Siri

[robian]

Hetalia Axis Powers

Hetalia Axis Powers is basically just a comedy show where countries are represented by a single person who embodies the nation's stereotypes. What's interesting about this show is that it supposedly takes place around the WW2 period, yet many of the stereotypes used are actually more contemporary. For example, stereotypes such as the US eating too much and Japan's quietness are stereotypes I would argue didn't exist during WW2.

What was very concerning to me as I watched this show is how it sort of downplays the events of World War 2. Germany repaying his debts to France is portrayed seemingly to make you feel bad for him. Germany's character overall is depicted in a cute trying to act tough sort of way. In reality, Germany was murdering millions of innocent people at this time.

This anime also glazes Japan like crazy which makes sense considering its anime. All I could think about during the whole sweet China x Japan scene was how Japan literally massacred hundreds of villages, raping and torturing people while doing it. They also show how amazed Germany is by Japan's industrial rising. Japan is portrayed as someone who's just trying to defend his lands when in reality Japan was actively invading people at the time.The only Axis Power they really poke fun at is Italy. They talk about Italy's obsession with pasta and their cowardness during WW2.

Anyways, this anime is obviously satire, but there's definitelyconcerning elements within it. I would consider this a kid's show, and I don't know if I'd want kid's introduction to WW2 to be cute Axis Power anime boys.

[siriiim123]

Hello, I think it's true that the anime comments on the countries in a crazy way by stereotyping the characters and making them do actions that represent them, especially the China and Japan scene. I liked that the episodes of the show were 5 minutes long, making them amuse, but nothing dramatic happens throughout it because it is mostly humor and comedy paving the audience. The story progresses in a slow way and consists of an educational, even ironic perspective of history with little to no character development and mid pacing. I found that the theme song was catchy, as well.

[siriiim123]

Hetalia

I’ve never heard about Hetalia, but apparently, it’s a really popular anime, though it started declining since the 2010s. It was originally a manage series, and it created fan bases, where fan expanded on the content of the original material shaped the narrative and community round Hetalia. It’s humor attracted media companies to develop and connect after its publishing. The anime does not follow a consistent plot but presents highlights from historical events between international relations. I think it is cool that each country has a unique take on the personality to express itself. The show stereotypes the characters by personifying nations with exaggerated national characteristics, focusing on the multi-cultural appeal during World War 1 and World War 2. It also reinforced nationalist conservative messages, but also make fun at the national self-stereotypes of regimes from the colonial era. Thus, in a way it could be a learning tool for children to engage interest in history. For example, traits of Korea appeared to be the type who is jealous of the big brothers, China and Japan. Since everyone resembles a country, it depicts no diversity, speaking from one voice, rather than a multitude. Moreover, Germany complimented Japan on its quick modernization as a part of its nationalist narrative of Japanese specializations that Japan alone was able to master modernity, such Japan’s wartime narrative that legitimized its empire conquest of Korea and China. Impressed by the sincerity and ability to read the atmosphere, all these essentials were about Japan. The dialect of China is used to caricature Chinese characters by having them speak in a broken language. This series is unique and showcases an entertaining take on the countries fighting and getting along, though there were some dark moments. I also feel like there have been alternative forms of media that depicted countries as characters in literature, thus it is not as interesting, however the voice actors did fit well with their interactions.  

[kwanyoung]

Your Name | Themes of National Discourse

The Plot Of The Anime

The story begins with highschool students female protagonist Mitsuha Miyamizu and male protagonist Taki Tachibana. Mitsuha Miyamizu lives in a rural location called Itomori where she performs rituals on the family shrine, while Taki Tachibana lives in a busy location where he works a part-time job and has future job goals. However, both lives change as they start to swap bodies (a dream at first thought, but it's actually real). This is due to Miyamizu's wishes of living as a handsome boy in Tokyo as she has poor relationships with her strict family, which some supernatural powers swapped her with a random guy. After confusion over their new identities, they would start understanding their situations and know about each other's lives by leaving notes every swap. A crucial note is that Tachibana lives 3 years into the future and the swap takes him back and Miyamizu foward, where Tachibana saves Miyamizu, her family, and Itomori residents from the comet Tiamat, and then reality alters so they get to meet in-person. Throughout the film, we see ongoing themes of love and destiny between the two characters (like they are meant to be together).

The Issue In Question

This anime addresses multiple themes and issues seen in our society, but I want to name only two. We see that there is a divide between the rural and urban communities. In the anime, we can see the life Miyamizu is living: a rural small isolated town. She desires to want to move to more urbanized cities like Tokyo, which can lead to shrinking of those rural populations and the extinction of the traditions in it.

