London Third Eye

[Chaos Priest]

And Rainbow Dash is apparently everybody's favorite pony.

Not Miss Twilight? But she's so adorkable!

Actually out of curiosity who's your favorite pony, if you don't mind my asking?

[SailorPtah]

And Rainbow Dash is apparently everybody's favorite pony.

Not Miss Twilight? But she's so adorkable!

Actually out of curiosity who's your favorite pony, if you don't mind my asking?

There were only two Twilight cosplayers that I saw, and one Apple Jack, and nobody else except a ton of Rainbow Dashes ^_^;

I don't know that I have a favorite. (I only watched the first two episodes.)

[Ghostfriendly]

Erin, about the Sunday strip, and the Madoka fans who give others a bad name, was your problem that they didn't like Tuxedo Mask? I barely know anything about Sailor Moon, but I've yet to hear a good word about him; what are his good qualities?

[Xuanwu]

Erin, about the Sunday strip, and the Madoka fans who give others a bad name, was your problem that they didn't like Tuxedo Mask? I barely know anything about Sailor Moon, but I've yet to hear a good word about him; what are his good qualities?

None. Him dying in the fifth season (and thus being absent for most of it) is what made that season the best. Also, no Chibiusa.

The manga version is apparently okay. But the anime version is a jerk and a half who rarely, if ever, demonstrates any actual boyfriend-ness qualities. Definitely not in the "Wow, this is truly the fated couple of millennia!" kind of way. Even when Usagi gets her big reunion kiss with him in ep 200, you're basically left wondering, "Um, why are they a couple again?" This is mainly a fault of the anime's writers, who were somehow able to make alternate pairings for Usagi (Usagi x Haruka in SMS, Usagi x Seiya in Stars) far more plausible than the main pairing they were supposed to be shoving down your throat. At best, it's Attack of the Clones Anakin x Padme. At worst...Bella and Edward. I really wish I was exaggerating here, but it's one of the key faults of the anime version.

Not that it makes me love it any less.

In other news, yay, I'm in Shine again! I guess after Shine is done these con reports will go to BICP?

[FelinaofL2]

I'm afraid the "Most Ironic Costume" has me somewhat confused: who's the character and why's it ironic?

[SailorPtah]

Erin, about the Sunday strip, and the Madoka fans who give others a bad name, was your problem that they didn't like Tuxedo Mask?

My problem is that they think "Tuxedo Mask is the major action hero of the series, while Sailor Moon spends her time getting passively saved by him." Or, more generally, "All previous magical girl series have had girls that needed saving by boys. Never before in the history of anime have there been girls that saved themselves, until Madoka came along."

When anyone who's actually watched mahou shoujo will know that girls saving themselves is the whole point of the genre, and Tuxedo Mask in particular is useless against anything more powerful than a monster-of-the-day (and even then, he's only good for distraction while Sailor Moon is chargin her laser).

I'm afraid the "Most Ironic Costume" has me somewhat confused: who's the character and why's it ironic?

Speed Racer. Look him up and you'll get it ^_^

[FelinaofL2]

I'm afraid the "Most Ironic Costume" has me somewhat confused: who's the character and why's it ironic?

Speed Racer. Look him up and you'll get it ^_^

Ohhh, NOW I see him! Sorry, my laptop really squished the comic, so your pretty sketches are a little harder to view.

So it's Speed Racer cosplaying Paul Newman ala Mel Brooks' Silent Movie! *shot for extremely nerdy reference*

[Tamara_H]

Hello all, a quiet lurker for years, I wanted to actually come out of my shell to discuss the current strip.

First of all, I love Fluttershy more than any of the other ponies, followed closely by Applejack.

Now, with that embarassing information out of the way, I would like to...apologize, I guess, for any and all Homestuck fans who are a little...overzealous? I'm almost embarassed to admit I'm a fan, because I don't want to be shoved into a sterotype. I honestly don't see the attraction to the Trolls. I'm a Midnight Crew/Exiles/Humans person myself. (Yes, in that order.)

Also, I want a Kyubey hat. So much. It's not even funny. I don't even LIKE Kyubey and I want that hat.

[SailorPtah]

I would like to...apologize, I guess, for any and all Homestuck fans who are a little...overzealous? I'm almost embarassed to admit I'm a fan, because I don't want to be shoved into a sterotype.

I haven't actually met any OTT fans, so no worries! And I like the comic plenty myself ^_^

There were a couple of carapace people at the con, which was neat, as well as a few of the humans in various forms. I just was surprised there seemed to be orange horns everywhere I looked.

[Tamara_H]

I would like to...apologize, I guess, for any and all Homestuck fans who are a little...overzealous? I'm almost embarassed to admit I'm a fan, because I don't want to be shoved into a sterotype.

I haven't actually met any OTT fans, so no worries! And I like the comic plenty myself ^_^

There were a couple of carapace people at the con, which was neat, as well as a few of the humans in various forms. I just was surprised there seemed to be orange horns everywhere I looked.

