Steven's Blog

Blog for JPT1311

[bribriz]

Assassination Classroom

The world of Assassination Classroom is fairly ridiculous: a giant yellow octopus that will destroy the world unless a class of middle school students assassinate him while he is the teacher. But, it does have some realistic elements.

The most prominent theme is the discrimination Class E receives from everyone else in the school. Class E is physically separated from the main campus, and the building is of much poorer quality compared to the main building. The chairman of the school even contributes to sustaining this system because he believes that allowing for the other students to look down at Class E will motivate them to do better than them.

However, the role that Class E is forced to take up does not actually correlate to their actual potential. It is only when Korosensei helps to bring out each student’s potential that they begin to perform at the same level as the other classes, eventually overtaking them. This reminds me of Eden of the East where society prevents NEETs from being motivated to be productive through needless degradation of NEETs. It is not until Takizawa that unleashes the potential of the NEETs to save Japan from destruction, similar to Korosensei. Likewise, the school system only facilitates the mindset of being failures in Class E. Also, in order to be recognized by society (the school), Class E is forced to produce results that are dissonant with its assigned role. In this show, the victims of discrimination are responsible for changing their perceived image.

The mission of assassinating Korosensei reinforces the tradition of hegemonic masculinity. Assassination can not happen without violence. We can only hope that the hegemonic masculinity Class E has to embrace will not endure and help perpetuate the system of hegemonic masculinity. In addition, I find it interesting how the government are relying on the younger generation to take care of critical mission that may result in the end of the Anthropocene.

[dahstev]

Hegemonic masculinity is an interesting point I haven't thought about. I want to add that embracing hegemonic masculinity also allows the students to have the power to challenge class 3-A. Adopting this new mindset after being discriminated against among all the other classes allows class 3-E to gain the confidence and courage to fight back.

[dahstev]

Kishi - Assassination Classroom (S1 eps. 1,5,16; S2 ep. 11)

This was an interesting anime to watch; the storyline of having students assassinate their octopus teacher, Koro-sensei, to prevent the destruction of Earth in under a year is rather odd. Nevertheless, the show teaches valuable life lessons and focuses on the theme of failures and rankings. From S1 to S2, there is a drastic change in the abilities of class 3-E students. It shows that experiencing and learning from failures prepares individuals to encounter failure in the future. In the case of class 3-A falling behind 3-E in an unprecedented event of mid-term exam scores, 3-A failed to acknowledge what they had done wrong and how to improve. The trend continues to the end-of-term exams, where all of class 3-E managed a spot in the top 50s. Even though class 3-A did not acknowledge their failures, the teacher was also to blame.

The anime critiques the current not-so-modern education system globally. It shows how society ranks the students in class from A to E based on their intelligence, but Koro-sensei disproves this method with the success of his class 3-E students. With the proper resources, individuals can reach the “intelligent” status when they find their potential. Koro-sensei demonstrates how his teaching style of catering to each of the student’s weaknesses outperforms the outdated technique of memorization (our current education system) by Principal Asano. The show also demonstrates how society purposely discriminates between different classes of people to allow the strong to retain their power over society. In a sense, the strong fear the weak. This is seen through the lack of resources provided to class 3-E and the mockery they get from the upper classes. Finally, the school fosters an environment that belittles class 3-E, making it seem their fate is sealed, and uses no effort to support them. In the end, the anime proves that our current education system is not preparing students for the real world in the future.

[kookiewinchester1401]

Cyberpunk Edgerunners (ep 1,2,6,10)

This show highlights the social problem of division of the social classes. The first episode shows the treatment of the lower class in a night city. The show opens up with David trying to wash his academy uniform, but the washer was not able to continue washing his clothes due to insufficient funds. He tried to use a bootleg version of the software that was needed for his class. His mother is seen as tired from working hard to get David a good future in the academy. However, most children of the wealthy are able to afford to go to the academy so David was sticking out like a sore thumb. When David and his mother were in a car crash, the ambulance came they had to scan both David and his mom to see if they were important customers. Once they pronounce them as not important customers, they left them injured at the scene. Everything in this show is ruled by money. Even the doctor's decision was dependent on how much money David paid to save his mother's life. It is sad to see everything in the night city is dependent on money, even medicine. It shows that the poor are not able to climb their financial status as they are consistently challenged by society. Hence, the appeal of committing crimes for easy money is appealing. David becoming a cyberpunk was a bit sad. His mother, a former cyberpunk, had tried her best to give David a better life than hers. But, in the end, he became a cyberpunk. He had learned to steal, fight, and even kill from Maine and the crew. From Maine's words, he was becoming a man, especially after sleeping with Lucy. When Maine turned into a cyber psycho, he told David that this was his end and he should leave the scene. David had tried to become the new Maine with his new body and tech ware. In saving Lucy, he risks his psychosis and died saving Lucy. Well, at least Lucy got a chance to go to the moon.

[dahstev]

It comes to show how influential society is on people as if it has already determined the person's fate. The social gap has become too wide between the elite and the poor, making it impossible to try climbing up the corporate ladder. It seems that Edgerunners is critiquing how the US might end up in the future.

