alyssa's anime archives!

anime blog for JPT1311

[kwanyoung]

Hetalia: Axis Powers | Themes of Media & Nationalism

The Plot Of The Anime

Hetalia: Axis Powers is a anime that takes on nationalistic and political topics and turn it into a satirical animation. In each short episodes, we can see that the nations and political groups are represented as human characters (anthropomorphized countries), where we can see the interactions of each nation through their stereotypical personalities and status, which I personally believe is genius way of retelling stories of historical events towards the broad and younger audience without incorporating much distressing or graphical content. Moreover, each short episodes are commonly themed around major world events like WWI and WWII, however it does expand into minor or fictional interactions between the characters.

The Issue In Question

Visual media, especially these anime episodes, represent a powerful narrative regarding nationalism and the cultural identities for each nation, as seen reflected from our real world's history and events. However, they are mainly expressed through stereotypes, which may not represent the nation or can differ from other nation's perspective as stereotypes are very subjective. Like I said, visual media itself is a very powerful medium to persuade (rhetoric) or bring in knowledge to their targeted audience (knowledge = power), through exaggerated expressions and art style choices. In this anime, the stereotypes are represented in a very exaggerated way, while making the show comedically and entertaining, can misrepresent the entire nation and its people in the real world. For example, Italy the character is represented as very sensitive, while Germany is represented as serious and aggressive. While an average viewer relates to these stereotypes, it doesn't actually represent all of the nation's population and can further push those stereotypical standards. The visual rhetoric element additionally can be powerful in ways to persuade people in a way propaganda does, using exaggerated elements to falsely favor people in serious real world situations.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

Visual rhetorics and media have long been used to convince people to support or participate in nationalistic goals, however through creativity and exaggeration, it can also leak some misinformation of traits from specific nations or political groups to pull more power in from the people to those organizations or nations sending these media. One notable example is from Germany during WWII, where they would hand out visual rhetorics in forms of cartoons, portraying other countries like the United States as "corrupt" while displaying themselves as the more powerful and trustable nation. The visuals in propaganda are usually fantasized through body proportions and special added effects to bring in additional meanings, often for exaggeration.

On the other hand, visual media such as Hetalia can be beneficial to teach people in the real world about each country and culture, as well as the interactions in a less graphic way. However, the false representations and stereotypes are still relativity common in order to persuade the audience about what the country's identity is and their reason for their motives in historical events.

My Personal Takes

Today, I am very influenced by the media from around the world, whether that be social media, films, or the news. Social media would probably be one of the most influential, especially political memes that I happen to keep stumble into. The creators usually create exaggeration and stereotypes based on the government and the so called daily lives of the people in order to create comedically effects as well as to send a deeper meaning about their society, typically harsh like China or North Korea. All of this would shape how I perceive other countries and it does show how powerful media like Hetalia can be when they represent a real world country through their own stereotypes.

[animearchives]

Hi Kwanyoung, I completely agree with your deduction! It was a very satirical anime, and it was definitely extremely stereotypical. Due to the polyvalence of discourses, some people might enjoy this satirical aspect of the anime and others might take it as offensive. I think you brought up a wonderful point of how the visual rhetoric could portray misinformation through the media. This was a great blog post!

[animearchives]

Hetalia

Hetalia is an anime I watched when I was younger, and I did not nearly understand the gravity of these personified humans. I did not understand that they signified, nor the real world implications of them. Now that I'm older my view is undoubtedly much more informed on historical events in America and globally.

Hetalia is abundant in nationalist stereotypes: each character essentially illustrates the most stereotypical tropes of their respective countries imaginable. Germany is illustrated as being an uptight, militaristic nightmare. Italy is cowardly and obsessed with pasta and pizza. Japan is hard-working to a fault and is quite the recluse. America is a loud-mouthed, childish mess. Need I say more? This anime to me puts a satirical spin on the countries and their stereotypes. It puts a bizarre spin on the axis powers and seems to make fun of the stereotypes of each country. Regarding global issues, the anime does cover some more serious and complex themes such as war and international relations, amongst other topics. For the most part, it is lighthearted and comedic. The reception of this anime can be different depending on the polyvalence of discourses of the audience: some people could receive this lightheartedness of the anime well, or some might find it offensive, others might find it to be a good satire representation of the critiques of nationalist discourse.

One thing I thought was notable was the representation of masculinity in Hetalia. There are characters that conform with the hegemonic masculine stereotypes such as Germany: he is a very strong, confident person that embodies your typical, almost militaristic hegemonic masculine man. On the other hand, there are many males who fit the bill of queer masculinity too. Namely, Italy is a male that fits under this classification. He is gentle and cowardly, and he undoubtedly performs feminine gender through his actions. Overall, Hetalia was a very interesting anime to rewatch: especially since now I have so much more of a nuanced understanding of the world’s history.

