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Clarste
Apr 15, 2013

Just how many mistakes have you suffered on the way here?

An uncountable number, to be sure.

Sindai posted:

That was Shinobu at the end, right? Then why was everyone saying she never shows up again in the novels/manga? Is this arc not from either of those?

Everyone was also saying that the anime would probably make up something to rescue her. Always keep in mind that more than half of the anime is original content. A lot of characters in the anime don't even exist in the manga. We just mentioned Kongo being introduced later in the manga, but honestly it felt more like the author was cashing in on her anime popularity so she feels more like an anime-original character to me. Haruue and Banri are of course also anime-only, as well as any story that involves them.

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SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Holy poo poo did I pick a bad time to get caught up with the manga :stare:

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos

SatansBestBuddy posted:

Holy poo poo did I pick a bad time to get caught up with the manga :stare:

Can't be helped really, any time multiple level 5s are involved it rapidly escalates to a huge clusterfuck.

ViggyNash
Oct 9, 2012
Welp, this is gonna be a crazy ark if Shinobu's back. I hope they have an explanation ready.

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

veekie posted:

Can't be helped really, any time multiple level 5s are involved it rapidly escalates to a huge clusterfuck.

I daresay this clusterfuck outstrips several earlier clusterfucks :staredog:

legoman727
Mar 13, 2010

by exmarx
Okay, Saten and Uiharu playing mom is just :3: Though Febri's kinda annoying.

But oh god, if this arc leads to a Meltdowner/Railgun team up I can't wait.

Dan7el
Dec 7, 2008

It really is that easy to lose a kid. Man, those mysterious people in the dim computer room are really full of themselves. "Hey, instead of loving with only one level 5, let's gently caress with two of them! Who's with me?

We can only hope for some serious rear end-kicking in the next couple of episodes. Agreed. A team-up would be awesome.

AtomikKrab
Jul 17, 2010

Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

Screwing with a level 5 or someone with equivalent force alone is stupid, more than one is just mindbogglingly dumb.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos

Dan7el posted:

It really is that easy to lose a kid. Man, those mysterious people in the dim computer room are really full of themselves. "Hey, instead of loving with only one level 5, let's gently caress with two of them! Who's with me?

We can only hope for some serious rear end-kicking in the next couple of episodes. Agreed. A team-up would be awesome.

The two bombardment specialists of the level 5s. They're going to level the whole place at range man.

AradoBalanga
Jan 3, 2013

AtomikKrab posted:

Screwing with a level 5 or someone with equivalent force alone is stupid, more than one is just mindbogglingly dumb.
You'd think that for all the smart and intelligent people in Academy City, they'd know not to mess with people who can utterly wreck your poo poo at the drop of a hat.

But no, they keep poking the hornet's nest like a bunch of idiots and expecting nothing serious to happen. There's dumb....and then there's "actively wanting and doing everything to shorten your lifespan" dumb. We're seeing the latter.

Falken
Jan 26, 2004

Do you feel like a hero yet?
The scientists of academy city don't so much poke the hornets nest as they do pick it up and rub their faces on it.

Raenir Salazar
Nov 5, 2010

"According to Wikipedia" there is a black hole that emits zionist hawking radiation where my brain should have been

I really should just shut the fuck up and stop posting forever
College Slice
The anime original arcs are a little formulaic but drat if they aren't satisfying to see Railgun [eventually] blow stuff up.

The volunteer police force doesn't keep hours after dark? That's almost as weird as Japan having hospitals being closed at night.

legoman727 posted:

Okay, Saten and Uiharu playing mom is just :3: Though Febri's kinda annoying.

But oh god, if this arc leads to a Meltdowner/Railgun team up I can't wait.

Saten is clearly the Dad. :colbert:

On a related note, Saten as a friend would probably make an awesome wingman when bar hopping too.

Falken
Jan 26, 2004

Do you feel like a hero yet?
You'd be doing a pub crawl with a minor, however.

Raenir Salazar
Nov 5, 2010

"According to Wikipedia" there is a black hole that emits zionist hawking radiation where my brain should have been

I really should just shut the fuck up and stop posting forever
College Slice

Falken posted:

You'd be doing a pub crawl with a minor, however.

Not sure if your serious, but I'll clarify that is not what I meant, but more of the sentiment of 'someone your age level with those observational skills aggregated in a real person would hypothetically be great to pub crawl with as your wingman' but that just sounds clumsy right? :rolleyes:

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

Raenir Salazar posted:

The anime original arcs are a little formulaic but drat if they aren't satisfying to see Railgun [eventually] blow stuff up.

The volunteer police force doesn't keep hours after dark?

Anti Skill is the official Police force. But yeah, that threw me for a loop. "Welp, its after dark, the Police have closed shop, nothing you can do".

Falken
Jan 26, 2004

Do you feel like a hero yet?

