Two Persons Who Reshaped the F1 into the Sport, We Know it Today

Lotus and Colin Chapman

It's been a long time since Lotus and its founder, Colin Chapman, raced in F1. Most fans have no idea how much impact they had on the sport, which is a shame. Because it would be an exaggeration to say that without Chapman, F1 would have been about as famous as regional carting races. Here is why...

Back in 50s and 60s F1 was but a gentlemen's pastime. A somewhat well-off people with passion for racing would buy a racing car and enter the sport as a private team. McLaren and Brabham all begun this way and there were many more like them. It was a rule, not an exception. If anything, Ferrari that hired races like modern teams do was an exception. There was no big money, huge R&D departments staffed with countless top of the class engineers, wind tunnels, motorhomes, multimillion deals and such. Just a bunch of enthusiasts with enough money to afford a car and to travel around the globe with it. Some of this spirit still lives in F1, that is why racers who started out in carting like Verstappen and Leclerc still do well in this sport.

The man who changed it all was Colin Chapman, and he did it used tobacco money. Back in the days governments of various countries were cracking down on tobacco advertisement. A multi-billion industry was deprived of conventional ways to promote its products like billboards, TV commercials and such. The law however did not say anything about less conventional ones, like an F1 car for example. Colin Chapman figured this and made a first in sport sponsorship deal to paint his car in Golden Leaf cigarette livery. First race in Silverstone went badly for the deal as authorities insisted he remove the livery as it violated the law. However, F1 is an international event and tobacco advertisement laws vary from country to country, what was a violation in UK was still OK elsewhere back them. What's more the races in these foreign countries would still be broadcasted on British television and British public will stare for 2 hours straight on his "moving billboards", coloured in Golden Leaf livery. Big tobacco companies like Phillip Morris and BAT were willing to pay nearly any money to use this advertisement loophole and Colin Chapman together with other F1 bosses fully exploited this golden opportunity. This influx of easy tobacco money eventually turned F1 into the super expensive event we know today.

However, Colin Chapman was not just a shrewd businessman who wanted to become a richest man in the world. At heart he was an engineer and he used this newly found tobacco fortune to fully indulge his engineering passion. Gone were the days of using of the shelf technology, tobacco money could afford Chapman and other engineers all sorts of rare materials and even rocket technology used in space programs. Rocket fuel, expensive lightweight alloys, complex electronics, computer tech. F1 became the hotbed of all sorts of technological innovations. Chapman himself is most famous for his ground effect cars, but he invented other things too, like a monocoque body and sturts.

Colin Chapman was not the only innovator in the sport; he inspired many other people with passion for engineering to join F1 and use the tobacco money to invent all sorts of advance technologies. Above mentioned Adrian Newey, Paul Bernard, Nick Fry, Patrick Head, Harvey Pothelwhite and many others followed in his footsteps and used the generous tobacco money to innovate and build ever so faster and advance F1 cars that have become almost rocket ships on wheels. Some of these innovations later made their way into road cars as well.

Colin Chapman and his Lotus team are forgotten heroes who had more impact on F1 and even the broader world as we know it than many people realise.

Brabham and Bernie Ecclestone

 [continue later]

Formula One Teams Explained

Mercedes 

Average modern F1 team, a better ran variety. An outfit created by a large corporate entity to promote its products. Everything was thoroughly calculated to guarantee return on investment and profitability. In case of Mercedes no matter how expensive running an F1 team is, the advertisement opportunity and expose it creates pays for itself as Merc will be able to sell enough overpriced AMGs to suckers worldwide to recoup the costs and return profit, no srs.

Everything in Mercedes is well organised and thoroughly calculated to ensure this return on investment. The car practically drives itself. One radio conversation between Hamilton and his race engineer about "the magic button" literary admits it. The car is so well engineered it will literarily win the face for you, one just has to carefully drive it to the finish line without scratching, much less crashing into something. Any crashes give the entire Mercedes corporate board heart attacks, not only cars cost fortune but it's also bad for brand image. They want to associate their brand with security and reliability, and a crashed racing car is anti-thesis of that. 

That is why Mercedes is strictly anti-fun. Two guys fighting hard to overtake each other and win is why fans watch F1, but if they brake their expensive Mercs in process then its bad for business. That is why Toto Wolf fired Rosberg and eliminated one last intrigue the sport had until the rule change in 2022.

Ferrari 

The grand old team that was founded by a guy who "married a v12 engine and never divorced it". If Mercedes car maker created its F1 program to promote its road cars, then Enzo Ferrari is the opposite, it created its entire road car business with its many iconic cars only to finance its racing obsession. 

Everything in Ferrari is the opposite that of Mercedes. Mega revenues from selling Ferrari sportscars allows team to splurge irresponsibly on racing and they do so with complete irresponsibility. Ferrari can afford multiple parallel R&D programs for its engine alone and when they both fail they will just pay for two more. Crashes are Tuesday here. Team will easily forgive you for breaking its multibillion car but it will not forgive you if you do not try winning. Unlike Mercedes, the car is not engineered to just win races for you with its clever electronics but its fast and can allow you to win if you have what it takes. You drive Ferrari like you have a personal grunge against every single kerb on the track from slowing you down on your relentless push for victory. That is why Ferrari will never get rid of Leclerc; he is the epitome Ferrari-man who constantly pushes himself and the car to go tad bit faster. Also, Ferrari cheats like no tommorow because winning is more important than some stupid rules anyway. When caught they repaint their cars in white and blue as a protest and make regulators change their mind. 

Depends on your views on order and fiscal responsibility, Ferrari is either a unmitigated dumpster fire disaster or the only team on the grid with a soul and a passion for racing. Both the team and fans are completely self-aware of it all. Fans call themselves Tiffosi (as in sick with typhus) precisely for that reason. In Ferrari racing is passion and fuck the costs.

Audi 

If you ever wondered if one can be even more soulless, shrewd and calculated than Mercedes then you actually can. Mercedes does splurge on fun every once in a while, Audi strictly does not.

