love.
And while there (STILL!!!) unfortunately isn't an official release of EITHER track, the BGM that's playing during Episode 22's heart to heart is a soft piano cover of Season 2's opening, "Slash." This is a parallel to Episode 12's scene where Prospera manipulates Suletta, in which a soft piano cover of Season 1's opening, "Shukufuku" plays.
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When Miorine and Suletta reunite with the rest of Earth House, the door they're standing in front of is numbered "7007." At the beginning of last episode, Felsi calls Guel about Petra from a similar looking hallway, and if you look closely, you can also see a door behind them with the plate number "7007." It's the same hallway, and I like to imagine the Earth House kids were there to see Petra, who might even be in that room.
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Sometimes your father is a horrible terrible no good deadbeat sack of shit and you'll never forgive him.
And sometimes, he's still your dad.
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Here's a quick visual reminder of the units at Plant Quetta that Prospera needs for Quiet Zero to operate at maximum capacity (Left). I wonder if these were internal or external units...probably internal.
It seems that Quiet Zero was being developed in (at least) 2 separate locations, and in their haste, Prospera and Godoy weren't able to retrieve the units before launching it proper. Hohn hohn hohn...
It makes you wonder though, what would Quiet Zero look like at full capacity? Probably woulda been scary.
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Rolls up my sleeves
(Left, Top to Bottom) Quiet Zero - Current status summary
MOBILITY - After restart, movement velocity of enemy basepoint is predicted to increase - Velocity of each enemy MS also predicted to increase by average of 37% - Evasive Maneuvers of main unit will be complex
DEFENSIVE FUNCTIONS - Strong air defense barrier confirmed around Quiet Zero main unit, making it difficult to approach - Defense barrier strength 67942049 - Very difficult to invade domain while mutual defenses of basepoint and MS are linked
(Right, Top to Bottom)
WIDE-AREA DATA STORM CONTROL FUNCTIONS - Expands data storm domain and stabilizes it over a wide area - Domain is predicted to expand further in future
DATA STORM DOMAIN - 60%
PERMET DISPERSAL SYSTEMS - Permet dispersal index exceeds 200 - Permet density x 27.1 - Density increase is accelerating
REINFORCED LINKAGE BETWEEN QUIET ZERO MAIN UNIT AND GUNDNODES - Increases interconnectedness of overall enemy - Each MS appears to become a sub basepoint - Basepoint and all Gundnodes are linked - Link multiplexing confirmed, jamming impossible
A quick look into an analysis of Quiet Zero's systems. There's not much to say other than this really is an apocalyptic device. Interesting to note though is that even without the necessary units, Quiet Zero's capabilities are naturally increasing, presumably because Eri is slowly getting better at operating it.
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In case you were curious, here's the description of the Demi Barding's Baori Pack, which allows it to operate without Permet Links
(Baori Pack) - Can be configured with various optional equipment evolved from the 'Daedalus' multi-tool system, an exclusive expendable stand-alone pack equipped with flight unit functions. - Can also be separated from the main unit...
The 'Daedalus' multi tool system...interessante...
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In this scene, Guel expresses his concerns for Suletta's wellbeing to Miorine, only to be met with a confident gaze from her, an expression of her belief in and respect of Suletta's choice (Left). It's similar to the scene from Episode 9, where, in response to Shaddiq's concern, Suletta responds with a confident gaze of her own, affirming her belief in Miorine (Right).
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When Miorine confronts Shaddiq, she asks him to believe in her, to which he breaks out into laughter. Maybe he's finally realized where he went wrong. Shaddiq cared a lot about Miorine, but despite it all, he never once trusted her. Not with her own company, not with her choice in Suletta, not with the future, not even with her autonomy.
If he had looked beyond his own ideals, if he had reached out and truly trusted her, saw her as an equal rather than something that needed to be protected, then maybe things would have turned out differently.
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I won't bore you with transcribing the text from Suletta's flashback about uncovering the hidden message for Miorine from Notrette, but when Rouji decodes it, HARO uses the "Ytk-7791 Format" sequence to decode it.
Also, I'm a little obsessed with how Suletta is with Secelia and Rouji in this flashback. It occurred at some point within the ~10 days between Ep 20 - 21, and I wish we got an entire episode about it because I would love to know what lead up to this specific pairing...not to mention the dynamic....ARGH WHY DIDNT THIS SHOW GET MORE EPISODES FUCK !!!
