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Heck, I've had fun talking about how heavily politically-charged fiction portrays its messages. Way more enjoyable than actually watching this joyless show, that's for sure.
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# ? May 7, 2014 15:35 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 00:09 |
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Episode one was abysmal, so I'm just going to assume by the last page of this thread that it only gets worse. I think it truly lost me around the point where Mr. Perfect was beating up an entire clan of ninjas, until the head ninja laid eyes upon his sister. They fought about it but the conclusion was off-screen because he loses and showing our perfect protagonist losing would be sin, but being 'not the best magical ninja' is merely a character building flaw. "Magic High School" anime just makes me wish Mx0 were an ongoing manga series with an anime adaptation. Solanumai fucked around with this message at 17:04 on May 7, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 15:48 |
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Shere posted:Episode one was abysmal, so I'm just going to assume by the last page of this thread that it only gets worse. I think it truly lost me around the point where Mr. Perfect was beating up an entire clan of ninjas, until the head ninja laid eyes upon his sister. They fought about it but the conclusion was off-screen because he loses and showing our perfect protagonist losing would be sin, but being 'not the best magical ninja' is merely a character building flaw. Yeah it gets way worse because it stays that bad but eventually starts talking about its far right-wing politics. There's literally an episode where they cut out the ED just so that they can fit in the main character's speech about how all rich people work hard to deserve their money, and that poor people are just jealous of rich people, with the heavy implication that poor people are only poor because they're lazy. If there was an iota of self awareness in the writing they'd address the fact that he was born into a rich family, but that would really ruin his uh, "point" about how people are just jealous that rich people became rich through hard work. Srice fucked around with this message at 15:56 on May 7, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 15:53 |
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Shere posted:"Magi High School" anime just makes me wish Mx0 were an ongoing manga series with an anime adaptation. Don't remind me. I miss that manga so much and the ending was the most ham-fisted "Got cancelled, better wrap it up in 2 chapters" I have ever read. I forsee this thread turning into a list of anime/manga that people should be watching/reading instead of this show. So far we've got Mondaiji and Mx0, so I wonder how many more we'll add to this list by the end of the season.
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# ? May 7, 2014 16:07 |
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In their defense, that ninja fight did look pretty good. The show will never do that again though and it will just be He Who Walks Through Walls annihilating everything with one-hit-kill magic waves.
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# ? May 7, 2014 16:27 |
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For current season stuff, the best shows are Jojo, Mushishi S2, and Ping Pong and all of them are worlds better than this in pretty much every metric I can imagine. Heck, to keep this on topic and to have a little fun, I'll make a comparison and say that Ping Pong's protagonist is quite the opposite of Tatsuya. Smile's this guy who has a few friends, but most of the other people in his team think he's a bit weird. He has talent, but he's not automatically the best at everything, especially because of some major weaknesses: he just doesn't have the drive to be competitive, and he takes pity on his opponents if he knows what losing will do to them. Obviously that's quite the flaw when we're talking about competing in a sport! Compare that to Tatsuya who is unconditionally loved by everyone and literally the only people that dislike him are shown to be jackasses or terrorists. Dude is perfect with magic, and everything else. And he doesn't have any real flaws to speak of because let's face it, we're talking about a self-insert character here. Not having a personality isn't a flaw in this case because it means the viewer can more easily project themselves, with the only real characteristics of note being "hates poor people" and "thinks oppressed people shouldn't try to rise above their station". But joking about the deplorable views aside, it's not a flaw because it doesn't impede him in any way. 5 episodes in and he hasn't even been mildly inconvenienced by it! It's a fake flaw, basically. tl;dr - If you are not watching Ping Pong and are watching this, what the hell man go and fix that.
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# ? May 7, 2014 16:46 |
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He still hasn't said anything about poor people or rich people. He only pointed out that Blanche was making non magic people think magicians didn't work hard themselves. His flaws are totally manufactured, though. He's supposed to be an anti social loner genetically designed to only feel love for his sister but he has tons of friends by the end of the first episode anyway.
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# ? May 7, 2014 16:52 |
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At the end of episode 4 he literally talked about income disparity. Like, he literally says that people with high income earn so much because their skills are important. Heck, here's the line: "But the reason that magicians' median income is so high is because the high-income bracket includes people with skills that are crucial to society." And that's presented as a rebuttal to the line: "The fact that someone's abilities and efforts aren't reflected in their social status, perhaps?" (which is in response to the definition of discrimination) And another gem: "What Blanche sees as discrimination is the gap between median income." It's insanely hard to not read a certain set of ideals out of this! He is quite literally rebuking the idea that hard work may not always bring results. (Not to mention the implication about how it's not discrimination, they're only poor because they don't work hard) Srice fucked around with this message at 17:14 on May 7, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 17:03 |
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Srice posted:"What Blanche sees as discrimination is the gap between median income." Alright, that's fairly incriminating.
