Aidan's Anim(E)ted World Blog

Blog about my reflections of different anime and manga covered in The Anim(E)ted World Class at the University of Florida.

[eliacker]

Your Name and Hetalia: Axis Power

Both these animés allowed me to have a different perspective on the way that information can be seen. Both of these animé have a direct link to the key topic of tactful polyvalence of discourse.

I found that this tactful polyvalence of discourse is more in how the reader views the animé than included in each anime. Mostly it can be seen in Your Name with the two different children seeing the world from an entirely different scope. This almost reminds me of the discourse going on right now about the new jeans commercial by American Eagle. Some people depending the circumstance love it, others think it is racism, and others think it is setting women back. This small example in comparison to the animé helped me truly understand this topic. Furthermore, I saw the town as an escape from crazy life of the city, and more like a gemeinschaft as compared to the gesellschaft of the city. In the beginning politics were terrible, but eventually by the end the governor eventually ends up helping to save everyone showing the actually generosity a small town can have, without needing to compare it to the city as the view knows what a city is like.

I think Hetalia: Axis Powers was a funny animé as I could definitely tell that the personalities of each country were all stereotypical as I have seen this before, although I am unsure where. I believe that the idea of making fun of some of these stereotypes will help reduce the stigma around them and all for these stereotypes to be forgotten. However, due to the funny nature I saw this animé in there were a few instances where it seemed like the funny aspect dropped and the characters were reflecting a stereotype or essential that the people of that country wanted everyone to see in them. Almost like the nationalism of that country. Additionally, I was able to understand the tactful polyvalence of discourse through this anime because of the duality of being serious yet meaningful with their stereotypes which was very novel to me.

I have seen stereotypes and laughed about stereotype jokes because I can understand that they do not speak for everyone from that country or community and do not allow for diverse voices.

This image highlights the idea of tactful polyvalence of discourse in a simple implication, that one thing can be taken for two separate meanings at the same time.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really like how you connected the idea of tactical polyvalence to these two anime especially in how interpretation depends so heavily on the viewers perspective. Your comparison between Your Name and the commercial was very accurate, its shows that every single piece of media can spark vastly different reactions based on context and values. I also think your insights on Hetalia were also very interesting, the way you described the humor as both disarming and potential reinforcing national stereotypes make me think about how satire walks a fine line. Great job!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Your Name, Hetalia: Axis Powers and Sensōron

Watching these three anime make me reflect on how Japan grapples with memory identity, and responsibly. These ways seem specific but also widely relatable. Your name stuck out to me on an emotional level. The idea of two people connected across time and space due to a disaster kind of feels like a metaphor for how the past shapes the present. The comet disaster echoes real events like March 11, 2011. This makes me think about how places like Japan, but similarly all over the globe have to live with constant awareness that the world can change overnight. Like the hurricanes in Florida where I live, and how the affects of these things linger long after the disaster.

Hetalia was more complicated. It seems lighthearted and absurd, but beneath these jokes, it is also a reminder of how national identities can be stereotyped and how we keep performing these stereotypes. It was odd to be laughing at things like World War II and imperial histories but maybe that discomfort is part of the point. It trivializes real conflict, but shows how easily history can become cartoonish if we don't look closer.

Reading Sensōron helped tie these feelings together. The essays confront how Japan remembers war, what is forgotten, what is rewritten and how peace gets tangled up with denial. That makes me look at these anime in a different way. Maybe it is harmless fun, but it is also demonstrates how complicated it is to carry painful history in pop culture.

All together these anime make me think about shared trauma, it romanticizes, forgets or mythologizes it. On a personal level, it makes me think about how people rewrite their own past and choose to forget certain things to make life more comfortable to live.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Nausicaä and why i love it.