[kwanyoung]

The End of Evangelion | Themes of Individualism & Reality

The Plot Of The Anime

After the massive destruction and near human extinction, traumatic flashbacks of Asuka Langley Soryu's mother committing suicide, as well as the defeat of her beloved Evangelion Unit-002, we can see that Asuka is comatose, and Shinji Ikari is trying to wake her up, but eventually goes desolate and not responding.

All the Angels have been defeated and there isn't much to do with the Evangelions now. We also get an insight into the Human Instrumentality Project, which Gendo Ikari and SEELE (a secret organization) proposed to force evolve humanity. They believe that humanity reached its evolutionary limits (as we can see Angel species dominate in power) and calls humans and living beings weak and flawed. They thought that merging the existence of everyone into one whole, super-entity, instead of making the beings independent, would make them stronger and comparable to entities like the Angels, as well as solving independent struggles and hating of their own kind. Gendo, personally pushes the project just to see his dead wife again. SEELE, however is hacking NERV's Magi super computers so they can do their agenda before Gendo can, eventually turning into all-out war.

In the near end, Shinji goes hysterical as he witnesses the awakening of the angels (Lilith), a part of SEELE's master plan towards instrumentality.

The Issue In Question

Honestly, this movie took on a very weird and disorienting storyline, so finding themes were quite hard to do so. However, I want to talk about individualism in the space of reality. In the end, the anime talks about reality and the fact the composition went from anime to cinematography. Reality is reality, and you cannot escape it. Dreams and fantasy are where you can find happiness, but it is temporary, and reality will always come for you in the end. Individual-wise, if there was no individuality, and if all entities merged into one, you will be everyone but also nobody. There will be no pain, no suffering, no individual thinking. The concept of fear is lost, there is nothing good in this new combined reality. We see that there is a 5 billion year cycle between individual humans and a single god, and neither can coexist at one period (humans probably messed up injecting angelic remains into individual beings). We can only have individual humans, or all the humans merging into a one supreme being.

So what can I obtain from this? I personally don't have a clear answer. Also, watching this movie quite damaged my mentality in some way. However, I might suggest that what an individual must find is happiness, by facing the fears of society, and suffering through pain. Society and the individual must understand each and they are humans and humans are humans, separated by individualism and scattered from a spectrum whole. But who knows, the movie seems interpretive anyways.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

Our world is reality, the place we live and the place we are conscious in. In our world, there is no escaping. Dreams and fantasy are inside our reality and are temporary means of happiness, whether that is sleeping or diving into fiction. It is important for an individual to find happiness in their life and there are no shortcuts. Pain, fear, and suffering are all part of the cycle of living, especially you, and one must suffer through it while maintaining your individualism (be like yourself), which is a good thing as other people can understand who you are in reality and you will find some good helpful people. Our reality does not have a single being just like how all the souls merged in the anime, we have to cope living in this reality.

My Personal Takes

I don't know. My previous statement is what I think about my reality. The movie itself felt like a fever dream, and I writing like I am going through that phase in this blog. My reality is shared among everyone but it is the individual that isn't shared. My individual, my body, my control. By being an individual, I have my own will to shape and bend reality how I want (however in small local bits and if I am confident enough with no pain, fear, nor suffering blocking my path). How I perceive myself and the forgoing reality is destined to becoming my future. I had this kind of thinking and it applies especially in college. If I have a strategic path through reality and have the confidence to execute it, the future will eventually bring me happiness and success.

--- Hysteria mode has ended ---

[animearchives]

Hi Kwanyoung! I loved how you discussed individualism in the space of reality because it wasn't something I personally considered when writing my own blog. Although the movie was tricky at times, I believe it had very evident overarching themes of queer masculinity, hegemonic masculinity, the performance of gender, and how society perceives gender. This was a very informative post!

[animearchives]

The End of Evangelion

In the End of Evangelion, Shinji struggles with his queer masculinity while also struggling to understand his own sexuality. His interactions with male character Kaworu Nagisa provides us insight into this struggle as Shinji and Kaworu share more intimate and affectionate displays towards each other than is normalized in society’s standards. Whilst having affectionate interactions with Kaworu, he also has affection towards a female, or feminine presenting character, called Rei Ayanami. This contrast of Shinji having affections towards both male and female people only exemplifies the confusion and internal struggle that Shinji faces as he tries to navigate the confusing topic of his sexuality. As in previous Evangelion media, Shinji is portrayed as emotionally vulnerable and passive, which serves to highlight his queer expression of masculinity.

