The 3 Episode Rule…. again

I feel conflicted about doing another 3 episode rule post, I often repeat myself on this subject and yet still feel I haven’t fully made my point. I even talked about it as recently as my Miyu from Prisma Illya post.

To start with, let me clarify that it’s not an absolute.  You don’t have enough time to watch at least three episodes of every Anime that exists because you don’t even have enough time to watch at least one.  I don’t even watch one episode of something unless I expect it to potentially interest me in some way.

And I’m hesitant to tell people absolutely to watch at least 3 episodes once you decide to try something.  For one thing if what makes the first unwatchable to you is its visuals, if you think it’s badly animated and/or the art style you find unpleasant to look at, well those things are likely to only get worse, lots of Anime front load their Animation Budget to the first episode in order to get people’s attention.

However I already did a post on how a lot of shows front load their Fanservice into the first episode the same way they do their Sakuga.  And frankly with some shows it’s the same for their Edgy Shock Value quota.  90% of Goblin Slayer discourse is still just about what happens in its first episode. I didn’t finish that show and don’t think of myself as one of its fans, but I saw enough to say its overall tone is not like that at all.  A show I am somewhat of a fan of is Skeleton Knight in Another World which likewise had a gratuitous rape scene at the start the likes of which won’t happen again in future episodes.

And also if you just don’t understand what’s going on, some shows have specifically in the third episode some key exposition that maybe should have been provided up front, like Engage Kiss from 2022.

Even shows that are highly episodic with a Monster of the Week or Case of the Week structure will still have only 1 of the first 3 episodes actually follow the structure of most episodes because they also need to provide an origin story for our protagonist, or how the team got together.  That will often be the third episode for more chronological shows like Detective Conan aka Case Closed or Pokémon, but others like Princess Principal will have the first be a flash forward so it can start with an episode like what most will be like, however with that show you need the context of the chronological first two episodes to appreciate the dynamic seen in those one offs.

Part of the reason for this structure is frankly economic.  The Anime Industry doesn’t make most of its money off the Anime itself, and back before the streaming era part of that was the Home Video release were more important than the actual TV broadcast.  And back in the 90s the standard operating procedure for VHS releases in both Japan and the US was 3 episodes per tape. So a lot of Anime was written so that its entire first tape could serve as an extended pilot.  And as one of many who still fondly remembers renting Pokémon VHS tapes I recall distinctly how well Pokémon's first three episodes worked together that way.  Once they got in the habit of writing shows that way it was hard to break out of.

One bad take on the three episode rule I saw in a YouTube video once was that it’s called the 3 episodes rule because most Anime have 12 episodes and that a longer show should obviously take even more, 6 episodes for a 2 cour show and so on.  That logic would lead to thinking you need to see 20 episodes of Kanto Era Pokémon before you know if it’ll appeal to you or not, that’s obviously absurd.

The Three Episode rule exists because of what it takes 3 episodes to do, especially when you only have 20ish minutes per episode, not being a fourth of the total.  A lot of my favorite potential case studies in how the 3rd episode specifically completes the set up are shows longer than a single cour. From Revolutionary Girl Utena where episode three is the first Nanami episode, to Code Geass where the third episode more fully explains who Leleouch is.  

Critics of the 3 episode rule often frame it as just an attempt to defend bad shows by slandering the pilots of good ones.  But I don’t find the first episodes “bad” for most of the shows I mentioned above, just incomplete in communicating what to expect.  It’s more like I want greater appreciation for what specifically the 3rd episode does, or how the first three work together to set the stage.  And I don't need to find a first episode bad to be unsure the show will be one I want to complete, I find few works of Art truly Bad but even with Anime am only interested in watching certain kinds that personally appeal to me.

If I do dislike the 1st and/or 2nd episode of a show I have no hesitation recommending people skip them entirely. For the 90s Sailor Moon Anime I absolutely advise just starting with the 3rd episode (which was the second in the DiC Dub where it was titled Talk Radio).  For A Certain Scientific Railgun I advise skipping episode 2.  

I’ve also personally experienced a sort of inversion of the presumed general purpose of the 3 episode rule.  Times when I really liked the first episode of a show but once episodes 2 and 3 made clear what the show is more generally like my interest is actually killed off.  Examples of that include Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk and Dance in The Vampire Bund, I still recommend both of their first episodes as stand alone shorts but the shows overall couldn’t appeal to me.

Dubs have always been good

One thing that annoys me as a Fan of Anime Dubs is when an apparent ally in that cause says something to imply it’s only modern Dubs they’re really defending.  When they talk about Dub haters being stuck in the past and not respecting how they have “gotten better”.

First of all given the growing overlap between vocal Dub Haters and the Gamer Gate Style Neoreactionaries of the Anime Community I think these people might be underestimating how many of those hating on current Anime Dubs like old ones, they’re Nostalgic for when Localizers made Anime less Politically Correct like the infamous Ghost Stories Dub.  Not to mention plenty of these people are Vic supporters.