I love post-apocalyptic media. I love seeing the stories of how humanity rose from its mistakes. Grappling with the consequences of the past. Nausicaä is one of my favorite examples of this genre. I love myself a good Miyazaki movie.  I really enjoy Nausicaa, this has been my third time watching it. Aesthetically i love the movie. Beyond watching it for this class the most recent time i watched it i watched it to help me brainstorm ideas for an alien landscape. A lot of the nature in the show sit in the nature equivalent of the uncanny valley. Its recognizable, but wrong. Everything looks like a fungus and fungi look unsettling.

Its a beautiful but uncomfortable aesthetic and i love it. Its undeniably nature, but it doesn't feel like our nature. The Ohms are terrifying but majestic, you can feel and understand Nausicaä’s wonder. The aesthetics are heavily rooted in fungus, but it reminds me of some of the lesser seen parts of nature on earth.   As an example, here is a video of bunch of marine scientists being very excited about a whale fall.

It's beautiful, majestic, and horrifying. An octopus moving through a field of bone eating worms. This is not the environment as we commonly interact with it, but we have an effect on this environment and have a duty to protect it.     Oh wait, im supposed to be talking about the environment and not just how much i love the aesthetic the movie pulls upon. A lot of environmental media have the solution of “humans need to leave the environment and let it be.”  Nausicaä is no exception. I find those endings somewhat unsatisfying. Humans are part of the environment and for the most part we can't leave it. Another thing that environmental media likes to do is place nature as an antithesis to technology. The flying weapons of war and destitution vs nature. I think that's a false dichotomy. Xenoblade Chronicles 2  undercuts both of those. In Xenoblade humanity is part of the environment, and technology is solely the destructor of the environment, but is also a tool in rebuilding the environment.  

It reminds me of solar punk in some ways. Humanity, nature and technology all in cooperation.   www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqJJktxCY9U (Amazing piece of solar punk animation, real shame the original was tainted by being an ad)  

[aidansanimetedworld]

I love your reflection. I think the way you described the Sea of Decay as nature that feels familiar but fundamentally alien is such an accurate way to describe it. That sort of unsettling beauty is exactly what makes the film stick with me as well. I hadn't thought of comparing it to a whale fall but it is a very great connection. Great work!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Watching these anime reminded me a lot of the contrasts between nature and technology. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind feels like a warning about the possibilities of environmental destruction. The Sea of Decay is toxic but also symbolically beautiful. It is a reminder that nature regenerates even when poisoned by human carelessness. It reminds me of Avatar in that way, specifically the game Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. The RDA is trying to take over Pandora, the world of the Na'vi, and the planet works to recover after parts of the RDA are taken down. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the Titans and Cloud Sea feel related to parts of the world Nausicaä. Ancient beings that literally carry human civilization on their back. the slowly are dying of exploitation. Both stories exemplify the anxieties that feel not only Japanese but global. Although, Japan, an island rooted in a long history of natural disasters and postwar industrialization, and the atomic bombs. The ideas that our survival hinges on respecting the balance we keep destroying is so painfully relevant in todays world.

Personally, these works made me reflect on how detached my own daily life is from the land I live on. Driving around in a car, use electricity, eat packaged food, etc, all without seeing the real cost it has on our environment. Nausicaä's empathy for every living thing made me question how I could live more gently. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the theme of inherited mistakes resonated too, how we carry forward problems we didn't create but have to fix anyway.

One connection I keep thinking about is how both stories blur the line between savior and destroyer. The same humans who poison the earth also hold the power to heal it. That contradiction feels very honest, its a very grey area seemingly without heroes or villains and a hope that we change before we lose everything.

[eliacker]

Evangelion

Throughout this animé Evangelion critiques queer masculinity versus hegemonic masculinity. This is especially present in the twenty-fist century and many gender bariers set in the 1900's are being broken down with all haste.

Characteristics of Hegemonic Masculinity

For example, across the world the LGBTQ movement is taking place, and while the main goal is trying to normalize homosexuality, it has also taken traits that are associated with homosexuality, which are different from hegemonic masculinity and making them seem more masculine.

