[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 26 December 2015 - 04:50 PM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 25 December 2015 - 09:07 PM, said:

d'rek noragami s2 is done, go watch it.

It is only dubbed up to about episode 7 so far, though! I'm going to start it sometime this week and (try to) pace myself to catch up to the dub right at episode 13.

LinearPhilosopher, on 26 December 2015 - 06:40 AM, said:

and so to fuel my new found craving for music anime, i started watching kids on the slope.

1 ep in and im hooked!

Ohhhhhhhhhh, I thought when you'd brought up KotS earlier it was because you had already watched it! Yeah, you should definitely watch it then. There's a scene in episode 7 that is absolutely amazeballs, you'll love it!

oh i've seen that scene on youtube countless times. I just haven't watched the show yet, didn't know how an anime about music could enhance the experience till i saw hibike. And i'm liking it. I actually feel for the MC a fair bit. I've watched up to ep 3 thus far but i feel for him. While i can't say i've experienced all of that, i'm familiar with some of what hes going through. (being awkward and finding a good friend whose a bit of an asshole, awkwadness that results from asking a girl out for the first time etc...)

[D'rek]

Finished Concrete Revolutio part 1 (part 2 will air in Spring 2016). This show is totally bananas and really hard to describe... best I can do is that it's a combination of Watchmen and Power Rangers, with tons of cynicism. It was definitely a bit rough keeping track of everything in the first few episodes, but they definitely brought it together well and the lack of any one faction being pure and righteous underscored the themes well.

It's definitely a show that has a LOT to say and it says them on a variety of layers, some of which I'd never even have known on my own (e.g. pretty much every major government event or civilian protest in the show corresponds to an actual historical event taking place at the same time (the show's "Shinka Era" is equivalent to the Shōwa Era, so for example when the android returns in "February Shinka 47" in episode 3 long after the big war has ended, that's a precise mirror of when Shoichi Yokoi returned to Japan after hiding in Guam since World War 2 in Shōwa 47 (1972)). So there's this huge subtext of Japanese militarization in the 1950s/60s (and the protests/debates for and against it), with ideologies about what it does or should mean to be "superhuman" or to be a "monster", which in turn is overlaid with plots and dramas of sects of people being segregated or controlled... all of which is often acted out by robots, psychics, kaiju, magic girls and aliens duking it out.

Well, it's definitely ambitious! And I think part 1 achieved it, but part 2 will be the real decider!

(Oh, and I was serious about the power rangers bit - the character designs and stylings are full of references and homages to all sorts of old franchises, from Astro Boy to Sazae-san to Optimus Prime.)

[D'rek]

Oooops, I was wrong!

You can watch the first Noragami OVA after season 1, but don't watch the second OVA until after episode 6 of season 2!

[LinearPhilosopher]

Watched ep 4 of sakamichi no appolo.

Kaorus luckys rika's so shy, otherwise guarantee at least one cheek would be red. Which would have made kawabuchi's showing up even more awkward. Concert was cool.

Sentaro's a real bro though. Shame Kaorus such an emotional wreck.

Also i would not be surprised if there's yaoi of the two somewhere.

edit: just saw ep 7. Dammm that scene at the end has so much more weight now that i've seen what happened leading up to the series. A lot of nods here and there. I also liked the scene at the start of the episode where sentaros is playing the drums in a distinctly rock style. Says a lot without saying much.

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 30 December 2015 - 02:12 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

watching ep 10..

THIS IS WHY I HATE ROMANCE ANIME, JUST SHUT AND KISS ALREADY AAAAAACK, you're tearing me apart kaoru.


seriosuly i these kinds of scenes drive me bonkers!

edit: 5 seconds later. alright, finally, now im relieved. This kind of stress isn't healthy.

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 30 December 2015 - 03:45 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

Done watch kids on the slope... Im gona need some distance from this one. I remember why i don't watch emotional anime much.

Found this neat article though
http://kotaku.com/59...ds-on-the-slope

[Dolmen 2.0]

LinearPhilosopher, on 30 December 2015 - 03:42 PM, said:

watching ep 10..

THIS IS WHY I HATE ROMANCE ANIME, JUST SHUT AND KISS ALREADY AAAAAACK, you're tearing me apart kaoru.


seriosuly i these kinds of scenes drive me bonkers!

edit: 5 seconds later. alright, finally, now im relieved. This kind of stress isn't healthy.

I felt that one.

@d'rek

I kinda need to watch this concrete revolution now dont I? If the dates, events and facts actually correlate with real life like you say it does, this would be exactly what i need in my to watch list right next to Noragami OVA and season 2.

[D'rek]

LinearPhilosopher, on 30 December 2015 - 09:09 PM, said:

Done watch kids on the slope... Im gona need some distance from this one. I remember why i don't watch emotional anime much.

Found this neat article though
http://kotaku.com/59...ds-on-the-slope

Mhmm, definitely. And the more you don't watch emotional anime, the more they can hit you when you do watch one long after the last.

