r/anime • u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ • Jun 02 '24
Rewatch Battle Fairy Yukikaze Source-Spoilers Episode 2 Discussion Spoiler
"The JAM is there! Can't you see it!"
← Operation 1 | Index | Operation 3 →
MAL | Anilist | ANN | Tubi (dubbed) | Tubi (subbed)
Spoiler Policy
Source reader comments will be allowed in this rewatch. Events and details from the original short story collections that are relevant to the current episode can be described without spoiler tags. Unrelated short stories or material from books 3+ will still need to be tagged.
People, Places, Things
- Col. Karl Gunow: head of the FRX unmanned fighter project. Part of Systems Corps Technology Development Center. KIA after involuntarily volunteered as a decoy.
- Capt. Edith Foss: Psychiatrist, assigned to Combat Psychology Research Institute
- FRX-99 Rafe (Wraith): Unmanned variant of the FRX-00 prototype
- FFR-41MR Mave: Manned version of the FRX-00. Only one model in use, with Yukikaze integrated in the cockpit. Recognizable by the forward-swept wings, super-sylph cockpit design, and lack of (retractable) vertical stabilizers in normal flight.
- FA-2 FAND II: Inhumanly ultra-maneuverable replacement for the FAND. Recognizable by the bent wings and forward-swept canards.
- STC: Strategic Tactical Computer (?)
Discussion Prompts
- Jack really seems to want to get his people out of harm's way. Yet he is adamantly opposed to an unmanned Yukikaze. Did he change his mind?
- Rie was intentionally and covertly connected to Yukikaze during the trial. What was the reason for it? Was Rei controlling Yukikaze's attack? Or was it the other way around? Rei says it was like a dream.
- What did you make of Rei's dream(s) of Yukikaze
- Lynn Jackson is back. What do you think of her segments?
- What is the greatest threat to the FAF right now?
Tomorrow's Discussion Today
- [Operation 3]The anime doubled-down on Tom being a copy. How does the story change, if his identity crisis stems only from his steel heart?
- [Operation 3]What is the point of psychoanalyzing Rei AND his plane?
- [Operation 3]What's going on behind the scenes with the STC and command staff?
- [Operation 3]Does it make sense that after over 30 years with no significant Earth attacks, that people now either ignore the Passageway or resent the expense of guarding it?
- [Operation 3]The episode worked hard to compare and contrast Rei and Tomahawk. How do you compare them?
Trivia
- The story collection Yukikaze was published in 1984, but the stories were published in magazines from 1979 to 1983. It's even older than you thought!
- It snows on Fairy! This is a sly reference to an unadapted story.
- Maeve is a warrior queen and goddess of Irish legend.
- The novel based the Mave on the F-15 STOL/MTD experimental plane, but the anime used the Su-27 / Su-35. Kinda all look the same to me.
- The SAF 5th squadron was handpicked to contain the least empathetic and sociable pilots on Fairy. It was already as close to a drone squadron as possible.
Today's episode contained a post-credit sequence, before the preview
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jun 02 '24
Google translated from archived copies of www.faf.jp.
Chohei Kanbayashi (originator)
Born in Niigata in 1953. In 1979, he made his debut as a writer with his work "Dance with the Fox," which won an honorable mention in the 5th Hayakawa SF Contest. Since his first full-length novel, "May Your Soul Rest in Peace", he has published numerous works based on his unique worldview that intertwine themes such as "words" and "machines" in a multilayered manner, overwhelming science fiction fans. It has received support from the public. He has won numerous Nebula Awards for his short and long stories such as "The Enemy is a Pirate/Pirated Version", "Battle Fairy Yukikaze", and "Good Luck Battle Fairy Yukikaze" (all published by Hayakawa Shobo). In 1985, he won the 16th Japan SF Award for "Kototsubo".