While third wave feminism for women is taking items and traits that women already have and making them more feminine and powerful, for men it is taking traits that are not the norm and infusing them with masculinity. For example, in my own life, I have many friends who love to go shopping or love to smell good, however that was in the past a primarily womenly thing, especially using fragrences to smell good. Men now are using queer masculinity in their everyday lives, changing the narrative on masculinity.

In this animé it depicts the main character physically not being able to do many things related to hegemonic masculinity, resulting him falling into a cycle of depressing and internalizing the hatreds of society towards him. Now boys do not have to play sports or be competative to be seen as men or have to embody the traits of hegemonic masculinity. I believe this animé must have had a major effect on the world because people are not as prone to reject someone who is representative of hegemonic masculinity and are more likely to accept a queer masculinity.

Overall, I feel as if masculinity is going through a change at the moment, especially with the lecture term of hegemonic masculinity being represented by a military man. Many of the men I know in my life would never want to go into war or even into the military, and would rather rely more and brains and intellegance than violecnce to get themselves through life. I dont know if this is due to major non-violence campaigns throughout the world, or the non-violence preached in schooling systems, but men in this age have lost much of their need to commit violence whether to bond or if it is call upon by a person.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really appreciate your insight into how Evangelion critiques hegemonic masculinity by showing how Shinji fails to fit into that mold, and how that failure is not just personal weakness but a reflection of changing social expectations. I found your point about queer masculinity reshaping what it means to “be a man” especially interesting.

I agree that Shinji’s struggle makes it clear how damaging rigid gender norms can be. Instead of glorifying aggression or stoicism, the show exposes how isolating and unrealistic those ideals are. I also like how you connected this to your own life and the shift you see among your friends,how traits once coded “feminine” are now just part of being a person. Amazing work!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion

Watching these two animes was like sitting in someone else's unfiltered, disjointed and painful mind. The show had existential chaos and that resonated with me in a way. I didn't grow up in post-bubble Japan, but the sense of anxiety, isolation, and disconnection that the series confronts feels just as present in this generation.

The constant tension between human connection and self preservation really struck me. Shinji's struggle to find a reason to exist, any kind of external validation that he matters. Mirrors thought that I think a lot of people carry to themselves silently. I feel like our world measures worth by productivity so projecting outward strength really matters so people most likely don't feel comfortable showing their weaknesses to the public. The Evangelions themselves, machines piloted by broken kids, are like a metaphor for how we armor ourselves to keep going through struggles.

The End of Evangelion was disturbing yet fascinating. The line between individual identity and collective existence was completely blurred. Instrumentally it felt like a both horrifying loss and a relief. An escape from the pain of separateness, but at the cost of being truly being an individual. It made me think about Japanese social cohesion and the suppression of ones self for the group. But globally, it is just as relevant, we're constantly negotiating how much how ourselves to share or to hide.

For me personally, it kind of made me question my own need for validation and what that consists of, and also, whether isolation is every truly protective. These two animes don't give any easy answers but maybe that is the point.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Sailor Moon | Aggrestuko | Wandering Son.

Salor moon was an anime i was already familiar with. I think sailor moon is one of the more well known amines from its era. I was sort of surprised at how young the sailor scouts were portrayed. I find girl power to be an interesting thing in media, re-contextualizing something that is typically seen as girlish as powerful. A friend of mine once said “anything that is popular among teenage girls will be seen as dumb and bad by the rest of society.” I think about that sentiment often, and if you look for it, you will find it. I think it happens to some extent with youth culture as a whole, but i think it affects teenage girls most of all. I can see how re-contextualizing those things to be objects of power could be cathartic for the anime's target audience.  

I found aggretsuko to be quite funny. The juxtaposition between having to act the expected way at work against death metal karaoke. Its quite funny when they jump between the two. The show game me a better understanding of office life in japan. I remember the concept of OLs from a while ago, and how women are treated as temp employees, how they aren't put on career paths. It gave me an understanding of the infuriating levels of inequality present. Death metal seemed like a good way to cope given the circumstances.  

