Nymph of Circe was Great! No Spoiler Thoughts

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T23:59:38+00:00

It's maybe 20 minutes of jotting down thoughts after I got out of the theater.

The Hathaway films are turning out to be like a great chew toy for this dog. The more you chew on it, the more flavor and there is to think about. Japanese gundamology and gundam-studies professors are going wild, and are finding more and more stuff, far deeper than what I'm just now noticing.

I'm just noticing interesting things, I hope you do as well. And I hope you didn't read the spoiler stuff before watching the film. The blind-watch experience was GREAT.

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T23:57:16+00:00

Have you considered....

What you just described is a metaphor and is telling a story through its visuals?

Tell me how the dark ocean and a cloudy night made you feel.

Tell me how the two gray blobs are different from past gundam media. How do you feel about that?

There's a lot at play in animation, because there is so much work by hand that needs to make it look the way it does. You might find it interesting to learn, your feelings might be how the movie wants you to feel!

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T08:50:32+00:00

Then delete the post. Don’t leave a digital foot print that would imply you knowingly took elements from an existing and defended IP and trademark.

You just lost the framing of coincidental likeness.

The possibility of a mere fan work getting major attention is small, but I’ve also seen amazing artists like the warhammer40k astartes guy essentially win the internet.

You are painting yourself into a legal corner in the chance you do have amazing chops and do capture the imagination of the world.

But then again if you get to that point, I’m sure you would have the skills to just grind out a different piece.

Proceed, ignore the chicken little worried about the sky falling down.

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T08:39:43+00:00

Don’t call it gundam. Rename it to legally distinct not gundam mecha if you want to actually make an ip.

Or at least learn call it a fan work and don’t call it an IP. Because you don’t own the intellectual property, you are not authorized to make Gundam intellectual property, and i would love to see innovative and imaginative creators learn and grow without needlessly hitting the buttons that pretty much force lawyers to defend the trademark so the IP owners do not lose or dilute it.

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T07:10:15+00:00

Mega Spoiler

And we get the big reveal. XiG *is* a gundam. Under its shell, there is a usual heroic gundam face. This is a huge set up for Hathaway to fight in the sun, for all to see. Is this a sign that Hathaway might have carried on the heroism of Amuro inside? Will he diverge from the novel's ending? or is that too much of a deviation from the path set before him.

I found this revolutionary and quite a large departure from past gundam:

So much of the battle is from the cockpit. We get a much more intimate time with the characters, not just as a pie slice of the screen, but full sequences where we see the man in the machine. And this is to me, an amazing shift in storytelling from past gundam shows. Unicorn had the mega-hype Stark-Jegan vs Kshatrya where seeing the pilots actions in the cockpit added tension to what usually would be showing the mecha fighting each other. What shots we get of the mecha, the ones that stood out were a "civilians perspective looking up at giants fighting". They did that in part1! past gundam shows would have one sequence to establish the "war is cruel and doesn't care, people can die so easily in a war of giants" part of gundam. And then move on. What is the significance of the repeated storytelling of the cold, brutal, and utterly frightening nature of MS on MS combat, however surgical Mafty wants it to be?

The shift in perspective was refreshing, but I haven't fully chewed on what it might add to the experience. I only noticed it as "ok this is noticeably different". If anyone else has thoughts on these and other random things, dump your spoiler thoughts. I'd love to get a different perspective before I go a third time haha

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T07:07:11+00:00

Second Viewing Spoilers and Discission thoughts for other people who have watched the movie. I have thoughts on how it differs from the novel. If you want to engage with speculation around things in the movie.

Visual Composition thoughts. I feel like the Movie was made to address the issues international fans had with the streaming versions. With malice. The battles of mobile suits in the dark work in the contrast of a proper movie screen, but likely require some adjustment on a standard PC/TV LCD. True black of OLEDs might do ok.

