The Blog Project

[derekpenasbl0g]

Perfect Blue

This movie was really intense and I had to take a break halfway through due to how uncomfortable it made me feel. In the second half, the movie becomes really confusing as, much like Mima, we can’t distinguish illusion from reality. I believe this movie achieves its goal of confusing and terrifying its viewers very well and does a good job of clearing up some of the mystery at the end. Had we not learned that Rumi was the one tampering with Mima’s image the whole time due to a personality disorder, I don’t think I would have enjoyed the movie as much as too many things would need to be explained. In fact, I believe some of the dream sequences that we see play out take place in Rumi’s perspective, although this is all up to interpretation.

The main theme of this film deals with how toxic fan culture can become, particularly to mentally unstable individuals. In the first half of the film, we see the people Mima works with get attacked one by one when she leaves music to pursue acting. From bombs being planted in letters to vicious stabbings, all of these attacks are meant to send a message to Mima and force her back into music. When she continues to pursue acting despite these messages, things become more intense. We see her being stalked by a man that is being manipulated by Rumi, which contrasts the ideas on otakus discussed earlier in the course. We came to the conclusion that otakus have the ability to distinguish their fictional desires from reality, creating a distance between the two while still enjoying both. Here, we see the result of the line between reality and fiction becoming blurred as Rumi begins to picture herself as the real Mima and Mima’s stalker believing that he is Mima’s protector. As such, these two seek to kill Mima in order to preserve the new reality they have fabricated in their minds.

Something else I noticed about this film concerned Mima’s acting and how she was constantly pushed to expose more and more of herself, from acting out a **** scene to having nude pictures of herself being taken for the consumption of others. I understand that people have the right to do what they wish with their bodies, but the whole situation seems very exploitative. They take an idol who is known for being very innocent and expose her to the public just to make a quick buck. Many of the people she works with, such as her photographer and her agent, seem to encourage her down this path while it is Rumi who is the only one that gets concerned for Mima being placed in these positions. I think I remember seeing her agent flinch during the scene, showing how even he may think it is too much. Yet, she is still pushed to continue down this path by those around her.

I think while this movie may be very uncomfortable to watch, it is an important film that highlights the toxic side of fan culture as well as the exploitation of women in the media. And if you’re in the mood for a psychological thriller, I believe this film captures that essence spectacularly well.

[shinyintheeast]

I also think this movie was uncomfortable to watch, but had important messages. Toxic fan culture is a huge theme in this movie and presents how idols are greatly impacted by how they are treated by their fans. Fans who are crazy and stalk them make them feel unsafe and feel like they have no privacy at all. A detail I liked that the movie included is when Mima reads the posts on Mima’s Room, she closes her curtains and they still closed for the rest of the movie.

[shinyintheeast]

Perfect Blue - Apr. 22nd

All throughout Perfect Blue, I thought I knew what was happening, then did not know what was happening. It was back and forth until the end of the movie that it made sense. I did not look into what Perfect Blue was about before watching it and I was not expecting anything that I saw. However, I really enjoyed the movie and it had me hooked the entire time. 

The beginning of the movie starts off with Cham! performing a concert and this being Mima's last concert as a pop idol. As soon as I saw Me-Mania, I knew he was going to play an important role in the movie. He is drawn very unattractively compared to any other character. I took this as displaying the stereotype as obsessed fans being ugly and weird. Anyway, Mima taking a step into a new career and leaving her idol one behind was bound to have backlash from her fans. Her fans were upset to see her in a new environment and no longer performing the songs that they love. The movie takes a dark turn once Mima is thrown into a mature scene of being r*ped and then being photographed nude. Mima is no longer an innocent pop idol but a mature actor. Her reputation has changed. Although I thought Me-Mania was behind everything that was happening to those who worked with Mima, it was actually Rumi who murdered them and sucked in Me-Mania into her delusions. Rumi could not stand for Mima’s reputation to be changed or ruined and was set on reserving it. The actions carried out by Me-Mania and Rumi is a commentary on the intense pressures idols feel as well as how crazy fans can out. I am not familiar with the Japanese idol world and how their fans act, I cannot imagine it is too far off from the Korean idol world. In K-idol culture, a sasaeng is a fan who stalks and invades the privacy of Korean idols. These fans will buy flight and hotel information to know where they are going and staying at any time, find their address, figure out their phone numbers and many other awful things. Becoming an idol puts someone into the public eye forever and they cannot get that privacy back. Most fans respect their privacy and understand that they are human and not always perfect. Idols must always portray a perfect image of themselves because as the word entails, people idolize them and when they do something that some fans disagree with, there is a backlash. Rumi and Me-Mania are an extreme representation of toxic fans but portrays how it can affect idols to pressure themselves to be seen as perfect and that people like them are out there posing a real and serious danger to idols. 

