Lapses of logic that bug me.

[HaruhiToy]

I finally got around to watching [b]Evangelion 1.11[/b] on Blu Ray on a 55-inch screen. For something originally crafted in 1995 this is quite impressive from a visual standpoint. From a story, it has real head-scratchers in it:

1. Misato introduces Nerv as a "clandestine" organization. Yet it has its logo on every building, artifact, machine, food wrapper, and tattooed ass with a 500Km radius. Clandestine in what sense?

2. Misato at the snap of her fingers can commandeer the entire electrical grid of Japan, plus the tens of thousands of workers to reroute it through transformers that fill full square kilometers (all within 10 hours) to power a confiscated secret weapon from some lab that "owes her favors" yet she lives in a crappy mid-floor apartment on the outskirts and can't afford a housekeeper to keep the place up. Her personal car is damaged in combat but she still owes the payments on it.

3. OK, so through a weird quirk of physics and metaphysics you are forced to rely on two young teenagers to defend the total existence of the race. No problem there it is just the story premise. You command gigantic resources capable of building full underground cities and drive a formidable military machine, but cannot find any way to care for the two youngsters in any way that makes sense. Assuming you don't give a crap about the kids themselves wouldn't it be in your own self-interest to spend 0.0001% of your budget in seeing that they are in the slightest prepared to deal with what is coming their way? Shinji is neglected then thrown without any training into a fight where he has never even seen "the most advanced weapon ever devised by man" before yet he is supposed to pilot it. Rei lives in a shithole without any guidance. Even the Bush administration was not that stupid.

4. Although it looks really cool, for what purpose to the buildings travel up and down? It would be much cheaper and more defensible to have buildings above ground, then another set below ground. Japan has a long history of cities that can be rebuilt quickly so why isn't that used here.

This thread is dedicated to those animes that are really good but have something fundamentally illogical about them, even in the terms of their own universe. Does anyone have any examples as egregious as those?

 

[dirkusbirkus]

Lapses Of Logic that Bug Me.

1. Misato introduces Nerv as a "clandestine" organization. Yet it has its logo on every building, artifact, machine, food wrapper, and tattooed ass with a 500Km radius. Clandestine in what sense?

I chuckled heartily at this one :lol:

 

[garfield15]

Lapses Of Logic that Bug Me.

1. Misato introduces Nerv as a "clandestine" organization. Yet it has its logo on every building, artifact, machine, food wrapper, and tattooed ass with a 500Km radius. Clandestine in what sense?

Clandestine as in, no one really knows what NERV really is for. Not that it doesn't exist. I mean, you do know what NERV really is for right? It's not like spreading that around would elicit the best of intentions. NERV has kept the biggest secret about their existence from everybody.

2. Misato at the snap of her fingers can commandeer the entire electrical grid of Japan, plus the tens of thousands of workers to reroute it through transformers that fill full square kilometers (all within 10 hours) to power a confiscated secret weapon from some lab that "owes her favors" yet she lives in a crappy mid-floor apartment on the outskirts and can't afford a housekeeper to keep the place up. Her personal car is damaged in combat but she still owes the payments on it.

She said that she called in favors from people. And what does having the ability to do that have to do with financial issues?

3. OK, so through a weird quirk of physics and metaphysics you are forced to rely on two young teenagers to defend the total existence of the race. No problem there it is just the story premise. You command gigantic resources capable of building full underground cities and drive a formidable military machine, but cannot find any way to care for the two youngsters in any way that makes sense. Assuming you don't give a crap about the kids themselves

And there you go.

 

[the Rancorous]

In the most recent Heroman episode:
Hughes announces himself as a National Intelligence Agency agent who is working directly for the President of the USA. Now, maybe the makers just don't know this, but the NIA is an actual Private-Eye/Security firm that (for a price) helps big name corporations protect their assets in many different ways up to and including militarily around the world. Why the hell would the US President trust the NIA when he has the CIA at his full disposal??? Why didn't they just use the CIA like every other piece of fiction that uses conspiracy in someway in its story does?

