...it just does NOT pay to get out of bed.

"My orders were as follows: to oversee the full mobilization of the Rose order of Knights and proceed via forced march to rendezvous in Italica with the detachment you had led to reconnoiter the probable area of operations. The overall mission of unit Rose was to be reconnaissance in force of the national cultural heritage site Arnus Hill, which has been taken by an invading force of unknown nationality. This force had defeated two Imperial and five tributary armies with astonishing alacrity and suffered no apparent losses. These facts made the proposed reece mission of paramount importance in assembling some effective defense of our nation. Additionally, the gravity of the situation indicated that we be marching in a state of tactical readiness and be prepared to engage any hostile forces we might encounter.

AS PER THE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC SITUATION AS WELL AS MY LAWFUL ORDERS: Yesterday at approximately 15:00 we encountered a small enemy recon force using transport equipment vastly more capable than our own. Despite the danger, my troops obeyed my order to approach without protest. The enemy unit (which did not seem to possess any archers or spear carriers) did not engage, but rather sent out a single soldier, possibly to parlay. I assumed that we had encountered an isolated reconnaissance or foraging unit. Given our army's previous reversals with this enemy this was a rare opportunity and to pass it up would have been, in my opinion, to demonstrate criminal negligence. Thus, I gave the order to engage them with the hopes of collecting intelligence and possibly prisoners. The enemy retreated from the field with my soldiers in hot pursuit, but their...conveyances...possessed preternatural speed and the bulk of the enemy unit escaped. However, Dame Kalgi managed to capture one prisoner, who we interrogated and brought to you with the greatest possible dispatch. I felt this could very well be a development of paramount importance. 

I should add that whatever actions are brought against me, throughout this movement our entire unit comported themselves in accordance with the finest traditions of the Knights of the Empire  and deserve commendation and not condemnation for their performance during, what was, their baptism by fire. 

Now, I mean no disrespect whatsoever to your highness, but can you PLEASE clarify what, exactly I did, or ordered those under my command to do,  that was in any way  a violation of my general orders, my lawful standing orders or was otherwise so wrong that you just embedded your chalice in my cranium."

 

I paraphrase somewhat, but it's hard not to sympathize with Dame Palesti's plight in the opening scene of Episode 7 of GATE. After all, no one bothered to text her that there was now a peace treaty. I mean, nobody yelled at Andrew Jackson.

This was another good episode which despite some silliness remained clever and intelligent. This episode changes the direction of several characters quite markedly, We also find out a few additional things about the other world...

Amongst the more important facts revealed in this episode is the revelation that OMG there are Catgirls...



and there are Battle Bunnies too! 

I must admit, I suspected that the one thing they would NOT have would be catgirls just to mess with the somewhat hapless SGT. Takeo, but hey I'm not complaining. Battle Bunnies is something that I did not foresee at all. The fact that they're in maid outfits is just icing.

This is the best show EVER!

Ahem...

There is also a medusa, which everyone on the domestic staff is a bit leery of.

"We trained her really good, but still, be careful...she'll kill ya."

The backstory here is that the previous ruler of Italica went to great lengths to hire subject races as civil servants in his town (which could have benefits for what is, after all,  a trading hub) and in particular hired cute female members of said races to serve with the rest of his domestic help.

This has two important implications:

1:The former mayor was AWESOME!

2:There are subject races....with all the dark implications that go along with that.

One of the more understated bits of world building in a previous episode was the very dark backstory of the Kain, the exceptional and wise old lady who now runs the house. This is a brutal world, and it is implied that these maids (Human and non) all have similar pasts.

We also learn offhandedly that Itami is qualified to wear a JSDF Ranger badge, which is not quite the same as U.S. Army Rangers, but nevertheless denotes that he has passed a formidable endurance course. Sgt. Kuriabyashi is, unsurprisingly shocked by this.