Having a major music component in the show and which ties into the emotional parts directly just escalates the whole thing for me, too... music just hits me harder than other aspects for whatever reason.


Kids on the Slope ending spoilers:

Spoiler

I think the KotS ending is really strange in that very little actually gets resolved and for the most part the characters go on to live lives that are completely different than what you'd expect the show to setup - they scarcely play music, none of the main romances end up together except Jun and Yurika, heck they aren't even in communication with each other as far as we can tell. It's a really strange direction to go - most shows would just leave things open-ended if they're not going to do the obvious happy ending.

Likewise, doing the time-skip to years later just for the sake of a more conclusive epilogue is usually a lazy storytelling device. But I think it works excellently here because the paths the main 3 take are so unexpected. When we jump to the epilogue, it's this sudden and huge "Whoa, wait a second, Kaoru's a doctor? Does he even play piano anymore? What happened to Sen and Riko?!" and the shock of suddenly facing that unexpected makes the reunion so much more powerful.

Of course, there are many other shows where the lead characters are setup for romance and it doesn't happen, where friendships break, etc. It's not like KotS is the only one to do that. But I can't think of any other shows that spent the whole cour setting that up only to flip it around and time-skip ahead several years at the very last episode like that. It may not be the best way to tell it, but I do like that it was both realistic and contrary to my expectations - after all, why would I want anime to always be predictable and for me to be able to figure out how a show is going to end and how characters are going to live their lives ahead of time?

On the flip side, I can totally understand why a lot of people didn't like that, or didn't like the story overall. It's not like there were any major challenges between Karou and Riko having a relationship other than them simply, eventually deciding to or not. The real drama is between Kaoru and Sen, culminating in Sen trying to run away... but Kaoru convincing him to stay... and then he runs away anyways and the two of them don't see each other again for years. Yeah, it's great to see them reunite after that, but it's not that complicated of a story to take up a whole cour of flip-flopping back and forth, and then also still needing a multi-year time-skip to an uncertain epilogue.

So, overall I thought it was really great and definitely quite moving, plus the great music, though it's also not without its flaws.

Dolmen 2.0, on 31 December 2015 - 03:49 AM, said:

@d'rek

I kinda need to watch this concrete revolution now dont I? If the dates, events and facts actually correlate with real life like you say it does, this would be exactly what i need in my to watch list right next to Noragami OVA and season 2.

Yup, sounds like you do need to!

Tell you what, I'll see if I can go back and track down the list of real life event correlations and I'll post them in spoiler boxes.

[D'rek]

Alright, here's what I've got. There's a person on reddit who was keeping an on-going timeline of the series, so I'm copying pieces of that and adding reference-notes to it.

RWR = real-world references
Meta = references to other shows (I'm sure there's a LOT of these I'm missing)


Episode 1:

Spoiler

July 41 - Kikko joins the organization, Jirou goes against orders and saves Grosse Augen. Episode 1.
Meta: Grosse Augen is probably mostly an Ultraman reference. Ultraman first aired in 1966 (Showa/Shinka 41).

April 46 - Jiro is an enemy, ex-Grosse Augen helps him, Kikko declares love. Episode 1.
Meta: Continuing the Ultraman reference, Grosse Augen returns in Shinka 46 (1971), the year "The Return of Ultraman" aired.

Episode 2:

Spoiler

August 41 - Fuurota joins the organization, kills the bug species. Kikko with the organization for one month. Episode 2.
RWR: A political clash (figuratively) called the "Black Fog" incident occured at the Japanese parliament in 1966 due to several political scandals for the ruling party (https://translate.go...%2595%258C%2529)

August 48 - Bug lady comes back for Fuurota, he learns what he's done, gets saved and comforted by Jirou. Episode 2.

Episode 3:

Spoiler

February 42 - Bombing incident with android detective. Episode 3.

February 47 - The male half of Megasshin returns (RWR: return of Shoichi Yokoi to Japan after he hid in Guam for 28 years since World War 2) and merges with the female half. Raito now fugitive. Episode 3.

Episode 4:

Spoiler

October 14 - Jiro's father meets GaGon in the Pacific Isles, loses "Maria", a native shapeshifter? A month after World War 2 broke out. Episode 4.

November 29 - Invisible Kaiju appears, Emi chooses to appear as an adult, Jiro's father finds him naked and unconscious. Episode 4.

Robot-GiGantor defeated by Rainbow Knight who saves Jirou (Episode 8), baby GaGon meets his adoptive brother. Episode 4.

January 41 - 6 months before Kikko joins. Grosse Augen first appears as a Kaiju vanquisher. Call for "more magic" instead of science within the Bureau is made. Episode 4.

Between July and August 41 - A month after Kikko joins, just before Fuurota joins. More Kaijus appear, various superhumans fight them off. We meet Earth-Chan and Kaiju-using robbers. Grosse-Augen "replacement" takes up the burden. Episode 4.
Meta: Earth-chan seems to be a reference to Astro-Boy.

