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cyang2000

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue was a film that I’ve heard many good things about, and it really delivered. As my first Satoshi Kon work, Perfect Blue weaves together a narrative of reality and fantasy perfectly with Mima’s ordeal following her career change. Despite taking place in the early days of the internet, one of the things that I think Perfect Blue does amazingly is how it portrays Mima’s online and public identity being dissociated with the real Mima.

Mima’s Room as a website displays how celebrities today use social media as a window into one’s private life. In Mima’s case, her portrayal online as a dazzling popstar begins to interfere with her life as a rookie actress. The sequence when she starts becoming delusional and losing the ability to distinguish between the fiction of the show and her reality was extremely captivating, and it through it we saw how these dissociations can occur. The stalker, while not the root of Mima’s issues, does represent the rabid fans that stalk and intrude on the private lives of celebrities, in part fueled by the image that celebrities portray. It’s really similar to the actions of sasaeng fans in the K-pop industry. Perfect Blue shows the damaging effect that an online persona can have on the individual.

twisted-tito

Definitely we see how people’s expectation of an idol can cause serious issues in people. Being subservient to peoples demand’s is honestly what led to the problem. Although the people who died contributed to the damage done to Mima, it was ultimately her that chose to do everything and didn't objectify to what was happening.

Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue has to be one of my favorite viewings of the semester. I had a hard time understanding what was real and what she was dreaming but after reading a few post online I was able to piece all the stuff together.

From my understanding Rumi is the serial killer who is reliving her life as a movie star life in the past. The premise revolves around her going around killing people who did her wrong in the past as a movie star. The security guard is supposed to be imagined and seen as the ugly. The impression the film gave me was that Mima had lost her identity and who she is to the online post being made about her. Honestly half of the time I didn’t know if she was acting as herself or as the actor in the show.

To my analysis I see this movie as dealing with your idealized self, and it shows how the beloved pop idol image is very far from the actual image of her as an actor. Her wanting to be like her old-self changes her and leads her to kill the people that did her wronged her and turned her into what she is now.

Also, she believed that she was the one writing the online post, however in some ways it contradicts itself since there is no way the posts can 100% depict her personality and how she really felt about her current job. It definitely shows how being a pop idol can lead you to be more cautious about your look in order to please your fan base. This dissociation between who you really are and how you want to be seen takes its toll and negatively effects how one perceives oneself.

randy-wlee

Apr. 20 - Death Parade (ep. 1,2,9,11)

These four episodes of Death Parade were… interesting. It wasn’t what I expected it to be, but it’s still a pretty unique concept.

These episodes definitely focused on human emotions, but I was slightly confused. The black-haired girl (Chiyuki) in episode 2 argues to Decim that Machiko actually loved her husband and was just trying to lessen his guilt. I thought this demonstrates how complex human emotions are. Machiko is willing to go the extreme, lying and destroying her relationship just to protect Machiko. In episode 11, Chiyuki admits that it is difficult for humans to understand each other, stating that she herself couldn’t understand why she is upset after her injury. Again, this seem to point towards the complexity of human emotions. In episode 9 however, we saw how the game itself intensified Shimada’s need for revenge. Chiyuki points out to Decim that people aren’t that complex and their emotions are easily influenced. To me this seems to contradict the whole idea of human emotions being complex.

Chiyuki being with Decim leads him to question his judgements. The former questions the latter’s ability to understand human emotions, stating that he was never alive. I thought this is a fair point. If it is difficult for humans to understand emotions, how can someone who was never alive do any better? Considering how Decim’s wrongly judged Machiko and Takashi due to his inability to understand emotions, is it really fair for him to remain as an arbiter?

After watching episode 9, I thought the game itself can be compared to court cases. The game pressures individuals and intensifies their emotions, which allow Decim to (sometimes falsely) judge them. This reminded me of cases where defendants are faced with a plea bargain. I’ve read that some defendants who might not be guilty plead guilty because if they plead not guilty and enough evidences are presented, they can face severe punishments. The punishments pressure the defendants, which I thought is kind of similar to the game.

twisted-tito

Definitely having an arbiter that can’t experience emotion is not ideal. Emotions are complex and if he has a hard time trying to understands someones emotions then he cannot provide a right judgement. Also the act of getting revenge is enticing to anyone especially if it’s getting revenge on someone who caused harmed to your sister. In the end he risks everything to get revenge instead of looking out for his well being.

