August 12, 2012
They have hair dryers in Galette?
UPDATE: By the way, this picture is impossible.
If you look at the tower on the right, and if you assume that the top part of the tower is level, then it is impossible for the ocean behind it to be that high. Perspective doesn't permit that.
The level of the ocean at the horizon has to be at the vertical position of the "vanishing point", which is a lot lower than where they drew it. (Actually, it has to be even lower than the vanishing point, because the planet is round.)
UPDATE: Of course, this is a place where mountains float in mid-air, so maybe gravity doesn't work the same there as here. For instance, maybe the surface of the ocean isn't really level. Maybe there's a great big hump out there.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
05:51 PM
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The problem here is that they've mixed up the perspectives - we're looking down at the ground (correct) but the castle appears to be level, which is impossible. If we were looking down on the roof of the castle - or at least, on the lower walls if not the highest tower - then the picture would make sense.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at August 12, 2012 10:38 PM (PiXy!)
There....
*oh and the planet has a much smaller iron core to allow near earth gravity.
...and stuff.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at August 13, 2012 04:00 AM (gVSn1)
Posted by: Boviate at August 13, 2012 02:36 PM (L1IVj)
Posted by: Siergen at August 13, 2012 04:40 PM (usD+G)
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at August 13, 2012 04:43 PM (pWQz4)
A while back, I was thinking to myself. If I was the one being resummoned, obviously one thing I'd be thinking about was gifts.
And for Rico, my first thought was a copy of "The Way Things Work". And then I thought of all the mischief that would result as Rico proceeded to turn the entire society upside down. Maybe not such a good idea after all! (Not to mention the problem of explaining what a wooly mammoth is.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 13, 2012 05:37 PM (+rSRq)
-j
Posted by: J Greely at August 14, 2012 08:35 AM (2XtN5)
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at August 14, 2012 11:54 AM (5OBKC)
Posted by: J Greely at August 14, 2012 12:22 PM (fpXGN)
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at August 14, 2012 01:23 PM (N9Lwt)
June 26, 2012
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
08:33 PM
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Posted by: tellu541 at June 26, 2012 10:37 PM (fKNXy)
As for the speculation:
I don't know any details about the LN 4-6 story arc, but I do know that Marika & crew are interacting with someone from the Empire for part of it. So they could work this into the canon LNs, I think.
Also, is it possible there's a Civil War brewing? That could make a lot of sense, given the intrigue going on in this series. We already had 1 half-baked revolutionary this series.
Posted by: sqa at June 26, 2012 11:21 PM (/vL6w)
The BDs are a better deal. The DVDs are two episodes each, for 3300 yen. BDs are 6000 yen but they're four episodes each.
So not only are the BDs better resolution, but the per-episode cost is lower.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 27, 2012 06:26 AM (+rSRq)
Posted by: metaphysician at June 27, 2012 08:44 AM (3GCAl)
Posted by: Dave Young at June 27, 2012 08:48 AM (QwurB)
Posted by: Siergen at June 27, 2012 02:31 PM (PuIGa)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 27, 2012 06:00 PM (+rSRq)
And Saturday is still two days away!!!
Posted by: Siergen at June 27, 2012 07:00 PM (PuIGa)
May 09, 2012
While I'm doing Engineer's Disease posts, I had a thought about Upotte the other night. Spoilers below the fold.
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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Posted by: Avatar_exADV at May 10, 2012 01:05 AM (GJQTS)
Posted by: muon at May 10, 2012 05:12 AM (JXm2R)
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 10, 2012 08:14 AM (5OBKC)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 10, 2012 08:51 AM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Mauser at May 12, 2012 01:15 AM (cZPoz)
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 12, 2012 07:53 AM (5OBKC)
There's a picture below the fold. There's something wrong with it. (Describing the situation is a spoiler.)
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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Posted by: Mark A. Flacy at May 09, 2012 10:52 PM (Zdi7L)
Posted by: ubu at May 10, 2012 12:01 AM (GfCSm)
Posted by: Jonathan Tappan at May 10, 2012 03:30 AM (poC8e)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 10, 2012 06:45 AM (+rSRq)
It's a flashback.
That's another privateer, the Barbarossa's sister ship Maximilian.
Ummm....Continuity goof?
RE: Lighting inconsistencies...no. Sea of Morning Star has a partial ring system so reflected light is coming from several angles.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at May 10, 2012 08:28 AM (EJaOX)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 10, 2012 10:57 AM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at May 10, 2012 11:28 AM (5OBKC)
The Bentenmaru has reserved docking as long as the crew are in quarantine, and the hospital ship is projecting a hologram at that docking point to hold its place. Just standard procedure.
