
HarkMahlberg
@HarkMahlberg@kbin.earth
People keep asking me, and I haven't really had an answer, but now yeah, I'm thinking I'm back.
- Comment on Anyone else avoiding gaming consoles past 8th gen? 2 days ago:
The PS4 and 360 were not contemporaries. The PS3 was the 360’s competitor, and at the time, PSN was actually free. You could play multiplayer games for free on Sony’s system, and Microsoft could not say the same.
But then, well Microsoft could tell its shareholders they were making tons of money off Xbox Live, and Sony could not say the same.
- Comment on Anyone else avoiding gaming consoles past 8th gen? 2 days ago:
Little known fact was the fat PS3’s had a Yellow Light of Death, that could sometimes be fixed by reflowing the motherboard with a heat gun. We got one more week out of the system before it went kaput for good.
But… should hardware failures be a reason to not buy a console? PC hardware fails too. It’s only when the failure rate is well beyond engineering tolerances, like the 360 RROD, that it becomes a breach of consumer confidence and trust.
- Comment on [Discussion] What anime would you NOT recommend to a newbie? 4 days ago:
I would definitely put Evangelion on that list, especially if you have no familiarity with mecha.
- Comment on Set up your own ramen bar and explore a voxel cyberpunk city in the slice-of-lifey Nivalis Nights, out now 5 days ago:
You know... I was taking a look through my steam library and saw Cloudpunk and said to myself "yeah I remember playing this game, but it feels like buying it was kind of a mistake." I don't know the voxel aesthetic didn't really do it for me. But I loved the lighting and the 3D space itself.
Do you think that this game could make me reconsider that stance?
- Comment on The Latin American dub of 'Ghost In The Shell' was censored and all country names were removed 2 weeks ago:
Not really? Dubs can change between the original airing and the physical release, for example when a VA is on vocal rest and they need a backup. Clifford Chapin voiced for the broadcast, as heard in this video, and Aaron Dismuke re-recorded his lines for the Blu Ray later.
In this instance, if I had to guess, the latin dubbers made a mistake and needed to redo those lines to match the rest of the international versions. Maybe they were using the manga as their source for some lines, but I doubt it was some principled stand.
- Comment on The Latin American dub of 'Ghost In The Shell' was censored and all country names were removed 2 weeks ago:
Oh hey welcome back Machine. Wanna talk about this again? Or should we wait for Walters and his ad hominems?
Yes, the Japanese dub fictionalized the names of some countries (not even all of them, the screenshot here literally says Japón). Yes, that was a change from the manga. Yes, this probably caused a bunch of confusion for the various dubbing and subbing contractors who were tasked with localizing the show to their language. Is all this really a malicious conspiracy to obscure Israel's ongoing genocide? Or does Hanlon's Razor apply?
- Comment on SUPERHOT VR gets various upgrades ready for the Steam Frame 2 weeks ago:
For being a gimmick shooter, I gotta say, from the very first game jam version they put out, it was the best gimmick I'd ever seen.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 10 discussion 3 weeks ago:
One of the things I misunderstood about this arc in the manga was that Motoko's assassination was more or less planned from the moment she left the courthouse. It just felt like crazy tonal whiplash to see her get sniped, so I was pretty sour on the ending of the manga.
But oh boy did Science Saru adapt this extremely well. I thought they would pull a SAC and end episode 9 on the assassination, leaving open a huge cliffhanger (one of the things that bothered me about SAC). But I'm glad they played the song from the first episode, that clued me in to the plan a lot better than the manga did, and consolidated all the important events into episode 10. I think that helped with the pacing as well as the tone.
What a season, hot damn.
- Comment on GiTS 2026 censored Israel to the fictional country of Ghorantl 4 weeks ago:
So what? The world does not revolve around Israel. We can make up fictional country names with real world analogs all the time. There's an entire TVTropes entry for it.
- Comment on "The internet we once loved is gone": SteamDB founders announce the community-run database has been acquired by Nexus Mods' owners 4 weeks ago:
I've built a game mod that now has a couple thousand users, it's true about the entitlement. I'm grateful to those users who expressed their support and glee, but so many -- admittedly well-meaning! -- people come in asking for basic assistance that don't read the FAQ. And then there's the handful of people who really believe you're there solely to serve them.
Can't even imagine single handedly supporting a site the size of SteamDB.
- Comment on "The internet we once loved is gone": SteamDB founders announce the community-run database has been acquired by Nexus Mods' owners 4 weeks ago:
Solo devs burning themselves out on their hobby projects is basically how the entire Internet used to work, and we're currently living in the consequences of that.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 8 discussion 5 weeks ago:
Imma keep it real with you, I've been watching weekly and I don't think this show makes for a good binge. There's WAY too much information moving WAY too fast to watch episode after episode with no breaks. I think I've rewatched at least 5 of the 8 episodes out at time of writing, some I've even rewatched a second time.
There are some callbacks that are easier to spot if you watch them close together, but I would still say you're gonna get whiplash by how quickly the show moves.
- Comment on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 | Official Teaser 1 month ago:
Watching the bouncing logo put a big dumb smile on my face.
