
Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Freehold DM wrote:The Vagrant Erudite wrote:so...you turned into yourself?** spoiler omitted ***frowns at Freehold's denial*
Cue villainous backstory
"If I cannot be part of the solution, I will be part of the problem!!"
*morphs into sarcastic bastard student who questions all of your choices, talks too much to the ones who should be paying attention, has parents that literally give no punishment no matter how many notes you send home, pranks like nobody's business, and throws off the test curve because he's smart and doesn't need this s&*+ - ARCH NEMESIS of the Teacher-Tron*
"I prefer villains, anyway."
*Proceeds to talk during testing, knowing No Child Left Behind will protect him and prevent any damage he might actually fear.*
I reverted to my younger self.
Though the difference is the part about no punishment. My mom would punish me if I went from all B's to all A's except a single C because of the C. Also NCLB wasn't around when I was a kid - the threat of being held back still existed.
...but no, I was a s++@head kid. Should've let me skip grades, but my parents were worried about socialization issues should I jump ahead.
Hm. Yeah getting bullied by my "peers" for years sure helped me socialize. My agoraphobia and social anxiety diagnoses DEFINITELY reflect that.
Though the on the way kid is helping a lot. For the first time in months I don't feel like a prisoner in my home.
this is part of why I hate math so much. One year I was in honors English. My mom felt that I should be in honors everything and paid little attention to what I did there. She did nothing but harp on my math grades and then wondered why I was upset.

Drejk |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |

Planar NPC: Fleshtearer Ironclad, exactly what it says on tin mithral.

Freehold DM |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Planar NPC: Fleshtearer Ironclad, exactly what it says ontinmithral.
see! I liked it and it is NOT a hedonist!

Orthos |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

NobodysHome wrote:I don't think they believe so much as they really, really want to, so they say they do until it just clicks.So... this is political, but it's more, "How can anyone in the country be so unbelievably stupid/gullible/willing to believe that Snopes had to write this article?"
It kind of explains why robotic telemarketers telling you that your Social Security Number has been suspended are still having success.
Is there really an appreciable difference, in practice? I don't really see much if any space between "I honestly and naturally believe this outlandish thing that I find convenient" and "I don't believe this outlandish thing, but I find it convenient so I'll say and act like I do believe it until I've tricked myself into actually believing it".
But yeah, see my prior posts on the subject. I'm surrounded by people who claim to believe this exact thing and many others like it, and I can't tell the True Believers from the Self-Convincing Political Opportunists at all, it's all the same as far as I can see.

NobodysHome |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |

Gods, I'd forgotten just how bad my family is.
We haven't seen my older brother or my nephews in 3-4 years now, since they decided to stop doing the annual Ashland trip (meet in the middle) and insisted that if we want to see them at all, we have to go to them in Seattle. So I pushed hard to do an Ashland trip, because no matter how I feel about the matter, I shouldn't force my prejudices on my kids; I'll let them build their own. Yeah, every time we go there they say, "Yeah! Let's see whether our cousins have gotten any better! <Trip> Nope! They haven't! Maybe next year!"
My kids. The eternal optimists.
And it immediately started:
Grandma: I can't find any place that'll hold 15 people!
NobodysHome: Er, remember when we said that we'd be booking our own place? Well, we're booked, here's the link to the place, and here are the dates we'll be there.
Grandma: Er... those aren't the dates I was expecting, but OK. Let me CC: you on the ENTIRE conversation with the rest of the group!
(NobodysHome smacks his head after making reservations for the EXACT DATES SHE HAD SPECIFIED, but was now backing out on)
And the s***storm has begun. "We can't get a place for 11! That place doesn't have a stove so we couldn't cook our own meals! I don't want to stay at the place you chose! Well, I won't stay in a place that doesn't have a stove!"
And consider this: *ALL* of them are significantly wealthier than I am, and we always eat out every meal except breakfast anyway. So they're having conniption fits about not being able to make their own breakfasts.
The funniest d*** part? The place GothBard got us is roughly $200/night cheaper than the place they always stay, and it INCLUDES BREAKFAST WITH THE BILL.
So no, we won't have fancy rooms. But we'll have a place to sleep, free breakfast, and no stress.
What a concept! :-O

