Is Shugo Chara's sequel good? Or more nostalgia slop from Nakayoshi. Jewel Joker takes place at Sei Arcana, a school where all children are assigned Shugo Chara. But what does it mean to assign children an identity, and what becomes of who they were.
Minor fandom thing I've noticed but it's the idea that critique is aimed at changing the creator's mind/work. I think the internet makes it hard to understand what audience someone is talking to.
Like do you think I'm talking to John Toei through my videos? Or am I talking to other adult fans who watch video essays on YouTube.
my problem is if i enjoy something enough i will be nitpicking. i Will have things to say about where and how it failed. out of nothing but love straight from my heart. unfortunately this often makes me indistinguishable from a hater who has never experienced joy or kindness. such is the amateur critic's burden.
The Pretty Series as a metaphor for art and entertainment
The Pretty Series is at its best and most creative when it becomes a metaphor for the entertainment industry. This is usually done in very abstract ways, so it's hard to discern the exact meaning, but to some degree this has happened in every single iteration of the series. In the Pretty Series, art can lead to anything from friendship and fulfillment to god complexes and a hell of one's own making. It's vague and confusing and I don't fully understand it, so to some extent, I'm explaining this to myself as much as I'm explaining it to everyone else reading this.
Please be warned, this is an incredibly long essay. Don't let it overwhelm you. Feel free to read just one or two parts.
Aurora Dream
The success or failure of Aurora Rising depends on the purity of the performer's heart. A successful Aurora Rising is performed by someone who sincerely wants the audience to be happy and entertained above all else. Characters who perform Aurora Rising with ulterior motives will face grave consequences. When Rizumu tries to perform Aurora Rising in episode 46, she gets sucked into Hell due to her negative feelings and desperation to win. And even people who begin to perform Aurora Rising with pure intentions have trouble keeping that purity throughout the entire jump. What they see in the aurora affects them. If they have emotional baggage, the aurora reminds them of that. If they have any kinds of ties or commitments outside of Prism Shows, they probably won't be able to compete the jump. That's why they wear a wedding dress to perform Aurora Rising, because they must be committed to the jump above all else. To have other desires is to commit infidelity against the aurora. Yeah, it's kinda weird.
Anyway, point is, they have to have a pure heart. However, a pure heart is different from an empty heart. In episode 37, Kaname fails to perform Aurora Rising (or more specifically, performs an evil version of it), presumably because there is nothing in her heart. While you can't be distracted by your emotional baggage, you also need to have something you want to convey. Otherwise you're just going through the movements.
Aira can perform Aurora Rising Dream because she has both a pure heart and a desire to make everyone happy. Aurora Rising Dream is interactive art.
I find the whole aurora metaphor a bit difficult to understand, but in a way, it's the most straightforward of all the metaphors. It's about what a performer wishes to convey, and whether that's in line with the thing they value most. When the thing a performer wants to convey is the same as the thing they value the most, and it also connects with something that's already hidden in the audience's heart—that's when their art will be the most enjoyable.
Dear My Future
DMF is has one of the most abstract finales, so it's especially hard to understand. But the Symphonia plotline is primarily about the problems that can arise when an artist is too committed to their vision.
I find Kintarou one of the hardest characters to understand, even though, as an artist, I sort of relate to him. The way he's written is esoteric and confusing. Prior to all the crazy surreal stuff, his biggest crime seems to be "using people". He is so committed to this Symphonia project that he has no problem using people for it, making them suffer for it, and discarding them once they've outlived their usefulness. Many artists in a position of power do this. From modelling agencies that force their models to starve, to film directors who make the actors suffer for real in order to make their performance more convincing, the world of entertainment is full of people who will do anything to make their art come out exactly as they envisioned it. I guess Kintarou is a sort of critique of this. (Which is ironic, because I've heard that the staff of Pretty Rhythm worked the employees to the bone and yelled at a voice actor and made her spend 5 hours recording one song... I wonder if Kintarou is a self-criticism of sorts.)
