Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Beth Pavell]

I tend to follow the new seasons as they're released now. Last one I can remember that I was impressed by was Made in Abyss, I think

 

[UselessBytes]

Only new anime I'll be watching anytime soon aside from MHA is Gridman when that comes out

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I actually really liked One Punch Man, but again with reservations.

AoT/SnK gets a nope from me.

 

[Flaze]

@Crystal

I've been following every season of anime almost religiously for the past uh...4 years I think, I mean I don't watch everything but I always try to check out newer shows cause I feel like for as many great anime that exist a lot of them do fall by the wayside do to not having that right level of western appeal. Though I've been tuning out of anime over the last few months due to life and just generally growing kind of bored outside of the few shows I still follow.

@unrepentantAuthor

I mean I wouldn't say it's bad to like something and still have reservations about it, I probably do a bout pretty much everything I watch cause well...I'm not exactly super insistent on something having to be a master piece or anything close to that xD; that's not to say I won't be critical of things but like if something is fun enough to give me a good time and endear me to its characters or story then I'd give its stupid elements a pass.

Except for Code Geass, I'd never give that a pass.

Also to clear up an earlier point, consistency was never something TTGL actually cared about.

 

[CrystaI]

Why Code Geass is not a pass? I'm the opposite opinion for this. I rewatched 4 times and I still get supreme enjoyment from it.

May be it is just me, but I think watching a brainy badass overwhelming his opponent smartly and strategically is much more enjoyable than watching a brainless badass overwhelming his opponent with physical power and pure luck.

 

[canisaries]

never watched code geass but code ment is very dear to my heart

i'll never watch attack on titan for reasons only a select few people will know

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 turned 15 today!

I was really big on anime I wasn't old enough to watch in 2014... and now I'm really big on things for kids.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Feeling a little bit smug today - because I have just picked up a copy of Erebus: The Story of a Ship signed by Michael Palin. Yes indeed, that Michael Palin

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Congratulations! That must have been hard to find. Just how much did it cost?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Believe it or not, it was on sale in Waterstones in the new releases. £5 off for a £15 hardback, I'm more than happy with that

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

consistency was never something TTGL actually cared about.

Consistency of quality. There are some dreadful episodes I skip every time.

Why Code Geass is not a pass? I'm the opposite opinion for this. I rewatched 4 times and I still get supreme enjoyment from it.

I've watched it a few times and I do enjoy it, but it's hammy, filled with product placement and fanservice, prominently features absolutely farcical chess games and military strategy that have no relation to reality, ends up subordinating strategy to increasingly outlandish technological innovations, does its alternate historicity poorly, has dreadful character art, spinzaku, incredibly contrived plot points that distort reasonable character interactions, the introduction of some complete nonsense after R1 to accommodate executive meddling, wasting time on increasingly outlandish mechs for no reason than to sell toys, and spoils the finale by having the attire and equipment be exceptionally garish and silly. The show may be dear to my heart and one of my favourite anime, but it certainly has its problems, my friend.

May be it is just me, but I think watching a brainy badass overwhelming his opponent smartly and strategically is much more enjoyable than watching a brainless badass overwhelming his opponent with physical power and pure luck.

Sure, but Code Geass does not fit your first description well, and neither do all anime about characters who aren't alleged geniuses fit your second description.

Lelouch is no badass himself, and half the time his 'strategy' is complete nonsense. He's got through his share of problems on plot armour and luck, and his use of geass in several cases is 'off stage'. For example, much is made of Britannian defences at the end of R1. How does Lelouch handle that? Oh, he used geass already somehow. Nevermind.

Similarly, his chess matches are all completely absurd, considering that his signature strategy, moving the king before any other piece, is not a legal move. We never actually see how any of his chess games work, of course. We are simply told that he's very good at the game, and expected to believe it. "Lelouch can beat everyone at chess" is not an example of a brainy badass such as you describe. It's an example of an alleged genius written by people who don't understand chess.

Also, let's not implicitly look down on anyone who enjoys anime not to our taste.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Speaking of chess, I did one of those escape room events the other day, and one of the clues required a fair amount of knowledge about chess to comprehend and solve... and you can really only advance in those kinds of events by going clue by clue, depending on the setup. Anyway, there were other games combined with clues, too (Sudoku, poker, dominoes), and it made me think of the poor people who come in and don't have even basic knowledge of these games. Chances are you're just gonna be stumped for the remaining time you have at that point.

 

[CrystaI]

@unrepentantAuthor
That is quite a strict review... Though understandable, if one review the show through this lens called "realism" (I mean specifically Real-Life realism).
To be fair, if one incorporates Real-Life realism into the review, then not just Code Geass, basically every single Japanese anime is shit because they are all over-dramatic and over-performed, that are so absurd they are so fictitious.

But, from my point of view, it is quite nonsensical to expect nonfictional realism from a clearly fictional work. True, despite being a fictional work it may need some internal consistent logic and physics. But I don't think that equate to interpret its world with our logic and physics. Their Earth is not our Earth, especially not when name of non-existing country exist in their earth.

Whenever I watch anime, I don't really care much about Real-Life logic. I'll rather look for internal consistency and in-universe realism, which is something different.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@CrystaI I said plenty of things that had nothing to do with realism, and the only comment I made about realism was "absolutely farcical chess games and military strategy that have no relation to reality." It may be an anime, sure. But you were talking about how much you enjoyed Lelouch's strategic wins, and my response to that is that his chess and military strategy boils down to the writers telling us "he's just really clever" and leaving it at that half the time. We don't get to see anything of how he wins at chess or why the orders he gives in battle are successful. The final military confrontation between him and Schneizel is a good example of what I mean: the two of them order their lines of hovering mechs about and we have to trust that any of what they say is meaningful or intelligent. Since it doesn't relate to real strategy, and there's no in-universe justification given, it really is no better than just saying "Lelouch is a military genius."

You haven't addressed any of my other points, and I evidently have a tolerance for lack of realism in my fiction else I wouldn't enjoy Gurren Lagann of all things. The fact is that Code Geass is neither realistic nor plausible according to its own rules.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I'm really fuming. The Royal Mail has managed to lose or not bother to deliver three large letters I've sent out now to eBay customers. And lo and behold, their claims procedure demands a minute level of detail in order to claim back anything. Claim or no claim, I'm going to complain till my throat is sore

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Best of luck, Beth!

 

[zoroarctic]

Looks like I’m in for another round of Hurricane coverage this week, likely Wednesday.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Best of luck to you.

I had a pretty great weekend. Restful, enjoyable, lived up to expectations. Successfully avoided caffeine, and had a good night's sleep too. Now I'm going to truly exert myself this week to get a little bit of writing done every day. I'm trying to build up a habit bit by bit in preparation for NaNoWriMo.

I've also got a bunch of fics I really want to keep reading and reviewing. If only I had a little more time each day.

 

[Greninjaman]

I have a question: When it comes to challenge-based stories, do I need to put the rules of said challenge in the first post in addition to the first chapter?

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Greninjaman, what do you mean by challenge-based stories?