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Perfect Blue

This movie was horrifying. The truest fear I’ve ever felt watching a film, much more so than the typical horror films, resides within the mind. The psychological trauma that Mima undergoes throughout the film is reflected through the viewer. Countless times throughout the film, I was screaming internally. Why was her manager, Rumi, who was meant to be her biggest supporter and, presumable best-friend (Mima doesn’t seem to have many friends/confidants throughout the show), not worried for her obvious health concerns.

But the movie seems to really center around the idea of identity. As Mima begins to move away from being a pop idol, she feels at odds with her new profession. A sense of non-belongingness exacerbates itself as Rumi begins to further impregnate Mima’s mind with her blog posts on Mima’s room. As she begins to stray from her past life, and feels exploited sexually, Mima begins to develop a multiple personality disorder. And at the same time, Rumi feels that her estranged identity as the pop idol Mima is being tarnished by the real Mima’s actions. All who were linked to Mima’s sexual exploitation in popular media became targets for Rumi. As she acted out these murders, she simultaneously convinced the real Mima that she was acting out these acts — causing her to hallucinate. I only started being tipped off to the idea when Rumi told Mima she was going to return her to Mima’s room.

But this movie masterfully conveys the elusiveness of identity. The exterior facade and persona that one maintains for different occasions can easily be stolen by another, who can fully immerse themselves within this newfound identity. As we, as a society, continue to move forwards within technology, the increasing necessity of multiple personas compels me to believe how realistic this movie is.

Death Parade [1,2,9,10]

I really like that opening song, so upbeat and active in contrast to the calm demeanor of the bar tender.

From the first episode, my impressions of the show’s commentary on how people act is unruly in a way. The notion that people behave in their truest incarnations when their lives are seemingly at stake, or when pitted against another person, is a scary idea (one that I sadly am compelled to believe in). It also simultaneously shows how people are unable to act rationally, especially when they are stimulated through physical pain and emotional shock.

But the method of determining who is worth eternal damnation and who is sent to heaven (or in reality, being reincarnated or being eternally dead) is something that is intriguing. Imagining that this ‘holy’ process is rather in the hands of humanoid like beings rather than godly entities is also somewhat fun.

Something I couldn’t help but catch is that there are 7 darts in the game. A dart for every Christian sin. The idea that whoever’s score is lowest from throwing darts is, rather than prove a winner, instead proves who is more worthy of damnation (for being willing enough to hurt their ‘opponent’).

Their portrayal of manipulation and vulnerability is also eery to a viewer. When someone is in fear of being killed, their natural instinct to survive moves them to act in a way to manipulate their opponent. Even when they find out that their lives are not at stake, this want to win in the end continues to drive people to act maliciously.

But the show then calls into question why this game is just. Especially the fact that, even though Machiko, had an affair (you could see her true feelings, that she indeed loved her husband). This lack of a gray scale in determining the results only leaves room for error, as people cannot truly be malicious or truly be good.

Violet Evergarden

I’ll mostly focus on the special since I’ve already watched the entirety of the first season when it first came out.

I struggled to extrapolate some sort of higher meaning or commentary about society from this special, but if there was one thing i recognized is the notion that humanity exists in all people whom feel emotion. Throughout the beginning of the special, Violet is unable to fully comprehend the request of her client. And understandably so. To begin with, the instructions of what exactly her client wants is pretty vague. And Violet herself, only took up the job in order to become better acquainted with her emotions. So being tasked with writing a love letter, later revealed to be song lyrics, would expectedly prove to be difficult. On top of this, her client never really put into words the exact criteria behind the assignment (which of course is why she hired an auto memory doll to begin with).

It seems the special really played with the idea of a seeming lack of emotional capacity from Violet. With her admitting upfront that she was unable to comprehend a lot of the emotional sentiment of the opera, and the opera singer herself constantly referring to her as an “Auto Memory Doll” rather than her actual name. The episode starts off frustratingly for the viewer, but as Violet edges closer and closer to the true reason behind the assignment. I felt myself better equipped to empathize with the client. There have been countless occasions where words are ill equipped to fully encompass what I am feeling, and the same has consumed the client. Despite this, Violet is able to produce a set of lyrics that brings tears to the client’s eyes. Even someone so ‘robotic’, who doesn’t even have real hands, is capable of bridging the gap between language and emotion.

