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Man, I had totally forgotten that. That is killer. Show owns forever.
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Aug 16, 2011 07:39
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Doc Hawkins posted:It's hard to transition out of a hereditary dictatorship when the guy you have right now seems like such a better ruler than a bunch of squabbling merchants and politicians would be.  Long, aimless rant on democracy incoming! I was a pretty die hard supporter of democracy the whole show. To me, popular government is as important as any other right for the exact same reasons. Free speech and press and movement and things like that aren't good because they lead to certain ends. The purpose of legal liberty isn't to allow anything in particular, it's to prevent people from being abused. Likewise the purpose of popular government is to hold leaders accountable and prevent them from abusing their power and harming the people as a whole. It's a safeguard, and if Reinhard created a political system without that safeguard, he's doing a lovely job governing, despite what everyone repeatedly states. Let me put it another way, what does Reinhard have to fear from accountability? If he's doing a fantastic job, what would be the harm in putting forth a few popular referendums on what he's doing? Why not create a political system where he needs to run for office? If he's such a wonderful ruler like everyone clearly sees him to be, he'll win easily. It might look a little corrupt, but no more corrupt than installing his wife and then child into power by default. It sounds silly, I know, but the reason it's silly is that Reinhard obviously doesn't believe in legal accountability! Not for himself, and not for his successors. He feels the only form of accountability a ruler needs to face is military. He's bootstrapped himself out of a lovely situation to overthrow an empire, so to him everyone should be expected to do that, or they deserve to live under a corrupt ruler! That's disgustingly cruel! Even if he enacts positive political reforms, this still makes him a really, really lovely ruler. There's a lot of halfhearted defenses of democracy in this show like, "Well, even if he's soooo awesome at ruling, his son might not be," but that's nonsense because he's not awesome at ruling precisely because he's set up a system where his son will take power! This may sound like circularly reasoned democracy fanboy frothing, but it's not. I don't have a romantic view of democracy and freedom. All it is to me is a system of accountability, and indeed it's a system that might require more accountability than is necessary, and is slow and unwieldy at times as a result. But accountability is paramount to good governance. "Good dictators" like Reinhard is said to be don't actually exist. Democracy isn't a panacea, and it's perfectly possible (even likely) that corporate interests and an apathetic or uniformed populace could result in some really lovely governance... but honestly, I'd rather live in a system dominated by special interests and an apathetic population where the government can be held accountable, than in a system dominated by special interests and an uninvolved population where the government is free to do whatever it wants. Even in a corrupt broken democracy, there are laws in place that allow for a revolution without the need for any bloodshed. tl;dr: Democracy is cool and I need to get more sleep. And back to another random thought on LoGH itself, with all this above being how I feel about democracy, I loved that the undeniably "good" guys (in my view) lost. There's something noble and romantic about fighting for what's right, against the odds, and after doing your best coming up short, and failing. It's a really fun, really sad feeling, and is probably my favorite part of LoGH. "The Last Fortress of Republican-Democracy" was an incredibly compelling concept.
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Aug 16, 2011 07:58
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Doc Hawkins posted:Man, I had totally forgotten that. That is killer. How Mittermeyer says it is so depressing too. 
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Aug 16, 2011 08:20
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Eiba posted:~Democracy~ To be clear, I was trying to underline a failure of dictatorship: supporters lionize the current ruler and denigrate the low-status people who would replace him, but it's actually less stable, long-term, than changing ruling parties every few years. I meant that in a way, great dictators are just as bad as bad ones, if not worse, because at least bad ones make the flaws in your system of government more apparent. I don't know whether the author was trying to communicate that. But again, presenting things like a history deflects the moral judgement. You can talk about who Napoleon was and what he did, and if you restrict yourself to just events in his life, then you're not writing a gloss on which acts were good and which were bad, you're writing a drama about alternately fierce and fearful personalities, the power and the limits of frail, imperious humans...
