Onyx Equinox - new MesoAmerican anime series (Crunchyroll)

[Tonguez]

So I came across Onyx Equinox a new Anime inspired series on Crunchyroll, I watched up to episode 2.

The show is inspired by the myths of Mesoamerica and apparently the writter grew up in Mexico and wanted to showcase the ‘Mesoamerican culture’. Blood sacrifice is a central theme but not vilified as Evil.

Its quite bloody, so are you interested?

Youtube

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I don’t love the idea of blood sacrifice being treated as good. My ancestors on both sides of my family, Mexican and European, sacrificed people to their gods back in the day. I don’t especially want to lionize either.

Other than that, it looks interesting.

 

[Dragonblade]

The Aztecs were irredeemably evil by any objective standard. Ancient or modern. They brutally enslaved the neighboring tribes and routinely sacrificed thousands in blood soaked rituals, including innocent children. Their priests would cut out the hearts of victims who were still alive, and drenched themselves in their blood, even fashioning capes from human skin.

The other indigenous tribes they had conquered, despised and hated the Aztecs so ferociously that they quickly embraced Cortez, seizing on the opportunity to throw off their oppressers forever even if it meant swearing fealty to the Spanish. In fact, it is only with the support of native revolutionaries who joined his men that Cortez was able to triumph at all. The Spanish didn't defeat the Aztecs, it was a coalition of allied native tribes and the Spanish together. Not that the Spanish were good guys either, but compared to living under Aztec terror, it was an easy choice for the other tribes to side with the foreigners.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The Aztecs were irredeemably evil by any objective standard. Ancient or modern. They brutally enslaved the neighboring tribes and routinely sacrificed thousands in blood soaked rituals, including innocent children. Their priests would cut out the hearts of victims who were still alive, and drenched themselves in their blood, even fashioning capes from human skin.

The other indigenous tribes they had conquered, despised and hated the Aztecs so ferociously that they quickly embraced Cortez, seizing on the opportunity to throw off their oppressers forever even if it meant swearing fealty to the Spanish. In fact, it is only with the support of native revolutionaries who joined his men that Cortez was able to triumph at all. The Spanish didn't defeat the Aztecs, it was a coalition of allied native tribes and the Spanish together. Not that the Spanish were good guys either, but compared to living under Aztec terror, it was an easy choice for the other tribes to side with the foreigners.

Don’t let the Spanish off the hook. It was evil oppressor against evil oppressor. The land was going to soaked in blood and worked by slaves either way.

 

[Zsong]

Don’t let the Spanish off the hook. It was evil oppressor against evil oppressor. The land was going to soaked in blood and worked by slaves either way.

Did you not read the part where he said the Spanish were not good guys either.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Did you not read the part where he said the Spanish were not good guys either.

“Not good guys” doesn’t remotely cover it.

 

[Tonguez]

Just to clarify the show is kinda neutral the morality of Blood Sacrifice, in asa much as it portrays the humans as suffering under the demand of gods and monsters.

And indeed a better look at Aztec culture shows that it wasnt particularly brutal or in any way Evil. It was a loving, friendly culture with a love of art and flowers. But the gods demanded blood and the people accepted the blood debt which they owed.

Hard to accept by todays standards, but its too simplistic to apply the D&D alignment

 

[Zsong]

Just to clarify the show is kinda neutral the morality of Blood Sacrifice, in asa much as it portrays the humans as suffering under the demand of gods and monsters.

And indeed a better look at Aztec culture shows that it wasnt particularly brutal or in any way Evil. It was a loving, friendly culture with a love of art and flowers. But the gods demanded blood and the people accepted the blood debt which they owed.

Hard to accept by todays standards, but its too simplistic to apply the D&D alignment

I could not even begin to possibly understand the tolerance of sacrificing a human being alive, cutting their heart out while they are still living and eating them and giving any moral justification for it. To watch torture a person to death like that is an impossibility for anyone but the most evil.

 

[Dragonblade]

Don’t let the Spanish off the hook. It was evil oppressor against evil oppressor. The land was going to soaked in blood and worked by slaves either way.

Yes, I'm with you. There weren't really any 'good' guys in this scenario, unless its perhaps some of the tribes that had to choose between the lesser of two evils.

 

[Dragonblade]

Just to clarify the show is kinda neutral the morality of Blood Sacrifice, in asa much as it portrays the humans as suffering under the demand of gods and monsters.

And indeed a better look at Aztec culture shows that it wasnt particularly brutal or in any way Evil. It was a loving, friendly culture with a love of art and flowers. But the gods demanded blood and the people accepted the blood debt which they owed.

Hard to accept by todays standards, but its too simplistic to apply the D&D alignment

It depends on whether D&D alignment means that the alignment saturates every thought, action, and behavior. That its impossible for someone chaotic evil to ever demonstrate a behavior contrary to it. I don't know that I've ever run a game that way.

Full disclosure, I've long abandoned the concept of alignment, but even in my games before I dropped it, it was more of an aggregate measure of the totality of one's actions and attitudes.

For example, you could have vampire that concealed their transformation and is still extraordinarily loving and fond of the mortal kin they left behind, while being sociopathic and evil towards anyone outside of that group. The aggregate of their alignment would be neutral evil. But towards their former family they could even demonstrate love and kindness. Though over time, their undead nature is likely to further corrupt their beliefs and attitudes until they became abusive or murderous even towards former loved ones.