my actual vampire hot take is that if you're going to be a 'vegetarian' vampire (a vampire that only drinks the blood of animals) you MUST have hunter education. i'm so sick of people being like oh well predator animals are mean and scary because they kill cute 'harmless' animals like NO they're crucial for the environment and if you're going to hunt animals for blood you still need to stick to regular people hunting guidelines and only hunt things that are in season and abide by your areas bag limits
vampire that did a detailed study about whether vampires can get prion diseases and concluded they can't and preferentially hunts animals with chronic wasting disease. and then incinerates the corpses.
Do you all remember how in the extra content Nora said that Andrew and Neil learn Russian at some point so the others won’t be able to understand them?
Like, how did that conversation go? Did the topic come up? Did one of them suggest it? I have questions
Honestly one of the things that I really love about the new trilogy is how reading about Jeans first few months outside of The Nest and his healing journey lets me reverse engineer what Kevin’s first few months must have looked like
And how fucking funny it is that instead of being adopted by a sympathetic lesbian couple, a cardboard dog, and the world’s most beautiful himbo, Kevin got two psychotic midgets, a twink with boundary issues and a vodka Red Bull
i will say if the interview has done anything for me it's absolutely lit a fire under my ass to write my own book because what the hell if she can do it so can i!!!!
Every piece of canon ever: uniting with your Fafner and becoming one in body and mind is key, if you can’t become one you can’t use it to its full potential
Soushi, looking at Mark Nicht: …yeah lets not do that
This morning I finished watching the Fafner in the Azure series, having been recommended it by @caparrucia. In turn, I would highly recommend it as well.
It definitely benefits from viewing in chronological order (the movie Right of Left, series Dead Aggressor [26 ep] followed by movie Heaven and Earth, series Exodus [26 ep], then finally series Beyond [12 ep]), because it commits to telling a long-term story involving both cycles and evolutions of its various elements. Put bluntly, I cannot imagine the start of Beyond hitting as hard as it did for me without the context to know exactly how wrong the scenario I was presented with was. Moreover, this is a story about the endurance necessary to save the world. As daunting as nearly 70 installments might look, it justifies the time it takes.
I’m not quite sure how or if I should summarise the plot, since another thing I think it benefits from is the pace at which things unfold. The basic outline is that Earth has been overrun by telepathic crystalline beings called Festum and giant mecha called ‘Fafners’ are the only effective weapons against them. But the directions it takes that premise and the ways it commits to them are extremely interesting, with a heavy emphasis on understanding, compassion and community that takes none of those things lightly.
It’s got a remarkable handle on escalation too, one that means virtually every battle is an edge-of-the-seat affair - I don’t think I haven’t been so scared for characters during action sequences for a while now. And though there are definite animation improvements as the series goes on, the direction is superb from the beginning: there’s a whole visual language to how the Festum work that gradually sinks in, until fairly simple visual effects start to hit incredibly hard. Plus it’s flat-out beautiful in landscape shots and many of its fight scenes
The character work, both visually and writing wise, is really top notch as well, again because of the long run as much as anything else. We see the cast age and change in ways that often go unremarked on a plot level but add depth to the story being told. Moreover, it insists on humanity in impossible situations, without allowing said situations to justify arseholery. Sometimes persevering is the only choice and sometimes terrible actions - even those ‘rational’ in a military sense - aren’t worth throwing away the things you’re trying to preserve.
Above all, it pulls off some really impressive long-term thematic payoffs. I am genuinely envious of how well it lands its punches. Very, very good stuff.
One thing that’s always fun about coming very late to a fandom that’s been established for a long time is how your perceptions as someone experiencing it all for the first time can differ from the wider fandom opinions of those who’ve been in it for years or decades. Something I’ve noticed about Fafner is that it seems the general fandom opinion is that soukazu got less insane and were toned down in terms of their queercoding in Exodus, Beyond, and even BTL and… I just don’t agree with that? At all???