Raenir Salazar posted:

Not sure if your serious, but I'll clarify that is not what I meant, but more of the sentiment of 'someone your age level with those observational skills aggregated in a real person would hypothetically be great to pub crawl with as your wingman' but that just sounds clumsy right? :rolleyes:
I was joking as well. I think it's funny that Saten is likely to be the most successful in adult life despite her level 0 status.

Phobophilia
Apr 26, 2008

by Hand Knit
That's because she's the most mature and level-headed of everyone. Of course, she's that way because she's already had her big growing-up story arc. The anime writers clearly like her and it shows.

Of course, they sorta hosed up at one point when Misaka completely failed to notice Suspicious Man siccing a pack of sentry bots at Febri. Yes, let's do some Property Destruction, but not wonder why it had to be destroyed in the first place.

.Clash
Apr 10, 2009
Oh wow. Kino's Journey is so not a bedtime story for kids.

Theres also a special from the BDs out if you want a few cheap laughs.

Wallrod
Sep 27, 2004
Stupid Baby Picture

ArchangeI posted:

Anti Skill is the official Police force. But yeah, that threw me for a loop. "Welp, its after dark, the Police have closed shop, nothing you can do".

To be fair, it seems like half of them are children and so need their sleep :v:

ArchangeI
Jul 15, 2010

Wallrod posted:

To be fair, it seems like half of them are children and so need their sleep :v:

No, that is JUDGMENT. Anti-Skill was that long-haired woman in riot gear in that one scene. Although apparently they are also teachers for some reason.

SatansBestBuddy
Sep 26, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

.Clash posted:

Theres also a special from the BDs out if you want a few cheap laughs.

loving hell, when they just went on and on about the games industry, I was in stitches the longer and longer it went, mostly because I think I've seen that exact scene played out so many times on the internet. The fact they animated another 4Koma is also pretty drat awesome.

Dan7el
Dec 7, 2008

Academy City Police Forces:

There are two primary law enforcement agencies in Academy City. Both are unpaid, voluntary positions. The first is Judgement which is composed of students. The students can be level 0 through level 4. I don't think any of the level 5's are in Judgement. They probably have to go to bed and follow a curfew (depending on the school/dorm), etc.

The second is Anti-Skill composed non-esper adult teachers. They don't get paid but they receive additional fringe benefits from serving. Among such benefits are a ton more respect from the student body in general (don't mess with the police-teacher, dude) and in some cases better living quarters, etc. I don't know if Anti-Skill has a bedtime or closing hours, but I doubt it. However, if you think about it: They actually do have a day job as well. I'd imagine they take turns working overnights. Still, that would make it tough working 32 hours or so straight.

The stories don't really get into the nitty gritty details of, say, a member of Judgement taking a person downtown and booking them. Judgement members do seem to have some serious authority, though. Of course, so do Anti-Skill members. The light novels detail that while the Anti-Skill members are definitely not espers and have no special powers, they are well trained in handling those who do have esper powers. Anti-Skill members are not to be trifled with.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
I suppose it is in the city's interests to not have a real police force to get in the way of all the evil experiments.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
None of the known L5s are in Judgment, largely because of unstable personalities and collateral damage. Likely Judgment doesn't want to officially take responsibility for a L5 cutting loose on a criminal. Misaka acts as an unofficial adjunct though, since she can be trusted to stick her nose into any business Kuroko is having trouble with, while being an independent operator and thus liability free.

As for authority, Judgment mostly seems to be able to arrest, but not hold or punish. They can stop criminals by force(heck, with esper criminals there aren't many options), but once the culprit is incapacitated they hand off to Anti Skill. That and they take care of the 'light' police duties. Anti Skill seems to be more of SWAT situations.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
Holy poo poo, the special is absolutely hysterical. Especially the video game monologue and invisible Uiharu.

AnacondaHL
Feb 15, 2009

I'm the lead trumpet player, playing loud and high is all I know how to do.

Kuroko Making Misaka-Molestation Noises, Take 527, aaand ACTION!


Still just as great as Take 1.

edit: :lol:

AnacondaHL fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Aug 25, 2013

Hidingo Kojimba
Mar 29, 2010

Sindai posted:

I suppose it is in the city's interests to not have a real police force to get in the way of all the evil experiments.

And Social Services is right out.

Sindai
Jan 24, 2007
i want to achieve immortality through not dying
Who needs government child care when there's all these private labs just clamoring to take in test subjects kids? What are you, a socialist? :colbert:

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya
Has there ever been a decent explanation of the public/private split in Academy City? As far as I can tell the city government runs pretty much everything, including the labs and student welfare.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
The city government is a private institution. I think they are technically in Japan, but due to the city's isolation, what's going on inside is basically private law.

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya

veekie posted:

The city government is a private institution. I think they are technically in Japan, but due to the city's isolation, what's going on inside is basically private law.
If they're isolated to the point of being effectively sovereign (from what I understand, Crowley can basically tell Japan and other nations to gently caress off), then what would be the distinction between that sort of private law and being an actual state?

