katsuhime19

[katsuhime19]

Derek, thanks for recommending this to the class. It was an anime that touched upon deep existential questions that concerns all of us since we are all going to die and we all have to make moral judgment about other people. I also think the ambiguous ending was really fitting since the discourses it presents don’t have definite answers either.

Death Parade :D

This show was definitely one of the best we have watched all semester, in my opinion. From the very first episode, the premise of the show was gripping and nearly every episode had me on the edge of my seat. It plays out sort of like a mystery, where bits and pieces of people’s lives are revealed to the viewer as the characters themselves realize it. I took it upon myself to watch every episode, and even those episodes that weren’t around judging two people were quite interesting as well. In every aspect, this show comments on morality and the human condition, presenting different ways to judge people and different types of people that are judged.

Something that I believe is crucial to the ideas of the show comes in episode 2. Here, we learn that it is possible that Arbiters can make mistakes. While I’m unclear whether or not Chiyuki was right in saying that the woman might have been lying so the husband could die peacefully, it is clear from Decim’s reaction that this was a possibility he did not consider. Emotions often complicate one’s judgement, which is why Arbiters are created to be free of emotion. Yet, it is through Chiyuki’s emotions that she presents Decim with a convincing counterargument to his judgement. Furthermore, throughout the show we learn that Decim himself is a bit of an experiment, being granted the ability to experience human emotions by Nona. I believe this is meant to be a solution to the vast number of deaths that the Arbiters must judge, as this is a reoccurring issue throughout the show.

So what does this all mean? Well, the ending of this show is quite open-ended as we never learn if Decim’s ability to judge others improves as a result of his time with Chiyuki. But I believe this is intentional. In the final episode of the show, Decim is finally able to connect and understand Chiyuki. Chiyuki also has a revelation in the final episode as well, stating that everyone means something to someone else. I think this show is trying to encourage us to try to understand others before making any judgement on them. By portraying Arbiters as able to make mistakes while keeping them as judges allows everyone the ability to judge others. But this ability must be accompanied by a desire to understand others and what they may mean to their loved ones. Perhaps if we sought to understand those different from us, many conflicts could be avoided. Relationships could be saved, lives could be spared, and war could be prevented. 

But the show also acknowledges that life is cruel and may not have a true purpose, other than to die. So is there truly a point in understanding others and avoiding conflict? Why should we strive for reincarnation? Everything is left up to interpretation by the audience, as even the judgement passed on people is never outright stated by the Arbiters (although it is heavily implied). I think this is the true strength of this show, as it presents a number of different arguments and situations dealing with fundamental questions of life and pushes viewers to form their own opinions about them. That, along with its fantastically nuanced protagonists, is why I fell in love with this show. 

Oh and that theme song is CRAZY good! >:)

[katsuhime19]

Death Parade

I really liked death parade with its dark and eery colors and its representation of the afterlife and how Decim starts to slowly question the morality of how he judges the souls because it goes against the common idea of a perfect afterlife that religions present to people. Religions always tell us the bad will suffer in a bad place while the good experience are rewarded by going to the good place. However, none of them talks about how exactly this judgement will be made and how correct it will be. And despite the contradicting views proposed by different religions about what makes a person good or bad, life is too complex to label someone as completely good or bad. I cannot imagine anything harder than trying to separate people as worthy and unworthy in the afterlife based on their actions since the same action can be committed by individuals that have completely different circumstances like Derek was saying. Even Decim starts to slowly grasp that blindly judging the actions of people he doesn’t know is wrong and he cannot understand the morality of a person unless he can completely empathize with all the experiences that person had in their life that led to that point. And considering what Decim makes these people do and how he dooms some of them to suffering, his own actions can be seen as immoral too. So, how can an immoral person judge the morality of others. Another interesting aspect of the show was the similarity of the setting of the afterlife as a bar to places in our capitalistic world since it seemed to critique how there is no exteriority to capitalism since even in death one cannot escape from it.

[katsuhime19]

The connection you made between Violet and Haku is really fitting because Haku is also an orphan that grew up in a war-like state focused only on survival which prevented her from feeling emotions fully and living her life just like Violet so it makes sense that she sees herself as a tool rather than a human.

Violet Evergarden

“Her existence had been kept secret from everyone However people who know about said that she was a weapon. She would fight if you wanted her to. She looked like a human. She was just a tool…without a heart.”