November 41 - 3 months after Fuurota joins, humans confirmed as creating Kaijus. Mini-GaGon and Kaiju-lovers introduced as Fuurota's friends. Episode 4.

June/July 42 - Master Ultima returns from Mars, Bureau leaders revealed non-humans, expose their own Kaiju-creating ring. Jiro unleashes his arm. Episode 4.

Episode 5:

Spoiler

January 34 - Flashback sequence. Giganto Gon breaks Jiro out of the laboratory where he's held. Jiro wants Giganto Gon to destroy everything. Episode 5.

July 42 - USA throw away a Space Kaiju's remains near Okinawa. Kaiju-sympathizers grab remains and begin agitating against the establishment and the Superhuman Bureau. Episode 5.

August 42 - Protests by students begin, Jiro forced to become a Kaiju, faces off against Mega GaGon. Mega GaGon killed. Episode 5.
RWR: Japanese students protest against the US-Japan Security Treaty, escalating into a riot and at least one death at the hands of police.
RWR: The references to "Broken Lance" incidents of the US losing control of Kaiju is analagous to "Broken Arrow" (https://en.wikipedia...gy#Broken_Arrow) incidents of the US losing nuclear bombs, specifically these three: https://en.wikipedia...Base_B-52_crash ; https://en.wikipedia...ea_A-4_incident ; https://en.wikipedia...ares_B-52_crash
RWR: A US Military Fuel train derailed and caught fire in Tokyo (https://translate.go...%BA%8B%E6%95%85)

~Year 44 - Kaiju wave of attacks dies down. Episode 5 reference.

Episode 6:

Spoiler

June 30th 41 - The Beatles play in Japan, their powers bring forth more superhumans, or at least open the potential for some. Mountain Horse group becomes superhumans. Episode 6.
RWR: The Beatles did indeed make their first performance in Japan on June 30th, 1966.

October 42 - Mountain Horse group tries their luck as superhumans and quits it. Fuurota infiltrates the Sugimoto media group. Episode 6.

November 42 - Mountain Horse band brings down Sugimoto Media Group's plot to block superhumans' powers. Dee of Mountain Horse band dies. The Bureau now knows of the Sugimoto group as their enemy clearly. Episode 6.

October 44 - Jiro tries to recruit Mountain Horse and they decline. Jiro's quest is revealed as gathering superhumans to take on the Superhuman Bureau. Superhumans appear to be illegal. Fuurota goes and meets him. Episode 6.

~Year 45-46 - Osaka Earth Expo, relevance unknown. Episode 6 reference.
RWR: "Expo '70", a world's fair held in Osaka in 1970 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_'70)

Episode 7:

Spoiler

July 40 - Judas is part of the criminal organization The Diamond Eaters, confronts Earth-chan and vows to become good. Episode 7.

October 42 - The superhuman Bureau recruits Judas after his release from prison. Face off against Earth-chan and try to get her aid in changing public opinion to sway protests against Japan joining the Earth Defence Force (against evil space-men). Earth-chan is given the ability to dream. Ullr (Kikko's familiar) plots with Emi. Episode 7
RWR: These protests are the October 8th 1967 Haneda protests, which blockaded the Haneda airport to try and prevent the Prime Minister from departing. One of the protesters was killed by a security force bus (said to have been driven by a fellow student) (http://www.jag.ucla....i_ahr.114.1.pdf)

~Year 44 - Kaiju wave of attacks dies down. Episode 5 reference. Likely a reference to the 990 days of the protests following the Haneda Protest ending. Episode 7.

April 47 - Judas, Jirou, and Megasshin (fused android) more break into a lab to retrieve Earth-chan's stasis/broken down form, vowing to return her to her former glory. Episode 7.

Episode 8:

Spoiler

March 38 - Rainbow Knight kidnaps Daitetsu Maki and other superhuman kids, to protect them and/or gain money for their release. Dies for it. Episode 8.
RWR: Yoshinori kidnapping-murders (https://translate.go...t-text=&act=url)

January 43 - Daitetsu Maki, now Otonashi Yumihiko and the other kidnapped kids (presumably) are an unregistered superhuman group, BL Club, who stage thefts by "The Eye of Lucifer", Rainbow Knight's old nemesis. Yumihiko and Jirou speak of morality. Superhuman Bureau is asked to stop opposing the FDE. Episode 8.


October 47 - Jirou fights Jaguar, Restored Earth-chan intervenes, and then so does Daitetsu. Episode 8.

Episode 9:

Spoiler

December 16 - Mironu of the Japanese Immortal Family is captured by the American forces on Hawaii after his submarine is sunk. He joined the Japanese army in order for his family to avoid the family census. He gets experimented on and tortured for decades. Episode 9.
RWR: Kazuo Sakamaki (https://en.wikipedia.../Kazuo_Sakamaki) the first Japanese soldier taken prisoner by the US in World War 2 when his submarine was beached.

