#ai magase

[hopeymchope]

The riveting, disturbing world of 'Babylon'

I just finished the anime 'Babylon' from 2019, and my mind was all kinds of messed up by it. Honestly, after all the horrific and edgelord-y crap I've seen in anime/manga, it's sort of comforting to know that I'm still capable of being shaken and unnerved by some of this shit.

The title is generic AF, so let me give you a brief overview: Babylon is 12-episode anime series adapting a trilogy of novels by Mado Nozaki. Note that these are full-on novels, not light novels — but they aren't available in English as of me writing this. So for that reason, I can't speak to how adapting each novel into four half-hour episodes was handled. I'm sure that numerous cuts had to be made. I can only speak to what I know of the novels from other people who've read them. I'll get into some of that a lot later on.

The story focuses on Japanese public prosecutor Zen Seizaki, who starts out the series investigating false advertising at a pharmaceutical company before stumbling into a conspiracy that initially seems to be manipulating his city's politics. But Zen digs deeper still, and he finds it's far worse than just that. Countless lives are on the line, and humanity's shared moral compass faces a huge possible shift that appears to be occurring naturally... but the spread of this new perspective is, in actuality, FAR from natural. One character likens the events to "ideological terrorism," and that strikes me as a pretty good summary. Ultimately, the antagonists are technically — at least in all visible senses — moving within the confines of the law to enact their intentions. In that case, what can government authorities, lawyers, and police do to stem the tide?

The series doesn't try to argue that government authority is 'innocent' or 'incorruptible' in ANY way... but it does seem to believe that figures of authority USUALLY play by the established rules of legality. .... At least in Japan.

So hey, let's start up front with some exciting news: It's an anime about adult characters living adult lives and doing adult jobs! And despite that, it's not an office romance, NOR is it a romance between an adult and a teenager or ANY of that stuff! Shit — this isn't even a comedy! That puts 'Babylon' somewhere around "EPIC" in terms of anime rarity. Every episode begins with a content warning and a suicide prevention hotline number. That should give you some fucking idea of how dark we're going here. But the primary focus of 'Babylon' isn't revealed until the very end of episode 3. So... I'll give you the chance to bow out right now if you don't want to know the exact nature of the threat. It's hard for me to discuss it in too much depth without spoiling it. I won't spoil anything OTHER than the major subject matter revealed at the end of episode 3, though!

You still here? The content warning hints at the most important component of the story: The central focus is on suicide. Specifically, is suicide inherently immoral? Or should people have the right to decide when their lives end? Is there any gray in the middle of that? Etc. Suffice it to say that there's a major trigger warning for suicide in this series. Not only because characters kill themselves with disturbing regularity, but because there are also multiple scenes that are just long philosophical debates about when suicide is or isn't moral... as well as who or what defines the guidelines of our personal and societal morality, is there any such thing as pure good or pure evil, etc.

And I'm not complaining — these scenes are really interesting! Although characters do tend to take WAY too long to bring up really obvious aspects of these debates for my taste. Like, when someone raises the question of why suicide is illegal, it takes multiple episodes of off-and-on chit-chat before someone cracks wise about how you can't exactly prosecute or arrest someone who commits suicide FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. I'm not sure why that wasn't the FIRST thing to come up, but I guess I just think differently than this author. (FYI: Another character points out that the matter of 'legality' extends to whether police and emergency services are compelled to stop/respond to possible suicide threats, if you're curious how the ongoing debate is justified.)

Some of the heady debates are portrayed via trippy-ass visuals that only we, the viewers at home, can see. Which is kind of goofy, but it's an interesting way to keep things from becoming too static during the philosophical discussions.

Clearly, they're not shying away from tough topics. But the side in favor of allowing people to commit suicide is hardly playing fair, either. They're forcing the issue in the worst possible way: Controlling people to kill themselves, convincing fucking CHILDREN to kill themselves, and more. So as a viewer, you obviously WANT them to lose the debate. But they aren't entirely arguing without merit, either. That's part of what makes it so disturbing: Sometimes they make some horrible kind of sense.

The elements that make the series discomforting aren't just in the subject matter discussed or in the touchy debates. The primary antagonist (or... are they?) is... oof. How can I describe them without spoiling anything about their identity and what they do? Suffice to say that their abilities border on supernatural, and as the series progresses, those abilities become increasingly impossible to counter. Apparently they are framed as being explicitly NOT supernatural in the novels, but in this anime, they appear to lean closer to being some kind of superpower — a really gross and upsetting one.

