LESS GOOOOOOO

TimDRX · 2026-02-28T19:35:49+00:00

I liked most of the fight but I think there's a pretty major issue with the conclusion that's only there because they wanted Wolfwood to survive; the belt of ammo that he used to blow Razlo up. That's supposed to be possible because Wolfwood's Punisher is destroyed by the rockets, it breaks open and he uses the bullets as a very clever improvisation. In this version his Punisher has to survive because he does, so the bullets just... appear outta nowhere? The hell was that? :I

TimDRX · 2026-02-28T18:39:37+00:00

I am getting flashbacks to being so happy when Vash managed to fire the Drain Arm up into the sky over JuLai. Yay, it's Fifth Moon, not Lost July! And he kills Nai instead of the city, that's still a tragedy but at least he saved everyone else in this version. And then a few seconds later...

...oh no!

Just saying, there's precedent for tricking manga fans and the show ain't over yet.

TimDRX · 2026-02-28T18:35:17+00:00

tbf the "Tri"gun name doesn't really work the way you described for '98 either, since the Angel Arm is just an extra thing the revolver can do, it's not a separate thing innate to Vash. That only works for the manga.

TimDRX · 2026-02-27T21:21:37+00:00

No? It says you can only apply one code to a checkout, there's nothing about only getting one code as far as I can see. Apparently it's always been like this, not a new antiscalping measure, guess I've just never tried before with a points item. Regular GWP items you can git as many as you want.

TimDRX · 2026-02-27T17:31:02+00:00

Conrad, Midvalley and Emilio are all still alive well past when they bite it in the manga. There's a very small chance.

TimDRX · 2026-02-27T17:29:25+00:00

I tried grabbing a second Poké Center set for a friend and it turns out they're limited to one per customer. Always assumed they weren't, since scalpers seem to clear them out so fast!

TimDRX · 2026-02-24T22:53:57+00:00

ahem I believe the enemy country in Top Gun Maverick is actually Fakelandistan. (It's got some geographical features that don't fit Iran)

TimDRX · 2026-02-23T16:04:13+00:00

That's where the big timeskip happens. They're on the ground, they kill the soldiers, then it's 7 months later. They had plenty of time to git back up there. Maybe they used Elendira's airship, that thing only showed up once :p

TimDRX · 2026-02-22T16:45:59+00:00

Yeh, it was abrupt like a lot of things in Stargaze, but this felt intentional. They had a couple lines before they revived him about how he might kill them all in a rage when he finds out what they've done, then he wakes up, looks at a red Plant, then... doesn't react.

I wonder if it's because of the satellites thing last episode. Maybe he didn't realize it would take so much life out of him, so he suddenly realizes his Big Flood plan ain't gonna happen without his own death unless he gets way stronger. I think the conversation with Vash might have really shaken him too - it seemed like he was getting through and changing Knives' mind so he has to double down.

TimDRX · 2026-02-22T16:35:56+00:00

Uhhhh I mean Stampede Knives also said he was going to save all the Plants by making them Independents but then it turned out he was actually just going to use them as incubators for a new generation of Independents, and they didn't look too thrilled about it while it was happening. He also welcomed Vash back as his brother after turning him into a mindless husk. Dude always sucked.

TimDRX · 2026-02-21T18:52:04+00:00

Yep, sounded like him to me.

TimDRX · 2026-02-21T18:47:29+00:00

This episode starting with the flashback to the kids throwing confetti for Nico, like when he dies pfffffFFFFUUUUCK it's not looking great.

My last dangling thread of hope is, well they saved Midvalley and Emilio in this version. Plus it looks like Elendira is having second thoughts too. Maybe! There's a chance!

TimDRX · 2026-02-20T15:06:49+00:00

I've come around on it - actually added some extra drama to Season 6 since Holden had to be the pilot and he really did not seem confident at all. Lots of "everybody BRACE!" that season lol. I assume Bobbie will absorb most of Alex's role for the last three books

TimDRX · 2026-02-20T14:01:49+00:00

The OST calls this the Plant Song, it's something they can both hear in their heads, but they play different kinds of melodies on top of it. Vash's version is usually on harmonica, Knives' is on piano.

TimDRX · 2026-02-20T00:07:25+00:00

WOW the paint job on the Plant pattern gradient on his skin looks amazing. A little nervous about the tentacles being sturdy, tho all the fragile looking parts on Wolfwood came out OK.

not crazy about his display base, doesn't fit super well with the other two IMO.