Anyway, the interesting thing about the hidden message is that the Code actually follows a consistent pattern, so if you know the conversion rules, you can create your own messages. I'm sure it's already been done, but I went ahead and made a table deducing the conversions
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I used the codes we see on the tablet and on the Quiet Zero terminal to intuit the letters we don't see.
The code is split between lowercase and uppercase versions of letters, starting with lowercase a as AAA.
If an acid sequence has a single asterisk (*), that means we don't specifically see that letter in the show, but was confidently intuited using the surrounding letters that we do now.
In the case of the punctuation, there was no real way to intuit the order, so those have two asterisks (**), indicating that I simply made my best guesses for placement.
'CGG' functions as a blank space between words.
So, for example, if you wanted to write, "I love you, Suletta." The code would be:
GTCCGGAGTATGCCCACACGGCGAATGCCACTACGGTCTCCAAGTCATCATAAACGT
In terms of numbers, we see on Rouji's monitor that the Number Table is separate from the Alphabet table, starting at 0 with AAA. (We know this because the screen shows both the Number Table and Prime Number Table, and by comparing the two, we see that AAG has to be 2.)
I think one day I'll try and code a tool that lets you convert messages to the code and vice versa, if you ever feel like letting your betrothed know you love them through. Nucleic Acid Sequences.
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You don't need me to tell you how the scene with Suletta in Calibarn is a parallel to Elnora in Lfirth from the Prologue, but you might not have caught just how many of the shots are directly referenced.
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But in the Prologue, Cardo Nabo refused to let Elnora make the choice to hurt herself for everyone else's wellbeing by raising the Permet Score, whereas Miorine, despite feeling that same concern, allows Sulleta to make that choice. (The moment when Suletta clears score five and Miorine bursts into tears...she was so worried...she was so afraid.......AGHHH)
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Calibarn's entrance into Quiet Zero's data storm is a reference to Full Armor Unicorn's entrance in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
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Sibling fights....
It seems the end is nigh. Is love strong enough to overcome all adversity?? Who knows...
To find out, Click here to go to Episode 23 >> Or maybe the Masterpost could remind you.
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jumpstreamer · 8 months
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MASK MONDAYS EPISODE 2: PROSPERA MERCURY
Welcome back to week 2 of Mask Mondays! You thought I wouldn't do it, but I did. And when I say "you" here, I mean "me."
For any tag browsers, I have recently resolved to analyze a different mask, helmet, or headgear-adorned fictional character every Monday until I quit this website forever. I'll be real: Returning to Tumblr after two years' break has been quite the balancing act. It's addictive in a particularly draining way, and reconciling that has taken a lot of energy I would rather have spent on research. Therefore, this week I'll be discussing a character who I already have strong and well-informed opinions about: Prospera Mercury, the principal antagonist of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury.
Okay, folks, let's be on the level here. What the fuck? Why does no one ever talk about Prospera? I know the show is popular here, it's what pushed me to watch it in the first place. Everyone loves posting fanart and talking about how endearing the protagonists are. But there's NO ATTENTION PAID to Prospera Mercury? Compelling arc and presence of character aside, I would've assumed the tall evil lady in the business suit would've been enough for a ton of people. Something is certainly amiss.
What bothers me most about this situation is that Prospera Mercury is arguably the most well-realized character in her show. As a text, the Witch From Mercury has strong opinions about Gundam, The Tempest, and the world at large, and all of them are brought together by its antagonist. Prospera Mercury is an absolute well of material, far more than can be covered in a single post. So while I'll be returning to her later, I want to spend this week laying down foundations: If you'll allow me, I'll be trying to prove once and for all that The Witch From Mercury isn't just using The Tempest as set dressing.
Named after Gundam 0079 antagonist Char Aznable, the "Char clone" is perhaps the most ubiquitous concept in its franchise. Almost every Gundam show, film, and OVA contains a morally ambiguous masked antagonist who challenges the hero's moral principles while maintaining a complex and terse relationship with the villainous faction. The Witch from Mercury too adopts this concept, but twists it to say something truly controversial. Prospera Mercury, the text argues, is not a Char Aznable clone. Char Aznable is a Prospero of Milan clone.
