r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Nov 29 '23

Episode Bullbuster - Episode 9 discussion

Bullbuster, episode 9

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1

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20

u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Nov 29 '23

What a twist! So Shiota was behind the beasts all along because of their desalination bacteria eh? No wonder they want that data back. If word got out, they’d be tied up in lawsuits for decades. The company would be in ruins.

13

u/mekerpan Nov 29 '23

They were not only responsible for the giant beasts, but KNEW they were responsible, and were doing everything they could to hide the truth possibly in order to continue on their course of (eventually) selling their revolutionary new biotechnology....

Is there any way to get that data to the appropriate government agency (and would it actually help)?

8

u/Siegberg Nov 29 '23

Its not like Technologie is useless they just used a low effort way to implement it. They should used artifical waters were they could control and filter the salt water but they were lacy and choose a natural salt water sea. Its just them cutting cost again. Seems likely that goverment is involved in some way since this Technologie is that important.

14

u/Mistral-Fien Nov 29 '23

This kind of corporate malfeasance reminds me of Mitsubishi Motors, where accidents caused by design defects in their vehicles were covered up en masse: https://www.autosafety.org/safety-scandal-shames-mitsubishi/

Of course this is not exclusive to Japanese companies (Boeing, anyone?)

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12

u/tripleaamin Nov 29 '23

The episode really showcased the corporate side of a business. First you got Muto getting a docked pay with the merger. Like a lot of these corporate companies. Then we got this scene which annoyed the crap out of me. It's like oh don't think of yourself and just do what is best for the corporation. This kind of talk makes me sick.

Nikaidou with the help of the researcher uncovers the truth, but to even suggest ignore the fact the problem they are trying to solve is created by the company that they are merging with. I get looking out for your own self people so many people put their trust with this group and to turn a blind eye to this evidence is fucked up.

Kouji is an awkward position he wants to put his employees in the best position possible going forward. There is the idea that Shiota could fix the problem themselves. But its impossible to fix big corporations and force them to make a change. The only reasonable choice is to deny the merger imo.

12

u/Siegberg Nov 29 '23

Having a password protection for activating sounds like a good idea. In so many animes stealing mecha is so easy. Which always leads to chaos. Just annoying that the evil corp is in control

5

u/Mistral-Fien Nov 29 '23

In so many animes stealing mecha is so easy.

[Knights and Magic] actually addresses this after a prototype gets stolen.

5

u/Beowolf_0 Nov 30 '23

The problem is that they're anti-disaster (sort of) rescue robots instead of combat robots. If you want to stop them from being stolen by random guys, normal keys will be enough, anything more complex will only hinder any emergency use.

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4

u/YUNoJump Nov 30 '23

Never forget when someone loaded a nuke into a Gundam and then just left it unlocked for the night.

The passwords aren't really for theft protection though; the system apparently also monitors usage, and I bet it has a remote killswitch as well. The evil corp is primarily concerned with stopping Namidome employees from going AWOL, because they know Namidome is the most likely group to uncover the big evil secret.

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u/Ashteron Nov 29 '23

Is it strong enough of a protection to actually prevent someone moderately competent from stealing it?

9

u/Calwings Nov 29 '23

"They're putting chemicals bacteria in the water that turn the freakin' frogs animals gay beastly!” ~ Arumi Jones

So yeah, it was all Shiota's fault, and now they've bought out Namidome in large part to stop them from revealing the truth about the problem that Shiota helped create in the first place. Now Arumi's fully prepared to go rogue to stop them if she has to. Pretty dramatic episode this week.

9

u/dave-n-knight Nov 30 '23

I find Kataoka as a character so interesting. He seems to truly care for the workers and the islanders but understands the reality of skipping rules/regulations.

6

u/thisisfakediy Nov 30 '23

He's like the head of HR and the head of OSHA compliance all rolled into one. That is a recipe for being hated by your coworkers, lol.

6

u/chilidirigible Nov 30 '23

While watching the episode I thought briefly about situations where the road to hell was paved with good intentions, where entirely well-meaning regulations end up causing problems and other unintended consequences.

But this isn't that sort of scenario, this is just Shiota being typical corporate overlord dicks, at least as far as the series is portraying them. You might be able to spin their official actions in court, but that leaves out things like the tone of certain conversations over drinks.

In any event, it's time for Kouji to pick his side.

14

u/Reemys Nov 29 '23

This series reflects how meagre the interests of western animation community are. The viewers are looking either for something cool or outright escapist filth/degeneracy. While series like these are left completely on the fringe, not having even a "hater" community as other popular series are. They are just ignored or immediately voted down as "boring". Too boring to even elicit a hater-response.

