[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

And, even if Glion's soul-copying technique is proven to be damaging to him later in the story (albeit already very very very late), he still has Germain's power of Golem creation. Golems can do almost everything KR Dread can, except being KR Dread. Like I said above, if he needs them to be converted into Dread Troopers, then he'll simply equip them with Dreadrivers, or even transmuted them from Dreadrivers. The logical weirdness in this episode came from the fact that Glion already has the optimal solution to his need of a legion of obedient soldiers, without involving anything revealed in the last 2 episodes. The Isaac AI is a redundant element in the control chain, and the last 2 episodes are unnecessary and only make the story more convoluted.

Soul-copying is essentially the same thing as soul creation, which would be a crazy high feat even for the Alchemist of Dawn. This would imply that the Geryon who assimilated Germain isn't actually the same as the Geryon who was eaten by Germain, as you'd have to address what happened to the original soul. Like, we know humans created 99 out of the 101 Chemies, but that's not exactly the same thing as giving them a soul. Humans also create humans, but the soul comes from elsewhere, right? Life creation is a mysterious process. I suppose Golems would be viable candidates for Dread users though, but could Geryon mass-produce them on equal or greater scale to his Isaac-powered Dreads? We shouldn't dismiss the power of soul-reading technology.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Another logical weirdness in this episode is, if the Isaac AI tablets interface with the user's soul and read their thoughts, then why does Sabimaru's tablet read his thoughts but have Kenichi's soul/personality? Why doesn't it have Sabimaru's soul/personality, while Arumi's tablet has Arumi's soul/personality and Glion's tablet has Glion's soul/personality? Moreover, Sabimaru's tablet was given to him by Kenichi before he resented Sabimaru, so it should have Kenichi's normal behavior/personality, not his resentful personality after his rift with Sabimaru. The reveals in the last 2 episodes make the snarky, rude personality of Sabimaru's Isaac tablet (which has been firmly established since the beginning of the story) make even less sense. These reveals only make the story contradict itself.

Soul =/= personality. If Isaac had Sabi's personality, then Sabi would have no need for him anymore. I think the appeal of Isaac as a "character" is that his interpretation is different from how Sabi would say it. This is the appeal to Sabi as well, that Isaac is part of Kenichi and a reminder of when the brothers were close. Basically, Isaac is the Gotcha-N-Go between Sabi's soul and Kenichi's personality, which is what distinguishes him from your average translation AI. Only Arumi's Isaac is shown to use direct interpretation, since the user has literally no lines, unlike Sabi.

[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Soul-copying is essentially the same thing as soul creation, which would be a crazy high feat even for the Alchemist of Dawn. This would imply that the Geryon who assimilated Germain isn't actually the same as the Geryon who was eaten by Germain, as you'd have to address what happened to the original soul. Like, we know humans created 99 out of the 101 Chemies, but that's not exactly the same thing as giving them a soul.

How did you come to the conclusion that copying is creation? Copying is copying, not creation. Copying is converting the chemical configuration of object B into an identical clone of object A, be it matter-wise and or information-wise. If I copy all the Lord of the Rings books with a photocopy machine, then does it mean I create TLOTR? Of course not. The creator is still J.R.R Tolkien. I'm just creating a clone of the texts. I'm not creating anything new. I'm just changing the chemical/informational configuration of several sheets of blank papers to look like the texts from TLOTR. Another example: If I copy, aka playing a cover of the guitar tracks from the song Metropolis Part 1 by Dream Theater, then does it mean I create those amazing rhythms, leads/melodies, and solos? Of course not. The creator/writer of those amazing guitar tracks is still John Petrucci, not me. I'm just trying to copy his performance. I'm not creating any new performance. Now, if I write a new lead guitar track or a solo guitar track over the rythm guitar track, then I'm creating something new, though I'm sure the quality won't even reach 10% of Petrucci's tracks, haha.

