(L) Ride Back

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by Rhyel

Super fast signature.

In a way i kind of miss that aspect of the show.

[BetoJR]

Originally Posted by Sylphic

What`s a USian, you mean an American?

North-American, you mean, right?
At least, as far as I know, the country of The United States of America does not represent the whole of said continent, nor does its citizenship implicates the sole affirmation of what it is to be an American. I mean, the continent itself is subdivided in three sections, after all...

[Ingram]

Originally Posted by SnEptUne

At least, Suzuri died a painless death.

Painless? Hardly. It was just a very quick pain that she wouldn't have had much of a chance to notice.

[Ingram]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

It just dawned on me that although Tomyo and Rin saw Suzuri get decapitated. The others including Shouko probably saw her remains that look in Shouko's eyes showed that she probably saw the body.

That's my impression, but we might have seen Shouko's reaction to a large quantity of blood, etc, rather than the body. I first thought that when we see some of the scene from her perspective, we see a blue tarp/cover/whatever that was covering the body (I'm not recalling seeing anything blue there before, but we don't have that much of a look at the surroundings), but Shouko gets there just after things happened, so the GGP would not have had the chance to cover the body (if they intended to do so at all).

That is not a sight i would like to see if it were one of my friends.

Definitely not, but I don't think that I'd want to see it with anyone else, either. I don't mind flipping through some of Japan's guro manga, but I don't think that I could handle it very well in person or with photographs. Something about having it in color, with detail, and in three dimensions would get to me...

The sad thing is the GGP probably wont give a rats ass that it was teenage girl that got killed

Romanov surely doesn't, but there might be a few higher-ranking officers that could be concerned. We just haven't seen any of them, if they exist.

and also they knew what Rin looked liked so i have no clue how they could have made this mistake after seeing Suzuri on the screen. Im sure the white ride pilot didnt think anything of it i think they left right after.

If the GGP observers noticed that Suzuri wasn't Rin, I don't think that they told their White Riders. If the rider that killed Suzuri thought that he was dealing with Rin (a highly-skilled rider and "terrorist" who has taken down and injured some of his fellow Riders), then a higher level of force might have been considered appropriate.

[stormy001_M1A2]

Originally Posted by Rhyel

Super fast signature.

W00t....thanks. Can I have it as my signature?

[donoghu]

If the GGP observers noticed that Suzuri wasn't Rin, I don't think that they told their White Riders. If the rider that killed Suzuri thought that he was dealing with Rin (a highly-skilled rider and "terrorist" who has taken down and injured some of his fellow Riders), then a higher level of force might have been considered appropriate.

And, if you think like a crazy as*h*le that want everything to be under their control, hurting innocent can do the little needed for "rats to get out of their holes". Especially since Rin has always moved agains GGP according to 1 thing : her friends & family security. I'm not sure, but they already have all the data about Rin, which must surely include her relationships. Which mean attacking her friend like they did was one way (bad one thought) to try to make her show herself.

Well, we'll see what's coming next!

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by donoghu

And, if you think like a crazy as*h*le that want everything to be under their control, hurting innocent can do the little needed for "rats to get out of their holes". Especially since Rin has always moved agains GGP according to 1 thing : her friends & family security. I'm not sure, but they already have all the data about Rin, which must surely include her relationships. Which mean attacking her friend like they did was one way (bad one thought) to try to make her show herself.

Well, we'll see what's coming next!

I actually dont think thats the case. You wold have assume the GGP knew that her friends would take part in the protest then you have to assume that they knew one of her friends would be riding a Ride Back and then theres the little notion that a wanted person would show themselves at a protest that the GGP would definetly be at. It makes no sense for Rin to be high profile and the GGP should be smart enough to know that.

If the GGP wanted to flush Rin out of hiding there is an easier way to do it then attacking her friends. First of all they already have her brother thats another way to get her moving lure her into a trap by revealing the location that hes being held at.

The other way is get a hold of Rins closest immediate family member besides her brother and that would be her Grandmother. There are too many holes for the GGP to have planned this after all they only started looking around because they heard the protesters shouting the "Rideback Shoujo is here with us" they saw the only girl on a Rideback in a Yellow suit and assumed it was her. To make matters worse Suzuri ran.

What it seems like to me the low level field officers never saw the picture of Rin and as a precaution moved to take custody of her just encase.

[Ingram]

Originally Posted by Sinestra

To make matters worse Suzuri ran.

Perhaps in the GGP view (as narrow a view as it is), but she couldn't "run" that much more slowly. Maybe it was the OJ Simpson slow-speed-chase technique?

What it seems like to me the low level field officers never saw the picture of Rin and as a precaution moved to take custody of her just encase.

