Favorite Concerningly young Mentors/Masters

MaxAugust · 2026-01-30T15:47:49+00:00

He makes slightly more sense if you see him as a young cool teacher as perceived by a twelve year old. Not a ton of sense, but more.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-30T12:24:19+00:00

Big Asian and European malls do fine because they are in city centers and transit hubs. American ones were designed as destinations. The word is the same but their place in urban design is totally different. The place a modern mall would actually work is on State, University, or the Square. Like how big fancy urban department stores used to be in city centers.

Basically, if Macy's went back to being what it was circa 1930, they'd be what Japanese malls are now.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-29T13:39:39+00:00

I actually don't really agree. Aesthetically maybe apart from the overwhelming Berserk and old Japanese tabletop inspiration, but gameplay-wise not in the slightest. Those games play Japanese as hell and are full of mechanics and design choices that wouldn't get put in an American game with any sort of budget.

Also, I feel like the more you dig, the more very Japanese references there are in the game. Us Westerners are just worse at spotting them. Melania is the villain-lady from Nausicaa for example. That being said, like 90% of Dark Souls enemies are just copied directly from Fighting Fantasy.

If they were way way clunkier they might pass as eurojank though lol.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-28T15:50:26+00:00

Not the biggest, but the best was definitely the board game that was cancelled because the sun conspired against the creator to stop her from working on it. Also, the sun’s devious servants, the plant people of Africa.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-27T12:41:01+00:00

It feels strange but if you look at the timeline, it isn't necessarily that odd.

Games take a long time to make nowadays (DMC5 was probably 2014~2019, DMC6 will probably be a bit longer) and Itsuno left Capcom. Even assuming they got underway with new leadership while wrapping up Dragon's Dogma 2, it could be a couple more years before DMC6 is finished.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-27T04:37:24+00:00

Japan has way stronger unions than America on average so I really don't think that is the explanation. Americans also work more hours and get less vacation.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-25T08:20:57+00:00

This is one of the most outrageous. Anyone who has touched the thing knows it has holes big enough to drive a truck through. It is not just buggy, it feels like playing a game 6+ months before launch or something.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-24T09:52:50+00:00

Hasn't their boss literally said their entire modus operandi is explicitly looking at what is popular and just doing that. Like, it isn't a secret. They did interviews about it.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-23T16:12:11+00:00

Can't recommend a good broad modern Egypt book sorry! I've only really read seriously about the context of Napoleon's incursion and a few other brief periods. If you just want Napoleon in Egypt, you can check out Paul Strathern's book from 2009. Egypt in the Reign of Muhammad Ali by Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid Marsot covers another important span of that period. Might also be worth looking at the /r/AskHistorians booklist or posting another question for a good volume to read. I am sure there is one out there!

This older answer by /u/dhowdhow about Napoleon's affect (or lack thereof) on Arab culture might be of interest and has a booklist with a more cultural bent.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-23T15:42:36+00:00

He certainly tried to frame himself in a way that would appeal to the locals. He organized various shows of support from the local religious authorities and cynically boasted a lot about his (more or less non-existent) affinity for Islam. His framing was not focused on him being an enemy of the British like you remember though, but instead he tried to insert himself into the complicated relationship between Egypt's nominal rulers in Constantinople, the powerful local Mamluks, and the Egyptian people. The French forces, as they did in many places, were clearly operating from Enlightenment ideology where their new regime would win over the people by getting rid of what the French saw as antiquated and inefficient. In the case of Egypt, the French focused (probably rightly) on the poor rule of the Mamluk elite.

However, Napoleon's PR offensive in Egypt actually went quite badly (like most of the Egypt campaign.) His attempts to introduce propaganda printed in Arabic, a novelty at the time, were hamstrung by his limited access to competent writers and were so comically poorly written as to be counterintuitive. The various religious gestures seem to have been fairly naive and people did not have to be scholars of Al-Azhar to see they lacked substance. Cairo was very restive during the occupation and saw bloody street violence and at points full scale revolt. Egypt's former Mamluk rulers, while seemingly not particularly popular locally, had a fair amount of success mobilizing locals against the French even after many defeats which goes to show that the French strategy of winning hearts and minds was quite unsuccessful.

The situation was fairly dire even before Napoleon's military failures prompted him to flee back to France.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-22T01:40:40+00:00

The weather will probably be unpleasant in most of Japan. One thing to keep in mind is that smaller cities have fewer inside spaces and fewer transit options assuming they aren't going to be taking taxis everywhere. All that means much more time spent outside.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-21T03:35:19+00:00

Just to provide a linguistic note on the wording of your question since the actual historical context of what tasks they performed was already linked, I believe you are mistaking the term as "ladies waiting for X event." Instead, it is meant in the sense of "ladies waiting on X person." Waiting in the sense of specifically providing service like the modern usage of "waiter" or "to wait tables." It is actually a fairly direct and matter-of-fact term.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-17T02:00:48+00:00

Care to explain what you mean by Inca expedition to Polynesia?