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It's no revelation that The Witch From Mercury is loosely based off William Shakespeare's "The Tempest," but understanding why this choice is so important requires a summary of its principal antagonist. The antivillainous sorcerer Prospero is a natural talent and skilled manipulator unjustly exiled from his place of birth. As he grows in ability, he is overtaken by resentment and dedicates himself to exacting revenge. He executes a grand plan that goes off nearly perfectly, but when on the verge of total success, Prospero has a change of heart. Realizing that bettering the future is more important than staying in the past, he steps down, relinquishing his power to the new generation.
To dispose with subtlety, Char's character arc in the original Gundam series is nearly identical to Prospero's. There's a reason Prospera is closer to Char in terms of motivation and role than any other Char clone before her: She's channeling the primordial Char from which they all descend!
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Insane as this sentence sounds, Prospera Mercury's position as Char clone manifests Prospero's flaws in ways other adaptations couldn't possibly emulate. Take Prospera's willingness to shatter personal bonds in service of pointless revenge, a quality unmistakable in Char, but quite well-hidden in Prospero. Prospero treats Ariel (yes, telling the names apart will get annoying) as an equal all throughout The Tempest, yet takes for granted that Ariel's freedom comes second to punishing Antonio and Alonso. Similarly, despite the two sharing a strong platonic bond if not a romantic one, Char is more than willing to send Garma to die if it means twisting the knife in the Zabi family's side. Robert Egan's "This Rough Magic: Perspectives of Art and Morality in The Tempest," a woefully undercited article despite being over fifty years old, summarizes the magician's moral perspective as follows:
"[A]n acknowledgement of evil as part of the natural condition of man is unacceptable to Prospero. His years of seclusion in his library have instilled in him a moral perspective rooted not in the real world but in the ideals of his art... In short, he rejects the sinner with the sin" (176)
In this lens, the actions of both Prospera and Char make perfect sense; any who divert from their morality deserves punishment by default, and any who agree would readily give their all to strike back at the wickedness in the world.
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Prospero, Prospera, and Char all also share a deep hypocrisy that is literally worn on the latter two parties' faces. Yes, after who knows how many paragraphs, it's finally time to talk about the mask. Despite being well aware that the system she participated in does not value human life, Prospera rebels against it not by joining forces with its opponents, but by acting as a model citizen with the goal of dismantling it from the inside. Char, obviously, embraces an identical practice, as does, I wish to argue, Prospero.
Intriguingly, Gundam's interpretation of "working within the system" does not hinge upon a pragmatic argument, as so many real-world political treatises have done, but an ethical one. Char and Prospera successfully co-opt Zeon and the Benerit group to suit their needs, but in doing so, adopt the practices that made these so abhorrent in the first place. When given the chance to ally with the Earthians or the Mercurian working class that took her in, Prospera instead embraces the mask of the corporate elite and becomes the usurper she despises.
After so bluntly accentuating Prospera's hypocritical and egotistical tendencies, The Witch From Mercury almost demands the viewer to interrogate its source material in search of parallels. And indeed, Prospero's most academically well-treaded moral failings (most of which involve Caliban) without exception find their origin in his resolve to serve as a king and judge on the island where he could not in Milan.
I have a lot more to talk about with Prospera (I have been intentionally avoiding discussing her relationships with Eri and Suletta), but my ass is running out of time and I'm not risking another three-paragraph tangent. I probably won't make another Monday post for Prospera anytime soon, but the Mask Mondays exercise will continue, whether I like it or not!
Link to "This Rough Magic:" https://www.jstor.org/stable/2868575
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Third chapter up! Remember, bears are nature's tanks and you should not under any circumstances cross them!
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Gundam: The Witch from Mercury Season 2 Episode 11 Discussion
- Martin was me the entire episode, freaking the fuck out
- Eri vs Suletta is such a great fight. The two love each other, but their viewpoints and morals are on such opposite wavelengths. Eri, much like Suletta in the past, is doing everything for her mother because she wants her mom to be happy. The Eri we see is simply lines of code reconfigured into what could possibly be construed as a human being. She has Eri’s memories and feelings, but she hasn’t, can’t, grow up, unlike Suletta. Suletta loves her mom, she wants to be there for her, but she can’t accept killing people. She’s realized just how much heavy a life is and so she moves to protect it.
