Ozzie

I kinda think the recent episode of Doctor Who fits into this thread. What do you think about it? Big spoiler ahead:

I'm not exactly ecstatic at the thought of diving into the final version of Spacebase DF-9, not because I didn't like the previous ones, but because Hack & Slash is still a buggy mess. Past 1.0 it never received patches. I asked on the forums whether patches are still planned, but I didn't receive an answer, so I guess that's a no. A shame. It seems like Double Fine isn't able to properly finish or support their games anymore. :/

I don't understand either why Inara would fit this trope. I guess she makes herself look better than other female characters on the show, which is explained by her profession, but I don't think she is more sexualized/fits conventional beauty standards more than any of the others. And we don't see her more naked more often either, as far as I can remember. Sooo...

Clannad's the worst, you get out! I'm not honestly interested in debating the merits or lack thereof of Clannad, since it's been a long ass time since I last saw it, and I can't remember much of it anyway. Probably for the better...

Is the implication of your post that Clannad is good? Because I would question that...

I knew it! While I watched the episode I kept thinking to myself "Huh, this kinda reminds me of Mind Games". I rather loathe Mind Games though, despite it having some good scenes. I didn't find it even pleasurable on a purely aesthetic level, I thought it looked ugly most of the time. Tatami Galaxy, on the other hand, is a favorite of mine.

Knights of Sidonia. The humans are able to photosynthesize (except for the main character because he isn't part of the genetically engineered crop, so to speak), which gives the anime an excuse to showcase lots of naked ladies. Not one naked dude in sight ever, though.

Thanks for the post.

Yeah, I guess the picture is not well done, but people like it less for its execution than for the fact that it isn't gross anyway...

I think so? Intentions are an incredibly difficult thing to judge, and I don't feel comfortable always assuming the worst. I don't factcheck statements made by Gaters, I just don't trust 'em and assume they're bullshit.

I visited some GamerGate hubs and there was a thread that asked what harassment was carried out by Anti-GamerGaters. That's when I realized I don't trust any information put forth by people that associate with GamerGate. For good reason, I would say, considering all the lies that got the movement started, but surely they're not only lying, not all of them. I look at the Tumblrs that collect harassment against Gaters (http://gamergateharassment.tumblr.com, http://antigamergate.tumblr.com) and I wonder how much of it is fabricated. I think my mistrust to this degree isn't entirely justified. You can't even start to engage if you don't trust any of the information that the opposed movement shares. Maybe that's what separates us, the information we put and don't put trust in.

I haven't seen the trailer, and I don't plan to change that either. I think I got a good enough impression from what you wrote about it. So it seems to me that I would be fine with them selling the game as long as nobody buys it...

The Superman song (aka Kryptonite) by 3 Doors Down is the only song of the band I have fond feelings for, mostly because at the time I played in a cover band it was a popular choice by other cover bands that played on the same stages as we did. I don't think a recap at the end of the podcast is necessary. It deflates the flow of the podcast and we already got the show notes that serve the same purpose. I'm for more chaos and less order on Idle Thumbs. Otherwise good work! Danielle's story of her airport experience made me really feel for her. Sounded awful. :/

Was this the shortest Start to Title yet?

I dunno if you did, I need to watch more of his work post Samurai Champloo. But in Terror in Resonance I didn't feel the hand of a storytelling master involved. Well, who knows the reasons for how the animes turned out as they did and who is actually responsible for what. The process of their creation is opaque to us, and I don't want to speculate. But yes, I expected more from an anime with Watanabe's name attached to it.

It seemed to me for a long time like "with great power comes great responsibility" was already a common phrase prior to Spiderman 2. But apparently not...

Oh, ehm, nah, he will be up and running again because of this drink he drank that made him invincible and stuff, the one that this vampire gave him... yeah okay I'll spoilertag it.

Oh yeah, H&C can be quite touching and moving, despite all the overbearing exposition/flashbacks and questionable story/character elements. Like I said, waste of potential. :/ Is it just me or does this sound for the most part like something Bon Iver would record? (YouTube preview image is spoilerific in regards to Terror in Resonance)

