Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio - Vol. 29 Ch. 177

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There is one thing more I need to praise in this series... the utilitarian design of most human technology.

I have a personal gripe with the "utilitarian" design philosophy... i respect it and even like it... but I find it mostly so... "sterile", which is in some cases not only the intent but part of the charm.

I won't go very deep in my train of thought on that because it would be too long and kinda confusing and contradictory.

Point is, in this case... I like how human tech here has, at the same time, the blockness that is common to see in that design philosophy, but there is a refined and quite visually pleasant aspect to things in the art in this story.

Look at the trailer Maruri and co are... it is being pulled by what is clearly an AI-controlled vehicle, and it is big, it is utilitarian, but it is sleek and very refined, and you see that quality in most things human-made.

Fog-tech works on very different principles. When human tech has hinges, obvious points of connection, the "metal" which comprises the Fog works like muscle, it contracts and expands, it can bend in ways that shouldn't be possible, the points of connection are seamless or don't even exist in a way, they are electromagnetic or something like, even gravitational.

I really like the tech design in this series, it is actually the thing that made me fall in love with this series in the first place, I thought it was going to be just a fun story of super battleships with sci-fi weapons, I was pleasantly surprised when the story itself more than held in the writing side too.


I will admit, I think Gunzou is a little too shounenish with how good and how "fated" he is when you look at the complexity of the characters' internal struggles, the political and social strife happening in this world... but that is just a personal gripe when compared to everything else. He still has very interesting moments... just wanted to see him act more like the kid he is, it would make him more interesting to me.
 
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REPULSE IS BACK... lady Vampire knows exactly how to pull the strings on her boss XD.

I am impressed, and kinda ashamed of not having thought of it, how the motion tiles of the Hakugei can be used as a sonic weapons... the programming to make the controls of those things must have been HELL to make, the precision with which it can "fire" is impressive... but in retrospect, considering it was made to fool the Fog, anything less would have been useless.

That prick is looking at this playing out like it is just a show.
 
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just wanted to see him act more like the kid he is, it would make him more interesting to me.
that's a fault you can actually blame on the adults.

the engine girl already said it, the adults and people of the past put way too much burden on them students and didn't allow them to be kids. no dreams, nothing. just the burden and problems of the past on their shoulders. They're "Elite" so childish stuff is out of the question.

I will admit, I think Gunzou is a little too shounenish with how good and how "fated" he is when you look at the complexity of the characters' internal struggles, the political and social strife happening in this world...

At first, I was agreeing on your point about Gunzou being "fated one" or the "chosen one". After a good reread, more like all of those destiny and schite were just "victim blaming" thingy to burden Gunzou. Him becoming the King of the Deep Blue Sea is more like "Yeah, you're of Kaoru's bloodline" and less of Gunzou himself.

Gunzou's "destiny" to me was just Kotono sending Iona to him... and that was just it. Rest was him struggling against all political and power BS other factions had. Gunzou had to make a name for himself and that he did. He is too influencial to ignore at this point and now that the others are aware, I'm sure they're gonna do "fate", "destiny", "future" BS again to Gunzou just to kick him when he's down. If anything, if there's a "destiny" character here, it's Iona being a double system for both the vessel and the Network itself.
 
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Vampire continues to be the MVP, this time by pulling the "i'm telling my mom" card :dogkek:
 
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that's a fault you can actually blame on the adults.

the engine girl already said it, the adults and people of the past put way too much burden on them students and didn't allow them to be kids. no dreams, nothing. just the burden and problems of the past on their shoulders. They're "Elite" so childish stuff is out of the question.
You bring a good point here, it does have a narrative reason... the little school festival arc is proof of that, the kids in the academy are so accustomed to rationing and just training to be soldiers, they had to search for how to do a school festival... and the student council kids acted more like military personnel already than kids.

Point for that.
At first, I was agreeing on your point about Gunzou being "fated one" or the "chosen one". After a good reread, more like all of those destiny and schite were just "victim blaming" thingy to burden Gunzou. Him becoming the King of the Deep Blue Sea is more like "Yeah, you're of Kaoru's bloodline" and less of Gunzou himself.

Gunzou's "destiny" to me was just Kotono sending Iona to him... and that was just it. Rest was him struggling against all political and power BS other factions had. Gunzou had to make a name for himself and that he did. He is too influencial to ignore at this point and now that the others are aware, I'm sure they're gonna do "fate", "destiny", "future" BS again to Gunzou just to kick him when he's down. If anything, if there's a "destiny" character here, it's Iona being a double system for both the vessel and the Network itself.
Hmmm... I agree with this too... actually, let me elaborate on why I said what I said.

What you pointed out in this part i had in mind when i wrote my comment, and truth be told after the you reminding in the first part of your comment about how "not acting like a kid" isn't really a trait of only Gunzou, i think i will need to rethink my opinions... but... my opinion is was less about the narrative details and more about... feeling.

At some points, to me, Gunzou feels too inflexible as a main character, but this is purely an opinion of mine... a very small one, i might add, it detracts, if even, VERY little from the story for me, and i don't even think I am "right" in my assessment even before reading your comment.

I just needed to vent it out of my mind a little.

Your opinion is much appreciated, it made me remember certain details I did remember but didn't connect the dots, so now i have a much greater appreciation for the story, thank you.
 
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What you pointed out in this part i had in mind when i wrote my comment, and truth be told after the you reminding in the first part of your comment about how "not acting like a kid" isn't really a trait of only Gunzou, i think i will need to rethink my opinions... but... my opinion is was less about the narrative details and more about... feeling.