Glion's soul-copying technique is basically converting the chemical configuration of some (or all) parts of his favorite golden Rubik cube into a clone of a part of his body he considered to be a soul. This works similar to Fuga's surrogate bodies, which are likely identical homunculi injected with copies of his soul. Like Germain said, when he ate Glion, Glion's original soul might've been really destroyed along with his body, so the original Glion did indeed die in the same scene, and the currently resurrected Glion is copy #1. So far, the story shows that the copied soul inside the golden Rubik cube is a 100% perfect copy with no deterioration, kinda like a copied file in a computer that is 100% identical to the original file with no corrupt bits. It'd be interesting if it's shown that the copied soul is actually imperfect, corrupted and thus slowly deteriorating, proving that the fundamental laws of nature cannot be bent without serious consequences.

And, isn't conversion and manipulation of matters the core of alchemy, like stated in episode 2? That's the core idea of transmutation in alchemy as recorded in history: Converting and manipulating matter A into matter B/C/D/etc, with one of the main goals of converting lower value matters like copper, lead, or tin into those of higher values like gold or silver. This is why the story often shows Houtarou/Rinne/Minato/etc and all alchemists changing the shape and or chemical configuration of an object into another object, for example in episode 3 @ 17:10 when Minato transmuted a metal drum and changed its shape into a rectangular shield. With adequate skills that drum could've been converted into another shape and or matter. Another main goal of alchemy is converting inert, inorganic matters into organic matters which is the main goal of homunculi creation, and also Chemies in this story. The creations of elixir (the liquid of youth/immortality) and panacea (the ultimate, universal remedy) are several other main goals of alchemy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I suppose Golems would be viable candidates for Dread users though, but could Geryon mass-produce them on equal or greater scale to his Isaac-powered Dreads? We shouldn't dismiss the power of soul-reading technology.

The power of Golem creation is a power possessed by the Gods (the Unholy Trinity), so Golems should be easier to mass-produce and should perform much better compared to mere AI-enhanced Dread Troopers, which are mere alchemical technologies created by humans. How could mere human technologies beat the power of God? It makes no sense at all! If Glion's target is the AU, then he should have little problems. He's gonna have a serious problem when the target is the other members of the Unholy Trinity and or KR Rainbow Gotchard, and maybe also the Alchemist of Dawn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Humans also create humans, but the soul comes from elsewhere, right? Life creation is a mysterious process.

If what you mean by humans creating humans is the real-life example of the birth of human lives, then I'm afraid you're wrong. Humans do not and cannot create humans. The one creating humans is the universe, not humans. One day, I will have children, and I'm 1000% sure that my children come through me and my future wife, not from me and my future wife. My children are the gifts from the universe to us, the parents. Humans are mere rivers that give way to the next generation, and the fountain is the universe. Humans are mere nanoscopic, replaceable cogs inside the colossal machinery known as the universe. The mystery of souls and lives is one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, which I think could be an eternal secret only known by the universe. It took billions of years and millions of species, generations, and painful trials and errors for the universe to give rise to sentience and souls, and I dare to claim that my peanut brain can create souls in 100 years? The audacity! Haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Soul =/= personality. If Isaac had Sabi's personality, then Sabi would have no need for him anymore. I think the appeal of Isaac as a "character" is that his interpretation is different from how Sabi would say it. This is the appeal to Sabi as well, that Isaac is part of Kenichi and a reminder of when the brothers were close. Basically, Isaac is the Gotcha-N-Go between Sabi's soul and Kenichi's personality, which is what distinguishes him from your average translation AI. Only Arumi's Isaac is shown to use direct interpretation, since the user has literally no lines, unlike Sabi.

