hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Talking about environmentalism through the lens of Covid is really interesting. I don't think ill ever experience so few cars on the road again. i don't think ill ever experience the sheer quite again. I think Covid really highlighted how much of an effect we have on the environment. It also highlighted how many of the effects we have on the environment we don't notice until those effects stop. I never really noticed that i couldn't see the stares from where i lived until i was in an area with minimal light pollution. We set our baselines for what we expect from the environment in our present moment and Covid allowed us to see, for a moment in time, beyond those expected baselines.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind & Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Humanity Kills, Nature Heals

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was gorgeous. It felt realistic yet whimsical, and dark yet optimistic. One thing that stood out to me in the film was the idea of humankind stepping back to let nature heal itself. The depiction of how Princess Nausicaä sets about to persuade the different kingdoms to join in this cause is already very touching and beautiful, but the cause itself does ring true to life. Back in 2020, during the height of the lockdowns across the world, I remember we got to see this idea of nature healing itself play out in real time. Wild animals roamed the streets, unafraid of human contact or cars for the first time in decades. Dolphins could even be seen in the Venice canals in 2021 as the water cleared up due to less boat traffic. 

Beyond just the COVID era, this is the general idea of population plateaus and mass extinction events. Even invasive species, which have unlimited access to food, no natural predators, and should theoretically be allowed to continue growing and growing, will eventually reach a population plateau. This is nature’s way of stopping invasive species. Oftentimes, when these species become dominant over the planet, there are mass extinction events, as seen multiple times with the dinosaurs. Humans, at this point, are unlikely to face a mass extinction event caused by nature on Earth due to mankind’s ever-evolving technology and adaptability to change. The most likely way we will go extinct is at our own hands, as seen in both Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. We are our own biggest threat, and once we face our self-inflicted mass extinction event, nature will be the only thing left to salvage what little, if anything, remains of Earth, wildlife, and humanity. With nature taking the wheel out of our hands, though, I feel comfortable with the idea that the world will be okay.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Nausicaä and why i love it.

I love post-apocalyptic media. I love seeing the stories of how humanity rose from its mistakes. Grappling with the consequences of the past. Nausicaä is one of my favorite examples of this genre. I love myself a good Miyazaki movie.  I really enjoy Nausicaa, this has been my third time watching it. Aesthetically i love the movie. Beyond watching it for this class the most recent time i watched it i watched it to help me brainstorm ideas for an alien landscape. A lot of the nature in the show sit in the nature equivalent of the uncanny valley. Its recognizable, but wrong. Everything looks like a fungus and fungi look unsettling.

Its a beautiful but uncomfortable aesthetic and i love it. Its undeniably nature, but it doesn't feel like our nature. The Ohms are terrifying but majestic, you can feel and understand Nausicaä’s wonder. The aesthetics are heavily rooted in fungus, but it reminds me of some of the lesser seen parts of nature on earth.   As an example, here is a video of bunch of marine scientists being very excited about a whale fall.

It's beautiful, majestic, and horrifying. An octopus moving through a field of bone eating worms. This is not the environment as we commonly interact with it, but we have an effect on this environment and have a duty to protect it.     Oh wait, im supposed to be talking about the environment and not just how much i love the aesthetic the movie pulls upon. A lot of environmental media have the solution of “humans need to leave the environment and let it be.”  Nausicaä is no exception. I find those endings somewhat unsatisfying. Humans are part of the environment and for the most part we can't leave it. Another thing that environmental media likes to do is place nature as an antithesis to technology. The flying weapons of war and destitution vs nature. I think that's a false dichotomy. Xenoblade Chronicles 2  undercuts both of those. In Xenoblade humanity is part of the environment, and technology is solely the destructor of the environment, but is also a tool in rebuilding the environment.  

It reminds me of solar punk in some ways. Humanity, nature and technology all in cooperation.   www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqJJktxCY9U (Amazing piece of solar punk animation, real shame the original was tainted by being an ad)  

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

"Dividing masculinity into categories like this, however, just leads to bullying, the diminishing of human emotions and trauma, and the justification of abhorrent actions."  

