Jab for jab, as boomers do
Jab for jab, as boomers do
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
New ep
Not much to say, except maybe the dumbest idea there is to get some money to pay for your tuition in a short time...
Kawasegawa's concern and the blank film strip at the end of each ep had me thinking : what if getting the trio, or even the quatuor, to higher skies means a bad end for Kyuoya. What if in fact his present 28 y old boring timeline is the best he can ever achieve and all alternatives are dead ends ?
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
The timing actual works out in this instance for obtaining money quickly. Winter Comiket is close to where they are now, since the festival was in the fall. Can they get it done that quickly? I very much doubt it. Not to ping on Saekano again, but it does share a lot of the same elements as this series, just done better. They attempt to get a game done during summer break and fail at least once. That's incredibly long hours and crunch basically from the start (except for their music composer).
One will assume the Platinum Trio is still going to classes while working the game.
The other problem is that I'm pretty sure the premise is kinda silly to start with? I'm from the US, where loans are king, and university prices are insane. But at affordable universities, you could work your way through and graduate with no debt. Especially in 2006 (not so much now). But this is Japan, where the government is more involved, exams are critical to getting in to most universities, so I looked it up because it must be different.
It has flipped since 2006. In 2006, Japan had the highest tuitions in the world...at 2,000,000 yen (18,000 USD) per year, after all the fees.
Laughable by today's US standards, where a student's debt will be 100,000 - 200,000 USD after four years. My tuition slowly creeped up to 18k USD by the time I graduated. Japan's current university tuitions are locked by their government, and have stayed basically the same since 2006.
Japan has a higher standard of living, but 18k per year is below the poverty line in the US. That's easy money to make. Minimum wage in Japan in 2006 was a sad 673 yen/hour. At 20 hours a week (easy shit for a student), that's...700,000 yen per year.
So maybe it is realistic after all, taking away living expenses. In cities, pay should be higher, and evening jobs in Tokyo today are like 1250/hour.
Kinda mediocre episode. Ignoring the relationship with Shinoaki feels cheap and convenient. I hope they don't just kinda overlook it and act like nothing ever happened.
Dangerous moment: When Kyouya used his knowledge of the future to decide on what kind of game to make. That's villain behavior imo. But I guess as long as he doesn't straight up copy a specific game from the future, it's okay.
Current low point: The shitty "adult loli". It's so dumb.
What good is making 700k when you just said 2 mio are necessary?Originally Posted by Ryllharu
I'll ignore the condecending "making 18k dollars per year is easy to make ... ugh ...
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
Think of that post as an analysis as I was writing it. I started researching thinking it was either stupid they were trying (current US tuitions), or trivial (as with countries where tuition is tax-funded if you passed the entrance exams). But as I learned, Japan at the time was the most expensive university in the world, though it has stayed effectively at that point for nearly 15 years while the US tuition exploded. Japan's min wage has also increased substantially compared to what it was in 2006, but with zero family support, he would still struggle and never make it.
Except...you don't have to pay it all up front either. It's paid by semester.
So consider the post convincing myself rather than "condescending."
18k USD is close to the poverty line. So yes. US average min wage (it varies by state) for full time will be 15k. So yeah, not hard to beat it, especially in 2nd shift work. I was making $10/hour on twilight shift (6pm to 10pm) in 2005 for unskilled labor. People used to pay for college all the time in the US by working after and around classes. It just isn't possible anymore.
Japan is littered with gig type work that pays way more. Construction, fisherman, etc. The series notably has not told us what shitty job he's working, unless I missed it.
I do agree that he should have been able to make some proper money with a regular sidejob.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
I saw that muv-luv poster...
Times sure were different before digital distribution and more robust tools (they probably have to code their own VN engine) made indy game development the cornucopia it is now, but I like the plan; turn art into money. And, in case you forgot (as if this show would let you), Kyouya was basically bred to lead these creatives to greatness, so why not get their toes wet early?