                                                                             -Lieutenant Hodgins

Violet Evergarden presents a commentary on human connection and emotions through the juxtaposition of the desensitization caused by war and the expressive and sensitive nature of everyday life. We see Violet struggle with understanding complex emotions, emotions that serve as a driving force behind humans and their actions.

In the first episode, we see how war, specifically the desensitization caused by war, can lead to emotion stunting and the lack of emotional recognition, especially in children soldiers like Violet, herself, hence her inability to understand love.

Something that stuck out to me was when Violet said “I am the major’s tool. But if he doesn’t need me anymore then I should be thrown away. Throw me away. Throw me away somewhere.” It reminded me of Haku from Naruto and his devotion to Zabuza, serving as his weapon. Just as being Zabuza’s weapon gave Haku purpose, being the Major’s weapon, receiving orders from him gives Violet purpose, driving her through life. Thus, when there is no more war and no more orders, Violet finds herself at loss. This relates to everyday life with the struggles in the transition from a war mindset when integrating back to civilian life. As illustrated through Violet, a job serves a great auxiliary in helping veterans re-transition and integrate into civilian life. Her job as an Auto Memory Doll, gives Violet a new purpose as she tries to navigate the emotions of others by putting them into words. She ultimately learns the importance of expressing emotions and emotions, themselves, recognizing that the letters which serve as the medium of this emotion outpouring and expression, all deserve to be written, sent, and delivered. As she claims, “No letter that could be sent deserves to go undelivered.” 

Thus, the anime also makes evident the importance of moving forward through life, even with the invisible scars left by the flames of our past and actions, and emphasizes the importance of feelings and emotions as a vital aspect of the human experience. Although at times it may seem easier to bottle up and block out are emotions, we must recognize that they are a vital as part of human nature and the human experience, and also a part of who we are.

[katsuhime19]

Violet Evergarden

As someone who is a fan of historical fantasy settings with frilly dresses and animation with vivid colors, Violet Evergarden was a delightful watch for me. Violet who was an orphan child soldier not being able to understand what Major Gilbert means when he says “ I love you” to her seemed very logical to me and I believe it demonstrates one of the ugly truths of war. As a kid that never knew parents love and spent her life fighting as a soldier, Violet never learned to understand or use her feelings. Her life revolved around survival because that is what a soldier needs to succeed in a war and emotions can even become a handicap to a soldier so it makes sense that she unknowingly ignored her feelings all throughout the war. We actually can see how much she cares for Gilbert during the war and that she definitely feels some type of love towards him, be it familial or romantic. However, Violet does not have the experience needed to understand emotions at the start of the anime so it makes sense that she cannot see that. Her job as a Auto Memories Doll helps her observe how normal people feel and express emotions which slowly helps her develop an understanding of her own emotions as well. Now that the war has ended, Violet needs to move on and start to live a normal life, yet we can see how difficult this is for her. This shows us how hard it is to move on from the effects of war and start living normally and how soldiers are psychologically damaged from their war experiences.

[katsuhime19]

It is true that he made good use of the medium with the exaggerated actions such as crying or shouting. However, these didn’t do anything to convince me. On the opposite, it made me more annoyed at the mangaka for being so pretentious and headstrong