Death Parade

The first episode was really interesting to watch. At first, I had an initial impression that the arbitrator was always going to be right. However, as the series progressed we saw how difficult it is to find a standard metric to judge good vs bad. During the second episode we see how the couple is wrongfully judged by Decim and how he missed something that was crucial to judging to it.

One thing that makes judging humans is that they are taken to the extreme, Chiyuki explains that anyone will do anything inhuman or evil when taking the extreme. We see how the husband’s jealousy got the to his head and ultimately led to both their deaths. Chiyuki says that if it weren’t for that then they would have lived a happy life together.

Another problem with the whole judging system is that the arbitrator has no metric to base his decision on. Like Decim said in the 11th episode, he can’t fully comprehend many emotions that humans have, he can only assume that people are sad or happy. Without Decim not being able to experience emotions, I think it makes it difficult to judge someone based on their actions without sympathizing with them or figuring out their motivation for doing certain actions.

As we see from the game which deals with air hockey, although both are killers, and both should be sent to the void. However, I think in the end Decim again takes another bad decision as he punishes the guy who killed in order to protect his sister. However, the detective was more vicious as he watched people get preyed and victimized in order to murder the criminals later. In the end, the brother probably got the worst sentence even if all he was doing was trying to protect his sister.

randy-wlee

Apr. 17 - Violet Evergarden (ep.1, OVA,ep. 9,10)

I think Violet Evergarden is by far the saddest anime we’ve watched in this class. I have watched this once before, but watching it again still hit me hard. Also, I really like the animation in this series. Kyoto Animation did a superb job.

It’s really sad to see how Violet views herself. Growing up in the army, she came to believe that she is only a tool for war even though Major Gilbert does treat her like a human. The anime portrays how she lives life after the war. Initially, she does not have her own will and only wants orders from Gilbert. She seems more concerned of the major than herself too, as seen in the first episode. Violet however, becomes more accustomed to civilian life by working as an Auto Memory Doll. I think this is what the anime is trying to point out, that getting a job can help war veterans reintegrate into society and deal with loss. In episode 9, when Violet breaks down, she recovers after receiving a letter from Roland and then helping him deliver the remaining letters. While the letter definitely helped, I think delivering the letters contributed to her recovery as well since it gives her a sense of purpose.

I thought it was interesting how Violet tries to learn what love is through writing. She has a hard time understanding the concept of love and the nuances in human language since she takes orders literally. However, as seen in the OVA, she starts to slowly understand after being exposed to the many lost letters. The anime definitely focuses on the power of writing. We saw how Ilma uses Violet’s lyrics in her opera to try to move herself and others forward from the war. I thought this is kind of similar to Nosaka Akiyuki writing of Grave of the Fireflies to overcome war experiences.

twisted-tito

That is true that getting a job helps to reintegrate veterans to society. Besides just violet, many of the people are also struggling to get a job. One of Violet’s friend starts a company after war and is focus on that and Violet is trying to live her life as a Doll in order to learn what love is and also learn to live without the major. It definitely does promote some economic activity to get a country back on its feet and being back to normal.

Violet Evergarden

A theme that this series portrays is the pain the war has brought upon society, we see the emotional pain caused by the loss of a loved one. When Violet was writing the letter to the lady, she found out instead that it was supposed to be the climax to an opera. The letter was supposed to be directed to a soldier by his spouse, the letter would capture the emotion of women and men. This shows much efforts to try to get over the loved ones that were lost at war. This is the transition where they must go on about their days with their loved ones not being there anymore.

The movie also focuses on the scars and pain left behind by war. In some scenes we are shown bloodshed and battle scenes from Violets dream or memory. We see that the guilt of being in the war and causing bloodshed and also being the one to suffer from losing a devasting amount of their men at war. There seems to be a constant commentary that society should learn to accept the past and move on.

We see how Violet must now live life a very different way than what she would use to in war. We see how she progresses from awaiting to be ordered to do something to actually doing something that is her free will. She has to learn to live on without the major and now has to fit into a post-war society.

In episode 10 we see how Miss Ann’s mom was not worried about the past and writing towards her dead husband from war. Instead the letters are directed to Miss Ann and are symbolic to thinking about the future and learning how to live on without the presence of your loved ones.

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.

twisted-tito

Yea I definitely agree that this manga tries to downplay the killings and even say that they are fake. There seems to be this shift of blame, and its really in a way trying to defend themselves from this fault, it’s like they don't want to be judge for their past actions.

