C - The Money of Soul and Possibility Control Discussion Thread

[HitokiriShadow]

One of the Noitamina shows for the season.

ANN link (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=12400)
Official site (http://www.noitamina-control.jp/)


Note
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[HitokiriShadow]

Well, this is an interesting premise and I'm interested in seeing how thing play out. Also pretty heavy on the WTF at the beginning, since it tosses us into a bizarre fight with no explanation of how it works, right after a bunch of vague, philosophical babble.

Anyway, Hanabi is very cute. Though her taste in men is.... questionable.

Q is also very cute, and I'm looking forward to Kimimaro's... spirit partner person thing. Whatever they are. I'm guessing she's Mashu.... who is voiced by Tomatsu Haruka. Yay~! Anyway, love the horns they both have in the OP.

The two main male seiyuu are interesting, because Hosomi Daisuki (voice of Mikuni) has only done one other role ever and Uchiyama Kouki hasn't done much, but he's been in several other notable lead roles (lead males in Soul Eater, Shiki, Gundam Unicorn and.... Infinite Stratos).

And the ED has a kind of strange little message in the ED: "ED Sequence for noitamina 26th episode... has no name, but it called 'C'" I'm guessing by "episode", they mean series, but I have no idea if this is their 26th series or not.

[Westlo]

Anyway, Hanabi is very cute. Though her taste in men is.... questionable.

Really now, what possible reason aside from him smoking is there to say that? And it's not like Kimimaro isn't riddled with flaws as well. While I was surprised it was also quite refreshing to have such a flawed lead and a love interest already in a seemingly content relationship.

It's funny but quite sad to see some people compare this to NTR on other forums, like I said you have to have something to lose it and if anyone is going to lose Hanabi it's going to be her current boyfriend.

Anyway I'm curious to see if the Hanabi LI side of things is going to be a constant in the show or was just used as a catalyst to propel the MC into this new world.

and Uchiyama Kouki hasn't done much, but he's been in several other notable lead roles (lead males in Soul Eater, Shiki, Gundam Unicorn and.... Infinite Stratos).

Uchiyama Kouki is pretty much the next big thing in male seiyuus, if he isn't already.... 7 roles with 6 of them being lead roles... his previous two to this being big hits as well. He'll be like Yuuichi Nakamura in a few years... don't think he'll reach the level of Miyano and Fukuyama. I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up being the male lead for whatever the next Macross is... (Macross 30th Anniversary next year...) Same for the new lead in Code Geass Gaiden: Boukoku no Akito...

And the ED has a kind of strange little message in the ED: "ED Sequence for noitamina 26th episode... has no name, but it called 'C'" I'm guessing by "episode", they mean series, but I have no idea if this is their 26th series or not.

Yep, it's the 26th and AnoHana is the 27th.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noitamina

Had no idea it was that high tbh..

[HitokiriShadow]

Anyway, Hanabi is very cute. Though her taste in men is.... questionable.

Really now, what possible reason aside from him smoking is there to say that?

The smoking + the clothes we was wearing + something about his posture. It was very brief and I'm aware I'm being overly judgmental on almost nothing, but I just got drug dealer or some other sort of sleazebag vibes from him.

And it's not like Kimimaro isn't riddled with flaws as well. While I was surprised it was also quite refreshing to have such a flawed lead and a love interest already in a seemingly content relationship.

I'd agree with all of the above. Though I'm not sure what it has to do my previous comment. I wasn't saying she had bad taste in men just because she was in a relationship with someone other than the main character. Hell, that's a huge plus in my book, regardless of the other guy's character qualities.

[something]

Episode 1:

- Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat. That was fucking incredible, although I have no idea what the hell else it was. The whole opening segment before it cuts to the lecture hall was insane. Coolest part had to be as the dude was falling off the roof and rearranged the world right before he hit the ground.

- Oh, Makino Yui or Hanabi. Also known as Misaki in NHK, Hazuki in Sketchbook and Honoka in SoraKake. Looks like she's in AnoHana too.
- OP is okay. Looking forward to more of the two main guys' "familiars", for lack for a better word.
- That's a pretty shady-looking boyfriend you've got there, Hanabi.

- Man, Sakurai's Masakaki is creepy.
- I like the eyecatch.
- What the fuck, why does he sometimes change into CG for absolutely no reason at all?
- Oh yeah this guy is totally trustworthy...

- Dude. When a crazy man offers to lend you money and you see extra money in your account the next day, don't withdraw it. :sd:

Ooh, I like the ED.

Man, I hope the rest of the show is as as fucking insane as this was, because it was great.

[Fencedude]

Huh...well that was...interesting.

Not quite sure what to make of it right now. Hanabi's cute, and her having a boyrfiend who's not the main character is a change.

Hopefully we'll get some more explanations next time.

[something]

Anyway, Hanabi is very cute. Though her taste in men is.... questionable.Really now, what possible reason aside from him smoking is there to say that?The smoking + the clothes we was wearing + something about his posture. It was very brief and I'm aware I'm being overly judgmental on almost nothing, but I just got drug dealer or some other sort of sleazebag vibes from him.
Yeah, it only takes a few seconds for a show to get across a "this guy is bad news" message, and this was as by-the-book as you can get in a few seconds. How many pre-existing relationships for important female characters in anime don't go bad/abusive/etc?

Not that it wouldn't be really amusing for him to turn out to be a great guy and a perfect match for Hanabi. But let's be honest, the odds really aren't on her side, in a historical sense. I'm pretty sure that's exactly the conclusion the show intended us to draw. Whether it tries to turn it on its head (or whether he turns out to be important at all) remains to be seen.

[strangefour]

I was going to skip this. Then found out it was Noitamina. So I must watch.

-ATM machines are the gateway to hell.
-Did Appa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3mgkykhqBA) just walk by the empty windows?
-Money munching elf. She is adorable.
-Screw the rules! I have money! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GC_ylRHtZs)
-Best anime opening to ever feature George Washington.
-College students. In anime. Unpossible! No main character is ever over the age of 17.
-Making a deal with a devil banker.
-An extra $6000. That would be a nice bank account surprise. But credit errors would only come back to bite you once a bank finds out.

So it's Yu-Gi-Oh for cash or Digimon banking or financial hell. Wacky concept but seems like fun. Love the ending animation.

[zalder]

Now THAT is how you do the first episode of a show! I was looking forward to this one the most of the shows that were coming out this season as it had the most interesting premise and seemed like it had the most to say. Seems not to have disappointed. Of course when you take a loan out from a bank for anything a business, a car, a house you are putting your future on as collateral. Though of course they don't usually paint it in such stark or realistic terms. Of course you are also competing with everyone else who is trying to do the same, especially if all you are making your money on stocks, or bonds in a financial district, and of course most of those people simply want as much money as possible with no other end in site. Very well done, very cool opening and ending. Great visuals, interesting characters, interesting visual way of showing the internal monologue as well.

One thing I did notice...the guys pin was 666...the number of the beast...given money being the route of all evil...and the anticapitalist slant I expect this will take eventually, I can't think that isn't intentional. Overall very well done I am very pleased, this is definitely my new favorite show of the season.

[EmperorBrandon]

- Man, Sakurai's Masakaki is creepy.

Indeed, very much so. Really seems like he did such a fantastic job with this role.

I wasn't really sure if this show would be one that interested me too much at first, but it certainly got my attention by the end. I'm quite curious to see more.

[Quarkboy]

One thing I did notice...the guys pin was 666...the number of the beast...given money being the route of all evil...and the anticapitalist slant I expect this will take eventually, I can't think that isn't intentional. Overall very well done I am very pleased, this is definitely my new favorite show of the season.

