jmas6

[jmas6]

I think you make very good points about how we utilize narrative as an avanue to relive memories. I also think that looking at Your Name and Hetalia: Axis Powers together in this context makes a strong case about how there is no singular correct way to remember events of the past. Although Hetalia: Axis powers does not overtly focus on the holocaust, there is reference to WWII Germany, which seems to clash with the show's otherwise lighthearted tone-at first. Your Name is similar with its ability to reference tragedy wihout focussing on it, but instead of a lighthearted tone, the issue is treated with more reverence. In either case, the recpeiton by the fanbase was generally positive, which I think demonstrates that, as long as it is not outright disrespectful, people are generally appreciative of major historical inflection points being given representation so that htey are not forgotten, no matter how it is done.

Blog Post: Reflecting on Your Name, Hetalia: Axis Powers, and Sensōron

It was like entering two different areas while seeing Your Name, one based on intense emotional need and the other on the transience of time and memory. The way it addressed the trauma of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami without overtly displaying it affected me. Although the body-swapping narrative initially appears to be a joke, it actually conveys important themes of loss, connection, and the will to remember on a personal and a national level. It got me thinking about how people deal with a communal disaster, particularly when survivors are still in the thick of their sorrow and the world seems to be moving on swiftly.

Hetalia: Axis Powers was a startling change at the other extreme. I was both amused and uneasy by the humorous, frequently ridiculous, cheerful tone. It begs the question of how we remember and recount history when complicated histories and the misery of war are reduced to clichés and jokes. Given how serious and agonizing that time was for so many, it's odd to see World War II shown in such a lighthearted, even loving, manner. However, I can also see how it appeals to a younger audience that uses comedy to attempt to understand world history. It made me think of TikToks or political memes that condense global events into brief, frequently divisive interpretations.

Sensōron experienced a sense of soberness and groundedness. It speaks directly to Japan's struggles with the legacy of the war, particularly the conflict between culpability and victimization. By pointing out what is omitted or minimized, the reading gave both anime more depth. It got me to thinking about the historical narratives of my own nation and even my own family—the things we highlight and the things we overlook.

All things considered, these pieces caused me to consider memory—individual, societal, and global—and the ways in which narrative may both conceal and heal. They serve as cultural reflectors in addition to being amusement.

[jmas6]

Internal and External Nationalism

Both Hetalia: Axis Powers and Your Name comment on different aspects of national identity. In Hetalia: Axis Powers, the writers portray different nations as young men and use their characters to rrepresent how the various countries might interact with other countries. In other words, it disregarded the multi-faceted cultures and viewpoints that might exist within a nation, instead unifying each country in its entirety into a single character defined by traits that may or may not repreent the actual populace within the country. Your Name, on the other hand, took more of an introspective approach to examining the culture of a country. In Your Name, the two main characters, a country girl and a city boy, swap bodies. At the start of the movie, these characters are about as different as two highschoolers can be, and they repesent the two major subsects of the Japanese population: the growing urban populations that are more youthful (not by that much, this is Japan after all), and the ever-shrinking rural towns that have little in common with the city folk. In many countries across the world, there is an ever-growing divide between rural and urban populations and, in many places, Japan included, this has started to cause some friction amongst the pupulace.

Nearly every developed country in the world is ruled by some form of democratic capitalism, where the the population of the country vote to choose who they believe will best advocate for their interests. However, when two of the largest groups of people in the coutnry have distinctly opposite views on what the government's top priorities should be, tensions begin to rise as fewer and fewer compromises are able to be made. I think that Your Name does a good job at attempting to bridge the gap between country and city folk by showing how each lifestyle has its ups and downs, and that country life is not something that is inherently worse that is fine to discard if it is convenient. Also, I think that the visual rhetoric used in the film that depicts an idyllic countryside played a large role in the effectiveness of this film.

[jmas6]

I agree that these sources, Nausicaa in particular, made me think a lot about how my daily life impacts the environment. At first, I was also motivated to make changes that reduced my impact, but after remembering just how little my personal decisions make compared to the amount of damage caused by massive corporations, I quickly lost that motivation. Although I do not believe that I, personally, could make changes in my life that have any meaningful impact on the environment as a whole, I do think the message of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 about making a difference on the individual does apply to the real world. Even if the average person cannot make a change themselves, researchers and scientists definitely do. For instance, I researched a company in France for a previous class that had developed bacteria capable of feeding on certain types of plastics. Plastic itself is not inherently non-biodegradable, it is just such a new introduction to the ecosystem that there are no species that have had time to evolve to use it as a food source. However, by speeding up the process of evolution, and carefully selecting for desirable traits, there is potential for creating species that thrive in plastic landfills, returning the sequestered resources to the ecosystem.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Watching these anime reminded me a lot of the contrasts between nature and technology. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind feels like a warning about the possibilities of environmental destruction. The Sea of Decay is toxic but also symbolically beautiful. It is a reminder that nature regenerates even when poisoned by human carelessness. It reminds me of Avatar in that way, specifically the game Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. The RDA is trying to take over Pandora, the world of the Na'vi, and the planet works to recover after parts of the RDA are taken down. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the Titans and Cloud Sea feel related to parts of the world Nausicaä. Ancient beings that literally carry human civilization on their back. the slowly are dying of exploitation. Both stories exemplify the anxieties that feel not only Japanese but global. Although, Japan, an island rooted in a long history of natural disasters and postwar industrialization, and the atomic bombs. The ideas that our survival hinges on respecting the balance we keep destroying is so painfully relevant in todays world.

