Baloogan posted:

Pewdiepie posted:

Patter Song posted:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms spoiler:

Liu Bei is now Cao Cao's deeply reluctant junior ally, following their coalescing to take down Lu Bu, and Liu Bei is under what amounts to house arrest at the Imperial Palace, where he is conspiring with his cousin the Emperor to maybe someday murder Cao Cao. At the meeting between the two warlords, Cao Cao asks Liu Bei whom he thinks are the great heroes of the land. After Cao Cao dismisses all the men Liu Bei suggests (Yuan Shu is just for show, Yuan Shao is an indecisive fool, Sun Ce is an unproven child, Liu Zhang is effeminate and artsy, Liu Biao is an empty name, etc.), Cao Cao declares to Liu Bei that the two of them are the only true heroes in all of China. This powerplay terrifies Liu Bei, because it tells him that Cao Cao sees him as his one true rival and thus high on Cao Cao's to do list to remove, but Liu Bei is saved by a sudden flash of thunder, so he can blame his visible terror on the lightning. Liu Bei, a washed-up loser much like Yang at this point, is still on Cao Cao's list of heroes. Even the man on top realizes that his defeated adversary is a worthy foe and one that could rise again to challenge him.

Romance the Three Kingdoms, the book, is fantastic, and I think its influence on LOGH might be more subconscious (Tanaka's drawing most of his direct inspiration from European history) but it is definitely present.

my dad posted:

(I just negotiated with you long enough for the sun to start shining in your army's eyes, sucker.)

StrixNebulosa posted:

This post right here convinced me to check out Romance of the Three Kingdoms (2010) and I'm on episode 13 and it's as incredible as advertised. I'm very, very tempted to - when I finished it, which will be a while - to go back and rewatch LoGH and see if I can't keep the stamina to watch past episode 50 this time! - I love both shows, but they're rather focus intense and you've got a bazillion characters to keep track of.

quote:

Speaking of assets, there were whispers lately of an impending financial crisis due to the prolonged war and the chaos at court. But when Reinhard said, 'The fiscal crisis will be resolved in one fell swoop,' he wasn't simply shooting his mouth off irresponsibly. The imperial family's assets aside, there remained a vast source of untapped wealth: the assets of the nobles.

Naturally, he would confiscate every last thing that Duke von Braunschweig and Marquis von Littenheim owned; nor would he spare those who had joined themselves to their cause. And once he applied a regime of inheritance taxes, fixed asset taxes, and progressive taxation to those nobles who remained, the treasury would overflow with monies easily exceeding ten trillion reichsmark. The trial calculations had been completed already.

There would be a political necessity for gentler treatment of those nobles who sided with him, so from that perspective, the more nobles who made him their enemy, the better.

Squeezing the nobles dry would do more than simply meet the empire's fiscal necessities. The common class had amassed a five century store of anger and hostility towards those who hlived immersed in extravagant lifestyles and held vast fortunes on which they paid no taxes.

quote:

From somewhere among the several men surrounding him, there drifted a stench of stale alcohol.

"Humph, I remember that smell." The white-haired commander-in-chief turned a bitter gaze on the source of the odor. "Rear Admiral Lynch, captured by the Empire at El Facil some years ago."

"I'm honored you remember," Lynch replied with slurred laughter.

"Much as I'd like to forget, that isn't possible. After all, you abandoned your duty to protect civilians...you abandoned your responsibility to the soldiers under your command...and you tried to escape to safety by yourself...Oh, you're a celebrity.

Lynch didn't look like his feelings were hurt. He accepted these biting words with a faint smirk and then, with a flourish, pulled out a small bottle of whiskey, unscrewed the cap, and took a swallow from it. The officers surrounding him, genuine asetics, frowned at him with furrowed brows. That Lynch's compatriots held him in contempt was plain to see, and Bucock was at a loss to explain what a man like him was doing in their ranks to begin with.

Patter Song posted:

Bucock meets an old friend:


So...why did the coupsters let Drunky McTraitor into their ranks?

StrixNebulosa posted:

This post right here convinced me to check out Romance of the Three Kingdoms (2010) and I'm on episode 13 and it's as incredible as advertised. I'm very, very tempted to - when I finished it, which will be a while - to go back and rewatch LoGH and see if I can't keep the stamina to watch past episode 50 this time! - I love both shows, but they're rather focus intense and you've got a bazillion characters to keep track of.

Patter Song posted:

Bucock meets an old friend:


So...why did the coupsters let Drunky McTraitor into their ranks?

VolticSurge posted:

Now we need a Three Kingdoms thread,stat! Or,if one already exists, a link to it.

Pomp posted:

is there a legal way to watch three kingdoms in english, and if not is that 480p version of the fansub the only english version in existence?

StrixNebulosa posted:

But is it anime enough for ADTRW?

Pomp posted:

is there a legal way to watch three kingdoms in english, and if not is that 480p version of the fansub the only english version in existence?

StrixNebulosa posted:

But is it anime enough for ADTRW?