- Peil and the SAL have taken the mantle of final boss. If they really cared about punishing the Benerit Group, they would arrest the leaders, not shoot them with a giant fuck you laser while children are on board all while supporting the people who make nuclear child body doubles. The League is doing exactly what Delling did during the Vanadis incident, right down to the “I’ll take responsibility (but I really won’t)” shtick.
- However what’s interesting is how out of place Elan seems to be. He isn’t sitting down with the Peil ladies, he’s standing off in the corner, staring at his own reflection, and I think this shows a lot of us got his character wrong. Elan is just another child the Peil ladies are taking advantage of. He only got where he was due to sheer luck that the AI picked him, if not, he probably would have either ended up as the other body doubles or dead and discarded. It’s common with abusive parents that they’ll choose a “golden child” and use that child to put down the others, and Elan seems to fit in that mold. I hope he breaks out just like El5n and creates his own life.
- God the Schwarzette is the best fucking Gundam. Between it and Calibarn, how are they ever going to challenge it in the future? It has space rave lasers, it’s sword is the GUND bits and it can become a wing, and it has bisexual lighting.
- Lauda is too good for every one of his haters. He’s been second string to Guel for his entire life, his very name “Lauda Neill” is just a reminder of how he’s a mistress’s child. But here he proudly proclaims himself as “Lauda Jeturk.” His feelings for his brother come from both admiration and self-worthlessness. He puts his entire identity into being Guel’s brother so when Guel falters, he does as well. He wants Guel to rely on him. He wants to be his equal. He put Guel on such a high pedestal because he was everything he wanted to be.
- My poor son Guel. He’s always loved his brother, no matter the fact that they come from different mothers, but as always he has trouble understanding others. Also, we get to see a far darker part of his psyche that most others might have missed. In his fight with Shaddiq, despite being stabbed, he managed to eject and save himself, but here he waits for death. Guel has been keeping himself moving with the idea that his family still needs him, but once Lauda seemingly rejects him, he loses all that energy. He hasn’t recovered from the trauma and pain he’s been through, he’s only simply masked it. But in that moment, he’s perfectly fine with dying because he believes it would be better for everyone
- But best girl Felsi says fuck that! She reminds Guel and Lauda that the world is so much bigger than them, and that there are people who still care about them. They can’t ignore their problems, they need to talk through it. Lauda’s insecurity and Guel’s suicidal nature and guilt, these are things that can’t be held within or else they’ll bubble over and end in tragedy. Felsi the hero says cut the bullshit, and I love her so much for it. I need Felsi merch right now
- El5n was another MVP of the episode. I’m surprised just how talented he is with a gun and shoot outs. Does he have experience, either from his past life or current one? And the fact that he didn’t hesitate to get the head shot off of Prospera says so much. He’s ruthless because he has a purpose. He ain’t letting anyone die unnecessarily, but he also recognizes when the doing needs done
- And Belmeria really stepped up as well. She’s spent the entire series running away from the consequences of her actions but here she finally stands up and protects the children who have been abused by the system she supported. Her diving to protect Miorine from getting shot was beautiful, and you can tell El5n really appreciated the gesture.
- Miorine is the best wife. That’s it, that’s the tweet
- Right when Eri was about to merc Miorine and co, something interrupted them, and I believe it was Notrette, Miorine’s mom. We never learned how Miorine’s mom died, so it’s possible she also got sucked up into the data storm and resides in Quiet Zero, and that’s why Delling was working on the project. She also added a failsafe so her daughter could shut it down, one that speaks words of love. Mother of the year
- The fact that Eri’s final act is to protect her sister and mother is so sad. She never had the chance to grow up, she’s forever stuck in stasis inside a giant hunk of metal. Quiet Zero offered the hope that she could finally escape and travel the world as herself, but it still wouldn’t give her herself back. However, Suletta can still live on, and so she valiantly protects her from the big laser, giving one final smile to her little sister. I hope she can finally rest in peace.
- But will Prospera allow that. She’s watched her daughter die twice now. Everything she worked for, all the lives that were sacrificed, they now all mean nothing. The world has rejected her once again. Whether she can accept it and become a better mother to Suletta is to be seen, but I don’t think she’ll follow that path.
Really hoping we get that second half so I can see the Peil girls get fucking incinerated. Also can we paint the Schwarzette red and give it to Guel? Double the points if it’s revealed he’s bisexual.
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