Personally, these works made me reflect on how detached my own daily life is from the land I live on. Driving around in a car, use electricity, eat packaged food, etc, all without seeing the real cost it has on our environment. Nausicaä's empathy for every living thing made me question how I could live more gently. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the theme of inherited mistakes resonated too, how we carry forward problems we didn't create but have to fix anyway.

One connection I keep thinking about is how both stories blur the line between savior and destroyer. The same humans who poison the earth also hold the power to heal it. That contradiction feels very honest, its a very grey area seemingly without heroes or villains and a hope that we change before we lose everything.

[jmas6]

Humans are part of Nature too

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 tell the same story about humanity's role in the downfall of nature, but very different stories about humanity's role in its restoration. In either case, humanity is the one that caused some sort of disaster that led to the destruction of nature to some degree. In both cases, humanity also had some role in its eventual restoration-but this is where the differences arise. In Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the role humanity had to play was that of the bystander, interfering as little as possible to let nature take is course, slowly healing itself over the course of millennia. In Xenoblade Chronicles 2, however, humanity had to take a much more hands on approach, initiating and guiding the healing process from start to finish. To me, this drives home the point that was made in the lecture about how the objectification of nature is largely responsible for the impact humanity has caused on it. As long as humans exist somewhere where there is nature, they too become part of nature, and vice versa.

In my opinion, the fact that humanity has caused so much damage to the environment around us does not mean that humans cannot exist as part of nature, but rather the opposite. There have been several mass extinction events over the course of the planets history that have caused much more severe, long lasting damage to nature than what humanity has done in the past few centuries. Because of this, I like to look at humanity as just another part of nature, potentially the part that causes the next mass extinction event. However, the key difference between humanity and the past causes of mass extinction events is our sentient nature. Humans have the innate ability to reason and adapt as things change, and because of this, we can course correct and begin healing the damage we have done to nature ourselves. There have been many instances of human intervention causing more harm than good, namely the use of invasive species to solve a problem, only to cause a larger one. However, this does not mean that human intervention inherently damages the natural order, just that there needs to be careful consideration of all potential consequences before large scale actions are taken to try and shift the course of nature. History has proven that humans are very good at causing drastic changes in natural ecosystems, but what is important is that we use that ability to effect change thoughtfully. In fact, I think that it is precisely because humans exist as part of nature that we can have impact on it, as it is a lot easier to change things from the inside than the outside.

[jmas6]

I really like what you said about how Evangelion depicts the cost of trying to force boys into a narrow idea of manhood. Before the lectures, I did not even pick up on any of the commentary about masculinity, and after listening to them, I still thought the anime was just that-commentary. But now that you mention it, I think that the ending to the movie can be considered something of a warning about how more and more young men might start radicalizing themselves to try and fit into the role society has laid out for them, despite how little they might want to. In some ways, I think the idea of labeling men as hegemonic in online spheres has been prophetic in fueling much of the incel movement we see today.

EVA review

After watching Evangelion, I kept thinking about what it’s trying to say about masculinity. Shinji isn’t the usual type of anime hero. He doesn’t want to fight. He’s scared. People in the show act like something is wrong with him because of that. His dad, his classmates, even Misato push him to fight in the robot like it’s the only way he can be worth something.

The lectures helped me understand this better. They explained that what Shinji is going through isn’t just about him being “weak” or “emotional.” It’s about how our society has certain ideas of what it means to be a man. Like being strong, aggressive, and good at using violence when needed. This is called hegemonic masculinity. The show uses Shinji to challenge that idea. He can’t fit into that mold, and it’s not because he’s broken. It’s because the mold itself is too limiting.

Then Asuka shows up. She’s aggressive and good at fighting, and even though she’s a girl, she fits the idea of masculinity more than Shinji does. It’s kind of ironic. She makes fun of Shinji, and it just adds more pressure on him to act like a “real” man. But he still doesn’t fit in.

When Kaworu shows up, things shift. He’s kind, soft, and emotional, just like Shinji. But unlike Shinji, he’s confident about it. For a moment, it looks like Shinji found someone who proves that being gentle and emotional can also be strong. But then he finds out Kaworu isn’t human. That hits hard. It’s like the one person who made Shinji feel okay about himself was never part of the same world to begin with.

In the end, Evangelion doesn’t offer a clear answer. But it makes us think about the cost of forcing boys into a narrow idea of manhood. Maybe we need to stop asking boys to be “tough enough” and start letting them just be themselves.