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Aug 16, 2011 21:32
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Eiba posted:Yeah, it would be much easier to make the transition under a corrupt and ruthless dictator. Wait, no... not easy. The other thing. I don't think this is necessarily true and I think the series shows that it's not possible to institute change in a democratic society within the system. Change has to come through force and might of arms which we see as the Galactic Empire 'wins' in the end.. People who institute try to institute change, while working within the system, in a democracy fail completely such as Jessica and her attempt at a passive resistance to the war and even the military coup that Yang had to take down failed. I'd argue that even in the end, Yang, valuing the idea of democracy over the actual government of the Free Planets themselves, resorts to undemocractic means to preserve most of his military might. That's not to say that Democracy isn't the better alternative but that it's easier to institute change in a dictatorship. When it comes to a case of democracy v dictatorship, a dictator will always win outright. Reinhard does believe in a system of accountability although at the 'Head of State' level, he believes that only the most ambitious and successful should hold that position and if someone can oust him from that position, then so be it. He's happy to take any challenges and as the end of the series suggest Mittermeyer's son might be the one Rudolph Von Goldenbaum or Reinhard von Lohengramm Reinhard is an awesome ruler. He's not perfect, he's prone to rash judgements but he does have the people's best interests at heart and he truly believes that because he is the most superior being in the whole galaxy, he should be the one to guide the masses. Compare that to Trünicht or any of the other councilers who are just in it for themselves. Hell even Yang only does his job because he wants to avoid command making bad military decisions, not because he wants to implement huge societal changes. Reinhard does establish his son as the next ruler but he's happy for his son's power to be limited if he isn't capable. I didn't really feel there was a good guy v bad guy theme but just that people are and always will be people. They can be kind, capricious, ambitious, humble etc. Yang makes a great comment about how it was only because he drank the water of the Free Planets that he is such a supporter of their system of government. Man I love this series.
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Aug 17, 2011 02:46
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If you havent made it to the big thing in ep82-83 therabouts, dont read this loving spoiler. Its massive Just made it past episode , uh was it 82-83 or something and holy loving poo poo the bastards killed Yang!!!!!!!!!!!!. Well I sort of saw it coming with the bloody thing announcing THIS WILL BE THE LAST TIME xxxx SEES YANG at the end of episodes for like about 5-6 episodes before hand. That said, Julian the adopted son seems a really well thought out character and surprisingly non-annoying for the teenage-hero role. He's no yang, and though Its a bit iffy that the Yang fleet would accept his ascention so readily, he's a great character and I'm eager to see where they take him in the final series. I'm also impressed they resisted the urge to give into the pathos and have a scene where julian is holding a dying yang and says "I'll miss you....... dad" which would probably have left me bawwwwing my eyes out. Its impressive they resisted that urge, though. Seriously though What the hell!!!!! gently caress the earth! Also, when you start getting to the mid 70 range episodes Stop watching the previews, they give the major plot twist away far too easily. e: Oh I just worked out why Yang was so calm and frankly useless. He was off his tree on the sleeping pills. Got it. duck monster fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Aug 19, 2011 |
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Aug 19, 2011 01:45
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Does anyone else get the impression that underlying the basic dynamic here of a ruthless yet surprisingly humane empire vs a corrupt but well intentioned democracy, is a bit of a reflection on Japan itself coming to terms with its own history. I've heard a lot of japanese people express the opinion that its own emperor pre WW-II was basically a good guy who lead his invasions out of some sort of noble liberation cause. I'm not sure history actually supports that diagnosis at all, but its one I understand a lot of japan feels. Theres just a lot of interesting parallells here. A modern japan that would justifyably see its democracy as roughly a good thing but really loving broken in some fundamental ways, a history of imperialism underwritten by a reflective rose tint of high ideals, and the experience of being under occupation. Unlike Germany that took its post-war plight pretty much as "gently caress the past, the New Germany is a super progressive wonderland and the old germany is poo poo and evil", Japan has struggled with self doubt and regret over the outcome of its war and a fear that its westernisation will crush its traditional values. Its like there are two souls of japan politically and they want to kill each other, yet each soul contains the seed of the other. I might be rambling, and ultimately literature criticism really doesnt speak of much except the critic, but I can see a huge amount of a definately japanese line of political reflection here, despite the fact its historical references seem on the surface deeply indebted to european rather than japanese history.
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Aug 19, 2011 01:55
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duck monster posted:Does anyone else get the impression that underlying the basic dynamic here of a ruthless yet surprisingly humane empire vs a corrupt but well intentioned democracy, is a bit of a reflection on Japan itself coming to terms with its own history. I'm pretty sure anyone who doesn't think this hasn't thought about it enough, or maybe hasn't watched enough Kurosawa movies.