[elliekimono]

Death Parade

And hereee’s the anime of all the messed up things people do that I was expecting with Violet Evergarden. I was extremely confused with the ending of episode 1 since I suspected the women did it to rid her husband of his guilt and I thought the arbiters was all knowing/seeing. However, this is once again like the Sibyl system in psycho-pass passing judgement on people. Decim is like the emotionless judgement system in Sibyl system that allows no slack for reason or emotions. However, as seen this doesn’t work all the time because humans are complicated. The woman and viewers all are humans that have emotions and can understand what the wife was trying to achieve. However, Decim made a mistake in his judgement because he didn’t understand why she would lie to lessen her husband’s guilt. It’s once again a question of what is necessary to pass judgement on people when judgement is supposed to be completely objective. Clearly some emotions are necessary to see clearly through people’s actions but then that allows judgement to be fooled by acts. We see that Decim isn’t a flawless emotionless system as he feels bad for the mistakes he makes. The women also argues that it’s not fair to judge people at their worst as all humans have flaws. But at the same time, we see that at their darkest, people don’t change with the brother deciding to inflict pain even though the woman tries to talk him out of it. We see the dangers of not following a Sibyl system that stops crime before it happens with the detective needing the assault to happen first before he would pass judgement. It brings up the question of how much evidence is enough to convict someone and what is the proper balance between emotions and objective judgement to decide the fate of someone.

[shinyintheeast]

This is a great connection to Psycho-Pass in that both systems are flawed and judging someone whether it be they are dangerous or should go to the void is something that can carried out so easily. I feel that there are too many factors that are needed to be known to carry out judgment and like Nona stated, the arbiters do not know what they are feeling. They only know their memories. 

[shinyintheeast]

Death Parade - Apr. 20

I am so glad this anime was chosen. I always recommend Death Parade to anyone who watches anime. It makes you think about human nature and emotions. It is fascinating to watch Decim make his judgments with no experience of feeling any human emotions and Chiyuki alongside him who has felt human emotions. In episode 9, Decim presses Tatsumi and Shimada as far as he can and uncover their deepest emotions as he cannot judge them on words alone. I think Decim has a point saying he cannot make judgments without drawing out deeper feelings out of people. The emotions that the people display when they first start playing the game seem surface level until the game gets more intense and their memories start coming back. However, Decim is a weak arbiter in terms that he has not felt human emotion before. He does not understand how they work as we can see in episode 1. The audience can tell that Machiko is lying about the baby being someone else’s and that she does not love her husband. She is only lying so that her husband can be reincarnated. With Chiyuki observing the judgments, she is horrified by the ways that Decim pushes the guests to say awful things to make the judgments easier. In episode 9, Chiyuki attempts to stop Shimada from harming Tatsumi any further because the game is over and the judgment does not need to continue. Tatsumi, however, keeps making comments that eggs Shimada on, Shimada falls for it, and stabs Tatsumi’s hockey chips. Shimada smiles saying that he achieved revenge for his sister. I saw this was Shimada having the capability to turn into someone who is apathetic towards murder and this is what Decim tries to draw out of people to make an accurate judgement. On the other hand, some of these emotions and actions would not be drawn out unless they are put into those situations.