We can also acknowledge the themes of preparedness, especially in a natural disaster. In the anime, the TV forecasters did not expect the Tiamat comet to split off in its orbit, which eventually became too late, leading to the extinction of the Itomori town.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

In our world, we can see government projects by Japan to boast tourism in more local areas and create an economy there. This is why Japan is one of the most popular tourist locations and is known for many of its cultures and traditions. This basically helps revitalize or slow down the rural town's extinction as people are flocking to more urban cities like Tokyo to get good income and be close to services and jobs. This can also be seen in other nations like United States, where the many rural areas struggle to maintain its population, like theres even a named town with only one person living.

For forecast-related themes, Japan's 2011 Tōhoku earthquake led to massive deaths and a tsunami as the forecasters put their faith in a faulty seismic device, which could've prevented deaths when evacuations would be announced. Same situations worldwide like hurricane forecasts would've prevented more deaths if the experts were careful about the dangers of these storms as they can suddenly ramp up in categories.

My Personal Takes

Honestly, this anime felt like a true masterpiece. I used to watch anime films as a child but I never got to watch newer ones like this as the thoughts of watching anime have long been gone, until recently.

I could probably relate to hurricane forecasts like hurricane Irma back in 2017. Thankfully, forecasters are much more accurate than in the past so we survived that major hurricane, or else we would've been impacted at a greater level. Forecasters are crucial in saving human lives as they announce if a specific event is feasible to evacuate from, however small mistakes can lead to significant lives to be lost so I am grateful for living in a much more modernized world.

[siriiim123]

I agree with your analysis when you state that there is a divide between the rural and urban communities, and the earthquake had influence on Kizuma discourse. The Kizuma discourse suggested that the rebuilding was not necessary since people could not contribute to the Japanese productivity, thus this movie states that we should not abandon rural areas due to the connections or ties between people because that's the important part of the culture. A lot of the traditions are enforced, such as the religious sites and personal ties, and it also ensures that power, however one receives it, does not get pulled or pushed.

[siriiim123]

Your Name

This movie seemed like a conservative anime, but it emphasized that force is exercised as a multiplicity of force relationships. Power came from the society in which it enacts on, not from the above or outside, even if we feel as if we are being pulled or pushed but singular. Sources of power could be from different factors, though power is seen everywhere. For example, Mitsuka in Taki’s body was trying to talk to his friends and uses the wrong pronoun. Made in 2016, this film still features the concept of gender policing, and the idea of homosexuality, where gender was meant to be a performance that needs to be a performance. The trajectory of this movie was that each person discovers the other side to be exciting, and the use of modern technology to commodify traditional religion, which allowed greater appreciation for life. Taki comes to the other side, and makes connections, yet those are loose. This movie shows that it’s important to make real connections by going to a religious site, and revitalizing tradition to find true happiness. The final moment of this film brings us to a sacred place, and an authentic connection happens. The twon announcement message from the sirens saves everyone. Although it doesn’t work first, and the local government comes to rescue, so it encourages we place trust, although the corruption is meant to be disregarded. Another observation about this film was that the film was made during a time of Kizuma, which meant bonds between people. This discourse became popular after the triple 2011 disasters in Japan, and the tsunami wiped out a nuclear plant, releasing radiation after disasters. People believed that rebuilding was not necessary if they can’t be economically productive to save money. It was thought that we shouldn’t abandon rural areas due to connections and source of Japanese religion, thus it’s important to revitalize the nation and perceive national unity.

[pari-patel]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Blog Post

I appreciate how this deviated from what we have been writing about in our past blogs, but I’m still not a fan of it. It does offer an immersive experience that tackles important environmental issues, but it just didn’t engage me or catch my attention much. This game presents a narrative that resonates with both Japanese cultural concerns and global environmental ones. Set in a world where Earth has been destroyed, it reflects the vulnerability of natural disasters and the chaos that technological advancements bring. It aims for a balance between that and environmental preservation. The narrative connects to climate change and degradation which incites players to consider their own actions on the planet they live, making this both a global and native concern. Furthermore, it elicits that degradation drives human ingenuity for environmental restoration.

Personally, the themes of this game related to my own experiences of being raised in a world where technological progression has outstripped and overshadowed environmental considerations constantly. It further sheds light and is a reminder to prioritize ecological importance and restoration, furthering reducing out environmental footprint and helping better preserve and restore our planet. Through witnessing the impacts of climate change first hand, I advocate for more sustainable practices and, as mentioned in my previous blog post, that is mainly done through participating in annual walk-a-thons and even spreading awareness locally in campus. This further connects to the readings by navigating human relationships with natural ones and the need to recognize both aspects as an integral part of a system. They are not separate entities, but, instead, need each other to facilitate restorative acts and encourage individuals to preserve the planet for future generations to come. It highlights how human and ecological restoration must go hand in hand and that one thing cannot happen without the other supporting it. This is a little different than the Nausicaa Blog Post since that one relied on the planet to restore itself overtime, but this one relies more so on humans and the plant collectively.

