Philosopy Of Madness

This is a blog i've decided to create so as to analyse, discuss and rant about my current Video Game/Novel/Anime/TV Show obsessions. I'm sorry. I really am.

[gunmaestro-smith]

It moves not according to logic or faith, but its own madness, and of that it is inordinately proud. Maybe it believes that such irrationality gives meaning to unnatural beings. And maybe that is why it can look so objectively at nature and admire it so purely, more so than any human being possibly could. But he's scared. He's scared, and that's why he can't set foot into the nature he loves so much. He's terrified that nature will overpower him, poison him, strip him of all the walls he's built up around himself. He admires humans, but in the end he's too scared to try and be one himself! That's why he longs for friendship, but he can't believe that he'll ever truly experience it, and that terrifies him! Preposterous! Hilarious! Ridiculous! He is strong, but so weak, so soft! And therefore so lovable! Huey! That thrice-damned bastard! How how how how how how in the world did he ever create such a sublime, such an adorable, abnormal being?!

A Certain Man on Christopher Shouldered (Baccano 1934: Alice in Jails - Street Episode)

[gunmaestro-smith]

It was true. He was a lot softer than he'd used to be. Save his childhood friends, the Gandor brothers and Claire Stanfield—and to be honest, they were more like family than friends to him—he'd spent his life with his heart closed off to the world. Then one day he'd picked a fight with an old Japanese immigrant named Yaguruma and found himself tumbling bodily through the air. One thing had led to another, and he'd been introduced to an organization called the Martillo Family. The Family, a criminal organization known as a camorra, had provided Firo with a home, a place where he could relax and let down his guard. Come to think of it, perhaps his time in the Family had been when his hard edges had begun to smooth out, and the fangs he'd always bared openly at the world had slowly been sheathed. And the one who had tamed him completely had been... Ennis, I guess. Or maybe it was Isaac and Miria.

Firo Prochainezo (Baccano 1934: Alice in Jails - Prison Episode)

[gunmaestro-smith]

"I wonder who's more unnatural... Me, or the twelve hundred immortals working for Nebula..." The light slowly faded from Christopher's red eyes. "What's so different about me? I just wanted to live a normal life... And just like everyone else, I don't want to die. Someone, tell me... Tell me what's so different..."

Baccano 1933 - The Slash: Bloody to Fair

[gunmaestro-smith]

this literally happened

Jean-Pierre Accardo: Okay. Fuck. Okay. Now you know everything, okay, are you happy now?

Jean-Pierre Accardo: Just one word of advice: learn from my mistakes. STAY AWAY FROM LEBREAU FERMET VIRALESQUE.

Jean-Pierre Accardo: At literally all costs.

Jean Pierre Accardo: I have never been so serious about anything in my life.

Accardo's descendent: ...

Descendent: what a loser

Descendent: *proceeds to serve as a framing device for the next 60,000 novels by investigating everything he can about the immortals from the perspective of 2003, which HAPPENS to be when the last novel/s will be set*

[tsur1tama]

i can’t believe luck/eve is??? a thing ??? wtf ?? ?

[untuned-strings-deactivated2024]

Shipping aside, the novels confirm that Luck is 18 in 1930 and Eve is 17 in 1932. Neither of them look their age.

[gunmaestro-smith]

Huh, I thought the novels had her as 16 in 1932 and 17 in 1933. Unless i’m just confusing my initial interpretations with what was actually stated, or more likely I just completely forgot.

Regardless, pairing them up is kind of weird anyway since I get the feeling Luck sees a lot of himself in Eve, well what he is like under the mask anyway. So a relationship growing from that seems unlikely.

[eyes-like-a-gentle-knight]

I still don’t know why huey was arrested in the 1930′s. like sure, he was a terrorist, but do they ever mention what he ever did specifically?

[eyes-like-a-gentle-knight]

the-baccano-fandom answered: Victor Talbot was the leader of the FBI and another Immortal. They kind of have a hate...

[gunmaestro-smith]

Victor found some plans regarding a terrorist incident Huey was orchestrating and then discovered his hide out and arrested him before the plan could be put into action. What the plans were and how Victor found them was never elaborated on but at the very least Huey was planning something very illegal and he was not planning on getting arrested. It’s mentioned in Another Junk Railroad, I believe.