(^{Oh my god Erin responded to me I feel so honored squeeeee!})

Eheh...excuse my fangirling.

Carapace people are so cool! I find their hands fun to draw/study. Yeah the trolls seem to be the most popular characters in the series. I guess I see why, but they just aren't my cup of tea.

[BigKwell]

(reads latest strip)

Well... you MIGHT have a better time when Sakuracon comes around.

Oh... and I liked the joke.

[Xuanwu]

My problem is that they think "Tuxedo Mask is the major action hero of the series, while Sailor Moon spends her time getting passively saved by him." Or, more generally, "All previous magical girl series have had girls that needed saving by boys. Never before in the history of anime have there been girls that saved themselves, until Madoka came along."

When anyone who's actually watched mahou shoujo will know that girls saving themselves is the whole point of the genre, and Tuxedo Mask in particular is useless against anything more powerful than a monster-of-the-day (and even then, he's only good for distraction while Sailor Moon is chargin her laser).

I can understand a lack of familiarity with Sailor Moon due to its age. But they don't really have an excuse for having missed Mai Hime or Pretty Cure, neither of which have the guy saving the day.

[SailorPtah]

I can understand a lack of familiarity with Sailor Moon due to its age.

Bah. Sailor Moon is a classic. People should at least be familiar with the basics.

And if someone wants to cite a series as an example in one of their theories, they should know what they're talking about, no matter how old or obscure that series is.

[flyboy254]

Does it have to be strictly anime?

[yamiangie]

I get the feeling we didn't really need a deconstruction of the magical girl genre. You know we don't need Sailor Moon rerelased here. We need Sailor Moon remade like FMA.
Personally i call Tuxedo Mask the world's worst phantom thief.

[Chaos Priest]

I dunno... I haven't seen Madoka so I can't really comment on how that show does, but there's nothing inherently wrong with deconstructing a genre. Personally I've thought that it would be interesting to see a magical girl story from somebody else's perspective. Like, what the non-human sidekick who gave the magic girl(s) their power does to support them from behind the scenes (gathering intel, acting as a odd sort of babysitter, taking costumes to the dry cleaners or breaking out the needle and thread to try and keep them looking nice). Or how about the story of a mother and/or father who finds out their daughter is a magical girl, and showing what they go through knowing that their little girl is taking on very dangerous responsibilities and they literally can't help her, but at the same time knowing it is important and they shouldn't stop her even if they could. There's plenty of areas one could explore in genre that could make for interesting stories, so why not explore them?

[SailorPtah]

Does it have to be strictly anime?

...does what have to be strictly anime?

Personally I've thought that it would be interesting to see a magical girl story from somebody else's perspective.

Madoka actually does this, at least up until the last few episodes. The main character spends most of the series as the unpowered classmate who admires, and tags along after, the glamorous magical girls. She's like the Wakaba to Mami's Utena. This results in some harrowing sequences in which she's the first one to run across a monster-of-the-day, and tries valiantly to keep it from doing too much damage before one of the superheroes can show up and take it out.

There are also a few significant scenes with Madoka's mother, who doesn't know the magical details but is increasingly aware that something is up with her daughter, and struggles to figure out how (and if) she can help.

[Kazokuhouou]

My problem is that they think "Tuxedo Mask is the major action hero of the series, while Sailor Moon spends her time getting passively saved by him." Or, more generally, "All previous magical girl series have had girls that needed saving by boys. Never before in the history of anime have there been girls that saved themselves, until Madoka came along."

When anyone who's actually watched mahou shoujo will know that girls saving themselves is the whole point of the genre, and Tuxedo Mask in particular is useless against anything more powerful than a monster-of-the-day (and even then, he's only good for distraction while Sailor Moon is chargin her laser).

I can understand a lack of familiarity with Sailor Moon due to its age. But they don't really have an excuse for having missed Mai Hime or Pretty Cure, neither of which have the guy saving the day.

Or Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha! There it's girls saving other girls.

[SailorPtah]

Or Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha! There it's girls saving other girls.

Girls also save the day in Cardcaptor Sakura, in Princess Tutu, in Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, in Fairy Musketeer Akazukin, in Magic Knight Rayearth, in Saint Tail, in Revolutionary Girl Utena, in Tokyo Mew Mew...

I could go on. You don't need to know one particular classic or must-watch series to get the idea; anything in the genre will do.

(Speaking of Tuxedo Mask, I'm working on a list of all the times he gets kidnapped. It's pretty impressive. You'd think after the third or fourth time he would give up the business and move to Norway or something, but no, he has roses to throw and by golly he's going to stick around and throw them if it kills him. Again.)

[Reaver225]

Blarg, Londoner here, riots all over, cleanup happening, where's that continuation of Shine Heaven Now?!

(To be fair, some people who didn't deserve to die perished because of the riots, and a decent number of lives have been ruined. But it could have been much much worse. There could have been vampires, for example.)