For context, the only things I knew about Fafner when I started watching it about 6 months ago was that 1) it was a mecha and 2) it had the same art style as Gundam Seed (which I was obsessed with as a teenager). I think I may have watched the first few episodes as a teenager too, as I have a fuzzy memory of renting the first DVD from blockbuster and subjecting some friends to it at a sleepover lmao, but I never finished it for whatever reason. But I knew nothing, so I had no preconceived notions about any characters or relationships
(cut for length, this is like 1500ish words)
And Dead Aggressor, while I do personally think it’s the strongest part of the series (especially if you include the side materials of the audio dramas, the novel, etc.) due to it just feeling more character-driven, to me… I didn’t really notice anything fruity at first beyond anime-typical homoeroticism (and I have a personal theory that anime tends towards that in no small part because of heavily gendered genres – people point it out a lot more with shounen, as shounen tends to be more popular overseas in my experience, but shoujo absolutely does it too. You’re just going to get more gay vibes when all/most of the significant relationships in the show are between characters of the same gender, but that’s a separate topic lmao). Like yeah, okay, things are kind of intense between them, but no more than I’d typically expect of an anime, at least when not looking at it with a magnifying glass. I also was 100% certain Maya and Kazuki would be endgame cause that’s just how straight people write shows, of course it’ll happen (and to this day I am absolutely shocked it didn’t lmfao)
It was Heaven and Earth that prompted me to start going ??? cause… excuse me, what are we doing here lmao. I even made a post about it because psychic connections and The Hug and promises to wait forever… something is happening here and I’m not sure what it is but I’m intrigued
So then I go into Exodus and now I’m Looking For It. Because hey, that was really fruity, will it continue? And I won’t argue that Exodus has less in terms of volume of soukazu moments, but that’s simply because there’s way more going on. The cast got bigger, the story is very plot-driven, everything has expanded; they just have less screen time than they did in DA. I wouldn’t say the moments we do get are any less insane, though. I was very much live-reacting to all of it to a friend during my watch and I remember being very ??? several times, in fact most times the two of them are on screen together. Remember when Orihime (who we have to remember, the cores are basically god-like in their knowledge of things) calls them “two powers as one”? Hey, what the fuck does that mean! That’s really gay! Also the bit where Kazuki, who’s been suicidal on some level basically the whole series, chooses life because, as he tells Soushi, “I’ll choose the path you’ve chosen”? What the fuck! That’s a marriage vow!!! Not even mentioning that when Soushi dies, Kazuki tries to follow him. Not even hysterically, he seems completely calm, just in a ‘well obviously I go where you go’ way, which is. That’s also pretty fucking gay (and we’ll get into Kosoushi with Beyond lmao). There’s more scenes I could name, arguably pretty much every scene they have together, but this is already turning out way longer than I intended so lmao
So like. Exodus is not any less intense and weird imo, it’s just there’s so many more characters and events happening and they don’t have time to put soukazu’s insanity on screen as much in order to cover everything. And I can’t blame them for that. Exodus probably should’ve had more episodes tbh to cover all they wanted to cover without sacrificing the character moments, but it is what it is (and I still like Exodus – I just would’ve liked it even more if it had’ve slowed down a bit more at times, like DA does)
Now Beyond. Kazuki gets even less screen time here, as he’s not the main character anymore and it is a shorter series, but again, less volume does not equal less insanity imo. First off, the whole… everything about Kosoushi. Soushi is haunting the narrative AGGRESSIVELY throughout Beyond. He never really stops doing it either. And the thing is, Kosoushi and Kazuki’s relationship will never be free of Soushi’s ghost. Kazuki knows how festum-ish reincarnation stuff works – he’s an element for one, and secondly he also met Orihime. He should know that Kosoushi won’t be Soushi. But he still named him Soushi!!! That in and of itself is insane! He knew better and did it anyway!