Audi's approach to F1 make even Toto Wolf look like a spendthrift. Merc convinced FIA to switch to engine rules favorable to them only after loosing for some time under previous rules. Audi negotiated engine rules favorable to themselves even before they entered the sport. After years of being McLaren engine suppliers Merc bought a one time miracle of Brawn GP for a unreasonably inflated price. Audi instead bought financially struggling but well run Swiss team for a budget price. To avoid associating its brand with being a backmarker during formative years, Audi run its team as Sauber for the first two years. Unlike Merc that pays for expensive overpriced racers, Audi only recruits those who are proven good but still cheap like Hulk or Bortoletto.

Audi is like Mercedes 2.0 but even more calculated and German. Even two out of three of their livery colours are the same: black and metallic. Though in Merc's case its metallic is aluminum and in Audi's is titanium instead. Audi might just achieve enough brand exposure on its rather small budget, that will make Merc's board envy.

Cadillac 

Cadillac is following in Audi footsteps while making all of the mistakes Audi avoided making. If you ever wondered why people think Americans are stupid, now you know.

To begin with unlike Audi, Cadillac races its 'John Deere years' as their own brand, potentially coping scalding videos from internet pundits in near future. Also unlike Audi Cadillac picked overhyped underperforming racers. Cheko was fast a half decade ago but he is now past his prime and too old to get back to its peak form. That is why Red Bull fired him. Meanwhile Bottas was never good and was only in Mercedes so that he does not compete with Hamilton like Rosberg and accidently break both cars.

Overall, it looks like Cadillac has no idea what it's doing and on its way to HRT, Spyker or Marussia level disaster. Then again, it's a new team so they might eventually learn things and start making smart moves like Lawrence Stroll in Aston Martin. 

However there is also American saying that 'there is no such thing as bad PR'. That is different from what Germans in Mercedes and Audi is thinking but may be Americans are right after all. In few years' time we can compare how much more Cadillac road cars have increased compare to that of Audi and be able to tell the winner of that philosophy of marketing debate. 

McLaren 

The Official British Team. It was founded by a Kiwi (New Zealandian) of Scottish origins and currently owned by Bahraini oil sheikhs. You cannot get any more British than that. What can be more British than taking something a Scot has created, giving a British iconic identity and looks, milking it dry and when its no longer performing sell it for a lot of money to someone found of British things like an oil sheikh or Roman Abramovich. The epitome of Britishness.

To paraphrase Abba, McLaren done it all and now is back to get some more. Its not as old as Ferrari but possibly had more impact on F1's history than the prancing horse. It was founded by Bruce McLaren as a personal racing entry during garage enthusiasts era when such teams were commonplace. Later in tobacco money era it was bought by Ron Dennis and with money from Phillip Morris made into one of the big winners. Some of the most famous F1 racers like Senna and Prost won in McLaren while wearing iconic Marlboro livery. When Marlboro got tired of Macs and switched to Ferrari, Ron Dennis found new suckers, I mean partners, in Mercedes, ushering equally iconic McLaren-Mercedes era with a different by equally iconic black and silver livery. When Mercedes got tired of Dennis and went on to create their own team (see above) McLaren went through some soul searching and eventually sold out to Bahrainis to continue racing in yet another iconic historical Papaya livery.

Aside from that McLaren had one and only two seater F1 car that they used to drive guests around the track in a one in a lifetime experience no other team cared to imitate. Also to capitalize on their F1 fame, McLaren once had a like of sport cars that looked like Lambo. 

McLaren embodies both the highs and lows of F1. It was implicated in worst scandals and got its partners disillusioned with their conduct, but they also produced F1's most iconic rivalry between Senna and Prost as well as its most iconic liveries second only to Lotus John Player's Special. If one team summarises F1 in itself, its probably them.

Williams

The Underdog British Team. A team that was run a a very stubborn man in a wheelchair who just refused to give up and quit already.

Frank Williams original F1 entry was shut down by his partner, named Wolf (not Toto Wolf yet), who got disillusioned after few years of failure. Frank went on to create another team to continue racing. When tobacco makers quit F1 and other private owners like Frank sold their teams, understanding that without tobacco money they will not be able to make it work, Frank stayed. When he got too old to run a team, he got his daughter to run it for him. When he finally run out of ideas and was forced to sell to another Wolf, Toto Wolf this time, he died in less than year afterwards. I guess one cannot escape fate, but can still delay it for more than 40 years. Frank Williams out of F1 is like fish out of water.

Aside from usual struggle, Williams had a successful period when they dominated the F1. In 80s and especially early-mid 90s they had a lucky break from using then still new and untested computer technology to get an edge other teams could not even dream of. FW15C is often called the best F1 car out there and its livery became iconic despite being just a mix of different sponsors logos on different background because they each wanted to stand out from each other. See HP on Ferrari to get the idea.

Aside from stubborn refusal to quit, Williams is one of the most frugal and cynical teams out there. Most of the time livery was white background with logos of all the sponsors Frank could find and sign, other times it was an eclectic mix of different sponsor's colours. Frank is probably the only team boss who kicked out reigning world champion right after he secured the crown just because he knew that with his technology he could win with a cheaper racer at the helm.

Williams has fewer and less visible fans than either Ferrari or McLaren, but they are often the most dedicated and rich ones and some of them have money to actually salvage the team.

Nowadays team is owned by officially undisclosed entity, but likely by Toto Wolf, and used as Mercedes second team, kind of like VCARB for Red Bull.

Red Bull 

Red Bull is a Mercedes that pretends it's a Ferrari. Underneath the wild identity that extols speed and extremes there are calculated corporate machine that made Red Bull energy drink the global success and inspired many energy drink competitors.

Unlike Mercedes who promotes cars, Red Bull promotes an energy drink. That means the Bulls do not need to care for associating their brand with safety, reliability and respect. Far from it, Red Bull's corporate identity is build on extoling sport and extremes in order to associate their energy drink with these things. Because of that an F1 was a suitable place to promote the product. F1 has speed, glamour, money and what not. Dietrich Mateschitz figured people will pay big money to drink it from a can and they did. Despite all the expenses on F1 and many other sport teams the Red Bull owns, the company makes record profits. Many wish they were as fast as Verstappen. A more savvy ones wish they had as much business savvy as Mateschitz.