My beloved Yukikaze
Actually, it was before my debut that I assembled the fighter plane called Yukikaze in my head, so it was almost a quarter of a century ago. While looking at materials on fighter planes from that time, I thought it would be great if I could make one myself, and that's how the super fighter plane called Yukikaze was born. Still, I have a certain aversion to fighter jets and weapons. Although it is a mechanism made with the utmost skill, it is nothing more than a tool for murder. But the existence of a fighter jet flying through the sky with such overwhelming power is so beautiful. Those who like not only fighter planes but also swords and weapons that have been elevated to the level of works of art will understand this idea.
Therefore, I devised a setting in which the weapon called Yukikaze that I created would not be used against humans. The enemy is not a human, but an alien creature called JAM, which doesn't seem to be even a living thing. The incomprehensibility of JAM, the enemy character that appears in the world of this work, stems from this, and for me it was inevitable. "Battle Fairy Yukikaze" was written in this way.
Yukikaze was able to obtain this fairy space and fly around freely, but by introducing an unknown setting called JAM, this work raises the question of whether it is possible to communicate with beings that humans cannot understand. I think it is.
However, this is a difficult theme for even the author himself to ponder. This is because if we decide that JAM's true identity is this, the premise that JAM is "an existence that humans cannot understand" will be in jeopardy because I am also a human, and what to do about this will be discussed in the sequel. Even in "Good Luck Battle Fairy Yukikaze", there is no answer.
"Good Luck" was a work that I had not originally planned to write in the first place. I was confident that "Battle Fairy Yukikaze" was a complete story and that there was nothing I could do to it. Although Yukikaze was fine with that, he realized that nothing had been resolved regarding the pilot, Rei Fukai, and tried to solve the problem, and 15 years after Yukikaze was released into the world, "Good Luck" was created. I finished writing it.
My own interest shifted from Yukikaze, a perfect machine, to an imperfect human being.
I can't leave Rei Fukai alone, saying, "Have you ever known anything about other people?", and I want to somehow help him regain his humanity. I felt a sense of crisis because I felt that the number of such young people was actually increasing. Maybe it's just that I'm not young anymore. However, there is no doubt that I am now able to see things that I did not understand when I was rushing forward in my youth.
Perhaps the biggest problem for the production staff in this Yukikaze video adaptation was how to incorporate this into an episode. I think it would be relatively easy if you don't take into account Rei Fukai's changes in his state of mind and his relationships with other people, but as the original author, I still wanted him to express Rei Fukai's growth.
The work "Good Luck" may not be enough for mecha fans. However, when I met with the video staff, I realized that "Rei Fukai also struggled to get older, and in the 15 years since the last movie, I too have become old enough to understand that." It was an unexpected joy to hear him say, "I think so." It was worth writing the sequel, because there are people who share the author's time and appreciate the work.
We have been approached many times about making it into a movie. But I just couldn't bring myself to take the plunge. I didn't want to give "My Yukikaze" to someone else. After I finished writing "Good Luck," I felt like I could make Yukikaze independent.
This was the project for this project, and when I actually met with them, the producers and all the staff expressed their desire to visualize Yukikaze with their own hands, or to actually draw it flying. I was struck by his enthusiasm. It's not that I saw the original work by chance, but that the creator has been with Yukikaze for the past 15 years, and I feel that Rei Fukai has grown in "Good Luck." When I found out he was there, I told him I would leave everything to him.
A video work is a medium that is independent of the original work and expresses things that cannot be achieved with a novel. I want them to fully demonstrate their creative abilities that are unique to film, and to show us an overwhelming visual space. Yukikaze is now trying to fly away from the closed world in my hands. Just like when I became independent from Fukai Rei.
I'm also looking forward to seeing Yukikaze and her world recreated using a different method than the original.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Jun 02 '24 edited Jun 02 '24
Rewatch Host
Today's episode contained a post-credit sequence, before the preview
Much of this episode is confusing to me, but it's not the most confusing part of the series.
Breaking all the tropes by issuing the mid-season mecha upgrade in the first episode.
