Difference Between Original Herlock and Endless Odyssey's Herlock

 

Around 3 years ago I watched a Space Pirate Captain Herlock: Outside Legend - The Endless Odyssey and liked it very much (see review here). I found Herlock to be very likable and relatable.

I wanted to watch the original 1978 version as well but due to various circumstances never came to do it until recently. 

I often complain that sequels are not as good as originals. Some do not live to the high mark of their predecessors, other got completely fucked up and corrupted by a different creative team.

The Herlock made of a curious inversion of this rule. I liked new Herlock a lot more than the original one. 2002 Herlock is strong and silent, very introverted and melancholic character who is wise, capable, makes sound and well thought decisions, saves people loyal to him and then universe as well. Herlock of 1978 is by contrast a contrarian who fights against all that is good and somehow calls it freedom.

I only watched up to episode 7 of the original but so far it does not shape up to be good at all. Differences between it and The Endless Odyssey are subtle but significant.

To begin with ideology and world set up. In The Endless Odyssey it was World Government that was hellbent on ending Herlock and all the pirates. They captured Key and most of Herlock's crew and wanted publicly to execute them as a show of force and to intimidate opponents. Herlock merely fought back to save his and his crew's freedom from government oppression. 

The Endless Odyssey government was motivated by nothing more than desire to oppress and enforce their evil order against people's will. The Endless Odyssey government ruled over dirt poor wasteland and was a total mess. It was space North Korea, the polar opposite of the utopia that government was in the original Herlock.

In the 1978 original it's not the government that opposes Herlock but its Herlock who oppose government instead. In fact, government is almost happy to leave that Herlock alone, but he keeps bothering them all the time. And the reason he opposed government was nothing less than because it's "too weak and relaxed". Herlock and other characters keep complaining how people on Earth are weak and worthless. 

At times the whole 1978 show feels like a cheap advert of "tough times ideology" that is popular with some idiots nowadays. Tough times and toughness do not make anything better, people who believe in benefits of tough times are morons beyond redemption and should all be exterminated.

Thus, when in The Endless Odyssey Herlock called his pirate flag, the Flag of Freedom. It actually meant something. It was a flag of freedom from government jackboots, oppression and poverty.

In 1978 Herlock also calls his flag, the Flag of Freedom but here it does not make any sense at all. What freedom? Herlock does nothing to save Mayu who is being abused because she is his daughter. In fact, he even finds delight in thinking about her suffering. I maybe support BDSM Maledom femsub, but that is not it. Also, no one who deliberately causes suffering to their own children is a decent person. Herlock also puts Daiba in danger and more. He does not fight for freedom; he fights to make people suffer and that is not something I can approve. 1978 Herlock's is not flag of freedom but a flag of suffering. Something neo-Christian cult wants to impose on society.

Speaking of Daiba, in 2002 he is rather unlikable. Overly emotional boor who gets in fights just for the sake of it. I always thought that he is unnecessary character who adds nothing to the story and should not even be in it.

In the original Daiba is not anymore likable but has a much more prominent role. He also looks very much like Herlock himself, as if he is his younger brother or son. This dynamic does not appeal to me at all.

Because of Daiba I was willing to give original Herlock a little more time to develop, thinking that once Daiba ark is over, we will move to the more interesting parts, but as of episode 7 that seems increasingly unlikely.

When it comes to Herlock, then in the 2002 Endless Odyssey he was, a strong and silent Byronic hero type. He was wise, smart, capable and many more. 2002 Herlock travels space, learns secrets of the universe and solves problems for the benefit of himself, his crew and humanity. 

Herlock of 1978 is basically a bully and an asshole who lives by some stupid rules that make no sense and believes that comfort is bad.

Unfortunately, Mayu is a kid in original while she was cute teen girl in 2002 Endless Odyssey. Her episodes in the original are unpleasant to watch.

