Table of Contents
1. Starting with the begining of the universe
1.1. Checking my assets
1.2. This is about an anime right?
1.2.1. Attempt number 1
1.2.2. Attempt number 2
1.2.3. Deal
1 Starting with the begining of the universe
I stayed late at the CSET labs pretty much every night. Subway sandwich ready to eat about 9 or so.
It was doing work time. But it was also watch youtube time. Share memes in the lab with other people.
Talk about computer shit. I was friends with a first year senior and so after about a term I was
Hanging in the same group as the main senior group. This strategy likely would not have worked if
I was less quick on the up take. I hope I didn't often say I knew things I didn't know, but it
Probably happened some. But this was a moment I was learning that there were questions I didn't
Even know enough to know to ask. It was this enviroment which lead to my stumbling on the anime
Club meeting, because I heard the siren call of japanese anime noises from one of the class rooms
On the way to and from the bathroom.
The year was 2010 and the anime was C the money of soul and possibility control.
1.1 Checking my assets
I got a pc, I got a family. I got a body.
I have a laptop with faulty keyboard. I have a place to sleep.
I have a girlfriend. I have
Persona. I have
Place and time. I have
Technomancy. I have autism :p
I have 4 different copies of encodes of C the money of soul and possibility control.
I figure in the post-socialmedia wired and the great scattering that occurs when Google
Is lost and take all semblance of modern internet with it as bgp networks are obliterated,
As dns loses all cohesion and physical connectivity is broken on any run longer than about 100km
(essentially one days journey) due to lack of maintainance, weird encodes like moozzie2 C
Might fetch a small fortune. Stuff like Icetric's Lain collection too but that's like required reading
For any would be acolyte, let alone the god I intend to be.
1.2 This is about an anime right?
It's hard for me to convey why I love C so much. I want to set the stage, give context. I don't
Think I'm alone in having the difficulty in explaining what C was about. The show tries 3 different times,
With varieing levels of success.
1.2.1 Attempt number 1
The first attempt takes 2:05 seconds and is the first scene in the show.
We are treated to the most boring looking atm bank with ads and salaryman-man is digging
Through his wallet for some card that will work. He needs money and he needs it bad.
He is unshaven. Frantic. We have seen him for 45 seconds and we aren't rooting for the guy,
Because he likely deserves whatever is coming his way, but we do empathize that this guy might
Be in some real trouble. That's when he resorts to the last card.
A shock sound plays as we see this black card has a number with last 4 digits 0666.
The card is evil guys. Did you know credit cards are bad guys? Like they are a really bad idea.
Oh wait sorry the propoganda messages sometimes start playing automatically if one of their key
Ideas are triggered. Anyway the religious symbolism of the mark of the beast and stuff all
Comes up.
Western religious symbolism in anime.
It's in everything from eva, on down, and sometimes is used to better or worse effect.
Eva I think is a pretty weak use of christian themeing, it's too deep a usage to ignore the
Wrong shit. Like imagine doing greek god stuff and being like And dionysis and jupiter are
Actually gemini and form the troidevi persephone, hades wife, half time.
It's like you would be like what the fuck are you doing olymus shampuru?
Too specific and wrong.
The use of 666 on the credit card is actually very good. Credit cards have already a kinda
Evil side, so we can quickly and imediately call to that evil side with quick and dirty
666 use. This kind of efficent use of symbolism is my favorite thing about anime.
That it can cut away so much unneeded information just by choosing not to put it in frame, or to put it in
Frame but with low detail. In real life there is always noise in that signal. But in
Anime you can experiance that ideal world of architypes. Most anime use the architype language
To save on doing work. But it's more fun for us lateral types (actually I'm probably close to
The newtype/shadow guardian nexus) It's fun when the architype language is used to comunicate
A lot of information very quickly.
It's nice to see that this ATM has accessability for the blind even in anime land.
I love this little bank area. I feel like I have been in that place. Just change out the sign
With PrivatBank and bam. Maybe this is less relateable to americans for that reason. This
Is like a kind of european flavor that I got from my 5 years in Ukraine.
(laugh about how ukraine isn't europe that's fine.)
HOLY SHIT WHEN THAT GUY PUT THE EVIL CARD IN THE SCREEN TURNED BLACK
Then this cool clearly western voice speaks in stark contrast with the
Japanese voice. "PIN CODE"
And I have to mention at this point the sound texture here is amazing. Fuck.
"What is your pin code?" This isn't engrish. It's like this sultry hot
Very slightly stilted, to sound like a computer voice perhaps feminine voice.
The pin code is [666] if you can believe they would use the same visual language
Twice in 30 seconds in 2 different contexts.