Anyway, despite his efforts, Kintarou's vision was never realized, and he grew bitter and resentful because of that. I really do sympathize with him because I've been there too... I think most artists have been there at some point or another. But after this, his whole character just becomes a messy amalgamation of contradictory 'loser' traits like wanting to evolve and be the best but then not wanting to evolve and instead wanting to be stagnant forever? My best guess is that, as he became consumed with hatred, his vision for Symphonia got corrupted. "If I can't evolve, then no one can." Something like that. Again, I sympathize, because I've been there. It hurts to see people reaching heights you never could, when you spent years trying your hardest to reach them.
I also want to mention the whole Pretty Remake thing, where the designers attempt to remove Kintarou's hateful intent from his designs. They're able to evolve his designs into something non-evil, but there are limits to how much the dresses can be transformed. Even if those dresses got a makeover, Kintarou is still the one who made the original designs, so he still has some control over them. It draws parallels to transformative fiction. For example:
There are a lot of modern, "progressive" fantasy stories set in a world based on that created by Tolkien. However, one of the fundamentals of the fantasy genre is the idea that the world can be conquered and that certain races act in certain ways. It's difficult to use this setting without reinforcing those ideas.
Modern reboots of outdated media. There's a post about Dune that talks about how the movies tried to get rid of some of the bigotry, but bigotry was so essential in forming the story that you can't really get rid of it.
Even if you successfully remove the original intent of a work, that doesn't change the person who created the work. Even if you interpret their work in a positive way that makes you happy, the original creator is still receiving your money and attention.
Obviously the examples I gave have nothing to do with Pretty Rhythm, but the core idea is the same.
As for Dark Aira... my best guess is that it's sort of like when you read a really good book that makes reality feel boring and pointless in comparison, and you never want to put the book down... you just keep reading and reading and ignoring everyone around you... but I just don't know.
Rainbow Live
Through the character of Kouji, Rainbow Live takes a more grounded, personal, small-scale approach to artists and their art. This is Pretty Rhythm so it's still dramatic and ridiculous at times, but Kouji's story doesn't involve him losing his soul or taking over the world or anything. He's just a songwriter who has a lot of feelings and baggage attached to his songs. (same!) He and Ito both feel incredibly prideful and possessive over the songs they wrote. They want to be appreciated, they want to be credited, and they don't want people doing things to their songs without permission. Basically, the kind of things that copyright laws should cover. Speaking of copyright, a large amount of the drama around Kouji has to do with credit and copyright. The characters are constantly playing 5D chess to try to get the rights to his songs, it's kinda funny. I don't think there's much meaning or symbolism behind those episodes; I think it's just because Pretty Rhythm loves Drama.
There's also the whole thing with Edel Rose, the school that exploits performers and encourages them to become their worst selves. I think it's pretty self-explanatory.
PriPara
Season 1 has several subplots about art and entertainment explored through different characters, mainly Sophy and Falulu.
Sophy's arc is about how expectations can hurt artists and public figures. Her manager (sentient plush rabbit) insists on over-medicating her (making her eat pickled plums all the time) to hide her disability, because he thinks nobody will like her if they see how she normally is. This is common for entertainers, especially the ones working under lots of contracts. The most well-known example is probably the "no dating" rule for idols. Sophy's example is especially bad because she's being made to hide the essence of herself, her natural way of existing. But luckily people still like her even when they find out how she really is.
Falulu's story is much more relevant now than it was when PriPara first aired. What do you do when an AI steals your creations and uses them to win against you? Well, apparently, befriend them so they die and then get reborn with a soul which allows them to start making original art. I'm not sure that real-world AI is at that point yet.
Season 2 of Pripara is perhaps the most direct the Pretty Series has ever been about its artist metaphor. I feel like I don't even need to explain it because it's one of the few times the Pretty Series actually explains itself. I'm still gonna explain it, though.
Hibiki is a 3-in-1 (if not more than 3) artist metaphor, but each element leads to the next and is explained clearly enough that it doesn't feel too confusing. The elements, in order, are:
Genius vs. hard worker
Elitism in the art world
Art as a way of escaping reality
The first part, genius vs. hard worker, is the most generic and probably the least interesting, or at least not as insane as the other parts. It also might've made me more mentally ill as a teenager, but nobody wants to hear about that. Nevertheless, it's a question most artists will ponder at some point. Do some people just naturally have a spark that others don't, and can hard work make up for not having that spark? PriPara never gives a clear answer to this question. Personally, I don't think there's always a clear dichotomy between a genius and a hard worker.
