Don't go to pieces! Land of the Lustrous simulwatch (completed)

Those are the exact divisions she had in mind too.

I guess your gf gets another fist bump from me then! 😁🤜

Those subs are actually following the Japanese dialogue to a tee, then. Phos has always been referred to as kare, Japanese for "he". That's been true of all the gems so far.

The only exception to the blanket male gender designation has been Octowaifu— I mean Ventricosus. 😅
She's referred to by her sibling as ane, Japanese for "elder sister". In turn, she refers to Aculeasis as otōto, "younger brother".

What subbed version are you watching, if you don't mind me asking, Lordhippos?

ane and ototo are new to me, mainly see imouto, aniki, onee-chan etc.

Ventricosus is too long, Octowaifu is far easier to type and remember! 🤣

Tbh I would like to answer your question about version but the short answer is: wakaranai. The sub tracks do not tell me who produced them.

Following my previously outlined methodology, I don't possess a copy of this show, but I have been enjoying it and it shall make it's way onto my list to purchase should the quality be maintained for the remainder.

Side note: I find the Japanese culture of context and honorifics both charming and confusing. So much can be inferred by how you refer to someone. Male/Female language is even different right? from what I understand males tend to use boku where females use watashi, but it's not like that's a law that has to be stuck to either? confusing! :D

I am kind of glad we don't have the same systems here for honorifics in particular.

It's quite interesting because, to the gems, gender is simply not something they have any familiarity with. They don't have reproductive organs, so it's a non-factor. It always amuses me when Motoko Kusanagi, the main character in Ghost in the Shell, gets referred to as a "female cyborg" because, well, again, with no reproductive organs, how can she be? (And yet I just used "she" there. 😅)

I guess it's the same logic as sailors calling their ships "she", there is no technical reason for it, but it's just what is done.

Tbh I would call the MC in Ghost in the Shell a she also, designed to look that way at the very least.

Indeed. I ended up looking that up as well. She also voices Homura in Madoka Magica. Woo-hoo! 😄

I love Madoka also, I wish I could go back and forget it so I could watch it again without knowing how the story goes 😢
 
It always amuses me when Motoko Kusanagi, the main character in Ghost in the Shell, gets referred to as a "female cyborg" because, well, again, with no reproductive organs, how can she be? (And yet I just used "she" there. 😅)
In fairness Motoko is born as a human girl and clearly identifies as a cis-woman. She may have a fake body but being a woman is still part of her identity even within all the musings on self within GitS
 
The dub noticeably avoids any gender pronouns, instead just referring to characters by their names or avoiding the need for pronouns through sentence structure.
The subs on MVM's BD have at least one example of that too. I think it was around the part where Phos and Cinnabar first crossed paths in the show. Phos was asked where Cinnabar had come from, and Phos answered "Just sort of appeared out of nowhere", neatly dodging a pronoun.

ane and ototo are new to me, mainly see imouto, aniki, onee-chan etc.
Nice. 😀
Well, if you're familiar with aniki, ane is basically the female equivalent of it.

The sub tracks do not tell me who produced them.
Hidive? Fansub? (I'm just genuinely curious about the differing subs. 🙂)

Male/Female language is even different right? from what I understand males tend to use boku where females use watashi
It is absolutely different, yes — even the actual words used.

Watashi is actually gender-neutral. If a man or a boy were to use boku as a first-person pronoun, then a woman or a girl might use atashi.

As you rightly say, though, it's not a concrete rule. Indeed, although it's highly unusual, the Japanese voice actress Akeno Watanabe actually refers to herself as boku, a fact even mentioned in the sidebar of her entry on MyAnimeList:

There you go: it's so unusual as to be regarded noteworthy.

I am kind of glad we don't have the same systems here for honorifics in particular.
So am I. 😅👍

If Japanese as a language has a strong suit, it's making known who has the higher social standing in interactions.

In fairness Motoko is born as a human girl
Yup. Absolutely true. You got me there. 👍

(Unless we want to get into the whole philosophical argument over her identity and her own growing doubts about it in Mamoru Oshii's 1995 film. 😅
Complex.)
 
@Neil.T I love the structure of Japanese but at the same time I think such differences would also make it a hard language to actively learn. I am happy just knowing the odd words here and there from observation, but then those have various nuances applied depending on context.

I think if I was ever around people speaking it nearby I could understand some basic ideas of what's being said, but I don't know enough to watch anime without subs and probably never will.