The concurrent plotlines in this episode concern the raid by the third recon unit to rescue Itami (which is resolved rather quickly) and Princess Pinã ordering her lieutenant, (the Dame Bozes Co Palesti from above) to give her body to Lt. Itami as compensation for his mistreatment at her hands.  Apparently, as a nobelwoman, Dame Palisti has been trained from a young age in the fine art of being sold off as a concubine....yeah....ewww. That Itami is a mere soldier rather than someone of comparable station only adds insult to the atrocity.

Fortuitously, for all involved except perhaps Lt. Itami, Palesti once again fails to fulfill her mission, and again this is due to a lack of relevant information...

"The evolution of the situation in the assigned area of operations was non-conducive to the achievement of my assigned objectives."

...Though, in this case her reaction to the unexpected shift in the nature of her anticipated battlespace included an unforced error on her part.The result of this is that Princess Pinā asks (and receives) permission to visit Arnus Hill...dragging Palesti along to execute if need be.

One thing leads to another and both of them end up being enthusiastically accepted as diplomatic representatives, joining the group being sent to speak before the Diet.

Roary Mercury also invites herself...which I fear canNOT turn out well.

This episode also moved the plot along, setting up a major shift in the direction of two characters (Princess Pinã and Dame Palesti) as well as establishing there are a LOT of really dark aspects to what is, after all, a version of the Roman Empire with feudal elements (tributary states). The dilemma the Princess faced is cringeworthy. She has the weight of the empire and al its subject on her shoulders and she only has the Empire's precedents to guide her as to the likely behavior of the invaders. That it was well established that Bozelle is one of her oldest friends makes her decision (which she clearly dreaded) all the more gut wrenching.

The fact that our heroes aren't jerks and are behaving in a basically rational, non-malevolent manner is a nice touch too. 

This show is far better than one would expect from the premise..."Modern Japanese Army invades Middle Earth."

It is actually quite good and has remained consistently intelligent for seven episodes. So if you have not watched this (or gave up after the second episode) I strongly suggest that you add this to your watch list. 

UPDATE: Over at Steven's place there is a post and comment thread regarding the design changes between the manga and Anime.This mostly concerns the costume changes , which can mostly be explained by the need to actually animate the show...but some of which are truly bizarre. There is also mention made of the changes to two of the maids to make them appeal to the moe' set, but I think that the anime managed to do something subtle and neat here in the process...

Delilah and Persia (Battlebunny and Catgirl respectively) are much softened in appearance compared to the manga. However, Delilah's bubbly bunnygirl countenance changes dramatically...


...just before the 7 minute mark(when she hears 3rd Recon Unit sneaking in) and shortly thereafter, there is a very brief view of her...



...and Persia...



...with their game-faces on as they go to asses the situation. Later we do see them again with their happy chambermaid masks firmly affixed. 

So, while they keep a pleasant facade for honored guests, the show does convey that they have little patience for unwanted ones and are not to be trifled with. I note too that the previous Maquis had kept a Medusa in his staff and the head maid warned Itami that she might kill by accident. I rather suspect that the staff was chosen at least as much for their talents for security as their late employers personal taste.

This dovetails into the fact that this world is fairly dark. It's our HEROES who are the perky happy ones.  

 

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Because no proper young lady should be without her shovel.

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...are in my future, probably until school starts. 

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The latest episode of School Live continues last week's flashback to the club's first field trip...to the local mall.

The flashback contains what may be flashbacks or could be dishonest narration...given that they are from the point of view of Yuki, who is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. This, for instance, causes me to ask all sorts of questions...

 

This is just fuzzy enough that it could be someone other than it appears to be or the situation might be slightly different than it appears. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that Yuki's viewpoint and memories have been misleading.

We now know that the shambling consumers are not blind to their surroundings because of the glow-sticks.

A mall seems to me to be about the third worst place other than a hospital or subway station to go in this situation. A small grocery and hardware store would look to have been far safer raid targets.  

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  In the last episode of GATE our heroes were sent on a short mission to reconnoiter and hopefully open trading relations with the  town of Italica, a heavily fortified crossroads town at the juncture of two caravan routes and a river. Also in the last episode  Princess Penã of "the empire" who has been sent with her order of knights to do a reconnaissance of the invaders (our heroes) offhandedly mentioned that she intended to stop off in the town of Italica.