[siriiim123]

Hi Pari, I also don't prefer this type of games either, but at least it's different than the anime we've been covering. I agree with your idea that navigating human relationships with natural ones is a part of an integral part of the system. After my influence of where I am originally from, I believe that the environment around us is important for us to take care of, and the same the other way where the environment needs us to thrive, thus we form a symbiotic relationship. The vulnerability of disaster is something that we couldn't control, but it's still important to preserve the things around us.

[siriiim123]

Xenoblade Chronicles

This video game is set in the far future where natural ecosystems have been destroyed and demonstrate the concept that human prosperity is a good thing. In this game, genetic information from dead organisms to gain information about new life through a collection of nanomachines. It’s enforcing that the restoration of humanity is a part of restoration of overall ecosystem. Blades need humans to mature, so restoration can go hand-in-hand with human flourishing. The nanomachines rebuild cities and structures on the surface, even as they’re collecting genetic information. The problem is that this process is entirely artificial. I like that at the end of the game, the protagonists reach new land, and life is able to spread to new area, inspiring hope. There are also similarities and differences between Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind, and Xenoblade, the backs of the Titans. An important different is when they reach Elysium, they find it betrays the vision of thriving natural space, even though it’s an artificial space station. Both consist of disasters that caused the world to be wiped, whereas the Xenoblades had a disaster due to Klaus, and the destruction was so complete that nature could not regenerate itself, this they use the cloud sea, titans and the blades. This game involves the philosophy of environmentalism, which proposes the three bases for modern civilization, including objectification, instrumentalism, and the linearity of time. The idea that nature is an instrument to be used by humans was commonly spread. Moreover, the idea of nature of deep ecology, a movement of 1970s, tries to fight the mentality of instrumentalism. Preserving wilderness areas or restoring wilderness to formerly cultivated area exposes that nature is a force outside of humanity and does the healing for the planet. The proposal that ending the reparation between humans and nature is how human philosophy and mentality must deal with Anthropocene. Overall, I thought this game was cool because it implemented educational ideas, along with the activity of entertainment.

[mochicrackersss]

Blog Post - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ᯓᡣ𐭩‧₊˚ ⊹

I have very fond memories of watching Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind last year. During my and Dad's flight to Japan last summer, we downloaded all the Ghibli films we hadn't watched in preparation for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Going to Japan, but ESPECIALLY the Ghibli Museum was on my bucket list for so long because I'm such a huge fan of Ghibli, so I wanted to make sure I could enjoy every bit of it! And I'm glad I did, as I don't know why I never watched Nausicaä until then. Not only is it (kind of) the studio's first release (since technically it was created and directed by Hayao Miyazaki even though the studio was founded after its release), but it's also just a beautiful animated story that holds up great even today.

During my second watch, I noticed Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind has a similar setting and tone to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both stories are set in this post-apocalyptic world populated with monstrous, alien creatures. Although, it seems Nausicaä's world is more far gone than Evangelion's. The air is barely breathable due to the spore-like infection covering almost every inch of the Earth, and massive insects that could crush any remaining human civilizations. However, unlike the Tokyo-3 citizens, Nausicaä stresses to her people that cohabitation with insects and humans is possible. If anything, similar to Evangelion, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind illustrates that humans are the root cause of violence and destruction. The soil and water were polluted by the wars thousands of years ago, which caused the air to be unbreathable, all the plants to be lethal and the toxic jungles to grow.

Side note, I absolutely love the music for this movie. Joe Hisaishi ate so hard with the 8-bit synthesized fantasy score, it tickles my brain so well.

[siriiim123]

Hey! Thank you for sharing your post on this movie! I loved reading about your personal experience. I also agree with your comparison between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Both movies refer to environmental issues through their apocalyptic events, or the influence of human action. Nausicaa involves destruction, whereas the Evangelion captures the themes of transformation. Even the protagonists are portrayed similarly through their leadership aspects where Nausicaa aims to find a resolution to all the problems around her and the characters in the Evangelion struggle with their roles. To conclude, both works dive into the complicated nature of human and nature.