Actually I sort of remember that Victor intercepted a weapon shipment from Huey which was related to the terrorist incident but I don’t think Huey’s plans ever got explained in any more detail than that.

[super-paper]

Anri!

!!

Thank you so much for this!

Who I pair them with: I fully embrace the delusion that she is in a poly-relationship with Saki, Mikado, and Masaomi post-series.Who I hate them with: …. would it be out of line to say I dislike Mikado x Anri on its own, I wonder…..

*DRRR!! x13 spoilers under the read more*    

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[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

Nonono thank you for answering! This is perfect. You’re great.

she is simultaneously a wolf and a sheep, her own savior and her own worst enemy, and she’s devoured so much of herself just to stop herself from starving to death.

Couldn’t have put it in words better!!

I also like the “survivor” vibe Anri has

Maybe Mikado and Anri’s love was twisted because Mikado could be seen to be controlling the flow of information all along, down to being willfully ignorant of Saika. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say their promise about keeping things secret worked much more in his benefit than hers, because it meant she couldn’t quite interfere in his activities without breaking it? Older Mikado seems more moderate, though, and it seemed like Anri was getting more decisive, so maybe they’d be more compatible older…

Sonohara Hall and Kasane being business partners was my first thought when I read it reopened!!

I think you would love Volume 12 if you ever read it! There are some golden scenes there too.

[gunmaestro-smith]

The way I see Mikado and Anri's love as being twisted is mainly due to their definitions of love itself being incredibly twisted throughout the series. Anri due to Saika is obvious, but also Mikado due to his obsession with the Dollars and the extraordinary in general. Unfortunately I think the flaws in her relationship with Mikado are mainly due to Narita distancing herself from the main trio dynamic as the series progressed. She still had considerable development and focus but while Mikado and Masaomi's arcs deal so closely with each other Anri receives most of her major development through interactions with other characters like Celty, Karisawa, Saki and even Mika. And while the words in the narrative  continue to promote the relationship between the trio, the narrative itself focus on Mikado and Masaomi while Anri gets development largely separate from that relationship. It's quite annoying.

Anri's such a strange character to me. She's one of my favourite characters in the series and I think Narita did a good job writing her but about halfway through the series it almost starts to feel like he doesn't know where he wants to take her character. The relationship of the main trio is promoted as highly important time and time again but even though it remains a major part of her arc Anri seems strangely removed from it when compared to Mikado and Masaomi. It's weird.

[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

too fast, damn. that was too fast…

[gunmaestro-smith]

Yeah, but I do think fast is better than the dreadfully slow place of later Season 1. The originals are always going to be better though, it's the nature of an adaption. Just, why did it have to speed up for the Ruri episode? People are not going to understand why she's so great.

(At least they managed to get across the parallels between Ruri and Celty, which is one of my favourite parts of Volume 4)

[gunmaestro-smith]

“You can’t begin to understand our world. I was just speaking about my own feelings— a fury and rage that cannot be appeased. Firstly, even if they were to be sanctioned and punished by law, my dead friends won’t come back anymore. I simply cannot forgive this, that’s all. If you want to hate me then hate me. Just like how your brother can’t come back, the dead can no longer return. My pain will never go away.” Luck’s emotions seemed to burst from their dam as he spoke in a cool and calm tone. Even now, his rage at his friends’ murder still hadn’t eased. But he could understand what she was saying, whereas regular Mafia would have killed this girl long ago. And for this reason, Claire declared he was ‘unsuited to being Mafia’. “Oh really? That’s just your side of things! So I don’t understand your world or your feelings. So your pain is healed. What about my feelings? I just- I just want my brother, I want you to give my brother back to me.” Eve’s anger was normal- Luck listened quietly without answering. “I’m begging you! Just let go of my brother- I’m willing to take on any amount of suffering, so please, listen...” Hearing Eve’s words, Luck’s expression became very grim and he added an edge to his voice when he spoke. “Don’t think that alone is enough to change my decision! ......Forget it. If you want revenge, I’ll take it on, any amount of it. But target me only! If you touch even a hair on the other people’s---” He stopped halfway through his speech. What am I saying? There isn’t anything worth talking about anymore.