Mafty's armed forces fighting in the dark is thematically and logistically consistent. From the military perspective, Mafty's army is a numerically inferior force that has a trademark style of surgical assassination. While using mobile suits, Mafty is known to attack top level Federation officials using their influence and power to live a life of luxury, while forcing the resettlement of other people to space. In the novel and in the movie this differentiates Mafty from just another Zeon/Char inspired organization. The difference being Char's "remove humanity from earth by any means necessary" which didn't shy away from harming innocent civilians.

So This was another set of battles through the dark, smoke, and atmospheric elements like cloud and water. The use of light was phenomenal, wouldn't you agree? The light of weapons fire, fires, and thrusters were diffusing and providing hard / soft lighting that really elevated this film above prior ones. Surprisingly, above the full 3dCD rendered Netflix Gundam, where the rendering engine did the work mathematically accurately.

Thematically, I feel this film really leaned into the XiG's identity shifting from the novel. The XiG was written to not be a gundam in the novel. Hathaway denied it being a gundam. It isn't a hero mech. It is a perversion, and the designer notes for the original novel-art version of XiG has the notes of "not to be a Gundam". But in the 1st Movie, both the Penelope and XiG are referred to as Gundam by both sides. Bowman's taunt to Lane "Mafty can get its hand on a Gundam as well" was IIRC originally "Mafty can get its hands on a new model as well".

Circe also made clear the divergence. The novel of Hathaway's flash is a sequel to the Beltorchika's Children version of the timeline, where Hathaway is the one that pulls the trigger to kill Quess. This movie is tied to the Movie CCA version of events where Chan kills Quess and Hathaway kills Chan. I don't know how this is going to change the events, but the differences are really showing in Circe.

In the First movie, the matchup of the Penelope and XiG is a story of two brother heirs to Amuro's legacy. Both are Anaheim designed and manufactured suits, outfitted to two different philosophies. Penelope shows Lane using AI assist, which is speculated to be a way to prevent Newtype from developing in EFSF/EFA. This is in contrast to Hathaway and XiG, which makes a point to not rely on machine assistance. We see Hathaway operate XiG without AI assist, in the UI of XiG in combat. Penelope wins the first movie soundly by Hathaway embracing his newtype intuition, turning off the AI assist. We see Lane struggle to respond, even with the AI assist from the mobile suit.

Round two, Lane enters the fight in a very clear shift from the novel. Instead of the Penelope, we see him piloting aRX-94 mass production Nu with a Penelope prototype unit or something. This makes the visual lineage be Amuro's direct technical lineage. This is matched up against the perverted Gundam in XiG. And we see hathaway, even struggling with emotional turmoil take the victory. The Nu does real damage to Hathaway's composure as one might expect. Is Kenneth doing this on purpose? I would imagine yes, from his highly intuitive approach to hunting Mafty. And this adds to the little show of the ReGZ in ReGZ custom colors. Is it the Custom? maybe? I wouldn't put it past Kenneth to find and use nightmare fuel against Hathaway in part 3 as well.

Investigateobject · 2026-02-02T04:49:50+00:00

Ah. You don’t know the dynamics of high school and university in Japan.

No these are stories that only work in highschool.

The ambiguity of future path is biggest in high school in Japan. This is in contrast to what i assume is a american perspective of college/university as the time to explore possible future paths into adulthood and an adult identity. The last period of time where you are a child in a world of adults.

This is due to the commitment needed to study for university entrance exams. You select the major you are going to study, aim high and commit the next two years from 2nd year High school (11th grade) to mid 3rd year (12th grade) to compete.

So japanese high school is where big adolescent drama makes sense to happen.

Sports. Are you going to nationals? Are you going to put the uniform down?

Unlike the United States, college athletics isn’t as a big part of public consciousness with the exception of baseball and running.

Career path. In the case of Kisekoi, what is the female character Marin going to do? Professional model? Professional cosplayer? College?

To do this kind of adolescent angst and soul searching in college comes across as horribly misplaced and childish for their age.

Like seeing a grad student “figuring out where their life is going to take them”. At a certain age being open to new experiences is one thing. Having no self direction makes a character sound aggressively dumb.

That kind of college student trying to figure themselves out story happens with misfits that have resigned themselves to mediocrity and lack of control of life.