One particular event of note I wanted to mention was the Human Instrumentality Project which gathered individuals and forced them to converge. Alongside this, the individuals were effectively removed of their identity and they were made to perform a collective humanity which was not influenced whatsoever by feelings. This seems to me like a metaphor for the societal standards of men, more specifically the standard of hegemonic masculinity in men. On the topic of hegemonic masculinity, Gendo Ikari, Shinji’s father, is still a perfect example of your typical representation of masculinity: he is emotionally distant and a powerful authoritative figure. His interactions with Shinji still demonstrates the effects of hegemonic masculinity on queer masculinity like Shinji expresses. Hegemonic masculinity invalidates other, more inferior forms of masculinity such as queer masculinity or even femininity. Shiji is still faced with the pressures from society as he tries to imitate his father and conform to the societal standards of masculinity.

Finally, The End of Evangelion expresses different global issues as well. In particular, The End of Evangelion depicts a dystopian, apocalyptic scenario which is a direct allegory to the global stress and tensions regarding gender expression, society and its standards, and about the future of our society.

[animearchives]

Neon Genesis Evangelion Part 2

Within the eighth episode of the series Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji's interaction only further reflects Shinji's expression of queer masculinity. When he is faced with a female figure who presents queer femininity through her outright and aggressive personality, Shinji's more feminine gender expression clashes with her more masculine gender expression. Her brashness makes Shinji crumble and his vulnerability and emotional qualities shine through in comparison to her way of acting. This further exemplifies the fact that gender is a performance and is not something that comes to someone inherently. Within the sixteenth episode, Shinji is directly confronted with the hegemonic masculinity portrayed by his father. Shinji struggles with himself and with his queer masculinity as he grapples with the societal expectation that he should behave in a more hegemonically masculine way as his father does, which only serves to further exemplify the lack of gender coming to him inherently. Within the twenty fourth episode, Shinji has a breakdown as his insecurities rears its ugly head and Shinji comes to terms with his lack of traditional expressions of masculinity. Shinji’s breakdown only further proves his queer masculinity again, as he expresses his emotions freely instead of bottling them up. Shinji’s breakdown also serves as a critique of societal standards of masculinity as the scene illustrates the message that gender performance is something that is deeply interconnected with a person’s identity and perception. In episode twenty six, we get a more personal, internal view of each of the characters and their lives. Within Shinji’s personal view, we can see how gender is not something inherent but something much more fluid and interpretative rather than a set of rules in a guidebook as to how one should act according to their gender. The episode serves as a reminder that gender is a fluid performance, not a concrete standard.

[kwanyoung]

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Part 1) | Themes of Masculinity & War

The Plot Of The Anime

Violent enemies, called Angels, roam the planet Earth and cause havoc on the human created infrastructure. A young boy named Shinji Ikari is forced to join the NERV (a secret organization under the United Nations who battles against the Angels) by his father Gendo Ikari, who is a commander of the organization, with complex relationships with him. Gendo is also the director of the construction of the top-secret Evangelion weapon project. Shinji eventually is tasked to control Evangelion Unit-01 to battle against the Angels with his group, which Evangelion Unit-01, being a powerful giant biological mech, much like what you see in Mobile Suit Gundam (I should stop making references to that dumb anime).

The Issue In Question

In episode 1, we can clearly see themes of masculinity crossed with themes of war. Gendo is the director and has a powerful position in the United Nation's secret initiative, NERV, who was also chosen by his authorities to do what he wants in control. We see that this reflects the male hegemony system, where males dominate over females in crucial positions or missions. Additionally, we can see the father wants his son, Shinji to be the one to pilot the mech and engage in war, which also shows this pattern of passing that male hegemony system down as society expects men to be mentally strong and discipline, even though Shinji is a child. However, Shinji is more of a different person, showing a presence of a female's gender performance (according our society), refusing to pilot the mech and go to war, which subverts the social norms in the anime. This is also one of the reasons why the son-father relationship is poor as the father is seen more as a masculine figure while the son has a more feminine figurine side, but I will probably discuss more on that on another blog as the focus for this blog is male hegemony.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

Male hegemony is very present in our modern world and even has been the same historically. Men are more likely to take on very powerful positions such as being a president of a wealthy nation, a general of a powerful military, or even a CEO of a large company. In Japan for example, there hasn't been a female prime minister yet, nor in the United States, has there been a female president. Most if not all CEOs of the most valued companies around the world are occupied by males. of In the This leaves women to take on less powerful positions, specifically roles that meet what society expects in gender performance like nurturing or housework for women. However, this situation has been improving as a result of awareness for gender equality and the laws passed with it. Females started rising in importance in society and are praised for taking more powerful roles males formally took on.

My Personal Takes

I want to talk about my personality and my physiques as a male and how it doesn't really reflect how society imagines a true male looks. Men tend to look tall, muscular, and handsome as those are physical traits that make of masculinity (sounds like muscular). I do not possess most of those traits as I am a lean person who often loses in arm wrestling. However, I am tall, but not as tall as some of the more masculine dudes out there, and also I did not win the genetics of having a handsome facial features like a diamond-edged jawline.