[shayagain]

violet evergarden {4/17}

While watching Violet Evergarden, I can say that I was thoroughly entertained the whole time. The animation was beautiful and the story is different than I have ever seen before. I can enjoy a science fiction type anime. 

When watching the special, I was a little confused about what the purpose of the anime was. I didn’t grasp the idea of what a Doll was until later in the episode. These Dolls were constructed as military weapons. To fight in wars. Violet has a few scenes of intense flashbacks of the war and having blood on her hands. I think that this is a commentary on the impacts of war. I feel like Violet being a machine may have been a metaphor for the actual soldiers that fight. They are taught to command orders of people who are higher than them- almost becoming machine-like. I don’t know, I may be reading into this too much, but that was just what I thought in my head.

Another motif throughout the episodes that were assigned was letters. The Doll’s jobs are to write letters for people and Violet is a very sought after Doll hired by multiple people such as the opera singer in the special, the man who wanted to write to his sister and the sick mother in episode 10. Letters play such a big role in the anime. They are meant to connect people bringing them closer together. We felt the sadness when we saw that so many letters never went to their true destination, and saw the happiness and appreciation when people were able to get a letter written by her- such as the opera singer who started crying. Another heart-wrenching part was when  Ann was reading all of the letters written by her mom when she died. Absolutely beautiful.

The letters show people that they will always have a part of the other person. Just like in the opera song and the countless letters that were for Ann.

[shinyintheeast]

That is a great connection between Violet being used primarily as a tool of war and soldiers! To those who know the soldiers personally, they are an actual person to them that they could love or hate, but to the enemy and the government, they are just tools in a war. It is a very sad commentary, but Violet Evergarden gives us a reminder that soldiers have people awaiting their return and wish to keep in contact. The letters are that connection that people hold dearly. 

[shinyintheeast]

Violet Evergarden - Apr. 17th

I am not even sure where to start with Violet Evergarden. I did not expect to cry as many times as I did. I will definitely be giving this a full watch later. A common theme I really enjoyed throughout the episodes we had to watch was the power of letters. I have never given much thought to the power a letter can hold. The various jobs Violet was given to write letters meant so much to the people. It showed the remarkable ways a letter can change one’s mood or even one’s life. In episode 9, a child seeing his dad wrote a letter to them made his day whereas the letter Violet wrote or Ilma and Aldo helped them move on from Hugo’s death. For Ann, the letters she received for her birthday each year helped her know that her mother was watching over her. The anime helped me understand that some things are more powerful being written down on paper than being said.

Violet’s struggle to come to terms with the major’s death and to continue living without him conveyed the issue of what to do when someone you love dearly is gone. Although I did not look into Violet’s background, I can assume that she did not grow up in a loving environment and thus did not understand what the major meant when he confessed his love to her. It was impactful when Violet wanted to become an Auto Memory Doll to fully comprehend his words. The audience knows that Violet deeply cares for the major and not just because he gave her orders, but she does not understand the emotion of love to reciprocate his feelings. Violet wanting to do something for herself without needing order shows that she is slowly moving on from the horrors of the war and to improve herself. 

[yin-huang]

Sensoron

I have to confess that I feel angry with this manga. Since the document contains only some parts of the manga, I do not make a conclusion for the moment. But I don’t know the author is using an ironic technique, criticizing Japan’s reluctance to admit its mistakes made in the war, or he really thinks that Japan did nothing wrong, and even believe that the United States does brainwashing to Japanese, and fake photos are used in China for publicity. I don’t know the author wants to express his point of view through the mouth of the main character in the manga, or is he satirizing this character. Also, I am surprised that the author could draw such a long manga for the purpose of defending Japan.

Although I have known for a long time that the Japanese government has done a lot to cover up the truth of the history and deny its guilt, including rewriting history textbooks, when I actually read this type of reading, I still feel a bit angry and disappointed. In addition, the argument of this manga is not sustainable. Japan and Germany are aggressor countries, which is an indisputable fact all over the world. I don’t know much about American brainwashing, but I know clearly that Japan massacred more than 300,000 civilians in Nanking. Every Chinese knows this fact. Even if the photos are censored or fake, or if Japanese soldiers did not kill so many people in Nanking, then what? Do you want to say that because of these two reasons, Japan had not committed any crime and had not killed anyone in Nanking?