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
The part where the state has any concern with the welfare of it's citizens, and politically speaking, international responsibilities. A sovereign state depends ultimately upon it's citizens for income, but Academy City's income derives from it's huge amounts of super tech, plus, it's ultimately only interested in the students inside as part of Crowley's mega experiment. As long as his experiment still works, they could all die for all he cares.

Academy City is essentially a megacorp version of MIT with a secret cult in charge.

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya

veekie posted:

The part where the state has any concern with the welfare of it's citizens, and politically speaking, international responsibilities. A sovereign state depends ultimately upon it's citizens for income, but Academy City's income derives from it's huge amounts of super tech, plus, it's ultimately only interested in the students inside as part of Crowley's mega experiment. As long as his experiment still works, they could all die for all he cares.
You could say similar things about most dictatorships, though. North Korea isn't particularly concerned with the welfare of its citizens or international responsibilities, and derives a lot of its income from leveraging its status as a potential nuclear threat as opposed to the efforts of its citizens, who can't produce enough food to feed themselves. It's a monument to the Kim dynasty and the military leadership, and the continued lives of the people only matter insofar as they are useful to the regime. Yet it's still considered a state, ditto for Zimbabwe and any number of other states where the leadership views the population as expendable.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
Effectively, it's a dictatorship with good publicity. What the world sees is the model city of the future, high tech making everything better and giving kids superpowers. Which acts as a highly profitable front and means to draw more investors and lab rats into the city to support it's true goals. On the surface it's still a private educational and research institution.


Do note that until WWIII, the city played it's role as a center of research and technology without causing any diplomatic or political fuss. They certainly have enough bribe money to keep nosy outsiders out.

Paracelsus
Apr 6, 2009

bless this post ~kya

veekie posted:

Effectively, it's a dictatorship with good publicity. What the world sees is the model city of the future, high tech making everything better and giving kids superpowers. Which acts as a highly profitable front and means to draw more investors and lab rats into the city to support it's true goals. On the surface it's still a private educational and research institution.
Is a dictatorship still a private institution if it's the local monopoly on legitimized force? The city government fits many definitions of a state (Weberian, institutionalist, some varieties of Marxist (especially if you consider Crowley to be the bourgeoisie)), so to say that the labs that are operating under the auspices of the city government and don't have any apparent separate corporate identity are "private" would make it seem that it's a very different sort of "private" than what we normally see in a more conventionally capitalist society.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
Only on the surface though. All those groups and projects are theoretically independent research teams under the auspices of the city leadership, which lets them pull the "he was acting on his own" excuse. While they have a monopoly on legitimate force, they don't claim one. A simple way to justify Anti Skill would be just to point out rogue espers and ask if the Japanese police would like to contain them or if the city's private security forces would.

Theoretically the city is answerable to it's investors and research staff leaders, but they all lead back to Crowley in the end.

Phobophilia
Apr 26, 2008

by Hand Knit
I have no idea what you're saying with WWIII, but all I knows is that Academy City was never built to last and I would gladly satisfy their concerns and burn it to the ground.

I mean, they call their orphans Child Errors. That's horrifying even before the human experimentation.

veekie
Dec 25, 2007

Dice of Chaos
Child Errors actually covers the following:
-Minors with no guardians to claim responsibility for them. So it happens with orphans, but only if they have nobody laying claim to them. Child Errors are useful because they are easily manipulated and nobody gives a poo poo what happens to them.
-Students who owe the city a debt over the school fees. Now, you could always withdraw from the program...except anyone undergoing esper power development has plenty of trade secret drugs in them, not to mention knowledge of the processes used to awaken espers. It's mentioned once in the LNs that if a high level esper dies outside the city, the city can and will recover or destroy their remains.
-But none of the above apply for higher level espers, they receive a research stipend that basically pays for their fees and living expenses as long as they cooperate with the city's research. Level 0s who flunk out, fail to pay their school fees or otherwise drop out of the system are hosed.

As for WWIII, LN spoilers:
The Catholic Church eventually works themselves into using magic to cause multiple countries to declare war on Academy City. The fighting was one sided, because Crowley stopped loving around and sent out hypersonic bombers to level entire armies within hours of the declaration. That's mostly the end of the "we're totally a research and development institution" image.

veekie fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Aug 26, 2013

Dan7el
Dec 7, 2008

Also note that Academy City could care less what the Japanese or any other government wants. While located on Japan's soil they are completely autonomous.

Academy City Corporations are semi independent. In a later story a few (minor LN spoiler)leave Academy City to seed their own complex. Things do not go well for them.

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Phobophilia
Apr 26, 2008

by Hand Knit

veekie posted:

As for WWIII, LN spoilers:
The Catholic Church eventually works themselves into using magic to cause multiple countries to declare war on Academy City. The fighting was one sided, because Crowley stopped loving around and sent out hypersonic bombers to level entire armies within hours of the declaration. That's mostly the end of the "we're totally a research and development institution" image.

I don't know if it's the way you described it, but this is the stupidest loving thing ever.

I signed up for the mad unethical nihilistic science, not this bullshit.

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