[siriiim123]

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

This movie involved giant weapons that destroyed the world years ago with firepower. It also carried a strong anti-nuclear force and Miyazaki was inspired from the event Minmata Disease, where a chemical plant dumped wastewater into a bay and thinking it would disperse into the ocean created small amounts of mercury that got eaten by the fish, then resident would eat and suffer from mercury poisoning. The presence of a direct influence is present, and a new relationship was proposed between humans and nature. For example, the sea of decay (the jungle) is toxic, and humans must avoid or control it, but they later realized it was the soil of the plants. Humans relied heavily on ecosystem, and they were supposed to be sympathetic to Nausicaa and Kushana is the antagonist, who was not completely evil, but depicted as wrongheaded. The contrast between Valley and Tolmekia is clear. The movie begins with Nausica finding new resources. Even though she has a gun and a glider, she uses them to harvest the nature around her, however Tolmekia does not seem to have any natural or harvested resources. They partook in an attitude of instrumentalism, which states that nature is an instrument for human use, and humans can use nature whatever way they want that they think is beneficial. Tolmekia do not see ecosystems as doing something valuable on their own or having their own right to exist. Their community believes that ecosystems that do not benefit can be destroyed. Furthermore, in the movie, Pejite uses nature as an instrument when they bait Ohm into attacking their enemies, but Nausica seeks human existence in balance with nature. Another topic that this movie covers is the idea of ecofeminism where the roots of women oppression and environmental destruction are the same. It argues that naturalization of both kinds of domination should be fought together.

[robian]

End of Evangelion

Sorry for cursing, but what the actual fuck did I just watch. To understand this film, I basically had to read an entire essay about background information that can only be found in outside sources such as video games. I even watched a 5 minute YouTube video purely just to understand the infamous hospital scene. 

If you're confused like I was please read this:

and read:

https://imgur.com/2oRZv

Shinji at this point in the story is just absolutely fucked up in the head mentally. Both of his friends leave. Asuka is comatose. Rei is swimming in a juice bathtub. He even killed the guy that finally accepted him and even liked him. By the way apparently some people think Kawaru is a representation of Jesus who needed to be killed. Anyways, Shinji was just mentally not there. Shinji's in this shit mental state and knowing Shinji, he doesn't know how to properly express his emotions. So naturally what does he decide to do? Bust a load to Asuka's comatose body. Btw although the anime doesn't show any attraction for Asuka prior to this (except the kiss maybe and the childhood friend fantasy) apparently there's some side content that makes their relationship make a bit more sense.

I would explain the events of the story in more detail, but reddit can explain it better. Basically at the end Shinji decides he would rather live in the new destroyed world than a fantasy and the only person that we can see who also decided to stay is Asuka. Basically,Shinji chokes Asuka so he knows he's not living in some weird fantasy. Asuka caresses his cheek and calls him disgusting, letting him know that it isn't a fantasy. Basically Shinji has the craziest character development in all of anime history. Although it's hard to say if he's even alright at the end.

On one hand I think Evangelion is a masterpiece and on the other hand I think it's garbage. It's an anomaly within anime. As a story writer, if most people can't understand your story, then it's badly written. However, Evangelion reminded me of poetry. It was confusing but clearly had deeper meanings. I doubt anyone could ever COMPLETELY understand Evangelion by only watching the series&movie. It practically requires discussion between people to even grasp it. If the writers wanted to leave a lasting impression, they certainly achieved their goal.

[siriiim123]

Hello, I can understand the frustration behind this movie because it was difficult to understand, thus it was helpful to look through the sources you provided for more context. Other than the intentions behind the movie, it was executed through a series of imagery and use of symbolism to represent the complexity and connection with identity. Overall, the idea of the project brings out the inner struggles and desires of people. As a popular work, this anime responds to hegemonic individuality in a different way. The vision for queer masculinity went quite the way that Shinji wanted it to, but he reflected himself as someone who couldn’t portray violence on behalf of society. Thus, I believe Shinji’s character development is crucial to the movie.

[siriiim123]

End of Evangelion

This movie features Shinji having no way to live authentic to himself and still be valued by society, but he also can’t figure out how to do anything because he’s failing to align himself with hegemonic masculinity. The movie consisted of NERV’s parent organization, and SEELE tried to do its human completion project by merging all the human souls into one. Thus, Shinji’s ego or sense of self must be destroyed, and the collapse seems to happen after a moment of hegemonic masculine violence. He experiences some sort of dream/vision that Asuka responds by abusing him both verbally and physically. Shinji becomes violent himself, as a man of queer masculinity that begs representation of hegemonic masculinity, he performs the normative masculine violence. He echoes his thoughts at the beginning of the series that let a queer man performing hegemonic masculinity and violence on behalf of violence is unnecessary of that society concludes that such a society should be destroyed. The key to SEELE’s human completion was for Shinji to perform an act of hegemonic masculine violence so extreme that he hates both himself and society that forces such a masculinity upon him. The ending’s vision for queer masculinity is more ambivalent than the TV series ending. Having a destroyed society and a genesis of a new world, Shinji seems determined to repeat his actions from the vision, killing the enforced of hegemonic masculinity that had humiliated him, but also aligning himself with violence and betraying the queer masculinity. Asuka was able to betray long enough to show Shinji a moment of gentle tenderness, whereas Shinji reverts to his queer masculinity, giving up on violence, and sobbing. Although the TV series and the movie had two different endings, the film’s ending indicates that social acceptance of queer masculinity will only be possible in a long process. Another thing about this movie is that the audience could have easily related to the feelings of Shinji during his environment.