[jmas6]

Is Hegemonic Masculinity here to Stay?

I have long heard great thing about Evangelion, but I had never watched it prior to this module. Watching it with no expectations and before listening to the lectures, I did not notice any of the themes surrounding queer masculinity, but after listening to the lectures it seems incredibly blatant to me. I think that this kind of blind spot has played a large role in hegemonic masculinity's continued prevalence in society. This kind of culture has been ingrained in human society for centuries, and only recently has the cultural zeitgeist started to shift. I think it is not so much a matter of people not caring about the issue, but more so that is just not something that is commonly thought about. I personally believe that many of those who perpetuate hegemonic masculinity in some way do so because that is how they were raised, but by the time they are old enough to critically think about their actions, their likes, dislikes, and hobbies have already been deeply ingrained in their personalities. This creates a sort of self perpetuating loop wher each subsequent generation unconsciously takes in the habits of the previous one, which can often be traced back to some form of hegemonic masculinity. One way to escape this cycle, there would need to be a cultural movement wherein people, both men and women, make conscious decisions to remove aspects of hegemonic masculinity from their household as they raise their children. While this would likely reduce its prevalence in society in just a few generations, it is highly unlikely. What I think is more likely to happen is the proportion of society that is truly accepting (not just performatively accepting because it is the "right thing to do") of queer masculinity will slowly grow over time. Eventually, it will reach a tipping point where queer masculinity is no longer considered queer, and it becomes the mainstream way to "be a man." However, I think this is also either very unlikely or very far off in the future, since these ideas are so deeply ingrained in society. There has been great progress in the past century, with countries around the world electing female leaders, which has taken a chip off the mountain that is hegemonic masculinity, but there are a lot of chips to go before the mountain is leveled.

[jmas6]

I think you make a great point about how anime can depict these problems in a universally understandable way. I think that Aggretsuko did this especially well, since these themes are likely echoed by women in office places across the world. Another thing I found fascinating about Aggretsuko was how it might have contributed to the growing trend of "opting out" of society in Japan. In previous modules, we have seen anime touch on how hard work is not as rewarding as it would be in an ideal world, and also on those that feel abandoned by the system, like NEETs. Aggretsuko, on the other hand, is a window into what it is like if you don't opt out, and instead choose to just stay on the path society laid out for you. For many young people in Japan, especially young women I presume, this anime may have done nothing but make the education-office job pipeline look like an even worse option than they initially thought.

Sailor Moon, Aggretsuko, and Wandering Son

These three anime made me think about how Japanese animation can tackle identity, gender, and work culture in ways that feel both local and universal.

Sailor Moon feels like a classic for a reason. It shows how a group of girls can have power, friendship and flaws all at the same time. What stood out to me was how it mixes funny and serious. Everyday school life and huge battles for the fate of the world. Even though it set in 90’s Japan, the message about the girls supporting each other and balancing who they want to be with what the world expects still feels relevant today.

Aggretsuko made me laugh while also making me feel kind of uneasy. The show’s take on work culture, the pressure to always be agreeable, quiet resentment, and the fantasy of crashing out. The karaoke death metal scene shows how Retsuko copes with her stress in a world where she’s supposed to smile and endure everything. It’s clearly about office life in Japan, but it also mirrors what a lot of young people everywhere fear. What a dead-end office job will be like having to restrain themselves and be polite even while facing a burnout.

Wandering Son handled gender identity gently but didn’t shy away from how complicated it can feel to grow up when you fel like you don’t fit the roles people push on you. The characters are so young but already aware that the world expects them to act a certain way. I related to this in  a different sense, the feeling of pretending or performing to match other people's expectations.

Together all of these anime show how Japanese media can speak about real struggles, identity, gender, and work.

[jmas6]

Could Otakus Poison the Well?

Prior to this module, it had never crossed my mind that the magical girl transformation trope could be anything but fanservice. Like the professor pointed out in the lecture, this was assuredly due to my mainly western media diet shaping how I view media. However, I do think this opens a discussion about what the actual effects of this kind of messaging in anime was on young girls in Japan. I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to legitimately determine this kind of thing in a scientific manner, but I can definitely see a world where this idea of "experimenting with sexualty, but with the option to retreat back into childhood" was completely missed by the primarily young, female audience. Although this could very well be my western media biased view influencing my opinion again, I think that there is a good chance many of the young girls watching shows like Sailor Moon saw themselves in the schoolgirl version of Usagi, and may have potentially projected negative aspects onto the character that they may have been having about themselves, seeing the more scantily clad version as the only way to escape their "uncool" normal selves. This would almost definitely only occur to a small subset of the demographic (if at all), but my concern was whether any harm this kind of messaging caused was worth the positivity it brought to those that did take something good away from it. Regardless, I am probably about as far from someone with any qualification or say in this matter as possible.

