Reading Report: 19 May 2024

THEビッグオー

This week I watched a bit of FMA Brotherhood, The Big O, and read more of my Gundam tech book. Some spoilers for FMA inside.

鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST

Once again making slow and steady progress with this. Ed and Al spend some time helping the Northern front bordering Drachma. Sloth shows up, which causes tension between Ed and Al and Armstrong, who is already suspicious of them, because they're already in a bind with Central. Kimberly shows up and causes even more problems, but everyone has to put on a smile and accept his presence. A bunch more stuff happens, including some more previously-hidden character traits and plans. We also get to see the backstory for Ed and Al's dad. At my current point Ed and Al have been separated for a little while, guys at Central are doing their darnedest to plan around peering eyes in every shadow, and the clock is ticking for endgame stuff.

THEビッグオー

Finished this series this week. There were a lot of reveals and what felt like three "final battles". Now that I've finished the show I don't feel quite so hot about it. The ending felt a little bit off, like perhaps Angel's character was undercooked in the end. The revelations about the state of the city and visual effects for the ending was pretty cool though.

本当にあった！世界の〝機動戦士ガンダム〟計画

This week I read about the development of firearms, particularly the technology that makes guns semi-automatic and automatic. I also learned (roughly) about how that technology doesn't work too well at the scale of a Zaku.
I also read about tank technology, the skill required to man the turret of a tank, and why two-turret tanks are kind of a bad idea.
There was some info about space flight, and especially stuff that can be launched and land back to Earth safely. It's very expensive.
There was a section about nuclear weapons connected to Gundam's Operation British (the colony drop that takes place before the original show).
There was also a section on Lunar Titanium (the alloy the OG Gundam was made from). There was some discussion about 盾と矛, the question of shield or spear. The book referenced some 19th century American battle where two warships were way too bulky to take damage from each other and the fight ended in a draw. Nowadays anti-tank weapons are so overpowered that the armour required to protect them would be too expensive, so most tanks are light weight in order to spec into evasion. There was a small mention of Chobam armour. Apparently the exact components of it are a secret.