Why would Sabimaru have no need for the Isaac tablet anymore if it had Sabimaru's personality? The proof of the bond between Kid Kenichi and Kid Sabimaru was the Isaac AI, not the personality of the Isaac AI. The existence of the Isaac AI right at Sabimaru's fingertips is more than enough of a proof of Kenichi's support. Why would Kenichi make Sabimaru's Isaac tablet speak like Kenichi (or rather, the distant, resentful Kenichi), not like Sabimaru's real personality, only with louder voice? Isn't the point of the Isaac AI is to bridge communication? How would an AI create an effective communication if the personality of the user, which is a huge part of the dynamic in a communication, is hindered and instead overridden by the programmer's personality? Isn't that a form of deliberate distortion in communication?

If Sabimaru's Isaac tablet had had Sabimaru's personality, then several serious miscommunication problems could've been avoided, for example in episode 12 @ 12:38 where Sabimaru complimented Houtarou, but his Isaac tablet just kept silent. People think Sabimaru is rude, while he's actually friendly and even shy, and the one that's rude is his Isaac tablet. Its rudeness isn't even the dynamics of Sabimaru's inner ego-super ego-id at work. It's rude just because. If anything, the rudeness of his Isaac tablet only created misunderstanding and confusion. We should thank God that Sabimaru has never encountered street thugs in narrow, lightly-dimmed alleys. A mere "excuse me" from Sabimaru would be grossly blown out of proportion by his Isaac tablet into "make way for me, you slackers!" and severely misinterpreted by the thugs as casus belli, and would very likely result in Sabimaru being beaten into a pulp, haha.

I think Arumi having no lines could've been a hint that she's very likely mute, not mere socially awkward like Sabimaru. The witty, sassy responses made by Arumi's Isaac tablet reflected her actual personality. If Arumi's Isaac tablet successfully created an effective communication between a mute person and normal people, then why did Sabimaru's Isaac tablet create misunderstanding and confusion instead? Being witty/sassy is one thing, being rude is a whole different thing. Instead of making the rudeness of Sabimaru's Isaac tablet the appeal, the writers should've made it extroverted and cheerful, to contrast with Sabimaru's introversion/shyness.

Another weird thing I forgot to mention is the fact that the Isaac AI is a communication AI. How could a communication AI be casually converted into a military AI? Kenichi himself has never used it for other purposes, let alone apply it in a military setting. How could Glion be so sure that it'd work as he intended? What if Kenichi only programmed it strictly as a communication AI, not a general-purpose AI? My girlfriend joked that the Dread Trooper in this episode could be defeated by a mere untransformed human because it's a communication AI that's force converted into a military AI. What Glion did was basically forcing a translator to be an army soldier. No wonder it was so incompetent! I'm imagining an unintentionally funny scene where Glion, due to his hubris, doesn't even bother to field-test the mass-produced Dread Troopers and immediately deploys them into battlefield. When Glion shouts the command "Attack!", the Dread Troopers will instead speak out his inner monologue en masse in a rude manner similar to what Sabimaru's Isaac tablet did when Sabimaru was sleeping. Glion will be really pissed off and yell "Damn you, Zolda!". Haha.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

How did you come to the conclusion that copying is creation? Copying is copying, not creation. Copying is converting the chemical configuration of object B into an identical clone of object A, be it matter-wise and or information-wise. If I copy all the Lord of the Rings books with a photocopy machine, then does it mean I create TLOTR? Of course not. The creator is still J.R.R Tolkien. I'm just creating a clone of the texts. I'm not creating anything new. I'm just changing the chemical/informational configuration of several sheets of blank papers to look like the texts from TLOTR. Another example: If I copy, aka playing a cover of the guitar tracks from the song Metropolis Part 1 by Dream Theater, then does it mean I create those amazing rhythms, leads/melodies, and solos? Of course not. The creator/writer of those amazing guitar tracks is still John Petrucci, not me. I'm just trying to copy his performance. I'm not creating any new performance. Now, if I write a new lead guitar track or a solo guitar track over the rythm guitar track, then I'm creating something new, though I'm sure the quality won't even reach 10% of Petrucci's tracks, haha.

