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By the way, Cass. Have you taken a chance to look back on that anime reviewer I linked ya some time ago? Arkada? Because I mean, if you want a good grasp on what to watch and where to find them, your certainly missing out in my humble opinion. Not that it makes his reviews or opinions better than any other, oh no, I do implore anybody to go out and be open minded. Even by word of mouth, your own sound judgement is that much more valued. Just.. You cant go wrong with quality and dependability >_> and a dependable source, he is indeed

Hell, when I first was in a rut and finding it hard to find new shows, due in part to my reluctance to explore new genres or series. I just sticked to what I knew, the nostalgia of Trigun or Bebop, the mainstream of Naruto or One Piece. Whatever was airing on TV Saturday night. But damn.. When just looking for references or things of potential interest, his reviews really helped narrow down that unfathomable ocean. Being able to gloss over his videos, never at first watching them.. And then finding that many were on the same streaming service I used. And by those that seemed the most curious or vaguely in my field, I would take a peep into the atual video.. And we all know where that lead. It helped me find Mushishi, Spice & Wolf, Madoka Magicka, and many more. Shows I previously never would of glanced at for a second, and yet some have turned into my absolute favorites.

I'm not asking you to do exactly what I did, hell, you don't even need to watch all of his reviews or first impressions(something I am greatly at fault for doing multiple times ) Just, please, anybody new or interested, at least watch these two videos of his. If you are sorely disappointed or didn't grasp one helpful recommendation, then I seriously need to reevaluate my perspective on everything.

I've got a tradition of making my laptop wallpaper whatever anime I last finished. Hence the Yuri on Ice.

I love that while the antagonist is a [&@%!], his end goal (abolish Sibyl) is right. In a sense that might be similar to Ghost in the Shell but The Laughing Man and Kuze aren't awful people who nobody could ever like so, yeah... And by stopping him for justifiable reasons (like personal vengeance and to ensure he doesn't keep murdering folks) it means the horrible Panopticon which has more authority over you than even the most totalitarian dictator will continue unopposed. His plan on how to do it is actually really clever too. I think the series makes for an interesting look at how to effect social change, so liberalism vs radicalism. Liberals think you should work within the existing system to effect change, radicals think the existing system itself is the problem and should be abolished. And does it in a way that suggests neither side is entirely without merit (because well, they aren't) allowing the viewer to draw their own conclusions on what is the right thing to do in regards Sibyl.

Now I myself think Akane is wrong not to destroy Sibyl or at the very least, expose it. Hell even if you don't think the sheer concept is a terrifying nightmare as I did from the very first episode, it murdered Kagari. But I understand that people have different views. I think the system is rotten to the core, it can't be reformed. It works off a cold inhumane utilitarianism which is a really bad moral philosophy. But it makes for a really strong ending (for Season 1 at least) with chilling implications for an awful future and this all works really well towards making Kōgami and Makishima serve as foils to one another, both hate Sibyl and after killing Makishima we can infer (and actually see if you care about the sequels) that Kōgami himself goes on to oppose Sibyl. And I love what happens with Ginoza and Masaoka characters.

I think the show in general has some interesting looks at philosophy, sociology and technology. For one thing the show actually knows what Anarchism is as a political ideology instead of using it interchangeably with chaos or disorder. And in general the show raises a lot of questions towards moral philosophy especially as it relates to concepts of justice and authority. Like as I previously mentioned the utilitarianism of Sibyl which is focused on achieving "the maximum happiness for the maximum people" results in it incarcerating/killing the mentally ill, incarcerating people because they may do something bad, killing political dissenters, killing to cover up the truth, assimilating people like Makishima, a repeat of Sakoku except this time not even the Dutch can come visit, etc. And is that a just way to organize society? Would you save one person or six people is a very different question to would you kill one person to save six people or would you kill your child to save six people or even would you kill yourself to save six people? You may have a different answer for all of those questions. But from a very cold utilitarian perspective, the answer will always be save the six.

So yeah, there's a lot of thematic stuff to dig into there. And like Stand Alone Complex, it never becomes so bogged down in that stuff that it can't tell a good story. The animation looks nice and it presents a really interesting sci-fi setting. It's a quality show that I'm sure to watch again. I'm glad Beta recommended it.

Also don't the Dominators look so cool? And the second opening is so good!

YouTube Link

[&@%!] the OPs, [&@%!], the EDs are where it really is at. Which is an odd thing in this field, since it's normally the OPs that shine and the EDs get the short end of the stick Tho I say this with the notable exception of Madoka Magica. Hell, even the OP lies about what your getting into.. But the ED lays it on like the truth. "Oh, you were expecting a happy go fun slice of life, magical girl show? Think again.."

YouTube Link

I saw episodes 16 and 17 and this is the only response I can give.