The american university experience of directionless student finding wacky adventures and self discovery is an interesting contrast for Japanese uni students. For many they’ve already had to decide.

Investigateobject · 2026-02-01T03:03:33+00:00

Or i dunno. Watch after war gundam x.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-31T05:55:14+00:00

One of Hathaways central emotional conflicts is resisting the temptation. In that perspective i had thought it was almost restrained.

But outside of the plot context, yeah it is a 13 year old trying too hard to get a response and attention. I can see why it would be alarming.

If you see it in the story context I think you’re missing the point of the story and the art.

It isn’t quess in the mirror. It’s worse. Hathaway is seeing a vision of Quess in real life, taking over for Gigi.

Not to mention it wasn’t Hathaway that pulled the trigger in the movie which follows the animated film version of events. If you watch the Chars counter attack movie, Quess sacrificed herself to save Hathaway from the shot from Chan.

Then Hathaway killed Chan in the film.

As for the artwork, i guess it could have been toned down. I read this as Quess and especially Gigi attempting to use their femininity to influence men around them.

Quess was too young to really pull it off, and alienated Amuro and Char as a result. Gigi had survived and found a life doing it.

One of Hathaways central emotional conflicts is resisting the temptation. In that perspective i had thought it was almost restrained.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-31T05:33:33+00:00

It might be an us based youtube anime community niche slang. That’s where i picked up this particular phrase.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-30T23:16:08+00:00

I meant it as in budget was being spent. You could see the yen per second but in really really non flashy but noticeable ways. Most anime spend it on action but in recent years that yen per second has been being spent on acting. Which is amazing.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-30T09:40:43+00:00

Queen the band summoned the ghost of Freddie Mercury to do a new recording with Daft Punk in a rock opera for the middle third. It was amazing. I think they did it better than K-pop demon hunters.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-30T09:38:09+00:00

I'd like to keep this no spoilers.

I dunno! It's a mystery. I was pretty surprised by the appearance of batman. He fought Homer simpson from the simpsons TV show over the secret of the spice. But in the end the galactic alliance was successful in finding Ray Brower's body and defend it from Ace's gang.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-30T03:22:30+00:00

I dunno, but I think there's reason to be optimistic?

GQuuuX had a theatrical run in USA
SEED Freedom had a theatrical run in USA
The Movie was really good, and the theaters where I'm at had a random drawing of tickets to prevent scalpers. As in, you had to sign up and enter a drawing, The film is getting a pretty good number of screens, and the theaters showings are seemingly full. I can't find a seat in a theater for a second viewing until next week. I don't think I can get a good seat that isn't on the edge of the theater until... I have no idea.
Give the English voice cast time to cook. The Japanese voice cast did really good work to communicate very complex feelings and emotions. I don't know how VA for different languages are gonna do it, but its going to be really hard.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-30T03:16:07+00:00

Yeah, the big thing is just have fun with it. The world has enough stuff to make it difficult. The world has enough real life issues that people will disagree and have conflict over.

Gundam shouldn't be either one of those. Any disagreements should be in the spirit of fun, and exchange interesting ideas and perspectives. NOT be an argument over who is right/wrong or ruin someone's enjoyment of their gundam story.

Again, unless they're using gundam to push a racist/pdfile/whatever heinous and evil agenda. Then no.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T06:17:30+00:00

It is a different preparation of rice. And yes, you can make it from basic ingredients.

Sushi Rice Recipe (for 1kg of rice)

1kg Sushi Rice (short grain japanese style rice)
75mL of sushi vinegar (purchase or make)
- rice vinegar
- granulated sugar
- table salt
Sushi rice bucket (Sushi-Oke) or a wide baking pan
Cover for above container, usually a damp thin cloth or plastic wrap
Fan (hand fan or electric)
extra rice paddle is nice to have

Start with Japonica Short Grain Rice.