To make matters worse, before we see this antagonist fully utilize their abilities, the experience of being on the receiving end of their powers is compared to fucking rape in a way that... really made me feel like it was justifying objectification of human beings - even underage ones!!!! - as nothing more than sex objects. Like, it actually PISSED ME OFF. But... look, I gave the show some time to justify its bullshit, and I'm glad I did — that conversation became much less offensive in retrospect, after we learn/see a lot of said antagonist's true nature. (Note that I said it became less offensive. It is still disturbing as all hell, which is the intended response.)

You can tell that I'm STILL trying to avoid a lot of spoilers in this thing. There's just so many twists and turns, and it's consistently extremely compelling stuff. I don't know that they entirely stick the landing on this bird, though...

There's just too many questions left open at the end for my taste. Too many hanging chads. What are the motivations of our antagonists? One of them — the one who appears on-screen the most — at least appears to be the "just want to watch the world burn" type, though even THAT is pretty unclear. And the other major antagonist is kept mysterious for the entire run! They serve as a major figurehead for a pro-suicide movement, and we have no flippin' idea what their motives are! Furthermore, the series ends on what could be called "ambiguous" at best or "a goddamned cliffhanger" at worst.

And there are no more books! The author has written other books since completing this trilogy and has given no indication of ever intending to go back! It just... leaves us there, twisting in the wind!

KNOW THIS: The post-credits scene in the last episode was made up for the anime by the anime production team. Nothing like exists in the original novels or the manga or anywhere else. You might as well consider it non-canon. Which is great news, because it sucks all the life out of the preceding confrontation.

But even with all that baggage, I can't say I wasn't riveted. I can't stay I don't recommend it, honestly. It's very well done up until that point. And I don't even completely hate the ending! ... Maybe I just hate the post-credits scene, I guess. ..... No, WAIT, we sit through multiple episodes of a character pondering their position on the suicide issue, only for their big moment of revelation to be... LITERALLY THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF AS A COUNTER-ARGUMENT TO THE VILLAINS. So that. Yeah. That kinda sucked.

But the actual climactic scene? The final moments? They're engrossing... and open to interpterion in a way that isn't without merit!

Oh, and consider this: The manga version of the story? It ends on the second novel, concluding with a much happier version of the events that wrap up that part of the story here. There is no third novel — that final part where the stakes become global never arises. Sadly, I don't think the manga adaption has ever been translated into English. But if you find a scanlation or something, let me know! I'd like to see the happier ending. At least I'd feel more closure than I got here.

#babylon #babylon anime #anime reviews #ai magase #Zen Seizaki

[kunikidas-cock-sucker]

You can't tell me that if Johan and Magase got together and reproduced that these hellspawns wouldn't be their children! They all act the same! (Except in some parts obv.) {In order of appearance; Johan Liebert from Monster, Ai Magase from Babylon, Junko Enoshima from Danganronopa, and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji from Classroom of the Elite}.

#johan liebert #monster anime #ai magase #babylon anime #junko enoshima #danganronpa #kiyotaka ayanokouji #classroom of the elite #anime #anime recommendation #animanga #manga recommendation #manga #anime manipulator #master manipulator

[idontthinkimokaymentally]

Hello there Ai Magase fans.

#ai magase #babylon

[mordred-doombitch]

#my edit #babylon #magase ai #anime screencap

[gagabulut98]

one piece 144 ai magase

#onepiece144 #aimagase #anotherova #dragonballsuperanime #rokuaka #tonarinokaibutsu

[female-lord-is-our-wife]

I recently watch the Anime it was called "Babylon." Before you reading this I should tell you that this would giving you some spoiler.

About the Villain. Well, I honestly still feel confused that how Ai Magase manage to hypnotize many people just by her words or even hearing her voice. And about the ending, I believe that Seizaki Zen didn't die. And for the reason he killing the President, maybe because he was doesn't like the way President called him a good guy. Because well maybe from Zen pov it was like the President want him to stop searching Ai Magase.

But in the other hand, Ai Magase called him a bad guy because Zen want to stop her insane action. But for myself I was still believe that Zen was alive, he didn't end up killing himself because if he was REALLY doing that, that's mean Zen is really a BADGUY. Because we know that Evil is Stop and Good is Keep Going. So, If Zen end up killing himself its the same like he was really a badguy. Because he choose to kill himself more than kill Ai Magase. For the cutscene in the ending, it's not like it WAS really after the accident. It could be before,

Ai Magase once meet Zen's son, if the situation was before maybe it could be the reason why Ai Magase want to mess up Zen psychology. And if it was after, there was no evidence Zen was die.

