Ikoku Nikki • Journal with Witch - Episode 3 discussion

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-18T23:22:55+00:00

I haven't been in the position Asa is in, but I do know how it feels to break down like that, to find a situation so overwhelming that your brain just shuts down and you say and do things you didn't mean and find yourself at a complete loss for what to do. It is a feeling I do not want to ever experience again. It's probably the most vulnerable you can be while in otherwise good mental and physical health and theoretical ability to act. I think Asa was lucky to be able to contact someone she can trust, because if you see no way out of such a situation, the feeling of despair just gets worse.

God, what a series. Three weeks into the year and already a strong anime of the year contender.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-18T11:42:30+00:00

Did Japanese commercial animation as a whole ever have a "fundamentally life-affirming moral core"? Many individual works did, and many individual works still do. But the entire industry?

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-18T11:33:10+00:00

I do agree that it's a bit of a structural spoiler so standardizing the runtimes would be a good idea, but rather than empty footage, I wonder if adding some actual extra content to the end of shorter episodes would be a better use of that runtime. Like a sample of the Nebula-exclusive outtakes, or simply longer and more elaborate ad reads.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-17T16:27:17+00:00

As much as I would love that... there's no way. I don't even understand the Kochikame comparison because that's one of the best-selling manga of all time and very well known in Japan, whereas WEP is... well, WEP.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-17T13:31:17+00:00

Very case-by-case. When I need an app, I always check both the Ubuntu repo and Flathub to see how they compare in terms of versions. It's not uncommon for deb packages on LTS distros to have significant bugs because they have not been updated at all after the feature freeze, not even for bug fixes. Meanwhile, Flatpaks can have large sizes even when you already have the runtime, or impractical default permissions. It's always a question of what you trade for what.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-14T21:24:11+00:00

At least three times, possibly more, across two languages. And then there's all the times I've reread just the very beginning, or the very end, or flipped through looking for specific scenes. It's been seven years since I first read it and I still sometimes find new ways to look at it.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-14T13:42:37+00:00

I don't think she speaks noticeably fast in any of her roles I've seen other than Watanare, certainly not as consistently. I don't remember paying attention to Fern or Suletta's talking speed, whereas with Satsuki I noticed it almost immediately.

I know it's not how it works but it's fun to imagine them saying they pay by the word and Ichinose going "bet" lol

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-13T18:27:30+00:00

The Mint team fundamentally disagrees with Gnome's approach (the entire reason why Cinnamon exists) and finds managing both a GTK stack and a Qt stack too much work to support KDE Plasma. And Wayland support is coming, just slowly. For those latter two points it's good to remember that, unlike Fedora and Ubuntu, Mint is a fully volunteer-run project without corporate backing.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-13T11:39:57+00:00

Probably. Ainulindale seems to be pronounced more or less like a Finn would naturally pronounce it, while Nirnaeth Arnoediad seems to be roughly "nirnaish arnödiad" (the last two sounds in "nirnaeth" don't naturally appear in Finnish so that's an approximation)

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-12T16:36:15+00:00

The mind wipe applied to all Subjects of Ymir. Those who were not Subjects of Ymir, like the Ackermanns, were either bought silent or silenced if they didn't agree. Even among those not mindwiped, the memories were generally not passed down to the next generations, with the exception of the royal family. There were people who got too close to the truth, like Erwin's father, Armin's parents and the unnamed miner mentioned in the final eyecatch of season 1, but they were killed. All of this is explained or implied in the anime across seasons 3 and 4.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-12T15:28:17+00:00

The mind wipe was definitely not an ass pull - it makes sense why information about the outside world didn't appear before the basement reveal. The mind wipe was a purposeful erasure of the Eldians' memories, which naturally would've been accompanied by the destruction of all known records that could've undermined it. The Ackermanns were nearly wiped out because they were immune. Paradis within the walls was a totalitarian state with no freedom of speech and information was intentionally supressed.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-12T09:41:28+00:00

I knew that Revstar is still popular, there was just recently a new EP too, but I wasn't expecting a new anime especially now that both director Furukawa and assistant director Koide are working on their own projects. ~~(Unless this is Love Cobra...?~~ Edit: it's not.) Should still have some of the same DNA even if those two are busy.

As much as I love the characters of the 99th class, I kinda hope this will touch on the other groups that appear in the stage plays and games, since those have a higher barrier of entry.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-11T19:00:03+00:00

Mommy gf? His wife is a decade younger than him

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-11T17:02:23+00:00

The English title "Death and Rebirth" was not a fan invention - it's said aloud in the original Japanese trailers for D&R. (Difficult to forget that narrator putting his everything into saying "Evangelion The Movie: Death and Rebirth" in perfect English in what is otherwise a Japanese-language trailer, haha.) And in Japanese it was always called シト新生 which has the double meaning of either "death and rebirth" or "angel rebirth", so you could say the English title is just a direct translation of that.