(And I do have a half-written meta digging into just how bizarre and codependent soukazu are, and how I think by Beyond Kazuki fails to see Soushi, either of them, as a person anymore and more of as a concept that he’s devoted himself to, but I feel like while there’s definitely some overlap, that goes beyond (ha) what I’m trying to say here lmao so I’ll save it for later)
I don’t remember all the endings/openings 100%, but I do remember the first ending because it shows how Kazuki can’t look at Kosoushi without also seeing Soushi. And then there’s the three (3!!!) separate times Kazuki tries to die, explicitly to be with Soushi. When he gets Alles (which he evolved from a mech called ACHILLES!!! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!!?!?!), he sees Soushi’s image and he tries to reach it, only to be stopped by Kouyou and Misao again. Then the other two times he’s trying to get Kosoushi to assimilate him which 1) would make him part of Kosoushi (who he never sees as entirely distinct from Soushi imo) and 2) was what happened to Soushi, and thus would mean they’re in the same place again. AND! During the Alles/Nicht fight, there’s that insane flashback sequence that still gives me chest pains to look at right before Kazuki loses and tells Kosoushi to assimilate him. It’s literally the “dead wife montage” taken to the extreme like seriously lmao, it could not be any less subtle
(There’s also that fucking interview about the glasses… and how they didn’t say the reason why Kouyou and Misao wearing glasses would make Kazuki feel better but. We can put two and two together here. Goddamn)
And! BTL! In BTL we firstly have the broadcast moment, which is both insane and hilarious, and is also one of the main scenes I’ve been showing willing victims of my infodumping to explain just how these two are when it comes to each other. That whole bit is truly deranged (affectionate) behaviour on Soushi’s part and the fact that Kazuki is not even really that bothered is also deranged tbh. Yeah, okay, there’s some moments kind of re-affirming that the girls are into Kazuki too, but there’s also a moment where he basically turns both of them down, saying they’re on different paths. Which! You know, when his two other friends are like hey, we can walk this path together, I can help you, etc. he’s like oh no, you can’t do that, you need to do your own thing; he’s basically telling them they’re just friends. But at the end, when Soushi is all ‘I’m going to devote my life and career to making you live longer’, Kazuki doesn’t even offer up a token protest. He just goes okay :) make sure to memorialize me if you fail though. Which is also something! Given that it’s not Fumihiko he’s thinking of being the one to take care of his memory (even though their relationship is also weird, like. That’s still his dad), nor Maya (who he is also close with and she’s kinda been entrusted with everyone’s memories), it’s Soushi. Of course it’s Soushi. And Kazuki doesn’t even think about it in that moment, which means he’s thought about it before and Soushi being the one to do so is just to obvious conclusion to him
And yeah, okay, after experiencing all of that and the audio dramas and the novel and knowing everything, does Dead Aggressor hit harder than just “shounen-typical homoeroticism”? Absolutely! When I rewatched, I noticed way, way more than I did the first time lmao but that’s cause I had more knowledge then, everything had way more context and weight. But I still don’t think Exodus, Beyond, or BTL are any less soukazu-y than Dead Agressor is in terms of intensity. Maybe we could wish for more moments (and/or to see them smooch in canon, and/or a happy ending for them lmao), absolutely, but I personally didn’t see any drop in the intensity level of whatever the hell soukazu have going on throughout the series. Volume, sure, such is the nature of the story expanding, whether you like that it expanded or not, but not intensity. They were truly, irrevocably insane about each other the whole time and not even death stopped it <3
If you have some time and willpower, will you please tell me about Fafner? What is it about? Why do you like it? Why should I watch it?