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# ? May 7, 2014 17:17 |
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Srice posted:But joking about the deplorable views aside, it's not a flaw because it doesn't impede him in any way. 5 episodes in and he hasn't even been mildly inconvenienced by it! It's a fake flaw, basically. It's like people who say "I tend to focus too much on the details" when asked about their weakness in job interviews.
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# ? May 7, 2014 17:51 |
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quote:"Their proposal is to abolish the differences in society caused by magic. Just this, by itself, is an unimpeachable and correct idea." (Tatsuya) The terrorists don't want equality they are just jealous that people who are better at magic than them get paid more (which allows them to continue buying equipment that helps them be better at magic). The only people calling for income equality are jealous strawmen because the rich have worked hard to be rich damnit.
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# ? May 7, 2014 18:35 |
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I didn't know this was D&D's Dittoheads thread. I wonder how weird it would be to hear Rush Limbaugh shill for a LN series.
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# ? May 7, 2014 18:38 |
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Namtab posted:The terrorists don't want equality they are just jealous that people who are better at magic than them get paid more (which allows them to continue buying equipment that helps them be better at magic). that's kind of amazing, i thought the author for a second was going to at least acknowledge, even if there's no solution to it, the fact that some naturally talented people can succeed without putting in very much effort but nah, the super geniuses put in the same amount of effort
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# ? May 7, 2014 18:44 |
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Oh, that episode reminded me of something. Some entertaining LN spoilers: when Tatsuya mentioned wanting to work in "energy" what he meant is that he wants to create magic cold fusion and solve the world's energy problems forever. It wouldn't surprise me if he does by the time the series is over because it turns out he's already invented magic flight.
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# ? May 7, 2014 18:46 |
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Sindai posted:Oh, that episode reminded me of something. Some entertaining LN spoilers: when Tatsuya mentioned wanting to work in "energy" what he meant is that he wants to create magic cold fusion and solve the world's energy problems forever. It wouldn't surprise me if he does by the time the series is over because it turns out he's already invented magic flight. When I see that invention in the spoiler, I just can't help but think this would result in Atlas Shrugged but with more anime and incest.
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# ? May 7, 2014 18:57 |
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Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his imouto?
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# ? May 7, 2014 19:00 |
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I can probably keep ignoring the worst parts. So far the supposed message can be knocked off with wishful thinking and hoping that it's not got deeper meaning. Would be cool to read an interview with the author, though.
WickedHate fucked around with this message at 19:39 on May 7, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 19:27 |
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im the author ask me anything (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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# ? May 7, 2014 19:41 |
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Sindai posted:Oh, that episode reminded me of something. Some entertaining LN spoilers: when Tatsuya mentioned wanting to work in "energy" what he meant is that he wants to create magic cold fusion and solve the world's energy problems forever. It wouldn't surprise me if he does by the time the series is over because it turns out he's already invented magic flight. It is better than that, actually. Early on, they introduced that there were three great problems of magic engineering which most people considered unsolvable. So, Tatsuya has already solved one and gotten halfway through another (while rubbing it in some drat LIBERAL POLITICIAN's face). I forget what the third one was. The funny part is that those problems were specifically introduced to establish that Tatsuya is not only the strongest person on the planet but also the smartest. It isn't like they are flaws intrinsic to the magic system, which is already vague enough that it can do whatever the plot requires.
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# ? May 7, 2014 19:42 |
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Serious Frolicking posted:It is better than that, actually. Early on, they introduced that there were three great problems of magic engineering which most people considered unsolvable. So, Tatsuya has already solved one and gotten halfway through another (while rubbing it in some drat LIBERAL POLITICIAN's face). I forget what the third one was. The funny part is that those problems were specifically introduced to establish that Tatsuya is not only the strongest person on the planet but also the smartest. It isn't like they are flaws intrinsic to the magic system, which is already vague enough that it can do whatever the plot requires. ADTRW > The Irregular at Magic High School: I Hope Galt-san Will Notice Me!
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:03 |
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WickedHate posted:I can probably keep ignoring the worst parts. So far the supposed message can be knocked off with wishful thinking and hoping that it's not got deeper meaning. Would be cool to read an interview with the author, though. You know it's okay to admit that a show is awful. You can still watch it, just you're not sticking your head in the sand trying to justify watching it.
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:12 |
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BlitzBlast posted:You know it's okay to admit that a show is awful. You can still watch it, just you're not sticking your head in the sand trying to justify watching it. I'm not saying it's perfect. There are things wrong with it, and there are things about it that I like. In the case of the nationalism, I can just forget the possibility it's meant to be a nationalist metaphor.
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:17 |
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WickedHate posted:I can probably keep ignoring the worst parts. So far the supposed message can be knocked off with wishful thinking and hoping that it's not got deeper meaning. Would be cool to read an interview with the author, though. you're a weird little dude, wickedhate. keep shinin'
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:20 |
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WickedHate posted:I'm not saying it's perfect. There are things wrong with it, and there are things about it that I like. In the case of the nationalism, I can just forget the possibility it's meant to be a nationalist metaphor. It's possible to watch this show without resorting to doublethink, y'know.