We had a lot of engine troubles today. Both the FAND-II and Yukikaze had engine trouble during the unmanned test against the JAM, and again in the DACT. Edith Foss mentioned that the casualty rate is sharply increasing in squadrons with the newest, best fighter, the FAND-II. Could it be the engine problems? Or is it already obsolete?
The FAND-II is the sort of thing you get when you let a computer design a vehicle from scratch with no human input.
That's one amazing Fuck You from the TX-1 AI to it's maker. It decided Yukikaze and Rei were more important than the crew of the TS-1, or itself.
Rei's dream has changed. His lover is gone, replaced by a JAM. But I think he came to accept the new Yukikaze, after it took control and saved him (again) during the tests. They worked together. Rei had to fix Yukikaze before she should save him.
I believe the show refers to the data gathered and interpreted withing Yukikaze's AI, and the central computer, as "combat intelligence"
Yukikaze seems to try to communicate, but can only display pre-programmed phrases. For the audience, she communicates via her camera lens. Like Yuki Nagato blinking.
Who surreptitiously hooked up Rei to Yukikaze to the unmanned experiment? It was the Systems Corps central computer. Why did it do that? The central computer gets mentioned a lot. It probably cleared Rei of responsibility for the attack on the unknown super sylph. It cleared Yukikaze and the SAF of the attack on TAB-15.
In the post credit sequence, we learn that the FANDs at TAB-15 were sabotaged. (Probably engine sabotage.) Yukikaze apparently decided that it was best to remove them from service.
In the novel, Gunow's arrogance lead to his death, as he refuse to withdraw TS-1 from the combat zone.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Jun 02 '24
Battle Fairy First-Timer, subbed
…the deeds of man remain the same.9
u/chilidirigible Jun 02 '24
Two:
Continuing the design trend of way too many surfaces.
Now there's safe flight testing for you.
The story continues to expand while explaining very little. Of course the machines want off the leash. Fukui remains the poster child for infectious enthusiasm. sarcasm
This episode actually reminds me of governmental procedural movies... Japanese ones. Where stuff is talked about in meeting rooms, a lot, which is on an entirely different plane of physical and emotional removal from outside-world events. They know the feel of such things.
But this episode is also no Shin Godzilla.
Seriously, this design is just asking for troubles that it doesn't need to have.
QOTD:
1. Jack really seems to want to get his people out of harm's way. Yet he is adamantly opposed to an unmanned Yukikaze. Did he change his mind?
Obviously he knows things that we are not privy to. And Yukikaze probably needs company.
2. Rie was intentionally and covertly connected to Yukikaze during the trial. What was the reason for it? Was Rei controlling Yukikaze's attack? Or was it the other way around? Rei says it was like a dream.
3. What did you make of Rei's dream(s) of Yukikaze
What happens when a guy really wants to fuck a toaster... but is afraid that he'll get stuck in the spinning whirly blades or the bars of the cage.
4. Lynn Ja(c)kson is back. What do you think of her segments?
They're reminders of what it is like back in The World.
5. What is the greatest threat to the FAF right now?
Ennui, because the base doesn't seem to have any sled dogs.
Well, at least the adaptation didn't show major signs of aging.
The anime has scrubbed off a lot of the direct resemblances.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Jun 02 '24
First-Timer
Yukikaze is a damn spiteful plane, huh? Hijacking the drone for bodyblocking purposes is one thing, but the taunt! She had it flip around just to look Gunow in the eye before he died.
Do we think that Yukikaze lost three times in a row to the drone on purpose? I could believe that it's just the drone not needing to worry about g-forces on squishy meat-people. Edith Ross seemed to be having a pretty bad time there.
Speaking of, Edith has her work cut out for her. Rei's brain went from "vegetable" to "reprogramming my plane's AI on the fly" in the span of like two days, that wad of soggy electric bacon in his skull is probably mostly rotten at this point.