Sensoron

This is the first time I’ve read a Manga since going through the first volume of pokemon adventures in 5th grade. Many things stick out to me. First is the over top drawing style, which makes the stunt the boss pulled on his employee incredibly comical. I feel this is done by the author to make this sentiment analogous to what “America” did during the judgement of the Japanese following the end of world war 2. To preface, I do agree with some of the assertions by the author. The fact that, to my knowledge, none of the allies really faced any repercussions for war crimes they may have committed (although finding a way to pass this judgement would have been incredibly hard — considering it was a ‘WORLD’ war, finding judges who could judge as a unit unbiasedly would be pretty much impossible).

But the assertion that the rape or massacre of Nanking was a completely fabricated event is fairly controversial from a Western reader’s viewpoint. In this fashion, the over the top drawing style the author exhibited earlier kind of acts as a double-edged sword. The intended effect of making the ‘fabrication’ of the rape of Nanking is instead reversed, making me find the assertion that this event was completely made up comical. The author, I’m assuming, shares opinions with many other Japanese nationalists. This ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality that he instills throughout his manga makes it difficult for a foreigner to really sympathize with him, especially when he tries to declaw the gravity of what happened at Nanking (first stating that the Japanese could not have killed 200,000, then Chinese nationalists actually dressed as Japanese soldiers to kill their own people, etc.).

But his points about the increasing devotion towards individualism and the consequent shift from nationalism intrigued me. I find this increased distancing between citizens and their country here in the U.S. among some young people. But despite how much people may parade their individual-ness that they enjoy in their own countries, their presence on the international stage is always tainted with the -ness of their nationality (which is something we explored earlier in the class through Orientalism).

Your Name

I watched this movie for the first time 3 years ago and watching it again reminded me why I loved it so much in the first place. The animation in this movie is great and the colors are so lively, I’m also a sucker for anything that has rom-com elements in it (the ending with the two reuniting with one another after the heart wrenching ending where they it looked like the two of them weren’t going to meet each other was an amazing turn around, despite it being somewhat expected).

Something I found kinda interesting is my attention to the concept of gender-bending my second time viewing. Given the context of this class and what we explore socially, specifically from non-confirmative gender roles, I noticed how the life reversal between Taki and Mitsuha can be interpreted as the fluidity in behavior between people of different sexes and genders. The fact that Taki and Mitsuha were both able to eventually adapt to each others lifestyle, especially considering that they had no prior knowledge about each other’s daily life (apart from the notes they left each other in their respective phones). The fact that the two of them were able to eventually assimilate into each other’s life shows how conceptually and non-concrete the concept of gender-roles truly is. Which is something we explored in Butler’s essay performative acts earlier in the class.

Hetalia Axis Powers [1-19]

This was a pleasant surprise. Anime I typically watch contain some sort of comedic element and watching this series and its overblown racial stereotyping proved to scratch that itch of mine. I feel the intention of the show was to comedically portray stereotypes of all countries participating in the world wars, possibly to nullify the axis’ power reigning legacy following the war.

Throughout the show, the Italians are depicted similarly to how the Western world (or possibly just the US) depicts France, which I thought was amusing. People who, in times of war, are extremely weak and are easily overtaken (we do see a little bit of French bashing in the show, but not to the same extent as the pasta loving Italians). The Germans are depicted as incredibly militaristic and strict, the Americans as burger-loving and having an unquenchable hero-complex, the English opposed to whatever the Americans desire, the Russians hiding underlying motives and the Chinese as wanting credit solely based on their age. Though the Japanese are rarely painted in a similar, degrading light. The show shows them as relatively peaceful and not as burdening as the Italians or abrasive as the Germans (though the validity of these characteristics based upon history would be shaky at best).

This brings me to the notion of soft power. Though I doubt Japan is gaining any international political clout from Hetalia Axis Powers, they are broadening their image as a somewhat passive country to the viewers of their media (which could change the imprint of their international reputation).