Well, the image of Rin shown during her first escape was widely circulated, but her face wasn't visible, so the White Riders could probably only use the information that their superiors provided. Calling that an attempt "to take custody" is a bit of a stretch, though. Given how the bosozoku riders that Kenji was with were treated even if they surrendered, I don't think that Suzuri would have been treated all that well even if she had shut down Balon and raised a white flag.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Sylphic

What`s a USian, you mean an American? If he were, then his English would be correct instead of chock full of errors in only one sentence.

O and I`m Canadian, we`re supposed to be kind of neutral on everything.

"American" simply designates someone from the "Americas" (which would include North, Central, and South America). Canadians are "Americans" too.... many people just take pains to point that out. Yeah, its a nitpick but technically "American" is about as informative as "African" or "European".

Personally, as a citizen of the USA - I'm fine with USian or USAian

As for the episode.... whoa, that was unexpected, tragic, and unfortunately a standard motif in many "coming of age" stories (kill a friend or mentor to drill the gravity of the situation into the protagonist).

[Heibi]

Originally Posted by Vexx

"American" simply designates someone from the "Americas" (which would include North, Central, and South America). Canadians are "Americans" too.... many people just take pains to point that out. Yeah, its a nitpick but technically "American" is about as informative as "African" or "European".

Personally, as a citizen of the USA - I'm fine with USian or USAian

As for the episode.... whoa, that was unexpected, tragic, and unfortunately a standard motif in many "coming of age" stories (kill a friend or mentor to drill the gravity of the situation into the protagonist).

You'll almost never(99.9%) hear a Mexican, Canadian, Brazilian, etc, call themselves Americans. You'll almost always hear someone from the USA refer to themselves as an "American". So there is no nitpick at all. National pride is very high. Same goes for Europeans. They will most always refer to themselves as a native of their country, German, British, French, etc, not Europe.

And if you say you're an American most foreigners will ask which State you're from if they know about us. They won't ask "Are you from South America or Canada?"

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Vexx

As for the episode.... whoa, that was unexpected, tragic, and unfortunately a standard motif in many "coming of age" stories (kill a friend or mentor to drill the gravity of the situation into the protagonist).

Yes, agreed. It's mostly a way of driving the story forward, I guess, since it forces the protagonist to grow up, and now. For most of the "rest of us", the (obviously less tragic) equivalent could be moving out on your own or something -- some sort of life-changing circumstance that forces someone to buckle down and really deal with life. Technically speaking, I don't know if they had to go to this extreme, but it is a nice way of tying in the political/military motif and the other sub-themes of the show. So yeah, anyway -- I agree; totally fits into the coming-of-age theme, while still managing to be surprising at the same time. Good stuff (well, and bad, in the other sense).

But, uh, to everyone, we should probably leave the "American" stuff for another time and place.

[Rhyel]

Originally Posted by stormy001_M1A2

W00t....thanks. Can I have it as my signature?

Sure.

If anyone want more signatures for RideBack, I have

[CodeName MinusOne]

First of all, can everyone stop the USA bashing. It really is ugly, and takes away from enjoying talking about a great anime.

Regarding the GGP. It's a cruel, totalitarian dictatorship. Much like North Korea, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and many other countries. And one of the storypoints I'm enjoying is how Rin could live a full happy life full of optimism under that kind of strict rule. As long as she stayed within her small little world. Much like real life, a inhumane govt doesn't treat EVERYONE cruelly at all times. It's possible to lead a happy life within even the most cruel countries. It's just when you touch the boundaries of your freedoms that's when the govt shows how inhumane and cruel it is.

I think Suzuri represented a part of Rin. Suzuri stood for the child in Rin. The happy, carefree, naive part of Rin. The part that could just find joy and laugh and be adventurous. And silly.

but now that Rin has become noticed by the GGP, she can't be a child anymore. And that's what the story showed us, in brutal detail...

[Sinestra]

Originally Posted by CodeName MinusOne

First of all, can everyone stop the USA bashing. It really is ugly, and takes away from enjoying talking about a great anime.

Regarding the GGP. It's a cruel, totalitarian dictatorship. Much like North Korea, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and many other countries. And one of the storypoints I'm enjoying is how Rin could live a full happy life full of optimism under that kind of strict rule. Much like real life, a inhumane govt doesn't treat EVERYONE cruelly at all times. It's possible to lead a happy life within even the most cruel countries. It's just when you touch the boundaries of your freedoms that's when the govt shows how inhumane and cruel it is.

Ignorance is bliss but not an excuse i have been saying that for years.

