Anime Discussion Thread - Page 2679

Some plot holes (or just being not persuasive enough) to me would be that the chief come all the way down just for shinya and somehow she activated the Eliminator in front of everyone (like, seriously, everyone would be 'WTF' when it changed to eliminator) , it is almost directly telling everyone that there must something dodgy behind the chief/system but nobody was shocked and akane just smartly stun shinya and gave a nice excuse for her action. At that point everyone would know that chief must have something to do with the system but everyone act like nothing strange happened. Let's say the dominitor somehow is broken, the action of the chief (come all the way here for shinya and forcing nobuchika to kill shinya) would be directly telling everyone that she has something to do with the system or makishima. And you know, maybe akane's dominator is broken then shinya was supposed to be killed there (due to his overly high PP).

The whole scene doesnt make sense unless either everyone immediately jumps on the chief because they knew that there must be something up with the chief at that point or the chief just clean up everyone after she killed shinya. Instead we get akane saved shinya nicely and dropped a nice excuse and thats about it.

And it was obvious that the chief hear/see everything from the android cops thats how she can immediately come down for shinya but later every cameras in the building just watch shinya with a helm walks out the building freely.

And then we actually have a goddamn real gun with bullet all along but nope, we cant use it during the riot, you know, the biggest trouble that possibly bring down the whole city when your only weapon the dominator couldnt be used.

All of these are fine to me but just a little annoying. And i am guessing Tomomi will die soon and somehow shinya should be dead with makashimi in the end because
+ Show Spoiler +.

Your first points are not really plot holes to be honest. They are plot holes if all characters are completely oblivious to them, but that's not the case at all. Ginoza definitely seemed startled by the Dominator acting up under the chief's touch, and Akane almost certainly sensed something fishy as well and intervened. I think we'll get back to that later (in fact Ginoza was not shown after this scene). I mean as you said, the chief intervention was suspicious as fuck, certainly not unnoticed. But the chief is still the chief, Ginoza isn't going to turn on her and shoot her in the face (with what, to begin with? :D).
As to the real gun: during the riot, the enforcers were supposed to deal with the threat in an official fashion, and Masaoka's key to his safe doesn't seem very legal nor known or allowed by the Public Safety Bureau. He gave the key to Kogami expecting that he would use it illegally, right? No surprise he didn't use that trump card before...
Sorry but "10000 sudden plot holes" is blowing those actually fine details out of proportion.

I agree that the chief changing the gun was pretty weird moment ; I hope they catch up on it eventually!
Many people seem convinced that Ko will get shot at some point by Akane. I'm still not sure on that one. Yea, Aka believes in Sibyl ; but as shown, she is still capable of using her own judgement.

gun shot

I'm just really impressed with the writing overall. Akane started off as the typical naive/out of their depth protagonist, but they actually advance her character in a believable way relative to all the events that occur rather than just suddenly SEED mode-ing or something. Don't see this very often in anime I'd say.

I thought the off-model stuff wasn't very noticeable. And then the talk between Masaoka and Kougami happened. The animation was so lazy it was almost comical.

The chief showing off her dominator-altering powers is completely fucking retarded. The true nature of the system has been hidden for years, but suddenly it's ok to showcase a bunch of bizarre powers that nobody previously knew you had? Give me a break. Yes, Kougami is a threat to the system due to his perceptiveness, but surely there are subtler ways to deal with him.

Also, we've already learned that the psycho pass values are determined by the Sybil system, which happens to be a bunch of brains. What the heck is stopping them from arbitrarily assigning a high psycho pass number to Kougami? Why does the chief, being such a high tech piece of machinery, even need to touch the dominator to alter it? The dominator even accepts commands wirelessly, which was a prominent feature in one of the earlier episodes.

So I guess the ending's gonna be Kougami killing Makishima, who will ultimately succeed in revealing the secret of the system, leading to a scene where Akane faces Kougami and they talk about how the world's gonna have to change, humanity must find itself again, etc. In between, I guess a couple more of the cast will die (one of Masaoka/Ginoza is definitely a goner) depending on how grim we want the final scene to be.