The thing that idea of these transformations, and others like them, being symbols of girl power really made me start to question comes from connecting it to a topic from the last module: the cultural anime database. The cultural anime database is essentially a bank of common traits that mangakas and anime directors have to pull from when creating characters to give the audience something recognizable to ground themselves. When combined with a common otaku habit of representing their favorite characters in pornographic fanfiction, the idea of a "database" that is shared across the majority of mainstream anime and manga for inspiration opens up some concerning doors. When looking at all three of these factors together, I started to wonder: are these pornographic representations of characters in any way polluting the cultural database? Obviously, a single raunchy fanfiction will never have near as big of an impact on the database as the original did, but even if only the more popular fanfictions made a tiny impact, over time this would build up. Manga and anime are destined to end, but fans never need to stop making fanfictions. Is it possible that, eventually, what originally started as a well-intentioned theme mangakas could incorporate into their characters to empower a young female audience could be poisoned in the cultural database? Would enough pornographic fanfiction about characters like Sailor Moon and other magical girls pervert the empowering message into one that really is just fanfiction in the eyes of the creator? I would be really interested to hear everyone's thoughts on this!

[jmas6]

Wow, I can imagine how annoying this must be for Messi and his family. I think you made a great comparison between the raving fans of Messi and otakus. Both are insanely passionate about someone who, to them, is really just a character. While otakus go crazy over actual anime characters (and maybe their voice actors), Messi fans go crazy over the idea of Messi and his history in the sport. Messi as an individual is a lot more than just his soccer career, but since these people only care about the 'character' that is Messi as a soccer player, the other aspects of him as a person are less relevant to them. If they were really fans of Messi as a person, it is unlikely they would swarm him like that, since it is not only annoying for Messi, but also dangerous. This highlights a key difference between otakus and Messi fans: otakus can grow as crazy and passionate as they want about a fictional character since, as long as they keep their focus on the character itself, no one in the real world gets negatively affected. These 'Messi otakus,' as you describe them, have a living outlet to funnel their excitement into, which means that getting to passionate has actual consequences.

Fan Convention

Recently, Lionel Messi moved to Miami to play for the soccer team Inter Miami. Eventually, his kids began to play for the academy team run by Inter Miami association. One day there was a mass email going out to all Azzurri players that Messi’s son was going to be playing against my cousins team, on our local fields. Everyone was very excited to meet Messi and many people in the soccer community began posting about it. However, when I showed up on game day, the parking lot was already full, 30 minutes before the game, and people were parked all over the road and grass. I made my way to the field, which was already packed with kids. Throughout the area, there were also tents strewn about selling Messi memorabilia. After I arrived at the bleachers, there was an announcement made from the crowd that Messi was in the bathroom, and within seconds and ensnaring mod was sprinting towards the bathroom all feeding off of each others energy. Then me and my friend decided to sit down on a bench and not run over, and behold we were sitting next to his wife and children who we began to talk with and they told us he took off in his car because of the danger and overwhelmingness of this crowd. My friend was eventually able to get a photo of Messi after he came back to the field. However, he was once again swarmed and he ended up leaving until the game was over and his family was escorted out by police, and while I was driving I looked over and they were driving right beside me somehow. Overall, I think the entire scenario was overly inappropriate for what it was. Yes, it started it off as a small meet and great, however so many people showed up, ignoring lines and ignoring human decency and surrounding the man. I personally did not get a photo with him because of the overwhelming nature of what his wife said to us, I almost felt bad as he is unable to watch his kids game. The people who sprinted to the bathroom and swarmed Messi, to me, seem like an accurate representation of Otaku as they were doing everything possible for a photo with Messi, although that would have absolutely zero value in the real world. These kids around me knew stats of each year he played while I felt I barely knew anything, I almost felt as if I didn’t belong there. Additionally, everyone there wanted to get a signature on the Messi jersey that they were wearing, however that would have no real-life value outside of the “otaku of Messi”. This moment really changed the cultural identity of soccer in Naples Florida I feel. Many people I saw at the fields had never played or even talked with me about soccer, but since then they have begun to assimilate into the soccer community learning more statistics and playing more. I think Messi coming to Naples while not enjoyable for him because of the inappropriate security and childness of the crowd, it was very beneficial for the cultural identity formation of soccer here. I think fandom can certainly go too far to the point that it is influencing someone’s life, such as a movie star being swarmed wherever they go, degrading their quality of life. They constantly have eyes on them and their family. Everyone wanted a real “piece” or rather picture of Messi to have for the rest of their life to bring him into their reality. Furthermore, I believe this is relative to anime conventions because many times fans can go too far with creating fan art so that they can have a piece of that fantasy for the rest of their lives, but its particularly harmful when it’s in pursuit of a real person.