Sensoron

The argument made, and the points made in the manga are very convincing and critique the current way is subservient to the US and other nations. The manga claims that people have lost their sense of nationalism and have instead turned to individualism. Their reasoning is that without nationalism they won’t turn back to a Japan that was very nationalistic during the second world war. The manga opposes the new way Japan is behaving after the war, he claims that Japan is brainwashed and are put into guilt over the atrocities of war.

The reading was also very compelling and was based on the societies in which society has lived in, mostly it is about the agrarian society where basically he says that the means of production are governed by the state. In this agrarian culture, alliances are formed by people and these people are the only ones to wreak the benefits of being in the alliance. However just because they are a collection of a group, they aren’t nationalist due to the idea that everyone in that agrarian society is only focused on their specific role. Once they start expanding their roles, this will lead to internal conflict between the different strata in the society. This stratification makes it so that instead of worrying about foreign invaders taking their land, they are more concerned with rising above their current class and receiving the perks of the upper class.

Although I was able to deduce the reasoning for the manga and what its message is. However, with the reading it isn’t clear what the conclusion is supposed to be, it confuses me whether it advocates for a more agrarian society. One thing it is for sure is that the reading does emphasize how nationalism doesn’t exist in agrarian society.

cyang2000

4/10 Your Name

Your Name by Shinkai is one of the movies that took a lot of people by surprise. It was a massive blockbuster hit from a director that was not extremely well known like Miyazaki. Your Name tells a fresh romance story through the body switching of the two main characters.

The reading by Foucault was somewhat confusing, but I could tell how it connected to Your Name. Taki and Mitsuha are both adolescents, those lacking power according to Foucault. When they live their lives in each other’s bodies, you can see the efforts they go to do act as their opposite gender. While hard to translate to english, you can see the different pronouns Mitsuha uses in Taki’s body. Mitsuha first uses watashi, which is more feminine. She then progresses through other varying pronouns before using ore, which is a more masculine pronoun in Japanese.

Another interesting point from their body switching is that actions by both taken in the opposite gender leads to benefits. Mitsuha in Taki’s body lands a date with Okudera, while Taki in Mitsuha’s body is able to confront the students who were bad-mouthing her. Taki’s friend also found him “cute” when Mitsuha was in his body. Your Name doesn’t really show any negative stigmas between the two when they are in each other’s bodies, despite acting more masculine or feminine then how they normally were. In fact, it was thanks to both Taki’s and Mitsuha’s efforts in Mitsuha’s body that was able to evacuate the town before the meteorite struck.

twisted-tito

Definitely agree that their actions have helped each other out, I really looked over the sexuality and how it was presented in the movie. Sexuality plays a major role in the movie and is precisely how Taki gets the date with Ms. Okudera. Definitely each action is able to influence one another’s action which in turn keeps the whole cycle going to the end as Taki’s actions to tell Mitsuha about the meteor leads to her getting spared by the meteorite, rip the other half of the town;(.

Your Name

So, what are their names? Just to get out it of the way I actually thought this movie was about teenage amnesia, yet it took me on a whole spiritual journey. I think what was really daunting was the movies mysticism and how the events in their universe seem to happen for several different factors.

This kind of ties to the what the article has to say about power and resistance, their omnipresence happens in every interaction and event in the world. Power as the text said can also affect the power that might be in another event or interaction. In a way we see this playout throughout the whole movie, the thing that ties these too characters together is the fact that the experiences they had was able to change both of them, to find their identity and be different from who they were originally. We see how Taki gets dragged into a date with his co-worker and how this probably would not have happened if he were not trading bodies with Mitsuha.

We even see how Ms. Okudera also explains how someone has changed Taki some way or the other and how she might actually believe that he was contacting someone from the past. Their interactions were able cause both of them to come out of there bubbles and be more accepted in society, also with the concept of love involved, there also seems to be a notion that everything happens for a reason. I kind of see by the way Taki says he is always searching for someone or something and I think the movie hints at the fact that what he’s searching for is right in front of him and all he has to do is take a chance and talk to Mitsuha towards the end of the movie.

justagirlwithaclassblog

Hetalia Axis Powers 1-19

“Character-based web anime like Hetalia promote stereotypes, and yet they also propel their reimagining in new contexts.”