Absolutely! I’m very happy to talk about it lmao as nothing would make me more excited than getting someone else into it XD
So the basic premise begins with what seems to be a normal, small island somewhere nearish Japan. Everyone there lives a normal, boring life – the young people of the island don’t know anything different. Except, the illusion is shattered when there’s an attack by an alien being and it turns out that most of the world is destroyed, the aliens having invaded about 30 years ago, and this island was one of humanity’s last stands, a place where normalcy and culture were attempted to be preserved even while the adults of the island have secretly been working on a solution to the problem
The solution is Fafner, which is the name of the mechs in the series (it is a mecha lmao), mechs that only some are able to pilot based on genetic factors. So with peace shattered, the battle begins, as do the philosophical questions about life, humanity, and how to really move forward
As to what I really like about it, it’s definitely the characters and just. Their developments, their relationships – they’re all very interesting and explored well. Unlike a lot of anime, it’s not just the teenage protagonists that get developments, but the adults too. And it handles the tragedy of being forced to use what are essentially child soldiers with more depth than a lot of shows do. It also explores more psychological and philosophical themes, like what it means to be human, depression, guilt, grief, the morality of conflict, and the importance of interpersonal understanding. This show will 100% make you feel the absolute full spectrum of human emotions lmao
(also, as I’m sure anyone has noticed lmao, there’s a really, really compelling ship that has just… the most insane relationship I have ever seen in anything ever. And no, I’m not exaggerating on that. I mean it with 100% sincerity. They make previous insane ships I’ve seen feel like people talking about how spicy the water is while I’m mainlining ghost peppers lmfao like. Do you like “doomed yaoi”? Do you like codependency? Do you like “whatever the fuck these two had going on”? Watch Fafner, it will give you ALL of those in spades. And tbf it’s not just them like, all of the relationships are really compelling, but the lead characters are just…
I think that kinda covers why I think anyone should watch it, but also I’ll say like. Here’s a list of things that if you’re into, I think you’ll really like this show:
Mecha in general. If you enjoyed Eva or pretty much any Gundam or probably Code Geass, then you should really watch Fafner because it's imo a very overlooked series that does some really interesting things
Science fiction, specifically of the more philosophical kind rather than the pew pew laser kind (not to say there aren't pew pew lasers lmao, there are, the robots are very cool, but you know what I mean). Pacific Rim is a great movie, but it's pew pew laser. Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Mass Effect - that's more the type I mean, if that makes sense
Character-driven stories and compelling relationships between characters, and not even just in a shippy way lmao (though there is that also skdlsld - it's a GREAT show for that too)
Shows that have mid 2000s level pacing, where they don't just shove all the information in your face immediately, but let you uncover plot, lore, and character details as it goes on, in a natural way rather than rushing through it all
Shows with a decent length that you can really get invested in but don't go on for ages and ages (it's 2 series at 26 eps each, 1 series with 12 eps, 2 x 1 hour specials, and 1 x 1.5 hour movie - I watched it in under a week while working full time with no issues)
Absolutely gorgeous animation - yeah, the first series is older, you can tell, but the later instalments? Fucking GORGEOUS oh my god, heaven and earth makes me literally gasp every time with some of the incredible scenery
I would also recommend this show with the condition that you have at least a decent angst tolerance. I've been cagey about this despite that I've posted spoilers lmao, but I also feel like most people who follow me are bioware fans and thus can handle it. If you've played the full Mass Effect trilogy, for example, I think you'll be fine. However, if you're the kind of person that can't do even the slightest amount of character death, then I would actually not recommend this show cause you're not gonna finish it lmao
Also my final incentive to watch is that I am still going absolutely bonkers over it and my wip folder is still very much full of stuff and I have been writing at a pace I have not managed in years, so I can guarantee that you'll have both years and years of older fics (some of which are truly fucking incredible, my god, there's been some incredibly talented writers in the fandom) as well as a fairly steady supply of new stuff from me XD
But yeah, if you (or anyone else) have any other questions, please let me know! I'd be happy to answer, no matter how specific or general. This show really did something to my brain and I am just constantly happy to talk about it always
Thinking about how the real most devastating part of Fafner is how often they give the characters the challenges that they’d struggle with the most. And this is genuinely good writing imo, that’s a great way to get character development, but I can’t stop thinking about it because they do it just. So well. Painfully well
(Cut for length. 1214 words all in)