[kwanyoung]

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Part 2) | Themes of Masculinity & Belonging

The Plot Of The Anime

We skip to the later episodes starting with the 8th episode of Neon Genesis Evangelion. After Shinji Ikari (Third Child), the main character, finally meets Rei Ayanami (First Child), he will also meet Asuka Langley Soryu (Second Child), who unlike Rei, who is obedient, quiet, and mysterious, Asuka is more violence-orientated and talkative who can control her Evangelion Unit-02 very well in combat. He does get some confidence from Asuka, leading to improved results when he decided to give another try controlling Evangelion Unit-01. However, his confidence is lost when he faces an Angel on his own, which creates a void that sucks him in, unable to escape but panic. Shinji would contemplate about his life and who he is, turning his mech violent and shredding the Angel.

After a few episodes later, on episode 24, we see Asuka's mental health being deteriorated because of her childhood, turning her from a violent and competitive child to a desolate one. Shinji also lost his friends and the city is left of its remains. But, Shinji finds another person who also felt the same as him, Kaworu Nagisa (Fifth Child). Rei and Kaworu are from similar origins, both being half human and half Angel and Rei is found to be a clone that can be replaced for every death. Kaworu is quite affectionate towards Shinji even though both are male, but also complex as he is half-angel whose purpose is to end humanity, eventually letting Shinji decide humanity. Finally, on episode 26, we see the characters contemplating about their struggles. Eventually, Shinji finds himself in his reality and he comes to accept who he is, that he isn't actually alone and it's because of how he perceives it. At the end, he is congratulated by the people he knows.

The Issue In Question

We can discuss about how one would come to hate themselves, especially who they are in their own perception. Shinji, for example, has traits that make him different from most men, having queer masculinity traits (although he is straight), meaning he does not possess the traits of hegemony masculinity. After understanding his so called flaw, he started to hate himself. At the end, he became convinced that it is ok for who he is and there are supporters who congratulate him because of his newfound understanding.

The Issue Addressed In Japan & Beyond

In our world, there are people with personalities, not just the fixed personality of a male for male and a female for female, but one's gender could intertwin with another biological sex or an unidentified identity. Specifically focusing on biological males, this queer masculinity is a unique type of masculinity compared hegemony masculinity, as it challenges that traditional hegemonic norms. This is especially common for men who is associated with LGBTQ+, although it is also widely seen in straight men.

The issue is that there are men who believe they are in a state of aloneness because they believe their personality, or "masculinity" do not fit the preferred ones in society that make one a socially ideal person. What they can do is to rethink their approaches about themselves and think of those who care about them (families, relatives, closer friends, etc.), or find social spaces that they feel comfortable in finding new people that they can relate to. This is basically like when Shinji met Kaworu and realized their similarities where both do not fit in the category of hegemonic masculinity.

My Personal Takes

Honestly, I had thoughts of being alone and that that nobody liked me and who I am. This thought started around middle school, and then became worse in high school, as I myself isn't a social person due to my limited ability to talk normally. I do not also identify as having a hegemonic masculinity as well as I am introverted and more on the passive side of personality. However, I came to accept who I am and tried my best to find someone who I and they can relate to, which worked and I got to make friends similar to who I am, which expanded through friend groups where I can explore who I think is suitable. However, this quite changed when I entered college this summer. Colleges tend to have strict selection for student candidates so most of my high school friends did not make it and I feel that the students here are more hegemonic masculinity orientated through observation. But at least I will try my best to present myself to new students and create new relations.

[siriiim123]

Hi, thank you for sharing this post, and I agree with your analysis on masculinity in men is this show. They always are seen to value the other opinions in society. Through this perception, they hide away from everyone else, causing them to not be able to accept their true self in the same way as Shinji was unable to accept his true self of hegemonic masculinity until the very end. The focus on internal conflict takes away the action part of the show to highlight the psychological complexity of the story. At least, Shinji receives a happy ending, despite their episodes of isolation.

[siriiim123]

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Part 2)