Not only was it his pin, it was also WRITTEN ON HIS CARD.

That's right, the idiot must have chosen his pin to be his account number. There's a good lesson to learn right there :).

[Faris Kalin]

Not only was it his pin, it was also WRITTEN ON HIS CARD.

That's right, the idiot must have chosen his pin to be his account number. There's a good lesson to learn right there :).

Yeah, that's never a good plan. lol

I'm not quite sure what to make of the show after the first episode. Images of Digimon powered by money keep coming to mind. For some reason, that kind of bothers me.

The character designs seem fine, but nothing amazing. The mysteries seem interesting. There is definitely a hook there, and I am somewhat intrigued. The main character is certainly one that can be related to. I'd venture that a lot of watchers can relate to hard working college student without much money. I know that I remember those days, anyway.

I wonder what the consequences of the battles are. Sure, we saw that guy lose and commit suicide, but was that really necessary? What happens if you can't pay back the money that you are "given"? I'm guessing that you can't just declare bankruptcy. lol Come to think of it, does bankruptcy work the same in Japan as in the U.S.? That's an interesting and perhaps relevant question.

Also, why would people give people large sums of money and access to a virtual battle domain to battle over said money? Is there a larger goal? Who controls or funds this? What is the end game? There doesn't seem to be a good logical reason for it. I mean, the lender knows that if the player loses, then they can't pay them back and very well might commit suicide. Perhaps, the money truly represents one's soul and you are betting your soul with a virtual devil of sorts (or maybe the real devil has gotten high tech). Where's the Charlie Daniels Band when you need them, eh?

[hissatsu]

This is the first show I'm following this season that I definitely won't be buying; I may well stop watching soon as well. Not that it's bad, but it contains something I'm really allergic to: CG people, quite a bit of it, and not just far off characters like a lot of shows use. The moment that shows up all I can do is think about how hideous it looks, which is somewhat detrimental to my enjoyment of a show. Oh well, it isn't as if there are no other shows to watch this season.

[ibby]

I thought this episode was interesting, though hopfully this series won't degenerate into Yu Gi Oh battles every week. I'll stay with this series until the end.

[HitokiriShadow]

Wow, Mashu really got the crap beaten out of her in this episode. I was not expecting things to get so... messy. Scorched Earth was pretty impressive. I liked how even Mashu was impressed at her own power. Anyway, Mashu's pretty awesome and my main reason for wanting to continue this.

That was a pretty shitty veteran Yoga was up against.

And, uh, did they CG Masakaki the whole time in the first episode? Because I somehow didn't notice it there but it was painfully obvious here. Ugh. I think they CGed Mashu when she was doing her stretches while Yoga talked to her, but it was harder to notice because she was constantly moving. ... but she was definitely CGed later.

The story is okay, but hard to take very seriously. I have a feeling the show is going to think its a lot deeper and more meaningful than it will actually be. Mikuni's opening monologue in the first episode was a pretty big sign pointing to that. Still, the premise is kind of interesting and they should still be able to get some good drama and decent character development out of it. I'll just hope it doesn't get bogged down by trying to be some sort of social commentary. The show already has a big CG millstone around its neck.

At this point, shows and movies with good budgets can generally make inanimate objects and machines (like Eva units) look good. But its nearly impossible to make CG people not look awful. The only good thing I can say about it here is that I didn't have any problems with the movement. Usually CG people are particularly awful because in addition to horribly clashing with the 2D animation and backgrounds, the movements are incredibly awkward. At least here they seemed to move fine, they just looked really bad. Particularly Masakaki. Mashu was less of an issue, as she seemed to be animated normally during the fight and was only CGed when she was in the card, and the background when she appeared there helped mitigate the issue somewhat.

Well, anyway, like I said Mashu is the main reason I'm going to keep watching this, though I'm hoping it will do something interesting with Hanabi too. And Q is cute, but I'm not expecting her to get much attention. We should see at least two Mikuni fights, and presumably we'll get to see her be really kick ass in at least one of them.

[einhorn303]

That was wonderfully directed, and really interesting. I'd barely ever watched Noitamina shows before, but now I'm watching two seasons in a row.

The fight scene reminded me of Umineko, where arguments of logic are visualized as fantastical magic sword battles. It would be disappointing, though, if the magic battles ended up just being magic battles, with the economic side just a window dressing to make them "cool" and distinct.

I love how Yoga wakes up from talking with Masakaki, thinks, "It was all a dream," sees Masakaki, and then wakes up again.

[Fencedude]

Eargh this show needs to cool it with the CG, they don't have the budget for it to not look really strange.

I think I get what they are going for with it, but its not working.

Anyway, Tomatsu Haruka as Mashu is the main reason to keep watching, she was pretty awesome. Kimimaro's getting kinda annoying already.

[strangefour]

-WTF!? An asset/familiar/alter/stand whatever that looks like Chibull seijin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_6-obK50Y&t=46s)!
-Your opponent tonight is a fat kid and his Metaknight.
-Your future is a cute angry girl. Awesome.
-Wait what? The dealers cards are Bardiche and Raging Heart?
-Oh a giant yeti who loves pachinko wearing a Metaknight corpse as a hat.

-AH CREEPY PEEPING CG DEVIL MAN!
-Mashu exercising is cute.
-Mikuni is an odd duck.

Digital Money. DigiMon.

[strangefour]

Eargh this show needs to cool it with the CG, they don't have the budget for it to not look really strange.

On a budget, yeah CG people do tend to look weird right now. But for a creepy dude like Masakaki, being CG works. Using it sparingly for Mashu and other assets is fine by me too.

[Advent_Nebula]

anyone else pick this up, but the asscet cards all have tarot images on them.

[EmperorBrandon]

Please remember to read the note at the top, ibby (respond to the root post using "Quote" when starting a new episode). The Episode 2 responses shouldn't be in the Episode 1 subthread... I've started the actual subthread with this post.

Anyway, Mashu's character design is pretty awesome and interesting. I think I'm decently amused by her attitude as well. I look forward to seeing more of her. I'm interested in the other guy's "asset" girl (Q) too.

Masakaki gave me a good laugh when cleared up the "Oh, it was just a dream" situation immediately in his usual creepy manner.

[zalder]

Eargh this show needs to cool it with the CG, they don't have the budget for it to not look really strange.

I think I get what they are going for with it, but its not working.

Anyway, Tomatsu Haruka as Mashu is the main reason to keep watching, she was pretty awesome. Kimimaro's getting kinda annoying already.

I must have different tastes than a lot of people because I love the art style of this show, find it much more slick than say steins gate (the other show I am really enjoying this season)

[zalder]

The story is okay, but hard to take very seriously. I have a feeling the show is going to think its a lot deeper and more meaningful than it will actually be. Mikuni's opening monologue in the first episode was a pretty big sign pointing to that. Still, the premise is kind of interesting and they should still be able to get some good drama and decent character development out of it. I'll just hope it doesn't get bogged down by trying to be some sort of social commentary.

I have to disagree the social commentary or potential for it is what is keeping me coming back. Like steins gate this seems to be an actual intelligent show. If it degrades into weekly battles and becomes less serious I will stop watching. So far it HAS been pretty deep so I can't see it thinking it is deeper than it is.

[LKK]

I got the feeling that Mashu's surprising Scorched Earth power boost got some quiet assistance from Q. Did anyone else interpret Mikuni and Q's conversation the way I did?

[Faris Kalin]

I got the feeling that Mashu's surprising Scorched Earth power boost got some quiet assistance from Q. Did anyone else interpret Mikuni and Q's conversation the way I did?

I suppose it's possible, but there isn't any evidence to support that. I don't really see why he would want to do that either.