Maya is the only young islander to take human life. And it ends up hardening her to a degree that she becomes the hardass who does the difficult, often unpleasant things for the sake of others. Which is noteworthy because she’s also the one that has the most ability to read people, to understand others, to really know what she’s doing to people on a level that no one else would. She’s killed people while having a full understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing, but not being able to stop them. She’s being cruel in Beyond for the sake of the greater good while knowing full well how much it hurts the very people she's protecting with those actions (compare to the previous hardass, Soushi, who was able to compartmentalize enough that he felt fully justified in everything he did, even the things that were, arguably, pretty terrible). Had Kazuki or Soushi been the ones forced to kill, it would not have made for nearly as interesting a story, as Kazuki has a remarkable ability to bury his own distress and just accept whatever is happening now and I think would be able to cope with it just as well as everything else, and Soushi was ready to kill the entire invading Neo-UN army at 14 and while 19 year old him may have given a warning first, I don't think he would've hesitated for a second if they hadn't fled. With Maya, it fucked her up, for all she tried to keep a brave face about it - that's why it had to be her, though. Because she was the one who would be changed the most by it
For Soushi, I don't think the idea of dying bothers him for the sake of his own life, and him trying to assimilate Kazuki at 9 was technically a suicide attempt. He sort of died at the end of Dead Aggressor and he also jumps in front of a bullet without hesitation for Kazuki. Death, he does not fear. Yet at the end of Exodus, he tells Nicht he's afraid. I think the thing that scares him isn't dying, it's what will happen to everyone else after he's gone. He can't protect the island anymore. Kazuki, the core(s), Maya, all the rest - if he's not there, what will happen to them? He's dedicated his life to protecting the island and the people he cares about and now he can't anymore. And he puts on a brave face for Kazuki at the end, but is that not what he's always done? Told Kazuki whatever he thought would motivate him most? Meanwhile Kazuki and Maya, like so many of the characters in this show, are tripping over themselves trying to sacrifice themselves and I think both of them would embrace it a bit too eagerly. Kazuki tries to die 3 separate times after this and Maya was more upset about being saved from a bullet than she was about potentially getting shot. Both of them would have faith in both the other and Soushi to protect everything and as much as Soushi, of course, does have faith in them, he's also not good at letting go and delegating. And I think in his final moments, that's what scared him most, and maybe is why he made the recording - a comfort to himself, because now he's not leaving the future completely out of his hands. It's not enough, that's why he's afraid, but it's all he can do
And then for Kazuki, it's the fact that he's cursed to outlive everyone. Not just Soushi, though that's obviously a big part of it, but assuming his "blessing" of being an 'eternal warrior' really is true, he's going to outlive everyone. The guy who spent a long time being suicidal and has suffered so much and doesn't even know how to be selfish in the slightest - he's cursed to keep losing people. To keep suffering. To keep fighting until something eventually, he hopes, stops him and gives him the rest he's longed for. And while I do think it is possible for him to find a happy life and cope with Soushi’s death on some level, the idea of him really having to live forever… that I think he could not deal with unless he really loses himself fully and becomes something more like Akane. He wanted to protect everyone so much that he gave everything for it, and yet he’s the one who will end up losing everyone until the time comes when he can finally rest (which I personally believe will have to happen eventually - immortality is a curse and his situation shows it more effectively than anything else I've ever seen). But until that day comes, a day he does not know when it will be, he has to keep going even as the number of people he loves who have become memories does nothing but grow
And just. Fuck man. You switch those roles around in any way and I think it would be easier to bear. As mentioned, I think both Kazuki and Soushi would cope with taking human life better than Maya did, and both Maya and Kazuki would cope with dying and leaving everyone behind better than Soushi. And as for immortality, I think Soushi would bear it better than most for sure, as he was told at far too young an age that he only lived for the sake of others (and though he did find some sense of his own life, that lesson never really left, did it). And as much as losing Kazuki would devastate him, I also think he'd deal with it better than Kazuki does the reverse. With Maya, I do think she'd struggle with it more than Soushi, but still less than Kazuki, as the role of keeping everyone's memories and being "left behind" is the one she's been filling this whole time. Even if it would sadden her, I think she'd be able to accept an extension of that - because really, she's already accepted that as her fate. And while I think all 3 of these situations would lead to tragic developments regardless of who it was in which one, the way they played out is, in my opinion, the most tragic version
And that's the genius of it - because giving a character something they can easily cope with is not nearly as interesting narratively speaking as forcing them to face the most personally difficult challenge you could give them. And I think Fafner picks these challenges well, because all 3 of the main characters end up having to face the thing that is most difficult for them specifically. And that's just really great writing. Even if it also means that things play out in the most painful way they possibly could and destroy my feels and sanity forever lmao 🥲
No matter how many times I rewatch, I don’t think I’ll ever get over how much the gay is just straight up baked into the lore of the show
“Why is our ace pilot protagonist so good at piloting anyway?”