In linguistics there is a concept of Prescriptivism vs. Descriptivism. Prescriptivism is prescribing how language should be; creating standards for what is the correct way to use a language. Descriptivism, on the other hand, is about observing and describing how language is actually used. I would argue that the papers that the professor pulled from regarding the categorization of masculine gender presentation are descriptivist. They are not saying this is how society should be but rather this is how society is. They state that in our society there exists masculine gender presentation outside of the patriarchal hegemony. Heasley, one of the writes the professor quotes from, went a little bit further and tried to categorize that space outside of the patriarchal hegemony. Those categories being those who embrace being outside of the patriarchal hegemony and are subsequently rejected by it or those who practice enough of the gender presentation of the patriarchal hegemony to be accepted by it but still do not fit into Hegemonic masculinity.  

I think it can be harmful to apply these categories to individual people, but that's not what they are intended for. They aren't meant to be an excuse; they aren't meant to glorify patriarchal hegemony. They are broad classifications of society; they are descriptive not prescriptive. the terms exist to enable conversation.  

Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion: I'm Losing My Mind

Throughout my viewing of Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion, my main thoughts were not about the portrayal of masculinity but rather how tired I am in this class of seeing little girls being exposed, groped, and creepily sexualised. I can barely even get through these anime anymore, and I can’t focus on what I’m supposed to learn because I feel disgusted by the things I’m watching. The most genuine portrayal of any “form” of masculinity through this show and movie is not through the male characters at all, but through the treatment of the women. 

In the lectures, Shinji is said to display traits of “queer masculinity,” meaning that he can’t fit into the status quo of “straight masculinity.” I think that what’s actually going on is that Shinji is a child who is used to being alone because his father abandoned him. Shinji lacks self-confidence and self-respect; these are not traits of masculinity; they are just traits. I was also rejected by my father at a young age, and I can tell you it does not do great things for one’s confidence. Despite all of this, Shinji still grows into toxic masculinity. In the lecture, the professor offers his take that Shinji masturbating to an unconscious 14-year-old child in a hospital is merely his attempt at performing “straight masculinity,” which he obviously fails at.

Judging by the happy juices on his hand, I would say he very much succeeded at “performing straight masculinity.” he just realised after the fact that his actions were, as Asuka would say, “disgusting.”I would prefer not to give Shinji any excuses for any of his behavior. I empathise with him for what he has dealt with in life. Dividing masculinity into categories like this, however, just leads to bullying, the diminishing of human emotions and trauma, and the justification of abhorrent actions. If we’re going to divide up masculinity, let’s divide it into masculinity and toxic masculinity.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Evangelion and the casual sexualization of women

I don't love Evangelion. The first time i tried to watch it i gave up on it. When i finally got around to finishing it for this class it was still a disappointment. It has a somewhat interesting story and has interesting things to say about society, but it goes into the category that a decent amount of anime ends up in. That category being “i find it uncomfortable to watch.” Thats not a bad thing per-say, something making you uncomfortable doesn't mean it lacks artistic merit. Id argue that Evangelion does it with a lot more intent, the show is really shitty to all of the women, but id argue that the shows treatment of women is a core piece of the shows critique of masculinity.  

I mentioned that i gave up watching it when i first tried a few years ago, the reason was because i found it uncomfortable to watch. A lot of anime in this class has ended up in that category. The casual sexualization of characters has been a common theme across a lot of both the anime I've watched for this class and anime I've tried to watch outside of this class over the years.  Ive noticed that the animes I've really enjoyed, the ones that have gotten me to explore the rest of what the medium as to offer, were ones without the casual sexualization of women. So far my perception of the wider medium is that the shows without that are the exception and not the norm.  

To get back to Evangelion, its a depressing story. The ending of the main show was depressing in its own way but it pales in comparison to end of evangelion. The show felt mostly hopeless. Thats not a bad thing, there is a time and a place for depressing stories and stories without hope. I personally didn't enjoy it.  

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Many parts of the trans experience that are portrayed in Wandering Son are more generally applicable. you mentioned being bullied for something that other people aren't as one instance but there are others. I found your comments on Aggrestsuko to be insightful. sex and gender biased discrimination is still quite prevalent in the united states, and sadly i feel like its becoming more prevalent in the recent political climate.

Sailor Moon, Aggretsuko, & Wandering Son: Feminism and the Pressures of Being a Woman

**Just to preface, I've had a migraine for going on like a week now, so I'm sorry if my post is not the most coherent.**

I enjoyed watching Sailor Moon. The show started airing in the 1990s, but it remains relevant and iconic today, globally. I wouldn’t say that Sailor Moon changed any major gender norms or anything like that, but the show addressed serious social pressures that women faced (and still face) that are pressed on us from a young age. Sailor Moon follows a 14-year-old girl as she figures out life and tries to understand herself. The show empowered young girls to not feel less than for “feminine” qualities, but rather to embrace them. In a world of toxic “boys will be boys,” Sailor Moon was a positive “girls can be powerful.”