Wandering son was an anime ive been looking forward to finally watching, a few friends of mine have been talking about the manga recently. The story is a quite good representation of the trans experience. The show did a good job capturing it in a wider sense. A lot of shows struggle to capture the trans experience in its totality, i don't think wandering son quite achieved that but it got closer then most others.  

This is a part of the wondering son manga a friend of mine shared.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I like how you said Sailor Moon reclaims "girlishness" as something powerful instead of weak or silly. Your friends quote about teenage girls interest being dismissed is very true in the sense that this show can be empowering for its audience. I liked your response about Aggretsuko as well, how you pointed out dead-end roles women can get stuck in, it added another layer to how I saw Retsuko's screaming karaoke. Great job!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Sailor Moon, Aggretsuko, and Wandering Son

These three anime made me think about how Japanese animation can tackle identity, gender, and work culture in ways that feel both local and universal.

Sailor Moon feels like a classic for a reason. It shows how a group of girls can have power, friendship and flaws all at the same time. What stood out to me was how it mixes funny and serious. Everyday school life and huge battles for the fate of the world. Even though it set in 90’s Japan, the message about the girls supporting each other and balancing who they want to be with what the world expects still feels relevant today.

Aggretsuko made me laugh while also making me feel kind of uneasy. The show’s take on work culture, the pressure to always be agreeable, quiet resentment, and the fantasy of crashing out. The karaoke death metal scene shows how Retsuko copes with her stress in a world where she’s supposed to smile and endure everything. It’s clearly about office life in Japan, but it also mirrors what a lot of young people everywhere fear. What a dead-end office job will be like having to restrain themselves and be polite even while facing a burnout.

Wandering Son handled gender identity gently but didn’t shy away from how complicated it can feel to grow up when you fel like you don’t fit the roles people push on you. The characters are so young but already aware that the world expects them to act a certain way. I related to this in  a different sense, the feeling of pretending or performing to match other people's expectations.

Together all of these anime show how Japanese media can speak about real struggles, identity, gender, and work.

[kathykaswan]

Blog Post: Finding Myself in Anime Fandom — A Reflection on True Otaku

Even though I've never attended an anime convention, True Otaku offered me an unexpectedly emotional look into the anime fandom community. What I thought would be merely an educational video became something more intimate—a mirror reflecting some of my own emotions of identity, passion, and belonging.

True Otaku explores the culture, the creativity, and even the criticism of anime communities by following a number of anime enthusiasts in Japan and the United States. The way that fandom turns into a platform for young people to express who they are—sometimes even when they don't feel like they fully fit into mainstream culture—was one thing that caught my attention. Numerous interviewees noted how anime enabled them to see alternate identities, connect with others, or make sense of their feelings.

That touched a deep connection with me. Since middle school, anime has been a constant in my life, despite the fact that I have never cosplayed or attended a con. On my old laptop, I recall watching Naruto and Fruits Basket, attempting to learn the opening music by heart, and sketching the characters in my notebook. Unless you had the “cool” choices, like Dragon Ball Z or Attack on Titan, loving anime at the time felt sort of silly, so I never brought it up much in class. But in a quiet way, anime got me through some difficult times. The stories had a reassuringly dramatic and emotional quality. Someone seemed to know what it was like to be misinterpreted.

The documentary also emphasizes the importance of fan creation to the community. Some create anime music videos (AMVs), write fanfiction, and create custom cosplay costumes. The notion that fans are only "consumers" is strongly challenged by this do-it-yourself spirit. They are cultural producers instead. They transform what they adore into something unique. That, in my opinion, connects to the postmodern cultural readings we have been doing in class. Fandom enables people to create their own narratives and alter content in a world where mainstream media predominates. You're participating in it, discussing it, and living it rather than only viewing it.

