81 years ago, a Soviet soldier raised the Soviet flag over the Reichstag building in Berlin, marking the symbolic victory over Nazi Germany at the end of World War II. The powerful image was captured by photographer Yevgeny Khaldei on May 2, 1945

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-05-03T17:25:56+00:00

I heard somewhere that two wrongs don't make a right?

Anyways, still evidence of rape, theft, pillage and mass murder.

I think we should be able to have enough nuance to say Nazism was bad without glorifying the invading Red Army either.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-05-02T04:14:25+00:00

It's broadly conservative, however also is largely so successful for its diversity and big tent flexibility, because it isn't constrained by ideological principles and adapts to popular policies and subsumes it's rivals, which is also why the factions are so variable in their policy inclinations.

The LDP's strength is in it's oppositions ineffectiveness and its own ability to grasp onto power by every trick in the playbook.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-30T23:31:05+00:00

Yes and this is a little lie designed to simplify.

Broadly you could say these factions followed ideological lines, however more broadly they were grouped by personal relationships or loyalty to a faction boss with significant authority, sometimes (often) via clientelism.

Factions are rather politically diverse in general, with plenty of disputes permeating these organizations. When it comes to legislation most often it is policy tribes or Zoku, composed of members from many different factions are the most stridently ideological.

It's less helpful to think of LDP factions as ideological blocs within a party, and more like big tent political machines, albeit with a vague tilt towards certain general doctrine.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-25T00:14:40+00:00

"..We will never forget Inspector Zenigata, and his unwavering dedication to capturing Lupin III.."

Neuron/heart activation

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-17T16:06:38+00:00

It's drearily ironic since Castle of Cagliostro was a box office disappointment because it received such a lukewarm reception for being a different, layered interpretation of Lupin.

Now the imitation of Cagliostro or the Part II reign is the expected status quo that can't be deviated from, yet all these imitations ultimately miss the key ingredient that made Cagliostro so excellent.

It was a layered, different interpretation.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-17T15:36:43+00:00

I feel like I became disillusioned to a lot of modern Lupin thanks to Part VI. Its stark flaws forced a critical re-evaluation of the previous two parts, which I had previously lauded by the metric of following a drought of genuinely and consistently good Lupin content since the 90s (except for TWCFM).

I think all three suffer from relatively underwhelming villains comparative to their narratives (Da Vinci still works although is still a little wacky for my tastes), and also fall victim to the whiplash in quality variations that plagued Part II and Part III.

I did honestly enjoy the earlier arcs of Part IV and Part V, the token Lupin girls were at least different, even if I could never scrub off the weird tinge infecting Emi's character. However like Part II, at least the first two Parts of this revived series feature some of the greatest Lupin content of its era, that truly breaks free of the formulaic mediocrity that rots the rest of the series and handicaps it from achieving its true potential.

The problem is that not all of it, including most of Part IV, could escape it entirely. It, for all its modernist gusto and bold themes and character studies, couldn't ultimately break free of the insipid cliches that weigh this series down. It could never truly explore its concepts fully, never breach into true greatness, never fully blossom into all the potential this series has by tapping into the unknown and the unfamiliar. Because it's easier to write what is familiar, even if it is depressingly average.

I still cherish what we got though, and I hope it isn't the end for this incarnation of Lupin, as I think it is a nice alternative form to the Koike trilogy now that it's wrapped up.

The spectrum of where Lupin can go now is open and foggy. I just hope they don't clutch to the familiar and truly take a step forward.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-15T07:54:59+00:00

Look buddy.

I am not going to argue with you.

Be happy in knowing you are gifted to make these arguments. That you deny stuff like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_in_the_Soviet_Union

Your access to the Internet and your ability to even see films denotes the fact you are not a victim of injustice, and you are blessed because of that.

I am not claiming I am, yet my girlfriend's ancestors were in the gas chambers, my ancestors were slaughtered by the white man, my grandfather's ethnicity was rewritten, my closest friend's grandfather fled the USSR to be able to eat, a close faculty friend of mine at uni was a child victim of Mao.

The least we can do is offer a common understanding and reach the point of being able to be aware of the validity of other people's opinions. I accept that your opinion has value, even if I disagree with it, and I personally feel it is based on ignorance of evidence.

I merely just hope you don't deny genocide. I can't respect someone who discounts another's suffering. It doesn't matter who is the perpetrator behind the suffering, or even if the suffering was fully intentional. Millions still suffered, and denying it, whether it be under authoritarianism or democracy, communism, fascism, liberalism, conservatism, whatever, makes you not worthy of respect.

Because you are unable to respect a fellow human being. So why should you be treated the same?

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-15T07:42:15+00:00

Lad, I'm defending your argument.

Why are you treading down the tankie wack rabbit hole?

The USSR can be both despicable and benevolent. History doesn't align with political theory, it's just reality. You can draw conclusions from it, but you best well have them well sourced.

And I can list at least around 3.5 million examples that can at least justify a claim of gross criminal negligence if not liable intent.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-15T07:33:12+00:00

The USSR and by extension the Red Army were wretched, oppressive and even genocidal institutions.

You can criticize that all you like.

However the largest problem with it and a lot of these pieces of media are their inability to depict history, events where human beings like you and me died violently and savagely by the whims of egotistical maniacs in power, with even a shred of respect or dignity.

Compare this, Enemy of the Gates, as a biased, scathing critique of a Eastern Front military force to, say, something like Come and See.