The more related personal aspect of me to this blog is the personality aspect, where my dad's personality is very ruthless and scary, especially when he gets mad. I do not have those traits as my siblings don't seem to be scared of me at all. I do have a big soft side like Shinji in the anime and also have contrasting personalities to my dad just like Shinji and Gendo.

[animearchives]

Hi Kwanyoung! I completely agree with your assessment of the first part of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Men are more likely to be in powerful positions as opposed to women due to hegemonic masculinity, in which masculinity prevails over queer masculinity or femininity. As you said, in the coming years more women are rising up into positions of power, and we can only hope that in the future hegemonic masculinity won't take such precedence in the job force in the future! Wonderful assessment!

[animearchives]

Neon Genesis Evangelion Part 1

Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji Ikari is the perfect example of queer masculinity. His expression of his masculinity is unconventional and very much not up to societal standards. Shinji expresses his emotions with a vulnerability that many men do not, and it is a classic stereotype amongst males that men cannot express their feelings unless they wish to be seen as weak. Shiji actively challenges and shows a level of non-conformity to that stereotype as he allows himself the freedom to express his emotions as he pleases. He also displays some more feminine traits that fall out of the general stereotypes of gender. Shinji seeks validation from others, which is a common feminine stereotype: men are “supposed to be confident in who they are in their decisions” by societal standards, so by Shinji showing a lack of confidence he is exemplifying his femininity in a sense. Not only that, but Shinji finds a lack of comfort in taking up more masculine roles like being a pilot. Another character who challenges gender norms is Misato Katsuragi. She is seen as a strong character who breaks away from the conventional stereotypes of femininity and takes on a more masculine form of gender expression. Her being a powerful figure as opposed to a quiet, timid character shows her queer femininity, as that is not how women are “supposed to act” by society’s standards. The lack of these characters having an inherent instinct on how to naturally be a gender exemplified the fact that gender is an act of performance rather than something that is inherent.

In juxtaposition, there is a character who displays perfect hegemonic masculinity, and he is called Gendo Ikari. Gendo Ikari is Shinji’s father and he immediately embodies your typical masculine traits: he is a strong authoritative figure who does not express his emotions, even his interactions with Shinji who displays queer masculinity exemplifies the fact that his masculine power takes precedence over an inferior form of masculinity, that equates to queer masculinity and femininity.

[mochicrackersss]

Blog Post - Your Name ᯓᡣ𐭩‧₊˚ ⊹

The movie Your Name is so recognizable within anime communities and is vastly known for its beautiful animation and endearing story. So why the hell have I not watched it until this class??? I knew for years this film would be right up my alley, and I loved watching similar movies like Suzume, Belle, and Weathering with You in the past. I even know the famous end-credit scene where Mitsuha and Taki reunite on the staircase years later. So I think I'm just insane or something, I don't know lol.

The movie was super cute, especially with its time-traveling Freaky Friday-like plot. I found the main characters endearing, with their struggles and embarrassment to live as the opposite sex. I liked how eventually, the two of them began to enjoy each other's lives and even helped save it. And I always enjoy a story that mentions the concept of the "red thread," or "Musubi" in the movie. The idea is that everything in the world is connected by time and place. Especially your soulmates, platonically or romantically, are all tied to your body by an unseeable thread until you find them is super fascinating to me. It felt similar to the anime, Kamisama Kiss, where the human girl Nanami and the fox spirit Tomoe were bound to fall in love again across every lifetime.

I will add that this movie surprisingly was an in-depth commentary on gender performance. A scene that stood out to me was when Taki, in Mitsuha's body, kicked a desk to stop the school bullies from talking behind her back. Everything that normal Mitsuha has done, being nice to them, staying quiet, and not bringing anything up, is stereotypically considered a "feminine" reaction to bullying. Your Name tells us that being feminine isn't the solution, and to stop someone from bullying you, the victim has to reject them in a "masculine" way (i.e. kicking your desk or getting into a fight). Of course, this isn't 100% true in reality, but the concept behind it is seen in the real world. Women have been taught for generations to bottle up their problems and not cause a scene so they aren't a nuisance, so some close-minded people believe only being a man or being masculine will get things done.

[animearchives]

Hi there! I completely agree that the movie had an abundance of commentary about gender performance. In my own blog, I said that once the two main characters had swapped bodies, they had both effectively failed at portraying gender by societal standards because they only had their own prior gender performance to go off of. It really does provide a striking commentary on the subject of gender. Your last statement particularly resonated with me, because I think the preconceived notion that women are just shy and timid damsels-in-distress to be quite offensive and hold no merit. I really enjoyed reading your blog post!

[animearchives]

Your Name

A perfect example of polyvalence of discourses is when Mitsuha and Taki end up swapping bodies because a male is switching into a female body and a female is switching into a male body. This is important because the male and female perspective are massively different and because they already have their own mannerisms that align with their own gender, so speaking and interacting with a body that doesn’t align with their own can cause confusion by others. This is similar to the last module in which we discussed how gender is constructed. Because gender is a performance, Taki and Mitsuha would appear imperfect in their expression of gender by society's standards since they wouldn't be able to adapt appropriately to the correct gender expression for their physical body.