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:42 |
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Namtab posted:It's possible to watch this show without resorting to doublethink, y'know. I'm not. I'm only saying that if it is meant to be libertarian I can forget about that and enjoy the surface of it.
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# ? May 7, 2014 20:48 |
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WickedHate posted:I'm not. I'm only saying that if it is meant to be libertarian I can forget about that and enjoy the surface of it. The surface of it being the show about a gary stu and his sister who is in love with him?
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# ? May 7, 2014 21:30 |
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Namtab posted:The surface of it being the show about a gary stu and his sister who is in love with him?
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# ? May 7, 2014 21:39 |
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You can admit that a show has some pretty freakin' deplorable messages and still enjoy it. In fact, it's better to admit the terrible messages are there, instead of ignoring them. At least that method doesn't rely on not thinking too hard. I've enjoyed stuff with lovely messages too! I just admit that they're there, and that despite that stuff I could still get enjoyment out of it.
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# ? May 7, 2014 22:40 |
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That's basically what I'm doing. By "ignoring them", I don't mean denying they might exist, just not letting them get in the way of my personal enjoyment of it.
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# ? May 7, 2014 22:50 |
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Namtab posted:Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his imouto? I laughed out loud at this. I wish I could chalk it up to a bad translation, but I'm guessing that that LN excerpt was also nothing but the author getting up on a soapbox in the original as well. edit: There is one thing that was unironically pretty good; that fight scene with the ninja dude in the first episode was kind of neat, even if it served no purpose other than to show what a badass martial artist Tatsuya is. Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 01:17 on May 8, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 23:03 |
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You guys have to keep watching this show so I can enjoy your hatred. It's nice to see some discussion of author themes, even or perhaps especially when it's about something with little to no redeeming value.
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# ? May 8, 2014 03:50 |
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My main gripe with the show is that there's too much Gary Stu and not enough seito kaichou
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# ? May 8, 2014 03:55 |
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HiveCommander posted:My main gripe with the show is that there's too much Gary Stu and not enough seito kaichou ? Student president?
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# ? May 8, 2014 05:48 |
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HiveCommander posted:My main gripe with the show is that there's too much Gary Stu and not enough seito kaichou Why choose when you can combine?
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# ? May 8, 2014 06:13 |
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SSNeoman posted:Why choose when you can combine? That'd be shipping him with someone other than imouto, and we all know how that's going to end: Antarctica, anyone?
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# ? May 8, 2014 07:30 |
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Srice posted:Heck, I've had fun talking about how heavily politically-charged fiction portrays its messages. Way more enjoyable than actually watching this joyless show, that's for sure. "Gate - thus fought the JSDF" is terrible and is the japanese light novel/manga equivalent of the patriot fiction books that they post on TFR but goddamn if it wouldn't be a better/more entertaining show than this piece of poo poo. Like a modern army fighting a dragon was pretty trill and kinda offsets every part dealing with how the chinese/americans want to bully poor little japan.
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# ? May 8, 2014 19:16 |
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TheLovablePlutonis posted:"Gate - thus fought the JSDF" is terrible and is the japanese light novel/manga equivalent of the patriot fiction books that they post on TFR but goddamn if it wouldn't be a better/more entertaining show than this piece of poo poo. Only America uses black people as agents.
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# ? May 8, 2014 19:45 |
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TheLovablePlutonis posted:"Gate - thus fought the JSDF" is terrible and is the japanese light novel/manga equivalent of the patriot fiction books that they post on TFR but goddamn if it wouldn't be a better/more entertaining show than this piece of poo poo. Gate is what this show could be if it had good parts to offset the crap. Both are really right-wing nationalist swill, but at least Gate is entertaining when it's not droning on about how Japan is morally superior to everyone else, or being racist. In Gate's case I can enjoy the work as a whole but there aren't enough enjoyable parts in Mahouka for me to do that. Maybe if it switched to a primarily action anime I could ignore the author soapboxing when he did, but not as it is right now.
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# ? May 8, 2014 19:59 |
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Desuwa posted:Gate is what this show could be if it had good parts to offset the crap. Both are really right-wing nationalist swill, but at least Gate is entertaining when it's not droning on about how Japan is morally superior to everyone else, or being racist. The amusing thing about Gate is that the manga is already toned down with how right-wing the original LNs were - no small feat considering that the manga is already a pretty creepy love letter to Japanese imperialism.
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# ? May 8, 2014 20:41 |
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# ? Jun 6, 2024 00:09 |
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Desuwa posted:In Gate's case I can enjoy the work as a whole but there aren't enough enjoyable parts in Mahouka for me to do that. Maybe if it switched to a primarily action anime I could ignore the author soapboxing when he did, but not as it is right now.
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# ? May 8, 2014 20:54 |