TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
About the TV station, I think that we should split it into different channels depending on our shows. We're already starting to create more educational shows, so maybe we might eventually create enough to make an entire TV channel just for them.
That won't really be feasible until the mid/late '90s methinks, on account that as of this year (1980) there are only 28 channels total for the average American to consume, and by 1985 that number will only have gone up to 35.
Until then, I recommend we follow a schedule of specific genres being released on specific days [in the afternoon to evening timeslots].
I remember when I first found this gem. I thought it was one of the coolest concepts there was, but at the same time I was disappointed that it only got up to three chapters. I can kind of understand why though, it was by the 90s and though many may not want to accept it, cyberpunk as a genre had its height during the 80s. Not to say that it's not popular, only that for this series to have become something greater, then perhaps being launched a decade earlier may have been the best option.
So, I want to give it a go. It's mostly an OVA since I feel this way we can gauge the interest for the idea. If it works then we can expand it in a TV Series, but if it doesn't then at least we tried. With our level of animation we should be able to do things greater than OTL Madhouse studios could, and perhaps keep it a bit more faithful to the original draft where they had Benten be a woman instead of an androgynous man.
Thus, I give you:
OVA Pitch: Cyber City GENRE: Cyberpunk/Action/Crime
SUBGENRE: Science Fiction
FORMAT: OVA
Set Up: Set in the year 2808 in the city of Oedo (Tokyo), it tells a dystopian story of three criminals who are enlisted into fighting crime in exchange for reducing their sentences to the point where they are able to earn their freedom. The three criminals are Sengoku Shunsuke, an anti-social maverick, Gogl, a mohawk wearing hacker, and Benten, an androgynous, kind yet ruthless woman.
Animation: Sunrise Studios/DreamWorks Series Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri Writer: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Shunsuke Sengoku: He is one of the criminals enlisted to fight crime in exchange for reducing his sentence. Though he is kind of an asshole, when it comes down to it he's a good guy., willing to even disobey an order that would have him killed if he doesn't feel it's fair.
Seiyuu: Hiroya Ishimaru Alternate: Banjō Ginga
Gabimaru "Gogl" Rikiya: He is one of the criminals enlisted to fight crime in exchange for reducing his sentence. A Gentle Giant imprisoned for hacking offenses. He is very strong and physically tough, but also seems to be an avid reader and a very talented hacker.
Seiyuu: Tesshō Genda
Alternate: Takeshi Aono
Merrill "Benten" Yanagawa: She is one of the criminals enlisted to fight crime in exchange for reducing his sentence. A Warrior Poet, she is one of the most vicious, yet clever, fighters of the bunch, capable of analyzing the situation at a glance and finding the most optimal path.
Seiyuu: Noriko Ohara Alternate: Mika Doi
Police Chief Juzo Hasegawa: The Head of the police who keeps the group in check with explosive collars that they wear around their necks. Hasegawa has the ability to blow their collars remotely, and they will also explode if they fail to complete their missions within an allocated time period.
Seiyuu: Norio Wakamoto Alternate: Akira Kamiya
A.N.: I know that Yoshiaki Kawajiri is working at Madhouse at the moment, but he does not get his debut until 1984, so giving him a chance, and at a studio that has so many benefits as well as a greater paycheck, may be enough to get him to work for us in at least this developing project.
So think the soviets might fall apart? i would think with those rolls, there manpower loses would be over 1 mil, tanks over 1000 tanks and 1000 Helicopters and the pop lose if the bio weapon get lose on there own people will be massive
And they are also doing the invasion of Afghanistan at the same time, and i would think that would be going so much worse then it was in RL as the soviets could not bring all there efforts on it
So think the soviets might fall apart? i would think with those rolls, there manpower loses would be over 1 mil, tanks over 1000 tanks and 1000 Helicopters and the pop lose if the bio weapon get lose on there own people will be massive
And they are also doing the invasion of Afghanistan at the same time, and i would think that would be going so much worse then it was in RL as the soviets could not bring all there efforts on it
Well, perhaps they did not invade Afghanistan this time around. I mean, there has been no news of them doing so, and the Romanian Revolution caught them unawares, so perhaps whatever plans they had for said invasion had to be scrapped.
Wait the Soviets may have also done Bioweapons on the food population and citizens as well so they may face a great famine then they already have also since they are barely any food in their markets this is going to get worse when the food that are there are contaminated and diseased
You honestly think Saten wouldn't have to deal with a rebellion from Vlad now that dear one Vladdy decides that Saten has had enough keeping the seat warm.
USSR Generals: Well, we at least managed to avoid further losses. I'm sure our leaders will be lenient.
USSR Leaadership: Boy oh boy. What time is it?!