I have to write some more about Terror in Resonance, even though I shouldn't, because it takes me a long time to formulate a post in a somewhat coherent manner. But there's still too much I have to say about it... The anime frustrates often. It could have easily been outstanding at times, were it not for seemingly easily avoidable screwups. It's probably true that Terror in Resonance doesn't offer the most original story in anime history, but I think it offers an interesting subtext at times. Take for example the hyper capable youngster terrorists. Their capability at their young age is an example of a common trope in animes. How many animes are there about high schoolers being experts about, I dunno, whatever? But in Terror in Resonance it's actually not taken for granted. Their expertise is explained. Also, it's contrasted with a girl that due circumstances stays with them for a big part of the story, which doesn't have their capabilities. For reasons she becomes involved, but she doesn't handle the tasks that are given to her particularly well. She's just "normal". Maybe she isn't even that. The anime actually depicts her as incapable of anything, as absolutely useless. At the end I started to pity her. So maybe the subtext doesn't quite work, because she's not portrayed as average, more as incapable of anything as the boys are capable of everything. She stands on the other side of the capability spectrum. One of the boys (was it Nine? let's say it was Nine) becomes romantically involved with her. Why he is attracted to her never becomes understandable. Maybe he wants to have somebody normal around, after a long time almost exclusively together with Twelve? Maybe he wants to care for her for...reasons, because she is alone and lost and he can empathize with that? The anime lets the audience guess about that. Actually, the anime is frustratingly unclear about many things. Like the whole terrorist plot. It's somewhat explained, but I can't picture the character's emotional journey that leads them to the decision to act out the plan. It's a mystery. The main characters are and remain mysteries. Even after we get to know their back stories, the characters don't seem more sharply defined. The ending would have felt more like a gut punch if I would have cared more about the characters. But while I grew more fond of them, I still felt too great a distance to them, especially since their characterization remained too undefined. I don't think that it was necessary to withhold characterization with withholding the backstory, anyway. The most interesting aspects about the anime were all subtext, what was made explicit wasn't as interesting to me. I wish I could say that the anime failed in interesting ways, but for that it wasn't ambitious or unique enough. It's good enough, I guess. I don't regret watching it, I'm just left frustrated that it wasn't more. It had potential which sometimes was missed by a narrow and at other times by a wide margin. Maybe you'll fall in love with the music if you see it, which I think is good enough a reason to do so. The anime can be quite atmospheric at times, though not particular emotional, because you won't ever care much for the characters. *sigh* Okay, I think now I feel like I have said enough about this. Edit: Oh no, don't start talking about Honey & Clover now! Speaking of wastes of potential. It gets worse rather than better, especially in regards to the notatall pedophile relationship. It's an anime I love to whine about, though. My friends heard more about it than they ever wanted to.

Hrm, so I guess the word is part of the English language? Jeez, I can't even trust the LEO dictionary anymore.

Because it's the naughtiest of fruits? We're talking about ananus, aren't we? Apparently we are. Edit: ananas. Right, ********* is censored. Because ananas isn't even an English word. My bad. :/

There's an alternative answer to the riddle presented, yeah, which I hadn't heard of before, but even the commonly known one didn't spring to the police officers' minds immediately. Or after a quick google search, no, they had to consult literature on the subject, like it's some obscure fact. Anyway, thanks for the assurance that questions will be answered. I'll keep watching then. As I said, the anime is entertaining enough, if emotionally rather uninvolving...

That first riddle seems as common to me as freaking sliding tile puzzles in adventure games. I must have heard it about a dozen times during my lifetime already, the first time in some cartoon when I was 5 maybe. Regarding the opening/ending theme: whaa!?? It's the best! It's the main reason why I even start watching another episode! I always let it play out, which I don't let happen with other animes normally.

I'm getting really impatient with all the "#GamerGate wasn't built on harrassing women" people, because I followed this whole affair from the start, and I witnessed that it was. Maybe those people came late to the party or they try to gaslight people, I dunno. It doesn't help that The Escapist tries to rewrite history. I have yet to see something worthwhile come out of #GamerGate. Maybe I look in the wrong places, but I doubt it. Maybe some people that identify with the "movement" have the sincere belief that it's a force capable of good. But to those I would like to say that they should tackle the mess in their own house first before criticizing disorder elsewhere.

So far I've been watching four episodes of Terror in Resonance/Zankyo no Terror. I'm glad somebody pointed out that Watanabe was the director of it, because I would never have figured. I'm actually quite puzzled by that. Terror in Resonance seems unlike any of the works I otherwise know him by. I'm still not sure why I should particular care about the story the anime tells, or maybe more accurately, about any of the characters. There doesn't seem to be any lead protagonist in the anime. The motivation of the Sphinx guys remains unclear, and I'm not sure why the audience is left in the dark about it. I have the feeling it's spared for some shocking reveal, which might turn out to be trite. I'm not left in anticipation, though, more in confusion. Also, was I the only one exasperated by how long the police officers needed to figure out the first riddle? I mean, it's only one of the oldest and well known riddles around. Maybe it's not as well known in Japan, though...at least I hadn't heard the alternative version of it before. There don't appear to be any causalities to the terror acts so far, at least not shown? Overall, the anime is entertaining enough so far. At times though I catched myself not paying so much attention to the story as to the music. The music of the anime is spectacular! It's the first time I downloaded the soundtrack to an anime, it's that good. So, screw the anime, listen to the music! Here's the extended ending theme: