Armchair Anime Corner @jmalegni - Tumblr Blog

Assassination Classroom (s1 ep 1, 5, 16. s2 ep. 11)

I really enjoyed this series and I think we did a good job picking different series and episodes for the past few classes. While watching it, the main themes that I took out of it were the importance of teamwork, the effects of discrimination, redemption, and friendship. The teamwork aspect was the most obvious theme to me, as the students are trying to grow and become better, and they struggle with it until they learn to work together. Once they realize the true power of working as a team, they all become more confident and overall stronger. The main evidence I saw for this was in episode 5 when the students are going through a training session together, and we can see how much they grow from it. Kind of tied in with the theme of teamwork is the theme of friendship and the benefits that we see of it. At the beginning of the series, the students seemed kind of standoffish, but by the ending episodes we see how much of a team they have become, in large part to their bond of friendship. Although we do not see how all of these bonds are created over the course of the show, it was clear through the episodes that we watched that as time went on, the students became much closer with one another. The final theme that I thought stood out was the idea of redemption. At the beginning of the show, the students perceive Koro-sensei as an enemy because he is an alien, but he is shown to be a great teacher who not only guides them in assassinations, but in giving them life lessons that truly matter. This clearly demonstrates that people should be given an opportunity to prove themselves, rather than being judged by their preconceived notions of who they might be. Overall, I really enjoyed the show.

jmalegni

The students do grow a lot over the course of the show. I mean three kids pretty much sacrifice one of their classmates with a grenade in the beginning but where we left off, they are totally in sync and trying to take down Class A. Good observation.

Assassination Classroom (Ass Class) (Episodes 1-1, 1-5, 1-16, 2-11)

Welp, this is the last official blog post for this class so here we go.

Assassination Classroom takes on the subject of discrimination in education pretty head on. It gets to the point where class A students become zombies that only desire to kill class E. And for what reason? just because they were told that class E is a bunch of inferior idiots and if they do not score better then their ego will be hurt? Not quite following there but it is still entertaining. Still, class E is pretty much sacrificed by the principal in order for every other student to succeed, and somewhat follows the utilitarian philosophy that anything that benefits the overall group should be done even if a few people suffer. In juxtaposition, Koro takes the opposite philosophy about education, adapting his style to every student's individual needs to bring the kids to their full potential. Before Koro, the class was full of the equivalent of punching bags for everyone else, but one teacher turned them into top students capable of challenging even the brightest of the other classes. It shows the importance of having a good teacher that is truly passionate about their student's education, I personally have encountered this where I didn't have a teacher for the first quarter of an AICE class (AP equivalent) and my high school ended up putting one of the AP teachers in for us even though she had no experience with the content. She was amazing and even though we were super behind, her attitude and desire for us to succeed is what allowed me to do very well on the final. Any other teacher and I guarantee that I would have failed. It is amazing what a good teacher can do for students, and this anime shows it very well.

I also want to note that these 13 or 14 year old kids have exam questions that I literally have been covering in Discrete, that is crazy. But, I guess it is commenting on the pressure in other countries to do well in school by having all these kids handle tons of pressure and very difficult concepts while trying to kill their teacher.

ceejayblogs

1/23/23: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (ep. 1,2,6,10)

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has been an anime on my watchlist for too long. As a result, I ended up watching the whole thing and it was pretty damn good. Loved the cyberpunk aesthetic, and the story and characters were great (May you rest in peace Rebecca). I will say though that some of the content was super questionable in terms of ‘appropriability’ and I’m honestly surprised how this one got nominated. But aye, here we are I guess.

The structure of a social class is a pretty well laid out scheme in the anime. It illustrates how one can be punished greatly and discriminated against for having a low socioeconomic status. David and his mother live out a rough life as a result and are frequently subjected to the powers of people of higher status. Trying to find ways to cheat the system by attempting to go around it, such as in the case of David trying to bypass the upgrade for his school, is met with huge backlash and consequences. It is also clear how the people of the higher class look down on his situation in school and how people turn a blind eye if people have no money; eventually cascading down to David’s mother’s death as a result. It’s a pretty terrifying concept that I feel has its share in our society.