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Aug 19, 2011 03:33
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duck monster posted:Does anyone else get the impression that underlying the basic dynamic here of a ruthless yet surprisingly humane empire vs a corrupt but well intentioned democracy, is a bit of a reflection on Japan itself coming to terms with its own history. I've heard a lot of japanese people express the opinion that its own emperor pre WW-II was basically a good guy who lead his invasions out of some sort of noble liberation cause. I'm not sure history actually supports that diagnosis at all, but its one I understand a lot of japan feels. Theres just a lot of interesting parallells here. A modern japan that would justifyably see its democracy as roughly a good thing but really loving broken in some fundamental ways, a history of imperialism underwritten by a reflective rose tint of high ideals, and the experience of being under occupation. Unlike Germany that took its post-war plight pretty much as "gently caress the past, the New Germany is a super progressive wonderland and the old germany is poo poo and evil", Japan has struggled with self doubt and regret over the outcome of its war and a fear that its westernisation will crush its traditional values. Its like there are two souls of japan politically and they want to kill each other, yet each soul contains the seed of the other. I might be rambling, and ultimately literature criticism really doesnt speak of much except the critic, but I can see a huge amount of a definately japanese line of political reflection here, despite the fact its historical references seem on the surface deeply indebted to european rather than japanese history. I'm pretty sure you could apply it to just about any democracy. Look at where we are right now. If the first 10 episodes aren't intensely anti-iraqi war I don't know what is, and it came out 10 years before that at least. The series is, if not internally examining like you suggest, extremely prescient.
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Aug 19, 2011 04:11
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duck monster posted:
Wait till you see what happens next! With Yang gone, the whole dynamic of the show and relationship of the characters changes moreso than when Siegfried dies. Also Yang's just a cool guy, give the man a cup of tea (and rum) and a sandwich and he's relaxed at every situation. I'm sure you could apply LOGH to Japan or any other country or civilisation that progressed from a dictatorship to a democracy. The Galactic Empire could very easily be equated to Germany/Prussian Empire. It's powerful, sophisticated and steeped with history whereas the Free Planets seems to represent a modern day western democracy, multicultural and keen to impose it's ideals on others. Life isn't perfect under either system but there it's honestly not that bad. The ordinary people don't really seem to care about which form of government they have so long as they is food on the table and they are governed well.
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Aug 19, 2011 06:57
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Kegslayer posted:Wait till you see what happens next! Ear-splittingly bad theme song for the forth season? I love the sound track in these things, the classical music is good, really good. But god drat the theme tunes have been consistently terrible "No fear you warm revive! It must be something that comes fwooding into my heart!"
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Aug 19, 2011 09:30
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Kegslayer posted:Also Yang's just a cool guy, give the man a cup of tea (and rum) and a sandwich and he's relaxed at every situation. That sounds gross. He drinks his tea with brandy in it.
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Aug 19, 2011 09:38
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AzraelNewtype posted:That sounds gross. He drinks his tea with brandy in it. I don't know why you'd spoiler that. He's doing it since the beginning. Also am I the only one whos around the late 80s early 90s episodes practically shouting at the TV "Tell the loving kaiser what you know about the cunts from earth. He'll respect you little dude, just tell him!" e: Goddamn marry her you ridiculous overpriveleged manchild. Aaaaaaa duck monster fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Aug 19, 2011 |
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Aug 19, 2011 15:25
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So are there any really cool fights in this? Like melee on one one combat type fights between two bad asses or is this like the ASOIAF of anime where its all political intrigue.
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Aug 20, 2011 04:13
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Kneel Before Zog posted:So are there any really cool fights in this? Like melee on one one combat type fights between two bad asses or is this like the ASOIAF of anime where its all political intrigue. It's mostly political intrigue, but there are a lot of cool man to man fight scenes (mostly involving cool dudes with battleaxes) and some really great spaceship combat scenes too. jonjonaug fucked around with this message at 04:29 on Aug 20, 2011 |
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Aug 20, 2011 04:27
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There are dudes in space fighting with massive battleaxes because if they fire guns it triggers explosive particles in the air and kills everyone. It doesn't happen every episode, but there's enough of it, and it happens at critical moments a lot.
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Aug 20, 2011 05:38
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I dunno if the Empire was being portrayed as above reproach as a lot of people seem to think it was. It was a terrible place to live if you weren't a noble until Reinhard took over, and when he did, the dude was gradually taking the steps towards dismantling it because he had dealt with the wrong end of the autocratic stick firsthand. Even beyond stuff like that you had the rebellion with Reuenthal, which basically played out in a fashion that seemed to underline how hosed up things can be when honor and fancypants set-tripping are treated as being more valuable than due process and other less hot-blooded democratic stuff. Basically, Norio Wakamoto died to remind that autocracy is dumb, even if the guy in charge is a relative saint. If that's not a condemnation I don't know what is.