In this part of the show, the audience is introduced to another character, Asuka, a risk-taking, aggressive, and happy to do violence person, who is a mirror for Shinji, and displays what is expected of him because he is not able to live to everyone’s expectations. This show also repeats gender policing, and Shinji does end up evolving in portraying violence, though kids laugh and foreshadow that this fight won’t go well. Therefore, he is beginning to identify with a dominant social position of hegemonic masculinity, while indicating strength to commit violence on the behalf of society. Shinji is presented to be trapped in an empty void, and he conserves action by shutting down the robot, a symbol of violence. Additionally, Shinji is also seen to be dependent on women to save him, such as Misato, Retsuko, and his mother. He tends to socialize as a normative man, but the problem was that the queer men have no value to society. We are also introduced late to another character, Kaworu, late into the series because he also performs queer masculinity, yet as a confident person and not plagued by fear. His affection for Kaworu is seen as gay and awakened homosexual attraction. Untroubled queer masculinity is what Shinji has been looking for, to avoid normalization and remain authentic to his masculinity. Kaworu still internalized masculinity and perceived failure to exhibit normative masculinity. He was able to receive praise when he performs violent masculinity, but he is left with despair when he is discovered to be a false model. However, Shinji does experience a breakthrough in the final episode, where a dream vision of alternate reality exposes him as not an Eva pilot performing violence, and still has value. The walls in this reality shatter, also leading to applause and give up by accepting queer masculinity, which he already is and cannot change. Thus, this show is inspirational because it shows the main character taking risks and delve into the characters.

[robian]

Neon Genesis Evangelion Part 1

I'm writing this after watching the entirety of Evangelion because I didn't wanna ruin it by watching specific episodes. I'm also writing this early so I'm just going to make an educated guess about what part 1 covers.

Okay, so I'm going to mainly talk about Shinji because we don't really dive deep into the other characters until what I assume will be covered in part 2. Shinji is very different from your average anime protagonist. Most anime protagonists are seemingly always good looking and brave. They try to appeal to the watchers' desires. Shinji on the other hand is just a frail and scared young boy who just wants to be loved by his dad. Personally, I love characters like this. They tend to feel more realistic. If you almost died like Shinji did, and had to endure the pain simulated from the Eva, you'd probably be scared shitless too just like Shinji.

Also by starting off as weak, it allows more character development. But, to be honest, Shinji doesn't really have much character development (until literally the last 2 eps). Shinji realizes that he pilots the Eva to please his dad (hopefully this was part of part1 I don't remember). He even returns to his Eva after leaving, but he's still scared. Even though I enjoy character development, I think in certain situations, a lack of it can be just as telling. He's not suddenly just going to become brave and lose his fear of fighting in the Eva, and by this lack of development, it really highlights just how much he desires his dad's admiration.

Now, I also want to talk about how Shinji takes on more feminine than masculine gender roles. Shinji is depicted as kind and caring. He always apologizes and avoids any conflict. He cooks and cleans the apartment, while the women are depicted as slobs. He's scared to pilot his Eva, while the two women Rei and Asuka are fine with it. Honestly, I'm trying to think of a different anime that's male protagonist is like Shinji, and I can't (although I'm sure there's a few). It just tells you how unique of a character Shinji is. Going back to the last module, Shinji really challenges what we view as gender roles. A man doesn't need to always be tough and brave, he can be weak and scared too.

[siriiim123]

I agree with this post about Neon Genesis Evangelion Part 1 on how Shinji does not have much character development, and he takes on more feminine than masculine gender roles. This is evident because he controls the jobs of cleaning and cooking. Moreover, his ability to not be able to use violence contributes to this aspect. Shinji would also rather get beat up than beat up others. Due to his distinction as a heterosexual male, he is more likely to face social oppression to conform gender performance, thus he has a queer masculinity, as it is referred to in the lecture. They are also tend to disrupt normativity and question the society.

[siriiim123]

Neon Genesis Evangelion

This show depicts a boys-coming-of-age story that highlights a dutiful son, who pilots a giant robot created by his father, and learns to enact hegemonic masculine violence from the safety of armor created by his father, and eventually establishes adult masculinity, and finishes the anime as a confident young man. This show features the concept of hegemonic masculinity, a configuration of gender practice and adapts to maintain social domination, including the affinity for violence. The queer masculinity of straight men questions and disrupts the normativity, where heterosexual males does not live up to hegemonic standards and still face social oppression to conform gender performance. The main character, Shinji, is confirmed to have because doesn’t conform to hegemonic masculinity. He also can’t perform requirements for exercising violence, aggressiveness, objectify women, and other hegemonic masculinity demands. Shinji does not want to perform violence on behalf of society and is not good at it when he does. Furthermore, Shinji refuses and confirms of an unnecessary person, where there is no use for men like him, and they are no adapted at exercising violence, but cannot even walk. Although he wins in the next fight, he almost leaves everyting behind due to his performance of queer masculinity, unlike Amuro, who can employ violence. The idea of gender policing is a constant idea that is repeated through the series and Misato, a motherly gender figure, is the only one that cares about Shinji’s wellbeing, and is also encouraged to perform queer masculinity her, as well. It’s also evident that he doesn’t fit in several scenarios, such as male bonding. Shinji has clearly internalized society’s hatred of queer masculinity that developed throughout the anime. Overall, I think this show was interesting because the audience receives complex characters and a complicated plot, but it’s also easy to understand.