I can't let slide how angry the other guy got at someone trying to help him with something he was struggling with (money), as if the drama in this show wasn't low stakes enough...
New ep
For some reason I feel like the game won't sell at the big event.
But it will be a big hit/treasure/keeper gamers will buy for thousands ten years later.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
I hate how oblivious Kyouya is :/
That boobs is also into him should have been clear when she did the "ahhh"-thing, too.
And what's with him treating Shinoaki and boobs the same AFTER Shinoaki confessed and they became a couple?! wat
And Shinoaki just doesn't say anything to boob's advances, either!
Dumb situation.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
Yeah, the endless external affirmation of Kyoya's greatness is getting really fucking old, to the point that I'm losing interest in the series as a whole.
But it is actually refreshing, though equally baffling, that he isn't really interested in Aki or Tits even though he's been obviously physically attracted to both, and kissed the former. It does sort of feel like Kawasegawa remains the only girl he actually trusts. He idolizes Aki, bounces between treating Tits as someone with great talent but also spending half the series mentoring her or being her producer. He even has started to treat Tsurayuki like a subordinate more than acting as his editor and director.
So...I'm back on the Kyouya Hate Train.
But he does treat Kawasegawa differently. Maybe because he still thinks of her as his #LadyBoss? Haha.
Something twist wise needs to happen in this series...if I wanted to watch someone constantly succeed at everything, I would have watched a Cultivation series because China knows how to actually write them.
I don't have any hopes that there#s gonna be some amazing twist. I assume at some point, Kyouya will have a realization of sorts (dunno what kind) and that will change the flow and lead to the end of the anime. But I guess the meat of this anime is what we've seen already. Basically, a harem anime disguised as something more intersting.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
I totally understand Kyouya's situation and actions, having been in it myself a couple of times before. Delaying acknowledgement is sometimes the best decision for all parties when being a focus of affection from several people.
Peace.
The alternative is to just leave the group if the situation goes against your so called principals of sick righteousness.
Been there, done that. Believe me: it's the worst decision ever !
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
I am actually liking that the harem is being used for something, narratively, instead of just the insipid titillation that is so common (though there's plenty of that eye-rolling behavior, too). He can't just tell who to do what- he needs to direct them and navigate their relationships in such a way as to not further distract these barely-not-kids. It's a fun dynamic (twist on the harem, really) that Kasegawa is the only one mature enough to confide in about this, and she also recognizes he is in a difficult spot.
A surprising amount of screen time was spent on writer guy fighting off advances of his fiancée enough to have her question his sexuality, and this is a bit more interesting than the typical take on one sided romance, though begrudgingly, it does all come back to protagonist savior lavish.
Overall, a bit more interesting than the previous few eps since other characters take a bit more screen time to shine.
We also have to remember that he SHOULD be far better than his peers at this point. He has many years of (actual working) experience on them, after all.
Peace.
Episode 8
-----------------
Fuck. This. Show.
Even when a consequence has finally showed up, Tsurayuki still spends half of the scene saying how fucking great Kyouya is.
"You always made the rational and accurate call."
"There's no way I can catch up to this guy's talent."
"You're not a writer, so it thought it would work out, but you're even better than I could hope to be. You could have pulled it off without me."
Lay it on little thicker, please. I haven't thrown up yet.
Tsurayuki should have been telling him how useless he was being made to feel, emphasizing his feeling of redundancy rather than phrasing it in a way that continues to complement Kyouya. Maybe it was the translation, but I kinda doubt it. I expected him to, after all the previous blow ups. Tsurayuki is not the meek Japanese maiden that Aki is, or Nanako who is never given a chance after the concert for her confidence to grow beyond the level that Kyouya allows her without his approval (unintended, but that is what is happening). He should be the one other person besides Kawasegawa who will actually stand up to Kyouya's unearned (from our perspective) 'genius.' Well, at least it serves as the object lesson for how damaging Kyouya is to his peers when he is blindly followed.
