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Paracelsus posted:Mahouka is only interesting as a freak-show style curiosity wherein one observes just how dull it's possible to make a power fantasy. I think it's pretty much impossible to understate the dullness. If we remove the constant infodumps about the magic system* (they can easily be cut because the stuff they talk about doesn't improve a single scene so far, especially since a lot of it is stuff like "he cast a spell to do that thing he just did") and remove the character introductions which are so poorly handled it feels like a lazy dating sim, we could probably fit everything that aired so far into 2 episodes easily. The show is soooooo slow. Heck, most of the characters that have been introduced have served no purpose except to talk about how awesome the main character is. It's a pretty dumb concept when it's restricted to the sister, but even dumber when you can say that about half the cast. As dumb as the objectivism and the strawman terrorists are, at least we can say that after 5 episodes they pulled off the biggest plot twist imaginable: something of note actually happened. *I'm reminded of another recent LN show, Log Horizon. Log Horizon had to do a lot of infodumping, but the main difference between this and Log Horizon is that whenever Log Horizon infodumped about something, it would be relevant in that episode. Srice fucked around with this message at 21:02 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 20:58
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Srice posted:
Yeah, but the author of Log Horizon really knows how to make economics interesting, and the main character there sometimes has a hilariously douchey disposition, which is actually commented upon. Additionally, the anime had Jouji Nakata playing a cat. A swash-buckling, chef-trained cat. I'm pretty sure it would take a herculean effort to make something like that dull.  e: Fixin' those grammatically abysmal sentences. Wark Say fucked around with this message at 21:37 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 21:33
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I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff.
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May 8, 2014 21:41
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Wark Say posted:Yeah, but the author of Log Horizon really knows how to make economics interesting, and the main character there sometimes has a hilariously douchey disposition, which is actually commented upon. Additionally, the anime had Jouji Nakata playing a cat. A swash-buckling, chef-trained cat. I'm pretty sure it would take a herculean effort to make something like that dull. Yeah, for sure, there were a lot of good things going on in that show's writing. In addition to those good things he also knew the bare minimum about infodumping, which is to say, you should have a reason to dish out that info to the audience. Plus the presentation of said info was usually colorful enough. It had more than just talking heads!  darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. Heck, if it's as dully directed as this show then I'd be game for ripping it to shreds.
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May 8, 2014 21:46
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darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. That sounds way worse. WickedHate fucked around with this message at 04:02 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 22:00
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darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. That sounds like Liberation Maiden: The Anime.
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May 8, 2014 22:06
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darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. Sounds amazing, sign me up
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May 8, 2014 22:10
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Wark Say posted:That sounds like Liberation Maiden: The Anime. It's made by Goichi Suda, so I would instantly buy the blu-ray if it came out. Just so that the dude can continue making more video games that gently caress with the player. darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. It already sounds more self-aware than Mahouka. I'd give it a three episode test VVV Welp! Nevermind! Seraphic Neoman fucked around with this message at 00:04 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 23:18
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It's classified as a light novel (according to Wikipedia), but it's published in a bigger format, so the books each cost 3x as much as regular light novels. Made buying it a bit of a pain, but it's worth it. The plot of the 4th book is that the idol management agency wants to start up a side-business based around the idea of a political campaigning web platform, so they go around meeting members of parliament to hook up with the right government funding and clear away legal problems, because apparently it was illegal (and punishable with prison time) to run an election campaign outside of some obscure old rules established long before the internet age, which made twitter and blogging impossible for politicians to use. The law has been modified just in the past year, I think. Not too knowledgeable about this stuff. It just sounded insanely fictional in the book, but after some googling it seems to be real. The protagonist (founder of the idol agency) spends 50 pages discussing the role of zaibatsu in World War II and how they weren't nearly as bad as people would like to think. There's this "trailer" thing, btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjqQyhtiYLo Doesn't that look exciting? darkgray fucked around with this message at 23:35 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 23:32
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Srice posted:I think it's pretty much impossible to understate the dullness.