What I don't really understand is why they pit amateurs against veterans and don't even feel the need to tell them the rules or how to fight. It's not surprising that the amateurs almost never win.

So, Yoga has 55 million yen now thanks to his battles. So, if he spends that money in the "real world", then he will have less money to use in the Financial District battles, correct? Also, if he makes money in the real world (via his job or investing), then he will have more money to use in battles, correct? That's interesting.

Here is a theory. Mikuni states that there isn't anything wrong with the Financial District's bank's money being worked into the actual currency. If you aren't part of the District, then you never notice. However, what happens if that cloak on the money fades? It would certainly throw the economy into chaos when that much counterfeit currency enters the market (and it is counterfeit since it isn't made by the government). If the Financial District bank has already used their "money" to buy real world goods (like stocks or real estate) or traded for real money, then they will be sitting pretty when that happens. Well, if that happens, then remember, I called it first. lol

[FigNewton]

I got the feeling that Mashu's surprising Scorched Earth power boost got some quiet assistance from Q. Did anyone else interpret Mikuni and Q's conversation the way I did?

At first I was confused and thought he WAS Mashu but after a moment I came to the same conclusion.

[HitokiriShadow]

Masshu didn't do much this episode, but she was still the highlight for me. Her curious observation of Q was really cute.

I liked the focus on the investigator lady (Jennifer Satou, I assume). I'm hoping for some interesting things from her.

And who/what on earth was that other person/thing Q was holding hands with near the end?

A lot less CG people this time, thankfully. The CGed Masshu a couple of times, but it was less than she alone was CGed last time and the ~2 times they did it weren't that bad (as opposed to horribly obnoxious CG Masakaki last time). Hopefully the downward trend continues. On the other hand, we got some annoying awkward English to make up for it.

[Shiroi Hane]

I like Mashu. I don't like CG Mashu.

[zalder]

I got the feeling that Mashu's surprising Scorched Earth power boost got some quiet assistance from Q. Did anyone else interpret Mikuni and Q's conversation the way I did?

I suppose it's possible, but there isn't any evidence to support that. I don't really see why he would want to do that either.

What I don't really understand is why they pit amateurs against veterans and don't even feel the need to tell them the rules or how to fight. It's not surprising that the amateurs almost never win.

So, Yoga has 55 million yen now thanks to his battles. So, if he spends that money in the "real world", then he will have less money to use in the Financial District battles, correct? Also, if he makes money in the real world (via his job or investing), then he will have more money to use in battles, correct? That's interesting.

Here is a theory. Mikuni states that there isn't anything wrong with the Financial District's bank's money being worked into the actual currency. If you aren't part of the District, then you never notice. However, what happens if that cloak on the money fades? It would certainly throw the economy into chaos when that much counterfeit currency enters the market (and it is counterfeit since it isn't made by the government). If the Financial District bank has already used their "money" to buy real world goods (like stocks or real estate) or traded for real money, then they will be sitting pretty when that happens. Well, if that happens, then remember, I called it first. lol

Wondering about this myself...I mean really even by being there the money is messing up the economy as usually the government keeps a tight control on how much money is present in the economy.

I wonder if his mesoflation is supposed to be like inflation in some way? Not sure if he gets money in the real world if it translates to the financial district or not.

Also was interesting the two assests seemed to recognize each other, not sure what that is about.

I expect the not telling them the rules, was to make it more like real life investing where certainly you are not told the rules before hand....

[Fencedude]

Man, Masshu sure was interested in Q. And why was Q holding hands with Ar_Ru?

Blah blah Kimimaro's daddy issues, don't care.

Jennifer was fairly interesting though, will be curious to see where they go with her.

[Faris Kalin]

Wondering about this myself...I mean really even by being there the money is messing up the economy as usually the government keeps a tight control on how much money is present in the economy.

Agreed. I'd be very surprised if this concept wasn't touched upon in some factor later on.


I wonder if his mesoflation is supposed to be like inflation in some way? Not sure if he gets money in the real world if it translates to the financial district or not.

Well, the prefix "meso" means middle or intermediate. Thus, I'm assuming the attack used the principles of moderate level inflation to boost attack strength.


Also was interesting the two assets seemed to recognize each other, not sure what that is about.

Hmm, was that the case? I don't really remember that. I do kind of hope that we get more info about the assets in future episodes.


I expect the not telling them the rules, was to make it more like real life investing where certainly you are not told the rules before hand....

I kind of disagree on this point. If you are using an investing firm, then a lot of the time, there will be people there that can explain at least the basic rules and give some advice. If you aren't using an investing firm (or the firm doesn't have advisers) and you don't do some research before hand, then you might end up in as much trouble as Yoga. lol However, Yoga didn't even get a chance to do research or ask an adviser.

[Quarkboy]

Just FYI, we've decided to retcon the official spelling to "mezzoflation" after hearing the pronunciation of the english voice actors of it.

Both Mezzo and Meso are both spelled メゾ in katakana, so I went with "consistent with macro and micro"... But it seems I was wrong.

So anyway, official subs will have mezzoflation.

[strangefour]

-Hello ladybug. Got tired of hiding in my sink?
-Macro, Messo (http://cospa.gamefun-house.com/media/m_2010032515593030370.jpg), Micro.
-Q needs as nap. Take a nap in Mashu's lap.
-Who is Q's friend?
-Oh man Jennifer's english is horribly flat.

I spent half this episode staring at the white walls and wanting to shoot a portal up as high as I could.

[Faris Kalin]

Just FYI, we've decided to retcon the official spelling to "mezzoflation" after hearing the pronunciation of the english voice actors of it.

Both Mezzo and Meso are both spelled メゾ in katakana, so I went with "consistent with macro and micro"... But it seems I was wrong.

So anyway, official subs will have mezzoflation.

Interesting. Thanks for the note.

Coincidentally, mezzo also means "middle" so it still works in the context that I listed.

[Quarkboy]

Just FYI, we've decided to retcon the official spelling to "mezzoflation" after hearing the pronunciation of the english voice actors of it.

Both Mezzo and Meso are both spelled メゾ in katakana, so I went with "consistent with macro and micro"... But it seems I was wrong.

So anyway, official subs will have mezzoflation.

Interesting. Thanks for the note.

Coincidentally, mezzo also means "middle" so it still works in the context that I listed.

Uh, there's no coicidence, obviously mezzo is the Italian spelling and meso is the latin.

It all comes from the latin.

[Ashyukun]

Hmmm. Is it just me, or did they seem to be implying through what happened in this episode that there is some actual altering of reality going on as a result of the Midas Bank (presumably)? That wave of disorientation that swept over Jennifer when she was in line and then her looking up and seeing that the place was now (apparently) a different shop, and her conversation with the parking cop seemed to be hinting that the world had been altered around her...

[Quarkboy]

Hmmm. Is it just me, or did they seem to be implying through what happened in this episode that there is some actual altering of reality going on as a result of the Midas Bank (presumably)? That wave of disorientation that swept over Jennifer when she was in line and then her looking up and seeing that the place was now (apparently) a different shop, and her conversation with the parking cop seemed to be hinting that the world had been altered around her...
It's not just you at all, that's exactly what it's implying.

[LKK]

Hmmm. Is it just me, or did they seem to be implying through what happened in this episode that there is some actual altering of reality going on as a result of the Midas Bank (presumably)? That wave of disorientation that swept over Jennifer when she was in line and then her looking up and seeing that the place was now (apparently) a different shop, and her conversation with the parking cop seemed to be hinting that the world had been altered around her...
It's not just you at all, that's exactly what it's implying.
Oh wow. I missed that implication. Good catch, Ashyukun.

