Rants & Raves

Penguin Truth's Somewhat Incomplete Gundam Tier Chart Part 1: Do Not Want

MY SOMEWHAT INCOMPLETE GUNDAM TIERS CHART. Tier Review: God Tier - High Tier - Mid Tier - Low Tier - Shit Tier Now, the concept of ranking anime programs via tiers is a pasttime of the people on 4chan. Well, actually, they do it with various types of media, and even people and music. Usually tiers lead to a lot of shitstorms, though, and generally tier threads are (and should be treated as) troll threads. Tier threads are absolutely awful, mostly because the rankings go unexplained and they lack the nuance of a more ordered numbering system. Still, those tier charts are tempting to attempt. So, with Gundam anime, I've decided to compromise, and try my hand at one of these things, but also provide reason for my decisions as to where to rank each entry. Now, as I have yet to finish watching some of these, or haven't watched one or two for a long while, the list remains "open" to a degree. There's some possibility for mobility, as well as reconsideration for most of what's on here. So keep that in mind when you're reading this. Tier charts are usually divided into a few different tiers. Here I've divided it into the popular ranks of "God Tier", "High Tier", "Mid Tier", "Low Tier", and "Shit Tier". "God Tier" being the tier in which, in my opinion, the best Gundam anime are in, whereas "Shit Tier" has the worst Gundam has to offer. Since I enjoy ending on a high note, let's begin with the worst of the worst, the Shit Tier.

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Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Tribute - Part One: Believing A Sign of Zeta

I wanna have a pure time. Everyone's a noble mind. There's no doubt that I'm a fan of the Gundam franchise. For years, I've watched the programs, collected the DVDs, downloaded the pictures, read the notes, and pieced together the models (though, poorly). I've immersed myself in the world of giant robots, angst-ridden teen pilots, colony drops, and downer endings for quite a while now. I have definite opinions on mechanical designs, plotlines, and alternate continuities. I'd like to think that most of them are well-informed by my experiences in Gundam fandom.

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Bad Dog!

I'm a subscriber to Sirius Satelite Radio. I love satelite radio. Commercial free music with great variety, crisp sound, comedy, sports, radio classics, news, talk. Howard Stern. I wanted satelite radio for years, but got Sirius for Howard Stern. It was the difference between Sirius and XM to me (yeah, Judd, I realize you prefer O&A on XM). So, I'm largely a subscriber because of Howard, and though his show has somewhat waned in quality over the years, he still puts on a good one, and one of the few radio comedy shows I can stick with long term.

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Sometimes, Digg Confuses Me

Throughout the primaries and presidential election of 2008 I was witness to some of the most ignorant speech regarding candidates on Digg. From both sides, Democrat and Conservative. To be fair, some of the most idiotic shit came from the conservatives trying to muster false accusations against Obama. This leads to the fact that Digg is a primarily liberal place, especially with the application of technology and electronic freedom. One thing that should follow alongside that idea is the freedom of speech. The freedom to say anything you like (to some sort of reasonable extent, e.g. shouting fire in a movie theater) regardless of what other people think. Somehow, I think Digg disagrees.

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Things I hate Vol. 00001: Shopping Malls

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It is difficult to comprehend the radical import of Dawn of the Dead without briefly considering the significance and history of its setting — the shopping mall. The dawn of the shopping mall age in the 1960s was met with widespread enthusiasm, and mass hysteria was even reported at several newly-opened malls (Morris 405). In recent decades, mall hysteria may be less common, but the shopping mall remains a cultural fascination in capitalist countries, while in cinema, malls have become a staple location for smart-ass American teen movies, like Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995). It is easy to underestimate, therefore, the relative novelty, in 1978, of Romero's simple but inspired idea of setting Dawn of the Dead in a mall. According to Meaghan Morris, one of the most exciting and attractive aspects of the shopping mall is the contrast between its massive structural stability and the constantly shifting composition of its population (394).

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Third Time's No Charm: The Problem Of Tenchi Muyo OVA 3

(SPOILERS AHEAD, but don't worry, the third OVA is shit, so if its spoiled, it won't matter.)

Anime, you might say, is a passion of mine, and growing up, an OVA by the name of Tenchi Muyo! (or, "No Need For Tenchi!") aired on the little-known Turner cable television channel, Cartoon Network. It was on the now deceased Toonami block, airing in the afternoon/early evening hours. It had been advertized for a while. "Coming soon: Tenchi Muyo! Love stinks." All right, I thought. Looks good. Science fiction, comedy, maybe some romance. I'd seen a little of the first movie, dubbed, on the Sci-Fi Channel's Saturday morning anime block. I was wondering what it was really all about.

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schlocky mom

Now, call me a socialist elitist baby-killing God-hating liberal, if you will, or whatever the Republican voter base is calling anyone with sense these days, but I hardly think that being the governor of Alaska, a state that has people moving for independence from the United States (it's true, look up "Alaskan Indpendence Party") and shooting caribou qualifies you to be a step away from achieving highest political office in the nation. Yes, Barack Obama isn't exactly a long-time political player either, but he's done far more and is far better educated that a self-professed "hockey mom" with radical religious beliefs.

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Red, White, and You

Americans, here's a little heads up for you.

The American flag is a piece of cloth. It means very little. Stop saying, "They fought for the flag", stop praying to it, stop worshipping it, and stop plastering it everywhere. It's only a testament to the American corporate entity mindset.

American flag stickers do not make your car more patriotic. Owning American flags does not make you patriotic. Wearing an American flag pin does not make you patriotic. Having an American flag on your shirt is not patriotic. American flags on socks, keychains, windbreakers, or inked on your skin, are not signs of patriotism. They're a sign that you're owned. You've pasted the American corporate logo on you. You're an enormous retard.

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Fullmetal Alchemist Season 2 Confirmed

Season 2 of Fullmetal Alchemist Is Announced

So, it looks like there'll be a FMA 2 series.

Wait, what? Fullmetal Alchemist is finished! Hell, they finished it twice! Second time, they really, really finished it! Edward and Alphonse are in our world, the gates are destroyed (presumably), WWII is on its way, the homonuculi are all gone, all is resolved. Sure, maybe not to everyone's tastes- I've read a lot of complaints at the direction that the series took in the last half or quarter and the movie being not quite as satisfying as the series. Personally, I like all of it. In fact, it's one of my favorite anime, and I even like it better than the manga on which its based, a rarity.

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Arguing About Giant Robot Cartoons

I must have no life whatsoever. I need a girlfriend, or a job, or something. Because I just spent nearly an hour arguing about what is and what is not canon in Gundam's Universal Century timeline.

The Universal Century timeline, by the way, is the original "universe" in which Gundam takes part in. The original series and its direct sequels (Z, ZZ, CCA, F91, and V) take place here. Also, several side story OVAs (0080, 0083, 08th MS Team, and MS Igloo). Also, there are several video games, side story manga, and novelizations. However, Sunrise has claimed that "if it's filmed, it's canon".