Hotaru Tomoe

Episode 42 "Sailor Venus' Past, Minako's Tragic Love". This episode had the only major appearance of Minako as "Sailor V" (in a flashback).
I mentioned already that when Sailor Venus appeared for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised and hyped because I didn't know Sailor V was an actual Sailor Senshi (and Sailor Venus is Sailor V).

The dub skipping that episode was really disappointing. Most of the episodes they skipped weren't too big of a deal (except maybe episode 2, I liked the plot regarding Melvin / Umino having a crush on Usagi) but 42 was really important. They should have found another episode to skip IMO.

I said in a previous post that I was disappointed that they seem to never really touch on Minako's Veteran status (since she appeared as Sailor V before all the others became Sailor Senshi) but turns out they did, just in an episode the dub skipped >.<. Definitely an important episode that they shouldn't have skipped IMO.

Minako has a flashback where Usagi says she's excited to finally meet Sailor V. Here it is. Know if this is from any specific episode? It might be a scene the dub skipped over (I know the dub skipped like 1-2 minutes in every episode). I'll try rewatching the episode Sailor Venus first appears (and the few episodes) after subbed to look for any scenes the dub cut out.

Even though those types of scenes are few, it's definitely nice to see them acknowledge that Usagi has always been a fan of Sailor V.

I read some of the differences between manga and anime (the first arc with the Queen did not appear in the manga as she was dealt with in her own arc).

First of all - my guess on the whole DBZ style future Hotaru somehow meets baby Hotaru is totally wrong >.>. Though, I was basing it on the fact that Chibiusa is sort of like that since she comes from the future (except minus her meeting a baby version of herself like in DBZ). Instead of something complicated, they chose the easy and simple route of aging Hotaru really fast (which is good because I dislike time travel stuff in general).

Again, that was just me trying to figure out how she appears again as Sailor Saturn (as I avoided nearly all spoilers related to SM so far). Yeah, aging was definitely the way to go because something like DBZ would be unnecessarily complicated and wouldn't really fit here.

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I liked the first arc (Queen Nehellenia), which was good fanservice IMO. I liked how they dealt with Queen Nehellenia by using the power of friendship! I also liked how one of my favorite characters, Hotaru Tomoe / Sailor Saturn was there! They also remembered to remind us that she is one of the strongest, when she threatened to use her power of death to take out Nehellenia!

(Really though, I did like the mini arc with Queen Nehellenia. I'd say it was good fanservice in terms of uniting and utilizing all Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Mask for a solid 5-6 episodes with epic music.)

I never read much spoilers or knew anything about Sailor Moon (so I was watching the series and finding things out blindly). I thought that Hotaru + the Outer Senshi introduced in S would become regulars of the series (maybe fun filler MotD episodes with them). I never really thought much about Hotaru / Sailor Saturn.

Once I found out that Hotaru / Sailor Saturn appears the least in the anime (she basically never appears after S series), I definitely cherish the few episodes she appears in.

I did try to read about how often she appears in the manga. But in the terms of the anime, I always compared it to maybe DBZ or Super Sentai/Power Rangers where whenever a new character gets introduced, they always get some decent spotlight either against MotD or even the main villain. So I am a bit disappointed that wasn't the case. (Surely they could have fit in Sailor Saturn goodness in a filler episode or something. Though Stars was packed with little room for that, and they didn't reintroduce Saturn until Stars unlike the manga which reintroduced her again in SuperS?)

SuperS ruining all the fun again. (Though I did really enjoy SuperS, well minus the first half which was mostly filler on one time characters. The second half of SuperS was really enjoyable.)

Anyway back to Stars:

I liked Stars but I didn't like it that much simply due to the fact that the Outer Senshi barely appeared (outside the first arc with Queen Nehellenia that is). They did a good job at pacing though. Unlike SuperS, it felt like every episode had a point to it (well thanks to the Sailor Starlights, they got a decent amount of new characters to work with).

Stars featured more school settings in the episodes (which I did like) compared to the S and SuperS (I definitely like the early Sailor Moon episodes which involved the school setting). Stars also a lot of funny episodes too. I liked the episode where they remembered that Ami was good at video games (because when she first appeared, she owned it up at the Sailor V game).