The way that anime fandom may cause conflict inside a person's cultural identity is another significant issue from the movie. In the documentary, a Japanese lady described feeling alienated since she was an anime lover in Japan, a country where one would imagine such a thing would be more common. However, Western admirers can romanticize Japanese culture without completely comprehending it, leading to a complex cultural interaction. This brought to mind our conversation about "glocalization," or how local cultures view global trends differently. Anime is more than just "exported Japanese culture." Wherever it lands, it is filtered and reinterpreted. It may represent so many different things to different individuals, in part because of this.

True Otaku taught me that fandom is more than simply something to do. It serves as a place of self-definition for many. Anime serves as a sort of emotional anchor for people, whether they are using cosplay to explore their gender identity or are using a common love of a series to discover a sense of community. And to be honest, I feel like I want to attend a scam now that I've seen the documentary. Not just for the panels or merchandise (although they all seem awesome), but to experience what it's like to be surrounded by others who share your passion for animation worlds, imaginary characters, and opening theme tunes.

I learned from True Otaku that anime fandom is more than simply a way to escape reality. It has to do with identity, creativity, and connection. When the chosen tribes don't fit, it's about picking your own. And it feels very human to have that kind of freedom.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I think you do a great job at capturing the emotional side of this film very well. I also like how you connected the documentaries stories to your own experiences growing up with anime. Your mention of "glocalization" is also very interesting. It is very true that a fandom can feel alienating even in Japan, or how Western fans sometimes romanticize anime with out fully understanding cultural contexts. Good work!

[aidansanimetedworld]

True Otaku

As I have never been to an anime convention, I watched True Otaku. This shows just how layered and organized an anime fandom can be. It shows how conventions create spaces where fans can shape who they want to be and the community they want to be a part of. 

One thing the documentary does well is show the range of activities that happen at fan gatherings. They have cosplay competitions, panels, artist alleys, game rooms and spontaneous meetups in hallways. Seeing this reinforces my own idea that anime conventions function like temporary communities with their own rules and values. Inside these spaces people can interact through their shared language of references and costumes that probably don’t translate well outside the fandom.

A big part of the film True Otaku focuses on cosplay. It highlights that fans spend weeks or months making their costumes and practicing how they will act. This is a clear example of participatory culture. These fans aren’t just watching anime; they are reworking it, performing it, and reinterpreting it for each other. Their work turns passive consumption into something active and creative.

The documentary also talks about how these conventions can act as a safe space for many people. It gives them assurance to be surrounded by like minded people to be able to let them be themselves and express themselves how they want. It is an important place for many because they feel they won’t be judged or made fun of acting how they want to.

True Otaku also shows the role of conventions in researching cultural identity through pop culture. Anime is Japanese, but these fan spaces include people from all over the world and they adapt it to something that fits their local scene. Fans remix Japanese language, visual style and character archetypes while blending them with their own cultural contexts. This connects to how globalization allows young people to mix and match cultural symbols to build new hybrid identities.

The film also covers how “Otaku” can be a controversial label. In Japan, it can have a negative stereotype  of being too obsessed with something or socially awkward. In other places, fans reclaim it as a badge of pride, a maker that they belong to a community with like-minded people. The tension over the word is interesting when thinking about how people claim or reshape labels to push back against social expectations. Being called an “otaku”, which normally has negative connotation, is a very positive thing at conventions, that flips the meaning and makes it positive.

The way fans share knowledge is also covered in this film. Panels, meetups, and even causal conversations at conventions all show how this culture values insider knowledge: who knows which anime, who can talk about so and so and who, or who can spot a cosplay reference right away. This is an example of cultural capital, a way of earning respect within a community based on what you know and how you participate.

Overall, the film: True Otaku presents anime fandom as an ongoing negotiation of sorts, between media, identity and community. It shows fans who build alternative worlds with each other where they can express parts of themselves that they aren’t comfortable sharing in their everyday lives, or maybe it just doesn’t fit into their everyday lives. Conventions become temporary spaces where normal constructs loosen and new forms of social connection are formed.

Instead of just escaping reality, these gatherings show how young people use pop culture to make sense of who they are and who they want to connect with. That fits well with the definition of post modern culture, where lines between producer and consumer blur and where identity is constantly remade through collective experiences.