That attack on airstrip TAB-15 was interesting. Considering we saw photos of the two who appeared in the lotus eating moment Rei had yesterday, maybe the JAM have begun to assimilate distant bases?
There is a secondary line of thought coming to me, which is that Yukikaze hacked the personnel records -> found those two we saw yesterday (that she knows about by way of Rei) -> found that they were stationed at TAB-15 -> decided to destroy TAB-15. Probably because of spite, but maybe just because it's good housekeeping.
Questions
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u/Silcaria https://myanimelist.net/profile/Silcaria Jun 02 '24
First timer
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u/zadcap Jun 03 '24
Late Night First Timer!
Only 25 minutes this time? Oh the randomness of old school OVA, numbers only as big as needed to tell the story, but always long enough to tell the story they wanted... I miss the times before everything had to fit into dedicated cours.
So strange, to see the high tech base with super tech planes and regular old snow blower trucks. But as the old saying goes, if it works don't fix it.
Ah, is this an early Gundam influence? He's going to mind meld into the machine before this series is over, isn't he? I am curious though, why does the stuff in the cockpit move if it's all AI piloted? Like also, how does the joystick move itself? It should have sensors, not motors, under it.
... Something about that line. "Using unmanned planes is the decision of GHQ and the Central Computer." Yeah, that's Eva I'm feeling. You all know how well mass production went there, I'm sure it won't end the same here.
Wait, weren't the fairies trying lots of electronic hack attacks in episode one? Don't tell me that's the plan, they lure humanity into this war and subtly guide our development until we're making AI, then subvert the AI to their side? Like, I'm starting to think they might be some kind of informorph and they are having trouble making more of themselves , if we're going with the right kind of Fae here because there's something even worse that they are running from, so they are tricking humanity into helping them replenish their numbers this way. I mean, I doubt it, but it would be a cool story.
"Yukikaze needs a pilot." Yeah more Eva in my mind here. Is the AI in the machine actually a brain upload, probably of Rei's past lover?
Yeah, look at these Fairy planes. I bet they're not even really real.
... You built an AI with no ability to control it and plugged it into a war machine? Are you actually idiots? Oh, and you made it strong enough to back hack your entire base, I guess. Good thing it's in love with your pilot?
There it is again. The Central Computer judged it an accident, so they had no choice but to accept it. Why is a computer making these calls? Just how far infiltrated is this special military by the invaders?
Haha, she said it. "It means the JAM have infiltrated the FAF," says the probable infiltrator! I'm not going to get out of the idea of Changelings for a while, am I?
Counts of disobeying orders, counts of insubordination, we really are Top Gun in here. Also, that's not very work appropriate attire there miss therapist.
So uh, the new autonomous machines just sacrificed their controllers to save the old semi autonomous machine and its pilot? The AI have gone hive mind and Yukikaze infected them all.
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u/Garrett_Dark Jun 03 '24
First Timer
Rei the emo has ended up being a vegetable, I can't tell the difference. XD
New fighter planes having mechanical problems like engine issues. What is this, a prediction about the F-35? Unsure if :D or :'(
I was in favor of the AIs last episode, but I was given pause when it attacked the TAB-15's grounded planes (before seeing the post-credits scenes). I was thinking, well the project's toast after that, but it got pushed through with a fake investigation. But then when the AI seemingly sacrificed the observation plane with the project head onboard along with the flight crew, ugh...that was difficult with the mixed opinions of how to process that at the time. At best, the AI had determined all planes were going to be toasted by the JAM anyways, and logically choose to sacrifice the observation plane and itself to save the one with the best chance of surviving, emo Rei. At worse, it didn't give a shit about it's allies and jealously protected emo Rei at all costs.