Aggrestsuko was a fun watch, as well. The most important message I got from the show is the pressure put on women to perform these perceived gender roles despite not wanting to. It is frustrating watching Retsuko hold in her rage at her boss just to buckle and make him tea, but we see that when she tries to take a stand and report him, her boss retaliates. She is belittled for being a woman. This goes beyond gender performance and gender roles. It doesn’t matter if you decide to participate in gender performativity or not; other people will still project their ideas onto you. It’s an issue to only focus on the concept of gender and how it is a social construct because people discriminate based on sex and sexuality, too. To get into the bigger picture, this is why things like DEI are so important. Because even given two of the same exact resume, verbatim, with the only difference being one resume says male and the other says female, the man will get the job every time.

With Wandering Son, I don’t have much personal experience with the subject matter, but I do understand that at such a young age, the confusion of being bullied for something another person was met with acceptance for. I was glad to watch as she found herself more and more, and was even able to stand up to that punk brat who was trying to use her as a laughing stock.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

You mentioned cosplay competitions; they are one of the things i go out of my way to see if im ever at an event with one. i find cosplay quite interesting. The devotion and effort put into making them. I dont think ill ever do cosplay myself but i love seeing the process behind making them. For years id put videos like this on in the background and just enjoy watching the cosplays come to life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjxdWnUBmpU

Convention

One of my favorite conventions I've attended was Wasabicon in Jacksonville, Florida. I drove from Orlando to Jacksonville with a group of friends for the weekend, and we stayed at an Airbnb together. This particular group of friends and I have attended a convention or two a year since we were in middle school together. Although I have many interests, I've always enjoyed the sense of community that my friends and I share at these events. Talking about anime, superheroes, and Pokémon with my friends provides me with a safe space to express myself.

At Wasabicon, I was able to partake in or witness varying fan activities. One activity I enjoyed was collecting. I bought a lot of merchandise, but I was also able to trade and collect Pokémon cards. One of the vendors and I got wrapped up in conversation about the new Scarlet and Violet game, and he ended up giving me really nice cards to take for free. Out of kindness and community, he took part in giving me such a memorable experience. Additionally, I had never actually battled or competed with my Pokémon cards before. I found some groups of people battling, and asked them if I could watch and learn how to play. They accepted me with no questions asked, and even gave me beginner tips to start my own battle deck. Once again, another moment I was made to feel overly accepted in the community, and a moment I still look back on fondly. Because of this, every now and then I battle at my local card shop, and have been encouraged to make new like-minded friends at fan events.

Another really great opportunity conventions like Wasabicon provide are panels. Fans, creators, and casts can discuss media they are working on and consuming in front of an audience, and there's typically time for audience feedback and questions. This is a really cool way I've gotten to know some of my favorite actors and creators better. At Wasabicon, I was able to attend a panel featuring Vincent D'Onofrio and Charlie Cox from Daredevil. I was definitely a little bit starstruck to see them sitting so close to me, but it was an awesome experience. I was also able to sit in on a Tara Strong panel, and I got to watch her do some of her most iconic voices, such as Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents and Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls. I was able to ask questions to each of these celebrities, and it was a way for fans to openly participate and "meet" people they might've looked up to since they were even kids.

One aspect I enjoyed at Wasabicon was the friendly competition. Fans can compete in various competitions such as trivia, video game tournaments, cosplay competitions, and more. One of my favorite competitions to sit in on is cosplay competitions. Seeing the incredible costumes fans can create, and the amount of time it takes to create the most intricate details, enamors me. It's so cool to see people care about a game, movie, or show so much that they take the time and effort to make a really elaborate costume. I've even taken pictures with cosplayers I thought were particularly cool and followed some of them on Instagram. As for other competitions, one I enjoyed taking part in was a Mario Double Dash tournament. My boyfriend and I were able to win one of the days we were there, and we got a $100 reward. It was very quickly invested into more merchandise, but it was still a fun experience nonetheless.

The sense of community and self-expression featured in my Wasabicon story relates back to our watching of Genshiken. The club can connect over their shared interests in fandom, and the club operates as a safe space for the members away from judgment. The fan behaviors I exhibited and watched are pointed out in the Fiske readings, for example, collecting, cosplay, and enunciation productivity.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Sailor Moon | Aggrestuko | Wandering Son.

Salor moon was an anime i was already familiar with. I think sailor moon is one of the more well known amines from its era. I was sort of surprised at how young the sailor scouts were portrayed. I find girl power to be an interesting thing in media, re-contextualizing something that is typically seen as girlish as powerful. A friend of mine once said “anything that is popular among teenage girls will be seen as dumb and bad by the rest of society.” I think about that sentiment often, and if you look for it, you will find it. I think it happens to some extent with youth culture as a whole, but i think it affects teenage girls most of all. I can see how re-contextualizing those things to be objects of power could be cathartic for the anime's target audience.  

I found aggretsuko to be quite funny. The juxtaposition between having to act the expected way at work against death metal karaoke. Its quite funny when they jump between the two. The show game me a better understanding of office life in japan. I remember the concept of OLs from a while ago, and how women are treated as temp employees, how they aren't put on career paths. It gave me an understanding of the infuriating levels of inequality present. Death metal seemed like a good way to cope given the circumstances.  

Wandering son was an anime ive been looking forward to finally watching, a few friends of mine have been talking about the manga recently. The story is a quite good representation of the trans experience. The show did a good job capturing it in a wider sense. A lot of shows struggle to capture the trans experience in its totality, i don't think wandering son quite achieved that but it got closer then most others.  

This is a part of the wondering son manga a friend of mine shared.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Anime as pop culture.

The first thing i want to say about True Otaku is “please stop using that font, its ... so bad.”  

Despite attending a number of conventions that at least in part focus on anime i decided to watch true Otaku. Im glad i did, it showed me just how much has changed in the roughly 15 years since it was produced.  Anime is more commonly accepted, especially on the internet, games and anime are larger parts of popular culture, and cosplay is more accessible, accepted, and encouraged. The internet has fundamentally changed the culture around anime in the united states, streaming services like Netflix have made access to anime more mainstream, in addition generations of people who enjoyed anime as teens now have kids.  I mean you can see how mainstream anime has become via looking at American animation. These days you see a lot of American animation in the style of anime.     Cosplay is a much larger part of pop culture in general thanks to the internet. Ive been to a multitude of conventions about anime and otherthings, and cosplay is just a more common thing to see. I see cosplay at renaissance fairs. Cosplay is easier then ever to get into, you have thousands of resources about making costumes at your fingertips, something that was just not the case 15 years ago.  

Anime as a whole is much less of an “obscure hobby” when compared to 15 years ago. Popular amines are outperforming American television on streaming services. The genre has been becoming progressively more and more mainstream over time. Ive not been to an anime convention, but ive been to a number of pop culture conventions, and anime tend to feature them pretty heavily

.    I think another large reason behind this shift is videogames. Videogames globally are the largest entertainment sector. Videogames are mainstream. They are a huge part of culture, especially youth culture. Anime and video games are decently well connected. They can share visual aspects, A large portion of the entire genre of “visual novels” are heavily inspired by anime. Japanese Gatcha games are popular in the united states, and those have close ties to anime. Genshin Impact a Japanese Gatcha game that looks like this

Impact has over 25 million downloads in the united states, its won American game awards. The final fantasy games are some of the bestselling games ever and are heavily inspired by anime (and in a lot of cases final fantasy has heavily inspired anime, its a really old franchise).     The popularity of the anime style in games has helped popularize the anime genre and has helped shift animation away from the perception that it’s” for children”. The popularity of games is also probably why coslapy is a much larger part of popular culture.  

To get back to anime and my experience with in in relation to youth culture and fandom. I think anime as a whole is more accepted. Being a fan of anime doesn't make you a weird weeb, just like how being a fan of video games no longer gets you labeled as a weird geek. They have entered the mainstream, and yeah, they still have obscure parts. You can still really delve into anime, but no one's going to look at you funny if you mention that you have watched anime. Video games and anime are really important to youth culture and identity formation, but they are no longer the things on the fringe but are rather the predominant pop culture. Youth and pop culture moves fast and it has moved significantly in the past 15 years.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

A lot of the lack of consent in the show bugged the hell out of me. so many of the characters did shitty things and didn't improve as a person or face any consequence as a result. One of the issues i have with a lot of anime is how often it portrays things in a way that makes me unforgettable. A lot of anime has fan service i just don't enjoy being subjected to. A lot of the sexual undertones in this show just made me uncomfortable. Largely uninterested and uncomfortable would be how i would describe my experience watching this show.