My question is: Why don't we see anything of the rest of the crew in quarantine? The deputies for the main bridge crew, the engine room guys, Schnitzer's marines - aren't they in any contact at all with the bridge crew? Are they being told anything about what's going on?
I assume that they're not in on everything, but I'd be surprised if Kane or Misa weren't checking on them and telling them Marika has the ship and is conducting some form of piracy, else they'd worry about losing their jobs because of the Letter of Marque, the terms of which don't seem to be any big secret.
Posted by: jcm3 at May 10, 2012 11:31 AM (OU30d)
Posted by: David at May 10, 2012 02:57 PM (+yn5x)
April 16, 2012
I finally got my download, so now I can take frame grabs.
Hmmm... Five girls, four beds. Hmmm....
Think Lilly and Maki (both standing) will share one? There have already been hints that there's something between them. (Lilly stole Maki's bra in ep 3, for instance.)
More likely one of them is just visiting. (Rats.)
Actually, this post is about the layout of the bridge, and I've got some pictures and discussion of it below the fold.
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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As far as how you move between the sections, I agree that it's not something they considered.
Posted by: David at April 16, 2012 10:44 AM (+yn5x)
Posted by: Mauser at April 16, 2012 12:37 PM (cZPoz)
Posted by: Mauser at April 16, 2012 12:39 PM (cZPoz)
When the Bentenmaru was powerless, we saw Grunhilde and Misa arrive on the bridge in a hand-cranked elevator, which looked to be located behind (or in?) the bulkhead with the ships logo -- the one behind the captain's chair. But the shaft would have to pass right through the lower hallway. Worse, the lower hallway would have to be collapsed by the upper section moving down. Finally, we see into the lower deck hallway several times, and it runs straight, except for a few steps going up into the bridge. No room for the doors to be on either side. So it has to be the upper deck, and even if the two are close to the same level, the sloped edge of the upper deck separates them.
So when the upper section moved down, did that hallway move with it? And where did the lower hallway go?
Posted by: ubu at April 16, 2012 01:30 PM (GfCSm)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 16, 2012 01:39 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Siergen at April 16, 2012 02:34 PM (3/gGt)
Posted by: ubu at April 16, 2012 03:03 PM (GfCSm)
Posted by: David at April 16, 2012 03:04 PM (+yn5x)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 16, 2012 03:53 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 16, 2012 03:54 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Wonderduck at April 16, 2012 03:54 PM (PVVuW)
Ubu, what Misa was hand-cranking was to open the door, because power was out. That was late in ep 11.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 16, 2012 03:59 PM (+rSRq)
I'm really on a tear with only half-noticing things lately, I guess.
Posted by: ubu at April 16, 2012 04:04 PM (GfCSm)
Of course, I recall seeing a painting of a an American Civil War-era wooden steamship that had a "bridge" running across the middle of the ship, several feet off the deck. The officers could easily walk from one side of the side to other in battle to get a better view, without interfering with the gun crews (and vice versa). Maybe the separation of the senior officers from the lower-rank bridge crew was a design feature of the ship when it was first built, before being converted to a privateer...
Posted by: Siergen at April 16, 2012 07:51 PM (3/gGt)
Posted by: Tex Lovera at April 20, 2012 03:14 PM (DvLEA)
That's Princess Gruier Serenity. Guess who else is named "Princess Serenity"?
This series has quite a few callouts. The girl with black hair, draped over one of her eyes, is named Syoko Kobiyashimaru, which is a reference to the Star Trek "Kobiyashi Maru" test featured in ST2: Wrath of Khan.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 20, 2012 06:11 PM (+rSRq)
March 28, 2012
They're spoilers, of course.
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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3: Behind the captains platform.
4: Probably just modified for quick donning. She said that she was going to fix the uniform to make it easier to don and doff.
5: Yes
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at March 28, 2012 09:27 PM (EJaOX)
March 06, 2012
One way I can tell that a series is a good one is that it engages the part of my mind that tries to figure things out. Some thoughts below the fold, spoilerish.
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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Posted by: ubu at March 06, 2012 05:21 PM (GfCSm)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2012 05:27 PM (+rSRq)
As for staying at the school, with Gruelle officially in the yacht club, the Odette II presents interesting possibilities for vacation trips home. We know it's got good armor and an up-to-date electronic-warfare system; perhaps someone "forgot" to remove the weapons as well, and they're just locked down in ways that surely no schoolgirls could ever circumvent.
-j
Posted by: J Greely at March 06, 2012 06:18 PM (fpXGN)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2012 06:45 PM (+rSRq)
The Bentenmaru's crew didn't seem too concerned with the three ships escorting the Princess' cruiser, even if things got dicey, (some comment was made to the effect that the Bentenmaru was "vastly more powerful"), so they might have even been able to handle four corbacks -- but the larger battleship would likely have been a more formidable danger. And the five ships acting together...that probably would have turned into a bad day. Which makes me wonder if Pirate ships might be exempted from armament limitations generally imposed by the GE.