September 42 - The Immortal Family cause an explosion, which they emerge fine from, and escape, apparently to alert Mironu who has been missing. The Superhuman Bureau find out the Americans are aware of immortal Japanese, and they know they're missing a member. Episode 9.

September 44 - Mironu of the Immortal Family is released by the Americans who follow him to try and eliminate the family. The Superhuman Bureau and Jirou try to defend them but are defeated by the American robot, the family survive on their own. Jirou clashes ideologically with the Bureau members. Chief Akita's absence is noted upon. Episode 9.
Meta: The Immortal Family is a reference to Sazae-san and that show's incredible longevity. Furthermore, this episode was written by Masaki Tsuji, who wrote the very first episode of Sazae-san.
Meta: The USA combining robot looks very similar to Optimus Prime.
RWR: The river and robot barf scene could possibly be a reference to the mercury poisoning by the Showa chemical plant in Kanose Village in (https://en.wikipedia..._of_Showa_Denko), but the timing is wrong.

Episode 10:

Spoiler

Unknown Time - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) forms the Superhuman Bureau. Episode 10.

Unknown Time - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) forms Infernal Queen, also known as IQ, or Advocates of Free History to better the future by removing evil. Episode 10.

April 43 - IQ (Infernal Queen) appear to take out the Superhuman Bureau who they deem evil for controlling superhumans, working with Americans, and lying to the public. Jaguar (Hyouma) #3 takes kills his #2 version, IQ's leader, and his Time Patrol watch becomes the basis for the Time Travel research program. Episode 10.

25th Century - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) is sent back in time, as a member of Time Patrol. And as someone who tries to save superhumans, and as someone who tries to build a different future. Episode 10.

Episode 11:

Spoiler

June 43 - USS Antares, a superhuman-powered submarine is brought over by the USA over to Japan. Turns out it makes use of enslaved superhumans. Phantom Sword Claude destroys it, revealing said fact. Jirou turns down an offer by Imperial Ads who say they only want human Superhumans. Protests and revealing to the public the American wrongdoings, a scheme to officiate Superhumans as part of law enforcement agencies is pushed forward by the former Defense Minister who's behind Imperial Ads. Episode 11.
RWR: Visits of American nuclear submarines to Japanese ports, many of which were protested against by leftist Japanese (e.g.: http://archives.chic...sub-visits-plan)

August 43 - Kikko sees Claude killing medical personnel, turns into devil form, finds out she knows Claude. Episode 11.
RWR: Japan's first heart transplant was conducted at a university in Sapporo in August 1968, the same time and place as Claude's killings. The real-life heart transplant resulted in a distrust of organ transplanting due to concerns of the presiding doctor erroneously evaluating the transplanter's brain death.

Episode 12:

Spoiler

December 42 - Kikko meets up with Nakagawa Jin, who researches superhumans and The Devil Realm, and who gives her special medicine. Episode 12.

August 43 - Golubaya Laika, a Soviet Superhuman who's anti-war flies towards Japan, is shot down by the American-siding Master Ultima for passing over the facility where the Japanese and Americans experimented on superhumans. Jirou finds out his father framed and killed The Rainbow Knight who tried to save kids from being experimented on. Claude is revealed to be Jin, Jirou's childhood friend, who was experimented upon. The Chief is revealed to be an alien who's trying to help humanity ascend via superhumans. Kikko helps Claude. Episode 12.
RWR: Golubaya Laika is almost certainly a reference to Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, who also died in 1968 (in a plane crash). His name is probably a combined reference to Gagarin and Laika (the first dog in space).

Episode 13:

Spoiler

August 20 - Hitoyoshi Magotake finds baby Jirou in a crater in Hiroshima, with a shadow the dragon's shape. Episode 13.
RWR: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945


August 43 - The truth of the Japanese-American Superhuman experiments is revealed to the public. The government tries to suppress said information. Chief Akita believed dead, Jin (Claude) and Kikko believed guilty, and are missing. Episode 13.

October 8th 43 - American Fuel Tanker ignites protests by Japanese anti-war students. Episode 13 reference.

October 21st 43 - World Peace Day (our world's is in September 21st), Chief Akita kills and assumes the spot of the pro-Imperial Ads politician who can pass or deny the revised Superhuman Secrecy/Rights Law. Students go on protests against the government for the experiments. Government uses force to crush protests, Claude is revealed to be evil and Jirou defeats him. Emi suppresses Devil Queen Kikko. Earth-chan is broken. Rule-changes denied, and Jirou leaves the bureau. Episode 13.
RWR: Peace Day protests = New Left protests (https://en.wikipedia...panese_New_Left) against the US-Japan Mutual Cooperation Treaty

All of it together:

Spoiler

Updated Timeline:


Unknown Time - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) forms the Superhuman Bureau. Episode 10.



October 14 - Jiro's father meets GaGon in the Pacific Isles, loses "Maria", a native shapeshifter? A month after World War 2 broke out. Episode 4.