Genshiken: Sexual Deviancy in Otaku Culture

Genshikin aims to portray the facets and quirks of Otaku culture. The show touches on comic fests, manga and anime clubs, and fan obsession. For the most part, I was uninterested in the show; it was a slice-of-life show with not much to offer. However, one theme in Genshiken kept me interested and upset: the portrayal of sexual deviancy in Otaku culture. It seems like the show tries to normalize a lot of the sexual deviancy it depicts, but some moments go too far. 

The male characters in the show are eager to view sexually explicit drawings of anime girls and attempt to look up the skirts of anime girl statues; these things are not particularly harmful on their own, but adding to this that they play sexually explicit games where they do things like rape a high schooler changes things. Considering many depictions of anime girls are “lolita” and the girls are meant to appear underage or dress to appear childlike, the fact that grown men are sexually looking at these drawings is disturbing, whether in private or not. It does not matter if this is a true portrayal of their sexual identity or if it is a portrayal of something they would do in real life; the concept itself is disturbing.

Going beyond the men’s behavior in the show, the women’s sexual deviancy is also a problematic facet of Otaku culture that is portrayed. Chika Ogiue fantasizes about her real-life friends in a sexually explicit manner. This might be okay to do with fictional characters from a book or a TV show, but real people can’t consent to being depicted in precarious sexual situations with whoever is in your head. Beyond just fantasizing, she also draws her fantasies without the consent of those she draws. In a society that is not accepting of LGBTQ+, what could have happened if any physical portrayal of the fantasies she had about her friends were seen by someone else? Again, it does not matter if this behavior is a true reflection of her sexual preferences or her behaviors; having those thoughts is problematic on its own. 

Angela is yet another portrayal of sexual deviance in the show. Within the first minute of her appearance in the show, she presses her chest onto a man she does not know, who is clearly uncomfortable; she even acknowledges that her behavior is not normal when she mentions that Japanese people must not greet each other by hugging like she was. She then makes him read manga with her, grabs his hand (knowing he does not understand the language she is speaking to him in), and comes onto him. Throughout the rest of her episode, she fully unclothes herself in front of a man. Angela blatantly sexually assaults and harasses male characters throughout the episode in which she appears, and she faces no consequence. No one even blinks an eye.

Anime, manga, and Otaku culture in general may not equate to or even cause sexual deviance or pedophilia, but, as seen in Genshiken, there are too many instances of sexual deviancy and pedophilia sliding by for it to just be a coincidence.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

The Otaku in America.

Genshiken was an interesting slice of life, the characters aren't perfect but its fun to watch them grow as people. I think the show has really interesting things to say about fandom's relationship to society as a whole and how society puts pressure on people to fit in. It highlights the power in having a community with shared interests. The show also touched on gatekeeping to some extent. Even in these communities of shared interests, there can still be exclusion.  

I think people like to think of Otaku Culture as a thing relatively restricted to Japan but many of the things this anime portrays, I've seen in America in some capacity. Lets take BL doujinshi as an example, consistently explicit gay media for the consumption of heterosexual women, that exists in America. Its called fanfiction.  

Thousands of pieces of fanfiction, predominately explicit, predominately m/m. Theses days its largely an internet subculture but there is a longer history, going back to before the internet, when these works were instead published in fanzines. Star Trek has a lot to answer for.    https://archive.org/details/fanzines-collection?tab=collection&query=star+trek   

The lectures mentioned criticisms that BL receives, and i found myself thinking, “I've seen people on the internet make theses exact arguments about fanfiction.”  

  Ogiue reminds me of someone i was friends with in highschool. Instead of BL doujinshi my friend was reading slashfic. A lot of parts of Otaku culture exist in America, we just don't recognize them because they are relatively obscure. It reminds me of how Sue didn't understated the cultural context around them, they lacked the otaku awareness. The same principle of “otaku awareness” exists in America, a lot of our versions of Otaku culture are not widely discussed outside of the communities of shared interests that exist on the internet.    

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

I think a lot of the modern world and America in specific are currently experiencing a depressing amount of backsliding in regards to the acceptance of others. People like to think discrimination is a thing of the past, that America is better now, that America is past it, but thats not true and its never been true and its especially not true now.

Discrimination in Amine

In all three of these animations, and many others, discrimination is a collective issue that they all continuously draw attention to and make critiques of. While some believe society can change, and other believe the individual has to change, they are both critiquing discrimination. Both Naruto and Wolf Children believe that society cannot change as it is either too large, according to Wolf Children, or it is constant, according to Naruto. However, in A Silent Voice, the Society around Nishimiya changes.