There is a very visible dualism within the way that both the characters live. Mitsuha and her family live in a rural location and they lead a very traditional Japanese lifestyle: in juxtaposition, Taki and his family live in an urban city in which they lead much more modern lives. They physically live in contrasting environments and their experiences growing up in each respective environment drastically alters their perception of life and their lifestyles, which is a perfect example of the polyvalence of discourses again. Your Name is a stunning movie with an abundance of visuals to help exemplify its overarching themes. The opening of the movie paints a beautiful picture of both Itomoru, where Mitsuha lives, and Tokyo, where Taki lives. This shows a visible juxtaposition between the lives of the two main characters even farther.

Another notable scene within the movie that I have to mention is the Comet Tiamat scene, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful visuals I have seen within an anime movie. I believe the journey of the comet reflects the journey in which we all take through life, from our birth to our death.

[briochebrioche]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 ( gamer moment )

I’ve never played this game and was only familiar with it because the characters Pyra and Mythra are in the Smash Brothers game.  The Titans in "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" are not just the setting but integral to the lives of the inhabitants of Alrest. Each Titan, a massive, sentient being, supports diverse ecosystems and human civilizations on its back. This setup highlights a direct, symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, showing how deeply interconnected their fates are. As Titans age and die, their ecosystems collapse, forcing humans to find new Titans to inhabit. This cycle reflects how temporary human settlements are and underscores the dependence on and respect for these colossal creatures.

Another fascinating aspect is the Blades, mystical beings who serve and fight alongside their human Drivers. Blades are personifications of natural elements and forces (Pyra is fire and Mythra is wind for example) symbolizing the bond between humans and nature. When a Blade is awakened from a Core Crystal, it forms a bond with its Driver. This bond is not just a simple master-servant relationship but a deep, symbiotic connection. The Blade supports the Driver in battle, providing various abilities, while the Driver supplies the Blade with energy called Ether. Also, there's the fact that titans are actually former blades, so the blades also help the humans with having places to live when they're no longer used as weapons. Overall, the game highlights the importance of having a good relationship with nature. That humans and the environment are not separate from each other but are one. We depend on nature and nature depends on us.

This makes me think of the real life parallels. Nature provides us with food, materials for shelter and technology, entertainment, and our overall mental and physical health. We have the power to stop forest fires, cure animals from diseases, save species from extinction through conservation efforts, build irrigation systems that can help local fauna flourish, etc. The game reminds us that we should exist harmoniously with nature and have a relationship of mutual aid.

[animearchives]

Hi! I wholeheartedly agree with your deductions. I especially loved how you mentioned the cyclical life of the Titans directly reflecting the diachronic way of human civilization and our settlements regarding ecosystems and nature. I also believed that the Titans perfectly illustrated the interconnectivity of humans and nature. I loved your blog post!

[animearchives]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 shared some similarities to Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, I immediately noticed. Both pieces of media occur many years after a world had been destroyed somehow, and now they are forced to be constrained almost into a confined area, and finally most of the world is clouded in waste, which creates wastelands. One of the things I noticed as well was the clear depiction of a dualistic conflict that is known as the ‘man versus nature conflict’ in which a human faces a conflict that depicts nature, whether that be a literal force of nature or an animal that lives in nature. The conflicts are clearly against the human population and the natural forces which are creatures known as the Titans, which housed whole ecosystems upon their backs. I believe the Titans are symbolic of the connection between nature and life itself. Most of the conflicts come from the need for an interconnectivity between humans and the nature that surrounds them. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also discusses a number of global issues as well. Within the video game there is a scarcity of resources that accompany the decline in the population of the Titans and the problem of trying to search for new land reflects the very real-world struggle of being unable to achieve environmental sustainability and the struggle with resource scarcity. There are examples of instrumentalism within the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 as well. The industrialization in a location called Mor Ardain resulted in the destruction of the environment which reflects the real world example of industrialization of our environment, because it reflected the human’s carelessness towards the ecosystems and nature around them because it served them and their own personal gain. Another example of instrumentalism within Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the dependence of its economies on the natural, nonrenewable resources that the Titans provide. The city that was mentioned before, Mor Ardain, is one of these cities that are heavily reliant on mining the Titan on which it occupies for resources, which only further exemplifies the instrumentalism that the humans of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 display towards the nature around them.

[jpt1311summerbnixautumn]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Another Hayao Miyazaki film!! Yay!!!! The old anime art style and soft color palette make the movie just so pleasant to watch. Definitely will be throwing this movie on the next cozy rainy day in!