[dahstev]

Imaishi – Cyberbunk: Edgerunners

Edgerunners is by far one of my favorite shows, and the animations are so good. I wished it was longer because it felt rushed, especially during the transition from episodes 6 to 7. I want to mention that David did not deserve to be finished off like that. The anime revolves around the life of the protagonist, David Martinez, and his journey as an Edgerunner. The themes focused on include trauma and capitalism. In the first episode, we already witness his mother’s death (Gloria) in the car accident from the drive-by shooting and the prominence of capitalism in Night City. After the Trauma Team (paramedics) arrived on the scene, they required an individual to have insurance/subscription to use their services. This type of service continues at the hospital as well as the cremation, essentially objectifying a person by putting a price tag on their life. Finally, the anime directly critiques how the US’s healthcare system profit over medical services.

After David loses both parents, he slips into a state of depression. He gets kicked out of the Arasaka Academy, where her mother hoped that education at the elite would help him climb the corporate ladder of Arasaka Tower and join the elite, after earning his revenge for when Katsuo punched him. These events eventually lead David down the path of an Edgerunner, where they use artificial devices to enhance their abilities while riding the edge of cyperpsychosis (a condition where a person’s mind goes psycho from the body rejecting the cybernetics), allowing them to work in risky environments behind the scenes in society. The social hierarchy shows the extreme gap between the elite and the working class, making it practically impossible to become elite. In addition to the capitalist aspect of David becoming an Edgerunner, he was able to have Maine as a father figure when David joined his group. Besides David learning how to be an Edgerunner from Maine, David can look up to him. After Maine gets killed due to cyperpsychosis, David has to carry all the trauma to carry on their legacies. The trauma eventually leads to his demise after believing he had to live up to everyone’s expectations and being “built different.” Ultimately, all of the problems are rooted in Arasaka’s capitalism.

[kaiojustin]

Perfect Blue

This movie was so sad and showed the disturbing reality of how some women are exploited in the entertainment industry. Throughout the movie, Mima was consistently objectified and sexualized by her fans and industry professionals. It showed how women are often reduced to mere objects of desire, and their talents and abilities are often overlooked or dismissed. The movie's portrayal of Mima's journey showed the gender inequality that exists in the entertainment industry and the double standards that women face. Another problem that was shown in this movie is the objectification of women's bodies. Mima's body being exploited by photographers and fans showed the damaging effects of objectification on women's self-esteem and mental health. The movie represented how the constant scrutiny of one's physical appearance can lead to body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Mima's difficulties with her body image and self-esteem reflected the societal pressure placed on women to conform to unrealistic beauty standards.Lastly, the problem of the impact of social media on mental health was also represented by this movie. The character Me-Mania, Mima's stalker, obsessed over her social media profiles and used them to construct a false narrative of her life. The movie showed how social media can be used to manipulate and control individuals. It also showed the dangers of social media addiction. Also, Mima's dissociative identity disorder can be related to the effects of social media on mental health, because her struggle to distinguish reality from fiction was amplified by her exposure to social media. This movie was eye-opening to me and really made me think. It's hard for me to recognize how bad reality can be sometimes. Especially since, as a male, I don't think I will ever experience anything like this. However, this movie allowed me a glimpse of some of the harshest realities that some women go through. To think this movie was made so long ago, and the problem still remains, and very well might be worse. With enough representation and discussion of the topic, I'm sure it can be solved.

[dahstev]

I agree. I wonder how that photographer in the movie was able to get the job since he pleasures himself all the time by looking at a naked woman for photoshoots. It shows how much more the industry cares about profits and popularity over the health of an individual.

[dahstev]

Kon - Perfect Blue

Not going to lie, I was confused about the psychological aspect of Mima seeing a double for most of the movie until the end. I didn’t find it particularly enjoyable since it was focusing on things like sexual assault and rape, but it well depicts the true nature that celebrities face to preserve their fame. Two main themes shown include finding one’s identity and societal pressure to conform. After Mima left for acting from CHAM, her identity split into two bodies known as dissociative identity disorder. Her mind often wanders into her pop-idol personality even though she constantly suppresses them to only have her acting personality. This comes to show how she continues to regret her decision in her subconscious and not face it causing her to slip into a more dissociative state over time. At the end of the movie, she makes her decision with choosing one personality by stating “No, I’m the real one.”

The other aspect that caused the identity crisis is society itself. The main reason for Mima to switch to acting was that she saw the declining interest in pop idols in society. It shows how influential society is and that women are easily exploited in the industry regardless of the consequences they face. The producers wanted to retain the rape scene because it would help with the show’s success. Although Mima had the option to opt in, she still willingly agreed to be part of the scene so she could be well known. Among her fans, Me-Mania is a creepy stalker that watches Mima’s everyday moves and posts them on the site Mima’s Room. His obsessions over Mima put him in denial over the career change, making him search for possible reasons for this occurrence. Believing the real Mima is an imposter, he also shows psychological distress by not being able to discern reality from his fantasy world. This shows how much power society holds that can change a person's life.

[bleachenjoyer]

4/16 - Sensoron

I was excited to read Sensoron today. Even though I enjoy anime, I am much more of a manga reader these days - additionally, as someone who is at least marginally interested in history, I found the prospect of a revisionist-history Japanese perspective after World War 2 a very compelling premise. As I went through this work, I found it to bring up some interesting points, but overall it almost seems like a rambling from a bitter conspiracy theorist who just wants to see WW2-era Japan in a more positive light than it deserves.

I found the overall work of Sensoron to be, as mentioned earlier, a great example of revisionism and, at times, flat-out misinformation. Given what the author was trying to communicate, about how 'Japan was treated unfairly' and 'the Allies did bad stuff too' clearly attempts to downplay the atrocities committed by the nation during the war. Instead of taking an objective standpoint and accepting that, while the Allies did do some morally questionable things during the war, Japan is guilty of the same, the author attempts to frame the West as the REAL bad guys, and the root of a grand array of problems in modern Japanese society.