I also think that this show cleverly depicts class mobility and the risks that come with taking shortcuts. It draws a fine line between moving through a higher education to ascend to a higher class, or turning to the high risk, high reward acts of a cyberpunk. The consequences become apparent when David becomes less and less of his original self. First starting with Maine, it demonstrates how biting too hard can backfire on oneself. It’s unfortunate that David fell victim to this and I was pretty sad to see him go out like that.

jmalegni

With class mobility I would go as far to say that it is nearly impossible in Night City. I mean David had the most advanced cybernetics possible yet he couldn't "win". It is definitely an exaggerated example of our world as a whole, but there are some areas where this is a reality. Nice analysis!

Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Never thought that we would be watching something that I have actually seen before, pretty awesome.

Edgerunners is quite the heavy show, themes of addiction, class divide, crime, dystopian levels of capitalism, and family. I will begin with the addiction that is rampant in Night City. Whether it's drugs, sex, or cybernetic implants, it seems everybody in the city has some kind of horrible vice. They know it is not good for them but they continue doing it because they either need them to survive or they are the only source of "happiness" in this world. David's death is the best example of this, he adopts more and more cybernetics to keep up with the crew and to survive, but no matter how many he gets it ends up killing him in the end, just like addiction in the real world it starts with one but you need more and more until it eats up your entire life.

The reason David felt like he needed to start getting cybernetics is because of a brutal level of capitalism that Night City is built on. Every single thing is commodified to the point that first responders will leave you to die if you haven't purchased the right package from them. And that is exactly what happens, David's mother dies and he is left with all the burden of catching up on all kinds of expenses while his only family just died. For Christ's sake she was cremated in a vending machine and spit out like a can of soda. The point here is that David felt like he had nowhere to go in his current life and when an opportunity to improve his life through crime, he took it. If he never would have lost his mother and they weren't behind on their payments, I would like to think it is unlikely he would have accepted Lucy's offer.

Crime is also just as frequent as addiction in this city. The police seem to be just exist for show or to serve the corpos. Like I said earlier, it is the nature of the city to push those at the bottom to living a life outside of the law, and with so many of these people, it has gotten to the point where it is pretty much accepted as a part of life for all. It's commentary on police corruption and societal systems that don't focus on providing avenues for stable lives for those who aren't as well of as others, i.e. education, rehabilitation, or general financial aid.

The divide between the corporations and everyone else is very stark in the world of Cyberpunk. It is what feeds this ever hungry capitalism that pushes so many people to addiction and crime. And no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to legitimately ascend to the status of corpo from where someone like David is. His mother pretty much devoted her entire life to work, to the system to try to generate enough money to get David through a nice school that would allow him to legitimately reach the top floor of Arasaka Tower. But it is impossible, those at the top have made it that way. That's why there isn't some grand plot to fight the system and bring Night City to it's full potential. Instead Lucy wants to escape. Escape as far as possible and that place is the Moon, not Antarctica, the Moon.

The last thing I will talk about is how important family is in Edgerunners. David starts by losing everything, but finds a new family in the crew. Maine adopts a father like figure, teaching David and supporting him until the end. Even though they commit all kinds of horrible violence an incredibly strong bond is formed with many of the members. David finds actual happiness when with the crew and appreciates the connections, willing to give his own life for them multiple times. I am sure he loved his mother, but it was different from what he gets from the connection with the crew.

Alright, that's it from me, awesome anime,. and I can't believe we only have one more left.

Also I am glad at least Falco survived

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.

jmalegni

Me-Mania definitely embodies the super parasocial fan and is living a very unhealthy lifestyle because of it. Yet I would like to propose that Rumi actually was much worse, if I understood the movie properly, she was the one communicating with Me-Mania and making him believe that the real Mima was an imposter. It all does come back to the psychological distress of not being able to discern reality from a fantasy world or piece of entertainment.

Perfect Blue

Holy, this was more horror than Psycho-Pass. And of course this is what we watch when I am writing my essay defending otaku. Kinda funny not gonna lie.

Anyway, this movie really focused on the struggle of being in the limelight. Mima's mental health issues, parasocial fans, and just the general pressure that gets placed on entertainment figures. There were so many times where I had absolutely no idea what was real ore not and I guess that's a good thing? I am assuming that was the goal because Mima also had no idea what was real or not as the film progressed. So please correct me if I am wrong but there are two stalkers, Me-Mania and Rumi. Rumi is upset by Mima's decision to shed her good girl pop idol image and ends up believing that the real Mima is an imposter. Rumi then "recruits" Me-Mania to just make Mima's life miserable? Not too sure there.