Glion's soul-copying technique is basically converting the chemical configuration of some (or all) parts of his favorite golden Rubik cube into a clone of a part of his body he considered to be a soul. This works similar to Fuga's surrogate bodies, which are likely identical homunculi injected with copies of his soul. Like Germain said, when he ate Glion, Glion's original soul might've been really destroyed along with his body, so the original Glion did indeed die in the same scene, and the currently resurrected Glion is copy #1. So far, the story shows that the copied soul inside the golden Rubik cube is a 100% perfect copy with no deterioration, kinda like a copied file in a computer that is 100% identical to the original file with no corrupt bits. It'd be interesting if it's shown that the copied soul is actually imperfect, corrupted and thus slowly deteriorating, proving that the fundamental laws of nature cannot be bent without serious consequences.

And, isn't conversion and manipulation of matters the core of alchemy, like stated in episode 2? That's the core idea of transmutation in alchemy as recorded in history: Converting and manipulating matter A into matter B/C/D/etc, with one of the main goals of converting lower value matters like copper, lead, or tin into those of higher values like gold or silver. This is why the story often shows Houtarou/Rinne/Minato/etc and all alchemists changing the shape and or chemical configuration of an object into another object, for example in episode 3 @ 17:10 when Minato transmuted a metal drum and changed its shape into a rectangular shield. With adequate skills that drum could've been converted into another shape and or matter. Another main goal of alchemy is converting inert, inorganic matters into organic matters which is the main goal of homunculi creation, and also Chemies in this story. The creations of elixir (the liquid of youth/immortality) and panacea (the ultimate, universal remedy) are several other main goals of alchemy.

I'm only talking about material property in this case, not intellectual property. If you copy something, then what used to be 1 becomes 2. Germain hasn't shown or mentioned any ability to destroy souls, a feat equal to creating them. Only stated that he ate Geryon, which would typically separate the soul from the deceased's body. When a phylactery or "horcrux" is involved, then the splintered soul returns to that place, such as the engoldened cube.

I think Fuuga's doppelgangers use soul-transmission, as his true body is shown to be unconscious when Clotho invades his base, in the same way that Phillip's body is unconscious when becoming Double and how the entire Ganma Eyecon system works. I think it seems relatively logical to apply the same concept to Geryon, with the only difference being that the greater fraction of his soul was transmitted after his death.

True that this is a fitting subject for the theme of alchemy. There are many things that can be researched and experimented on, like elements and the physical body. Even the creation of gold is a simple task in the world of Kamen Rider Gotchard. The true mystery is in the properties of objects and forces we don't understand, which is the ultimate truth that alchemy seeks to learn. The composition and origin of the soul being at the top of that list. The fact that Kongo Laboratories have invented technology to even read the soul is a miraculous breakthrough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

The power of Golem creation is a power possessed by the Gods (the Unholy Trinity), so Golems should be easier to mass-produce and should perform much better compared to mere AI-enhanced Dread Troopers, which are mere alchemical technologies created by humans. How could mere human technologies beat the power of God? It makes no sense at all! If Glion's target is the AU, then he should have little problems. He's gonna have a serious problem when the target is the other members of the Unholy Trinity and or KR Rainbow Gotchard, and maybe also the Alchemist of Dawn.

"Mere alchemical technologies" kind of underestimates what they're capable of. The Dark Kings aren't omniscient after all, unless we consider Gaelijah's yet unseen mastery of astrology. Geryon has gained the power of Germain and 33% of the Philosopher's Stone, in addition to his education with the Alchemy Academy. If he acknowledges the value of "mere alchemical technologies" enough to try and claim it for himself, then perhaps there are things about alchemy that even the Dark Kings can learn from humans, if only they weren't so egotistical to deny that. This is Geryon's major advantage over his stupid predecessor, that he doesn't underestimate humans and would seek to exploit that power against them and his competition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

If what you mean by humans creating humans is the real-life example of the birth of human lives, then I'm afraid you're wrong. Humans do not and cannot create humans. The one creating humans is the universe, not humans. One day, I will have children, and I'm 1000% sure that my children come through me and my future wife, not from me and my future wife. My children are the gifts from the universe to us, the parents. Humans are mere rivers that give way to the next generation, and the fountain is the universe. Humans are mere nanoscopic, replaceable cogs inside the colossal machinery known as the universe. The mystery of souls and lives is one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, which I think could be an eternal secret only known by the universe. It took billions of years and millions of species, generations, and painful trials and errors for the universe to give rise to sentience and souls, and I dare to claim that my peanut brain can create souls in 100 years? The audacity! Haha.