Recently, My Hero Academia has been completely banned by Chinese mainland because the manga content involves insulting China. I want to say that the Japanese haven’t deeply recognized their mistakes until today. But it is time to change.

[shinyintheeast]

I was also surprised that Kobayashi was able to write and draw so much just to defend Japan. What we had to read was not even the whole thing. It is interesting that he is trying to disapprove all these horrible acts that Japan committed even though there is proof. 

[shinyintheeast]

Sensoron - Apr. 13th

Kobayashi took an interesting approach to the subject of defending Japan by making it into a manga. Sensoron discusses the war crimes Japan has been accused of and defends it by disproving the evidence that portrayed Japan as ruthless and brutal. The real-life examples Kobayashi definitely dumbs down his argument enough that a younger audience could understand what is trying to get across. In the manga, Kobayashi only takes the stance of thinking Japan did absolutely nothing in World War II and in the post-war Era. He disproves photos and documents that supported crimes Japan was tried for, however, he does not acknowledge Japan has committed horrible acts during World War II. It seems the manga author has a very nationalist mindset of Japan has done nothing wrong. It is hard to know if Kobayashi is telling the truth in his manga unless you research it on your own. As this manga talks about kids being brainwashed with false information, the manga could be doing the same thing. Kobayashi is trying to convince his readers that Japan can do wrong and the world is against Japan. I cannot determine if Kobayashi’s statements are right or wrong because I would have to do research of my own. As he mentions in the article, it is hard to trust what information is right and what information is wrong. So to take Kobayashi’s arguments with absolute truth would be defeating the purpose of the message he seems to convey in the manga. I am curious as to what exactly Kobayashi’s goal with this manga was. If it was to show that Japan has not anything wrong, what within Japanese society would change drastically?

[no-11514]

“Your Name”

 Whenever I watch Your Name, I always find it interesting how the two lead characters struggle with swapping genders.  Beyond the obvious physical differences that lead to some awkwardness, they have difficulty with how men and women speak differently.  Japanese is a very gendered language, from the differences in self-referential pronouns to the way in which they express aizuchi.  The most obvious example from the movie is when Mitsuha is looked at strangely by Taki’s friends when she uses watashi.  This made me reflect back on the Performative Acts scholarly article that we read, and think about the role of language in gender identity.  When someone is expected to speak a certain way as an adult depending on their gender, it may be somewhat restrictive on those that don’t find themselves to be the same gender as their sex at birth.  

There is also a focus on traditional culture and religion with Mitsuha’s relatives.  The comparison of her background with Taki’s urban lifestyle appears to be just for the sake of contrast, rather than to present one as superior or more desirable (in the way that Wolf Children) did.  The contrast is certainly effective, and it’s really interesting how individuals in the same country under the same laws can live in completely different environments.  There is, however, a large difference in the focus given to each of the two leads’ families.  Taki’s father is given little attention throughout the first half hour of the movie, whereas several of Mitsuha’s relatives take on major roles.  While this is likely the result of the creator’s desire to focus on the “musubi” stuff and saving Mitsuha’s village, but I still find it notable for the focus on more materialistic aspects of Taki’s life that supplants familial interaction.  Taki is able to work part time to earn money, and spends time going out with friends after school to cafes and such.  Nonetheless, despite their different lifestyles and environments, both were able to look upon the same sky.

[shinyintheeast]

The difference in speaking styles when each character is in the other’s body was very interesting to see. I liked that you brought up aizuchi and the difference when different genders use it. Like you said, Japanese is a gendered language when it comes to addressing yourself and expressing your reactions with aizuchi. It made Mitsuha and Taki switching bodies more believable and real. 

[shinyintheeast]

Your Name - Apr. 10th

Your Name is a beautiful movie that I did not expect to hit me as hard as it did. I have heard before that it is a tearjerker but it did not prepare me for what I experienced. The time-traveling aspect in the movie confused me though. It took a couple of explanations to get it down. It is a fantastic movie that I was glad I finally watched after it being hyped for over three years.