Differences we see in the English and Japanese dubs are quite pronounced as well. I watched it mostly in English (don’t crucify me please), but in the English version the Japanese have a very noticeable accent when pronouncing their L’s and R’s. Whereas in the Japanese version, the dialogue is slightly altered so that when the Chinese come upon the Japanese, the impression of the Japanese as being innovators and disregarding China really becomes more apparent (although this would also defy history).

The show was a nice comedic break from the pandemic, but it shows the desire for countries to change their international reputation through consumption.

Xenoblade Chronicles

During this whole coronavirus pandemic, I have found increasing amounts of time to play video games and I will gladly add Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to that list.

But from watching the selection of cutscenes chosen, one prominent theme continually reoccurred during the latter half. The concept of what constitutes a Utopia and the lengths at which characters in the game go in order to achieve their said version of a Utopian society. For Jin, this seems to be by eliminating humans who are so bloodthirsty and in content with their current standing in life. Humans who are so prepared dismantle their current relations in order to further progress themselves. He considers a harmonious society is only possible in an environment where humans are unable to destroy the livelihoods of others. In order to achieve this vision, Jin, accompanied by Malos and his goons, continually halt Rex’s progress in order to capture Pyra (and the Aegis) and eliminate humanity.

For Klaus, his vision of creating a new universe outweighed the livelihood of the planet and all of those around him. As he ignored the plight of Galea and all shut out all who depended upon him, he sets his plan into motion which ultimately fails, destroying the planet and splitting him in two. For Klaus, his desire to recreate his desires into tangible realities convinced him to conduct inhumane atrocities, making a selfish decision on behalf of the rest of the Earth.

We see this reflected in real life as well through historical dictators, and empires (in more ancient historical contexts).

Otakumentary

Having never gone or seen what a convention is like, especially regarding Otaku culture, I was sort of amazed by what I saw throughout the documentary. The goers of the otaku convention interviewed throughout the documentary seemed to reflect a very inclusive community. I was originally dissuaded by the seemingly intense culture and high barriers to entry that may present themselves at an anime convention (as we discussed in class regarding things like shadow cultural capital and the cliques created by fandoms). But this was, for the most part, debunked within the film by many of those interviewed (some of them even venturing into the realm of cosplay on a whim, which made the act seem less extreme to me than it once was). But the possible limited production of the film quickly became apparent. Specifically when the majority of the film became centered around one particular cosplayer’s experience at conventions and competing in cosplay competitions. She seemed to contras the narratives depicted by other con-goers citing that the conventions is full of “attention whores”. Making friends along the way and easily losing the same ones as time goes on, which she just accepted as a matter of fact. This doesn’t really paint the same inclusively minded community that I thought the conventions presented.

After part 1, the documentary became almost exclusively from the viewpoint of this one cosplayer who I found to be extremely boring (this may be due in part to us just following her finishing up one of her costumes inside her house). But again, the lack of diversification from her opinions in the latter half of the documentary sort of tainted my opinion of the documentary as a whole.

Additionally,the documentary didn’t really give a great view of exactly what happens at these conventions apart from the cosplay competitions at the end. I felt there should’ve been more inclusion of the different aspects of enjoying a convention (I hear eating overpriced convention food is something that must be experienced in itself). As well as the other modes of being an Otaku, showing the interest in manga and video games would have been a nice touch to the film.

But, seeing the ability for a fandom and subculture being cultivated within the US is kind of cool to watch. The opportunity for many interest-sharing individuals to be able to rent out a large stadium and or venue in order to hold a multiple day event.

One point I found particularly intriguing was the multiple con-goers’ recounts of what it means to be an otaku and whether or not they would classify themselves as one. Many of them saw it as a word to express their interest in Japanese culture and like-mindedness with others. But some found it as a term to be sort of derogatory and condescending, not wanting to call themselves that. In this sense, the otaku culture within America reflects both a newfound foreign sense of what it means to be an Otaku and what it means to be an Otaku in japan. The shame that some expressed in not wanting to refer themselves as an Otaku may stem from the fear of public backlash and or ostracization that they may face, which would be the same in Japan.