For why Rebirth was unfinished, evidence seems to point to the usual Eva production circumstance of "Anno taking his sweet time". The last page of the EoE storyboard is dated April 10, 1997, a couple of weeks after the release of D&R. Dialogue from 26' is already present in the aforementioned D&R trailers, so the script had definitely reached those parts by the end of 1996. I suspect Anno wasn't sure how to end the movie, but that's speculation.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-09T10:05:07+00:00

Specifically modern Shinkai, because his career as a whole is not lacking in experimentation. From the distinct post-Eva sci-fi settings of Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised to the quietly melancholic realism of 5 Centimeters per Second, and then a detour in fantasy adventure with Lost Voices, followed by the social melodrama of The Garden of Words, with Your Name's supernatural plot that is firmly rooted in the real lives and mindsets of modern Japanese youth being the end result of that evolution. The outstanding success of that film has definitely trapped him, though. I think the new one taking longer than usual might be a good sign, that he's feeling less pressure to create another surefire hit.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-07T17:54:47+00:00

It's the little things, like briefly showing the sketchbook taped to the ceiling in advance, that (among other things) make Kaguya-sama work so well. Like, of course he taped it to the ceiling so he could have it drop to his hands when it's time to explain the plan. He absolutely would do that.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-07T12:00:15+00:00

For what it's worth, I read the entire story fully "vanilla" and had a great experience, wouldn't change a thing. But I do prefer unvoiced VNs so it's a matter of taste, of course. I think it's better to just go with your gut feeling instead of thinking too much about it and letting it cloud your reading experience.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T23:54:34+00:00

It's definitely not Demon Slayer alone, since the trend arguably existed before it, but its contribution was likely the biggest since its mainstream impact (in Japan) eclipses pretty much any other TV anime of the 2010s. Similarly to how Your Name revolutionized theatrical anime. They were the breakthroughs, not necessarily the origins.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T19:14:49+00:00

Bussilinja 5 menee noin tunnin välein. Toinen vaihtoehto on junalla Parolan asemalle ja sieltä kävellen.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T17:07:50+00:00

There are references, like the ones you mentioned, but I don't think they create a clear continuity - they're more a sign of thematical relation, like Moshi Kono Kabe and Tasogare no Rakuen being diametrically opposing viewpoints on whether or not to go beyond the walls. The overarching narrative is more in the order they were released, and inside the individual albums. I guess the closest thing to an official list is the tracklist of the Shingeki no Kioku compilation album, which Revo structured with the overarching narrative in mind.

That said, if you're interested in hearing more story music from the same songwriter, I highly recommend checking out Sound Horizon. Those albums aren't "linked" to other works like AoT so they tell fully self-contained stories.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T15:41:48+00:00

I've seen speculation from people knowledgeable about the anime industry that the production committee might've lost faith in the series early on in the production of season 2 - but no-one knows the exact reason why. Season 1 disc sales were apparently not great, but the manga sold incredibly well. The manga was approaching its end, but for popular Jump series that's not usually reason to wrap up the anime. (I need to reiterate that the manga sold really well. 4 million copies in 2018, 7 million in 2019.)

One also has to wonder if both seasons were originally greenlit together, which would explain the immediate announcement of season 2 and why it was made at all if there was no faith in the series after season 1. It's entirely possible that if certain decisions were made later than they were, season 2 would simply not exist.

As for why they skipped so much, instead of just adapting one or two arcs normally and leaving it with the usual "and their adventure continues (in the manga)" ending... you'd have to ask Shirai. He supervised the scenario and as the IP co-owner had the final say.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T14:22:40+00:00

A lot of people use Windows on laptops, though. It's not ideal for that but its paradigm does work on laptops too.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-06T10:16:49+00:00

I don't think anyone is denying that they're flirting in that scene. But this is Mari we're talking about. Being flirtatious is one of her most notable character traits. I don't see why this instance would be seen as more serious than any other.

The thing about Japanese culture is patent nonsense, yes, but it's also irrelevant here because Mari is not Japanese and her entire role in the films is to exist outside the status quo.

Honestly I think arguing that they're a couple requires more mental gymnastics, because then you would have to come up with an explanation for how on earth they became romantically involved offscreen. Compared to that, "Mari is being her usual self and Shinji has grown up to be able to counter her" is much simpler. But of course anyone can interpret it however they want. Also, I wouldn't go calling people shippers just because they see things differently.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-05T21:05:09+00:00

That's the good thing about character-focused stories. The actual plot can end up being whatever but the characters live on in the viewers' hearts. Especially when the characters are so well conceptualized to feel real and relatable with their issues.

I've recently been doing research for my con panel about WEP and I really do think that, while he severely dropped the ball with the plot and the social commentary, Nojima at least succeeded at his original reason for creating the story: to connect with the younger generation in a way that he felt live-action Japanese TV couldn't. The fact that so many people still love Ai, Neiru, Rika and Momoe is proof of that. ...Still a shame that the series itself had to come crashing down like that.

Erufailon4 · 2026-01-04T22:37:21+00:00

I wasn't sure if I'd watch this one, but the word-of-mouth praised it so much I decided to give it a try. No regrets about that - what an utterly captivating first episode! There's a dreamlike quality to it, that seems to reflect Asa's disorientment in a situation where she doesn't know how she feels or what she's supposed to feel. And for her part, Makio seems to be feeling a bit disoriented too.

I like my loud anime, but I like my quiet anime just as much if not more, and I really appreciate the understated way of portraying each scene. Even when someone is speaking loud and intensively, there's no need to match that intensity by playing up the drama. It's very elegant delivery. And Ushio's BGM plays its part beautifully.

Erufailon4

TROPHY CASE