December 16 - Mironu of the Japanese Immortal Family is captured by the American forces on Hawaii after his submarine is sunk. He joined the Japanese army in order for his family to avoid the family census. He gets experimented on and tortured for decades. Episode 9.
RWR: Kazuo Sakamaki (https://en.wikipedia.../Kazuo_Sakamaki) the first Japanese soldier taken prisoner by the US in World War 2 when his submarine was beached.

August 17 - GaGon faces off against American Superhumans in the Pacific Ocean. 9 months after Pearl Harbor.

August 20 - Hitoyoshi Magotake finds baby Jirou in a crater in Hiroshima, with a shadow the dragon's shape. Episode 13.
RWR: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945

November 29 - Invisible Kaiju appears, Emi chooses to appear as an adult, Jiro's father finds him naked and unconscious. Episode 4.



January 34 - Flashback sequence. Giganto Gon breaks Jiro out of the laboratory where he's held. Jiro wants Giganto Gon to destroy everything. Episode 5.

Robot-GiGantor defeated by Rainbow Knight who saves Jirou (Episode 8), baby GaGon meets his adoptive brother. Episode 4.



March 38 - Rainbow Knight kidnaps Daitetsu Maki and other superhuman kids, to protect them and/or gain money for their release. Dies for it. Episode 8.
RWR: Yoshinori kidnapping-murders (https://translate.go...t-text=&act=url)


Unknown Time - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) forms Infernal Queen, also known as IQ, or Advocates of Free History to better the future by removing evil. Episode 10.



July 40 - Judas is part of the criminal organization The Diamond Eaters, confronts Earth-chan and vows to become good. Episode 7.

January 41 - 6 months before Kikko joins. Grosse Augen first appears as a Kaiju vanquisher. Call for "more magic" instead of science within the Bureau is made. Episode 4.

June 30th 41 - The Beatles play in Japan, their powers bring forth more superhumans, or at least open the potential for some. Mountain Horse group becomes superhumans. Episode 6.
RWR: The Beatles did indeed make their first performance in Japan on June 30th, 1966.




July 41 - Kikko joins the organization, Jirou goes against orders and saves Grosse Augen. Episode 1.
Meta: Grosse Augen is probably mostly an Ultraman reference. Ultraman first aired in 1966 (Showa/Shinka 41).


Between July and August 41 - A month after Kikko joins, just before Fuurota joins. More Kaijus appear, various superhumans fight them off. We meet Earth-Chan and Kaiju-using robbers. Grosse-Augen "replacement" takes up the burden. Episode 4.
Meta: Earth-chan seems to be a reference to Astro-Boy.

August 41 - Fuurota joins the organization, kills the bug species. Kikko with the organization for one month. Episode 2.
RWR: A political clash (figuratively) called the "Black Fog" incident occured at the Japanese parliament in 1966 due to several political scandals for the ruling party (https://translate.go...%2595%258C%2529)

November 41 - 3 months after Fuurota joins, humans confirmed as creating Kaijus. Mini-GaGon and Kaiju-lovers introduced as Fuurota's friends. Episode 4.

February 42 - Bombing incident with android detective. Episode 3.

June/July 42 - Master Ultima returns from Mars, Bureau leaders revealed non-humans, expose their own Kaiju-creating ring. Jiro unleashes his arm. Episode 4.

July 42 - USA throw away a Space Kaiju's remains near Okinawa. Kaiju-sympathizers grab remains and begin agitating against the establishment and the Superhuman Bureau. Episode 5.

August 42 - Protests by students begin, Jiro forced to become a Kaiju, faces off against Mega GaGon. Mega GaGon killed. Episode 5.
RWR: Japanese students protest against the US-Japan Security Treaty, escalating into a riot and at least one death at the hands of police.
RWR: The references to "Broken Lance" incidents of the US losing control of Kaiju is analagous to "Broken Arrow" (https://en.wikipedia...gy#Broken_Arrow) incidents of the US losing nuclear bombs, specifically these three: https://en.wikipedia...Base_B-52_crash ; https://en.wikipedia...ea_A-4_incident ; https://en.wikipedia...ares_B-52_crash
RWR: A US Military Fuel train derailed and caught fire in Tokyo (https://translate.go...%BA%8B%E6%95%85)



September 42 - The Immortal Family cause an explosion, which they emerge fine from, and escape, apparently to alert Mironu who has been missing. The Superhuman Bureau find out the Americans are aware of immortal Japanese, and they know they're missing a member. Episode 9.


October 42 - Mountain Horse group tries their luck as superhumans and quits it. Fuurota infiltrates the Sugimoto media group. Episode 6.

