The Toonami Thread

I swear this part here and next episode are two of my absolute favorites in FMA: Brotherhood.

Dang. I'm supposed to be cheering but this is brutal.

Actually, you're supposed to be afraid of Roy completely giving into his revenge and his brutality.

That's what I mean. I know this is how you're supposed to kill homunculi, but still.

That's why I love it so much. It's so absolutely ruthless, with him getting close to line of He Who Fights Monsters really. One of my personal favorite tropes. I enjoy the sheer beatdown given, feeling of unease which comes from it, how sadistic he got about it, the confrontation with the others at end of it to get him under control, and so forth.

My absolute favorite part of series! Plus I can relate far more with hatred, wanting to act out of rage & vengeance than I can moping. Well that and tackling why it's ultimately not the best thing to do and overcoming it.

Oh and add in Envy's defeat here. Just seeing him trying to manipulate legitimate things for people to hold grudges for and failing. One of my favorite things is ultimate defeat of psychological warfare because growth beyond weaknesses of before.

edited 14th Oct '12 12:49:34 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

A tachikoma centric episode? Cool.

I missed most of tonight because I am a derp.

Thundercats was good though.

Edgy.

I just noticed. Envy looks like a human palm tree.

I'm pretty sure that's been his its Fan Nickname for a LONG time.

edited 14th Oct '12 5:52:38 AM by PikaHikariKT

I wouldn't be surprised. I really need to participate in FMA discussions more.

Abandoned phone booth: ...Why?

I'm not sure the "pure evil" necessarily extends to the lizardmen themselves. There's room for exposition to smooth that impression out - for example if Mumm-Ra came to them and offered to help them win against the the cats, and they accepted, that doesn't make them evil per se, just desperate.

edited 14th Oct '12 11:44:30 PM by Eamil

@Magic Laser, less edgy and more like a horrible vice that I prefer to keep under control. I just relate more to it & have a dislike of moping.

Anyway, yeah, Lizards themselves aren't evil. The Cats themselves weren't exactly perfect rulers - not evil either - and this is their desperation than anything else showing. Really, situation between them is more complicated than conventional terms of good & evil.

Mumm-Ra himself is essentially a conqueror exploiting a desperate people to get what he wants and take down a civilization which wasn't working towards their best interests. Something which totally could never happen IRL.

edited 15th Oct '12 1:13:27 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

It totally has happened in real life, numerous times. It's probably the most common way wars can get started, but I suppose I could be presuming a lot. Seriously though, you get a group of people desperate enough, and you can get them to do all sorts of heinous things.

With Thundercats I really get the sense that there's been a lot of tension between these races. We actually see the cats mistreating lizards. When the lizards get a chance to one up the cats they take it. Mumm-Ra comes and helps them rise up by giving them tech and firepower in exchange for making him their new ruler. Slithe is in a similar position, a war lord who uses the lizards' hatred to his advantage in his own quest for revenge, but otherwise doesn't really care about his people. But Lion-O takes the time to see their side. Even after Thundera is attacked, Lion-O doesn't show hatred for the lizards, just for Mumm-Ra. He's willing to talk to them and try to convince them to stand down, to show them that the cats can be good people. The premiere did a good job setting up that major theme, that the best way to end the conflict is through diplomacy. Simply stopping Mumm-Ra probably isn't going to make the lizards hate the cats any less, but Lion-O could stop Mumm-Ra by showing the lizards that they can coexist peacefully, something which many of his own race have a hard time grasping.

I feel this is what helps set Thundercats and Lion-O apart from other action shows and cartoon heroes. He has to win the war by showing kindness to those who might wrong him, by mending the relationships between the races and the nations. We see it happen a lot. Lion-O shows an enemy some compassion, and while it may not work out in the short term, it does work out in the long run. That's what it really means to have Sight Beyond Sight, to see the bigger picture. This isn't just good and evil, this is about racial tensions and a history of conflict that needs fixing, and Lion-O works towards a future where all the people of Third Earth can be allies. It's not about being more powerful than the Big Bad. Lion-O isn't just The Chosen One, he's a king, and he has what it takes to be a good one, because he can work towards long term goals that benefit everyone. In contrast we see other rulers who are much more narrow sighted, like Claudus. While he was a good king to his own people, he and the kings before him could have prevented the destruction of Thundera if they had been kinder to the lizards. In short, Thundera had a terrible foreign policy.

Mumm-Ra is the opposite of Lion-O; he exploits fear and hatred, nurtures it, for his own selfish gain. Mumm-Ra doesn't necessarily need to have depth or sympathy to be a good villain. He represents every violent dictator whose rule is based on power, fear, and hatred, because it's easy. These kinds of bad people exist, and you can't always reason with them, but you can stop them from using others. Lion-O can't take the easy way to win though, he has to show that Mumm-Ra's future is not a good one. I won't spoil the end of the season, but it shows that Lion-O's methods start to pay off, and it's one of the reasons I really want a second season. We get some of that in Avatar as well, but it didn't get a whole lot of focus until The Promise comics, in regards to Zuko and Aang having to mend the relationship between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, and how Zuko has to learn to be a good ruler.

And once again, I've gone on way too long.

edited 15th Oct '12 3:37:50 AM by StarOutlaw

I didn't read all that because I strongly suspect spoilers lie within somewhere, but to your first line, I think he was being sarcastic.

edited 15th Oct '12 4:46:34 AM by Eamil

You guys make some really good points, but the lizards serving Mumm-Ra, who seems to be evil incarnate (seeing as he can't touch the sword), kinda threw me for a loop. It could be desperation, sure, and I do get the impression that there's oppression going on, but there was impression in Korra, too, and it didn't take long for the idea that maybe Amon had a point to fall by the wayside. It all depends on what happens in future episodes, but I can't really judge that, all I can do is say where the most recent episode seems to be taking things.

As for the phone booth, I think I explained that adequately in the video, unless you're asking why it exists (i.e. why the phone came out), in which case I've got nothing.

Actually, I misread that as "totally could happen IRL." Whoops.

And I tried to avoid spoilers and keep things vague.

edited 15th Oct '12 7:28:20 AM by StarOutlaw

...I...I thought it was obvious I was being sarcastic with the final line...

edited 15th Oct '12 8:40:01 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

And I would have noticed that if I had bothered to read it more closely and not missed the word "never."

This is kinda funny. The ones for the sevens are my favorites there.

edited 15th Oct '12 10:40:20 AM by Enlong

Nice.

Oh my goodness, I just had a sudden revelation. I think I figured something out about Casshern.

Okay, so, according to Oji, Luna didn't give life before Casshern killed her. Rather, she revoked immortality, allowing humans and robots to die if they wished. Braiking Boss didn't like this one bit.

Currently, Luna's blood heals wounds, removes rust, and grants eternal life.

Waaaaay back when, one of the cold opens for the show was Luna cryptically telling Casshern that his blood has changed her.

Braiking Boss didn't send Casshern to kill Luna. He sent him to change her. Casshern's blood changed Luna's blood, and made her into what she is today. The Ruin may well be the remnants of Luna's old power, scattered across the world when she and Casshern had their encounter.

Why does Symbionic Titan get "Doofus"?

Because it seems to be the only insult the lead characters' classmates know.

That's a good theory. We'll see if it holds...

edited 15th Oct '12 11:35:35 AM by PikaHikariKT