- Comment on There Is No Male Loneliness Crisis. What’s Actually Happening Is So Much Darker. 1 month ago:
Also you've got some kind of agenda in these comments buddy, the dog whistles are screaming loud.
Unless you win the lottery and have a family or partner who doesn't view you as 'man'.
Please see a licensed therapist. You'll be giving them a run for their money with all they'd have to unpack but, if you don't have anyone in your life you can talk to openly, a therapist can be that person.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 6 discussion 1 month ago:
Ah yes, every GITS adaptation's favorite scene: the think tank. I love how they handled it here, showing how outclassed Major and Togusa are this time.
This episode in particular has some excellently timed humor given how serious the tone is. Motoko just finished explaining how horrific her wet work was, and they let that sit just long enough to create that tension and let you absorb some of her past, just before we get that "who meee???" look on her face. That joke arriving too early could have very easily faceplanted, but it was timed just right.
Same thing with Motoko and her BF revealing to each other that they ran background checks to be safe. They don't need to say anything to show how they both feel their trust has been violated, they just let that soundtrack play in the background for a bit. Then, boom, Batou drops a car seat on the ground. Perfect way to relieve that tension.
Actually the soundtrack this whole episode was beautiful.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 6 discussion 1 month ago:
They were going to meet a military commander from another country, Aramaki can be seen talking to him right after the bombing. The hair color may have been a disguise, in case he couldn't be trusted. He did say his military has all kinds of unsavory ties with drug cartels and mafia.
- Comment on [Discussion] What are your comfort anime? 1 month ago:
Yuru Camp, I can put on in the background and trust that I can fall asleep to it in less than one episode.
I love that Bocchi got some love itt but that's my rock out anime, different strokes for different folks. 😀
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 4 discussion 2 months ago:
I saw a lot more skeptical Anilist commenters saying they're coming around on the story, which I'm happy to see.
- Comment on anyone using apps to track what they watch? 2 months ago:
let you know when new episodes are out
displaying English titles
ability to rank series (did you mean rate series?)
anilist.co has you covered, the mobile site is decent unless you really really need an app. If by ranking you mean like a 1st, 2nd, 3rd system that's independent of score, then I guess you could use the custom notes fields or custom lists?
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 3 discussion 2 months ago:
Can't tell you how thrilled I am that I'm caught up on the lore behind a steamy cyborg threesome.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 3 discussion 2 months ago:
Thanks for letting me know, I'll check them out!
Yeah, it's scenes like the garbage man interrogation and the cafe, this is where 1995 and SAC get all their philosophical muscle. They just adapt those ideas into other scenes, not even necessarily the dialogue itself.
Now maybe I missed something but I hope you could explain this to me: the cyborg we see getting assembled with Motoko and the nurse, that is supposed to be the third woman in their menage e trois, right? Is she just undergoing a shell swap? I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the same person, they have the same hairstyle hair color, and eye color.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 3 discussion 2 months ago:
I'm noticing a big uptick in the amount of "flavortext" subtitles, there was at least one in each scene. I do wish these were translated but they still represent a lot of information that you'd never be able to read at normal speed. Maybe fansubbers can do them justice.
Anyway, I loved the stylish chase scene. The Major's grappling hook sequence had serious James Bond energy, especially in the soundtrack with the horns section. The blue and black sketch sequence was also incredible.
One day I'm gonna figure out what the crow symbolism is...
- Comment on Anime I've tried in 2026 2 months ago:
I do mean it as a compliment lol. You've got good taste.
- Comment on Anime I've tried in 2026 2 months ago:
This along with Re:Zero and OPM3, you have a good eye for bad anime lol. If you want another stinker for some ungodly reason, check out Eren the Southpaw.
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 1 discussion 2 months ago:
Let's say I take your argument in good faith, that this would still suck even if it wasn't named GitS and that your rose-tinted glasses for the 1995 movie aren't affecting you here. Sure, I believe you.
You mentioned cinematography twice, so let me ask you this... what? Why? What part of the cinematography didn't click? Because I thought it was very creative!
We have high angle shots, low angle shots, bird's eye view, mirrors, characters in foreground/background with a rack focus. We have some different POV shots of the tachikomas, some shots of how cramped the characters are when piloting them, we have a couple different HUDs for different characters/factions, the final 2 bullets that Motoko fires is actually a gorgeous tracking shot, I think the slow motion works wonders for it.
There's a lot of variety to the shots and their composition, I think it gives the episode a lot of character. SAC has it's own character as a police procedural drama, but it's pretty plain by comparison. It's straightforward and non-distracting, which is totally valid, just a different style to suit a different show.
So, what part of the cinematography here did you not like? Or are you just throwing words around that you know have something to do with filmmaking?
- Comment on [Episode] THE GHOST IN THE SHELL • Koukaku Kidoutai: THE GHOST IN THE SHELL - Episode 1 discussion 2 months ago:
I'd like to see someone at least explain why they hated it. My only complaint is the utterly breakneck pace of the first episode, but I didn't mind the aesthetic at all. The colors were strikingly beautiful, and the animation itself definitely reminded me of 80's anime. There's a charm to it's eccentricity.