Light Novel/HEAVY OBJECT

Well, this went easy, we even got time for some additional fanservice.

I have to wonder though, shouldn't they just give Princess a second generation Object already, Baby Magnum really seems to not be up to par.

It just might be that they are at the point where a "better" Object for her equals a more "dedicated to X conditions/terrain/operations" model than an overall improvement, and since they are likely to do missions in many different locations, going beyond the basic and solid BM will end up being counterproductive at some point.

edited 1st Nov '15 12:47:28 AM by Rareitor

Someone else in another place said that an Elite was stuck to a single Object, for the single reason that it was far too expensive to raise and train someone else for a new Object. So the princess is stuck with the Baby Magnum, I'm afraid.

So it costs more to train Princess in using other Objects than it is to rebuild Baby Magnum each time it's destroyed?

That's an awful excuse.

No, when they mean raise, they literally mean raise — the implication is Hime was modified for Baby Magnum since she was a child, and only Baby Magnum, and she's kind of stuck with it until she dies.

edited 2nd Nov '15 9:30:41 AM by MyssaRei

That's still a stupid excuse. Raising pilots that become obsolete together with their vehicles is stupid. Not to mention it means they have to wait years before they can implement a new model of Object after building it.

Hey, this is a Kamachi story. Logic kind of bends over for spectacle in some places.

Well, that's definitely true. I just hope Princess will be allowed to do something cool from time to time, and not just get continuously saved by a guy armed only with basic engineering knowledge.

I kind of think it's a minor improvement from his other series, where everything boiled down to whether his pontificating MC punches a girl hard enough.

Well yeah, but still I hoped for more. I guess even while piloting a hundred million ton of military hardware a girl still has to be saved by the main character.

Also, that's a depressingly accurate description of Index series.

...as long as we're complaining...

Why is it, exactly, that the concept of sabotage is completely unprecedented in this universe? Do they live a world where that hasn't always been the default tactical response to enemies with superior technology?

And, even accepting that, are we to believe that Qwenther introducing the concept to the world hasn't made other people try it out? Or does the entire world think his success is 100% due to plot armour, rather than just 75%?

If I understood it right, the lack of sabotage is entirely deliberate. Not sure how deeply I should go into it - pretty big spoiler.

That's sorta part of the plot later.

In reality the higher-ups want Quensar and Helvia dead because they're inspiring people around the world to keep fighting even after their Objects are destroyed. This is actually causing more casualties, since it's forcing even normally merciful pilots to slaughter the enemy army. That's why they're sending them on these missions, their logic is either Quensar dies and the problem is solved, or Quensar lives which means he took down the enemy Object. Both options are fine for them, so they're just going to keep sending them on missions until Quensar dies.

edited 2nd Nov '15 12:49:31 PM by RedAcer

Yep, that's what I meant.

With the addition that said higher-ups eventually get tired of the duo always winning and both get posted far away from the front, so that they can't cause any more damage. Except they accidentally end up foiling a coup or something like that, which causes said higher-ups to become batshit scared of them.

edited 2nd Nov '15 12:49:33 PM by amitakartok

Ah, alright. I only read to around Volume 4 I think, i'm only knowledge of the rest of the series by hearsay. I should probably get around to finishing it.

So... I guess we can say without spoiling that Kamachi reuses one of his previous heroes in the main duo. And that previous hero isn't Touma.

Kind of a creator's thumbprint innit? At this point I'm trying not to think of things deeply (because Kamachi) and just enjoying the explosions.

That's an answer I can accept for the second issue, but not really the first one.

Remember, the whole point is that people are too scared of Objects to try.

Qwenther is scared too, but he tries it anyway because he's got no choice.

edited 2nd Nov '15 1:47:05 PM by amitakartok

But that's just... not really how war has ever worked. Are we to believe that Qwenther was the first guy with engineering know-how that got put in a do-or-die situation? Are we to believe that no militant group low-budget enough to not have their own Object ever tried anything other than futilely throwing what they had against the Objects? Are we to believe that nobody was interested in tipping the odds in favour of their faction's Object by weaken their enemies' beforehand?

Fear and prevalence of Objects should make those tactics more common, not less.

I assume others did try before. Qwenther was just the first one to pull it off and survive long enough to tell the tale.

edited 2nd Nov '15 3:57:01 PM by amitakartok

Yeah, that's sort of exactly what I'm saying makes no sense- Qwenther being the first person in that specific situation to actually pull it off, sure, okay, that's probably what we're meant to believe, and I suppose it's plausible enough.

But, as I said, sabotage has never not been the default tactical response to enemies with superior technology. In the real world, betting your entire army on a single vehicle means you do everything in your power to protect it- All of your infantry will either be trained specifically to watch out of saboteurs, or be saboteurs themselves. The Objects themselves, as well as their parts, would be placed under pretty heavy security when not in use.

But we don't see that. What we see is people who seem to think of the concept of sabotage as something utterly new and alien- something so out of left field that it didn't even occur to them to prepare for the possibility.

While your complaints make all the sense, it is getting to the point where there is no other explanation for stuff other than: "because Kamachi".

I could imagine some grand conspiracy scenario where governments train people to irrationally fear the Objects in order to perpetuate a state of constant, relatively bloodless war. I mean, isn't that what the first episode was all about? About how war had become meaningless and soldiers were safe? It's like a fantasy version of Mutually Assured Destruction. Note that these are the opposite of all-out wars, they're just giant machines fighting for territory in the middle of nowhere with no population centers in sight.

And, well, that kind of nonsensical conspiracy seems right at home in a Kamachi work.

edited 2nd Nov '15 7:34:34 PM by Clarste

And then the religious assholes had to stop playing by the rules and ruin it for everybody.