Mecha Talk

Chaos Theater Ep. 018 - "Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo"
- Download Now: 64 kbps - 126 mins, 50 sec. (2:06:50) 58.1 MB

Special Guest Host: Kristina Pino (opening and Gankutsuou)

Segment Breakdown for this Episode:

01. Intro: "What We've Been Up To" and "Slaying the Sacred Cow"
Runtime: 0:00:01 - 0:41:44

02. Discussion: "Gankutsuou"
Runtime: 0:42:33 - 1:30:44

03. Outro: "Chaos Theater Mailbag" and "Internet whoring"
Runtime: 1:31:18 - 2:06:02

It's more than a few days late, but last month's second episode is finally here! This time, Pedro and I are joined once again by Kristina Pino from Tomopop to discuss Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. Before that, we catch up on what we're doing and belt out a long-winded sacred cow on the assumption that any adaptation will suck. Afterward, we answer some of your questions in the Mailbag. Like our sister shows, you can now drop us a voicemail on our Google Voice number, so please do! Next time, we're on the hunt for treasure and snark as we discuss the Uncharted games.

Music Featured in this Episode:
"Boing Zoom DAKOTA!" from Rock Candy 1 by Shadow
"Lento Lugubre" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
"Piano Concerto #2" by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Sponsors & Special Offers:
Audible

Websites:
MAHQ.net - Gundamn.net - Chaos Theater -Laplace's Box -Chaos Theater Mecha Talk Forum - Gundamn! @ Mecha Talk Forum - Laplace's Box @ Mecha Talk Forum - MAHQ.net @ Twitter - Chaos Theater @ Twitter - Gundamn! @ Twitter - Laplace's Box @Twitter - Main RSS Feed - iTunes

Feedback:
Google Voice: 305-792-8324
Email: chaostheatershow@gmail.com

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"What did catch my eye, however, was a podcast named Gundamn!. At first I thought it was a podcast about firearms and [rednecks] discussing their collection, but after looking at the episode titles I was sold." - Xhavalor

PSN: amuromsz006

You guys saved my day. I got this damn cold and I'm at work. Then I put this on and I'm laughing my ass off. xD

Just finished listening to it, might give the show a watch, sounds rather good.

I agree with you Pedro on the Sephiroth fight, at least for KH1 - God, I went and fought him around lv. 40 and I got DECIMATED. Even at friggin level 80 or so, he'll still give you problems if you're not careful. However, I'd say for me, the hardest fight would've been from the same game, but story-related - second boss fight with Riku. AUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!

And Chris, all I have to say to you is AMEN. Granted, I wasn't working in retail for anywhere near as long as you, but being hired as a temp for the holiday season is NOT FUN. I was cool working during November, but once Black Friday and the holiday rush came, it was nothing less than infuriating, especially during Christmas week where it's basically non stop. But, at least SOME (albeit rarely) people are actually civil and kind - I'd suspect that they were in the same situation.

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From 00 S2 ep 25

Tieria: As long as you keep looking down on them, you'll never understand them!
Ribbons: *has Newtype-y flash of AGE, of Kio and his UNDERSTANDING replacing his show* I DON'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND!

Again I have to say the same as I am someone who currently is working in that field right now and had to go to work at 8am on BF. I appreciate the support you give to us, in particular considering I have to work until midnight on Dec. 24th and I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted my back at work first thing on the 26th.

This is at a Kmart that is usually open 24hrs BTW.

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The Gundam wiki

"Reality makes a crappy special effects crew." - Adam Savage

Youch. Similar with me and Target, except they were 'kind' enough to let me work 10-7 on Christmas Eve in exchange for 3-12 for every other friggin day that week besides Christmas.

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From 00 S2 ep 25

Tieria: As long as you keep looking down on them, you'll never understand them!
Ribbons: *has Newtype-y flash of AGE, of Kio and his UNDERSTANDING replacing his show* I DON'T WANT TO UNDERSTAND!

Good episode, admittingly Gankutsuou I've kind of been curious on.
But then again I remember seeing the live action movie or mini-series version of it.

As for the mailbag answers.
I'm surprised neither of you are familliar with Tin Tin and all that.
And the uncanny valley feel aint that bad if you've read the comics or seen the 90s series.
So it doesn't bother me much, it's in that style.

As for Freedom Force games, both of them are pretty awesome I would recommend them it's a shame the series abruptly ended due to the company being absorbed.

And they cancelled the 3rd game in favor of doing Bioshock at the time.
So forgive me if I throw out some hate that way.

Gankutsuou is completely different from other adaptations of Monte Cristo, so don't think about it in terms of those other versions. As for Tintin, why would you expect us to be familiar with it? It's old and it's from Europe. Even with the Spielberg movie, I'm sure the average American still wouldn't know who Tintin is.

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"What did catch my eye, however, was a podcast named Gundamn!. At first I thought it was a podcast about firearms and [rednecks] discussing their collection, but after looking at the episode titles I was sold." - Xhavalor

PSN: amuromsz006

Just because it's old doesn't mean people don't know about it.
Figured I would ask in case, especially since some of the stories are good and some of the characters are alot of fun to read at times.

I don't know about that Chris, I read a lot of the Tintin comic/books growing up, and everyone else I know did too. Maybe it's a regional thing?

Anyway, The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books, and the Gankutsuou anime didn't disappoint at all. I was a little annoyed at the whole "selling his soul to random entity" macguffin part of it that oversimplified a lot of the moral ambiguity of the original, but it sure made for some sweet revenge scenes, hahah. With regards to the crazy artwork and people getting sick - my friends thought it would be awesome to play "Drunkutsuou", which is getting hammered and watching Gankutsuou. That was not a great idea, hahaha.