To get to actual themes, actors/actresses, idols, pretty much any entertainment figure all have a significant amount of pressure placed on them to perform in certain ways and do certain things, Mima became spilt between her past idol self and her new actress self. Rumi and Me-Mania also were very influential in exasperating this divide, getting Mima to actually lose track of what was real, what was a dream, and what was in the move that she was acting in (which conveniently was super similar to the actual situation). The idol is pressured to be the perfect good girl, cute dresses, catering to the adoring fans, always being happy. The actress is pressured to take risks, do anything that will get you noticed, in this film it takes form of acting rape scenes multiple times, and taking nude photos for distribution. Mima struggles to escape the idol mindset and to healthily take on the actress role, leading to her mental issues. All of this stems from what she believes her fans expect and want from her when really it's only a couple of problematic people that own a webpage and is pretty much her only confidant. The other fans while disappointed by Mima's decision, get over it and move on with there lives like normal. But its the extreme parasociality in a few that ruin it all.

Definitely a heavy one, but I am glad Mima ends up being happy and successful.

thirteen-orphans

Sensoron Reflection

To everyone who has had to read this as their first manga ever: I am so sorry that this had to be your first.

Very bluntly put, this manga made me incredibly uncomfortable, as both someone born and raised in the west and has Chinese roots. It's honestly made worse by the fact that the mangaka did have some logical arguments; it's true that you shouldn't trust everything that the media puts out and verify the facts yourself. While the mangaka eagerly went on to disprove all of the incriminating ""evidence"" against Japan regarding their war crimes, he conveniently left out evidence from his own side to support his ideas... Hm. Thonk moment fr. Obviously, as this is more or less propaganda from the right-wing, right-wing consumers won't need evidence to eat it up and believe it in its entirety, which then leads to echo chambers with politics. However, the mangaka's own thinking is flawed, and the lengths he goes through to justify these ""facts"" is really wild to see, because it's not that other countries are saying that Japan is completely guilty and the only country to have committed war crimes in WW2 (clearly not the case; consider Germany, and then even the Japanese internment camps in America), but rather that because these things have happened, they need to be acknowledged, just like how America remembers the Civil War and the events leading up to it, and its treatment of Native American peoples.

The thing that disgusted me the most was how the mangaka tried to downplay the trauma of comfort women by just passing them off as testimonies and how aren't exactly factual. Again, I am influenced by my own biases as someone raised in the west, but I think it's important to listen to victims when they say that their human rights have been violated. Again, it's not like Japan was the only country to do this; and yet, this blatant denial is kind of sickening. It's not just one or two or three or four people who have spoken out. When someone (or a country) is repeatedly accused of horrific crimes, then maybe supporters should take a step back and really think about why this is happening, because it's really not just some one-off incident or some personal grudge that people have. They just want closure and reparations, and denial isn't going to get them that.

The mangaka's attack on the "newer generation" and the way he thinks they're being "brainwashed" reminds me of the reading, where nationalism is rooted in the homogeneity of culture and thought. In a less extreme(?) example, it reminded me of the conflict in America before and during the Revolutionary War, when you had people living in America who still believed that being ruled under the British was still the better way of life and that those who wanted to fight for freedom were lunatics or something.

As always, war sucks. Everyone loses in war, except for maybe the wealthy who can afford to not care, or the people who are able to benefit directly off of war.

Sorry for some of the more... heated? Opinionated? Language in this reflection, I really did not like this reading lol. Had to force myself to sit down and not immediately skim/scroll through everything. There are certain things I like from Japan (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be taking this class), but it really gets on my nerves when anyone tries to portray Japan as this wonderful place that can do no wrong and is being bullied by the other powerful countries of the world like. no you numbskull japan isn't just some single entity with no imperfections. i'm goign to turn you all into mushrooms. get mushroomed. idiot. [trying really hard to hold back rn]

jmalegni

I think you got it spot on. The author's claims are incredibly hypocritical, he is practically screaming that the younger generations are being brainwashed and mislead by media because they are not checking their sources, yet he is doing pretty much the exact same thing but for the opposing side. From comfort women, to the Rape of Nanking, he brings up a few random examples, "disproves" them, and generalizes that to the entire event/group. It is very problematic, yet I still enjoyed being exposed to it because it allows me to see and understand what these ultra-nationalists think.