Kyouya isn't just doing a director's job at this point. He was actively squelching all of their creativity to meet the deadline. Telling Shino to not do her own style of art that she knew would evoke a stronger emotion. Telling Nanako to rehash someone else's work and just be derivative. But no, they don't even fight back, and Kawasegawa or her sister aren't even there to tell him off. Aki and Nanako's hints were too subdued, because how dare they question the 'genius' who has saved them so many times so far in school? Even the self-satisfied thought Kyouya had "I'm glad we decided to do things my way. It was the right decision." What an intensely unlikeable guy. Who writes a business proposal to his housemates on a collaborative project then gently guilt-trips them into agreeing to it?
Is he quite up to Makoto from School Days in terms of unlikeable? No. At least with that series it was deliberate, but this feels more like they've just gone way overboard on the praise while taking far too long to hint that he was doing real harm.
Due to the nauseating levels of praise he keeps getting, it's not even satisfying to have him collapse and with the realization that he did this to himself. Because he slowly deviated into thinking that he was so important that he help people who never needed him in the first place. He wanted to collaborate, but instead he ended up undermining all of their confidence. Does he learn from this to try and hit a better balance point? Maybe too early to say because this is the low point in the textbook narrative this show has going. I suppose his reward at the true end to this series is he'll still be a recognized genius assistant director or something.
I guess the loli is the devil though? I assume in the future jump that we'll see Aki gave up on art, Nanako left the music industry after struggling with being mediocre, Tsurayuki is doing something boring or his fiancée thought he was pathetic and left him, while Kyouya is a 'genius' film/game director.
No wonder he's a failure in the original timeline. He blames everything else and his "lack of opportunity" when his personal efforts aren't enough, and when he's given free reign with all the talent helping him he could ask for, he lacks the capacity to relinquish even an iota of that control. Lack of determination on the forward end, lack of humility on the redo.
This series mostly makes me think more fondly of other franchises where they do most of the aspects of this series, just far better.
I was also feeling in that ep that somehow him being average was showing those geniuses a wrong path/direction.
And the catch phrase/idea was along this: " thank you for beding this time, it will be better next time"... Nope, never happens. Bend once and it's over.
Also, it now feels too much like a dating sim with multiple ends and Kawasegawa is best girl in the game ?
Give me a good VN, I'll play for VAs. Throw the anime based on the idea though...
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
Why the fuck do you like golf?
Peace.
Not the subject here but golf is a good workout for a 45+ loving sports. At least when played with intensity...
It also forces me to work my flexibility, abdominals, glutes and so many muscular groups where I need both strength and precision.
I get to play in soothing, nice and calm environnement as opposed to a dirty and noisy city.
And sometimes I meet nice people I can share a game with.
In the long run I now I can play as long as I can walk without help, so for a long time if destiny allows me.
Not many outdoor sports are that kind late in life.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
Comparing Kyouya AT ALL to Makoto, rofl. And let's not forget that Sekai was the true villain in that anime :P
As for this episode:
I feel like SO much could be done if people, especially Kyouya, just talked more to each other! In that dialogue with Tsurayuki, why didn't Kyouya do one of his motivational speeches? The thing I wanted him to tell the others the entire time was something like: "Everyone, I know that I asked you to do something unreasonable this time. But ... this is a promise: Let's make another game, and this time we'll take our time. Let's do this!". And then individually tell them how fantastic their work is and that without the extreme time pressure they can truly apply their skill to it.
But he just gave up, let Tsurayuki go and eh ...
Now he's lost anyway. If he undoes the current presence, he will 1.) kill his daughter and 2.) be gay, because wife Shinoaki is as great as his life can ever be :P
Accept that Tsurayuki took a different route and move on. Ultimately, it's "just" game development, it's not like people's lives depends on choosing a specific career, most people don't get to be that picky. Enjoy your wife, have fun with your super cute daughter, and live life. You kinda cheated, but you didn't intend to, so don't feel to bad about it. Time travel is always cheating inherently.
"She's the only non-loli girl in the show, your honor!" will be my defense in court
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