Overall, the film was alright at depicting the subculture of Otakus within America but could’ve done a better job.

Nausicaä Valley of the Wind

Knowing that Miyazaki’s films generally focus on the theme of the importance of maintaining environmental health, I felt like I had a good indication of what was to come in the film despite having never seen it before.

Although many of the other humans resort to combat in retaliation to the actions of the insects, princess Nausicaä seems to be the only one who understands that a mutual understanding of one another is the only way to proceed with the best results. In the beginning of the film, we see the ship crash into the side of a mountain as the human pilots of the ship battle with invading insects who boarded the ship after their descent into a forest. Preoccupied with fighting one another, the pilots are unable to turn in time and the ship crashes in flames, killing almost everyone onboard. This struggle between man and the environment leaves both sides severely wounded, and neither win after the conclusion of the conflict. Of course, the conflict between man and the environment is due to an imbalance and straying from the natural state of the world.

But it is the mentality and want for survival that causes people to persist in their efforts of brutal retaliation. It is also this want for survival that allows others to take advantage of the feeble and susceptible. We see this mirrored by the Tolmekian people, and countless regimes in the real world.

From a technical standpoint, this point may be small, but the sound stage used when the people talk wearing their masks plays a large role in my enjoyment of the film. The dehumanization of their voices symbolizes the inhumanity of their actions, having to wear the masks in order to survive the poisonous gas of the spores. The voices also sound confined from the open space of air, conveying the idea that the humans are separating themselves from the gravity of the environment.

Wandering Son [1,7,9,10]

The depth of transsexuality and gender fluidity expressed in the show, given the time, and the fact that it's coming from a relatively conservative medium in anime is surprising.

One concept that I really enjoyed in the show was the importance and role that clothing can play in one’s own self of sensitivity and individuality, which is something that I can personally relate to. When Nitori was talking to the girl about her purchasing the lingerie, she mentioned how it was emotionally freeing. In a sense, clothing can bring you more confidence and allows you to experiment past your typical comfort zones. For the girl, her wearing lingerie allows her to imbue gender fluidity within her identity. Wearing lingerie can help her empower the female side of herself in addition to the ‘male’ clothing she wore to school. In this sense, she is capable of expressing herself in public without necessarily showing it to the public. Furthermore, she feels more confident in herself. This is reflected in Nitori as well when he wears his sisters’ dress. For him, wearing that dress allows him to be ‘cute’, a concept that’s consistently explored through the show. Although cute is typically an adjective used to describe feminine things, Nitori is able to express his desire to be cute by wearing clothes designed for girls while maintaining his male sex.

Personally, wearing different types of clothing helps me express my mood and creative output. It helps me feel more comfortable as to who I am, and I see this reflected in the show, though it is within the great narrative that is the fluidity of gender and the loosening of society’s grip on the individual’s identity.

Aggretsuko [1,5,7] [s2: 2,5]

I’ve always seen this show on Netflix and never bothered to watch it but I’m glad it was part of today’s viewing. Aggretsuko is able to intertwine outlandish and over the top humor within relatable office environments, which is surprising given the premise of a trading firm that’s run by animals.

The show explores the concept of the Group Model and work culture that we’ve read in prior texts really well through the internal strife the characters constantly have with one another. The importance of appearance in order to maintain this internal hierarchy in the work place is also an increasingly prevalent theme in the show.

Something that I really enjoyed is the deconstruction of the fantasized Japanese workplace. Showing the faults in some of the characters resorting to binge drinking after work, or releasing the pent up stress they assume at work in order to stay sane. The different ways that all of the characters cope makes the show super relatable to most people, who find themselves distressing themselves in some similar manner.

I also enjoyed the subtle references the show makes towards the ability of technology to allow people to easily keep track of our whereabouts and invade our privacy, even without our knowing. We also see the gradual transformation of people as they enter the workforce, as expressed by Ton during his diss of Retsuko in the drunk episode.

I’m really glad I got to saw this show, honestly if I had the time I’d watch the rest of the episodes since it seems to appeal to my type of humor and is easily binge-able.