Posted by: Dave Young at March 06, 2012 06:52 PM (ZAk0Z)
It all seems like a dance where the Sea of Morningstar is trying to keep military forces that it would otherwise be denied and the GE is trying to eliminate them without being too obvious and risking revolt in the rest of the empire (I imagine a great deal of their ability to maintain their empire is due to them treating their subject systems fairly enough).
Posted by: benzeen at March 06, 2012 08:34 PM (R9i5E)
Posted by: Dave Young at March 06, 2012 08:59 PM (ZAk0Z)
Benzeen, that's pretty much what I think, too.
The privateers
are an excess military ability which fell through the cracks. But they're also politically useful because they represent "plausible deniability". For instance, when those Serenity ships were incoming, Sea of the Morningstar sent Bentenmaru instead of the Stellar Military because Bentenmaru isn't quite official. If it had been the Stellar Military which directly observed Serenity ships firing their weapons, they would have had to open fire themselves and it would have gotten ugly. Bentenmaru didn't carry that obligation, and Marika was able to defuse the situation without bloodshed.
Likewise, the operation that Gruier hired Bentenmaru for couldn't really be done by the Serenity military on her behalf, I suspect. But hiring what amount to mercenaries to take care of it is something where everyone can pretend and look the other way.
I wouldn't be surprised if even the Galactic Empire uses privateers that way once in a while. Their status as being legal-but-only-just-barely is handy in situations where a government needs to do something but doesn't want to take official responsibility for it.
While I'm here, thought I'd mention that I'm going back to "Gruier" as spelling of her name. When she's introduced to her class in the middle school, her name was written on the chalk board both in Japanese and in Roman letters, and it was spelled Gruier. It wasn't a subtitle, it's in the actual show graphics. So it's the official spelling, and we're stuck with it.
Just like we're stuck with "Bodacious Space Pirates".
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2012 09:00 PM (+rSRq)
I can believe that they're trying to eliminate the pirates. And at the time of a generational turnover in pirate captaincy, there's a distinct vulnerability which maybe, maybe, some organization in the GE is trying to use. After all, if they'd managed to kill Marika, then Bentenmaru's letter of marque would have expired and that would be one less privateer to worry about.
Of course if, as I suspect, there's a revolution brewing and the pirates are part of it, and if the GE suspects, then that's even more of a reason to do it.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 06, 2012 09:08 PM (+rSRq)
A couple of ideas on the grander politics:
A direct revolution could be afoot, but since the population doesn't seem terribly oppressed, I'm not so sure. I'm leaning more towards the GE having over-expanded when in capable hands, but after a couple of generations of rot is now having a hard time maintaining its control over all of its territory. In that scenario, the ones responsible for the attempts on Marika would more likely be the old regional rivals jockeying for position for when the GE starts falling apart in that area.
Of course a lot of it is probably just me finding that to be a more interesting scenario than the other, which seems more conventional. As a result, I'm probably wrong...
Posted by: benzeen at March 06, 2012 09:49 PM (R9i5E)
Posted by: Mauser at March 07, 2012 03:37 AM (cZPoz)
Posted by: Dave Young at March 07, 2012 10:28 AM (FKGw9)
I just found it odd that the main battery had the CAPABILITY of being interfaced with the Coms.
Actually that makes sense.
Tight beam, secure communications are vital and the ships battery likely has the power to punch through any jamming. The guns are obviously transmitters anyway and could provide redundancy to the regular communication array in the event of damage, or provide additional narrow beam transmitters when a 'party line' is needed.
Also, for a really long range transmission the main battery at high power would be a useful, (albeit STL) backup, perhaps sending an important message across interplanetary distances at greater range than it could conceivably damage something.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at March 08, 2012 11:21 PM (EJaOX)
Posted by: Mauser at March 09, 2012 01:50 AM (cZPoz)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at March 09, 2012 07:32 AM (+rSRq)
October 13, 2011
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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Posted by: ubu at October 13, 2011 07:18 PM (GfCSm)
Posted by: metaphysician at October 13, 2011 07:27 PM (3GCAl)
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 13, 2011 07:32 PM (o45Mg)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 13, 2011 08:26 PM (+rSRq)
As good as it was, there WAS an awful lot of scenery-chewing going on too. I think having a melodramatic backstory was one of the recruitment criteria for the Star Force.
Posted by: Mauser at October 14, 2011 12:51 AM (cZPoz)
December 24, 2010
Man, you thought I had it bad. Check out these guys trying to explain Santa Claus.
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November 28, 2010
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at
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