- Annett’s “World Conflict”

Hetalia Axis Powers is a series that retells history in a lighthearted way, displaying countries in a stereotypical way. Not going to lie, I enjoyed it

Not only were their accents in the English dub, which I personally felt was a nice touch, but the way the countries were portrayed may have been stereotypical in an extreme manner. I mean Italy was too pasta obsessed to get anything done. However, despite this, the stereotypes serve to add the humor in the form of comedic exaggeration. Thus, I can see how the show may be “a conflicted locus for transnational capital and transcultural community in the twentyfirst century,” as revealed in the reading, Annett’s “World Conflict”. I mean depending on a viewer’s level of nationalism, he or she may be greatly offended by their country’s portrayal. I mean if everyone’s favorite ‘Murica Man saw the way America was portrayed they would definitely be offended, despite that in my personal opinion America is not the worst one portrayed. The same goes for any country.

It was interesting to note that the show had deeper implications in the realm of female fan cultures, and content industry. These two realms of discussion were touched upon in the reading. In regards, to female fan cultures, the article claims that the show is geared towards fujoshi also known as “rotten women”, female fans who enjoy male relationships and works of Yaoi. I would have to say that while watching the show I was able to see how the show could appeal to fujoshi as it does set up scenes and character dynamics in a manner that could character ships and inevitably and eventually Yaoi fanworks. In regards to the content industry, the show illuminated through its web form and it “consummately consumable characters” which not only ties into the show’s transition between manga and anime platforms but the character’s potential in regards to consumption through fanworks, like the inevitable Yaoi fanworks of the fujoshi.

twisted-tito

I also liked where the article went with the fujoshi fan culture not being made into a negative thing as the otaku fan culture which came under scrutiny after the killing. However the definition of fujoshi and how it is categorized are distinct which cause problems. The fugoshin fan culture is normalized even if it contains content like BL.

Hetalia

I admire the show for being very funny and enjoyable to watch based on all the characters and their stereotypes that are involved with each one of them. I think that by making countries into male fun-loving characters it downplays their role in war and is more geared to the history and making of the allies and their respective nations instead of full on battle and casualties. However, we do see many themes of colonialism and armed conflict at times.

One of the interesting things I saw is that it didn’t downplay colonialism and how we see many of the characters submit to their superiors. Although it just tells history, it doesn’t show the full picture and context between the relationship the countries. Italy is seen as being subordinate to a very strong and caring Germany. Even the representation of a country has some bias when it comes to show making Germany being attractive and very helpful to Italy’s development. It also shows how biased it, especially how the reading shows how Hetalia received some backlash due to how it portrayed Korea in the show.

I think the platform for how Hetalia is transmitted through is also very interesting. The fact that the episodes are only 5 minutes long, and that they are fairly new so that they can also be widespread throughout the internet makes it very crucial to what the reading was talking about when it mentioned how through this different medium there was a separation of ideology between the otaku community. The article also focuses on the relationship and community of those in the otaku community and there’s some generational differences which cause many to see what the community is about in a different way. Many people in the community see the online communication and connectivity as the community while others think the conventions are the way to keep in touch with the community.

randy-wlee

True Otaku: The Documentary

First of all, I think it is quite interesting what the term “otaku” means for people in the United States and how this term evolved from its original usage in Japan. An interviewee in the documentary pointed out that in Japan, the word “otaku” means a hardcore fan and could be applied to any type of fan. In the west however, people have come to associate otaku exclusively with fans of anime and manga. It has been pointed out as well that “otaku” is more of a derogatory word in Japan due to the Otaku Murderer incident in the 1980s. Over here, there are still some negative images of the otaku, but the word “otaku” itself isn’t used as much as a derogatory word compared to in Japan.

The documentary points out that Otakon serves as a place where people with interests in anime and manga come together and form a community. The convention allows people to make new friends through their interests and to participate together in activities without being judged continually by those around them. I thought this community of acceptance is similar to what we saw in Genshiken. We saw Sasahara having confidence in approaching doujinshi booths at Comiket as he realizes that those around him are the same as him. Otakon being a place where people can express their inner fantasies through cosplay, in particular, cross-play is similar to Hato (in Genshiken as well). Like Madarame accepting Hato’s cross-dressing, the community in Otakon seems accepting towards the different types of cosplay present there.