[kathykaswan]

Otaku Culture, Identity, and Finding Your People – Reflections on Genshiken

Genshiken was like being invited into a private, open conversation about fandom—not the boisterous, ostentatious aspect we typically see, but the private, day-to-day experiences of being an otaku. This slice-of-life anime is incredibly accessible since it doesn't exaggerate or condemn its characters. The way it examined the concept of belonging via common interests caught my attention the most, particularly in a culture like Japan that frequently values efficiency and uniformity.

In Genshiken, the characters struggle with both internalized shame about their hobbies and social expectations. This tension is not unique to Japan. Anyone who has ever been a part of a small fanbase, in my opinion, has felt pressured to either "grow out of it" or keep it a secret. I was reminded of the value of having communities where you can be your complete, nerdy self as I saw the characters gradually come to terms with one another and develop friendships via their shared love of manga, anime, and video games. Connecting with others through a common obsession and finding comfort in the knowledge that I wasn't alone in it is something I've also experienced.

The fact that Genshiken avoided from romanticizing or rejecting otaku culture intrigued me. Rather, it demonstrated how it may serve as a means of escape as much as a means of understanding the world. It brought to mind the reading we did on subcultures as a means of resistance—how fandoms, particularly those that are not mainstream, can serve as safe havens for individuals who don't neatly fit into preconceived notions.

All things considered, Genshiken is quiet and slow, yet unexpectedly intimate. It provided me with a fresh perspective on identity, community, and the ability to freely enjoy one's passions without feeling guilty.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really like how you described it as being put into a private conversation, I think that is a really good way to put it. It feels patient and honest about how messy and awkward it can be to love something that not everyone understands. I also liked how you connected it to the idea of subcultures as a resistance. It is true that a fandom can be a kind of quiet rebe]llion against what is expected, especially in cultures like Japan. It really makes you think of how important it is for people to have their own space. Good work!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Genshiken

I've always expected fandoms of things as something light and fun. Genshiken really shows how complicated it can get. How loving something so deeply can isolate you just as much as it connects you with others. Genshiken captures the awkwardness of trying to find your place when your interests don't fit the mainstream. In japan, where fitting in is so important, being labeled as an "otaku" comes with real social costs. It can even affect job prospects or family expectations. Watching these characters navigating those judgements made by others made me think about how, globally, people still struggle to feel seen regarding their hobbies when such hobbies don't fit what is considered normal by society. Parts of this anime reminded me of how people will sometimes go to online places to find communities for things they don't feel comfortable sharing in their real life. The clubroom makes me think of if like a online forum or a Discord server was brought to life. A messy place, but comforting to those who are a part of it, where people understand you without you really needing to explain too much. The show also doesn't represent fandoms as purely positive, which I think is a good thing because there's so much controversy within fandoms about certain things where people will harshly judge others based on their opinions of something that doesn't matter that much. It really looks at whether being so deep in a hobby can hold you back from connecting with others and even with the wider world. It shows passion and isolation, and its so relevant today, when its so easy to disappear into a niche and forget that there are other things going on besides that thing. Overall, this anime made me appreciate how universal it is to look for spaces where you can be yourself, even if the world doesn't understand it.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

A Silent Voice was really good. Of the anime I've had to watch so far, it's been the best by a considerable margin. I got quite invested into it and found myself really caring about the story. I found it heartbreaking how we learn so little about Shouko beyond her disability. The story shows so little beyond the ways she doesn't fit into majority society.     “if you’re here just to make yourself feel better. Please leave”  

This is one of the messages that really stuck out to me. it's not the responsibility of the abused to make the abuser feel better just because the abuser is sorry. It puts more work on the person who was abused; it requires the abused to fix the mistakes of the abuser for them. Many of the people who step in to help Shouko don't help Shouko, but instead simply confront the abuser, they don't try to comfort or otherwise help the abused, they simply stop the abuser.  