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Aug 20, 2011 06:43
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Kneel Before Zog posted:So are there any really cool fights in this? Like melee on one one combat type fights between two bad asses or is this like the ASOIAF of anime where its all political intrigue. It aint gonna go all fuckin naruto in this bitch but there are a couple ground fights that are hilariously less sound looking than the relatively sophisticated space naval battles.
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Aug 20, 2011 17:38
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OnimaruXLR posted:I dunno if the Empire was being portrayed as above reproach as a lot of people seem to think it was. I don't think anything in the series was shown as beyond reproach. Even Yang had things about him that weren't perfect.
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Aug 20, 2011 17:40
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Episode 97 has a section in it that has to be one of the most brilliant uses of soundtrack I've seen. A character is looking death in the face and as he's being tended to by the doc, the music dips back really mellow like and sort of starts pulsing, and as it swells in and out, flashbacks of various fallen martyrs and lost friends come in and out, and its an almost reality bending combination. Music can be loving *amazing* in capable hands as an acompaniment to visuals, and this is a loving masterful example of it.
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Aug 20, 2011 18:59
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DamnGlitch posted:It aint gonna go all fuckin naruto in this bitch but there are a couple ground fights that are hilariously less sound looking than the relatively sophisticated space naval battles. 
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Aug 20, 2011 22:46
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Captain Invictus posted:They have to use melee weapons because if they shoot guns it detonates the Zephyr Particles in the air, correct? So it's not so ridiculous. And wielding a colossal battleaxe is about the most manly thing you can wield! I think also the battle armor they use is essentially bulletproof (or laserproof, whatever) anyway.
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Aug 20, 2011 23:24
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Breaky posted:I think also the battle armor they use is essentially bulletproof (or laserproof, whatever) anyway. What? No, they showed plenty of suites riddled with holes. At least from what I can remember. I figured the suites were mainly in case of depressurization and melee protection.
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Aug 21, 2011 04:21
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The bulletproof qualities dont seem so consistent.. Indeed in some parts the suits are permeable, but in other scenes the dudes completely tank laserfire and bullets without so much as a scratch.
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Aug 21, 2011 07:12
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It's where they're hit and at what angle, I think. They're meant to reflect laser fire at certain degrees I think, but if you hit it head on at the joints/ visor you'll just pierce it.
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Aug 21, 2011 07:25
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Are the prequel series available? The only prequel thing I can find on usenet is golden wings , which I've been reliably informed is garbage (But I'll probably watch it anyway). I know however there was a whole bunch of episodes of prequel stuff that I cant find on usenet or torrent. Or are these  or something?
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Aug 21, 2011 15:12
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LOGH is unlicensed (and probably will be forever), so posting torrents/DDLs are fine. The prequels aren't completely uploaded to the fileserves yet, but here are a few at least: http://www.fileserve.com/list/QbZ4uQv Conversely, BakaBT has torrents fore everything (First one you want is "A Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights" and the second one you want is "Spiral Labyrinth"): http://www.bakabt.com/browse.php?q=Legend+of+Galactic+Heroes E: Golden Wings is supposedly pretty bad, by the way. The other prequels are pretty good though.
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Aug 21, 2011 15:17
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Nate RFB posted:Conversely, BakaBT has torrents fore everything (First one you want is "A Hundred Billion Stars, A Hundred Billion Lights" and the second one you want is "Spiral Labyrinth"): At risk of a derail, how big a deal is it to keep your ratio good on BakaBT? I've been hesitant to sign up for an account there because anytime I've used them, I've never uploaded because nobody else is interested in anything I'm getting.
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Aug 21, 2011 16:52
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I don't think it really matters. I've had a ratio under 0.3 since it was called boxtorrents. According to their FAQ users who maintain a +0.5 ratio are "Power Users" with the almighty power to...report bad torrents? Or something?
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Aug 21, 2011 19:13
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Like any torrent just stay on and seed back what you take, it's not a huge deal. As for ratios, if you let it get really bad there might be some sort of consequence, but as far as I know unless you get involved with the community there (why) I don't think you have to worry too much about ratio dick waving. I cant remember if bakabt has a credit system. I seem to recall being able to 'donate' to improve your ratio, but that might have been a different site.