The Tolmekian's encroachment and destruction of the Valley of the Wind and the Toxic Jungle is more than just a classic Man Vs. Nature conflict. It's the embodiment of society's need for progress opposing the sustainability of the natural world. Even after the world experienced the Seven Days of Fire, the Tolmekians still plans to destroy the Toxic Jungle, even thought its corruption would eventually lead to their doom as well. The circle of violence is inescapable, and as a Giant Warrior, the being that caused the Seven Days of Fire, is reborn, the cycle continues, and the world never learns.

The giant bugs are a byproduct of the past ecological war, but it reminds me of how large insects were in prehistoric times, before humanity caused cataclysmic damage to the ozone layer. After being mutated by the war, the insects now hold the power that society once held over them, and they are eager for revenge.

Nausicaa only succeeds in her goal because of her never-ending kindness. She is fierce and dedicated to her goals, and she will stop at nothing to save the planet, even if she has to do it one insect at a time.

I will always love when a movie starts by foretelling a prophecy and it ends with its fulfillment. Nothing is more satisfying to me, and the way this movie did it was so good. As the prophecy predicted that their savior would "descend onto a golden field", I was under the assumption that this would probably be Nausicaa in a field of wheat or maybe golden flowers. I'm so glad my expectations were subverted, because I GASPED when she walked across the Ohm's tentacles. The movie was so so beautiful, I can't wait to watch Nausicaa and her journey again!

[animearchives]

Hi there! I believe you were spot on with your deduction of Nausicaa's never-ending kindness ultimately being what helps her achieve her goal. In my own post I mentioned that I believed that she was the bridge between human and nature: her empathy and humility joined the word of humans and their destructive ways with the natural world and animals around her! I loved your blog post!

[animearchives]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Nausicaa is a perfect example of someone who cares about the world around her and nature. This princess is akin to Snow White in her ability to speak to animals. She has very princess-like qualities as well: she shows a lot of humility and empathy towards all beings alike, humans, animals, and otherwise. She is very interested in the origins of nature as well; she conducts different experiences in order to try and discover the world around her, how it works and the true nature of the world, which is all a testament to her respect to the world and nature. A war that utilized giant weapons similar to today’s bombs or other heavy destructive weapons like nuclear weapons had destroyed a large amount of the ecosystem of the world around her. Furthermore, Tolmekian soldiers burn the toxic jungle with fire, which illustrates instrumentalism because the Tomekian soldiers do not see the value of nature and rather view it as a utility that can be utilized for the benefit of humans. Rather than being concerned with how their destruction of nature impacts the ecosystems within it, they view nature as a burden more than something sacred and valuable. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind addresses a number of different global environmental problems such as the destruction of the environment, pollution, and the effects of wars on nature. I believe the clear dualism with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is the juxtaposition between mother nature and humans: the natural environment of nature is full of foliage, animals, and ecosystems, which the human-made more industrialized environments could not be any farther from. I also believe that Nausicaa is representative of a bridge in the gap of humans and nature, she unifies both and demonstrates a peace within the two.

[loquaciousstrigidae]

SwampCon 2024

Convention Post

Last semester on March 2nd, I had the pleasure of attending the annually held SwampCon at the Reitz Union (at the mercy of my dear friend Angel). It was one of the first anime conventions I had ever been to, so naturally I did not know what to expect beforehand. All that prefaced my experience were the confident assurances of my friend that I would, in fact, enjoy myself and my preconceived notions of convention culture based on video essays and social media. I knew there to be plenty of trinkets to peruse, so I had conceded the inevitability that my wallet would open at least a few times. I anticipated the Artist Alley most of all, where fan artists set up booths with stickers, prints, posters, keychains, and other memorabilia all themed around different anime and video games. In a bit I will post some pictures of the lovely things I purchased. 

But our day began with a visit to the maid cafe. Upon entry, the Reitz ballroom was furnished with a cluster of tables, each draped with a tablecloth and set with glasses and napkins. People in maid costumes—as one might expect to see—stepped onto a stage lined with glittery plastic fringe to perform a few dances to popular anime openings. I had the delight to choose between various desserts—cookies, fruits, and brownies (I chose the brownie)—along with some lemonade.  

Pictured: My friends and I waiting for the show to begin. 

After that we went to the Artist Alley—and this was most definitely a lovely time. I went to find an artist I had seen on the schedule website named Anna Jano. I got two prints and an owl enamel pin (it really is such a lovely thing). I also came away with a single D20 die and a keychain of the character HERO from OMORI. 

Pictured: Anna Jano prints, Anna Jano enamel pin, HERO keychain. 

My friends surprised me with a SpyXFamily poster as well. How kind of them. 

Pictured: My SpyXFamily poster hanging in my dorm room. 

Beyond the Artist Alley, we also visited a room with booths displaying other wares such as jewelry, woodwork, stuffed animals, figurines, and toys. If I had the funds I would have invested in one of the wood-carved D&D polyhedral dice boxes. Oh goodness... a girl can dream. 