[kwanyoung]

True Otaku | A Deep Dive Into Fandom

The Synopsis

The following documentary, "True Otaku" looks into the foreign fans of Japanese popular culture, specifically in the United States, where Japan's export of culture has been widely successful. The fans in the U.S. make up the true otaku community of the Americans, and this documentary explores that diversity and subcultures that consists of youth pop-culture, fandom, cosplay, and cultural identity of this massive Japanese-orientated group.

For me personally, I wanted to experience what a true anime convention is like, however, due to the inability to schedule time as well as family-related disagreements, this wasn't possible. Fortunately, this documentary will deep dive into what being a otaku is like, and also gives a tour into an anime convention in America.

The Japanese Pop-culture

Japanese pop-culture, also referred to as "cool Japan" is commonly defined as anime, manga, video games, music, and fashion that is originating from Japan. Otakus are typically associated with people with obsession with Japanese pop-culture, but it can be any other pop-culture such as the Star Wars franchise as widely seen in the U.S..

I can try to connect with the influence of pop-culture with a concept called "Grand narrative". Grand narrative is a societal concept relating to a story of the past to future that a group of people (typically a nation whole) is journeying through in order to reach a goal they see as the utopian finale (e.g. Americans goal of spreading democracy to the entire world). Grand narratives are the way to shift history and give individual's life meaning: individuals contribute to change to create history.

Today, we have abandoned the grand narrative concept due to it having consequences in society, thus we can see the "Animalization" term come to place, where there is no longer a possible story or a grand narrative to be created. Animalization describes that people's life can become meaningless and nothing in their life changes, just like animals' lives. Thus, the rise of pop-culture fills in the emptiness of animalization by creating smaller narratives people can follow and give their life meaning to. Japan's grand narrative was to build an empire, which has fallen, but with influence from America's pop-culture, the Japanese built their own pop-culture, which exploded in popularity. This circumstances associated with pop-culture encouraged devoters and massive fandoms to exist around it (the people run their own small narratives).

Now, if these fans from world wide want to meet, there are conventions around the world where people with similar interests can meet and share their subcultural beliefs with other members. Anime (otaku) conventions are among the popular ones, and this documentary will explore the effects these conventions have and what they offer.

The Virtual Tour - Observations & Thoughts

The first part takes place in Baltimore, Maryland and we get a glimpse into the Baltimore Convention Center, where Otakon, a group where otakus and anime fans meet every year, since the 1999s, basically becoming some sort of tradition for both hardcore and casual anime fans and otakus. I am surprised with how big the otaku community is, and the rate it's growing. The narrator showed that Baltimore's attendance multiplied over five times!

I can see how much diversity there is, from gender to race to interests. There are a lot of cosplayers as well which shows their dedication to the fandom as their own little story. I also notice how common the shadow cultural economy is in any fandom meetup, where people sell unofficial culture and we can see plenty of people purchasing them as they believe they hold a value.

We get to see how the American fandom defines otaku and well, there are a lot of different answers, which I believe is due to the diversity and origins of different fans as they came from internationally, and they seemingly created their own definitions, however the most common answer is "people obsessed with anime and other Japanese-culture", as I think is due to where the word originates. However, people expanded the term to represent all pop-culture.

Conventions are just a perfect place to meet people with the same interests and obsessions and it is that perfect because there are a ton of activities to do (which could be overwhelming too) such as playing games, dancing to music, showing off cosplay, creating art, buying merch, and even befriend people from around the world. Personally, it feels like heaven for people into Japanese pop-culture, but also any pop-culture in general, as there are many types of conventions. In the documentary, people also say that it is fun to act like the character you're cosplaying, and we also see how people design their costumes, which shows the degree of creativity freedom one can go in a convention.

The cosplayers said that ordinary people would look at them and other cosplayers as "weird", however I would believe that it's because they aren't used to seeing people showing their pride in their subcultures. In a convention, everyone in that familiar space will see it as normal as they are part of that same culture.

Overall, conventions are just very fascinating. The place acts like some safe and familiar zone for people devoted to subculture like otakus to express themselves and connect with new people of similar interests. There is a lot of things to do as well and the diversity is also immense. I believe people in fandoms tend to be extremely creative, but there is still diversity, and we can still see these creative people showoff their creativeness in an accepting area where normal people would see as weird.

[siriiim123]

I agree with your analysis about how we are able to observe the idea of grand narrative with a utopia future in the form of “Animalization", which describes that people's life can become meaningless and nothing in their life changes in the society. This documentary allowed me to understand more to importance of cosplayers and building their costume for conventions, such as the ones that were mentioned. I've also realized that there are several reasons to attend a convention, like meet new people, and express one's creativity through one's liking of otaku. In addition, the rise of otaku is an example of the pop-culture in Japan.