Sensoron

Who doesn't love a classic revisionist history manga that pretty much is just super conservative propaganda. But seriously this was a very interesting read in the aspect that I haven't ever seen what revisionist history looks like for any country other than the U.S.

The author of Sensoron seems to be a person who is fed up with "Japanese apologists" and the "brainwashing" of new generations into believing that Imperial Japan was evil. Now I will admit, I am not very familiar with the history of Imperial Japan during the Sino-Japanese wars and the Russo-Japanese war, so I cannot directly disprove some of the authors claims of certain event not happening or downplaying Japan's role in the suffering of many Asians in the period. What I can do is point out some very clear fallacious generalizations that are made. The first of these being the few photos that he "proves" are false or misattributed to make Japan look bad. He at least provides some references for his claims on the falsity of the photos (I am not going to go fact check them) but he generalizes those few examples to all of media trying to brainwash the Japanese into becoming mindless western puppets. There is obvious unfair generalization, hyperbole, and bias here. The author also depicts this as a specific attack on the Japanese, when in reality every country is targeted by not so fair media portrayal. I am sure that in Russia the U.S. is painted in a very negative light using all kinds of doctored documents. But that is just reality, Japan isn't necessarily unique in this sense.

Taken out of the Japanese victimization context, there is a rare piece of good advice from the author. Always validate your sources, especially as technology develops and new methods evolve for propaganda purposes.

Anyway, this guy is totally off his rocker though. Saying the Rape of Nanking was some Chinese soldiers dressed as Japanese. And including Korea and Manchuria along the with Japanese Islands when referencing Japan is just blatant revisionist history. I do not think he necessarily has malicious intentions though. He legitimately believes that the Japanese are becoming western puppets and is scared that Japan will become a doormat for other nations. I find it pretty sad but it puts this manga into perspective.

What a great first manga.

ceejayblogs

4/14/23: Shinkai – Your Name

Makoto Shinkai films are simply beautiful. Having seen this film several years ago, I’m still in awe at how crisp and nice the animations and scenes are. The music from Radwimps is amazing and this film holds up pretty well in my heart today.

Much of the film can be taken in through the scenery. I think that Makoto does a great job of showcasing this through its insane attention to detail and brief pauses that are light but powerful. This combined with very noticeable symbolism in the bracelet ties and the infinity sign of the lake, creates some pretty interesting motifs. The red strings seem to draw a parallel to human relationships in how they “twist, tangle, sometimes unravel and break, and then connect again”. The infinity symbol of the lake also seems to touch on a sense of unchangingness and eternity.

Above all, I feel that Your Name excels at presenting the idea of love and empathy. Being that Mitsuha and Taki live completely different lives in different environments, it forces them to be aware of each other’s presence when they switch. Through chaotic messes and shenanigans, they both become understanding and grateful for the other person. And towards the end with a powerful finish, Makoto takes great note of that and presents a great portrayal of what it means to love someone. It can make an individual feel so powerful and capable of doing anything. The way it can push someone like Taki to try so hard to find Mitsuha or cause tears for Mitsuha in setting up Taki on a date, feels so well done.

While some people have commented on how convoluted and confusing it is to understand Makoto’s intentions (which I do agree with to some degree), I do feel like watching this for a second time has definitely helped a lot in my own understanding of it. Having watched this, The Gardens of Words, and Weathering With You, I’m excited to see what Makoto Shinkai creates with his new film.

jmalegni

I see the scene where Taki writes "I love you" on Mitsuha's hand to be a perfect exemplification of Makoto's portrayal of what it means to love someone. He could have written his name like he said he would but writing I love you is much more emotional and it could be argued that that is what allowed Mitsuha and Taki to feel like they are searching for something and drives them to do the impossible and find each other despite the loss of memory. Great job at analyzing Makoto's emphasis on love/emotion.

Your Name

Ahg the emotions once again. I really need to just start expecting for the rest of my day to be ruined whenever we are assigned a movie. Guess it is too late for that now though.