Due to different corporate identity Red Bull can benefit from more aggressive racing and conduct of its racers and personnel. Even various scandals could be just another PR opportunity rather than a blemish on brand reputation. Thanks to that Red Bull races aggressively like Ferrari and Max Verstappen has more in common with Leclerc than with Hamilton. One can call it a golden middle ground between too sober and boring Mercedes and too much passion for their own good Ferrari.

Red Bull was not the first corporate entity that ran an F1 team to promote its brand but arguably first that actually succeeded. That led towards other corporate entries like Mercedes, Audi, Cadillac that by now dominate the sport in this current works corporate teams.

Alpine 

Alpine is a Ferrari that pretends its Mercedes. It pioneered the idea of using F1 to promote their car brand. It failed because its unreliable and Renault does not make any sport cars that can benefit from such promotion.

Until settling on name Alpine, the team had many names but its begun as Renault back in early 70s when after being ridiculed for designing "a pear car", Renault decided to prove that they are not -a beholder- a joke and can make fast and cool cars. Back then their cars featured innovative and theoretically fast turbocharged engine. The cars were fast but unreliable and F1 insiders nicknamed them "yellow teapots" because of the iconic white smoke that they emit when their engine overheats too much and dies.

Unable to take ridicule, Renault quit but not really quit: renamed the team, sold to affiliated businessmen to look after it and keep foot in the door and went back to drawing board. Ever since Renault altering between returns and quitting again. They won a few times too, half of that time as Benetton with legendary Schumacher as their racer. And every time under leadership of a man as scandalous as Jeffrey Epstein, Flavio Briatore, as its team boss. He runs the team even today.

Unlike Mercedes, Alpine does not have a cohesive strategy to even run a team, much less win. Both their engines and other engineering innovations are hit and miss. Other teams like Red Bull and Williams make a much better use of their engines then they themselves are and win when works team flounders. Unlit a while ago, Renault did not even had a sport car brand they could use their F1 entity to promote, that was rectified only 50s years after their initial entry into F1 with creation of Alpine. 

Alpine acts corporate like they have a plan, but they really are in it because they want to beat those pesky Italians, Brits and Germans and show them that French are strong and fast and not "frog eating surrender monkeys" Americans call them. The results do speak for themselves I guess. Sacre Bleu. 

VCARB

Red Bull second team. Most Red Bull racers begin here and have to prove themselves in this team to be promoted into the main team. Occasionally racers also get demoted to here from the main team. It has a different name and livery from the main team but, the same Red Bull brand logo is inscribed on both of them, and they promote the same energy drink brand.

By now Red Bull completely gave up pretending its a separate team. Both main and second team share the same motorhome, offices of management and other personnel are in the same place, their racers hand out together and live next to each other. VCARB exist so that Red Bull can have 4 racers instead of 2 and double the number of engineers and the financial cap as legally they still count as separate teams. The only reason Ferrari and Mercedes are not protesting this is because they also doing the same thing, but more discreetly (see Williams and Haas).

After running for some time as Toro Rosso and then Alpha Tauri, the team settled for a VCARB generic name. Visa Cash App Racing Bulls. That way Red Bull can still promote their energy drink brand while also giving some advertisement space to Visa for its Cash App, because money.  

Haas

Haas is Ferrari's second team. The same thing as VCARB is for Red Bull, see above. Originally it was an attempt to bring an American team to the sport. To cut corners they used Ferrari equipment, tethering the future team to the grand old team. 

Early on Haas was led by 'charismatic' Gunter Steiner mostly because IndyCar teams are famous for their charismatic leaders/owners. In F1 however it charisma alone does not win anything aside from fans. Eventually after Ferrari's original second team Sauber/Alfa Romeo went on to become Audi, Ferrari needed a replacement and double down on investing into Haas. By now Haas is run by a 'former' Ferrari engineer and employs half of Ferrari engineering personnel in at attempt to double effective cost cap by distributing development between two technically independent teams. Toto Wolf is not protesting because he is doing it too, but more discreetly (see Williams). 

Unlike VCARB Haas still has its own motorhomes, even if ex-Ferrari ones painted white, red and black. So far cars do not feature Corsa Rossa or Prancing Horse. I would bet that Ferrari will retain American look and feel of the team.

Aston Martin

Aston begun as a pet peeve or Lawrence Stroll to give his talentless butt of many F1 jokes son a ride in F1. Then, one sunny afternoon, everything changed.

At first Aston did not amount to much. The only exception was when, while still Racing Point (old name), it copied Mercedes once and got 3rd in constructors cup, was fined for infringement and told not to do so again. For a while it looked like Aston would remain just another midfield Mercedes client run by a clueless rich guy. 

Then suddenly everything changed. Adrian Newey announced leaving Red Bull for Aston and Honda announced they will make an engine for it. Yes, the very same Newey that build championship winning cars for Williams, then McLaren and finally Red Bull. He brought success everywhere he went and now he is at Aston, without him Red Bull is already falling apart, just like two other teams he left before. To top it up Aston stopped being a client of Mercedes and became a works team with an engine maker that powered championship winning McLarens of Senna and Prost and recently Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Suddenly Lawrence Stroll showed that he may be a slow learner, but he learns and then makes killer moves. Newey and Honda are a bid for winning championships, not just being a midfielder. 

Early results of Aston partnership with Newey and Honda leave to be desired, but such a big change would always require some time to get used to working together, so it's too early to judge from few early races.

Aston Martin is a racing bulldozer that, while slow, might one day crush all its opponents together with the all the intrigue and even the sport itself under the sheer weight of its financial tracks. One day Lawrence Stroll might just hire everyone worthwhile in F1 to work for Aston, completely gutting out all other teams. If Aston will ever become champion, we will know that speed, racing prove-ness, engineering genius, strategy, tactics, fame, renown, charisma and even Bahraini oil money are completely powerless in face of overwhelming might of even more Saudi oil money. That will be like an end of the world, Ragnarök of F1, as the sport will die that day.

On Game and Media Design Principles

In my previous article about DearS anime, I mentioned a difference between desirability of subject of an animation and a quality of animation. These are not one and the same. There can be a very high quality picture that depicts something subjectively undesirable, like for example a pile of turd. On the other hand there could be the opposite too, a very poor quality picture that depicts something desirable, for example cake. My and other people's biggest issue with modern media is the former problem, they depict the subjects, I find unlikable and unpleasant.

