Babylon (TV)

[Buffalobiian]

https://i.imgur.com/Gqo3Vfi.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qwjtoOU.jpg
https://imgur.com/a/thXkKsB

Tags: conspiracy, detective, novel, police, thriller

Synopsis:
* Based on a suspense novel series written by Nozaki Mado.

Shinki is a new "autonomous zone" being established in western Tokyo to accommodate the metropolis' ever-growing population, and the upcoming mayoral elections have dominated discussion in the media for weeks. In the middle of investigating pharmaceutical law violations for the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office, Prosecutor Seizaki Zen and his assistant Fumio Atsuhiko stumble on to evidence linking the bizarre suicide of an anesthesiologist to one of the mayoral candidates, Nomaru Ryuuichirou. Suspecting a scandal that could tear Shinki's burgeoning political scene into pieces, Zen and Atsuhiko begin pulling at the threads of the case, and with the body count rising, its impossible to say just how deep the corruption in the city could possibly go.

Links: ANN (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=20775), MAL (https://myanimelist.net/anime/37525/Babylon), AniDB (https://anidb.net/anime/13948).

Episodes 1-4 available online.

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An interesting series, reminding me of Kokkoku in terms of mystery and the colour palate.

I'm personally pro-choice, which in this case does translate to pro-legalisation of euthanasia. From a society POV however, I do think that limits are required. That's because human labour are a resource, and raising people to adulthood with tax to have them die on you later isn't the most profitable outcome.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 06

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Itsuki is right. The suicide law doesn't actually change the number of people who want to commit suicide. There's really no issue with it.

[neflight86]

I'm enjoying this as a serious thriller/mystery, but the whole 'suicide legality' plot thread is baffling to me. Why put emphasis on regulating the one crime for which there can be no punishment? Not to be disrespectful, but how many people who commit suicide are worried about its legal ramifications? If there were laws in place that punished your left behind loved ones, then maybe the whole thing would be more controversial, but as is, I don't see the point in the debate...

My most pressing mystery is how the shape-shifter lady convinces people to want to die, but enough poor anime writing has me braced for an unsatisfying explanation or contrivance by the end of this, but I'd love to be wrong.

[Buffalobiian]

People want to kill themselves because she's too sexy. What's so hard to understand? (sarcasm)

As for the whole suicide thing, it's less about making it "not a crime". They mentioned that by legalising it, it becomes one of the "correct choices" in life. Overall though, I'm with you. Legalising suicide means nothing to me, except for the fact that you can have someone help you.

[shinta|hikari]

Or can make it wrong to stop you. That's a big thing. A lot of people who attempt suicide only fail because of someone's intervention. If it's made legal, will you get convicted for stopping it?

[neflight86]

Episode 7:

That got dark(er) fast. At this point, I hope they never attempt to explain how her power of suicide suggestions works and just leave it essentially supernatural, because I have no faith that the explanation will be satisfying.

Also very ballsy to kill off the entire supporting cast in a single episode. Think protagonist will become a vigilante?

[MFauli]

Question: is this a must-see or just so-so? Thx

[neflight86]

It depends if you are craving a procedural mystery/crime drama that explores a few different ideas with average animation.

[Buffalobiian]

Well that was confronting. I'm hoping people bitch about this as much as they did about the Goblin Slayer episode (expectation: they won't), because this feels worse.

I'm ready to hear Magase's reason for doing this.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 08

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The good: International players and perspectives to weigh in on the matter.

The bad: The whole suicide/murder thing is being swept under the bigger issue and we'll probably never get to why Magase acts so seductively or how she manages to shape shift. In a way it's a good thing because I can't see them ever doing this properly.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 11

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So this is how you set up a conversation between Magase Ai and the USA President. Interesting. Let's see what message they end up pushing.

[Buffalobiian]

Episode 12

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What a trainwreck. This was even worse than Glasslip, and that's something. At least Glasslip was pretty from start to finish.

[neflight86]

Just got around to finishing this and wanted to add my thoughts.

Does anyone else find it narratively unsatisfying when characters act like they have 'solved' a philosophical conundrum, and the story doesn't rebuke them even a little bit? All of the "world leaders" spoke from an obviously shared perspective, going through the motions of deciphering the definition of good/evil and overlooking more arguments than they should have, if their diverse ethnic backgrounds are to be taken at face value...

A trained pastor concedes that the Bible doesn't 'explicitly' forbid suicide but doesn't infer the implication that the Bible makes when declaring the human body as a temple that life might have inherent value? There are other convenient omissions, but in recognition of the concessions of fitting the exposition into a limited television series, I can ignore them. But to act like other arguments don't exist is a bit... unsatisfying is the word I come back to. That was my problem with the end of the show; it skimped on its exploration of a relevant and interesting topic.

My frustrations with the ideological parlay aside, Babylon was still interesting to watch in that it had constant twists and turns throughout and always teased potential greatness. I'm also glad they never delved deeper into the villain's voice/seduction powers, but kept them as a basically supernatural tool to preserve a sense of dread and fear, as there was no effective countermeasure against it.

Don't get your hopes up too much about the ending, and I daresay it was a good watch.

[Buffalobiian]

The first 3, maybe 8 episodes were the best. The final 4 or so just falls flat. I've since learned that this was an anime original ending, that there's a manga ending, and that the source material is a light novel. At least the manga version was more scientific but still.

Personally I don't think suicide is bad. It's not great for the human race in general as far as longevity goes (as per the story), but people do it anyway.

And not everything that's moral is about practical benefits, otherwise it'd be called practicality instead of morality.

If people are sane and want to kill themselves, that's up to them. I don't even really have much more argument than "personal choice" and shit like that.