“Ah, well you see it’s through the power of the most codependent and homoerotic friendship ever depicted on screen." - This is the 100% genuine explanation courtesy of the main doctor/scientist character
So a while back, I found (was sent? I think someone sent it to me but I can't remember who D: if this was you, please let me know so I can give you proper credit!) this collection of posts from Fafner animation director Takashi Noto, and while I remember looking at some before, I finally decided to go through the whole thing and collected what I found to be the most interesting ones because the autism never rests lmao. These are auto-translated (and I tried various translators for the ones that came out not so great on the first pass) so some nuances may have been lost, but I think they're pretty good. Some notes/discussion points:
The "Part #" sections were part of a series of posts on HAE. Mostly little notes, but I definitely didn't put together why Chocolat was with Kazuki in that scene lmao so now it all makes sense
Also Misao being designed to be look somewhere between Kazuki and Soushi... he really is their lovechild lmfao
The image of Soushi driving a convertible is going to be stuck in my brain forever I fear
Why do we need to know their foot sizes and grip strengths... (though I guess we know who's opening all the jars lmfao)
The attention to detail in always putting Kazuki on Soushi's left (blind) side is just so... I really believe absolutely nothing in this show was done by accident lmfao and I'm going to need to remember to look for this when I next rewatch. I skimmed through the promotional art I have saved and for DA era, yep, it does seem Kazuki is indeed largely on Soushi's left (is it because Kazuki doesn't want Soushi to see him? Because Kazuki is so riddled with guilt he can't be on the side where he can't see the scar, a self-flagellating reminder of his sin? Because Soushi trusts Kazuki, so doesn't mind if he's on his vulnerable side? Something else? Or all of the above?)
The 90 degree angle thing too like. That's such an insane detail, I'm going to have to keep an eye out for it next time also... (and I vaguely recall there being something about how soukazu are intersecting lines - that might be in the Adolescence novel? Or the short story at the end of the long manga? I don't remember the details, but I recall something like that)
THE GLASSES MYSTERY! The thing is though... we're given an answer on why Soushi wears them, but that doesn't actually explain it, does it? 😅 Kuramae's seemed to be to hide that her eyes had turned red from the assimilation phenomenon, so the other kids never noticed anything was different with her. But Soushi's eyes aren't red? So what are they hiding? Is it in case he gets glowy? But a glow seems harder to hide than a colour change... or is it maybe a 'just in case' since his body seems to still be a mystery and he's not sure if his eyes could suddenly turn red and doesn't want to alarm anyone if they do? Or maybe it is sufficient to hide the gold somehow? I have questions lmao. But I suppose this settles that at least we know they aren't for vision correction - he can indeed see fine without them, thus why he doesn't need them for the rest of exodus
And now I have a mental image of Soushi overthinking clipping his toenails, thank you for that XD
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