Agreed. I was only using the term "creation" loosely, in the same sense that "humans created Chemies" is mentioned in the show. If we attribute the creation of a sentient lifeform to the being or force that provides the soul, then we actually can't say for certain who created humans or Chemies, only that humans and the Dark Kings facilitate the creation through chemistry, both natural and synthetic. But if Geryon can copy his soul, then Geryon can create another Geryon, so I doubt your suggestion of him having this ability, due to copying ultimately being a form of creation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Why would Sabimaru have no need for the Isaac tablet anymore if it had Sabimaru's personality? The proof of the bond between Kid Kenichi and Kid Sabimaru was the Isaac AI, not the personality of the Isaac AI. The existence of the Isaac AI right at Sabimaru's fingertips is more than enough of a proof of Kenichi's support. Why would Kenichi make Sabimaru's Isaac tablet speak like Kenichi (or rather, the distant, resentful Kenichi), not like Sabimaru's real personality, only with louder voice? Isn't the point of the Isaac AI is to bridge communication? How would an AI create an effective communication if the personality of the user, which is a huge part of the dynamic in a communication, is hindered and instead overridden by the programmer's personality? Isn't that a form of deliberate distortion in communication?

If Sabimaru's Isaac tablet had had Sabimaru's personality, then several serious miscommunication problems could've been avoided, for example in episode 12 @ 12:38 where Sabimaru complimented Houtarou, but his Isaac tablet just kept silent. People think Sabimaru is rude, while he's actually friendly and even shy, and the one that's rude is his Isaac tablet. Its rudeness isn't even the dynamics of Sabimaru's inner ego-super ego-id at work. It's rude just because. If anything, the rudeness of his Isaac tablet only created misunderstanding and confusion. We should thank God that Sabimaru has never encountered street thugs in narrow, lightly-dimmed alleys. A mere "excuse me" from Sabimaru would be grossly blown out of proportion by his Isaac tablet into "make way for me, you slackers!" and severely misinterpreted by the thugs as casus belli, and would very likely result in Sabimaru being beaten into a pulp, haha.

I think Arumi having no lines could've been a hint that she's very likely mute, not mere socially awkward like Sabimaru. The witty, sassy responses made by Arumi's Isaac tablet reflected her actual personality. If Arumi's Isaac tablet successfully created an effective communication between a mute person and normal people, then why did Sabimaru's Isaac tablet create misunderstanding and confusion instead? Being witty/sassy is one thing, being rude is a whole different thing. Instead of making the rudeness of Sabimaru's Isaac tablet the appeal, the writers should've made it extroverted and cheerful, to contrast with Sabimaru's introversion/shyness.

All the more reason why Arumi would need the Isaac with her personality, if she can't verbally convey her personality on her own. Of course, Sabi doesn't have this problem, so we already know what his personality is like and I don't recall anytime that his Isaac has severely misrepresented Sabi's intentions or put him in danger. Isaac is rude, but he knows when to shut up. He could've been programmed with a cheerful personality instead, but then you'd need to find someone other than Kenichi. If Sabi had a problem with the personality, then he simply could've modified Isaac himself, having had the opportunity to do so during Episode 28-29. There's also the possibility that due to Sabi's shy temperament, an Isaac with his personality would be equally shy, which is not an ideal trait for a communication AI. Anyway, don't you think it's pretty weird to hear your own voice coming from outside your body? Personally, I would feel uncomfortable with my personality being copied like that.