By this time of day, the bustle of the day was beginning to come over me. Conventions, it seems, can take a lot of energy out of you. Before our lunch break, however, we tuned in to the Five Nights at Freddy’s lore presentation. I must admit, I am not cultured enough to understand the nuances of the bite of '87. The only significant cultural information I can offer is a reference to that one clip of Markiplier. It was fun to see my friends enthusiastic about it, though.  

Pictured: "Was that the bite of '87?"

After lunch, we returned to the convention and participated in an escape room. It was a ten-minute one that had a few puzzles to solve. We were placed in a group of around 15 people and were tasked with finding various items that culminated in a collective mental synthesis over a kind of riddle. Well—it may not have been a riddle. I don’t remember it all too clearly. But the good news is that we escaped—albeit with only a few seconds on the clock. 

Pictured: Waiting in line before our endeavor at the SwampCon escape room.

Our last stop of the day was an event that my friend had threatened to take me to for months: Bad Fanfiction Reading (18+). Well... it is what it sounds like. Two hosts read to the vast audience of conventioneers while volunteers from the crowd reenacted the fanfics like a stage play. The (18+) part is important, as it was just as much vulgar as it was silly! Hah. Well it was an experience to say the least. I did have my fair share of giggles.

Pictured: Bad Fanfiction Reading opening slide.

Pictured: "Oh... how nervous we are to witness Bad Fanfiction Reading!"

We parted ways after that and I went home to hang up my newly acquired prints and rest! 

This little reflection reminded me of all the fun I had with my friends. Conventions can be a very wonderful way to interact with others who share your interests. I will most certainly be attending next year. 

Pictured: Heading home.

[animearchives]

Hi there! I have to say, your experience at SwampCon looked like so much fun! I could only imagine the amount of fanart and merchandise that was there to buy. I would've came in with money and left with none. I can totally relate to you in the need to buy little trinkets and keychains. I personally have never been to a convention before, much less an anime convention; but, your post really encourages me to go out and attend one already! I'm really glad you had fun at SwampCon: hopefully I can have as much fun as you whenever I go to one myself!

[animearchives]

Alyssa’s Experiences With Fandom

Fandom

I got into anime in my last year of elementary school, back when I was about ten or eleven years old. I would draw little doodles of Eren Yeager in the margin of my notes when I should've been listening to my teacher talk about math, but alas, at a young age I knew what I liked. The first set of animes that really had a grip on me was Attack on Titan, Black Butler, One Punch Man, and generally other shounen animes. My first experiences with fandom were with me and my friends in elementary school when we would talk about anime during lunch and recess. Eventually my fandom experience changed as I used social media to interact with people who liked the animes I liked too. Most of the interactions I do in my fandoms are liking peoples fanart, reading some masterpieces of fanfiction, and generally just intaking other people's content. The only content I make, I don't post online for my own sake.

Fanart

I used to make fanart when I was in elementary school and middle school. I would most commonly draw fanart of my favorite characters as doodles in my notebook during school, but I would draw digitally too with my finger on my phone. I have never published any of my fanart, partially because I suck at art and partially because I do it out of pure enjoyment and not for publishing purposes.

Fanfiction

I used to write fanfiction when I was younger as well. I would primarily write stories of pre-existing characters in the fandoms I liked. More times often than not, I would attempt to write stories about the ships I liked, just because I had a story idea I felt passionate about. That being said, I never published any of the fanfictions I had written online because I thought it was cringy, and quite frankly, the quality of my writing wasn't exactly the best either. Despite that, writing fanfiction allowed me to have a nice outlet since writing had always been one of the easiest ways for me to express myself: even though I have since stopped.

Cosplay

I used to cosplay when I was primarily in middle school. I would do very low level cosplays, seeing as I had absolutely no budget whatsoever. Whenever I wasn't doing poorly done cosplays, I was doing cosplays of original characters I had made for the fandoms I was in. Today, I am not very invested in cosplay, but I would try cosplaying in the future maybe as a hobby if I ever have the desire to.

Conventions

Unfortunately, I have not been to any official anime conventions, or any convention, for that matter. I have been to events that are practically conventions, and I have seen people cosplay anime characters at these events: but, I have never been to a real convention. The one anime convention that happened in my city happened in February, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend it. I don't know when the next convention in my city will be, but hopefully I will be able to attend that one.

Conclusion

I have been into anime for about a decade, and anime has been an integral part of my life since. For a long while, I fell off from anime since life had got in the way. Not too long ago, I got back into watching animes after getting my little sister and little brother into some of the animes I like. I honestly feel much happier getting back into anime, because when I was younger the animes I watched played a big part in my identity: so to get back into the medium, especially with my siblings, it makes me feel almost nostalgic and like a kid again.

