Downtown Khazan: Ice Cold Utopia

[Sharpandpointies]

It does seem very much like a very serious, very realistic war story. With realistic themes.

[Jcogginsa]

There's a new series in Jump that's basically a Frankenstein themed action manga

spoilers:

Given that Base Luffy was able to throw down with Kaido for an extended period prior to needing Gear 5 to get the job done... I don't think he'll need to go that far to deal with Lucci.

end of spoilers

spoilers:

I don't think Luffy will strictly need Gear 5 to beat Lucci, but I'm hoping he'll use it anyway for fun, and because it's a new thing he still wants to try out some more. And maybe give us an idea of what the limits on it are

end of spoilers

[Postmania]

It does seem very much like a very serious, very realistic war story. With realistic themes.

It's definitely wild to look back on as a whole bc Applegate and her husband writing the books managed to tell the story in a series made for tweens. So they were balancing things such as, say, trying their best to discourage stealing, to the point that more than a few scenes despite the kids fighting a guerilla war stop someone else from taking something from shopkeepers on one hand. And also tons of 90s cheesy references and fun with that element.

On the other hand they were also telling a dark story where for example, one of the main plots of the final book involved all the surviving Animorphs except for one being ultimately unable to return to peacetime. So they go out into deep space partly to save a friend but also just to feel like it's the old times again, because they spent their formative years as teenagers fighting a grisly tooth and nail war. And they do find the fight, but also almost certainly die in the process without even a guarantee of actually saving anybody.

And these were in school libraries. It's great.

[Hiromi]

It was the first long book series I got invested in, bought the new one every month, they were only 4 or 5 bucks if memory serves

[Sharpandpointies]

It's definitely wild to look back on as a whole bc Applegate and her husband writing the books managed to tell the story in a series made for tweens. So they were balancing things such as, say, trying their best to discourage stealing, to the point that more than a few scenes despite the kids fighting a guerilla war stop someone else from taking something from shopkeepers on one hand. And also tons of 90s cheesy references and fun with that element.

On the other hand they were also telling a dark story where for example, one of the main plots of the final book involved all the surviving Animorphs except for one being ultimately unable to return to peacetime. So they go out into deep space partly to save a friend but also just to feel like it's the old times again, because they spent their formative years as teenagers fighting a grisly tooth and nail war. And they do find the fight, but also almost certainly die in the process without even a guarantee of actually saving anybody.

And these were in school libraries. It's great.

I like this. Kids need serious stories that actually examine social issues and conflict, as well as the lighter ones.

[Sharpandpointies]

Kill Six Billion Demons is knocking it out of the park.

spoilers:

What is important is perspective, my perspective, and the feelings I carry thanks to that perspective. And nobody and nothing can take that from me. It doesn't matter if everything is predestined, if there is no freedom - to me, to my perceptions and perspectives, there is, and my choices and feelings are valid and meaningful because of that.

end of spoilers

That's at least the interpretation I'm getting.

[Sharpandpointies]

Also, Daughter of the Lillies picks up after a huge time off. ^_^ Glad I still have that one bookmarked and kept checking it.

[Nik Hasta]

I like this. Kids need serious stories that actually examine social issues and conflict, as well as the lighter ones.

K.A Applegate wrote an open letter to fans after the ending, which was pretty brutal.

Dear Animorphs Readers:

Quite a number of people seem to be annoyed by the final chapter in the Animorphs story. There are a lot of complaints that I let Rachel die. That I let Visser Three/One live. That Cassie and Jake broke up. That Tobias seems to have been reduced to unexpressed grief. That there was no grand, final fight-to-end-all-fights. That there was no happy celebration. And everyone is mad about the cliffhanger ending.

So I thought I’d respond.

Animorphs was always a war story. Wars don’t end happily. Not ever. Often relationships that were central during war, dissolve during peace. Some people who were brave and fearless in war are unable to handle peace, feel disconnected and confused. Other times people in war make the move to peace very easily. Always people die in wars. And always people are left shattered by the loss of loved ones.

That’s what happens, so that’s what I wrote. Jake and Cassie were in love during the war, and end up going their seperate ways afterward. Jake, who was so brave and capable during the war is adrift during the peace. Marco and Ax, on the other hand, move easily past the war and even manage to use their experience to good effect. Rachel dies, and Tobias will never get over it. That doesn’t by any means cover everything that happens in a war, but it’s a start.