Both A Silent Voice and Wolf Children use a small space outside of majority society where those who are discriminated against can be themselves. I feel like in the modern era a lot of people find those places online, due to the vastness of the internet its easy to find others going through the same problems as you. It might not represent total escape, you might still mostly be trapped in majority society, but even a little escape goes a long way, having people to talk to about problems, having people to commiserate with. All those small things that the internet can provide can go really a long way.  

The episodes of Naruto that were selected were selected to show a contrast, and the episodes succeeded in that, although for me that contrast jumped the shark. its hard to imagine how the show got from point A to point B. Also i don't love when stories about discrimination come to the conclusion that the onus is on the individual being abused to stop the discrimination.  

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really like how you pointed out that A Silent Voice shows how unfair it is for the victim to carry the burden of forgiving the abuser. That line you quoted really stuck with me too, it’s such an honest moment that highlights how messy real healing is. I also agree with your idea about safe spaces online. Even if they’re not perfect, they can mean so much for people who feel out of place. Your take on Naruto is very fair too, expecting the victim to fix everything never sits right with me either. Great job!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Naruto, Wolf Children, A Silent Voice

Watching the three anime: Naruto, Wolf Children, and A Silent Voice make you think more about how media is meant to entertain, but can show different sides of human struggles and connection. Naruto has always struck me as more than just a show about ninjas. It follows Naruto and his loneliness, the pain, the growing and the constant effort to be acknowledged. His journey shows how society can push people to their limit when they’re different. This is very relevant to Japan’s group focused culture. But it can also resonate globally with anyone who’s felt like an outsider.

Wolf Children was different, the story of Hana raising her half-human, half-wolf kids alone is like an allegory for single mothers raising kids who don't fit in. It makes me think of how societies, in Japan and all around the world expect conformity, and when people don’t fit the mold of conformity then they are looked at differently. The quiet rural scenes also remind me of japans rural depopulation and changing family structures.

Finally, rewatching a silent voice felt the most personal. It reflects on bullying and guilt and forgiveness and makes you look at the anime in a whole different way while looking at it through this lens. It shows social isolation and the painful attempt to make amends. This resonated with my own regret about how I may have been unfair to some of my classmates growing up. It shows how shame can fester in silence when people are afraid to communicate honestly. This isn’t an issue specific to Japan, its specific to humanity. 

All three anime made me think about how we judge others and ourselves, and how healing often comes from unlikely connections. They remind me that, no matter the country, we’re all trying to find where we belong.

[kathykaswan]

Reflection on Shin Sekai Yori

It was disturbing in the greatest way to see Shin Sekai Yori. It's more than simply a dystopian tale; it makes you consider the lengths a society will go to in order to maintain peace, as well as what it is prepared to sacrifice in the process. I started to doubt concepts I generally take for granted, such as morality, memory, and free choice, after watching the series.

I was particularly struck by how the characters were influenced by the information that was withheld from them. In order to "protect" children, the grownups in the narrative concealed harmful facts, but ultimately, this simply made matters worse. That brings to mind how, in real life, families and even institutions can occasionally conceal painful facts in the hopes of protecting others, but in reality, doing so just serves to postpone the suffering. I witnessed some of the same quiet tension as I grew up in a somewhat restricted environment: the cost of obeying, the fear of asking questions.

Additionally, I kept thinking about how the performance mirrored current issues in Japan, particularly the urge to preserve peace despite social conformity and discomfort. However, it also discusses how communities handle those who are viewed as "different" or dangerous on a worldwide scale and how brutality may be readily justified out of fear.

I liked that there were no simple answers in the anime. It doesn't indicate who is correct or incorrect. It just presents this meticulously constructed reality and challenges you to endure the agony. It's more about analyzing the type of universe we are creating than it is about evaluating the characters, which is what I found to be its most powerful quality.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really appreciate how you described your reaction to Shin Sekai Yori, I felt a lot of the same unease while watching it. I like how you connected the adults hiding information in the anime to how real families sometimes do the same "for protection". But actually end up creating more pain in the long run. I also agree with your point about how the show does tell us whos right or wrong, the uncertainty is so haunting. Great work!