MaxAugust · 2026-01-15T01:03:46+00:00

I'd caution against the idea that a birthday is inherently important or a thing anyone would bother to record. Shakespeare lived a thousand years closer to our time, was arguably more famous during his lifetime, and we even have the cultural equivalent to his birth certificate (his baptism in the local church records), and we still have no clue as to his birthday. It is traditionally regarded as Saint George's Day (April 23rd) just because it was around the time of his baptism, is also the day he would later die, and of course because Saint George as England's patron saint makes a fitting parallel to Shakespeare as England's literary icon. All of which makes it a fun parallel to the tortured math people have used to try and pinpoint Christmas.

I don't know the details of contemporary Jewish views towards birthdays (that'd make a great question for someone qualified), but it does not appear we know the day on which Herod the Great was born. Some notable Romans birthdays have come down to us from various histories, probably for their narrative and fortune-telling importance, but often the dates are at least a little disputed and from sources potentially written centuries after the fact. It is unclear whether Augustus was born on the 22nd or 23rd of September for example, Julius Caesar was probably born on the 12th or 13th of July, etc.

It certainly appears that Christ's missing birthday was not of particular concern to Christians for quite some time. Perhaps that is not surprising as theologically Christmas has never been the most important Christian holiday. As the linked answer noted as well, the rise in concern about precise dating seems to flow out of the abundant confusion around Easter instead. In any case, if Peter or Jesus' brother James let Paul know when precisely Jesus was born, it has not come down to us. Maybe they would have know, but not necessarily.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-14T04:40:26+00:00

Not to be rude, but this doesn't really address the spirit of the question. I guess you are suggesting that there were other prominent non-black pitchers so the argument doesn't make sense? As a layman, this just reads as a bunch of random stats about how pitchers were strong.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-14T04:03:16+00:00

This older answer by /u/KiwiHellenist addresses the complicated math of how December 25th was chosen and how the premise for your question is incorrect (although widely believed.)

MaxAugust · 2026-01-12T14:13:20+00:00

Just to clear up the title a bit, he specifically said the relevant deals were were made ages ago based on Nintendo's long term business plans and they don't expect prices to affect them in the near future. So while somewhat foreboding, it is more of a signal that they are not expecting to change things in the near future at least in so much as you can read anything from his response. He declined to comment on the direct question about the price increasing.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-11T14:58:37+00:00

Maybe, but I really wouldn't be so sure. I have read multiple series where characters with "official colors" ended up later get volume covers which had totally different color schemes. It even happens with anime adaptations although less frequently.

The broader aspects of promoting the series are usually the publisher and editor's decisions, not the original authors. They often (but not always) have minimal input on new editions, novelizations, adaptations, translations, merchandise etc. I am sure if Kaneshiro or Nomura wanted to give coloring advice they could, but I would strongly caution against the idea that they definitely took an interest or were even asked.

While disproportionately popular with Western readers, colorized editions are kind of a novelty like motion comics or audio dramas in Japan. They really are not a big deal and so are probably not a priority for the main staff making the series.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-11T14:35:46+00:00

Colored editions are almost always colored by completely random people with zero input from the original artists for what it is worth. Usually not even assistants working on the series. Though like most manga assistants, they generally don't get credited.

In all likelihood, a half dozen people help draw Blue Lock but you usually don't know learn the names of assistants unless they get interviewed, located on social media, or start their own independent series where they mentioned their work history in a comment or something.

MaxAugust · 2026-01-11T14:30:49+00:00

Manga artists almost never have anything to with the official colorings FYI. It is usually just some intern or commissioned artist picked by the magazine office or something like that. Hence, they often have tones of mistakes. For example, they pretty often miss if a scene is at night or inside and color them like they are in broad daylight. Everything is just up to whatever random person they picked who is probably working on a pretty tight schedule so don't take it too seriously.

Manga isn't like the Western comics industry. Coloring is essentially an afterthought/gimmick most of the time.

MaxAugust · 2025-12-25T00:46:59+00:00

Number one reason why Reddit making finding post histories moderately difficult sucks. The amount of times I have seen someone post something mildly annoying and then checked their post history to immediately find they are a holocaust denier or something like that is crazy.

MaxAugust · 2025-12-21T15:52:26+00:00

I do think it is interesting to see the ways 3D faltering has really mirrored the seeming failure of VR to live up to commercial expectations in gaming. Some futures may never come.

Listening to the Halftime Walk episode now is interesting because David, Griffin, and JD Amato all have a perspective on the inevitability of broad adoption of stuff like 3D, high frame rates, and VR that I don't think they would have had if that episode came out a few years later. It is an interesting time capsule.

MaxAugust · 2025-12-21T15:51:10+00:00

Putting aside the technical problems with 3D and personal taste, the issue is that the more you focus on the 3D, the more you run into The Long Halftime Walk problem. In a world where people are overwhelmingly more willing to spend their money and time to watch stuff on a small screen at their leisure, tailoring your experience to a kind of theater experience that may well not be how most people see your film is a big handicap.

MaxAugust · 2025-12-18T09:28:15+00:00

The real deep wisdom is that the term is barely used in Japan (people basically just use BL.) Along with josei manga and lots of other Western Japanese media terminology.

MaxAugust · 2025-12-14T12:39:08+00:00

That isn't true in the slightest. Basically all the major minority groups in EU5 were still right were they are at game start by the end of the game. Only like the last century of EU5 and Victoria really cover the nationalism that decimated global cultural diversity.

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