Your Name is a really beautiful movie with a pretty large emphasis on emotion and traditionality vs modernity. There are a multitude of points in the movie centered around tradition and its importance with the ever increasing creep of modernity threatening to erase it. To name off some examples, when the other girls are disgusted by the Kuchikamizake, Mitsuha's father rejecting the shrine in favor of becoming mayor, and Mitsuha's whole disillusionment of the country lifestyle and her desire to live in Tokyo. Despite these recurrences, tradition is vital in Taki and Mitsuha's success. Taki needs to drink the Kuchikamizake to connect back to Mitsuha and save the town. Lots of commentary on preserving tradition and the religion that comes with it.

The body swapping aspect also lends itself to some critiquing of stereotypical gender standards too. Through Taki, Mitsuha's social life seems to get a bit better, at least becoming more popular and standing up for herself when others talk behind her back. Through Mitsuha, Taki is able to get a date with Miki even though it doesn't work out. Miki is very helpful later on and helps Taki save Itomori. Before the swapping, Taki was described as short tempered and blunt (common hegemonic masculinity descriptors), but with Mitsuha's help/interference he learns to be a bit softer and more "feminine" as Miki put it. Same for Mitsuha but in the other direction, acting more assertive and "tomboyish" I guess.

I very much enjoyed this film and will be back to give it a full review whenever I rewatch it.

thirteen-orphans

Hetalia Axis Powers (1-19) Reflection

Hello darkness my old friend, I have come to see you again... If the ending song gets stuck in my head again I might uh. Have to go skydiving off the top of Century Tower. Yeah. Watching this really brought me visceral emotional damage.

The most obvious thing to talk about with Hetalia is how the countries are personified into pretty anime boys. The moe elements are also easy to identify, with the antenna hair/ahoge/hair curl, and these representations of the countries is used to make light of them. As satirical as it's supposed to be, Hetalia offers very stereotypical views on various countries, but sometimes not treating serious topics with the right type of attitude or respect will result in fans also not taking the matters seriously. I appreciate those who consume this show critically, but once you get lost in your fantasies of hot (?) country-turned-humans, that tends to end up on the backburner. Either way, I don't really know how the Hetalia fandom is like these days, but from what I saw of it in 2015/2016, people were more concerned with shipping their favourite characters and creating scenarios for them (or maybe that's because I never bothered to engage with fandom much, back then and even now).

One concession I do have to make is that Hetalia does seem to provide people with an initial spark of interest in other countries and world history as a whole. The short, episodic nature of the anime doesn't lend much opportunity to properly delve into the history (and I don't think an anime that originated as a 4koma would want to properly discuss more serious topics at the expense of amusement), so it does depend on the fans themselves to educate themselves. This falls in line in being critical about the things you're consuming, because it doesn't take much to realize that the perspectives provided by Hetalia are largely influenced by creators of one sole country.

jmalegni

Hetalia definitely has a positive in that it is a super easy and fun way to be introduced to history and geopolitics. Compared to an AP history class back in high school or a 40 minute long video essay on YouTube, Hetalia is incredibly digestible. But that's where it ends, as you said, it doesn't want to actually describe the references it makes because it would take away from the entertainment factor for the target audience. Hopefully, some kids watch this anime and realize that the history between countries is super interesting and they go off to actually learn about it from reputable sources (not Hetalia).

Hetalia Axis Powers (Episodes 1-19)

Welp, after reading Angel's post there is literally nothing new I can contribute to the discussion. Might as well pack up and go home now.

Hetalia is unique to everything else we have watched in class. It takes a very heavy topic such as war and geopolitics, then removes any meaningful conflict, inserting comedic moments in this vacuum. The countries involved are personified according to the common stereotype, but some receive a overall more negative personification than others. See Germany compared to Canada. From an outside perspective this is quite funny, and as long as you don't either look into it too much or are directly affected by the stereotypes it seems fine. It is still worrisome though. With current geopolitical examples there is a serious potential for harm, take Russia as an example. In the anime, Russia is seen being nice on the outside to its allies, but secretly waiting to commit horrible acts on them as soon as he gets the chance. Combine that with the war in Ukraine and all the negative media coverage Russia as a whole is receiving, most people could believe that Russians are not good people and always looking for an opportunity to cause harm. Now it is very important to separate the actions of the Russian government and its citizens. The government is actually doing horrible things with bogus justifications, but the average Russian citizen is not looking to physically invade former eastern block countries in the name of Restoring Russia to its former glory. My point here is that it is dangerous how Hetalia's personifications exaggerate stereotypes that are based on a country's government's choices. It doesn't separate the government and its citizens. Even with the stereotypes that stem from how certain people are believed to act still can be damaging to their reputation, even if it is just subconsciously.