Hibiki's elitism is represented through Celepara, where the only people allowed to perform are those who Hibiki approves of. Rather than inspiring the masses to chase their dreams, Celepara invites a passive audience who believe they can never be as good as the people performing. As an insightful blogger once said, "Hibiki is a record label. PriPara is YouTube."
Hibiki is also the type of person who would rather have AI art than art done by an amateur. This is shown pretty clearly in episode 79 when Padonna's concert is cancelled and, rather than letting a lower-rank idol perform, Meganee takes her place.
Anyway, Celepara causes Mirei to get discouraged and quit being an idol, which leads to what I consider one of Pripara's best episodes: the episode where Gaaruru debuts as an idol and has fun despite being a bad singer and falling down repeatedly during her performance. This reminds Mirei that enjoying what you do is more important than being talented. It's a message that I think we need even more now than we did when the episode first aired.
The "art as a way of escaping reality" part is very plot-heavy and detached from reality so I don't even know where to begin with that. I guess I just mean that Hibiki's wish to live in PriPara forever as a vocal doll has parallels with people who like to use entertainment to escape reality.
As a side note, Mechanee is kind of like a comedic, non-plot-essential version of Kintarou. She, too, makes people obey her every whim in the name of art.
...Ajimi is also an artist, but I have no idea where to even start with her.
PriChan
To be honest, I didn't watch most of Prichan season 1. I did watch a couple of the finale episodes, but they seemed to be fairly straightforward, grounded in reality, and free of the Pretty Series' signature metaphysical nonsense, so I'm not interested in talking about it.
The season 2 finale is more about friendship than it is about art or entertainment, so I won't talk about that either.
But the season 3 finale is sort of saying something about people in power trying to regulate entertainment. Luluna releases egg soldiers who ban anyone who's performing or consuming in the "wrong" way. There is a parallel with social media companies enforcing increasingly strict rules in the name of keeping things "safe" and "family-friendly". There are also lots of examples from before social media, like the Hays Code.
Anyway, Luluna Rule is sort of like CelePara, but this time with an emphasis on "safety" rather than "popularity and talent".
PriMagi
The performers in PriMagi all have different approaches to entertainment: Matsuri does it for fun, Hina does it to win, Touma and Hughie do it to encourage the others, Amane is burnt out and jealous of those who still enjoy PriMagi, Jennifer is possibly even more burnt out and the whole experience of being a Primagista has wounded her deeply. But my main focus here is not on the performers, but the corporation that controls them.
Achihiko talks a lot about "entertainment". His ideal version of entertainment is highly competitive, and dependent on having winners and losers. In a way, it's the opposite of Kintarou's vision, where nobody wins or loses. But despite that, he's similar to Kintarou in how he uses people and makes them suffer for the sake of his vision... speaking of his vision, did Jennifer metaphorically destroy his 'vision' by literally attacking his eye?
The Omega plot also addresses automation. In-universe, Auru's song and dance is completely AI-generated. Jennifer is able to perform an Illusion without a Manamana. The Omega corporation is interested in automating magic so that the magic world and its inhabitants become obsolete.
I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't actually finish PriMagi so I'm not sure how these plots resolve. But I'll update this post if/when I finish it.
AiPri
I don't really know what Aipri was trying to say a lot of the time, because I'm not sure it knows either. I mean, each plotline is individually comprehensible, but I don't know what the show's message is as a whole.
To me, Dark Chii is the most straightforward element. It's basically a rehash of Rizumu's corruption + Mirei's despair arc, the only unique change being that Dark Chii is physically a different person. The other plot points in Aipri's first season don't have anything to do with art or entertainment. Tsumugi and Himari's story is more about friendship. I don't think anybody knows what Dark Quartet Star represents.