Finally, I also work in retail and have the pleasure of having to go in to work at 4am from now until Christmas. People can seriously be jerks around this time of year, but it doesn't bother me because it just shows what over-privileged scumbags people are. You can totally tell when you find someone that is used to always getting their way in life because they go off the handle whenever anyone says something is beyond their control.

Hey guys, great episode as usual, and I really enjoyed having Kristina's voice in the episode.

However, my enjoyment of the episode was affected by the way you guys chose to speak about Peppo. I know you're going to tell me this is all in good humour, but I ask you to please hear me out on this, as you guys are progressive and Chris, in particular, has impressed me in the past with standing against racism, misogyny and homophobia in podcasts. Right.

So, Peppo is transgender. She is female, in terms of this is how she identifies. She is not 'really a man'. If anything, she was assigned male at birth, but that has nothing to do with her identification, or the way she lives her day to day life (as a woman).

I was saddened by one of my favorite podcasts showcasing a lot of transphobia, both with the wide use of the word 'tranny' (a word used to insult/harass/threaten transgender people) and with the joking that Peppo is a 'trap'. This is an appeal to the trans-hating trope that transgender women are only in this world to 'trap' straight men into sleeping with other men. Yes, this is what the show presents, it doesn't mean it's any less busted.

I urge you guys to educate yourselves about transgender issues, and particularly the depiction of transgender people in the media. (I recommend, as a starting point, Julia Serano's article "Skirt Chasers: Why the Media depicts the Trans Revolution in Lipstick and Heels" here http://www.juliaserano.com/outside.html#skirtchasers )

This isn't an issue of 'well you shouldn't be offended' or 'it's not my problem'. The fact is that these kinds of distortions and misrepresentation contribute to a culture of hating on transgender people, and finding transgender people disgusting, undesirable freaks that are expendable. We are portrayed as either victims or trying to deceive people. We aren't, we are just trying to live our lives, as tough as that is in a society where transphobic violence is so prevalent.

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Livin' la vida Loki.

Great episode... btw I'm hearing some weired sounds in the backround. Can't pinpoint it though.

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"I... I won't die alone. I'm gonna take your soul along with me when I go.""Because of your stupidity the earth remains trampled under the feet of fools."

Kosh:

I appreciate your comments on the other issues you raised, but there's one thing I want you to keep in mind - I'm not perfect. When popular culture beats terms like "trannies" into your head or the notion that women who sleep around are sluts but men who do are studs, it's not easy to break out of that way of thinking. And as much as I actively try to avoid those things, some things are going to slip through. I have no problems with transgendered people, and nothing that I said was intended to be insensitive or offensive.

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"What did catch my eye, however, was a podcast named Gundamn!. At first I thought it was a podcast about firearms and [rednecks] discussing their collection, but after looking at the episode titles I was sold." - Xhavalor

PSN: amuromsz006

Hey Chris,

I totally get where you're coming from, and I didn't mean to imply you were perfect or a paragon or anything. We all make mistakes: it's what we do with them that matters.

Thank you for taking what I said into consideration and thinking about it. Let me know if you're interested in other resources on transgender issues.

PS: Yeah, I totally outed myself, but I felt it was necessary x

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Livin' la vida Loki.

definitely regional, ask any canadian (esp the francophones and french immersion kids) about Tintin and they will light up, but other places in north america...not so much.

As for the topic of the episode. Dumas is my favourite author all time. Not only are his books awesome but if you say so around a bunch of lit majors they assume that because your favourite author is both foreign and dead for two centuries, you have very cultured and refined taste no matter how schlock adventure fictiony the actual content is. Gankutsuou is an astoundingly realized re-imagining of the classic that captures a lot of the fun of the original while still standing on its own. highly recommended, it's in my top ten for all time. The art style (those patterns - designed by a milanese fashion designer) and soundtrack (with contributions by Jean-Jacques Burnel, bassist for The Stranglers, the only british new wave act worth listening to) complement the story perfectly.

On the subject of the strengths of tabletop gaming I must mention the boundless creativity in setting design, for every vanilla fantasy console rpg out there I can name something completely out of the box awesome from the tabletop realm. I'm running a game of Deadlands right now that somehow seamlessly blends alt history western, steampunk, dark fantasy and wuxia and it so damned cool to play in.

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Opinionated nerdy podcast goodness, every other saturday
The first rule of book club is - do not podcast about book club
Irreverent, fast paced movie reviews

Well perhaps regional in America and all.
But I would say for Australia might be totally different since it aired on ABC(Australian Broadcasting company)

And back then in the 90s and still to this day it was 1 of 5 free to air channels.
ABC was known for airing good after school shows.
So chances are a fair few Australians caught it back then or if not they got the DVD release.

That semi-explains things. I know we had a whole collection of Tintin books at our local library, but I went to Canada a lot as a kid, so maybe that's how I found out about it in the first place.

Just finished this episode. Great discussion and Kristina was delightful. i've been meaning to check out Gankutsuou and you've convinced me. In fact, there's a ridiculous super value bundle available so I just ordered the series. By coincidence, and now in preparation for the anime, I am currently listening to the Count of Monte Cristo on audiobook from Audible. It's a good way to remember things as a lot of the plot is hazy in my memory. I remember reading the novel but it's possible I read an abridged version. On the Wiki, there are a lot of plot elements I simply do not remember. Anyway, thanks!

considering the original novel was published in 18-part serial and over a thousand pages long, abridged version seems liekely. another problem might be that the 'standard' translation is from 1846 and really de-emphasises the sex could also be a problem.

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Opinionated nerdy podcast goodness, every other saturday
The first rule of book club is - do not podcast about book club
Irreverent, fast paced movie reviews

I can imagine how long an unabridged version would be.