One thing I think the author did not intend to showcase (but does) is the mental gymnastics that he has to go through in order to justify Japan and delegitimize the West. I thought the entire first sequence about the trials and the subsequent Western involvement in Japan was far-fetched, with elements of truth buried in it - but as soon as the author started accusing photos displaying Japanese war crimes as fake, comparing them to UFOs and ghosts, the argument lost any shred of legitimacy. Through these perspectives, Sensoron communicates a perspective that is unhinged at best and deliberately deceptive at worst.

[dahstev]

I agree, Sensoron is just another propaganda work. It's like fighting fire with fire where Kobayashi's work is biased and ironic. Although both sides in the war have committed crimes, the author discredits the photos while downplaying the crimes committed by Japan in his own work.

[dahstev]

Kobayashi – Sensoron

The manga focuses on the spread of disinformation and brainwashing in Japan by blaming it on the Allies. Kobayashi demonstrates a strong nationalist connection to Japan. This is seen as he paints the Allies as the actual “bad guys” of the war by downplaying the atrocities of the Japanese military and amplifying the transgression done by the Allies. As a result, one can also argue the manga was also used to spread disinformation and brainwash individuals. Although the manga was written from a right-wing conservative perspective to paint Japan in a good way, some of the points Kobayashi makes are also true. It was a decent read since history is not my preferred thing, but the points brought up have parallels to current society.

Throughout the manga, mass media was blamed for the spread of misinformation. Most of it was discrediting photos used by the media to criticize Japan’s military, government, and education. Kobayashi goes off on these works and attempts to have the reader sympathize with him. From what is seen in the manga, the author depicts the majority of Japan’s population as not having a sense of national identity for Japan. Kobayashi considers the population very brainwashed as he keeps on mentioning that even an “amateur” can fact-check a picture. Page 164 states, “A fake photo that even an amateur can tell is not a photo of the ‘Nanking Massacre,’ …but this photo was used by Hora Tomio, former professor….” Kobayashi criticizes how education, which is the thing that promotes national identity, is not doing its job, and how the picture described in the previous quote was even able to make it into a history book. Although the author points out that these images in circulation hurt Japan’s reputation and national identity, nowhere in the manga does he acknowledge war crimes Japan has committed. As a result, it’s safe to conclude that Kobayashi is no different than the people playing their part in the mass media.

[projectmcblog]

Your name

I think this anime is a top contender for my favorite anime of the semester.

The storytelling and visuals were beautiful… especially the ending! The ending had me HOOKED… it could have ended so many times and I would have had a totally different reaction to each end. I had to keep checking the time thingy to make sure the movie wasn’t ending just yet.

While watching the anime I felt like there were heavy themes of tradition and modernization.

Mitsuha lives a more traditional lifestyle, being raised in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Mitsuha feels trapped and wishes that she could live in the more modernized Tokyo. In Itomori, tradition is upheld in the form of a festival that happens every year. Mitsuha’s grandmother explains the traditional ideals, saying: “The meaning of our festivals became unknown and only the form live on. But even if words are lost, tradition should be handed down.” This is a very conservative way of thinking, in the sense that traditions (like the festival) are kept to conserve the culture of the past, even though modern-day partakers don’t even understand the significance.

On the flip side, Taki is living a modernized life in the big city of Tokyo. He gets to go to a big high school and works as a waiter in a restaurant. He has endless opportunities in the big city and isn’t constrained like Mitsuha is in her small town. More interestingly, Mitsuha specifically wishes to be a boy living in Tokyo when yelling out her frustrations, while Taki never expressed any disdain towards his city lifestyle.

These parallels could represent the conservative ideas of femininity and masculinity, being that the feminine role follows and respects tradition (ex. Traditional housewife and caretaker), while the masculine role is freer to adapt with modernization.

[dahstev]

The parallel between femininity and masculinity is a good point as it delineates between gender roles. In addition, the characters are tired of performing the same gender and are interested in something new. As a result, not only did they get to experience a different environment, but also a different body of the opposite gender.

[dahstev]

Shinkai  – Your Name

The anime had a great storyline in addition to outstanding visuals and sound. It focuses on gender exploration and identity, and the urbanization of society. The story revolves around two individuals – a boy, Taki, living in Tokyo, and a girl, Mitsuha, living in Itomori. There is a bend in time known as a “union” which connects two universes that are 3 years apart. It enables them to swap bodies which also allows them to explore different environments and perform different gender acts. Having different minds, or rather different sexuality, control the bodies has made a positive impact on both lives. Mitsuhu in Taki’s body was able to set up a date for Miki whom he had a crush on for a while but was too nervous to speak up. After swapping bodies the next morning, Taki was forced to go on a date with Miki. On the other hand, Taki in Mitsuhu’s body was able to spend his time enjoying nature. He was able to enjoy his escape from the urban environment and awkwardly touches the breast of Mitsuhu’s body every morning. This gender exploration allowed them to grow a deeper connection with each other as they never gave up looking for each other and their names.

Most of the younger population of rural communities show their dissatisfaction by straying away from traditions and beliefs. In the scene where alcohol was created traditionally by putting rice in their mouth and spitting it into a jar, the teens mocked them and disregarded their history. At the end of the anime, Mitsuha has transitioned into the workforce and assimilated into Tokyo. It shows the loss of tradition and culture over time resulting in humans becoming atomized.