In the movie, Mitsuha and Taki switch bodies every other day. Living in each other’s bodies, they make an impact on each other’s personal relationships. Mitsuha is seen as more likable due to Taki making her stand up for herself, as seen when she kicked the desk over, and more out-going when he is in her body. When Mitsuha returns to her body, she attracts love interests and more people are aware of her. On the other hand, Mitsuha in Taki’s body brings out his feminine side. He attracts his senpai at work, Okudera, by being gentler and bringing out his feminine side. Okudera said she liked that Taki had a feminine side to him. The movie does a great job of conveying that showing a more feminine or masculine side to yourself is not shameful or should be looked down upon in society. It has always been an issue when a girl acts more masculine and a boy acts more feminine. Some people view it as wrong and disgraceful. Your name does not convey the two main characters acting differently as unacceptable. Mitsuha and Taki’s friends were concerned because they acted weird such as forgetting basic information about the body they were inhabiting. Other than that, they were accepting of their new behavior. Taki’s friend, Tsukara thought Taki acted cute when Mitsuha was in Taki’s body. 

[randy-wlee]

Apr. 6 - Hetalia Axis Powers (ep.1-19)

I am quite surprised at what I’ve just watched. I haven’t seen Shirohata’s Hetalia Axis Powers prior to this, and so judging from its name, I thought it would be a serious anime.

Hetalia Axis Powers tries to portray events in history, especially serious ones, in an absurdly light-hearted way through characters that represent each different country. Although I did enjoy it, after reading Annett’s “World Conflict,” I can see how the anime can be controversial. In order to deliver comedy, this show uses stereotypes in some of its scenes. For example, in the grocery shopping scene of episode 14, an Italian cuts the line as the narrator explains it being a common phenomenon, and later another Italian is shown to be loud in line. For the dubbed version, I thought about why we were asked to watch it, and what is most obvious is the accents that the countries have. Japan’s and China’s accents stand out especially. One might think of it as stereotyping, although personally it doesn’t offend me. In any case, people of different countries are overgeneralized, but that isn’t a surprise when an entire country is represented by an individual.

I think it is interesting reading about Koreans’ reaction to Korea’s character in the anime. Since the source material was made by a Japanese, the anime of course would portray the countries from the Japanese’s point of view, and so bringing in contested topics can invite negative reactions from fans of other countries. Annett mentions the hate arising from online communities due to the anime, but also says that such controversies helps fans to be more open-minded. After reading about this, I think it is important for us to be open-minded as well, acknowledging things that are offensive, but also realize some people enjoy an anime for reasons other than its political meaning.  

[shinyintheeast]

I agree with you that it is not surprising that stereotypes are a huge part in Hetalia Axis Powers because one person plays a whole country. I can see how people would be offended by how their country is portrayed in the anime. In some cases, it can reinforce prejudices that are hurtful to those from a specific country. 

[shinyintheeast]

Hetalia Axis Powers - Apr. 6th

Watching Hetalia Axis Powers really threw me back to middle school where it was the only show I watched for over a month (yikes). It is different watching it now and watching it back when I was 12-13 because I did not know much about world history. I took a lot of history classes in high school so I actually knew what was happening in each episode this time around. Something I picked up on in the show, that I did not notice years ago, was there are many stereotypes for each country. In Annett’s “World Conflict”, she states that the anime makes fun of stereotypes, but does not dismiss them because the characters only play the stereotype. Hetalia Axis Powers is seen controversial because of this reason where hurtful stereotypes are presented and insists that it is true. The anime sets up bad examples of how some people view those of different nationalities and/or ethnicities. Hetalia being a popular anime means almost everyone has access to it and watching it puts a horrible influence on those who are easily susceptible to believing that people from other countries literally act like that. It carries into people making racist and prejudiced comments.