Sensoron

It’s no wonder why this manga is infamously known for being highly conservative. It’s a bit of a tough read, as the author argues tirelessly against this idea of Japanese War Guilt which undermines many previously held notions of WWII. I have my fair share of criticisms for his points, but I would firstly like to talk about what I did appreciate about this very controversial manga. One thing I will give it credit for is the artwork. The artist is very expressive in many of his drawings, very clearly communicating his fury with the current state of how Japan views its own past. The panels of him shouting directly at the reader and the final panel of him sarcastically crying with those giving testimonies were very exaggerated, and I appreciated that he used the strengths of his medium effectively. I also respect that he choose to tackle such a sensitive topic, as I believe it is important to always be skeptical of what one is told. He presents numerous arguments against this idea of war guilt being fabricated, such as forged photos and false testimonies. It reminds me of the idea that history is written by the victors. It is certainly possible that Japan’s atrocities may have been exaggerated and that these exaggerations were accepted to be true because of evidence of other atrocities. Working to weed out the fake aspects of history in order to get the truth is important in my opinion. However, it is evident that the author’s primary goal is not to correct our interpretation of history. It would be one thing if he challenged his readers to question the information they are given and seek for deeper answers, but he goes further by seemingly claiming that Japan hasn’t done anything wrong. He never admits that Japan has committed it’s own fair share of atrocities or clarifies that he only seeks to eliminate the lies of the war. History should be as accurate as possible but that is because we need to learn from history. We need to learn as humans from our past mistakes. Germany, Japan, and even America have all committed atrocities during the WWII and it is highly immoral to gloss over those facts. Perhaps students shouldn’t be brainwashed with false photographs and testimonies, but they should still learn the mistakes of their country’s past and work towards a future of peace. Fostering irrational hatred towards other countries is more damaging than the war guilt brainwashing that he claims occurs in newspapers and museums, as it could lead to even more atrocities being committed through future wars. Will those be ignored as well? Who will Japan point fingers at? When does the cycle of war and hatred stop? I stated earlier that I admired his choice to tackle a delicate topic, but that choice can come with serious consequences if not handled with care. This author’s lack of care makes him seem like a hardheaded conspiracy theorist throwing a tantrum and calling his audience idiots for being so apologetic for Japan’s dark past.

[katsuhime19]

Kobayashi Sensoron

Reading Kobayashi’s Sensoron wasn’t a pleasant experience for me and I skipped some parts that seemed redundant to me. My impression of him is an neo-nationalist that tries his best to justify his country’s bad actions by turning them into “lies” fabricated by the villainous countries that had feuds with Japan, unlike what old nationalists did which was to justify their country’s immoral actions as acceptable against the enemy that was painted as lower than dogs. I’m not saying Japan is a militaristic devil that wreaked havoc on innocent countries; countries like USA and China committed their fair share of atrocities and they are being blamed much less than Japan since they were the winning side of the war. So, it could be argued that the judgement passed on Japan is much harsher than other countries. But, it is illogical to act as if none of the violent acts committed by Japan are real and that Japan should be blame free because “the events weren’t as bad as they have been painted.” I lived in a city 2 hours away from Nanjing (old pinyin Nanking) for two years and visited the city. I also have really close Korean friends. I do not believe that millions of people that speak of the wrongdoings of Japan are “baseless” or are pushed to “exaggerate”. Some parts might be propaganda to further vilify Japan, but for the most part, there is more than enough evidence to show that innocent people really did suffer. So, Kobayashi who drew himself with a pretentious smirk while nitpicking every point made by other countries against Japan and belittling Japanese citizens he perceives as brainwashed and unenlightened, unlike himself, was quite ridiculous in my eyes. Only people that lack knowledge about the different points of view about these events, that somewhat provides objectivity, would believe this very subjective and one-sided perception of historical events involving Japan.

[katsuhime19]

I think Mitsuha’s father breaking away from the family for more modern pursuits is a way of showing how the society is moving away from traditional values. It is interesting how traditions and religion is depicted as a heritage from ancestors that lost its priginal purpose but is still maintained rather than acts with profound importance.

Your Name

Your Name is a movie that received a stellar reception on its release, and is often lauded for it’s beautiful art and animation, as well as the atmospheric soundtrack that seems to amplify every emotional moment experienced. The movie contrasts two relatively different ways of living and the individuals that live in these environments; as well as the supernatural connection they share.

I think Your Name provides an interesting commentary on tradition and religion, as not only is it a focus of Mitsuha’s life, but it is also given actual form through the events of the story, at least in the explanations that the characters come to. We learn relatively early on the traditions that Mitsuha’s town follows lost their original meaning and purpose many years prior, yet they are still practiced diligently, while tidbits of knowledge give meaning to certain parts of their customs, such as their braided cords and the location in which they bring the sake. There is also the character of Mitsuha’s father, who has left the family tradition in order to pursue politics and develop their town, which in turn would bring more modernization and cause tradition and older ways of thinking to diminish. Here the lack of purpose, and in the case of Mitsuha’s father the loss of belief, is causing more individuals to move away from these older ways of thinking. The events of the film then come around and begin to assign purpose yet again to these older traditions. The dreams of Mitsuha’s family are given their reason for existence and the tales her grandmother speaks of are shown as reality. What I find most interesting about this is that this occurs due to the growing beliefs of a boy in the very core of modern Japan: Tokyo. Not unlike how time is rendered obsolete through Taki and Mitsuha’s connection, the film shows that despite the level of progression of modern society, tradition can (and will) still maintain a presence in society. The arbitrator of the events of the film is never given form, in fact the closest assumption we can make is that the events are simply a part of nature itself - supported by both the comet and the secluded tree where Taki and Mitsuha are able to meet at half-light. We see that even the scientists cannot fully predict the actions of the comet, and thus the explanation is handed over to religion and tradition, which are often used to give a sense of rhyme and reason to the unknown. It seems the movie tries to acknowledge tradition as a valid way of knowing, whilst giving it reverence and placing it on equal footing with modernization and quantitative knowledge.