Romania will acccept nothing less than full independence and removal from the Warsaw Pact. This will embolden other members who want out (I'm looking at you Hungary!) which the USSR knows, so they will make double sure to crack down even harder, which will once more cause more resentment and resistance, thus creating a feedback loop that will only accelerate its downfall, as well as making Communism's reputation to collapse and be laughed at for decades to come
Brandon will only be 15 in Febuary 1980, but in earlier updates it was written that he was 16. It bugged me and I wanted to correct that. Also, him making a film debut at that at would be great
Hey now that the soviets are retreating back to Russia is there a possibility that the soldiers were infected by the Romanians and the disease will spread throughout Russia.
at least now biological weapons are clearly associated with evil, that should make governments slightly more reluctant to fill their arsenals with them like with nukes right? (if nothing else to prevent their frightened people from stopping voting for them)
Well, perhaps they did not invade Afghanistan this time around. I mean, there has been no news of them doing so, and the Romanian Revolution caught them unawares, so perhaps whatever plans they had for said invasion had to be scrapped.
Welp the USSR just killed itself might also lead a civil war on the government as the Soldier would blame the government for literally infecting them with Bioweapons and the citizens start getting infected as well also since the Soviet Union is very low on food they will close off the rations making the citizens get even more angry and scared
So @Magoose how shocked the Union is at losing Romania and how shock the Romanians at beating the union all by themselves (due to the union using its full might against them)
So @Magoose how shocked the Union is at losing Romania and how shock the Romanians at beating the union all by themselves (due to the union using its full might against them)
Hot damn, this is definitely a hell of a national mythos for Romania, the only country that managed to fight a Soviet invasion on their own and win. A hell of a chapter to the Cold War that is going to be legendary for centuries and now it's not a matter of if the Soviet Union shall fall, but when.
Gotta love how save for the war crimes and bioweapons that Magoose Dice was on the side of Romania from the very beginning and the Soviets were so incompetent that they made modern Russia look as invincible as their propaganda. Romanians are definitely going to cement themselves as the Chads of the Slavic world and the poor Hungarians and Czhecoslovaks are going to be made fun of for not pulling off the same. Also with the Soviets outright losing a conventional war, fear of them is going to be erased and instead hatred for their crimes, and WWII historiography might change to donwplay Soviet strength and instead it's a narrative of how they only won through resource swarms and being bailed out by America.
POG, wonder if this means that Romania got to form Greater Romania through a revolt in Moldavia or annexing Southern Bessarabbia from Ukraine, they certainly have the manpower to do it and the Soviets might cut the losses to limit the spread of their bioweapons. Romania STRONK for sure.
I'm cool with all of those choices, although I think it would be better and make more sense for us to be Producer on Kung Fu Kid, since that was written by Bruce, would be Brandon's first project, and one that means a significant amount to both of them. The question though would be who we want to direct it? I would rather us do it, but I'm pretty sure we talked about not spending too much time away from Carrie while she's pregnant right now, so perhaps not. We also have to consider what shows we might want to tackle on top of the other films and directors to assign.
Would love to be the producer but if we do that then Kung Fu Kid would have to be the only film we could produce unless the 80s bonuses allows us to produce more than one film because we can only do two films if they're both in the same country.
USSR Generals: Well, we at least managed to avoid further losses. I'm sure our leaders will be lenient.
USSR Leaadership: Boy oh boy. What time is it?!
Oh yeah, definitely some purging. Only way that's avoided is if the stress of the war causes Brezhnev to die early and the new leadership can cast him as the scapegoat.
Soldier's probably more than half a million at least. Vehicles, thousands. They've still got so much material that they can theoretically handle another war, but not for a long time and they're economy is gonna go into shit from overspending while the demographics are fucked.
Oh god and the Soviet Middle East invasion is about to happen also this got to be the most embarrassing war for the Soviets they made their own Vietnam and lost
Unless Magoose says that there's an invasion of Afghanistan there won't be. So Afghanistan becomes a failed state, and from there we have no Al Qaeda, and no 9/11, meaning a hugely different 21st century.
If there's any positives to be had of the Biowar, it's that hopefully it'll push the CDC to take AIDS more seriously as a potential Soviet weapon and neutralize it at the start rather than ignore it.
Hopefully this doesn't cause a global pandemic because I don't want to stop production of films right as we start the 80s and are propping up so many franchises just because one roll for Romanian warcrimes got bad. I don't think Anthrax has the potential to spread as globally as COVID and for all of the Soviets evil and incompetence, they don't want something global so that not only do they not die, but NATO doesn't use this as an excuse for Article 5 and WWIII. But yeah, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are fucked for the near future.
Oh guys don't forget this Romanian war is going to question the Soviet citizens on what they we're fighting for since they fought a war lost so many men young and old and more are on the way due to some being very likely being infected as well and not to mention the soldiers would definitely tell the citizens on the Bioweapons because if they are dying along with possibly mothers and fathers better tell who to blame
If we are starting with a TV station, we could do all of that in the same station because of the different tv habits of children, teenagers, and adults.
Weekday morning for children, weekday mid-morning to early afternoon for people at home, early afternoon to early evening for children/anime at the end hours. Prime time. Then anime/experimental stuff. And Saturday morning is cartoons for kids.
We have a lot of hours to fill and not enough backlog for a while to make specializing worthwhile yet.
Edit: also, perhaps we should have Bruce study up on biology and invest in a pharma/biotech company. Not as a source of profit (though it will need to be at least break even) but as a way to research treatments for victims of the bio weapons. Also as a way to invest in AIDS treatment.
