Well... I've been watching some stuff. Some anime. Some TV. I've just been impressed and need to splatter it all over a page somewhere. Hope you don't mind reading. Feel free to contribute your own stuff about these or other things you've seen lately and just loved.

I'm going to start with Code Geass. It's a recent mecha anime. I don't know if anyone else here follows fansubbed anime on the internet, but I've seen Black Lagoon brought up in conversation here so who knows.

As you probably figured by now, I love it love it love it. Two things really impressed me about it. The first is the whole hero/villain bit (the series follows a protaganist who is far from morally sound). The second is the toned-down mech designs.

I absolutely loved how the whole story with Lelouch was handled. You can kind of identify with him; he's had a rough life, and really only wants to look after his younger sister. But at the same time he's so awesomely "ends justify the means" style ruthless. Also there is the dichotomy between himself and Suzaku. One being a Japanese striving for peace under Britannia, the other a Britannian championing Japanese independance. Also there are the characters' respective backstories; one being wronged and seeking revenge, the other seeking attonement for past sins. Towards the end of the series we can see a temporary reversal of these roles. Lelouch does something horrible and is immediately terrified at the thought of attonement, while Suzaku becomes wronged and filled with hatred for it. I won't get more specific, for my ignorance of spoiler tag usage, but anyone familiar already knows what I'm talking about. Also cool is that alot of the side characters examine different motives for heroism and villainy... albeit some characters appear to be repeated. We've got Kallen and Cornelia. Different motives maybe, but similar characters. There are also Diethard, Rakshata, and Lloyd. All work-obsessed nihilists. Two of the three are scientists taking advantage of existing war and corruption in order to further their own research, while Diethard seems to be some kind of chaos-mongering journalist... :confused: Anyway, long story short the entire series is a perfect example of why playing an "evil" character is just so appealing to me.

The mechs are cool. Namely, I think this series' "Knightmare Frames" are so much cooler than mechs on other shows for the simple reason that they are vulnerable. The entire design is built around the inclusion of an escape hatch. Aslo it seems that every part serves a purpose. A sensor array on the head, for example (besides that, I could never understand why you need a face on a weapon). One could almost (almost) believe that they designed these things solely for killing, and that the humanoid shape is entirely incidental. A couple of the mechs start feeling more typical later. You know how it is. One or two are presented as unique models... then they get plot immunity. They'll fail, but never be demolished. As long as the pilot remains inside, he/she is safe. This is true of the Lancelot, the Burai Kai, and (maybe the worst offender) the Gawain. Outside of that, these are the kinds of mechs I'd like to see in RPGs: the kind that can still be taken down by concentrated fire from rocket propelled grenades (or tank fire or falling debris... whatever).

Seriously, a given a good generic system, I'm going to loot this show for all it's worth as RPG source material.






The other show I've been psyched about is Heroes. Maybe something more of you will know about.

I like Heroes for about the same reason I like the mechs in Geass: their vulnerability. Later in the series, you kind of know who's "plot immune." But early on, it just felt so... unsure as to how things would go.

Also, alot of the series seems to be against the hero's tendency to protect loved ones... or at least against that tendency and the use of the wrong methods to achieve those goals. We have Mr. Bennet doing all kinds of bad shit to protect Claire. Nathan tries to "protect" his brother in all kinds of awful ways. Jessica/Niki does everything "for Mica." The list goes on, really. There are other themes... not as well done, or not as much to my liking. I've never much been a fan of either destiny or love, but I see a bit of those being covered.

I dunno... I'm just loving this stuff and felt in a mood to type. Feel free to join in on the positivity.