I think my subs are fansubs, looks like it's from [Post Apocalyptic Subs] and using masculine as the main thing.

the boku thing reminds me of 002 from Darling in the FranXX, she often says boku no darling for example.
 
Quite nice to catch up and read everyone's thoughts and observations at the end of the day. Again good quality episode but didn't feel it added much from the narrative and character development viewpoint myself. Phos is rightly in a slump but not for long making a quick recovery with some fashionable new knee socks (and interesting memory loss but as I previously mused about brain injuries, did this also play s role in Phos' personality being affected, making it easier to be less than their usual excitable self after the betrayal?), Cinnabar remains a tsundere and Sensei is very cool (and literally carrying much weight with his anger). Lunarians remain ruthless & unfeeling, as I already found them pretty ghastly given their choice to break up a sentient being and using their parts as weapons to hunt their compatriots. I think the soul being in lunarians is a red herring (octowaifu did imply she was just speculating I think) and therefore don't think it's a grim take on Humanity's soul just being darkness - the other two species have demonstrated far more soul so far, though I think we are yet to see things from the lunarians' aspect, but yeah they certainly do not carry humanity's most nurturing features.

From the New World is a great show and would make a for a great simulwatch discussion.
Absolutely agree, I only recently watched it and want to do so again already, it really is fantastic and would be great fodder for a simulwatch at some point - the lore is excellent and sounds like it would be right up your street Neil.T...soooo get it, you know you want to!

Episode 5 - After the betrayal of a Jellyfish, I lost both legs and had seashells implanted as legs. Now I'm Sonic.
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Stunning! I want to get this, where would you suggest I look please? Not usually bothered about collector's editions but if this came with one I'd pounce on it.
That reminds me; can we make "partes mas importantes" the forum's official term for boobs from now on?
If not then at least it should be the new name for this simulwatch, logic be damned.
 
Episode 5
Great episode. As already mentioned, we get to see a slightly softer side of the master. Was also really nice to see the gems in their rescue effort for Phos. While that might just be because the master ordered them, they did put in real effort, which does make up for the somewhat harsh words about Phos from episode 3. That being said, Cinnabar should've just told everyone that Phos washed ashore, having them continue searching and depleting the resin seems irresponsible. While it fits her character, that doesn't change that I was really annoyed by it. (It just made me hope that they might find Phos' legs to make the wasted effort worth it, but alas)

One thing I didn't really follow is what the Lunarians were thinking when striking a deal with Octowaifu? What I expected was that they struck a deal with her that if she brought one of the gems to them, they would free her brother. I think everyone in their right mind would realize that there is zero reason for the Lunarians to hold up their part of the deal. So them pressuring Octowaifu to bring them another gem, was to be expected. I also can see why they brought her brother with them, as that was likely one of the conditions under which she agreed.

However, why did they go with her wish of letting her brother regain consciousness? Did they not foresee what he could do? Especially considering she stated that Phos was likely the only one she could capture. What makes this all the more painful is that this likely means that there is no further reason to leave any captures of her kind alive. The only reason would've been to pressure them and/or strike deals, unless there's still more to it than we currently know. Quite a hefty price to pay for just freeing yourself and your brother. Not to mention that free, doesn't mean safe :confused:

Then on the Phos' upgrade. We learn that these microorganisms are called "Inclusions" and that they can even inhabit other rocks. Could this imply the possibility of two of them merging? Also, Phos just turned 300 and is the youngest of the bunch. This leaves me with so many questions. Did the others experience how Phos came to be? How does that even work (just washing ashore as a baby rock... I don't think so)? Would it be possible to change your rock type by slowly replacing body parts (Ship of Theseus)? Are the memories tied to the "Inclusions" or really tied to the fragments? Are certain memories fixed in certain parts or can they move throughout the body? Is there significance in which memory resides where?

Anyway, looking forward to how it continues :) Really enjoying the show and reading everyone's thoughts about it.

Lunarians remain ruthless & unfeeling, as I already found them pretty ghastly given their choice to break up a sentient being and using their parts as weapons to hunt their compatriots. I think the soul being in lunarians is a red herring (octowaifu did imply she was just speculating I think) and therefore don't think it's a grim take on Humanity's soul just being darkness - the other two species have demonstrated far more soul so far, though I think we are yet to see things from the lunarians' aspect, but yeah they certainly do not carry humanity's most nurturing features.
My thoughts exactly, Octowaifu leaving some wiggle room in the explanation tells me there must be something more to the story. We see humanoid shapes and human behaviour from all three parties, so whatever the division is, it isn't as clear cut as described. I also like to think that the Lunarians have their reasons. Probably won't justify their actions, but might make them more understandable. In the same way that Octowaifu's betrayal is wrong, yet given the context allows Phos to forgive her.