Even in the 90s and early 00s there were plenty of Dubs that didn’t Censor all gender non conforming stuff and try to pretend the show wasn’t set in Japan.  Plenty of Classic Dubs for Tenchi Muyo and Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain are still what those characters sound like in the heads of a generation of Anime fans.

Maybe some of you will dismiss that as Nostalgia Blindness, people will like what they saw as a kid no matter what.  Well the three specific examples I listed I didn’t watch till within the last decade when I was already well past 25, and I will actively defend them against any haters as vigorously as those with Nostalgia for them.  Meanwhile with Sailor Moon I have fond Childhood memories of the old DiC localization but have no illusions about how wrong some of those voices sounded.  Once the Viz Dub became available all of its Voice Actors were able to override the old ones in my mind.  Meanwhile with Detective Conan and Fate/ we have different voice casts who I like enough that they can coexist. 

And even with the “Hack Dubs” I can consider a Dub good if I like the Voice Acting, maybe not great and certainly not perfect but good enough.  I can tolerate the cringiest of localization changes if I like listening to the voices.  I principally feel this way about the 4Kids Pokémon Dub, those performances still hold up so I still love that Dub, Jelly Donuts and all.

There are old Dubs with voices I don’t like, the worst of them usually aren’t in Kids Show Hack Dubs but edgy OVAs released directly to the bargain bin.  And voices I don’t like still exist, though it’s usually actors I do like being cast incorrectly.

But looking at issues other than voice acting.   I have my own reasons for preferring a lot of older Dubs to newer ones.  It kind of feels like Dubs including Honorifics have become less common in recent years.  And I can’t imagine a Dub made with 90s Nerds in mind refusing to use the word Paladin.

There is a duality to my personal localization philosophy.  When it comes to Honorifics and the use of Otaku Lingo I want the Dubs to just use the same words they’re using in the Japanese.  But as far as writing the full script goes I’m fine with Creative Liberties and feel like modern Dubs don’t take enough actually, they play it too safe.  I also like when they incorporate Meme references like "Sus" and wish there was even more of that.

Miyu Edelfelt the Supreme Kuudere

I made two prior posts on this blog discussing the Kuudere archetype of Anime and why it’s what I've in recent years chosen to username myself after.  

But in both I completely neglected to mention the character of Miyu Edelfelt from Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya.  That is a massive oversight given how I have another post on this blog proclaiming Prisma Illya to be The Most Anime.

And I can certainly argue she should have qualified for the more specific premise of Kuudere are Stoics.  She is a very emotionally driven character in-spite of her cool and calm Stoic demeanor and very intelligent, both book smart and wise, seemingly very mature for her age.  And episode 9 of 3wei clarifies the Nasuverse's Magic system to be compatible with Stoic Metaphysics. However, since I made that post wanting to share it with people in Normie Stoicism Groups on Facebook it’s probably for the best that I didn't devote much of it to the least Normie Accessible Anime of all time.

She slipped my mind at the time because I hadn’t recently rewatched Prisma Illya and often my over analyzing of Prisma Illya focuses on how Illya works as an archetypical Pink Magical Girl rather than how Miyu works as a Blue.

The Blue is more flexible in terms of her personality type then the Pink (and they aren’t even always literally color coded as Blue), what’s important is that they contrast with the Pink, so a Kuudere certainly can play that role but usually not.

In the original Japanese she is voiced by Nazuka Kaori and in the English Dub she is voiced by Caitlyn French, both are excellent, however the English Dub only covered the first season, the Dance at the Sports Festival OVA, 2wei, 2wei Herz! and some of the shorts made with those seasons, so unfortunately the Onsne OVA, 3wei, the movies and Prisma Phantasm remain undubbed.  Caitlyn French also voiced Yakumo Tsukamoto in School Rumble, which isn’t the only other Dub I’ve watched she’s been in but the only time I instantly recognized her as Miyu, that character may also count as a Kuudere but its been awhile since I watched it and my thinking of her as sounding like Miyu may have influenced my perception.  French is also Shiro in No Game No Life who probably does count as a Kuudere but isn’t the kind I’m mainly thinking of when I reference the concept.

I keep feeling compelled to reiterate how the main reason for the 3 episode rule is that it can take 3 episodes of a show to fully set up what it even is, and expressing what I mean by that with merely the word “premise” before because that’s the word Trixie used was a mistake, it’s more than just the premise.  Miyu is the reason the three episode rule applies to Prisma Illya, she’s the Deuteragonist, so her not even showing up till the end of episode 2 is narratively necessary but still a reason what the show is actually like isn’t fully apparent from only two episodes.  The third episode is entirely about introducing Miyu and establishing her character and how she contrasts with Illya.

