(L) Time Travel Girl: Mari, Waka and the 8 Scientists

[Triple_R]

Episode 2 was very solid.

I don't really have a problem with Mari not knowing more about Earth's magnetic field. It's not necessarily knowledge you'd need to have in basic day-to-day living, especially if you're not using compasses or magnets a lot.

Also, I think Mari generally handled herself well in her discussions with Mr. Gilbert. She did a pretty good job of following his logic chains. So I don't think she's dumb, she just never had much interest in certain types of scientific knowledge before.


Anyway, the main cast continues to be likeable, and it's good to see Mari back in present day. Mostly because this makes it more likely that Waka will be joining Mari on Mari's next journey into the past.

[Router25]

Having eureka moments through baking, I think I've found out the story trend.

[BWTraveller]

I'm sorry to go back to the minor case of Fuuta again, but I am curious how likely it would really be that he'd be fine. Can a person with absolutely no health problems be thrown into fibrillation with just one hard blow to the chest? And is it really common? Because it is certainly not that uncommon for kids with heart conditions to discover it through athletics. If your heart is weak against certain stresses, high-stress and high-impact activities could very easily expose a condition by triggering a life-threatening reaction. I'd generally expect a kid who suffered an arrhythmia strong enough to require defibrillation would be subjected to more than a single day's worth of tests, not to mention some severe psychological problems considering that the event he now knows can kill with ease is something that happens quite regularly on the field. It'd actually be kind of interesting to hear that story, either have him diagnosed with a heart condition that keeps him from the field or have him declared perfectly healthy, return to the field, and go into a panic the moment he sees a ball flying toward him. Psychological or physical, suffering from a lasting debilitating problem like that would make for interesting conflict.

[Random Wanderer]

Can a person with absolutely no health problems be thrown into fibrillation with just one hard blow to the chest?

It has happened. I looked it up when researching the first episode. I don't remember details, though: it was incidental to what I was looking for.

[Yamada II]

Episode 2

So according to this show, a moe moe girl making cake is the reason behind the world now knowing why a compass always points north. And now we'll get to know how this same moe moe girl helped humans use electricity.

Anyway, at one point this felt like I was watching some high school science lecture. And I'm not even that much into physics and shit. However, I did like that touch about the plight of scientists back in the days when the church was so stubborn and didn't want to accept the scientific discoveries since they'd be proven wrong and in the process they tried to eliminate scientists speaking the truth and proving the church's science wrong. Guess they're not going for a fictional history and are keeping to facts as much as possible save for the presence of a Japanese moe girl in those time periods in different countries.

The stuff about the time travel logic should get some more detail especially after they showed that Mari spent two days in 1600 while only three or so hours passed in present times.

I'm really not sold on its presentation mainly because I'm not interested in studying physics while watching animes. I do, however, appreciate the stuff like Mari's clothes being considered obscene in that period while being perfectly normal in most societies nowadays and the stuff about the troubles scientists went through to achieve what we consider general knowledge nowadays. But the latter stuff is just secondary as its main purpose is kinda to be an educational show with seriously educational stuff and I'm personally not all that into it. I'll give it another episode to see if the secondary stuff gets me good enough to continue or not.

[Dop]

This week, Mari gets hit on by a young Benjamin Franklin, and helps him show some stuffy church guy that lightning isn't the wrath of god but just electricity, with the aid of a kite, a key, and a leyden jar.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Dop

This week, Mari gets hit on by a young Benjamin Franklin, and helps him show some stuffy church guy that lightning isn't the wrath of god but just electricity, with the aid of a kite, a key, and a leyden jar.

And then convinces them all that science is the work of the devil by disappearing in front of the priest and in full view of the public during the science experiment.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

And then convinces them all that science is the work of the devil by disappearing in front of the priest and in full view of the public during the science experiment.

I laughed so hard when this happened in the show. Now everyone's going to think he was harboring a witch.

[Jaden]

Well yeah, trying to explain what causes magnetic fields, you'd have to explain about elementary particles, spin moments of electrons, electricity etc etc. and even if you were a super-academic who could do this off the top of your head, there'd have no way of proving the existence of such things in an era where even the elements are undiscovered, and the scientific community is an obscure letter writing club for quirky old noblemen. The best thing you could tell Gilbert at the time is that yes, the earth is somehow a giant magnet.

This series reminds me a lot of those French educational cartoons from the 80s, just more cute

[Yamada II]

Episode 3

So according to this show, a cute moe moe girl made that kite for Ben Franklin and that very walking piece of moe played a role in the abolishing of slavery. Moe girls making the world a better place.