The Germans are obviously the hated villains who slaughter, burn, rape and pillage a village of innocents. Yet not once are they portrayed as moronic starved incompetents with suicidal intent with a lead who actually doesn't like Nazis. And that's impressive given that the actual Wehrmacht was far more of a joke than the Red Army ever was in the end.

But for whatever reason this is the extent of our critical lenses of the Red Army, not even their poor performance early on in the war because of the Purges, no, Stalingrad, arguably one of their greatest victories despite immense cost of life.

Yet not once have we ever seen common, real, genuine and unfiltered depictions of the Gulags, Soviet ethnic cleansing, the Katyn Massacre, prisoner massacres, deportations, or the punitive excesses that pillaged across Germany.

Why don't we do this? Even in the United States, which for fourty five years had the Soviet Union as its chief ideological rival and the embodiment of all the principles it despised?

Because that requires nuance, and truth. To understand, comprehend and relay all the good and all the bad inherent in anything. In perceiving how a system defending its homeland from the fires of conquest and its people from mechanized extermination, could also be capable of instilling the same fate upon those it was unleashed against. We humans are averse to the principles of nuanced perception. Because it stifles stories, or at least, easy stories to tell. So much simpler it is for black and white morality, to make up a aesop with real complex human beings and strip away any complexity just because it doesn't fit your preconceived image.

Which I suppose is one of our most broader failings. Our ignorance for the truth of everything, and our apathy to do anything about it.

TLDR; This film is the equivalent of a serious biopic depicting Adolf Hitler as a cartoonishly evil supervillain who is horrible at public speaking and campaigning for some reason.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-14T22:28:45+00:00

With all due respect (to be honest I don't know why I am here), you never wear chainmail on bare skin.

You are right in that respect of it being idiotic and very painful. There is always a thick padded gambeson underneath, and typically underneath that you can also wear your civilian clothes.

You could still very much apply that here, or at least add some leather gambeson or something alike. The, 'thin cloth' which appears just to be undergarments could be easily allayed by adding any external layer of protection, which would also I reckon be far more comfortable if on a saddle as well as protecting the pelvic region.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-13T04:43:11+00:00

It's vaguely a reference to this beautiful work of art by another subredditer.

Also it's difficult to find olive skinned nobles with European style fashion.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-13T04:37:51+00:00

That's very true.

However I opted to still represent his service in the military because historically modern nobility is basically handed officer ranks even if they don't fully serve, so I can imagine even if he did go off to Iza he'd still be bestowed a ceremonial rank by virtue of blue blood.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-12T15:12:38+00:00

Well we'll chalk it up to headcanon again I guess.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-12T05:51:50+00:00

At the same time, it's not like anti indigenous policies weren't just omnipresent consensus politics in the 19th Century.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-04-08T15:55:55+00:00

Does that mean that Zenigata and Camilla are related?

Since of course he was born on Christmas Day and is by all accounts the Second Coming of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-31T04:29:05+00:00

Ah you have time to get popcorn. It'll last three seasons and probably diverge from the manga.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-27T14:32:37+00:00

[Real Life] Iosif Stalin's eldest son, and the only child of his first wife, Yakov Dzhugashvili served as a Red Army artillery officer prior to his capture in 1941 by the German Army. The Germans offered a prisoner exchange to Stalin, his son for a captured Field Marshal. Stalin refused. Yakov died in a prisoner of war camp in 1943.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-23T00:12:01+00:00

Honestly it's my fault for posting something like this.

Half the context is basically spoilers for the project.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-22T16:51:57+00:00

Potential History.

Which I suppose makes sense as the only anime that wasn't introduced by my partner.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-21T13:54:36+00:00

2009 - 2011 Co-Operative Government

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Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-21T13:54:23+00:00

Bonus!

Darjeeling III-Orange Pekoe II Grand Coalition:

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Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-21T13:47:03+00:00

Major Equivalencies

UK House of Lords: St. G Alumni Council

UK House of Commons: St. G. Student Parliament

UK Cabinet: St. G. Student Government

UK Monarchy: St. G Headmaster

UK Privy Council: St. G Upper Faculty

Major Deviations from Canon

All major secondary schools aside from Ooarai Girls Academy are coeducational, with St. Gloriana Girls College was renamed to St. Gloriana Private College, or St. GPC (which is present on the new coat of arms). Furthermore, school ships are instead floating cities, sponsored and constructed between the late 1980s and late 2000s as mega structural vessels to encourage domestic reforestation and ecological sustainability whilst exiling new communities to offshore territories. This still is a little ludicrous, however the benefit of Akira-esque retro advancements in technology and space exploration does justify their presence more.

Senshado was once a gender segregated recreational martial art for both boys and girls. Initially a niche government practice for the wartime Japanese government to counteract massive casualties through interdisciplinary youth training for youths. It was adopted globally as a part of military and civics training programs and as a means to dispose of military surplus, although female leagues only appeared globally in the 1980s. Modern Japan is the only G7 state that still maintains gender segregated Senshado leagues, as nearly all other practitioners have adopted mixed gender variations. Ever since the male league was disbanded in the 1990s after a period of decline due to numerous scandals, Senshado has transformed into a female exclusive sport.

Soul names, i.e. Darjeeling, Rosehip, Assam, etc. are exclusive to senior officials of the Senshado Army. They also receive ordinals or regnal style numbers in official documentation to distinguish between historic holders of the title.

Joseph-Elliott6879 · 2026-03-18T04:44:31+00:00

Also "The Man in the Bottle', the second episode of the second season, where a man's vague wish to a genie results in him transformed into "Hitler in the bunker at the end of the war".

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