October 42 - The superhuman Bureau recruits Judas after his release from prison. Face off against Earth-chan and try to get her aid in changing public opinion to sway protests against Japan joining the Earth Defence Force (against evil space-men). Earth-chan is given the ability to dream. Ullr (Kikko's familiar) plots with Emi. Episode 7
RWR: These protests are the October 8th 1967 Haneda protests, which blockaded the Haneda airport to try and prevent the Prime Minister from departing. One of the protesters was killed by a security force bus (said to have been driven by a fellow student) (http://www.jag.ucla....i_ahr.114.1.pdf)

November 42 - Mountain Horse band brings down Sugimoto Media Group's plot to block superhumans' powers. Dee of Mountain Horse band dies. The Bureau now knows of the Sugimoto group as their enemy clearly. Episode 6.

December 42 - Kikko meets up with Nakagawa Jin, who researches superhumans and The Devil Realm, and who gives her special medicine. Episode 12.

January 43 - Daitetsu Maki, now Otonashi Yumihiko and the other kidnapped kids (presumably) are an unregistered superhuman group, BL Club, who stage thefts by "The Eye of Lucifer", Rainbow Knight's old nemesis. Yumihiko and Jirou speak of morality. Superhuman Bureau is asked to stop opposing the FDE. Episode 8.

April 43 - IQ (Infernal Queen) appear to take out the Superhuman Bureau who they deem evil for controlling superhumans, working with Americans, and lying to the public. Jaguar (Hyouma) #3 takes kills his #2 version, IQ's leader, and his Time Patrol watch becomes the basis for the Time Travel research program. Episode 10.

June 43 - USS Antares, a superhuman-powered submarine is brought over by the USA over to Japan. Turns out it makes use of enslaved superhumans. Phantom Sword Claude destroys it, revealing said fact. Jirou turns down an offer by Imperial Ads who say they only want human Superhumans. Protests and revealing to the public the American wrongdoings, a scheme to officiate Superhumans as part of law enforcement agencies is pushed forward by the former Defense Minister who's behind Imperial Ads. Episode 11.
RWR: Visits of American nuclear submarines to Japanese ports, many of which were protested against by leftist Japanese (e.g.: http://archives.chic...sub-visits-plan)

August 43 - Kikko sees Claude killing medical personnel, turns into devil form, finds out she knows Claude. Episode 11.
RWR: Japan's first heart transplant was conducted at a university in Sapporo in August 1968, the same time and place as Claude's killings. The real-life heart transplant resulted in a distrust of organ transplanting due to concerns of the presiding doctor erroneously evaluating the transplanter's brain death.

Immediately After - Golubaya Laika, a Soviet Superhuman who's anti-war flies towards Japan, is shot down by the American-siding Master Ultima for passing over the facility where the Japanese and Americans experimented on superhumans. Jirou finds out his father framed and killed The Rainbow Knight who tried to save kids from being experimented on. Claude is revealed to be Jin, Jirou's childhood friend, who was experimented upon. The Chief is revealed to be an alien who's trying to help humanity ascend via superhumans. Kikko helps Claude. Episode 12.
RWR: Golubaya Laika is almost certainly a reference to Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, who also died in 1968 (in a plane crash). His name is probably a combined reference to Gagarin and Laika (the first dog in space).

Immediately After - The truth of the Japanese-American Superhuman experiments is revealed to the public. The government tries to suppress said information. Chief Akita believed dead, Jin (Claude) and Kikko believed guilty, and are missing. Episode 13.

October 8th 43 - American Fuel Tanker ignites protests by Japanese anti-war students. Episode 13 reference.

October 21st 43 - World Peace Day (our world's is in September 21st), Chief Akita kills and assumes the spot of the pro-Imperial Ads politician who can pass or deny the revised Superhuman Secrecy/Rights Law. Students go on protests against the government for the experiments. Government uses force to crush protests, Claude is revealed to be evil and Jirou defeats him. Emi suppresses Devil Queen Kikko. Earth-chan is broken. Rule-changes denied, and Jirou leaves the bureau. Episode 13.
RWR: Peace Day protests = New Left protests (https://en.wikipedia...panese_New_Left) against the US-Japan Mutual Cooperation Treaty


~Year 44 - Kaiju wave of attacks dies down. Episode 5 reference. Likely a reference to the 990 days of the protests following the Haneda Protest ending. Episode 7.

September 44 - Mironu of the Immortal Family is released by the Americans who follow him to try and eliminate the family. The Superhuman Bureau and Jirou try to defend them but are defeated by the American robot, the family survive on their own. Jirou clashes ideologically with the Bureau members. Chief Akita's absence is noted upon. Episode 9.
Meta: The Immortal Family is a reference to Sazae-san and that show's incredible longevity. Furthermore, this episode was written by Masaki Tsuji, who wrote the very first episode of Sazae-san.
Meta: The USA combining robot looks very similar to Optimus Prime...
RWR: The river and robot barf scene could possibly be a reference to the mercury poisoning by the Showa chemical plant in Kanose Village in (https://en.wikipedia..._of_Showa_Denko), but the timing is wrong.

October 44 - Jiro tries to recruit Mountain Horse and they decline. Jiro's quest is revealed as gathering superhumans to take on the Superhuman Bureau. Superhumans appear to be illegal. Fuurota goes and meets him. Episode 6.