[katsuhime19]

There certainly is a lot of stereotyping that goes into personifying these countries and I certainly don’t agree with the depiction of my country. For more central countries, I thought the depiction was more on point but it is still silly to reduce a country of people into a single personality.

Hetalia

This was the first time i watched this show. I definitely remember seeing stuff from this show back in the day when i was on tumblr and I actually found it interesting even though i didn’t watch anime. It was surprising that the episodes are only five minutes long, including the end credits and also the extra separate thing that they have at the end. I think the show might benefit from a longer format because it makes the storytelling a little choppy.

I thought it would be interesting to see how Japan viewed different countries, and I was not let down. Within the first two minutes of the first episode, many countries were introduced and their ‘personalities’ were displayed. It was a cute idea to make each person represent their own country, but this makes story-telling a little confusing as you’re generally supposed to remember which country is which or you end up lost. When I looked up the show before watching it, I saw it was based on  a manga from the late 2000s. I wonder how different it would be if they made this today.  

When watching the sub vs the dub, there were more differences than i have seen before when watching sub vs dub anime. Usually, there are only slight differences in sentence structure and the uses of different synonyms, but the dub version had some translations that were not the same.

It seemed a little odd that the characters were literally countries boiled down to one person. It felt like the show perpetuated the idea that every person from the one country was the same, and seemed to lean on stereotypes. This also makes it seem that every person in the country agreed with their decisions, and there was no dissent, even though the decisions were likely made by whoever the ruler was at the time. 

[katsuhime19]

Your Name

This was my second time watching Your Name but I was still as awed by its ethereal visuals and heart broken by the bittersweet ending just like the first time. However this time, the asynchronous experiences our two protagonists had and how they tie together with the overarching narrative was much more clear this time around. I found it interesting how Taki and Mitsuha improved the social standing of each other when they switched bodies by using aspects that are mostly rooted in their genders. It seems that the masculine qualities Taki displayed as Mitsuha and the feminine qualities displayed by Mitsuha as Taki allowed them to exert more power over the people around them.

Another point I was surprised about was how deep a connection Mitsuha and Taki formed even though they barely had any direct interactions and they were from completely different worlds. Taki lived in the bustling megacity that is Tokyo where there are incredible amounts of sources, entertainment, and opportunities but family relations and connections you have with residents, who are practically strangers, is weak. On the other hand, Mitsuha lives in a small town where people all know each other and life is monotone but families are very close and nature and traditional values such as religion surround you. However, despite all these differences the two fall in love. I believe this is due to how well they came to understand each other by seeing the world through each others’ eyes. Although they both have friends and family, considering no one really noticed when they changed places, we can say that nobody had a connection deep enough to know who they really are inside. They finally had this bond with each other even though they were separated by not only place and circumstances but time as well. When they break that separation towards the end of the movie, we can see that they were finally connected completely.

[katsuhime19]

Hetalia

Watching Hetalia gave me a really nostalgic feeling since I used to be a huge fan of it back in early 2010s. I not only read the manga and watched the anime, but also consumed lots of dōjinshi and fanfiction about my favorite characters. This anime was one of the first works that led me to totally delve into the world of being a “Fujoshi” with it’s myriad of male characters with different personalities( from Tsundere England to Kawaai Italy) that appeal to all types of female fans and barely any female characters that could work as romantic interests for them. Just as mentioned in Annett’s essay, my imagination was boundless when it came to imagining relationships between all types of cute anime boys which was easy for the characters in Hetalia since they were already in so many ambiguous situations, but not that hard for anime with no homoerotic suggestions in its canon either. And I kept it secret from everyone like a dirty secret, living in what the essay coined as “a form of social invisibility”. Through the years, this interest stopped being so obsessive and as I met people from all around the world and explored all sorta of opinions on the internet, I became more open about this hobby that I wasn’t as ashamed of or even as addicted to.