[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I'm only talking about material property in this case, not intellectual property. If you copy something, then what used to be 1 becomes 2. Germain hasn't shown or mentioned any ability to destroy souls, a feat equal to creating them. Only stated that he ate Geryon, which would typically separate the soul from the deceased's body. When a phylactery or "horcrux" is involved, then the splintered soul returns to that place, such as the engoldened cube.

I think Fuuga's doppelgangers use soul-transmission, as his true body is shown to be unconscious when Clotho invades his base, in the same way that Phillip's body is unconscious when becoming Double and how the entire Ganma Eyecon system works. I think it seems relatively logical to apply the same concept to Geryon, with the only difference being that the greater fraction of his soul was transmitted after his death.

True that this is a fitting subject for the theme of alchemy. There are many things that can be researched and experimented on, like elements and the physical body. Even the creation of gold is a simple task in the world of Kamen Rider Gotchard. The true mystery is in the properties of objects and forces we don't understand, which is the ultimate truth that alchemy seeks to learn. The composition and origin of the soul being at the top of that list. The fact that Kongo Laboratories have invented technology to even read the soul is a miraculous breakthrough.

I'm afraid you've misunderstood how alchemy works. In alchemy, when I copy 1 object, that 1 object does become 2, but the copy/the second one is not created out of thin air. It's not created from nothingness. It's created from another existing object that is transmuted into a copy of the original object.

Ex. 1 - How alchemy works:
1 spoon + 1 fork -> 1 spoon + 1 spoon
1 apple + 1 orange -> 1 apple + 1 apple

Ex. 2 - Not how alchemy works:
1 spoon + thin air -> 1 spoon + 1 spoon
1 apple + thin air -> 1 apple + 1 apple

This is the most fundamental difference between alchemy and magic/wizardry/sorcery/witchcraft. Magic is the creation of something out of nothing, like example #2 above. Alchemy is the creation of something out of something. That's why creation in alchemy is called transmutation. The trans- prefix implies a fundamental change (mutation) from an existing object/matter/state into another object/matter/state.

This internal logic has been consistently applied, and was likely violated once in this episode @ 22:45 when Glion transmuted his favorite golden Rubik cube into a Dreadriver that created a network of interconnected Dreadrivers out of thin air. The story did once mention the creation of something out of nothing when Rinne described the definition of alchemy to Houtarou in episode 2 @ 10:50, but that was it. It wasn't followed up because the writers probably realized that the creation of something out of nothing is closer to magic, which had been used in KR Wizard.

Alchemy does have its own "creation of something out of nothing" mechanism involving aether (the fifth element) which is often combined with prima materia (prime matter). Aether usually has something to do with natural forces like gravitational forces, electromagnetic forces, etc, while prima materia usually has something to do with the basic building block of matters in particle physics like atoms, sub-atomic particles, quarks, strings, etc. Aether and prima materia could be incorporated in Gotchard's story by combining it with Nijigon's power. Aether and prima materia would make the alchemy in Gotchard much richer, and even nicely touch several phenomena in modern physics like dark matter/dark energy, string theory, gravitational wave, etc. Aether and prima materia would allow alchemy to complement modern physics/chemistry. That's how big the potential this story has. Very unfortunate!

I also thought that Fuga may use transmission technique, but the story has never elaborated on it, mainly because he's almost always absent from the story. But wasn't Fuga's lotus position a process/ritual to restore his damaged body?