[kwanyoung]

Wandering Son | Themes of

The Plot of the Anime

The anime takes place in the first year of middle school. We are introduced with Nitori Shuichi, who identifies as female while assigned male during birth, which they wear a woman wig and woman uniform. The second main character, Takatsuki Yoshino, is introduced, who identities as a male while assigned female during birth, who has short hair and male uniform. The characters see that students are more mature and are settling into their classes. When the students are introduced, we can notice some have gender non-conforming traits (e.g. having no preferences wearing gender-matching uniforms), which shows how gender-fluid their world is. It also appears that Shuichi has affection towards Yoshino at one point, but Shuichi doesn't understand what love is.

The Issue In Question

As the two main characters are transgender, each faced some discrimination due to their identity. We have Shuichi who was made fun of at school calling them by "tranny" as well as locking them outside of class. We also see people looking at Shuichi in a weird way in public as well as girls being surprised and angry at Shuichi trying to express their female gender identity. Shuichi is also resisting to dress up as their female-self because they feel like they could be discriminated.

We also see a scene where Saori Chiba, who initially confessed her love to Shuichi, angry and bullies Yoshino because Chiba found out Shuichi expressed their love to Yoshino, effectively breakikg Chiba's hopes of having a relationship with Shuichi. When Yoshino wore men clothing to school, the school staff questioned them and Yoshino had to clarify the situation.

From these observations, the takeaway issue is that for someone who feels like they are another gender (transgender people or any LGBTQIA+ members), it is more difficult for them to adapt to society due to discrimination and perceptions.

The Issue Addressed in Japan & Beyond

Japan is a pretty friendly nation towards queer or LGBTQIA+ members, however in certain situations or in nations worldwide, there comes to be discrimination towards and the inability to adapt to society for any gender non-conforming people.

Discrimination-wise, there are a lot of scenarios of discrimination towards queer people in schools and even online. In schools or other professional institution, there have been cases where they would ban any queer education or identities, restricting them from exercising their identity in those spaces. There are a lot of people online who are sending hate messages towards queer people.

We can see that just like in the anime, we see the same issues in our real world where queer people are often called out as "weird" and also are not respected or thought of as unusual.

My Personal Takes

While I do not identify as queer nor is part of the LGBTQIA+ community, I have personally seen a lot of acts of discrimination and bullying towards these members, however the worse cases I've seen is on social media like Instagram. Note that I am a straight person and I do not have the full picture of the LGBTQIA+ community, so please take my observations lightly. So like, there are people calling these groups, especially online in comments or posts, as "insane" and "mentally unjust", as well as hearing them talk about wanting the community to be banished.

I am not affiliated with these negative discussions but I do believe they are discriminatory and give an unfair perspective on these communities and people. Again, please do not actively criticize me in a personal level, like beyond this blog post, but you are free to drop your perspective within this blogpost. Please be positively minded.

[siriiim123]

Hello, I agree with your post because the story captures the challenges faced by transgender individuals and LGBTQIA+ members in adapting to society. I would like to add that the exploration of gender identity and the social expectations that come with them is another crucial point to be taken in this show. It portrays the way a society can be challenging and the overall impact it has on the characters' lives. This show also highlights the complexities of familial relationships and the impact of understanding issues, such as gender expression. Moreover, this negative perspective affects the society, as a whole.

[siriiim123]

Wandering Son

This show dived into the idea of homosexuality, and how gender is a social construct, an expression of sexuality. One cannot choose not to gender, but unconsciously reaches expectations of gender performance, but some can never be comfortable with gender performance they have been taught. For example, when Nitori’s sister noticed Nitori dressed in feminine clothing, she said it disgusted her. Although, disgust is mostly referred to when something that is not clean, but in this scenario, it’s referred to an impure version. This show places importance that when gender and sex are not in appropriate places gives an alarming intervention. Nitori is given false confidence that her friends and the classmates will accept her feminine gender presentation with few exceptions, and once again, underscores Butler’s theory that gender is a performance of social reality. This other character in the movie, Doi, is constantly bullying Nitori, but has a drawn attraction. In this situation, Nitori tells him she hates him, and he is hurt.  This show also shows that it is easier for girl to cross-dress than males to perform femininity because masculinity is policed more strictly. Since the adoption of males to feminine clothing is new, the adoption of females to masculine clothing or features has been common. For example, the use of trouser bans has been used. Moreover, even though Japan does not use gender pronouns, Nitori did not clearly define a pronoun, and she was not ready to self-identify, which second wave feminists did not approve. At first, Nitori performed masculinity in a relationship with Anna, and this created discomfort as it did not connect to homosexuality. After this, Nitori experiments with the feminine gender through clothing and sympathetic nature, especially when a teacher bumped into her, and apologizes to him. To conclude, this show was interesting to watch because of Nitori’s growth to find what she is comfortable with and receive support through her change.