To begin with, I really liked this film in many, many aspects, so this is by no means hate on it.
Buuut if there's one tiny thing that they could've done better... is to double down on the folk stuff. What I mainly mean is Jagna's crown. It's like a nod towards tradition but... Her dress is very city-like imo, white, embroidered with what seems sparkly (meaning expensive) threads. Meanwhile, the crown is small and made of lace, peacock feathers, blueberries??, plants I don't recognise. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty and huge respect to the maker.
In the og book, regarding the crown, we read: "Her hair, braided over her forehead, bore above it a rich pile of gold spangles, and peacock’s eyes, and sprigs of rosemary. Therefrom, down to her nape and shoulders, fell long ribbons of every hue;" (translation by Michael Dziewicki). It was also described as tall but I guess it was lost in translation.
Well, just compare this:
to these:
These are from Łowicz which is kinda in the region where Lipce is.
Anyway, this film is not super historically accurate (there's no way they would let Jagna have her hair down, not braided at all) but they did try. Overall, it's a nice introduction to the culture and an invitation to explore more on your own.
More on flower crowns in this brilliant article with more gorgeous examples by lamus dworski.
He doesn’t understand why Jesper would give up his life. A quiet life on the farm, his life as a University student. Kaz would’ve killed for that when he was younger. He doesn’t understand how Jesper can just ignore his father’s letters and not visit. He doesn’t understand any of it.
He doesn’t understand why Wylan left his father’s home. Sure, it was a place where he was unloved and wished dead, but it had food and warm fires and an easy way to kill Jan Van Eck without anyone realizing it was him. He doesn’t understand that Wylan’s more sensitive to that, that he can’t just shrug off cruel words and murder attempts
He doesn’t understand how Inej can still have faith in Saints who clearly abandoned her. How she can still pray to the Saints who allowed her to be taken, and be abused and hurt. He doesn’t understand that if Inej doesn’t have her Saints, then she has nothing and Inej needs something to cling to when she’s feeling hopeless.
He doesn’t understand why Matthias cares so deeply about everyone around him. He doesn’t understand why Matthias cares when someone he never met dies. He doesn’t understand why Matthias cares so much for people who do not care about him.
He doesn’t understand how Nina can love herself, when she’s so full of flaws. Nina takes her flaws and works with them and loves every piece of herself along the way and he’s jealous, maybe, because he doesn’t understand how she does it.
Kaz doesn’t understand his crows and he knows they don’t understand him but he‘ll protect them until the day he dies and knows they’ll do the same
It's a fun experience watching shows with subs or voice-over written by translators unfamiliar with the source material, so they just go with their gut which can have funny results.
As for OPLA, I'm having so much fun with how they translated Mihawk's lines in the Polish voice over. He's already got a tone in English but the voice over makes him so bitchy, it's hilarious.
Compare the original English and translations:
Doesn't sound like much of a challenge. = Brzmi mało zachęcająco. ["Doesn't sound much interesting."] (special mention of subtitles version:) To chyba łatwizna. ["That's probably easy stuff"; it's formulated in a very colloquial, teenager-like manner imo lol]
One moment. = Chwilunia. [This does mean "one moment" but out of all the "one moment"s (chwila, chwileczkę, poczekaj, moment) in Polish they chose the most sassy one (maybe along with "Momencik"). It's a "one moment" that a guy in a tracksuit would say before robbing you lol.]
Thank you. = Dzięki. [Again, it does mean thank you, but more like ugh thanks, as if he's so bored of Zoro's fanboying lol]
I'm suprised the Marines would require my services for such a small package. = Że też muszę zajmować się taką drobnicą. ["I can't believe I have to deal with such small fry."]
Though I do like your hat. = Klawy kapelusz. ["Cool hat"; but "cool" is an archaic and pretentious version, like idk tubular or sth]
I don't hunt rabbits with a cannon. = Nie strzelam z armaty do wróbla. ["I don't shoot a cannon at a sparrow."]
That remains to be seen. = Się okaże. ["We'll see"; but formulated in a very dismissive manner lol]
You're defeated. Why do you persist? = Mało ci? Już przegrałeś. ["Haven't you had enough? You've already lost."]
Magnificent. = Niewiarygodne. ["Unbelievable"; that's a very weird choice of translation; I'd use "Wspaniale" or "Godne pochwały" or like in the subs "Doskonale")]
This world could use a few more wild cards. = Światu przyda się więcej takich perełek. ["This world could use a few more gems like this/you"; literally "little pearls", it's used to describe rare and precious things] (special mention of subtitles version:) Światu przyda się więcej marzycieli. ["This world could use a few more dreamers."]
I suppose a drink wouldn't hurt. = Łyczek nie zaszkodzi. ["A little sip won't hurt."]
It doesn't help that the lektor uses a certain tone when he's saying Mihawk's part (especially that fucking Dzięki directed at Zoro, I burst out laughing). So yeah, in Polish they made him even more bitchy and I love it.
It kinda saddens me when people talk about The Peasants and reduce it to the medium. It's splendid, stunning, absolutely beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I've noticed not many foreign reviewers pay much attention to the story, treating it like an afterthought (I'm not comparing it to the Polish reviews, they take a completely different lense and it's hard to discuss them on the same level).
This may be a hot take but I love watermarks or ID tags on art. Please PLEASE let me now that you're the actual artist behind this and this is not a repost
I would like to wish everyone who boils Kaz down to his cane a very Die
Tell me why the fuck I was reading a fanfiction earlier and it was a texting fic and Inej’s name was knife, Nina’s was witch, Matthias’s was Brawn, Wylan was brains, Jesper was guns. Guess what Kaz’s was? Cane. Not “schemes” or “trouble” or “boss” or anything else that would make sense. Just cane.