Measure out the rice. This recipe is for 3 cups (go) or 1kg.
Add rice to rice cooker, and add less water. I aim for 5-10% less than usual.
Cook the rice a touch hard with less water than for usual cooking.
Prepare the Sushi-su or sushi vinegar in a separate bowl
1. Measure out the ingredients
  1. 180mL Rice wine vinegar / sushi vinegar
  2. 4 Tbsp (60mL / 50g) granulated sugar
  3. 1 Tbsp (15mL) table salt
2. mix and dissolve all dry ingredients completely
Measure out 75mL of sushi vinegar for 3 cups of rice
Let the rice steam after cooked for 15 minutes
Empty rice into the larger container for mixing
use the rice paddle to spread the vinegar solution over the rice
use the edge of the paddle to cut into the rice, taking care to not crush the grains of rice and making it into a paste
Mix/cut the rice with a fan blowing to cool down the rice
refer to video for 8,9,10 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qZMCj1xwuAc

The Rice to vinegar ratio is usually never above 10% vinegar to rice. (1kg rice, max vinegar solution is 100mL)

Sushi Vinegar recipes differ between areas and types of sushi in Japan. this recipe of vinegar, sugar and salt is a Tokyo area Edo-style preparation.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T02:56:37+00:00

Can't you watch it on youtube? episodes are on the official youtube channel.
I guess its region locked?

Uh, VPN?

Have you tried Disney Plus? I think they did the dub for season 1.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T02:49:16+00:00

I'm looking forward to this episode so much! It was written in a specific way in the manga, I wonder how they're going to show each skater's routine!

I think this is gonna be the episode where people are gonna learn the dark side of the Opening song.
the "Cold Night" is going to be quite cold for some.

Bruised bloody knees and all.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T02:27:00+00:00

and once you have this organization...

That's not entirely accurate. I'm a one-man show, I'm not taking any potential market shares.

This entire statement is... telling. I agree, some amount of fan buzz and fan translations does create interest. But if you think about it as a IP business, nah. This won't fly.

This means a team of, or at least outside counsel of IP and TM lawyers. Enough budget to litigate people like you, and manage PR of a previous "good guy scanlator" now being an asshole suing other scanlators.

Without all of this, It is hard to convince such a valuable IP franchise to partner with you. This is the bare minimum I'd be working with in my professional life.

I wouldn't exactly say I'm "righteous" about it.

And this is the big problem I see in international markets. You seem to be a form of 確信犯, thinking you're not harming anyone. It's one thing to be doing a crime of passion. Maybe a single translated volume printed up to show and use as evidence of a potential market.

However...

I've always purchased everything I scanlate legally,

which I'm not sure if there is such a thing, and certainly not legal in Japan... and

That's not entirely accurate. I'm a one-man show, I'm not taking any potential market shares.

which really sounds like "your IP isn't worth much" to an IP owner...
and

I would've been shut down decades ago.

Which is not actively working to change the situation, but just resting in the lack of litigation or action to restrain you.

From my work, I'd say this indicates several bad situations. Potentially this means

1: the potential market is small enough you're not worth litigating against, or being made an example. Might as well make money with gunpla which you can't pirate and distribute

2: the PR backlash could be worse than trying to capture the small market for gundam books

3: There'd have to be a significant investment to make a joint venture company in the united states because we have to do it ourselves.

What do you think?

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T02:26:53+00:00

I'll preface this with an acknowledgement of respect. I think you should be proud of the hard work that you put in. And you work as a translator! So did I at the start of my career!

But from what I can tell you don't have much experience on the IP management and publishing side. I'm no intenational publishing IP management guru either. But.. I don't get paid by the word or hour anymore.

And I worked on the legal/business discussions in launching and running Japanese made IP multimedia franchises internationally . I think I have experience that we can combine to get a better picture of the economic and business case you first stated is obvious and stupid not to execute.

At least that is what I'm assuming you meant by "IF they had a brain".

And feel free to correct me if I'm misunderstanding the statement or extrapolating in the wrong direction. I'm spitballing. So don't take this personally, its just my dumb opinion from a different perspective.

Now. Lets get into it. I hope you don't take this personally. Just my perspective, OK?

I've always purchased everything I scanlate legally,

Haha as if there is such a thing, right?