[angel-is-not-creative]

Hetalia

I cannot rate this with a good conscience ❤

I have autism and Hetalia is my special interest so this is literally 3k words long and I have absolutely no regrets. I could have gone on longer but I wanted to remain relevant to the class. If you don't reply to me I will cry.

I'm gonna break this into a few sections so you can skip around. I'm going to try and stick to just season 1 with this discussion, which won't be too hard cause it's the most insane one. Also, I just want to say that I wrote this all before I read the attached article and I'm now seeing that I literally could have written that article because I know everything about Hetalia.

When do we cross the line between stereotyping and just straight-up racism?

Hey, why are we idolizing WWII Germany?

Oh, we are portraying war as silly and funny, okay cool.

Is this Japanese Nationalism? (a surprisingly controversial argument)

The Sub and the Dub are 2 totally different shows

The Fandom (and linking back to other class-related terms)

Okay I'll name one good thing

Alright, let's get started.

1.

A lot of people will argue that Hetalia is not racist at all because they are making fun of everyone. If you are portraying all of the countries as their most common stereotypes then it evens out in the end. I would argue that this is in fact, not the case. Especially when you set your show during WWII. I will give Himaruya credit in that he mostly focuses on European countries to make fun of, making a lot of the stereotypes less so targeted at minorities. However, a lot of these jokes are still highly insensitive and frame some countries in a worse light than others

Just look at the difference between how Northern Italy is portrayed as opposed to Germany or Japan. Or how France is a predator, Belarus is into her literal brother, and Spain is seen as a creep. It is often times mocking an entire country's intelligence, appearance, or personality. While it is not always that serious, it does lead me to the second point.

When you personify a country and mock it, you aren't just mocking a piece of land, you are mocking an entire population of people. These jokes may seem harmless but they can still be hurtful. While I don't believe that liking Hetalia translates to your actual views on world events, it can unconsciously impact your real-life thoughts and behaviors.

(also why does Britain see imaginary magical creatures, what is that referencing? According to the wiki, it is some popular folklore story of a rabbit who lives on the moon but like.. what? If Himaruya was doing this much research into these countries' cultural backgrounds why is he portraying them like this?)

2.

This show portrays WWII Germany in too positive of a light for my liking. I've noticed a trend in anime where they seem to love Germany (or Germanic aesthetics) a lot (AOT I'm looking at you). Now I'm not well-versed in the interpersonal relationships between Japan and Germany, but the idolization is not it. The way that Japan in this show is portrayed as being literally obsessed with Germany is the biggest example (Italy is also shown having an immense appreciation for Germany and is often gushing about his positive qualities, even writing him a song while he was being kept prisoner). But I mean look at how Germany is portrayed, even his stereotypes are mostly positive, he is hardworking but helps out his fellow allies, makes great food, and is super strong. His only negative trait is that he sometimes doesn't understand social scenarios and that makes him very awkward. However, he will always go out of his way to try and better understand his friends (like Italy) by purchasing books to try and help him learn the appropriate way to act in scenarios).

This is 10x worse in the dub but we will get there. When one of your main characters, the one you are portraying in the best light, is a literal war criminal hot anime boy, you can understand why I would be concerned. I mean they gave him the whole blonde hair blue eyed appearance like come on. Now I'm not going to go into depth on fandom or anything here but Hetalia knows that its demographic is young tweens (primarily girls) so how can you be surprised when this portrayal of Germany leads to WWII fanfics sympathizing with Germany and 14 y/o girls in German military uniforms doing questionable things. (also Germany becomes a canonically gay character in Hetalia in like season 4 or something and that just makes me so mad, like yeah, of course, the gay character is WWII Germany that so cool) (okay, I would like to clarify that technically Sweden is the only confirmed gay character. Sweden is bad representation though because he has one-sided feelings for Finland and makes him uncomfortable by constantly referring to him as his wife)

3.

I mean yeah, obviously this isn't going to be an accurate portrayal of history but some of this is just totally misinformation.

Austria invading Germany is literally just Austria annoying him in his house for a really long time. But also there's like actual wars... and like all of the events of WWI are canon... and like there are some really serious episodes

Also, we literally see a bunch of countries going to war personally, like fighting on the frontlines. Which to me confirms that these people are all literal murderers, like mass murderers lowkey.

Do you know how many weird USSR jokes there are throughout this? So many. Lithuania is pretty much just in a running gag where he keeps getting manipulated by Russia into coming back to live with him. (Yeah, there are so many USSR fics as well).

ALSO! why is the American revolution portrayed as the saddest thing to happen thus far, the storyline is stretched out from episodes 16-20 and it is all drastically different from the tone of the rest of the show. Britain is literally on his knees crying saying that he can't shoot America (which also implies these countries can physically harm/kill each other). Like that is the war you wanted to make all sad and sentimental? Why? Is this how Japanese people think that we view the Revolutionary war? Because that is a pretty inaccurate view.

Anyways back to the original point. Some historical events should not be played for laughs sometimes. It is incredibly disrespectful for actual victims of these tragedies to portray these events as funny or goofy.

Though I will give credit because Himaruya does make all sides of the war look like idiots who have no clue what they are doing, which is a sentiment I can get behind.

4.

As a both non-Japanese and non-Korean person I can not really give my opinion on this however I can share with you both sides of the argument. This is mostly in relation to the original comic strip, but has some relevance to the anime as well. I just wanted to bring it up because it is interesting to me. (This is briefly mentioned in the article but I wanted to expand on the argument).