[aidansanimetedworld]

Shin Sekai Yori

Watching the anime Shin Sekai Yori, I became more aware of how fear and survival shape what we accept as normal. Similarly to how Psycho Pass made me feel. It made me think deeper about how societies might erase or rewrite parts of people to keep everything “safe”.

At the beginning of the show, the villages and schools in the anime seemed peaceful and traditional. This made me think, initially, that they valued nature and simplicity. Although, as the story went on, I started noticing how that so-called “peaceful” world, peace, depended on hiding darker truths. Such as, what happens to kids who don’t fit in or how the elders decide who gets to live and who has to disappear. To me, this shows how people in power justify cruelty when they convince themselves the terrible things they do are for the “greater good”.

This connects to in real life, how we often ignore harsh realities to feel secure. Like I feel like we rarely think about who suffers for us to have things at low prices. “Good deals” normally don’t come from good places and there are reasons why the things can be priced so cheap. In Shin Sekai Yori, the villagers accept the sacrifice of others so they don’t have to face threats themselves. It is like society chooses whose lives are worth protecting and who’s worth throwing away. It reminds me of The Lottery, how they sacrifice someone for a good season of crops.

One thing that bothered me is how the kids were raised with half-truths so they would grow up not questioning anything. Like how we grow up taught to trust people in charge, whether its a school, the government, big companies, etc. We police ourselves because that's what we are told to do even if it doesn’t make sense.

This anime also made me think about how humans villainize groups they fear. The anime’s treatment of the “Queerats” shows how society can strip away a person's humanity to justify controlling them. It made me wonder about who we dehumanize, to feel safe in our own groups. The ending made me feel uneasy about the cost of comfort. We shouldn’t be willing to erase everything to live in a perfect make believe world.

[nemi2229]

Valid Crash-out

I think Makishima had a valid crash-out during his life in the Sibyl system. We also live in a society where we reduce our efforts into numbers, and those who don't excel in that certain way are prone to failure. A primary example that comes to mind is standardized tests that strip individuality and filter out any deviance from the norm. American SAT, Korean Suneung, Chinese GaoKao, and Japanese Daigaku Nyushi. Well, for Japan, standardized tests aren't that standardized for universities, like the Chinese GaoKao or the Korean Suneung. However, they are prevalent in all tests for certain licenses and such.

We lose our minds over a simple test that would later heavily impact our life later on. For that to just rely on a standardized number is pretty brutal in my opinion. I think Western academics put much effort into addressing this issue and try to look at the student as a whole; however, as for the eastern counterpart, sadly, it is not the same, especially the Chinese Gaokao.

Makishima's violent rampage does kind of reflect the abstract rage of the people who fell short because of the tendency of the system that tries to reduce individual efforts into numbers. Some may thrive in that system, others may not, and when society is built upon a biased system, I think crash-outs from the groups that could not benefit are predictable.

This system could also relate to the concept of the panopticon by Foucault. It is a system that centralizes complex evaluative systems for the receiving party to judge, and thus, the higher the score, the more likely they are to be chosen. As a result, the students are forced to work harder to achieve a higher score, amplifying their productivity. Those who do not do so well are punished by having a lower score that prevents them from getting the job. However, this is a strictly linear view of the world, and does not realistically reflect the real world, only in part. Additionally, even if there are crash-outs, I don't think harming others just because of personal breakdowns is justified.

[aidansanimetedworld]

I really like you how said Makishima's "crash-out" and how you connected it to standardized testing. I hadn't thought of the rebellion to be linked to something like the SAT, but now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense. Your point about how these test strip away individuality really resonates with me. We feel so much pressure to quantify how much we are worth. The numbers always speak louder then any personal story. I agree that violence can't be justified, but the point about predicable "crash-outs" made me think that a deeper tragedy in this is that the system doesn't see this as its own flaw.