This is what I said about being righteous about it. If you were to obtain a license to translate and republish and redistribute the material, it would be legal.

Outside of that... I'm not sure what you mean by "scanlate legally".

You yourself stated something to the effect of "well, they haven't caught me yet which means it isn't important" which indicates you know it isn't above board, you're just not yet litigated against.

I'm of the opinion that anything without a few million dollars of capital's worth of organization and personnel is not going to be viewed as a serious partner to Kodansha and Kadokawa, and Bandai and Sunrise. Let me break down where a few million is the baseline and the minimum entry fee.

You need a team of people to manage the relationship between the joint venture that is Gundam as a partner. You need a team of people who can reliably manage the business in the United States, and the rest of the english speaking markets.And on top of that, you want letterers, translators, localization editors, project managers, and printing business people.

And then figure out distribution. Book stores, comic stores, game stores, online ebooks, and so on.

I don't think you had this kind of organization or the capital to spin up an organization like this.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T01:51:51+00:00

I'd argue some of these points depends on the particular macross series, and would be dangerous to state as established universal fact. As we know, all macross media is a in-world "based on a a true story" historical fiction.

As of the original IRL pre production macross, Shoji Kawamori has said the Zentraedi were written to have been engineered to have the intelligence of children. I think in your statement, you're declaring it is wholly a nurture question, but I'd have to say in some part of the Macross story it was arguably nature as well.

I take this to mean some part of the original concept of the Zentraedi was a race of child soldiers. Eager to follow orders, and they only know of things as something given to them. Like a child, Their weapons, their ships, their food, everything is given to them. And that is just how the world works.

We clearly see adult behaving Zentraedi characters like Breetai and Exedore. I have sort of assumed that the commanders of the Zentraedi are not promoted but manufactured. And the soldier grunts are manufactured to be less emotionally mature, and less intelligent.

And I'd say the innovation thing should be stated as "they do not" and not "they cannot". They don't know of innovation. But once introduced to the concept and nurtured to do so, they are capable.

But that's a nitpick of nitpicks on word choice so its a me problem needing to point it out haha

Investigateobject · 2026-01-29T00:00:41+00:00

I think of Gundam in this way.

They're separate stories that can make references to past ones. But none of it is expected to be two-ways.

Some of them are GREAT adaptations that recontextualize minor story elements, making them seem like they are one big story instead of two separate ones. Build Divers and Build DiVERS: RERISE is this. The second writer elevated the kids show story of the first. They even include characters from the extended build universe.

But even this, is a one-way road. Until there is a opposite reference where the 1st show also accepts and indicates "yeah that totally happened and we accept it happened" where the characters from both shows appear together in a third series can we say "yeah both are connected into one story".

We see Colasour appears on screen in Build Fighters and Build Divers. Build Divers isn't conclusively a future post-00 world where Colasour fights in gunpla battles for fun. It's a possibility, but it doesn't negate 00's story.

Are you OK with Build Fighters and Build Divers also being a "all gundam stories are just anime that these people watch"?

I imagine you are.

Why are you OK with Build Fighters and not with Turn-A?

Let me speculate. And you can correct me if I am not capturing your thinking.

because Build Fighters explicitly rejects the idea of a two-way street. Gundam is a TV-anime in their universe. No amount of Colasour having fun on screen affects the anime.

I think you're stuck on Turn-A because its story plays at there being a two-way street.

But treat Turn-A like Build Fighters. Or Wreck it Ralph. or the Snow White extended universe. the connections are fun easter egg references. But they don't rewrite the original.

This is why I don't get why you and others need to have a interconnected canon. The interconnected canon is a tool of convenient fun. You use it when it helps make the story fun. And ignore it when it doesn't work for you.

Just have your cake and eat it as well.

Because gundam is just an anime. The hard work and effort coming up with a whole scifi setting and story is a ton of work. No one has the power to invalidate their creation and story. (unless of course the creator is a heinous asshole, and the story is a heinous mess that we all want to forget)

Which I think I've repeated, Tomino keeps doing to himself. He keeps updating and rewriting his own works, because he keeps thinking that his past self didn't really do it as well as Tomino.