I don't think chrysopoeia (the creation of gold) is a simple task in this story. Only SSS+ class of alchemists like Glion (and very likely also Fuga) are able to transmute lower value elements into gold. That's why their Rings have golden shanks, not silver like those owned by lower ranked alchemists like Minato and Kyouka. If the creation of gold is a simple task, then Renge would've already been a trillionaire richer than Elon Musk, since making money is her main goal (or maybe sole goal) in studying alchemy. The global economy in Houtarou's world would've collapsed due to the oversupply of gold. And even Glion himself can only perform limited degree of chrysopoeia. If he could easily turn everything into gold, then his obsession of creating the El Dorado would've already been fulfilled, at least in a small region. He would've already created a golden apartment complex, haha. If Glion could perform infinite amount of chrysopoeia, then he would have no need for the power of the Unholy Trinity, which does allow infinite amount of chrysopoeia because they're the ones who created alchemy in the first place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

"Mere alchemical technologies" kind of underestimates what they're capable of. The Dark Kings aren't omniscient after all, unless we consider Gaelijah's yet unseen mastery of astrology. Geryon has gained the power of Germain and 33% of the Philosopher's Stone, in addition to his education with the Alchemy Academy. If he acknowledges the value of "mere alchemical technologies" enough to try and claim it for himself, then perhaps there are things about alchemy that even the Dark Kings can learn from humans, if only they weren't so egotistical to deny that. This is Geryon's major advantage over his stupid predecessor, that he doesn't underestimate humans and would seek to exploit that power against them and his competition.

This is why making the most powerful character in your story (God) the villain like I mentioned here is a very very very bad idea.

When I claim that I'm God, people expect to see me do Godly things, for example: creating a second moon by pointing my finger to the sky, reviving dead people and make them appear in the blink of an eye, making the stars fall from heavens by waving my hands, replace a city with its older version 2000 years ago, travel to the past, transmuting water into wine like Jesus did, etc. I can basically do the impossible and manipulate (or even violate!) the laws of nature. It's impossible for a human to win in a fight against me the God. Making God the villain will initially make your story look artificially exciting, but if you want your hero/protagonist to defeat him, you'll eventually be forced to severely depower him by making him incompetent, make irrational decisions at crucial moments, make stupid mistakes not even a rational human would do, etc. You'll be forced to humanize a God, which is something laughable. Basically, you'll be forced to drag him down to the level of your hero/protagonist.

Not to mention that it will also create many logical anomalies that are almost impossible to resolve, if not actually impossible. Over time, these logical anomalies will crop up and accumulate, and will eventually wreck and turn your story into an illogical, irrational, incomprehensible mess that make little sense.

After watching several stories that feature this faulty trope, nowadays, everytime I see a God-level villain, I can almost guess that the hero/protagonist will defeat him not because the hero/protagonist is strong nor shrewd, but because the God-level villain is dumb. The God-level villain will make one or several stupid but plot-crucial mistakes at several plot-crucial moments that will conveniently move the plot in favor of the hero/protagonist and allow himself to be defeated by the hero/protagonist.

So, will Gaelya and or Gigist (and very likely also Glion) make stupid mistakes like Germain did that will allow them to be defeated by Houtarou? I see a 80-90% probability that they or at least one of them will.

TLDR:
A God-level archvillain = Crappy writing may very likely be lurking behind the facade of artificial excitement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Agreed. I was only using the term "creation" loosely, in the same sense that "humans created Chemies" is mentioned in the show. If we attribute the creation of a sentient lifeform to the being or force that provides the soul, then we actually can't say for certain who created humans or Chemies, only that humans and the Dark Kings facilitate the creation through chemistry, both natural and synthetic. But if Geryon can copy his soul, then Geryon can create another Geryon, so I doubt your suggestion of him having this ability, due to copying ultimately being a form of creation.

Why did you say that we can't be certain of who created humans? The Unholy Trinity themselves implied that they created humans and stated that they created alchemy, and very likely also created everything in Houtarou's world. The Unholy Trinity created alchemy, and Chemies are created via alchemy, so the Unholy Trinity are the creators of Chemies, not humans. Humans merely transmuted matters into creatures called Chemies. Even Gigist himself said in episode 36 @ 16:21 that he directly created the first 2 Chemies. The Unholy Trinity didn't only create Houtarou's world. They also created the law (alchemy).

