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RIGHT TURN ONLY!! - When Gulls Cry


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Tanteikingdomkey



Joined: 03 Sep 2008
Posts: 2345
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:01 am Reply with quote
Maria is my favorite character in umineko don't pick on her uryu
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:45 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Her handler has her literally reshaped into the kind of girl he wants to work with and look at. He has her made into a taller, more adult size, he dresses her up in the kind of outfit where she displays her navel, and last but not least he gets her into the habit of smoking. Beforehand, he even "joked" about giving her a belly ring, but even by then, I was finally starting to feel unsettled. If he had said "make her boobs bigger," I would've genuinely been upset.


Coincidently I read these volumes last night, and wow, you're way off! I mean sure, most of the first generation is creepy as hell, but Petra and her handler are pretty cool characters.

First of all, he wasn't specific about what he wanted the girl to look like, if anything, he thought the whole proces was disturbing. The one thing he asked for was not to make her a red head, and behold, Petra ends up with red hair. Later on he jokingly asks her to dye it, but he drops it as soon as the tells him she likes the colour. As for the making her taller thing, remember her backstory? It's like they granted her wish and it may be the reason why she's more outgoing than she used to be. Petra is the kind of person her original self wanted to be.

The clothes Petra wears match what we've come to expect of real teenagers in the series. When on a job she usually dresses like a 20-something so she can look like Sandro's colleague, which is how he treats her by the way, as a student/colleague.

Smoking makes her look older, which is useful when on a job. Besides, she's a cyborg, her lungs are artificial and hey wouldn't have allowed smoking if it would cause any damage. The reason he joked about giving her a belly button was because he was figuring out how cyborgs are viewed within section 2.

Quote:

Then later we have Triela go undercover as an adult-sized agent—augmented somehow, because she's a cyborg? Either way, despite her true age, her handler takes one look at her adult body, and one cannot help but get the sense of his being taken by her beauty and wondering possible what-ifs.


Bras can be stuffed. I'm sure most teenage girls have tried it atleast once themselves. Triela's true age is something you can argue about. Her body is that of a 13 or 14-year-old, but she has had it for years. It's artificial, it doesn't grow or age. Mentally she seems more mature than a young teenager. You could say she's a young woman trapped in a girl's body and that this job finally allowed her to be an adult for a little while.

The what if he's wondering about is if that's what Triela had looked like as an adult if she'd grown up normally. Not because he has the hots for her, but because he cares and wants the best for the girl he saved. That the best that could be done for her is still pretty crappy is something that bothers him.

I agree the first few volumes of the manga are disturbing (there are even a few pantyshots in there...), but by the time Petra is added to the cast the series has fortunately moved away from the whole 'aren't these devoted, ever so loyal, gun toting, brainwashed little girls in their old fashioned clothes an otaku's moe dream come true?' thing. The jobs become more interesting, more opinions on the cyborgs are shown, backstories are told and characters are developed in a way that makes them a lot more human and a lot less creepy.


Last edited by Tamaria on Wed Dec 05, 2012 3:24 pm; edited 3 times in total
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pachy_boy



Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 1323
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:24 am Reply with quote
Tamaria wrote:
Quote:

Then later we have Triela go undercover as an adult-sized agent—augmented somehow, because she's a cyborg? Either way, despite her true age, her handler takes one look at her adult body, and one cannot help but get the sense of his being taken by her beauty and wondering possible what-ifs.


Bra's can be stuffed.


It's been a while since I've rid my volumes, but I distinctly remember Triela having an adult height as well compared to her normal stature. Whatever explanation you try coming up at the top of your head, it still makes me curious why they don't say anything in the manga itself and have me scratching my head figuring out what I was looking at.

Gunslinger Girl is one of those series where it's really all about how you personally look at it, and people will always be divided about it, no matter what's said.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:53 am Reply with quote
Quote:

It's been a while since I've rid my volumes, but I distinctly remember Triela having an adult height as well compared to her normal stature. Whatever explanation you try coming up at the top of your head, it still makes me curious why they don't say anything in the manga itself and have me scratching my head figuring out what I was looking at.


Triela has always been as tall as a short mature woman, but her lanky figure made her look boyish and immature. She's also wearing heels, which add another inch and a half or so and contribute to the illusion of her having long legs, making her look taller in general. Her shoulders look broader than usual, so they're probably padded. Hips too, I bet. They look slightly too wide compared to her legs.

Plus, remember it takes a day or so to exchange one leg and that a procedure like takes a big toll on a cyborg? They're not going to replace a whole body just for one job.

It's also worth noting that the artstyle has changed since the first few volumes. Several girls look a few years older despite not having aged a day. It's especially obvious in Claes' case.
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:29 am Reply with quote
I enjoyed Aron's Absurd Armada, but, yeah, the gay jokes were a little annoying. A few of them weren't that bad, but others were a bit too off-color. I'm fairly certain that's a least one of the reasons why Yen slapped the Older Teen rating on it. Still, it is a cute series.
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dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:49 am Reply with quote
RestlessOne wrote:
I enjoyed Aron's Absurd Armada, but, yeah, the gay jokes were a little annoying. A few of them weren't that bad, but others were a bit too off-color. I'm fairly certain that's a least one of the reasons why Yen slapped the Older Teen rating on it. Still, it is a cute series.