More on the anime, it was probably the only anime I thought the dub was as good as the sub since although the Japanese seiyuus did a better job of voice acting, the country-specific accents of the english voice actors added an enjoyable aspect that was missing from the original for me. Furthermore, I really enjoyed seeing the stereotypical yet mostly inoffensive depiction of all these country’s in plots that reimagined real historical events in comedic ways. My only complaint is about how my country Turkey is depicted as a total creep obsessed with conquering Italy, which is not completely wrong but ignores most of what my country is about and focuses on a very small historical detail that most Turkish people wouldn’t even remember.

[katsuhime19]

Otakumentary: An Analysis on Otaku Culture and Conventions

Just like how sports fans have game days, theater fans have plays, and music enthusiasts have concerts as places to connect with others sharing their interests and as a chance to express their passion to the max; otaku have their conventions. Conventions allow otaku to partake in activities that might be hard for them to normally do (such as finding good merchandise to buy) and greatly indulge their interests. They include merchandise sales, competitions, panels about Japanese pop-culture elements, game stations, and of course cosplaying.

I think cosplaying can be considered one of the central aspects of an otaku convention since it is something most fans don’t get to do normally; unlike playing games, watching anime, and buying merchandise which are fan activities they can indulge in more regularly. Cosplay can be defined as many different things for different types of fans. It can be a tool of escapism where the cosplayer is freed from the worries and up-keeping of their usual image and can become someone they admire that is completely different from them. It can be a way of artistic expression for the artistically inclined with which they challenge themselves with difficult designs and revel in the praises they get for their hard work from people that really understand their talent and the challenges they had to face. It can even be a point of pride if they get good enough to win cosplaying competitions. Cosplaying also brings a special atmosphere to conventions that is enjoyable for all attendees, cosplayer or not.

A good point that was mentioned by the Otakumentary that I never thought of before was the importance and power of the internet in otaku culture. I have friends who connected with people from the other side of the globe that are in the same fandom as them by using websites like Tumblr. There are millions of online communities for fans of all kind that provide a sense of belonging, fuel people’s passion by making them discover sides of their fandom they never thought of before, can be used to share and consume fan produced art works that bring gratification by providing extra content that satisfy fantasies not satisfied by the original work and so much more.

Another point that I thought was really accurate is how otaku culture is no longer a sub-culture but could actually be accepted as a full-on culture by itself. Considering how many different interests such as anime, games, cosplaying, and J-pop are housed under the roof of the term “Cool Japan”, this new qualification is much more appropriate. Just as somebody mentioned, although in US otaku signifies fan of Cool Japan, in Japan people would ask “an otaku of what” as otaku is a term too general to be enough of a descriptor of somebody’s interest. That is why otaku usually find their own niche in the vast otaku community that caters to their exact passions. However, having all these different interests under the same roof surprisingly doesn’t cause any type of disharmony. On the contrary, otaku of all types are respectful towards and feel a sense of camaraderie with other otaku even if their interests don’t fully overlap.

Overall, otaku culture is a beautiful passion that brings happiness to people and helps create long-lasting bonds between even the most unlikely of people. It increases acceptance and respect towards other cultures, people, and mindsets. And, conventions are one of the most effective and enjoyable ways to strengthen this community and allow otaku to express their passion.

[katsuhime19]

How fighting fire with fire is wrong is a great way of expressing what humans were doing wrong in this movie and what Nausicaä was doing right. It really is true what you put in is what you get back which is something humans usually forget as they are so ruled by feelings of vengeance.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

This has to be my favorite of Studio Ghibli’s soundtracks by far.