Annett also brings up the biased side of the anime. Past conflicts between South Korea and Japan are presented in the anime with a favorable bias toward Japan. Over 17,000 Koreans signed a petition to cancel Hetalia Axis Powers because of the anger they felt over events shown in the anime, such as the ones during World War II and the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute, and depicted Korea in a disdainful manner. It is interesting to know that the anime has a bias, even if it is not blatantly obvious, because it was written by a Japanese man. The show has gathered hate from fans of other nationalities/ethnicities because of the downplay of certain events by projecting it in a silly and/or cute way. However, it is mentioned in “World Conflict” that some Hetalia fans are educating others by providing factual information of past historical events that are portrayed in the anime. 

[elliekimono]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Wow, I didn’t expect to watch a whole anime through cutscenes. While I don’t mind, I wonder how the actual gameplay is like with so many cutscenes. I know some people disliked Pokemon shield for the amount of cutscenes it had. But also Xenoblade Chronicles relies a lot more on plot and the story. I also questioned a bit on why I didn’t mind the 3D aspect when its a game, but I do when it’s an actual anime. Anyways, that was just some extra thoughts. It was a great story and I was left in tears… again.

In the scenes, we see the theme of fighting wars over land and resources happening again. Like in Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, in the Xenoblade world, habitable land is disappearing. For the Xenoblade word, it is because the Titans are dying. Unlike in Nausicaa though, the land dying is slightly less a fault of the humans, but more just a part of the cycle of life. The cycle of life and climates is part of our world too, except the issue is that global warming speeds up this climate change cycle faster than organisms can adapt. However, there’s still themes of humans being at the fault of the ruined earth. Because of the Praetor’s greed, he released essentially weapons of mass destruction and also killed many people resulting in the end of peace and thus more conflict that ruined the world further. His greed is the result of wanting to become god, which isn’t as unreasonable as it seems since the Architect, the creator of their world, also used to be human. His greed also caused problems in both worlds he lived in, and we see the result of this as him being split in half. His actions ended up with his world ending up as the ruins beneath the sea and the people of his time becoming monsters. From the Architect’s actions, we also see the result of wanting to escape to a different world to run away from environmental problems. Rex also embodies this desire as he searches for Elysium instead of working to fix problems on the ground.  In the end, the Elysium he found at the tree is barren, not the perfect world he wanted everyone to be able to live in and it’s revealed that Elysium was the union of all the current land all along.

[shinyintheeast]

It is evident throughout the game of the flaws that humans have and it how it can lead to our downfall. The creator of the world thought he was doing good by creating a new mankind, but it turned out the same in the end. His greedy idea of creating an entire new world caused him to watch his plan never unfold and continue to live in despair. 

[shinyintheeast]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Apr. 3rd

It was fun to watch something else besides anime to explore another aspect of Japanese pop culture. A couple of my friends have told me about Xenoblade Chronicles and I never grasped the plot of any of the games, so this was a great way to finally learn about one of the games. At first, the plot of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a bit slow and confusing, but once it picked up, it was enjoyable to watch. When the characters meet Klaus, he explains how this world came to be and why he created it. Klaus wanted to create a new type of mankind to erase the flaws that the previous mankind had. It is consistent throughout the game of how those flaws are still present. There are themes of greed, power, etc. that are negative traits about humans. On the other hand, the traits that the heroes in the Xenoblade Chronicles present the positive traits of mankind. Selfishness, love, friendship and many more are seen in the characters. Before Rex and the others leave Klaus, Rex asks him if he is content with the mankind he created at that very moment. Klaus seems happy because by meeting Rex and his friends, it shows him that there is hope in mankind to improve. 

Something that stuck out to him about Rex is him being down-earth throughout the entire game despite having immense power. It would seem that someone at Rex’s age would have gone crazy with the power. However, Rex continues to deeply care about Pyra and his companions as well as continuing to talk about his roots of being Salvager. Even when Klaus asks Rex about if he is going to kill Malos, Rex says he will take him out for a drink after he defeats him because that is one of the Salvager rules.