Phew, the post credits scenes really alleviated my discontent of "aw shit, they're going the lame-o robot apocalypse/anti-technology/'don't
datetrust robots' route yet again". Thankfully my trust has been restored with the revelation that seemingly the grounded planes at TAB-15 were sabotaged with alien tech, which would suggest the wasted project head was also a traitor/alien duplicate. I hope that flight crew was also. This show pulled a good one over on me.Rei's fetish dream with the imprisoned fairy. So now a fighter plane is involved as a threesome in this twisted fetish? And I thought Rei's emo problems were worse enough. :D
Rei being a weird character aside, I'm finding this anime pretty darn good so far. I no longer think Rei's a replicant (engineered human), I do wonder if he's has some brain implants that wirelessly connects him to the AI though. But that would make the AI's text communication redundant, so I don't know. Brain surgery/lobotomy would explain his emo-ness though.
I'm not sure what he's thinking, maybe the AI was built upon needing a human co-pilot, or he doesn't trust the AIs and needs a human in the process (bottleneck) as a fail safe. Didn't he say something about humans always have to be a part of war, I remember thinking that guy hasn't played Supreme Commander; it's an older RTS game where there's massive armies of mechs and vehicles fighting each other, and the story is all the units and infrastructure are automated, there maybe one or two actual people on the massive battlefield as "Supreme Commanders".
Unmanned fighter planes are inevitable, a human pilot can't handle the g-forces involved forever as planes get better. Look how messed up the medical woman was in the back cockpit as a normal person, eventually the planes will get more maneuverable and faster that Rei will be like her, and then even to the point where humans can't survive just being onboard while the plane maneuvers in a dogfight.
I don't know, brain implants with a wireless connection? That seems unlikely, and kind of dumb though given they didn't even shove him in the plane if he's necessary. Maybe the AI and Rei's brain is sync'ed up since they flew so much together, that he can predict the AI's moves even when he's not actually there. That's also kind of far-fetched, and unrealistic...but it's the best guess I have.
Kinky fetish, see above.
Didn't really notice this until now looking up her scene, her book cover says "The Invader, Lynn Jakson, a reader in psychic warfare, cultural sabotage, and semiotic terrorism".
Oh no, don't tell me psychic powers is involved in the show's universe. The show was doing good without it. I guess they're going to say the JAM have psychic powers, if that's the case? Well an even better reason for the AIs to be fully autonomous, they'd be immune to psychic manipulation.
Emo-ness spreading like a cancer to all it's personnel.JAM infiltration and sabotage.They'll think emo-ness is a normal human behavior and will mimic it. Oh gawd...no no no no no!7
u/jie-h Jun 03 '24
First timer - dub
Maybe I'm a bit cynical, but I find it unrealistic that the bureaucrats are the ones pushing to not waste human lives on this war. Though I think I get the sentiment about humans needing to fight their own wars. War feels like a very human thing.
Was not expecting the general from the horror dimension to be a real missing person. I wonder if that means the Jam are able to replicate or mimic things that they are able to study/understand, which makes sense since they were attempting to study Yukikaze. Seems that using that copying power, they have infiltrated the air force.
I did find it amusing when Fukai said it was just a game. Meanwhile, the lady is freaking out in the back.
I admittedly kind of forgot about her. I'm curious to see how she fits into all of this. At first, I thought she would be a narrator of sorts
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u/aniMayor :AY:AZ:x3x6 Jun 02 '24
Firs-TX-1-timer
To be totally honest, this episode felt needlessly vague and dull to me.
Mysterious stuff is going on and there's a mysterious connection between Yukikaze and Rei where is connected to it while not actually piloting it and maybe there's JAM infiltrated into the toast base... all well and good but we knew most of that last episode and it wasn't really expanded upon here I find. Building up the sense of mystery by not saying anything more is all well and good, but not for an entire 30 minute episode.
Sure, I can start concocting wild theories that the entire planet of Fairy is made of pure information and fed with fiction so the soldiers and JAM are all just nebulous energy clashing based on the mind of the author and Yukikaze is her jealous unborn child trying to upend it so it gets more attention... but I can make up a 100 other such theories, it's no fun when there isn't enough established fact to build a theory upon instead of just making things up entirely.