Idk, this is just my personal opinion about the last episode of Babylon.

#babylon #zen seizaki #ai magase #spoiler

[sakuga-shit]

Dangerous Dames

#waifu #best anime #2d animation #anime gif #anime #women power #women #tokyo ghoul #rize #mirai nikki #yuno gasai #babylon #ai magase #jormungand #koko hekmatyar #attack on titan #mikasa #black lagoon #revy #dragon ball #18 #gleipnir #claire aoki #fuu houhou #hitori no shita #sakuga #anime mix #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #kugisaki nobara

[ikritique]

Babylon: An Anime Review

Never has an anime whetted my curiosity to later use it as the very blade that will stab me in the back with betrayal, rage and disappointment. Enough with the preamble. We will be talking about the anime “Babylon”.

Babylon is a mystery, psychological thriller anime that debuted in Fall 2019. We follow prosecutor Seizaki Zen as he is assigned to investigate a pharmaceutical fraud case. As he unravels bits of the mystery, Seizaki finds himself entangled in a game of politics and murder that challenge his strong morals on justice. Throw in a juicy femme fatale acting as the sidekick to the true villain, bureaucracy, and you are presented with a collection of ingredients that will surely deliver a luscious meal of a true murder mystery.

As promised, the first half of the anime does deliver. Gone are the quirky and fun-loving set of characteristics that are usually prevalent in anime as a ploy to appeal to the viewer’s humorous side. From the elegantly short opening to the overall monochromatic color palette that tinges the show and its characters, the anime pulls all stops to implicitly inform the viewer that this is a show to be taken seriously. It promises to question your perception of justice, to horrify you with the shady nature of politics, to present its pieces purposefully, and to guide you and the protagonist towards an ultimate answer.

But then, a major tonal shift occurs that completely destroys everything built up in the first half. The issue jumps from the fictional city of Shiniki to the entire world. And at that point, we have a new protagonist who takes the lead in analyzing the ethicality of suicide. The previous protagonist is relegated to a manically obsessed detective going after the “one who got away”. The juicy femme fatale I’d mentioned earlier? Dismissed as a mere subplot, when she was shaping up to be quite a destructive force at the crux of the anime. The entire case seems to have been shoved to the side as this new shift jarringly appears, cramming itself down our throats. The story at this point is so messily handled, like a disorganized symphony crescendo-ing into absolute chaos. Nothing is resolved in the end. Forget satisfaction, the second half of the anime took away everything good from the first half and twisted it into something that suits their own agenda.

When thinking of whether I would recommend this to anyone, I cannot bring myself to do so in good conscience. A mystery is only worth watching if it reaches a satisfactory conclusion. It would be cruel to recommend even the first seven episodes, because it would only leave the viewers wanting for more. I was warned of the crash course the anime would take after the 7th episode beforehand (without spoilers of course). Call it morbid curiosity, or maybe even just the desperate urge to see any kind of conclusion, but I needed to know where it was going. The first seven episodes did such a good job at building up that hype, to thoroughly trap you into the web Seizaki was finding himself entangled in, that you simply must know where it was going, and how it would end.

I cannot continue this. Let’s end this here. At some other point, I’ll break down exactly what was terrible. I cannot do that here without spoiling anything. I rate this a 1 out of 5. One point only for those wonderful seven episodes.

#anime #review #mystery #rating: 1 #drama #rant #television #thriller #psycho pass #babylon anime #magase ai #ai magase #seizaki zen #anime 2019 #2019 #fall 2019 #fall 2019 anime #animation: Babylon

[animepopheart]

That moment when you realize the rip marks on the Babylon poster were clues.

#babylon anime #babylon #zen seizaki #ai magase #hiasa sekuro #babylon spoilers

[tistellas]

#babylon #babylon anime #magase ai #バビロン #ai magase #mine

[dreddlightful]

What is evil?

#babylon #ai magase #artists on tumblr #anime #jamesthedrow

[kanralovesu]

Bablyon’s Ending: Pressing Questions Answered!

I’m just gonna dive right into it and make this short. If you haven’t watched Bablyon please do so!