Throughout Naruto ,he must Gaman, or endure lots of pain and discrimination, and ganbaru, or try very hard to achieve his goals. This is in comparison to civil rights, or women's rights movements in the 1900's. Both of these groups had to overcome society's prejudice and make them accept them by growing stronger and proving their value as member of society. Also, in the Anime Wolf Children the family has to run away to a gemeinschaft to live life outside of prejudice. This reminded me of ghettos, or where people of a certain culture all lived together in one area. For example china town in many cities has developed that way on a specific street because they were pushed to live out their by society. Now, while discrimination has majorly declined in our lives, I still see some remnants in everyday life in America and it is likely to be seen across the world. Many people cannot live where they want still and are pushed out of their homes through economic or mental "warfare" because the community around them does not want them living there, an example of this is gentrification.

Additionally, I believe A Silent Voice resonated deepest with me, as I felt it was most reflective of the society we live in today. While our society has certain implementations for people different than the normal, there is still a society of bullying surrounding them. Similar to in the anime, people will take stuff from the victim and throw it around, but in these times teachers will actually stop this, yet they are not always there. However, I believe that society is changing and we are becoming more accepting of all types of people. I believe it started with the liberal movement in America of accepting all types of people. While I know it has become blown out of proportions I believe the start of it, with accepting all people no matter their disability, race, beliefs was the origin of a change across the entire world, and it is now seen even reflected in this anime. It may seem unlikely as shown by Wolf Children but I believe the majority of society is willing to socially accept different people.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

A Silent Voice was really good. Of the anime I've had to watch so far, it's been the best by a considerable margin. I got quite invested into it and found myself really caring about the story. I found it heartbreaking how we learn so little about Shouko beyond her disability. The story shows so little beyond the ways she doesn't fit into majority society.     “if you’re here just to make yourself feel better. Please leave”  

This is one of the messages that really stuck out to me. it's not the responsibility of the abused to make the abuser feel better just because the abuser is sorry. It puts more work on the person who was abused; it requires the abused to fix the mistakes of the abuser for them. Many of the people who step in to help Shouko don't help Shouko, but instead simply confront the abuser, they don't try to comfort or otherwise help the abused, they simply stop the abuser.  

Both A Silent Voice and Wolf Children use a small space outside of majority society where those who are discriminated against can be themselves. I feel like in the modern era a lot of people find those places online, due to the vastness of the internet its easy to find others going through the same problems as you. It might not represent total escape, you might still mostly be trapped in majority society, but even a little escape goes a long way, having people to talk to about problems, having people to commiserate with. All those small things that the internet can provide can go really a long way.  

The episodes of Naruto that were selected were selected to show a contrast, and the episodes succeeded in that, although for me that contrast jumped the shark. its hard to imagine how the show got from point A to point B. Also i don't love when stories about discrimination come to the conclusion that the onus is on the individual being abused to stop the discrimination.  

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

I was unaware of the Eugenic Protection Law of 1948. That's despicable. I agree that the Eugenics in the show is truly horrifying. The ability to hard wire into someone who is greavable and ungreivable, and then forcibly shape those without power into ungreivability is a disturbing idea. So much of politics and power is about deciding who's lives are worth grieving, You see this in the war in gaza, you see this in what is currently happening regarding ICE in America.

Shin Sekai Yori

Hi everyone!

Shin Sekai Yori is a mystery/thriller that addresses many important themes, such as eugenics and xenophobia. In the show, we see eugenics play out in disturbing ways, originally hidden from the main characters. When children are not able to control their telekinetic powers, they are deemed a danger to society. Children who do not develop powers at all are also deemed a danger to society. These children are consequently killed to preserve the "utopia" that has been created. This is reflective of something very real that happened in Japan, which was the Eugenic Protection Law of 1948 through 1996. This law allowed the sterilization of citizens with disabilities, and was incredibly inhumane. You can also relate this to the elimination of Jews during the Nazi regime. Eugenics can also be seen in the bioengineering of the Queerats. They are mutated to become animalistic, and their prior human selves become completely unrecognizable.