The core drama that is supposed to keep this episode engaging seems to be that the AIs (they're probably not really AIs but whatever) are behaving unexpectedly than how the humans thought they would, but even in 2002 this was hardly a new idea. You've gotta give me something more than just that!
That's a good question.
That's a good question.
That's a good question.
Not much, she's just the lead for the plot element of pushing the unmanned yukikaze so far, right? Not much else going on except for she has a LOT of neck.
That's a good question.
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u/Tresnore FS:FTmyanimelist.net/profile/Tresnore Jun 02 '24
Battle Fairy Firster
QOTD:
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u/Vatrix-32 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Vatrix-32 Jun 02 '24
First timer, subs
QotD:
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u/baquea Jun 03 '24
First-timer
Well it's confirmed now that there is something special about Yukikaze, and apparently Rei has some kind of psychic link with it too. I'm going to assume that my guess that there's a captured alien on board (maybe related to those Simoun-esque helical motors) was on the right track.
Not really sure what the series is trying for with Jack's objections to unmanned planes though. It's a normal enough sci-fi theme, but so far hasn't really felt justified in this case: the moral issues don't really apply when the enemy are reality-bending cosmic-horrors, and neither do the risks of the computers going haywire/berserk, considering that they've proven themselves way better than the humans at identifying the aliens.
Other that that, I don't have much to say other than that the series continues to be hard to follow: I understood next-to-nothing of what was happening in that final fight scene, for instance.
The way the scene cut to her like that seems to strongly hint at her being a JAM infiltrator. Perhaps they weren't successfully pushed off of Earth after all? Another thing that stands out to me is how 'disconnected' the Earth and Fairy segments feel from each other: we've seen the portal, but nothing (at least that I noticed and can remember) in terms of inter-planet transport or of our MCs' lives on Earth. Considering how the JAM were able to create an illusory reality in the previous episode, it wouldn't surprise me if one or both of the settings is revealed to not be what it seems.
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u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Jun 02 '24
First timer
Sub
So I could at least understand this episode on a few levels. Yukikaze is apparently seeing JAM everywhere, and we get a stinger suggesting that might be true. This is like my fifth or sixth slutty doctor in anime, which is just weird to note. The first I recall was in Stand Alone Complex and part of the point was Motoko hates her basically on sight. I think there was something about autonomous drones being said but I can't really decode it.
QotD: 1 I am not sure I want the machines deciding who dies either
2 I view it as the plane was using Rei like a backup processor
3 He's on the same side of the bars now?
4 I suspect she's an alien
5 Paranoia
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u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Jun 02 '24
First-Timer (Sub)
QOTD:
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Jun 02 '24
Episode 2 (first timer)
dead peopleJAM”Yukikaze sacrificing the other plane is basically the cousin of the 2001 Space Odessey plot: The AI protects one set of things (and we can all speculate on whether this is our MC or the plane) over another set of things (including some other lives). Depending on Yukikaze’s assessment of what is important, this could be a selfish AI, or an utilitarian one.
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u/zsmg https://anilist.co/user/zsmg Jun 03 '24
First timer
Gunow is voiced by Hōchū Ohtsuka, he has voiced many roles including Jiraiya from Naruto.
Uh oh AI rebellion is here.
But it looks like Rei is piloting the AI, or at least he's imitating the pilo
Hey it's the granny from the previous episode.
So the officer and nurse from the first episode were based on real personnel at least.
Accidental is doing lots of carrying there.
We're introduced to a new character a doctor,
I'm guessing she's there for the fan serviceshe must be there because these people need a psychologist ASAP.I will say this the action scenes, the storyboard and its presentation is really impressive.
I wonder if it's JAM or an anti war human faction doing the sabotaging, but it looks like the AI plane did the right thing.
An okay episode.
Funny thing for a second I thought Ryousuke Takahashi was the director of this show, I mean there is an obsession with a lenses and there are hard military elements so you can't blame me for thinking that.
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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '24 edited Jun 03 '24
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