[Faris Kalin]

I liked how we were given some explanations in this episode of how things worked. This episode did a good job of setting the hook by elaborating on the possible conspiracies that involve the Financial Districts. I really do like that sort of thing.

Speaking of District"s", it's interesting that each area has their own seemingly separate District. I wonder if we will get to see any other districts. I wonder if Masakaki is in each District or if each different District has its own Masakaki type character.

It seems like there is going to be something to the infusion of Midas money into the regular world currency system. I wonder where they are going with the reality altering bit, though.

[something]

Episode 2:

- What the fucking hell is up with the CG characters? For fuck's sake, I'm already putting up with loads of the stuff in backgrounds/settings, could you at least have the decency to not use it for two major characters who are right up close to the screen and hardly moving? Fucking hell that's obnoxious.
- Ugh. Anyway, on the good side, fuck yeah Tomatsu Haruka! Mashu is awesome.
- Eargh, protagonist boy was pissing me off for a couple minutes. I know he's understandably bewildered but there was something quite irritating about the way they had him acting throughout a lot of the fight. Seems to have been dealt with by the end though.
- And Mashu... Fucking love Mashu. Goddamn. She's enough to make me forgive the CG Masakaki... for now.
- Q is lovely too. Gotou Saori~! Mmm, delicious money.

- #!@*(#&*(!@ He's back.
- Now even Mashu. ...I don't think I can keep watching this show.

Okay yeah, dropped. I've already got to drop a couple shows I'm watching if I have any hope of finishing anything, so a show that egregiously assaults me with extensive full-body character 3DCG is absolutely unacceptable, no matter how interesting it might be otherwise. What a waste of a good Mashu.

[Fencedude]

Okay yeah, dropped. I've already got to drop a couple shows I'm watching if I have any hope of finishing anything, so a show that egregiously assaults me with extensive full-body character 3DCG is absolutely unacceptable, no matter how interesting it might be otherwise. What a waste of a good Mashu.

Shame you never started Softenni, its a fantastic show to stop watching.

[strangefour]

-Which is better, the joy of beating your teacher or letting him win and hoping for a better grade?
-SCORCHED GRADES!
-Masakaki remains a creepy dude.
-So the baby talk in class was before the fight? Scene continuity is fuzzy this episode.
-Lots of babies dying on the news. Or having their souls stolen to become -Assets in the Finacial District?
-Creepy ghost children?
-WTF! Holy shit. The Finacial District isn't stealing the souls of dead children. It's changing the world to take souls before they are even born!
-And yet here is Kimimaro.

The ending fight was cool and all. But man the reality being rewritten after going bankrupt makes this story more interesting. The more money someone has before going bankrupt, and thus the more black money is circulating because of that money, the bigger the effects on reality. Financial District is one well planned out road to hell. That's some grade A scheming that devil Masakaki has going for him.

[Fencedude]

Eh. I'm getting kinda bored with this show. Mostly I just don't care much about Kimimaro, making it hard to care about the rest.

Mikuni's fight was cool though.

[strangefour]

Eh. I'm getting kinda bored with this show. Mostly I just don't care much about Kimimaro, making it hard to care about the rest.


But. But... Mashu.

Okay yeah Kimimaro is kind of uninteresting. He's just this kid. With no wishes or desires of his own. A flat shonen manga type main character with very little passion. The story happening around his is interesting though.

[FUNiOP]

So how far behind is FUNimation's "simulcast" of this? I assumed it was a real one, but that's obviously not the case, since you guys have been talking about "today's" episode for days. Oh well.

Anyway, I agree that Kimimaro could certainly be a more interesting protagonist, but the rest of the story is interesting enough that I'm still enjoying it. Most of the Assets are cool, and Mikuni is still a badass. Hopefully there will be more dealers that get significant focus.

[strangefour]

So how far behind is FUNimation's "simulcast" of this? I assumed it was a real one, but that's obviously not the case, since you guys have been talking about "today's" episode for days. Oh well.


Huh? Oh. I thought Funi wasn't running Noitamina this season. Also this is all I get (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/strangefour/Untitled-1.jpg) on their craptastic Hulu player. It used to play before, badly. Now I don't get any ads or video. So yeah.

[FUNiOP]

So how far behind is FUNimation's "simulcast" of this? I assumed it was a real one, but that's obviously not the case, since you guys have been talking about "today's" episode for days. Oh well.


Huh? Oh. I thought Funi wasn't running Noitamina this season. Also this is all I get (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/strangefour/Untitled-1.jpg) on their craptastic Hulu player. It used to play before, badly. Now I don't get any ads or video. So yeah.

Try watching it on their Beta site. That's where I watched it today, and while it wasn't perfect, it was fine, and it wasn't Hulu. It was their own (new) player.

[Faris Kalin]

[QUOTE=FUNiOP;1940055]So how far behind is FUNimation's "simulcast" of this? I assumed it was a real one, but that's obviously not the case, since you guys have been talking about "today's" episode for days. Oh well.


Try watching it on their Beta site. That's where I watched it today, and while it wasn't perfect, it was fine, and it wasn't Hulu. It was their own (new) player.

I watch C on Funi's beta site and it works fine for me. The video does have a hulu watermark and does seem to come from hulu, though.

I'm fine with Funi's 1 week delay so that I can have official subtitles and not have to bother with fansubs.

[Faris Kalin]

Eh. I'm getting kinda bored with this show. Mostly I just don't care much about Kimimaro, making it hard to care about the rest.

Mikuni's fight was cool though.

Kimimaro is kind of a normal sort of guy without a lot of ambitions. However, it seems like he is going to be progressing towards his own ideas and beliefs as the series goes on. That makes things interesting, but there are also a lot of other mysteries and characters that help to make the show fun too. I think you can relate this phenomena to shonen shows. Such as, how the titular character of Naruto is kind of meh, but Might Guy and Rock Lee are awesome (like how Mikuni is awesome in C). As the show progresses, though, Naruto becomes more of an interesting character. I can see this happening with Kimimaro too.

Frankly, I was really surprised that he didn't join Mikuni's guild. I sure as heck would have. lol It seems like the only way out of the Financial District is to go bankrupt, and that can have very negative consequences. Thus, Mikuni seems to have a good plan. Plus, as long as he wins, he can still slowly gain money. What was up with Mikuni's asset in his fight though? Q only shows up at the end of the fight. That was confusing.

I really want to know more about Masakaki. There's got to be something Faustian going on with him.

[HitokiriShadow]

I was expecting the teacher to murder his family. He was clearly upset and pretty pissed when he found out Kimimaro had shitty motives for even participating, but he held in his anger which was unexpected.

Eh. I'm getting kinda bored with this show. Mostly I just don't care much about Kimimaro, making it hard to care about the rest.

Mikuni's fight was cool though.

I'm just in it for Mashu. Oh, and Q.

Mikuni's fight was cool, but I can barely follow what's going on with the money and transactions. The damage is being done to their bottom line, but we only saw their money once during the fight. We had to rely on the characters comments about their observations, we couldn't really tell what kind of damage they were taking, which sucks most of the fun and interest out of the fights.

I'm also having a hard time buying into the whole set up. By that I mean, the show clearly wants to be some sort of insiteful commentary on human nature or capitalism or somesuch.... but I have to take the story seriously to a certain point, to buy into the premise to a certain degree, and I just can't. It's just not working for me. There's some interesting ideas at work, but its just not coming together for me.

I can, however, continue to appreciate Mashu and Q. And Jennifer and Hanabi in the little bit of screentime they manage to get.

[Ashyukun]

Huh? Oh. I thought Funi wasn't running Noitamina this season. Also this is all I get (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/strangefour/Untitled-1.jpg) on their craptastic Hulu player. It used to play before, badly. Now I don't get any ads or video. So yeah.