I felt the drama between Sailor Starlights and the others was kind of done already with Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune in S (well it's not exactly same but drama did feel predictable). It's like this - Everyone know Sailor Moon is awesome and Sailor Moon loves her friends (and she likes to make new ones). Sailor Starlights are like, Seiya got injured because of Sailor Moon! So, Seiya should avoid Sailor Moon!

This sort of thing, where everyone is reluctant to be team up with Sailor Moon (or the other Sailor Senshi), has happened a ton already >.> (especially in the anime I assume; I did read in the manga that almost no villain ever gets "befriended" or saved). I did read the Sailor Starlights didn't get focused as much in the manga. Who did they focus on the manga?

(Though only a minor complaint because the drama only involved like 5 episodes or so.)

I liked the Sailor Starlight transformation theme. Also I thought the whole they changed from guys to girls when they transformed was fun (I did read that Naoko Takeuchi actually disliked this change since in the manga, they just cross dressed). It's a good way to get Usagi with Seiya I guess !

I actually not sure what else to talk about in Stars. I watched all of Stars in two days (about a week ago).

In terms is it a good ending season for Sailor Moon? There was too little Outer Senshi. Since Stars was kind of cramped, I again blame SuperS (and most of the first half being filler) for not including them >.>. That means we only had a solid season and a mini arc with the 5 Inner Senshi and 4 Outer Senshi (and also + Rini/Chibiusa) .

Hotaru / Sailor Saturn barely got anything at all after S (mini arc in Stars was good). That's what I'm most disappointed about overall. I'm not sure if the manga does things better.

Now, outside of that complaint (too little Outer Senshi for the last season), Stars is definitely an enjoyable season.

When she first appeared in R, she was definitely excessively mean towards Serena/Usagi. Though it gets much better in S and SuperS). It also helps that in episode 156, she reveals she admires Usagi the most.

Speaking of that the anime overdid the "everyone be mean towards Usagi". I haven't read the manga yet but I read that Rei is much different and also less mean to Usagi. Not a big deal in the later seasons but in the first two seasons, it was annoying.

Hotaru lacks a transformation sequence and barely appears outside of Sailor Moon S

Production wise, they made it similar to the DiC dubs. They also mixed DiC music and originally music (an epic combination (also that episode added a transformation sequence over the original... obviously an excuse to use the dub transformation music). (Though sometimes they used DiC music over a good track in the original like not using this (for example) in the Ami and Haruka scene). Sailor Says also returns (providing helpful advice that could potentially save lives).

The main problem is that some of the VAs' mics sound muffled sometimes (if it weren't for that, they'd be good). Besides that, very good fandub IMO.

Questionable translations also return in the fandub for nostalgia (Haruka tells Ami "Are you going to keep playing video games while she's trying to destroy you?" - Though I like to think that comment came from her irritation that Ami wasn't fighting back (similar to the original), and that she didn't actually think she was playing video games >.>). (That line really is questionable >.>. It's at the same level as the dub making Rini/Chibiusa say "you must be trippin" but potentially even worse.)

Off model was immediately noticeable. For an anime that's been pretty good about keeping animation quality at a high level, it was just totally off.

Plot holes? The only one that I can see is Kogami walking out with a helmet on. It hasn't been definitively established in the series yet, but that whole shot where the focus is on the "face" of one of the blue security drones during the assignment transfer scene in the garage is highly suggestive that the drones could "see" what was going on and therefore report it to Chief. The only excuses that I could be seen given is either that (a) the chief caught wind of the plan ahead of time, (b) it was his psycho-pass she was tracking, (c) whoever storyboarded that entire scene fucked up and shouldn't have turned the camera (?) onto the drone or (d) it is a plot hole and for a show that's pretty watertight about its writing, it's kind of surprising and could be just a contrivance to highlight Akane shooting Kogami. And get Kogami in the hands of an actual gun.

Chief forcefully changing the Dominator in front of everyone is super fishy, yeah, but most likely everyone was too shocked to respond in time, and would probably given an excuse along the lines of "Oh hey, you know, I'm chief, so I get special privileges" or something like that afterwards during debriefing. Only Akane was level-headed enough to react to the situation correctly.