Opponents are also different. In The Endless Odyssey they were ghosts of the past. Dead scientists who opened some ancient vault, got killed, turned into ghosts and now wander the universe, killing people. They were part of Noo, the ancient fear that destroys civilizations. Herlock eventually defeated these outdated fools. I liked it because I like when young prevail over old. 

In the original the opponents are women who burn like paper, Mazone. They are pretty and very feminine. Sure, story justify fighting them, but that is still a fight against what is good, beautiful and pleasant. Not something I support.

There are few things that are mostly the same. Both Miime and Key are rather feminine and demure, something I like. Unfortunately, we no longer have the black-haired female assistant to older Daiba.

As of episode 7, original 1978 Herlock is on its way to being dropped with rather low score. I will probably watch a few more episodes to make sure my conclusions I outlined here are correct, but so far it does not look promising at all.

Black pants Herlock of The Endless Odyssey maybe a hero but his washed-up jeans predecessor from original is not. Only the black pants Herlock fights for freedom, the washed-up jeans Herlock only fights for suffering. 

Ghost in the Shell - Standalone Complex Review

Overall Rating 6.7 out of 10 - It misses more than half of the time at predicting future but has good plot.

I recommend watching.

A while ago I reviewed the original Ghost in the Shell movie. I pointed out many of its shortcomings compare to other shows about future technology and implications it will have on humanity. 

However, despite other shows doing it better, GitS was first and ended up creating a cult following, others could not muster. There are many sequel movies as well as two full double seasons of episodic series. This is the first season.

To begin with, tech. This show takes original tech of the GitS and further develops on it. That means that there are certain things that as a moment of writing this review are not yet available for humanity. At the same time certain technology that is completely ubiquitous to us is conspicuously absent in this show. For example, one can easily separate the AI that controls the robot from the physical body of the robot. AI can be uploaded, changed, updated very easily with our current tech. Yet in this movie they had to withdraw all the think tanks just because there was issue with their AI. Other things like hacking electronic eyes with no direct contact yet requiring a wire from one artificial body to another to pass information between people. Technology did not age well in this story.

On the other hand, plot is the best part of the show by far. Executives certainly loved that show and splurged on good writing team. Episodes are diverse and creatively written. Diverse cast of both main protagonists as well as episodic characters they are dealing with. There is even an overreaching plot that connects stretches several episodes and concludes closer to the end. Even if ending somewhat disappointed, I will admit I was curious to learn the truth behind Laughing Man when he was first introduced. After rather early introduction, main plot involving him takes a pause to focus on other things only to resurface at rather unexpected moments.

Characters themselves did not really endear me to them. I could hardly point to anyone I particularly liked. I did not especially dislike anyone either, but overall, they are not my type of crew, there is some subconscious rejection of them. They lack ambition and vision to build something better; they merely work humbly for the cause. Not that an agency like Section 9 needs ambitious people but still. Also, they are far too duty bound, overly subservient to superiors and seem completely lack any personal desires or motivations, they live to serve the state. That is probably why I subconsciously dislike Section 9 as this is an organisation that is ignorant and indifferent to people personal wishes and desires. They are not as free spirited or driven by internal sense of justice as Herlock crew or Black Knights from Code Geass. Neither are they try to indulge themselves in whatever pleasures they can like Lagoon Company.

Main protagonists, including Matoko and Batou, are all members of Section 9. It is an elite force of an internal security or secret police type of organisation, that fights complex crime, stops international incidents, investigate corrupt politicians and businessmen and also fights rival government agencies. It has such an inconspicuous name so that not even their colleagues in police and security know what they really do. They take secrecy very seriously there. Most of the individual episodes revolve around one or the other member of the Section flexing hard their mad skills, for the lack of better description.

Episodic antagonists are diverse, and some are rather interesting like that rich guy who surrounded themselves with robotic maids in his mansion and died long before Section 9 got to him. I wish I could live how he lived.