You may or may not have noticed that there is no South Korea character in this show, however, there was in the original comic. In the comics, South Korea is a pervert who is constantly touching Japan and he also takes credit for the inventions of other countries. Now I'm obviously not going to go into the past history of these 2 countries because that would be incredibly long but the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia and determined that it was a "crime against South Koreans, akin to slander". So yeah, South Korean people were not happy with this portrayal and the character was inevitably removed from the anime before release. (This is a real picture of the South Korean National Assembly reviewed Hetalia, the corner shows South Korea groping Japan inappropriately)

There are two opposing views to the Japanese Nationalism take and I'll link them both (Belittling Japanese Nationalism Hetalia: Axis Powers is the title of the first one)

The first one pretty much argues that Hetalis is not Japanese nationalism because it paints Japan in just as negative of a light as all of the other countries, no one is left out of being made fun of. Japan is seen as socially awkward, emotionally repressed, and obsequious.

The second argues that Japan is often shown to be more intelligent than other characters as well as often being of the voice of reason (especially compared to China) and most of his negative attributes are not nearly as harmful as some others in Japan’s case, even his “negative” stereotypes are inoffensive, as they pose no threat of meiwaku.

I think we see in the dub that Americans are a little more willing to make fun of themselves. Though there are a few good Japan self digs, like the capitalism joke in one of the first episodes.

5.

Oh boy I've been waiting for this.

The dub is 10x more offensive than the sub. Most people consider it a crack dub.

So many of the jokes are rewritten that it is practically a different show. The sub is from a Japanese perspective and the dub is from an American perspective.

First of all the accents in the dub are so bad like it is actually atrocious. Japan is really annoying because not only is his voice stereotypical but he always says 'nani?' instead of 'what?' as if that is a normal thing that people do. The narrator is the best part of the dub and she is hilarious.

So I don't really feel comfortable even typing out the jokes here so if you want to hear them I included the time stamps for the three nazi jokes I remember in season 1 (the last two being worse).

Episode 1 (1:35:1:38)

Episode 7 (2:13-2:19)

Episode 48 (1:28-1:31)

Those are just a few examples and it gets worse. The dub literally had no reason to include these jokes because there is not even an insinuation of them in the sub and it makes literally everything a million times worse.

I will give the dub some credit for being so utterly ridiculous that it's funny. I will provide a few timestamps for the funniest jokes that only appear in the dub from the first 19 episodes (but I really recommend looking up Hetalia dub funny moments on youtube because some of them are really priceless):

Episode 13: (1:45-2:05)

Episode 14: (1:12-1:22)

Episode 17: (0:59-1:15) (2:06-2:11)

6.

Now I've had this post typed up for a bit and originally I wasn't going to talk about the fandom but after reading the article that he assigned (and going through the fandom unit), I see that there is a lot of reference to fandom in particular so I want to at least mention it.

Not the 2 biggest problems with the Hetalia fandom are racism and the fetishization of gay men.

As mentioned in the article, there have actually been multiple fan incidents of them dressing up in WWII German military uniforms Germany/Prussia cosplay, and standing in front of temples with fake guns or doing nazi salutes in convention photos (If we want to bring racism and fetishization of gay men together there were two people who kissed in a holocaust memorial museum in Italy and Germany cosplay... there is no picture of this so it might be a rumor but it was well-known so it is worth mentioning). There were also a lot of people using imperialist Japan flags in cosplay/fanart and writing incredibly inappropriate fanfiction about real-life events.

If you would like to see any of these incidents feel free to look up "Hetalia the Boston Incident" I don't really wanna include the photos here.

The fetishization is not unique to the Hetalia fandom, but it is amplified to the max. Obviously, within Hetalia, there are almost no female characters, so this leaves only male characters to be shipped with one another. Now suddenly Germany is an uwu gay bean and not an actual war criminal. At the moment of writing this Hetalia has 32105 M/M fics on ao3 which is only one of the three fanfiction sites, with ao3 not even becoming popularized until after the peak of the Hetalia fandom. (the most popular ship being America/England who refer to each other as brothers in the show as England raised America, showing another problematic part of the fandom). I would argue that Hetalia has one of the gayest fandoms (My Hero Academia is giving it a run for its money though) and I agree with the article that it is inaccurate to say that this is only done by straight cis women. The fact of the matter is a lot of queer teens used Hetalia as an outlet to express their own sexuality through these characters. The straight women that do fetishize BL are likely only doing so because anime creators suck at writing good female characters.

I think that the "level of gayness" turns straight fans away from watching the show (again MHA is the same way today) as it is hard to interact with the fandom without seeing some yaoi content. However, many people view this as something wrong or cringy, when in reality it is a normal part of fandom culture. When gay people have such little content that is actually gay, you cannot blame us for creating our own through characters that we like/relate to. Again, I think the only issues that arise here are the problematic ships that give young people a bad impression of relationships (abusive, incest, pedophilia, etc) or the arguable problematic ones like China/Russia or Lithuania/Russia as again these are real countries with real political relations. (However, I will never forget the time that there was Russia/China fanart on the news, maybe they approve and I shouldn't be complaining)

The thing is, Hetalia only seems so bad because the fandom is so large and so young. A lot of shows have fandoms that sexualize the characters and have kinda problematic fans, but the sheer volume makes things seem worse. This is something that we covered when we watched Genshiken, but there is a lot of negative stigma behind this fandom in particular, but it is just a loud minority that gets a lot of news coverage between fandoms.