Sailor Moon [1,2,4,8]

This is my first time watching Sailor Moon and the show is surprisingly progressive, and enjoyable, despite the time it came out.

Watching the four episodes, one theme becomes increasingly apparent. The root cause of all the conflict in the show is when people give into their materialistic greed by trying to achieve them through illicit or easy means. Of which, Usagi always fails to foresee despite the set up being the exact same across episodes.

In episode 1, the conflict arose from a massive discount at a jewelry sale — which was too good to be true. In episode 2, it revolved around the boy with the glasses’ desire to have his future told to him (rather than gaining the confidence in discovering it for himself). In episode 4, it was the girls’ want to become skinny (despite their seemingly healthy appearance) without putting in the effort to get into shape themselves. And finally in episode 8, it was the student and their parents who wanted them to get into good universities by studying better with the ‘crystal disk’ that resulted in them becoming brain washed.

The general message that the show seems to be conveying is that hard work and effort must be put into something if you want to achieve success in it (despite Usagi’s failure to do so in school). Taking the supposed ‘easy way’ out ends in unexpected consequences that tend to outweigh the benefits gained from taking the easy way out.

Genshiken 2 [1,3,4,10]

This series of episodes explores the opposite end of the sex spectrum, being a female Otaku and what that entails. Something I am surprised by again and again with this show is its pursuit towards open-mindedness in exploring multiple types of sexualities (especially given its time of airing).

Though we are given a brand new environment, much of the prejudice remains the same. Although this time, it is explored from the standpoint of someone who is an “Otaku” herself. Hato likes to cross-dress, that is fairly apparent throughout this set of viewings, and the Genshiken group seems to be fairly supportive of him, except for Yajima. She seems to be outwardly opposed to Hato’s cross dressing, often trying to persuade him to just dress as a guy rather than express himself. This pressure on him was also seen in High school where a rumor was being spread that he was secretly gay, resulting in him being teased every time he would stand up to go to the bathroom. Despite this, Hato found solace in the Genshiken club during his time in University. There, he was free to express himself in his interest in “Otaku” culture.

Despite the poor reputation it receives from outsiders, individuality and comfort in one’s own individuality can be found by parking in one of these interest groups (as you are, for the most part, surrounded by like-minded individuals). Whereas in public Hato was fearful of expressing himself as liking boy love manga, with his Genshiken friends (and the Otaku community in general) he is free to express his interest in boy love openly, even cross-dressing without much harassment.

elliekimono

Genshiken pt2

One of the easy things to notice with the first couple of episodes we watched before was the dominant amount of male characters and otakus compared to females in the club and conventions. However, with these episodes, we see more focus of the females with their preferences. No matter the gender though, and perhaps even more so because they’re female, we see characters like Sasahara in Ogiue who is scared of showing her preferences in manga and yaoi. Because she herself is interested in it, she knows the feelings other holds towards yaoi and denies it in hopes that it’ll throw people off. However, I find it interesting that despite her shame and denial, she still goes as far as to create doujinshi, as it is difficult to deny interest if those are found. This shows the difficulty in hiding part of your hobbies and interests. Just like Sasahara before though, her interest in less wholesome content is found out by the club. One of the points that Saito has that defines an otaku is “a person capable of finding sexual objects in fiction itself.” This is shown very clearly in Genshiken, where no matter the gender or attempt to hide their otaku-ness, they all have an interest in not just anime, but also the R 18+ content of it. However, as seen multiply times in the anime, this doesn’t mean they don’t have interest in real people, all of them are still interested in finding a real partner.

woolooshepherd

I agree, it seems like she’s trying (and failing very hard) to reject her ‘otaku-ness.’ She knows that by almost all definitions that she is an otaku, but doesn’t want to be associated with the stereotypes of it. Genshiken forcibly exposes her interests to be out in the open, so maybe being around other otaku will lessen her hate of otaku?

jamesonioninjapan

I feel like the want to publicly decline from showing who your true-self is and or your actual interests is something that is incredibly present in modern society (I am guilty of this myself). Seeing this portrayed through anime through so many different lenses was an eye-opening experiences.