I would like to pick this one up, but I really don't appreciate gay jokes. Can you give an example of what you and Carlo are talking about?
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:27 am Reply with quote
I'd say something more in defense of Gunslinger Girl but Tamaria said it better than I ever could but I will say as concerns Triela and Hillshire it's pretty much established in latter volumes that he looks upon her as a daughter of sorts.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Parsifal24 wrote:
I'd say something more in defense of Gunslinger Girl but Tamaria said it better than I ever could but I will say as concerns Triela and Hillshire it's pretty much established in latter volumes that he looks upon her as a daughter of sorts.


Yep, and that's what makes the dynamic interesting, because Triela also acts like a daughter. She's an independent young woman who doesn't know what to do with compliments, he's a father who doesn't know how to show his daughter he cares.

I think what most people find unsettling about this series is how emotionally dependent Rico and Henrietta are on their handlers. Since they're the first two cyborgs we're introduced too, it makes the manga look like some sad otaku's wet dream. Half of the other cyborgs are nothing like that. Triela, for instance, is fully aware part of her feelings were programmed in, but manages to seperate them from the ones she develops on her own. Stuff like that is what makes the characters interesting.
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iamthevastuniverse





PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 2:35 pm Reply with quote
I'm most likely among the few in the fandom of Bleach that really enjoyed the Fullbringer Arc. The current arc is just as good in my opinion I'm hoping that once the manga gets far enough that the anime will return and animate the final arc it really deserves to be finished properly.
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RestLessone



Joined: 02 Aug 2009
Posts: 1426
Location: New York
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:10 pm Reply with quote
dragon695 wrote:

I would like to pick this one up, but I really don't appreciate gay jokes. Can you give an example of what you and Carlo are talking about?

There's a bit of a range in how far they go. For instance, some are completely harmless:

spoiler[A female marine who reads several romance novels, including BL, decides the best way to destroy Aron would be to kill his servant. She says: Based on what I saw, those two are not merely comrades!! I suspect they are romantically involved!! So if the swordsman dies, Aron will follow his lover to the grave!!

I found it humorous, simply because it contains so many romantic/BL tropes.]


Some go a bit farther, though are not necessarily outright offensive, and contain the derogatory word "homos":

spoiler[The situation is that a king wont wake up, so it appears one character (Anton) has caused him injury/death. Another character compares it to sleeping beauty and indicates that the King might wake up if Anton kisses him. Anton tells two other characters to do it.

Anton: Why don't you guys do it, then?! You guys are the natural homos!

Mercedes: I only like rebels.
Ronnie: I'm only interested in Master Robin.]


The one that I personally found most jarring was early in the book. If you can deal with that, or just ignore the strip, you should be fine:

spoiler[The basic premise for this strip was that Anton and Gilbert were practically interchangeable and no one could tell which one was which. Aron says that their characters will make more of an impression if they start calling each other by their first names. So they do, complete with blushing and pink, flowery backgrounds. Then...

Ronnie: Oh, sick. You guys are acting so gay...Ew, I saw something rotten.

So...yeah. I mean, you could take it as Ronnie just being cruel toward them because they never recognized her as female and continue to think she is a gay man. Or she just doesn't want to see them acting lovey-dovey. Still, that was what really stood out in my mind as offensive.]


It's a bit like a friend who is all-around a good person, but spontaneously makes inappropriate jokes that everyone can only nervously giggle at.
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dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:29 pm Reply with quote
RestlessOne wrote:
It's a bit like a friend who is all-around a good person, but spontaneously makes inappropriate jokes that everyone can only nervously giggle at.

I see what you mean, so thanks for clearing that up. I'll definitely check it out but keep this in mind.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:27 pm Reply with quote
"When Gulls Cry" don't look up. Laughing

Missions of Love: There's yet another aspect of this story that can also be seen from before the front cover. A template for the doujin artists.
"Cell phone novelist": Stick an "H" between "phone" and "novelist" and the depth of the H doujin created from this could be as deep as the Marianas Trench. You know it's out there. Wink
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Mad_Scientist
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Joined: 08 Apr 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:54 pm Reply with quote
I AM THE VAST UNIVERSE wrote:
I'm most likely among the few in the fandom of Bleach that really enjoyed the Fullbringer Arc. The current arc is just as good in my opinion I'm hoping that once the manga gets far enough that the anime will return and animate the final arc it really deserves to be finished properly.


I really enjoyed the Fullbringer arc myself... up until the end, where it felt rushed and disjointed. Especially some of the events that occur after this volume... ugh. I strongly suspect that there was some editorial influence and Kubo was forced to cut the ending short, because the way it jumps around at one point makes no sense and feels like it skipped 5 chapters or something.
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:07 am Reply with quote
Mad_Scientist wrote:


I really enjoyed the Fullbringer arc myself... up until the end, where it felt rushed and disjointed. Especially some of the events that occur after this volume... ugh. I strongly suspect that there was some editorial influence and Kubo was forced to cut the ending short, because the way it jumps around at one point makes no sense and feels like it skipped 5 chapters or something.


I always wondered why Ichigo's final fight was so short in comparison to others.
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sainta



Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Posts: 989
PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:07 am Reply with quote
Mad_Scientist wrote:


I really enjoyed the Fullbringer arc myself... up until the end, where it felt rushed and disjointed. Especially some of the events that occur after this volume... ugh. I strongly suspect that there was some editorial influence and Kubo was forced to cut the ending short, because the way it jumps around at one point makes no sense and feels like it skipped 5 chapters or something.


I always wondered why Ichigo's final fight was so short in comparison to others.
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