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May 8, 2014 23:42
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Paracelsus posted:I'd call it "student council meetings: the show," Maybe college republican meetings instead?
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May 9, 2014 00:54
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as a magic user i am oppressed because
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May 9, 2014 00:57
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Phobophilia posted:as a magic user i am oppressed because Magic users aren't oppressed, the bad guys just trick people into thinking that the magicians are elitist. Which works in a meta way, too.
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May 9, 2014 00:59
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Phobophilia posted:as a magic user i am oppressed because They do a bake sale where they charge Course 1 students more for cupcakes. edit: Actually it would be better if just Tatsuya did a bake sale and the Course 2 students realized just how unfair they've been to the Course 1 students and broke into tears at this realization and then Tatsuya smugly took a bite out of one of the cupcakes Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 01:04 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 00:59
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Phobophilia posted:as a magic user i am oppressed because because those dirty poors that think I'm oppressing them are actually oppressing me by disagreeing with me, and why should I tolerate their intolerance????
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May 9, 2014 01:02
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WickedHate posted:Magic users aren't oppressed, the bad guys just trick people into thinking that the magicians are elitist. Which works in a meta way, too. I'm still not sure this isn't the D&D Dittoheads thread.
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May 9, 2014 01:12
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darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. I don't suppose it's translated, I can't find anything on BakareaderEX for it. It actually sounds kinda interesting.
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May 9, 2014 02:25
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HiveCommander posted:I don't suppose it's translated, I can't find anything on BakareaderEX for it. It actually sounds kinda interesting. Doesn't seem like it. Still fairly new, as the first book came out in 2012, but the series is up to 7 volumes already. I've never seen it on the sales ranking lists, so I guess it's pretty niche. It's probably the most absurd light novel I've come across, and I've read quite a few titles. Strange blend of incredibly detailed business deals and political babble. And in spite of that, it's highly entertaining. Well, the four volumes I've read. Easily the most interesting light novel title in print right now.
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May 9, 2014 02:49
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darkgray posted:I hope you'll be this passionate when Dainihon Samurai Girl becomes (?) anime. It's about a hyper-right-wing 16-year-old girl who wants to become dictator of Japan in order to arm the nation with nuclear weaponry, so they can take on China and whatever, and she's persuaded to become an idol first, since it's the fastest way to the political top. Great stuff. That is so ludicrous that it's extremely my poo poo but it's not like Liberation Maiden at all.
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May 9, 2014 05:03
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Wasn't the entire plot of Liberation Maiden "There are aliens. I have to kill the aliens in this mech."?
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May 9, 2014 06:34
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darkgray posted:Doesn't seem like it. Still fairly new, as the first book came out in 2012, but the series is up to 7 volumes already. I've never seen it on the sales ranking lists, so I guess it's pretty niche. It's probably the most absurd light novel I've come across, and I've read quite a few titles. Strange blend of incredibly detailed business deals and political babble. And in spite of that, it's highly entertaining. Well, the four volumes I've read. Easily the most interesting light novel title in print right now. A shame, it sounds pretty interesting but it looks like I'd have to learn how to read moon or wait for the inevitable adaptation.
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May 9, 2014 07:45
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Well on the whole so far this century Japan definitely has the funniest version of "things get worse > swing hard right" compared to, say, Russia or Greece.
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May 9, 2014 07:59
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I like how even the nationalist author who made Gundam Unicorn made the Not WWII Japan/Neo Zeon's goal of Eastern/Co-Colony Prosperity Sphere an evil as gently caress idea and equally bad for the world as Not America/Earth Federation and was able to create well rounded characters and moral conflicts despite being a gigantic piece of poo poo.
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May 9, 2014 08:11
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How bad were the Gate light novels exactly? The comic is amazing because it is seriously Tom Clancy crossed with four or five major anime tropes played totally straight and badly. If it gets any worse someone should try a Book Barn-style readalong.