I have said before that I’d like to see someone make Fanart that recreates the Iconic “Don’t worry I’ve got you.”  “But who’s Got You” moment from Superman The Movie with Prisma Illya and Miyu.  The reason why that reference should work for fans of this show is because of episode 4.  

Update: Triekkie Post Script.

Comparing a Trio of main characters to the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic is one of the most generic comparisons nerds make.  But I couldn't stop thinking about how well it works here.

Illya refuses to accept a no win scenario, this is once we reach 3wei the core of her character.  This is what every Magical Girl Protagonist has in common with Kirk.

Miyu from what I said is obviously the Spock, while Kuro complete lack of hesitation to say she's sacrifice an entire world she doesn't know to save her friend is very McCoy.

Amazons and Anatolia

Speculation about if there were real warrior women in the ancient world who inspired the Amazons of Greek mythology (even if the Greeks massively exaggerated how literally Matriarchal they were) usually focuses on the Scythians and Sarmatians.  But I have some issues with that.

The idea of connecting the Amazons to the Scythians and Sarmatians began in antiquity with Herodotus, but to him it was that the Sarmatians came from Amazons and Scythians mating together, so they were connected but still distinct.  Later classical sources would start swapping the order and having the Amazons begin north of the Black Sea and travel south like the Scythians themselves did.  I similarly think Diodorus Siculus’s Libyan Amazons narrative is based on late speculations, but once his Myrina narrative reaches Anatolia it could reflect actual ancient traditions.

The myths and stories about the Amazons that are definitely older than Herodotus even if they weren’t written down till later geographically associate the Amazons with Anatolia aka Asia Minor.  

In the Iliad Bellerphon’s encounter with them places them either in or near Lycia, where they are also associated with the Solymi named for Mount Solymus near the border of Lycia and Pamphylia.

Other stories say the Amazons founded the city of Ephesus and other cities of Greek Asia Minor like Myrina, Smyrna, Cyrne, Magnesia, Pygela, as well as on Islands like Lesbos and Lemnos.  Queen Hypsipyle who Jason encountered on Lemnos I think was originally part of the Amazon tradition but was separated from it later.  On Lesbos Mytilene was named after the sister of Myrina.

Gargareans is the name of a Male Tribe the Amazons are said to have gotten their husbands for breeding from.  Strabo based on the post Herodotus Scythian fixation tried to place them near the Caucasus, but there is a mountain called Gargara on the North-Western Aegean Coast of Asia Minor just a little south of the site presumed to be Troy.

Speaking of Troy the Amazons are presented as a Trojan ally.  All of the other Trajan allies like the Mysians and Dardanians came from very near Troy, lake Ascania in western Bithynia seems to have been the eastern extent of Troy’s sphere of influence.  Later traditions do add a Memnon of Ethiopia but there is no hint of him in Homer.

The overlap between locations definitely associated with the Amazons already before Herodotus and places that were associated with the Scythians are just Themyscira on the Thermodon River and Sinope in Pontus, but that’s a region the Scythians held hegemony over only for a brief time in the 7th century BC.  The core of what was meant by Scythia to the ancients was north of the Caucasus. And likewise for the Amazons Themyscira seems to be a place some of them migrated to later.

The evidence that Scythians and more so Sarmatians had occasional female warriors is legit, but it was still uncommon enough that they were never included in actual Scythian artistic depictions of warfare.

The association of the Amazons with Horses is another reason the Scythian connection is attractive to people.  That’s what the Hippo and -ippe in many Amazon names mean.  But there were Domesticated Horses in Asia Minor by 1600 BC and it’s in fact seems to be from there they came to Greece.

So IF there was a real tribe that inspired the Amazons however loosely it could be one of the Arzawa peoples known from Hittite Inscriptions.  Apasa/Abasa is what the Hitties called Ephesus while Lazba is what they called Lesbos, and there was also near them the Seha River Land and Mira.

Ethno-Linguistically I think the Amazons were in fact Hellenes with different Gender norms than most, since they are the alleged founders of so many Greek cities, in fact even Themyscira was a Greek City in Antiquity.  Usually people seek to explain all the notable Amazons having Greek names by the Greek myth tellers translating the meanings of their names.  But when Greek myths depict the Levant or Mesopotamia they are fully willing to transliterate foreign names.  Artistic depictions of the Amazons also show them in Greek style military garb.  And again they founded cities that archaeologically seem to have always been Greek.

As far as the etymology of the word Amazon itself goes, I still don’t believe in the “Breastless” or “One Breast” Folk Etymology.  A more likely Greek etymology would be *n̥-mn̥gʷ-yō-nós 'manless, without husbands'. 

So this post is a reversal of prior sentiments I’ve expressed on this Blog.  When I’d said one of the things DC Comics Wonder Woman lore gets wrong about Greek Mythology is presented the Amazons as essentially being Greeks.  But I now think that was correct actually, other things DC still gets wrong (or changes intentionally, however you want to look at it), but on this issue they are more correct then the Xena Warrior Princess Amazons.