The cosplays in Otakon relate to our previous readings on the otaku. When asked about what it means for participants to cosplay, some say that it is something that allows one to be someone other than himself/herself and to bring fiction to reality, while others say that it is a way to interpret characters. In any case, these cosplays show that otaku produce simulacra in order to “own” the unownable fiction, as argued by Saito. This, of course, is similar to what we saw in Genshiken. Regarding the creation of costumes, we can liken Iris (Dustbunny) to Ohno. Both of them put much effort into creating their own cosplays. On a side note, I found it interesting how such creations involve so much work and can teach one many new skills. Iris says that she researches characters through different websites before creating her outfit. I thought of this as the continuation of creating simulacra through other simulacra. Before I move on, something I’d like to point out is the fact that there were stormtroopers present in Otakon. From my past experience, there are definitely a lot of people who cosplay as characters from western media. I don’t think I saw any in Genshiken, so that could be a difference between here and in Japan, but that might not be the case in real life.

Although Otakon is a place where people aren’t judged by the general public, it certainly is interesting how some cosplayers decide to put themselves in a position to be judged by a panel of judges through entering a cosplay competition. Iris mentions that the competition is not only a way to gain attention, but to gain recognition. I thought this relates in a way to Fiske’s discussion on fandom. Winning the competition requires a thorough understanding of not only the characters being represented, but the skills needed to create the cosplay. Thus, by winning it, cosplayers can signal to others their rich knowledge and gain status within the fandom. It’s also worthy to point out that cosplay competitions are held in Japan as well.

Finally, otaku here are similar to those in Japan in that they spend a lot on anime and manga merchandise. A good deal of people in the documentary say that they spend a lot while at the convention. I have to admit, even I do spend a lot on merchandise as well.

Even though I thought this documentary is quite entertaining and informative, I think it focused too much on cosplays. It would have been even more informative if the documentary included other things such as fanart and doujinshi.

twisted-tito

Interesting take on how people use cosplay as a simulacra within other simulacra. It goes to show that to create the perfect simulacra you have to navigate to a different one to make it happen. I also found that the people being dressed up as storm troopers was kind of odd and out of place since I associate it with western culture. It definitely proves how the otaku culture is very diverse and is really inclusive to mostly about anything to do with the Japanese culture and even western culture. While it’s true that anime was influence by western culture, I still disagree that cosplay dealing with western culture might not be appropriate in that type of setting.

True Otaku

I think one thing that this documentary was able to show was how dedicated people are and how they have a sense of belonging in the community when they participate in events like these. Genshiken was also able to show how the people who participated in comic fest felt a sense of relief knowing that people there also liked the same stuff and that they were not going to be judge for their likings. From the accounts of the people in the documentary, they seem to feel a sense of community and belonging when they cosplay or when they interact with other people at events.

I was also able to see cosplay through a different light. I always perceived cosplaying as just dressing up as your favorite character, however the mentality that people had at the convention seemed to vary from gaining attention to a very competitive mindset. There is a very competitive atmosphere to have the best cosplay outfit in order to win competitions and also gain trophies to show that they are novice competitors but instead that they are professionals at it.

Part two of the documentary was also able to show how people dedicate their time to their cosplaying and tedious it is to make a costume. It amazes me how people dedicate much of their time and passion to creating an outfit. It also gave me a glimpse of how creative it can be, the main woman that part two revolved around had to learn to sow, paint, and do other things in order to create a very realistic cosplay outfit. I think I never realized how arts and crafty cosplaying can get and how it can be a creative outlet for many people. I was amazed by some of the costumes that many of the people had on and could only think about that most of it was self-made.

Another interesting thing that the documentary uncovered was the usage of the term otaku and whether people consider themselves one or not. I honestly hadn’t heard the term until I got into this class and hence really never considered whether I was one or not. We even see it throughout the beginning of the documentary when people are asked if they are otaku, their answers vary from yes to no to I have no idea. I think the negative connotation of the word being associated to the word causes some confusion with whether people want to be associated with the word or not. However, one man perfectly describes that the people at the convention might not all be otaku’s, yet they all are fans of the Japanese culture and to the consumption of goods that come from Japan.

One thing that crossed my mind was how costly cosplaying and how much people waste on the consumption of these goods at the convention. It’s crazy to think how expensive stuff can get and how much people are willing to spend on things they like. The documentary was pretty insightful on the otaku culture yet experiencing one would have been better. Rip Swampcon.

cyang2000

3/30 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

I think that Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is the third Ghibli film I’ve watched, and it’s the one that has the strongest environmental message, making it the main focus of the film.