Going back to Chii, I think it's worth mentioning that Chii might be the Pretty Series' first real instance of a character who's talented but seldom acknowledged for it. She's confident, she works hard, she can sing and dance, she can play guitar, she can self-promote, she wins against all the nameless background characters, her concerts are good. And yet she can't do a Buzzlume Change. It's frustrating to watch, and the show is almost cruel to Chii, but it does make you root for her. It's also... a thing that happens sometimes. Haven't you ever seen someone who's very talented but it doesn't pay off? An artist who posts beautiful drawings that get maybe one or two likes. A talented writer who keeps getting rejected by every publishing agency. It's not their fault; it's just that they have a lot of competitors and there isn't time or space for everyone to succeed.
Chii does say that she's "not a genius", but it's more like she's just not acknowledged. Though I suppose she's right - an unacknowledged genius is not a genius, as the whole idea of "genius" is basically an elaborate mythology about someone. This gives a new perspective to things... maybe "genius" is not even about talent in the first place.
I don't know about season 2, since I dropped Aipri.
Conclusion
This is just my interpretation. The Pretty Series is so surreal and abstract about these things that it may as well be an ink blot test. What I see might be completely different from what you see. So if you have thoughts, please share them! I'll be interested to see what everyone thinks.
For PriMagi, I think the overall thing is the magic is to achieve the impossible (like Ruhme being freed and reunited with Jennifer) and use it to enjoy themselves and everybody else around them, rather than being tied to the other's selfish control.
And as one of the fans who watched AiPri from start to finish, let me add more about Himitsu no AiPri, mainly S2.
I think the way to Buzzlume Change into different types in that season comes by the way the idols show the traits that they excel the most, similar to the personality that Ring Clover had in the past, for example:
Jewel: Love Juriel were able to show their own sparkle by performing instead of just relying on their own hobbies, just like shining gems. It was similar to how you should show your inner self to shine even brighter to others.
Space: Jumping Rocket uses this type of Buzzlume Change to represent admirity. Subaru wants to stand by himself but later on he wants Otome to perform with him instead of just self-producing her younger brother. It's like one that admires others to stand by their own two feet and do the same.
Animal: Represents freedom. Vivi was able to perform freely like animals running in the wild. Chii and Tsumugi also wants to shine by themself which can led into some problems in the third arc, similar to wild/untamed animals that can harm others if they're not careful.
Flower: Courage is needed to bloom like this beautiful type of plants. But to do so, you'll need other's support, just like how plants, trees and flowers require soil, water and sunlight to grow properly. Ring Clover was able to charge the gauge in her AiPri Brace thanks to Tsumugi's courage to apologise for her mistakes and wants to perform together as Luminous Flora duo. Despite being one of the winners of the fourth AiPri Contest, Poppin' Dreamin' (Himari and Mitsuki's unit) lacked the courage to wear Eternal Flower Coord but promise to do so in the future.
Melody: One of Quartet Star's members, Airi, writes the new song for the fifth contest, and manage to finish it at the last minute. It's also because the others (particularly Sakura) had assurance that she'll made it in time. It also helps that Quartet Star had a confidence to get closer to Ring Clover and wins the fifth contest, which they did since that trait is the requirement of successfully perform Melody Buzzlume Change. Music can bring confidence to the listeners just like how AiPri performances generally works in-universe. Believe in yourself, and things will eventually worked for you.
Princess: Not too sure about this, maybe because Poppin' Dreamin' was able to reach and free Ring Clover from her coma that caused this never-seen Buzzlume Change type to happen? And/Or because they're Star AiPri that allows them to perform ALL of Buzzlume Changes by having all five traits on their own that the Princess-type is born? Or perhaps to remind the audience that AiPri is short of (A)Idol Princess?
That's the add-ons for PriMagi and the analysis of Himitsu no AiPri S2 of how the Buzzlume Change metaphor works. I hope this helps.
you might not notice, but this low-poly anime-inspired independent game is actually about trauma and resisting society. and the best part? the soundtrack is all breakcore
From Cure Arcana Shadow's goal to Cure Eclair's identity, Meitantei Precure has set the fandom ablaze with theories. There's so many theories to discuss!