It’s a MOBILITY AID first. He needs it to walk and live a relatively painless life. It is not an accessory or a weapon (though it can be used as one, that’s not its purpose). Why would you EVER nickname someone something like that?
We would never see fics nicknaming Wylan “text-to-speech” because it’s fucking dumb.
It’s one thing to make jokes about it (“who would deny a poor cripple his cane?” “If the cripple was you, any man with sense” for example). Those are funny. This was just. Boiling a character down to his mobility aid and it pissed me off
I use a cane and if anyone called me “cane” I would never speak to them again because I am so much more than the thing in my right hand.
Something very personal about Kaz’s coping skills.
Like, he can be as cruel as he wants because at the end of the day, there are very few people he couldn’t survive without. And those people (Inej and Jesper), Kaz thinks would be better off without him.
He doesn’t want Inej or Jesper to leave him, but he hopes they will, because he knows they deserve better. He has an such a high amount self-hatred that it overwhelms any selfishness he feels.
He’s terrified of getting close to people and getting hurt again (childhood trauma will do that to you). The amount of death he experienced at a young age is not replicated in the other crows.
Wylan’s mother “died”, so did Jesper’s, but both still had family/people who cared for them. Nina likely faced quite a bit of death, but she was never alone (until she got kidnapped) and I don’t think (correct me if I’m wrong) she was close to those Grisha. Inej likely saw very little death until she came to the Menagerie and even then, probably not much up close.
In an interesting twist, Matthias’s backstory is the most similar to Kaz’s. Their families died and they were left alone until they joined a gang/military. The difference is: Kaz wasn’t safe in his gang. Matthias could trust the other soldiers to protect him, but Kaz had to watch his back constantly.
I don’t think the other Crows really understand why Kaz acts the way he does but I do because I do the same thing. It’s really freeing to be able to act as awful as possible because if they leave, that’s fine. They were going to anyway.
It’s not good, it’s horribly unhealthy, but it’s very interesting to see
THE CONTINUATION OF AN (UNNECESSARY?) ANALYSIS OF FEMALE COSTUMES IN MY HERO ACADEMIA, THIS TIME FOR VILLAINS
aka I still think Horikoshi’s go-to when designing female characters and their costumes is to focus on their physical attractiveness and not their costumes’ functionality or practicality;
post about female hero costumes here
Since the number of female villains is laughably small, and their screen/panel-time and contribution to the story is even more laughably small, I can describe each one in detail. Not including Vigilantes or movie villains. So let’s go through each of them:
Himiko Toga
• wears a sailor uniform: shirt, dark skirt which is mid-thigh (in latest chapters it seems shorter though, barely covering her butt), on top a baggy sweater with a scarf, also socks below her knees and standard loafers; she gets a mask and a machine on her back, as well as a belt with pouches and knife-holders on her thighs;
• for winter, she gets a coat but her thighs are still exposed, although her socks end mid-thigh now; also a muffler/scarf;
• she also often appears naked, so there’s that;
La Brava
• big bow on her neck, dark shirt, corset belt?, big gloves, poofy pants, knee-high boots on heels (if it weren’t for the heels, I’d have no complaints);
Curious
• long dress from light material that can get tight at times, round cleavage; belt that serves no function; jacket with fur collar; wears wedges (they suck too, see Jill Bearup’s videos);
Lady Nagant
• a curious case, a former hero whose costume was on one panel, so we can look at that too!
• current: tight, sleeveless turtleneck, corset belt (again?!), mid-shin? loose skirt (which can expose her legs when we need fanservice!), boots;
• hero: tight, sleeveless turtleneck, neck and boob braces?, corset? belt for ammo, baggy pants, knee guards, boots;
I’ll also include female Nomu, there’s only one and doesn’t even get a proper name, just... Woman. I’m speechless. Anyway, all Nomu are pretty much naked, so her big boobs are just wobbling around. Yup. Seems like someone needs to check out how boobs of muscular women look like.
Additionally: When Toga got injured in her fight with Curious, I really hoped she would keep the eyepatch, it made her look badass and maybe would introduce consequences for her quirk... but she’s too cute to have scars, I guess.
Now, I should’ve taken a look at how male villains’ wardrobes appear in comparison, right? But honestly, I don’t feel like it, it’s too much work. Like really, there are so many named male villains and pretty much most of their clothes can be summed up with either elegant and classic or baggy and loose.
There are exceptions. Dabi’s outfit is probably the most exposing because of his loose t-shirt/tank-top with a deep neckline that can rise up pretty high (nice), in latest chapters most of his clothes are burning away so he’s showing off quite a lot (nice). Twice wears a skin-tight suit, I guess. Well, there’s also Gigantomachia in all his naked glory. Some guys wear skin-tight tank-tops or run around shirtless.
Yet I never get the same feeling with male villains as the one when I see female villains. I’m not sure if it’s the costumes or the way they’re drawn (the poses, panelling, a lot of aspects) but it’s probably a combination of both. I still think that if I were to actually count and see the percentage then the results would be the same as those from the hero costumes comparison. Females should be sexy or cute, no need for the practical or cool elements, while males should wear comfortable and loose baggy material with occassional armour.
Conclusion: Horikoshi’s still a thigh guy, wearing a corset-belt raises your chances of being a villain, only Lady Nagant knows what to wear to a battlefield shoe-wise (loafers are better than heels or wedges, but imo still suck). Overall, no armour (who needs it, right? Lady Nagant gets some lame braces though), and not much from the ever present in male costumes baggy bullshit. All of them are quite curvy and their outfits/costumes focus on accentuating their boobs or thighs.
Therefore, my point still stands. His costume designs are still sexist.