[jmas6]

Finding, Forming, and Fostering Community at Conventions

Personally, the only convention I have ever been to is IFT FIRST, which is the convention for Food Improved by Research, Science, and Technology. I am very passionate about the science behind food, and all of the novel technologies and their food applications at the convention were as cool to me as I would assume anime art and cosplay are to otakus at anime conventions. However, the purpose of an anime convention is clearly different than that of IFT FIRTST. Although both are large gatherings like-minded people to discuss topics they are passionate and knowledgeable about, IFT is almost entirely about showcasing what your company can do and soliciting business from other companies. Anime conventions, on the other hand, are mostly about sharing your passion with others and fostering a healthy community. In many parts of America, the culture amongst the youth still does not allow for children and young adults to feel completely comfortable being open about their interests. Although this is changing rapidly, the fact of the matter is that, for many young people across America, the only space to discuss anime (especially to the extent that an otaku might) is on the internet. Although this does provide a place for community interaction and growth, the quality of such interactions pales in comparison to what can be found at conventions.

By attending anime conventions, anime fans and otaku, young and old alike, can free themselves of inhibitions and enjoy their passion with like-minded individuals. I have several friends who regularly attend anime conventions, and from what they have told me, it is still common for people to be a bit reserved and take on a more passive 'spectator' role the first time (or first few times) they attend these kinds of conventions. Even if they share the same passion for the subject as all of the other attendees, it can still be difficult to escape the mindset built from the zeitgeist of past few decades. However, the enthusiasm and welcoming atmosphere almost always infects frequent attendees, gradually bringing them deeper into the fold of the community. I personally think that the shared, but unmentioned, understanding that greater society does not 'get' anime like the attendees of an anime convention do further enhances the sense of community at these conventions, and this causes a large portion of these attendees to incorporate their status as members of these communities into their cultural identity. Just like how fans of sports might meet up at a bar to watch all of their team's games and turn being a fan of that team into part of their identity as they interact with other fans, fans of anime incorporate their enjoyment of anime into their identity. In both cases, the most passionate few place greater emphasis on their cultural identity as a member of their respective fandom-for sports it is a team or a player, and for anime it is a specific anime or character.

Anime conventions do not only foster growth for the greater anime community as whole, but also for specific niches and fandoms. In my opinion, fandoms being welcoming of new members (i.e. with minimal gatekeeping) is in the best interest of all the convention-going members of said fandom. Online, fandoms are rife with gatekeeping and toxicity, since each new member of the fandom has the potential to reduce the value of any cultural capital long-time members of the fandom have built up over the years. Being a gatekeeper also gives members of this fandom a greater sense of control over their interests, since it makes it seem like, although anyone can be a fan, members of the fandom are special. At anime conventions, however, people are often a lot more welcoming that you would expect had your only experience been with the online fandom community. While this is likely in large part due to the fact that being toxic and gatekeeping is more difficult without the anonymity of the internet, there are actual, tangible benefits to growing the community of specifically convention-going members of any fandom. Specifically, the greater the number of members your fandom has, the greater the focus will be on that fandom at the convention. Whether it be a greater number of booths to cater to the larger number of fandom members, or more people attending in cool cosplays to gawk at, being a part of a fandom with a large presence at a convention will undoubtedly make your time there more enjoyable.

Good luck finding groups this large for members of more niche fandoms like the Katanagatari fandom at most conventions.

[jmas6]

I was also impressed with how little the show poked fun at the idea of an otaku, especially since it is probably such an easy target to poke fun at in Japan. I think that the ability to share your interests in small groups with others, who then go on to add the parts of your taste that they liked the most to their own internal "bank" of cultural capital is, in large part, what has kept the anime and manga industry so alive and thriving in Japan, despite the general consensus that otakus are strange. I also think that the internet has played an even bigger role in perpetuating this kind of culture, since now fans from across the world can begin to share cultures, resulting in even more intermingling, and an even greater database for creators to select bits and pieces from for their next character or story.

Genshiken review

After watching Genshiken, what strucked me the most was how the show didn’t mock or overly glorify fandom. It just showed it. Watching Sasahara join the club and struggle with accepting his love for anime and manga felt surprisingly relatable. I’ve been there, hesitating to share my interests in fear of being seen as childish or too niche. What I found comforting in Genshiken was how it portrayed that hesitation not as weakness, but as part of figuring yourself out in a world that doesn’t always value passion unless it’s profitable or considered socially acceptable.

Azuma’s theory of otaku as database animals makes this even more interesting. The Genshiken characters are not tied to any grand narrative about changing the world or building some noble utopia. They just want to enjoy their interests, dig into their favorite tropes, and find meaning through shared excitement. According to Azuma, that is what postmodern identity looks like: people living in the “endless everyday,” finding purpose in smaller moments instead of chasing some huge historical goal. That might sound kind of bleak, but I don’t think it is. Genshiken shows how meaningful life can still be even when there’s no clear direction. It is about friends, community, and the joy of sharing weird fandom stuff.

I also liked how the anime doesn’t push the characters to grow out of being otaku. Instead, it makes space for growth within that identity. Saki, the “outsider,” starts off judging everyone, but over time she learns to understand them. In doing so, she challenges what it means to be “normal.” That tension between what society expects and what people actually enjoy is very relatable, especially now when everyone is trying to craft a perfect image online.

In the end, Genshiken reminded me that even in a postmodern world without big narratives, small communities and shared passions can still offer something real.