~Year 45-46 - Osaka Earth Expo, relevance unknown. Episode 6 reference.
RWR: "Expo '70", a world's fair held in Osaka in 1970 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo_'70)

April 46 - Jiro is an enemy, ex-Grosse Augen helps him, Kikko declares love. Episode 1.
Meta: Continuing the Ultraman reference, Grosse Augen returns in Shinka 46 (1971), the year "The Return of Ultraman" aired.

November 46 - Jirou takes on the role of the fugitive in order to protect superhumans. Episode 13 preview for cour 2.

February 47 - The male half of Megasshin returns (RWR: return of Shoichi Yokoi to Japan after he hid in Guam for 28 years since World War 2) and merges with the female half. Raito now fugitive. Episode 3.

April 47 - Judas, Jirou, and Megasshin (fused android) more break into a lab to retrieve Earth-chan's stasis/broken down form, vowing to return her to her former glory. Episode 7.

October 47 - Jirou fights Yoshimura (time-controller, "Jaguar"), Restored Earth-chan intervenes, and then so does Daitetsu. Episode 8.

August 48 - Bug lady comes back for Fuurota, he learns what he's done, gets saved and comforted by Jirou. Episode 2.

25th Century - Jaguar (Yoshimura Hyouma) is sent back in time, as a member of Time Patrol. And as someone who tries to save superhumans, and as someone who tries to build a different future. Episode 10.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 31 December 2015 - 05:24 AM, said:

LinearPhilosopher, on 30 December 2015 - 09:09 PM, said:

Done watch kids on the slope... Im gona need some distance from this one. I remember why i don't watch emotional anime much.

Found this neat article though
http://kotaku.com/59...ds-on-the-slope

Mhmm, definitely. And the more you don't watch emotional anime, the more they can hit you when you do watch one long after the last.

Having a major music component in the show and which ties into the emotional parts directly just escalates the whole thing for me, too... music just hits me harder than other aspects for whatever reason.


Kids on the Slope ending spoilers:

Spoiler

I think the KotS ending is really strange in that very little actually gets resolved and for the most part the characters go on to live lives that are completely different than what you'd expect the show to setup - they scarcely play music, none of the main romances end up together except Jun and Yurika, heck they aren't even in communication with each other as far as we can tell. It's a really strange direction to go - most shows would just leave things open-ended if they're not going to do the obvious happy ending.

Likewise, doing the time-skip to years later just for the sake of a more conclusive epilogue is usually a lazy storytelling device. But I think it works excellently here because the paths the main 3 take are so unexpected. When we jump to the epilogue, it's this sudden and huge "Whoa, wait a second, Kaoru's a doctor? Does he even play piano anymore? What happened to Sen and Riko?!" and the shock of suddenly facing that unexpected makes the reunion so much more powerful.

Of course, there are many other shows where the lead characters are setup for romance and it doesn't happen, where friendships break, etc. It's not like KotS is the only one to do that. But I can't think of any other shows that spent the whole cour setting that up only to flip it around and time-skip ahead several years at the very last episode like that. It may not be the best way to tell it, but I do like that it was both realistic and contrary to my expectations - after all, why would I want anime to always be predictable and for me to be able to figure out how a show is going to end and how characters are going to live their lives ahead of time?

On the flip side, I can totally understand why a lot of people didn't like that, or didn't like the story overall. It's not like there were any major challenges between Karou and Riko having a relationship other than them simply, eventually deciding to or not. The real drama is between Kaoru and Sen, culminating in Sen trying to run away... but Kaoru convincing him to stay... and then he runs away anyways and the two of them don't see each other again for years. Yeah, it's great to see them reunite after that, but it's not that complicated of a story to take up a whole cour of flip-flopping back and forth, and then also still needing a multi-year time-skip to an uncertain epilogue.

So, overall I thought it was really great and definitely quite moving, plus the great music, though it's also not without its flaws.

Dolmen 2.0, on 31 December 2015 - 03:49 AM, said:

@d'rek

I kinda need to watch this concrete revolution now dont I? If the dates, events and facts actually correlate with real life like you say it does, this would be exactly what i need in my to watch list right next to Noragami OVA and season 2.

Yup, sounds like you do need to!

Tell you what, I'll see if I can go back and track down the list of real life event correlations and I'll post them in spoiler boxes.

In regards to kids on the slope finale

Spoiler

I think my gripe with the finale is similar to yours. The buildup to the romantic relationship between kaoru and mukae covers a significant portion of the series. Yet despite this giant buildup towards the relationship we don't see it blossom at all. We get two kisses and that's it (and the 2nd one was a very creepy moment where kaorus looses his shit. In fact you could subtitle this show as kaoru looses his shit). So all that build up and that's it? Like no moments of intimacy, small gestures, little comments here and there etc. Honestly the show feels like it was mostly the kaoru and sen show and mukae is just the token female for the group. Im not saying she had no depth or development , quite the opposite happened, but this part seems to have been thrown away to make way for kaoru and sentaro's relationship.