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May 9, 2014 14:40
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Tatsuya and Miyuki are gonna be in a fighting game, ironically with Tatsuya just being a support character.
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May 9, 2014 17:38
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Ahahaha, all of the comments are from people who genuinely like Tatsuya and want to see more of him. I'm dying here.
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May 9, 2014 17:54
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He's not that bad aside from the tranquil personality.
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May 9, 2014 17:57
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That is actually pretty weird. Tatsuya is at least a martial artist so I can see why you'd put him in a fighting game. On the other hand Miyuki has yet to do anything. She only reveals her powers during comedic temper tantrums. On another note, someone here read the LNs, right? Do they have any cool sympathetic villains?
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May 9, 2014 18:27
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WickedHate posted:Tatsuya and Miyuki are gonna be in a fighting game, ironically with Tatsuya just being a support character. Wait, why is Shizuo in there? Is Shizuo... considered moé or something nowadays? Are they going to change anything on the second season of Durarara!! To make Shizuo moé? Please don't dick around with my feelings, Dengeki Bunko. SSNeoman posted:On another note, someone here read the LNs, right? Do they have any cool sympathetic villains?  I got up to volume 4 recently. So, for at least the first two arcs, no dice.
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May 9, 2014 18:53
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Serious Frolicking posted:Ahahaha, all of the comments are from people who genuinely like Tatsuya and want to see more of him. I'm dying here. Haha as expected, one guy is complaining that he's only a supporting character is also relieved about 'based Kirito' being playable. Judging by that post, he'd probably squeal like a schoolgirl if Ichigo or Naruto was in this game
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May 9, 2014 18:54
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WickedHate posted:He's not that bad aside from the tranquil personality. Well, and the right-wing politics.
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May 9, 2014 18:58
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Ytlaya posted:Well, and the right-wing politics. I still think that at the very least the characters themselves aren't right wing, and I'm still not entirely convinced about it having a real life message.
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May 9, 2014 19:02
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Ytlaya posted:Well, and the right-wing politics. Do not forget the boring side characters that only seem to exist to praise the greatness of the MC.
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May 9, 2014 19:45
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SSNeoman posted:That is actually pretty weird. Tatsuya is at least a martial artist so I can see why you'd put him in a fighting game. The main villain remains some chinese mafia guy who also has control over the chinese military sometimes. His goals are to capture superior japanese mages, invade glorious nippon, destroy the yotsuba clan (the big important mage family Tatsuya belongs to), and most importantly, kill the mysterious masked soldier (WHO COULD IT POSSIBLY BE?!?!?) that keeps thwarting his plans. So basically, his entire motivation is that he is chinese and hates japan. However, for a few books the primary enemy was a group of what was essentially demons that possessed people. Demons that were unintentionally summoned by the dastardly US. It was pretty dumb, even compared to strawman equalists. I'll explain why he wants to bring down the yotsuba clan if anyone cares. It is a doozy.
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May 9, 2014 20:16
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WickedHate posted:I still think that at the very least the characters themselves aren't right wing, and I'm still not entirely convinced about it having a real life message. I've held my tongue this long but I think it may help you to understand that the reason people keep stepping to you in this thread may have to do with the fact that you think it's possible for a work of art (in the loosest sense of the word here) to either have or not have a "real life message." Do you consider any work with a "real life message" to be a work whose author sat down to deliberately make a point? Because that's not the case. Works exist on their own, in the real world, and real people draw meaning from them independent of the artist's intent. So while it's completely possible (though in my opinion unlikely) that the author of this work didn't mean to write this as a nationalistic ode to Japanese exceptionalism, the fact that is that it's still all there, and numerous people in this thread have pointed it out. That said, you can take their examples and try to recontextualize them as something other than jingoism/nationalism/exceptionalism and debate from that premise, but you can't deny the existence of them because you don't think it's a "real life message." Hope I'm not sounding hostile. I think this thread has pretty interesting discussion regardless of the show's quality. I'm curious to hear how you'd define a "real life message" and what works you think have one. I'm gonna go watch Ping Pong now.
