(L) Appareranman

[SeijiSensei]

Sad it's going on hiatus. I quite liked this episode once I put aside little things like language differences and Appare's make-up and hair style.

I thought the "hit-a-samurai" idea a clever way to make money. Surprised one of LA's finest didn't try to arrest them for busking without a license.

I'm trying to place the movie historically by looking at the cars. Here's what a "roadster" looked like in 1910,

https://www.google.com/search?q=1910+roadster

By 1920 they looked like this:

https://www.google.com/search?q=1920+roadster

I think the cars in the anime are closer to the first set than the second, but I'll have to look again to be more sure. We know from Shirobako and Third Aerial Girls' Squad that those folks at Musashino Animation are sticklers for detail. I bet Diesel-san researched the car designs.

Consolidation of the US auto industry into the "Big-3" players took place somewhat after the time period of this show.

[SeijiSensei]

Roadster comparison:

Car 4 in Appare-Ranman



1910 Buick Roadster



1920 Ford Model T Roadster



I think the car in Appare-Ranman looks a bit more like the Model T.

[Haak]

As much as I wanna like this show for its flair, Appare is a huge sticking point for me. Its clear the story really wants to make him into some sort of enlightened moral compass but quite frankly the only reason he's managed to get as far as he has is because the the story has given him an easy ride in life that is just plainly breaking suspension of disbelief, right up to and including the noticeable absence of a language barrier in country he's never been to.

That said, it is still more interesting than Fairy Gone and I'm still willing to give it a chance provided that it can survive the hiatus. Its clear that a lot of research and design has gone into the show. It's just a shame that it hasn't reached the writing.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Haak

As much as I wanna like this show for its flair, Appare is a huge sticking point for me. Its clear the story really wants to make him into some sort of enlightened moral compass

It does? I mean, ok, he's not prejudiced, but he's still a selfish, irresponsible asshole.

[Magewolf]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

It does? I mean, ok, he's not prejudiced, but he's still a selfish, irresponsible asshole.

And those are his good qualities.

Usually if you want a likable eccentric genius you either make them completely unaware of the wider effects of their experiments or you make them smart enough that even their mistakes are safe for other people(somehow). Appare however seems to be completely aware of the problems with his lifestyle he just does not care.

[Irenesharda]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I'm trying to place the movie historically by looking at the cars. Here's what a "roadster" looked like in 1910

I don't think that's going to help you much. This entire series is all over the place with anachronisms and time errors up the wazoo.

It's basically just a weird alternate universe that was made to make this story work. You either accept or you don't.

I for one can't really work with this series. Appare just gets on my last nerve and I can't take looking at him for too long.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

It does? I mean, ok, he's not prejudiced, but he's still a selfish, irresponsible asshole.

And he just keeps getting away with it. No more was this exemplified than when he was stupid enough to take a light from the racing track despite the fact that he should have been able to hear the car on the track speeding towards him. He not only endangered himself but the driver and someone could have wound up dead. Does he get admonished for that? Nope. Is the story even aware of consequences of his actions? Doubtful. We can clearly see that he's a selfish, irresponsible arsehole but I'm not convinced the story sees it as anything more than necessary eccentricity.

[Anh_Minh]

There's a difference between getting away with it and being a "moral compass", though. Konosuba's MCs keep getting away with stuff too, but no one, in or out of story, takes them as paragons of virtue.

[Haak]

His conversation with the racer girl was clearly geared towards being a compass though

[Anh_Minh]

It's somewhat inspirational - "You, too, can be an asshole who doesn't care what people think" - but if anything, Kosame would be the moral one. Though no one looks to him for guidance...

[Blaat]

Just a heads up the anime restarted on July 3rd so that means that the fourth episode will air this week.

[Stark700]

Episode 4 is out.

Racing is a dirty and dangerous world

Got that right.

I appreciate the mechanics of this show honestly. They make the cars look flashy and with a sense that every one of them is unique and special. The drivers of course had their diverse personalities. I also like the attitude of this show and Xia Lian Jing feels like a character worth investing time into watching.

Glad to see this is back.

[Kanon]

The race was more interesting than I thought it'd be. I expected the guy to pull a dirty trick like that, and was glad the others, more specifically the owner didn't just accept that shit.

I wasn't particularly looking forward to this show's return, but this episode really was nice.

[Dop]

Nice to see this show come back, and really that was a good episode to come back on. The way the team boss punched out his driver for being a cheating bastard (I cheered at this moment), and told the girl she'd handled the car well to avoid a crash, and gifted her the car, worked really well.

Looking forward to the rest.

[SeijiSensei]

I'd like this show more if Kosame didn't yell in nearly every scene. I'm beginning to find him more annoying than Appare.

Glad everyone saw that Kevin cheated and didn't reward him for it.

[Kanon]

The race has finally started. Looks like there's a conspiracy to have one or more racers killed (or something worse) so the race ends up being a failure.

[Anh_Minh]

Is it Big Railways moving against gas powered cars?

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Is it Big Railways moving against gas powered cars?

That was certainly my speculation.

[stray]

I was scared to give this show a shot after Fairy Gone (not to mention Sirius, etc.) especially considering I grew up on shit like the Cannonball Run but so far its pretty solid. Seems to be a decent amount of Death Race 2000 in its DNA as well.

For the record the first LA to NY "cannonball" was when Cannonball Baker himself did it in 1915 with a Stutz.

Spoiler for Cannonball:

[SeijiSensei]

Awesome! Thanks for that bit of history.

Harry C. Stutz was an interesting character in his own right. This is a fascinating period in American history when automobiles were first appearing and the market seemed open to anyone. I recommend the book by Laura Hillebrand about Seabiscuit, the famous American race horse. He was owned by the Charles Howard who obtained the Buick franchise for California. The movie adaptation is okay, but the book is one of my all-time favorite pieces of historical recounting. Hillebrand is a beautiful writer.