Freehold DM |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

Gods, I'd forgotten just how bad my family is.
We haven't seen my older brother or my nephews in 3-4 years now, since they decided to stop doing the annual Ashland trip (meet in the middle) and insisted that if we want to see them at all, we have to go to them in Seattle. So I pushed hard to do an Ashland trip, because no matter how I feel about the matter, I shouldn't force my prejudices on my kids; I'll let them build their own. Yeah, every time we go there they say, "Yeah! Let's see whether our cousins have gotten any better! <Trip> Nope! They haven't! Maybe next year!"
My kids. The eternal optimists.
And it immediately started:
Grandma: I can't find any place that'll hold 15 people!
NobodysHome: Er, remember when we said that we'd be booking our own place? Well, we're booked, here's the link to the place, and here are the dates we'll be there.
Grandma: Er... those aren't the dates I was expecting, but OK. Let me CC: you on the ENTIRE conversation with the rest of the group!
(NobodysHome smacks his head after making reservations for the EXACT DATES SHE HAD SPECIFIED, but was now backing out on)And the s***storm has begun. "We can't get a place for 11! That place doesn't have a stove so we couldn't cook our own meals! I don't want to stay at the place you chose! Well, I won't stay in a place that doesn't have a stove!"
And consider this: *ALL* of them are significantly wealthier than I am, and we always eat out every meal except breakfast anyway. So they're having conniption fits about not being able to make their own breakfasts.
The funniest d*** part? The place GothBard got us is roughly $200/night cheaper than the place they always stay, and it INCLUDES BREAKFAST WITH THE BILL.
So no, we won't have fancy rooms. But we'll have a place to sleep, free breakfast, and no stress.
What a concept! :-O
that's impossible.

Drejk |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Drejk wrote:Planar NPC: Fleshtearer Ironclad, exactly what it says onsee! I liked it and it is NOT a hedonist!tinmithral.
She thoroughly enjoy herself when she tears others apart. It's not like she can entertain herself carnally in other ways, with her being undead of the not-particularly sensual persuasion.

Scintillae |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Gods, I'd forgotten just how bad my family is.
We haven't seen my older brother or my nephews in 3-4 years now, since they decided to stop doing the annual Ashland trip (meet in the middle) and insisted that if we want to see them at all, we have to go to them in Seattle. So I pushed hard to do an Ashland trip, because no matter how I feel about the matter, I shouldn't force my prejudices on my kids; I'll let them build their own. Yeah, every time we go there they say, "Yeah! Let's see whether our cousins have gotten any better! <Trip> Nope! They haven't! Maybe next year!"
My kids. The eternal optimists.
And it immediately started:
Grandma: I can't find any place that'll hold 15 people!
NobodysHome: Er, remember when we said that we'd be booking our own place? Well, we're booked, here's the link to the place, and here are the dates we'll be there.
Grandma: Er... those aren't the dates I was expecting, but OK. Let me CC: you on the ENTIRE conversation with the rest of the group!
(NobodysHome smacks his head after making reservations for the EXACT DATES SHE HAD SPECIFIED, but was now backing out on)And the s***storm has begun. "We can't get a place for 11! That place doesn't have a stove so we couldn't cook our own meals! I don't want to stay at the place you chose! Well, I won't stay in a place that doesn't have a stove!"
And consider this: *ALL* of them are significantly wealthier than I am, and we always eat out every meal except breakfast anyway. So they're having conniption fits about not being able to make their own breakfasts.
The funniest d*** part? The place GothBard got us is roughly $200/night cheaper than the place they always stay, and it INCLUDES BREAKFAST WITH THE BILL.
So no, we won't have fancy rooms. But we'll have a place to sleep, free breakfast, and no stress.
What a concept! :-O
Maybe they're optimists because there will be no swans.

NobodysHome |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

Hello, everyone.
Feeling better, today. I have a little bit of time for posting. This post was interrupted by a serious fight between two kids here at the library. I almost called the Police. *sigh* I'm glad I don't have kids.
Observer's Bias: You only notice the kids who are misbehaving. I bet those kids weren't the only ones at the library, but they were the only ones you noticed.
It's the same phenomenon that makes drivers constantly change lanes: They think other lanes are moving faster, so they add to the churn and make traffic worse by ceaselessly trying to find the "best" lane.

