Don’t Bring a Cat

So Rob Long, over at Ricochet says: “Don’t bring a cat to kill a terrorist.” It is an unreservedly pro-canine piece about the combat dogs used in the military today, and specifically, a comment about the one the SEALs brought on the raid to kill Obama.

Still: in the debate of Dog v. Cat, case closed. Dogs are fierce warriors, loyal friends, hard chargers, face lickers, snack lovers, and, clearly, patriots.

They didn’t bring a cat to kill Bin Laden.

This prompted a pro-feline protest from one commenter:

But Rob, whom do you think collected all the intelligence that made the mission possible?

Well, I don’t think it was cats. There’s a problem with that….

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Madoka, the Ending.

Yet another post that started as a comment over at Chizumatic. Well, I’m having a bit of “I told you so” smugness about the ending, although I somewhat agree with Avatar’s argument. (Yes, even though I took the opposite position in the comments here.)

What I think can explain it is below the fold and behind spoiler tags, because they are fundamental to the series:

Continue reading

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Lo Pan, I Like You Even Less

Ouch.

I’m playing a custom Freya on hard Dark Elves, Myrran and all Green; picked up one green, one red, and two white books. Worse, Lo Pan’s got Great Wasting and Armageddon running, and has taken out one of the other players, on Hard.

Ssra was also on Myrror, and the nodes near me were insane:
Collossus, Sky Drakes, Sky Drakes, Great Wyrm, Gorgons (lots!), and local dungeons were almost exclusively Unicorns. I lost four armies trying to take those damn gorgons out.

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Aria The Scarlet Ammo

Ok, after one episode, I think I have a grip on this: If it were about adults, it would be the coolest show ever. But as it is about high-schoolers, the combination of ludicrous suspension of reality and drenched-with-lolisquick really doesn’t do the job for me. Worst moment? The endless-ammo uzis mounted on Sedgeways. The bulletproof jumping “horses” in the storage room were almost as bad.

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It Was Supposed to Be a Lame Preview for a Lame Season

So I guess posting it two weeks late makes it even lamer. Yay. I’m not going to have much time for anime during the Spring season. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, it’s not going to be a problem.

Hidan no Aria might be interesting for both kinetic energy and humor, if they can work it right. The setup is ridiculous and cliché, and that will probably doom it. What worked for me at the beginning of the manga was the hero’s “hysteria mode.” I know only one way to describe it: “‘Cassanova Bond Quixote’ on the set of Mission: Impossible” Yes, it’s that stupid. Unfortunately, in the few chapters I’ve seen translated, it didn’t happen nearly enough, and the story was starting to drag. The tsundere was…annoying. Probably two-three episodes and out. (Have I missed it or is no one doing it? Or something?)

I’ll watch TWGOK all the way through, of course. It may take several more seasons before they get deep into the plot of TWGOK, but in the meantime the girls are cute, and they keep getting woven back into the story, even if only for cameos.

But the milky vampires are out for serious sequel watching. Maybe for a schwing moment or two, which it did manage in season one.

Hen Zemi is straight out. I saw what was either an lame adult OVA or a really, really ecchi one-episode tryout. It centered around one guy & two girls — and he wants to make porno films. While this has a certain prurient appeal, sadly the show wasn’t appealing at all.

Lotte no Omochoa: No. Hell no. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. This is why God hates the Japanese and sends them natural disasters. I’m almost serious, this is that disgusting.

Both NoitaminA series: Sigh. Brief flash of possibility fallen back into mediocrity in Fractale, and now more stuff I have NO interest in.

Sengoku Otome ~Momoiro Paradox~:
Well, at least they’re not more lolis. (Looks again at the bottom three girls.) Mostly. (Main character’s a ditz.)

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi: Harem by the numbers, assembled from the Great Box of Clichés. Otherwise known as TVTropes.

X-men: Sigh, lesson not learned in the first two attempts.

Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi: YAOI! IT BURNS!! Oops! Sorry, my rampant reich-wing not-so-latent homophobia is kicking up again. I must go watch Richard Simmons videos now to desensitize myself.

Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. *Snort* zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Nichijyou: Eh? Slice of Surreal Life? Pass.

Sket Dance: Shonen Jump = no. I hated every Shonen Jump ever. Well, except for Busou Renkin. I only hated it for about eight episodes, but even those were kinda cute in a horrible way.

C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control: I hated Accounting class.

Deadman Wonderland: I hated prison.

Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko: Odd. Is it a typical harem with one really offbeat character, or an offbeat show with a typical harem? Do I care? (No.)

Steins;Gate I generally don’t like “same universe, different characters” because it’s usually lazy writing. On the other hand, it might be “the first time was practice.” I dunno, Chaos;Head wasn’t bad, in fact, the way it kept the viewer guessing about what was real and what was imaginary was one of it’s best points. I’ll give it an episode to catch my attention. Well. maybe. If I get really bored and have spare time.

Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san Oi. If that clip is anything like the show, the animal fetishists are gonna love this. They can have it.

Moshidora: Wondered what happened to that last season. I didn’t miss it.

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai: What the hell’s with all the slightly off-center slice of life stories this season? Where’s the hook to interest me?

Appleseed XIII: Mecha. Generally not a good sign.

