View previous topic :: View next topic |
Author |
Message |
|
Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:26 am
|
|
|
Blood- wrote: | Yes, some of Swim Swim's actions have been evil - although she lacks the capacity to understand them in that light. I find the use of the word evil fairly trite, though. It's easy just to dismiss a character as "evil" and be done with it. Like I said before, the show has done something far more interesting than merely creating an "evil" Swim Swim.
In any case, I'm incredibly interested in seeing how this all gets resolved. One episode to go! |
Fascinating. I find trying to justify every evil act by some sort of mental condition to be fairly trite. It's easy to just dismiss a character as "on the spectrum" and be done with it.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23916
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:33 am
|
|
|
Oh, look at l'il Tuorie rolling out a lame reductio ad absurdum rhetorical device. You must be so proud.
|
Back to top |
|
|
TarsTarkas
Joined: 20 Dec 2007
Posts: 5897
Location: Virginia, United States
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:41 am
|
|
|
Blood- wrote: | Yes, some of Swim Swim's actions have been evil - although she lacks the capacity to understand them in that light. I find the use of the word evil fairly trite, though. It's easy just to dismiss a character as "evil" and be done with it. Like I said before, the show has done something far more interesting than merely creating an "evil" Swim Swim.
In any case, I'm incredibly interested in seeing how this all gets resolved. One episode to go! |
I'd say most of Swim Swim's actions have been evil.
I'll say this again. Calling something evil, does not take away all the things you are concerned about.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23916
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:11 am
|
|
|
Yeah, it does. It reduces characters and situations to a simple black and white formulation. It means you don't have to think of how Swim Swim got to the position she is now. She's evil - kill her! You don't have to have sympathy for her. She's just a black hat. She's evil - kill her!
Besides which the term evil isn't accurate for her. If you are evil, that is your basic nature. I have already pointed out that given what we have seen of her in the show, there is every reason to believe that if she had come under a good person's influence, like Sister Nana, her actions would have been much different. That directly contradicts the assertion that she's evil. If you feel she's evil then advance an argument that supports that contention beyond just the fact that, due to her mental make-up and bad luck and F'av's manipulations, she has killed people. Can you do that?
|
Back to top |
|
|
Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 10:46 am
|
|
|
Blood-, Tars Tarkas has *not* said that Swim-Swim was evil. He said that her acts were evil acts. There is a difference between the two. You can judge a person's acts without judging a person. Obviously, the acts you perform do reflect on what sort of person you are, but they're still not the same thing. Tama was part of several evil acts, but no one is suggesting Tama is evil.
I'm not sure if Swim-Swim is evil, but I do think she's a monster, as I've said several times already. Kujo (a rabid dog) wasn't evil, but he had to be put down regardless because he'd become a monster. As she is now, Swim-Swim is far too dangerous to leave around alive, and Ripple feels she's done far too many bad things for Ripple to forgive her. The reasons why and who is responsible are all secondary: Swim-Swim *is* a hazard to everyone around her, and that's undeniably true IMO. Evil or not. On the spectrum or not. Misunderstood or not. She's an unhesistant murder machine, and she can't be left to her own devices anymore. Someone needs to take her out soon, for everyone's sake.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23916
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:32 am
|
|
|
Tuor_of_Gondolin wrote: | Blood-, Tars Tarkas has *not* said that Swim-Swim was evil. He said that her acts were evil acts. |
I beg to differ.
TarsTarkas wrote: | This episode further cements how evil Swim Swim is. Being young doesn't excuse you from being evil. |
I have already agreed her acts can be classified as evil (even though I find that an outdated and unsophisticated way to discuss behaviour in this, Our Year of the Lord 2016). Calling her a monster or callng her evil are the same thing in my book.
Look, I'm angry at Swim Swim, too. Intellectually, I get that if she's killed I shouldn't really be cheering for it, but I will. I also agree that I don't see any way around killing her, unless there is a way to strip somebody of being a magical girl. Left alive, she would continue to hunt down Ripple and Snow White because in her mind that is what a leader in the Ruler mode is supposed to do. At this stage, I don't see any way of "deprogramming" her.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Tuor_of_Gondolin
Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:11 pm
|
|
|
Being a monster and being evil may be the same thing in your book, Blood-, but they aren't in mine. Monster's aren't innately evil in my book. They're merely things that are too dangerous and arbitrary to be left to their own devices. A rabid dog isn't evil, but it is a monster. Most wild animals aren't monsters, but a few of them certainly could be or are. The general unifying factor is that they kill without compunction or hesitation, and they lack any sort of moral restraint to their actions. Swim-Swim absolutely qualifies in this, as far as I can tell.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23916
|
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2016 12:25 pm
|
|
|
Fair enough. I can accept that as a definition for "monster" and I would agree that the definition fits Swim Swim to date.