[jmas6]

Otakus in America vs Japan

The anime Genshiken gave us a peek into what life is like for many young otakus in Japan. Embarrased about their interests in the context of the broader public, but comfortable sharing most of what they enjoy in smaller, close-knit after school clubs. I think this alone highlighted a key cultural difference between young people in Japan and America-the after school club. In America, although we do have after school clubs, their importance pales in comparison to what is seen in Japan. From what I understand, after school clubs play a large role in the lives of many school children, although I am not exactly sure what age ranges this applies to. The after school clubs in Japan, or at least how they are depicted in all anime, manga, and light novels I have consumed, are essentially a requirement for people attending school in Japan, and if you are not a member of at least one, you are looked down upon. Also, from what I have seen, many after school clubs in Japan are organized by the students themselves, which enables much more close-knit, niche clubs to form. In America, on the other hand, after school clubs are usually arranged and supervised by school faculty, usually only meeting once or twice a week. This causes the number of clubs to be a lot smaller, with the range of interests being covered following suit. Because of this, I think that the outlet to share otaku-related interests found in Japanese after school clubs is missing for many young Americans. At the same time, American school children often feel just as embarrassed about their interests as Japanese school children. However, without the outlet of the after school club, they tend to congregate in fandoms online instead. I think the depiction of Sue in Genshiken as "the American that brazenly displays their adoration for anime and manga in public" likely arose from kinds of Americans that would visit Japan. Many Americans visiting Japan do so in large part because of their love of anime, and I think that oftentimes visiting Americans would likely assume that their otaku-adjacent behaviors are normal in Japan since it is, after all, the capital of anime. Because they believe themselves to be surrounded by like-minded individuals, I would bet that a lot of American otakus visiting Japan get excited to meet people they assume share similar tastes, resulting in the overenthusiastic American otaku depicted by Sue in Genshiken.

[jmas6]

I never considered these themes from the perspective of Japanese society, but I think it makes the message they send a lot more powerful. Discrimination exists in all societies across the world in one way or another, but not many societies emphasize group harmony as much as Japan does. In America, when people are discriminated against, it is often due to them being part of a group that is in the minority whoever they are, but I think that in Japan, it is a lot easier to become a complete social outcast with no group to fall back on, even one in the minority. I think that this has played a large role in the rise of NEETs in Japanese society, since with the internet, even complete social outcasts will always be able to find a community in at least one niche.

Naruto/Wolf Children/A Silent Voice Blog Post

After watching what felt like three seemingly different anime works, I began to put the pieces together that brought me to a profound common thread. Naruto, Wolf Children, and A Silent Voice all display the struggle for acceptance in Japanese society and the reality of social discrimination. In all three anime, the main character carries a harsh burden that ostracizes themselves from the other. For example, Naruto’s burden is the Nine-Tailed Fox demon within him. In Wolf Children, it’s Ame’s and Yuki’s fear of being discovered for their dual identities. In a Silent Voice, Shoko faces discrimination for her hearing issues while on the other hand Shoya is discriminated against for being labeled this bully. All three emphasize themes we have seen play out in anime before, and that is the Japanese social pressures of conformity and group harmony. When these main characters have burdens or differences they physically cannot hide, it goes against traditional Japanese values and that is ultimately what I see being critiqued here. And it’s not just Japan, every society has its outcasts. These stories portray global relevance because things like discrimination are a universal experience. That is why I personally resonated with Wolf Children the most. While I’m not part wolf, my family is originally from Brazil, and I feel like this anime serves as a metaphor for children's struggles for balance between two cultures. When Yuki and Ame break out into their fight over which side of their dual identities they chose to honor, I saw this internal struggle that immigrant kids battle with constantly too. When trying to balance honoring your heritage and assimilating into society, it can be just as messy, and I totally relate to that. Wolf Children explores this tension between individual identity and family loyalty, and that made this one my favorite of the three. That is not to say I didn’t think the other two did not have important takeaways, like A Silent Voice’s commentary on the global mental health crisis and the stigma surrounding the topic. I also enjoyed looking at Naruto through a new light, recognizing his pain and what ultimately led him to overcoming his discrimination. Overall, Naruto, Wolf Children, and A Silent Voice all successfully delivered social commentary on the topic of discrimination, and addressed fundamentals like acceptance, identity, and belonging.