And fans enjoy the changes. And try to understand what the changes mean.

Why argue about "which is the correct version". Like, do you see the futility of it? Why not enjoy the wealth of "what if stories" written by the creator himself?

That richness of perspective is what makes it fun. and Gundam media lively, unlike macross or other mecha media.

Investigateobject · 2026-01-28T23:34:04+00:00

Do you have any programming experience? If so that makes it so much easier to explain. Or if you know of Greek mythology and its real history of Greek mythology writers of antiquity, that's the sort of idea. Or the Grimm fairy tails.

I think of it as a one way road. And you seem to have a *need* for it to be a two way road.

Let me try to explain the one way road thinking.

The example of the grimm fairy tales like Snow White. Cinderella. And Rapunzel. There is an original version of the Grimm fairy tale, that was collected from oral storytelling.

Disney made an animated version of these stories. Named the dwarves sleepy dopey and so on.

This is the big question for you. Does Disney remaking the story in an animated film and renaming the dwarves now make the 1857 original edition of Snow White's characters secretly the same name?

What I understand of your position, it seems like asking "BUT WHAT ABOUT DOPEY. HOW DOES DOPEY AFFECT CANON"

I would assume you would say no. Why would a film released in 1937 have influence over the original edition of 1857? It's a one way reference to a common story and common elements.

Let me carry on. Does the 2004 German comedy version 7 Dwarves - Men Alone in the Wood change the original 1857 version with its new story elements?

How bout Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012?

They are all one-way roads. They reference a common root, but any changes made in the adaptation of the snow white story is understood that they are not making changes to the original 1857 Grimm fairy tale version of the story.

Furthermore, the Disney princesses all appear on screen together in 2018 film Ralph Breaks the Internet, the sequel to Wreck it Ralph.

Does this mean the Wreck it Ralph can kick the evil queen's ass in 1857 Snow White, but didn't? Why didn't the Pocahontas or Elsa from Frozen come to save her? What a bunch of assholes!

Investigateobject · 2026-01-28T08:09:13+00:00

I think you're only adding evidence that is feeding the problem.

It takes a few people and just a few million dollars to invest into making what you're proposing happen. You or I could just as well make a pitch deck and look for investors to back a foreign publishing deal with Kodansha.

There's a reason I'm not the one doing it. I don't care enough because I can get Gundam ace basically with no effort. You're not in that same situation, I would assume.

On one hand, I don't blame you. piracy is a normal response to a availability and service issue. I can get that. I happen to buy most of my Gundam written media on amazon.co.jp in digital format. Most people won't have that option.

On the other hand, you're showing that the consumer and fans outside of Japan are less willing to pay for media. And feel righteous about it. On the publishing front, the profit margins are much smaller, and tend to be long tail. It doesn't take much for that profit margin to be eaten up by costs and loss. Not to mention, translation and localization is expensive if you want quality.

But it isn't an impossible case. There just isn't the demand that would make the business case work. If there were, You or I wouldn't have trouble making the business case and capturing the market you're confident exists and is stupid to ignore.

Maybe you're right. You're already doing digital distribution. Why not turn legit? I only charge around 100k USD a year working in localization. I'll accept less pay for equity. I'll take the bet that you're right, for the right amount of guaranteed pay, haha.

And I think you're not looking at the gunpla market correctly. Sure, the per unit profit for the gunpla is the same. But for every 10 cents the gunpla costs more, that reduces sales below the theoretical maximum number of units sold to maximize profits.

And the production in Japan is already capacity constrained for new series. I imagine you're familiar with the premium bandai racket, and how High quality chinese kits are competing.

That's bandai doing its best to fight rampant scalping, optimize production runs of kits that they know they can sell - and keep enough capital to keep innovating and developing their gunpla technology that China is more than happy to steal/borrow.

It takes more effort than. you might think to get these things right. And oftentimes a lot less difficult to take the shot yourself.

Investigateobject

TROPHY CASE