Laughing man himself ended up rather underwhelming. At first, he was introduced as super hacker with some over-the-top super plan for something yet to be unveiled. By the end of the show, it ended up merely about government decision to cover up effectiveness of a vaccine for political reasons and how Laughing Man wanted to expose it all this time; no, seriously.

Also, there are Catcher in the Rye references, so many that it almost wants to make this book central to the character and motivation of Laughing Man and possibly Section 9 as well. I cannot say I hate Holden Clayfield (not sure if surname correct) as some people say, but Catcher in the Rye is certainly not among my favorite books. I think it's overrated.

Overall, it is a diverse and interesting series. I can recommend you watch it at least once, for rather intriguing plot. Resolution does not leave you satisfied but premise does keep you curious and there are cool fights and too. There is also a second double season that I will probably watch at some later date.

School Rumble Review

Overall Rating 6.8 out of 10 - Nice comedy that starts strong but goes astray halfway through.

I still recommend watching at least first dozen episodes.

Recently I watched a number of shows that begin very strong but then somehow lose their touch and become near shit closer to the end. First Toji no Miko, now this. 

First few episodes were complete blast. I would not call them in the mold of Gintama as there is clear difference in tone and feel. However, they were just as funny and enjoyable as best episodes of Gintama. These episodes were centered on Tenma and her hopeless love for Karasuma. Silly and stupid things she did was really fun to watch. I called comedy a royal entertainment and as God-Emperor of the Universe will employ Tenma as court jester or personal maid.

That did not last, however. Gradually focus shifted to Harima. At first, he was just a guy who liked Tenma and did as much silly things for her as she did for Karasuma. Gradually he became a main character of sort. Episodes about him as mixed bag, some are relatively interesting, but others are meh.

The worst however are the episodes that make fun of guys or pit them against each other. Show actually has large and ever-expanding male cast, that leads it into unlikable territory. I would have dropped this show and gave it 30 if the first episode I watched was that camping trip. A few other equally bad.

Overtime even Tenma's role has changed from being a silly girl into being a spoiled one. A very unfortunate devolution. It's like there was not enough manga content for the whole 26 episodes so anime scriptwriters wrote some of their own script that interprets the characters wrongly.

When it comes to girls, the best is obviously early version of Tenma, Yakumo and Ichijou.  

Early Tenma is cute kind of stupid. Most importantly she has a lot of devotion for Karasuma and willing to do a lot for him. She is honest and driven by her love and devotion. She is not playing games or calculating if he is worth is. She is non-judgemental and non-gold-digging. In our modern world the fact that she is too stupid to sue for divorce and get half of your home is clear advantage. Generally, her innocence and stupidity are very appealing.

I do not really need to explain Yakumo as she is the obvious perfect girl. She is quiet, introverted and does not have many friends. She cleans cooks, does other chores, she is solitary and likes cats. What no to like. That said she is somewhat avoidant of most men and that can be a problem. It is good that she does not hangs out with others, but how you make her yours?

Finally, Ichijou is very humble and insecure. She is strong but does not use force against men, which is ok, I guess. Though in real live one cannot have that strength without really fucking up the way body looks. Aside from that her personality is nice, the way I like them.

On the other hand, the other three girls are annoying. Sawachika looks down on Harima but still loves him somehow. The most annoying one. The blue head pushes that blond dude away all the time and has a standoff with the Sawachika over dating field. Both are unpleasant as they look down on men, an unforgivable offence. Finally, Akira does not do much but has the kind of look that will make you avoid her.

There is also Harima's cousin with whom he lives, who is rather annoying too. Then finally that another girl Harima lived with, who later became nurse, she is somewhat better.

Overall, I would still recommend it. First 3-4 episodes are the best. First half is decent. Skip some episodes in second part. 

There is also a double second season (more 26 episodes) and third too (only a few episodes), but in view of the above I do not look forward to watching it. Will probably watch eventually, but when remains to be seen.