It also raises the question "Is a show responsible for the response of its fans?"

Because while Himaruya has no control over what people do with his characters or how they interpret a plot, if a majority of people are leaving your show spouting vaguely racist rhetoric and interpreting your show one way, isn't there some validity in that interpretation? I think a creator has to be aware of their audience, which in this case is a very young and impressionable audience who might not understand how offensive some of the things they are doing really are. They don't hold the same ability to separate fiction from reality.

That being said Hetalia had a large impact on fandom culture as a whole, largely starting things like 'ask a character' panels (along with like homestuck but we don't talk about her). If you go to any convention you will probably find a Hetalia cosplayer, and if you watch any dub there is probably a voice actor from Hetalia there.

I also want to mention Hetalia is also a fandom full of cultural capital, If you don't know every niche fact, you're not a real fan, If you haven't read Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart you haven't even met the entry-level requirements to be a fan. There are also no characters that are too sacred to be altered within the fandom. If you want to put Germany in a maid dress have at it, if you want to see all the characters as girls you're in luck cause Himaruya literally drew them. Fanfictions can take place anywhere from WWI to the present day and you can put any characters in any scenario and make it believable. There are thousands of pieces of fanwork, fan art, fangames, and fan AUs. These characters are malleable to fit your personal preference and there is really no way you could be mad at this as Himaruya does this himself, with no real established canon.

a Hetalia fan once said, "No one cares if Hetalia was written by a Japenese Imperialism apologist when you're 31 chapters deep into a human Au soulmate fic about Austria inviting Prussia to see his boyband perform in Berlin"

Himaruya is also the king of moe characteristics because he turned these Hetalia men into any cute thing he could think of, Chibi versions (Chibitalia), female versions (Nyotalia), and cat versions (Nekotalia). He has no reservations about drawing the characters in a dress or in cat ears. He gave the characters human names to allow for more standardized human AU's and made a DS dating game. He encourages fans to take his characters and use them in their fanworks as they see fit, canon is up to interpretation itself. I think Himaruya himself was a huge part of fandom culture (not that I could tell you cause no one knows anything about the guy) and saw how the female characters were often treated by fans and turned it on its head, allowing for females to sexualize the males this time.

Also, none of the male characters in this show resembles a Hegemonic form of masculinity. Even the most masculine character in the show (Germany) can be seen doing more "feminine things" like wearing a dress or proposing to a man. Which, you know, I guess is a good diversion from things you would typically see in an anime of this nature (but again there are a lot of instances of characters being feminine being played for laughs, like a man being girly is something inherently funny). Feat. Germany proposing to Italy with a tomato ring.

7.

I am Hetalia's biggest hater, however, I cannot deny the impact that it has had on my life and how much I love to talk about it. Hetalia is what introduced me to anime and fandom (and tumblr) for the first time. I met a lot of people I still talk to today because of this show. It encouraged me and a lot of other people to actually get interested in history. Thanks to this show I can identify every country in Europe, and it was a lot easier to remember historical facts if I just imagined the Hetalia characters. Also, Auf Wiedersehen Sweetheart is a literary masterpiece and there is a reason it almost has a five-star rating on goodnotes (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22064556) I love you George DeValier I hope you're doing good wherever you are.

I would like to make it abundantly clear that despite everything I've said that might make me sound like a woke blue-haired liberal, I don't really think this show is some horribly racist show or that the people who enjoy it are racist. I just wanted to provide a deeper outlook on the impact a seemingly dumb show can have on real people. I can't really blame the show for the terrible response of the fandom and it did honestly get better in later seasons that are not focused on WWII.

Despite all the bad stuff, it is a relatively funny little 5-minute watch, and you can really just jump in at any point you want to. If you don't take it as seriously as I do you might even enjoy it a little.

If you actually read this far I have major respect for you, I'm really excited to see what the general consensus on this show is.

Prussia and South Italy were my favorites in case anyone cared

If you're wondering why I didn't do my presentation on Hetalia despite my extensive knowledge, it is because I would be incredibly biased and I would go off the rails I think.

Also, my biggest fear is current Hetalia fans finding this and killing me, that might seem irrational but the Gundam fans found me last time so I wouldn't put it past them.

[dahstev]

I'm just going to focus on section 2 of the blog since its going to take a while to respond to all parts. I agree that Germany is depicted as a "better" guy than the allied nations. The anime seems to want the viewers to have pity on Germany from the repercussions of WW2. An example would be the war cost reparations stated by the Treaty of Versailles. Since it deemed Germany as the sole instigator of the war, most of the debt was placed on them and was finally paided off in 2010. The muscular body could be used to show the resilience after crises as the result of the war. A quick Google search of Japan-Germany relations shows well connections between them. Japan could have been trying to paint a better picture on how Germany bounced back after the war.

[dahstev]

Shirohata – Hetalia Axis Powers (S1 Ep. 1– 19)

The entire anime was solely built from the ground up on humor (maybe just for the dub), and I got a couple of laughs out of it. It focuses more on entertainment rather than historical accounts – to be honest, I was lost in the plot (or rather what happened in WW2 plot of the anime). It heavily relies on satire to downplay the severity of conflicts between countries by portraying countries as people and the arguments as conflicts/wars. As a result, the true meaning and purpose of the war in the shows weren’t well conveyed. So, emphasis was placed on each person’s actions and personality to translate into that country’s actions and personality. As a result, it also stereotypes the countries by their cultures, way of life, and accents. A few scenes that are living rent-free in my head were in episode 18 where the US instructs China with the words “China, I choose you,” and with a similar move to throwing a PokéBall. This Pokémon reference was possibly used to depict how widespread fandom is since it’s coming out of a Western’s mouth. In addition, it shows the power of the US since it portrays China as the “Pokémon” and the US as its “trainer.” This power is also seen in the scene when the US is standing in the center of a cliff and calling himself a hero while looking down at the Axis Powers. It seems as if the US is mocking them. When China attacks the Axis, he uses a wok and ladle. It stereotypes the most used cookware used to make food that China is known for and what Chinese parents commonly used to discipline their children. And for some reason, it's more effective than the pistol and katana. This could show that violence is not the answer, but rather discipline.