I've discovered that the Beta site will NOT play on Safari on my PC- I have to fire up IE if I want to watch their Delayedcast of the show.

[FUNiOP]

I watch C on Funi's beta site and it works fine for me. The video does have a hulu watermark and does seem to come from hulu, though.

The same is now true for me. Hmm... I guess they just put it up with their own player first, then put it on Hulu a few hours later, then embed a Hulu player on their site. I wonder why. So I guess if you want to watch it from them and Hulu doesn't work for you for some reason, you have to watch it within the first few hours they upload it. Weird. What OS and browser are you using? (7/FF for me)

[EyeOfPain]

I believe the FUNi player remains available for Canadian users. Seems like there should be a way for U.S. viewers to access the non-Hulu player later, but I think a rep actually suggested catching the simulcast before the Hulu player goes live if people have trouble playing videos from them.

[FUNiOP]

I believe the FUNi player remains available for Canadian users. Seems like there should be a way for U.S. viewers to access the non-Hulu player later, but I think a rep actually suggested catching the simulcast before the Hulu player goes live if people have trouble playing videos from them.

You'd think they'd just... make it accessible. :sweat:

[Faris Kalin]

I watch C on Funi's beta site and it works fine for me. The video does have a hulu watermark and does seem to come from hulu, though.

The same is now true for me. Hmm... I guess they just put it up with their own player first, then put it on Hulu a few hours later, then embed a Hulu player on their site. I wonder why. So I guess if you want to watch it from them and Hulu doesn't work for you for some reason, you have to watch it within the first few hours they upload it. Weird. What OS and browser are you using? (7/FF for me)

Leopard - Firefox 4.0.1

I always watch it late Thursday nights, though.

I'm guessing that Funi puts it in their own player first to make sure that it is online and working at the proper time, and then shifts to the Hulu player ASAP so that they can save on bandwidth costs.

[Faris Kalin]

Mikuni's fight was cool, but I can barely follow what's going on with the money and transactions. The damage is being done to their bottom line, but we only saw their money once during the fight. We had to rely on the characters comments about their observations, we couldn't really tell what kind of damage they were taking, which sucks most of the fun and interest out of the fights.

I'm also having a hard time buying into the whole set up. By that I mean, the show clearly wants to be some sort of insiteful commentary on human nature or capitalism or somesuch.... but I have to take the story seriously to a certain point, to buy into the premise to a certain degree, and I just can't. It's just not working for me. There's some interesting ideas at work, but its just not coming together for me.

Hmm, yeah, I think they may want to make insightful commentary on human nature and capitalism too. However, I think that is tempered by the fact that cute girls, wolves, giant monsters, etc are being financed by stocks, etc to fight. lol

In the end, I think we will end up with a story that certainly has some insight in it, but mainly has a lot of flavor. I tend to like flavor. It tastes good, you know. ;)

[ndm]

Mikuni's fight was cool, but I can barely follow what's going on with the money and transactions. The damage is being done to their bottom line, but we only saw their money once during the fight. We had to rely on the characters comments about their observations, we couldn't really tell what kind of damage they were taking, which sucks most of the fun and interest out of the fights.


This. I think I'll stop watching this show because the core of the series consists of fights where I have no idea what's going on. Sure, we have big spinning wheels in the sky that show who's winning, but they seem to be able to change at a moment's notice so they're fairly useless. We still have no real idea what the powers or limits of those powers the fighters have. With most shounen action series we're given a clearly defined set of rules and skills for each contender and it's the way they maximise those skills that makes it interesting. Here I feel like I'm just waiting for the flashy lights to stop and to be told who won. On the other hand, if I choose not to consider this a shounen action series and focus on the non-fighting parts it becomes some garbled capitalism discussion with no clear message and a bland main character. I don't dislike the show, it's just not grabbing me.

[zalder]

I don't find the disscussion of capitalism garbled and after five episodes I'm not sure most shows have a clear direction. Episode four gave this one I thought kind of a direction though. I love the IMF spy character and her lollipops.

[FUNiOP]

Well I'm still enjoying this show, although I'm also still bitter that this season's other noitaminA original didn't get a simulcast, since I've heard such great things about it.

Anyway, this episode basically has more of the same: magical fighting that supposedly represents economics. Kimimaro tries controlling a deal to minimize the real world impact, but just ends up confusing Mashu at the last second and losing. Although it's not by much, he hears that any bad things could result from it, which makes him paranoid, but it seems that everything is fine, other than that it may have been the cause of him failing something (class? test? I'm not sure). Mikuni doesn't have any deals this episode, but he does clean up after a major one that would have otherwise had too great an impact on the real world using his real fortune. Also, Kimimaro officially joins the Guild and starts on another deal.

[zalder]

Well I'm still enjoying this show, although I'm also still bitter that this season's other noitaminA original didn't get a simulcast, since I've heard such great things about it.

Anyway, this episode basically has more of the same: magical fighting that supposedly represents economics. Kimimaro tries controlling a deal to minimize the real world impact, but just ends up confusing Mashu at the last second and losing. Although it's not by much, he hears that any bad things could result from it, which makes him paranoid, but it seems that everything is fine, other than that it may have been the cause of him failing something (class? test? I'm not sure). Mikuni doesn't have any deals this episode, but he does clean up after a major one that would have otherwise had too great an impact on the real world using this real fortune. Also, Kimimaro officially joins the Guild and starts on another deal.


You forgot that we finally figured out more of how the matches work. You are given a set amount of life points and once those are gone you are dead. Besides loosing those you can loose money as well, but you can loose all the life points and still have money left and so stay in the world.

I also loved Mikuni's explanation of what he is doing. We also see why the devil probably likes him so much.....he is now so much of a power in both places that when he goes down, the entire world will be owned by the financial district. What is it they say....road to hell is paved with good intentions...

[Faris Kalin]

[QUOTE=FUNiOP;1941543]
I also loved Mikuni's explanation of what he is doing. We also see why the devil probably likes him so much.....he is now so much of a power in both places that when he goes down, the entire world will be owned by the financial district. What is it they say....road to hell is paved with good intentions...

That's an interesting point. It seems that Mikuni has power and money on a scale that can rival a country. That's kind of amazing. The opening of the show seems to imply a future battle between Mikuni and Kimimaro. I wonder how that will pan out. Perhaps, Mikuni is training Kimimaro to possibly take over the guild or replace him one day if necessary. However, if Mikuni were to go bankrupt, then considering his power level, who knows what horrible things would happen to the real world.

I'm still enjoying the series. It's really interesting seeing the dual world aspects and watching how things are changed. I wonder if the IMF will try to shut things down or how they will end up meddling in the Financial Districts affairs.

[strangefour]

-Just as planned. By a dork.
-"Mashu. Tell me about your assets."
-Mashu hungry. Feed Mashu's open motuh. Hungering for some long hot noodle of-- Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?
-Such delicious giant fountains of blood money.

So they are all but flat out admitting this is a rejected shonen fighting anime script at this point. This show has some good ideas. Namely money instead of htit points or whatever. But it still boils down to your basic super powered card battling martial arts monster bashing game for boys.

[zalder]

-Just as planned. By a dork.
-"Mashu. Tell me about your assets."
-Mashu hungry. Feed Mashu's open motuh. Hungering for some long hot noodle of-- Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?
-Such delicious giant fountains of blood money.

So they are all but flat out admitting this is a rejected shonen fighting anime script at this point. This show has some good ideas. Namely money instead of htit points or whatever. But it still boils down to your basic super powered card battling martial arts monster bashing game for boys.

I really don't think it does...the ideas are larger than that. I mean bleach, dragon ball Z never have this kind of background. I don't like it as much as steins gate and it doesn't seem to be going as intellectual as I thought it might be at first but it does seem to be continuing to be interesting and thought provoking. Certainly more so than bleach or some such show.