First off, lets get on the same page: What literally happens in the ending? Well Seizaki shoots Wood and then himself. Magase was never actually in talking to him its just one of the disillusion he’d been having of her. He had to shoot Wood to make it look like a murder and not a suicide or everyone would think the president endorsed the suicide. Magase saying “bang” is a pretty good indication that she worked her Magase magic on Seizaki and finally got him to pull his own trigger on himself. 

What’s metaphorically going on? Magase is a pretty clear representation of temptation, the show even going so far as to directly say she’s the snake from Adam and Eve. This makes sense given the sexual nature of her mental attacks. For this reason it doesn’t make sense for Seizaki to actually kill her. When we see Magase meeting Seizaki’s son at the very end this is just an indication that temptation into evil is a constant force all generations are fighting against. 

They keep throwing around “good is to continue”, but what does that mean? Well for one its quite literally what Wood said when he was talking the girl down from suicide: you’ve got to continue to think about what is right and wrong. This is of course echoed earlier in the anime by Seizaki and his subordinates. Its also about continuing in the sense of raising the next generation. Its no coincidence both Wood and Seizaki have families and boys at that. Those boys are going to continue on the legacy of the father and the human race as a whole. This is eluded to when they flashback to Magase and Seizaki’s first conversation where she asked about contraceptives as well as several other parts where they showed pictures of the families and pictures of babies being born.

So ironically, even though my first impression was that it was a bad ending because Magase met the son, by the shows standards of good and evil its actually the closest to a good ending we could get because it shows the cycle is continuing past the point where the show ends. This type of ending is how they get around the fact that literally moments earlier they said “evil is to end”.

Was what Seizaki did good or bad? I think by mentioning the trolley problem earlier they making a direct comparison between that and Seizaki’s choice. In the end though whether the show agrees that you should kill the few to save the many is irrelevant because the only inherently “good” action you can take is to continue to think about what’s good and what’s bad so it very much is meant to be ambiguous. I think it is safe to say, though, that Seizaki killing himself in the end was bad because Magase, the representation of temptation, caused him to do it. The show definitely considers suicide bad based on the conclusion that “good is to continue” and you can’t continue if you’re dead.

I hope this lets you appreciate this amazing ending to this amazing show! It definitely easy to get bogged down in all the philosophical talk and all these details are purposefully vague, but that just makes it all the more fun to uncover the true meaning behind it all. This has been one of my favorite anime of the last decade so I’m happy to be able to write about it now that its finally finished! 

#babylon #babylon anime #バビロン #magase ai #ai magase #seizaki zen #zen seizaki #ending #babylon ending #good #evil #metaphor #tempation #anime #anime 2019 #anime 2020 #winter 2020 #anime winter 2020 #anime fall 2019 #fall 2019 #good anime

[toxicsugarart]

What is evil?

#babylon #babylon anime #magase ai #ai magase #art #my art #anime #cartoon #yandere #guro #horror #horror art #horror anime

[emialawliet]

Ahh damn. I hate Ai Magase. It's a good thing she doesn't exist irl. She's out of this world. She can't be just an ordinary serial killer. And that's what frustrates me, she is too op for Zen and everyone in that story. No one could stop her. It's a one sided thing. I thought the mystery on how she kills would eventually still be explained further but no, it was just a big slap to us that she is invulnerable. Everyone is ordinary except her. I just hate it. But that ending, i get the gist of it. I get it why Zen had to do it. I know at first it was shocking, but really, he must have felt that it was the only way and the "right" thing to do. The gunshot at the end, I hoped it was for Ai, but the end credits tells us otherwise. Probably the authorities shot Zen. Or he shot himself? He wasn't as affected when Ai was talking to her tho. But is he alive? If yes he is still guilty of killing the pres, still not going back to his family. Hopes crushed. And now his family is in danger I guess. But now what? What is Ai up to? Was the law approved? Still a lot of questions to be answered and I wish there will still be a continuation because to "end" is bad, right creators of Babylon? I didn't really hate the ending, just this fuckin op villain. What happened to justice??? Ughh.

#babylon #babylon anime #seizaki zen #zen seizaki #ai magase

[freytful]

Theres a french phrase called “la petite mort”, which commonly describes the feeling after orgasm, but directly translated means “the little death”. anyway so i think thats Ai Magase

#babylon #babylon anime #ai magase #during computer guys whole speech i could just think about this one phrase #NO i dont know his name #babylon 2019 #mine

[entrehormigones]

#babylon #anime #ai magase #magase ai