Babylon Series

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by magnumcyclonex

So with the added knowledge of just how bad the manga is, it begs the question how did the publishers allow the manga to even be published? And who in their right mind (clearly they were not) gave the green light for an anime adaptation to be created?

Aren't there checks at various steps in the industry to ensure the story is written properly, and if it's a piece of trash, it doesn't get approved to get picked up by some anime studio?

Considering this guy is even behind an animated movie I can only assume that somehow in Japan his works are selling. He also apparently won the Media Works Bunko section of the Dengeki Novel Prize in 2009, and he was nominated for the 34th Nihon SF Taisho Award.

I wonder if those works were better...

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Considering this guy is even behind an animated movie I can only assume that somehow in Japan his works are selling. He also apparently won the Media Works Bunko section of the Dengeki Novel Prize in 2009, and he was nominated for the 34th Nihon SF Taisho Award.

I wonder if those works were better...

To be fair, I heard Hello World (the movie) had a lot of pressure from the higher ups on the author not to go overboard. Which definitely paid off since it is miles better than Babylon or Kado....In fact I was stunned to find out Hello World was by the same person as Babylon (it's that different)

[Jan-Poo]

Perhaps a leash is what this writer needs. After all if Babylon and Kado are so infamous is because people thought they were good when they first got into them.

[Yu Ominae]

So... anyone not going to pick their poison?

[Alchemist007]

What a shame, the America arc was good to the last ep until the call between Alex and the woman ended. I was on track to give it an 8 or 9/10. Then the rest of it happened and failed to resolve anything.

7/10 overall.

[VTHokiePride]

So can anyone explain what happened at the end? Zen "saved" Alex by killing him then he killed himself after?

Things I still want to know: so Ai is supposed to a master of disguise and master hypnotist? How is he able to control all of those people. What happened in Shiniki after? What did the world do after?

[marconii2002]

Anime has ended long ago mods to work and move this thread to properly forum section.

[Jan-Poo]

Originally Posted by VTHokiePride

So can anyone explain what happened at the end? Zen "saved" Alex by killing him then he killed himself after?

Zen "saved the world" by preventing Alex from killing himself, otherwise everyone would have thought that his answer was that people should kill themselves and the "suicide law" would have been enacted worldwide.

The implication is that the world eventually decides not to accept the suicide law otherwise Zen's action and Alex's sacrifice would have been meaningless.

Originally Posted by VTHokiePride

Things I still want to know: so Ai is supposed to a master of disguise and master hypnotist? How is he able to control all of those people.

Unspecified power. Maybe it's supernatural, maybe there's supposed to be some kind pseudoscientific explanation. The story never cared to explain.

[ArrowSmith]

I know this will *never* happen but bear with me.

We know at the conclusion of episode 12 that Magasi has achieved a total victory. Now imagine this plot idea:

We get a time skip to 2030. We find out in the interim, Magasi has used her 'geass' to get the suicide law enacted in all governments. She is eventually installed as Empress of the World, with her palace in Shiniki. Billions have committed suicide, reducing the world population by 50%.

Magase is not stupid, she knows there will be dissenters. So she has created a 'personal guard' of sexy young women who she has trained to have the same 'abilities' as her, directly controlled by her. These Magasi clones are always on 'seek and destroy' missions against any dissenters to the New Order.

However in the interim, cells of dissent of arisen called 'The Blade of ZS', after Zen Seizaki. Magase is now aware of this. What she doesn't know is a member of the elite, a Lelouch-type figure is actually in charge of 'The Blade of ZS' and is training all of them how to counter Magase & her clones' techniques. Thus an epic war ensues which ends up in her eventual defeat and restoration of sanity to the world.

Anyone like this?

[Ghostfriendly]

A textbook example of what not to do with female characters. The cartoonishly evil femme fatale blamed for men lusting after her, the supportive housewives, and the cold, sexless career woman (far too edgy if her rank came from drive and talent rather than nepotism) give this show a huge Madonna Whore complex, with correspondingly dull male characters. Whose reaction to the policewoman's gory death seems the most important thing about it and her. The 'whataboutism' that changing views on other issues for good reason means changing views on suicide for no reason, the unaddressed intial idiocy of removing regulations that are there for good reason, a puerile analysis of Christian views on suicide, and a conclusion that would be the first paragraph of any summary on the philosophy of suicide... certainly not the best.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Zen "saved the world" by preventing Alex from killing himself, otherwise everyone would have thought that his answer was that people should kill themselves and the "suicide law" would have been enacted worldwide.

The implication is that the world eventually decides not to accept the suicide law otherwise Zen's action and Alex's sacrifice would have been meaningless.

It could be said that failing to resolve the central conflict does make their actions meaningless, but I think struggling against unavoidable doom can be meaningful when the effort and sacrifice involved is shown. A 'the battle continues' ending is far from the worst part of the anime.