I don’t believe stereotyping was done with racist intent nor used to promote an agenda, but Germany is debatable. In the show, Germany is depicted as this muscular, hard-working man trying to do his best for his alliances, but history tells a different story. It could be written from Japan’s perspective on the Axis Powers' alliance with Germany, or just being comedic to remove the negative aspect of the war from the anime. It is most likely the latter; being neutral in the matter would require taking into consideration of both the Axis and Allied Powers’ perspectives to not be biased. As a result, both parties in the anime are depicted as good people.

[beefmastersblog]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

I've never heard of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and I didn't know it was a game until I opened up the links. I was quite confused for a second, but after watching the scenes, I see why this piece was selected for us to write a blog post on. Despite being a game, it has a lot of deeper themes and motifs to it, which is something I don't find very often in games. So I thought that was actually very cool.

To begin, this piece has a lot of environemntal themes. The natural land our characters live in is declining and their land is shrinking, which is very similar to what is going on in our world with global warming. I liked the idea of Titans, and the fact that they are also slowly dying off due to pollution and human causes. I think that is a very unique way to portray this idea of environmentalism, and I haven't seen it done in a game like this before. I really liked the ways in which this game tied into what we see in our real world, and I like how this shows a different perspective on an environmental piece.

Another major theme is this idea of our place in the world. I thought the idea of these blades were very important, especially the way that they are completely under the control of their owner, and if their owner dies then their memory gets completely cleared, which basically starts over their life, as they have no memories, and therefore identity to be their own. I think the fact that they look identical to humans is an important theme, because it brings into question something we have been talking about a lot this semester, what makes someone human. These blades aren't considered human by their users, yet they look and act just like people, other than the fact that their motivations are completely driven by their user. This brings up a question of what it really means to be human and what constitutes enough identity to really be a person.

Finally, the last thing I want to bring up is corruption of power. We see that the main antagonist of this piece, Jin, is motivated by a desire for revenge, and his way of achieving this revenge involves hurting absolutley anyone or anything that gets in his way. This is a common theme we see in a lot of stories, but I think what makes this interesting is that it is presented in a much more complex way. It reminds me a lot of things we see with powerful people here, specifically when it comes to other countries and some of the recent international conflict. Some leaders are held up on things that happened far in the past (gives similar vibes to revenge….), and are willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want without much regard for the impact on other people and their lives. We've seen this plenty of times throughout history, and I feel like we are seeing it now with certain global conflicts.

Overall, while I don't think I will ever play this game since I am not a big gamer, it was cool to mix things up for this class and view something a little bit different than our typical anime.

[dahstev]

I agree that the blades are not considered humans, but over time, they will possibly be assimilated into society with other humans to the point where they are considered humans. Similar to AI, it is only a matter of time before the future when it will be so integrated into our society.

[dahstev]

Kojima – Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Watching the game's cutscenes is different than the norm in class, but the storyline portrays the theme of nature and humanity’s involvement very well. It shows the dwindling supply and resources caused by individuals on the planet as the Titans (the movable landmasses in this world) die off. The Titans act as an extension of nature as they can communicate with the inhabitants on them. Near the end of the game, we also learn from Klaus, the creator of this world and a “god” in a sense, that the Cloud Sea is made up of particles that filter out pollution. Like the forest of decay in Valley of the Wind, nature, managed by its creator, has to intervene to revert the damage caused by civilization. As a result, the land area gets smaller, and competition for power grows, e.g, in the Aegis War, the people were forced to relocate into a smaller area after the Tornan Titan died. This brings Rex into the picture as he is a salvager and can be considered an environmentalist. Even though he gets paid beforehand to the start of a mission to purchase gear, he keeps his upcycled sword while the rest of the team has advanced, modern weapons. In the short spar with Malos, Rex’s sword was able to keep which shows that you don’t always need the newest, advanced tool out there.

This game mainly focuses on hegemonic masculinity but also shows some queer masculinity. Rex shows hegemonic acts such as acting recklessly and putting himself in the spotlight to find Elysium, the paradise on top of the world tree. In the scene of the Chairman giving out a request for a mission (without even mentioning what it was), Rex instantly accepts (which was also partly due to the compensation) even though he can be placed in a life-threatening scenario. On the other hand, Rex has a non-hegemonic side. In the end, when Mythra decides to sacrifice herself by staying behind to destroy the world tree, Rex falls onto the ground and can’t accept her decision until the end. Even by then, he yelled her name in the escape capsule.