Senkou no Night Raid ep 3 (I believe):
Facepalm moment. Freshly chewed gum is used to block the barrel of a pistol which causes it to explode when fired. That's Looney Tunes stuff put in a serious show and very serious scene. Fail.

And of course, my contribution to this kind of thread wouldn't be complete without mentioning one of the legendary logic-fails I've seen in an anime, Shuffle! ep 19: Kaede's lazer-guided-box-cutter. It's infamous, just see for yourself!

 

[Dorcas_Aurelia]

Lapses Of Logic that Bug Me.

3. OK, so through a weird quirk of physics and metaphysics you are forced to rely on two young teenagers to defend the total existence of the race. No problem there it is just the story premise. You command gigantic resources capable of building full underground cities and drive a formidable military machine, but cannot find any way to care for the two youngsters in any way that makes sense. Assuming you don't give a crap about the kids themselves

And there you go.

Yeah, go back to everything not in bold. It's in the interest of EVERYONE's survival that Shinji et al. are prepared to deal with the life-wrecking calamities they face throughout the series, and even typical daily stress of teenage life that can affect their performance, thereby jeopardizing the future of humanity because it isn't being properly addressed.

 

[walw6pK4Alo]

You did watch the original Evangelion TV and End of Evangelion, right?

I don't care what Anno, Studio Khara, FUNimation, ANN, or anyone says, you absolutely should watch those before Rebuild.

 

[Showsni]

Senkou no Night Raid ep 3 (I believe):
Facepalm moment. Freshly chewed gum is used to block the barrel of a pistol which causes it to explode when fired. That's Looney Tunes stuff put in a serious show and very serious scene. Fail.

Well, if you block the barrel it could explode, right? The question is whether chewing gum would be enough to block it... Perhaps if it were a poor quality gun...

 

[Treiz]

meh

This thread is dedicated to those animes that are really good but have something fundamentally illogical about them, even in the terms of their own universe. Does anyone have any examples as egregious as those?

All good fiction has a fundamental illogical element, let's face it, Vulcans aren't entertaining in and of themselves. Good writers will try to prevent the audience from recognizing the non-sense for what it is. Unfortunately most anime writers haven't quite got the hang of this, some obviously don't care. When I come across something that makes no sense to me, I say to myself "The sense was not made" and move on. :roll:

If you think Eva is bad, take another look at Gundam especially the UC shows, or Robotech/Macross especially the newer Macross shows. The more serious the show the more likely you are to notice that the sense was not made.

The worst anime in my opinion with this problem is probably the Metropolis movie. Everyone hates the robots, and rather than simply changing the laws to ban them the characters come up with ridiculously Machiavellian and convoluted plans to rid their city of them. WTF?

 

[the Rancorous]

Well, if you block the barrel it could explode, right? The question is whether chewing gum would be enough to block it... Perhaps if it were a poor quality gun...

You know how much pressure you would need to create in order to accomplish that? Even if it was a poor quality gun, you'd pretty much have to wedge a piece of steel into the barrel and weld it in place, and even then it might just shoot the blocking piece out along with the bullet. And standard military pistols of WWII era were pretty reliable. Also considering that the guy using it was a super-agent of a powerful nation, he's gonna have top-of-the-line. And plus, he used soft chewing gum. That's worse than the whole sticking your finger in the barrel trope.

 

[The King of Harts]

In shounen shows like Bleach, Naruto and DBZ, I never understood why the main characters can move at godly speeds...except when it's convenient. There's a filler in Bleach where they're all running like normal people instead of flash stepping even though we know they can all do it. Seriously, if I could move at mach speeds at will, I'd do it all the time.

 

[Zin5ki]

The worst anime in my opinion with this problem is probably the Metropolis movie. Everyone hates the robots, and rather than simply changing the laws to ban them the characters come up with ridiculously Machiavellian and convoluted plans to rid their city of them. WTF?