[FUNiOP]

"Conflict" is definitely the right title for this episode. Kimimaro meets his next opponent, who seems like a charming philanthropist who only wants to make the world a better place and reduce the risk for everyone while sacrificing his own money, and even hits on Mashu, although Kimimaro finds him creepy for similar reasons. He gives Kimimaro a proposal that seems like nothing but a good idea, but it's completely against everything Mikuni has told him. To complicate matters further, Kimimaro meets someone else with yet another idea for him, and after finally asking Mikuni, he is very "conflicted" about what to do. He ends up following Mikuni's ideas like usual, but it soon seems like the wrong choice. However, it ends up working out in his favor better than it seems like it should. Of course, if there's one thing that's clear in all this, even winning isn't a good thing. Maybe he'll try to help destroy the Financial District after all...

[zalder]

"Conflict" is definitely the right title for this episode. Kimimaro meets his next opponent, who seems like a charming philanthropist who only wants to make the world a better place and reduce the risk for everyone while sacrificing his own money, and even hits on Mashu, although Kimimaro finds him creepy for similar reasons. He gives Kimimaro a proposal that seems like nothing but a good idea, but it's completely against everything Mikuni has told him. To complicate matters further, Kimimaro meets someone else with yet another idea for him, and after finally asking Mikuni, he is very "conflicted" about what to do. He ends up following Mikuni's ideas like usual, but it soon seems like the wrong choice. However, it ends up working out in his favor better than it seems like it should. Of course, if there's one thing that's clear in all this, even winning isn't a good thing. Maybe he'll try to help destroy the Financial District after all...

Well that was interesting....and thought provoking
If we hang onto the present by morgaging our future do we make the future meaningless? Where do we draw the line in boring from our future to support today? A question America and the western world is grappeling with right now, and a hard one to answer. Definitely one worth thinking about though...
very good show this is.

[Faris Kalin]

Well that was interesting....and thought provoking
If we hang onto the present by morgaging our future do we make the future meaningless? Where do we draw the line in boring from our future to support today? A question America and the western world is grappeling with right now, and a hard one to answer. Definitely one worth thinking about though...
very good show this is.

I agree with Mikuni on this one. I think that you have to support the present if you want to have any sort of future at all. You can only get to your future one step at a time.

It certainly seemed like taking the deal proposed to Kimimaro would have worked out. However, the consequence would have been the Financial District obtaining more money for itself. Certainly, that can't be a good thing. Even with the IMO involved, I'm not sure how the District could be taken out. Plus, there are different Districts in each country. I can't see a resolution to this in 11 episodes, but I wonder how it will end.

[zalder]

Well that was interesting....and thought provoking
If we hang onto the present by morgaging our future do we make the future meaningless? Where do we draw the line in boring from our future to support today? A question America and the western world is grappeling with right now, and a hard one to answer. Definitely one worth thinking about though...
very good show this is.

I agree with Mikuni on this one. I think that you have to support the present if you want to have any sort of future at all. You can only get to your future one step at a time.

It certainly seemed like taking the deal proposed to Kimimaro would have worked out. However, the consequence would have been the Financial District obtaining more money for itself. Certainly, that can't be a good thing. Even with the IMO involved, I'm not sure how the District could be taken out. Plus, there are different Districts in each country. I can't see a resolution to this in 11 episodes, but I wonder how it will end.

If we loose the present there is no future true but we have to think about the future in the present also, its a fine line you have to walk. In the world of the show though I think you are right, the city getting more money for itself can't be good, and taking the cites out doesn't seem possible...

Yeah this will need a second season to work at all, hope it gets one.

[Faris Kalin]

If we lose the present there is no future true but we have to think about the future in the present also, its a fine line you have to walk. In the world of the show though I think you are right, the city getting more money for itself can't be good, and taking the cites out doesn't seem possible...

Yeah this will need a second season to work at all, hope it gets one.

I wonder if it will get a 2nd season. I'm not certain, but it seems like most Noitamina shows don't get a 2nd season. Anyone know if the show is popular enough in Japan to perhaps warrant a 2nd season.

[Shiroi Hane]

-Mashu hungry. Feed Mashu's open motuh. Hungering for some long hot noodle of-- Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?
Gah! I just caught myself trying to work out the size of the hole in the card.

[zalder]

-Mashu hungry. Feed Mashu's open motuh. Hungering for some long hot noodle of-- Is it getting warm in here or is it just me?
Gah! I just caught myself trying to work out the size of the hole in the card.

Calling ero artists stat!!!

[Faris Kalin]

So, this episode gives some insight into why Mikuni thinks the way he does. Interesting back story. We get hints of hints about other stuff like assets and how the District is affecting the real world. If I were to guess why assets look the way that they do, it would be a mix of your future potential and your personality, but who knows. Plus, what how would you even go about condensing your "future potential" into a tangible form? I wonder if there will be more info on that.

Does anyone in the District actually know anything? Does Masakaki or the driver of the cab have any info on how things really work? I wonder what Mikuni knows. Surely, with all the power and resources that he has, he's been able to dig something up.

[FUNiOP]

I'm still loving this series. This episode is interesting as it doesn't really progress the plot at all, and instead is divided into two very separate stories, one of Mikuni's past and one of Mashu's outlook on Kimimaro and the world, with lots of her narrating and dialogue between the two of them, as well as random scenes that don't really affect anything and don't even necessarily happen right at this point in time, but give a better idea as to how the two of them feel about everything, and some pondering as to how the whole Financial District and the Assets work and how they relate to the potential "future" of the Entres. I wasn't expecting an episode like this, but I think it worked well. I assume the next episode will go back into plot mode, since while episodes like this can be nice on their own, you really can't have more than one in such a short series that has to tell this complete story that was made specifically for it.

[Faris Kalin]

I'm still loving this series. This episode is interesting as it doesn't really progress the plot at all, and instead is divided into two very separate stories, one of Mikuni's past and one of Mashu's outlook on Kimimaro and the world, with lots of her narrating and dialogue between the two of them, as well as random scenes that don't really affect anything and don't even necessarily happen right at this point in time, but give a better idea as to how the two of them feel about everything, and some pondering as to how the whole Financial District and the Assets work and how they relate to the potential "future" of the Entres. I wasn't expecting an episode like this, but I think it worked well. I assume the next episode will go back into plot mode, since while episodes like this can be nice on their own, you really can't have more than one in such a short series that has to tell this complete story that was made specifically for it.

I too really liked the Mashu/Kimimaro interactions. Apparently, he just keeps the District credit card out all the time. That's kind of nice of him.

I think that an episode like this really helps to flesh out the characters, but I do agree that, with only 4 episodes, they better get some plot rolling. lol

I really like the show so I hope they can have a satisfying ending. I don't want it to end with everything unresolved unless we are going to get a 2nd season.

[zalder]

I'm still loving this series. This episode is interesting as it doesn't really progress the plot at all, and instead is divided into two very separate stories, one of Mikuni's past and one of Mashu's outlook on Kimimaro and the world, with lots of her narrating and dialogue between the two of them, as well as random scenes that don't really affect anything and don't even necessarily happen right at this point in time, but give a better idea as to how the two of them feel about everything, and some pondering as to how the whole Financial District and the Assets work and how they relate to the potential "future" of the Entres. I wasn't expecting an episode like this, but I think it worked well. I assume the next episode will go back into plot mode, since while episodes like this can be nice on their own, you really can't have more than one in such a short series that has to tell this complete story that was made specifically for it.

I too really liked the Mashu/Kimimaro interactions. Apparently, he just keeps the District credit card out all the time. That's kind of nice of him.