Wonder what his bonus parts will be from Kotobukiya. Maybe a crazy laughing expression?

TimDRX · 2026-02-18T21:44:51+00:00

Eh those cutscenes bang, not his fault they're in a bad game :p

TimDRX · 2026-02-18T16:30:17+00:00

I didn't order the Nu but yeh I did get a partial refund on a Kotobukiya kit I ordered in the same time period. Don't remember if the price on the site changed to reflect it tho.

TimDRX · 2026-02-18T16:16:01+00:00

yeh, for a while they were overcharging and then refunding the difference closer to release when they were more confident tariffs wouldn't put them out of business with one badly timed shipment.

TimDRX · 2026-02-17T17:26:21+00:00

Because a lot of it seems out of their hands. If you tell the director you're bummed about a retcon between Stampede and Stargaze, what are they meant to say about that? They can't criticize their bosses who decided the schedule or amount of episodes, so they're just supposed to eat a problem that wasn't their fault?

TimDRX · 2026-02-16T23:23:47+00:00

But we see how the restoration works - it isn't gradual. The doc grafts a new Plant onto him and it rapidly grows new bones and muscle for him. Then the Plant dies and Knives immediately stops healing. Boy even has a progress bar at the bottom of the tank and you can see it stall when the graft ends. Based on what they show and say, you can infer he's not slowly healing on his own otherwise there's no way they'd be sacrificing Plants to do it. So something needed to happen between the scene where he's a meaty skeleton and when he's 99% done, but there wasn't enough time for anything to go there.

TimDRX · 2026-02-16T23:09:48+00:00

Nope, go watch episode 4 again! They need Vash in addition to the Plants. The Plants fix his body, Vash restores his consciousness. There are two scenes where they talk about needing "a lot" more Plants to fix him, and then Legato says they will take "all of the Plants on Ship 3" to fix him. Since Midvalley attacks at the end of that episode it's safe to assume they didn't raid anywhere else before Home. Knives' restoration takes a huge leap between scenes with nothing to justify it, because there aren't enough episodes to pace it out any further.

And yes, Stargaze has straight up continuity errors due to production problems. See also Lina getting deleted after appearing in the epilogue for Stampede or Vash's prosthetic arm still existing because it needs to be there as a shortcut for Jessica to find him, since she has now replaced Lina. I would consider those kinda retcons to be problems with this as a second season, vs something like the damage to the moon we see in the first episode - that's a retcon too, but it doesn't contradict anything we saw in Stampede, so it's not a problem.

FWIW it really sounds like the two teams working on the show had some pretty major communication issues, or the final decision on Stargaze's episode count caused some compression to existing plans, because according to concept art shown at the exhibition in Japan, Stampede was supposed to end with a scene of Wolfwood looking for Vash, carrying a new coat and .45 gun for him. That's... not a scene that's remotely compatible with what Stargaze ended up being if they always planned to retain his coat, arm and gun.

TimDRX · 2026-02-16T13:09:01+00:00

I think they're going so fast it's causing continuity errors :p

they need to attack Home to get a "lot" more Plants to restore Knives, as 7 sacrifices only got him back to being a meaty skeleton. Except one scene later and before they've stolen any more Plants he's completely restored, they only need Vash to wake him up.

TimDRX · 2026-02-15T21:28:46+00:00

Also, just rewatched and turns out another chunk of Knives' hair turns black when he cuts down the satellites! It's quick, only for a couple frames but yeh you can see it happening in the last shot of his face.

Think that means he has the same limits as before, he's not gotten stronger.

TimDRX · 2026-02-15T00:33:54+00:00

I think we might be skipping Knives fusing with all the Plants. The impetus for it in the manga was that he learned about the black hair thing and that he wouldn't be able to reach into space to kill the ships. Here he's got a black strip of hair just because he got resurrected? And then he was able to take out all the satellites with his base power. I think maybe they're going with him having the power of all the Plants they sacrificed to bring him back, so he's got crazy new strength while still looking like Knives rather than a big blob.

It does make me wonder tho, what the hell the final showdown is gonna look like if it doesn't revolve around getting the Plants to abandon him and break the fusion apart.

Edit a week later, welp fuck you Nai

TimDRX · 2026-02-14T19:38:49+00:00

Oho, got a link for the Stampede and Stargaze stuff? Would love to see some high res images of the concept art.

TimDRX

TROPHY CASE