|
Back to top |
|
|
FilthyCasual
Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2257
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:30 pm
|
|
|
I was really really hoping that Snow White would be in time to stop Swim Swim and Ripple from fighting; it would've been a nice cap to her arc if she was in time to stop one more death and had managed to convince Swim Swim somehow. Swim Swim was probably too far gone, though. This ending does make it clear that this was only Volume 1, though. I wonder what the other volumes are like.
|
Back to top |
|
|
GamerTimeUSA
Joined: 08 Nov 2014
Posts: 149
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:45 pm
|
|
|
FilthyCasual wrote: | I was really really hoping that Snow White would be in time to stop Swim Swim and Ripple from fighting; it would've been a nice cap to her arc if she was in time to stop one more death and had managed to convince Swim Swim somehow. Swim Swim was probably too far gone, though. This ending does make it clear that this was only Volume 1, though. I wonder what the other volumes are like. |
What I've been told is that theres only 2 volumes in Arc 1. The second series is called "Restart" and I guess its entirely different cast of girls this time.
|
Back to top |
|
|
ThatGuyWhoLikesThings
Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1014
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:49 pm
|
|
|
It's kind of hilarious how lacking in fanfare that ending was.
This first arc really just amounts to a prologue for the series and Snow White's character, as frustrating as it is.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Edl01
Joined: 14 Jan 2016
Posts: 117
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 8:49 pm
|
|
|
Magical Girl Raising Project lived up to my expectations quite well. It was a ton of fun and was trashy in all the right ways. I certainly didn't enjoy this as a high art piece, but that didn't mean it wasn't one of the most fun shows every week. The final battle was cool and as much as I really liked Swim Swim I really can't say she didn't kinda deserve it.
Overall I'm a bit disappointed that the survivors are easily two of the least interesting characters in the show. It always felt like Ripple and Snow White were the author's favorites, but unfortunately I felt they where among the blandest members of the cast and I'd much rather have gotten more time with some of the more fun characters like Tama, Top Speed or Nemurin.
Still though this is a pretty solid 7/10 for me. I could definitely give it out as a recommendation to people who like the genre, just a shame it aired in such a stacked season and didn't get more attention. Ah well maybe in season 2(Hopefully)
|
Back to top |
|
|
Blood-
![](/bbs/phpBB2/images/subscriber-silver.png) Bargain Hunter
Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23916
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:07 pm
|
|
|
I really hope there are more seasons. There's lots of source material to draw from. MGRP the anime could stand alone as a self-contained story if no more ever gets made, but yes, it definitely has the feel of an origin story, the beginning of something as opposed to the end.
|
Back to top |
|
|
H. Guderian
Joined: 29 Jan 2014
Posts: 1255
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 9:16 pm
|
|
|
What a painful show. I watched it and there wasn't really much to talk about. It telegraphed how dark and terrible it'd be from the get go. Not like. Bad-Terrible. Cruel-Terrible. Often the show was getting to the point of being a chore, and many of the deaths were painfully broadcast in advance. How many died to backstabs and sudden 'bam-you-are-dead' deaths? Dark Souls hands out deaths with more grace and less frequency than this show did.
There are little nuggets where it gets things right. Like the reviewer points out the emptiness of Ripple getting SwimSwim at the end. Isn't that how Revenge goes? On one hand you know something has to be done to stop SwimSwim, but the act of doing so provides no positive relief. Those in war zones who lost comrades and have gone to kill the opposing side likely may have felt similar.
As to SwimSwim being Evil, nah. Fav was Evil. SwimSwim was a monster. I think "Intent" is a factor in deciding. Evil decides to do harm, Monsters are compelled to do harm. SwimSwim is....going with the flow...of what she knows. If Ruler had been a different person, SwimSwim might've turned out differently. Fav, regardless, would have tried to manipulate events to get this bloodbath.
|
Back to top |
|
|
Videogamep
Joined: 10 Jun 2014
Posts: 564
Location: CA
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:00 pm
|
|
|
I enjoyed this last episode a lot more than I expected. The stuff about what a magical girl should be like has always been the most interesting part and the Swim Swim fight was pretty good. With the way it ended, I might actually watch another season if one got made (unlikely, though). There are some nice ideas and I can see this story working a lot better now that it doesn't have to stick to the death game idea. This last episode is what bumped it up from a 6/10 to a 6.5/10 for me.
|
Back to top |
|
|
|