[kwanyoung]

Wandering Son | Themes of

The Plot of the Anime

The anime takes place in the first year of middle school. We are introduced with Nitori Shuichi, who identifies as female while assigned male during birth, which they wear a woman wig and woman uniform. The second main character, Takatsuki Yoshino, is introduced, who identities as a male while assigned female during birth, who has short hair and male uniform. The characters see that students are more mature and are settling into their classes. When the students are introduced, we can notice some have gender non-conforming traits (e.g. having no preferences wearing gender-matching uniforms), which shows how gender-fluid their world is. It also appears that Shuichi has affection towards Yoshino at one point, but Shuichi doesn't understand what love is.

The Issue In Question

As the two main characters are transgender, each faced some discrimination due to their identity. We have Shuichi who was made fun of at school calling them by "tranny" as well as locking them outside of class. We also see people looking at Shuichi in a weird way in public as well as girls being surprised and angry at Shuichi trying to express their female gender identity. Shuichi is also resisting to dress up as their female-self because they feel like they could be discriminated.

We also see a scene where Saori Chiba, who initially confessed her love to Shuichi, angry and bullies Yoshino because Chiba found out Shuichi expressed their love to Yoshino, effectively breakikg Chiba's hopes of having a relationship with Shuichi. When Yoshino wore men clothing to school, the school staff questioned them and Yoshino had to clarify the situation.

From these observations, the takeaway issue is that for someone who feels like they are another gender (transgender people or any LGBTQIA+ members), it is more difficult for them to adapt to society due to discrimination and perceptions.

The Issue Addressed in Japan & Beyond

Japan is a pretty friendly nation towards queer or LGBTQIA+ members, however in certain situations or in nations worldwide, there comes to be discrimination towards and the inability to adapt to society for any gender non-conforming people.

Discrimination-wise, there are a lot of scenarios of discrimination towards queer people in schools and even online. In schools or other professional institution, there have been cases where they would ban any queer education or identities, restricting them from exercising their identity in those spaces. There are a lot of people online who are sending hate messages towards queer people.

We can see that just like in the anime, we see the same issues in our real world where queer people are often called out as "weird" and also are not respected or thought of as unusual.

My Personal Takes

While I do not identify as queer nor is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I have personally seen a lot of acts of discrimination and bullying towards these members, however the worse cases I've seen is on social media like Instagram. Note that I am a straight person and I do not have the full picture of the LGBTQIA+ community, so please take my observations lightly. So like, there are people calling these groups, especially online in comments or posts, as "insane" and "mentally unjust", as well as hearing them talk about wanting the community to be banished.

I am not affiliated with these negative discussions but I do believe they are discriminatory and give an unfair perspective on these communities and people. Again, please do not actively criticize me in a personal level, like beyond this blog post, but you are free to drop your perspective within this blogpost. Please be positively minded.

[animearchives]

Hi Kwanyoung! I do wholeheartedly agree with your assessment that it is especially difficult for members of the LGBTQ+ community and gender non-conforming people to adapt to society. This is no issue with the person themselves, but rather society and it's prejudices are at the root of this problem. The fact that society is very discriminatory to people that are not cisgender or of the binary sexes makes it extremely difficult for individuals to assimilate into society, solely due to the prejudices and discriminatory mindset of society.

[animearchives]

Wandering Son

Within the first scene of the anime, there is a powerful metaphor that speaks for the rest of the episode and also sets the tone for the rest of the anime itself. Shuichi Nitori, the protagonist of the show who is visibly presenting as a male at this point, is alone in a classroom as they say they asked for a baggy uniform. Shuichi follows up by saying the uniform had an uncomfortable collar that they weren't a fan of because it suffocates them, but they had to wear it anyway. This is a clear metaphor for someone that is transgender/gender non-conforming but is not freely out yet.

The imagery of being alone in a classroom can correlate to Shuichi's feelings of being isolated to peers because Shuichi is secretly transgender, and it can be isolating to keep such an important, daunting secret from others. Furthermore, since Shuichi is assigned male at birth (AMAB), it is expected that they should wear a male uniform, although to Shuichi: it's uncomfortable. In my opinion, this is a clear allegory of having to mask the fact that they are transgender and wish to be a girl. Having to pretend to be someone they aren't must undoubtedly be an uncomfortable feeling, but because they aren't yet out as female, it is a secret Shuichi must bare alone.

Throughout the anime, it addresses the themes of self-discovery, discrimination, and self-acceptance. Shuichi, after their first time presenting as female at school, was called offensive slurs and terms: being deemed a freak, and being laughed at and mocked by peers. Shuichi's own girlfriend, Anna, was even in shock and denial that they would present themselves as female in public. Despite the discrimination Shuichi faced, they felt comfortable enough in their own skin to present as the correct gender. Much of the anime deals with Shuichi's struggles with the desire to be seen as female while also struggling with the fear of not being accepted. As of the last assigned episode, although it does seem like Shuichi is coming to learn self-acceptance, they still have a long way to go.