I still personally was able to enjoy it, I probably just have super low standards and will pretty much enjoy anything presented to me, but I cannot stress it enough that you can't take anything seriously or think too much about it. After seeing this, I would love to find an anime that actually sticks to historical events more, I think that would be great. But it could also suffer from some similar problems Hetalia has.

shyuch

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

The Expression of a Video Game:

Anime and video games are two different mediums. Anime only makes use of limited animation, or even if it uses full animation, it could not ever render frames in such frequent intervals like 60fps. So, this opens up for a lot of extra room to have story-telling by action rather than dialogue. And it really does show, the scenes and camera movement seemed a lot more dynamic than you would find in anime. I just overall found this very interesting.

Blades Vs. Humans:

It seems that humans are jealous of the things that Blades want, and Blades want the things that humans take for granted. For example, blades can essentially live forever, but they do not want to live forever, they forget the past memories they made, and the way that this works makes everything a little less meaningful. However, since humans only have one life, everything has a meaning. And even though that humans die, they get to pass their generational knowledge down because they can remember, the blades cannot. In a way, the blades are more chained down by their limitations than humans.

Xenoblade Chronicles Vs. SAO:

I noticed a lot of parallels between the two works. First of all, I feel as though there is an "ascension" need, in order to find who is the controller of the world, and in order to get rid of them. They also have an aspect where there is a creator, and he's a power, all knowing being who controls all. Not to mention, once the creator is defeated, they all flash to a desolate sky/ocean only type scenery. These parallels just make me wonder, even though they have different messages, are they inspired off of one another?

Deep Ecology:

I feel as though that this makes sense. In the spectrum of deep ecology, humans care more about what matters to them, so they wouldn't make the sacrifice in the end to restore the world. However, blades which are more part inorganic matter, part biological replication, they understand the needs of non-living things, so at the end someone like Pyra steps up and gives the humans and the living creatures one more chance to inhabit it, because only will they understand a pragmatic version of Deep Ecology, will things prosper for humans.

jmalegni

I find it interesting that you bring up Pyra being a blade makes her more willing to sacrifice herself for the betterment of everyone else. As you said, she knows that she isn't human and being an aegis on top of that puts a ton of responsibility on her shoulders. Rex doesn't understand this at all, but is forced to accept it which furthers the point of a blade making this kind of sacrifice.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Watching a ton of cutscenes from a videogame for a class is definitely a new one for me but I did enjoy it an now wish I had a Nintendo device to actually play the game.

A lot of the themes in the game stem from a simple human scientist attaining godhood and pretty much hard resetting the world. While we don't know a lot about the old world, we do know that there was a pretty bad war that necessitated the use of an unknown power source. One rouge scientist later, and now everything is dead or mutated into horrible monsters. The scientist becomes immortal and is forced to watch his new creations exist. I see this whole concept as commentary on giving one person too much power. Humans are not meant to act as gods and it isn't feasible. The scientist pretty much lost hope and gave control to fate as he just sat by and watched until the very end.

The dynamic between Blades and Drivers is also a central theme. Blades are somewhat dependent on their Drivers to exist ad retain their memories. They also derive the intentions of the Drivers bonded to them. The question Xenoblade focuses on here is if Blades are equivalent to humans. They have their own memories and emotions, but they live for a vast amount of time and may not have a complete will of their own. I would say that the game does lean toward them being worthy of the same respect and rights that humans get, even if their desires are not 100% their own, the same could be said for humans who practice groupthink. Blades still feel very strongly for their desires as well, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs.

I hope to one day be able to play through the whole series as it seems very good and well thought out. But for now, it's back to essay writing.

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.

jmalegni

The whole considering nature as an enemy aspect is really interesting, If the Tolmeikan and Pejite put as much effort into learning about the sea of decay instead of methods to destroy it. They would have found that it is actually cleanses the world. But that wouldn't help their leaders gain power, instead it is much better for these leaders to make the sea of decay an existential threat to justify their will to power and to imperialize. It is great commentary on world leadership and environmental damage.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Dang, I think I'm officially a Studio Ghibli fan after this one. I know this technically was before they were created, but everyone accepts it as one of Studio Ghibli's.