Maybe it's the way they're portrayed in the English dub, but they all seem feminine to me. The dub noticeably avoids any gender pronouns, instead just referring to characters by their names or avoiding the need for pronouns through sentence structure.
The sub also doesn't seem to use gender pronouns a lot or at all(?), but they still seem feminine to me as well. The only one I could conceivable see as masculine would be Bort. Not exactly sure why, but I think there are several small points that tip the scale to the feminine side for me and due to their agnostic nature, practically no points that would counter that image. Things like their voice, hairdo and hips.

You know, I've lost count of the number of times I've been recommended that show now, so I need to start taking it seriously. I've added it to my list of MVM titles I want to buy, so thanks. 🙂👍
May I increase that number by one more? I totally recommend From the New World, it's a must watch. Great world building and some proper lore with corresponding symbolism, so probably right up your alley. And not unimportant, a great story from start to finish.
 
I believe MVM's release of From the New World on Blu-ray has audio-sync issues?
Yeah, and a potentially problematic disc 2 as well, I've read. The BD version isn't available at all on AoL, so I was looking at just getting the DVD version anyway. (That apparently has some minor issues as well, but hey.)

Thanks for flagging it up, RadFem. 🙂

May I increase that number by one more? I totally recommend From the New World
You certainly can. It's added to my list of MVM titles to buy. 😁👍
Thanks!
 
Yeah, and a potentially problematic disc 2 as well, I've read. The BD version isn't available at all on AoL, so I was looking at just getting the DVD version anyway. (That apparently has some minor issues as well, but hey.)
I hadn't heard about this. Does anyone know if the US blu-rays of From the New World have any problems?
 
I hadn't heard about this. Does anyone know if the US blu-rays of From the New World have any problems?
Don't know about US releases, I'm afraid, but we've got a thread detailing issues with UK discs, separated into DVD and BD categories:

A bunch of the links in the lists are broken now, but the main info's still there.
 
Episode 6? (I hope I've not lost count, that would be unfortunate.. 😶 )
We're introduced to a few new characters in this episode (unless I've not been paying attention).. Including a character who seems to operate two bodies at once and another who seems to have seen better days, if the opening scene is anything to go by.

This anime really likes its cliffhanger endings though after Phos got their first patrol job too.. 🙃
 
Episode 6 - Return of the Phosphophyllite

Phos's new super speed finally let's her get the job that she really wanted to do an is given patrol duty along side the Amethyst twins. Phos remains vigilant for Luminarian attack for three straight days wearing herself out in the process. Then on the fourth day it happens and... she freezes up out of fear. As a result Amethyst are broken up by a secret weapon made out of an unknown blue gemstone and taken to the moon. Not before Bort and Master save what they can though.

Masters reaction to the mention of humans suggests to me he might be one of the oldest beings in this world. Old enough to remember them somehow or to know the origins of the new races at least. Perhapes he is aware of the multi-moon situation mentioned previously? I think it's kind of implied that maybe he had a hand in creating the gem people to a degree as well. Otherwise I wonder what his relationship to them is beyond the master/pupil dynamic?
 
Episode 6
We finally find out why Phos wants to fight despite her frailty: everyone loves Sensei. Could he be the first guy to have a harem lasting over 2,000 years?

In typical Phos fashion, she's not great at controlling her new power. The scene where she freaks out over every bug that flies past was a highlight. The Amethyst twins didn't seem like the most reliable sempais at first (they're not metal, but they sure are head-bangers), but they didn't hesitate to protect Phos when the time came.

While the lunarians have always appeared out of symmetrical formations, it's interesting that this time it turns into something that resembles a Rorschach inkblot. It's not an exact match for the real ones, but has a similar feel to this one. I wonder if there's some plot significance to the shape.

1615394760261.png

We also get our first kaiju-sized lunarian, which deploys a freaky-looking snapping jaw/claw thing. Despite having seem the show a few times, I couldn't remember if this was curtains for the Amethysts, so that was pretty tense. Until Bort did her thing as usual, of course.

Sensei saying, "Poor thing" is interesting. Since it was singular, he seemed to be referring to the lunarian, but I believe Japanese doesn't always allow for singular/plural distinctions, so I don't know if that was an arbitrary translation choice.
 
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