Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

In this installment I will not cover too much philosophy because I am so plum-tuckered out from helping a friend write an existential literature paper for her English class, that Sarte can shove it.

 

Morals of Murder; relating Baccano to Kant

Baccano and Kant:Relating Immortals that murder haphazardly to the Godfather of German Idealism

 

2007 Anime Wow

11.Naruto Shippuuden- What other way to start a year in review list than the continuation of the first subbed anime series I followed on a weekly basis. Before you ask, I certainly did watch all those fillers. I watched them and discovered the true brilliance of Naruto. The fact that the creators can subjugate entire communities by feeding them fillers and have some of the fans still sit through them and laugh their asses off at “Money no jutsu” or “lets-create-ramen-with-a-rasengan-week”. You better believe I ate it all right up. Then the first episode of Shippuuden came out and those first 8 minutes felt like heaven. More importantly though, it felt like these characters had grown up to face the huge ordeals that would come find them in the future

10. Potemayo-Up next is a sheer kiddy-show. Thats it. The reason it was soooooo good was because it was just a kiddy-show, but it dealt with things like S&M, Homosexual secret urges(MUTAN!), and even caring for an alien with absolutely no prejudice. Potemayo doesn’t deal in brilliant strokes of drama, or even superfluous action, but it has them both. To me the show was pure adorable/crack/hilarity/Guchuko. Rarely will you hear me be so gushy about any given show(other than Mushishi), but Potemayo has earned my fandom

9.Death Note-Death Note is the reason I joined Anime-eden, because back in those days they had plenty of streaming available. This was also back when I considered Hot Topic, “The Shit”. Needless to say I was an anime fan without edge.Death Note sharpened me forever afterwards. As is my curse I genuinely despise shows that are insanely popular. So at around episode 27 I dropped the show, read the manga, and spoiled the hell out of it for my friends. Only lately did I decide to finish the show, and I was astonished at the way they raped the manga I loved so much. The last part was way too rushed.

8. Code Geass-Originally I did not want to watch this show. It was popular and talked about a lot on the forums, so I avoided it like the plague. Then the day that 24 and 25 was released Imarathoned the hell out of it. The characters were very unlikeable(except for C.C. of course), the action was cool, and the concept of Geass was neat. To me the show didn’t have a lot to going on for it. Still it was a worthwhile watch completely, and I will be watching and blogging the new season.

7. Doujin Work- I was the only one out of my friends to watch this one. Seems like the only one period, but still I was treated to some great 12 minute episodes full of moe,tsundere and every other otaku stereotype you can think of. The characters aren’t rich, theres no drama, and the style can’t be repeated. This show taught me that none of those things are always a priority as long as you’re having a fun time.

6. Seto no Hanayome- This one was another show I was pretty much forced to watch by my friend James. I’ll admit at first I thought it was sub-par at best, but as the show progressed the comedy got better, the situations got more outrageous, and the characters became way more likeable. It also had one of the best last episodes of any anime I’ve ever seen.

5. Lucky Star-Ahh Lucky Star…Moe abounds on a total fluff show. This was one of the few shows I was sublimely interested in. I’m a fanboy of this kinda stuff…I’ll admit it. The characters were perfect, except for Miyuki, especially Kagamin. The best part about this show to me, was how I could relate this show to my life exceptionally well, as far as character types go. My friends and I were each a character and we really identified with them week in and week out. I was the Kagamin, My smart friend was the Konata, and so on. Its kinda weird relating the lives of Texas high school seniors to moe anime. Also Shiraishi was tied for my favorite characters of the year, with Kamina, and Miria Harvent

4.Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei- Another one of the shows I was the only one to watch, at first at least. At around episode 3 or 4 my friends picked it up, and loved the quirky comedy, fast-paced and nonsensical characters, and the ridiculous amounts of harem elements, and the overabundant reading to be done. This was a show that warranted a second watching for every episode, but due to the slow subbing usually got a 4th watching from me every time. As far as I know The last episode should be subbed sometime very soon, and I cant wait till the next season.