[shinyintheeast]

True Otaku: The Documentary

It is a bummer that Swampcon was cancelled, but this documentary showed what Swampcon would have consisted of. Unfortunately, I have only been to a couple of conventions but I know that every anime convention has cosplay, art, and otakus. At the beginning of the documentary, attendees of Otakon are asked their definition of otaku. The word “otaku” means different to everyone, however, all of them had the general idea of it meaning a passionate fan. I liked how one person said the definition of what it means in Japan. It shows a distinction between the Western idea of otakus and Japan’s definition of the word. In Japan, the word is used for someone who is obsessed with an aspect of popular culture. In America, the word is mainly used for those who are into Japanese culture, anime, manga, video games, etc. Another difference is the reactions of each word. Being called an otaku in Japan is not considered a positive thing as it is in America. It seems that a huge amount of people who consider themselves otakus in America, pride themselves on the knowledge they possess of otaku culture. We can clearly see that in the United States, there is no issue with the word otaku as convention names, such as Otakon, are based around the word and the entire convention is about Japanese culture. 

There were a couple of things I was excited to see at Swampcon: cosplay and the artist alley. I think cosplay is awesome and I admire those who are able to create and do cosplays. In the documentary, there was a big focus on cosplay and the culture around it. Cosplay takes a lot of dedication and it is always fun to see how people’s creations turn out as well as their spin on characters. It was funny that some people called cosplayers “attention whores” although it is true. I could never cosplay as I do not like a lot of attention but those who do cosplay have to deal with people coming up to them asking questions and for pictures. So saying cosplayers like attention is not wrong. The cosplayer that the documentary mainly focuses on is Dustbunny. She has done several cosplays that she has made herself, bought materials and wigs for, and did intricate research on how a character looks like at all angles as well as acts. Some of my friends cosplay and simply buy an outfit off of eBay or Amazon, but people who professionally cosplay go all out, especially because of the expectations people have for them. 

The artist alley is a highlight of any convention as there are tons of things you can buy such as art, video games, clothes, and other various merchandise. The documentary shows that at Otakon, Lolita fashion and Japanese Samurai swords were being sold. Conventions, like Otakon, seem like it is just anime and video games but there are several aspects of Japanese culture that are represented. There are people there that are knowledgeable about Japanese culture besides Japanese pop culture. I think it is important to have those kinds of booths there to remind people that there is more to the culture than anime. 

Cosplayers and artists have Shadow Culture Capital as there are popular cosplayers and artists that attendees are excited to see and meet. They are popular among the fandoms they interact with. I think that the skills cosplayers and artists have can ascend out of Shadow Culture Capital and into a job that can sustain them. There are many people who cosplay and draw art professionally. They can also obtain jobs that are professional costume making and drawing art for companies such as advertisements and logos.

[dixiesbizarreadventure]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

“You may live to see man made horrors beyond your comprehension.”

-Nikola Tesla

I have a high regard and respect for movies from Studio Ghibli, and I hope to watch them all eventually. This is the first time I’ve viewed Studio Ghibli, and they lived up to their reputation with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, an inventive and piece that any viewer can tell is created for the love of the art and not for the money. 

The main protagonist is Nausicaä, the princess of the Valley of the Wind. Her happy homecoming with Lord Yupa illustrates how in the thousand year aftermath of the seven days of fire, humanity has lost its industrial and aggressively capitalistic foundation system, and The Valley of the Wind is very much a gemeinschaft, with the people respecting and cooperating with each other. A hierarchy exists, since Nausicaä and her father are monarchs, but this monarchy is idealistic, her father being a gentle king, our heroine being a calm and loving princess. This image rejects the industrial society we have built, giving an example of a true community in which people flourish. 

The true message of the film, however, comes through with the fact that the beautiful Valley of the Wind is under constant threat by the toxic jungle. The world-building here is particularly excellent, as insects are its main inhabitants. Insects are the most diverse and abundant group of animals on earth, and it would make sense that they would become dominant animals after the seven days of fire, since many species can even survive nuclear explosions. There is a testament to the intricacy and unknowable contents of nature, as Nausicaä discovers that these insects are not aggressive animals, but protecting the forest that needs ample time to renew itself. Another contribution to this theme is the mysterious Ohm. With their feelers, they revealed to Nausicaä that the Pejite pilot was still alive. They do the same thing to resuscitate Nausicaä. It is never explained how they are able to do this, and that is why it is humbling to the human species. Although we are able to make such bounds and learn so much, there are some mysteries of this planet that we cannot solve, and questions that don’t need to be answered. 