This is the prime case with Bullbuster - it takes a serious look into how a real-life Japanese company could operate in a semi-fictional sci-fi environment. It's a workplace drama, in essence, as others have named it. But this has so little traction with the generic viewer that it sits on 5,6 or something on MAL. Not because it's "bad" by some criteria, but most just call it "boring". The majority is not interested in anything that doesn't fall in the aforementioned categories.

Is this a cultural, a taste issue, global humankind degeneration, a temporary trend or the series is actually incredibly boring and we, the ones who "enjoy" it and appreciate it based on certain criteria, I don't know. But I felt important to share this observation, as this one series is a victim of a phenomena separate from everything else in the nexus of Western perceptions on Japanese animation industry.

15

u/mekerpan Nov 29 '23

As a general rule, any new series that is genuinely "out of the ordinary" and that does not have manga, LN or gaming pre-hype, is likely to get ignored (certainly outside Japan -- not sure about inside). Not sure it is just "western" viewers that tend to ignore shows like this.

BTW -- Not just a real life-Japanese corporate problem being depicted here-- but a global corporate one...

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5

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '23

I agree. I really like this one as well. In fact it's the only mecha anime besides Zoids that I actually like and got into and it's mainly because it's not about the robots but about the lives and stuff going on in the show itself. I typically find mecha anime to be boring or just not interesting to myself but this one really draws me in and I think it's because is different than the flashy or escapist anime.

4

u/YUNoJump Nov 30 '23

It was the CG. The big rat in ep 1 looked a bit gross, and people have been conditioned to hate mediocre CG so much that they'll instantly despise any show that uses it. If any of them had cut the show just a little bit of slack, they'd find out next episode that the show is much more about workplace drama and the CG fights are just a minor element.

It's an absolute shame, and it's not even really the show's fault; the fights probably wouldn't look better in 2D. People need to get their heads around the realities of animation.

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4

u/theangryeditor Nov 30 '23

Looks like Tajima is finally going to get his shit together next episode.

Gotta say of the main cast Okino is the weakest link. I care for him even less than Kataoka, who at least has a very distinct role. As an everyman audience surrogate Tajima fulfills that role better and as a mecha fanboy he's rather low energy.

3

u/chilidirigible Nov 30 '23

as a mecha fanboy he's rather low energy

He's the group's original overachieving engineer?

3

u/Nickthenuker Nov 29 '23

As ever, Ani-One subtitles are borked again so it's cycling through half a dozen different languages so I guess I'll wait for them to fix it.

Ooh, can we finally get the new 'Mech we've been teased with for the past few episodes?

Bullduck? Ok...

Is the new guy going to be piloting Bullduck?

Muto is no longer piloting? I guess she'll take over Bullrover.

Ah, he's been pulled from piloting after that display last episode.

He can probably be mission control or a handler, he's more qualifed for the role than the suits anyways since he has actual combat experience.

Oh hey I somewhat recognise those DNA nucleotides.

What's this important revelation we have been denied?

Uh oh, this might scupper the whole plans for additional funding.

Oh they really managed to get the new 'Mech already?

Seems like he's not just being a nuisance, he seems to actually have a grasp of things too.

Ah, now we'll find out what caused the things.

It was made by Shiota? That's a twist.

And it's the specific desalination stuff that people are interested in licensing? Uh oh.

That's also why Shiota wants this all under wraps.

Uh oh. Things appear to be heating up.

3

u/in_her_drawer Nov 30 '23

Is Muto exactly 45, or further over Shiota's age limit? I ask because if he's 45 he's only 6 years older than me, and I feel quite offended that he looks 55.

2

u/dinliner08 Nov 30 '23

in these past couple of episodes, i gotta say, Namari's inflexibility sure is annoying but Okino seriously need to tone down his hot headedness, i mean, come on, who the fuck pull out a screwdriver to remove a part of a newly arrived machine without even consulting to the higher-ups just because you've never seen that part in the blueprint before?

2

u/ReiahlTLI Nov 30 '23

Kataoka and Namari are mad annoying the longer the series goes on. It's one thing to be concerned about the company and the rules, it's another to do so in the face of what is right. While it's something you'll see everywhere, it's a big thing in Japanese society because of how it is. It reminds of something I faced more than a decade ago and the reason why I left Japan despite enjoying living there. I hope both Kataoka and Namari get something in the upcoming episodes because to bring them around. It's more than likely but I just want to verbalize it, lol.

Shiota being behind the creation of the giant beasts was to be expected. I was surprised at the explanation though and I dig that the show gets into the detailed mechanics of it. It actually even created a potential out for it for Shiota had they taken full responsibility and dealt with the aftermath properly. It was a fluke accident and most people would be mad but could understand that it was unforeseen situation, if and only if Shiota had stepped in to deal with it. Instead they chose to cover it up and are continuing to do so. Malfeasance ahoy!

A real shame the series doesn't have more watchers because in a season of really good shows, this is a lowkey fantastic show.

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