But don't worry not 20 seconds later this man walks from the bank into a teired parking
Structure and waves his card in the air and a taxi appears out of thin air.
He gets on and pays his fare. 666$ BABY! WOOOOOOO!
That's right this motherfucker is going to play games and he has chosen his opponenet.
He bought a one way ticket to The Finacial District.
The taxi drives straight into a wall at max speed.
Attempt 1 summary
C is credit. C is risk. C tempts you to spend beyond your means to risk in some kind of game.
C is presented as part technology, part magic. But it might be better to say what we call
Computer technology is very predictable magic. So in the world of C we can expect to be able
To enter magical finacial districts by driving a taxi into a wall. Now you are driving with
IPv7 baby.
I like that this is able to convey as much as it does in very little space, but
We haven't gotten closer to answering what this show is about, but I suppose we are only 2 minutes
Into the show. So maybe I should cut it some slack? Well. No. The show is setting the pace here,
And it moves on to another scene.
1.2.2 Attempt number 2
Now in this golden digimon like virtual world of midas called
The finacial district. Here we see a suave lookin guy and a cute pIxie like thing literally eating money.
And it's like ok. So that's a blunt metaphore.
Now because fuck you I want to quote this scene right here.
This monolog starts at about 2 minuts and lasts til 4:30 when the third character joins the scene.
I do this to illustrate an important point about the idea "Show don't tell"
In order to do this I will also describe key events as they happen in the show with the monolog.
[dense residential blocks in white seperated by red tinted roads]
M: Take a look. (look over there)
How many of the people here realise it?
[shot of giant floating coin in center of city with 7 613 289 318 914 Yen. The number steadily increasing]
How many are there that don't?
[Man walking behind picture frame, xray image shows the tree of life "Chakra" and eyes the rest shadow]
How many are suspicious of it?
[literally low poly generic pedestrians walking on streets. Taxi cars driving]
How many go on completely unaware?
[Looks through the frame created by a hole in his "Evil black card"]
At the end is money just money?
[cute blue haired pIxie girl]
Or is it
[pulls out money and sticks it in her mouth]
Something much more?
[girl small eating money, seen through frame created by card, on white building beneath red sky]
Or is it
[card drawn away, girl vanishes from scene]
Something much less? [pause on guy's face] Q
[still with money in her mouth. Long green black with brown rooted horns on her head,
Pointy ears. And another red with blonde haired thing behind her]
Q: Hmm?
M: What do you think?
Q[money still sticking out of her mouth]:
Isn't it enough just to have a full stomach?
M: ha, Nice and simple.
[talking to him now through muffeled voice and as text on the screen]
Q: is it not so simple for you?
[man jumping backwards toward end of building]
M: It's neither simple nor complicated.
[falls backward off side, camera follows]
If your position changes, so too does your way of seeing things.
[uses his card (seen to have a cthulu squid) to teleport himself away from
His fall to a "Building" (collection of various sized and shaped picture frame structure) on red ground)
What a mysterious thing money is.
But if I were to sum it up in one sentance…
For me, it is the very thing that connects me to this world.
[inside the building (library like) man sets out two wine glasses]
Money alone.
Really, this is true for everyone, but there are few who realise it.
[places money in wine glass for Q and expencive wine for self]
Then, After coming to a world like this,
[Q's money evaporates into numbers as he goes to take a sip]
There are even fewer who realise it.
Look I know it's kinda bad form to literally quote the text.
Like go watch it if you want what the text is saying in the text.
Here is the thing. None of you motherfuckers watched the fucking text. So
Im here having to cliff notes this bitch. Please contrast What we already know
About this setting with something like IDON"TKNOW firefly.
Please go watch the first bit of my video on firefly if you want the explaination to that.
We don't have time here. We have spend 4 minutes 30 seconds, and we have established
A psudo scify/magic world, as an alegory for the dangers of overspending in a bullish economy.
We don't have metaphore so much as paper mask. This talk about what money is and how it relates
To every fabric of our being. How it has more power than we typically realize. The exploration
Of these ideas is the very point of this show. We want to learn What C is. We want to understand,
And we know all the while what we are examining is microcosm to our own real world situation. Not in
Some imaginary future. But here in real life reality now.
Look. I could go on explaining every fucking thing about what this show has to offer.
But That would be doing a diservice to the show.
Is what I ought to say because honestly the first part of this show was so dence with clear and heavy handed
Idiom at breakneck pace that it builds in itself an unatainable standard.
We physically can't keep up at that rate. Our brains can't take it.
Thankfully we get a bit of a repreive as the show takes some time to show us the game battle element.
Deals.
1.2.3 Deal
.
INDEX - hierachical view of every page as relates to its host.