NobodysHome |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched", and I think it flirts with the Top 5. (Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).
So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
In Episodes 1-4, we watch Naofumi get humiliated, torn down, stripped of all dignity and humanity, and only Raphtalia saves his soul. It's powerful, moving anime, and after the final scene of Episode 4 my reaction was, "Holy ****! Those two are going to be gods!"
So what do you do after an episode like that? Lighten it up with comedy relief (Fumi), turn his rivals into caricatures of evil worthy of Captain Planet or Skeletor ("By the powers of evil, I will humiliate him, even if doing so endangers the world!!!"), and adds stereotypical romantic rivalries that are out-and-out embarrassing.
PLEASE, authors! If you write something truly magnificent and then you get stuck for ideas, TAKE A BREAK!!! Don't turn your story into run-of-the-mill stupidity.
Episode 6 was somewhat better than Episode 5, but that ONE episode managed to turn the anime from "potentially epic" to "potentially I'll finish the series" for me.
Bleh.
EDIT: A good villain acts in a rational manner to achieve a goal: Power. Wealth. Fame. Romance. Something.
A bad villain
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's pay! For NO REASON!"
"I saved a famine-ridden town by given them a cursed crop that will corrupt them all! In my own kingdom! For NO BENEFIT TO ME!!"
I mean, WTF. There's "evil because I want to achieve xxx", there's "evil because I'm a crazy psychopath", and then there's "evil because the writers need me to be". We're definitely in Category 3.

John Napier 698 |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
John Napier 698 wrote:Hello, everyone.
Feeling better, today. I have a little bit of time for posting. This post was interrupted by a serious fight between two kids here at the library. I almost called the Police. *sigh* I'm glad I don't have kids.
Observer's Bias: You only notice the kids who are misbehaving. I bet those kids weren't the only ones at the library, but they were the only ones you noticed.
It's the same phenomenon that makes drivers constantly change lanes: They think other lanes are moving faster, so they add to the churn and make traffic worse by ceaselessly trying to find the "best" lane.
Fair enough, NH. But it was quite disturbing to witness, and I did have my phone out and ready to dial.

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

NobodysHome wrote:Fair enough, NH. But it was quite disturbing to witness, and I did have my phone out and ready to dial.John Napier 698 wrote:Hello, everyone.
Feeling better, today. I have a little bit of time for posting. This post was interrupted by a serious fight between two kids here at the library. I almost called the Police. *sigh* I'm glad I don't have kids.
Observer's Bias: You only notice the kids who are misbehaving. I bet those kids weren't the only ones at the library, but they were the only ones you noticed.
It's the same phenomenon that makes drivers constantly change lanes: They think other lanes are moving faster, so they add to the churn and make traffic worse by ceaselessly trying to find the "best" lane.
Oh yeah. And I'm sure they would have deserved it.
But I chaperone 130 kids a year to a hotel in Aneheim, and we typically coincide with a cheerleader's convention so around 100 of the hotel's rooms are full of teenagers. I would estimate that about 10 of those rooms are terrible and the kids in them deserve to get kicked out of the hotel. I wish hotels would kick more people out so people like that would learn that their behavior is unacceptable. Money is no excuse for poor behavior.
But that does mean that there are 90 rooms with perfectly well-behaved kids in them, and those are the ones nobody notices.

lisamarlene |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

The kids have been begging me every day to let them start bicycling to school. Mondays and Wednesdays are the only days it fits our schedule, and even though it's still 100 here every day (but only 80 at 8:00 in the morning), I finally relented this morning.
Part of me really wants to whinge and complain about the heat and general achiness, but honestly, even though I'm smelly and I hurt, it was a lot of fun. And I'm proud of the kids, because they were troopers.

Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched",
Hm.
and I think it flirts with the Top 5.
hmph.
(Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).
sighs
So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
** spoiler omitted ** does stuff just for the sake of being "evil", with no possible rational explanation, possibly at great cost to themselves. The antagonist of Shield Hero has plummeted into the latter category.
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's...
filler eps are just that. Likely someone is waiting for the light novel/manga/source material to catch up. Try not to hold it against the series as a whole.

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

NobodysHome wrote:On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched",Hm.
Quote:and I think it flirts with the Top 5.hmph.
Quote:(Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).sighs
Quote:filler eps are just that. Likely someone is waiting for the light novel/manga/source material to catch up. Try not to hold it against the series as a whole.So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
** spoiler omitted ** does stuff just for the sake of being "evil", with no possible rational explanation, possibly at great cost to themselves. The antagonist of Shield Hero has plummeted into the latter category.
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's...
We BOTH know our tastes in anime differ wildly. I have get to meet a gundam series I can watch for more than 4-5 episodes.
(Pokes Freehold with a sharp stick)And geez. Editing ate my spoiler end tag! Sorry 'bout that, folks!
But no; episodes 1-4 were amazing, episodes 5-8 have been, "Did the original writer quit or something?"

Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Freehold DM wrote:NobodysHome wrote:On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched",Hm.
Quote:and I think it flirts with the Top 5.hmph.
Quote:(Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).sighs
Quote:filler eps are just that. Likely someone is waiting for the light novel/manga/source material to catch up. Try not to hold it against the series as a whole.So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
** spoiler omitted ** does stuff just for the sake of being "evil", with no possible rational explanation, possibly at great cost to themselves. The antagonist of Shield Hero has plummeted into the latter category.
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's...We BOTH know our tastes in anime differ wildly. I have get to meet a gundam series I can watch for more than 4-5 episodes.
(Pokes Freehold with a sharp stick)
For the love of $DEITY, watch gundam the origin already! It is around 6 episodes or so! And watch where you are swinging that thing! GothBard reads these forums you know! Last thing I want her thinking is that a black ram is tupping her white ewe.
And geez. Editing ate my spoiler end tag! Sorry 'bout that, folks!
But no; episodes 1-4 were amazing, episodes 5-8 have been, "Did the original writer quit or something?"
Filler eps. Dont let em get you down.

NobodysHome |
6 people marked this as a favorite. |

LOLOLOL! Oh, how wrong I was.
Impus Minor: Why do we have to do Ashland?
NobodysHome: Because I think it's worth having you see your cousins and uncle once in a while.
IM: But I hate them all!
NH: Ooooooh... kaaaay... Well, Impus Major, how do you feel about them?
Impus Major: I find it... interesting to see them once in a while...
I guess we won't be going up north all that often any more after all!

Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Once again I find myself strongly aligned with NH when it comes to anime. Trigun is in my Holy Trinity of best anime ever, along with Hellsing and FMA Brotherhood.
Cowboy Bebop and Gurren Lagaan round out my top five.
Trigun is another one of those series where the fanbase kinda killed it. Not NEARLY as bad as with Slayers and Fushigi Yuugi, mind, but still. I still have memories of the ear piercing shrieks of fangirls from when a young skinny kid from the middle of nowhere realized he could get laid ar a con with the help of peroxide, styling gel, and a red London Fog.
As an aside, Lawful Goodnicks trying to bring Vash's style of campiness to tabletop gaming did not help things.
Hellsing is okay, but young and dumb D/s kids trying to marry cosplay and practices kinda killed the series for me a bit. Also there were some dumb scenes that caused a few arguements.
Like FMA Brotherhood. It is fun.
Cowboy Bebop is great.
Gurren Lagann I do not care for due to its hipster deconstruction of my beloved giant robot genre. Yoko KINDA saves the series for me but not by much.

Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Freehold, you really need to start separating the shows from the actions of the fanbases in your head. I know it can be difficult at times, but the overreaction of a fraction of the fanbase shouldn't override whether or not you think the show is any good on its own merits.
a fair point. Let me try again.
On it's own merits, Trigun is...okay. As usual I think the manga is better. I want to hug Milly. And I have a plush for kuroneko.
Hellsing is...also okay. I really liked Integra. I have no plushies for the series.
Still like FMA brotherhood. Own Cowboy Bebop on DVD, one of the first anime on DVD I ever owned.
Still do not like Gurren Lagaan. Will never forgive it for what it did to the genre. That said, I recognize that it cant all be the same all the time.

gran rey de los mono |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
A newsboy was standing on the corner with a stack of papers, yelling, “Read all about it. Fifty people swindled! Fifty people swindled!”
Curious, a man walked over, bought a paper, and checked the front page. Finding nothing, the man said, “There’s nothing in here about fifty people being swindled.”
The newsboy ignored him and went on, calling out, “Read all about it. Fifty-one people swindled!”

![]() |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched", and I think it flirts with the Top 5. (Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).
So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
** spoiler omitted ** does stuff just for the sake of being "evil", with no possible rational explanation, possibly at great cost to themselves. The antagonist of Shield Hero has plummeted into the latter category.
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's...
The Rise of the Shield Hero redeems itself, in my opinion, before the end of the series. I really enjoyed it, it's not quite up there with Re:Zero, but still very good.
Gurren Lagann, Re:Zero, the first half of the original FMA, mixed with the latter half of Brotherhood, Gundam Wing (it was my first anime, leave it alone :P ), No Game: No Life.

![]() |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

The kids have been begging me every day to let them start bicycling to school. Mondays and Wednesdays are the only days it fits our schedule, and even though it's still 100 here every day (but only 80 at 8:00 in the morning), I finally relented this morning.
Part of me really wants to whinge and complain about the heat and general achiness, but honestly, even though I'm smelly and I hurt, it was a lot of fun. And I'm proud of the kids, because they were troopers.
Cheers for all of you! Cycling is good!