Here’s what doesn’t happen in war: there are no wondrous, climactic battles that leave the good guys standing tall and the bad guys lying in the dirt. Life isn’t a World Wrestling Federation Smackdown. Even the people who win a war, who survive and come out the other side with the conviction that they have done something brave and necessary, don’t do a lot of celebrating. There’s very little chanting of ‘we’re number one’ among people who’ve personally experienced war.

I’m just a writer, and my main goal was always to entertain. But I’ve never let Animorphs turn into just another painless video game version of war, and I wasn’t going to do it at the end. I’ve spent 60 books telling a strange, fanciful war story, sometimes very seriously, sometimes more tongue-in-cheek. I’ve written a lot of action and a lot of humor and a lot of sheer nonsense. But I have also, again and again, challenged readers to think about what they were reading. To think about the right and wrong, not just the who-beat-who. And to tell you the truth I’m a little shocked that so many readers seemed to believe I’d wrap it all up with a lot of high-fiving and backslapping. Wars very often end, sad to say, just as ours did: with a nearly seamless transition to another war.

So, you don’t like the way our little fictional war came out? You don’t like Rachel dead and Tobias shattered and Jake guilt-ridden? You don’t like that one war simply led to another? Fine. Pretty soon you’ll all be of voting age, and of draft age. So when someone proposes a war, remember that even the most necessary wars, even the rare wars where the lines of good and evil are clear and clean, end with a lot of people dead, a lot of people crippled, and a lot of orphans, widows and grieving parents.

If you’re mad at me because that’s what you have to take away from Animorphs, too bad. I couldn’t have written it any other way and remained true to the respect I have always felt for Animorphs readers.

K.A. Applegate

Those books didn't **** around.

[Sharpandpointies]

I remember reading that letter, on Tumblr, a couple of years back. Had forgotten about it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again.

Yeah, that's good stuff. Very raw and real of the writer.

[Sharkerbob]

Man, Animorphs was great. I missed out on it back in the day, other than reading just a couple of the books. Around 2018/2019, I marathoned the whole thing, it was a hell of a ride.

[Nik Hasta]

Anyone want to explain to me what the recent Kehaya storyline in Baki-dou was meant to accomplish?

Because, even for Baki, it seemed kind of confused.

[Postmania]

K.A Applegate wrote an open letter to fans after the ending, which was pretty brutal.



Those books didn't **** around.

Ah, with those last lines mentioning about war and how the readers are likely of voting age, I just remembered, with pain, that the series would have ended just a few months before 9/11. Truly a book series for a very specific moment in time.

[Len Ikari145]

Dandadan: spoilers:

So, Momo remembers her grandmother's teachings about Kotodama and realizes that she can alter physical reality through the belief of words, then she proceeds to kick the aliens' collective ass.

end of spoilers

(Meanwhile, in the DBZ Universe)

(Tien abruptly awakes from his meditation)

Chiaotzu: Is something wrong, Tien?

(Tien smiles): It's nothing, Chiaotzu. I just feel like...I've been honored in a certain way.

[Sharpandpointies]

Anyone want to explain to me what the recent Kehaya storyline in Baki-dou was meant to accomplish?

Because, even for Baki, it seemed kind of confused.

Yeah, I...I don't know. I read it for amusement, and have stopped expecting any kind of coherency at this point. ^_^

Maybe another one of those 'show how awesome Baki stars are by introducing powerful character who then gets his ass kicked'? As opposed to being another one of those 'show how awesome powerful new character is by having that character inexplicably kick the asses of everyone, only to lose to Yujiro and/or Baki'.

Anyway, we're back to 'Bizarre Yujiro Wank Vignette' with the current episode. ^_^

[Nik Hasta]

Yeah, I...I don't know. I read it for amusement, and have stopped expecting any kind of coherency at this point. ^_^

Maybe another one of those 'show how awesome Baki stars are by introducing powerful character who then gets his ass kicked'? As opposed to being another one of those 'show how awesome powerful new character is by having that character inexplicably kick the asses of everyone, only to lose to Yujiro and/or Baki'.

But the thing was Kehaya wasn't even shown to be that strong. He split a big rock, messed around Yujiro (mostly running away from him), and then was put up against Doppo for no real reason whereupon he got owned.

Like at least Sukune got a solid of build and beat up Oliva and it precipitated a big old Sumo vs The World tournament thing.

This feels like... really vestigial.

Anyway, we're back to 'Bizarre Yujiro Wank Vignette' with the current episode. ^_^

I do find the idea of Yujiro and Strydum hanging out and Yujiro going;

"You know what would be hilarious? If we got someone to try and shoot me with a harpoon cannon. Imagine his face when I'm fine, hilarious! Dude, let's find a boat!"

Very funny.