I mentioned this in my articles about World of Warcraft and Heroes of Might and Magic. In case of both of these games I am not alone. Majority of players prefer older 3rd HoMM and Pre-Cata WoW to more modern versions. Sometimes people cite various reasons, like charm of old 2d pictures over the modern 3d models, fondness for disfigured low-poly models or even plain old nostalgia for these player's sentiments. None of these however hit the mark. Problem is not in these things but in the simple fact that subject of the picture does not appeal to public. No matter how much you improve the picture of a turd from HD to UHD and then to 4k and 8k, it will not make it any more likeable. The reason for that is not that public dislikes 8k and prefer good old 320x240, but in the fact that public does not like looking at turd.

Some might argue here that newer versions of the games feature all the same characters, fractions and so on. Its not like the subject have changed. That is far from truth. As games evolve, the way they depict their characters changes too. New design or redesign may not hold the same appeal as the original one. One may say its the same archer or centaur or some famous hero but that misses important small details that make characters what they are. Various features that became associated with the character could be altered and discarded by new art director or designer. Sometimes a simple facial expression change can ruin public perception of a character. Replace an iconic grin or scowl with a "friendly" smile or neutral expression and people no longer like the character. 

Heroes of Might and Magic particularly suffer from this problem. In my article about the game I argued how 3rd game version of towns and creatures particularly appeal to players and why sequels changed to much less likable designs. Its small things like colour of centaurs and shape of their lances, but they do make or break the game. Centaurs in 3rd look like Remy Martin logo, in 4th like a donkey with human face.

There is also an issue of different tastes. No one will argue that turd is not appealing and few will have any issues with cake. However replace these things with say broccoli and beer and you will see public much more divided. Some will argue for broccoli, saying its healthy and should be included, other will feel repealed as broccoli does not taste too good. On the other hand beer will repeal most of the broccoli fans who will argue that alcohol is bad, meanwhile the opponents of broccoli will be a lot more entices with booze. There will also be those who like and hate both in equal or different measures.

World of Warcraft suffers from this problem a lot. Many of the changes and new characters are disliked by old fans. Blizzard went to far into broccoli direction and as a result many fans would rather have their old slightly spoiled, but still sweet cake of the Classic than a new and healthy but bitter and unpleasant broccoli of retail.

However how one can design games that will appeal to more people. What characters, stories and designs capture people's imagination and make them return to them over and over again? What instead make them feel they should be doing something else instead? It is a complex question. Often it was solved not through any knowledge or method but through simple trial and error. However through years of trial and error we now do have knowledge of what works and what does not, there are TV tropes, stereotype like dandere or tsundere and more. One can also trial new ideas in subtle way to see if public is interested or not. A small cameo appearance and a survey of public opinion can tell if people are interested or not. Finally one can employ knowledgeable people like myself to direct the game in the right direction and make sure it depict subjects that people do want to see on screen.

For a long time, the industry has chased the quality of execution while ignoring subjective appeal of the subject. Quality is easy to measure in tangible numbers, like number of polygons or scale of resolution. It is something one can clearly see improving. Subjective appeal of subject is more difficult as one cannot measure it in a simple way. Nonetheless public's outrage over the subject of the matter clearly shows that public is not happy with the subjective appeal of the games. A solution to this problem is needed to keep public interested in the games, movies, anime and other media. Experts such as I can help in this matter and win back the players.

Reflections on DearS Anime

Recently I rewatched DearS again. Back in the days I gave it a rather emotional review. It was alright but it missed on the reasons why Ren is such a good girl. The reason is simple she does care about her master happiness and willing to do anything he tells her to. Nothing more, nothing less. 

While Ren not always gets things right, but she at least tries to, her motivation is on point. She understands the core principles better than other characters.

Compare to her Neneko or Miu for example too much care about broader society. About their and Takeya's obligations to the people around them, to school, to parents, to the community, to whatever. Their commitment to these things essentially makes them act like a ward or a jailer to Takeya. Even if they love or like Takeya, they serve not him but someone else. 

Ren is not like that, she can ignore everyone else for Takeya's sake, a quality very much needed in our modern world. Modern society is full of people who try to tell how one should act. Parents, school, celebrities all seek to control you in one way or another. They say it's for your benefit but it's only a lie. In reality they do not do it for your benefit, but for their own. I frequently white about this issue, just recently I wrote another article about that. In a world like that it's very important that a woman could ignore the noise coming from others and focus on one guy she actually cares for. 

Despite her flaws, or more of because of them, Ren can do just that, ignore everyone and focus on Takeya and his wishes. Miu and Neneko alas could not do the same as they are too concerned what other and community will think of them.

In fact, the show also explores the issue of social rules and how they either shape or clash with personal needs. Guys like to watch porn but its social taboo so they could not discuss it openly. Men do not openly call their women slaves and so on. 

In fact, Takeya himself is divided between his own desires and social expectations, he is bewildered by things people tell him and pushes back but at the same time he cannot just openly ignore school social norms or work. Neither he could call himself a master and order Ren around because that is not how relationships work in society. It the past I was like that too. As I grew older, I could better embrace my own desires while ignoring social conditioning. Nowadays I do not listen to feminists or society and demand female submission to my orders, wishes and desires.

Society suffocates individuality and individual needs for the sake of conformity to rules and "collective objectives". These collective objectives end up being nothing more than whims of those in charge, no matter how much they disguise it as "common benefit". Both human and DearS societies struggle with this issue, a be it in different ways. That gives all the more reasons to fight for one's interests and resist social pressure.

I wish DearS get a remaster one day, something that will make it look cute and shiny. Alas it shows that brainwash people into bending over for society and endure suffering that gets huge budgets for crisp animations and visuals. Through such shows masters in charge of society instruct their slaves on how they want them to behave. Human civilization is not yet advance enough to genetically engineer themselves their own DearS, so they resort to brainwashing instead. Well, actually technology to genetically engineer DearS is actually there, it's just those in charge lack creativity and outside of the box thinking to use it this way. 