The Queerats also serve as an example of xenophobia. In the bioengineering of the Queerats, they were made to appear horrific and foul to evoke fear and push the narrative that they are lesser than. They are controlled and have an erased sense of self. Though they were once human, those with powers still treat them as "monsters." The Queerats are dehumanized to justify the horrific, violent actions of society against them. This is, unfortunately, very relevant right now with the current political climate in America. There is a lot of fear-mongering and false narratives pushed about immigrants and citizens of differing races to justify cruel and unusual punishment. One example I can think of would be Alligator Alcatraz and its inhumane conditions. Real people in the real world are being treated like animals right now, making Shin Sekai Yori and the xenophobia it presents all too pertinent.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Shin Sekai Yori and ungrievablity.

Shin Sekai Yori also known as From the New World is a really interesting post apocalyptic anime. From the new world tells the story of the society that developed after people acquired unprecedented unregulated access to power, and the subsequent destruction of society. if you cant tell, ep 4 is the episode i found most interesting, its mainly an exposition dumb, but all of the exposition is really important for understanding how society became the way it is. The answer to how this society developed is eugenics, creating the death of shame in order to create a "peaceful” society.     The characters perceives the PK controlled slave kingdoms as an unimaginable thing of the past, but in reality, that is what their society is. The death of shame and the endless pruning of youth may keep peace among the PKs but they forcibly removed and warped the humanity of those without power, enslaving them as rats. When being human means having power, those without power cease to be human.  

"One way of posing the question of who “we” are in these times of war is by asking whose lives are considered valuable, whose lives are mourned, and whose lives are considered ungrievable. We might think of war as dividing populations into those who are grievable and those who are not. An ungrievable life is one that cannot be mourned because it has never lived, that is, it has never counted as a life at all.” - Judith butler, frames of war.  

The society in this anime is defined around who is grievable  and ungrievable. The death of shame fundamentally ingrained this distinction. A person with power, a person with PK, cannot kill someone who is grevable, everyone else is ungrievable, their lives dont matter. The lives of the pruned children dont matter, the lives of the monster rats dont matter. Your are only grevable if you have power and peace.  

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

if Akane was supposed to be the main character that didn't come across to me. The first episode opens on the confrontation between Kogami and Makishima. I felt like the main story of the show was that confrontation. To me they seemed to be the protagonist and antagonist. Akane felt sorta like an audience insert, especially in the early episodes. The audience doesn't know the world so you need a character to introduce them to the world, Akane felt like that character.

Psycho-Pass

Watching the end of Psycho-Pass made me realize something strange: the world in the anime isn't far off from the real world. The concept of a system scanning people's movements and classifying them as safe or dangerous based on a mind scan seemed extreme and far-fetched, which is perfect for a sci-fi anime. However, that's when I realized there are many connections to our real world. We are constantly being monitored not just by cameras but also by algorithms, expectations, school, and peer pressure. It makes us feel safe and secure, and it feels normal. Seeing this system from a third-person viewpoint opens up the idea of self-discipline we put on ourselves without realizing it. 

I was fascinated by how the dominators work. I love to find the extreme and powerful guns in video games, and the fact that the dominator can scan someone's mental state and transform to decide whether they live or die seemed like a great idea. It was so cool to see it in action, but as I continued watching, I saw all the problems it posed. I want to point out that in the lecture, the gun was the one killing the criminals, not the officers. That's terrifying, efficient, yes, but it removes context, empathy, and human choice. It is so common for the officers that even Akane doesn't feel wrong using it, despite being a recruit. It makes you wonder how much power the sybil system has, and how much freedom was taken from the people. 

The last thing that stuck out to me was that it didn't feel like Akane's story; it felt more like Kogami is the one who drives the story. He pushes the crime cases forward. He figures them all out before everyone else. He also breaks away from Sibyl during the story, showing that he is playing both sides, for example, when he wanted to kill the criminal who was stealing the avatars. He also feels that he has a connection to Makishima. The event was so huge to him that he dreams of it in his apartment, showing he still recalls the event and regrets his action, despite being too wounded to do what he wanted to do. 

Overall, Psycho-Pass was a terrific sci-fi thriller set in a unique cyberpunk future, but its message highlights how our justice, freedom, and other fundamental rights are being controlled.

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

Psycho-Pass

A really important principle of psychology is that you cannot know the mind of another. Psycho-Pass presents a world where we do have that power, and its used to oppress. The show reminds me of Minority Report. They have somewhat similar concepts, some technological tool creates a new kind of surveillance, and then the police use that surveillance. In minority report its the ability to see the future, in Psycho-Pass its the ability to know the mind of another.  