Freehold DM |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

NobodysHome wrote:On another note, I think I've mentioned that Re: Zero is definitely in my "Top 10 Anime I've Ever Watched", and I think it flirts with the Top 5. (Trigun and One Punch Man Season 1 being the two solidly there, and then I'd have to sit down and start making lists).
So, The Rising of the Shield Hero has a magnificent flavor for the first four episodes, and really felt like they managed to capture the magic of Re: Zero.
Unfortunately, in Episode 5 they start going off the rails so it's gone from, "Watch it!" to a "Wary Recommendation", though I'm still only 6 episodes in.
** spoiler omitted ** does stuff just for the sake of being "evil", with no possible rational explanation, possibly at great cost to themselves. The antagonist of Shield Hero has plummeted into the latter category.
"I bought a town and I'm going to raise taxes to half a year's...The Rise of the Shield Hero redeems itself, in my opinion, before the end of the series. I really enjoyed it, it's not quite up there with Re:Zero, but still very good.
Gurren Lagann, Re:Zero, the first half of the original FMA, mixed with the latter half of Brotherhood, Gundam Wing (it was my first anime, leave it alone :P ), No Game: No Life.
** spoiler omitted **
sobs
WHYYYYYYYYYYY

Freehold DM |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

lisamarlene wrote:Cheers for all of you! Cycling is good!The kids have been begging me every day to let them start bicycling to school. Mondays and Wednesdays are the only days it fits our schedule, and even though it's still 100 here every day (but only 80 at 8:00 in the morning), I finally relented this morning.
Part of me really wants to whinge and complain about the heat and general achiness, but honestly, even though I'm smelly and I hurt, it was a lot of fun. And I'm proud of the kids, because they were troopers.
fans self

Freehold DM |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

I have never been able to watch a Gundam series without losing interest. I have no idea why. But I've tried to watch a few several times...and it's a testament to how well that worked out that I can't even remember which ones.
watch gundam the origin. It is on cartoon network right now. It is an EXCELLENT jumping on point.
Mangawise, Gundam Thunderbolt is pretty freaking awesome. The art is VERY ink-heavy though, so keep that in mind, there are some volumes that take just a few minutes to read because there isnt a lot of conversation but a lot of GORGEOUS artwork, the pictures of the Nayang Brotherhood territories were breathtaking and made me want to tour the area in real life.

Tacticslion |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

08th MS Team Gundam as of Cartoon Network was really good, right up until the last episode decided, “well, we need to end it, now; BIG BOSS/WEAPONS FROM NOWHERE!”
(Kind of typical for anime at times.)
Still remains my favorite of the various ones I’ve seen because of its much more grounded (by comparison) approach, and its pretty high on the lost of anime I’ve seen that I like.
Apparently there are some episodes missing, though that would both have rounded out the ending story (making it better) and wrecked characterization and/or character growth (and/or contains other elements that aren’t a great conversation topic?), though this is strictly hearsay on my part.
I liked some of other Gundam stuff. The rest isn’t really high on my list, though; not really knocking it, just not what I want to spend my time watching.
As an aside, strictly in my opinion: Evangeleon, Code Geass, and Death Note are... not great. Not terrible, but not great.
E is just... it’s a mess. They all are, but this one more so. Also I didn’t like the characters much (some were pretty good, but eeeeehhhhh.)
DN is just unpleasant to watch over-all. Everyone was dumb, especially the geniuses.
CG at least I liked the characters, but the final plot/plan was just duuuuuuuumb.
(I also didn’t care for No Game, No Life - it has good parts and some of it is genuinely funny, and I even liked some of the characters... but it just kinda meh’d out my interest as it kept on, and the little sister was a big ol’ NOPE.jiffy-right-out for me.)
I can see why people might like them, and this isn’t to disparage them, but to give my opinion. Not my thing.

NobodysHome |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

[Death Note] is just unpleasant to watch over-all. Everyone was dumb, especially the geniuses.
That's a frequent complaint from GothBard: Series where someone is supposed to be a "super genius", but the writers aren't, and the character ends up being either:
(a) Dumb as a sack of bricks(b) A miracle of, "I figured out this impossible thing because smart," with no reasonable explanation.
But yeah, Death Note was similar for us: The first few episodes were a marvelous play on, "What is morality?", then ran out of steam, decided, "This guy is irrevocably evil, this guy is xxx, this guy is yyy," and everything became clear-cut, black-and-white, and boring.