Humanity’s hubris rears its ugly head through the Tolmekians (less so, but still, through the Pejites). The Tolmekians masked their ambitions of conquest under those of unification, as many powers have in our own time. Furthermore, they ignore the patterns that humanity has seen. They are aware that the giant warrior was something wrong in the cosmic sense, they were a result of human arrogance and had scorched the earth as a consequence, and yet the Tolmekians believed that they were somehow better, that they could do what ancient humans could not. It is interesting that while the Valley of the Wind uses futuristic gliders, the Pejites their unique flying craft, the Tolmekian aircraft all looks very antique. They even look a little antique to us, more like World War II aircraft than the sleek fighter jets we have now. They are also notoriously flimsy, foreshadowing that Tolmekian brute strength is a delicate facade, as when things turn, their soldiers do as well, deserting. 

Thus, the overarching message of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is environmentalism, but not in the “paper-straw sense”. It reminds us of the consequences of our actions not in the way seeing a dead seabird does, but in the way that seeing an entire city ravaged by a storm does. It doesn’t make us think of the dodo bird, but of the passenger pigeon. This makes the message far more chilling, that although we may seem the dominant species, we are bound to nature’s whims. Thus, we must not concern ourselves with petty, artificial arguments such as the control of kingdoms. A respectful understanding of nature and its laws is the only way we can ensure the survival of our species far into the future. 

[shinyintheeast]

I think it is a strong message to show the opposite of how the world is in the movie now. Humans are destructive creatures and easily destroying nature. Nature is scared of us in that it can no longer flourish how it used to. However, in the movie, humans are terrified of nature and take many precautions to stay alive. The humans in the movie adapt to nature’s constantly changing ways whereas, in real life, nature is adapting to our destructive ways. You make an excellent point by saying humans are bound to nature’s whims. This point is ever-present with climate change. The damage humans have done to Earth is showing how it affected nature and we, along with every other living thing on nature, are facing the consequences. 

[shinyintheeast]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - Mar. 30th

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a fantastic movie that addresses the issues of pollution, the environment, and war. At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to the world after the Sea of Decay has been spreading throughout Earth and how one of the civilizations of the world, Valley of the Wind, is living. When venturing out into the Sea of Decay, masks must be worn and you cannot breathe for more than five minutes without one on. My first impression of the movie was for it to be about Nausicaä figuring out how to fight the spread of the Sea of Decay. It was partly correct, but elements of war were introduced where I did not necessarily expect it to come in. In the kind of situation the world is in, I would think that civilizations would help each other and come together to rid the world of the Sea of Decay. However, it is human nature to have that fighting instinct in any situation. Nausicaä seems to be one of the few people that care for saving the planet as well as the countless insects that reside in the sea of decay. She saves everyone and the world through her selfless acts and minimal violence. The old cliché of “violence does not solve anything” shines in this movie. The Tolmekians wanted to revive the Great Monster to destroy the sea of decay but that would only anger the countless insects living there (we can see the enormous amount of Ohms there are toward the end of the movie) and destroy all of the civilizations. The anti-war statements send a message of how war only makes things worse.

The other very prominent issue in the movie is how humans treat the environment. The only reason the world ended up how it was in the movie was because of human pollution. The insects were born out of the Sea of Decay and, as Nausicaä and Asbel discovered, are protecting their territory as underneath it, there is purified water and soil. The top layers of the Sea of Decay are polluted and toxic, but in the underground caverns, everything is pure including the air. At the end of the movie, the civilizations came to a cease and now live in peace with each other and the insects. Living in harmony with the creatures of the earth instead of harming them causes a new tree to sprout underground. It displays that instead of destroying the planet even further and the animals and insects we share it with, coexisting with the other creatures of the world, nature will begin to flourish once again.