If you watched all of Kanokon, congratulations…you’re a perv.

There isn’t much you can say to defend yourself. In hindsight, this show was rather forward about where it was going.  I mean, we had shota-rape in the first episode. Of course, that was preceeded by an opening scene of girl wraps boobs around main character’s head. How about the body rub with “toad oil,” which was actually frog oil. Then there was the bare-bottom spankings, for bad girls.  Also, who could forget the magic bunny suit?

Of course, the all time perviest moment had to be during the breast rubbing episodes. I can understand the reasoning behind the rubbing. Basically, it was rub boobs and they get bigger. The interesting (and pervie) thing being that they managed to get ass-licking in there as well. Nozomu eloquently put it as eating the “delicious cake.” If there were ever a time that one could say a show put gratuitous ass-licking into the plot, then this would be it. That was totally and fully ass-licking without cause or reason.

Good peoples of the internets, you are indeed less pure for having watched this show.

-

I briefly considered adding a “delicious cake” category for this show =)

There is a reoccurring theme in the Code Geass series. It’s Lelouch and the game of chess. We see Lelouch playing chess in the first episode of the first season as an early display of his intelligence. Lelouch playing chess comes up sporadically throughout the season, but a similar chess scene to that in season 1 episode 1 is shown at the start of the second season, reaffirming that the game is not to be over looked.

The most resounding play with this coupling is during battles. The Black Knights are incapable of fighting strategically without orders from their “king” piece Zero. The show goes out of its way to show Lelouch as the chess master moving both soldiers and the pieces of revolution. In this manner Lelouch is seen by his Black Knights and the Elevens (Japanese) as the leader that will free the them from oppression.

However, the viewer has a fuller picture of what’s happening in the background. We know that in reality the goals of the revolutionaries and Lelouch are very different. Lelouch is very much motivated by revenge and providing a future for Nunnally, while the Black Knights are interested in freedom from Britannia.

Here is where we come to one of the problems with revolution. Often the revolutionaries have their own motives for revolution; those motives being different and often divergent from those they claim to represent. The Founding Fathers of the United States draped their work in the ideals of The Enlightenment, with talk of freedom and equality, but still allowed slavery and voting rights for only a few select citizens. Leaders such as Mao, Mugabe, Obiang, and Hitler amongst many others have often come to power carrying the banner of revolution. As a particularly relevant side note, the French. Even if the revolutionary at first works for the people, human nature and power will inevitably corrupt them, but it is important to note that not all revolutions are violent or swift.

In general we can separate the differing factions of political or social controlling entities into two parties, the opposition and the conservative. The conservative party is defined as the group that has effective control of the society. The opposition party often places itself as truly representing the people best interests. History has shown us that eventually the opposition will become the conservative and the conservative will become the opposition.  When a party takes control, their goal will invariably shift from their original stated goals to simply staying in power, hence the need for revolution.

A conservative candidate who should present himself to his electors by declaring to them that he did not regard them as capable of playing an active part in influencing the destinies of the country, and should tell them that for this reason they ought to be deprived of the suffrage, would be a man of incomparable sincerity, but politically insane.

- Robert Michels in Political Parties

In 1911, Robert Michels a German sociologist wrote Political Parties. The work is most noted for introducing the “iron law of oligarchy.” The book focused on the power structures of political groups and how invariably they lead to a concentration of power into a select elite who hold the majority of influence.

…is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family, military powers or spiritual hegemony). The word oligarchy is translated into “rule by few.” Compare with autocracy (rule by one person) and democracy (rule by the majority).

- Oligarchy article on Wikipedia

Michels argued that this phenomenon could not be helped, owing to it being an inherent trait of organization and human nature. People naturally seek out a leader, and an organization is simply more efficient if decisions can be make by proxy.  It is the fault of human’s inherent instinctive urge to follow, to group, and to lead.

Lelouch’s rebellion, in a way, had already failed before it started. They are already ruled by Zero. No matter the outcome, the Japanese/Elevens will be ruled by some elite group of bureaucrats or aristocrats. To many people choosing their overlords by not revolting is possibly the only real freedom they have in choosing the course of their society. The point here is that the vast majority of the people are simply a tool utilized by the elite in their quest for power. The people’s concerns are only the concerns of those in power when necessary (e.g. Lelouch forming the Black Knights).

This is not a pessimistic assertion. If anything, it is an optimistic and pragmatic view. What this means is that in no society, at any time, through out the world will you find a perfect freedom. There are no free rides in this game. The oligarchy at the top of society would see itself as the chess master. The only way for the people to disturb their strategy is to change the game. Freedom is a work in progress, it always will be, and revolution a necessity.

Viva la Revolucion!

-

• Michels, Robert. Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy. Trans by Eden Paul. Hearst’s International Library Co. 1915.

I ordered the FMP TSR box set last week. I’m a regular renter of DVD’s, but recently I haven’t found anything I really wanted to buy. That changed when I came across this while just browsing around some online distributors. I don’t usually blog about the stuff I buy, unless I’ve got nothing else to do. In this case, I was pleased with my purchase to such an extent that I thought I would share it with you guys.

First off, Full Metal Panic is a very funny and entertaining series. On the off chance that anyone reading this has not watched the series, just go and buy all the box sets now. If you can afford it.

I have the FMP and Fumoffu box sets already; so, this completes my set. I was a bit surprised by the amount of stuff that was included in the collection. My other two sets are thin-packs with nothing but a fairly good collector’s box (thick cardboard). This pack does away with the cardboard collector’s art box and replaces it with a booklet folder. Included in the collection are “Mithril Reports,” which are standard story introductions, character bios, and equipment specs. The whole thing folds up into a plastic sheath that has some additional art on it.

For some reason I hadn’t expected them to include the hilarious Tessa OVA. It’s on the 4th DVD as an extra.

What a nice surprise.

I often talk about the emotional impact of viewing art. In particular, I put a lot of focus on empathy. It’s almost always used to describe the personal understanding of the plight of another person. This is contrasted with sympathy, which is simply feeling sorrow on behalf or for another person. We may not understand the pain, but we do understand the resultant feelings or distress.

I bring this up because I came across these 5.12 EARTHQUAKE STRIPS. It was a link that appeared on reddit. As always, there is a great spectrum of comments on the post. The comments show a range of feelings on the matter. Some were moved, and others were joking. There are mocking tones, and complete apathy towards the matter.

It shows that empathy and sympathy are dependent on the individual. As for me, the strips were very moving.

I find Nozomu far more tolerable than Chizuru. These two characters are polar opposites; therefore, one is forced to choose between them. It’s entirely possible to like both characters (or dislike), but more than likely one will form a preference.

On the one hand, we have loud, big breasted, dark long haired, fox demon Chizuru. On the other, there is soft spoken, flat chested, silver short haired, wolf demon, Nozomu. One would think that mathematically they should cancel each other out. Obviously, the two characters are necessary for the plot, what plot there is. Love rivals are among the most common plot devices in these types of shows.

What type of show am I speaking of? I could do some work and try to figure out exactly what genre this show falls into. I’m guessing slice-of-life or school comedy. Maybe, slice-of-scomedy? Not that it really matters. Basically, what we have here is a show about two girls trying their hardest to bed Kouta, the male lead, where the end result is a lot of fanservicing.

So, basically, it’s about fanservice.

Also, Asahina is growing on me. It’s the hairpins.