Nausicaa and Asbel have also captured my heart. I love their interactions, I love them as individuals, this movie is great. Nausicaa has to be one of the best protagonists I’ve witnessed conveyed through a movie. She’s a badass in the best way possible. It’s not forced, and she never takes the victim role. I usually don’t connect well with movie protagonists, whether it be they bore me or annoy me, but Nausicaa genuinely amazes me, from her connection to nature, her internal struggle with violent tendencies, to her self sacrifice in all situations while still being rational. She carries a title of power as a form of respect, not as some petty political affiliation. The villagers listen to her and are calmed by her because she leads by example and knows exactly how to treat all parties in a rocky situation. I.e. she smiles despite her own unease in order to get the hostages to follow her instructions and save them. What a character. I also appreciate that the Valley of the Wind isn’t stupid; they submitted to their invaders in order to fight another day, with plans already in mind to stop the Toxic Jungle/Sea of Decay from getting attacked.

This movie both adds in human destruction of nature and each other, which can in some cases be considered the same thing. Fighting fire with fire is only a good idea in the literal sense; if you’re not a firefighter, don’t use this strategy, especially to somehow beat nature. Or another human. The cycle of vengeance is vicious, as we see when the insects are angered and readily fight back. The Ohm are certainly a topic of great discussion as well, as they were seen as wielders of destruction by the humans for the whole movie, but turned out to be healers as well at the very end. You get out what you put in: throw in grenades, take an explosion to the face, but throw in love and you get love back.

[katsuhime19]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

As a long-time studio Ghibli fan, I had watched Nausicaä of the Valley of The Wind before. However, I found it to be too confusing and dreary, probably due to being a kid. Upon rewatching, I could now better appreciate its anti-war and anti-pollution messages. Nausicaä who fits the role of a protagonist by having exceptional levels of kindness and compassion as well as being the “savior” that was prophesized. She wants to co-exist with the toxic jungle and she approaches the Ohm in it kindly and in most cases manages to soothe them. We see how Tolmekians and most people from Pejite are very much in contrast with her peaceful approach with the way they try to use the embryo used in Seven Days of Fire and the Ohms respectively to attack their enemies. Unlike most, she also doesn’t think of the toxic jungle as irreversibly polluted either. She discovers that non-toxic plants can be grown in her garden and later on finds that the jungle found a way to heal itself and clean its soil and water below the toxic surface. She didn’t give up on the nature that was very nearly destroyed by the pollution and havoc caused by humans. Seeing such an apocalyptic future caused by the actions of humans really drives the viewers to detest war and pollution. Nausicaä manages to stop the Valley from being destroyed not by violence but by trying to calm down the Ohms, which further underline her outstanding character and finally she is revealed to be the savior proving her peaceful way is the one that will lead humanity to salvation, not the violent and militaristic ways of other nations.The movie ends with the non-toxic tree sprouts that hints at a hopeful future.

ps: I was always curious about the name Nausicaä and I finally found out it’s an ancient Greek name of a character from the Odyssey which means “the burner of ships”. I think we can imagine this Nausicäa as the burner of military ships or something :)

[katsuhime19]

It really is sad how men can be judged so hard for what they ear whereas women have much more freedom. Hopefully, we will become more and more accepting of personal choices about how people like to express themselves thoguh clothing and more.

Wandering Son

This show was another hit, I’m hoping I have time to go back and watch the rest of the episodes. Straight off the bat, we’re introduced to a diverse array of characters, one of which is transgender. We’re able to compare the double standards with gender roles. Our protagonist, Nitori, enjoys dressing in girly attire. Each time, however, she’s met with disapproval and disgust. Very rarely does she ever feel accepted and comfortable, which results in visible frustration, such as the time she pushed her sister. Maho, although unpleasant, was a vital character because she was the human embodiment of transphobia. Watching her, I felt her transphobia and disgust likely sprouted from ignorance and xenophobia, not out of malice. Japan and most Asian countries are still conservative and not regularly exposed to LGBTQ-related topics, like we are here. Sarashina has a completely different experience, as a girl, she dresses in both male and female attire and nobody questions it. In fact, dressing in this non-conforming manner actually gets her popularity. 

We can see this divide in our everyday lives, women’s styles are becoming more adventurous while men’s fashion is not really being explored. If a man dresses in a crop top, people automatically assume he’s gay. Women can dress however femininely or masculinely they wish and will not be met with the same judgement or curiosity. No one will really pry, most will assume she’s a tomboy. In fact, in the past two years, there has been a recent influx in masculine fashion for women, the most obvious example being the pantsuit. I know some guys who won’t even wear pink because they don’t want to be misunderstood. With the rise of feminism, women’s pantsuits are associated with power and therefore encouraged. Men dressing in skirts and more feminine dress is discouraged because females are still viewed as the second sex, weaker. 

