Reply To: Hobby Weekender 15/03/2019 – The 2000's

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1. ‘…what books, movies, comics, TV series or anime from the 2000’s surprised you or was most memorable?

Anime

There were some good anime around here. Full Metal Panic showed us Mecha could be slightly more realistic, military and not ‘fly around in space like action figures ignoring physics.’ Some awesome stuff here to be fair.

Deathnote, man if you never heard of it. Basically, this daemon gets bored, and drops a book down to earth and a mortal finds it. The mortal uses it to test it, and then, with their new found sense of power, already high intelligence and sense of morals decides to brutally change the world:

 The notebook has 60 pages with 38 lines per page. If you write small, you can cram in as many names as you want.
 The Shinigami’s voice and form will go completely unnoticed by others.
 In return for letting you keep the notebook, the Shinigami may take it back at any time.
 Those who do not wish to be followed by the Shinigami can get rid of him simply by giving the notebook back or throwing it away.
 It is up to the owner to decide how to use the notebook — whether it be for world conquest, getting rid of that one guy, or choosing to not keep such a terrifying item.
 This Death Note can only be used by the one who found it. If the owner throws it away or loses it, the right of ownership is automatically transferred to whoever next picks it up.
 One must know the face of the person whose name is written down for there to be an effect. That way, people with the same names will not be affected all at once.
 If you write a cause of death after the name like this: (Name) died from (cause), then that will happen.
 You can write with any pen: the color doesn’t matter. If you use a sticker with a name printed on it, there will be no effect. Please write directly onto the notebook. It would be a good idea to change your handwriting as much as possible.
 These letters cannot be erased. (Arrow pointed at the words “Death Note” on the cover.)
 If the cover is destroyed, the notebook cannot be used.
 Be careful not to let other people see it.
 You will not die if you write your name here, but it is not recommended. (Arrow pointed at the cover.)
 When you run out of room to write in the notebook, you may ask the original Shinigami owner for another. How many Death Notes would you need?

Apparently more ‘pages’ of the rules for the book were released. Also, someone somewhere in Belgium was murdered and found with a Prop Deathnote beside them. If you go to the Deathnote Wikipedia page the last section concerns copycats and replicas. A scary read to be honest when you think about it.

Bleach was also a huge beast that ran for a long time before kind of just, fading away. There have been some interesting youtube videos about the rise and fall of Bleach as well as the creators issues with the owners of Shonen Jump, as well as hints about Bleach coming back. Especially after the success of the Live Action movie recently released on Netflix. I loved this show because it started in the real world, introduced us to the supernatural and likeable, relatable and not-perfect characters from the get go. As the conditions worsen and the supernatural horrors get worse and more and more people start to see them, their friendships become closer. Toward the end of the series, one of their friends is kidnapped. From their the rest plan a rescue mission into the afterlife to go after her, but things get tougher and more difficult as it progresses which leads to a murder and conspiracy being discovered. Very exciting stuff. More and more cool, uniquely designed and interesting characters get introduced too so its very enjoyable. The only problem is the filler seasons that were made up as the anime caught up to the manga too quickly.

Fullmetal Alchemist was also good, I think someone else touched on it elsewhere so I wont blather on about it.

Guyver was also great. A Teenager finds an alien device which lets him transform into an enhanced alien warrior. It is a remake of an earlier anime and even earlier manga. Incredibly violent and bloody. I probably should not have watched the original when I was like… eight. So, it turns out there is this Company behind a bunch of other companies all around the world. They kidnap people, surgically modify them and turn them into Zoanoids

There are people who can transform into a monster, and is where our myth of Werewolves and such comes from. These soldiers enact the companies will all across the planet. So, yeah, they go after the guyver units which are highly valuable and far more powerful than Zoanoids. They go after Sho, the main character, his friends, and family. They even kidnap his dad, turn him into a Zoanoid designed to specifically kill Guyvers and force them to kill each other. So yeah, a few episodes in, the main character dies. He manages to regenerate from the Guyver control unit. He is fleeing the main building after coming back to life with one of his childhood friends and the dialogue goes like this:

Sho (super terrified on the verge of an existential crisis): Am I really me? Am I a clone? What am I?

Tetsuro (super frustrated while the building is collapsed): You remember everything he did right?!?!?!

Sho: Uh… yes…

Tetsuro: Then that’s good enough for me! Lets GO!!!