I think that an episode like this really helps to flesh out the characters, but I do agree that, with only 4 episodes, they better get some plot rolling. lol

I really like the show so I hope they can have a satisfying ending. I don't want it to end with everything unresolved unless we are going to get a 2nd season.

At this point I don't see how they could give us a satisfying ending in four episodes. There is to much we still don't know. This needs a second season and I hope it is doing well enough to get one.

[Faris Kalin]

Wow, this episode sure kicked up the information quota a lot! We learned exactly what happens if a District goes down which means that shutting them down isn't an option. What I don't understand is how a District goes bankrupt.

Also, doesn't the Japan District have a ton of money? So what is going on with all of the problems affecting the real world? Is it due to the fact that so much of the money/future of the real world has been borrowed and is controlled by the District?

That was quite a big reveal about Mashu being Kimimaro's sister of sorts. However, I don't quite understand how that would work or why it would be that way. If Mashu is representative of his future, then how does that relate to the future that his dad already lost? Perhaps the end of the series is going in the direction of Kimimaro trying to restore lost futures while Mikuni tries to control the present. Interesting.

[zalder]

so wait if you give money back from the district and destroy the destrict you destroy a country? Are they really going to destroy Singapore in this world man that is hard core. Heh so the financial district is evil...but if it goes down it takes the country with it, so you have to prop it up to keep it from going down...hmmm...heh...wear your politics and your symbolism on your sleeve much?

still a very interesting show.

[Faris Kalin]

I wonder if we will get to see who the "man upstairs" is that was mentioned in this episode.

While I wouldn't call the Districts "good" by any means, I wonder if they are more akin to a force of nature than "evil". They seemed to be deeply entrenched in the fabric of the world of C's reality.

An interesting question might be, "How long have the Districts been around?" If the answer is "only recently", then maybe they are evil and started by the "man upstairs". If not, then they could fall into the force of nature category.

On another note, if Mashu is somehow related to Kimimaro's lost sister, then could the reason be that the District gives you money/assets based on your future. They get this money from other entres. If Kimimaro's dad lost his future to the district, then that could be the money/assets that were given to Kimimaro.

[zalder]

I wonder if we will get to see who the "man upstairs" is that was mentioned in this episode.

While I wouldn't call the Districts "good" by any means, I wonder if they are more akin to a force of nature than "evil". They seemed to be deeply entrenched in the fabric of the world of C's reality.

An interesting question might be, "How long have the Districts been around?" If the answer is "only recently", then maybe they are evil and started by the "man upstairs". If not, then they could fall into the force of nature category.

On another note, if Mashu is somehow related to Kimimaro's lost sister, then could the reason be that the District gives you money/assets based on your future. They get this money from other entres. If Kimimaro's dad lost his future to the district, then that could be the money/assets that were given to Kimimaro.

True but it is still a very blatant symbolism for the financial crises and the fact that we couldn't let the financial sector fail as it would have taken the rest of us with it. A little to obvious of symbolism for my taste but probably have to make it that way for others to get it now a days I suppose.

[Faris Kalin]

True but it is still a very blatant symbolism for the financial crises and the fact that we couldn't let the financial sector fail as it would have taken the rest of us with it. A little to obvious of symbolism for my taste but probably have to make it that way for others to get it now a days I suppose.

Oh yeah, I agree that it is definitely symbolism for the interconnection between the financial sector and everything else in the real world. I wonder how this will be touched upon in the final episodes?

Hmm, how is the financial sector in "real world" Singapore doing nowadays anyway?

[Faris Kalin]

Does anyone else have a problem with Funimation's player? I get buffering stutter every few seconds when I'm trying to play Control when it's available on Funimation's player. However, if I wait a day for it to hit the Hulu servers, then I don't have any problems at all.

[ohtori_akio]

Just watched episode 10 and it is getting better and better, does anyone know how many episodes the series is supposed to have?

[FUNiOP]

The Financial District is destroying the world! How does Kimimaro plan to stop this? Does anyone ever get back their future? And how could he even think that he could do it, if even Mikuni had to sacrifice so much of the world? Two more...

[Faris Kalin]

The Financial District is destroying the world! How does Kimimaro plan to stop this? Does anyone ever get back their future? And how could he even think that he could do it, if even Mikuni had to sacrifice so much of the world? Two more...

Yeah, I'm guessing that Kimimaro kind of rushed into this without a plan like in his first controlled battle. lol

If the future ends up as money in the coffers of the District and you get money by defeating opponents in deals, then what if Kimimaro has a deal with Masakaki? Would he get the money/future if he wins? Could he then give this back to the people in the real world?

[Shiroi Hane]

Something I wondered about in the last couple of episodes is, given they way in which cities and even countries are overwritten like that, if this whole world is actually in a computer - some sort of super advanced financial simulation, and the District is part of the backend systems that has been hacked into.

[Faris Kalin]

Something I wondered about in the last couple of episodes is, given they way in which cities and even countries are overwritten like that, if this whole world is actually in a computer - some sort of super advanced financial simulation, and the District is part of the backend systems that has been hacked into.

Hmm, that's a plausible theory. I really hope that's not the case though.

[EmperorBrandon]

Just watched episode 10 and it is getting better and better, does anyone know how many episodes the series is supposed to have?

11.

[ohtori_akio]

Just watched episode 10 and it is getting better and better, does anyone know how many episodes the series is supposed to have?

11.

I really wish there were more :(

[Faris Kalin]

I find the portrayal of the U.S. in this episode quite interesting. The U.S. District seems to have some major power. However, in the real world, our economy really isn't doing very well, and we have an insane debt level. Thus, I was very surprised to see that Control's take on our economy was such a positive one.

I also found it interesting that each District seems to have their own version of Masakaki.

Kimimaro vs Mikuni

Well, I think we all saw this coming. I mean, it's even kind of shown in the opening credits. I wonder if the battle will go in Kimimaro's favor or if there will be some mutual destruction going on somehow. Also, we get another mention of the "man upstairs". I'm guessing that we aren't going to get an explanation about that with only 1 episode left.

I wonder if Jennifer from the IMO actually died. It kind of gave that impression, but IDK, I didn't think you could really die from a Deal.

[FUNiOP]

Interesting... There was really no winning, so the Financial District and Japan and everyone in it was destroyed... but... Kimimaro just ended up in a different world where everything was fine but they all used the dollar. And Masakaki shows up and says the Financial District is eternal... Interesting, interesting...

[nakimushi]

Well, I pretty much expected a logically inconsistent ending, and I was not disappointed. :)

So apparently Kimimaro's fortune wasn't based on Yen or Midas money like Mikuni's was. Otherwise he should have lost power during that fight as well, right?

Although I must admit I was really excited when the Yen fell below 3000 to the dollar - I would import everything, well except for this show. :)

So apparently Japan replacing its currency with dollars, saved its future because of course even though America was also apparently flush with even more Midas money than Japan was, only the real dollars end up in Japan somehow? Perhaps Ryuugamine Mikado makes sure of that. :P

[Faris Kalin]

So apparently Kimimaro's fortune wasn't based on Yen or Midas money like Mikuni's was. Otherwise he should have lost power during that fight as well, right?

I thought about that as well. I guess, since he knew about the plan, he was able to transfer his real world yen into something like gold. That way the money that he used to battle with (since it's the same as the money you have in the real world) would be worth even more and thus even more powerful vs Mikuni's yen.


So apparently Japan replacing its currency with dollars, saved its future because of course even though America was also apparently flush with even more Midas money than Japan was, only the real dollars end up in Japan somehow? Perhaps Ryuugamine Mikado makes sure of that. :P

I'd also speculate that there were indeed Midus dollars floating around. Only the Midus yen lost confidence. Thus, I'd wager that the loss of confidence caused the Midus yen to appear in it's natural state. Since the Midus dollars still have confidence behind them, they still look like dollars.