This remains an exceedingly smart show. We get a little bit of background on the princess, who is, it turns out, is quite interesting. She's only semi-legitimate at best. (she is the child of a concubine) and as a result, she has gone to great lengths to see that she was worthy of her station. As a child she put together a group of similar aged kids consisting of the children of various noble families, with the goal of forming an elite order of knights. She was given a competent but low-born officer to act as a trainer and pressed him into service as a drill instructor, ordering him to drive them to the limit.



Somewhat surprisingly, the little band of aristocrats held together and trained intensely for seven years at which point, through sheer competence they were inducted as a formal order of knights. However, until this time the order had been used only for ceremonial purposes. This had chafed at her and her unit but not nearly so much as the implication that her knightly order was a mere plaything for her amusement. Now with a real assignment she is determined to prove herself worthy and NOTHING IS GOING TO STAND IN HER WA....Well, dang! Innocents need saving!

Princess Pinã is determined, ethical, and extremely skilled in combat and tactical theory. However, she has had no actual experience in combat and no training for the sort of defensive action she finds herself in...at which point her life gets even more complicated...

There is an interesting scene when Itami takes the three local women with him to parlay, obviously thinking this will help him make a good impression. As each one of them is getting out of the Hummer, Princess Pinã is drawing different conclusions..."Oh my God! They've got a mage! AND an elf! If those two are together then that's as bad as it can ge...AUUGH! ROARY MERCURY!? Are you KIDDING ME!?"

It also seems that the princess, while very much respectful of Mercury's sheer power, is not a fan of Mercuy's eschatological premises in the least.  

Mercury, for her part is all about war and killing and blood, but while she doesn't consider killing a sin as such, she is very focused on it being done for the proper reasons.

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I'll start: I've gone from wondering if Megune sensei is real to wondering if she is the real main character. 

In the last episode, they mentioned that they had lost power. This was inevitable, but the school does have large numbers of solar panels. I assume these are photovoltaics as the teacher mentioned that the power failure would result in no hot water. Note too that the power failed at the mall almost immediately in this episode and this flashback took place a month or more before that episode.



Perhaps they simply need to repair an inverter or something.  I'm not sure if they have running water. I noted buckets on the roof, and there may be a cistern if this school is a designated civil defense location, but I wouldn't trust the city water at this point.   

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Chika, the Elf, is still traumatized by the recent loss of her entire town, which, even amongst the elves was a somewhat insular tribe with an obscure dialect.  She is in mourning for her father and seems to be taking double rations to make offerings to his memory. Having lost everything she owns she is also concerned that she and the other female refugees will be forced to sell themselves in order to repay the kindness they have received...or, barring that, simply to survive in the world. Fortunately, Leili's language skills, curiosity and willingness to ask questions results in a huge burden being taken off the female refugees.



All those dead dragons, from episode 2...Well dragon scales are EXTREMELY valuable in this world. So Leili ASKED...and the base CO said "Yeah, sure, take all the dragon scales you want" so the women and children have actually been given a windfall. This unheard of magnanimity is the final straw for Leili, who is now thorougly dedicated to helping Itami's unit.

There is a good discussion of the geopolitical ramifications of having the one entry to a resource rich planet in downtown Tokyo. For one thing, the Chinese Premier is already setting preparations for invasion.  Note that the Earth side of the Gate is not unique in its machinations either...



I did not mention this fellow because it appeared that he was killed almost immediately in episode 2. Well, it turns out that King Duran survived his well executed but hopeless night attack on the JSDF artillery unit. Princess Pina, the Emperor's daughter, who has been sent by the Emperor to learn about the invaders (That would be our heroes) finds the good king recuperating in a monastery minus an arm and a leg. He relates to her what little he knows of the overwhelming power the invaders possess. He also confides in her that he knows that the Emperor deliberately sent him and his men to be slaughtered in order to maintain military superiority over the tributary kingdoms.