Baccano 1932! - Drugs and the Dominoes

[gunmaestro-smith]

I am irrationally irritated that Nebula was translated as Nebra.

[gunmaestro-smith]

I feel vindicated.

[gunmaestro-smith]

So with season 2 of durarara out i’ve been re-reading/re-watching the first 3 arcs in order to remind myself of what’s going on, I actually meant to finish it before the new season started but I was distracted by Baccano, so i’ve only just gotten about halfway through Volume 3. And there’s one thing about it that’s been kind of bothering me. So, is it just me or is Saki’s first scene kind of contradictory with the rest of her characterisation?

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[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

Read More

[gunmaestro-smith]

Also, I think even in the anime it's pretty clear Izaya and Saki had an incredibly abusive relationship. I mean, just take a look at Saki. She's clearly 'broken' in a lot of ways and even if Izaya didn't make her become like that he obviously took advantage of her, including manipulating her into getting her legs broken. Izaya is kind of an awful person anyway and it's hinted he acted as her guardian since she has no parents and I don't think Izaya has anything resembling a healthy relationship with anyone except Shinra (and Kine and Namie, but they're more close associates than anything). And yeah, I think it's likely Izaya set up Saki and Masaomi's first meeting, why else would he have been there?

Also, on a kind of different note I don't think it was Izaya betraying her that started to make Saki lose her faith in him. I think it would've been when Masaomi told her that if she knew her absolute faith in Izaya was a flaw, she should fix it. The way I read Saki's character (and that's hard since she's not too prominent, so it's mostly personal interpretation on vague facts) is that she doesn't really think of herself at all. Not that she's selfless or suicidal but more that it just never occurs to her think of her own desires or opinions when making decisions. It's why she would always obey Izaya and even after breaking away from Izaya why most of her actions in the series were for the sake of Masaomi, like inspiring him to go meet his friends by bluntly explaining his cowardice and why it was unfounded. It's why I think "if you have flaws you should fix them" is really important to her character and why once Masaomi says this she actually stops smiling (unless that was an invention of the anime), because it is someone actively caring about her and wanting her to become a better person for her own sake. So that's when I think she would have first started to not have absolute faith in Izaya, obviously not enough since she got her legs broken for him, but maybe it was the start before Izaya's constant manipulation of Masaomi and orders for her to continuously lie to him caused her to betray him completely.

Wow, the point kind of got away from me completely but all in all I think you're probably right about why she was so fixated on saying that Masaomi would definitely always come back to her.

[gunmaestro-smith]

So with season 2 of durarara out i've been re-reading/re-watching the first 3 arcs in order to remind myself of what's going on, I actually meant to finish it before the new season started but I was distracted by Baccano, so i've only just gotten about halfway through Volume 3. And there's one thing about it that's been kind of bothering me. So, is it just me or is Saki's first scene kind of contradictory with the rest of her characterisation?

It's the "Because Izaya said so" that bothers me. Because while she's still following Izaya's orders and hasn't decided to betray him yet basically all of her interactions with Masaomi besides their first meeting has it pretty clearly shown that she fell in love with him genuinely, beyond the fact that Izaya told her to do so. And in her later scene in the hospital talking about Masaomi's inability to escape the past, every time he asks her whether she'd do anything Izaya told her to she only responds in half-affirmatives like "I wonder" or "Maybe". So it's pretty strange to me that she uses the reasoning of "because Izaya said so" as proof that Masaomi will always love her, especially since in their other interactions she easily sees through all of Masaomi's facade's and seems to understand that the reason he broke up with her and all that is because of his guilt and attempt to run away from it. It could just be a matter of time that gets her to change that way of thinking but even in flashbacks, in regards to her relationship with Kida she pretty much states she doesn't just love and believe in him solely because of Izaya's orders.