The setting of the film is one of the more unique ones I’ve seen in anime. Taking place in a far post-apocalyptic future, the technology is subdued, and there is a greater focus on the conflict between humans and the conflict between them and the Toxic Jungle. One of the main themes showcased throughout the film that I really enjoyed was how it demonstrated the harm that human conflict causes to the environment. Just like how human strife ruined the environment in civilization in the past, different groups of people continue to feud which almost cause another disaster to humans. The Toxic Jungle represents on act of nature repelling the toxic effect that humans cause to it. While this is not extremely tangible in our modern world, the Toxic Jungle in the movie manifests itself as an active force that directly reflects the harm that humans cause to the environment. The Tolmekians in the movie represent that side of humans that feel like the destruction that the Toxic Jungle can only be countered with more destruction. The movie shows this to be a dangerous mindset, however, as trying to cause harm to the forest will enrage a massive horde of Ohm that can not be stopped. Nausicaä, on the other hand, tries to seek peace with the Toxic Jungle and the Ohm, asserting that it can be stopped by making peace with nature. Nausicaä is able to understand and reason with the Ohm, and by doing so, is able to stop their rampage. She realizes that the Toxic Jungle is also the source of life underneath. I really like Nausicaä’s take on how to preserve the environment. The insects that seem to be really grotesque were just trying to protect their source of life, and humans wrongly encroached on that.

twisted-tito

I think the movie definitely tries to have a very harmonious mindset when it comes to the relationship between humans and nature. It also fosters the idea that if we aren’t going to protect the environment then who will. I definitely think that the movie is way ahead of time. It definitely has a powerful message on environmental conservation, I also think that the dynamics in the movie are more easily able to be solved than that of what we are currently facing on Earth at this very moment. We see that the people of the valley can easily live harmoniously with the forest.

Nausicaa

One of the major things I got out of this movie is how destructive humans can be and how they will only listen once their life is at stake. We are introduced to an apocalyptic future where humans haven’t learned from their past mistake and continue to ensue pain and destruction to the Earth, we also see how the Earth retaliates and is forced to destroy humanity in order to protect itself. Nausicaa is introduced as the only person who is able to rationalize the world around her and tries to understand it as well. We see how she is able to do research and concludes that toxins are only being put out as a result of the pollution that the humans have caused.

I really enjoyed the fact that this Miyazaki film also focuses on the environment and shows the dangers and destruction that we can cause to nature. This is pretty relevant today and probably was relevant at the time the film was made. We have known about the increasing levels of carbon dioxide since the 80’s and are ignorance continues to expedite the destruction of our planet. I think that the film tries to get rid of this ignorance by making us conscientious of how our actions may come back to bite us in the near future.

The film as portrays women as the voice of reason throughout the film. We see how the women of Pejite work together to help Nausicaa escape. We also see how the evil princess also changes however she is blinded by her fright even to the end of the movie when she awakens the monster to help fight the Ohms. Towards the end the prophecy is fulfilled only that one thing is wrong, the hero that was supposed to save the world is not a male but a female, this highlights how progressive the film is by advocating feminism.

cyang2000

3/28 Wandering Son

I’ve never really watched an anime before that seriously tackled a topic like gender identity. While anime has often poked fun or sexualized seemingly trans figures, Wandering Son makes a mature statement on the issues and decisions that trans people face.

One aspect of the show that really impressed me was how they portrayed the respective reactions to both Takatsuki and Nitori’s crossdressing. While Takatsuki is seen as cool by their peers, while Nitori is ridiculed for dressing like a girl while at school. I think that is because of how male-centric society has become. Females who take on more masculine attributes are seen as stronger and cooler, while men who are more feminine are looked down upon. While it is becoming better in modern society, there is still discrimination that occurs due to gender. The concept of reclaiming femininity also somewhat excludes people like Nitori who wants to be more feminine despite being biologically male. This discrimination against trans women also starts to get in Nitori’s head. She starts internalizing thoughts of disgust that other people have and seems to feel bad about her desire to be female. Nitori and Anna’s relationship is also interesting. Nitori also seems to have like girls while also wanting to be one, while Anna seems to think of Nitori as cute. Wandering Son has a unique story and tone that you really don’t often see in anime, but I had a great time watching it.

twisted-tito

The relationship between Nitori and Anna is in fact very interesting. We see the contrast between sexual preference and gender identity. Just because Nitori wants to be a female it doesn't not interfere with his liking of females. I think the show with all its characters is able to produce each one very different from each other and also how similar goals that they have in being accepted by society.

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