Or to put it another way

There's a huge romance subplot throughout the show that fosters character growth. yet the minute the plot reaches its high point, it's just thrown aside. As if it wasn't important at all. Now i get it, it's only 13 episodes long and near the end it was running out of time but it's definitely stuff that could be explored in an OVA. Aside from that i did enjoy the characterization, jun was an interesting character and i liked that about him. Not quite sure about the ethics of a college dropout dating a high school girl but that's anime for ya, they all look the same anyways.

Given that im familiar with kaoru's situation it could empathise with the character and sentaro is possibly the best bro in anime. There something to be said for character regression which i find isn't talked as much as character progression so it's interesting in that sense. That being said the whole sen leaving and everyone just going
Im not really sure that's the nose dive the show needed to take

so those are my thoughts on it now that my normal self is back. Unfortunately i'm an emotional person where strong feelings lead me to the point where reason completely leaves me and stupidity happens. It's had some rather unfortunate real life consequences but it does but a barrier on my enjoying anime like this that i need to surmount.

Ill be watching "your lie in april soon" but ima need to take a break.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

The Attack On Titan op recreated in Moonbase Alpha:

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 03 January 2016 - 02:33 AM

[D'rek]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 03 January 2016 - 02:33 AM, said:

The Attack On Titan op recreated in Moonbase Alpha:

That was amazing. And lead to me spending another hour watching a billion other Moonbase Alpha videos...

[Arthur Dayne]

In my ever expanding search for more Anime on Blu Ray, I discovered Highschool DxD. 2 seasons in between youtube and Hulu and planning on watching the 3rd because why not at this point. Is it weird that after awhile I was thinking "My fan service needs have been met, can we expand the story already..."?

[LinearPhilosopher]

Arthur Dayne, on 07 January 2016 - 06:52 PM, said:

In my ever expanding search for more Anime on Blu Ray, I discovered Highschool DxD. 2 seasons in between youtube and Hulu and planning on watching the 3rd because why not at this point. Is it weird that after awhile I was thinking "My fan service needs have been met, can we expand the story already..."?

it is wierd, i mean it is echi after all. You're watching the wrong show if you don't want fanservice

[Arthur Dayne]

I don't mind the fan service, that's the funny part. It's weird and has some hilarious moments but it makes me want to reach through and kick the kid in the head when he can basically paw all over any of them and he's so narrow minded. It makes me want some personal expansion and more story if he's just going to be embarrassed of anything naked but want it so bad he doesn't know what to do with it.

[LinearPhilosopher]

Arthur Dayne, on 07 January 2016 - 10:24 PM, said:

I don't mind the fan service, that's the funny part. It's weird and has some hilarious moments but it makes me want to reach through and kick the kid in the head when he can basically paw all over any of them and he's so narrow minded. It makes me want some personal expansion and more story if he's just going to be embarrassed of anything naked but want it so bad he doesn't know what to do with it.

sounds like echi alright. I mean it is what it is right?

is just remeber seing the funimation promos and this came up

This post has been edited by LinearPhilosopher: 07 January 2016 - 11:07 PM

[LinearPhilosopher]

And assasination classroom s2 ep1 is out.

Was a good episode, very much in character with everything.

Also I just started watching Gundam Iron blooded orphans. I find its got its charm as a series. I also like that it's done away with the whole bumbling fool falls into a mech and becomes a prodigy trope and gives a good reason why one of the leads, mikazuchi, is such a good pilot. Idk i just like it when characters are given a reasonable amount of power kinda adds tension.

[LinearPhilosopher]

So i saw the newest ep of durarara. I understood maybe half of it... There's so many names thrown around and I can't follow any of it anymore.

[D'rek]

Really? I thought the first Durarara episode was great. They really used the whole assembling-the-guild thing and Celty needing to ask why people are there to recap what's going on in a natural way.

Same with assassination classroom - nice natural follow-up on the important stuff from last season that will be built off of, and at the same time a great tease for what's coming with the

Spoiler

God of Death introduction.

Also, I watched Sekkou Boys episode 1. It is sooooo stupid/silly, in just the right way. Too soon to say if it can maintain that, but first episode pretty good given that I was going in with 0 expectations.

[LinearPhilosopher]

D, on 12 January 2016 - 04:10 AM, said:

Really? I thought the first Durarara episode was great. They really used the whole assembling-the-guild thing and Celty needing to ask why people are there to recap what's going on in a natural way.

Same with assassination classroom - nice natural follow-up on the important stuff from last season that will be built off of, and at the same time a great tease for what's coming with the

Spoiler

God of Death introduction.

Also, I watched Sekkou Boys episode 1. It is sooooo stupid/silly, in just the right way. Too soon to say if it can maintain that, but first episode pretty good given that I was going in with 0 expectations.

dont get me wrong i enjoyed it, it's just the sheer amount of names at this point is worthy of a russian novel and i can't keep it all straight in my head.