Armplay
by Denise Sawicki on July 24, 2011

So, It seems like our frequent thunderstorms have programmed me to become wide awake at bizarre times even when there isn't a storm. I am definitely going back to bed. First I wanted to comment on a strange trend in anime. I have not watched all that much anime, but something weird always seems to happen to people's arms. I will try to avoid spoilers for anyone who cares by just using generic words such as "someone"...
Someone borrows or steals someone else's arm and uses it as if it were their own:
-Fullmetal Alchemist (two important cases)
-Trigun
-Claymore
Someone has a mechanical arm:
-Fullmetal Alchemist
-Trigun (frankly I don't know if they are animal, vegetable, or mineral but "mechanical" seems to describe the arms in question reasonably well)
-Cowboy Bebop
-Gankutsuou (Someone's arm seems to be composed of a canister containing a special pen. There is no word as to why or how this is the case)
Not *as* weird, but someone loses an arm:
Most of the above, plus:
-Gantz
-Le Chevalier D'Eon
In contrast, anime I have seen in which I can't remember anything weird happening to anyone's arms:
-Evangelion (there is a leg lost)
-Eden of the East
-Fruits Basket (something weird happens to people's entire bodies but it's not specifically about their arms except for the hugging bit)
Two Replies to Armplay
Denise Sawicki | July 25, 2011
Hand-gun, I love it... Maybe he gets a lot of iron in his diet.
Prayer for the Paranoid
Denise Sawicki posts whatever she feels able to post without serious consequences Read more »

supernaturally unlucky
Back among some of the first posts I made to this blog I had one called "False Hope" and another called "Another Irritating Thing". Well the same kind of thing has happened numerous more times to Darrell, but in the realm of writing, not music. Darrell and Darrin decided they were going to be writers... Go »
I didn't like Brokeback Mountain
I know I'm a number of years too late to be talking about this, but I finally happened to see Brokeback Mountain and I have to say I didn't like it terribly much. Yes, I realize this is an extremely unpopular opinion to the point of being just plain wrong as an objective fact. Note, I do not have a problem with gay people or gay behavior. Go »
Being Rich
I've decided I wouldn't really want to be wealthy. OK, in many people's estimation I am probably wealthy already, but, what I really mean is I wouldn't want to live like a wealthy person. I wouldn't want a huge house on the lake with my own boat.. Go »
Ghost of an Unkissed Kiss
As though I don't look bad enough for sharing information on my lame celebrity crushes, here's a real-life one, albeit a really old one. I'd forgotten that his full name was in the movie we watched the other day and maybe hearing his name was what got me started on this nostalgic path. He's got a common name. Go »
Why have I not checked this show out before?...
So I happened to find disk 1.1 of Queer as Folk (American version) at the library and it is rare to see disk 1.1 of anything so I checked it out. Go »
Scott Hardie | July 24, 2011
For some reason I'm reminded of the game Final Fantasy VII, as steeped in anime influence as any other in the series, in which a character has his severed hand replaced by a machine gun. The weapon has a life of its own, sometimes firing when he gets angry, which he seems to be often. It never runs out of ammunition or needs to be reloaded, and indeed there isn't even a place to insert bullets; it just has an endless supply. Even in a fantasy game, the implausibility of that hand-gun always bugged me. But, this is a game where an entire town transforms into a cannon, so I probably shouldn't overthink this.