u/hyrulianwhovian

Hey all, I am new to the series and wondering what edition to buy. I am a lover of fantasy and high quality physical books, so I tend to want the best edition of a book whenever possible. After watching A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on a plane ride and loving it, I've decided to stop putting off ASOIAF.

Looking at the available editions, I see two that caught my eye: the Folio Society ones, and the Illustrated Editions. Obviously the Folio Society editions will be higher quality, but they're close to 10x the price. I'm not totally allergic to spending that much on a book (once in a while, as a gift, preferably), but it's really gotta be worth it. Anyone own them both? Is it worth the price? Also, I heard that sometimes the illustrations in the illustrated edition spoil what happens in the chapter. Is this a big issue for a first timer like me? Thanks

Please I would love to buy a giant Curdis as a gift for my girlfriend. Any idea how to get one?

Looking for more shows with elements of magical realism. Magical realism basically means fantastical things happen but they aren't treated as particularly fantastic. There are no explanations, no magic systems, etc, the surreal is just part of the real. Serial Experiments Lain also fits, although I didn't like that one as much. Any others?

Edit: a few I like that fit the vibe: The Tatami Galaxy, the rest of Satoshi Kon's filmography (Paprika and Millennium Actress are the most "magical realism," but Perfect Blue and Tokyo Godfathers are also really good and surreal to an extent)

So, at some point Sanderson decided that the "Atium" we see in Mistborn is actually an alloy, not pure Atium. Now, think about the word "Allomancy." It's derived from "alloy" and the suffix "mancy." While "mancy" is often used these days to refer to magic in a general sense, its historical meaning refers specifically to divining the future. So, "Allomancy" would mean "divining the future with an alloy." With the Atium retcon, this is now precisely true! Neat (also I know Sanderson picked "mancy" specifically because of the Atium/diving connection, but it's neat that now the alloy part of the name ties in even more directly)

Like most people here, I saw the Netflix live action Death Note movie when it came out and didn't like it very much. I don't think it was a very good film, even without comparison to the source, but by setting itself up to be compared so directly it makes itself seem much worse.

I think this is best seen in Light Turner in the movie. Perhaps, if they hadn't insisted on calling him "Light," I (and the rest of the audience) would have been more willing to meet the movie on its own terms and liked it a little bit more.

Light Turner is nothing like Light Yagami, and it's not a favorable comparison, and it doesn't make sense that a white American would be named "Light" anyway. So why not just call him "Paul" or "Matt" or anything else? This would make it clear to the viewer that Turner is his own character, and not supposed to be an adaptation of Light (and, by extension, the movie is its own story).

I don't think having Light Yagami in the story is an essential part of telling a "Death Note" story. Kira is like a superhero, in that it's a mantle that can be worn by different people (like how there are multiple batmen and spider men and whatnot). We see this in the manga with Mikami and Minoru and whatnot. Turner could have been "a Kira" without trying (and failing) to be Light Yagami's Kira specifically.

That said, if they did that, they probably shouldn't have called him "Kira," as that doesn't make sense outside of the Japanese context. Call him something else, maybe reference "Kira" in a scene where we see the world start to recognize what's happening and different countries call him different things (in the anime/manga, "Kira" becomes the global name because the killings start and are first recognized in Japan, and Light and the other Kiras respond to and use that name. This wouldn't happen if the story starts in America).

What do you think? Would you have been willing to give the movie more of a chance if it tried this instead of what it actually did? I think I would have.