So we have Ben Franklin here. I seriously doubt he was a handsome lolicon lol. He constantly tried to convince the church that this lightning is electricity and putting up a lightning rod would save lives. But the church was against putting up a metal rod. The part about Mari worrying about the slave kid was interesting. Franklin couldn't understand why she was so worried about someone considered to be below them in society.

The presentation here was a bit better. It didn't feel like a science lecture here which is nice. If the rest of the episodes are like this presentation-wise, it'd be better. They should keep the educational part while not coming off as a boring lecture.

[Pen3]

I was hopping that Wakka would join Mari on her journey, but i hope it changes. Either ways, we find out that Ben Franklin is a pedophile and the slaves are washing machine equivalent.

[Greenish Growth]

Benjamin Franklin did like to flirt so I guess that's what they were trying to show.

[SuitUp]

He specifically liked ugly old women tho

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

And then convinces them all that science is the work of the devil by disappearing in front of the priest and in full view of the public during the science experiment.

Yeah, having Mari disappear at this exact moment was pretty questionable.

Still, I liked the slave subplot. I think that was handled pretty well.

And it was hilarious to see Franklin hit on Mari that much.

[SeijiSensei]

If I were a Japanese kid, would I be learning that major scientific discoveries are made in the West and not at home? It seems a bit strange that there are no Japanese, or any other Asians, in the group of scientists. For all its occultism, onmyoudou and its practitioners like Abe no Seimei were far ahead of Europe, which was stuck in the Dark Ages, in areas like astronomy. I guess the focus on Western scientists makes sense if the subject matter is electromagnetism, but might Japanese kids not reach the conclusion that their country has failed to produce innovative scientists like those in Time Travel Girl.

The emphasis on religion as an oppressive force thwarting scientific discovery is another intriguing aspect of this show. When Gilbert asks Mari if that was still true in her time, she realizes she has no idea, though it's pretty clear the writers want to convey the message that religious repression of independent thought continues to this day. I also had never heard of Giordano Bruno, though apparently it is controversial whether his persecution by the Church reflected his support for the Copernican model of the solar system rather than his promotion of other heretical beliefs.

The producers clearly were entranced by Franklin's reputation as a womanizer, though I doubt he would have hit on twelve-year-old girls. I found Mari's kite especially amusing.

I did wonder whether Gilbert's knowledge of Japan was something of an anachronism. Apparently Marco Polo's travels made Europeans aware of Japan's existence, and one source claims that Columbus thought Cuba was Japan in 1492. The Portuguese had fairly substantial trading relations with Japan by the mid-1500's, and the Dutch and British arrived at about the turn of the 17th century.

Apparently no one in 18th century Philadelphia was shocked by Mari's uniform. Who helped Waka put on the corset when she dressed in Mari's outfit from London?

[chaos_animagic]

I see, Ben Franklin is a Lolicon.

Glad to know.

And the Church is stubborn as ever (still the same today... we could have a lot of more inventions and discoveries today if churches didn't intervene... shown and proved by history)


And yes... them slaves... work hard slave boy, work hard like the washing machine you're meant to be. Don't worry, you'll be free one day and machines will finally replace you.
(which... apparently still happens today, regular working people are being replaced slowly by Machines that can do the job faster and more efficient without complain)


PS: MOE GIRL!!!, stop showing Famous Scientists how to discover/invent stuff, they're suppose to discover/invent it themselves.

[Tenzen12]

Nah, Franklin is not lolicon, just indiscriminate

[Nork22]

After 3 episodes of this show, this is how I would summaries the show:



Well, I'm rather pleasantly entertained about this show because the art design definitely harks back to the late 90's anime designs, while having a nice modern anime production. Also if anything, it's nice that this show is teaching us stuff (even if it's 8th grade science and history).

[Router25]

Originally Posted by Nork22

Also if anything, it's nice that this show is teaching us stuff (even if it's 8th grade science and history).

Please don't tell me New Horizon's also getting an anime.

[Pen3]

Originally Posted by Nork22

After 3 episodes of this show, this is how I would summaries the show:



Well, I'm rather pleasantly entertained about this show because the art design definitely harks back to the late 90's anime designs, while having a nice modern anime production. Also if anything, it's nice that this show is teaching us stuff (even if it's 8th grade science and history).

You are thinking of History Channel 5 years ago, now it is all Ancient Aliens, Pawn Stars and Swamp People. Well they aren't as bad as NatGeo TV though. Their magazine is still great, but the TV is on a whole new path.