Sometime in future we will engineer ourselves our own DearS who will be the ideal lovers we always dreamed off. In the meantime we will have to make do with porn and shows such as DearS that do not preach moral from above but instead cater to wishes and desires of people who watch it rather than those who paid for it. Yes, art and animation are bad, but at least they animate what I want and enjoy seeing, not what some 50–60-year-old want younger people to be.

Why Arthas, Illidan and other Early Expansions Characters of Warcraft Universe are so Compelling

 

In my previous articles about WoW, I mentioned that the key reason why players like early expansions more than those that came after Cataclysm is because they have better story and characters. I decided to elaborate on why characters are particularly so likable.

Arthas and Illidan are some of the most archetypical Millennials out there, they are us and their stories are basically stories of our lives pretty much to the dot.

Arthas

To begin with Arthas. At the beginning of his story, he is a paladin under tutelage of Uther. Uther teaches Arthas not so much how to fight but mostly values of paladin order and expects Arthas to uphold these values. Back then Arthas listed and did as he was told.

That is just like how many boomers spend so much of their time trying to pass their values and principles. They did not teach us how to fight, how to win, how to advance, but how to be a "good person" and doing "right thing". At first, we Millennials also listened and tried to live the "good person" live.

Then came Strathholme. A situation when doing a good thing, just as Uther have taught him, would mean certain defeat and death. Arthas has a choice between what is most practical and what Uther has taught him. Arthas chooses the former, Uther protests, insisting on his "values". Arthas dismisses him, Uther threatens to inform the King as he leaves, Jaina leaves with him.

Sooner or later in our lives, we Millennials too came to the point or realisation where boomer values, our parents have taught us, clearly did not work. A situation where following values would clearly be detrimental to us. Most of us did just like Arthas did and choose what was practical over what our parents have taught us. For some it resulted in a spat with parents or even complete break up of relationships. Some likely lost girlfriends over this too.

After Strathholme Arthas continued on with his mission as he saw it. He still believed in protecting the Kingdom and its people, just in doing it his way. As he went on, he encountered more and more impediments from Uther and people around him. He worked his way around them, gradually becoming more and more ruthless in process.

That was the same for many Millennials, for the time after early disillusionment we still somewhat partially believed in what our parents told us. We thought of finding out way in the world only to face more and more obstacles. We tried to do good but did not received any rewards for our efforts, only more impediments.

Ultimately Arthas won over Mal'Ganis, fulfilling his mission of protecting his kingdom, but by that time he was thoroughly disillusioned with the Kingdom, Uther, paladins and their values. He wandered around in search for answers to his questions and ultimately found them in complete rejection of everything his Kingdom and his mentors have stood for. He gave up on being a paladin and join his former enemy, The Scourge as Death Knight.

After achieving our objectives in life like education (for most Millennials it was education), but not receiving any rewards we were promised, we could not help but wonder if what we did was worth it, why we did nor received the rewards we were promised, we wanted answers. Most of us found these answers in completely rejecting everything our parents have taught us. Life as we experienced it proven our parents and their values to be wrong and it would be stupid to cling to these erroneous values boomers still preach even today. Just like Arthas we rejected these values in favour of something completely or nearly completely opposite. NGTOW, Alt-right, new right, MAGA and such are all movement of disillusioned Millennials who found answer to their problems in being the opposite of what their parents used to be.

Ultimately Arthtas returned back only to kill his father the King, his mentor Uther, destroy paladin order and let Scourge take over the Kingdom.

We too are back and with vengeance. We too seek to destroy all the things that have betrayed us: cultural leftism, feminism, age-care, boomers are among many targets we see in our crosshairs. Just like Arthas we will prevails. Degenerate boomer kingdom shall fall and from its ashes shall arise a new order that will shake the very foundation of the world.

Even later developments somewhat mirror the WoW. For example, extreme woke leftism is just like Scarlet Crusade in WoW. Lefty boomers lost their minds and sold out to Kremlin and Chinese in order to fight against Alt-Right, just like Scarlet Crusade is controlled by Demons of the Burning Legion. Woke, just like Scarlet Crusade is doomed to madness and gradual self-destruction as they are too extreme for any sane person.

Illidan

Another type is the guy who desperately chases after a girl who chose someone else, the Illidan type. Not me but I used to know a guy just like that, he nearly always talked about that girl we were really into. They try all sort of weird things to get her, sometimes goring really great length in attempt to win her over somehow. That mirrors Illidan's long and twisty path where he fought for and against various different people and organisation.

Just like for Illidan, the unrequited love, Illidan types of nurture, will never be answered, no matter the efforts they will put into that. Nonetheless some of them will go great length for her. More prosaic of this type ended up becoming gym junkies, but there are few who really go far beyond gym.

It is always one particular girl that somehow impressed the Illidan type, that they end up chasing her, completely ignoring all other women. 

The rest of Illidan's crew also has its parallels. There are unattractive but shrewd and helpful women like Lady Vashj, not too many of them though. Kael'Thas and Akama types can also be found. Unlike Arthas type, the Illidan types, despite looking like a loner type, are more willing to seek company and sometimes build a small circle of friends.

Unlike Arthas type that is more focused on goal, the Illidan type is more flexible and likely to have many diverse experiences.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock Review

Overall Rating 5.0 out of 10 - Origin story of everything that is wrong with society.

It is useful if not enjoyable to watch.

After watching a few episodes of original Harlock from 70s, I wrote a lengthy article on why I think this show is much worse than its more modern sequel. I even considered dropping it but sticked around. Space was cool, future tech was awesome and Mazone pretty. Thanks to these facts, middle episodes went well.

Closer to the end however show reminded me of why I hated its beginning. Its preachy. Not only its preachy, but it also preaches all the wrong things. Show looks down on futuristic idyllic technogenic civilizations and calls it weak. Instead, it advocates hardship misery and backwardness. Yes, in the end Mazone destroyed the civilization, but Harlock and his crew wholeheartedly approved of the rubble, the earth has become. Technogenic utopia was turned into a slum with makeshift shacks and most of Arcadia crew cheered. They made plans to not rebuild but to continue living like that.

After finishing that last episode and looking back at the whole show, I finally noticed that the whole narrative was leading to this ugly disastrous conclusion. From that planet where a scientist has abandoned science to live like a prehistoric person, while also condemning his children to that fate, to constant bitcing about Earth people being lazy, to how Harlock treats Mayu, to even backstories of each individual crew members. This show consistently tries to sell you the idea that good things are bad and bad things are good. Every pretty woman is a Mazone. 