Which, btw, is why I'm loving Akane so much. She's developed as a character throughout the series and isn't just another "I'm a female character here solely for fanservice" character. She could have been, but I feel like she hasn't become one (yet). It's interesting to note that everytime we see a turning point in the plot/a revelation of Akane's development, it is punctuated by her having to shoot someone. From the hesitant, indecisive moment in the first episode (her starting point) to the traumatic encounter with Makashima and failure to fire that damn shotgun properly, (her faith in the system is questioned and tested) to the very decisive, split second decision she made in this week's episode (her resolve has strengthened as did her relationship with Kogami), we see Akane at her most emotionally vulnerable (or resolute) when she is with a gun. Guns are a central motif to Psycho-pass and that her successes are only shown when she is using a Dominator helps reinforce a central theme to Akane's character: her faith in the system. Even when the system is being manipulated against her (and the people she care about), she still has enough faith to be able to pull the trigger on Kogami and know that the shot being released by her will be a nonlethal one. When she attempted to go against her trust in the system and step outside of the law, it did nothing but result in hurt. Lots of it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is also the first time we've seen Akane actually utilize the Dominator following her encounter with Makishima in the sewers.

On the revolver: It's been stressed a lot of times throughout the series that they have no access to projectile-based firearms and that those that are still around are relics of the past. Makishima's team used nailguns as their firearms...think about that. They couldn't even blackmarket a gun. The old android dude (don't remember his name) used a double barreled shotgun...that shit's primitive even by today's standards. I don't see this as a problem and it's pretty awesome that the firearm of choice is the revolver with all the police/cowboy/vigilante/bank robber associations/tropes that go with it.

On the sibyl system: I think that the sibyl system uses the brains as a method of processing power. It checks psychopasses using experiences that the brains possess and although it is apparent that the brains are cognitively aware of their situation, I thought that it was suggested in the previous episode that in the end, a computer still handled all the psychopass evaluations. Which is why Sibyl cannot force someone's psychopass to go up, because it's still an automated system. If that was the case, Sibyl would have been aware that Makishima existed and would have forced his number to an insanely high level on everyone's gun just to get rid of him. The chief-android-thing maybe is the only way for sibyl to exercise judgement on a micro level. But of course, everyone would freak the hell out and then it becomes a moot point to utilize it with any frequency. Also, because it's still human brains acting out chief, there is a good chance that "chief" allowed some inner emotions from one of the brains to interfere with rational thought and try to just get rid of Kogami because he was starting to become a pain in the ass.

Idk, those are my thoughts for this week's episode. Solid writing as always, good dialogue (or, as good as it was translated), and more KogamixAkane. Can't want for next week's episode and goddamn it Kogami , you made Akane cry.

Basically, the anime took what were essentially 'minor' characters in the manga (the Starlights, this is in the words of Naoko) and made them the focus of the entire season. There is an (unsubstantiated?) rumor that the director for the season disliked Mamoru a lot and that's why Seiya gets such a prominent role. Because of this, the rest of the Senshi (and in particular Saturn & Pluto) get shoved aside. I don't know if you noticed but S&P basically don't appear except in the mini-arc at the start and the last ~6 episodes of the season. U&N get slightly better treatment but only because they are there to cause conflict with Seiya & co.

I assume you are going to read the manga (grab it here, and yes Sailor V is worth reading) so I'll avoid spoiling what makes it so different, unless you ask.

However, based on what you already know - the outers come back halfway through the dream arc (SuperS) and the Eternal powerup that happens at the start of Stars is in there instead. Also, they all get upgraded to Eternal, not just Usagi. This also means they got their Super upgrades earlier too.

The first half of the SailorStars manga arc is Galaxia's attack on our solar system's Senshi, the second half is the counterattack. The Starlights show up, of course, looking for their princess; she has a more prominent role then in the anime (*cough*Sailor Kakyuu*cough*). There's way, way less overt attempts at pairing Seiya & Usagi in the manga; in fact, it's just Seiya going "boy this person sure reminds me of my princess!" Usagi doesn't really have time for that crap, given the rest of what happens.

Keep in mind the manga moves extremely fast. In fact, just read it :p