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Aug 21, 2011 19:36
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DamnGlitch posted:Like any torrent just stay on and seed back what you take, it's not a huge deal. As for ratios, if you let it get really bad there might be some sort of consequence, but as far as I know unless you get involved with the community there (why) I don't think you have to worry too much about ratio dick waving. That's the problem though, I download for 2 hours and seed for a week and never upload anything. Baka does have a credit system where you can donate money or you can rent a seedbox or something to help. I was mostly concerned because the FAQ made it sound like you get IP banned if your ratio drops below a cutoff but sounds like it's not so bad unless you're absolutely horrible, so I'll probably register so I can search. Thanks!
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Aug 21, 2011 19:39
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Reading about Fezzan and the Senussi dynasty in Libya reminded me of LotGH for obvious reasons. 
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Aug 24, 2011 09:25
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CA's translation is pretty decent most of the time, but SOMETIMES   This translation for this entire episode (33) has been pretty iffy. e: Also, "However, nevertheless..." Conduit for Sale! fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Aug 28, 2011 |
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Aug 28, 2011 02:16
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I have been looking for a new series to watch for a long time now. The last series that I watched all the way through was Turn A Gundam over a year ago. That series was so fantastic that I have been unable to find something worth watching ever since...starting and failing to complete many different series because they just don't have the long-term appeal for me once they get going. I was turned on to this series via the ADTRW FAQ and started watching it tonight. I just finished the first movie and really enjoyed it, so much that I am about to start the second one. So far it looks to be a winner! If it gets its hooks in me, and excites me like Turn A did as I watched that, I will probably be looking for some lively discussion. Well, enough typing...I have a whole other movie to watch before I fall asleep tonight!
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Aug 28, 2011 05:49
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I gotta say I haven't enjoyed the prequel series half as much as the main series. What the hecks with the detective story arcs? I mean none of its bad, its just not as interesting.
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Aug 28, 2011 09:10
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duck monster posted:I gotta say I haven't enjoyed the prequel series half as much as the main series. What the hecks with the detective story arcs? I mean none of its bad, its just not as interesting. I never actually finished the prequel series. I always meant to get around to it, though. It's definitely a more low key affair, but it's still got the characters and the world I dearly love from the main series so... good enough.
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Aug 28, 2011 09:22
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Pandub posted:I have been looking for a new series to watch for a long time now. The last series that I watched all the way through was Turn A Gundam over a year ago. That series was so fantastic that I have been unable to find something worth watching ever since...starting and failing to complete many different series because they just don't have the long-term appeal for me once they get going. Oh god, boy did you pick a winner. Let us know what you think of the series as you go along! Even though it was made in the 80s, my friends and I still love to talk about it in great detail.
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Aug 28, 2011 11:13
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I've been working my way through the prequel series myself and I'm really liking it. It's interesting to see where the characters first met up, I'll be honest, as much as I love LOGH, it's a very low intensity series that half the time I just listened to while doing something else, so the slower pace doesn't bother me at all. I will never get tired of seeing Yang find a way to capitalize on the stupidity of others. And it's much more fun to see Reinhard make his way up the Imperial power structure by fighting for every inch and every ounce of credibility, instead of "BTW I won like fifty battles can I be boss now?"
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Aug 28, 2011 11:20
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So I'm watching episode 34 (where Yang reaches Iserlohn) and there's something I don't get. The Imperial fleet is advancing on the retreating fleet containing Yang, and Yang executes "Formation D" (a giant ring). The Imperial commander says to break through, turn around and counterattack from the outside. He's told this isn't possible because "the enemy is fully occupying the useable space of the Corridor." What? I understand they can only warp through navigation corridors, but surely they can move normally outside of those corridors? Am I missing something or is there no other reason other than the plot needed it to be that way?
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Aug 28, 2011 12:00
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Conduit for Sale! posted:So I'm watching episode 34 (where Yang reaches Iserlohn) and there's something I don't get. The Imperial fleet is advancing on the retreating fleet containing Yang, and Yang executes "Formation D" (a giant ring). The Imperial commander says to break through, turn around and counterattack from the outside. He's told this isn't possible because "the enemy is fully occupying the useable space of the Corridor." Supposedly the corridor is the only space not full of black holes and other things that would make navigation rather dangerous.
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Aug 28, 2011 15:31
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