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May 9, 2014 21:09
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Serious Frolicking posted:I'll explain why he wants to bring down the yotsuba clan if anyone cares. It is a doozy. Oh! Oh! I bet I can guess! It's because they allegedly committed some awful genocide somewhere which prevented China from growing! But it wasn't actually them but the US! Am I close?
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May 9, 2014 21:20
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Paper Triangle posted:I've held my tongue this long but I think it may help you to understand that the reason people keep stepping to you in this thread may have to do with the fact that you think it's possible for a work of art (in the loosest sense of the word here) to either have or not have a "real life message." I guess I would kinda define a message as such as being one in which the author intends a specific meaning. Past that is death of the author kind of stuff, which is fine in an analytic way, though if a work offends an audience because a lot of them perceive an unintended message, that's still a flaw on the works part. I can't say for sure if it is or isn't nationalist. My personal opinion is that I don't think it is. 
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May 9, 2014 23:11
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Not nationalist? Okay then. The current head of the yotsuba family is the incest enthusiast pair's aunt. When she was a child, she was attacked and abducted by a bunch of chinese agents. She had unique powers, studying that kind of thing can lead to advances in magic, and if nothing else magic talent tends to be hereditary. So, nothing too surprising there, though it was weird that they wounded but otherwise ignored her fiance who was from a similar big old magic clan. However, you must remember that this was the subhuman chinese, so their method of study consisted entirely of child rape. Naturally, she was rendered barren (and catatonic, but that's another issue) making her completely useless as far as magic research is concerned. Artificial wombs and cloning have been around for quite some time in this setting, too. So, the yotsuba clan eventually got her back and then swore undying vengeance on china's magic researchers. They then killed every magic researcher in china. Not the japanese government or military, just this one extended family. There was some kind of greater china at the time, likely something along the lines of a unified southeast asia. As the result of this righteous rampage, that collapsed into whatever the current version of china is. I'm obsessed with this setting, and not even I give a poo poo about the specifics. So, that's why evil chinese dude hates the yotsuba. So, what can you take from this? First, the chinese are idiots whose inhuman magic experiments mindlessly ape japan's superior inhuman magic experiments (which tend to be presented as an unfortunate necessity, but even though those labs are still around in some form none of the cast really cares much). Second, the chinese want nothing more than to rape japanese women even if they have a vested interest in refraining from such. Third, in any sort of conflict the chinese are innately inferior to a much smaller number of japanese. In short, jesus loving christ Satou. Get help.
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May 9, 2014 23:33
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I can't speak about the nationalistic messages since it's mainly in the stuff posted in this thread that hasn't happened in the anime yet, but the idea that rich people work hard and deserve their money, and that poor people are just lazy is definitely pushing an objectivist message. Bonus points for having this come from the mouth of someone from a rich as heck family. If the author had a single iota of self awareness I'd say he was trying to make Tatsuya a hypocrite, but it's portrayed in such a way that we're meant to agree with literally everything he says. Which is actually rather fitting since Ayn Rand would not have accomplished the things she did without the help of her friends and family. But once she had success, she threw them all under a bus and talked about how she accomplished everything and never had to ask nobody for help.
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May 10, 2014 00:03
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Serious Frolicking posted:Not nationalist? So the main character is not only obscenely wealthy due to family connections while arguing the merits of hard work, but also the scion of an international terrorist network that declared war on a nuclear armed superpower. (No matter how heinous their treatment of his aunt was, one person is infinitely easier to cover up than a total war of reprisal that collapses a superpower. Having never read the books or watched one minute of this dreck, I can only assume from this thread that this show would be amazing to watch if it was even the slightest bit self-aware and willing to take liberties with the source material.
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May 10, 2014 00:14
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