3. Baccano!-What can I say about this the most confusing of shows since our number 2? Well it’s about immortals,prohibition-era mobsters, alchemists, torture, violence, love, and a crazy train, and a crazy ship where a demon is summoned to give immortal life to its passengers. It fluctuates between years/genres/lives, and it does so quite frequently. It can be a bit nauseating at first, and the story is hard to follow in the beginning. But towards the end it becomes almost a bit too see-through. The show is very violent, and not for the weak of heart. The violence makes even me squeamish, particularly the discussion of how Czeslaw was tortured by his brother right after they became immortal. Either way it was a great escape from the crap that sometimes permeated my computer.

 

2. Dennou Coil-

1. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

- Well the final two Denno coil, and TTGL. What makes one of these better than the other? Both made me feel incredible highs and depressing lows. Denno Coil appealed to my inner nerd/philosopher, while TTGL made me feel like a man. TTGL was incredulous, and at times ridiculous, while the actions of the DC kids were absolutely retarded. In the end I had to go with the choice that made me smile. TTGL made my heart soar with the Gurren-dan, and it crushed me when Kamina died. Then a few weeks later my heart soared even higher when Simon overcame this to kick so much ass it wasn’t remotely funny. All the shows I’ve mentioned were excellent, but TTGL was just more…more epic…moar GAR…more happiness…more misery…more nia ecchi. TTGL reminded meof how good anime can be.

Come back next time when I review Baccano and apply Kant’s theory of “innate good will” to murder and immortality!

 

A Post from my old blog

Anonymity,Humanity,Love,and a crazy guy with arms in his thong

Marathoning Kemonozume wasnt what i was supposed to do today, but when i did what i got was instead a trip into hell. With vivid colors, and insane gritty style, Kemonozume is the epitome of a mind-fuck anime.

Revolving around a dojo that kills demons called flesh Eaters, the story is centered around Toshihiko who would inherit the dojo called kifuuken and live a life killing the beasts. unfortunately he cant seem to kill them, as everytime he tries he shits his pants and runs away(literally). All seems well and normal until he meets yuka and the two fall in love immediately.

 

Denno Coil:relating anime to philosophy, and how terminology ruins anime

Denno Coil is a series about kids with glasses. Thats about it…If the series was shot from the perspective of someone without the magical glasses, the series wouldn’t have lasted beyond the first few episodes. What makes Denno Coil so special is the glasses. The glasses allow people to see a sort of cyber-world that exists in real time and affects everyone with the glasses. Take one of the episodes in which Daichi (one of the characters) gets an Illegal which is not allowed to exist in the Actual space(space without the glasses) unless the cyber space is obsolete. Well he decides to take the Illegal in as a pet and feed it Obsolete textiles from the cyber-space. Eventually it grows into this-

It would be easy to write off Denno Coil off as kids messing around with cyber-reality…until thir actions begin to physically harm them when they try to contact the dead through the Obsolete space.

The first half of the series is leading up to all the secrets that get revealed in the second half. Attempting to relate this to philosophy seems a perfect job for a solipsist. According to Metaphysical Solipsism the only thing that I know for sure exists is my mind. Everything else is just what my mind can come up with. A rock, a computer, a prostitute, those are all things that exist solely in my mind. We can never know what other peoples minds are thinking so therefore they don’t exist, according to solipsism. This seems unlikely and selfish, as it claims that all the great ideas thought up were all mine, and so were all the terrible murderous ones as well. So we’ve got this world and maybe others exist and maybe they don’t when all of a sudden these magical glasses come along and a whole new reality is created. All of these glasses are interconnected, and so when something happens in the cyber world, everyone after that with the glasses is able to see it for themselves. To me that is saying that others can and do exist. Of course does that mean that those without the glasses don’t exist?
Another interesting facet to Denno Coil is its terminology. Terminology in anime is nothing new, from the first time i heard the word Angel as a bad thing in Neon Genesis Evangelion, to the rampant confusion offered by Darker than Black’s misused “Messier’s codes”. Denno Coil completely revamps the concept of terminology to destroy the viewers fragile psyche, from the epic Meta-tags to the title of the show itself. Anything that even sounds remotely computer related is fodder for the name of something else on Denno. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to the viewer, but as for me I loved the show but they could’ve toned this aspect down a few notches.