I found that Psycho-Pass doesnt really have a clear protagonist or antagonist/ good guy or bad guy. makishima is a revolutionary with a callous disregard for the lives of others, they see the people around them as livestock whose lives are meaningless. ... thats bad, that's some evil antagonist stuff. But at the same time he is trying to destroy the system that is doing the oppressing. Makishima has seemingly found the subjectively of power and is set on destroying it. Destroying the system of oppression is a good thing. Makishima is an incredibly grey character, and i love that. 

The education system prepares people for work under capitalism. The inciting incident in A Place Further Than the Universe was confronting that fact. In Psycho-Pass the show mainly focuses on how the Sibyl system prevents crime, but to me that doesn't read as why the system exists. Like most things it exists due to capitalism, controlling the thoughts of everyone through surveillance lets you make the perfect workers. I wish the show explored how the Syble system chooses jobs for more people.  

As one last note, the dominators are a horrifying thing, it removes all responsibility from the one doing the killing and instead moves that responsibility to a nebulous system that is always correct.  

[hopefullycompetentmediaanalysis]

You talked about how the first thing Kirito says in the game world is "Hello, World! I'm back!" I love the fact that that is the first thing he says. The first thing you learn to program in pretty much every programing language is how to get the computer to say "Hello, World!" into the console. Saying "Hello, World!" is the first thing many computer programmers learn how to do This has been the case since the 80s. I love that the first thing this character says in this virtual world is "Hello, World!" Its a really cool reference. Online you can find many lists of hello worlds but this is one of the more extensive ones http://helloworldcollection.de/#C++

Since the start of the week, I binged watched Eden of the East and up to Episode 14 of Sword Art Online, and I have quite a bit to say about both anime.

Spoilers for the First Major Arc of Sword Art Online and MAJOR SPOILERS for Eden of the East!!!

Beginning with Sword Art Online, two things to address right off the bat. First off, I know there is a lot more to Sword Art Online than up to Episode 14, but I have heard that the show takes a decline at some point, and I was only assigned up to Episode 14 for my college course, so my thoughts and opinions are only referring to everything up to the ending of that episode. Secondly, this was indeed my first time watching the anime, going in completely blind. I say this because the first post I ever made on Tumblr and this blog was "Hello World. I'm back". For my course, I was supposed to write a test message saying, "Hello World", but to test out other stuff (and to be funny because it was my first ever post) I wrote, "I'm back", so imagine my surprise and laughter when that was the first thing Kirito said in the game world. TL:DR: The reference was not intentional. Tangents aside, I really enjoyed this anime, the plot was very enjoyable and had great twists. Even though I know it's far from the final ending, I thought the story, especially between Kirito and Asuna, was really well done and had a beautiful, yet open-ended, ending.

Now onto Eden of the East, even though I decided to watch the films so I could have a fuller picture, (and to know what happened after the show's cliffhanger), I think this has been the weakest link thus far. There are three defining features of this anime to me, its overarching theme and message, the mystery, and the Selecao plot. The theme of critiquing work culture takes center stage and is what the anime does best, being central to the plot and every character. Takizawa is the defender of the little guy, using the collective physical and mental power of 20,000 NEETs to stop the missiles from killing anyone, Saki's entire character arc (outside of her developing feelings for Takizawa) is her struggle to get a job and gravitation towards Takizawa's philosophy, and each antagonist represents a different aspect of arguments surrounding the job system. The Selecao plot of the "magic" phones is a bit hit or miss, it is a fascinating premise that I personally think is executed the best in the first film where the Selecao members are properly shown. While interesting, the Selecao plot does noticeably take a backseat to the main theme and the mystery element of the anime for most of the show. The mystery itself is a good one and worked best at the very beginning, but I personally think it is the weakest aspect of the show and falls flat after the Selecao plot is fully revealed. I feel like the major aspects of the anime's mystery were revealed too fast, making every attempt at further mystery fall a bit flat. The best example is with the Supporter, who is built up to be this scary threat to the Selecao members, just to be suddenly revealed at the end of Episode 10 to be Mr. Outside himself, who is not dead and is Selecao #12. In my opinion, the twist itself has the possibility to work really well, but was revealed to fast. The twist would have worked better if that scene only revealed the #12 was the Supporter and leave the details of Mr. Outside being alive and being the Supporter to when he shows up in the final film.

Overall, I still have enjoyed every anime I have seen thus far. Please do not misinterpret my critiques against Eden of the East as me not liking it, I still enjoyed it very much, just not as much as the others.