Spoiler

Ridding the city of robots was not the Duke's goal. He wished instead to sieze absolute power through colluding with the military and declaring martial law. To make this appear a legitimate political move, the robot populations were deliberately manipulated as a means of encouraging the working classes to start an uprising. A state of emergency was resultantly declared, in which drastic actions would seem justifiable. Both the workers and the robots were used as tools, as the wounded Atlus acknowledges in his last scene.

 

[Mister V]

Really guys... I had a good laugh at the truth in the OP's post, but you shouldn't even be thinking, unless we're talking about a show like LoGH (and even then, I'm pretty sure you can spot its own logical lapses).

And the Rancorous, that is epic fail, but it kinda made me interested in the series. Crazy kids?.. The name gets mentioned around here often too. Maybe I'll add it to my queue.

 

[cashballer]

OP got a laugh out of me. Of course I wouldn't dislike a show because of logic errors, but they do annoy me when they seem obvious and potentially, easily remedied.

On the topic of Evangelion because I've been watching it the past few days, I thought it was amusing how Asuka's Unit 02 (in the episode where she is first introduced)

Spoiler

nearly capsized a battleship or two while jumping between them, and then came flying out of the sky near the end of the episode and didn't even budge the boat she landed on.

 

[lesterf1020]

I love this topic. Please bear in mind that I love all of these shows but these things made my brain hurt.

Code Geass R2

Spoiler

The Black Knights betrayal of Lelouch. What the hell were they smoking? Lelouch was the only guy able to lead them to victory against Britannia and they turn on him because he’s not a saint and instead side with the enemy who oppressed them and destroyed their land for nearly a decade over circumstantial evidence and a promise that they will leave you alone?

Black Knights there are some Native American Indians that would like to have a chat with you about believing enemy promises with no guarantees.

Charles Vi Britannia and Marianne and V2

Spoiler

are determined to create a world without lies and deceit and infighting for power by lying and deceiving and encouraging infighting for power along with lots of war and oppression.

They make Lelouch look like the most rational person in the universe.

ROD the TV.
Gang: We’re international outlaws with nowhere to go and are being hunted by the British Library which has most of the world under its control and all our safe havens have been occupied or destroyed so where do we go now?

Yomiko: How about to my parent’s house?

Gang: Didn’t you used to work for the British Library’s Special Forces and aren’t they specifically looking for you to complete their evil master plan? Won’t they know where that is?

Yomiko: I didn’t put it on the job application form so it should be OK.

Gang: Oh. Well that’s fine then let’s go there.

Karin
I have to stop my brother from biting Usui’s mom by biting Usui’s mom; even though if he bites her it will just reduce her stress and she won’t remember it but if I bite her I will change her personality and she will remember it because I don’t have my brother’s ability to erase memory.

Hanaukyo Maid team La Verite.
The former head of the Hanaukyo family is willing to kill Taro, his only heir and current head of the Hanaukyo family,

Spoiler

to stop him from interfering with the brainwashing of Taro’s head maid so that she can mindlessly serve Taro.

Fate/Stay Night
Illya ambushes Rin and Shiro and then evilly declares her intention to kill everyone and thus eliminate two masters from The Holy Grail War. Shiro does something stupid and gets injured. Illya then goes home despite having two servants and two masters wounded and at her mercy in front of her.

 

[dirkusbirkus]

ROD the TV.
Gang: We’re international outlaws with nowhere to go and are being hunted by the British Library which has most of the world under its control and all our safe havens have been occupied or destroyed so where do we go now?

Yomiko: How about to my parent’s house?

Gang: Didn’t you used to work for the British Library’s Special Forces and aren’t they specifically looking for you to complete their evil master plan? Won’t they know where that is?

Yomiko: I didn’t put it on the job application form so it should be OK.

Gang: Oh. Well that’s fine then let’s go there.

Aaah yes, I also seem to remember thinking it odd the all encompassing power of the British Library would have a blind spot there :lol:

Posting to confirm this is indeed a great thread. Keep 'em coming guys, some real belly laughs so far. Imma have to scour my own collection for some examples...