[Faris Kalin]

Interesting... There was really no winning, so the Financial District and Japan and everyone in it was destroyed... but... Kimimaro just ended up in a different world where everything was fine but they all used the dollar. And Masakaki shows up and says the Financial District is eternal... Interesting, interesting...

Go go 2nd season where Kimimaro goes to foreign Financial Districts and takes them all down!

Eh, maybe not. lol

All in all, it ended up being a satisfying ending for me. However, I don't really have any reason to rewatch the show. Thus, maybe I'll give it a "C" overall. ;)

BTW, did anyone else notice that all the episode titles begin with the letter "C"? I just now noticed that. lol

[FUNiOP]

Interesting... There was really no winning, so the Financial District and Japan and everyone in it was destroyed... but... Kimimaro just ended up in a different world where everything was fine but they all used the dollar. And Masakaki shows up and says the Financial District is eternal... Interesting, interesting...

Go go 2nd season where Kimimaro goes to foreign Financial Districts and takes them all down!

Eh, maybe not. lol

All in all, it ended up being a satisfying ending for me. However, I don't really have any reason to rewatch the show. Thus, maybe I'll give it a "C" overall. ;)

BTW, did anyone else notice that all the episode titles begin with the letter "C"? I just now noticed that. lol

I feel pretty much the same about it. I'd also give it a C, or maybe a C+. However, I'm sure I'll end up buying it when FUNimation releases it and watching it dubbed on Blu-ray.

And yes, I noticed that all the episode titles begin with the letter "C". :sweat:

[Faris Kalin]

I feel pretty much the same about it. I'd also give it a C, or maybe a C+. However, I'm sure I'll end up buying it when FUNimation releases it and watching it dubbed on Blu-ray.


Yeah, that's the thing. I kind of would like to watch it dubbed and in higher quality on my plasma rather than on the computer monitor. I'm not a big fan of watching stuff on the computer, and I tend to prefer dubs to subs. Thus, I'll probably end up waiting for a Funi sale at Rightstuf and grab it for a reasonable price.

[zalder]

I'm really surprised with the reaction this show has gotten on this site and over at anime vice. I really liked this show, and agreed with it frankly. Perhaps that is why I liked it so much. A B definitely and maybe a B+. Could have used more seasons but only because it was so good. Much of Japanese anime is about the fact that things are never cut and dry which I why I like it so much. Much of Japanese culture was encapsulated in the man upstairs saying there was no right just differing viewpoints. Not sure that the drop of the yen had much to do with the way the ending fight went. The asset no longer wanted to fight because his sister saw how she was holding him back, and the brother finally realized what his asset was.

But like the Gods of c said, everyone was right there is no right :). They had to tie themselves to the economic fortunes of America and so loose some of their economic freedom but everyone survived and had a future. I expect it wasn't that the countries dissapeared as in everyone died but they went to a future where they were no longer economically independent.
Remember that he wasn't just killing entre's but people outside the system as well. The children were going away right in front of him. Now his professor has his children back. Of course it is always true that the future could still be frittered away...thus the financial district survives.

I am very much a future orientated person like our main character. The future of myself, my family and my country are of much more importance to me than the present. Japan is very much that way as well, this is why they all work so hard, the community is more important than the individual. This is why I disagree with the huge deficits my country is running. Living for today only is never the right thing to do. But again, it is an argument that people can always have there is no right answer :).

[Faris Kalin]

I'm really surprised with the reaction this show has gotten on this site and over at anime vice. I really liked this show, and agreed with it frankly. Perhaps that is why I liked it so much. A B definitely and maybe a B+. Could have used more seasons but only because it was so good. Much of Japanese anime is about the fact that things are never cut and dry which I why I like it so much. Much of Japanese culture was encapsulated in the man upstairs saying there was no right just differing viewpoints. Not sure that the drop of the yen had much to do with the way the ending fight went. The asset no longer wanted to fight because his sister saw how she was holding him back, and the brother finally realized what his asset was.

But like the Gods of c said, everyone was right there is no right :). They had to tie themselves to the economic fortunes of America and so loose some of their economic freedom but everyone survived and had a future. I expect it wasn't that the countries dissapeared as in everyone died but they went to a future where they were no longer economically independent.
Remember that he wasn't just killing entre's but people outside the system as well. The children were going away right in front of him. Now his professor has his children back. Of course it is always true that the future could still be frittered away...thus the financial district survives.

I am very much a future orientated person like our main character. The future of myself, my family and my country are of much more importance to me than the present. Japan is very much that way as well, this is why they all work so hard, the community is more important than the individual. This is why I disagree with the huge deficits my country is running. Living for today only is never the right thing to do. But again, it is an argument that people can always have there is no right answer :).

Actually, you touch on a very interesting point. What did you think about America's portrayal in this anime? I was really surprised that America's financial situation was shown in such a positive light since we are not exactly doing well. 14 trillion in debt and getting ready to default if the debt ceiling isn't raised is not good by any means.

As for why I just gave the series a "C" rating, well, other than the obvious humor value of assigning a C rating to the show C, it's kind of an average show, IMO. Actually, it's probably a little above average so maybe a C+ or a B- is actually warranted. It was definitely entertaining. However, I don't really feel the need to watch it again for the story. It didn't have amazing visuals either. Thus, the only reason that I'd have to buy it would be the dub (which I might do if it's on sale sometime in the future).

[zalder]

I suspect from Japans viewpoint we are doing better than they are economically. I doubt they are up on our politics though the whole present vs future thing did play into our current debate rather nicely. I really liked this more than you did just for the fact that it did try to tackle large issues. Shows like this I prefer much more than um lets just say other types of shows so as not to bring up old arguments. So they get a boost on the score from me for that reason. I also thought the animation was beautiful and for the ideas it dealt with it is definitely worth a rewatch in my opinion. Not as good as say eva or ghost in the shell, but better than much of what has been coming out recently. (I mean lets compare this to oh I don't know...K-on or bleach...or one peice)...

[pianocello]

I must say that the concept of the show is unusual and in the hands of a more competent team, this could have been a winner. And yet in the end, I felt it was merely okay.
The male lead Kimimaro is terrible. He's the type of annoying self-righteous male lead found in the likes of Trigun and Fate Stay Night. He spends most of the series lumbering from plot point to plot point and yet does not do enoough to make us root for him in whatever he is doing.
The direction isn't good. It felt like they had to purposely have a main villlain for the finale so they had to drag Mikuni into the villain's role.
A lot of plot points were never developed effectively. More could have been done with Hanami and then they drop hints on who Mashu actually is and don't quite develop that area enough. Mashu's final scene with Kimimaro is suppose to be poignant and emotional and yet it was hard to feel anything because of how poorly developed the relationship was (and how annoying our male lead is).

Well maybe I won't be so harsh as to give this a C but just for Mashu alone , I suppose I could give a B-.

[zalder]

wow...I had a very different reaction. Maybe it is because I believed with the male lead a bit as I do believe the future is more important than the present but I didn't find him annoying at all. I love Trigun as well though...

[Faris Kalin]

wow...I had a very different reaction. Maybe it is because I believed with the male lead a bit as I do believe the future is more important than the present but I didn't find him annoying at all. I love Trigun as well though...

Personally, I didn't find Kimimaro annoying either. I also like Trigun as well.

I wonder if pianocello doesn't like him b/c he doesn't have the fierce determination of say some shonen protagonists, especially considering the fact that "C" does have a bit of a shonen battle show feel.