The Princess takes her team and continues towards the gate. She decides that it will be prudent to rest and re-provision in a town called Italica before pushing on to her goal.

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Gatchaman Crowds was a strange but enjoyable series from two years ago. Perky quirky and completely unpredictable, it ended up being well above average through sheer charm and cleverness. The show closed with a definite hook for a sequel, and this summer, that much anticipated sequel is here!

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For example...in the latest episode of GATE, our heroes do not die at this point.

This episode was fast paced, introducing several new intriguing characters and was quite thoroughly satisfying This is in contrast to the previous encounters with dragons were not really satisfying from a dramatic perspective, but they were realistically handled and set the stage for this...

Our heroes when finally confronted with the pesky dragon engage it without protest...after all there are traditions to uphold....



Alas, the cinematic tradition is not a glorious one and this is rather in keeping with that because this dragon is not like the others, it is...

OH MY GOD IT IS SMAUG!

This beast is hundreds of feet across, It is bullet proof, cannon proof and highly resistant to bazookas. It also breathes fire like the proper dragon that it is.




In short, it is a fricking kaiju and nowhere in our heroes inventory are any Markalites or oxygen destroyers, so the battle does not go well...until they get some tactical advice from the elf via pantomime and have their attacks augmented by the aforementioned goth-loli blood knight who they had fortuitously succeeded in amusing rather than pissing off.

Nevertheless, it is a near run thing and they only barely succeed in driving off (but not killing) the dragon which manages to kill several civilians in the convoy they were escorting.  The result is that they end up gaining an excellent reputation but are saddled with a bunch of old people and orphans to care for...   .

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Vast sums of money were spent getting top notch animators and talent to bring a sumptuously produced adaptation of a comic book to television. "Wait."You may ask. "Why is this unusual?"

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A portal opens in downtown Tokyo, next to a comic book convention. Out of the void pour what appears to be Roman legionnaires, preceded by orc shock troops, and backed up by knights riding fire breathing dragons. 

In the ensuing chaos, hundreds if not thousands of civilians die before the JSDF can deal with the situation, which they do handily as dragons are not bullet proof. 

In the aftermath of this bizarre fiasco, the Japanese send a reconnaissance in force to reconnoiter the other side of the gate. Among them is our hero who has just been given a field commission for his valor during the initial incursion.  

Despite its derivative premise and a certain lack of tension for our heroes in the battles, the first two episodes of this yarn are showing considerable promise. The recon force is anwered by no less than four armies right out of Lord of the Rings, each numbering over 30, 000 that attack in rapid succession.  Note that this show does NOT pull its punches. For instance, a frontal assault of 20,000 hoplites against half a dozen tanks and some heavy machine guns does not result in a pitched battle, it results in 20,000 dead hoplites.

What keeps it from being a snuff film is that the characters on both sides are well realized and the fact that the story is now about our hero who after the initial bloodbath  has been given a small detachment and some phrase books (gleaned from prisoners captured in the initial incursion) and try to come to some understanding with the locals.

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1 I watched it, I'm on the verge of making it a weekly writeup, and the teacher apparently IS real, according to that wikipedia place.

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Jul 12 03:39:40 2015 (jGQR+)

2 I had the same question, and the freeze-frame button answered it. They were very careful with PoV.

-j

Posted by: J Greely at Sun Jul 12 10:52:45 2015 (ZlYZd)

3 I've watched it three times and I'm still not 100% sure, but there is much win in this show.   The foreshadowing is, in retrospect, not even subtle at points, but it is SO nicely handled, that it appears to just be a little idiosyncratic. 





I actually thought this was a previous club pet.



...until well...
 

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Jul 12 13:56:10 2015 (ohzj1)

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That is the answer to the following burning question: Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?

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Last week's out of the park finale was NOT the end of Fate Stay Night. Tonight's episode was.

I think they added the three minutes concerning the blonde with a crush on Shirou just to give the fanfic writers something to do.



...and also so they could have a completely gratuitous magical catfight.  

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