In this show government and people that enjoy comfort, modernity and other reasonable things are portrayed as weak and useless, meanwhile Harlock that makes all the wrong decisions in pretty much every instance wins in the end. World does not work this way. People, who think it does are dangerous retards the world is better off without. 

Bad decisions will only make you weaker and might even leave you scarred and crippled for life. Only good life, food and creature comforts can keep one strong and healthy Thinking otherwise is a dangerous delusion that unfortunately shared by so many old people in modern society. Its logic like that that destroyed prosperity we enjoyed before Financial Crisis of 2008 and continues to plague this world to this day. This show only further proves that the crisis was not just an unfortunate incident but a deliberate sabotage of society by insane hippy flowers for brains boomers who thought of taking society back to monke. 

All the values washed-up pants Harlock and his crew espouse are wrong and evil. If you think about it, you can clearly see parallels between them and what various Christian and Woke idiots preach on X and reddit. All this whining about more children while completely ignoring every single other problem is like entire Harlock team stopped their war just to see a single woman giving birth. "Life is precious until its born and matures, then it's just a cannon fodder."

If you look at Mayu you can clearly see the rest of washed-up pants Harlock pipeline, children are subjected to completely preventable suffering, hardship and danger. Every time Mayu is kidnapped Harlock risks his life to safe her only to then leave here where she will be abused and mistreated and be vulnerable to another abduction. It's a sign of insanity if a person repeats the same action over and over again, expecting different results. After second kidnapping Mayu herself figured to not go back, but Harlock forced her. How completely retarded, dumber than 4 years old girl or whatever her age is.

I can put effort into listing other things I disagree with washed-up pants Harlock and his crew, but I do not feel like I have to. Every single thing they believe in or do is wrong. They did not a single thing right. One important thing is that they are all simps who let women control them with their little finger, disgusting. They are example of how not to treat women.

It almost a wonder why I liked a modern iteration of Harlock. However, the reason is simple. If you just take Harlock and his charisma, strip him of absolutely every value, idea and principle his washed-up pants iteration advocated in the original, then you can get a decent show. Harlock has charisma, women are demure, Miime is cute and plays harp, it's wonderful. It's the kind of Harlock we need, the black pants Harlock.

Writing my blog and arguing with idiots online, made me think that I am a sort of new Harlock, or anti-Harlock. Someone who fights against the world disciples of the washed-up pants Harlock has created. Its tiring and at times I just want to die, but I do not feel like I can just give up and accept the crap the world has become thanks to those washed-up pants Harlock's ideas. I will fight until I either make world into a leisure and pleasure technogenic utopia it was in the beginning of the original Harlock or die trying. Boomer's back to monke austerity world has no future.

So let us raise a true flag of freedom and fight for the cause that is worthy of it. I wonder if an inverted colour Jolly Roger will make for appropriate symbol: actual flag of freedom:

Ghost in the Shell - Standalone Complex - 2nd Gig Review - Extended

Overall Rating - 6.1 out of 10 - Enjoyable only for fans of Section 9 and more flawed than 1st season 

I recommend watching once

I cannot say I enjoyed watching the 2nd Gig, but I managed to get some answers for a few questions that left unanswered from the original. For example, why I did not like Section 9 or its members. By the end of first season, I could not really pin down, what it is about them that did not sit well with me. In second it became clear what is wrong with them. 

I generally do not like self-righteous people who put some sort of moral or ethics above all else, willing to both die or kill for that. Religious zealots, fanatical ideologists are few examples of such people. Section 9 is also like that. At first glance people like that are all nice and willing to help. However, all that flies out of the window if they start seeing you as someone who does not meet their ethical standards. Suddenly they become ruthless enforcers of moral standards, a moral police.

Signs that Section 9 was like that were already showing in the first season, but it really became apparent only in the second one. From small incidents like Togusa shooting some rapist many more times than needed to the very main plot storyline. Gohda is not the nicest guy out there and his plans are more of a danger than anything else. However, Section 9 opposes him not because of that, but simply because they do not like him. They will smuggle a nuke into a rebel area, fight fellow security personnel from different units and put country and a lot of people in danger just to beat Gohda. Interservice rivalry gone rampart. 

In 22nd something episode Batou wasted nearly entire episode picking at Gohda alleged moral and character flaws. That is ad hominem - a logical fallacy. I hate people picking at morals, being immoral is not a crime and it must not be treated as such.

If after first season I thought Section 9 guys might be suitable for security work, now I seriously doubt that. I would not want to be shot by emotionally triggered people who will decide to shoot me because they do not like my outfit or facial expression or such.

Other characters are like that too; they are all deeply emotional willing to die for their believes or for someone they admire. Togusa went hard on rapist because of his emotions, Makoto helped some crooky kid because she kind of sympathised with him. I might have been more positive if I liked the kid, but I just did not. Kuze sided with refugees because he sympathised with them and they are all willing to die for him and the cause because they are at ave of him for some reason. Even Rangers from Section 4 just dropped their mission the moment they saw that Batou was once one of them. People here seriously lack common sense. They all function on woman's logic or something. 

Plot also took a turn to the worse. Compare to first part it overengineered (or overwritten) to the point of pointlessness. If original managed to pull reasonable enough plot twists that more or less managed to make sense, then 2nd fails in sense department. Why would Kuze need to blow up refugees in order to upload their ghosts to net and turn them into fully bodyless beings. He could just find enough volunteers among general population. That will make Laughing Man stop laughing. 

Overall 2nd gig smells of rather thick anti-American, anti-liberal ideology, something first managed to avoid somehow. I already wrote why Kuze and his refugees are not compelling rebels compare to say Lelouch. Lelouch fought against real oppression, Kuze's refugees are all about struggle for struggle's sake, Bookchinistas. Alas Section 9 is sympathetic to them, or to that ugly Prime Minister woman who is Aramaki's type. 

After all, it's not wrong to live well, it's wrong to not share this wealth with me.