All in all I give Denno Coil a 10 out of 10. For such a small scale its perfect. Out of a hundred its about a 95. SO WATCH IT!

also i had to share this picture-

its from when a certain type of illegal grows on the kids’ faces. the tiny illegals then gains consciousness and begins to question everything. they make up religion, and makes yasako into a goddess. They then declare war on the other side of her face and declare that “yasako is dead”. That is almost a direct quote from Nietzsche. A stunning foray into the human condition…all on a show about kids with glasses

Comeback soon my next post will be a discussion on Kemonozume and the problem with anonymity

 

Relating High School to Fascism

Benito Mussolini once said, “Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism. “

I will now attempt to relate this to my high school experience during the playoff season of our football team.

Lately I have begun to notice the logical fallacies of my “pro-freedom” school. All over the place posters, and other such generalized propaganda have gone up in the name of “school spirit”. This is a tactic used in many of the past dictators schemes such as Mussolini, Stalin and Hitler. Although I’m pretty sure they all at least got their cronies to spell every word right. Another tact ,of Hitler at least, was the use of propaganda to be worn on the body. He made the Jews wear stars that said “Jude”, or “Jew” on them. A week or two ago I was given a paper tie with the words “taking care of buisness” on it. Seeing it as a tool for attacking the apparent illiteracy of our cheerleaders I proudly wielded in the fight against whoever’s team they were trying to get me to hate that week.

Another astounding fallacy of the school I attend is the fact that they have recently kicked out a pregnant girl for good. Is it not hypocritical for a christian school to help this girl instead of booting her for being a sinner. Now this is what happens when you let too many religious nuts have a little too much power, and gather them in one place and let them teach high schoolers. That last sentence may have seemed a tad cruel, but it was meant that way. The rules placed on those at my school are questioned all the time…the hair rule…the dress code….but no one bothers to stand up for this girl, instead we brush her problems under the carpet. Apparently is you call it a christian school you are allowed to embarrass people all you want. I remember freshman year when the president of the school’s son got arrested for drunk driving barely a week after acting in a video against drunk driving during a drug free week. Every time anyone from the school saw him with disapproving look on their face it crushed him. of course he might have deserved to get kicked out.

 

Jigga-what?

So the other day in a class i was referred to as a pagan. Even as a joke that stings because of the teacher that said it. It hurts because the teacher knows me so well and I can’t clearly define Paganism other than the punchline for a joke in Christian circles.

So I set out to define and know better Paganism and wikipedia will help me in my journey. Paganism is defined as many things such as a broad set of spiritual or cultic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheistic religions in particular, or faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Perhaps its the absence of proselytism, and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice.

I  have no idea what these mean at a first glance so lets break it down. NO im not pagan. Pagans still believe in somethings which i dont. I at the moment dont believe in god or anything.I refuse to accept the concept of a higher power but i refuse to believe in nothing and absurdity, this makes me a mild agnostic. meaning that i dont know the answers but the answers arent ultimately unknowable. perhaps there is a god im in the middle right now.

Also how neat is it that  when i started emailing chris green about his blog and the weak sauce of his class lessons compared to his blog, and it started a thought of a bible study which then flourished. it is sunday or maybe saturday at the smithharts.

 

Good god i never post here anymore. I haven’t really had the time so i’ll just brief you on the basics. Been watching One Piece, Gintama, and reading a divine dramedy which is the best webcomic I’ve ever read. I read a lot of webcomics like , joe loves crappy movies, and questionable content, but this one just re-inspires my love of writing stories. For my english class we only write reviews or essays about society and all that bs.

This has led me to start writing a novel. I know what you’re thinking how good can a novel a privileged 18 year old senior at  a christian school be? I doubt myself like that all the time and the book is centered around a character similar to me. A detached, cynical young man being transferred to a private academy, which happens to be full optimistic bastards. Just writes itself doesn’t it?

Also I’m watching the first season of Dexter from Netflix, and I’m digging it hardcore.

 

New blog since AB sucks at blog-giving i came here to get away from the awfulness of blogspot