Hot damn, this is definitely a hell of a national mythos for Romania, the only country that managed to fight a Soviet invasion on their own and win. A hell of a chapter to the Cold War that is going to be legendary for centuries and now it's not a matter of if the Soviet Union shall fall, but when
Gotta love how save for the war crimes and bioweapons that Magoose Dice was on the side of Romania from the very beginning and the Soviets were so incompetent that they made modern Russia look as invincible as their propaganda.
Also with the Soviets outright losing a conventional war, fear of them is going to be erased and instead hatred for their crimes, and WWII historiography might change to donwplay Soviet strength and instead it's a narrative of how they only won through resource swarms and being bailed out by America
POG, wonder if this means that Romania got to form Greater Romania through a revolt in Moldavia or annexing Southern Bessarabbia from Ukraine, they certainly have the manpower to do it and the Soviets might cut the losses to limit the spread of their bioweapons. Romania STRONK for sure
Oh yeah, definitely some purging. Only way that's avoided is if the stress of the war causes Brezhnev to die early and the new leadership can cast him as the scapegoat
Unless Magoose says that there's an invasion of Afghanistan there won't be. So Afghanistan becomes a failed state, and from there we have no Al Qaeda, and no 9/11, meaning a hugely different 21st century
Hopefully this doesn't cause a global pandemic because I don't want to stop production of films right as we start the 80s and are propping up so many franchises just because one roll for Romanian warcrimes got bad. I don't think Anthrax has the potential to spread as globally as COVID and for all of the Soviets evil and incompetence, they don't want something global so that not only do they not die, but NATO doesn't use this as an excuse for Article 5 and WWIII. But yeah, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia are fucked for the near future.
I would be really surprised if everyone who worked on the Dracula movie didn't have their names engraved on a monument somewhere after that, and maybe medal/citizenship for some, Brian Da Palma and Dave Alister are going to have a big fan club and maybe their statues on the monument mentioned above after that and if the Romanians find out that it was Bruce who approved the project/provided the budget he could well join them there,lucasfilm is probly never gonna have any problem getting aproval to film in romania
Once Romania does makes it peace deal, the MC should invest in Romania, there is gonna be a lot to rebuild, many farms, mines that are empty and factories that are ruined, so the MC can help the nation and earn money from it
Think the other puppet start might see this as a chance to spilt from the soviets?
I wonder...will this lead to a unified Ireland, and even if it doesn't, what're people's reactions gonna be when this shit eventually gets leaked with MKULTRA or Wikileaks.
Romania will acccept nothing less than full independence and removal from the Warsaw Pact. This will embolden other members who want out (I'm looking at you Hungary!)
Oh guys don't forget this Romanian war is going to question the Soviet citizens on what they we're fighting for since they fought a war lost so many men young and old and more are on the way due to some being very likely being infected as well and not to mention the soldiers would definitely tell the citizens
Here's the thing...no one will believe them. The Soviets are many, many things, and while warfare might not be their strong suit, propaganda certainly is. My mother might have lived more on the outskirts of the Soviet Disinformation Machine in Soviet Czechoslovakia, but the amount of people who disappeared for even suggesting that the USSR was wrong, or had made a small hiccup, disappeared. She routinely remembers people and neighbors disappearing because they just so happened to attend a religious ceremony, happened to have accidentally scuffed the boots of the mayor's nephew, who planted the wrong kind of flower...it got so bad, that she routinely slips back into Soviet groupthink almost thirty years after she had moved to the US (one of the funniest in hindsight had her attempting to bribe a cop for a traffic ticket) and when she read 1984 to help me and my brother with our reports, she had a panic attack and became inconsolable for almost a week afterward. Even despite this, she was there for the Velvet Revolution and got arrested for handing out pamphlets, when she finally managed to leave the prison days later, she went back home to talk to my grandfather to learn that none of it had been reported, leaving my grandfather to conclude that she was lying to his face. She wasn't even aware of Chornobyl had happened until after the Berlin Wall fell, the only warning she got of the whole thing was a vague warning not to eat strawberries that summer.
No, the Soviets who are returning home will likely be observed, and anyone saying anything will go the way of Gagarin and all of Stalin's political "rivals". For everyone back home, they're going to be find everyone having been fed the company line and believe it wholesale, with any disagreement met with a swift disappearance. The only people who will really know what happened will be the underground revolutions, and they're gonna have a tough time getting that out there for anyone whose not of them.
Romania seemed to be a case of right place and right times then; right place as the revolution happened in a defensible área that the Soviets mostly left alone due to having their own sympathizers in power. Right time as said sympathizers pissed up the entre population, turning it into a powderkeg that needed only a single fuse to explode...which we provided.
Darn. Shame about Poland and Czechoslovakia, seems they'll hace to suffer the Soviet boot for a while longer.
I can see a civil war between the leaders in the Soviet Union due to not wanting to get purge meaning the only way a Soviet civil war happens before the 1990s and during the early 1980s is well power Kieg and fear on dying meaning we would have to support the side that wants the western powers help to survive