Also, the whole, mental virus thing that infects brains and turns people into revolutionaries. That is so left wing to think one can simply reprogram humans to act like one desire. This abnegation of human will is jarring. People are not robots and have free will, they do as they see fit, not as you tell them to.

Other than that, there is not enough action and exploding helicopters to keep you entertained, they ration helicopters like bread in blockaded Leningrad. 

Overall, there is probably certain value in watching this at least once. One can get ideas about using interservice rivalry to destroy countries from within and maybe even to use emotions against people. Not that you need this show to tell you these things, you can figure them on their own. That said, its rather unpleasant show.

Rebels in Ghost in the Shell Compared to Code Geass

 

I am currently close to completing GitS SAC 2nd Gig. In that show a major antagonist is a sort of "charismatic" revolutionary who wants to liberate refugees. A first I thought they were simply opposed to their government accommodating any refugees at all and want them all forcefully expelled, but later it turned out they wanted to "liberate" refugees by destroying things that support them and starving them all, I guess. 

Somehow GitS fails when it comes to writing compelling rebels. Both rebel plans and actions seem contradictory to me. Rebels in GitS fully ideological and emotional while at the same time completely illogical and irrational: all wiling to die for a cause, even killing themselves on camera to make a statement. 

The only place that resembles it IRL is Palestine, there too rebels fight for a cause that is completely against their best interests. Hamas cannot provide them with anything other than misery and death, yet they still support it, human stupidity is infinite, I guess.

Also in Palestine, just like in GitS, government insiders are the real puppet masters behind the regime. Hamas is a puppet of Iranian regime, who, along with Russia and China are puppets of American neo-Puritans who fight American neo-Chevaliers who support Israel instead. To quote Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain: "With so many puppets, can you find the true player?" 

In fact, the entire world is a but a battleground of a fight between the abovementioned American fractions. 

Neo-Puritans originate from American New England; they hate America and want to re-create puritan like living conditions of early Massachusetts Bay Colony. They created Ayatollah's regime in Iran, they took over early Soviet government from within and turned it into puritan dictatorship under Stalin, purging all diverging Bolsheviks like Bukharin and Trotsky. They also control China, Cuba and most other communist states. Since puritanism is unappealing, they became apt at disguising their ideology and true objectives as something more palatable to fool people into supporting it. They are being Woke movement as well as modern Bookchin Socialism that combines disadvantages of Socialism and Capitalism in one godawful ugly ideology. I once wrote a separate article about them, and some more.

Neo-Chevaliers originate from early American southern colonies and descend from second sons of British nobility. They control the US military and oppose Neo-Puritans for reasons of Neo-Puritans being complete nutcases. Being rather brash, selfish and unlikable, they create themselves more enemies than they need to. Something sly Neo-Puritans use to create themselves unwitting allies, who do not fully understand just who they are siding with?

World is caught in a secret struggle between these two, like in a fight between assassins and templars in late Assassin's Creed games, with only European Union could possibly hold them both at certain distance from itself.

Back to the original topic: why Black Knights and Zero are compelling rebels that make sense and Kuzo and his refugees are not.

To begin with Code Geass. HBE functions as a sort of 3 class society. On top of the pecking order are native Britannians, followed by Honoured Britannian and the then the Numbers. Britannians are the privileged class for whom state cares. Honoured Britannians are these to serve the native Britannians and are clearly treated as second class citizens by the latter, like during that incident with hod dog vendor or with camera students in ghetto. Finally, Numbers are seen as completely worthless and undeserving. That is the official policy of the empire, not a sort of private discrimination. Unless you are born native Britannian, your life is a complete shit.

One can see an example of that in Japan itself, Zero points to that in conversation with Oghi and his crew on a train, but more scenes here and there show the same picture. After HBE conquered it, they build there 22 century futuristic cities, but these cities were for native Britannians who came from the mainland only. Locals were left behind in crumbling and dilapidated remnants of what was built under native Japanese government, as HBE does not want to spend a single penny on the Numbers. Nunnally once tried to do that as Viceroy, but the rest of the government was against it. Vae Victus - Woe to the vanquished.

If that sounds somewhat far-fetched and removed from reality, then here is video of a Korean guy who explains how that functions in very real contemporary North Korea. The difference is that they are doing it to their own people and no to the conquered foreigners. I can pretty much say it's the same in modern Russia, as someone who was purged from Russian upper class after Putin took over from Yeltsin, I know what I am talking about. The only difference is that in Russia the classes are disguised better so lower classes do not envy the upper class. One cannot envy them if one does not know what they really have. The privileged elites have everything, while common Russians are told country is poor because Americans steal all the money. As much as Western developed countries like to present themselves as different, it increasingly becomes the same here as well. Hell even on Titanic there were the same three classes. Indians like to spice it up more with 4 castes plus an outcast, a 5 in total.

Thus, rebels who fight against HBE rule fight not because they believe in some lofty cause or ideal and willing to die for it, or even because they are war-like people. They just do not like being in the underclass and want to change the system, that keeps them down or change their class. Tamaki even honestly put it that he wants to be a government official: essentially someone with a good status, fat paycheck, job perks and cozy not too hard work. It's the fact that the system will not give such an upper-class work for someone from a lower class like Tamaki is the reason for him to fight against the system. Others do not say it, but they likely have similar enough aspirations. Of all Black Knights, only Kallen was there purely for ideological identity reason and could easily have an upper class Britannian lifestyle if she so wished.

One can say that Lelouch could just go back to being prince, but that is not that simple. Lelouch was effectively purged from royal family due to court intrigue. Sure, he might say something that might have looked like it was his choice, but it was more of a shutting the door loudly when you were told to get out. There was no guarantee that Charles would not have sent him in exile if he said something else instead. Without his mother there was no one to protect him from other royals who see him as potentially dangerous rival and would rather eliminate him. Emperor's unwillingness to do anything about her death only further indicated that Lelouch was effectively marked for death, just like the court was whispered while he was walking towards the emperor. 

I wrote a few articles back then, analysing Lelouch so I will not go further here. Suffice to say here is that Lelouch does it not out of idealism or sympathy for Japanese but out of personal grunge and revenge for how he was treated by Charles and the royals.