[kaiojustin]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

One of the societal problems represented in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is environmental destruction and its impact on society. The world in which the movie takes place has been devastated by pollution and war, and this has caused widespread ecological damage. The toxic jungle that threatens to overrun the remaining human settlements is a symbol of the destruction caused by humanity's greed and disregard for the environment. The movie portrays the consequences of environmental degradation, including the loss of fertile land, clean water, and biodiversity. This theme resonates with contemporary society, as the world faces an ongoing climate crisis and environmental degradation caused by human activities. Another societal problem represented in the movie is the consequences of war and militarism. The movie takes place in a world that has been devastated by war, and the remnants of the conflict still impact society. The remnants of weapons of mass destruction continue to threaten human settlements, and the tension between factions can lead to further conflict. The movie also portrays the consequences of militarism, including the dehumanization of the enemy, and the destructive impact it can have on society. Nausicaa herself embodies an anti-war sentiment, advocating for peace and understanding between different factions. The movie also explores the societal problem of social inequality and oppression. The world in which the movie takes place is divided into different factions, each with its own set of rules and social norms. The Tolmekian faction, which seeks to use military force to control the world, oppresses the inhabitants of the Valley of the Wind. The movie portrays the struggles of the common people against their oppressors and the power dynamics between different factions. This theme resonates with contemporary society, where social inequality and oppression continue to be significant issues. Finally, the movie explores the societal problem of the human condition and the search for meaning in life. Nausicaa is depicted as a compassionate and empathetic character who is driven by her desire to bring peace to the world. The movie portrays the search for meaning in life and the importance of living a life that is true to oneself.

[dahstev]

This ties nicely into our current society where politicians are due to be replaced with individuals of younger generations. The film shows that the older population has not yet been "updated" to be suited for the current society, and that younger people should determine what is best for the future.

[dahstev]

Miyazaki – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

The film heavily focuses on the ecological aspect of the pollution caused by industrial civilization. The world is in a post-apocalypse state where people are now living in a pre-industrial society except that there are still modern weapons such as guns, tanks, and planes. It shows the conflict and struggles between nature and humans, and that nature always prevails. Many bodies of nature are named after the effects of pollution such as “Acid Lake” and “Sea of Decay.” The film revolves around the Sea of Decay, which is filled with toxic spores dangerous for humans to breathe in and continue to spread in size. Most of society has turned a blind eye towards nature and considers it as an enemy rather than understanding its actions of helping the planet. The whole purpose of the Sea of Decay was to contain all the pollution in one area generated by mankind and to cleanse it by filtering it underground. But instead of solving the root of nature’s problems, humanity would go with the easier route by using weapons of mass destruction such as the least Giant Warrior to stop nature.

The protagonist is Princess Nausicaa from the Valley of the Wind, where she has a strong affinity for nature and is a woman in STEM. She’s able to communicate with nature through insects and understands how the environment fundamentally works. In her secret underground lair researching with the supposedly “toxic” plants, she learns that nature (the plants in this case) is absorbing and sacrificing itself to clean the environment which causes the toxic spores. Compared to the older generation of society, it shows that their mindsets are still ignorant of the environment and have no obligation to protect it. This brings up the discussion from class of how the younger generations are repairing the damages done by the older generations.

[dahstev]

SwampCon

I went to SwampCon on Sunday as this is my first-ever convention. I felt the atmosphere was lively, but Saturday was probably better since I had to miss it due to cramming for an exam which sucks. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and the event showed how it brought the community together as a gemeinschaft from many different age groups and allowed people to freely express themselves in cosplay. There was no judgment at the convention, but when I had lunch in the Reitz Union food court, many passersby were looking at the cosplays. Not sure if they were interested or disgusted. Anyways, I saw families with parents bringing their children which shows their suppurative nature. Compared to many of the anime we watched in class, parents usually don’t agree and reject the idea of cosplaying in general. People went all out with cosplay such as characters from Naruto, Sailor Moon, Genshin Impact, and Chainsaw Man. Many of the outfits were elaborate, and I respect the amount of time and effort placed into an event. Since I’m not into anime to a large extent yet, I felt out of place when walking around while wearing a plain outfit.

In the Artist Alley and Vendors’ area, it was cool to see what they had to offer. The Artist Valley had handmade products, such as soaps and candles, and commissioners for art. There were many fan-made works, and this reminds me of the discussion on Genshiken about how cultural capital is made into official capital. This applies to the Vendor area as well where accumulated official capital allows them to continue cultural capital, a legitimate occupation. I felt that there was no fandom gatekeeping, as talked about in class, with everyone being open to discussing. This could be due to the smaller population of individuals into anime compared to urban cities where anime is prominent such as Japan. In the end, I had to prevent myself from buying things because they were expensive. But at the same time, there were other anime that I didn’t know what I was looking at half of the time. The next stop was the Maid Café at noon, and they were transitioning so everyone had to wait. After being seated, I got to strike up a conversation with random people at my table. I was hoping to expect more in terms of food, but cake and lemonade were sufficient since food was running out. There was a performance onstage that I didn’t know what the track was, but it seemed popular as many were cheering, and was interesting to watch. The last stop, where I spent most of my time, was in the VR room. I had a blast as this was my first time in a VR environment. The experience was immersive, and I came back multiple times for the different games they had to offer (escape room, zombies, archers). After a few rounds and back in the “real” world, I had to make sure the things I touch were physically there such as the handle rails for the stairs. It just shows how easily the mind can be manipulated. I can see why such people in SAO would enjoy MMORPG games despite the risk involved. VR is nowhere near the level of the NerveGear and I already have trouble separating the two environments.

I believe that SwampCon should be more public about the convention and promote it because I didn’t even know it was a thing at UF until this class. Even though I am fairly new to anime, I enjoyed it and will attend in the future.

^ Maid Cafe

^ A classmate from high school