[jmas6]

No Such Thing as a Magic Bullet

Prior to this module, I had watched Naruto, but not the other two anime. Watching Naruto with the theme of discrimination and what might solve it in mind made me look at the series in a new light, especially when viewed in parallel with the other two anime. In the lectures, the three anime are compared and contrasted in the ways they propose discrimination might be reduced. In Wolf Children, it suggests that the ones who are discriminated against must either change themselves or take the initiative to seek out those who accept them, which puts the onus on the discriminated. In A Silent Voice, the onus is placed upon those who discriminate, suggesting that, although past discrimination may not be forgiven, it is a simple matter to change yourself and those around you to be more accepting of people that are different. However, I actually think that Naruto does not necessarily fit into this discussion quite as well as the other two anime. In Wolf Children and A Silent Voice, discrimination is depicted as something that occurs because others either dislike that which is different or because it is easy to find common ground amongst those who are similar when looking down on another that is different. In Naruto, however, Naruto is ostracized by other children mostly because they are mimicking the adults in their lives who, in my opinion, are rightfully scared of him. When Naruto was born, a vicious spirit attacked the Hidden Leaf village, and it killed a great number of people. The only way the village was able to overcome this crisis was by sealing it inside of the newly born Naruto. Although the children that ostracized Naruto were unaware of this, most of the adults in the village were well aware that a monstrous beast capable of razing the entire village was sealed within a child that lived among them. Even if someone did not harbor any negative feelings towards Naruto himself, simply being a vessel for something so dangerous would cause many to naturally be wary of him. Young Naruto was unaware of this, and sought to gain power to make others recognize him, and although he is venerated after saving the village in a later Shippūden episode, I think he was actually accepted much earlier on in the series. The way I see it, what Naruto needed to do to become more accepted in the village was not rise to a position of status and power, but to just show that he was not a danger to society as time passed. His commitment to protecting the village and friendly personality certainly helped move things along, but I think that he would have eventually been accepted into the fold regardless, as long as it was shown the seal was not in danger of breaking. Of course, had Naruto not performed such meritorious deeds for the village, there would have probably always been those who still viewed him in a negative light, but this would not be because he is different, but because they associated the negative feelings of losing a loved one with the being sealed inside him.

Because of this, I do not think I can really garner a clear message from Naruto about a potential solution for discrimination. A Silent Voice and Wolf Children, on the other hand, have much clearer messages about discrimination and potential solutions. Unfortunately, in both anime, the solutions put forth are rife with issues and, in reality, there is no singular solution that could really make marked progress in reducing discrimination. In Wolf Children, although Yuki eventually finds someone who accepts her for who she is, she greatly reduces her connection to the animalistic part of herself. Ame does the opposite, and completely abandons his human side, choosing to embrace his animal side. Wile this seems like a happy ending where both children ended up happy in the end, the path they took to get there required them to first retreat from greater society to a place where they could reflect on themselves, eventually deciding that there was no world in which they could embrace all parts of themselves. In A Silent Voice, even though Ishida changes his ways as he gets older, he is not forgiven for his past actions until the end where he nearly sacrifices himself to save Nishimiaya. In either case, someone has to make a great sacrifice, only to end up in a position that is on par with people that had never been discriminatory or faced discrimination themselves. The real solution to discrimination is likely a combination of all of the above, with those who are different living normal lives and showing that they are really not that different from everyone else after all, and the rest of society opening their minds to allow themselves to accept others despite apparent differences.

[jmas6]

This anime definitely made me really consider what kind of sacrifices would have to be made if children really did start developing such powerful psychic powers. In some ways, I think that their system of essentially legalized abortion up to the age of 17 might have been necessary. I know that kids can be very emotionally unstable, and nearly every child be born with what is basically a loaded gun that cannot be taken away from them is a scary situation to be in. In theory, I think that it would be possible for society to develop in such a way that using psychic powers on others, or just in general, would be an extreme taboo, to the point that children generally would not even consider doing so. However, the downside of this option is that it would take several generations to really take root, if it even does in the first place. In the gap time between such a social stigma taking hold, there could be countless potential deaths that could have been avoided had society followed the same path showcased in Shin Sekai Yori.

Shin Sekai Yori Blog Post

After watching Shin Sekai Yori, I see it in a different light especially with the historical context of similar situations. This idea of the wild child has become more and more prevalent in today's society, with increased violence not just in schools and work places in the United States, but all around the world. Shin Sekai Yori addresses the fear of the wild child with a system that honestly sparks more fear in me than just one rebellious child: the elimination of children without telekinesis. Aside from being extremely unfair, it really gets you thinking, what would you sacrifice for a stable society? The anime has a society that has peace for the most part, but at the cost of individual freedom and moral integrity. Furthermore, there are clear themes of dehumanization against people groups that contribute more to this idea of moral integrity. This society paints themselves as peaceful and good, but deep down they have heavily manipulated what people see on the surface. The society created the rats, then convinced everyone that they were inferior and dehumanized them through the term “monster rats”. For some reason this reminds me of the story Wicked, which serves as a sort of prequel to the Wizard of Oz. The story is centered on this girl with extreme powers but is hated by people because she is green. When the Wizard sees he can take advantage of her powers for his own evil purposes, he does just that and in turn, puts the blame on her. Everyone now calls her the Wicked Witch of the West, all because of how society has painted her. I see a direct parallel here, where the humans are genetically modified into rats for the society’s own economic purposes and gain, and in turn call them monsters. Another example is how humans born without telekinesis are automatically labeled as dangerous. It just shows that the person who has been turned into the villain for the good of society might sometimes just be the way people in power hide behind their own wicked deeds. Ultimately, Shin Sekai Yori was a chilling commentary on how far people are willing to go for the idea of a stable society.