That first scene was strange to me in my first watching of the show as well, because it was fairly ominous and her relationship with Masaomi seemed to be being set up as another example of the theme of Twisted Love which is prevalent throughout the entire series but in the end their relationship is probably one of the least twisted forms of love in the first 3 volumes. I mean don't get me wrong Saki is still very creepy and unnerving, she faked paralysis for a year because of Izaya and she still has that ever-present smile and incredibly blunt and honest way of talking but her love is portrayed as far less creepy and dark than in that first scene. It almost feels like her introductory scene was just meant to be a fake-out or something to give the reader some false expectations about Masaomi's past and then surprise them with a an honestly not-that twisted relationship (at least compared to stuff like Seiji, Saika and even Shinra). I dunno, that first scene always seemed strange to me and on my second time through only more so.

[rukazaya]

SHIKI IS STANDING ON AKA’S CANE NOT ON CELTY”S SHADOW OMFG LOOK AT CUTE AKANE HOLDING THEM TOGETHER LKSDJF:LKSDJFSLKDFJSKLDFJ Source https://twitter.com/yuchitose

[gunmaestro-smith]

Without a doubt the best part of the ending.

[gunmaestro-smith]

I am irrationally irritated that Nebula was translated as Nebra.

[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

@rinmatsuoka I personally anticipate Manami getting hate, even if I’m not sure how accurate the sentiment is. For one, there are hints of Manami/Izaya in the novels… Then there’s that she’s a character side-plot who never got much art and appeared only a few times, which puts her in a dangerous…

[gunmaestro-smith]

I think that scene with Manami and Izaya could work as a sort of re-introduction to Izaya’s character, so it might not be that abrupt. More importantly it would be really derivative of his scene with Rio in Season 1, but I think it’s a necessary evil since Manami is one of my favourite characters. And Rio really can’t fit into the role since she was saved by Celty and learnt life is worth living, while Manami learnt that life was worth living as a means to an end of ruining the life of the man who insulted her so heavily.

I understand the paranoia regarding her getting hate though. To be honest i’m kind of expecting a couple of the more prominent female characters to be disliked by the fanbase, when I first watched the show a year and a half ago I remember searching for it on Tumblr and seeing quite a lot of hate for Anri. Which really surprised me since she’s probably my favourite member of the trio. And Saki is also widely hated by the fandom pretty much solely Kida’s girlfirend and other incredibly shallow reasons. Vorona and Manami are pretty much the two i’m most worried about because if someone’s really interested in shipping and relationships I can easily see them reading far too much into their interactions with Shizuo and Izaya respectively, and getting angry about it. I’m probably just paranoid but I tend to expect the worst from fandom’s that are big enough, particularly on Tumblr.

[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

you don’t have to worry about it; i heard the hate’s arrived already. i’m definitely staying away.

[gunmaestro-smith]

Hate for Vorona has been around since long before Season 2 was even announced. So it was inevitable.

[gunmaestro-smith]

Durarara Fandom: NEW SEASON STARTS TOMORROW! THE LIGHT NOVELS ARE COMING TO AMERICA!!

Baccano Fandom: *screaming internally*

[kuzuharatouka-deactivated201603]

@rinmatsuoka I personally anticipate Manami getting hate, even if I’m not sure how accurate the sentiment is. For one, there are hints of Manami/Izaya in the novels… Then there’s that she’s a character side-plot who never got much art and appeared only a few times, which puts her in a dangerous...

[gunmaestro-smith]

I think that scene with Manami and Izaya could work as a sort of re-introduction to Izaya's character, so it might not be that abrupt. More importantly it would be really derivative of his scene with Rio in Season 1, but I think it's a necessary evil since Manami is one of my favourite characters. And Rio really can't fit into the role since she was saved by Celty and learnt life is worth living, while Manami learnt that life was worth living as a means to an end of ruining the life of the man who insulted her so heavily.

I understand the paranoia regarding her getting hate though. To be honest i'm kind of expecting a couple of the more prominent female characters to be disliked by the fanbase, when I first watched the show a year and a half ago I remember searching for it on Tumblr and seeing quite a lot of hate for Anri. Which really surprised me since she's probably my favourite member of the trio. And Saki is also widely hated by the fandom pretty much solely for being Kida's girlfirend and other incredibly shallow reasons. Vorona and Manami are pretty much the two i'm most worried about because if someone's really interested in shipping and relationships I can easily see them reading far too much into their interactions with Shizuo and Izaya respectively, and getting angry about it. I'm probably just paranoid but I tend to expect the worst from fandom's that are big enough, particularly on Tumblr.