At some points, to me, Gunzou feels too inflexible as a main character, but this is purely an opinion of mine... a very small one, i might add, it detracts, if even, VERY little from the story for me, and i don't even think I am "right" in my assessment even before reading your comment.
oh definitely agree with your points too. Gunzou's inflexibility is totally inherited from his pops and other factors like being "elite".

guy got too greedy too after getting Iona, trying to force a way for everyone... and then he spectacularly failed. Thus resulting to his "sulking" phase. Only after getting a good crew he started to have the sway and influence... even then, he's still inflexible to a fault though that also improved his skills as a seafaring man.

I just needed to vent it out of my mind a little.

Your opinion is much appreciated, it made me remember certain details I did remember but didn't connect the dots, so now i have a much greater appreciation for the story, thank you.
nah man, all's good. that's what the discussion is for. we all can share ideas and opinions and cross-examine stuff. It didn't even click to me that he's inflexible. Reread the chapters where Gunzou was issuing orders, he's really inflexible but has good decision making skills totally honed through experience.

This was a good discussion too, so lemme say thanks too.... we can only wait for new chapters. :dogkek:
 
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You bring a good point here, it does have a narrative reason... the little school festival arc is proof of that, the kids in the academy are so accustomed to rationing and just training to be soldiers, they had to search for how to do a school festival... and the student council kids acted more like military personnel already than kids.

Point for that.

Hmmm... I agree with this too... actually, let me elaborate on why I said what I said.

What you pointed out in this part i had in mind when i wrote my comment, and truth be told after the you reminding in the first part of your comment about how "not acting like a kid" isn't really a trait of only Gunzou, i think i will need to rethink my opinions... but... my opinion is was less about the narrative details and more about... feeling.

At some points, to me, Gunzou feels too inflexible as a main character, but this is purely an opinion of mine... a very small one, i might add, it detracts, if even, VERY little from the story for me, and i don't even think I am "right" in my assessment even before reading your comment.

I just needed to vent it out of my mind a little.

Your opinion is much appreciated, it made me remember certain details I did remember but didn't connect the dots, so now i have a much greater appreciation for the story, thank you.

Dont forget he's a submariner. Those are real stubborn fools lol.

On a more serious note, isn't what you're saying a bit of a contradiction, actually? You want him to show a bit more of the kid he is. But he is, to me. He has to get his way. He self-admittedly sulked when he didn't. Yet his dream still holds true, and he doesn't deviate from it. That's the part where he may seem inflexible.

Thats certainly a very shonen-ish character, but maybe I'm confused as to what you mean when you distinguish it from him not acting like a kid. I mean, shonen means boy after all, it embodies the dreams of young boys.

If it's about the perceived inflexibility that comes from being an adult, I wonder if I would agree with that. I think an "adult" like demeanor would actually be like that if a chameleon. Your worldview is mercenary, it will change to suit the time and circumstances. It is a harsh world out there, and principles or dreams are something a responsible adult can ill afford.

Maybe I latch onto that because we see with the older characters in the series, I believe they are deliberately portrayed as facing that reality, yet at times they have a moment when they want to believe, and they trust their "childlike" beliefs to gunzou and the people who follow him, whether they be human or Fog.

If I am off base with this, then I apologize. But otherwise I don't quite get what you're referring to.



As for the design language of human technology versus the fog, I certainly agree. Typical masterclass in design by Ark Performance. Not much to add there, except I wish more people appreciated it. Sometimes it feels like the 10 odd people in the world who would are the only ones.



Last thing I want to add is it still boggles my mind how much Vampire has evolved over the story. I still remember when she was "born". Is this the course of all small-size cores? Mental models playact at being humans to understand more about humans and themselves. Maybe with less bandwidth for such lofty ideas, Vampire can just...be.
 
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Dont forget he's a submariner. Those are real stubborn fools lol.

On a more serious note, isn't what you're saying a bit of a contradiction, actually? You want him to show a bit more of the kid he is. But he is, to me. He has to get his way. He self-admittedly sulked when he didn't. Yet his dream still holds true, and he doesn't deviate from it. That's the part where he may seem inflexible.

Thats certainly a very shonen-ish character, but maybe I'm confused as to what you mean when you distinguish it from him not acting like a kid. I mean, shonen means boy after all, it embodies the dreams of young boys.

If it's about the perceived inflexibility that comes from being an adult, I wonder if I would agree with that. I think an "adult" like demeanor would actually be like that if a chameleon. Your worldview is mercenary, it will change to suit the time and circumstances. It is a harsh world out there, and principles or dreams are something a responsible adult can ill afford.

Maybe I latch onto that because we see with the older characters in the series, I believe they are deliberately portrayed as facing that reality, yet at times they have a moment when they want to believe, and they trust their "childlike" beliefs to gunzou and the people who follow him, whether they be human or Fog.

If I am off base with this, then I apologize. But otherwise I don't quite get what you're referring to.
I won't lie... my point wasn't made with perfect reasoning in mind, it is entirely something based on my bias, so I think it is best you don't dive too much into my flimsy "reasoning"(can barely be called that really).

I would be the first to agree they are flawed... but they are what I feel, and as I said, not very strong, I really just wanted to vent them out a little.

And to my surprise... the response to that comment was much stronger than I expected, not complaining about that though... quite a pleasant surprise, and it gave me new perspectives.

Last thing I want to add is it still boggles my mind how much Vampire has evolved over the story. I still remember when she was "born". Is this the course of all small-size cores? Mental models playact at being humans to understand more about humans and themselves. Maybe with less bandwidth for such lofty ideas, Vampire can just...be.
Isn't it? This little firecracker has been a surprise to me since her inception.

Despite the limited start she had because of Respulse's limited processing power, she showed a lot of personality even then... but after getting Yamato's help, she has bloomed into an incredibly entertaining character and a total mood maker.

When she appears, she is the center of the action XD.
 
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high level being watching her creation pulling "I am calling my mom" card. It look too funny to me
 

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