Lupin the Third or I Try to Watch Every Episode Ever

     I love Lupin the Third. The stories are somehow classic and timeless, yet feel very much their time. Lupin the Third has almost reached a cultural status surpassing his original name sake. Since 1967 for the manga and 1971 for the anime adaptation, Lupin has had countless iterations.

     And i want to watch them all. Every single anime adaptation that I can get my hands on. No ifs, ands, or buts. Why? Why not. Seeing as they are episodic I can just jump around as I see fit. By watching all of the versions of Lupin the Third I hope that I will be able to see something present in the anime of the times they are in.

     I make no guarantees that these will all be in a timely manner, just that i will get them done, hopefully. I think the first one I will discuss will be most people's introduction to Lupin the Third, The Castle of Cagliostro. 

Beck Mongolian Chop Squad or the Essence of Following a Band

     One of my favorite bands of all time has no music, no albums, and nothing in the way of members. This band does not exist on a technical sense. While yes they are real enough to be known, by any logic they are not a musical group. This band is Beck, a fictional band from a manga of the same name.

     

     Starting serialization in 1999 and running till 2008, written by Harold Sakuishi, Beck is the story of five young men trying to make a go at being a band. We follow their trials and tribulations through lineup changes, live venues, studio recordings and more. Throughout the story we see them go on to break into the world stage and get the respect they deserve. It is a highly enjoyable and impactful journey, and I encourage anyone reading this to go seek it out. It is easily one of the best stories of recent years. 

     However i would like to change track real quick to talk about one of my favorite real world bands, I Fight Dragons. They are a pop-punk/chiptune band from Chicago, and I have been a fan since around 2011. I have watched and listened to this band ever since, through album releases, tours, festivals, and their departure of their record label. There is a part of me that takes great satisfaction in knowing about this band before others, and spreading the information about them. Hell I still have my membership card for what is their now defunct fan club. Even further than that my fan club number was my license plate number on my first car.

Always remember the Advanced Guard

     Now why did I go through the effort to describe my time following a band. Because it is a feeling that not many people go through. The aspect of following a band, becoming a dedicated fan, and following their story is a major part of indie and underground music. In that sense you feel like you are a part of the band, even more so for me and this band, as the fan club I was a part of helped spread word of the band. Ok again, what does this have to do with Beck. well in my opinion everything, as that is the tonal feeling of the entire story. 

     Throughout the story we as audience members follow this band and their up's and down's. We cheer them on while they are on stage, and wait in anticipation for their next show. We wait with baited breath to see the results of them recording an album. Every step they take forward we cheer them on, as expected of a story. We root for the guys we want to win. This is not any thing new, we all know this, so why does it feel different, to me at least.

     I think part of it is that I have that experience of following a band, through hardships and successes. It is a visceral feeling of artistic catharsis, of liking a band and knowing they will succeed. There is no apprehension, it is a light hearted story and you know that they will win in the end. You do not have to wait years for their next album to see if they make any money, just turn the page. All of the benefits of following a band but none of the heart ache. Do you need this lense to understand the story, no, no you do not. This is just a layer, a thought next time you want to go through this story. And for those that follow musicians and band, but dread the thought of them failing, check out this story to lift your heat up a little bit. Hopefully you become just as big of a fan of them as I am.



     Some minor things of note. Yes I am aware of the anime, seeing as that is my number one anime. And I am aware of the music within the show. I do not consider the music Beck's, seeing as in the album and credits for the show attribute it to a real world band. 

REVIEW Dragon Ball Super Ep: 67 [Deus Ex Status Quo]

   

Goku Black, confusing anybody who doesn't watch super.

     With Dragon Ball Super having finished it's at the time latest arc I think we have found this series version of power levels. I don't mean this in a bad way however. As with previous arcs in Super, there has been an air that a lot of the action has been somewhat trivial. while this is wholly not a negative thing, in fact the lighter tension gives it a more comedic bent a'la Dragon Ball, it has kinda caused an inflation in power and a devalue in our hero's abilities. What I am talking about is the introduction of higher gods and beings.

     This episode showed the beginnings of the Zamasu saga's epilogue. With last week having Trunks give the final death blow to the fused Zamasu, we open just moments after. A massive amount of energy comes pouring out of the corpse, somehow fundamentally changing the fabric of the universe. Everything the heroes do is for nought, as Zama-cloud goes on to kill the rest of the human population that are still surviving on future earth. When all hope seems lost, Goku remembers that he literally has a "call the most powerful god" button. He comes and wipes everything out. We are then told that future Trunks and Mai can go back to the future a little bit before this whole mess started and that Whis and Beerus would tidy up most everything else.

     While I may seem overly critical in that brief synopsis, I must say that I still really enjoyed it. It still felt quintessentially Dragon Ball to me. That's what I mean when I talk power levels. It's not so much a crutch for storytelling, or a plot hole needing to be filled. It is just the overall flavour of the ebb and flow of the show. In Dragon Ball Z there was a lot of focus on the concept of power level, whether it was with how pointless they were, or just there as bench markers for character growth, power levels were an omni-present force in the show. As such I think the element of gods is Super's flavour. Being a benchmark for a character's power, a source of problems, or solutions, gods are more now than ever a mainstay in Dragon Ball Super.

     This however could cause a problem, one that they directly mention in this episode. Why, if they are friends with these litany of gods, can't they ask them for more help? I have seen many a fan point out that Beerus or Whis could probably, with a snap of their fingers, solve most, if not all, of the Z Warriors problems. However Beerus out right says, to the group and the audience, that they should not rely on the gods to solve all their problems. Hopefully the writing staff will remember that thought.

Test, or I think this is how you start a blog

     While wondering what I could do with the words that are in my head, I had a thought. It takes time and software that I do not have to make something along the lines of a video essay, but very little in the ways of effort to make a blog. To what ends will I write though. Short stories, essays on pop culture, reviews, dick jokes? Hopefully all of it. All I know is that I am tired of the concepts plugging my brain up with nonsense. So what better place to put nonsense than the internet. At minimum this will simply be a place to jot down ideas, at most who knows. All i know is that it is nice to have a spout for my clogged up thought patterns.