One can say that Suzaku is prospering within the system despite his Japanese background, but his situation is more of luck than clearly defined path, open for everyone and he has to put up with a lot of discrimination and hate, as people around him do not see him as equal.

None of these things are present in GitS. Refugees there are all enamoured with Kuze and many are inclined towards crime and gang live. They are not fighting to make their lives better, but to saw chaos and destruction driven purely by their emotions.

Because of that, unlike Black Knights in Code Geass. one can hardly support Kuze or his cause. At least I would not support Kuze even though I support Lelouch and Black Knights.

Asobi ni Iku yo! Review

Overall Rating 7.2 out of 10 - Solid anime that, does not fail like many others and gets things done

I recommend watching

Among the large number of disappointing shows that I am dealing with recently, it's good that at least one show gets things right. Cat Cuties is not the most original show out there, it does things mostly by the book, but it gets them done right. Thus, it is enjoyable to watch. Asobi ni Iku yo! proves that if you just put all the working ingredients together and stir them a little bit, it will make for a decent show.

To begin with, girls with cat or rabbit ears were always go to solution to make women more appealing to male audience. Here we have cat girls in tight body suits that wonderfully highlight their body curves. They have cute bells on their neck bands too and generally rather moe.

One guy and three main heroines: the usual selection of Tsundere, Dandere and Deredere. I do not like tsunderes but the other two make up for that, its two good girls and only one not. Futaba and Eris against only Manami. 

Then there are fights, they are somewhat too chaotic so it's sometimes hard to follow what is going on. It's not tactical like in Code Geass or Naruto, but still enjoyable to watch.

Finally, the setting is a win, the summer resort-like vibe of Okinawa is certainly a place where I want my shows to be set.

And there is also space technology, customisable assistroids and more.

A few minor flaws are somewhat flawed design of certain Catian crew members, that could have been curvier and girly rather than somewhat boy like.

Overall, I do recommend it. It's fun and worth your time.

OVA had a promising premise, but they missed the opportunity to make girls act all insecure in a cute way about being exposed in front of Kio.

School Rumble Ni Gakki Review

Overall Rating 5.7 out of 10 - Overall worse than predecessor, with only few good episodes.

I recommend watching few select episodes, like episode 20 and 25.

Me complaining that sequels fail to live to the original is nothing new, here again a second season of Sucuran is not as good as the original.

One difference however is that unlike many other shows that I condemned with the same conclusion, Sukuran did not abruptly got worse from second season on, so I cannot easily blame it on staff changes and such. It's of course possible that staff changed mid-season, but what are the chances. Sukuran was already declining in first season. Gradually it introduced more and more unlikable characters like Lala, Tougou, Imadori or Jirou, that gradually stole the show away from the core cast. 

Second season was not a sudden break with the trend; it just exacerbated what was bad in the first one. More screentime for characters I do not like, less for those I like. Even those characters I generally do like, get to play less appealing role. There is less of Tenma fawning over Karasuma and more of her being nasty to Harima (episode 15 something, not episode 25, she is nice to him there). That orange haired nurse that was so nice to Harima in first season, became lesbian with his relative in the second and no longer treats Harima nicely. Not an abrupt break, but some kind of planned gradual decay.

Despite that occasionally Sukuran gets back to its core roots and pulls a few good episodes here and there. However, by now they are clear minority. A drop of honey in a barrel of tar. Unlike the first season, second did not get a good final episode that would leave me at least hopeful for the future of the show. I might watch the brief second season sometime in future, but for now Sukuran is shelved.

I have to look back to remember every good episode that was worth watching, so I cannot list them now. Will come back to it sometime.

Overall, with exception of few good episodes, this season is a failure. Something killed yet another show that was initially promising. Or maybe it was never meant to be good in the first place, I was always bad, I just could not see it early on. 

Regardless it's no longer a show about Tenma doing silly but cute things driven by her unrequited love for Karasuma, this show no longer makes fun of women and instead mocks and abuses men. Poor treatment of men is not something I am willing to tolerate in my shows, only poor treatment of females.

Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun 2 Part 1 Review

Overall Rating 6.3 out of 10 - Another sequel that does not live true to the original.

Still watchable enough to recommend

Me complaining about sequels not living to the original is nothing new. I said it about many other titles. I even dropped a sequel of a show that I gave one of the highest scores for its first season. In case of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun, its far less dramatic. It's worse than the original but still watchable overall.

If you want to know what was so good about the original or what this show is about, read my review of the first season. Here I will focus on what made second season worse than the first one.

The biggest problem is the relationship dynamic between two main characters, Hanako-kun and Yashiro. In the original Yashiro was cute naive damsel in distress that only thinks about love. I spend several paragraphs praising her in the original review. Second season went on and changed her role for the worse. 

In second season Yashiro is far more assertive and proactive. Not something I like in a woman. She spends the entire second half of the show trying to stop Hanako-kun. In the first she could even kill a fly.

Hanako also changed. In first season he was the knowledgeable guy who knew his way around world of ghosts and a lot more. Sure, he tricked Yashiro into accepting his deal but that just show how wonderfully naive and gullible Yashiro is or was. Hanako was shrewd and selfish, but not evil. He was not a villain. Now they actually stopping him.

Second season introduced a few more characters, most of them are unlikable. There is now whole two clones of Kou-kun (the exorcist guy) that I sometimes finding hard to tell apart. As something who would prefer the show to stay mostly between Hanako and Yashiro, I do not appreciate this enlargement of the company. Other characters are just distracting from romance between main couple. 

The same problem killed off Sora no Otoshimono for me. Ikaros is near perfect girl and if they focused on romance between her and Sakurai, it would have been perfect. Instead, they mixed in many jock characters and turned the whole thing into circus. Ikaros's demure demeanor, quietness and social ineptitude is what makes her cute, not something one should make fun of.

Yes, first season can be seen as a romance of sorts and with a likable female character at that. Second season rather kills it off. Yashiro's attention is not equally divided between Hanako and Kou, while in first season Kou was clearly a guy with no chances.

This show does not go as far as Sora no Otoshimono to make it a deal breaker but, the show would have been better if it went more serious and sober rather than more whimsical and wilder. That would have made a good backdrop for relationship between Hanako and Yashiro.

Overall, it's not too bad. Worse than the original but watchable, even if not loveable.