[katsuhime19]

Wandering Son

Wandering son was a very interesting watch that dealt with a subject that is quite out of the norm for anime. The protagonist Shuichi is a boy that desires to be a girl who meets Yoshino, a girl that wants to be a boy. It shows how Shuichi and Yoshino deal with these desires and develop relationships with many others that are mostly accepting of their wishes. I really enjoyed how this anime shows the challenges and experiences of trans characters which was is a very important real life topic that I was surprised to see in anime. I always thought the more conservative nature of Japanese society wouldn’t allow a serious anime to follow such topics even though some ecchi ones do include trans characters. I think it’s quite important for anime to represent all types of people so that some viewers can learn about the feelings and struggles of others and others feel represented and important. I also liked how Yoshino later on decided she doesn’t want to be trans anymore since it shows how people’s views and feelings are not forever set. As people have new experiences and change, so can their decisions. However, I thought the characters who are in middle school show an unrealistic level of maturity concerning such serious concepts. I would have liked it more if they were at least in high school. Also, I know Yoshino and Shuichi faced risicule from other students such as Maho yet I feel like in real life Shuichi and Yoshino would have faced more opposition and much less understanding which is the sad truth.

[katsuhime19]

I didn’t think of how the mother and the cutsy co-worker are also performing an act that meets the social expectations they face before seeing your point. We can actually see how most characters are performing an act to be accepted by society even when this act clashes with their inner world.

Aggretsuko and Performative Acts

Watching the first few episodes, I thought it was really funny. Retsuko’s aggressive angry side was so out of the blue that it had a comedic effect. In Butler’s performative acts I see a parallel right away in terms of gender but also in terms of work culture. It seems that the idea of being a good worker is a performative act in itself.

We see Retsuko working overtime and doing all the tasks the boss asks of her. She always has on a smile despite what she may be internally feeling. These continuous acts shape her identity as a worker. They are performative in that they hide the internal. Another example we see is how she pours her bosses drink to impress him. She does it for “brownie points” and it is just another act. Similarly, the new young recruit in the second season puts up an act as the new employee despite how he actually feels. Both of them continue a “stylized repetition of acts” to form their social identity.

In terms of femininity, there are applications to phenomenology as well. She is expected to get married and her mother tries to set up an arranged marriage. This act of getting married at a certain age is one of the acts that a woman must do to continue for her identity as a woman. Another example is when the boss comments that she poured the alcohol wrong because she is a woman. He is basing the prejudice on the other performative acts he has seen from other women. The importance of the show, however, is that it is clear that all of it is mostly an act. We see her inner feelings when she goes rage mode which helps deliver these messages.

Finally we saw even more performative acts. We see the performative acts of the mother, of the cutsy girl, etc.. This show provides us with the acts different social stereotypes have to keep up to continue to form their social identity.

[katsuhime19]

Aggretsuko

Aggretsuko is a delightfully entertaining and a painfully relatable show that uses absurd comedy to draw attention to real life issues faced by women in Japan. Retsuko has been conditioned to appear a shy, soft-spoken, and responsible pushover, a model woman that fits the ideals of her society. However, her secret-not-so-secret hobby of singing death metal as a way to relieve her real thoughts and frustrations that gives us a peak of her inner world shows us this is actually just an act to fit what is expected of her as a regular female office worker. We also see how she fits the view of her sexist pig boss who exclaims ”an incompetent woman is better than a competent woman” with the way she acts, even though this only helps the boss push her around even more as he views himself above “weak-natured” woman. Through the episodes we watch, we see how Gori and Washimi help her reveal more of her real self which results in her beating her boss in a karaoke dual. As the boss says “ one day you will be called a shitty boss too”, we see him finally accept her as an individual equal to himself instead of the inferior way he used to view her due to her gender. As a woman that has been chastised for acting unfeminine by social standards by being outspoken and being a bit overactive when I was a kid, I can relate a lot with Retsuko. There are certain expectations from woman that stop them from freely expressing their personalities and conformation to these expectations can be used by some men to oppress women. That is why women shouldn’t try to accommodate society’s expectations, society should accommodate all types of women.