Our interactions with nature and the world we live on is the key theme in this movie. We see two opposing ideologies, one where humans coexist with nature and treat it with respect, and the other where we go to war with it. In this film, humans are not capable of winning a war with nature, evidenced by the destruction of the "old world" a thousand years ago. Nausicaa seems to be very in tune with the dangerous insects and uses this connection to live peacefully in the valley. She understands that killing one will only cause issues further down the line. And it is later revealed that the insects and the sea of decay are acting as a giant filter that cleanses the toxic soil created by humanity's wars, which furthers the point against destruction of nature/environment which is so central in the story. Even in the artistic choices, there is clear distinction between the people of the valley and the other warring nations looking to destroy the sea of decay. The glider Nausicaa uses is very simple, not armed, and almost white, while the other factions are clearly made with metal, rivets all over them, ball turrets fit in wherever possible. The people are different as well, the soldiers have helmets that cover their faces while the citizens of the valley wear plain clothing even at war. All of this to differentiate the ideologies.

War is also a big part of the story. The creation of the giants is what led to this whole mess in the first place. I believe that they are analogs to the nuclear weapons we have today but scaled many times over. They represent the end of the slippery slope called arms races. The blast we see coming from the underdeveloped giant produces a blast similar to what a nuclear bomb would create. Additionally it's not just war with the sea of decay, it's war with other factions. It is shown as incredibly needless violence and imperialism. When the Pejite brig is being boarded, a command for no survivors is issued. Even with women and children on board, likely some of the last of the Pejite. It is another exemplification of the cruelty of war.

Before I finish, I want to state how much I adore the visuals in the movie. The landscapes are awesome and are super immersive along with the world building. It is just an amazing mixture, resulting in a great movie.

Swampcon 2023

So this was my first ever "experience" with anime culture in a physical setting. And I have to say, it was pretty cool. Being able to see all kinds of cosplays and recognizing different characters was a lot of fun. I spent most of my time exploring different panels and learning about the physical nature of the culture surrounding anime.

The vendor hall and artist alley were very interesting. I've grown up with amazon and other online marketplaces dominating the figurine, clothing, and other related merch. It was very refreshing to see it all in person and get a sense for how it would actually look/feel. Also, interacting with the people selling the items and art was great, a lot of the artists seemed very passionate about their work and I feel like a learned a bit about the whole process. Which I loved because I am the exact opposite of artistic.

To get to the panels, I started off with cosplay 101. Before this class I had barely even thought of cosplay or the many intricacies associated with it. I was very surprised about how deep you could go if say, you wanted to make one from scratch. I was also introduced to proper manners that come with cosplaying, most of which are common sense, but also some additional things like wearing sealer if you are using body paint so it doesn't rub off on your clothes or other people. I don't plan on cosplaying, it seems really fun, but you would probably need to go with a group of friends or to a larger convention to get full enjoyment out of it. Overall, very interesting panel.

I spent the rest of Saturday going to humor based panels, Rating Muscular Women in Anime, How to get a Rizztraining Order, and best of all Javier's Bad Fanfic Reading. All of which were hilarious and incredibly entertaining. The fanfic reading was definitely an experience I will never forget. I won't get into the details, but Javier did an incredible job at narrating and setting it all up and I want to give him props for it. Even with the more silly nature of these panels, I see a lot of the aspects that we talked about in class in relation to anime/otaku culture. The fanfics included very popular characters from media that the author's wished to "make their own", the entire rating system for muscular women is a method of personally attaching the presenter's sexuality with a variety of characters from popular anime. Even the Rizztraining Order panel gives insight into the more negative side of otaku culture with stalking/downright creepiness of cosplayers.

I sadly was unable to attend the convention on Sunday. There were a couple more panels I had wished to attend, like vtubers 101 and the history of japanese literature. Just from a learning standpoint to see more examples of the physical culture surrounding me, but I am sure I will learn plenty more as life goes on, and there will be plenty of other opportunities. Oh and I missed the cosplay contest too, which I was looking forward to, I'll just make sure I don't mis it next year.

Overall, this was a very memorable experience and a great introduction to what conventions are like. I will definitely be attending next year, and hopefully will learn even more.

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