Can Glion (or other alchemists) transmute an object into a 100% perfect copy of himself? Maybe he can, maybe he can't. Maybe it's possible, maybe it's impossible. The story has never shown nor hinted at it. What's been shown so far is that Glion is only able to copy his soul into his golden Rubik cube. So, Glion can copy his soul into a homunculus and transmute it into another Glion, but it's not a 100% accurate copy of Glion.

In alchemy, copying is not creation. I've already elaborated this point in my first point above.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

All the more reason why Arumi would need the Isaac with her personality, if she can't verbally convey her personality on her own. Of course, Sabi doesn't have this problem, so we already know what his personality is like and I don't recall anytime that his Isaac has severely misrepresented Sabi's intentions or put him in danger. Isaac is rude, but he knows when to shut up. He could've been programmed with a cheerful personality instead, but then you'd need to find someone other than Kenichi. If Sabi had a problem with the personality, then he simply could've modified Isaac himself, having had the opportunity to do so during Episode 28-29. There's also the possibility that due to Sabi's shy temperament, an Isaac with his personality would be equally shy, which is not an ideal trait for a communication AI. Anyway, don't you think it's pretty weird to hear your own voice coming from outside your body? Personally, I would feel uncomfortable with my personality being copied like that.

Why do only Arumi have the need for accurate communication channel, but not Sabimaru? Both Arumi and Sabimaru have speech impairment, so they need accurate communication channel. Their intentions should be 100% accurately conveyed by their Isaac AI tablets, in verbatim, word for word, letter for letter, with no distortion. No more, no less. Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet with 100% accuracy will convey his true personality, including his shyness, albeit with a normal, louder, clearer voice.

I think you conflate the information that we (the viewers) have and the information that the characters have. Of course we (the viewers) already know Sabimaru's true personality because we know almost everything in the story, but are all the characters in the story know Sabimaru's true personality like we do? Do strangers know Sabimaru's true personality? Of course not. Strangers would still need accurate communication, which should be the main function of the Isaac AI tablet. Even Houtarou still needed accurate information about Sabimaru's true feelings and intentions, which were grossly distorted by his Isaac AI tablet. So, why does everyone in the story have accurate communication, but not Sabimaru? Why does his Isaac AI tablet distort and obfuscate communication, instead of facilitate accurate communication? The answer is clear: Because the writers made it so.

Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet has never put Sabimaru in danger because the story has never shown it. But remember, the internal logic of a story should be consistently applied to all possibilities, including hypothetical scenes, not just to scenes shown on the screen. In a hypothetical scene where Sabimaru encountered street thugs, the rudeness of his Isaac AI tablet would definitely put him in danger. About Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet severely misinterpreting his intention, it was already shown when it grossly distorted Sabimaru's compliment to Houtarou into a total silence. I already elaborated on this in my previous post.

Even without accounting for the logical anomaly about Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet grossly distorting his intentions, there's still another logical anomaly about Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet having Kenichi's resentful personality, while it was shown in the previous episode that Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet was given to him by Kid Kenichi while their relationship was still good. Kid Kenichi (before he resented Kid Sabimaru) had normal personality, not resentful, so why was the Isaac AI tablet he gave to Kid Sabimaru has had rude, resentful personality? This is what happens when your story is too convoluted. It will eventually make you confused.

And why is it weird to hear my own voice coming out from outside my body? When I use a sound amplification system, my voice is captured by the microphone and comes out of the loudspeakers. What's so weird about it? That's one of the functions of the Isaac AI tablet: A mind-reading AI tablet with a built-in speaker to help those with speech impairment. It's not like the Isaac AI tablet is a homunculus that is a copy of myself. Now that is weird, haha.

My point of criticism is:
These 2 episodes were convoluted and largely unnecessary. It answered 1 question, but created 5 new questions and logical anomalies. It's a hallmark of plot convolution.

I think I gotta stop here. I've already elaborated too much in this thread, haha.