Showa Monogatari: You’re kidding, right?

Toriko: Right?

Ao no Exorcist: I might watch one episode before I start bleeding from my eye-sockets and projectile vomiting, but it’s gonna be close.

Dog Days
: Is someone trying to do Zero with a less stupid and bitchy Louise? (No, as it happens.) I still say Saito should just drag her to the bed and get it over with. Then again, he’s probably wiser to keep his options open. Oh, this series…. I’ll give it a try.

What, Gosick is two cour? I didn’t know that (or forgot). After episode 11’s character building? Yeah, I’m in. Wish it had come earlier, but it did kind of need to be here, after we’d come to know them. Only problem I have is Kujo. He’s you’re basic nebbish, and frankly, a bit of a turd after leaving Avril hanging at the train station like that.

Everything else is so uninteresting to me right now, I couldn’t work up the energy to snark at it. And I still can’t. What a disaster of a season, so closely on the heels of the greatest in years.

P.S. Puella Magi Magical Madoka. Are you kidding me? OF COURSE!!!! Jeez, I’d take off from work to camp the torrents if I could. (Yes, I can read a calendar.)

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Kali, I really don’t like you much…

Say hello to my leetle friends....

When you absolutely, positively, want someone splatted.

Posted in Gaming | Tagged | 4 Comments

Madoka, Ep. 10

It’s all a spoiler, so most of the post will be behind the tags. Sorry.

Ok, that part of the theory is out the window. The Walpurgisnacht isn’t Madoka following Homura from the future. Also I was wrong about Homura being able to travel into the past by herself… that is exactly what she is doing –over and over and over. We finally get to see the first few minutes of the show in context. The ruins we saw? Really real… not part of the witch’s reality. Bad night to visit Tokyo.

At first, when the show started, I thought, “ok, I half expected to see the original timeline somewhere in the series, so enh.” I was really kind of disappointed at some cliche elements. Oh, me of little faith…. Then there was the second loop where Homura discovers the truth, and finally, the third loop, where the girls did all join up: Sayaka, Madoka, Mami, Ryoko, and that crazy Homura that no one trusted because she told stupid stories about Kyubey being evil.

Until, that is, Sayaka went over and became a witch… I won’t describe what happened next, but it was the foundation upon which Homura’s trek through hell was built. It isn’t clear over just how many time loops Homura’s been trying to save Madoka — and failing every time — but it looks like we’re on the fifth iteration. Face Walpurgis alone? Been there, done that. And failed to save Madoka from Kyubey, as she became a Puella Magi, one-shotted the witch…and became the most powerful witch ever. So what if Makodka the witch destroys the world? Kyubey doesn’t care; thanks to Madoka, they’re way over quota for this quarter. Lots of emotion in the world’s destruction…. Terrify Madoka and make her an enemy? If that is what it takes to keep her promise, Homura will pay that price.

My final prediction: Homura will succeed in keeping Madoka from becoming a puella magi, but will die against the Walpurgisnacht. Second possibility, She’ll live on long enough after the battle to tell Madoka her story, and Madoka will make the original wish I predicted after episode 9 — or perhaps a variant that will fool Kyubey, as it seems obvious that Kyubey didn’t think through the consequences if Homura ever learned the truth.

Hold it. Refrigerator moment…

  • In the first timeline, Mami dies at the beginning of the fight against the Walpurgisnacht. Madoka carries on, knowing she can’t win, but she does… at the cost of her life. Homura wishes to “redo” her meeting with Madoka so that she will become the one to protect Madoka — so she becomes a time-traveling puella magi.
  • Second loop, the three of them fight, Mami dies, but Homura finds out the truth about witches, as Madoka barely survives, only to become a witch. Homura resets again.
  • Third loop, all the girls join up, but no one believes her. Makoka and Homura have to fight without Mami, and both barely survive, with their gems black. Madoka uses her last grief seed, that she’s been hiding, to save Homura. Homura resets.
  • Fourth loop, she kills Kyubey and warns Madoka, — but as we see the beginning of the first episode, Kyubey is still trying to persuade Madoka. Successfully as it turns out. Madoka one-shots the witch, ends up replacing her. Homura resets again, and we’re now in the fifth timeline.

Notice the pattern here? Two girls, both die. Three girls, one dies, one’s badly wounded. Two girls, both barely survive. Two girls, witch loses badly; both girls survive but one becomes a witch. Madoka is becoming more and more powerful each loop. In the first loop, Mami is clearly stronger. By the last loop, Madoka is able to easily defeat the most powerful witch in the world. Kyubey, in the fifth timeline, is mystified as to how Madoka can be so powerful. Is Homura somehow dragging Madoka’s soul back with her each time, reinforcing it? Is she unintentionally strengthening Madoka’s powers in some other way? Does Homura’s reason for time-traveling somehow make Madoka the center of the universe, and thus most powerful spirit in it? Is the real answer going to be that this time, Madoka will be so powerful, that she will transcend to something beyond a puella magi, that isn’t subject to Kyubey’s rules? Kyubey’s Gun: “You could become a goddess, you’re that powerful.”

Delicious, if he’s undone by the original wish he granted to Homura. Damifino if that’s where they’re going, though. If I could answer those questions, I’d be the writer…

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