[JediNight]

I doubt Suzuri actually got decapitated, otherwise you wouldn't have seen the helmet rolling off. (The head would have stayed in it) Most likely "only" strong enough to snap her neck and probably kill her instantly...

[teelotes]

Originally Posted by CodeName MinusOne

First of all, can everyone stop the USA bashing. It really is ugly, and takes away from enjoying talking about a great anime.

Regarding the GGP. It's a cruel, totalitarian dictatorship. Much like North Korea, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and many other countries.

The focus here is on New World Order, and you can't discuss it without mentioning US of A, conspiracies or not.

It's nothing like N.Korea or Iraq. It's a bigger international stage at play here, a global government overseeing the individual countries' government. It's not about invasion and war. It's about tactical strikes and stealth warfare. Diplomacy is the key. Establish pacts, agreements and memorandum of understanding under the backdrop of military strength. Let the countries' governments stay and do the administrative work, and the global government will lead the way.

It's unfortunate that the base of the superstate which GGP attacked is in Arizona (where else do you find Arizona?), and the GGP leader portrayed in the series is a Russian. It's all too suggestive for conspiracy theorists.

Originally Posted by CodeName MinusOne

And one of the storypoints I'm enjoying is how Rin could live a full happy life full of optimism under that kind of strict rule. As long as she stayed within her small little world. Much like real life, a inhumane govt doesn't treat EVERYONE cruelly at all times. It's possible to lead a happy life within even the most cruel countries. It's just when you touch the boundaries of your freedoms that's when the govt shows how inhumane and cruel it is.

Overall, the country is still in a state of peace. Look at all the skyscrapers and infrastructure standing tall. It's not about destruction and war. The global government is taking over via pressure on the country's government, who will definitely not submit without any resistance.

The strict rule, with all the suppression and fear, is only just starting. GGP's victory was only recent history. The breakaways from the main party, namely Kiefer and Okakura, are still alive. The White Riders have only just been introduced. Protests have only just begun. The strict rule that you envisioned would take place maybe another 20 years down the road, when GGP's victory is all but legend, the comrades of Romanov are all but dead, and the city has permanent GGP blockade with White Riders and remote surveillence cameras all around.

Originally Posted by CodeName MinusOne

I think Suzuri represented a part of Rin. Suzuri stood for the child in Rin. The happy, carefree, naive part of Rin. The part that could just find joy and laugh and be adventurous. And silly.

but now that Rin has become noticed by the GGP, she can't be a child anymore. And that's what the story showed us, in brutal detail...

I'm not sure if Rin has focused on that side of her character, if any at all. She has always been an achiever since young, and through the Rideback, she can truly be herself when she is doing what she does best. It's a different form of happiness from Suzuri's.

Rin is also very aware of her surroundings, and much more so of the people close to her. In this way, she is naive, because in the course of protecting her closed ones, she has hurt others, and she doesn't understand if it is the right thing to do.

[Jski]

I think there more to this then the new world order view of things. Something they keep not showing is older and or political trying to stop the suasion. So the only recodes is that the younger has to take up the fight but being younger not really having the connection or the info to pull things off. So the younger has to do protest but protest have a bad side to them because there are change for death to occur there by pushing the cause. Simply put this story i think is partly about the older generation not acting causing problems for the younger generation.

[anyme]

Originally Posted by JediNight

I doubt Suzuri actually got decapitated, otherwise you wouldn't have seen the helmet rolling off. (The head would have stayed in it) Most likely "only" strong enough to snap her neck and probably kill her instantly...

The blood may came from her mouth or her neck or from the officer that she ran into. They didn't show the picture so I think it must be very violence.

[orion]

Originally Posted by Vexx

"American" simply designates someone from the "Americas" (which would include North, Central, and South America). Canadians are "Americans" too.... many people just take pains to point that out. Yeah, its a nitpick but technically "American" is about as informative as "African" or "European".

Personally, as a citizen of the USA - I'm fine with USian or USAian

As for the episode.... whoa, that was unexpected, tragic, and unfortunately a standard motif in many "coming of age" stories (kill a friend or mentor to drill the gravity of the situation into the protagonist).

Except that USian is not a designation that a person with citizenship in the USA would use to describe himself. That term is "American". Citizens of Canada are "Canadians". If you're outside the US, the term can be used differently.

[cheesie]

Well the anime certainly toned it down by several notches, although the emotional impact is considerably heightened!

Spoiler for Comparison to Episode 10 key scene in manga:

Click here if you're interested in how the manga pulled it off.

I would've been more affected by the sequence if I had any forms of attachment with Suzuri, but I have to confess, her fangirl antics grate on my nerves a bit. My heart goes out to the two girls though, the sudden loss of their friend right in front of their eyes are bound to kick things into really high gear.