[jmas6]

Incentive Structure is Key

After watching the anime and the lecture, the idea that stuck out the most to me was the balance of regulation and discipline. In Shin Sekai Yori, like the professor explained, those who were in power had no ability to regulate children's access to psychic abilities strong enough to kill a great deal of people in a short period of time, so they had no choice but to heavily rely on discipline. However, I think that the fantasy aspect of this scenario detracts from the real world application of this concept. I do not think it is likely that children will ever be able to access such unregulatable amounts of destructive capability, or at least not anytime in the foreseeable future. One example the professor gave was about CRISPR and how a grad student might be able to create a biohazard, but this kind of technology is relatively easily regulated and, more importantly, by the time anyone gains enough skill to do such a thing, they will have had a long time in the "child surveillance" system to potentially weed out any who may have had violent tendencies. In my opinion, the best way to move forward is to set up appropriate incentive structures.

When I say "incentive structure," I am referring to the whole set of rules and regulations surrounding surrounding an issue, as well as the real world enforcement of these rules. For example, our current US tax system is supposedly progressive, meaning that those who make more money pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes. In practice, however, decades of little tweaks and additions to the tax code, including this like tax breaks for charity, tax credits for EVs, estate taxes, capital gains taxes, etc, have created something of a bloated mess that should, in theory, still maintain its status as a "progressive" tax system. In practice, however, all of these additions to the tax code have created countless loopholes that allow people to pay less than they otherwise would have if America had just had something like a wealth tax(not that such a thing would necessarily be better or worse than our current system), i.e. our current tax system has created an incentive to find as many loopholes as possible to pay as little in taxes as possible. This incentive essentially created a new profession: the tax lawyer. In modern day America, once you hit a certain level of wealth, it becomes worth it to pay someone thousands of dollars to do nothing but structure your finances so that you pay as little in taxes as possible. This, in turn, creates an even greater incentive for others in a similar economic position to do the same, since if they do not, they are essentially just paying more taxes than you-which just feels unfair. If the tax code was properly enforced to the spirit of the law, rather than the letter, many of these loopholes would get shut down and, with appropriate punishments (or "discipline"), the new incentive would be to simply pay your fair share of taxes.

This whole tangent into taxes was essentially just to make the point that people's actions will naturally be guided by the incentives inherent to the system they find themselves in. To apply this to the discussion of how society might deal with the increasing threat of the "wild child," I believe that it is in the government's best interest to create a system that incentivizes a reduction of factors that we know might lead to one becoming a wild child. Although I have not done any in-depth research into exactly what factors increase the risk of such a thing happening, I would imagine that we have had enough cases of wild children in the US alone to perform at least some form of trend analysis to determine some of these factors. At the very least, funding to schools, as well as scrutiny as to how they spend such funding, would likely be a good start.

[jmas6]

I think you made a great point about how life just would not be the same without moral uncertainty. A large part of living in a society is about constantly making decisions about what to do and how to behave, and we are always getting feedback from little things like the facial expressions on others as they react to what we are doing. I think that this is one of the main reasons we have seen such an increase in toxicity on the internet in general-not because people don't care about how their actions will affect others (although some people certainly feel this way), but more so they do not have real, living people in front of them to react to their behavior. We have evolved as a species to become very good at picking up on little social cues, even unconsciously, that influence how we behave, and outsourcing all of that decision making to an external "system" that will let you know when you are doing something wrong directly would definitely take change how we live our lives for the worse.

Psycho-Pass

Psycho-Pass was like looking into a very extreme future that could become very true for us one day. I feel like it was a commentary on the direction we’re already heading, and not in a good way. But at the same time I thought it was very cool, all of the technology and surveillance is everywhere all at once and imagining that in our world is kind of unbelievable, but something we get closer to every day. The world of the Sibyl System is an impressive feat of technology on the outside, as I’ve said. It promises perfect order. Even the eradication of crime before it happens. Although, beneath this promise of order, there's a question. Is life without moral uncertainty really a life at all?

What was the most unsettling was how rooting this dystopia feels in Japan’s own cultural context. Where social harmony and conformity are so valued, and where technology often promises to “fix” social issues this could be a real possibility for cultures like this. Although, with our obsession with technology I fear that we are a lot closer to this type of thing then we realize.

I found myself drawn to Akane as a moral anchor in this. Her discomfort in enforcing a system that feels efficient but ethically hollow reminded me of my own unease when I follow things that don’t feel right. In this citizens constantly monitor themselves and lose their individuality and freedom. It reminds me of people who follow trends and post online. If everyone follows the exact same trend there's just clones and on top of that its not even “real people” anymore because everyone edits and hides things from what they choose to post. Its always the best and most exaggerated version of themselves.

The end of Psycho-Pass left me feeling a sense of admiration and at the same time, dread. It is an important reminder that when we strive to eliminate the risk of moral ambiguity that we risk erasing the unpredictable parts of ourselves that make us human.