Hacking in anime is plugging in your PC, randomly typing stuff, doing some magic mumbo jumbo and being able to completely overtake other systems, even when these are completely unconnected from the outside. Because of that I’m really glad to see that we finally have a show who at least somewhat understands the concepts of SQL Injection. Hacking into CERN (not SERN!) is indeed stretching it a bit, but hey, this show is more grounded in reality than the vast majority of other series.
In any case it’s great to see a series so heavily based on dialogue again. And I don’t mean the crappy kind of dialogue like with Oretsuba, but it’s really quite interesting and well researched and I really like how it’s already gotten pretty in-depth into its subject with only 3 episodes. It’s been a while since we’ve seen series with dialogue as complex as Steins;Gate and Hyouge Mono and it’s great to see creators attempting these kinds of series again.
On a side-note: that girl with that hat just keeps reminding me of Kobato, even considering that they’ve got the same voice actress. I just keep having to remind myself that their characters are completely different whenever she opens her mouth. I wouldn’t call this a flaw, though it’s still a bit unnerving. Instead the most annoying parts of this show are whenever the characters start talking about perverts and fanservice. It just feels out of place and detracts from the interesting stuff.
It’s also interesting how this show is well researched, but at the same time takes its liberties here and there in the small details. For example, the original John Titor claimed that he needed an IBM 5100 (not IBN 5100) in order to use it as a reference to fix various legacy bugs in some computer programs, hinting at the 2038 problem (similar to the Y2K problem, this will happen when the Unix Time runs out of possible values). As a computer scientist I have to laugh at how little sense that makes. In Steins;Gate however, this reason was changed by making the computer language BASIC (one of the first programming languages ever that found widespread use) younger than that PC, meaning that its software talks to its hardware in a completely different way; not based on really complicated standards to give it widespread appeal. I still have no idea how that could have helped him, but I’m impressed nonetheless.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
That’s the problem with having even the slightest bit of education. You are no longer fooled by the entertainment industry, and it’s harder to suspend disbelief. Whether it’s the liberties taken with IT or the liberties taken with physics (I’m looking at you, nearly every single movie, anime, game, and TV series ever set in space).
“Hacking into CERN (not SERN!)”
Just saying in the anime/VN, it was changed to SERN
So this particular entertainment was thrown together by people who DO have “the slightest bit of education”? Interesting.
I’m still put off by Okarin’s insanity. THAT makes it hard to suspend disbelief, no matter what SQL injection or factoid-wrangling is spouted. What is WRONG with this guy?
Christiiiiiiiiiina~
Changing the name of CERN and the IBM 5100 is just a way of avoiding having to ask permission to use their trademarks in the anime.
Actually all the hacking Daru did is not that unbelievable, even. Its quite clear that all he did was get an entire email database. That is actually something 15-18 olds do constantly, and to actual software giants like google or microsoft. CERN on other hand has no reason of having uber protections, research foundations and organizations are generally quite low on to-hack list.
AS for comments about perverts, and etc. I like it. Its how Okarin deals with stuff. And it brings quite interesting layers to him as well as I would not be surprised on if it is used latter on for character development.
Also on the whole pervert stuff.
Sadly and strangelly that describes the virtual space’s brightest and smartest minds perfectly – that is, not smart and certainly not bright brains.
Most of stuff is done “for the lulz” nowadays. The uproar”Anonymous”have caused, hacking of PS3 and kinect, various fallouts, information leaks.
Most of that is done by teens, who are certainly not taking everything seriously
“CERN on other hand has no reason of having uber protections, research foundations and organizations are generally quite low on to-hack list.”
Tell that to the University of East Anglia! All they got hacked was their email as well
“I would not be surprised on if it is used latter on for character development. ”
Character development? Developing a lunatic psycho dude? Is there some cultural barrier here? Otherwise, hell no.
I just came to the understanding that Daru is a borderline hikkomori or whatnot — hates going outside, big “otaku”, spends his days on the computer… with the exception of maid cafes, I take it.
So his character, which is unbelievable and strange to people across the cultural divide is finally understandable.
What’s the “mad scientist” analog? “Hooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuiiin…KYOUMA” is completely absurd to me. Is it just a psychological disease I’m not familiar with, like some kind of schizotypal thinking disorder?
I thought episode three was the best episode yet. I think Hououin’s insanity is crucial to the plot, because A) it makes it near impossible for people around him to tell when he is saying something important, and B) it makes just about anything we see “through” him have at least a thin veneer of dis-reputability.
Regarding the latter, they played this well in episode 3, when various characters asked questions or acted strange. Is Hououin paranoid? Or am I going paranoid? At least three characters shown seemed like they could be agents sent to monitor him and the future lab activities.
The Fat roomate hacker guy is an Agent
Im calling it now.
I seriously went “Holy shit!” when Daru did SQL injection.
Christiiiiiiiiiina!!!!!!!!!!
Plot/narrative wise, this series just uses standard “anime-logic” to explain scifi/supernatural elements, so in that regard it’s nothing special. Anime has also been a relatively poor medium in delivering actual good stories, particularly in the sci-fi or fantasy genres.
However, on the other hand, as a comedy, this delivers. Okabe is a baller and completely hilarious. The other characters are pretty funny as well. The “lab members” have great chemistry with one another. It’s been a while since I watched an anime that had decent funny dialogue as the last good one I saw was probably Bakemonogatari. In fact, I’m watching this series with the same mindset as I did with Bakemonogatari – for the characters, dialogue and their interaction. It’s actually good to see a series that actually doesn’t use slapstick comedy to portray humor. It’s been a while, for me at least.
On the moe side of things, there’s Mayuri, though she’s actually pretty good for a “moeblob” character. She kinda appear stoned though, not sure why. “Duturu~” is probably going to the moe-catchphrase of the season.
I agree with Pocari. Although the show seems to have done its research to explain the science mumbo-jumbo, it’s still just science stuff. If it’s too convoluted and execution is bad, it fails. Thankfully, it isn’t the case but it isn’t anything spectacular either.
As a comedy, however, I love it. Quirky jokes, very eccentric but incredibly intelligent characters and a little pervert side. Probably the best episode so far.
Oh and yes… that girl’s voice keeps distracting me. So mesmerizing…
Well, Mayuri is voiced by the same person who did Nessa in Fractale, right? And I think she’s voicing Shiro in Deadman Wonderland too.
@brianquzhere
Mayuri is voiced by Hanazawa Kana… who seems to be everywhere atm. Some of her other bigger roles other than the ones you mentioned include Tenshi (Angel Beats), Nadeko (Bakemonogatari), Kobato (Kobato), Kuroneko (OreImo), Zange (Kannagi) and my personal favourite Amano Touko (Bungaku Shoujo). She’s usually pigeon-holed into roles where it requires a soft, innocent and somewhat vulnerable voice.
@psgels4″Instead the most annoying parts of this show are whenever the characters start talking about perverts and fanservice”:
Old habits die hard, I see
@psgels4″…meaning that its software talks to its hardware in a completely different way; not based on really complicated standards to give it widespread appeal”:
Which somewhat makes sense, if you were ever forced to work with embedded systems, or other low-level programming.
As for the believable hacking attempt, it was a nice try, but SQL injection and accessing an e-mail server are two completely irrelevant things, plus for a back-end to be vulnerable to SQL injection, dunno it must really suck.
Finally for Mayushi’s VA, Hanazawa Kana, here is a complete list of roles.
Daru didn’t hack into the email server. He just got login info for a scientist that works for SERN and used that to access his mail.
And while Daru is a Super Haker, there’s a reason why he was able to hack into SERN which is explained later.