Genshiken [OVA1, 2,5,10,11]

This viewing differs from the first as we see people who are scared to assimilate into their interest groups. The girl who secretly likes male doujinshi is fearful of admitting her interests to the Ginksheken girls (even if one of the shares a similar interest) due to the pressure placed on her by society (which typically looks down on such hobbies). As a result, a whole episode is centered around her where the rest of the Genshiken crew devotes time to catch her in her lies. This fear of indulging in one’s interest in public due to judgement of one’s peers is extremely prevalent in modern society, not being limited to just 18+ content.

On the other hand, I feel like the American characters were meant to portray blissful ignorance. The blonde whose name isn’t Su is portrayed as ignorant of typical Japanese culture and customs. Despite her cultural difference with the rest of the Genshiken members, she is able to assimilate into their shared interests and cosplays at the comic convention. Whereas Su, seems to depict the inappropriate foreigner who likens a particular interest group (possibly being a reference to foreigners who like anime and try to learn Japanese solely from the medium). As a result, she often embarrasses the Ginsheken members and makes them uncomfortable. So, there is another end to the spectrum. Where someone tries to inappropriately appropriate the culture or interest that they enjoy, and, in doing so, they can come off as crude and offensive.

thelastwilluf

Genshiken (1,2,3,9)

Genshiken is a new experience for me, but I think that’s the point. The show explores the fringe group of fandom, one that most would consider weird and awkward for many reasons. However, within the first set of episodes, the show establishes that those not following societal trends still tend to want the same thing. Otaku may be so focused on their culture that they hamper normal social skills, but they are still human. At first, I viewed the group as weird. Their horde of manga and figures seemed to border on dangerous. The amount of time the group spent discussing manga and anime seemed to hamper their capabilities of interacting with others (a very ironic thing to think is weird as I have in the past ignored social activities with friends to watch anime for this class), yet they still desire the same things as Kasukabe, our representative of society. The scene paralleling Sasahara searching through the rows of doujinshi and Kasukabe searching through the racks of clothing for something that balances price just right comes to mind. Furthermore, everyone in the Genshiken club wants to live fairly normal lives, they just enjoy analyzing pop culture at the same time. I still think the Genshiken Club is weird, but I have begun to understand where they come from, a mutually shared desire to consume.

woolooshepherd

I agree, I thought the episodes we watched placed a lot of emphasis on consumerism. The otaku in Genshiken are portrayed as very odd: they’re drawn crudely (most of them) and have strange mannerisms. They’re seen as outsiders, different from “normal” people like Kasukabe. However, like you said, they have a strong desire for consumption, and in that respect are extremely similar to the rest of society.

jamesonioninjapan

I really like the parallels you draw between Sasahara looking for manga to buy and Sasahara fingering through racks of clothing. I agree with the point you bring up regarding the interpreted normal between these two groups is somewhat arbitrary, since, at their core, these people share the same procedures in enjoying their hobbies.

Genshiken [1,2,3,9]

Viewing life through the lens of Otaku in Japan was more enjoyable than i expected. Although they are often viewed as being different from the normal person, the show counters this notion. They dispel this stereotype by imposing stereotypes among Otaku themselves, almost making them their own society of people. And in this instance, I came to the realization that categorizing people within different groups can be particularly arbitrary. The only reason these people are seen differently is due to other’s inability to understand their passions and perceptions.

For me, particularly, I came to this realization when I was weirded out by the characters passion for anime porn. but when I think about people watching ‘normal’ pornography, I don’t second guess it. But is there really a substantial difference between the two? Why do I find one of these normal while the other abnormal? It was just my inexperience in the other field, which makes me want to believe that animated porn is weird (because in essence the two is still just pornography, except for the portions where children-like characters are depicted in porn — that’s still very much weird and borderline illegal).

Another instance I found particularly interesting was during episode 9 where the main member of Genshiken was depicted to be socially inept at speaking to the girl, even if she has been in the club for a year. When he was weighing his options, trying to talk to her, he imagined the scenario in a dating simulator. In essence, this is similar to translating a foreign language into English while I’m trying to understand it. So he was just trying to translate things into terms or situations in which he could understand, which boosted his confidence in the scenario.

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