Chocobo posted:

Thread should be titled "More people should watch Three Kingdoms"

StrixNebulosa posted:

To the extent of my knowledge, no, there isn't a legal way. To answer your other question, try googling Jiang Hu Three Kingdoms and seeing what turns up.

quote:

Maybe Trünicht was to society what a cancer cell could be to the body—consuming the healthy cells’ nutrition so that it alone would multiply, grow stronger and bigger, and at last kill its host. Trünicht would agitate for war one day, insist on democracy the next, and steadily increase his power and influence while never taking responsibility for anything he said. Therefore, the stronger he got, the weaker society would become, until he would finally consume it.

Patter Song posted:

I've watched two full TV versions of ROT3K: the 2010 Chinese TV series and the 1991-1992 Sangokushi anime. (One of these days I might watch the 1994 Chinese TV version).

The anime is pretty decent, though it shows its age, and has the rather critical downfall of ending at the Battle of Red Cliffs, AKA the halfway point of the story. (In fact, by ending where it did, it technically doesn't reach the actual Three Kingdoms period)

It's interesting to hear all the Japanese names of the characters. Rather than Liu Bei, styled Xuande, you get Ryubi, styled Gentoku, etc.

EDIT: The 2010 Chinese series has one annoying flaw: it starts in medias res at the start of Chapter 4 of the book. The Yellow Turbans have already been suppressed, the eunuchs have already killed He Jin, Dong Zhuo has already seized control of the court and deposed the fat older prince in favor of his younger brother, Yuan Shao has already raised the flag of rebellion, and Liu Bei has already failed as magistrate in charge of Pingyuan County.

P-Mack posted:

Where does it stop? Does it go all the way to chapter 120?

Romance of the Three Kingdoms Chapter 89 posted:

53 Duo Si said, "In this ravine there are only two roads, the one you came by and another by the northwest. The road you traveled along is level and soft, and the waters are sweet. Humans and horses may both use it. But if we close the mouth of the ravine with a barricade, then no one, however strong, can get in. The other road is precipitous, dangerous, and narrow. The only path is beset with venomous serpents and scorpions, and as evening comes on there are malarial exhalations which are dangerous till past noon the next day. The road is only practicable between two watches before sunset. Then the water is undrinkable. The road is very difficult.

54 "Then again there are four streams actually poisonous. One is called 'The Dumb Spring'. Its water is pleasant to the palate, but it makes people dumb and they die in a few days. A second fountain is called 'The Destruction Spring' and is hot. But if a person bathes therein, his flesh rots till his bones protrude and he dies. The third is 'The Black Spring'. Its water is clear. If it be sprinkled on a person's body, his limbs turn black and presently he dies. The fourth is 'The Weak Spring', ice cold. If a person drink of this water his breath is chilled, he becomes weak as a thread and soon dies. Neither birds nor insects are found in this region, and no one but the Han General Ma Yuan, who was styled General Who Quells the Waves for this exploit, has ever passed. Now the northeast road shall be blocked, and you may hide here perfectly safe from those troops of Shu, for, finding that way blocked, they will try the other road, which is waterless save for the four deadly springs. No matter how many they be, they will perish, and we need no weapons."

55 "Now indeed I have found a place to live in," cried Meng Huo, striking his forehead. Then looking to the north he said, "Even Zhuge Liang's wonderful cunning will be of no avail. The four springs alone will defeat him and avenge my army."

Patter Song posted:

Somehow the show was unable to figure out a way to incorporate crazy horror movie elements.

Also they didn't have Sun Ce confronted by the ghost of a man he killed appearing in a mirror, causing Sun Ce to freak out and reopen his wounds and die.

quote:

Sun Quan and his subjects were celebrating their conquest of Jing Province, with Lü Meng receiving the highest honour. During the banquet, Lü Meng was suddenly possessed by Guan Yu's spirit and he grabbed Sun Quan and shouted, "Green-eyed brat! Purple-bearded coward, do you still recognise me?" Sun Quan's subordinates were shocked and immediately rushed forth to save their lord. The possessed Lü Meng shoved Sun Quan away and sat on Sun's seat, with an expression of fury on his face, and he boomed, "Since defeating the Yellow Turban rebels, I've fought in wars for over 30 years. But I lost my life because you used an evil scheme against me. I cannot feast on your flesh while I was still alive, but I can still seize Lü Meng's soul after my death! I'm Guan Yunchang, the Marquis of Hanshou." Sun Quan and the others were so terrified that they sank to their knees. Lü Meng collapsed and died, bleeding from seven body orifices. Everyone was traumatised by the scene they witnessed

Patter Song posted:

If you've read Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, the book, the amount the show tones the story down to seem somewhat believable and still manages to be outrageously over the top is hilarious.

Zhuge Liang's famed Three Triagram Trap, the Stone Sentinel Maze, whereby he assembled eight stacks of rocks in a field and that somehow magically trapped the Wu army in a Lost Woods from the Legend of Zelda-style impenetrable infinite maze didn't make the cut.

Most of Zhuge Liang's campaign against the Mang in modern Vietnam is cut, including the most hilarious story in the book.


Somehow the show was unable to figure out a way to incorporate crazy horror movie elements.

Also they didn't have Sun Ce confronted by the ghost of a man he killed appearing in a mirror, causing Sun Ce to freak out and reopen his wounds and die.

Nate RFB posted:

If ADTRW can handle a failed J-drama thread or two every couple of years it can handle a Three Kingdoms thread.